Wild Man of Warren County

 The Wild Man of Warren County

By Cole Herrold

Bigfoot and other hairy hominid accounts are by far nothing new. They have been reported by early Native Americans, by Vikings who arrived first to North America, by miners and settlers in the early 1800s, and then later on by those who would decidedly distance themselves as far as possible from the natural world. One such early account of a creature that may or may not be some type of Hominid was reported to of roamed throughout Warren County around the late 1860s. While this creature received the name in the early papers as the Wild Man of Warren County, this creature clearly, if the reports are accurate, cannot be the typical Sasquatch or even those bizarre offshoots which have been reported primarily in the Southern states.

The Wild Man of Warren County first made its appearance known in the March 1, 1868 edition of The Vicksburg Herald under the incredible sideshow esque headlines THE WHAT IS IT OUTDONE!-THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS!- An Extraordinary Creature Discovered in the Forests of Warren County!- A Nondescript Animal of Singular and Frightful Appearance Roaming at Large!- Truth Stranger than Fiction!- the creature was reported to of been seen over the course of several months in the evenings approximately 25 miles from Vicksburg, Mississippi. The major area where the creature was said to reside near the swamps around Bear Creek as well as the Big Black River, which interconnects with the creek. The creature was known in obscurity and appeared to primarily been sighted by individuals who resided in what, due to the times, may have been an African American community. The heinous treatment of those who only three years before were officially set free had been barely managing to scrape a living, and their communities were often in areas that the white landowners refused to own. These areas were often in the most desolate of locations, and apparently, in this area around Bear Creek, they were not alone in their claim to the land. The creature the witnesses described, even without the racial prejudice, seemed extremely improbable the witnesses claimed that this creature was around 8ft tall with each eye as big “as a hens egg," the creature had no nose and no upper lip; his two canines (in the article referred to as eyetooth), these teeth are said to be as long as a man's thumb, these teeth extended down over its chin reaching a total length of 8 inches. The creature’s long arms ended in hands that were tipped with long 6 inch long talons.

The creature's body was described as the following "The hair on its head is stiff and wiry-sweeps the ground as it walks and its parted in the rear and brought down in front on reach side of its singularly formed chest, which is not round or flat, but its angular like that of a fowl. The hair on the body of this being is very stiff and grows to the rear, parting at the angle of the breastbone, growing back and noting with a long stiff growth on his spine which extends back about one foot like a spinal fin of a fish or the bristles on the back of a boar- the hair on his arms is parted and grows in the same way making a long thick brush on the back of the arms, extending from the shoulders to the point of his middle finger; this same peculiarity is observable on his legs”.

The most startling feature of this bizarre beast is that the placement of its feet are unlike anything from the known and unknown world. The reason the creature's feet are so bizarre is that the creature's left foot is backwards while its right foot is pointed towards the front like a typical human's. These feet each were approximately 23 inches in length, making it longer than most bigfoot tracks. These tracks would prove to make the natural tracking of the creature almost impossible. Yet they would not be the only sign of the creature, for when night fell, unearthly cries and howls could be heard emanating in the area. While this creature seems to be completely unlike anything currently that we know of, those who had seen the creature were quite certain that the creature was none other than the most infamous fallen angel, the Devil himself. The individuals who had encountered this alternative resident were often terrified by the experience, and their tales were laughed at by those who felt that thee accounts were nothing but fancies. This would be something that, unfortunately, would not be taken seriously until it was too late.

It was Thursday, February 27, 1868 (some sources claim September 1867), when a group of hunters would encounter the creature. The papers describe how the hunting party, a group of well-known gentlemen, had decided to go bear hunting in the residing swamps around The Big Black River. The group was armed to the teeth not only with several firearms but also with fifteen ill-fated well-trained bear hunting dogs. They left off on their hunt early in the morning; the group were riding several horses to help move over the terrain with the dogs trailing behind. The group was so far unsuccessful, but as they entered a particular area, they came across a series of tracks that seemed to be of a large human's pressed into the soft swampy soil. The group got off their horses to get a better look and noticed that one track always seemed to be turned the opposite way in the track wave. The group was extremely confused by this as there was nothing to them that could explain what could have made the tracks appear like that. Yet in the mind of at least one of the men, the tales of those who have been describing a reversed footed entity began to return to memory. After a reveal to those unfamiliar with the tale, the group gained trophy fever. They needed to bag this creature at all costs. The group called the dogs and had the canines sniff the tracks in the hopes that they could pick up the actual path of the creature. The dog's noses sniffed the various tracks and soon, with a cry of success, positioned themselves in the right direction and began to run at full tilt barking all the way. The men, in a cry almost as loud as the dogs, remounted their horses and began chasing after the dogs.

The dogs were on the move, and the horses were barely able to keep up with them, but they wouldn't have to wait for long. In a few minutes, the men saw a dark form standing near what the group felt was its lair. The men were absolutely terrified to their core as the creature matched almost exactly to what the earlier accounts described. The creature was called Nondescript in the papers of the time, yet this was clearly not the case. The men who would add to the already confirmed description that the creature was like an extremely hairy dark-skinned human and only about 6ft tall. As the men were taking in this creature, the creature seemed to also have been taking in its pursuers as well, but this would not be for long, for soon the creature opened its wide maw and uncurled a horrendous scream before running away with speed faster than a horse's away from the dogs. This raised courage in the men and, in the cry of the hunt, began chasing the dogs and creature even further on their horses. This chase led on for some time until they could see the banks of the Big Black River and, on the other side, the shores of Louisiana. The creature began to slow as it saw the rushing rapids and ultimately stopped at the banks looking back and forth to the other side. The creature was chased 10 miles, and it apparently had enough. The creature began foaming at the mouth, releasing countless cries of anger, and watched as the dogs came closer to it. The first dog was almost on the creature when one of its long arms reached out, capturing the canine. The creature dug its long talons into the flesh of the dog, which whined in agony all the while the creature proceeded with inhuman strength to rip the dog apart. Dropping the remains by its feet.

This was apparently not enough to stop the other canines as the second came up to the creature, and the creature, in a similar manner, grabbed this one as well, but this time used its long protruding tusks to impale this dogs skull killing it instantly. One of the hunters seeing the carnage before him and was terrified for his life, and assumedly the others around him reached into his holster and grabbed the pistol he had brought. The hunter's hands shook; he raised the weapon slowly, taking aim at the hulking monster's hairy form. The creature seemed to stare right at him as the other men were trying to hold back the dogs and horses. The hunter, as sweat dripped down his brow and as his heart seemed to thud straight out of his chest, eventually managed to steady himself and, taking in this gunner's calm, proceeded in firing at the creature's hairy chest. The creature was hit twice by the hunter; it staggered only slightly, seemingly unaffected by such machinery. The creature, however, was not entirely unphased by the weapon, for as soon as the shots hit, the creature once more unleashed an unholy scream and proceeded in what the men thought was fear heading straight towards the crashing waves of the Big Black River. The creature jumped into the dark water, entirely disappearing below the surf. The men watched for any sign of the creature, but it appeared to be gone. The men waited at the shore, guns ready for the chance that the creature might have swam downstream to rearise on the shore, but there was nothing. That was until 5 minutes had gone by, and in almost the exact same spot that the creature descended, it rose to the surface and once again proceeded in polluting the air with an incredible scream that sounded like "the voice of a regiment of soldiers." The men, apparently too frightened by this haunting cry, could only watch as the creature made its way to the opposite side of the shore heading towards the border of Louisiana and ultimately disappeared from sight in the dark swampy forests.

The creature had after this account been seen twice, and there had been several attempts to capture the creature, none of which ever managed to come to fruition. One such account happened on April 11, 1868, when R.H. Hicks and W.W. Hughes encountered the creature in the neighborhood of Carrollton. The creature was also said to of during this time frequent the nearby city of Meadville in Franklin County, yet further details on these accounts have proven difficult to track down. In one newspaper article in the Boston Evening Transcript retelling the details of the Meadville and Warren County account, the editor makes a claim that the backwards footed creature is the same as a creature reported in the Maine Mount Katahdin region where the creature is known by Native Americans, lumberjacks, and woodsmen as "Yo-ho." The creature's appearance is almost identical to those reported in the Vicksburg Herald, yet the creature reported in the Maine mountains allegedly has tracks that are universally backwards as opposed to the one foot reported in the Mississippi variety.

