I just watched a show called 'Monsters and Mysteries in America on the Travel Channel and the last part was about a brown mantis man near a river in NJ. I actually saw one of these a while back in 2011 in southeastern Connecticut right near the Thames River.
I was driving home from work (Mohegan Sun Casino) and it was after midnight. I saw a small 1 1/2 to 2 foot tall Praying Mantis humanoid running on the side of Pequot Avenue in New London, CT. The avenue runs alongside the Thames River and I was driving southbound on Pequot when I saw it on the side of the road directly on my left. It was a mahogany brown color and it looked exactly like the CGI version on the show. I stopped my car and watched it and it was looking right at me the whole while as it ran towards a storm drain. It never took its eyes off me then it jumped down the storm drain.
When I got home I told my boyfriend at that time about it and we both laughed it off. I chalked it up to being over tired and seeing things because I was so exhausted. But now I know I wasn’t 'seeing things!' It’s disturbing to realize this could’ve been real!

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