Sky Snakes: Extraterrestrial Anomaly or Mere Fiction?

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries presented us with many a mystery. These range from baffling crimes and murders to otherworldly ETs, cryptids and not to mention a plethora of haunted houses. One such enigma is the sky snake, whose reports started to slither around ever since the late 1800s and continues to this day. Here's the tale of how this alien anomaly, or unknown cryptid found its way starting from the houses of nineteenth century farmers all the way to NASA rover photos.

Strange Accounts of Sky Snakes 

Fascinating accounts of sky snakes have surfaced over centuries, here are some really convincing ones, as documented by Jerome Clark from the Fortean Times Magazine:

In June 1873, a farmer identified as Mr Hardin, who lived a few miles east of Bonham, Texas, observed, along with workers in nearby fields, an “enormous serpent… as large and long as a telegraph pole… of a yellow striped colour”, in the words of the Bonham Enterprise. That would have been remarkable enough,  except that this was floating in a cloud heading in an easterly direction. The witnesses “could see it coil itself up, turn over, and thrust forward its huge head as if striking at something, displaying the manœuvres of a genuine snake”. At Fort Scott, Kansas, not long afterwards, at mid-morning on the 26th of the same month, two persons, unnamed but described as “reliable parties” willing to swear to it by affidavit, reported seeing a “huge serpent, apparently perfect in form” encircle the Sun. It was clearly visible for a short time, then vanished from sight. The New York Times took note of the two stories in successive editions on 6 and 7 July. It called the Bonham sighting “the very worst case of delirium tremens on record”. 

The Gridley Herald quotes their testimony from a letter they wrote to the newspaper: “We were startled by the sound of many wings flapping in the air. Looking up, we perceived passing over our head, not more than 40ft [12m] above the tree tops, a creature that looked something like a crocodile. It was, to the best of our judgment, not less than 18ft [5.5m] in length, and would measure 2ft [61cm] across the body from the head to the tail, a distance of probably 12ft [3.6m]. The tail was about 4ft [1.2m] long, and tapered from the body to a point probably 8in [20cm] wide. The head was in the neighborhood of 2ft in length and the jaws (for its mouth was open) could not have been less than 16in [41cm] long. On each side of the body, between the head and the tail were six wings, each projecting between 18in [46cm] or 2ft [61cm] from the body. As near as we could see, these wings were about 15in [38cm] broad and appeared to be formed similar to a duck’s foot. On the other part of the body we counted 12 feet, six on a side.” 

The St. Louis Republic recorded a tale in 1895: “A number of persons living in the vicinity of Reedley, Fresno County, Cal., all reputable citizens, too, swear that they have seen and hunted two dragons with wings 15ft [4.6m] long, bodies without covering of hair or feathers, head broad, bills long and wide, eyes not less than 4in [10cm] in diameter, and with feet like those of an alligator somewhat, though more circular in form. They have five toes on each foot, with a strong claw on each, and its tracks are 11in [28cm] wide and 10in [25cm] long.” 

Sky Snake in NASA Shuttle Discovery Orbit Photo

The photo on the right is the original orbit photo as taken by NASA in 2001. Nothing extraordinary in it to the naked eye. But a highly magnified version of the same, as the photo on the left, clearly shows a sky snake hovering in the earth's atmosphere. A link to the original NASA photo can be found here.

Sky Snakes and UFOs

Flying serpents aren't always otherworldly. Certain flying snakes do exist in nature, which can glide at a height of a few feet from the ground in a manner similar to the flying squirrel. However, the one's which gather Ufological interest are the ones which are seen flying high above in the sky, often at the same altitude as the clouds, and sometimes end up in NASA satellite images as the one above. The ability to fly so high well surpasses any known flying snake, leaving people wondering whether they are UFOs. We know there are disc-shaped UFOs, triangular UFOs and even star-shaped UFOs. So why not, snake-shaped ones?

Sky Snakes in the Ancient World

Although the descriptions and abilities of sky snakes are well contrasted to any known cryptid or UFO, it does resemble a creature that has been around ever since the times of Ancient Britain and China. It's called the Dragon. British folklore speaks of brave knights that lived to rescue the world from these winged monsters, while Chinese myths believe them to be intelligent and reasonable beings with supernatural abilities. Whichever mythology you chose to believe, this does open up the idea of ancient aliens making themselves known to humankind using advanced snake shaped UFOs, and uneducated men attributing them to the supernatural.

Do you believe in the sky snakes? Ever spotted one yourself? Use this form to submit your story or leave a comment below.

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Categories: Anomaly, Extraterrestrial, Fiction, Snakes