While the "Yo-ho" might have been a version of the creature seen in Mississippi in 1868, some residents of the area felt that the creature may have met its unfortunate or to the resident's fortunate end in the waters of Lake Michigan. The creature, which to those who saw it know it as the Wild Man of Lake Manitou, was believed to of drowned after, in a similar instance that occurred in the Vicksburg Herald, the creature was chased into the waters. Yet, it is important to note that the Wild Man of Lake Manitou is not described as having the same exaggerated features as reported in Mississippi, such as the 8-inch fangs, noseless face, and the single backwards foot. However, with this report, so too ends the accounts of the creature come to be known as the Wild Man of Warren County.

The Wild Man of Warren County is bizarre on a lot of levels. For one thing, the beginning of almost all of the Southern newspaper articles makes it sound that the creature was created to solely make African American individuals seem as though they are superstitious or seeing things that aren't there, but then they throw in the fact that there are other sightings from Caucasians that are included almost to "legitimize" their encounters. While I understand that this was the time when such things were overly rampant and part of the culture in spades, it's still uncomfortable to read and research. Yet putting that aside its interesting as its almost the 1800s equivalent of a military employee or biologist encounter with an unknown creature or at least the quote "credibility" unquote of the time, so to speak, even though there is an extreme irritation as I write this since the African American communities had tons of sightings before this hunting party came about that practically went unreported outside of a spooky tale as a footnote.

While there is certainly a racial prejudice upon the initial reporting that makes this tale difficult to elaborate further. Based on the descriptions given by the African American community, we can see some similarities in the description of the creature to several other hominid creatures reported throughout the world. The backwards feet are a common description for such creatures as the Orang Pendek of Sumatra and the Kalanoro of Madagascar. These creatures are often depicted as hairy hominids with bizarre feet that point backwards with the sole purpose of evading human detection. The long talons of the Wild Man of Warren County are also reminiscent of these creatures in the description of the protruding fangs and long talon-like nails which have been reported on the Kalanoro specifically. The creatures incredible ability to hold its breath for a long period of time is also reminiscent of the Kalanoro as some Madagascar tribes have claimed that the Kalanoro is semiaquatic; this feature is also seen in other Bigfoot encounters in the 1970s and 80s, such as the Murphysboro Mud Monster, the Sabine Thing, The Honey Island Swamp Monster, Lake Worth Monster, and Sykesville Monster.

Now the problem with this comparison is that the creatures that are similar to it anatomologically speaking are extremely small compared to the creature reported in Warren county, which is double the size of the Kalanoro and Orang Pendek. Another problem is the fact that the Kalanoro and the Orang Pendek are reported to have noses and that their feet are universally backwards; however, modern research has shown that with the Orang Pendek, this is just a legend as they do seem to have forward-facing feet. So clearly, the Warren County Wild Man is something entirely different from what has been seen elsewhere.

One possibility is that maybe the Warren County Wild Man might be a typical Sasquatch that had undergone some birth defect or mutation altering the typical sasquatch features to the bizarre entity described. This theory is not new as many of the Southern and Midwestern Bigfoot-type creatures, be they Momo, The Fouke Monster, The Cole Hollow Road Monster, and The Honey Island Swamp Monster, have been reported of having three to four toes which some researchers feel may have been the result of specifically inbreeding in the small populations of the Southern States. Now, this theory is pure speculation as there has never been a truly ecological study of the Sasquatch outside of a speculative biological standpoint, so the true number of creatures of the population in a given area is a true unknown. It also stands to point out that most casts were taken in the same areas today as those with the infamous three-toed tracks almost uniformly tend to have five toes so if there was a problem it has since been irradicated or is affected elsewhere on the creatures.

Skeptically speaking, there is a chance that this is a case of yellow journalism. It's no secret that old newspapers would make up sensational stories to work as propaganda, be satire, or simply to sell papers. Many early monster reports are often felt to be just that, but the interesting thing about this case is that it was written about rather extensively in other states, indicating some believability during the time by other newsmen and publishers. Another element is that this account continued it was not simply a one and done kind of story where some anomalous thing was seen it caused some havoc and then was never seen again there was a story every couple months on the creature implying that it was something more real than just a fake story or something similar. Another element is the fact that certain features of the creature were given surprisingly detailed lengths and descriptions of the anatomy that seem excessive if it were not something potentially real.

This case is one of the most interesting newspaper-oriented cases I think I've come across; not only does it describe one of the weirdest Wild Man accounts ever, but it also shines a light on some of the history of the region. The creature, I think, probably existed and, because of the overwhelming mindset of the region, was not researched or taken as seriously, which is frustrating on an academic level and irritating when one thinks about how the events played out with the earlier witnesses. While their accounts might not have been extensively chronicled as I would have liked, it is extremely important to thank and focus on those who did come forward, even with the stigma of their encounters and the people around them. While their names were not written or accounted their highly detailed description of the creature and its behavior is something that will hopefully live on for as long as there is a record for it.

This article is dedicated to those of the African American Communities of Mississippi, particularly those around Bear Creek and the Big Black River, whose stories were ignored and ridiculed. Your accounts might not be extensively chronicled, but they are remembered, and without them, there would be no context or true backbone to this case. It is in this while your names are not mentioned, your importance to Fortean studies will forever be enshrined.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Hominid/ Mammal

Location: Meadville, Franklin County, and throughout Warren County

Sighted: February 1868 -July 1868

Works Cited:

The Boston Evening Transcript June 27, 1868 (Boston, Massachusetts)

The Cambria Freeman July 16, 1868 (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania)

The Vicksburg Herald March 01, 1868 (Vicksburg, Mississippi)

The Vicksburg Herald April 14, 1868 (Vicksburg, Mississippi)

The Vicksburg Herald August 01, 1868 (Vicksburg, Mississippi)

Loch Hourn Monster

The Loch Hourn Monster

By Cole Herrold

Loch Hourn is one of the most bizarre lochs, I think I've come across in my research of Cryptozoology. When originally working on my article on The Beast of Barrisdale, I was under the impression that this particular monstrosity was the Loch's only resident. The tri-legged fiend even is known as the Loch Hourn Monster, indicating some aquatic nature even though reports of it seem to indicate a terrestrial or flying creature as opposed to something aquatic. Yet upon digging deeper into the history of this particular Loch, I came across a few reports of something slithering beneath the water of the Loch, meaning the Beast of Barrisdale is not the only Loch Hourn Monster.

The true Loch Hourn Monster was first reported to of been seen on August 20^th and August 21^st, 1872, and the encounter is extremely interesting not necessarily for what was seen but for the number of witnesses that had seen the monstrosity at the time. The encounter occurred one day when the cutter ship known as the Leda when at least six witnesses saw a large black creature with a line of large black humps about 45-60ft in length that ended in a long neck and head. Their account would be reported in a monthly natural history magazine called The Zoologist and would later also be elaborated on in both The Mythical Monsters by Charles Gould as well as the 1934 book the Loch Ness Monster and Others by R. T. Gould.

 It was August 20^th when Rev. David Twopeny, Vicar of Stockbury, from Kent and Rev. John McRae, Minister of Glenelg, from Inverness-shire, as well as two ladies known only as F and K, Mr. G. Bogle, and a highland “lad” were aboard the Leda and had just left Glenelg on a trip to Loch Hourn. The weather that day was calm and bright, and the surface of the water was as smooth as a mirror. The only exit to the northern point of the waterway was the Strait of Kylerhea which divides the Skye from the Mainland. It was around this area when they noticed a large shape approximately 200 yards to the north of them on the surface of the water. The group was confused about this object as they initially thought it was a log, but the object seemed to be moving on its own accord. It was around that time the boat goers proceeded in grabbing the three sets of glasses which were much akin to spyglasses or binoculars. Looking through the lenses, they noticed that this object was not something inanimate but a gigantic black-colored creature. The form had a head which was followed by several large dark-colored humps, each which had an interval space in between. The witnesses were certain that it was a single creature. The witnesses watched as the creature seemed to appear near the Leda, which moved slowly across the Leda's wake, and after it made it across the wake, it dipped down and disappeared. Yet this would not be for long as the creature’s head resurfaced as well as each coil. The lumps or coils would pop up sometimes in rows of three, other times four, five, or six, the most being seven, with the eighth being the head. The creature continued to submerge and reemerge to the surface, rising headfirst with the coils following, and when submerging it following the same way only occasionally there were some moments where only the head appeared. It was in this bizarre motion that the witnesses felt that the creature was "crooking up its back to sun itself." The witnesses, however, did not believe that this creature was serpentine as there appeared to be no undulation as it moved and as the humps or coils sank and rose, they did not enter in the area where the interval space had been implying that the creature had many large humps on its back. These humps appeared to be separated in the interval space as the creature rose about the same length of one standard hump on the creature, this measurement which they later used to estimate the total length of the creature, was six feet. The head was smaller and flatter than the creature's assumed humps, and the creature appeared to have a nose that was slightly visible above the water. The creatures head, as they would describe it, while noticeably different from the humps, never rose out of the water in the same manner of what we would expect in a lake monster or sea serpent encounter; instead, it seemed to just rise the top of its head up above the water its nose, and assumedly eyes being the only things breaching the surface, but the witnesses would not describe seeing the eyes. The creature would only move this way yet would sink almost as one would imagine a whale would. As they watched the creature on this day, while they admitted they could not estimate the creature with any true accuracy, they felt that the space between each hump was approximately six feet and that the total length of the creature, therefore, would have to be approximately 45ft in length. The creature seemingly returned as the boaters looked out on the ever still waters of the Loch that they noticed that once more, the colossal black form had risen from the Loch to sun itself or enjoy the warm weather. As the ship's passengers watched in awe of this frolicking giant, their awe soon turned to fear as the colossal creature proceeded in turning from its current course and head towards the Leda rather rapidly. This motion caused the waters of the Loch to froth and foam and appeared as though a great maelstrom had touched down. As the creature seemed to get nearer and nearer to the ship, it soon seemed to apparently notice the vessel and began to disappear into the water; while doing this, the head began to shoot a fine mist-like spray which was raised simply from the quick change in motion and not in the whale-like act of spouting. The woman known only as F was so disturbed by this that she proceeded in retreating to her room on the ship, "crying out that the creature was coming down upon us". The creature was only 100 yards when it made this turn and, in doing so, then changed course and began heading towards the direction of Skye. They could see the creature just under the waves as a dark black log form, and in so the observers could trace the course of the creature by the way it moved and the waves it would, in turn, bring up this continued for approximately a mile or so. While it moved, it began to raise itself up as it had before, only showing its head and back, almost never any other features. The only other feature that seemed to appear was a strange fin that seemed to pop up near the portion of the head, and this was seen by the two women and Mr. G. Bogle.

