Maryland Bigfoot Sighting 11/14/11

Maryland Bigfoot Sighting
Date: November 14th 2011
Time of day: Approximately 7 PM
Number of Witnesses: 1
Location of sighting: Alm House Road near Oxford Maryland in Talbot County.


At approximately 7:15 PM on November 14th I received a call from a friend here in Hampton Virginia named Tom Beal. Tom Told me his niece had just had a sighting of Bigfoot and if I would like to speak with her to hear what happened. I immediately said yes and at 7:17 PM I was on the phone with this young lady and hearing her sighting account that had happened about 17 minutes earlier. This does not happen often and I certainly thank Tom for giving me to opportunity to have this story so soon after it happened.
This young ladies name is Brittney and she is 21 years old. She was driving on Almhouse Road which is a straight road with tall trees and wooded areas all along the sides.





As Brittney was driving she saw something standing on the right side of the road. At first she could not understand what she was seeing then suddenly and swiftly the creature began running across the road. Brittney said it took three steps and it was across the road (right to left) and its movements were so fast but still odd. She said it was hard to describe how the creature walked but the strides were long and fast. Just as the creature reached the left side of the road Brittney turned on her bright lights and when she did she said the creature turned and looked at her and the eyes were shining like a deer's eyes would shine in car lights.
Brittney stated the eyes seemed very round and very large and she estimated the creature to be approximately 6 feet tall but very very thick is how she described the creature. She stated that the head seemed so strange to look at as it seemed to look like someone's head when they have a hooded sweat jacket pulled up over their head (conical). She said that was the only thing she could think of to compare this creatures head to.
Brittany stated she just could not believe what she had seen and even called her husband and asked him if he had heard anything about gorillas in the area. As I got to speak to this witness in such a short time from time of her sighting I could hear how she was just still not sure what had happened to her and she even asked me several times what she had seen and if she had seen Bigfoot.
I found her to be very credible and she never varied from her story as I went over the story several times with her.
If you use Google maps and select terrain and put in search "Alms House Road Oxford Maryland" you can see that all along Alms House Road are open fields then very heavy woods. One area also has a large body of water located within the wooded area. Brittney also stated within one half mile of the sighting were a few houses.


Anyone in the Maryland area who would like to do a follow up please contact Philip Spencer : pspencer@gmail.com

Big Black Cats and Goat Eating Otters

Halloween is a time for ghosts and goblins, candy and jack-o-lanterns, screams, and spooky stories told in the dark of night around a roaring campfire. And who can have a good Halloween story without a mysterious black cat somewhere in it? The more mysterious it is, the better the story. The bigger he his, the more fearsome he becomes. If his eyes glow an eerie yellow, all the better! If he's lurking right close to us, it's time keep our ears and eyes open and move in a little closer to the campfire. The only thing that would make the story more frightening was if we knew for certain and without a doubt that he was real and lurking around somewhere in the darkness, looking for an easy victim.

Earlier this month, I was able to listen to some fantastic stories at the 2011 Texas Bigfoot Conference that was held by the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy. There were many excellent speakers there, but these weren't Halloween campfire story tellers. They were doctors, specialists, and authors from many different fields of study. There were photographs shown, evidence presented, theories analyzed, and questions both asked and answered. Some of the stories of interest were not specifically on the Bigfoot phenomena, but on the mysterious large black cats that have been reported and told about in many parts of the United States, including Texas, which was the focus of the days presentation. Chester Moore, author, executive editor of Texas Fish & Game, Outdoors Editor for the Orange Leader and Port Arthur News, and consultant for the Animal Planet, The Travel Channel, and National Geographic, gave an excellent presentation on these mysterious animals and told some stories worthy of not only campfires, but of classrooms and anyone interested in the subject of mysterious animals.

Many skeptics will say that there's no such animal as a large black cat in the U.S. They will say that there's not a chance. First of all, as explained by Moore, there is no "black panther", as they are commonly referred to. There is no such species in existence. It is simply a generic term used to describe large black cats, usually Jaguars. Melanistic cougars are tossed up as an explanation for the sightings, but are quickly ruled out because there's never been so much as a photo taken of a melanistic cougar. The only one close to being black was in a grainy black and white photograph taken in Costa Rica in 1954 of a dark brown one that was killed. According to Mr. Moore, as many cougars as there are in the Americas, there's never been any melanistic ones photographed, observed, tagged, shot, or trapped. Legends of escaped circus animals or exotic pets and their descendants are told by believers to explain the black cat's existence, but this theory also has it's flaws. The main one being that an escaped large cat that has spent it's life in captivity does not know how to hunt enough to survive. Unlike feral house cats, they need more than a mouse or a bird to live. They can make a kill out of an easy target, but hunting for years in order to feed itself and it's young is extremely unlikely. This is evident by observations made by refuge employees who have been unsuccessful to reintroduce captive Tigers to wild habitats. The evidence seems to be pointing away from the existence of large black cats in the U.S., but as the saying goes, don't count your chickens before they hatch.

People are often accused of seeing things or making up stories when they see these large black cats. Sometimes they're even told that they're seeing somebody's big black domestic American Shorthair and, while letting their wild imagination get a hold of the best of themselves, they think they're seeing some mysterious and fabled beast. I should know. I used to have a large black domestic-bobcat hybrid (rumored to be) who, after proudly walking the perimeter of our rail fence and chasing many a dog away, was probably exaggerated in stories told by the neighborhood kids and the superstitious friends. But large black cats are here in the U.S. and they're not the subjects of fables, exaggerations, or misidentifications. They're very real.

We ask if it could then be something like the "black panthers" of South America, which are really melanistic jaguars? "Nah, this isn't topical South America", we're told. Doubters who are stuck on the images of black jaguars leaping through vine covered trees to avoid the flooding Amazon will say that the climate and terrain just isn't suitable for them. The curious will also ask, if they're jaguars, why aren't we seeing spotted ones. The truth, as told during Moore's presentation, is that the southern U.S. has in fact been host to spotted jaguars. According to wildlife maps drawn up in the 1940's, there were jaguars as far east as Mississippi. However, as time passes and wild areas are taken over by subdivisions and factories, animals that once roamed the countrysides move around to avoid us and are soon forgotten about. Maps are redrawn to reflect not only sightings and lack of, but the possible worries of industries who are encouraged to feel uncomfortable about being in territories that beautiful, wild and mysterious creatures call home. If they were here before though, there's a possibility that they're still around. This is especially so, given the large amount of wild habitat that is actually left, combined with the shrinking number of people who are quick to shoot a predator who is stalking their farm. In the process of human expansion, we've actually made nice little pockets of very inviting habitat for some very interesting creatures. The fact that jaguars are currently known by biologists to live in Arizona and New Mexico are proof. The numerous reports from Texas and Louisiana concerning spotted jaguars that Moore has received or reviewed just adds to that proof.

Though it's true that the melanistic gene in jaguars is not that common, it's highly possible. It even seems that there are more reports of black jaguars than spotted ones. If it is indeed jaguars that are being spotted, the answer could be very simple. It's been thought by biologists that melanism presents an advantage in animals that are inhabiting areas where a black coat would be handy. Dark and shady dense forests would be prime. There are even pockets in Asia for example where most of the leopards are melanistic. Since most of the states where large black cats are spotted contain this type of landscape, and since melanistic bobcats have been proven to exist in the southeastern part of the U.S., it's not too surprising to think that there could be areas where melanistic jaguars could be more populous than spotted ones.

Another culprit for the "black panther" sightings, as stated by Moore, could be the jaguarundi. Our habitat is so suited to them that he believes most of the black cat sightings could be attributed to the jaguarundi. He himself saw one in Jefferson County in southeast Texas ten years ago. In the 1960s there was even an abundance of reports of them around the Galveston and Port Arthur areas of southeast Texas. In 1984, there were unconfirmed reports of a local biologist seeing three of them. Seeing that jaguarundis can grow as long as four feet (sometimes larger) and are usually brown to dark grey and black in color, the jaguarundi could in fact be the subject of many of our state's "black panther" sightings.

Before the evening was up, there were several stories told at the conference about sightings of large black cats. A few of these stories reflected one of the problems with any cryptozoological subject: the unwillingness of some people to look past what's commonly cited as normal or official and admit that we don't really know what's out there. As Moore jokingly mocked, "we're not going to go there because it says that in the book". He later related the story of a woman who gave a television interview after seeing a large black cat carry away one of her goats (one that weighed in at about one hundred pounds) near her home in Vidor, Texas. Of course a wildlife official appeared on the segment offering his opinion. Did the official investigate the woman's sighting? Was she asked questions out of concern for an undocumented large cat killing livestock? No. He merely stated that "it could have been an otter". No need to be alarmed and nothing to worry about. It's just an otter large enough to carry away a one hundred pound goat. Call me crazy, but that seems more worthy of investigating than a large black cat.

After the evidence is presented and the stories are told, it definitely appears that it is very possible for a species of large black feline to be roaming certain areas of the U.S.. What it is exactly remains unclear. Should we be frightened and include it in our campfire stories? It won't hurt to include them in an embellished story or two. After all, they are elusive, highly intelligent, and very mysterious. But there's no need to be frightened. In this day and time, we're far more prone to falling victim to someone driving while on the phone or from being mauled by someone's abused dog than we are being attacked by one of these beautiful creatures. If I were you though, the next time you're outside, alone in the dark, hold your kids close to you and keep your eyes and ears open for the legendary goat killing otter of southeast Texas.

