Cryptids and UFOs in California

Creatures reported in California

Tahoe Tessieaka Tessie, Lake Tahoe monsterThe cold, very deep lake on the California-Nevada line has its own Nessie.Mystery airshipsaka Phantom airship, Mystery airshipLit-up 'airships' reported across America years before anyone could build one.Nordic aliensaka Nordics, PleiadiansTall, fair-haired, human-looking visitors from 1950s contactee stories.Bigfootaka Sasquatch, SkookumA huge, hair-covered, upright ape said to roam North American forests.Knockersaka Tommyknockers, KnackersLittle mine spirits whose knocking warned Cornish and American miners of rich ore and cave-ins.Fresno Nightcrawlersaka Nightcrawlers, Fresno nightcrawlerWalking pairs of white legs caught on a Fresno security camera.

Famous cases

1. 1865Coggin serpent report
   Tahoe Tessie · Lake Tahoe
2. 1896Sacramento sightings
   Mystery airships · Sacramento, California
3. 1952Adamski meets Orthon
   Nordic aliens · Desert Center, California
4. 1958Bluff Creek footprints
   Bigfoot · Humboldt County, California
5. 1963Herbert Hoover writes to Grass Valley about tommyknockers
   Knockers · Grass Valley, California
6. 1967Patterson-Gimlin film
   Bigfoot · Bluff Creek, California
7. 2005V-shaped wake report
   Tahoe Tessie · Lake Tahoe
8. 2007First security camera clip
   Fresno Nightcrawlers · Fresno, California
9. 2011Yosemite Lakes Park footage
   Fresno Nightcrawlers · Yosemite Lakes Park, California

UFO files

• 794 US Air Force Project Blue Book files from California, 1947 to 1969
• 38 FAA pilot reports of lights and objects over California, 2007 to 2024
• Saw a strange light? Check whether it was a planet

Encounters and mysteries

• The Cisco Grove encounterNear Cisco Grove, Placer County, California, USA, 1964A bow hunter stranded in the Sierra said silver-suited beings and a robot kept him trapped up a pine tree all night.
• Battle of Los AngelesLos Angeles, California, 1942Three months after Pearl Harbor, air-raid sirens sounded over Los Angeles and Army anti-aircraft guns fired about 1,400 shells at something in the night sky. Se...

From the old newspapers

Strange creatures, sea serpents and mystery airships reported in California papers before 1927.

1. 1886A 50-foot monster crosses San Diego Bay
   San Diego
2. 1890A serpent in the Sacramento overflow
   Pleasant Grove
3. 1891The Capay Valley what-is-it
   Rumsey
4. 1891The dragons of Fresno
   Selma
5. 1891A wild man run down in the Hayward hills
   Hayward
6. 1892A giant reptile in the desert near Daggett
   Daggett
7. 1892A screaming thing under the Cloverdale bridge
   Cloverdale
8. 1896A vulture as tall as a man
   Chino
9. 1896A bright light crosses Sacramento
   Sacramento
10. 1896The mayor's men see it over the ocean
    San Francisco
11. 1896A lawyer says his client built the airship
    San Francisco
12. 1896The light returns to Sacramento
    Sacramento

All 30 newspaper reports from California

Places to visit

• Willow Creek-China Flat Museum (Bigfoot Collection)Willow CreekA local history museum in the self-styled Bigfoot Capital of the World, with a whole Bigfoot wing of track casts, photos and newspaper clippings.
• Bigfoot DazeWillow CreekThe Bigfoot Capital's hometown party, running for more than 60 years, with a parade and small-town fun. It moved from Labor Day to late June in 2026.
• Contact in the DesertIndian WellsBilled as the biggest UFO conference around: five days of talks, workshops and night sky watches in the Coachella Valley.
• The IntegratronLandersA wooden dome George Van Tassel began in the 1950s after messages he said came from Venusians. Today it hosts booked sound baths.
• Bigfoot Scenic BywayOrleansCalifornia Highway 96 along the Klamath River from Willow Creek to Happy Camp, promoted as the region with the most Bigfoot sightings anywhere.
• Alien Fresh JerkyBakerAn alien-themed jerky store on the way to Vegas, with spaceship props and flavours like Abducted Cow Teriyaki.

More about visiting in California · Events and festivals

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