Florida Gator Man

The Florida Gator Man is a cryptid sighted numerous times by one individual witness, solely recounted to Linda S. Godfrey. The incident occurred in 2010, during spring break, and was seen again several times over the following years. It was reported by an 18-year-old volunteer at a paleontology museum going to college for paleontology and zoology. Strange things occurred in the East side of Florida, in the St. Johns River delta, specifically an area referred to as the Black Tea River. The water was described as brackish, filled with sediment, and mostly 5 feet deep. A manatee was found with odd U-shaped bite marks in its front flipper, and a chunk of tail fin torn off. It was determined the bite could only be from an incredibly large alligator, uncommon to that specific area. One year later, the witness was in the River Laks Conservation Park with his Boy Scout troop. The encounter occurred at 7 pm around a patch of marsh going back to camp. He heard a small shifting of water and a hiss and turned to see a black figure. It stood in four feet of water but still extended above the waterline. It was sixty feet away, and dove towards the witness, who immediately ran away. He continued to hear odd vocalizations over the next several years. The next encounter occurred in April 2013 when the witness went into the river on a kayak. He arrived in a lagoon and noted the manatees leaving at an odd time and at surprising speed. He stopped to take a break and felt something bump his kayak. He assumed it was a manatee but the second bump sounded significantly harder. He saw the outline of the creature at least 14 feet in length, broad in the first 2/3s and tapering at the end. He quickly fled to the shore and jumped out on dry land, watching the shadow approach the shore 20 feet away. He could tell it was some kind of large alligator and backed up further to avoid it lunging, when the creature emerged from the water. It was blackish blue in coloration but the head seemed taller than normal crocodilians, compared vaguely to an extinct creature called a Rauisuchid. It had no lips and visible teeth. It had elbows passed the top of the body, with abnormally large arms and hands with five fingers closer together than normal. It had long, broad legs directly below the body rather than off to the side like most reptiles. It turned to glare at him and suddenly stood upright but hunched like a bear. It had a heavy build and stood six to seven feet in height. The underbelly was yellowish white, and its arms hung down to hips with its hands facing downwards. It let out a hiss like a deeper version of the typical alligator sound and snarled to let out a remarkably deep bellow. It turned away walking into the woods bipedally for 10 feet and then dropping to four legs to crawl away. The witness ran away and later met his friend who he had planned to hang out with and sleep on a sailboat. The witness awoke at 3 AM for no clear reason and was about to lie back down before hearing a hiss. He looked out the porthole and saw the same creature from earlier at the side of the canal they were in, approaching the boat. He woke his friend just in time for the creature to press its face against the porthole.  It had glowing yellow eyes more on the side of the head than forward and it angled its head down to look into the boat. It seemed threatening the whole time but didn’t appear to be looking for a meal. The two witnesses remained quiet and still due to fear of provoking it. It eventually left and the witnesses waited to leave for fear it was a trap. The witness no longer goes to the river out of fear but still sees it again in December of 2013 near the witness’s dock.

Citations:

Godfrey, Linda S.. American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America. United States, Penguin Publishing Group, 2014.