Mystery: Cookie Monster

The only known source for this story.

I want to return to Michael Newton’s Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology for today’s story. Yesterday, we (very briefly) talked about the Easter Bunny. That isn’t the only weirdly named Bigfoot-type cryptid out there though. There’s also the wonderfully named Cookie Monster. Let’s take a gander at this story.

The Story

First up: I want to say that I have no idea where this creature got its name from. There’s no description on what it looks like, though it’s possible that the name was simply coined due to the popularity of Sesame Street.

Now then: according to Newton, this supposedly aggressive Bigfoot-type fiend originates from Somerset County, Pennsylvania. In October of 1972, a family became the victims of several encounters with the creature, which grabbed a hold of their car and shook it back-and-forth. The Cookie Monster also allegedly attacked their dog, nearly ripping it in half. It lived just long enough to make it to a veterinarian, but sadly died.

After this, the creature mysteriously vanished until five years later. On December 23, 1977, the creature was supposedly seen by two hikers near Trent, Pennsylvania. After this, the creature once more vanished. I cannot find anything on it, though there are cookie cutters in the shape of Bigfoot!

Now as for where Newton got this story from, it’s apparently from a book called “Bigfoot on the East Coast” by a man named Rick Berry, who has since died. So unlike the Easter Bunny story, there is at least a source for this story that I was able to find. Though even with that, there’s a question that remains: is this creature real? Well, as is the case with anything, there are some theories to that. So let’s take a look at them.

Theories

1. It’s real

For our first theory: we have the idea that it is—or was—a real creature. Violent Bigfoot-type creatures are by no means something abnormal. While they aren’t as common as their more timid counterparts, the Beast of the Land Between the Lakes, Sheepsquatch, and the Tennessee Wildman are all said to be quite aggressive with the first of those three having a claim which states that it slaughtered a family (a mother, a father, and a little girl) that were camping.

Because of this, I won’t deny that it’s not implausible that this creature exists. Nothing about it is really abnormal—aside from the name, which is really funny in my eyes. Though if you’re looking for any sort of evidence, then you’d best look elsewhere, because there’s precisely none beyond the accounts given by Rick Berry.

2. It’s not real

The second and final theory is that the creature isn’t real. Whether it’s a legend or if it was all faked by the family, I couldn’t tell you. There’s no real evidence to prove that either way given the lack of anything out there on it aside from what Rick Berry gives us in his book.

My Take

I must confess that I find it extremely weird that a family would try to rip their dog in half to fake being attacked by a Bigfoot-type creature. I also find it bizarre that they would stop just short of killing it so they could take it to the vet. It seems like a really bizarre action to take—not to mention really counterproductive since the vet would likely find out that they were the ones to inflict the injury.

Now, granted, this is assuming that the story is even real. It’s entirely possible that it’s not and that Rick made it up. However, I fail to see why he would make such a fantastical story up when his book is covering numerous Bigfoot-type creatures seen on the east coast of the United States. I mean heck, the Skunk Ape technically qualifies as being on the east coast since it’s seen in Florida, and that creature is second only to the west coast Sasquatch in terms of name recognition as far as I’m aware. So going through the effort to make up a creature so violent to pad out a book seems weird.

With that said, given the lack of information, I’m inclined to say that this creature may not be real. It’s possible that the thing which killed the family’s dog was a bear that was standing upright. This also goes for rocking their car. If the bear had taken up residence nearby, it’s possible it was a mother bear and it thought that the family was intruding on her territory.

Conclusion

I always knew the Cookie Monster was no good. The devious creature was always so aggressive with cookies that I knew it was only a matter of time before he snapped. Though, of course, it’s possible that this is all mistaken identity and the Cookie Monster is as gentle as can be. I leave it up to you to decide. Do you believe this terrifying hairy hominid is—or was—real? Or do you think it was all mistaken identity?