Reverend Chaos (aka Shawna Lowman), Guest Blogger and Social Malcontent

The Cedar Brook Howdy, Ole Red Eyes

In mid October of 2006 three young men in Anderson County Kentucky, Stephen Bowman ll and Kevin Bowman and a friend, decided to drive down and old road and see if they could see any ghosts. There were many local tales of many mysterious things on and near the road they decided to travel and seek a glimpse into the strangeness known as the paranormal. What these three young men did not know was what they were driving into would be something they would never forget and never actually be able to explain.

The three young men drove down a road in Anderson County named Cedar Brook Rd. It is an old road that comes to a dead end and many stories are told from the area of the road and the surrounding area. This road and the land around it are part of The Frazier Land which is the land that I wrote my book about. The most prominent story to date about the road is the story of the "Cedar Brook Howdy" or as some call it "Ole Red Eyes". The story goes that while someone is in the area they will see these red eyes that seem to glow. The eyes float or move oddly through the darkness. At no time could any of the three see any form connected with the eyes but the eyes certainly appeared to be attached to something.

The three seekers of a apparition decided to drive down Cedar Brook Road and park and sit and see what they could see. As the night crept by and it was between one and two o'clock Stephen saw something. He saw two red eyes stationary at about fifty feet away then suddenly moving in the direction of the truck the three were in. The other two individuals then saw the eyes and sat frozen. The eyes appeared to be approximately seven feet off the ground.
The eyes moved as if they were attached to something large, the eyes moved like whatever the eyes were attached to was walking in what seemed to be a power walk. At times the three could see the eyes blink and they were coming through the darkness and coming directly at the truck which held the frightened young men. When the eyes were about twenty feet away the truck was started and the three blasted away from this area.

I interviewed Stephen Bowman II and even though this event happened years ago, I could still sense the fright in his voice. Stephen told me he had never gone back to that location and he did not plan on going back. One thing that is so interesting about this story is the fact when the boys saw the red eyes they had no idea of the Cedar Brook Howdy or as some call it, Ole Red Eyes. It was sometime later that Stephen heard someone talk about someone seeing the red eyes at Cedar Brook.

So another story about the legendary Cedar Brook Howdy, Ole Red Eyes of Anderson County Kentucky. Perhaps someday someone will figure out what is going on down this road and what holds the red eyes people see? Maybe on a dark night you will drive down the old road and sit quietly in the dark and wait, sitting in the dark with the sounds of night all around you, listening and waiting, waiting for the eyes to come to you, how long will you stay?

Get Some Bread It's Raining Meat In Glady Ky.

Stories From The Hollers & Hills. By Adrianne Brasher Arney..

"Get Some Bread It's Raining Meat In Glady"
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Kentucky has a wealth of history that is commonly known. But it also has a wealth of paranormal history and unless you have ancestral roots in Kentucky you may never hear about it. This history has been passed down thru generations and rarely written in any books.
The story I’m about to tell you has been passed down thru generations and was told to me by a relative. It all took place in a small country town in Kentucky called Glady.
The town of Glady doesn’t exist anymore. It is now just a feint memory. But the stories of Glady will live on forever as they are handed down from loved one to love one and stranger to stranger. The area was sold to the Army Corp of Engineers so that they could build a dam to form a lake. The dam was completed in 1937 and the remaining land needed for the development of the lake project was transferred to the forest service upon the project completion.
A few towns were flooded by the waters but the Glady area was spared from the flooding. It is now part of a primitive weapon hunting area in the Daniel Boone National Forrest. Remnants of Glady can still be found if you search the overgrowth of the forest. Most of the graves in the cemetery were moved but some still remain. Stone foundations of the homes, church and general store can still be found. The only remembrance of it is a hiking trail called the Glady Loop Trail.
Glady also was only a few miles away from other well-known areas of Kentucky that are notorious for paranormal and bizarre events. In 1876 flakes of unknown meat fell from the sky and covered an area of 100 x 50 yards. A couple of gentlemen tasted it and said it tasted like venison. Samples were sent to various places and none of them could agree to the identity of the meat. Polksville Cemetery is also not too far away. It is popular with ghost hunters as being one of the most haunted cemeteries in Kentucky. A quick search on the net will give you more information on either of those areas.
The story told to me by my relative all began with her Mother’s Great Grandmother. The Great Grandmother was believed to be possessed by a demonic spirit. She was taken to the church there in town. The people of the town began to pray for her in an attempt to exorcise the demon from her. Their prayers certainly did work, but I don’t think the outcome was exactly what they had in mind!
It was told that as they were praying six small demon type creatures sprang from her body and fled from the church and into the town. For decades after the exorcism took place the creatures would terrorize the small town of Glady.
Residents of Glady and travelers passing thru would tell of the small demon creatures attacking them as they rode thru town. They said the creatures would try to jump on the back of their horses. People were afraid to be outside after dark.
Hikers and hunters still talk about strange things happening when they are in the area where Glady once stood. Many don’t stay in the area long before they feel compelled to leave. Perhaps when you travel you will take time to seek out where Glady once was and if you do, remember, always have a few slices of bread with you, then all you need for a sandwich might just fall right of the sky..

