Okay, I thought it was about time for a light-hearted story, or at least a tale when nobody dies.
Thus, I give you the story of Momo.
No, not that creepy statue that has been trending, but I might cover that one later (not as light-hearted though). This is about the Missouri Monster, Momo.
Let's go.
The Missouri Monster, or Momo, is a cryptid. What is a cryptid, you might ask? It is an animal/ creature that is believed to exist but cannot be proven. Think of the Loch Ness monster or Moth man.
Anyway. Momo is a bigfoot-like creature that has been spotted up and down the Mississippi River near Louisiana, Missouri. This 7-12 foot tall creature is reported to be covered in thick, black hair and walks on two legs like a human. Please note that I said hair and not fur. Though the compounds of hair and fur are identical, fur is used to describe something inhuman, and most interviews mention hair, giving credit to the creature's humanlike stature.
This creature has so much hair that locals even mention that it has hair covering its eyes. Does this mean it's just long, or are we actually talking about fuzzy eyeballs?
Regardless, locals agree that this bigfoot resembles a shag carpet, and given the first sighting was in 1971, this description is everything.
The creature is noted to have a pumpkin-shaped head. For some reason makes this cryptid even scarier to me. Perhaps because that isn't a "normal" shape for a head, making Momo more unsettling.
(Source: StateofHorror)
Last note on the creature description-wise, it smelt awful. A local, Vivian Houchins, commented: "The odor is worse than any old goat that you ever smelled."
I'm sorry but as cute as goats are, they smell. I can only imagine the stink on the 12-foot tall creature. Those who didn't witness the creature say that they could smell and/or hear it. Given that this area is prominent for bears, there is a good chance that Momo is just a massive bear. Kind of takes the fun out of this story, though.
Moving on.
Momo's first sighting was in 1971 by Joan Mills and Mary Ryan, near Louisiana, Missouri. That was all I found on that sighting. The Harrison and Houchins families had some tea on the creature, though.
On July 11, 1972, at 3:30 pm, Momo was seen again. The three Harrison children were the next to experience this pumpkin-headed beast, and like any sane person, they ran inside screaming. The woods near where the children claimed to had seen Momo were investigated, and tracks were found. Footprints appeared for the next two weeks, and the Director of Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden, Laurence Curtis, claimed that the tracks were from an unknown primate after examining them.
I could be wrong, but primates are not found in rural Missouri. This could be what made this cryptid so enticing.
On a serious note, primates have similar footprints to humans. Why didn't they say it was a large person? No offense Missouri, but we aren't all eating kale salads every day. Not fat-shaming, just sharing my experience of going to Walmart at 1 am.
Okay. Other stories. I talked about Vivian Houchins, who never saw the creature itself but could smell it. Maybe he was too embarrassed by his farts and decided to blame them on Momo? Who knows, just throwing it out there.
At this point, quite a few people had stories about Momo, and a monster hunt was initiated.
I'm sorry, all I can picture is the beast hunt on Beauty and the Beast. I don't know why, but that was the first thing I imagined when I read about this part.
So yeah, a couple of hundred people showed up with their guns in Louisiana, Missouri, to track down a bigfoot.
I'm not surprised. It's the 1970s, and not a lot is going on. Fuck. It's 2020, and there still isn't a lot going on in Missouri.
This was not successful, and eventually, everyone got bored and went home.
Let's circle back to the Harrison Family.
During a church meeting at Mrs. Harrison's house, growls were heard in the trees surrounding her home. She later noted that it sounded like a gorilla and, therefore, must be a bigfoot. What was her reasoning? Well, there were bigfoots in Canada, so there must be bigfoots in Missouri. Logical.
So what does Mr. Harrison do about all this? He baits bigfoot by trying fish or ham to trees in the hills where Momo was most frequently seen. This didn't work. Nothing was messing with the rotting flesh strapped to random trees in the woods.
Barf. I'm vegan by the way, so have fun reading 'flesh' every time I mention meat.
Mr. Harrison is bummed. He thought that would work, but he didn't give up.
He then decided to use live bait.
Please prepare yourself emotionally for this next part.
What did he use as live-bait? No other than the family fucking dog! I'm sorry, but for the love of anything, do not use your dog as live-bait for ANYTHING! Like at that point, just strap little Jimmy up to that tree. But don't. Please don't. Hurting children and animals makes you a dick, now moving on.
The dog lived, fear not. Also, Mr. Harrison stated that he didn't leave the dog there but hid nearby with his gun. But still. Never use the family dog as bait.
Nothing happened, and Mr. Harrison gave up. He still thinks that the creature is out there somewhere, they just haven't caught it yet.
Though stories involving the Harrison and Houchins families were the most profound, other stories surround the tale Momo. For example, people began to say that they saw Momo throw a sports car into a ditch.
Sure, Bob, you didn't get a little too crazy out there on some backroads.
If you have ever driven the backroads in Missouri, you will know that they are bendy as shit. We literally have a place called Death Valley, which is a series of crazy hills that have claimed hundreds of lives over the years. I remember driving this with my dad when we would go camping, and I know I got sick at least once.
Other than the sports car, one person saw Momo cross Highway 79 with a dog or sheep in its's mouth.
Lastly, Another individual mentioned that Momo had three toes on each foot and had green/red eyes. I want to know how close this person was to the creature and why didn't they mention the smell. That leads me to doubt it, and they lived, so there's that.
I guess beware if you come to Missouri, we have a bigfoot. Or some poor unfortunate wild-person that everyone thinks is a bigfoot.
-Tye
Always Cite Those Sources:
Banias, MJ. “The Missouri Monster 'Momo' Is the Cryptid Time Forgot.” Vice, 30 Sept. 2019, www.vice.com/en_us/article/evja34/the-missouri-monster-momo-is-the-cryptid-time-forgot.
Wilks, Ed. “1972: Mo Mo the Monster Becomes the Talk of the Town.” Stltoday.com, 20 July 2019, www.stltoday.com/news/archives/mo-mo-the-monster-becomes-the-talk-of-the-town/article_ec718a48-3c97-5898-b6e0-f2516f579ad0.html.
“Momo the Monster.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momo_the_Monster.
Momo, www.stateofhorror.com/momo.html.
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