YEAR: 1983

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: January

DATE: January 16, 1983

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Walker County

LOCATION DETAILS: Cornfield sink 2000' SSW of the Blue Hole 3 miles NE of Rocky Lane

NEAREST TOWN: Lafayette

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 193

OBSERVED: Two friends of mine and myself were pushing a cave lead in Cornfield Sink on the east side of Pigeon Mountain. We came out of the lead at about 3:00AM and started gathering our caving gear together for the 1/2 mile walk to the car. As we are about to leave the strangest call I have ever heard came from the opposite side of the sink from us. Distance would have been about 900'. The three of us have been woodsmen all our lives but none of us had ever heard a call like that. It sounded like four different animals in one. All powered by what must have been an enormous set of lungs! Hearing the vocalization the three of us looked at each other saucer eyed not saying a word. Each of us was hoping the others would pipe up with a logical explanation for what we had heard. Needless to say since we had been planning to leave anyway we beat a hasty retreat to the vehicles.

OTHER WITNESSES: Three witnesses packing gear and talking

OTHER STORIES: Have heard of strange occurrances on west side of Pigeon Mtn. Some locals say they will not venture there. Have also talked to cavers in the area about hearing strange calls. Most seem to have heard big cats (of which we do have around here) but a couple of cavers I know have heard something that they say was not a cat.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 3:00am 30 degrees F clear skies calm wind

ENVIRONMENT: Mountain side forested sink 1000' across

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Morris Collins:

I spoke with the witness on April 20, 2007. During the conversation other details emerged.

The witness is an experienced climber, caver, and outdoors person. He emphasized the volume and power of the sound, and said it had the power of four animals put together. The sound started as a deep gutteral growl and grew steadily in volume and tone, to a sound that was abnormally long and loud. The other two witnesses reacted to the vocalization with expressions of surprise and fear. One said, "We dont want to mess with that critter". The witness thought the vocalization may have been a reaction to them emerging from the cave opening.

Chickamauga National Battlefield is in the area and has a long history of strange encounters with something known as "Green Eyes". References to "Green Eyes" can be found elsewhere on the internet.

About BFRO Investigator Morris Collins:

Morris holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Auburn University and additional coursework toward an MBA in International Business. He is an avid backpacker and SCUBA diver. Morris attended Georgia 2006, 2008, 2009 & 2011; North Carolina 2006 and SC 2007 expeditions. He is a member of the SE BFRO Tracking Team and has completed a first course in visual tracking.