From: dhoneywe@dante.nmsu.edu (David Honeywell)
Subject: Strange Happenings in Socorro, NM.
Organization: New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 05:14:32 GMT

Here is a story that was told to me when I used to live in Socorro, NM.
It also appeared in the local newspaper back in the early 70's.  My
best friend's father told us this one night when they were having a
family get-together a few years back.

   Mr. Sanchez (my friend's dad) explained to us that there used to be
a bar that went by the name "The Old-85".  Back in those days, there
wasn't a whole lot to do on a Friday night so many of the adults went
to this bar to "live it up".  At that time, the population of Socorro
was around 5000 people, so most folks knew others on a first-name basis.
Out of towners were easily recognized by most "townies".
   Anyway, it so happens that on a certain Friday night, the Old-85 was
busy as usual, full of the usual rowdies, rock and roll band, and what not.
(As told by Mr. Sanchez himself)He and a few friends decided to step out
for some fresh air and to "shoot the shit".  They noticed a real fancy
Corvette pull up, and an impressively handsome man stepped out of it.
They took note that he wasn't from around there and joked at his clean-cut
looks to themselves.  He proceeded to walk into the bar.
  A few minutes later, Mr. Sanchez and his friends walked back into the
bar to enjoy the rest of the night.  He took note that the mysterious guy
was having an easy time socializing with the local women, and also mentioned
that most of the guys in the bar noticed too (jealousy I guess?).
   At this point, Mr. Sanchez tried to forget about the hot shot stranger
when he noticed a commotion beginning to occur.  Many people were whispering
to themselves and pointing and looking at the stranger who was now seated 
alone in the back corner of the bar.  He leaned over to a friend and asked
what was going on.  His friend then told him to look at the stranger's feet.
Mr. Sanchez realized that the man was wearing no shoes or socks, and instead
of having human feet, the guy had CHICKEN FEET!  He then explained in great
detail that the man's feet were unusually large and groteque.  The crowd
was so upset, that someone called the police while several people
"barracaded" the man in, and what I mean by this, is that a few guys
casually stood around the area making it hard for him to leave without be-
ing noticed.  When the police finally arrived, several people pointed
to where the man was seated and were astonished to see that he had completely
dissappeared!  There was no way for the guy to have left without being
spotted going thru the crowd, and there was no back door for him to escape.
When the crowd walked outside, they saw no trace of his car.

Like I mentioned above, the story was featured in one of Socorro's daily
newspapers (I have no idea what the day was, or for that matter, what year
it was).  If anyone is interested, it wouldn't be to hard for me to pull
the newspaper out of the archives (Socorro is less than 200 miles away).
I'm told that its still a mystery to this day about what happened on that
strange night.

dhoneywe@dante.nmsu.edu
David R. Honeywell

 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories