The Green-Haired Monster of Trout Run Road

 The Green-Haired Monster of Trout Run Road

By Cole Herrold

Strange cryptid creatures are rather common when one digs deep into the pages of old newspaper articles. These encounters can be clearly fabrications of the writer's imagination, misidentifications, or, more interestingly, honest to god encounters with the unknown. These sightings range from mundane to grandiose, so it's difficult at times to wade through all the information. As time goes on, however, these cases eventually, which for a time seemed lost, are rekindled due to supernatural sleuths and Fortean researchers who then cull the accounts into books for all to enjoy. One such account describes an extremely aggressive encounter with a colossal creature that, while brief, is entirely captivating and, in such, leads one to ask more questions than what we can currently glean from the information available.

On Saturday, December 1, 1973, eighteen-year-old Michael Lee Findley was out on Trout Run Road in Hellam Township, York County, at 5:00 in the morning when he experienced an aggressive assault from a creature seemingly ripped from the pages of a Marvel Comic. The creature, which the December 4^th article of the York Daily Record described as a "green-haired monster," proceeded to go and attack the young man. Findley would note that the creature was bigger than any man and was covered in shaggy hair and ran and walked bipedally. Findley was able to survive the assault and had managed to work his way to the York Hospital, where doctors had found long scratch marks on his face and a serious head injury that led to some memory loss which prompted an investigation by police. Upon telling the police about the attack, the officers proceeded to search the area but found nothing and would be quoted saying their investigation "did not reveal any facts relating to the same" in regard to Findley's testimony. The police coming back to him after finding nothing would attempt to convince him that his attacker was nothing more than a man in furs, but Findley knew that what he encountered was not that, and if it was," it was the largest man who had ever lived on the entire planet ."Findley also, as a boy, lived on a farm and was aware of the natural fauna of the region and was able because of this to rule out the usual suspects for such a case like a bear and cows, as some of the officers had claimed it could be. This account would seemingly be lost to Fortean history if it was not for the incredible research by Pennsylvania Fortean Researcher Timothy Renner, who would initially include this encounter in his mandatory book on Pennsylvania High Strangeness Beyond the Seventh Gate. Timothy Renner would later reach out to the witness and would discuss the encounter and, surprisingly, discovered some discrepancies between what the witness said happened and what the newspaper reported. One of the major discrepancies involved the appearance of the creature, which Findley would say the following, "I can’t tell you what it looked like," upon which Renner replied, "you can’t tell me what it looked like, or you don’t want to tell me what it looked like” Findley responded “oh I can’t” yet during the interview the witness would give little pieces of details describing just what he had seen, but the one element that he does not remember from his encounter is the creature's green hair. Renner noted that the witness was still disturbed by this encounter and that he, to this day, has the occasional nightmare that replays involving the attack, and that he was seemingly resistant to wanting to dive back into that morning. Renner would also go on to hypothesize that the newspaper added the description of the creature as green-haired as a way of dismissing the story.

Now with breaking down this case, we have evidence that something did happen to Michael Findley on that road, so an overall hoax or lie is unlikely to impossible, especially since the encounter caused serious head trauma, not something one would endure if they were perpetrating a hoax. Misidentification is also unlikely, seeing as with Findley's background, he is very much aware of the local wildlife and how they behave. We can rule out a bear also, as well as the attack seemed to simply stop, and if this was a bear, we would have more wounds and damage from the attack. So, we can see from this that the more skeptical or mundane answers are unlikely in this case.

While mundane answers do not exactly hold up in a case like this, there is another possibility that seems to be the conclusive answer to the encounter. This encounter is just one of the countless cases of aggressive sasquatch. This idea is also held by Timothy Renner after talking to the witness and seeing as York County is surprisingly high in the number of hominid sightings in the state, it would make sense. While the original newspaper source is clearly questionable based on what Renner gleaned from the interview, we do know that what the witness encountered was a colossal hairy man-like creature that walked bipedally essentially; this describes a sasquatch. Just why this creature seemed to attack Findley is anyone's guess, but it would appear that this could have been because the creature viewed Findley as a threat to its territory. If the creature viewed Findley as food, the creature clearly could have killed him, and this encounter would not have been published. Another interesting thing is the region that was attacked by the creature; in the behavior of primates such as chimps, when they attack, they tend to go towards the face and extremities, which is exactly what occurred here in this case. We have seen this behavior in other bigfoot reports when the creature becomes aggressive such as the case where a sasquatch slammed a woman's face into a car door. This behavior lends more towards the great ape theory of sasquatch and less towards a hominid origin.

One thing I feel that does need to be included in this breakdown is the claim of green fur. While Findley does not remember the creature having it, and Renner feels that the green fur was included solely to discredit the sighting, it is important to point out that sightings of green-furred sasquatch are not new. In French Lick, Indiana, there were sightings of a red-eyed green-furred sasquatch called Fluorescent Freddie, and many southern sasquatch reports often describe a greenish tint to the fur seemingly caused by moss, algae, or other plant life clinging to the creature's fur. This idea has even been used to rationalize sightings of the Bishopville Lizardman, seeing as some sightings depict the creature as having ape-like features but a greenish coloration. This is not a far-fetched idea as we have seen this in other animals; in March of 2022, a video surfaced showing a green furry slithering object trapped in a bucket in Thailand. This object turned out to be a snake that had moss growing along its body which gave it an altogether bizarre and Muppet-like appearance. So perhaps Findley had encountered a green-furred creature and, due to the trauma, had forgotten that piece or is trying not to remember the full depiction of the creature seeing as how the event affected him.

While this case appears to be entirely cryptozoological in origin, one cannot remove the other Fortean categories from the table. Perhaps this entity was some extraterrestrial who had wandered farther from his ship to the point that its origin seemed more earthbound. Perhaps this entity was some variety of faerie, seeing as the location the sighting took place has a reputation for supernatural and esoteric phenomena. Perhaps this being popped in from another dimension and, in its confused and terrified state, proceeded to attack what is conceived as a threat. All of these possibilities, needless to say, need to be included, and most of this comes entirely from the lack of information. Perhaps Findley saw more that morning than what was reported some strange light in the sky or the woods or heard some strange sounds or some other anomalous interaction that went unreported. While I'm inclined to believe this case is Cryptozoological in origin, there is a chance, as with most cases, that there just might be more to it. Yet until more information can come to light, all we really can do is speculate and hope that the next time the creature is encountered, it will be on much friendlier terms.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammal, Primate, Hominid

Location: Trout Run Road, Hellam Township, York, Pennsylvania

Sighted: Saturday, December 1, 1973

Works Cited:

Beyond the Seventh Gate By Timothy Renner

York Daily Record December 4, 1973

Where did the Roads Go? Podcast. Seriah Azkath. “Beyond the Seventh Gate With Timothy Renner”. December 6, 2016. 

The Toven Troll

 The Toven Troll

By Cole Herrold

It should be no surprise by now that I'm a huge film buff, and one of my favorite films ever made was a Norwegian film about the existence of Trolls. The film called Troll Hunter mixed both Cryptozoology and Faerie folklore in a perfect creature feature film that hypothesizes on how these creatures could exist in a particular environment system and, more importantly, how they've "evaded" detection by the majority of the public. Ever since I watched the movie sometime in the early 2010s, I began to study potentially real encounters with trolls. Trolls are from a folkloric standpoint, a muddied term the word Troll initially in the original term of the word simply meant any kind of malevolent magical being, and in classic old Norse, there are two variations of the spelling, each meaning widely different terms; however, there was always one connection, and that was whatever was described with the term was defined as being malevolent. It wasn't until 1852 that folklorist Jon Arnason would go and taxonomically sort out all of the different creatures in Scandinavian folklore and determine what creatures typically would fit that category. This is where we get the concept that Trolls are hairy humanoids, often with hunched backs and long protruding noses. These creatures also sometimes were described as bearing long ox or cow-like tails and had a great repulsion to sunlight and churches. This category then was broken down into several different species of trolls such as Forest Trolls, River Trolls, Mountain Trolls, etc., with each one slightly different in description, behavior, and size.

Now with all that said, finding authentic Troll sightings is rather difficult as many tales involving the creatures revolve around parables or mythology and are heavily associated with bardic tales. I've managed over time to come across several, however ostensibly real Troll encounters, three of which I've already covered: The Staffordshire Trolls of Slitting Mill, The Friendly Troll of Oslo, and The Trolls of Sorenson's Wood and while doing research for another project I came across another account. This account originally appeared in the November 12, 1937, issue of the Norwegian newspaper the Nordlands Avis and describes an encounter that occurred in Toven in Nordland County, Norway.