This, however, would not be the last time the creature was seen by these water-sent voyagers. The following day of the 21^st, the creature reappeared, yet unlike the previous day, it was much farther away. The Leda was on the north side of the opening of Loch Hourn, where the total space is only 3 miles wide. The weather, much like the previous day, was bright and warm, and the water once again had a mirror-like quality to it. As the ship was slowly putting along, the creature seemingly arose from the south side of their position and this time appeared as 3-4 long lines as opposed to several humps and an assumed head. The group, however, as they looked, noticed something that frightened them more than the previous day; while this creature was further away, they seemed to notice that the creature was even longer than the day before, reaching an even more absurd length of at least 60ft. The creature, however, seemed to be unconcerned with the ships on the water and began heading deeper into the waters of Loch Hourn and away from the entrance to the other waterways. Yet this would not be for long, for as the ship began to use the oars heading towards the island of Sandburg, the creature seemed to return this time, picking up speed and heading towards the mouth of the Loch. It was about 150 yards from the ship and went with great speed, its black head being the only thing seeable above the water as the rest of it caused a tremendous wake followed by the sound of throshing water. No flippers or fins were visible that could explain how this creature seemed to pick up speed that to the witnesses seemed twice as fast as a steamship which they had seen the previous day, implying it faster than the technology of the day, they had clocked the steamship as moving approximately 5 or 6mph so the creature would have to been going at least 10 to 12 mph. The creature also, as it moved, did not recreate the spraying effect as it had the previous day. The creature's movements were smooth, like something made for swimming in the water, which they would describe being similar to a log towed rapidly. The watchers continued to travel on the Loch as they headed toward the Sound of Sleat and were occasionally in sight until it started to get dark out. The creature’s body appearing only slightly at the surface. The two clergymen and the rest of the voyagers watched this aquatic anomaly for some time on the 21^st before it seemingly disappeared, stating later in the Zoologist, “we left our boat, wondering whether this strange creature had gone that way or turned back again to the south. We have only to add to this narrative of what we saw ourselves, the following instances of its being seen by other people, of the correctness of which we have no doubt”. Mr. G. Bogle, later on, did sketches of the object he saw, which would later appear in Gould's book The Loch Ness Monster and Others. The group, in reflection, felt that the creature might have been attracted to the sound of the boat's oars as it always seemed to be near their ship and specifically when the oars were in use.

Also, on the day of the 21st, the strange animal was seen once more when two ferrymen sailing in the evening on each side of Kylerhea, a village on the Isle of Skye, heard the heavy splashing and thrashing of some large object going through the dark waters. Both ferrymen were surprised and instinctively thought it might be a shoal of porpoises since occasionally they have made their way into the Loch, but the pair could not comprehend their going so quickly, yet as they discussed this strange event, they concluded that the speed and general bulk of the commotion on the water seemed to be of something altogether different.

Also, on the 21^st, Finlay McRae, of Bundaloch, in the parish of Kintail, would claim to of had an encounter with the creature. McRae was within the mouth of Loch Hourn with other men in his boat when much like in the other sightings, he noticed a strange wake upon the water that seemed to come from nowhere. As he and his men watched, they noticed that a dark serpentine creature seemingly rose up from the depths and saw that the creature appeared to be swimming at approximately four hundred and fifty feet away.

Another sighting that was reported by an unnamed lady from Duisdale, in Skye, which is opposite the opening of Loch Hourn, said that she was looking out with a glass when she saw a strange object on the Loch, which she described as appearing like eight seals in a row. The time of her sighting was noted that it was around the same time as the reverends on the 20^th. Around the same time of this sighting, the same or a similar creature was reported by two unnamed witnesses near the island of Eigg, specifically between Eigg and the Mainland, and about twenty miles to the southwest of the opening of Loch Hourn. Further details on this account, however, are currently unreported.

While the Loch Hourn was quiet on the 22^nd, the nearby and interconnected Loch Duich was far from it. Alexander Macmillan, a boat-builder from Dornie and his brother Farquhar, were fishing in a boat in the entrance of Loch Duich, halfway between Druidag and Castledonan, when he saw a strange rippling in the water near his boat. As he watched, he noticed a long dark animal rise from the water. Macmillan was near enough to hear a strange noise that either seemed to be coming from the creature or the water and saw the ripples on the water as it moved around in the Loch. The Zoologist would describe Macmillan’s description in the following “He says that what seemed its head was followed by four or more lumps, or "half-rounds," as he calls them, and that they sometimes rose and sometimes sank altogether. He estimated its length at not less than between sixty and eighty feet. He saw it also on two subsequent days in Loch Duich”. The pair were promptly terrified, and each time managed to row towards the shore as fast as they could.

A similar creature had been seen in Loch Duich in the Summer of 1871, about a year before the rash of Loch Hourn sightings. It was said that a well-known gentleman of the area was crossing the Sound of Mull from Mull to the Mainland when he would have an encounter with the creature. The account in the Zoologist would go into details of this account, stating the following: "On a very calm afternoon when our attention was attracted to a monster which had come to the surface, not more than 50 yards from our boat. It rose without causing the slightest disturbance of the sea, or making the slightest noise, and floated for some time on the surface, but without exhibiting its head or tail, showing only the ridge of the back, which was not that of a whale or any other sea animal that I have ever seen. The back appeared sharp and ridge-like, and in color very dark, indeed black, or almost so. It rested quietly for a few minutes then dropped quietly down into the deep, without causing the slightest agitation. I should say that about 40ft of it, certainly not less appeared on the surface”.

Sightings of the creature seemed to have been nonexistent during the timespan after the 1870s, but sightings in other Lochs and in the surrounding seas were rather constant; however, in 1934, the Duke of Marlborough would add to this enduring mystery by telling of an encounter with a mysterious giant creature in Loch Hourn to the Scottish Inspector of Fisheries. The Duke and three other witnesses observed a 96ft long black swimming beast in the water whose body formed humps as it moved. The creature had a flat and eyeless head and a long black body; as it traversed through the murky depths, it would raise its back, generating ridges that curved in form when the body would flatten. The creature seemed to of returned and would continue to be reported sporadically from time to time.

In the 1950s 9yr old Willie McKenzie and Rob Foster would both report seeing a strange object rising from the Loch at around the same time. Willie was sitting on a grassy knoll looking out over the Loch. He was searching the water of the Loch, searching for his father to return from work delivering mail on his boat. The boy would watch until he saw a strange churning and disturbance on the surface of the water and would go on to report seeing a creature’s head that would pop up ten feet out of the water. He said that the creature, whose head looked like a big eel's and was moved its head side to side. The creature was about 250 yards in front of him, and while the boy's response to seeing such a bizarre beast is unrecounted, it is safe to say he either watched the creature until it submerged, or he ran away, not seeing the final course that the creature went.

