Date: 1966; early Fall

County: Breckinridge

City: Stephensport, KY

Time: approximately 1:00am

Encounter:

When I was around 9 years old living in Breckenridge County I had the most hairy raising experience of my life! One night while fast asleep in my bed I woke to a loud commotion outside my bedroom window, as if something hit the side of my house. I sprang to the window and looked out but saw nothing. So I ran to the living room and pulled back the curtains to the window of the front door and came face to face with the most strangest creature! I can only best describe it as a “lizard-man”, although the only “human” thing about it was the fact that it stood on two legs and was about 5’6” to 6' tall! As you could image we really startled each other! It quickly turned and ran for the creek next to my house and I jumped back from the window! I then ran to an adjacent window to catch a glimpse of it as it ran away on two legs towards the creek which was about 75 yards from my house. I lost sight of it as it disappeared into the darkness.

Description:

It’s was “very amphibious looking” with scales covering its entire body. I could definitely see that this creature had webbed feet and webbed hands. Its color was a dark, brownish green. What I remember the most about its face where these huge rows of gills which flared out on both side of the face. Its face was very “hard” looking with little dark eyes, similar to a snake or lizard. I can’t recall a nose or lips as the face to face encounter only lasted a second or two. There was this ridge-like feature which started on the forehead and ran back over the top of its head, kind of peaked at the top.

Other Information:

Our house is located on an acre where Sinking Creek meets the Ohio River. Sinking Creek originates 15 miles “upstream” in Big Springs, KY. An interesting fact, this creek is the only natural trout/spring fed creek in KY. Just past the town of Sample it disappears 12 miles underground (thus the name “Sinking Creek”) and then resurfaces in an area further upstream in an explosion of bubbling water. As far as I am aware, nobody has ever dared to dive far enough down to determine its true origin. This creek is believed to connect to the vast under water system which connects the many caverns of Western KY, the most noted being the caverns of Mammoth Cave.

Follow Up:

Witness appears to be very credible. He is now 49 years old, married, with two children in college. The details of his encounter remain true to his online report. He kept stressing how “amphibious looking” the creature was and it definitely ran on two feet. He added that its body was proportionate to a man’s but neither muscles nor genitalia were noticed. What struck him the most was how quick it was! To this day he still can’t ever image someone having a costume “that life-like”, not today, not 40 years ago, especially in the remote parts Breckinridge! Related sightings: Click Here!

-Investigated by Charlie Raymond; Sketch by Bart Nunnelly.

 

 

 

No Laughing Matter - Jan. 10th, 2008


===========================================
== New entry
===========================================

-------------------------------------------
-- Form: 'Encounter'
-------------------------------------------

1. Your first name::
'John'

2. Which county? :
''

3. Estimated date? :
'Jan. 10 1998'

4. Estimated time? :
'12:30a.m.-1:15a.m.'

5. What city, or nearest city? :
'on interstate 65 btwn cin.and louisville.Kntucky'

6. Length of time the encounter lasted::
'30 seconds'

7. How many witnesses?:
'two'

8. Please describe your encounter::
'while driving south on 65 in the shoulder lane.my girl friend and I were watching for deer along the road(as there are many on that stritch),and driving slow so not to hit any.when ahead of the car on the right side in the grass i saw eyes 1st,and slowed to 25mph approx.As we watched in amazement as a hyena(african) trotted up the grassey burm.I had enough time to ask"what the hell is a african hyena doing alone in kentucky at this hour!!"As we passed each other my girl friend said "Please don't stop or turn around to go back."BRIGHT LIGHTS were on,and have20/13vision RT eye 20/15lt.eye.'

9. Describe the creature with detail::
'Typical afriacan hyena.Gender unknown.brown/tan body hair with black spots twords front .easily 31/2 feet high at the shoulder.with long neck and large hyena head.sloping back,very broad thick chest and neck.mouth was open and all parts of hyena was visable except groin area.Even the tail was up in the air is we approached each other.small bushy tail 8-9inches in length.'

10. Additional Info: Area, Sounds, Etc. :
'I believe it was travelingalong the interstate eating road kill.My guess is it was released or escaped an owner.I don't believe in a breeding population,but do think others have seen the same hyena in kentucky.also old age will soon to its life as my sightings date shows a 12+ year status.'

