NEIL ARNOLD: Zooform Classics Part Three: The Non-Monster Of Hardin

Some monsters just don’t do what the tin says! The Diamond Island area of Illinois has long harboured a legend known as the Hardin Monster. Of course, within the realms of zooform phenomena there are no rules as to what a monster can or cannot be, but the following tale really does stretch the limits of the category.

Since the 1880s there have been campfire tales often told on shuddersome nights by fishermen said to have encountered a fiery beast. Some would state that this creature, especially when looking back on the mystery, was an unidentified flying object, others may bring up the phenomenon known as ball lightning. Others claim that the legend concerns a creature.

In 1885 two fishermen claimed to have observed a ball of light that appeared over the murky river. The object then sped through the trees and remained suspended in the air over Diamond Island. Both witnesses fled in terror and reported to their parents that the fiery ball had a face. Others then began to report the same apparition, with one businessman claiming he’d seen distinctive features amongst the fiery glow, and that the object was the size of a barrel. Rumours were rife of the ‘thing’ and in 1888 several locals trudged through the wilderness, armed to their teeth with weapons and rowed out to Diamond Island in the hope of uncovering the sinister secret.

The locals were sceptical that a monster was on the loose and staked the area out into the dark hours, expecting to uncover a hoax or natural phenomenon. As the mists grew close the island became engulfed in a strange, eerie glow and a ball of light floated above the trees. The men panicked and fired their weapons and swiped the air with their blades. The object moved closer to the flailing men and they rushed for their boats. Bizarrely, so the legend goes, the ball of light bobbed into one of the boats and transformed into an old man before bursting into flame, and again, a ball of light emerged and floated off into the trees.

After a few more sporadic reports the sightings subsided. How on Earth this legend became known as the ‘Hardin Monster’ we’ll never know.