Guest blogger Adrianne Brasher Arney, artist & Bigfoot researcher and purveyor of tales from the hills..

Bumps in the Daylight and Monsters in the File Cabinets

"And sometimes to this day, when the sun is out and the birds are singing, when the roadsides are covered with wildflowers, you can smell freshly baked bread and hear sweet old Mrs. Johnson's sewing machine humming away in the distance. If you're really lucky, you might even get a glimpse of her ghost, wearing her favorite sun bonnet and pulling weeds around the place where her little cabin once sat."

Not a very spooky ending to a ghost story told around a campfire late at night, is it? It's definitely not. And because of it not being very spooky, stories like this are all too often overlooked when digging around for haunting legends to investigate. However, stories like this are out there and not uncommon at all. Sadly, they're largely ignored in favor of the thrill of night time investigations and hunting.

Most ghost hunters these days focus on spooky places at dark. Why? Probably because of the age old superstition and misconception of "ghosts only come out at night", combined with a various assortment of bits and pieces of beliefs and mythology from all over the world... Light is positive, dark is negative. Three A.M. is the "anti-hour". Let's not forget the witching hour of course, and tons of other beliefs pertaining to the dark of night. All of those reasons equate in some form or another to some type of negativity and somewhere along the passage of time, ghosts were thrown into that mix of negative things that are associated only with the dark and night.

Of course, to many ghost hunters, it's also just more spooky at night. It's part of the thrill of the chase. Old superstitions and fears that we don't even think we have lay hidden in the subconscious and add to that thrill. You can't see everything around you and the absence of daytime nose pollution, in addition to the sounds that only manifest while most of us are sleeping, enables one to hear things that many are not normally used to hearing. Screech owls in the back of the property bring about startled utterances of "Oh my God, what was that!?". Stray cows mournfully bellowing out for their bedded down herd makes the unaccustomed want to run for their cars. Even the small and harmless out-of-site armadillos shuffling and rooting through the pine straw and undergrowth leaves impressions of a 400 pound unknown beast trampling around in the dark while watching your every move.

Often times though when the suggestion is made to investigate or begin an investigation at daylight, the suggestion is met with hesitation and the sense of spoiling the fun. That's fine if you're into ghost hunting for just that thrill or to wear the badge of "I'm a ghost hunter and I walk around cemeteries and abandoned houses at night because I fear nothing". But for the serious investigator, the one who gains fun, enjoyment, and a thrill from the critical and analytical aspect of investigating the unknown, for the one who likes to keep objectivity in mind and biases out, it's just plain common sense to have an investigation during daylight, or at least arrive during daylight hours for a pre-investigation inspection. Sometimes people learn that when they go the old local house place that's rumored to be haunted and find nothing at night, but later hear someone make the comment of "you should have went there in the early afternoon. That's when the grounds keepers always smell freshly caught fish under that old oak tree". Sometimes people learn when they arrive at the popular haunted cemetery after dark to see gates locked and "no visitors after dark" signs posted.

Many reputable and long time paranormal researchers have stated that the best evidence is often captured during the daytime. According to them, the evidence tends to be of better quality due to the fact that night time photography and video has limitations because of the lack of light. According to some, up to 80 percent of the unexplainable apparitions caught on film were done so during daylight. Stephen Wagner, who writes for the paranormal section of About.com, has stated that in the collection of photos that he's acquired over the years, the majority of the truly unexplainable ones were taken during the day. Long time investigators and researchers (Price, Holzer, Auerbach, Southall, Chacon, etc...) have all documented unexplainable phenomena during the day. Such phenomena from apparitions to heavy poltergeist activity have all been witnessed during broad daylight.