Hyenas In KY - Aug. 10th, 2006

James Berry, 25, a construction worker, was returning home to Uniontown, Ky on Hwy 316 shortly after 5pm when he saw what he at first took to be a fawn deer or a large fox cavorting in a field next to
Highland Creek. As he drew closer he realized that the animal he beheld was something he had never seen before. It was brown with black patches, had a tail and was obviously canine. Its ears were doglike as well, only quite a bit taller. Most peculiar, however, was the way the back sloped down, like a giraff's,
to the animals back legs which were much smaller than the front legs. What Mr. Berry was looking at, it immediately occured to him, was a hyena. There could be no mistaking the animal now frolicking in the field to his right for anything else. Of this he was certain. When I spoke to Mr. Berry he was convinced of the animals identity and that he had made no mistake with his observations. It was only about 20
yards away, he told me. In broad daylight, acting as if it was perfectly at home in western Kentucky even though the witness knew good and well that it most definately was not. He had never heard of
anything like it around these parts and it was the last thing he expected to see. Even so, there is some precedent to such sightings of hyenas, or hyena-like cryptids, in the Bluegrass state.

The following is from eyewitness Mrs. Emily Edwards:

On 4 December 2004 my husband and I were driving along the expressway near Lexington Kentucky about 1:00pm. There was a car with emergency flashers on the right shoulder. I slowed down as I approached the car and passed it. About 10 feet in front of the car, on the grassy area next to the
expressway, we saw a strange 'creature'. It looked like a hyena, bluish-gray fur with blackish spots or splotches. It was crouched down as if going to pounce. As our car passed it looked over at us. It's
face had a snout and long teeth. It bared its teeth at us and we were so shocked we just drove on. I can't imagine what it was. It was about 3 feet tall at the shoulder with a sloping back and narrower haunches. Its head was big and it had a fur 'fringe' along its back.

I contacted Mrs Edwards regarding her encounter and asked if there was anything else she could add, in retrospect, to the report. She replied: "You are more than welcome to use (the report) on your site. I don't know what else I can add, except that now, nearly 2 years later, my husband and I are still freaked out by what we saw. It was really a strange feeling to see something so out of place in broad daylight."

-B.M.Nunnelly Aug. 15, 2006

 

Gravedigger Update - April 30, 2006

Witness T.W. returned to the area where he had seen the 'Gravedigger' over three decades earlier. He was accompanied by a longtime friend who brought along his video camera to record anything of interest such as possible tracks. While they were walking down the middle of a creek just across the Lincoln County line, they came across a large fish laying near the bank. It was gutted and the head had been devoured. None of the meat had been eaten. They left the creek and walked up into an adjacent field where they discovered 2 strange looking tracks situated over five ft. apart. The prints were measured, recorded on both video and still camera and show a 4 toed,clawed impression four and a half inches long by four inches wide. It resembles that of a large dog or wolf with some peculiar differences, like the spacing between the toes, which is awkward, and a squared off heal. Canids are known to walk toe first and their prints often reveal indistinct heal marks(see red wolf photo). In contrast the Lincoln Co. print looks as if the heel touched the ground first and rolled forward. A careful search of the field yeilded no more prints, which suggests to some that whatever left the two tracks probably walked bipedally and was apparently capable of jumping some distance. The witness claimed that he weighs 180 lbs. and hardly left any impression at all in the dirt. Investigation remains ongoing. More info posted as it arrives.

 

-------------------------------------------
Website Submission on 4-16-06
-------------------------------------------

Your first name: billy

Which county? pike

Estimated date? june 1990

Estimated time? between 12 - 3 pm

What city, or nearest city? in dorton on caney hill

Length of time the encounter lasted: total 10 min

How many witnesses? just myself

Please describe your encounter: When I was a young teenager I was walking up in the hills behind my parents house. Their house is nestled deep into the mountain side down in a valley in the eastern Kentucky hills. So any way you walk, you walk pretty much straight up into the mountains. After making the uphill climb the ground levels out a bit and goes on for miles of very thick dense forest.

I spotted what I thought was a very large white dog from behind about 20 yards from where I was standing. It was just a quick glimpse and I didn't know at the time that what I had just seen was much much bigger than a dog. It was broad daylight and summer so the brush and trees were very over-grown, and I would occasionally see glimpses of it again making its way through the forest. I began to call out to it, "here puppy", and follow it up into the hillside. It must have been moving pretty fast because I then lost sight of it for about five minutes and continued to walk in the same direction. It was then that I came to a very very large bush. The bush was directly in my path, so i had to go around it. When I did, I was in for the surprise of my life.