The encounter began when two boys from Leira were searching for stray sheep for sheep breeding on the high hills and steep cliffs of a Norwegian mountain. The two boys were exceptionally tired, for they were walking all day and had managed to get all the way over to the other side of the mountain and were now returning home since it was getting dark. The pair was approaching Toven when they suddenly noticed a large creature down in a scree (a mass of small loose stones that form or cover a slope on a mountain) not too far from them. At first, the boys were unsure of what the creature was, but as they came closer and closer to where the figure was, they could tell that it was not an animal that they were familiar with but instead something that seemed to of stepped out of folklore. The two boys saw a creature that to them resembled both a troll and man, and they noticed that the peculiar beast was staring at them from its rocky stoop. The pair, while fairly certain that this was not a human, felt that they had to be 100% certain, and so the pair began to shout at the creature to see whether the creature was human or not. The creature seemingly did not understand or was unable to answer the inquiries; the boys hollered down to it and gave no reply. One of the boys had a shotgun with him assumedly for protection in the frigid and potentially hazardous environment, which was the mountain they were on, and they shouted once again at the creature and threatened to shoot the being, but again the boys received no answer. The boy then fired a warning shot over the head of the creature, and the creature seeing the potential danger it was in, started to sprint down through the boulders. As the creature continued to clamor down the rocky outcroppings, the entity made loud noises as it ran out of sight down the mountains. The boys terrified by the creature they had just witnessed ran home as fast as they could and would never see anything similar to the creature for the rest of their days.

While this encounter is exceptionally brief and less extravagant than the other Troll cases I covered, it is very interesting. For one thing, this encounter is the first time I've come across a creature described as a cross between a troll and a human outside of folklore. Troll human hybrids have been written about for some time, but oftentimes they are seemingly at least from the stories that are written about them indistinguishable from either Trolls or humans depending on appearance, but most tend to be more troll-like. It's also particularly interesting because Trolls typically are described as overly large or small humanoids, just extraordinarily hairy ones, so it's a rather odd description when one tries to decipher what was more human or more troll-like about it or even what the boys meant by including the term troll to describe the creature. As stated previously, trolls were placed in an accepted taxonomy in 1852, and this encounter took place some 85 years later, so the idea of what a troll essentially is should be ingrained in the cultural zeitgeist of the time. Some for me, this is both particularly interesting and particularly confusing.

While I mention that this is a Troll encounter, there is also another possibility as this creature could be something other than a fae. This creature, based on its description and the added human element to it, could be a child’s way of describing a Bigfoot-like creature. A similar creature from Denmark, another country in Scandinavia that some scholars feel to be such a creature, has been cataloged by Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe in their book The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates. This book's first European reference is of the fictional monster Grendel from the epic poem Beowulf which Coleman and Huyghe, and other researchers see as a potentially undiscovered hairy hominid and that the tale of Beowulf. These researchers feel that the story of Beowulf could be based on several actual events that were dramatized and that the encounter with Grendel, in particular, was a potentially real interaction with an unknown species. In the epic poem, Grendel is described as a descendent of Cain, the first murderer according to the Bible. While an official description of what Grendel looks like in the poem is not stated, the poem does state that Grendel was "a creature of darkness, exiled from happiness and accursed of God, the destroyer and devourer of our humankind." And while I would love to delve more into the Anglo-Saxon epic and the various in-depth alternative interpretations of the tale from Tolkien to Zemeckis, it is important to note for simplistic sake that many folklorists and scholars, as well as artists, tend to draw and depict Grendel as a large-eared hairy humanoid typically of gigantic stature. Now, if this is to be the case, could it be that the creature seen in Toven could be the Norwegian Sasquatch.

Now the Troll/sasquatch hypothesis I've never been a huge fan of for most Troll encounters typically have some sort of supernatural element to them such as incredible growth like in the Sorenson's Wood Trolls case or Weather control in the Friendly Troll of Oslo case or weird time loss like in the Staffordshire Trolls of Slitting Mill case. This tends to be the majority of reports, unlike the Sasquatch, where the supernatural element is in the minority. This case, however, does seem to smack of something more biological as the way the creature behaved one could associate its reaction with an animal or something that knew it was reasonably in danger. Something that seemingly supernatural would not care about.

While I can only speculate as to whether this creature could be a cryptid or fae, a lot of the issues with this account is that there was no follow-up. The account was so short, and that there were no quotes from the witnesses makes any sort of truly in-depth analysis of the encounter incredibly difficult. For someone who is deeply interested in the fae and cryptid encounters, it is extremely frustrating as upon reading this encounter, I'm left with hundreds of questions with no real hope of a follow up as the case which now is almost 84 years old, and the chances that the witnesses are still alive are unlikely, and of course, the language barrier would be an additional problem. I managed to find the initial article, and I had attempted to translate it, but even then, I only managed to loosely translate it, and there was barely any additional information from the article. So this case, it would appear, is simply going to have to remain a brief mystery which is unfortunate, to say the least, but as with most cases, that is the nature of the beast.

The original text of the article from the November 12, 1937, Nordlands Avis.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Hominid/Faerie

Location: Toven, Nordland County, Norway

Sighted: November 1937

Works Cited:

“Troll på Toven!” Nordlands Avis November 12, 1937

Humanoid Encounters: The Others Amongst Us: 1930-1949 By Albert S. Rosales

The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates By Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe

Beowulf By Anonymous

The Sam Sherry Encounter

 The Sam Sherry Encounter

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to Pennsylvania Bigfoot accounts, there are countless cases. The state is often included in the top 10 to 15 states with the most sightings, which depending on what site you go to, range from 120 to 300 separate occurrences. If you dig deeper, however, you'll find that this number is not accurate and that there is easily two times the amount of sightings from newspapers, online websites, and in the private collections of Fortean researchers. In these collections, there are some bizarre accounts, and Pennsylvania has been host to several out-of-this-world encounters with the big fella, from UFO-connected sightings like the Presque Island incident to the Uniontown sighting that Stan Gordon made famous. Yet, in all of these encounters, the Bigfoot seen typically looks as how you'd expect a tall hairy hominid that matches the description of what has been seen elsewhere in the United States. In May 1988, however, one man would have perhaps the weirdest sasquatch account on record with a creature that looks nothing like what one would see on Harry and the Hendersons.

It was 11:30 pm one late night on May 17, 1988, when 67-year-old WWII veteran Samuel “Sam” Sherry had driven down a dark path towards the Loyalhanna Creek in an area known as Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is a bucolic piece of secluded hideaway that is well known for being a famous fishing spot. Its location is nestled in the Chestnut Ridge, specifically in between Latrobe and Ligonier by Route 30 in Westmoreland County. Sam was an experienced outdoorsman and had frequented the location on more than one occasion. It was a warm and cloudy night, and Sam was in his blue 75’ Maverick and had pulled up to the creek. Leaving the metal confines of his car, he went to the trunk to retrieve the various fishing gear that was in the back; he searched for the various lures by lantern light. While doing this, a sudden strange smell seemed to permeate the area that he could not identify. Unperturbed by this, he continued searching for his gear, and after grabbing a rod and several other lures, he headed toward the nearby creek and checked the water level to make sure it was currently deep enough to fish in.

Before he could even ascertain as to whether or not this was a good spot, he heard the most bizarre sounds that he had ever heard about forty feet to the left of him. The area the noises were coming from was a wooden area that was directly below the eastbound lane of Route 30.  “I heard this commotion…like something breaking up the woods," he later would state in follow-up interviews. The sounds of breaking branches, brushes rumbling, and footsteps of animals and general overall disruption that rang out in woods was not alone as disarming enough as that was there were also several bizarre noises which Sam would describe “there were shrill whistling, grunting, and monkey-like chattering sounds coming out of the woods”. Sam lifted his lantern up to attempt to see what was making the ruckus, but he could see nothing for the longest time until he noticed that there were a pair of bright orange eyes seemingly moving through the woods. These eyes burned like "coals of fire" and were about the size of golf balls. Sam attempted to figure out what animal these came from, but as he ruled out the usual suspects of bear and deer, he realized whatever this creature was, it was much bigger than anything that he knew should be in the woods. He attempted to see what the creature was, but all he could see in the darkness were the glowing eyes. He wouldn't have to wait long, however, for as he followed the path of the creature with his head, he soon saw a dark shape standing out of the woods some twenty feet away.

Sam reeled around towards the dark shape and lifted his lantern high there; he saw what is perhaps the most bizarre Bigfoot on the books. The creature he noticed was about an inch or two shy of being seven feet tall, and unlike the typical hairy hominid, the creature lacked the typical fluff and fur that is associated with the beast. The creature was covered in a reddish-brown leathery skin that was covered in wrinkles with the occasional gray, scabby, almost scaly patch here and there. The creature's head was bigger than a soccer ball but smaller than a basketball and had wide cheeks and small flat ears on the side of its face; the nose was flattened to the face and exposed two large nostrils. The creature's eyes which he could now see clearly, were giving off an orange eyeshine, yet there were no discernible pupils or iris; however, whenever the light was aimed at the head, the eyes appeared to constrict as if they were trying to refocus or that the creature was squinting. The creature, whenever it would turn its head the eyes would also change color to a yellow, green combination tint. He did not notice any neck, or if there was one, it was very thick or very short. The creature seemed to weigh several hundred pounds and incredibly massive, and was about 24 inches wide across the shoulders. The creature's arms were incredibly long and dangled down beyond the creature's knees, and the creature's body seemingly was bulky as there was no discernible waist, hips, buttocks, or genitalia. The creature's feet had five stubby toes and were hairless and very narrow, and Sam estimated them to of been about 13" long. The creature's features, however, were surprisingly proportional to each other, and no feature was extraordinarily large in comparison. The creature’s shoulders, knees, and elbows were extremely deteriorated in comparison to the rest of the body as there were excessive gray patches in those locations. While the creature seemingly was devoid of most of the hair on its body, specifically the arms, hands, legs, feet, or torso, there were several spots that did feature fur; these spots were mostly on the head, and they formed bizarre patterns. The creature had a tuft of reddish-brown fur on the top and center of its head that was two inches high by two inches wide and gave the creature the appearance of having a mohawk. The creature also had horseshoe-shaped fur patches that happened below the ears and ended underneath the eyes. As Sam looked at this creature, however, he noted that while there was very little hair, the hair that was on the creature's body seemed very preened as if it was recently groomed or taken care of. As Sam looked the creature over, he noticed that the creature's lips were pushed out, revealing the creature's colossal maw, but shockingly the mouth had very little or no teeth.

