posted on Dec, 28 2004 @ 01:29 PM
My 82-yo grandmother shared an intriguing story this Christmas. I don't remember what we were talking about that prompted her to tell it, but she
assumed we had already heard it.
She said that back in about 1960 she and her late husband were driving some back road on their way to Palm Springs, California. I don't know more
about the road except it was a common route to get to Palm Springs back then and sounded like it was in the mountains (perhaps Idyllwild?-- I could
find out more if someone really wants to pursue it). As they drove she saw a little side-road or fork of some kind where she distinctly remembers
seeing a large tree stump, and that's where she saw what to me sound like dinosaurs.
She said there were two of them walking on the side road near that tree trunk and that they looked to be about 5' tall (she insisted they were taller
than she, and she's 4'11"). She said they were gray and slightly tan, and they walked on their hind legs, had long tails and had short front legs.
She especially remembered their necks which she said were long and very reptilian. We sketched some shapes to confirm her descriptions and based on
what she says I think what she saw basically looked like those raptors in Jurassic Park.
She was very shaken up at the time (she hates reptiles) and when they got to some sort of rest stop or cafe, they talked about it with the owner of
the place and he said he had seen one too but nobody believed him and assumed people thought him crazy.
My grandma is just a nice little old lady who does not know much about animals and isn't one to joke. In fact I think the reason I never heard this
story from her is that she doesn't realize that there aren't supposed to be 5' dinosaurs running around, but I made certain that she wasn't
mistaking deer or some local animals for these things. The only mammal that came close to her descriptions was a giant anteater but she insists there
wasn't any hair. The fact that she was creeped out and remembers the details like the reptilian necks and their movements convinces me that she
definitely saw something special.
Unfortunately I couldn't find any related stories using Google but there must be some somewhere if she, grandpa and that cafe owner all saw it. Also,
about two years ago my brother-in-law's neighbor, an old retired lumberjack, told me a story where he says he saw a "white dinosaur" in the Palm
Springs desert that ran on its hind legs and was about 3-feet tall. I never forgot that but I always doubted him until I heard Grandma's story.