(Describer) At a laptop:

I want to show you something. In 2007, a Fresno resident known only by the name Jose wanted to know why his dogs were constantly barking outside at night. So, he mounted a camera. While he was watching the footage in real time on a CCTV monitor, he saw something horrifying.

(Describer) A figure of just limbs walking.

This single grainy video sparked an internet sensation: the Fresno Nightcrawlers.

(Describer) Similar videos appear.

And as more people began to share similar videos, this digital cryptid took their first steps. Today, videos of the Fresno Nightcrawlers have millions of YouTube views and hundreds of postings on Reddit and so much collectible merchandise online, all supporting a growing fandom. Like Bigfoot and Nessie before it, it's the mysterious nature of the original images that adds to the appeal. It's undeniable this footage is eerie. And that brings us to the questions that keep us talking about them: Is this real or a hoax? And how does a single 20-second clip launch an entire legend?

[eerie music]

(Describer) In front of a faded handwritten letter, title: Monstrum. A skull sits on a mantel. Dr. Emily Zarka approaches framed artwork nearby.

The Fresno Nightcrawlers began with a single blurry photo, much like this one. This picture is known as the Cottingley Fairies photo. It's from a series of five photographs taken in 1917 by two young cousins, Elsie and Frances in Cottingley, England. It shows the girls posing with what appear to be real fairies. The photographs captivated the public and sparked debates about their authenticity. It was later revealed these were just paper cutouts, but it highlights the power of a single photo. Just like Nessie here. This is known as the "Surgeon's Photograph," taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson in 1934. It wasn't the first. That claim belongs to Hugh Gray in 1933, but it's the one that swam into our hearts, a grainy black and white photo that many believed to be evidence of a creature living in Loch Ness. The image was so captivating, so mysterious and hard to explain, that it quickly gained worldwide attention. When more images and eventually video footage surfaced, it was grainy, shaky, and blurry. But every new photo or video kept the mystery and the debate alive.

(Describer) At the laptop:

Bigfoot's legendary growth follows this template too.

(Describer) She plays footage of a furry creature walking.

This is the iconic Patterson-Gimlin footage taken in the forests of Northern California in 1967. The sensation this film sparked cannot be overstated. While the footage itself didn't provide conclusive proof of a hairy beast living undiscovered in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, it was enough to fuel the imaginations of people around the world. Those cryptids were captured with much older technology. You would think that as cameras advanced, we'd get clearer footage of these things, right? While the camera recording the Nightcrawlers footage is more advanced, the video that Jose shared publicly was a low-res mess. That's because it's actually a video of a video. Jose filmed the footage on his CCTV monitor with a video camera. The original footage has since been lost, some might say "conveniently." So, what can we learn from dissecting the tape?

(Describer) She plays it again.

Okay, so you start to see something coming into focus. It looks like there's two legs. It's walking kind of fast. I mean, it looks like a person walking, kind of. Doesn't look like it has a head. Trying to get the clear shot. Right, eh, okay, weird. So, it starts out with a normal wide human gait, and then kind of goes side to side. Wide-legged here, floppy. It looks like it's going down a hill maybe. I don't see, like, a string or anything, but it does actually have a shadow, which I'm not gonna lie is weird. But you never see the legs really moving the shadow, right? Shadow does get longer. That makes sense--gets closer to light and elongates. The more I look at it, the weirder it seems, not gonna lie. I think I get how you can fall down a rabbit hole with this, because the more you watch it and the more you hear about it, it's like, "Oh, well, maybe that's a possible cause." You just want to keep watching it over and over and over again. Fun.

(Describer) The light-colored figure is connected at the top.

After the 2007 footage, other reports and video clips began to surface, mostly from around the Fresno area. These sightings often involved brief glimpses of the creature with little to no clear details. So, what do people think they are seeing in these clips? Many people believe it's a cryptid, a biological creature that some say exist but hasn't been proven by science. Or maybe it's an extraterrestrial, an interventional being, a ghost, a haunted pair of pants. Maybe it's a weird animal encounter, like deer walking upright or an escaped ostrich running around. The debates and speculation about what the Nightcrawlers could be only help to keep the lore alive. But all of these theories assume that the videos are authentic and not hoaxes, which debunks the predominant theory. In 2010, the investigative sci-fi show "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" took a look at the original video and concluded that it was unexplainable. The jury is still out on what the camera actually captured, but there are many clips circulating the web that are decidedly hoaxes. In 2012, popular YouTuber Captain Disillusion posted a video showing how easy it is to create a Nightcrawler by carrying a watermelon and then digitally erasing his upper torso. The lore isn't built solely on the videos. There are a few alleged firsthand accounts of bumping into similar creatures. In 2014, a driver near Carmel, Ohio, claimed to see a 7'0" tall, gray-colored, bipedal humanoid walking like its knees were backward. Internet sleuths were quick to find the similarities between the Carmel creature sighting and the Fresno Nightcrawlers. The History Channel's "The Proof Is Out There" investigated a more recent video from 2020 by a man trying to figure out what killed a deer on his property. His security cameras captured footage of an unusual creature that looked like an upside down V walking in and out of frame. The History Channel's experts concluded that the video was a hoax, simply a puppet. Many cryptids like these reflect our fears and anxieties, or try to offer explanations for the unknown. The Chupacabra, for instance, became popular in Puerto Rico after a rash of strange livestock deaths. Slenderman can be read as a commentary on government surveillance that also reminds us to keep an eye on children and to teach them to avoid strangers. But in this respect, the Fresno Nightcrawlers are different. They lack a clear purpose, for lack of a better term, which makes the idea a little more abstract. This is more about wonder rather than fear. Is that part of what made this particular cryptid rise to fame? The Nightcrawler's appearance is so bizarre that it stands apart from other cryptids. Their whimsical but familiar, almost comical shape makes them unexpectedly endearing. Memes, fan art, and discussions helped spread the legend far beyond its original context. Let's face it, the Nightcrawlers are so delightfully weird that they're hard to ignore. Maybe that's why the marketplace is flooded with Fresno Nightcrawlers merch like this.

(Describer) A figure under glass.

Look at its little butt. I also think there's a cuteness factor. This doesn't feel like a cryptid that is out to hurt you. They just want to go about their walking-to-and-fro business. There's an interesting parallel to Dr. Seuss's story, "The Pale Green Pants With No Body Inside of Them." It predates the first Fresno Nightcrawler over 40 years, but is dramatically similar. The Nightcrawlers haven't had any physical encounters with humans, but if they did, I'm betting the story would go something like Dr. Seuss's version-- initial terror, then shared comradery. We sometimes need a reminder that the unfamiliar doesn't have to be scary. When people have a tangible thing to point to that serves as the foundation for discussion rather than a nebulous idea, they are more willing to engage with it. The Fresno Nightcrawlers began with one curious video clip that sparked controversy and hot debates. Cryptid, alien ghost, or something else entirely, what we don't know is what keeps us wondering. The Fresno Nightcrawlers are a modern mystery that asks, "Do we know everything that's out there?" just like the myths and stories of the past. Which makes me want to believe in them.

(Describer) Outtakes:

In 2007, a rep-- The video that Jose shared publicly was a low-res-- sorry, I didn't gesture. -[crew member laughs] -Ugh! He saw something horrifying. I feel like I'm watching "The Ring." It's gonna, like, suck me into the computer.

(Describer) Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.