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Phantom Barber
Barber
An artist's depiction
Background
Type Being
Continent North America
Country United States
One-Time? No
Theories  · Criminal
 · Extraterrestrial
 · Mass hysteria

The Phantom Barber was a mysterious humanoid entity blamed for a series of nocturnal attacks that plagued the fishing town of Pascagoula, Mississippi (also the location of the Pascagoula Creature encounter), throughout the summer of 1942.

Appearance[]

Witness Mary Evelyn Briggs later described the man as “sorta short, sorta fat, and he was wearing a white sweatshirt."

Possible Explanations[]

There are several explanations as to what the creature could be. Theories include:

  • A human criminal
  • Extraterrestrial
  • Mass hysteria

Notable Encounters[]

His reign of terror began on Friday, June 5, 1942, when young Mary Evelyn Briggs and Edna Marie Hydel at the Our Lady of Victories convent were shocked to find a man climbing out of their bedroom window. The two girls were unharmed, although each of them was missing a lock of hair. (mentalfloss.com)

The Barber struck again on Monday at the Peattie home, where he cut a slit in the window screen and crawled inside to snip the hair of little 6-year old Carol Peattie as she lay sleeping next to her twin brother. This time the Phantom Barber had accidentally left a clue—a sandy footprint near the window. (mentalfloss.com)

The next incident occurred the following Friday night, when the home of Mr. and Mrs. Heidelberg was invaded. Like before, the window screen was cut and the invader came inside. But instead of taking his typical trophy tuft, he used a heavy iron bar to attack the couple, taking out some of Mrs. Heidelberg’s front teeth and knocking her husband unconscious. Unfortunately, it all happened so quickly that neither could describe their attacker. The police deputized six men and brought in bloodhounds to pick up a scent. The dogs followed the trail to a pair of bloodstained gloves in the nearby woods, but that was as far as they got. The police theorized that the assailant might have stashed a bicycle in the woods to make his escape. (mentalfloss.com)

The final attack came on a Sunday night, when the hair of Mrs. R.R. Taylor was cut. She said she had been woken up by “something with a sickening smell” passing over her nose. The next thing she remembered, was waking up and getting violently ill. Police later determined the Barber must have cut the window screen, stuck a chloroform-soaked rag over Taylor’s face, and then collected his lock of hair. (mentalfloss.com)

Trivia[]