As Sam looked at the colossal creature, he felt a twinge of pity, for he felt that the creature was both extremely old and as he stared at the scabby gray splotches most likely suffering from a disease like mange. The creature, as the man watched, continued to be very animate in its motions as it seemingly scratched its coarse splotchy body, its thick long fingers seemingly digging into its skin. As the creature did this, Sam realized that the creature bore no fingernails or claws, perhaps due to its constant scratching. As Sam stared at the wildly bizarre creature, there was a sudden realization that he had no idea as to how the creature got there. While he saw eyes in the woods, the timing seemed off from when he saw the eyes of the creature to seeing the creature itself as if it had suddenly manifested before him.

Sam, overly surprised by this sudden realization, continued to stare at the creature lifting his lantern high up. The creature, becoming growingly annoyed by the light, lifted its hand to its face and blinked several times. This led the creature to seemingly make some of the most bizarre sounds that were similar to those in the forest; it first made a grunting sound like that of a pig. Then the creature began to have some form of respiratory problems as it unfurled several wheezing asthmatic sounding noises and drooled and unleashed a rain of spittle on the ground. The creature's mouth was puckered as it did this bizarre salivatory sprinkle, almost as if the creature had some issue swallowing as well as breathing. Sam would think that it "It appeared to suck in more air than it breathed out," but eventually, it seemed to catch its breath and let out a heavy sigh. As it did this, the creature stood perfectly erect with its arms at its side and was not bent at the shoulders or the hips as one would think a creature catching its breath or coughing would.

The creature then looked away from Sam, removing eye contact, and unfurled its lips with a loud snarl; suddenly, with long steps, it swayed back and forth and began seemingly challenging the would-be fisherman. The creature, in a behavior similar to what we see in gorillas, began to posture and grunt at the man while it swung its arms, beat its chest, flexed its muscles, and bellowed loudly. Sam was seemingly not perturbed by this display as he felt that’s all this creature was doing and felt that the creature did this to show off or as a defense display to protect other similar creatures that he could not see. Sam later would say when asked about why he was not afraid in the following “I wasn’t scared at all. My instincts told me this thing wasn’t going to harm me. I’ve been hunting and fishing for years and my instincts have always told me whether an animal is dangerous or not”.  Sam did not move but watched the creature continue its screaming, thumping, and thudding, and after a few minutes, the creature stopped and continued to stare at Sam for several minutes.

Realizing that he was in no imminent danger, Sam calmly and coolly turned his back on the creature and proceeded to walk towards the driver-side door of his Maverick. As he opened the door, suddenly he noticed that the creature was directly in front of him. He did not hear the footsteps of something running or even walking, so he felt that the creature had to of done something faster than traditional locomotion. The creature looked down at Sam and using one of its incredibly long arms, it reached out and began fingering and feeling his jacket on the shoulders, elbows, and side as if it was interested in the fabric. Sam, much like one would react to a dog seemingly nipping at their pants leg simply just shook himself quickly and hopped into the car's driver seat. Sam swung the door shut, and as he did so, the creature leaned into his car as the driver's side window was down. The creature had its hand on where the window would come up and was seemingly holding down the car. Sam could feel as the creature began to lean down on the car that the vehicle's suspension system was giving under the weight of the colossal creature. As the creature looked in at Sam once again, it began to wheeze, ultimately raining foul-smelling saliva all over the man's face. Sam could smell now the creature's terrible breath which he compared to rotting seafood that was so repugnant that it, along with the impromptu shower, made him want to vomit. Sam, however, did not wipe the spittle away and instead spoke to the creature after feeling that the creature might wreck his car. “Listen Biggie, you’re going to bust my tires if you don’t stop that”. The creature seemingly did not understand, and so he slowly reached over and turned the key in his ignition. The rumbling roar of the vehicle seemed to startle the creature as it stepped back and made a shocked facial expression. As soon as the creature stepped back, Sam began to drive away, leaving the creature behind, and as he looked in his rearview mirror, he could see in the taillights that the creature was still where he had left it. As he watched, the creature raised its right arm up into the air and was seemingly waving to him as if it was saying goodbye. He then watched as the creature began to move as it leaped across a ditch and back into the woods.

Sam continued to head out of the area, and as he did so, he seemed to notice something just as peculiar as the creature he witnessed. The causeway was unusually quiet; there was little to no traffic on Route 30, which was usually quite bustling at all hours of the day and night, but during his approximately 20-minute encounter with the creature, there was not a single car that exited Route 30 and crossed over the causeway. Sam continued, however, even with this lack of vehicular companions to his home in Wilpen, and after parking his car and sitting quietly for a short time, he got out and headed straight into his home. Naomi, his wife, was still up at the time and was extremely shocked to see him back so early as she expected him to of been gone for most of the night. Sam said nothing to his wife, who only stared in surprise and proceeded to head straight for the shower. Naomi grabbed his clothes, expecting them to be covered in creek water and mud was quick to notice that the clothes were wet but also reeking of a strange and powerful odor. Sam washed up for an incredibly long time as he tried to remove all smell and saliva from his encounter with the creature and proceeded once he finished to go straight to bed. He did not tell Naomi of his encounter out of embarrassment and confusion and felt that his encounter was too strange for anyone to believe him.

A short time later, Sam had decided to write to Rick Schwab, the editor of the Ligonier Echo Newspaper, as at the time that seemed to be the only place to possibly try to find out if others had the same or similar type of experience as he did. Rick Schwab read the letter, completely amazed at what was written, and, after talking with Sam for some time, decided he was the real deal and that he needed to talk to a professional. Rick Schwab felt that the main individual to send this information to was WCUFOSG leader and researcher Stan Gordon and so managed to tell Stan all about the bizarre encounter and put him in touch with Sam. This all took place one week after the initial sighting, and Stan proceeded to drive back to the location with Sam and look for any evidence that might still be around from his encounter. The group found ultimately nothing, but the area was recently heavily flooded due to a rainstorm that occurred a few nights prior. Stan felt that Sam was a reliable witness and genuinely believed his encounter, but all the while, Sam was starting to develop an itch that would drive him till the end of his days. He became a bigfoot researcher.

On December 20^th of that same year, Dr. Paul Johnson, a chemistry professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh who was heavily involved in Bigfoot and UFO research, received a phone call at 11:20 am from Sam asking whether he wanted to hear his encounter. Johnson expecting a hoax but curious about the call, drove out to his home at Wilpen and heard Sam's encounter while Naomi made them coffee. Johnson proceeded to investigate the merit of Sam's character and learned his full history; his father immigrated to the area from Hungary in 1912 and was a coal miner and built the house he now lived in, he was the third oldest of four siblings, he fought in World War II specifically against the Japanese in the South Pacific, and it was in one of these epic battles that he was severely wounded and ended up in a coma for months. Upon awaking and after a years' time of recovery, he married Naomi and had two children. When asking Naomi about whether or not Sam had any interest in the bigfoot subject before the incident, she claimed that while Sam was an avid reader, he never read or showed any interest in Bigfoot or UFOs. It was from this that Johnson felt Sam was reliable and that he truly saw the inexplicable that night. Johnson would later work hand in hand with Sam on several bigfoot investigations then over the remaining 15 years of Sam’s life. Sam was driven after his encounter and, with his background in hunting and trapping, to find a way to capture a live specimen of the creature to prove not only that the creature did exist but that he was not lying, but he never encountered it again.

The Sam Sherry encounter is perhaps one of the most bizarre ostensibly Bigfoot accounts on the books. Everything about the encounter is bizarre; from the overall appearance of the creature to its behavior to the possible supernatural implications of the creature, it's simply incredibly surreal. Unlike other accounts, there's not much that could be mistaken for this creature, and even a hoax is unlikely; however, it is important to note that Dr. Johnson did notice that when Sam was telling his encounter to other researchers and chroniclers, he did quite often embellish on the story, but he was firm that the main points were constant. With that said, there is the chance he made some of the behavior or his reactions to the creature up but the fact that he spent the remainder of his life searching for a creature that for 66 years he never even cared about seems to prove that he saw something near Loyalhanna Creek.

When breaking down this case, there's plenty of avenues to look at, but I think the best one, to begin with, is the creature itself. The creature has many features of the typical Bigfoot, from the long dangling arms to the thick body and egg-shaped head; however, the creature's lack of some features of a typical bigfoot which at a glance make it look almost like Rick from Netflix's Big Mouth. To me, this is indicative of three possibilities, the first being that this is simply an example of a sasquatch with mange. We know in the animal kingdom that many species can, unfortunately, succumb to the disease, but since we don't have a sasquatch in captivity or any biological samples which can confirm or deny this possibility, we are left with just speculation. However, the creature's behavior does seem to indicate that this might be the most probable possibility.