Around the same time, Rob Foster, a fisherman from Corran, potentially had seen the creature. While details about his account are very scant, there are some behavioral elements that seem to indicate that he had seen some sort of creature. That particular day Rob refused to go out to the boat and would get nowhere near the water, only getting to the shore of the Loch. Yet still, even without his detailed report, rumors also said that the monster was seen in Sandaig by the MacDiarmid's. Yet, their report is also practically nonexistent and only briefly mentioned in almost all sources.

This is currently all the information we have on the Loch Hourn Monster, as the creature apparently has not been seen or at least recorded since the 50s. While we today have no idea what kind of creature this could be biologically speaking since it does not seem to match the appearance of any known whale or large marine life form, researchers during the time of the sightings definitely seem to of had an inkling of what kind of creature this was. The researchers during this time felt that the Loch Hourn Monster was an example of the Norwegian Sea Serpent, a kind of large black creature that frequented the oceans and other waterways that connected to the ocean. The Norwegian Sea Serpent had frequently had several harrowing encounters that included several which involved attacks from humans towards the beasts. The creatures had many similarities to the Loch Hourn Monster; one feature that the Zoologist focused on is that both creatures seem to prefer still waters and warm weather to appear and that they have been seen in several of the same areas around the United Kingdom. The idea was since Loch Hourn, and several of the other lochs in the area are sea lochs (a kind of inlet that may be partially landlocked) that these creatures enter them from time to time either accidentally or to utilize some of the resources in the area.

While the researchers of the time felt that the Loch Hourn Monster was, in fact, a sea serpent that made its way inland, there are some alternative ideas. Skeptically speaking, it could have been a variety of things from a phantom wake to some alternative aquatic natural phenomenon that could superficially make that there might be some large creature in the water. Another possibility is that perhaps it was a group of marine animals that, when lined up, made it appear that there was one large creature when really there were several smaller creatures helping create the illusion of a larger one.

Loch, Lough, and Lake Monsters have literally countless hypotheses as to what they may be some ranging from surviving or descended Basilosauruses to giant eels and catfish to surviving or descended plesiosaurs to giant long-necked seals. All of these possibilities have been written about, speculated, and recounted more than I care to. They are all interesting and do deserve some respect when analyzing this phenomenon, but the truth is that much like the Gigantopithecus hypothesis for Bigfoot, it's all speculation. While I am certain these sightings do occur without some conclusive DNA evidence or a specimen that we can run tests on, it is impossible to accurately state which is correct and which is not. Yet I have a feeling that we may never come to a true conclusion, the lochs, and oceans of our world are incredibly deep, and because of this, there are all kinds of creatures that could remain hidden from our watchful gaze simply because we were not on the same depth as they were. That being said, I'm a big supporter of not having an encounter with one of these colossal creatures, for while a ship might seem like a safe place if the creature was strong enough to capsize the boat, anyone on deck is simply just so much fish food.

SEE ALSO:

THE BEAST OF BARRISDALE -https://newworldexplorerssociety.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-beast-of-barrisdale.html

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Reptile, Fish (most likely a giant eel), Mammal

Location: Loch Hourn, Scotland

Sighted: 1872-1950s

Works Cited

Gould, Charles. Mythical Monsters. Cosmo Classics. 1886

Harrison, Paul. Sea Serpents and Lake Monsters of the British Isles. Robert Hale. 2001.

Selby, Lindsey “Loch Hourn Monster”. The Centre for Fortean Zoology. June 13, 2010. http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2010/06/lindsay-selby-loch-hourn-monster.html. Accessed February 1, 2021.

Tabitca “More Loch Hourn creature sightings” June 13, 2010. https://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-loch-hourn-creature-sightings.html. Accessed February 1, 2021.

---“sea serpent sighting reported in the zoologist 1872” February 15, 2010. http://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2010/02/sea-serpent-sighting-reported-in.html. Accessed February 1, 2021.

The Zoologist Volume 1, Issue 92 May 1873

The Abominable Albino Aerobeasts

 The Abominable Albino Aerobeasts

By Cole Herrold

West Virginia is a haven for some of the most bizarre cryptid creatures and paranormal entities ever reported. The Mountain State is most well known for Mothman, the giant, red-eyed flying phantom that was seen in Point Pleasant in 1966, as well as the infamous ace of spades, shaped-headed Flatwoods Monster, and the eerily human extraterrestrial Indrid Cold the Grinning Man. While these entities are perhaps the most famous, one of the most constant reappearing creatures in the hills and hollows of the state are bizarre white-colored entities of various shapes and sizes. This pale menagerie includes the Grafton Monster, a colossal seemingly headless beast that was sighted in the early 1960s, the violent and carnivorous Sheepsquatch, and the White Things strange quadrupedal creatures resembling large dogs or small bears that have supernatural abilities. While these are clearly the superstars of the pigment-less bunch, there are another group of creatures that seem to of been hidden from the spotlight because of these other cases. These entities are very similar to the White Things, yet they have one element about them that makes them very different, and that is that they have the incredible ability to fly.

The creatures I’ve come to dub the Abominable Albino Aerobeasts are a group of cryptids that often gets lumped in with other West Virginia cryptid accounts such as the White Things, the Flatwoods Monster, and the Grafton Monster; however, these creatures are far from it and seem to be completely different. These creatures were first reported in 1952 and seem to be either mechanical or biological entities that somehow have managed to break the constraints of gravity. They've been seen both extremely far off as in the first case or extremely close, which is where we can confirm that these creatures appear to be, in fact, sky critters and not UFOs or some other alternative identity.

The very first account of a creature that fits the parameters of an Abominable Albino Aerobeast comes from an article in the September 21, 1952, edition of the Raleigh Register. It was 9 days after the infamous Flatwoods incident when a woman named Mrs. Earl Hutchinson was outside when she noticed a bizarre object seemingly jerking around in the sky. She stared in amazement as the form which she at first thought was a man in a parachute continued to swing back and forth and jump up and down. It was based on this motion that she could make out arms and legs, which seemed to poke out of a washtub-looking form, and that the figure had a seemingly whitish-silver color to it which she claims seemed to of been shiny, indicating possibly some metallic structure to the object. However, she was certain that whatever this peculiar object was, it was living and even felt she knew what/ who it was. Mrs. Hutchinson felt that what she was seeing before her eyes was clearly the Flatwoods Monster on its way to Beckley for a rendezvous with other monsters.

This sighting which is the first official account of a creature that defies any other known cryptid reported in West Virginia, is certainly not the Flatwoods Monster or Grafton Monster as some researchers have linked it to instead; it seems to belong to its own category of white furry fliers that only rarely have appeared in the skies of the state. It is important to note that this account could be something mechanical as its appearance is similar to a washtub, and the shiny color of it could be indicative of some sort of mechanized figure. The problem with this, however, is the fact that the object was seen from a distance, so getting a super detailed account of what she had seen makes exact identification difficult, but this would not be a problem with the second account of these creatures.

In the Summer of July 1973, another group would come face to face with a creature that would officially give a full close-up description of the Abominable Albino Aerobeast. A family driving home from a Reunion in Mason County had happened to need to turn into the Twilight Zone-esque area known as the TNT Area. The family was cruising along and almost oblivious to the absolutely insane history the area was known for as well as its reported residents. It was as they entered a particularly thick area of the McClintic Wildlife Area that one of the members of the car seemed to notice a large what he at first thought was a cloud come seemingly low near their car. The witness watched as this white object seemed to pick up speed and get to the same level of the car, sliding over towards the window he was facing. In a scene reminiscent of Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the witness realized that this was not some atmospheric phenomenon or some car lights glare but a bizarre creature that seemed to be hovering above the ground. The creature, without the aid of wings or some other method of propulsion, seemed to fly at the same speed as the family's car, which currently was at 65 mph. The member of the family who saw the albino abomination was taken back by this apparently lawless creature and had the best look of the creature. The creature was seemingly covered in thick shaggy hair, and its featureless head was almost three feet wide. The exact length and dimensions of the creature's form were difficult to determine as it seemed to be enormous. The witness was unable to make out the face of the creature but was certain that it had to have one. The creature seemed to hover next to the vehicle, never once looking at it or peering inside yet continued to keep up with the car as it hovered over the ground. This continued for some time until the creature suddenly began to float away, disappearing from sight and reportedly never seen again.

