YEAR: 1990

SEASON: Spring

DATE: weekday

STATE: Kentucky

COUNTY: Marshall County

LOCATION DETAILS: Go west of Benton, Ky on Mayfield Hwy, also called Hwy 58, about 2 miles from the new 4 lane Hwy 641, turn right on Houser Rd, go another mile and turn left on Cole Cemetery Rd. The incident happened within 1/2 mile up rd. on the right hand side at a residence with a log cabin.

NEAREST TOWN: Benton

NEAREST ROAD: Cole Cemetery Rd.

OBSERVED: (Please excuse the old story, was not aware a site like this exsisted to record information, also, haven't told too many people...guess you can just imagine why...)
April, 1990, rural Marshall County, I was attempting to make a residential delivery. While walking up the gravel drive I noticed a flock of birds flying overhead coming from the direction of a thick grouping of trees in the back of a field to my left. They were chattering loudly and flying wildly in what seemed to be a race. As they got closer I noticed that there were different speices flying together...Blue Jays, Caridnals, Black Birds, Finches, etc...This struck me as odd for a moment. When I reached the steps to the porch of the home I heard the thunder of hooves hitting the ground and turned and saw many horses that were in the field come running from the edge of the forest towards the house, they too where whinnying and making alot of commotion. Before I could really think anything about it, I saw several deer leeping from the thick trees and running thru the fields away from the same spot, and behind the horses. My first thought then was that there was a fire! I hurried to the residence door and knocked very hard and repeatedly, while scanning the sky for any signs of smoke. No one answered. Having delivered here before I thought the occupant might be around back in the barn so I left the porch and turned to walk in that direction, that's when I heard the most terrifying sound in my entire life that I knew could not have been human or from any known animal in this area.
The sound came from the thick group of trees and echoed over the fields in thick vibrations. It was a mixture of a deep lions growl that hightened into a scream containing the same low, deep, loud rhythym. I stood stunned, half scarred and half curious. From the area of the trees where the sound traveled from was the figure of something very tall, very large in width and very strong, as some of the smaller pine trees about 10 to 15 feet in height were being shaken back and forth vigorously and violently. The figure itself was not totally visible but hidden mostly behind the shadows of the larger trees behind and around it. It was dark in color, guessing dark brown or black, with a thick furry outline. It looked to have stood well over 7 feet in height. It began moving along the edge of the trees towards the house, just keeping inside the safety of the shadows. The horses in the pasture where on the far right hand side now, rising up and hitting the fence with their hooves. This was too much excitement for me, and I turned to run to my truck. That hideous sound came thru the air again, but this time it was much closer than before, I quickly made it into the truck, started the engine and left very rapidly.(Half way expecting the engine to be flooded or the battery dead, like in some lame horror movie.)
This event left me pretty shaken, but it was also my duty as a courier to return to the home the next day to reattempt the delivery. Upon reaching said home, I briefly explained to the occupant what occured the day before, expecting him to start laughing. To my surprize, he only agreed that there had been some strange sounds coming from 'those neck of the woods' lately, and that his horses were frequently 'spooked' by something in the area. He also stated that a friend of his had took his hunting dog back there a few weeks prior to this incident and that the dog took out after something, disappeared from sight, let out curdling yelping sounds, then went quiet. He said his buddy found what was left of the dog, it's head was not to be found, and that there had been a fowl ordor around the area at the time. He further insisted it was probably a 'bobcat' or something and never suggested anything else, except not to 'go in them there woods' by myself.
Not to worry, I had no intentions of it.

OTHER WITNESSES: Only myself. I was involved in making a home delivery of a package to a residence that was not home at the time.

OTHER STORIES: There are too many stories to mention in this space, nor does time allow me to write them all down. There is a place close to here called Land Between the Lakes that has several stories of a 'Beast' that lives in the dense forests there. Also, neighboring counties all have their own tales to tell. I have done research on these stories years ago, in fact the local paper here, the Paducah Sun, published one of the stories (The Beast of LBL) in a Halloween section of their paper some 17 years ago. Origianlly I am not from here, so any tales of 'creatures in the woods' fasinated me to no end.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Between the hours of 1:00pm and 3:pm. Partly sunny, breezy, around 70 degrees.

ENVIRONMENT: Rural area, spaced out residences with fields in between and various groups of small forests behind all properties with a small creek running behind properties as well. Some of the fields behind residences were fenced for horses.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Kevin Withers:

At the time, the witness was a thirty year old employee of one of the nationwide overnight delivery services, and was seven to eight months pregnant. Her sighting occurred somewhere between 10:30 am and noon.

The sighting lasted from twenty to thirty seconds, with the animal remaining about 100 feet away in the shadows. Although she couldn't see any facial features, she felt that it was staring at her - she had goosebumps, the hair on the back of her neck was standing up, and her legs were trembling with fear and excitement.

The animal was "eight feet to nine feet tall, at least," and was from three to four feet wide. It was covered with hair that was darker than the tree trunks that were in the shadows. It moved slowly and deliberately, and with caution, taking a few steps and then pausing, and then a few more steps and pausing again. The witness saw it take about eight to ten steps in this fashion before she left the area.

According to the witness, "Land Between the Lakes" is located about twenty miles, as the crow flies, from the site of this sighting.

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