  • Two months after the final attack, police announced that they had arrested William Dolan, a 57-year old chemist, for charges of attempted murder. Police claimed a large bundle of human hair was found behind his home. The FBI later identified some of the hair as belonging to Carol Peattie, the Barber’s youngest victim. Dolan was quickly found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
    • Six years later, Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright reviewed the case and asked that Dolan take a lie-detector test. Upon passing, Dolan was given a limited suspended sentence and then eventually set free in 1951.
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Beings
North American Beings
Axeman Of New Orléans · Bandage Man · Bunny Man · Black Flash · Butterfly People of Joplin · Cloak Man of Clifton Heights · Conewago Phantom · Danbury Frog People · Dark Baby · Donkey Lady · Giles Corey · Goatman of White Rock Lake · Grinning Man · Harlequin · Houston Batman · Invisible Man of Palmetto · Lake Worth Monster · Mad Gasser of Mattoon · Maryland Goatman · Mauston Birdman · Melonheads · Menehune · Mercy Brown Vampire · Mexican Being of Light · Muppet Clown · NASA Gargoyle · New England Faceless People · Northfield Pigman · Ohio Bridge Trolls · Pedro the Pygmy · Phantom Barber · Phantom Clowns · Phantom Sniper of Camden · Phantom Whistler of Louisiana · Pig Lady · Pope Lick Monster · Porterville Gnome · Richmond Vampire · Ridge Road Monster · Santa Lucias Dark Watchers · Slendergumby · The Smiley Face Killer · Stroudsburg Rain Man · Subway Man · The Green Man · Third Eye Man · Toronto Tunnel Monster · Toxic Lady · White Bluff Screamer · Zwaanendael Merman
South American Beings
Argentina Gnome · The Hiper Bompreço self-immolator
Asian Beings
Diyarbakır Genie · Glowing Winged Woman of Vietnam · Issik Kul Lake Swimmers · Monkey-man of Delhi · Morotai Fishwoman · Son Doong Cave Serpentfolk · The Man from Taured ·
European Beings
Green Children of Woolpit · Headless Angel of Portugal · Highgate Vampire · Invisible Smoker · Jophar Vorin · Le Loyon · Lucy Lightfoot · The Manchester Pusher · Pérák · Ratman · Spring-heeled Jack · Whipping Tom
African Beings
Door Dogs
Australian Beings
The Somerton Man
Miscellaneous Beings
Black Eyed Children · Black Stick Men · Demolition Elves · Dopplegangers · Flying Humanoid · Operators · Shadow People · Time Travelers
v · e · d
North America
North American Cryptids
Airborne Frogman · Alkali Lake Monster · Batsquatch · Beast of Bladenboro · Beast of Bray Road · Beast of Busco · Belled Buzzards · Bigfoot · Black Demon · Black Star Penguins · Blue Birdman · Boston Lemur · Buena Vista Giant Spider · Campfire Creature · Carmel Creature · Champ · Charles Mill Lake Monster · Chicago Mothman · Chupacabra · Coonigator · Crawfordsville Monster · Crocodingo · Deer Man · Demon Leaper · Deridder Roadkill · Dos Palmas Winged Snake · Dublin Lake Monsters · East River Monster · El Verde Creature · Enfield Horror · Farmer City Monster · Flannel Shirt Sasquatch · Flying Horse of Mexico · Flying Horse of Virginia · Flying Rays · Giant Penguin · Giant Shrimp in the Laundry Room · Glawackus · Gow-Row · Green Clawed Beast · Green Eyes · Grunch Road Monster · Herrington Lake Monster · Herring Cove Sea Serpent · Highway Beast · Honey Island Swamp Monster · Iliamna Lake Monster · Jackson Dragon · Jersey Devil · Killer Cactus · Kinderhook Blob · Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp · Manor Road Pig-Dog · Man in the Plastic Bag · Mantis Man · Melrose Creep · Metepec Creature · Michigan Dogman · Mill Race Monster · Mogollon Monster · Montauk Monster · Moss Man · Mothman · Mountain Boomers · Mud Mermaids · Mutant Canine · Nightcrawler · Octoman · Ogopogo · Oil Pit Squid · Oklahoma Octopus · Panama Creature · Pennsylvanian Albino Bigfoot · Red Devil-Bat of Chester · Ridge Road Monster · Riverside Monster · Rochester Rat-Dog · Sewer Blob · Sheepsquatch · Skunk Ape · Snallygaster · Sugar Bundle · Sun Birds · Swift Peter · Texas Big Bird · The Awful · Thetis Lake Monster · Tick Canyon Giant Rabbit · Tumor Seal · Tuttle Bottoms Monster · Werewolf of Defiance · Whatzit · Wood Devils · Yellow What-Is-It
North American Alien Sightings