While these bucolic buggers have not had the incredible amount of sightings as their seemingly similar cousins, the Sheepsquatch and White Things, and are certainly not as dangerous, they are still a captivating mystery. These creatures, which instantly make me think they came from a Studio Ghibli film or are some relative to Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender, are creatures that seem to not match any known reported cryptid. Flying mammals as cryptids are reported, but they always have wings or bizarre skin flaps; as far as I'm aware, there has never been a case where a mammalian flying cryptid was seemingly wingless. This is perhaps the most interesting element of the case; if these creatures were simply the classic white quadrupeds, we would automatically classify them as typical White Things, but the flying element is something that is just unfathomable.

In nature, very few animals have the capacity of flight or gliding without the use of wings; the most plausible for this creature when looking at a possible comparable feature is actually the Humboldt Squid and the Neon Squid; these cephalopods have a form of jet propulsion that they utilize when out of the water that allows them to fly for about 20 meters as they glide on their fins. While this is not true flight, this feature might be similar to what we are seeing here. Yet this is pure speculation, for no mammal that we are aware of has this feature.

With this creature, trying to find a suitable creature to compare it to is impossible because of its ability to fly. There are no large mammals capable of this and none in the fossil record that even comes close. This then makes misidentification of a known animal extremely implausible unless it was a pure white cow that was somehow shot from a catapult in pure Monty Python and The Holy Grail fashion, but then you would think there would be a body or a cow in a tree or something indicating such a zany antics. Which in itself is both cruel and highly unlikely.

Going into some alternative theories, it's plausible that this creature may be an extraterrestrial or even a strange hairy UFO. While most UFOs are metallic, it is not impossible that perhaps some culture, whether from another planet or another dimension, has found a way to create a nonmetallic craft, but this is pure speculation. Another possibility is that this creature might be some faerie beast. Faeries are often known for seemingly breaking the laws of physics, and many of the faerie animals are prime examples of this. While I've not found a faerie that matches this creature, faeries are allegedly, if the tales are believed, shape changers, so this could be one of the forms they chose to take on. Another possibility is that the creature might be some interdimensional entity where it is entirely natural for these creatures to fly the way they do. The TNT Area is allegedly a window area, a place where all sorts of entities can slither in and out from their respected dimension to ours. So perhaps that may be what is seen here. But with all these possibilities, it is mere speculation that we are no closer to discerning an answer to the origin of these atmospheric anomalies.

While sightings of these creatures are basically nonexistent, I'm captivated by them. I want to believe there is some secret stash of accounts of these or similar creatures hidden away in some undiscovered John Keel, Stan Gordon, or Gray Barker file or tucked in a dresser drawer of Mark A. Hall or Ivan T. Sanderson. Maybe there are other sightings that have just gone unreported simply because the witnesses feel as though no one will believe their encounter or that they have no idea who to report such an encounter to. If there are more witnesses, I really hope they eventually come forward, for while there is a stigma to such accounts, there are others who have encountered such creatures, and therefore they are not crazy or alone but witnesses to an important albeit bizarre and rare phenomena and whose account could help others who have seen similar entities. Yet as with all mysteries, this would only be revealed in time; until then, we are still left pondering do they fly in the skies among us?

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammals

Location: Skelton, Raleigh County, West Virginia and McClintic Wildlife Area (TNT Area), Mason County, West Virginia

Sighted: September 21, 1952, and July 1973

Works Cited:

The Grafton Monster By George Dudding

Monsters of West Virginia By Rosemary Ellen Guiley

White Things: West Virginia’s Weird White Monsters By Kurt McCoy

The Raleigh Register Beckley, West Virginia 21 Sep 1952, Sun

 

Sheepsquatch

 Sheepsquatch

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to Cryptids, there are occasionally creatures that are relatively new to the scene that almost instantly become superstars. The Sheepsquatch is one such cryptid. Sheepsquatch is a bizarre amalgamation of man and mutton with a terrible attitude; very rarely do interactions with these creatures appear as peaceful. Sheepsquatch are described in the most basic descriptions as creatures that change in their locomotion from quadrupedal to bipedal have stark white or dirty white wooly hair, human-like hands or paws, a bear-like face with a snout, and long curved horns on the top of their heads. Most books that describe the Sheepsquatch will also go and claim that they have a long hairless tail like an opossum, but looking at all the confirmed or potential sightings, it's a feature that is never actually reported. The Sheepsquatch is a very regionally diverse cryptid but focuses on residing primarily in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia and Virginia, with some sightings spreading into Kentucky and Missouri. While Sheepsquatch might seem bizarre in its appearance and region, it is not alone as a secondary variety of cryptid known colloquially as the White Things are also reported in these areas and are often lumped in with Sheepsquatch reports even though they are smaller, move primarily as quadrupeds and tend to have supernatural qualities surrounding them.

While the White Things had been reported to folklorists and researchers for generations, some tales going all the way back to Native American times. Tales of the Sheepsquatch are relatively very new as reports of the monstrous mutton did not start being reported till the '90s.  Yet while physical accounts did not start getting published till the 90s, there have been several detailed sightings of the creature that went back to at least the 50s, and some sightings that were once labeled as Bigfoot encounters have from some researchers such as George Dudding been reassessed as possible Sheepsquatch encounters, therefore, indicating that these creatures are much older than previously thought.

The oldest known encounter with a creature matching the appearance of Sheepsquatch occurred in Spencer, Roane County, West Virginia, during the Mid-1950s. It was Wintertime when a 60-year-old witness had an encounter when she was 16. The elderly woman would reveal her tale to researcher George Dudding in his book on the subject Sheepsquatch; it was an encounter she was hesitant to reveal to anyone but one that she would never forget. As the snow had just started to fall, she was surprised by the sudden arrival of her 19-year-old friend, who swung by her house to see if she would accompany him to visit an elderly man who lived alone. The friend would go out and check on the elderly figure to see if he was doing ok and if he would need anything, as well as stay and visit with him for a bit to give a little bit of company. The young girl went to ask her mother if it was ok for the pair to go out, and her mother, not seeing an issue, granted her permission to go. So, the two raced outside of the house and climbed in his 53' chevy and drove towards Tuckers Run Road, where the man lived. The pair drove westward from Spencer on US Route 33 for about 3 miles, then turned right onto Tucker Run Road (County route 5/11). The elderly man lived about 2 miles down that road, and it took several minutes to get there. The two pulled up in front of the house and proceeded to knock on the door; the elderly chap abruptly opened the door, and after checking in on the man and having a quick little visit, the pair returned to Spencer. They decided since it was dark out to take a quicker route of about 1 mile back to US Route 33 by way of the Reedyville Road (County Route 10). Light snow was falling as they turned left onto US Route 33 and began their trip westward toward town. They were driving at 25 mph. The young teens had traveled only about a half a mile and about halfway to where Stover Fork Road (County Route 13/1) turns off to the right when a huge white furry creature, at least 8ft tall, ran directly across the road in front of them. Her friend slammed on the brakes bringing the car to a stop even though there was snow on the ground. There were no seatbelts at that time, and the young girl hit her head off the dashboard, causing only minor injuries. The bipedal creature had, by the time the pair realized what had happened, crossed the road and ran down the embankment. The friend, after checking to the girl and making sure she was alright, said, “what the heck was that” and jumped out of the car to see if he could catch sight of what it was that ran across the road. Meanwhile, the girl, more terrified than curious, yelled and told him to get back in the car due to the potential danger of this unknown entity. The friend, however, just stood there gawking down the snow-covered bank trying to discern the creature from the snow-covered terrain, but as he looked, it appeared as though he was unable to see it further. The friend continued to search until the headlights of a second car illuminated and began to approach them. Her friend, not trying to stop traffic or get into an accident, then proceeded to jump back in the car and return to Spencer. When the pair returned to Spencer and arrived at the girl's home, the pair proceeded in telling the girl’s mother of the strange creature that crossed the road, but the girl’s mother was more concerned with the bumps and bruises from when her daughter hit her head off the dashboard and was extremely upset with the young man. This sighting stayed with the now elderly woman as she grew, and she could never explain what it was that crossed in front of their car that winter night, but now she was wondering whether it was the brutal beast that about a decade later would potentially be responsible for the death of a young camper.