The second possibility is that this might simply be an old sasquatch. We currently do not know how old Bigfoot can get or if, like humans, they have effects to aging, such as hair and tooth loss. There have been some reports of silver back Bigfoot, which many feel is associated with older sasquatch as well as reports of white-haired Bigfoot, which could also be connected to old age but perhaps much like people, this is not exactly universal and that some would have an equivalent to male and female pattern baldness with maturity.

The third possibility is that this creature is not a bigfoot. While this creature bears many features similar to the typical sasquatch, many things about it seem incredibly wrong, so perhaps this is an example of an entirely different kind of hominid cryptid. I feel that there may be something to this even though it is unlikely, but looking at all the various kinds of hairy hominids reported in the united states alone, from the Honey Island Swamp Monster to the Skunk Apes to Momo to the classic Pacific Northwest type there seems to either be multiple species, subspecies, or at least incredible geographic variation of the sasquatch species.

Now while there's plenty of biological aspects to look at when it comes to this creature, there's one feature in particular that some researchers feel might be indicative of a supernatural origin to the creature. Sam would notice on several occurrences that this creature seemed to either move at incredible speeds without making a sound or that it could simply teleport or materialize in a matter of seconds. This is something that has been surprisingly described before, even though these accounts are exceptionally rare, and some feel that this creature could be from either another dimension or a supernatural shaman of sorts, as some Native American tribes indicate. Now this creature's behavior seems to indicate something more primate-like than what we would associate with a highly intelligent dimension shifting entity or supernatural nature spirit, which seems to make this unlikely. From a biological perspective, these creatures would have to be masters of their environment to of remained hidden for so long, and so in this time, they could easily be able to seem almost supernatural when in reality, they simply know the best ways to get from point A to point B. Now alternatively, if this creature was simply shifting through dimensions by some cosmic force, there's a chance it's completely random and that the creature has no real control over it, but if it did indeed pop up by the car on its own accord as the report seems to be the case that almost has to imply some control of this force.

This is one of perhaps the most bizarre Bigfoot encounters ever. Cases where the creature seemingly disappears or turns into a ball of light or even is seen in conjunction with UFOs just don't compare. The fact that the creature is so incredibly bizarre in appearance and behavior, as well as the potential teleporting, just seems to add layer and layer of absurdity and, in some ways, absolute disgust that is mind-boggling. The only case that might be even more bizarre is the Uniontown UFO-Bigfoot case because that had a spectral scythe wielder, bulletproof Bigfoot, a shape-changing and disappearing UFO, men in black and psychic bird control, and that's on a whole other level and ventures onto Mothman flap and Jersey Devil flap high strangeness. With that said, there's no clear answer as nobody since has encountered a creature anywhere near as close to what Sam encountered, be it Bigfoot or otherwise, and Sam now is hopefully at rest even though he never bagged his quarry and so we are left scratching our heads in the same way as the creature that is until another one is reported.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammal most likely a Hominid

Location: Loyalhanna Creek, Sleepy Hollow, Latrobe and Ligonier, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: May 17, 1988

Works Cited

Astonishing Encounters: Pennsylvania’s Unknown Creatures- Casebook Three by Stan Gordon

Chasing the Elusive Pennsylvania Bigfoot: A Cryptid from Another Reality By Paul G. Johnson

Monsters of Pennsylvania: Mysterious Creatures of the Keystone State by Patty A. Wilson

Strange Pennsylvania Monsters By Michael Newton

Invasion on Chestnut Ridge. Small Town Monsters. 2017.

 

The Cookie Monster

 

The Cookie Monster

By Cole Herrold

It was during October of 1972 when a family would have a nightmare experience with a large hairy creature on their property. The creature frequented their property, frequently peering from the nearby woodlands at their home. The family apparently felt the beast was nothing inherently dangerous as it seemed to simply be curious of the family and would always keep its distance. The children of the household felt that the creature bore a resemblance to a classic children's program character, and soon, everyone in the family came to call the creature the Cookie Monster. While the household felt that the beast was not a hazard to their health, they had ultimately let their guard down whenever the creature was around. This, however, would change when on one particular night, as they returned home late, they heard the sound of yelping from the back of their house.

The family drove up to their driveway and there sprinted out a large hairy creature. The Cookie Monster was coming right at them. The family stopped the car, and the beast began grabbing the car lifting it up and attempted to shake it from side to side. The family was absolutely terrified, trying to cower in their seats from the massive hulking man-beast. The creature continued this for some time before ultimately dropping the car and running off into the woods. The family waited in the car as the creature left from sight. The parents could hear the children cry in the back and attempted to calm them. This took some doing, but ultimately this was succeeded enough that the parents felt that they could keep them safe from attracting the creature's further wrath. The family waited in the car just a little bit longer as a way to guarantee that the creature had left the area.

The family slowly opened the door to their car and began to meander their way towards the safety of the house. As the family worked their way towards the door, they could hear a slight whine. The family huddled close together, expecting the worse, thinking perhaps the creature had gone and did a U-turn in the woods coming around on the other side of the property. The group looked cautiously at the forest but soon realized that the sound was coming down low to the ground. The family looked near the porch, and there was the family dog. The family called to the animal to try to get him to approach, but it would not. The father soon began to approach the animal but as soon as he saw the four-legged member of the family proceeded to tell the family to get into the house. The wife seeing the seriousness in her husband's face, escorted the children back inside. The father continued to be bent over the animal, slowly trying to pick it up.

He hollered to his wife that he had to run to the Veterinarians Office fast, and as she came out, she could tell why. The animal was severely mauled to the point that it was almost ripped in two. The father began to slowly lift the dog up, trying to keep the creature's intestines inside as best he could, and slowly worked his way back to the now dented vehicle. The man gingerly put the animal down in the back and, hopping into the front seat, began to drive out towards the closest veterinarian. The Vet stared in horror at the extensive damage done to the animal and instantly began trying to save the animal's life. This was unfortunately not to be the case, and the animal died on the operating table.

It is unknown after this terrifying ordeal whether the family continued to have experiences with the Cookie Monster, but clearly, none would have rivaled the violent assault of that October night in 1972. However, I am sure that while there may not have been a continuation of sightings, the family was much more cautious around their property, especially at night. The Cookie Monster, unlike other Bigfoot cases, is one version of the phenomenon that I certainly would not like to encounter, for it is perhaps the most aggressive PA bigfoot I've ever come across, and I shudder to think of what would have happened to a person as opposed to the family's dog.

Species/Potential Species: Hominid/Primate

Location: Champion, Somerset County/Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: October 1972

Works Cited:

Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology By Michael Newton

Humanoid Encounters: 1970-1974- the Others Amongst Us By Albert S. Rosales

Strange Pennsylvania Monsters By Michael Newton

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)

Uniontown UFO-Bigfoot Incident

 The Uniontown UFO-Bigfoot Incident

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to the Bigfoot mystery, there are several theories as to what the creature is and where it comes from. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that Bigfoot are a relict population of Gigantopithecus, a giant ape that reached a staggering 8ft tall height and lived in Asia in the Cenozoic Era. A similar theory and one that I personally tend to lean towards is that Bigfoot and his ilk are actually hominids that branched off from either Paranthropus or some other ancestor to common man. After these theories, it enters what many flesh and blood theory researchers would describe as "Woo" theories. These theories range from everything that Bigfoot sightings are the spirits of early hominids or Gigantopithecus to Bigfoot are multidimensional beings that pop in and out of our world from another. John Keel, the infamous Mothman researcher, coined the term Ultraterrestrial which were beings that could manifest as anything to feed on the fear and emotions of humans in several of his books; he felt that Bigfoot was one such creature. In the 1960s and 1970s, however, another theory came to mind, and that was that the creature was not a spirit, or some malevolent entity, or a traveler from another plane of existence but a traveler from another world. Some of these sightings are some of the most bizarre records around, and many defy a rational explanation.

One of the epicenters for the theory I've come to dub the Spacesquatch Hypothesis is my home state Pennsylvania. These sightings, beyond anything else that has been reported in the state, are perhaps the most well-known and famous paranormal phenomenon, second perhaps only to the infamous Kecksburg UFO Crash. Sightings of UFOs in conjunction with Bigfoot-like creatures in Pennsylvania during the 60s through the 80s were surprisingly common; however most cases, an object is seen in the sky, and a Bigfoot might be seen on the ground going towards are coming away from the flying object. Yet while there is a significant stack of sightings, there are only a few that are weird enough that they almost have to be connected. Many of these accounts were collected by Stan Gordon and appear in all of his fantastic resources, such as Silent Invasion: The UFO-Bigfoot Casebook, Really Mysterious Pennsylvania, and Astonishing Encounters - Pennsylvania’s Unknown Creatures. Perhaps the most iconic account and the one that is featured on the cover of the book Silent Invasion is one that's story when told, is never told completely. Many variations exist, and even in Stan Gordon's book, some of the details are missing or altered to protect the eyewitness, yet even with these discrepancies, the tale is extremely harrowing and one of the most insane and bizarre cases of Fortean encounters that outside of perhaps the infamous Mothman flap nothing pales in comparison.

