Black eyed children are paranormal creatures that are apart of American urban legends, and are sometimes known as Cryptids. Cryptids are any type of imaginary creature that has a history or a lore from many encounters with humans. The black eyed children or black eyed kids are a type of Cryptid that many people have had encounters with. They are usually between the age of six and 16 and I describe, has very pale skin, or having gray skin. They are best known for their completely black eyes that has no iris or white area, giving them the look of being demonic or alien.
The first encounter of black eyed children was in Texas 1996. Brian Bethel was the first witness or a victim in 1996 while he said in his car about to pay his Internet bill outside of a theater showing Mortal Kombat. He heard a knock at his window. He looked over and saw two boys. One of them was tan with dark curly hair and the other one was very pale. They were both looking down and he couldn’t see their eyes. They said they were going to see Mortal Kombat, but they forgot their money at home and if you could give them a ride to their house. When Brian looked up he saw that the last showing of Mortal Kombat has already started and told him that it wouldn’t be worth it since they would already be late. After this, they became aggressive and robotic voice, they started asking to be left into the car. They said they were only little children and wouldn’t harm him. They kept repeating that in a robotic voice, even saying that they didn’t have a gun and that he would be safe this scared Brian, and even though he didn’t wanna let them in there or something, so hypnotizing about their voice that he found himself reaching for the handle of the car to let them in that’s when he finally saw their eyes, their eyes were completely black and looked daemonic. It was at this point that he snapped out of whatever trance they had him in and quickly drove away. Brian, who was a news reporter went on to write about his encounter and this is the first known happening with these Cryptids that labeled them as black eyed kids.
One theory about the origins of black eyed kids is that they’re human alien hybrids. Before the invention of phones, an instant picture taking many people said that they had encounters with aliens. A lot of descriptions of aliens at the time were that they were pale or gray, and had huge black, almond shaped eyes. This description is very similar to that of the black eyed kids. One theory is that when aliens abduct humans they are doing so to try to create human alien hybrids. Theory state that they create these creatures to live amongst humans for either world domination, or possibly even to help humans conserve the Earth. One women’s encounter with aliens is directly linked with the story of black eyed kids. This woman who shared her story stayed anonymous, but said that she had been abducted by aliens. Of her encounter she stated that the aliens took eggs from her body multiple times while she was in her 20s. However, once she was in her 30s the counter stopped. Years later, she said she had another encounter, but not with aliens. The anonymous woman said that she heard a knock at her door, and when she went to see who it was, she was met with a sight of a little boy who had jet black eyes, but also had sandy blonde hair like her. She said she knew instantly that he was her son. He did not say anything, and she was frozen just looking at him unlike other encounters with the black eye kids she was not afraid of him. Before she could open the door for him or say anything, her husband came downstairs and she looked back to talk to her husband but when she turned back around, the boy was gone.
Another theory is that the black eyed children are vampires. This theory is believed because of the numerous encounters with black eyed children, where the Cryptids cannot come into a persons, house or car without first being invited in. In the first encounter with the blackeye kids, the reporter stated that the boys continued to ask to be let into his car stating that they could not come in unless he invited them in. This theory is also believed because of the characteristic of most black children to have very pale skin, like vampires. As well, most of the sightings of black eyed kids happens at night between the hours of six and midnight. One encounter with the black eyed kids that is believed to be proof that they are. Vampires was one experience a woman had after she left her six year old son in the car. When she came back to the car, she noticed that there is another little boy in the car with her son. At first she was not alarmed, but when she got closer, she noticed that the boy was very pale and was wearing old fashion clothes. When she open the door to ask him who he was, she immediately became scared when she saw his jet black eyes. She grabbed her son and ran from the car, then called her husband to come down and meet them there. When she went back to the car, the boy was gone. Later on when she asked her son if he knew the boy her son said no. When she asked if he just came in to the car, her son said no that he needed to invite him into the car. Later on her son became very ill and doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him. He was sick for months before he started to get better slowly. Many theorize that the black eyed child was a vampire who fed off the boy that’s why he was sick for so long.
The last theory is that the black eyed kids are the ghost of children who died violent deaths. This theory goes into the category of the vengeful ghost, which is part of many myths and stories. This theory is usually believed because most of the encounters with the black eyed kids describes them as being angry and having benevolent intent. The idea is that they want revenge for the harm that came to them in life and ultimately ended in their death. One sad, and non-fiction story that is given proof for the black eyed kids been vengeful ghosts is one that happened in the 1960s. In a small town in the Midwest, three young girls vanished while playing outside. Later, their bodies were found in their killer was brought to justice. However, it is believed because of their violent deaths that the spirits of the three girls still hunt that small town. One man who lives in the small town, said he had been taking his dog for a walk in the woods, when a girl appeared in front of him, who had her hands covering her eyes. When he asked her if she was all right, or if you need help, she didn’t respond. He immediately felt scared, and turned around with his dog to walk the other way. But when he turned around, she reappeared right in front of him but this time she wasn’t covering her eyes. And that’s when he saw that she had jet black eyes. She started screaming, and he nearly turned around with his dog and ran the other way. This story takes place much earlier than the first encounter that Brian had in the 90s. This is because no one identified the ghost of these three girls, black eyed kids until much later in the early 2000s.
When debunking the myth of the black eyed children, I want to start off by examining humanities primordial, need to protect and care for children. In almost each encounter with black eye kids, the person usually an adult was faced with a child asking for help. It’s a human need to want to help vulnerable children. Unlike when adults ask other adults for help, people usually have their guard down not thinking that children could have an ulterior motive, or want to harm them. When when the adult in the situations or encounters realize that the black eye kids might want to harm them they can no longer see him as children so their brains must create another creature that is in front of them besides a child. I believe that many of these encounters might have actually happened, but adults each situation could not deal with the idea that these kids had ulterior motives, like wanting to break into their house or hurt their son, or even just scared him as a prank. So they attributed otherworldly or supernatural characteristics to them to make them some thing besides children.
Alexandra Prado – Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School – DMSF Class of 2027