Geographical Index > United States > Arkansas > Clark County > Report # 3519
(Class A)
Submitted by witness plato34@excite.com on Wednesday, December 19, 2001.
Man working in wooded area sees bipedal animal standing on railroad tracks
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YEAR: 1984
SEASON: Spring MONTH: April DATE: Spring STATE: Arkansas COUNTY: Clark County LOCATION DETAILS: Hwy 67 travels beside I-30. This incident occured between Gurdon,AR. and Prescott,AR. The easiest way to get there is to get off the interstate at the Gurdon exit and travel to hwy 67. Turn Right until you come upon the left turn to Biern. Turn left off of hwy 67, cross the RR tracks and turn right. Travel until you come upon the T in the road or until you are able to cross the tracks on the right again. There on that sight hill where the road crosses the tracks is where the creature stood for a short time. You can then continue on the road that will turn left for approx. another 1\4 mile to where our truck was.
All of this area has changed since the logging started, so take what directions I have given into consideration. NEAREST TOWN: Biern, AR., southwest of Gurdon,AR. NEAREST ROAD: Hwy. 67 OBSERVED: In the spring of 1984, I had been working with for the (undisclosed) in Arkadelphia, AR. That particular day we had to paint some boundry line around an area near Biern, AR, just southwest of Gurdon, AR. It was in the afternoon and I had already finished "brushing" out the line for the others to paint the dots on the tree.
I knew of an old black man that lived in a little shack not far from there. He ALWAYS had an old loggers helmet on, carried an ole filled 22, and only wore blue overalls and a white shirt.
After I had finished, I made my way back to the truck which was on a road that was near the railroad tracks. These tracks went through the middle of Biern. As you pull into Biern from hwy 67, you cross these tracks and then turn right for approx. 2 miles. The road then T's and can go to the right to cross the tracks again. In 1984, the road only went about another 1\4 mile before turning back to the right back to 67. Our truck was parked on that last turn that goes back to hwy 67. I had made my way onto the tracks to wait for the others.
I wasn't quite a 1\4 mile from where the road crosses over the tracks. The signs that let you know of the tracks are maybe 8 ft. high. When I noticed something on the tracks at that cross-over, I noticed that it "appeared" to be another foot taller. That could have been an optical illusion at that distance. I noticed that I could not see the silver hard hat that the old man always wore, or the white shirt, or the gun.
This thing, what ever it might have been stopped on the trakcs and turned. But when it turned, it had to turn the whole upper torso as though it had a stiff neck. It was mostly dark in color, it did have some lighter spots on it.
It appeared to take a step towards me when another logging companies truck gun it's motor and startled the creature. It seemed to notice this, turn and take two steps to get into the woods.
If you have ever been down the tracks of the railroad, you know that it would be impossible for a normal man to make that kind of distance in only two steps.
You have to take into consideration that I was only 18 at the time and still had a pretty vivid imagination. Even with the evidence I had at that time, I questioned what I might have really seen. It wasn't until later that I found out that there have been many sightings of some creature in that part of the woods.
A buddy of mine told me that his grandmother lived in that area and had trouble from a two legged creature getting into her garbage at night. He said that there was only one time that the creature came up on her back porch and look into her window. She said that it looked somewhat like a monkey. She never admitted that she was scared because it never threatened her in any way. This story sort of validated mine.
This is not the only time that I have seen a creature out int woods. This occurence happened about 20 to 30 miles away from this. I will try to tell it later. ALSO NOTICED: The only other thing that I heard was some type of growling (like a whale) and barking that I have never heard before. There was also some vocalization made that did not appear to have been made by a human. If you can imagine the gobble made by a shack tube, then that is the closest thing I can imagine. I know that there are many people out there that have been in the woods more then me. But I know the sounds of almost all the indiginous animals in Arkansas. This was something that, at that time, I have never heard. OTHER WITNESSES: Unfortunately I was the only one around. TIME AND CONDITIONS: Between 1pm and 4pm. Clear skies. Between 70 and 85 degrees ENVIRONMENT: This area is pretty much a low,flat area with standing water. On the road to this area, there is a pipeline that travels to a river. It has all types of trees, including hardwood, pulpwood and others that are considered worthless.
Follow-up investigation report:
In a follow up e.mail interview the witness added the following:
"The only color that I can recall is a dark brown with a few highlights at the tips"
"The creature had an exaggerated swing of the arms as it walked. Now, take into consideration that it was walking up an incline when I noticed it."
"The only thing that I can conclude as to what it was doing at the time I saw it was possibly trying to relocate due to the fact that there was logging going on in the location it was coming from, or possibly investigating what the loggers were doing."
"At the distance I was at, I could not see the specific details of the face. I did notice that the head had a slight conical shape to it."
In a final telephone interview the witness clarified a few items and added others as follows:
The "shack tube" mentioned above should have been a "shake tube" which is a device used in turkey hunting to duplicate turkey calls.
He stated in the time before the animal leaped from the tracks it was walking upright bipedally slightly stooped at the waist with arms swinging. He stated the arms extended almost to the knees of the animal.
When asked what he thought the animal was the witness was not able to say exactly what he thought it was, but clarified it was not a bear or any other animal he was familiar with at all.
The witness also stated the experience unnerved him so, that when his coworkers returned he had locked himself in the pick-up and was crouched in the floor of the vehicle.
There were no other witnesses to this occurrence. When asked about the friend's grandmother for possible correlation he stated she had passed away in the years since his sighting. He stated he did know of some other people who had seen a creature like the one he described and he will attempt to contact them in an effort to convince them to come forward with their own accounts.
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