Aliens in Aisle Five · Ausso One · California Fetus · Casa Blanca Entity · Cisco Grove Robots · Crazy Critter of Bald Mountain · Crescent · Cycloptic Aliens of Harrah · Dade City Flowers · Falkville Metal Man · Farmersville Green Man · Flatwoods Monster · Gaffney Aliens · Garson Invaders · Georgia Stalks · Gliders · Hopkinsville Goblins · Long Prairie Cans · Medford Shmoos · Newport Stumps · Nuevo Laredo Alien · Old Saybrook Blockheads · Pancake Bakers from Space · Pascagoula Creature · Prospect Monoliths · Ririe Carjackers · Sorrento Crawler · Space Brains of Palos Verdes · Space Penguins of Tuscumbia · Syracuse Giant Insects · The Purple Glob · Tripod Creature · Van Meter Visitor · Veggieman
North American UFO Sightings
4th of July UFO · Aurora UFO Crash · Butterfly UFO · Kecksburg UFO · Lubbock Lights · Phoenix Lights · Roswell Incident · Warren UFO
North American Hauntings
100 Steps Cemetery · Amityville House · Annabelle the Doll · Arlington Attic Ghost · Avon Haunted Bridge · Bassett Ghost Cars · Bell Witch · Blue Albino Woman · Bobby Mackey's Music World · Boy Scout Lane · Demon's Road · Demon Cat · Demon of Brownsville Road · Devil Baby of Hull House · Dungarvon Whooper · Eunice Welsh's Mausoleum · Faceless Figure of Dead Man's Curve · Fantasma Colorado · Flight 401 Ghost · Ghost Bus of Highway 93 · Ghost Cow · Ghost Deer · Ghost Mammoth · Ghost Moose · Ghost Wolf · Ghosts of Disney · Ghosts of the Charles Haskell · Ghosts of the Comedy Store · Graceland Cemetery · Grant Park · Green Lady of Wahiawa · Griggstown Ghost Cow · Headless Horseman of Lakey's Creek · La Belle Cemetery · La Llorona · Mandy the Doll · Moody's Light · Old Man Weary · Old Red Eyes of Kingsley Plantation · Old Woman in the Crawlspace · Purple Bubble · Purple Head Bridge · Ring of Children and the Banshee · Robert the Doll · Seaweed Charlie · Stiffy Green · Tall, Dark, & Gruesome · Tanaka the Drowned Ghost · Vincent Hitchcock the Doll · Waverly Hills Sanatorium · Whaley House · Winchester Mystery House · Wyoming Woman in Black
North American Phenomena
Black Aggie · Black Mist of Casa Grande Mountain · Bleeding House on Fountain Drive · Blinking Crucifix · Brown Mountain Lights · Carnivorous Pink Cloud · Cat's Eyes of St. Joseph · Cohoke Light · Coke Mystery Vending Machine · Cursed Grave of Carl Pruitt · Dancing Underpants · Death Valley Sailing Stones · Face in the Courthouse Window · Flying Mist Mattress · Forest Grove Sound · Fountain Cloud · Gurdon Light · Handprint of the Carbon County Jail · Handprint of the Chicago Firehouse · John Lawson Mannequins · Kokomo Hum · Maco Light · Michigan Blue Hell · Mike the Headless Chicken · Moodus Noises · Polybius · Smiling Stones · St. Louis Light · Swirling Basement Thing · Taos Hum · The Black Angel
North American Beings
Axeman Of New Orléans · Bandage Man · Bunny Man · Black Flash · Butterfly People of Joplin · Cloak Man of Clifton Heights · Conewago Phantom Scream · Danbury Frog People · Dark Baby · Derry Fogman · Donkey Lady · Giles Corey · Goatman of White Rock Lake · Grinning Man · Harlequin · Houston Batman · Invisible Man of Palmetto · Lake Worth Monster · Mad Gasser of Mattoon · Maryland Goatman · Mauston Birdman · Melonheads · Menehune · Mercy Brown Vampire · Mexican Being of Light · Muppet Clown · NASA Gargoyle · New England Faceless People · Northfield Pigman · Ohio Bridge Trolls · Pedro the Pygmy · Phantom Barber · Phantom Clowns · Phantom Sniper of Camden · Phantom Whistler of Louisiana · Pig Lady · Pope Lick Monster · Porterville Gnome · Richmond Vampire · Ridge Road Monster · Santa Lucias Dark Watchers · Slendergumby · The Smiley Face Killer · Stroudsburg Rain Man · Subway Man · The Green Man · Third Eye Man · Toronto Tunnel Monster · Toxic Lady · White Bluff Screamer · Zwaanendael Merman
North American Events
Battle of Los Angeles · Beaumont Blackout · Death of Elisa Lam · Disappearance of David Lang · Disappearance of Glen and Bessie Hyde · Disappearance of Kenny Veach · Disappearance of Oliver Lerch · Gorman Dogfight · Massacre of Doc Johnson · Max Headroom Broadcast · Philadelphia Experiment
North American Locations
Anjikuni Village · Area 51 · Bennington Triangle · Bermuda Triangle · Blood Bowl · Bremen Troll Bridge · Bridgewater Triangle · Clown Motel · Devil's Gate Reservoir · Devil's Kettle · Devil's Tramping Ground · Disney's River Country · Doveland, Wisconsin · Helltown · House of Blue Lights · Island of the Dolls · Langville, Montana · Mel’s Hole · Shirtwood Forest · Spider Gates · Stairway to Hell · Urkhammer, Iowa · Wakulla Volcano · Zone of Silence

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