The office that my mother formerly worked at during the day was often plagued with unexplained occurrences. The occurrences soon turned into to allegations of the office, a former apartment building, being haunted. They had toilets to flush by themselves, heard footsteps on the old wooden floors, and several of the ladies working there were even witness to a drawer in one the file cabinets suddenly and quickly opening all the way up. The incidents were truly unexplainable. After checking, no one was in the back that could have walked through the hall. Everyone was busy with paperwork and not in the bathroom. And everyone in the main section of the office were sitting there at their desks when the cabinet opened up by itself right in front of them. So many strange things happened there that the resident office skeptic soon turned into a believer, acknowledging that something was going on that couldn't be explained by his rational sense of logic.

A good friend of mine who is somewhat sensitive to ghosts has had quite a number of experiences during the day. She's experienced the sighting of a man wearing overalls outside her house, heard whistling and shuffling in the grass while doing chores outside, has heard someone moving around dishes and utensils in the dish strainer when there was no one there, and many other experiences. She's said that probably thirty percent of the things that happen around her place happen during the day. Daytime phenomena at her place is not in the majority, but it's definitely not rare when it happens.

Another good friend of mine relayed a story to me about the house that a friend's friend lived in at one time. The friend stood in amazement one day while a commode seat lifted up and then closed back down repeatedly. They later moved from the house after coming home one afternoon and seeing all of the kitchen cabinet doors wide open and their contents laying in the middle of the floor.

Of course those are just local incidents. If they can happen here in a place that is not famous for it's hauntings, it seems to reason that they could happen anywhere. Many daytime visitors to the former Civil War battlefields have reported apparitions as well as the smell of gunpowder, disembodied shouts and moans, and hearing the galloping of horses. Even the smell of lilacs has been smelled by visitors to Gettysburg, said to be from the use of lilac water at the time to cover up the literal stench of death that overtook the town. Daytime visitors to an old courthouse in San Jacinto County, Texas have reported seeing the apparition of Rufus, a man that was hung there. The famous Waley House in San Diego, said by researchers to be one of the most haunted structures in the United States, has had it's share of daytime phenomena witnessed by vacationers. A woman who works at Tamworth Castle in Staffordshire, England, recalled the time when she was struck in the face by what felt like sand when opening up one morning. A fellow employee of hers has said that never a day goes by that something unexplained doesn't happen. Again, these are just a handful of instances. The Queen Mary, Hand Hotel in Wales, The Lemp Mansion in Missouri, Alcatraz, The Myrtles Plantation, Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, etc, etc... All have been the locations of reported daytime unexplained phenomena ranging from dishes being thrown by unseen forces to phantom houses appearing out of nowhere.

Some other reasons for investigating (or at least beginning an investigation) during daylight are objectivity and basic safety. It's good to get a different perspective on things during daylight. Sometimes the sources for those strange sights and weird sounds seen and heard at night are easily explained during the day when their source can be more clearly seen. Hazards from uncovered wells to the hidden run down house of a crazy neighbor hermit who likes to fire his gun in the air to scare off strange vehicles driving down 'his' road are more easily noticed. Ghost investigation can be lots of fun if taken seriously, but that fun starts to fade away when an investigator falls for a teenager's prank, sprains an ankle while tripping on a loose floorboard, or gets lost down a road that they shouldn't have taken.

This of course is not at all to say that ghost investigators shouldn't go at night. Going at night does have it benefits. Due to it being dark, actual apparitions are many times easier to see against the dark back drop. Abnormal sounds are also more easily heard due to the absence of the daytime noise pollution mentioned earlier. Depending on the location and the type of activity, some are definitely more haunted at night and a night time visit could very well pay off. There does appear to be more evidence gathered at night. But one has to ask if it's because more people go hunting at night. Night also seems to be a more active time for hauntings. But again, is it because less attention is paid during the day due to that preconceived thought that "nothings going to happen while the sun is still out"?

It's clear to see that night time isn't the only time of day when the ghosts come out. In an attempt to answer some of the questions regarding day vs. night hauntings, it would seem that the best time of day for a thorough investigation is both. Arrive early in the day, talk to witnesses, ask about times and days that have the most activity, and gather base readings for everything. Look around, familiarize yourself with the surroundings, and make note of everything you see, hear, smell, and feel. Stay until well after nightfall and do the same. When morning comes, you might walk away with nothing new. Or you might walk away with the most compelling evidence that you and others have ever seen. After the data is in and the evidence is reviewed, you just might get a bigger surprise than you've ever gotten at night.

Reverend Chaos (aka Shawna Lowman), Guest Blogger and Social Malcontent

The Mulberry Demon Of Anderson County Kentucky.

This report was taken on 6/1/11 in a 45 minute phone interview by Philip Spencer.

