YEAR: 1978

SEASON: Fall

STATE: Kentucky

COUNTY: Henry County

LOCATION DETAILS: It's been a long time since we lived there. If you go to Lockport, go straight through town heading west. Joes Branch road is an old gravel road that heads out of town. It is approximately 15 miles long. The other end comes out near Bethlehem. Our house was about 7 miles down this road. It was very rough and isolated.

NEAREST TOWN: Lockport

NEAREST ROAD: Joes Branch Road

OBSERVED: In the fall of 1978 we were in the house eating supper. Our house was built into the hillside.The front yard dropped off 200 feet to the road below, then dropped again to a small creek. Across this creek was our horse barn and chicken coop located in a small bottom. A hitching post was located to the side of this barn about 3 feet high. As we were eating supper, we could hear the horses down at the barn making a lot of noise, kicking the barn and nickering. My parents sent us down to see what was the matter. My brother and I went down the trail that led to the road. You could see down to the barn at the bottom. I will never forget what we saw. A very tall, hairy creature was standing by the hitching post to the right of the barn. The hitching post only came to it's knees, and the hands were hidden by the log at the top. My brother took off back up the hill to the house, but I stood there, maybe out of fright, and watched as it walked off. It was very tall and covered with hair. I could not make out many details, but the thing that struck me most was the long strides it took and the way it swung it's arms,very smooth and graceful. It seemed to turn it's head toward me but I never at any time felt threatened. It disappeared into the trees and I could hear it as it moved uphill, but it didn't crash loudly, just the rustling of bushes. At this point I took off.

ALSO NOTICED: Many years before, my grandfather was clearing a hilltop about 3 miles up the road. I can remember him saying something threw rocks at him one day, large rocks that were threw with great force. He was a no nonsense sort of man, but he could never explain where those rocks came from. In 1979, my brother and I were left alone for several weeks as my grandfather was dying of cancer and my parents went to help my grandmother take care of him. We had a lot of livestock and had to stay and take care of it. My parents would come home on the weekends and bring us groceries and supplies. One night, around 8 or 9 P.M., we heard a sort of screaming coming from the east of our house. Our 2 dogs, rot terriers, hid under the bed. From the west , came a similiar sort of sound. My brother had a hand held tape recorder and he placed it on the front porch, then came back in. Whatever it was, it was the most eerie sound I have ever heard. I have heard mountain lions, bobcats, peacocks and other wildlife, but it was not any of these. This screaming went on for 10-15 minutes, and whatever it was , they met , and all we heard was silence. We had these sounds on tape, but no one was ever able to really say what they were, one game warden said they were mountain lions mating, but there are not supposed to be any mountain lions in Ky anymore.This tape was later recorded over by my niece, and , unfortunately destroyed

OTHER WITNESSES: 2 witnesses, my brother and myself

OTHER STORIES: I recieved this computer for Christmas, and my family has been fascinated by your web site. As we were sitting discussing some of your stories one day in Feb., 2000, my mother and father exchanged odd looks. When I asked them what was the matter, my father admitted they had found some huge footprints one day while they were hunting arrowheads in Hanse's bottoms. My mother held up her hands about 18" apart and said they were so fresh water was just stating to seep into them. My father then stated that they had never said anything to us because they did not want to scare us. There are other stories connected to this road, there were very few people who lived close to us, our nearest nieghbors were 3 miles away, and at this time only 2 other houses on the road were lived in.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Just after sunset, it was a bright moon-lit night,clear sky

ENVIRONMENT: Steep hillsides, with small bottom land and creeks. Large oak, maple and cedar trees, lots of underbrush.