October 16, 1966

New Jersey

Two boys, Martin "Mouse" Munov and James "Jimmy" Yanchitis, were walking down Fourth Street when they saw a strange figure leaning on a fence. As they walked closer, it became clear that it was a bald man wearing an odd, metallic, green suit; he was staring at them with an unnervingly large, wide-eyed grin. The boys ran down the road as the man chased them, eerily silent, even of heavy breathing. Randomly turning into alleys and across streets, the boys lost sight of him; however, they suspected they were followed throughout the week, feeling eyes watching them from the shadows. Over the next several days, numerous UFOs were reported in the area.

after 6 p.m.

cloudy, misty night

November 2, 1966

Parkersburg, WV

Woodrow “Woody” Derenberger was driving on Interstate 77, headed home to Mineral Wells from his job in Marietta, Ohio (where he worked selling sewing machines in a J.C. Penny). While on the intersection, he thought a vehicle was tailgating him and driving without their lights on, so he pulled off to the curb, allowing them to pass. The vehicle flew by him at an incredible speed and landed in front of his truck; Woody realized that it was not a normal vehicle at all, but a dark, charcoal object devoid of light. It hovered 10 in. off the ground and was shaped like an old-fashioned kerosene lamp chimney: flaring at both ends with a bulge in the center and a skinny neck (from a distance, it resembles a box or cigar UFO, as the object compresses and spins).2A door opened from within the craft, briefly revealing a bright light. An average-looking man stepped out and the door silently closed; he had a deep tan, dark eyes, black, swept-back hair, and a frozen, wide grin on his face. He looked to be about 35 years old, 6 ft tall, and near 185 lbs, wearing a strange metallic-green uniform that glistened from under a long, dark overcoat in Woody’s truck’s headlights. The man took a step forward while crossing his arms, hands hidden in a strange posture. As the man walked closer, the dark object sprung 40 ft into the air, wavering over the roadway; Woody heard, “Don’t be afraid. I mean you no harm and only want to ask you a few questions.” However, Woody was afraid, for while he heard the man’s voice, his lips did not move.

“Roll down your window so we can talk better.” Woody obeyed. “Good, now we can see each other directly. You can speak or think, it makes no difference to me. I can understand you either way. My name is Indrid Cold.” The man stared into Woody’s eyes, making him feel as if the man knew all about him; later, Woody admitted that he felt if he had dared to stare back, all would have been revealed about the man as well. Indrid Cold pointed into the distance, over the hills, “What do you call that over there?"

Woody stuttered, “That? That’s Parkersburg. We call it a city.”

The man remained emotionless, aside from his stretched, unmoving smile, “Where I come from it is called a gathering.” He paused, taking a step back, “I come from a place less powerful than yours. Do people live there, or do they work there?”

“Yes,” Woody answered, “People live and work there.”

The man asked, “Do you work there, Mr. Derenberger?”

Woody replied again, confused, “Why, yes. I’m a salesman, that’s what I do. Do you have a job?”

“Yes,” Indrid Cold answered, “I am a searcher.” According to Woody, the conversation was fairly normal, until Indrid noticed Woody’s fear. “Why are you so frightened? Do not be afraid, we mean you no harm. You will see that we eat and bleed the same as you do,” Indrid drew near, a hint of emotion in his voice, “We only wish you happiness.” The entire conversation lasted between 5 and 10 minutes.

Indrid Cold nodded, “At the proper time authorities will be notified about our meeting. Mr. Derenberger, I thank you for talking to me. We will see you again.” The object floated back down, no more than 10 in from the road. Cars continued to drive up and down the interstate as if they were unable to see the strange meeting on the roadside. A door opened on the craft and Indrid walked inside; the UFO jumped 75 ft into the air, making a fluttery, mechanical noise before shooting away. Woody sat in his car for a few minutes, stunned. He finally met his wife at the door around 7 p.m.

