The Cornish Owlman
If America has the Mothman, perhaps Britain has the Owlman.
In the spring of 1976, something strange was allegedly seen among the ancient woods surrounding a lonely Cornish church. Witnesses described a towering, feathered creature with pointed ears, clawed feet and terrifying glowing eyes.
Was it an unknown cryptid? A giant escaped owl? A trick of the imagination?
Or was the entire legend the creation of one of Britain’s most eccentric showmen?
Welcome to the mystery of the Owlman of Mawnan.
The Setting: Mawnan Old Church
The legend centres on the ancient Church of St Mawnan and St Stephen, near Mawnan Smith in Cornwall.
It is an appropriately atmospheric setting. Standing above the Helford River and surrounded by trees, the church has medieval origins and occupies a site believed to have been used for worship for many centuries.
With its old graveyard, secluded woodland and dramatic coastal surroundings, it is easy to see how the location became the backdrop for one of Britain’s strangest modern cryptid legends.
The First Sighting — Easter 1976
The Owlman story apparently began on 17 April 1976, when two young sisters, June and Vicky Melling, were holidaying in Cornwall with their family.
According to the story later publicised by Cornish artist, magician and self-proclaimed wizard Tony “Doc” Shiels, the girls encountered a terrifying winged creature near Mawnan church.
Doc Shiels
They reportedly described a huge, feathered bird-like humanoid with pointed ears, clawed feet and glowing red eyes.
The children were said to have been so frightened that their father, Don Melling, immediately cut short the family’s holiday.
But there is an important problem.
The story appears to have reached the wider world almost entirely through Doc Shiels himself. The witnesses did not become public figures, and independent contemporary documentation of the original encounter is extremely limited.
The Second Sighting — July 1976
Just a few months later, another encounter was reported.
On 3 July 1976, two 14-year-old girls named Sally Chapman and Barbara Perry were reportedly camping near the church when they heard a strange hissing sound.
According to the account, they looked up and saw a terrifying creature perched in the trees.
It was described as resembling:
“A big owl, as large as a man, with pointed ears and black, pincer-like claws.”
The creature supposedly had glowing orange-red eyes and enormous wings. The girls claimed it rose into the air and flew away almost silently.
Again, however, the story was publicised through Doc Shiels.
And that is where the Owlman mystery becomes even stranger.
Did the Owlman Return?
Further encounters have been reported over the decades, although the reliability and documentation of these later sightings vary considerably.
Accounts attributed to the late 1970s describe a huge owl-like creature perched among the trees near the church.
Other alleged sightings followed during the 1980s and 1990s, helping transform the Owlman from a single strange encounter into a fully fledged piece of British cryptid folklore.
However, exact dates, witness names and descriptions often differ depending on the source, and many modern retellings appear to repeat information from earlier paranormal books and websites rather than original contemporary reports.
So while the legend undoubtedly grew, the evidence trail becomes increasingly difficult to follow.
The Strange World of Tony “Doc” Shiels
No investigation of the Owlman can ignore the extraordinary man at the centre of the story.
Tony “Doc” Shiels was a surrealist artist, magician, entertainer and self-proclaimed “Wizard of the West” who became one of the most colourful characters in British paranormal history.
At around the same time that the Owlman appeared, Shiels was also associated with another Cornish mystery: Morgawr, a supposed sea serpent said to inhabit Falmouth Bay.
Shiels claimed to have magically summoned monsters and was a master of theatrical publicity.
This has inevitably led sceptics to question whether the Owlman was a genuine mystery, an embellished story, a deliberate hoax or perhaps even a form of performance art.
One of the most famous pieces of “evidence” is a drawing supposedly based on the original 1976 sighting, depicting a terrifying winged humanoid with enormous red eyes and clawed feet.
But once again, the drawing entered the public story through Shiels.
Was he simply documenting an extraordinary series of encounters?
Or was Britain’s strangest wizard creating a monster of his own?
Could the Owlman Have Been a Real Owl?
If witnesses genuinely saw something unusual, there are several possible natural explanations.
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl
One of the strongest candidates is the Eurasian eagle-owl.
These are enormous birds. The largest individuals can have a wingspan approaching 1.8 metres — nearly six feet. They have prominent ear tufts, powerful talons and striking orange eyes.
Although not traditionally considered a native breeding species in modern Britain, escaped eagle-owls have survived in the wild in the UK.
Seen unexpectedly at dusk, particularly by frightened children, an eagle-owl perched above eye level or suddenly spreading its enormous wings could certainly appear monstrous. But again they are still smaller that the described creature when their wings are folded, and, there is no confirmed evidence that a Eurasian eagle-owl was living at Mawnan in 1976.
The Barn Owl
Another possibility is the familiar barn owl.
Barn owls possess specialised feathers that allow them to fly with extraordinary silence, I have first hand experience of this, being a wildlife photographer, a blue tit makes more noise flying than a Barn Owl. Rather than the stereotypical “hoot”, they can produce eerie screeches, hisses and other unsettling sounds.
In poor light, their pale, heart-shaped faces and ghostly appearance can be deeply unnerving.
However, a barn owl is considerably smaller than the man-sized creature described by witnesses, meaning significant misperception or exaggeration would be required.
A Genuine Cryptid, Mistaken Bird or Modern Myth?
The Owlman of Mawnan occupies a strange place in British paranormal history.
Unlike legends that evolved over centuries, the Owlman seems to have appeared almost fully formed in 1976 — complete with witnesses, a terrifying appearance and an unforgettable name.
And at the centre of it all was Doc Shiels.
That does not necessarily prove that nothing happened. The original witnesses may genuinely have seen a large bird that frightened them. Memory, darkness, fear and later retelling could then have transformed a brief encounter into something much stranger.
But the lack of independent contemporary evidence and the central involvement of a professional magician and publicity-loving self-proclaimed wizard make it extremely difficult to accept the Owlman as evidence of an unknown creature.
Evidence Rating: 2/10 — Very Weak
The Owlman is a fantastic piece of modern British folklore, but the physical evidence is virtually nonexistent.
There are no verified photographs, no video footage, no feathers, no tracks and no physical remains.
More importantly, the earliest and most famous accounts were channelled through Tony “Doc” Shiels, a man whose entire public persona revolved around magic, monsters, spectacle and theatrical mystery.
The possibility that witnesses genuinely encountered a large owl cannot be ruled out.
The existence of a seven-foot-tall supernatural bird-man is rather harder to establish.
Richard’s Verdict
“A brilliant legend — but probably not a genuine unknown cryptid”.
For me, the biggest red flag is Doc Shiels.
When the person responsible for bringing a monster story to public attention is simultaneously a magician, self-proclaimed wizard and master showman who is also claiming to summon sea monsters, my sceptical alarm bells start ringing rather loudly.
My own feeling is that there may have been a genuine sighting of a large owl behind the original story. An escaped Eurasian eagle-owl would certainly be an impressive and frightening sight, especially to a child encountering one unexpectedly in woodland.
But somewhere between the original encounter, Doc Shiels and decades of retelling, I suspect a large bird became something far more monstrous.
Do I believe people may have seen something strange at Mawnan? Yes.
Do I believe a giant supernatural owl-man was haunting the Cornish woods? Probably not.
But perhaps that is why the Owlman remains such a compelling mystery.
Because sometimes the strangest monsters are not discovered in remote forests or ancient caves.
Sometimes they are created in the shadows between what we see, what we remember… and the stories we tell afterwards.
Tomorrow on 365 Days of the Paranormal – UK Cattle Mutilations
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