La Malacosa

August 13, 2018

We want to thank our friend and fellow paranormal researcher, enthusiast and Native Texan, Glenn Harrison, from Hardcore Paranormal on Facebook for sharing his article with us.

La Malacosa

“This malignant being, which is mentioned in “Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America” published in 1542, is one that I mentioned in last week’s Sunday Discussion in the old group. Throughout the explorations of America in the 1530s and 1540s, Spaniard Cabeza de Vaca and his conquistadors came across a Native American tribe in or near the Ozarks who had quite the tale to tell. We’re indeed fortunate to have this account set to paper.

According to the locals, they had been visited by a bearded fellow long before the Spanish explorers had ever paid a visit. At least 16 years prior they’d started to encounter La Malacosa, or the “Bad Thing”. Even though they described a bearded fellow, they apparently were never able to see him quite clearly enough to even determine the gender! The appearance was obviously indistinct as well as ambiguous.

According to the Indians, La Malacosa would frequent their homes late at night, carrying a bright, blinding light. This caused the inhabitant’s hair to stand on end, accompanied by a transient paralysis. Possessed with the light, which may have been a wand of some sort, this creature had an agenda of its own. A surgical agenda. They reported that La Malacosa was performing surgeries. From stomachs being opened and samples of intestines being taken to incisions and partial amputation of legs and arms. These nefarious operations would then be stitched up or repaired. Sounds a bit like a more extreme version of what’s being reported by our modern day UFO abductees right? And of course like the procedures performed on the abductees, no anesthesia was ever used.

La Malacosa was also said to have shown up at the Indians’ celebrations, dressed as an Indian man or woman. Again there was obviously a problem with their perception of this unusual being. Despite frequent appearances at their feasts and celebrations, the Bad Thing was never seen to eat or drink, and eerily enough, when asked where he was from, he simply pointed to a hole in the ground and replied: “from the regions below…”

As one might expect, the visiting conquistadors simply laughed off these tales from what they saw as nothing more than a bunch of primitives. That is until they saw the evidence. They were shown the people who had the scars to prove that they were indeed subjected to the intrusive surgeries and amputations. Obviously, the proof was in the pudding…

Of course, although horrified by these accounts, as well as the physical evidence, the Spaniards assured the locals that although they had apparently been visited by a demon or some other diabolical entity, as long as the Christian Spaniards were in their midst they were safe from La Malacosa. Of course, a bit of indoctrination into the Christian faith soon followed.

So what was Mr. Bad Thing? It certainly follows the descriptions of a lot of what we see from several different phenomena. What was the bright light it used that apparently was electrical? What about the invasive surgeries and amputations? It certainly ties in with a lot of what the modern day abductees have reported. And the reference to it originating from a hole in the ground? This is an entity that falls somewhere between alien and demon. Is this the same sort of interdimensional interloper that we’ve thought of as everything from the fairies of old stealing us away into their realms, to the fallen angels?

Unfortunately, with this being an occurrence from the 1500s, we’re not going to get any new information anytime soon. We’re definitely fortunate to have this account though, and it’s not our only one. Tales of these sorts of visitations stretch back into a time forgotten. I will say that no electric wand is necessary to make my hair stand on end. This creeper of a tale does that all by itself!

Unfortunately, with this one, I’m not sure you’re going to find a lot of additional information online. So sit back, relax, and until next time, stay spooked…”