The Nightcrawler phenomenon began in 2007 in Fresno, now it exists as live folklore. Amassing a following who swoon with equal fascination and wonder. Like the Masked Magician, I will show you how I believe it is done.

As a member of ASSAP, The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena, moderating over the social pages of the education charity. The person who records the weekly webinars making them appealing with title graphics for their respective Youtube/Rumble/Bitchute channels. A topic occasionally rises in the threads and group chatter. One seemingly as heart-warming to the members as Gef The Talking Mongoose, that of the Fresno Nightcrawler. One that personally bubbles with a pool of wet frustration and darn right cynicism.

Many, many moons ago I was and I figure still am a member of AboveTopSecret.com a skeptically leaning forum news site, of advanced technology, UAP/UFO, paranormal and conspiracy. Though in more recent years has been swallowed by the enormity and divisive US politics and foreign policy activities. Coupled with such active conversations having migrated to social media rather than the ATS forums threads.

It was probably 2009, I saw a video of 2 “beings” walking side by side in the garden. One slightly smaller. Apparently walking compassess. wishbone-like both white in a garden. Left to right making ghostly steps silently. Filmed from a camera positioned likely outside of a bedroom window. It did the rounds, the comments and views of Google video and KillSomeTime clips was that it was another “Nightcrawler”, this time doubled.

In 2011, the video captured on residential Yosemite home security footage.

Then going back into the ATS posts, found the 2008 videos, and the UFO Media Matters 2009 mini docu, which contains footage taken at the 2008 MUFON Symposium, spliced with Victors own documentary recording of attending the Universion 21 Fresno studios, and then visiting Jose in Feb 2008. My interest, like many of the commentors, ended with their view being it is a fabrication. Perhaps using a washing line to pull it along or some kind of mechanism to tug it along making the feet walk like a marionette.


Leaving the topic there, never crossed my mind and active thoughts of weird anomalies until in 2020, when Hannah of ASSAPs Media exec said hey, would you like to represent ASSAP and comment on a video from a Japanese film company who are in Los Angeles. The video is about a pair of trousers running up a street. Is it paranormal? A ghost or has the Fresno Nightcrawler now moved to Los Angeles? Whilst I doubted its authenticity as an actual piece of paranormal footage. It is quite a remarkable bit of filmmaking, a pair of running white trousers that kicks a fence and goes under the shadows of a tree. Asking myself the question. If I were to recreate this, how would I do it?

With the event of fast-flow video content, tiktok, reels and youtube shorts, the topic of Nightcrawlers is fever pitch and twice have personally observed the topic trending high. Videos amassing millions of views. They all use the same footage clips of the various videos mentioned above. Often flipped around, zoomed in, recoloured. tiktokers, reelers and tubers often just copy each others trends, creating an amplification in the topic to viralize their content. Playing internet sleuth and using other users footage as their base. Pouting speculation and fake shocked faces. Unfortunately, very, very few ever give credit or reference the original source material.

“Load of bollocks!”

Richard Freeman, when asked at Seriously Strange 2023 about his thoughts on the Fresno Nightcrawler


In September 2023, the seed was planted that I had to demonstrate how this has been done, for science! Living in an upstairs apartment with no garden to speak of wasn’t as easy as simply going outside. So it just simmered in the back burner of the mind.

June 2024, another conversation occurred of online swooning in wonder at the Nightcrawler from the ASSAP chat on a Thursday live webinar, and another trend on the short form video platforms. Was the final kick I needed, The Secret of The Nightcrawler was underway. Finding a pair of trousers that exhibited similar motion, light in material and white. Well, I found a pair ideal for putting together for some filming however they were strikingly blue!

I picked up some paracord, and some blue washing line. Adding a coathanger to the trousers was ingenius way of not having to damage or modify them in anyway, afterall they are not mine! Threading the washing line around a kitchen door handle and under the hanger for a quick trial demo. I hypothesied that I would need perhaps two cords one to suspend the height and one to pull the “nightcrawler” along. However this quick demo across the kitchen, proved it could be done with just the one as I pulled it left and right, the feet kicked up nicely replicating the motion of the 2007/2011 videos.

The Midnight Experiment was a chance to try it walking a greater distance. Unfortunately, the plan of filming using night vision was scuppered as the smartphone with nightvision has become in need of repair as the touchscreen has become unresponsive. So using the surrounding street lighting was ideal to see naturally whilst operating the puppet mantis. The opposite when it came to the lighting for the video footage as you can see below. 

The Midnight Experiment with the guiding washing line attached to the goal did prove the puppet Nightcrawler is viable and demonstrated its functionality.

The Day Experiment went to a local nature reserve, looking for a wide space with trees present. I had not considered the wild grass creating drag on the steps. The goal of the Midnight Experiment had flat grass. So change position and tree, adding weight to the kitchen roll tube with additional pegs. This proved a winning combination. Demonstrating better steps closer to the 2007/2011 footage as the video shows and helping the motion through the wild grasses. 

Conclusion

I believe this demonstrates conclusively how those pieces of footage were created. Effectively puppets.

Intentionally the video contains structured information and sources of the original videos. Talking through where and when they entered the public forum. As Three Chapters. The History of the Fresno Nightcrawler, The Secret of The Nightcrawler and The Slaying of the Nightcrawler. What is most interesting and I hope I have captured that there is live folklore in action. We know when the story had its beginning, we have seen the changes and embellishments have entered the lineage of the story.

Without further ado, Presenting The Secret Of The Nightcrawler