The Tinguian tribe in the Philippines is very superstitious about ghosts, whom they refer to as alans.
One day, a man while journeying through the dense forest heard strange sounds. Looking around he saw a group of ugly alans hanging from a nearby tree, like bats. They had knotted fingers that were placed backwards and twisted feet and wings. The man was very scared seeing the weird creatures and ran to save himself. The alans too followed and soon caught up with him. They told the man that if he could not find them the magic bead named nabaga they would burn down his house.
The man ran home. The Tinguians believe that alans always keep their promises and to this day he is believed to be searching for the magic bead.