In the early spring of 2007 a young woman in Anderson County Kentucky got up from bed to let her pup out. The time was between 12 AM & 3 AM. She walked out on the porch of her house with the little dog and watched as the pup walked down the steps into the yard. The porch light was out on the porch and the family had been having some odd electrical occurrences over the last few days.
The porch was approximately three feet off the ground and there was a barn approximately fifty yards from the porch with a Mulberry tree which was about thirty feet tall to her left in the yard. The pup walked off the porch and then turned quickly and ran back up the steps and ran to the young woman's feet obviously frightened of something. The young woman was puzzled as to what the pup could be afraid of and she looked in the direction of the barn to see if she could see anything.

There was a security light on the side of the house and the moon was creating enough light where the young woman could see enough to see outlines and the tree lines. As the young woman looked in the direction of the barn she realized there was something between her and the barn at about 25 yards. What she was seeing was a dark form standing in what might have been a slight crouch. It was a humanoid form that appeared to be 4 to 4.5 feet tall. This form was dark in color and very stocky/bulky looking. She could not see any eyes or the face. Suddenly the creature ran at her, she could hear the animal running and the sound it made was that of a very heavy animal running with a thud to the feet hitting the ground. She stated to me that she did not see it drop to all fours that it was like she saw it standing then it was running. She gasped and when she did the creature turned sideways and ran at the Mulberry tree. She stated she could then see a very good side view of the creature. She said the creature looked to have somewhat shorter legs on the front and that it had a humped back. To her the head looked large and bulky compared to the body size of what she was seeing and she said she felt this creature was well over 100 lbs.
When the creature reached the Mulberry tree it jumped on the tree and climbed up the tree to the top and then launched into the air and flew in the direction of the barn. As the stunned young woman stood watching the creature fly away she stated she could see and hear the wings flapping and they wings were very large and the sound of the wings implied to her of a powerful flap.

She told me she stood on the porch and wasn’t sure what had just happened before her eyes but she grabbed the pup and went back inside.
The next day the woman was perplexed and very shook up by what she had seen and she kept trying to logically conduce what she had seen the night before. She was taking a shower the next day and as the event was all that was on her mind she froze as she thought she must have seen a demon. She is a woman who believes in God and when she thought she had seen a demon she prayed that it never come back and leave her family alone. That day the light on the front porch stated working again and the odd electrical problems ceased.

Conclusion: The young woman I spoke with was intelligent and well spoken. She was not on any medications at the time of the event and there were no unusual stresses in her life at this time, life was actually good as they were enjoying a new baby and she was a nursing mom. In my interactions with her on the phone she was lucid and steadfast in her recollections of what happened. Other than the sounds of the feet hitting the ground and the wings flapping there were no sounds from the creature.

She stated her family had ghosts events over the years but nothing like this had ever happened before or after this event. She told me this event changed the way she thought about something's and had an impact on her life. She said the creature put the thought of a gargoyle into her mind while she was witnessing the creature.
When the creature was standing she said at no time did it appear to have arms however, in the low light and as it was a dark color that would have been hard to determine. I find it very interesting how she was looking directly at the creature and it just seemed to suddenly be running. Could the front legs have actually been the wings? She stated the creature went up the tree like a cat, swift and moving quickly.
What did this young woman see and why was it there? Where did it go to and where did it come from? Well, one thing I know is this. This event happened near the Frazier land in Anderson County which is the area I wrote my book about and my movie is about, over 6000 acres of land. I have no idea why this area has so many strange unexplained events but to this day the reports keep coming in and they are told my credible and articulate people who I have no reason to doubt even though I approach things from a point of just taking the facts and looking for signs that the story is not true.

I have researched all kinds of strange going on in the nights from all across the country and as I have said for many years, there is much more lurking in the darkness than our old friend Sasquatch and we all need to remember that. When approaching an old Mulberry tree in Anderson County Kentucky late at night it might be best to look up…

Philip Spencer

I See Dead Skin.

Last year, I was given the news that a reputable Bigfoot research organization here in Texas was headed to a school to give lessons to local school children. To teach them about Bigfoot? Not entirely, but they did use their search for Bigfoot as an example to teach something that paranormal researchers deem just as important: Critical thinking and rational skepticism when investigating scientific enigmas. This, I feel, is especially true in my favorite paranormal subject, ghosts and hauntings.

One of the most important aspects of researching and investigating the paranormal is critical thinking and rational skepticism. Some people who are into the paranormal see the word "skeptic" and they see a bad word. They despise it and the people who label themselves as such. But for those who are more than just "into the paranormal" and actually spend long hours of pouring over information and research on it, skepticism can be our best friend. In investigating, in true scientific fashion, we must not only try to prove, but try to disprove as well. In fact, that's one of the first things that should be done. It doesn't make our job easier. It actually makes it more tasking and hard. But it makes it more honest. It makes it honest with ourselves, with others in the field, and with those who are acquiring an interest in the subject.

