Mack Maloney's Military X-Files - The Story of the Van Meter Visitor

October 12, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Van Meter Visitor Festival in Iowa draws a modest but devoted crowd each year to commemorate a week in 1903 when a winged creature terrorized the small town. The creature was described as eight feet tall with a pterodactyl-like body, a raptor beak, a horn, a light-emitting forehead, and the ability to emit a vapor that knocked people unconscious. Prominent townspeople—including the bank manager, the doctor, the hardware store owner, and the coal mine director—all saw it, chased it, shot at it without effect, and eventually drove it into an abandoned mine, which they sealed shut. The story has persisted for over a century, and Brandy, a regular on the show, drove ten hours from Wisconsin to attend the festival, where she heard from four speakers on cryptids and the nature of paranormal experience.

The Van Meter Visitor and the nature of cryptid sightings

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What you'll learn

1 (19:08) **Brandy Returns from the Van Meter Visitor Festival** - Brandy joins the show after a two-week road trip to Iowa
2 (25:23) **The Van Meter Visitor: Creature History and Description** - Brandy explains the 1903 cryptid that terrorized a small Iowa town for a week
3 (29:29) **Similar Cryptid Sightings Across America** - The hosts compare the Van Meter Visitor to other winged creature reports and the Springheel Jack phenomenon
4 (34:36) **Inside the Van Meter Visitor Festival** - Brandy describes the festival's speakers, vendors, and atmosphere
5 (38:35) **Do Expectations Shape Paranormal Encounters?** - The hosts debate whether culture and personal bias influence what people see in cryptid and UFO encounters
6 (41:58) **Festival Food, Drinks, and Brandy's Sobriety** - Brandy describes the themed drink specials and reveals she has never consumed alcohol
7 (48:37) **Susan Kay Joins: Horse Training and Thoroughbred History** - Susan discusses her horse Rudy Tootie's attitude problems and the origins of thoroughbred horses

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Show Notes

Brandi tells the bizarre story of the Van Meter Visitor, a mysterious creature that terrorized a small Iowa town in 1903. Plus, how alien appearances have changed over the years, the mystery of Spring-Heeled Jack, and Brandi's surprising revelation that she's a certified junior high football coach.

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