In the first half of the show, ufologist and cryptozoologist Nick Redfern talked about his new book Monsters of Texas and shared tales of bizarre creatures reported in the Lone Star State.
One cryptid that he discussed was the Texas Chupacabras, which Redfern noted has a number of distinct characteristics that set it apart from the entity in Puerto Rico that shares the name. For instance, the Texas Chupacabras has been reported as hairless, with shorter front legs that give it a hopping gait, and its top jaw hangs over its bottom jaw significantly. While some skeptics point to the lack of hair as a sign that the Texas Chupacabras is merely a dog with mange, Redfern dismissed this idea since, unlike dogs who have the affliction, the animal shows no sign of discomfort with being hairless. Although tests on recovered bodies of the creature show that the DNA is canid, the sheer number of bizarre recurring attributes suggest that the Texas Chupacabras is some kind of extreme mutation. "The big question is why this is happening and how," Redfern mused.
"A lot of people don't realize that Houston had a precursor to the Mothman," Redfern said, as he shared the story of "The Batman" from the early 1950's. This "flying humanoid creature" created a frenzy in the city when it was seen "leaping around the rooftops of Houston late at night." Detailing another "man beast," he recounted the story of the Goat-Man of Lake Worth, an entity reported in the late 1960's that resembled the satyr of ancient mythology. According to Redfern, "local police actually took it very, very seriously" and even had a file on the Goat-Man sightings. Talking about werewolf reports in Texas, Redfern described the creatures as "man-like in appearance, with hair covered bodies, but with a face like a German Shepard." He observed that many werewolf witnesses report the feeling that the creature "was actually able to create fear" and that it would then "feed on that high state of emotion." Other creatures covered by Redfern included Bigfoot, Thunderbirds, and "Phantom Black Dogs."
Open Lines
The latter half of the show featured Open Lines with a special "I can't believe it" Hot Line. "It happened about 45 years ago and I still can't believe it," declared Raul in Miami as he recalled a story from his youth, when he would hang around a funeral home. One night, a pickup truck from the funeral home was delivering a casket to another town and Raul jumped into the back of the truck. Along the way, it started raining so he climbed into the casket to escape the inclement weather. When he heard the rain stop, he popped open the lid and the driver was so terrified that he jumped out of the moving truck. "We had to go to the hospital instead of going to the funeral," Raul laughed.
Mike in Texas also shared an "unbelievable" story from his teenage years. He and his friends went to a graveyard with a Ouija Board on Halloween. As they were undertaking their session, they heard growling and hissing about 100 yards away. Turning their spotlight towards the sound, "we saw these red eyes, black coat of fur, and these fangs. And it was jumping over tombstones at us." Upon seeing this creature, the gang leapt to their feet, ran to their minivan, and escaped. "I never moved so fast in my entire life," Mike said, "and when we dove in that minivan, it just disappeared. It was really odd."
The final half hour of the program featured a replay of George's interview with William Shatner from the 10/2/09 edition of Coast.