Puerto Rican Bloodsuckers

These strange animals/aliens/vampires whatever they are (no one knows) are said to resemble the normal description of an alien: thin body and a large head with big eyes etc. but with a thin layer of hair that covers their bodies, taloned hind legs, clawed fingers and most are reported to have wings or quill-like protrusions down their backs. These "quills" are also said to act as some kind of wings; the creature reportedly flaps them to become airborne. Some witnesses' accounts have described a human-size bat-type creature; a batman but no stories of it being accompanied by a bloke in a mask dressed in red with a yellow cape and going by the name of Robin have been confirmed. When they attack, the Chupacabras are said to produce a long pointed probe from their mouths and insert it into the neck of their victim to drain its blood.

Some theorise that they are products of genetic experiments at the US military bases on Puerto Rico; that theyve somehow escaped and are now roaming free around the island, hungry for blood. Others think they are that old standby - aliens! More down-to-earth thinking people reason they may be some species as yet undiscovered.

Flying dogs would be just a reasonable explanation as any though when it comes to trying to fathom out what these creatures might actually be but many eyewitnesses have come face-to-face with a Chupacabra or two to see for themselves:

An off-duty cop claims to have done so. He heard his car alarm go off one day and thinking it was someone trying to steal it, he grabbed his gun and rushed downstairs to investigate. Here he bore witness to one of these creatures attacking his dog (a wingless dog that is). He shot at it and then claims it curled itself up and rolled around until it hit a wall, then it sprung upright and sprinted off at lightning speed.

One eyewitness, a woman, saw two such creatures, which she described as having large red eyes (they'd probably been out on the piss the night before). These red eyes she claims, turned green when they looked at her. Some sort of organic extraterrestrial traffic lights perhaps?

Now here's a fisherman's tale (literally). Two fishermen had a close encounter of the bloodsucking kind after they'd been fishing one night, when, upon hearing noises in the vegetation behind them, a thing answering the description of a Chupacabra suddenly appeared. One of the fishermen described it as being, "Horrible, like the devil himself." The pair ran, the winged abomination gave chase, flying above them over the treetops. When they reached one of their houses, one of the men grabbed a machete and swung round to face the Chupacabra in an attempt to fend it off. It had perched itself on a hutch looking ready to pounce at any moment. The two men were shitting themselves, faced with something they'd heard so many bloodcurdling tales about but luckily for them, it simply jumped to the ground and fled into the woods.

One, even savaged a teddy bear. According to a woman eyewitness, it poked a long thin hairy arm with a clawed hand through her open bedroom window as she was getting ready for bed. How pissed off it must have been when it ripped the stuffed toy to bits (apparently in seconds) and found it bloodless. The terrified woman threw her coffee cup at the intruder and it fled; as it did so she caught a glimpse of a single red eye (old red eyes is back). Apparently the eerie intruder, left behind a puddle of slime (the poor thing probably got caught short) and a piece of foul stinking white meat on the window sill. There are other reports of a repulsive slime being left behind, this is thought to be saliva; in fact, when it's been analysed it has been found to be similar to bat's saliva (ho-hum!)

Another witness actually took a swipe at one with a machete after he found it attacking his rabbits. He claims he hit the thing twice and each time he did so it made a, "Hollow sounding noise, like a drum." The creature ran off leaving the eyewitness to mourn his animals. The Chupacabra had been busy, all his rabbits were dead and drained of blood. There were bloody holes in the necks where the creature had punctured them. This witness said of the mysterious attacker, "Some people say they're monkeys but they're lying, because monkeys can't fly." Therefore he came to the logical conclusion that, "They must come from another planet." Oh aye, they flew here from Mars

These unknown beings or creatures are reported to change colour chameleon-like, dependant on their surroundings: at night they become dark; black or brown in colour, in daylight, surrounded by greenery, they will become green.

They can apparently leap over twenty feet into the air due to their strong hind legs making them a likely contender to be an hybrid between Zeberdi (off Magic Roundabout) and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo!

Official research on animals which have fell victim to Chupacabras, can't explain why, if a wild dog - which has often been suggested is responsible for these slayings - or another known animal, had bitten into the necks to kill, it would apply pressure to both sides. No abrasions, scratches, bite marks or signs of pressure have been found on the remains of animals killed in this way. This means that whatever is doing the killing is not a predator or carnivore which is known about (cue Twilight Zone theme.)

Some of the incidents have involved the animals having these wounds in their sides or belly and whatever penetrates them reaches their liver and removes portions of the organ; also absorbing liquid from it. So what are we looking at here, some sort of intergalactic, flying, leaping, bloodsucking, Hannibal Lecter-imitating liver muncher?

