Greg Jordan: Bigfoot, Mothman, UFOs: Keeping my eyes peeled for elusive monsters
Oct. 20—West Virginia and the rest of region marked by the Appalachian Mountains is the home of many strange stories.
Up in Point Pleasant there are tales of the Mothman.
Mercer County and other parts of southern West Virginia have stories of UFOs roaming the skies and panthers roaming the forests.
There are stories of Bigfoot sightings in our region, and even an alien visitor dubbed the Braxton County Monster.
While I've always had an interest in ghosts, I've always been especially interested in creatures.
Let's say I'll pick a monster movie over a ghost movie. Godzilla instead of the Amityville Horror.
I've always wanted to see a cryptid, which is an animal unknown to science.
It would be interesting to go hiking and spot something really unexpected running among the trees.
Sudden noises I hear off in the brush always turn out to be wild turkeys or deer instead of a loping Bigfoot or another other strange creature.
I know there have been Bigfoot sightings in West Virginia. Not long before COVID-19 reached our area, I heard about a Fayette County homeowner that was seeing a strange animal on his property.
Apparently it was taking apples and corn left out for deer, and he had managed to take a picture of it.
I saw the photo and it was a classic, blurry shot suggesting that something weird was standing among the trees.
One other instance that comes to mind is the story an area resident told me about seeing a Bigfoot walking across a yard.
I won't share the witness's name, say where this witness lives or when this happened, but it was in southern West Virginia.
The witness one day notice a furry something near the trees and assumed it was a bear.
Then it stood up on two legs and started walking like a human.
The witness said this apparition became a humanoid with dark hair featuring touches of gray.
The sight was bewildering, and the witness kept waiting for it to become a bear, a deer, a dog, somebody in a suit or anything else normal, but that didn't happen.
Then the trespasser striding across the property let out a bellow so loud, the witness felt it.
What happened next was even more eerie.
A reply could heard in the distance.
Now the incident include two Bigfoots in the mountains of West Virginia.
Could Bigfoot or any other unknown animals hide in our forests?
Well, I know one military expert once dubbed West Virginia "Afghanistan with trees," So I'd say it's possible. I'm sure there are big areas up in the mountains that hikers and hunters rarely visit.
Another beast that could be roaming the mountains undetected is a big cat like panthers or cougars.
Back in November 2013, I did a story about a strange intruder caught on a home security video near Bramwell.
Shot at night, it looked like a panther stalking past a driveway. It was definitely a cat, but there were no cars, trash cans or anything else that could give it scale and suggest its size. I've seen large house cats that look a lot like panthers, so that might be the explanation.
Of course, it could have been a panther, too.
I've heard of other West Virginia sightings, and I find them easier to believe than Bigfoot.
I'll be going on my regular hikes as Halloween approaches, but I'll still keep an eye out for anything strange, yet I wonder sometimes.
Once in a while I hear something off in the woods like a branch breaking or a tree creaking and assume that it's just the wind or a deer, but how can I be sure? For all I know, something 8-feet tall heard me coming — I'm probably as loud as a rock band when compared to deer and other animals — stepped into cover and calmly watched as I approached and then walked away.
Have I heard or even looked at a strange creature and just didn't notice? Maybe some day I will notice something looking at me, and have a good campfire story to tell.
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