When I peered around the corner my heart stopped. There in front of me LESS THAN 5 FEET AWAY was a creature I had never before seen or imagined. This was NOT a dog. It was white and covered with hair. It was standing up on two legs hunched over with small arms very high on its body. It didn't really have shoulders, the arms were much like that of a kangaroo. It was at eye level with me but in quite a hunch which puts it at about 7 ft tall if it were standing fully erect. We stood face to face and made full eye contact for what feels like hours neither one of us moving a muscle. The encounter probably only lasted 5 - 10 seconds before I turned and ran as fast as I could down the mountain. I was terrified. Its eyes were fire red and the way they stared into mine felt as though it was taking something from me. The terror took my breath away.

I kept this story to myself for quite some time until I met another guy who began to tell me of his experience with a similar creature. Over the past 16 years I have gradually heard several other stories here in the hills. Right now I am actually aware of 8 or 9 other people who have had personal experiences with this creature or one like it in the surrounding area where I live.
It still doesn't make me less freaked out by what I saw. As far as I know, I have had the closest encounter with it.

Here are a few brief details of other stories I have heard from people in this area:

Several men had seen this creature on railroad tracks up near penny road in virgie.
A friend of mine used to tease me about my experience until he saw it perched in a tree at dark holler up near penny road off of US-23 (he then apologized!) Another friend saw it from behind running down the creek.
A friend's mother and sister saw a white creature on two legs jump off a ledge in the cut-through and bound across the 4-lane right in front of them. (this was on US-23 at Esco). It turned and looked at them before it headed down into the ditch and out of sight.

As I am writing this, I'm aware at how crazy this all sounds! And how surreal. Its not something we talk about much around here, but these stories come out from time to time, and then you hear other people who have had, or know people who have had encounters with a mysterious white beast.
Another thing to note is that all of these sightings took place within 5 -10 miles of each other. They were all near railroad tracks and/or coal mines.

I was remembering this experience tonight when a friend of mine decided to look up online any stories about a white creature in the hills. Needless to say we happened upon this site. When i saw the story about the "grave digger" I nearly lost it. I never had a thought about the graveyard at all. But, (its giving me chills to type this right now and to realize this tonight) my sighting was between 50 - 100 yards from a very old family graveyard up in the hills.

I know what I saw was real. Before I had heard the other stories, I wanted to keep it to myself, and still not many people know my story.

Describe the creature with detail: The best way to generally describe this creature is that it was human like and animal like at the same time

BODY: about 7 ft. tall. long oval shaped canine-like torso mostly covered in thick white hair: much like the hair of a long haired dog. human looking expression. when I first saw it from behind I noticed a tail.

HEAD: Shaped much like a human head. Long white hair (longer than on the rest of the body)

FACE: Sort of pug-like similar to the snout of a bat. Less hair on face than on the rest of body (more skin like). Skin on face a bit darker in color and rough looking.

EYES: Pure bright red eyes like fire

NOSE: Very much like a bat nose.

EARS: Very human like and small on the sides of the head with a bit of white hair as well.

MOUTH: I couldnt see any lips really just a closed mouth under a snout like protrusion.

TEETH: mouth was closed.

ARMS: short and very thin kangaroo like.

HANDS: bony and thin yet covered with thin tufts of white fur/hair. (Kind of like a very hairy man's hands only white) The palms were curled under so I didn't get to see the fingers, but from first glance they were more human-like than animal-like.

LEGS: Thin legs with less hair than on the rest of the body but it was a softer more fine hair than on the back. Creature was hunched up on hind legs. (the fur on the legs was much like the underside of a dog's belly)

FEET: I got a look right before I turned to run. They were long and human like with fine thin fur much like on the legs.

It didn't make a sound or any movement at all once we were face to face. When i think of its deep breathing I get chills. It was not panting, and it was not afraid. It was curious and seemed as shocked as I was.

Additional Info: Thick dense forest area in the hills of eastern Kentucky. There are railroad tracks and a graveyard nearby. (I would not have thought to mention these, but so many other encounters seem to have the same details.)