Larger holes and cuts are discovered on some animals which fall victim to this phenomenon and openings where organs are removed give the impression that they have been made with surgical instruments but there is very rarely any signs of blood on the ground under the animal. The bloodthirsty Chupacabras are not fussy about what they remove: reproduction and sexual organs, the anus (the mind boggles!), the tongue and eyes, have all been found to be extracted from animals. It's like these things are studying for their degrees in biology or something.

Before you get to thinking that it could be some weirdo running amok with a scalpel, mutilating goats and sheep or anything that takes their fancy, you have to bear in mind that up to forty sheep are said to have been attacked and killed in one incident. So the theory that humans are responsible; that members of some kind of bizarre religious cult is committing these killings and mutilations, doesn't really hold much water. Attacks occur frequently; every day, at all times of the day and in widespread areas around the island. If this "is" some lone nutter or a cult, they get about a bit!

Some "sober" individual going by the name of Brother Carmelo, who is a clairvoyant apparently, has been quoted as coming up with the completely "sane" idea that, "These creatures are vampires who nourish themselves on the fresh blood of their victims," and has added that, "Not everyone can capture one of these beings. To do so requires the use of laser beams or a silver bullet." (Oi nutter!)

The government of Puerto Rico has often asked for outside help in solving the mystery and finding out who or what is responsible for these weird mutilations; someone to investigate what the fuck is going on there but not knowing what they're up against whether it's aliens or some type of vampire, they'd be in a bit of a dilemma as to whether to call in Mulder and Scully or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Whatever conclusions you draw from what is happening on the island, the findings of the examinations, etc. whether you think that some sort of bizarre, perverted, shit-scaring scientific experiments are being performed by the US government or whether aliens are responsible the locals are seeing something; some creature. So what could be the explanation for these sightings

There have been tales of creatures which suck blood in Latin America going back centuries, even before those in Central Europe (Transylvania, the undead, garlic and all that). These myths probably came about because of the existence of vampire bats in the area; species of which do actually suck blood. Vampire bats have been known to fly in through open windows at night and suck the blood from people's toes (and other things) as they lie asleep. So it's best to make sure that if you sleep with the window open, all your bodily protrusions are tucked in beneath the covers in this part of the world; if you don't want to get them sucked - unless you like that sort of thing of course!

Anthropologists give the theory that the myth of these bloodsucking creatures somehow symbolises the plight of underdeveloped societies who are feeling like underdogs; exploited by more wealthier nations. This therefore symbolising the wealthier nation parasite (manifested here as Chupacabras) draining the life from the people (Puerto Ricans). Therefore could these creatures be a metaphor for the evils of capitalist oppression?

In 1996 some sort of craft, apparently not of a technological nature that is normally seen this side of Jupiter, reportedly crash-landed in Varginha, New Mexico and two aliens were captured by the Brazilian authorities. A media blackout was imposed and despite the fact that military, emergency services and numerous witnesses saw them, the authorities refused to admit anything happened at all. There were numerous eyewitnesses who swear blind they saw these beings but the military made up the extraordinary story about one of the aliens being a disfigured dwarf. If this "disfigured dwarf" did exist it would put the Elephant Man to shame. The alien was described as being brown, with its skin giving the appearance of being very soft, it looked like the outside of an heart, the eyes were big, round and red and there were three horns on its head and visible veins on its arms (some mother of a disfigurement!)

Latin America has always had a great deal of UFO sightings and for some reason its citizens are more ready to believe in the possibility of the existence of aliens than in many other parts of the world. So the thought that the Chupacabra is from outer space is a fairly plausible explanation in the eyes of these people.

Another theory is that, Puerto Rico has been hit hard by AIDS and the creatures may have developed in its residents' imagination and entered into their psyches from a fear of the blood-transmitted disease. This is a very similar way to how the vampire myths and the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, came about; at the time there was a major plague of syphilis knocking about. It is interesting to note at this point, that, Chupa cabra; the name the locals have given to these creatures, means "female goat sucker". In Spanish, "the female goat" is a name for whores or women who sleep around. So in theses time of AIDS for the people, maybe the Chupacabra is a manifestation of their fear of it.

Then again, the sightings could be "genuine" sightings and these creatures - whatever they are - could be roaming around Puerto Rico and other areas of Mexico. Whatever this phenomena is, one thing's for sure, something or someone is responsible for these mutilations, and is still out there!