The Copper Man of Portsmouth
A copper man similar to the Copper Man of Portsmouth. Photo: Metamorphisis
The Copper Man was a strange creature sighted over 200 years ago near Portsmouth, UK. It was described as being 4ft tall with glistening copper skin and no facial features.
Description of the Copper Man of Portsmouth
The Copper Man was described as being about 4ft tall, had a muscular build and an unusually large head. The creature had no mouth, eyes or nose. It was copper in color and had a metallic sheen.
The Copper Man wore no clothes and had the ability to fly and walk on water.
Sightings of the Copper Man of Portsmouth
Tipner Lake, Portsmouth, where one of the Copper Man sightings occurred. Photo: Alanth
This paranormal tale may not be as well-known as other spooky stories, but it certainly falls into the category of strange and unexplained phenomena.
Sightings of the Copper Man were first reported in the late 18th century and continued into the start of the 19th century.
A reader of British Paranormal wrote in, telling of some strange information he had found while researching another topic. He found a diary belonging to Henry Albert Brand, a bookbinder who lived and worked in Hampshire in the late 18th century.
The diary chronicled Brand's various trips in and around the county, as well as personal history and local stories of interest. On September 6th, 1798, an entry in the diary made reference to a tale that left the researcher dumbfounded.
According to the diary, a local vicar had sighted a human with metal skin while walking the country lanes near Farington. The vicar claimed that the man was no more than four feet in height, with a sturdy, muscular body and a large, bulky head.
His eyes were described as being like brightly polished shillings, "glistering" in the midday sun. Strangely, the Copper Man had no mouth, no nose, and no ears, and he wore no clothes.
In the early 19th century, strange sightings of a metallic creature began to cause a stir in the towns surrounding Portsmouth. The first account came from a man named Rand, who documented in great detail the panic that this creature caused in the surrounding areas. Rand noted that the creature had been spotted again near the reclaimed land of Tipner Lake, where a young farmer's maid had witnessed a man of "metal flesh" emerge from the waters of the bay, walk several meters, and then disappear beneath the surface once again.
Initially, the researcher examining Rand's diary dismissed the accounts as the ramblings of an insane mind. However, this comfort was short-lived when a second source emerged, a letter written by Dr. Geoffrey Bramwell, that attested to another sighting of a flying metal man causing panic in Portsmouth.
According to Dr. Bramwell's letter, in 1801, a group of townsfolk gathered to exchange goods and produce in an open-air location near Portsmouth city center when a candle-maker let out a scream of terror. The cause of the scream was a "grim ghoul" with a skin of copper and a terrible countenance that emerged from a nearby copse and launched itself into the sky like a golden bird.
These accounts of the metallic creature caused widespread panic and confusion among the townspeople, leaving them wondering if these sightings were the result of mass hysteria or if there was something truly otherworldly happening in their midst.
What do you think about the Copper Man of Portsmouth? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this article you might also be interested in the Flatwoods Monster or the Falkville Metal Man.
