Are Cryptids Circus Escapes? Hopkinsville Goblins and More

If you research cryptozoology, you have probably heard the "circus escape" theory before. Skeptics use it all the time to try to explain cryptid sightings. It has been used for things like mystery big cats, Bigfoot, and the Hopkinsville Goblins.

The Goblins are the main focus of Nick Redfern's new Mysterious Universe post on cryptids and circus escapes. You can check out that post right here, and find out more about the Goblins below.

It was a normal night on August 21, 1955. A family named the Taylor's were visiting the Sutton's at their rural farmhouse in Kelly, Kentucky. Billy Ray Taylor went outside to the well to get some water. Soon, he came running back into the house saying he had seen a strange, glowing craft land on the property. No one really believed him.

Later, the Sutton's dog came running back to the house whining and hid under the porch. "Lucky" Sutton and Billy Ray Taylor grabbed guns and went outside to see what was there. When  they got outside, they saw a strange being that was about three feet tall and holding its arms up in the air. The being's hand ended in claws, it had short legs, a large mouth, large eyes, and large ears. Both men fired at the creature and swear they hit it, but it just did a backflip and ran off into the night.

Drawing of the aliens that terrorized to families in 1955

When they got back in the house, the creature or another one just like it, was looking in the window. More shots were fired, and a window was blown out, but whatever-it-was was still unharmed. When the men were outside looking for it, a clawed hand reached down from the roof. The being simply floated from the roof and ran off.

Several more hours of war with the aliens went by, and eventually the Taylor's and Sutton's got in vehicles and went to the local sheriff. Of course, when police came, the aliens were gone. The officers, however, believed the people had actually encountered something.

Some people have used the circus escape theory to try to explain the Hopkinsville Goblins encounter above. Now, do those things sound like monkeys to you? If they were, how did they float, and how did the gunshots not kill them? And what about the UFO?

You can read about the monkey theory and more in Nick's post.