It was in Bedford County, Virginia, in the 1960s when a solemn occasion rang out through the county. A search party of three people went looking for a missing camper. The group had started the search that early morning and had worked their way to the location where the man was supposed to of been camping. The group managed to meander their way to the site and found that the area was torn apart as though some wild animal had entered the camp. As the searchers examined the location, the group found evidence while looking at the nearby trees in the area of what appeared to be large claw marks 9ft up in a tree. The group had thought that perhaps the missing camper had climbed the tree to escape the creature. They searched the boughs and branches but did not seem to find any evidence of the camper spending any allotted time there. The group then decided to travel slightly down an old worn path which was littered with bizarre white hair and strange tracks that they could not identify. As the group continued to follow these bizarre leftovers of some strange visitor that they came to a high section of grass where they ultimately discovered the dismembered remains of the camper. The group proceeded in calling the police, and as an investigation broke out, neither the police nor the search party were able to determine what creature killed the camper. Yet members of the search party could not shake the strange white hairs, and whispers were spoken from the party as they felt that the camper had met with a creature known as the Wooly Booger, which was a kind of albino sasquatch. While the group felt that this was an attack by a rouge bigfoot researcher George Dudding, felt that this attack might fit into the Sheepsquatch territory due to the color of fur left behind and the enormous claw marks left on the trees. Now I cannot speak for the accuracy of this account in trying to find more information. I was not able to on this death, so perhaps it might be an urban legend. I include this account simply because it was included in Dudding's book and therefore feel he had done and found more verifiable information on this account.

The next account of a creature that somewhat resembles a Sheepsquatch occurred in Mason County, West Virginia, in November 1966. This sighting is interesting because it occurred during the infamous Mothman flap of 66’. Farmer Cecil Lucas who owned a farm North of Point Pleasant near State Route 62 in the area of the TNT Area, was out one late evening when he noticed a disturbance out in one of his fields and went to investigate. As he approached the area where he saw the strange motion, he noticed several dark shapes in the distance. As he got closer, he was able to see what appeared to be three creatures resembling bears messing around an oilfield pumpjack. Unable to determine the color of the creatures because it was too dark. They walked on all fours and, when alerted to his presence, rose on their hind legs and ran off into the darkness. This incident is often included with bigfoot reports and sightings, but George Dudding feels that the creatures may have been Sheepsquatch since the darkness could have made the white or dirty white color difficult to discern and since the creatures went from quadrupedal to bipedal. I personally do not think their identity was this since even in dark lighting, a whitish color should have been noticeable, but once again, I included it simply because of Dudding's research.

While those bizarre quadrupedal-bipedal entities that were around Cecil Lucas's house may or may not have been Sheepsquatch, there were several similar sightings of either the same creatures or something similar along Jericho Road in Mason County, WV throughout 1966-1967. These accounts were allegedly collected by the friend of John Keel and coinvestigator of the Mothman and UFO sightings of the area Mary Hyre of the Athens Messenger. Mary allegedly had a collection of reports of a creature she came to call the "The Jericho Road Man-Bear". Jericho Road is a winding blacktop road approximately 3.1 miles in length that joins with 22^nd street in Point Pleasant and extends to its intersection with State Route 2 near Hickory Chapel Church. The TNT Area to Jericho Road is only 3.5 miles, so it's a relatively short distance for some of the bizarre beasts and enigmatic entities to travel that was said to dwell there. Property owners during this time span encountered a creature which they compared to similar to a bear, ape, and, interestingly enough, a white thing. The creature is reported to be both quadrupedal and bipedal, and farmers in Point Pleasant have heard loud howling and screeching in the woods on the back of his property. On several occasions, something had attacked and run their livestock. Further information on these accounts has been difficult to track down but could be once again an early Sheepsquatch account.

While many of the sightings from the 60s may or may not be the beloved mutant mutton that has taken the cryptid world by storm when the 90s hit, there was a definite series of sightings that clearly were the hallmarks of the farmyard freak. Once again, Mason County was the lair of the white weirdo, and in the 1990s, three girls, during the winter, were driving from Huntington to Charleston Via Point Pleasant on State Route 2 when they would have a sighting with the beast. The girls traveled from Route 2 and turned onto State Route 62, which followed the Northern Bank of the Kanawha River. The snow was falling rather heavily, and they slowed their speed as the snow increased. The group was near Arbuckle in a lonely, heavily wooded area when they rounded a bend due to the weather; they were only going about 5-10 mph. The driver, out of boredom and out of love for the winter wonderland, glanced to her left when she saw some bizarre form standing in the field. The figure, which they thought might have been some snow-covered tree or scarecrow, seemed to move just slightly in the descending snow. As she looked closer, she soon realized that this was not some inanimate object but a creature that was something out of this world. The creature she saw was a white furry creature that looked half man and half animal. It had a sheeplike face, ram-like horns, and doglike paws; the creature stood bipedally on its hind human-like legs. The driver, after passing the creature, proceeded to stop the car and, in a questionable judgment call, proceeded to back up the car to where the creature was. The other passengers realizing that something was off, started to look out of their windows to see as to why their friend would need to back up. It was at that moment the other two passengers saw the creature and started screaming. The creature moved its big hairy head and looked straight at the driver staring intently at the curious driver. The creature then, in a moment of what could be considered boredom, ran away on its hind legs. The friends in the car were beckoning the driver to get out of there for fear that the creature might attack them as the snow provided perfect cover for it to blend in with the surroundings. The friends waiting for some ambush held their breath as their friend slowly began to pull away, but one friend was so traumatized by the sight and, fearing the worse proceeded to lay down in the backseat the rest of the way home. In George Dudding's book, he puts the approximate latitude and longitude of the sighting as 38˚ 42’ 46” N-81˚ 56’ 53” W.

One of the most famous sightings of a Sheepsquatch would also take place in Mason County in 1994 when a navy seaman from Gallipolis, Ohio, would have an encounter with the creature while legend tripping. The seaman being right across Point Pleasant, gained an interest in Mothman and had decided to travel to nearby Point Pleasant to search for evidence to validate or debunk the creature. The witness had no real leads on the red-eyed fiend but did have a potential lead on several UFOs that were reported to of been seen in the TNT Area near a particular section of the creek. Deciding to check this further, he parked in a section of the McClintic Wildlife Area and head down a game trail that stretched down to this creekbank which was north of Bethel Church Road. He was walking this creek bank when he began to hear what sounded like a very large animal making its way through the brush in front of them. Not sure of what this creature was, he proceeded in hiding in the nearby vegetation. He thought the creature was possibly a stray dog or cow based on the way the brush was shaking, but he was unsure as to why either animal would be out this far from a farm. Yet he froze on the chance he was wrong since the idea of Mothman, and Grinning Men were still firmly placed in his mind. As the brush separated, he realized that none of his ideas were correct as a large creature worked its way down towards the creek. The creature was large and had matted brownish-white fur; he could not tell if it was dirty white or was brown with a white undercoat. The creature walked on all fours went to the creek where it knelt to take a drink, putting out paws that looked more like hands. The head was long and pointed doglike in shape, yet sprouted large, single-point horns. The creature seemed to reek as it smelled of sulfur. The man in terror drew back into the brush, afraid to make a sound or move, yet continued to watch the bizarre animal. After slashing its thirst, the creature crossed the creek and went off toward Sand Hill Road. The young man waited until he was certain the creature was far enough away and then ran as fast as he could to his parked car. When reporting this account to wvtrueghoststories.com, the witness did not assume that the sulfur smell was indicative of the creature being demonic but that the smell came from lingering chemical pollution in the TNT area and so animals in the area could have absorbed the smell.

The next sighting, which occurred in Boone County, West Virginia, in 1994, two witnesses saw a large white bear about 6ft tall walking bipedally in the tree line near their home. The witnesses, who were children, were outside of their house playing when they witnessed the creature. The children being full of the Moxy of youth, were not scared of the event but excited and proceeded to go in and, in excited breaths, tell their parents. The parents rushing out noticed that several branches had been broken off by the creature and promptly told the children that was enough time outside for the day.

A year later, in Boone County in 1995, a couple driving their car along an isolated road were looking for a suitable place for “parking”. The couple had driven down the dark, desolate road for the perfect spot to have a suitable session when they noticed something lying in the bank by the side of the road. The couple slammed their car to a halt when they spotted the form thinking perhaps someone could be injured or that it was some animal that might wander out into the road. What they found was anything from a normal animal. The curious couple, having passed the creature, decided to back their car up and get a better look, and there sitting on the side of the road, was a colossal weird white woolly creature with what appeared to be four eyes set in its broadhead. As the pair looked on at the creature, it seemed to notice that it was spotted, and without warning, the creature leaped from the ditch, came into the roadway, and proceeded to attack the car. The couple panicked as they heard the heavy claws scrape along the metal exterior of the vehicle. While they panicked eventually, the driver managed to return his wits and, putting his foot to the gas, proceeded to speed off, leaving their anomalous assailant in the road. When they got home, the shaken couple went and looked at the exterior of the car and, in turn, found large deep scratch marks on the side of their car. While this entity seems to be very similar to Sheepsquatch accounts, the one feature that makes it different is the alleged second set of eyes which has not been reported in any other accounts. Some investigators, upon reflection, do feel that the anomalous second pair of eyes were actually misidentified due to the possibility that the creature may have had curled horns.

