Lair of the Beasts: Monsters at the Space Center

A Houston Horror

This week, I’m pleased to announce, my new book is published: The NASA Conspiracies: The Truth Behind the Moon Landings, Censored Photos, and the Face on Mars. And while the book focuses, for the most part, on such issues as UFO sightings by astronauts, it also addresses claims that NASA may have some knowledge of incidents involving unknown animals, as I will now demonstrate.


There can be very few people who have not at least heard of the exploits of the notorious Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a bizarre, flying creature that was made famous in the 2002 movie The Mothman Prophecies that starred Hollywood crowd-puller Richard Gere and that, in turn, was based on the book of the same name penned by the late authority on just about everything paranormal and supernatural, John Keel. But, Mothman is not the only strange, winged monster that has been seen in the skies of the United States. One particular case implicates NASA in the story.

Back in 2004, I interviewed a woman named Desiree, whose father worked at NASA’s Houston, Texas-based Johnson Space Center, and who had a story to tell that was bizarre in the extreme. That does not mean, however, that we should dismiss it as being one of no merit, or one that lacks any meaningful value – only that we should view it with open minds and minds that are receptive to challenging ideas and bold, new paradigms.

It was late one night in 1986, said Desiree, when her father returned from his daily routine at the Johnson Space Center. There was nothing particularly unusual about that, she elaborated, as her father was occasionally required to work late into the night. On this particular night, however, things were very different: her father was clearly deeply distressed and even seemed to be on the verge of lapsing into a full blown anxiety attack.

After Desiree and her mother were finally able to calm him down, her father told a wild and extraordinary story: while walking to his car that night, he had seen, to his complete and utter horror, perched on a nearby building a large man like figure that was utterly black in color, and that seemed to have a large cape draped across its shoulders and back – and with two huge, wing like appendages sticking out of each side of the cape. Looking more bat -like than bird-like, the wings made a cracking noise as they slowly flapped in the strong, howling wind.

The creature, Desiree’s father told his amazed family, had clearly realized it had been seen. Not only that: he gained the very distinct impression that the beast was actually relishing that it had been noticed, and was even seemingly deriving some form of deranged, evil pleasure from the fact that it had struck terror into the heart of the man.

He could only stand and stare, frozen to the spot in complete and abject fear. The sheer horrific unreality of the situation – namely that of seeing a large, dark, gargoyle like entity, looming ominously over him from a rooftop at NASA’s Johnson Space Center – finally hit home with full force and Desiree’s father raced for his car, flung open the door, slammed it shut, and then sped off into the darkness. He did not attempt to look back even once.

Not surprisingly, the family suggested that reporting the encounter to his superiors might not be the wisest move. Desiree’s father agreed – for a short while, anyway. After a few weeks, however, the strange event was still gnawing steadily away at his mind and nerves, and he eventually confided in his immediate superior who, to his great surprise and relief, revealed that this was not the first time such a vile entity had been seen late at night roaming around the more shadowy parts of the Johnson Space Center. In other words, he was not going crazy or hallucinating: the beast was real and he was not the only witness, either.

Indeed, a secret file on the matter had reportedly been opened some months earlier; primarily because on one occasion, and in the very same location where the winged fiend had been seen, the remains of two dead and horrifically-mutilated German Shepherds had been found – their bodies drained of significant amounts of blood. And as a result of this latest encounter Desiree’s father was himself grilled intently about his experience by “NASA security people who were flown in from somewhere in Arizona – that much I know,” as Desiree succinctly worded it.

As for the flying monster, reportedly at least, it was never seen again.

Nick Redfern’s new book is The NASA Conspiracies: The Truth Behind the Moon Landings, Censored Photos, and the Face on Mars (New Page Books, 2010).

By Nick Redfern