Platte Eyes

Ok, so here in the Midwest we have a thing called the Platte Eyes. Apparently back in the days of old people would get lost, with some regularity, while walking at night in the woods near the Platte River here in North-West Missouri.

Some of these people claimed that they would feel like there was something following them as they stumbled around in the dark, trying to find their way. Of those that saw what was following them, it apparently was a dimly glowing orb, of around the diameter of a dinner plate.

I also remember reading a short story from the later 1800's which I believe was written by Mark Twain where he uses the legend of the Platte Eye and the swamps of Louisiana. If memory serves it stalked a small girl, lost in the swamps and if she turned and looked it would take her.

Anyone ever hear of this story?

I've never heard of that specific story, but I did see something similar. One night I went hiking with a friend of mine up this trail in the middle of the woods in PA and these two blue-green glowing orbs of about that size materialized above the trees and flew down close to us in the woods before disappearing. Afterwards, (we were standing in a clearing) we heard footsteps coming from where the orbs disappeared. The footsteps stopped at the edge of the clearing and we both got a strange, but pleasant, physical sensation all over our bodies.

My dad grew up on the Platte River and used to tell a story about sitting down to play pinochle with family one night when an orb the size of a dinner plate came right up to the door. The men opened the door to investigate and it moved away, back down the driveway, but returned again once things had calmed down and they had gotten seated again. I always loved that story and it happened when my dad was about thirteen so it would have been the early 1930's. That was about all he could remember of the situation. He said it never happened again as far as he knew, but it was a favorite family story.

He also told a story about exploring along the river when he was young and finding the corpse of a man hanging from a tree. Wish he was still around so I could ask him about these events for more detail.

reply to post by Lipton


I grew up not too far away and remember most of the old tales, but I don't recall anything about the Platte eye (s). Is there even such a river anymore? I know the North Platte dried up a few years ago. The tribes in the area held it sacred.

reply to post by the owlbear


Yea the Platte River still flows here. I used to drive over it a few times a day coming from and going to my parents when I lived at home.

About a 70' wide ditch with a channel 20' across and 6' deep.