The Siren
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-Transcript-
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The rise of technology has pushed mankind’s final frontier into the stars. Though, even with all the technical advancements in our present day, there are still many remote places in our world left outside our watchful eye. For example, who knows what lays in the deepest depths of our oceans. Or what hides tangled within our most expansive forests. Or even what survives in the frozen wastelands of our coldest climates. Life existed long before humankind declared itself supreme through conquests and annihilation. How many of these primordial creatures lay dormant in the darkest corners of our planet? And most importantly, do they hold any ill-will against man’s hubris?
Today the Blackridge Society will be discussing the newly discovered cryptid know as: The Siren.
Cryptozoology, or the study of hidden animals, has long been the cornerstone focus of the Blackridge Society. Skeptics believe this to be a pseudoscience that presumes the existence of animals based on insufficient or inadmissible evidence. Fact of the matter is, the scientific community is constantly discovering new species, and has collected evidence of creatures that remain unclassified to this day. We at the Society simply adopt the stance that: folklore, despite its lack of credibility, comes from a very real place in the human psyche. And while, true, many myths and legends are cases of misunderstandings, untethered imaginations, or losses in translation. Some of it is very well be rooted in reality. We just tend to compartmentalize the glimpses taken into void under the same safe spaces we do childish fables.
Agent Sunny and Agent Tropic have been spearheading the Blackridge Society’s cryptozoology sector since the divisions inception in 1982. Throughout the years they’ve produced a variety of results and catalogued a vast collection of cryptid data. Recently, the two agents have been working in tandem with state troopers and the highway military patrol on solving a string of missing persons cases scattered along route 20. However, the joint venture has been proving difficult, as route 20 is the longest interstate highway in the United States, stretching from Newport, Oregon all the way to Boston, Massachusetts. Furthermore, the 411’s don’t follow a linear progression. Instead, they hop around sporadically, sometimes appearing to be completely random. Despite its irregularities, the scene of the presumed crime in each of these cases is eerily identical. A car is found pulled over to the side of the road, typically in a densely forested region. It’s left running with the driver’s side door hanging open. There are never any signs of a struggle or automotive troubles, and most importantly, there’s never any sign of its owner around either. They simply vanish without a trace. Never to be heard from again.
These strings of disappearance have baffled authorities for months. No tangible pattern can be deduced and demographics vary wildly. The investigation had been at a dead end for quite some time until one day a man by the name of Jeffery Keel burst into the Livingston Montana police department with a story so bombastic, it immediately caught the Blackridge Societies attention.
The following is taken from his recorded statement on August 27th, 2021:
“I was driving home from work just as I do every single day. It was around 6pm, already getting dark. They said it was supposed to be cold tonight, but the air outside was nice, so I had my windows rolled down and the stereo up. It was as I was passing through the Henryville bluff, you know, the section of I-20 that cuts through Yellowstone park, that I hear these odd howls in the distance. First thing I thought was cayotes, I mean they get pretty loud in the fall, but… as I drove onward, a clear melody came into focus. It was singing. Wordless stings of notes fluttering around in the night sky.
Their tune caused my mind to go blank. No matter how much I’d struggle to muster a thought, how much I’d struggle to… process what was happening, I simply could not focus long enough to draw any conclusions. Soon after I found myself pulling over, and without hesitation, I exited my car, and walked into the woods. Although I have to say… walk isn’t an accurate description. It was like I was being pulled along by a leash, guided towards the source of those tantalizing notes. And while my mind was in some sort of trance, and I was being led through no will of my own, something primal inside of me was bleating on high alert. Adrenaline flooded over, and fight or flight was telling me to flee, but it’s warnings had no power over that silky voice echoing from between the trees. Something about that voice carried me onward, much like hunger does to the smell of food.
Suddenly, I saw the dark outline of a woman in the distance. Her defining features were shrouded by the veil of night, but her silhouette beckoned me to come closer. As I approached, the forest opened into a clearing. The crunch of twigs and leaves under my footfalls mixed with the reverberating twang of the mysterious melody. That’s when the clouds parted, and the moon illuminated our surroundings. Light hit the contours of this person before me, revealing their true nature.
It wasn’t human. It was impersonating a human.
The curves of the woman melded into the trunk of what appeared to be a tree. Her skin was not the rosy pink one would expect, instead it matched the texture of bark. But the surface of the tree was not wooden, instead it appeared covered in a wrinkly leathery tarp, flesh-like in nature.
“What are you?” was all I could muster.
(A response is heard.)“Our name’s long forgotten”
That’s when the moonlight diverted my gaze towards the forest bed. It hadn’t been plant litter crunching under my steps, it was bones. I was standing on a graveyard of bones.
Pulling itself up from the ground, the thing stood on its roots like a spider. Tendrils burst from all around the creature, wrapping themselves around me, drawing me in closer. I was face to face with that thing. The mouth on that scarecrow-like imitation of woman unhinged it’s jaw, flashing lines of razor thin teeth. Then it shoved my head into its maw and chomped down.
Thank god for the metal plate in my head.
It must of broken a couple teeth because it screamed out in a pained guttural noise. Seemed caught off guard, immediately dropping me… so I didn’t take any chances and ran right out of there. Straight back to my car. Then drove straight here to you guys.”
Upon investigating the scene of the incident, no evidence collaborating Mr. Keels story could be located.
Two weeks later. Jeffery Keel went missing.
He remains missing to this day.
The Blackridge Society would like to issue a warning. While we continue to look into this phenomenon, we urge listeners to avoid driving down route-20 with their windows down. And please, do not fall victim to the sirens song.
