Category Archives: Sasquatch
Medeina
Etymology – medis “tree” or medė “forest” Lithuanian
Pronunciation: myeh-dyay-NU
Also Called: Medeinė, Meidein, Meidene, Žvorūna, Žvorūnė, vilkmergė (“She-Wolf”)
Medeina is the Lithuanian goddess of the forest and hunt in the Baltic region. As a goddess of the hunt, Medeina has been compared to the Grecian Artemis or Roman Diana.
Attributes
Animal: Bear, Hare, Wolf
Month: August
Planet: Moon
Sphere of Influence: Forests, Wildlife
Lithuanian Depictions
The first images of Medeina show her as a bear.
Lithuanian scholar, Algirdas Julius Greimas says that Medeina is single, a virgin goddess much like Artemis or Diana. Greimas describes her as a beautiful, young and voluptuous huntress who is accompanied by wolves.
Worship
When seen as a bear, Medeina’s worshipers dressed in bear skins during a Winter Solstice ritual.
The scholar, Vykintas Vaitkevičius is reported to have identified five Hare Churches and ten Wolf-Footprints in Eastern Lithuania that are sacred to Medeina. The churches are sacred stones, hills and forests while the paw prints are stones with hollows that look like a paw print.
After the Baptism of Lithuania, Medeina’s cult and worship went in decline.
Her name day is August 21st in Lithuania.
Goddess Of The Hunt/Forest Protector
Whele Medeina is seen as a goddess of the hunt, her actual role is that of protecting the wild animals in the forest from hunters. One way that she would do this is to send out a rabbit or hare to misdirect hunters and get them to chase it.
As Medeina protected the wildlife from Hunters, she was often seen as having dual benign and malign traits. As if scholars couldn’t decide if she were divine or demonic in nature.
The first animal caught in spring would be sacrificed to Medeina.
Shape-Shifter
Medeina is known to take a couple of different forms. The first is that of a young woman, the second is that of a wolf. In her wolf form, Medeina leads a pack of wolves.
Hypatian Codex
A Russian chronicle that dates to around 1252, according to this text, Medeina is one of the pagan deities that was worshiped by the Lithuanian King Mindaugas. Here, Medeina is an unnamed hare goddess.
This text has caused some scholarly discussions whether the name Medeina is the name of the hare goddess or if there are two different goddesses with the same name.
Military Prowess & Might
Any early role of Medeina was in the military aspects of warriors. Medeina would later be replaced by Zemyna, the goddess of Earth who represents agriculture and peasants.
Juodas Kudlotas
I could not find much on this entity. The Juodas kudlotas which translates from “juodas” for black and “kudlotas” for hair is some sort of cross between a hairy animal and a human being, much like sightings of Big Foot or Sasquatch in the U.S. This is a creature that lives in the forests and finds favor with Medeina.
Syno-Deities
Artemis – The Greek goddess of the Hunt.
Diana – The Roman goddess of the Hunt.
Meža Mate – The Forest Mother, she is another goddess associated with Medeina.
Žvorūnė – Also called Žvorūna from the word “žvėris” meaning “beast,” is a Lithuanian goddess of hunting and animals. She is a goddess made mention of in the Malala Chronicle and Chronicle of Ipatius. She has been equated with Medeina. There’s some speculation that Žvoruna may be an epitaph of Medeina and that there might be an older hunting goddess who has since been forgotten.
Goatman
Also Called: Goat Man
The Goatman is a figure from American Urban Folklore. It is often described as being humanoid in appearance with a goat head. It is infamous for stalking Fletchertown Road in Prince George’s County where it attacks people in cars with an axe.
The main sightings and legends of Goatman are from the state of Maryland with a few other states claiming their own Goatman cryptid. In Maryland, the Governor’s Bridge Road, Lottsford Road and Fletchertown Road in Prince George’s County along with the Glenn Dale Hospital have all become places that people claim to have seen the Goatman. The Goatman is blamed for the deaths of many pets and from time to time, hikers along with harassing people in cars or more accurately, terrorizing people in their cars with an axe. Especially on any hot spot roads claimed to be lover’s lanes.
Maryland Legend
The Goatman is a cryptid whose stomping grounds are Prince George’s County. After a number of dogs went missing or died, the Goatman was held responsible despite the evidence of passing trains being the cause.
Despite, the Goatman is popular among students and often there is graffiti reading: “Goatman was here” that can be found in various places. Even local law enforcement receives several calls claiming sightings of this creature. Most calls and reports are likely to be pranks that perpetuate this Urban Myth and Legend. The 1970’s saw a large number of sightings in Bowie.
Description: The accounts can vary, but most descriptions of the Goatman say that it is a humanoid with a relatively human face and body covered in hair. Other descriptions state that the Goatman resembles the fauns of Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body being that of a goat. Accounts vary with the creature being between four to twelve feet tall with most accounts placing a Goatman sighting at about six to eight feet tall. When riled up, the Goatman makes a high-pitched squealing sound.
