Geographical Index > United States > Kentucky > Trigg County > Report # 12641
(Class A)
Submitted by witness on Friday, September 23, 2005.
Mussel poachers have night time encounter near Lake Barkley
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YEAR: 1996
SEASON: Fall MONTH: October STATE: Kentucky COUNTY: Trigg County NEAREST TOWN: GRAND RIVERS NEAREST ROAD: THE TRACE HWY OBSERVED: Me and a friend were near barkley lake late at night. We got way off in a place on a dirt road stopped for minute to smoke down by the water, barkley lake.
I was setting in the car talking looked up the road we came down and saw what looked like a big man walking down to where we were. I turned on my head lights to see what or who it was. It run off in the woods. Well, we sat a minute then a smell like a wet animal started to came in the car.
We heard a loud crashing comeing the woods and yelling screams. At that time a log came flying and hit my car. It moved my 1980 caddy it hit so hard. I started, the hit gas and was gone.
We came back the next day to look around the log was there it was so heavy we could no move it we walk over where it must have came from in the woods it was 40 yards away. OTHER WITNESSES: 2 JUST TALKING TIME AND CONDITIONS: LIGHT RAIN REDISH SKY 1:00AM ENVIRONMENT: BOTTOM BY THE LAKE
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tony Gerard:
The witness and his partner had been harvesting freshwater mussels by "toe digging" (feeling for the mussels with their feet) in a restricted area.
As they were setting in the car warming up and smoking they saw what they first though was a "big man" walking down the road toward them.
They watched for several seconds. The witness related "I thought it was the game warden and we were busted [for collecting mussels in a restricted area]. I thought 'let's just get this over with' and turned on the lights.
What the light revealed was large and hairy. "If you've ever seen 'Harry and the Hendersons' it was damn close".
The hair was reddish brown and appeared matted on the sides.
When they returned to recover their mussels the next day they estimated the creature's height from nearby trees. "It was every bit of eight feet". The log they assumed had been thrown was too heavy for them to move.
The witness described the vocalization as a "yawning holler". There were two or three vocalizations before the car was struck by the log.
Additional Comments by Matt Moneymaker:
Assuming this was an actual encounter with a sasquatch, it would be an example of intimidation behavior, rather than a precursor to an attack.
The fact that it occurred in a restricted area is important. Unprovoked encounters that happen in areas frequented by humans usually do not involve overt intimidation. This type of behavior seems to occur most often in areas where humans rarely venture.
About BFRO Investigator Tony Gerard:
Tony Gerard is a community college biology professor.
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