Mysterious Man Disappears Into Schenectady Manhole

Picture yourself in an outdoor market when you notice a man a few feet away. One minute he is there, the next he is gone. Vanished like a magic trick. A few moments later, there he is! Reappearing out of nowhere. That is what happened on Sunday morning in Schenectady.

Times Union reports that people had been hanging out on Jay Street at the Schenectady Greenmarket when they heard the sound of what turned out to be a guy moving a manhole cover and then disappearing underground. David Kosineski, owner of True Juice Cafe, spoke to Times Union about the mystery.

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Everyone in the close area literally just stopped what they were doing immediately and turned, and when we turned he was looking at everyone making eye contact, and he was halfway in the hole, and slowly crawling his way down, and we all looked at each other and were like, 'Did that just really happen?’

The manhole man remains anonymous but did resurface a few minutes later, replaced the cover and walked away. Police found the man later in the day but no charges were filed. Who is this guy and what is he up to? That remains a mystery.

Here are a few things I can tell you about manholes.

• Manholes give maintenance workers easier access to sewers, water mains, telephone and electricity, to name a few.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lived in the sewer and the manhole was their front door.
• One reason manhole covers are round is it makes that heavy chunk of steel easier to move around.