Stories circulate that the Goatman makes his home somewhere in the forested, northwest region of Prince George’s County close to Bowie living in a makeshift shelter. From time to time, the Goatman comes out to kill a stray dog or beat on random cars with an axe.
Mad Science – One variation to the birth of this Urban Legend is that the Goatman was once a scientist who worked at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. There had been an experiment with goats that backfired, and the hapless scientist mutated into a half man, half goat monster who began to attack cars in the area.
Crazed Hermit – This variation to the legend places the Goatman as a crazy hermit living in the woods. He could often be spotted walking alone at night on Fletchertown Road.
Goat Herder – This variation sees this legend as an angry goat herder who went berserk on discovering that some teens killed several of his goats.
Modern Folklore
Barry Pearson, a folklorist from the University of Maryland, says the Goatman legends began long ago…
The first reports for the Maryland Goatman began in August 1957 in Upper Marlboroa and Forestville of Prince George’s County. A young couple were spending an evening at a popular lover’s make-out spot, just off the road at dusk. They were interrupted by a loud banging on their car hood. The couple looked up to see a large hairy horned beast wielding a double-bladed axe. The creature ran into the woods shortly after.
A few nights later, another couple living nearby reported seeing a hairy wild-man rummaging through their trash. The Upper Marlboro Fire Department and local hunters organized a search for this mysterious creature to no avail. More sightings would come in the following weeks, but eventually the authorities would declare it all a hoax.
Some few years later, another young couple in their car, near Zug Road in Huntington would report having seen a similar creature staring at them from the woods. The creature was described as having a tall, ragged animal with human features.
The Goatman legend would continue throughout the 1960’s with Teenagers being warned against parking in the woods at night lest they have an encounter with the ax-weilding Goatman. Sightings and claims of encounters would continue.
The Goatman would begin to gain popularity in 1971. More accurately, the first story to feature the Goatman was on October 27th, 1971 in the Bowie area of Prince George’s County News. An article written by Karen Hosler used information found in the University of Maryland Folklore Archives that mention the Goatman and some ghost stories centered around Fletchertown Road. Later, Karen Hosler would write another article titled: “Residents Fear Goatman Lives: Dog Found Decapitated in Old Bowie.” This article would relate the story of a family searching for their missing puppy, Ginger. Unfortunately, Ginger would be found days later near Fletchertown Road decapitated.
To sensationalize the article, the Goatman was connected to the story with a group of teenage girls claiming they had heard strange noises and had seen a large creature the night that Ginger vanished. Nor did it help that the article reported how sightings of a large animal-like creature walking on hind legs were increasing for Fletchertown Road.
Increasing Goatman’s notoriety, the Washington Post would run an article on November 30th titled “A Legendary Figure Haunts Remote Pr. George’s Woods.” The article goes into detailing the men who found Ginger. The article continues with local police commenting how they’re getting more sightings of Goatman. How teenagers perpetuate and keep Goatman legends going by repeating stories of this creature attacking people in their cars, especially on the local lover’s lane. Of which, Fletchertown Road is one of them.
Other Goatman-esque Cryptids
The legend of the Goatman has become very widespread through the U.S., reaching a number of states that all claim some variation of the Goatman legend or at least a giant, hairy Bigfoot cryptid.
Old Alton Bridge, Texas
Also known as Goatman’s Bridge, this has been a location for many sightings of this cryptid in Texas. The bridge connects Denton and Copper Canyon. The Goatman of this region is known to wander the surrounding forest.
The origins of this story are tragic. As the tale goes, there had been a black goat farmer who lived with is family on the north side of the bridge. He was well liked and known for his honesty and dependable-ness. Locals began to call the farmer the Goatman and he posted a sign on the bridge reading: “This way to the Goatman.” The success of a black farmer brought the ire of the local Klansmen who showed up at the farmer’s home, kidnapping him and hanging him from the Old Alton Bridge. When they looked to see if the farmer had died, he was gone. The Klansmen panicked and returned to the farmer’s home to murder his wife and children.
This Goatman legend continues with locals warning how if you want to see the Goatman, park your car on the bridge, turn off the lights and honk the horn three times and he will appear. Like any ghost story, people tell stories of being touched, grabbed and having rocks thrown at them.
The “Goat Man Of Texas” legend tells the story of how the Goatman of Marshall and Denton, Texas is essentially sex crazed and goes after anyone, man, woman or beast for sex.
Lake Worth Monster, Texas
Another Goatman urban legend and cryptid from Texas. In July of 1969, people began to believe in and report some half-goat, half-man creature with fur and scales. This Goatman has been known to jump on cars denting them, to throw tires at people, of which a group of ten witnesses testified to that event.
A Tommy Burson reported that this goatman cryptid jumped on his car after leaping from a tree and causing an 18-ince long scar on the side of the vehicle. Burson uses this scar as proof his story and the local police investigated the matter.
