I'm Lauren Orton, and this is one strange thing, the show where we search the

nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained.

Today, we'd like to take a moment to honor what has become perhaps our most beleaguered state.

Ohio.

The butt of meme jokes, current home to all creepypasta monsters, a state that by some silent agreement of the zeitgeist has become the New Jersey of the 21st century. And now that we have TikTok,

well, a whole new world of Ohio slander has opened up before us. In our opinion, though,

Ohio has a lot to offer.

Not only is it very easy to spell, looking at you, Massachusetts, but more important

to our area of interest, Ohio has its fair share of strange.

We might tell you any number of things, about haunted tunnels and lighthouses

and werewolves, not all at the same time, mind you, and keep you steeped in paranormal fun

for a year. But today, we want to introduce you to a cryptid who we think, like its home state,

deserves our attention.

The Ohio Grassman.

Now, you might call the Ohio Grassman just another Bigfoot, but each region has its own stories,

and the Midwest is not the Pacific Northwest or the southeast.

Sasquatch, skunk ape, big muddy monster, even Momo, not the terrifying bird lady, but a primate-like

crypted straight out of Missouri, are all similar, sure, but each shaggy beast has its own special

local flavor.

A flavor that's created, largely, by the people who live where the beasts

are purported to exist.

And the Ohio Grassman, also known as Orange Eyes or the Minerva Monster, belongs to the

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