Mrs. Derenberger thought he was deathly white, and called the West Virginia State Police after hearing her husband’s story. The next day Woody planned to go back to work but was offered an interview on TV, which he accepted instead. The interview was conducted on WTAP-TV (an NBC affiliate in Parkersburg) by a reporter named Glenn Wilson, City Chief of Police, Ed Plum, the head of the Wood County Airport, and other local law officials; the interview was 2.5 hours long, with live-airing coverage lasting under an hour. Woody drew pictures of the UFO for the men, describing it in great detail. “Do you really believe you will see him again?” the reporter asked. Woody thought aloud, “I think so, I believe I will. I don’t know, because, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

After becoming widely known, Woody’s marriage suffered from the infamy, backlash, and press he received. After much distress, he changed professions. He then received strange visits at his house from men in black suits and hats—he believed them to be FBI agents, spies, or Mafia members; the men asked him simple questions about his life and encounter with the Grinning Man—sometimes in an insidious, threatening manner. Indrid Cold did return many times to Woody’s farmhouse in Mineral Wells. Locals were very skeptical of his otherworldly claims, though, especially when he was reported missing for 6 months—to which he replied, “I was with the aliens.” Later in 1976, Woody claimed to have visited Indrid’s planet, Lanulos, in the Ganymede galaxy, where everyone was peaceful, there was no war, and nobody wore clothing. To many people’s amusement, Woody also claimed to have been impregnated by these extraterrestrials. Yet, some believed Woody Derenberger. They watched the skies, scouted Bogle Ridge, and trespassed on Woody’s property. Woody and his family left the area soon after the incident, but he later returned in the 1980s, dying shortly after in 1990. Before his death, he published a book titled, “Visitors from Lanulos.”

Around the same time as Woody’s encounter with Indrid, there was another strange event taking place in West Virginia. The Lilly family from Point Pleasant reported seeing diamond-shaped lights in their home. Linda, the Lilly’s daughter, also said that she woke up in the middle of the night to see a big, broad-shouldered man standing in her room; she could not see much but did know that the man was smiling wide at her. He walked to her bedside and leaned over her; she screamed and covered her face with blankets. Peeking from under the sheets a few minutes later, Linda saw that she was alone.

The Grinning Men were not documented again until March 5, 1967, in Point Pleasant. There, two workers for the Red Cross Bloodmobile were chased by a strange UFO; the craft was like the one described by Woody. This one, however, extended two, long, claw-like arms on both sides of the van, gradually descending closer to the ground while keeping speed with the vehicle, even when the driver accelerated. When headlights from oncoming traffic came into view, the object withdrew and disappeared.

THE SMILING PEOPLE

Throughout North America (specifically, the eastern part of the United States), individuals have been visited by strangely dressed men donning a creepy smile; only one of them has ever given a name, though. Many people claim to have met this frightening man known as Indrid Cold.

Today, Indrid Cold and other Grinning Men are still seen in the United States. Those who come into contact with them are pursued and questioned by the Men in Black, sometimes decades after their encounters. Some groups believe these entities are a fabrication of the United State’s military—a character for an elaborate, human science experiment while more believe they are lies told by those seeking fame. These people are wrong; however, little is known about the Grinning Men. It is reported that they refer to themselves as Merilgians and are from the elliptical galaxy we call Cygnus A. The aliens are part of a larger society—visitors acting on behalf of others for some undisclosed purpose. The visiting Merilgians have different jobs, appearing as different forms based on these roles. Markers are diamond-shaped lights that are slightly sentient machines; they highlight objects to be studied and are believed to be the lowest ranking member of this particular group. Searchers rank higher, have a true, biological body, and can shapeshift into complex forms; they seek out vulnerable individuals to gain information from, both biologically and in general. This information is used to act and look more human-like, though their guises always appear a bit off to those of the native species as they are not privy to the nuances of human emotion, posture, or dress. Most is known about seekers since they divulge a little information about themself with each encounter. The natural form they take has four limbs, with two appendages each, connected to a human hip-like section; there, a slim waist concavely curves, attaching to a hairless head, with a toothy, long, thin mouth. Their skin is thick, tentacle-like, stretchy, and able to change textures, color; their bones pliable and morphable, some able to extend or grow into foreign appendages.

It is important to note that every person that comes into contact with these beings eventually loses touch with reality, suggesting unknown, mind-altering procedures/technologies, or simply an effect of telecommunication with these extraterrestrial entities; this was the fate of Woody Derenberger, who was never taken to a planet called Lanulos.