The Uniontown UFO-Bigfoot Incident first came to my attention through two books, none of which were written by the investigator and major player of the case, Stan Gordon. Both books had maybe two pages written on the subject, the first being the incredible collection of accounts The Bigfoot Casebook by Janet and Colin Bord the second was the first book on the Bigfoot subject I ever purchased it was Bigfoot by B. Ann Slate and Alan Berry I managed to find an old used copy of it at a thrift store tucked away in-between some books of less than interesting subject matter. Upon reading the account, I had mixed reactions to the case. It was my first time reading about a case that seemed to be completely opposite of what Bigfoot was said to be. It was to the point that, as a child, I rejected the account altogether. It wasn't until I got older and began to read other accounts that I became slightly more open to the idea but still not convinced that it was the nail in the coffin answer to the Bigfoot enigma. Yet my exact thoughts on this case I will discuss later on.

Uniontown, which is located in Fayette County, is no stranger to bizarre phenomena, and in the 70s, the entire state seemed to be slithering with all sorts of bizarre beasts and perplexing phenomena. It was on October 25, 1973, however, that the small rural community would be plunged into chaos as the night darkened and the stars shined. It was on this dark night at around 9 pm that 22-year-old George Kowalczyk (in other sources named Steve Palmer or Stephen for the sake of anonymity in some books, yet early newspaper accounts and later documentaries would reveal his true name) was driving home on a rural dirt road with his wife when he noticed that the stars were not alone in the inky black sky that permeated the surrounding fields and farmlands of Uniontown. The young man who Stan Gordon would describe as being over six foot and weighing some 250lbs who wore glasses and was softspoken had noticed a peculiar sight that perplexed him as he drove home. There in the sky was an object seemingly flying some 100ft above the ground; it looked to him like a bright reddish-orange ball and seemed to be heading in the same direction as he was towards the small area where his and his Father's house was situated. He managed to follow this object on the dirt road and noticed that its trajectory was dead set to his own as he pulled up to his Father's house, he saw that his family was already outside on the porch watching the eerie light as it slowly started to move over his Father's field. While he was more focused on the object and his family, they were not alone in observing this craft as most of the neighbors had also left the comforts of their homes and proceeded to sit and stand in the various yards and porches to watch the anomaly. There were approximately 15 people who would witness the craft from a distance, but for George, he would have a more horrifying and up-close encounter with the unknown.

George pulled out of his parent's driveway and pulled into another neighbor's yard to watch the object descend from a different angle. As he watched the object from the safety of his truck, he noticed that the object now was no longer soaring above the ground but was slowly descending. The object dipped lower and lower in the sky until it ultimately seemed to land into his Father's pasture, yet from where he was positioned, he could not see the object outside of an orangish glow that illuminated the spot. It was around that time that he returned to his parent's house and discussed the object with his family. George would talk about this in an interview later on, which would appear on the Small Town Monsters Invasion on Chestnut Ridge Documentary "My wife looked, you know, we was astonished, and stopped and then drove up to the house. So, we all looked off the porch and we watched it was just coming down slow. It was making some kind of humming noise then. My Mother and them was there and they was a little bit scared. So, I said, "Well, I'll go down and look and see what I can see from down there." So, I went and down pulled up in their driveway, and I'm looking upon the hill. All I could see was like a glow-reflection off the ground. I'm going to have to go back to my house I said, and I'll go out in the field and check". This decision was not met with any known hesitation from the rest of the family, but two 10-year-old twin boys who possibly were George’s nephews (there are some discrepancies in the accounts on to whether the boys were related or not to George, some sources also claim they were in the car with George at the beginning but not mentioned in the interview) whose names Rick and Nick filled with more curiosity than fear asked George if it would be alright to go up with him to the Ridge. George said that it was fine, and so the trio promptly went to George's house on North Gallatin Ave and then returned to the farmhouse where George grabbed his Father's 30.06 and some ammunition, six bullets in total, and two being tracers. The group, now armed and determined to investigate the light started to drive down an old dirt road on his Father's property; it was a decision they all would regret.

As the group slowly drove down the road, they noticed that every dog in the area was agitated. Every dog was barking, howling, whining, and acting bizarre as though some predator was in the area. As they drove along the road, they could hear the whirring from the craft still, but this sound was not alone for in close proximity to the whirring noise which George would describe not unlike a lawnmower, a second set of sounds like that of a mournful baby's cry echoed through the woods and fields. George was disturbed more by this second set of sounds than the first but proceeded in driving his truck down to a position where the headlights of the truck could light a path, helping them to see as they worked their way up to the hill where the craft landed. The trio began their trek up the hill, but as they were walking, they noticed something peculiar their headlights seemed to flicker as though the battery was being drained.

George, however, was not worried, seeing that the house was only a short distance away and several neighbors’ homes were also close by, so if something happened, he could easily get some help. The group eventually made their way to the top of the hill, and as they reached the hills peak, they found what they were looking for. There only 250 ft away was the object, but George and the boys were perplexed; the object, which was the size of a barn, was completely different from what they had seen in the sky only a short time earlier. The craft, which, while inflight appeared to be bright rusty orange or red and orb-shaped, was now a glowing white object that was flat on the bottom and domed on the top. The whirring sound of the object still continued, and the group could approximately measure the object as being 100ft in diameter. The air around the object was highly illuminated; it was so bright that George and the boys could see everything around them; the object also seemed to of been burning or released some sort of chemical into the air as the entire area smelled like burning rubber.

As the group looked on at the seemingly transformed ship, one of the twin's attention was drawn to some bizarre movement to the right of them next to a long barb wire fence made from railroad ties. The twin would look back to George and his brother, noticing the moving form proclaiming, "Here comes something along the fence". The figure was slowly moving its way towards them, its form slowly becoming more and more revealed by the luminescent object. George would describe the figure and its movements thusly "I’m looking, and I can see the movement of the thing from the glow of this ball. So, when it got within about maybe 50 or 60ft maybe 70ft away I looked at it and there was this object walking. It was real tall and it seemed like it was walking real slow but taking long strides. I mean there was movement slow in the body, but the strides looked- I’m watching it and here its following the fence line every time it would get to another fence post it would make its noise and then I seen why it was making this noise for this thing behind it. Another one to come right up behind it. Soon as the second one would get up to it it would proceed up to another fence post". The figures whose bizarre movements he was encapsulated by were taller than the railroad ties; one was he estimated 8ft, and the smaller figure which followed behind the big one as it waited for the child-like cries it would make was only 7ft tall. They were darkish brown/gray in color with no neck and had glowing green eyes that were as big as a fifty-cent piece; the most bizarre feature, however, was that their arms hung down to their feet, yet they walked bipedally. The creatures continued to wail as they moved and seemed to move in a rigid fashion even with the slow strides that George had described.

When the creatures were approximately diagonally from George, and the twins, one of the twins had finally had enough and started screaming in absolute terror. The terrified twin proceeded to run back down to the house, all the while the other twin was gripping George's leg, crying out, "shoot it, shoot it". George, not knowing what else to do, loaded the tracer bullets into the rifle and proceeded to fire one of the bullets above the head of the taller creature. The tracer flared over the creature's head, and that seemed to be the first time the creatures noticed the group. The creatures stopped and stared at George and the boy as George proceeded in putting another tracer into the chamber. Once completed in a swift pace, he fired the second and final tracer above the creature; this time, the largest creature let out a brief whine and lifted its arm to the incoming tracer almost as if it was attempting to grab it. As soon as the tracer would have made contact with the creature's hand, the sudden pasture became dark. George briefly looked over and where once the UFO had stood was nothing. The white-domed object was gone and in its place was simply an orangish glow that was low to the ground. The area also became deathly silent; the lawnmower esque sound was gone, and all of nature seemed to be holding its breath.

The two creatures then, as George was trying to figure out how an object the size of a barn could disappear without moving, proceeded in turning around and heading back to the area of the woods from whence they came. As the creatures left, George shot three more bullets at the larger of the two hitting it twice. George knew he had hit the creature, for when the bullets hit, it "sounded just like shooting into a lake or something just like water plopping". The creature then turned and stared at George for a little bit but gave no impression that the weapon had hurt it in any way. The witnesses soon began to feel a burning and itching sensation in their eyes as they watched the creatures turn around and return to the woods. So, the two began to run back to their truck and headed back towards the farmhouse.

After attempting to figure out what to do and recollecting their wits, the group proceeded to run over to their neighbor's house to use the phone with the sole purpose of calling the state troopers. It was 9:45 when an officer by the name of Byrne showed up at the scene. After listening intently to the group's story and the rest of the witnesses' reports of seeing a UFO, the officer asked George to accompany him to the area where he saw the UFO and the Bizarre Bigfoot. When the officer pulled up to the area, he could see that the area was still illuminated by some light source or another. Wanting to make sure this was not caused by some mundane source, particularly his headlights, he moved his car, and to his amazement, the light source was still there. The group, as they walked through the pasture, noticed that the cows were keeping away from the glow, and so were all the other animals in the area. The officer coming to the area soon began taking notes and investigating the anomalies that he could see; he focused primarily on the glowing area where the craft was. He noted that the glowing area was 150ft in diameter and extended up about 12" from the ground. The officer noted that the light was so bright if he had a newspaper, he could have easily read it in the luminescence of the area. When the trooper shined his own flashlight into the area, he noticed that he could barely see it and also noted that the temperature inside the glowing area was much warmer than outside, but later, he felt that might have been attributed to the excitement of the time.