 

The GRAVEDIGGER

Boyle County, 1970

Report from actual witness, T.W. (real name on file)

Me and a friend went fishing one morning. It was in the spring about 1970. We had to walk a few miles east on the L&N Railroad tracks from Shelby City Ky. It is now Junction City Ky. We would sneak in this pond to Bass fish. I had to be home before noon one day so I started back by myself and left my friend fishing the pond. On the way back down the tracks this creature landed on the tracks in front of me. when I say landed I mean jumped, because all I saw was a blurr and then there it was. It stood about 4 feet tall and stood or squatted on two legs. It was covered with real fine fur on its fat body. It had a little round head that moved like an owls head almost in circles. It had little round eyes and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Its teeth were almost transparent, kinda like a bats. It sorta favored a bat in the face. It had small ears and a small nose. the thing didn't have any lips just teeth. It arms looked like they came out of its chest and they were spindly. It had long fingers and a thumb on each hand with long claws. Its arms didn't have any hair or fur on them.They were slick and oily looking. The thing couldn't see good in the daylight, because it squinted a lot and it never did see me when it landed in front of me. It acted like it was watching for the trains. It would rub it's tiny head on its arm every now and then. It looked right at me and couldn't see me and I was only about 30 or 40 feet from it. I could see its fur moving. The creature never made a sound. I was dumb founded. I'd never saw anything like it before and haven't since. I wasn't scared at first, but I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had a tackle box in one hand and a fishing rod in the other,but I did have my hunting knife with me. As I tried to switch my fishing rod over to my other hand so I could get to my hunting knife, I rattled my tackle box and that's when this thing heard me. It leaned forward and squinted its eyes and when it saw me it reared back and kinda puffed up. I thought it was going to attack me, so I jerked my knife out. When I did this thing took off so fast it was like a blurr. In one leap or jump it cleared a fence about 40 feet away and was gone. I shook my head because I couldn't believe how fast this thing could move. I took off running up to where it leaped the fence but I never saw it again. I never did see this things legs, because it squatted all the time, but they sure were powerful. This thing could have easily gotten me if it wanted to. I believe it only comes out at night and just by chance I got to see it. Maybe it was headed to its home or den after a night of hunting or whatever it does. I have thought about it and I believe it burroughs in the ground like a groundhog. Because not far from where I saw this thing is an old family cemetery plot with slab graves and a rock wall around it. There are huge holes all in this cemetery under the graves. If a groundhog had dug these they couldn't see anything sneaking up on them because of the wall around them, but it could still be ground hogs I guess.My grandmother told me of a thing the old people call a Gravedigger and it moves real fast and digs in graveyards but I don't know. I know I saw this strange creature and it has to stay somewhere. Another man I know saw it one night run across the raod in front of him and it only paused for a second to look at him and then it was gone. The way he described it, it was just like what I saw. He said he's never seen anything move so fast in his life especially, on two legs. This was also on the L&N Railroad tracks about 12 miles from where i saw it. It was in Parksville Ky. where he saw it. The strange thing, it was near a cemetery as a matter of fact. That's where it came from when it ran in front of him. When I saw this creature it was a beautiful spring morning, the sun was shining and I watched it for what seemed to be 10 minutes or more, I could have watched it longer if I hadn't made any noise. If I'd only had a camera.

Follow-Up Phone Interview by Bigfoot Investigator Bart Nunnelly:

I spoke to T.W. on March 31st, 2006, over the course of a couple of hours. He is sure of what he saw and, with further correspondence, I was able to produce a sketch of the animal under his close direction. Although the legs and feet rendered are purely speculative as the witness' view of the lower portions of the creature was blocked by a length of railroad tracks, the upper portions of the body are exact. When I pressed for more details he was very quick to supply them... "The creature's arms looked like they came right out of it's chest, it didn't have shoulders. I couldn't see its legs because it was squatted and its feet and legs were hidden by the rail. When it landed in front of me it just crouched down. Its legs couldn't have been very long, but they sure were powerful, to move like it did. It didn't have a tail. I couldn't make out the pupils of its eyes, its eyes were very small and round and they were very dark, maybe not completely black but almost. Its face looked mean and curious. The thing blinked a lot, it would squint its eyes as if it couldn't see very good in the daylight. Its snout or nose didn't protrude, it had a pug nose and was dark brown, no fur on it. It did favor a bat in the face. Its teeth were razor sharp and very close together. It had perfect teeth and a bunch of them. They were almost clear. I guess they looked like that because they were so sharp and thin. Like a bats teeth. It looked like they were all the same length, but the upper teeth almost covered the lower ones up. It had a fat body, its head looked too small for its body and there was no neck. When it finally saw me it leaned forward quite a bit and squinted at me like it was trying to make out what I was, then it was gone like a speeding bullet. This things head turned like an owl's head almost in a complete circle. It had long slender arms and very long fingers with long black sharp claws, actually thy looked like finger nails. It had knuckles on its fingers. There were three fingers and a thumb. Its skin on its arms looked oily and real dark brown, about the color of used motor oil. Its fingers moved constantly. Its fur was real fine I could see it moving when the wind blowed. Every now and then it would raise its arm and rub the side of its head like it was scratching, but it always moved its head towards its arm, it never would move its arm very far, it always kept them straight out in front of it.Its ears were little and short.I could barely see them above the fur. Its fur was darker on the ends and the closer it got to the body the lighter it got.Some places were grayish in color.It looked like it didn't have any lips at all. Just mostly upper teeth in a straight line and extremely sharp.Its nose was just a small button like nose with two nose holes. It didn't have a chin. This will be hard to describe, but its thumbs were on the bottom on both hands, it almost looked like it had two right hands, its fingers were on the top and it looked like its arms came out of its chest, and they were closer together. I guess its hands looked like they were backwards, but it had long slender fingers on top of each hand and a thumb on the bottom and both thumbs were on the same side if you know what I mean.One of the strange things about it... It could lean forward almost vertical and never use its arms to hold itself up. I got really worried when it leaned forward to look at me and then when it did see me it leaned way back, almost like it swelled up and then it was gone in a flash."

