On the night of November 8, 1958, Charles Wetzel was driving where North Main Street crossed the Santa Ana River when something man-shaped with a glowing, fluorescent face and a beak-like mouth reared out of the riverbed brush and clawed across his windshield. He floored it, drove to the police station, and the scratches were real enough for a report. Another driver described the same thing the next night. Riverside has told the story ever since.
Santa Ana River crossing at North Main Street, Riverside
See it on the map
No single published account; the story is carried locally.