The trooper soon began to notice that George, the longer he was out in the area, seemed to behave strangely and on edge. He was extremely upset by all this and was sweating profusely as he continued to conduct the investigation. George, terrified, said to Byrne, "I don't get paid to be brave, I'm not going any further" The trooper soon felt that he had to get George out there and that they could finish giving his statement back at the police station. The two decided, therefore, to head back and finish their investigation at the safety of the barracks. As the two head back, George got the ominous feeling of being followed, and as he paid close attention to the sound of their footsteps, he noticed that this was most certainly the case. He told the trooper about it, and as the two listened, they could distinctly hear a large set of footprints that would move when they moved and when they would stop would only take a few steps before stopping also. George still had his 30.06 with him during this outing and proceeded to put the last bullet into the chamber. The men, as he did this, proceeded in hearing something large in front of them and the officer flicking on his flashlight caught in the beam 10ft away from the hulking form of the larger creature George had seen earlier that hour. George picked up his gun and fired the last round into the creature, this time seemingly taking effect as the creature started to rock back and forth as if the bullet managed to offset its balance. This would be short-lived, however, as the creature seemingly studying itself proceeded in charging after the men from the other side of the fence and running straight into the barbwire fence. The men picked up the pace as they made their way to the patrol car and, speeding like a bat out of hell without looking back, made their way to the station.

When they arrived at the station, the other Troopers listened in disbelief to the account their brother in blue was telling them and also what George was. The officers then separated the two men and, in a way of verifying and seeing how similar their stories were interviewed each. After the interview, the officers realized that both stories matched identically, and so the officers felt that they were out of their league. Robbers, accidents, and murders were something they could handle UFOs, and giant green-eyed seemingly bulletproof ape-men were another story altogether, but luckily, there was a group of people who they could call who were the only experts in the area that could be there within a few hours.

It was about 10:30 when the officers reached out to paranormal investigator Stan Gordon. The officer told Stan the whole story and even said that the witness was still at the station and that he might want to investigate this event. The officer was concerned and noticeably shook up on the phone, and so Gordon decided to put together a team and head out that very night. Stan Gordon then went and assembled a team of five, including himself of members from the Westmoreland County UFO Study Group or WCUFOSG. The members were George E. Lutz, a former air force pilot and officer; Fred Pitt, a photographer; David Smith, a physics teacher and the Westmoreland County Civil Defense Radiation Defense Officer; and Dennis Smeltzer, a sociology major, and the group traveled to Fayette County to meet up with George at the local mall there. It was 12:45 am when the group reached the mall, and George was already waiting for them along with his Father. The trooper who also encountered the glow and the Bigfoot was not available as he decided to turn in since he had to wake up early the next day. Stan Gordon would interview him on a later date, however.

While at the mall, Stan and his crew unpacked their gear and began taking notes from George and his Father and also did some residual tests on George. They used radiation meters to see if he was radiated at all from the encounter. However, there were only background radiation levels detected. After all of this, the group made their way back to George's Father's farm and proceeded on working their way back to where George encountered the UFO and the creatures. The entire party consisted of George, his Father, Stan, and his crew, George’s Dog, a German Shepherd, Ricky, and Nicky, but when they got to the actual area, the boys were told to stay near the car and truck. The boys, though, weren't the only thing left behind, however, as when George had said about wanting to bring his rifle with, but Stan had insisted that he leave the gun at the car, which he did end up doing.

When they left their car, they noticed that the hillside was dark the glow was completely gone. The group stood in a circle discussing the plan and decided the best plan of action was to test the area for radiation. The group proceeded in testing the area and found that, just like with George, the area was lacking any significant radiation levels. The group, while performing this test, however, did notice that the cows that were still in the pasture refused to come near the area and kept their distance from the area where the UFO was. The group proceeded in searching the massive area where the UFO was and could find no evidence; the same was along the fence line as they could not find any footprints, hair, or other imprints in the ground.

It was 1:45 when Stan Gordon and fellow researcher George Lutz decided to go and record the full investigation. George and his Father were standing down by the truck watching the investigators do their research when the two happened to notice something bizarre by the farmhouse. The two noticed a bright white light about several hundred feet away that seemed to engulf the house. The light only lasted for a few seconds, but it was as bright as daylight before disappearing. The two told the group about the bizarre anomaly, and so Lutz ended up driving George's Father down to the farmhouse to see if they could figure out what had caused it. Lutz had taken a radio with him just in case there was some issue, but once he had done a check-up around the house, he returned almost immediately.

It was at 2am when their investigation, which outside of the light seemed uneventful, began to change once more into the bizarre. The group had begun to walk the fence line where the Bigfoot-like creatures were seen. The group searched the fence looking for hair or some other evidence of the creatures, but as they stared out at the adjoining field, they noticed that a large bull did not seem to be at all concerned with them or their investigation. The animal instead seemed to be more concerned with something that was ahead of the group. It was as if on cue as they moved closer towards the area, George's dog began to behave strangely; it began sniffing the ground and moved off through the path as if it was trailing something it would move a distance then stop at times focusing its attention towards the woods.

Lutz asked George around where the creature crashed into the fence after their second sighting. Lutz noticed that George suddenly started to behave strangely, just as how the dogs were. He would rub his face and seemed to experience some difficulties, so Lutz continued to ask about where the creature hit the fence, but George continued to remain silent and rub his face. Lutz asked him one more time before asking him if he was ok, but George remained silent the entire time. George moved back and forth in a jerky manner as though he was going to faint. Lutz yelled to George's Father that there was a problem with him. So, the two ran up and held him so that they could sturdy him to avoid following.

As Lutz and George's Father continued to support George but his condition turned for the worst as his breathing began to worsen. This ailment out of nowhere, however, was not the end as George began to as his head slunk down unleash unnatural sounding growls which sounded more animal than human. George then, in what can only be described as a feat of super strength, proceeded in throwing both Lutz and his Father on the ground. George's dog then seemingly had lost recognition of George and began to run after George with the intent to attack. George, who was running around the field like a madman howling and screeching seeing his once faithful companion coming after him, proceeded in turning towards the canine and chasing after it assumedly with the sole purpose of killing it. The dog seeing that his owner was coming after him, turned tail and began running away whimpering. Stan and the group seeing the madness that unfolded, picked up the recording tapes and watched as George was running around, swinging his arms, and unleashing bellowing frightening growling sounds. George's Father called out to his son, and George unleashed a giant inhuman-like scream as well as three more growls.

As the group sat back and watched this descent into the maelstrom, Dennis Smeltzer soon began feeling ill as well. The color had left his skin, giving him a sickly pale hue, and he kept feeling as though he was going to faint. Seeing that Dennis was not well, Fred Pitt and David Smith rushed over the insanity field to aid their comrade, but as Fred got close to Dennis, he began heaving and felt as though he could not properly breathe. As the research group slowly became ill, George's mad dash had finally come to a close. As he was still swinging his arms and growling, he, after a distance, dropped face down on the ground, his glasses flying off his face, and he continued to just lay still on the grass. Seeing a break in the madness, Stan rushed over to aid his team, and Lutz and George's Father rushed over to the now crumpled pile that was his son.

As the group began caring for the ill, each member soon noticed something peculiar that began to fill the area as if from nowhere. The air around them had become permeated with a sickening sulfur smell, almost like the smell of rotting eggs. As this smell arrived, George was starting to come to on the ground, slowly moaning and saying phrases like "Keep away from the Corner! Its in the Corner!". They could interpret that George was trying to warn them to a presence only he could detect, saying over and over that something was still here, and they need to get out of the area. Stan Gordon decided that this was accurate and, after the bizarre behavior that seemed to be caused by the area, decided that they should start leaving the area. So, Lutz and George's Father picked the man up and helped him to head back to the trucks. On the walk back, George was complaining of ankle pain either from when he fell or from his spell of running around. When George's Father handed him back his glasses, George looked at them inquisitively and asked whose glasses did they belong to and indicated that he could see just fine. This would not be the only bizarre behavior George would experience as they worked their way to the vehicles. Lutz noticed that George's hands were held in a tight grasping position, not unlike a cat clenching its paws. Lutz, concerned that the man might be hurt or might be hurting himself, proceeded in trying to physically open George's fingers but try as he might, he could not flex them out.

As the group limped back, George soon started to talk about what happened in the field. He said that he saw a black-robed man-like figure in the field; it had a black hat, and in its hand, the entity was carrying what looked to be a sickle. George stared at the apparition as it began to speak to him, proclaiming that the world will end if humanity did not change their way. This entity would then flash visions of the world burning before George. When his Father told George about what he was doing in the field, all that he could say was that he did not remember any of that and instead insisted that during that time, he was being flashed images of destruction shown by the dark-clothed entity.

George's Father was very disturbed by this and knew it was out of character for his son, who was by all intents and purposes not religious and never spoke nor acted in that manner at all. The group then made their way to their vehicles and back to their respective lodgings, trying to recover from the horror and mystery they had just witnessed. Stan could not sleep, and most certainly, George could not. Stan was in a scene reminiscent from the Mothman Prophecies, playing and replaying and rewinding the tapes that he had rolling in the field during the investigation. The tapes were incredible, and he decided that he needed to get a medical opinion on this account and so proceeded to go and call New Jersey doctor Dr. Berthold E. Schwarz MD. Stan chose to get a hold of him specifically because Dr. Schwarz had allegedly treated and interviewed other individuals who had reportedly experienced other UFO and paranormal events. Dr. Schwarz and Stan Gordon talked for a long time about the case, and he was extremely interested. He was so interested in fact he decided to take it up and would drive to Fayette County out of his own pocket. The only problem, however, was that he would not be able to get there till November 1^st.