His parents and grandparents knew of this thing as well, he told me, and believed it to survive by eating the flesh of dead bodies.It was an extremely rare occasion to see one, his parents told him, and they also believed them to be nocturnal animals. Though it may sound a bit folkloric, there is often some truth in much folklore. Perhaps creatures such as these are responsible for the 'ghoul' legends of old. There is no doubt, however, that with such sharp teeth and lightning quickness these things could eat pretty much whatever they chose to. Good thing for us then, that they are content with their unsavory practice of merely consuming the flesh of cadavers. This investigation is ongoing. More information will be posted as it is obtained and any readers who may have seen such animals, or know of anyone who has, are urged to contact this site with information.

 

 

Werewolves In KY?



According to local legend, bipedal, 'werewolf-like' cryptids have been encountered in Western, Ky by frightened witnesses who claim the beasts look like tall, hairy men with a wolf's head. Henderson County lays claim to one such legend. Kentucky was once named 'Transylvania', so it is no surprise that some legends may have made their long voyage from the home country and arrived here with the early settlers. According to the Henderson Co. Paranormal Society, some members of the historic 'Transylvania Company' settled here back when the county was founded. One of these renowned men was named L.Talbott and, after this man's death and interral into the Bethel-Talbott Cemetary, is when the encounters with the frightening, wolf-like humanoid began. Some even believed that the Werewolf was actually Talbott himself,returned from the dead in a wolfish body to spread fear and calamity across the countryside. Many years ago I heard a similar legend concerning a heavily forested area next to the John James Audubon State Park known as 'Wolf Hills'. This area, legend claimed, was named after the early Werewolf sightings and, even now, if you drive out to the woods there and park at midnight on a full moon night and howled like a wolf, the Werewolf would answer you. Soon after I found myself driving a van load of friends and girlfriends out to the location to test this local legend.We found a very isolated spot along a narrow, forest lined side road and parked with the full moon shining down from the frosty sky.It was just after midnight.We got out and I then did my best imitation of a wolf howl straight out of an old Lon Chaney film. We were not seriously expecting anything to happen of course but, to our surprise, after only a few seconds had passed, something did answer back in the same wolf howl. We were a long way from any houses and this did'nt sound like a coyote, but rather a perfect imitation of the call I had just made. This retort left the girls in pretty bad shape, I will say, and we were forced to evacuate the location at a pretty good clip. Sounds fanciful indeed but, lest you dismiss such things immediately as nonsense, here is a Bethel-Talbott cemetary in this county. And one of the gravestones does bear the name L.Talbott.

 

KY Thunderbird

Report Submitted: 10/10/05 by Deltaredlegion@hotmail.com

Date: 2005 around 4:00 pm

County: Bullitt

City: unknown

Length of Time: 30 seconds

Witnesses: 3

Encounter:

After returning home from a trip to Bernheim Forest on a very windy day I looked out the window to see a large bird in a field with cows. The bird was standing just a few yards from a angus bull that was full grown. The ground was very level so the measurement in height is very accurate. A gust of wind came and the bird leapt up in the air and started flying away. I saw it flying for about 5 seconds so I had time to judge the size because one wing was longer then the bull.

Description:

It was 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall had a falcons head and feathers not skin covering it. There was black on the top of it and brown on the belly. The tail was white and there were white speckles on the wing tips. The wing span was 14 to 16 feet in width. The talons were very dark and I didn't look at them very well but the wings were just like a predatory birds not a scavengers as in made for speed. They where in a triangle unlike the box that vulture's wings form.


Additional Information:

There were other very common birds in the area because the wind made it a good day for large birds to fly.