"In true scientific fashion". That phrase is scary to some fans of the paranormal because we all know what those in the realm of orthodox science think about much of the subject. But, let's face it... There is no hard scientific evidence of ghosts. Even the most reputable researchers can't even agree on what exactly a ghost is and why the phenomena occurs. If they claim that they do, it's out of belief. Maybe someday undeniable proof and hard evidence will be found. Until then, all we can prove is that something anomalous is occurring and that there are things happening that have no explanation. We have to prove that there is something paranormal going on. To do this, we have to be skeptical and critical because science, I firmly think, has the answers. The science is already there. It's been there because science does not change. The only thing about science that changes is the minds and biases of the scientists. It's the job of the researchers and investigators to change those minds. And they will never change unless we put on our lab coats, put a little investigative forensics into the field, and start getting down to business and prove that not all that happens has a conventional explanation.

We have to look at things with a discerning eye and try and not let preconceived beliefs get the better of us. When a strange sound is heard, we have to search around and rule out normal causes. They can range from a cougar's scream (possibly the cause of many of the "screaming woman" sounds) to large black walnuts hitting a tin roof in Autumn and making us believe that Old Man Jones doesn't want us in his barn. When a sighting of an apparition is seen, we have to use our equipment to try and rule out non-paranormal causes. How many ghost enthusiasts out there know that electromagnetic energy can cause hallucinations, dizziness, and other symptoms in perfectly healthy people? We have to ask questions. We have to hit the libraries and courthouses to study the history of the places that we investigate. We have to hit the science books and learn all we can about the world we live in so that we can rule out worldly causes.

Why do we want to disprove something that we're trying to prove? We're not. We're trying to weed out what we're not hunting for. It will take longer to find Bigfoot if we automatically treat every sighting and photo as authentic. Psychic ability will never be believed by those who write the science books if we don't rule out the possibility of subconscious influence or stage magic. UFOs will never be confirmed as extra-terrestrial in origin if we treat every weather balloon sighting as a ship piloted by a little green man. The existence of ghosts will never go past being a hypothesis if we keep concentrating on 'possum dander in digital photographs.

Some people will think that if you keep being so skeptical, you're never going to find anything. Not true. You'll find something eventually, just have patience. Sure, you can walk away from a place after hearing a strange sound or seeing a strange sight and inaccurately say "Yep, it's haunted" without really properly examining. It is fun for some and it does get people interested. But if we really want to call ourselves "investigators" or "researchers", then we have to put on the researcher hat, get down to business, and do ourselves and the paranormal community justice. If you really investigate, you'll rule out a lot of what's seen and heard as being normal. That's part of the fun of investigating. But if you investigate enough places while asking the right questions, you'll eventually find a place where you can walk away while honestly saying, "there is definitely something paranormal going on here". That is the first step in finding answers to what, as of now, has no answers.

Yeah, I said it. "Possum dander".

Reverend Chaos (aka Shawna Lowman), Guest Blogger and Social Malcontent

Mountain Lions, Bigfoots, and Bears, Oh My!

One of the most common arguments and skeptical questions concerning Bigfoot is "where are they"? This question is asked by those who believe he's out there. It's also brought up in sarcasm by skeptics who seem to think that we crypto-people think that Sasquatch are just running around all over the place, so why aren't there recorded sightings filed by officials and experts in the various wildlife industries?

Sometime last year, our local news station in the East Texas area featured a report on some recent cougar sightings in the area. In this story, some local game officials (experts in other words) were interviewed and stated with confidence that they had to be misidentifications because there's no cougars here. They're further west, not in our humid, river-strewn, semi-tropical Pine and Oak forested bottomlands.

A few nights later, the news had a follow up story. This one included numerous pictures that people had taken of cougars and their tracks in the area. I didn't see the news that night, I heard about it from someone. But when I heard it I laughed. And then I had one of those "Well, duh!" moments because it's something that we see so many times in Cryptozoology too. Some people, apparently even some of the "experts", just really don't have much of an idea of what they're talking about. The sad thing is, I'm not talking about any complex theories or advanced level scientific knowledge here. I'm talking about common sense.

Yes, we have cougars here. We've had them for a while actually. You might see tracks if you really go looking. You might even hear one holler if you're at the right place at the right time. Maybe, just maybe, you might get to see one, though you could easily live here your whole life and never get a glimpse. I myself have seen a total of one and one-quarter cougar. Out of two sightings, I never saw a whole animal. They're that elusive. Why were the game officials so wrong then? Their offices aren't out in the middle of the remote woods where many of the witnesses actually live and work. It's pretty simple really.

