Freiberg is a city in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, in the Breisgau region, on the western edge of the southern Black Forest and currently boosts a population of roughly 214,000. It is of popular opinion that Freiberg, which straddles the Dreisam River, is the warmest, sunniest city in Germany. Freiberg is surrounded by the Black Forest Mountains; these mountains contain several coal mines, one of which was the site of a very strange event in 1978.

Early on the morning of September 10, 1978 the workers of one of these mines, the name of the mine could not be found, approached its entrance to begin their day of work. As they got closer they noticed a man, appearing to be wrapped in a dark trench coat, standing in front of the entrance. Unsure as to why the man was standing there a few of the works approached to investigate, however when they got a few feet away from the man what they thought was a trench coat flung open and formed a pair of huge outstretched wings attached to this dark figure.

The miners who had approached stood in shock and after a moment the dark figure let out a series of piercing shrieks which would later be described by eye witnesses as sounding like 50 men screaming and the sound of a train’s emergency breaks. The minors fled from the creature and the mine’s entrance, from a safe distance the men observed what would later be dubbed the Freiberg Shrieker as it folded its wings back around its body and stood motionless in front of the mine.

The minors reportedly began to busy themselves with clean up outside of the mine, hoping that the Shrieker would go away, it is unclear why they did not reported the beast to the local authorities. After waiting for what seemed like an hour, at approximately 8 am the miners were startled by a massive subterranean explosion which rocked the mine and shook the very ground on which they stood. They rushed to the mine’s entrance to discover the Shrieker was gone and a huge plume of smoke and flame bellowed from the entrance of the mine.

When the smoke and flame died down and officials were able to examine the mine it was determined that all 36 miners, should they had been at their designated posts, would have perished. This has lead some investigators to suggest that the Freiberg Shrieker appeared that day to prevent the men from entering the mine and in the process saved their lives. Some researchers have made the link between the Freiberg Shrieker and such winged beasts as the Black Bird of Chernobyl and the Mothman, all creatures which have been sighted before disasters and are thought to actually be on in the same entity, believed to be an omen of disaster to come.

A side note to this legend states that just six months after the incident with the Freiberg Shrieker less than one third of the workers present that day remained employed by the mine. Many of those who no longer worked at the mine remained unemployed and several apparently suffering from serious mental disorders, no doubt caused from the sighting of such a terrifying apparition. Two men, who dedicated their lives to revealing the truth behind what happened that day and sharing their findings with the world, died unusually young and extremely impoverished, a fate which is reported to have also befallen more than one Mothman eyewitness.

To this day the stories of the Freiberg Shrieker, the Mothman and the Black Bird of the Chernobyl remain shrouded in mystery and unsolved. The case of the Freiberg Shrieker is particularly hard to investigate as the details of this encounter remain very vague. The mines name and location are never mentioned nor are any of the witnesses’ names, a fact which has caused a hand full of researchers to speculate if this strange encounter even happened at all.

The Evidence

There is currently no physical evidence to support the existence of the Freiberg Shrieker or even the events which surround its mysterious appearance.

The Sightings

On the morning of September 10, 1978, the workers of a coal mine outside Freiberg, Germany, encountered a dark, man shaped figure with huge wings. This creature prevented the men from entering the mine which would later collapse, with the men safely outside.

The Stats– (Where applicable)

• Classification: Avian
• Size: Roughly that of a human male
• Weight: Unknown
• Diet: Unknown
• Location: Outside Freiberg, Germany
• Movement: Flight
• Environment: Unknown