The next sighting of a Sheepsquatch would once again come from Boone County, Wv in 1999. This sighting occurred when two campers deciding to go and spend the night in the woods near their house. The pair had set up their tents and began to make their fire ring; they had chosen a site that was not particularly far from the house with the idea being that should the weather get bad, they need something, or that they just decide to enjoy the creature comforts of the homestead it would only be a short walk away. The pair had begun to set up their fire and had just had the logs roaring when they heard snorting and snuffling sounds in the woods as they sat by the campfire. The campers thought that the creature might have been a bear encircling their campsite as such animals were fairly common in the woods. Yet this was not to be the case; while they were unsettled at the idea of something encircling them, they felt that the fire would provide some protection from danger. This would not have been the case. The snorting and eerie calls continued until a large white creature began to charge from the darkness of the woods towards them. The campers seeing this creature running straight at them, did not have a second thought and instinctively fled back to their house as they were pursued by the creature. When they cleared the woods, one of the campers looked back and saw that the hairy beast had stopped at the tree line. The creature stopped and stared at the campers as they scuttled back into their home and let out a bloodcurdling scream before returning back to the woods. The campers, terrified, stayed up all night and did not feel safe all night for fear that the creature might come back. The next day the campers returned to their site and found that the trail and the site were all torn up as though someone had taken a tiller to the earth.

This account is perhaps the most famous account of a Sheepsquatch, namely because of the coverage it got as well as the fact that it pushed the Sheepsquatch into the public attention. The Breckinridge County Kentucky Sheepsquatch encounter occurred during summer July 2004. Two men named Ricky Joyce and Dakota Cheeks out deer hunting traveled to an isolated piece of land owned by Ricky’s grandparents. The property consisted of 100 acres of hills and woods and a cabin. On previous trips, they had heard unidentified screams, growls, and cries in the hills. They were never able to figure out the sounds, and they never had a problem before, but on this particular trip, as Dakota Cheeks would say, "This was a night that would change our lives forever." The following morning, they had awoken and noticed that Ricky's main hunting dog was gone, so they tried to call out to see if they could find it. The pair searched the property until they found the dog lying in the ditch dead. Something had broken its neck by twisting it completely around. No clues as to what/who/or how the dog was killed were found; the pair felt that they had to find out what happened and why since no known animal could kill the way Ricky's dog was. The friends searched the area seeing if they could find tracks or anything that could indicate what could kill a 150lbs dog in the way that it was. The group ultimately found nothing, and they decided they were going to stake out the hilltop, which was the area where the sounds they heard over the years seemed to come from. They went towards the far side of the property and searched for evidence in areas where no one really traversed on the property but still found nothing. That night the pair did not stay in the cabin but a pop-up camper on the site. At 5:00 am, they were awakened by some strange noises. The dogs began barking and then left the area of the camper as they ran off into the woods downhill. Suddenly the pair heard something scraping into the aluminum skin of the trailer. The canvas sides were being pressed inward, and the trailer was lifted upward and dropped as some creature continuously ran into the camper. The men in the camper could hear the squeaking sound of the metal bending but stayed perfectly still as the anomalous assault continued. The men, terrified, waited for a bit after the assault stopped, and everything got quiet. The men grabbed their guns and went outside, returning to the cabin to get as much ammunition as they could. Cheeks had the following thought emanate through his mind “anything that aggressive doesn’t deserve to be here, if it can’t coexist it needs to go." In a televised interview and recreation of the event, Ricky explained the following for their actions" I had some beast that lived on my property that killed my dog already. I didn't know what to do about it. I was scared that it was going to come to my house". The group deadest on killing whatever creature this was. They went through a nearby cemetery and into a field located beyond it. In the distance, there appeared to be an object which looked like a tree trunk. As they grew closer to the object, they saw a tall white creature that seemed hunched over with its long arms extended. Its front paws had talons or claws, and the creature stood about 8-9ft tall. The creature let out an ungodly growl and charged them. The man shot at the creature; when the firing stopped, the two men ran straight back to the safety of the cabin. They did not know if they hit it, they did not know where it went, but they survived their encounter to retell it on Monsters and Mysteries in America. To this day, however, they search for the elusive beast with the sole purpose of killing it, and they fully intend to drag the creature dead from the woods.

Another witness who appeared on the episode, named Susan Noe, who told her story of a Sheepsquatch encounter, saw a creature coming down a road which she would describe as “a big hairy thing standing on the road," and as she got closer, she could see an eye. She thought the creature might have been a deer as it peaked out onto the road, but it was by far too big to be a conventional deer. She would describe it as "some kind of sheep thing with horns."

The first account of a Sheepsquatch outside of either West Virginia or Kentucky would happen in the Fairy Stone State Park in Patrick County, Southwest Virginia, on June 2011 or 2014 (sources differ on the exact year). A hiker by the name of Teena and her friend were walking and climbing for about 2hrs in the park when they stopped to take a break and get a drink of water. They were in a secluded area of the park, and one once rehydrated, continued hiking along the trail. The hike had been uneventful up until this point, and nothing to them could change their willingness to be in nature this day. That is until they reached a rocky section of the woods. The pair had stopped briefly and were taken in the beauty of nature when about 150 ft ahead of them, they detected movement near the edge of the woods. Their line of sight was a little obstructed, but they could see some type of animal which was white and huge was lumbering its way down the side of the hill.  The pair watched, expecting maybe some kind of albino deer or even an albino bear or someone’s dog to come bounding down the rocky treed mountain. The creature moved out into the opening as they came closer, and the creature ended up on a rock ledge. When the creature stood on the ledge, they could tell that this creature was far from what they had thought it was. The creature took on the appearance of a good size bear with fur that was yellowish-gray in color. Head was oddly shaped with a bear-like nose large dark eyes were lower on its face than a bear. They could tell as they stared this was not a bear. The creature seemed to notice them as they stood frozen in their tracks. The pair, not waiting for some interaction, then proceeded to turn around and sprinting back whence they came. The pair kept staring towards the sides of the woods, half expecting to see the strange creature bounding in the foliage after them. The group kept a good case and did not feel safe until they ultimately reached their car, hopped in, and promptly locked their doors.

The furthest account of a creature that appears to be a Sheepsquatch comes from Branson, Missouri, in January 2014. A couple motoring up US Route 65 from Branson, Missouri to Ozark, Missouri at 11 am would encounter a bizarre carnivorous animal that they never had seen before nor could even have imagined. They were slightly south of Ozark, and as they were driving down the road, they seemed to notice a strange object lying on the side of the road. The couple, not exactly slowing down, saw that the object was, in fact, some sort of strange creature along the side of the road. The animal was hugely based upon its heavy coat of dirty white colored wool; it appeared to be a large sheep but seemed different from a large sheep. The couple thought it odd that such an oversized sheep would be on the edge of the road by itself in the middle of nowhere since this road did not appear to be connected or even have any farms on it. A closer look revealed an entire flip to this theory, for as they looked closer, they saw that it was bent down eating on a dead deer that had probably been hit by a car. The creature was strangely tearing away at the remains, and they were unable to get a good look at its face because its head was buried inside the deer carcass on which it was feeding. The disgusted and traumatized travelers, even though they were curious, were traveling 60mph, and they were not about to stop and turn around, especially since the creature might be dangerous, but they did notice that a pickup truck following then reduced its speed probably to try to get a better look at the creature.

In Barbour County, Wv, in 2014, the Sheepsquatch seemed to return to its old haunts as a woman spotted a white creature with large green eyes standing on four legs in a field next to her house. The family’s dog, in either an effort to establish its territory or to protect the household, started barking and took off towards the creature. The creature then, in a turn of events, started to pursue the dog. The creature did not seem to get far, for apparently, when the woman screamed, the creature stood up on two legs and proceeded to run away until it disappeared over the hill. The woman would report later that the creature was tall and skinny when standing up.