The same also goes with black bears here. Official word has it that they're coming down from Oklahoma, but haven't quite made it this far yet. No, they're here. They've been here. I've spoken with people who've seen them. Not many people. And it's always people that live out of the city limits in a more rural setting. It's usually people that tend to know their surroundings and know what they saw. Just like with the cougar reports. It makes you wonder how bear or cougar sightings compare statistically to Bigfoot sightings in some areas. I mean, there's places around the Appalachians that are hot-pockets for Bigfoot sightings. Then places like mine where a creature that actually exists is not said to be here because sightings are so minimal or unreliable or not "official".

We tune in to the evening news on a slow news night and see a story about a Bigfoot sighting. We're shown a rugged looking, toothless witnesses who looks like he was drug straight from the swamps. Many laugh and think to themselves "oh Lord...". But seriously. Realistically and seriously...

Reverend Chaos (aka Shawna Lowman), Guest Blogger and Social Malcontent.

North Carolina Bigfoot Sightings

Greetings and I hope everyone had a great new year and has a great 2011. For my first interview of 2011 I bring you a very special report. I was recently contacted by a man who asked me to interview his daughter concerning her sighting (s) of Bigfoot. After a few days of email exchanges we came to an agreement on a time for me to call and speak to her about what had occurred.
I called and we began our conversation and I found the young lady to be articulate and literate and very intelligent. She was very precise with most aspects of her story and after about five minutes into our conversation she mentioned something which caught my ear and I asked her how old she was as her father never mentioned her age. She replied she was 15 years old! I was truly surprised by her age and her maturity in her way of presenting herself..

I will not be using her full name and I will not give her specific location due to her age. The following sightings took place in North Carolina. In this report the witness will be called HM..

In 2008 HM and a friend where playing on the edge of a woods and playing just inside the tree line. The girls smelled a strong stench and moved further into the woods to see if they could find what the smell was coming from. HM said the smell was like a decomposing carcass. A point of interest to me was that when the girls left the smell was gone after about 30 minutes. I can attest that this type of odor will stay with you and then dissipate from your smell after a short time period, but can linger longer..
The girls found a large log that had fallen over and were playing near the log. Her friend suddenly stopped and was looking in the direction over the top of the large log laying on the ground. HM could not see what her friend was seeing and pulled herself up on the large log. When she did this she saw what her friend was frozen in place staring at .
What the girls were looking at was a large hairy upright creature. The creature was somewhat bent over at an angle from them and was doing something with some branches. HM said it looked like the creature was examining the branches. The creature was very bulky and it seemed as if the hair contained highlights and this was a sunny day. HM stated the hair was long but shorter than 12 inches. On the back of the head the hair seemed to hang down at least five inches. Shorter on the body. HM could see the arms but was not sure of full arm length. HM described the hands as looking like a gorillas hand to her. HM actually saw the creature handling a branch and lay it down. The branches were approximately one inch in diameter and 3 to 4 feet long.

The branches did have a few leaves on them. The creature was approximately 30 feet away. When I asked HM how tall the creature seemed to be she said she could not be sure as she was looking at how big it was and not how tall it was. The time of year was March. HM slipped on the log and her foot hit the ground with a crunch and when this happened the creature stood up quickly and it was looking around , it was turning its head back and forth and as it did the girls tried to hide behind the fallen tree. The girls could see the legs as the creature moved away.
In 2009 HM and her friend had gone out to take down a hunting blind and as they were preparing to take down the hunting blind HM looked over and saw a large (7-8 feet tall) hairy creature walk into the woods. HM said the first creature was much darker in color. She described the second creature as having a more light brown cast to its color. The second sighting was approximately 10 miles from the first. The first creature seemed to be much larger to HM than the second creature. The time of year was November or early December. The time of day was mid day and HM found it odd for the creature to be out that time of day.

The people who owned the land had killed deer and left the carcass's in the field. HM did not like how the people handled the carcasses as they were left in the area for a week and HM stated the smell was horrible in the area. HM also stated to her it looked like the creature was moving away from a carcass laying near the point where she saw the creature entering the woods.

HM knows a person who flies often in the area and this pilot has told her he has seen dark figures out in fields or in breaks in the woods as he flew low over this area. And the sightings have been over a long number of years.
HM stated that what stuck in her mind about these creatures was they seemed to her to be so human like but at the same time they were an animal. HM was not able to see the whole face of either creature but she was able to get a quick side view of the face of the first creature and she said it's nose was "smussed up". HM said the forehead went back. No hair visible on face but the hair hung down into the face. All this was from a quick side view.

HM told me she hoped no one ever killed one of these creatures but that someday we find out what they are..

This was a fascinating interview and HM presented herself in a very honest way. A great report to start 2011 and more reports are on their way..