How a 3-Legged Creature in Illinois Caused Mass Hysteria
It began in 1973 when children in a home in Illinois heard something scratching at their front door. It would eventually lead to mass hysteria in Enfield Township in Illinois and the surrounding area that would even include claims of animal mutilations. This is the story of the Enfield Horror.
This is not an urban legend, but real documented history. It starts when Henry McDaniel and his wife returned home in 1973 to find their two children claiming something had been scraping the front door with its claws. He thought it was just a children's imagination at work until he heard that scratching sound himself.
When Henry opened the door, he saw a strange 3-legged creature that he fired upon. This cryptid looked like a creature that had been seen in 1941 and 1942 in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Had the children and Henry McDaniel in Enfield Township encountered what had previously been known as the Mt. Vernon Monster?
Eyewitnesses in the 1940's in Mt. Vernon and also in the 1970's in Enfield Township described the creature as "baboon-like" saying it could leap large distances covering up to 50 feet in just 3 steps/movements/leaps.
The explanations included a possible escaped monkey or kangaroo from a zoo, but nothing could ever be proven and that certainly would not explain the mutilation of cattle near Mt. Vernon.
The Cryptid Wiki claims the Enfield Horror was in fact a very real phenomenon and was not a product of mass hysteria although that is indeed whatever this thing is caused.