With the Sheepsquatch once more back in West Virginia, the creature seemed to of returned to all of its old haunts; this included Boone County when in 2014, another sighting broke out. It was a Saturday morning in September when a couple had decided to go ginseng hunting. Ginseng is a very valuable crop that can, in huge bundles, be worth a fortune, so many people who know the horticulture of the plant will go out and search for it to gain some financial kickback. The two agriculturalists took two four-wheelers and brought tools, extra cans of gasoline, food for lunch, drinking water, and decided to set out to a particular mountainside that they had some success in the past. It was 9:00 am when they left their home in Prenter, WV, and traveled the various dirt roads and blacktops that morning. The couple took Prenter Road, also known as Country Route 5, east towards Williams Mountain, the spot on the mountain they picked from there they had to turn left onto a crude trail situated across the road from an old abandoned mobile home. They then began exploring the mountainside south of Prenter Road for a good spot to dig for some roots. They traveled by four-wheeler and found several locations they felt were ideal for harvest. They took a break at noon, having gathered a small quantity but not enough to gain the riches that anyone in the quest truly longed for. The day was uneventful so far, and the two, after their lunch, moved further on down the mountain towards a nearby hollow. After dismounting in this new location, the group began scouring the area, searching for the plant they so desired. After a short time, the man saw movement in the dense undergrowth of the woods on the mountainside just above them. He signaled to his wife to look up, and there standing there as if on cue as the two looked, was an 8ft tall creature 150ft away staring back at them; they instantly knew this was not a bear. The animal had big eyes that stood out and a bear-like face with a snout. Its head had what they thought were pointed ears which they later in reflection felt might have been horns. It had curly, dirty, yellowish-white hair at fur like a sheep. The creature stood upright and looked at them for a few seconds; it seemed agitated by their presence and then let out a screaming growl. Man and wife, terrified by the possibility of an attack, then made their retreat for their four-wheelers which were 100ft away, and managed to hop on and find a new location to search for ginseng.  Looking back as they sped off to another section of the mountain, the man noticed the creature was gone. However, in their continued pursuit, they did not leave the main road, and they couldn't help but keep their eyes peeled for any movement in the woods. Since then, they have never gone back to Williams Mountain.

Sheepsquatch's homeward bound did not seem to last long for a year later, after its massive series of West Virginia sightings, it was sighted in Fulks Run, Rockingham County in Virginia in 2015. The sighting happened in the George Washington National Forest when a small group of campers camping in the forest would have an encounter with the creature. It was just about noon when a group of campers had decided to set up camp near the Shenandoah River. While this might have been a picturesque sighting for the campers and certainly John Denver, it would slowly turn into an episode of the Twilight Zone. It was as the group was fixing their site that one camper noticed some movement across the river near the tree line. The camper squinting saw what he assumed was a typical animal crouched on a hill around 12 pm. He thought it might be a bear, went to warn the others in the group as he did; the creatures stood up on two legs revealing the full form of the creature. The creature, as the group was trying to figure out what this creature was, soon started to sprint downhill towards their camp. The creature was 8-9ft tall. The North Fork of the Shenandoah river was in between both the campers and the Sheepsquatch. When the creature got to the water, it stopped. The creature started to slowly work its way into the water as though it had great difficulties in maneuvering in the flowing liquid. The campers got together and watched the creature, they watched as the creature traveled through the river lowly, clearly not used to crossing waterways, and it looked like a white bipedal dog with long fur. The creature had just managed to cross the stream and shake the water off its soaked form when the creature and campers heard a bizarre loud shriek. The creature, out of fear or interest (the witnesses felt out of fear), then proceeded to return to the woods as silently as it came. Thus, also ending the last official Sheepsquatch account. As a sidebar note, I'm interested but also concerned as to what sound caused the Sheepsquatch to flee in what the witnesses felt was terror. Sheepsquatch are, if reports are to be believed, an incredible predator and extremely aggressive. So, unless this Sheepsquatch might have been called by others of its kind for more pressing matters, Id hate to even imagine what could cause it to flee.

When it comes to the Sheepsquatch, it is so easy just from the name itself to think it's a piece of fiction or some extensive hoax. From a skeptical standpoint, there is plenty of reasons to think this creature is a myth. Anytime a creature includes the term squatch to a potential entity that seems to point to something false. A piggyback off an already difficult-to-prove creature. Skeptics multiply that by 10 or more when the supposed creature is a cross between the sasquatch and a sheep. While a primate is plausible, a bipedal sheep or sheeplike or even a predator that has several sheeplike features creature is something that has never existed in the history of evolution. And so, several theories to the origin of Sheepsquatch have been proposed.

Some folklorists point out that the Sheepsquatch legend came from British sheepherders who migrated to America and settled in Appalachia may have brought tales of demons who frequented their herds while wearing sheepskins complete with the head. Stories such as this could have been the origin of Sheepsquatch. Similar tales appear in Native cultures revolving around large white animals, and these tales are also reported by coal miners and lumberjacks that described a large 8ft tall creature that could walk on two or four feet and weighed hundreds of pounds. While further details of these accounts are scarce, there is an oral tradition and some collected accounts that do seem to emphasize that there is some official tradition of these creatures.

While many folklorists feel that these stories are simply necessary coping mechanisms or career-oriented tales that were almost mandatory for the lifestyle of sheepherding. This is not necessarily accurate since there is the chance that what they were describing were true accounts of real creatures. If this is accurate, the question is how and why would such a creature exist. In many ways, this creatures existence makes a lot of sense since a creature that appears to be an herbivore would be perfect for ambushing prey. If you also account that the creature is white, which would be perfect for ambushing and hiding during the winter months, the Sheepsquatch seems almost an ideal predator. Now while evolutionarily, it is plausible that such a creature exists, there is no such evidence either from the fossil record or in the known Zoological records that such a creature could have existed.

While there is some biological reason for such a creature to exist, there is no true reason to think this. Evolutionarily there should have been several similar creatures that have existed or reported that could have led to this creature. Perhaps the similarly reported White Things could have been this, but there's still no certainty to this as these creatures seem to be very different outside of the white coloring of the fur and assumed carnivorous nature. The Sheepsquatch is also something that has, even with reports of White Things, never had an official ancestor that we could point to.

While the creatures definitely seem firmly cemented into the realms of cryptozoology, there are those that have suggested several alternatives to where and why the Sheepsquatch comes from. The horned cryptid is very similar to accounts of the stereotypical demon since it had horns and humanoid qualities. Many of the early folklore accounts, if they are true, may be correct in that these creatures are examples of some form of a demonic entity that appears in a sheeplike form. Many of the classical demons seem to be a conglomeration between human and animal features, yet none outside of the classical devil or demon seem to indicate some connection between the Sheepsquatch and the sinister.

Another hypothesis for the origin of the Sheepsquatch is that the Sheepsquatch is from another planet. The alien Sheepsquatch is something that I've never seem to find some answer to. It's a hypothesis that has appeared time and time again but has never had some connection to it. Lights in the sky have never officially been connected to the creature; hence the UFO angle seemed highly unlikely as opposed to the cryptid angle or even the folklore angle, but there is one other angle that is still possible.

While it might seem the least likely, the final most probable answer to this entity is that it might be a creature from another dimension. If this creature is multidimensional or interdimensional, it is a possibility of what Sheepsquatch maybe does since clearly nothing can compare either evolutionarily or from the known UFO lore from the area. These creatures have had no anomalies associated with UFOs with them and seem to be territorial hence the more biological aspects of the creature while still being absent with the alleged evolutionary line of the creature. Yet even this is speculative at best since there have been no known anomalous elements with the creature.

While there are several possibilities to this creature's origin, we are left with the continuous unknown as to what this creature might be. Yet, it is not for my decision to know the truth as I have no been there to experience any of the sightings of the creature. What I will say is while I'm very open to almost all hypotheses, the one thing I cannot deny or disprove is the sudden research and fanbase the creature has seemingly received, especially since the creature has appeared on such shows as Mountain Monsters and Monsters and Mysteries in America. While from an academic level will certainly never come close with an answer, there will always be a pop culture reference that will be with us for a long time.

 

 

Quick Facts:

Species/ Potential Species: Mammal

Location: West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Missouri

Sighted: 1994-2016

Works Cited:

Chasing American Monsters By Jason Offutt

Goatman: Flesh or Folklore? By J. Nathan Couch

Monsters of West Virginia By Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Sheepsquatch By George Dudding

Strange Tales From Virginia's Mountains: The Norton Woodbooger, The Missing Beale Treasure, The Ghost Town of Lignite, and More By Denver Michaels

The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales By Ruth Ann Musick

White Things: West Virginia’s Weird White Monsters By Kurt McCoy

Swancer, Brent “Beware the Sheepsquatch! And Other Truly Bizarre Mystery Monsters”. Mysterious Universe. February 15, 2016. https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/02/beware-the-sheepsquatch-and-other-truly-bizarre-mystery-monsters/. Accessed August 8, 2021.

---“The Mysterious White Things of West Virginia." Mysterious Universe. January 12, 2019. https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/01/the-mysterious-white-things-of-west-virginia/. Accessed August 8, 2021.

Monsters and Mysteries in America “Appalachia” Season One Episode One. March 24, 2013. Destination America.

Mountain Monsters “Sheepsquatch of Boone County” Season Two Episode Six. May 9, 2014. Destination America.