While they waited for the good Doctor to arrive, Stan, Lutz, and the state trooper who was with George that night in the field would return to the location. While there, the pair walked along the fence line and managed to find the spot in daylight where the creature had run into the fence. The pair found no evidence of hair or blood but did find the broken fencing where the creature came through. As they walked, they found splintered fragments of one of the fence posts where George had shot at the larger creature during his first encounter, yet just like the night prior, there was no physical evidence to be found.

The very next day after the encounter, several newspapers caught wind of the event. Several who had interviewed George put his full name as well as his street in their articles. Something which probably did not sit well with him as later book sources would change his name to protect his identity. One skeptical newsman had wanted to see if there was some evidence to corroborate George's story, so the two went down to the area and walked the fence line. The newsman felt that there should be bullet casings from where he shot at the creature, and if there were, this would end credence to his account that he actually did fire at some strange thing. As the newsman was explaining this to George, a glint caught his eye next to his feet, and as he reached down, he found one of the casings.

As the days rolled by, Stan and Lutz had planned to reinterview George to get a feeling of how he was as a person and further details he might have missed during his encounter. The first thing they found out about George was that before this encounter, George was, in fact, a hard-born skeptic. He had no interest in the paranormal and, in fact, had often laughed at other accounts claiming them to be figments of the imagination, or the manifestations of alcohol, or downright hoaxes. While he was completely uninterested in the supernatural, George was they found extremely intelligent and had a particular interest in farming and reading sources about agriculture and various other farm-oriented literature.

After the preliminary questions, Gordon asked George about his incident in the field the other night, but outside of the horrendous visions and the shadowy apparition, George had no recollection of his animalistic fit. As they went through the questions, nothing was out of the ordinary, and George answered them as honestly and best he could. Yet all this would change with one question. They asked if he knew why the creatures and the UFO were seen at the same time and location. George did not answer. They proceeded on asking him again, and again George did not answer but instead began rubbing his face and head and began breathing rapidly. Lutz and Stan realized this was the same type of behavior he had near the fence line before the animalistic fit overtook him and with it the spectral apparition and its apocalyptic visions. In response to this and the potential threat, George might be the two investigators began yelling out loud in an effort to get him out of this fit. This seemed to work as his behavior soon began to return back to normal. The researchers felt then that there was no point in asking him any more questions until the Doctor got here and he could analyze George’s health and mentality.

It was November 1^st, and Dr. Schwarz came to Greensburg and met up with Stan. Stan gave Gordon full reign of his files and the data that he so far collected from this case. Dr. Schwarz listened intently to the recordings. The Doctor, after feeling that he had a thorough enough understanding of the case, proceeded to go with the researchers and interview all the key witnesses, namely George, his parents, the state trooper, the twin brothers, and their family, and all of the WCUFOSG researchers who were in the field that night. After all the tests and interviews, all the Doctor could really say about the encounter was that all parties were truthful. Gordon approached the Doctor later on and asked him about George's reaction in the field. The Doctor looked at Stan and said in his medical opinion George entered a fugue state caused by the bizarre phenomenon he witnessed. Stan was unsure of this, and George would later on too.

Stan Gordon had kept in contact with George over the years and had reinterviewed him several times. During one night, Stan had talked to Lutz about possibly hypnotizing George they had been hesitant to do it in the past as Dr. Schwarz had suggested they not do it because of the current situation, but now that it was several years later, Stan felt perhaps it would be less stressful on him. So one day, they managed to get a hold of George and come down for a visit. While there, they asked him if it would be fine with them hypnotizing him to come up with more answers to what went down that October night. George looked at Stan extremely perplexed and then asked him, "Why do you want to hypnotize me again". Stan, equally confused, asked George to explain what he meant. George realizing something was a miss began to explain that about two weeks after his incident, two men abruptly showed up at his home with the sole purpose of talking about his experience. The men were dressed formally; one was in an air force blues uniform, and the other was in a suit. The man in the suit George could remember better as the man was tall and had dark hair. The air force blues man he could have sworn was Lutz in his officer's uniform, but Lutz confirmed that it was not him. George went on thinking that these men were members of the WCUFOSG because they had wanted him to describe in vivid detail all he could remember about that night and the creatures and UFO. George told them as much as he could, and after telling them everything he could, they would go on and tell him that he was not crazy.

After explaining that they believed his account, the air force officer opened a briefcase, he was carrying with him and revealed to George a series of UFO pictures and placed them on the table in front of him, asking him different questions about comparing the crafts in the photos to the ones he'd seen. After the UFO pictures, however, the officer pulled out a series of Bigfoot photographs and began asking similar questions; one particular photo that George could remember was from Georgia; the officer said it showed a hairy creature stepping over a fence with a pick under one of its arms. After showing them the photographs, they asked if any of the creatures were like the one hed seen and after that said about an interest in hypnotizing him. George agreed to this, and the strange men proceeded to go and hypnotize him. After the session, the men thanked him and went on their way, exclaiming only as they were leaving that they would stay in touch, but they never did.

Stan and Lutz looked at each other, totally understanding what George had told them. During this time frame in Pennsylvania Fortean history, several strange men had shown up at several Bigfoot sighting locations, oftentimes interviewing the witnesses, taking photos of tracks, or interrogating those who were around the area. Many of them often mystified the community or claimed to of been members of government or other paranormal research groups. These men would be very similar to those that only a few years earlier seemed to of appeared in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during the infamous Mothman flap.

While all of this chaos seemed to peak in 1973 for George, it would not be the end. George would later relate to Stan that he had developed several startling abilities, which to him have been curses. The most notable being that he developed ESP-like abilities claiming that he would experience dreams and have visions of future events not unlike what he experienced in the field. Some of these visions would come to fruition as he allegedly foresaw a plane crash which in a short time later did happen. He also claimed that due to this newfound ability that he could see spirits and even managed to meet a deceased in-law that he never met before. While these are by far the more depressing abilities, he had a bizarre ability develop, which seemed to be some psychic link to birds. One example of this was when out with a friend, he noticed a Blue Jay in a tree and pointed to it, proclaiming that the bird would leave its nest and come rest upon his shoulder at which not even a second later what he said would happen. It was an ability he wished he never had. While not much else is available when it comes to George's other abilities, it is known that George has since passed away, and so with him, all the troubles he experienced.

While the night of 1973 was an encounter that extremely affected George and his family, they were not alone in experiencing the anomalous effects of the craft and its ostensibly alien comrades. Sometime later, another family reached out to Stan Gordon about some bizarre things that occurred on the same night when George had his experience. Just like the other 15 neighbors, this family too saw a strange light in the sky at 9 pm and that it was making its way towards George's Father's farm. About an hour later, the family's farm became alive with the sounds of the livestock, but they were making peculiar sounds that were unlike anything they had heard before. The Father believing that perhaps some coyote or bear was around, grabbed his shotgun and headed outside to the barn to investigate. The Father shined a light at the animals, and as soon as the beam hit the cattle, they all went quiet. The Father then went and searched the area looking for any reason the animals were behaving the way they were but found nothing and so went back inside. It was a few days after this particular night that while out in the field tending to the herd, he noticed that the animals would not move into the upper pasture as they had always done and would avoid it at all costs. The farmer proceeded to head towards the tree line where the upper pasture was and, as he came closer and closer, began to smell a strong odor; as he moved ahead, the smell got stronger. He eventually gave up as he could not find the source of this strange smell and so returned to his cattle. In a few days, however, the cows returned to the upper pasture, and the smell never returned.

Needless to say, this case is an incredible case of high strangeness. There's nothing exactly like it, and in doing so, it's very difficult to break down. There are several outlets that you can look at with this case, and one of the simplest is that all of the events are unrelated. Our brains as humans are programmed to find patterns, and sometimes those patterns we see really do not exist. I’ve thought about this in the past with many Bigfoot-UFO sightings, for very rarely is there ever a bigfoot coming out of a UFO in these cases. Usually, it's a bigfoot and UFO seen in the same area, either minutes, hours, or days apart, and never the tween shall meet. Now, this case is different because the UFO and Bigfoot are in the same area at the same time. This is where one could argue a direct connection; however, the problem is the two objects outside of when the tall bigfoot creature grabs the tracer, and the UFO then goes out there is very little connection between the two outside of them being in the same location. This does not mean they are connected inherently. If Bigfoot is a biological animal that we have not discovered yet, then that just means it's an animal; the problem is the unknown factor of it. We see tons of cases of animals and UFO-related encounters, from cattle mutilations to the Ausso One Elk abduction to even in fiction the dog that is returned in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The instant thought when these animals are around is that they are not aliens but earthbound animals, yet with creatures that are unknown, the leap towards the alien connection is often taken for no real reason other than the unknown factor. Even with this account which is very bizarre, we never once see the Bigfoot get in or out of the UFO; we never once see it wield some sort of tech or give any inclination that it is out of this world. Even the fact that the craft lands before the creatures even are seen by George and the Twins seems to imply that they are coming from another direction to investigate the craft, which some animal-UFO cases do report, which being that animals sometimes seem to chase or are interested in a UFO. The way these creatures behave is also more like something we'd see in the wild, especially with how the male lead either the mate or the child along the fence post its something that one would expect to see in an adult animal, making sure the area is safe for the mate or offspring.

