YEAR: 2018

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 18

STATE: Kentucky

COUNTY: Elliott County

NEAREST TOWN: Sandy Hook KY

NEAREST ROAD: 650

OBSERVED: My husband and I are visiting family in Sandy Hook. On the evening of the 18th, at about 7:30, we got in the car to make a quick run to Sandy Hook. It was very cold, (it was already dark as well), so he started up the car to let it warm before we took off. As we were waiting, he called his grandmother -- because of the call time on his phone, we know what time this all occurred. While he was talking to her, his low fuel light came on, and they wrapped up the call at 7:45.

We pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road. He was going a little faster than normal because we were a little nervous we'd run out of gas if we dilly-dallied too much. As we got into the curve about a quarter of a mile from my mom's house, I spotted something in the hollow ahead of us. It was almost out of the range of his headlights, and by my calculations, about 75-100 feet away from us.

Now this all happened very very quickly, but because I am observant, especially when it comes to spotting deer crossing the road, I was able to make this observation within a couple of seconds.

What I saw first was presumably an animal standing on the edge of the opposite lane. I leaned forward and scrutinized closer. Just before I could scream out, "DEER IN THE ROAD!" the creature began to walk very quickly, and at that moment I realized it had two legs, not four.

At some point I started screaming, "Turn on your brights! There's something in the road!" All the while, I'm looking at this thing which is very big in stature, thick legs, thick abdomen, and (again by my calculations) at least 7 ft tall. It was the color of a tree, specifically the trees in that area, so like a grayish-brown, very earthy-tone. The area where I assume a face would be was lighter in color, but I couldn't tell what color. I know this because it turned its head and looked straight at our car.

My husband saw movement and he saw what he described as a strange shadow, but he did not see the creature. Only I saw the creature, and in fairly good detail. Again, it happened so quickly though, I didn't get to see feet, hands or facial details like eyes and mouth.

One thing I thought was interesting was the direction it was coming from. It was coming from a very tall and steep mountain, and when it hurried across the road, it must have gone off a very steep cliff, as that is the only place it could have gone. This cliff drops off onto Pruetts Fork Road, which is also very wooded and secluded.

After we came back from our errand, we drove slowly and tried to inspect the area, but came up empty handed. That night, the neighborhood dogs were behaving very strangely, barking and howling all night long. One of them even acted as if he could see something in the distance, and began to growl and stalk before he took off to chase it. It was a very weird night.

ALSO NOTICED: That night, the neighborhood dogs were acting very strange. All of them were barking and howling and could not be consoled or quieted. A stray dog that hangs around the yard, (who is normally very mild mannered and inattentive), displayed signs of stalking something and being very on edge. He was growling and nervous, and took off after something unseen. All of the neighborhood dogs continued to howl and bark throughout the night.

OTHER WITNESSES: My husband was driving, I was in the passenger seat. He saw a shadow and movement but only I witnessed the actual creature.

OTHER STORIES: Somewhere between 2008 and 2010, my mom experienced something in the same spot where I saw the creature. She was walking to a neighbor's house in broad daylight and as she passed this very same area, a couple of rocks were thrown off the hill beside the road. She could not see the source but something was stalking her from up in the hill.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Between 7:45 - 7:47 pm / very dark, no precipitation, ground was soft from copious rain about a week ago. Had been a cold day, daytime high was around 55, low was in the mid 30s. At the time of the sighting, it was about 48-50 degrees.

ENVIRONMENT: The sighting occurred on an incline (but coming from the opposite direction, it's downgrade) in a heavily wooded stretch with steep cliffs on either side of the road.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jack Smarr:

I spoke to the witness on the phone and got the following details. The witness and her husband were traveling down a dark country road in the early evening of October 18th, 2018. She was always on the lookout for deer in the road; as a safety precaution against auto accidents. Everything happened very quickly, but she saw it standing on the side of the road, and then taking two strides across the road in front of them at a distance of 75 to 100 feet away. At first, she thought it was a deer until she realized it was walking on two legs. She described it as a walking tree. It had a huge girth and she said if it was a person, she would describe it as being physically fit. Although she mostly saw the legs and torso, it was nothing like a human due to its size and color. She described it as being grayish brown like a flat earthy tone. The headlights illuminated mostly its upper legs to the torso. She could not see all the way to the feet. The witness did say that she saw it move its torso towards them where she got a glimpse of a lighter patch on the head area, which she assumed was a face. The witness said that the creature propelled itself as if casually doing a fast walk. The entire episode lasted 3 to 5 seconds. The husband was on the phone talking and didn’t get a good look at it. He only saw movement and shadows crossing the road, slowing down as his wife yelled to turn on the brights.

About BFRO Investigator Jack Smarr:

Jack Smarr is retired military and worked primarily in Field Artillery, Armored Cavalry and Armor units. He participated in TN 09,10,11,WV 2012 expeditions; and helped organize KY 2013 expedition. He organized the 2014 KY Daniel Boone Expedition, the 2015 Central Kentucky Expedition, the 2016 Carter Caves State Park Expedition, Northeastern Kentucky 2017, Kentucky 2018 and has conducted private expeditions in Eastern Kentucky and Southern Ohio.