The Fresno Nightcrawler is often described as a walking pair of pants. This humanoid cryptid is white and thin, with two long legs attached to a miniature torso, no arms, and a rounded head at the top.
Originating in—you guessed it—Fresno, California, this unusual creature dubbed the “nightcrawler” has become a sort of quirky mascot for the city. But beyond local buzz, the mysterious creature has taken the internet by storm, generating Fresno nightcrawler memes, costumes, art, clothing, and even adorable plushies.
But what exactly is this strange beast that has captured everyone's hearts?
First Sighting of the Fresno Nightcrawler
The very first recorded sighting took place in South Fresno in 2007. A man named Jose was awoken in the middle of the night by his dog barking, prompting him to rush to check his surveillance feed.
Captured in low quality CCTV footage, the peculiar cryptid walked across the screen from the top left to the bottom right. Not far behind was a second identical creature following in the same direction, leading many to believe the creatures travel in pairs.
The man rushed to wake his brother, who allegedly went outside and found small footprints across the yard. However, according to reports, any trace of the odd creatures had disappeared to the rain by the time investigators arrived.
The Fresno Nightcrawler footage exploded in popularity when it was featured on the History Channel's The Proof Is Out There. It quickly went viral across all corners of the internet.
While the original CCTV recording is said to be lost, this bizarre entity had already left its mark on the public consciousness.
Is the Fresno Nightcrawler real?
This is the question everyone's asking — but it's not so easily answered. Most of the evidence comes from blurry security camera captures.
In 2011, the Fresno Nightcrawler was spotted a little bit further away in Yosemite Lakes Park. Once again captured on security footage, this sighting seemed to include an older creature and what is speculated to be a baby.
The larger creature in this footage seemed to have some sort of webbing connecting the knees to the upper body. Unlike the previous video, the feet of these creatures can be clearly seen.
Sometime later, a shaky handheld video from Poland showed evidence of these creatures as well.
The glimpse of the cryptid was extremely brief in this instance. However, it appeared to look more visually similar to the Nightcrawler depicted in the video from Yosemite.
A Nightcrawler was spotted once more in Billings, Montana in April of 2020. A home surveillance system caught a creature shuffling across the ground, and at one point it appeared to be flying.
Later, the homeowner that captured the video discovered a dead deer with a hole through its side. It's speculated the hole was left by a powerful kick from the Nightcrawler.
Is the Fresno Nightcrawler Related to the Carmel Area Creature?
Near Carmel, Ohio, a creature similar to the Fresno Nightcrawler was spotted in December of 2014. The witnesses—a 60-year-old marine and his wife—were driving in the area when they spotted the odd entity walking up over a hill.
This cryptid, dubbed the Carmel Area Creature, is said to be similar in shape to the Nightcrawler, yet taller, more muscular, and slightly gray in color. It differs, too, in that its knees bend backward as it walks.
The couple that spotted the creature also note that there is a circle of grass in their front yard that stays green no matter what—in any weather. They believe it to be some sort of alien.
But could it be the same creature, or at least one related, to the Fresno Nightcrawler?
Possible Explanations Behind the Fresno Nightcrawler
There are some that are firm believers in the existence of the Fresno Nightcrawler, and there are some that turn up their nose at the idea. On both sides of the line, there are several posed explanations for these odd creatures.
Those that believe the tales of the Fresno Nightcrawler to be true speculate that it could be a creature from another planet, leading some to call it the Fresno Alien. Others believe it to be a new or yet to be identified species in the primate order.
For a time there were rumors that this creature was linked to Indigenous folklore in the Fresno reason, but those claims have since been debunked.
The people that believe all traces of the Nightcrawlers are a hoax have theorized that videos were faked with puppeteered pants on a wire, a person on stilts, or a balloon attached to cloth piloted by toy cars.
Those who think people's imaginations have simply gotten away from them have posited that what they saw on the security footage might just be a strange bird or a misidentified deer walking upright.
While some of the videos and images floating around on the internet have been confirmed to be fake, simply to prove how easy faking a video would be, not all of them have been disproven.
The SyFy show Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files investigated the case of the Nightcrawlers. They declared that a review of the footage was inconclusive in determining if it was a hoax or not.
Are Fresno Nightcrawlers Dangerous?
Without much but legs to work with, the Nightcrawlers present a mostly harmless visage. Given the way they walk and their unusual shape, the creatures are a little bit goofy.
Many cryptids in popular culture have been around for quite some time. Many are linked to ancient folklore, and even widely known creatures like Bigfoot first had reports back in the 1800s.
For a cryptid first spotted in recent times to establish itself so firmly is a testament to just how interesting the Fresno Nightcrawler is. Or perhaps it's the fact that its…cute?
The last cryptid to capture the world's—and the internet's—heart like this was Mothman (a personal favorite), but while many people still find him to be eerie, most find pure joy in the Fresno Nightcrawler.
Weirdos like us are always going to latch on to the strange and unusual, and these cryptids are all fun and no scares. It's a new enough mystery that people are invested in investigating, and visually striking enough that everyone is excited to create art.
Take a stroll through Etsy or any strange craft website and you'll find endless stickers, art prints, shirts, jewelry, and stuffed animals dedicated to this cute cryptid.
It seems the craze around the Fresno Nightcrawler is less centered around the wheres and whys, and more around a desire to get to know this strange little guy.
Fresno Nightcrawler Video
Here is one of the more popular video captures of a Fresno nightcrawler. There are many more videos across YouTube.