Now while I've pointed out how the Bigfoot and UFO could not be related, there is also the chance that they could be. For one thing, the obvious fact that the creatures were seen in the exact location at around the same time implies a direct or indirect connection. Another thing is that the creatures outside of the bizarre movements do not seem to be at all interested or perplexed by the object; in fact, they seemed to of walked around it and seemed to pay no attention to it or to George for creatures that are alleged to be curious as the Bigfoot is supposed to be this is very unusual and may hint that these creatures view it as some mundane tech and only the ride for their task or mission whatever that may be. The obvious light disappearing when the creature tried to grab the tracer could imply some connection to the craft, just what I'm not at liberty to say, however. Another point is that George's reluctance to discuss why the creatures and craft were together is almost a nail in the coffin for this hypothesis.

While there are obviously points to the Bigfoot-UFO hypothesis in this case, there's also the chance that the creatures reported are not earth Bigfoot but Spacesquatches. I put this point out there because these creatures are physically different than the typical Bigfoot reported and even more different than the Eastern Bigfoot, which is often lankier than the barrel-chested Pacific Northwest variety. The creatures, in this case, have ridiculously long arms that reach down to their feet. This is something that is almost never reported in bigfoot cases. Bigfoot arms typically hang down to the knees or just below the knees, but they never hang down to the feet. These creatures are also assumedly bulletproof or just about and have a composition that sounds like splashing water when hit. Bigfoot have been killed, anecdotally at least, and if you include the Minnesota Iceman carcass and some of the Yeti relics that are said to exist, there have been bodies that can or could have been studied. This is almost completely opposite to these creatures, where bullets do nothing, and they can still keep coming. Now it's difficult to imagine a biological organism being able to stand up to something like that; perhaps on another planet, such a development could be possible. This then implies that there are several creatures out there that are similar in appearance but are not the same creatures; perhaps this might have to do with some rule in evolution that plays out on similar planets that we do not know yet.

Another possibility is the Keelian concept of the Ultraterrestrial. Entities that seem simply designed to mess with us and feed on fear and simply wreak havoc. These entities are shape changers and perhaps could be what we’re seeing here since there was a UFO, two Bigfoot-like creatures, and a shadow man with a sickle, and a follow-up by essentially the Men in Black. This account smacks very much like the ideas that Keel expressed in his books The Mothman Prophecies, the Eighth Tower, and Operation Trojan Horse and even has several features often described as being interconnected with such cases such as seeing things others can't, irritation of the eyes, strange behavior, prophecies and in an even more bizarre twist the correlation between Bigfoot and demons. The correlation I am speaking of is John Keel claims in his books that demons left footprints and were described as hairy entities, and interestingly enough, in this case, George essentially becomes possessed in a fugue state, growling and unleashing inhuman screams and attacking dogs all behavior often associated with Bigfoot all the while seeing a dark shadowy entity and seeing apocalyptic visions things associated with classic demonology. I find this comparison interesting but whether or not this is actually an example of the phenomenon Keel intended is mere speculation.

Another possibility that has gained some followers in recent years is that Bigfoot is a multidimensional being either popping in and out of dimensions intentionally or accidentally. Perhaps the UFO that was reported was the gateway hence why it only stayed for so long, and that may be much like the Terminator; it was only one way. Of course, all of this is speculation, but I feel that the Multidimensional or Interdimensional Bigfoot hypothesis, especially for this case, is more plausible than the Spacesquatch hypothesis.

Another possibility that was brought to my attention in the book the Fairy Realm is that perhaps the creatures seen here are faerie folk. The image of the Wildman of the Woods is often in Europe viewed as a form of Faerie as their appearance is similar to Trolls and Giants, and the author of the Fairy Realm offers the possibility that perhaps the Sasquatch phenomenon is actually the modern equivalent to this much ancient tradition. The fact that these creatures are interconnected with essentially a bright glowing light that appears to not be a physical craft could imply that these would be Spacesquatch are actually faerie lights, a phenomenon reported in a variety of other cases with other entities mostly of a diminutive stature. Jacques Vallee and John Keel had mentioned before the connection between Aliens and Faeries in their behavior, tech, and other features, so perhaps this is what we're seeing here, but in reverse, a faerie folk misidentified as an extraterrestrial.

I personally am left with no definitive answers to this case; it's simply high strangeness. When originally setting out to write about this case, I thought it would simply be a Bigfoot and UFO seen in the same place case just like the Presque Island Incident where it was a onetime occurrence, and that's all, but instead, it turned into a bizarre highly involved multifaceted Fortean occurrence that is maddening to try to get straight. I don't think anyone will have a straight answer to this encounter, for there's so much that happened to George Kowalczyk that it seems as though destiny or fate picked him as some universal punching bag for bizarre phenomena. To this, I wish wherever he is now the best and the same for all the researchers involved, many of whom to this day are still investigating the unexplained, and I thank them for all of their invaluable research and wish them the best of luck in all they do. As for this case, it'll go down in history as one of the most bizarre in Fortean history and one where we most likely will never come to a sane answer.

Dr. Paul Johnson Interview with George Kowalczyk

“We was in a pickup truck. We was coming out to my Father's farm. We turned off the main road up a dirt lane to go up to his farm. As we were going up the lane, I looked to the left and I seen this big orange ball in the sky…and it wasn't no more than maybe a hundred feet off the ground. My wife looked, you know, we was astonished, and stopped and then drove on up to the house. So we all looked off the porch and we watched. It was just coming down slow. It was making like some kind of humming noise then. My Mother and them was there and they was a little bit scared. So I said, "Well, I'll go down and look and see what I can see from down there." So I went down, pulled up their driveway, and I'm looking upon the hill. All I could see was like a glow-reflection off the ground. "I'm going to have to go back to my house," I said "and I'll go out into the field and check" So they had twin boys-their names was Rick and Nick and they was about 10 to 12 years old in that range. They says "Can we go up with you to the rise?" 'Yeah get in" so they got in the back of my truck. We went up to my dad's house and we parked the truck at the house. Got out of the truck you could hear this like alarm whir but it was a real loud whirring noise like a turbine or something. Were standing there listening and I hear like this distant crying. Like a baby crying or a kid yelling, whatever, and it scared me. So my dad had a couple of tracers there for his 30.06 rifle and some bullets don't ask me why I put the tracers in and I carried the bullets with me up there. These two twins were standing there with me, and one of them said, "Here comes something along the fence". It must have been maybe 100ft to my right on the hillside. I'm looking, and I can see movement of the thing from the glow of this ball. So when it got within maybe 50 or 60ft maybe 70ft away, I looked at it and there was this object walking. It was real tall, and it seemed like it was walking real slow but taking long strides. I mean there was movement slow in the body, but the strides looked- I'm watching it and here its following the fence line. every time it would get to another fence post it would make its noise. And then I seen why it was making this noise for this thing behind it. Another one to came right up behind it. Soon as the second one would get up to it, it would proceed up to another fence post. And this thing when it got directly diagonally from us, this one little twin. He started screaming, I think it was Ricky. He started running, he run back down to the house. Nicky grabbed my legs. He said, "Shoot it!, Shoot It!". So I stand there, So I shot a tracer over its head. The tracer flared. I seen these things. I mean, they were tall. The fenceposts that were there were railroad ties they towered over top of these things. The front one towered over two feet the second one must have been maybe a foot shorter. Shot that tracer over there and I just looked at them… and the front one looked at me, and I could just see the glow of its eyes. So I shot the second tracer, same thing. I mean, when I shot the second tracer, the first (one) reached its hand back and to my mind it would be the length of this table and it touched the other one and that light went out. The light just completely went out. I was standing there, and I could see both their eyes looking at me. Just like cats eyes. This little kid screamed so I put a regular bullet in, Here there was still a glow out there from the ground. Like the ground was glowin, the glow was along the fence but the big ball, it went out. I shot the first shot, and I just remember seeing a piece of that wood splatter. Come out to the side, but the other two bullets. I had underneath the chamber made three. I shot again and twice I hit right in it. Cause it sounded just like shooting into a lake or something just like water plopping and I hit the thing. They turned around and they followed that fence. They didn’t go towards it. They followed that fence back. They started moving and we run, were both Running.”

 

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Earth Hominid/Hominin or Extraterrestrial Hominid/Hominin like species

Location: Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: October 25, 1973

Works Cited:

Bigfoot Casebook Updated: Sightings and Encounters from 1818 to 2004 by Janet and Colin Bord

Monsters of Pennsylvania By Patty A. Wilson

Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook by Stan Gordon

Invasion on Chestnut Ridge. Small Town Monsters. 2017.

“The Strangest Bigfoot Spree Of All Time” Bob Gymlin. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC-n6E4EB1E&t=799s.

The Evening Standard. Uniontown, Pennsylvania Fri, Oct 26, 1973.

The Morning Herald. Uniontown, Pennsylvania Sat, Oct 27, 1973.