Let me tell you the story of my encounter with what could have been the famed chupacabra - also known as the goat sucker from its reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock. Late one evening, I let my dog Jessie outside to pee. It was a nice warm evening so I stepped outside to check out the stars. As I stepped outside onto my deck, I saw 50 feet to my left what looked like red fire or a small red flame in some bushes, but the bush wasn't being consumed. I know what you're thinking - Tom Keating thinks he's Moses!! [Exodus 3: 2-4 God appears to Moses in the form of a "bush on fire that does not burn up" and calls to him]
These bushes line a 3 foot high rock wall that parallels the condos and with a steep 100 foot incline just feet behind the bushes. The red dots were too small and not spreading so I immediately discounted any "burning bush" or "God wants to speak to me" theories. Curious, I walked barefoot onto the grass to go check it out. I got to within 2 feet of the two red lights and I still couldn't figure out what it was. But the best way to describe the color is that they looked very similar to a red laser pointer only much bigger. The lights were perfectly symmetrical and separated by a distance of only 1.75-3 inches apart and they appeared to me to be the eyes of an animal.
However, I know of no "proven" animal that has red luminescent eyes. Sure, if you shine a bright light onto some animals (dogs, cats) you can get a reflective glow, but it was pitch black out with no light source that I could see. The only animal that I knew about that has red eyes is the rumored Chupacabra. I remembered learning about the Chupacabra on the TV show Sightings. The Chupacabra even made an appearance on one of my favorite series of all times - the X-Files. According to the Wiki, "Some reports claim the chupacabra's red eyes have the ability to hypnotize and paralyze their prey—the prey animal is mentally stunned, allowing the chupacabras to suck the animal's blood at its leisure." Well if I can avoid being hypnotized by the red lights and catch and prove that the Chupacabra exists, I'd be famous.
Some might speculate that it could have been a reflection off a mirror or something. This is not a plausible theory. There is a huge steep incline just behind the bushes so if there was some light source reflecting of a mirror, then the light source would have to be located in front of the bushes where I stood. I stood at every conceivable angle in front of the lights up to one foot away. If it was a reflection of some sort, it would reflect light differently depending on the angle I stood and I would also block the light with my body at some point, which didn't happen.
So getting back to the story - I inched my face closer and closer to the red lights (each about 1/2 - 2/3 of an inch). The red lights were perfectly still. I started to reach my hand out to touch the lights, with my heart pounding and knowing that whatever it was could probably see me better than I could see it. As my hand got to just inches away I heard this low growl coming from the lights... or at least I thought I hear a growl, but I couldn't really be sure. I thought my mind might have imagined it or it could have been my dog that was standing near me. My heart leapt into my throat and I held my hand motionless, still just inches away. Part of me, the daring and curious side, still wanted to know what the heck this thing was. I remember thinking "Should I just quickly grab it?", while the other side of me was thinking "You value your hand, right?"
Just as I was debating what to do, the red lights turned off - simultaneously. The way they turned off looked like it was an animal closing its eyelids. The circular red dots didn't just go off instantly. Rather, the top of the red dot was blackened first and the red light going off progressed downward, as would happen if you slowly closed your eyes. Now I was really freaked out. It looked precisely like eyelids slowly covering red luminescent eyeballs.
I stood there motionless for another couple of minutes waiting to hear a rustle in the bushes but I heard nothing and I saw nothing. I then quickly went back into my condo and retrieved a flashlight. I went back to the bush, shined the flashlight and saw…
nothing. Whatever it was - was now gone. I was very disappointed I didn't figure out what the heck it was. If it was indeed a chupacbra, I missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Of course, there is probably a much more rational explanation for what I saw. I've used every ounce of my computer engineering brain to figure out what this was. I Googled every conceivable combination of "red lights animal", "red eyes creature", etc. Nothing.
It has now officially been almost 4 years since I saw these mysterious red lights. I even remember the date - Tuesday, August 6th, 2002 and of course the location - Norwalk condos on Flax Hill Road. I returned at the same exact time several nights in a row to see if whatever it was would return, but it never did.
I even told my then fiance', Nicole, that if she solved the mystery I'd buy her an engagement ring. She wasn't able to figure it out, so she had to wait another 6 months before I proposed. She knows that I was only kidding with her, but I really wanted to know what these lights were. If anyone has any theories on what I saw, feel free to post a comment. Until then, I'm sticking with my Chupacabra theory.
(X-Files Theme snippet:)
android apple asterisk at&t blackberry cell phone cisco dell digium e911 facebook fcc google google talk gps im ip-pbx ipad iphone ipod itexpo ITEXPO lync microsoft mobile phone open source outage phone review sip skype sony unified communications verizon video video conferencing voip vonage wireless xbox 360
- Apple (280)
- Bittorrent (2)
- Call Center and CRM (48)
- Computer Hardware (183)
- Computer Software (71)
- Gadgets (650)
- Google (225)
- Home Entertainment (264)
- Internet (173)
- Linux (111)
- Microsoft (376)
- MovableType (48)
- News (187)
- Personal and Humor (118)
- Politics (9)
- Reviews (246)
- Security (2)
- Social Networking (42)
- Sports/Outdoor Technology (9)
- Tablets (32)
- Technology and Science (355)
- Unified Communications (471)
- VoIP (2285)
- Wireless (584)
- p2p (20)
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
Featured Videos