It is after Burson’s report, the next night that people report a similar creature hurling a tire from a bluff over a group of people. Debrah Grabee claims possesion the only photograph taken by Allen Plaster who took it in October 1969 during the thrown tire incident.
Pope Lick Monster
A Goat-Sheepman found in the state of Kentucky. It is believed to live beneath a Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle over Floyd’s Fork Creek, Louisville. Claims for sightings of this cryptid began in the 1940’s and early 1950’s. Where the Goatman of Maryland could described more as a satyr, the Goatman of Kentucky has a fur covered body like a human and goat head. The earliest versions of this legend hold it responsible for cattle mutilations while in later stories, it is a foul tempered beast that seeks only to be left alone and other legends say that the screams of the Goatman are in imitation of the train that passes through its territory that extends to the Jefferson Memorial Forest to the South.
The trestle over the Pope Lick Creek is unfortunately a hotspot for many teens who will dare each other to cross the trestle that rises some 90 feet in the air and spans over 700 feet. Due to the lack of sound carrying in the area, many people don’t hear the on coming train in time and have either been struck by the train or jumped to their death.
Proctor Valley Monster
Not so much a Goatman, but more like some deranged cow-like animal that stands seven feet tall. This creature is blamed for numerous cattle mutilations.
Australian Goatman
I came across one version of a Goatman who appears in Australian urbans who appears to help people who have gotten lost or lead them to water.
Sasquatch
Or Big Foot, many people tend to categorize sightings of Goatman in the same vein as this legendary cryptid. Especially with height comparisons of six to seven feet tall, humanoid and hairy as all get out.
Also known as the White Thing is a cryptid found in West Virginia folklore that is often described as a being bear-like or canine in appearance with goat or sheep horns. If people are looking at the goatman as a cryptid with the horns, Sheepsquatch also comes to mind.
Waterford Sheepman
This is a cryptid found in the small town of Waterford, Pennsylvania during the 1970’s. It too has been called Goatman given the descriptions. This creature was often seen running across roads into farm fields.
Wisconsin Goatman
Part Urban Legend, part Ghost Story, the Goatman of Washington County, Wisconsin appears to date back to mid-nineteenth century. The story goes that a Civil War veteran was traveling along Hogsback Road with his new bride when the wagon they were in broke an axle. The veteran got out to go look for help. While she waited, the bride heard the sound of sniffing and growling outside the wagon. When the bride looked out, she was terrified of a dark, hairy creature with the body and head of a goat that walked upright like a man. She hid within the wagon until the creature was gone. The bride went running off in the direction her husband had gone. She followed muddy footprints until she came across his bloody body hanging from a tree with hoof prints all around the base.
Urban legends continue today warning travelers along Hogsback Road to be wary as the Goatman preys on unsuspecting drivers.
Urban Legend Vs Mythology
The cryptid and Urban Legend known as the Goatman is not completely unique. When we go back far enough into mythology, we can see that other cultures have had their own versions of a Goatman or Goat Deity.
Bocánach – A type of goblin or spirit described as being hairy humanoids with goat heads in Irish mythology known for haunting battlefields.
Glaistig – Hailing from Scottish mythology, the Glaistig is a ghost who appears in the form of a woman with the lower half of a goat, much like satyrs. Depending on the story she appears in, determines if she’s good or bad. Sometimes she lures men in with song and dance in order to drink their blood. Other stories have her throwing stones at people.
Naigamesa – Either a Deer or Goat-Headed deity of fertility worshiped in India among both Jain and Hindu beliefs. Naigamesa is a protector of children in Jainism while in Hinduism, he is feared and worshipped to ward off evil.
Pan – A goat deity of fertility worshiped in ancient Greece. Early depictions of Pan show him as a black goat with later descriptions giving him the familiar half-man, half-goat appearance.
Ptah – An Egyptian gods worshiped in Mendes. Ptah is a creator and fertility deity depicted with the body of a human and goat head. Male goats were sacred to the Mendesian mystery cult where they were involved in fertility rituals.
Púca – A spirit or fairy found in Celtic/Irish Folklore. The Púca are known tricksters and shapeshifters. One of the forms they would take is that of a goat.
Satyr & Fauns – These are the most notable and immediate that come to mind with half-man, half-goat creatures from Roman and Greek myth, respectively. With this claim and connection for Goatman, the earliest sightings can then go back to 520 B.C.E.
Folklorist Barry Pearson thinks that the inspiration for Goatman comes from students studying Greek mythology and the stories of Satyrs and the god Pan who is half goat, half human.
Yang Jing – This is a somewhat obscure Chinese Goat God whom mountain villages would offer sacrifices to, to ensure and protect their livestock and harvest.
Tall Man Spirit
Also known as: Big Man, Stick Men, Stovepipe Hat Bigfoot, Tall Man, Walking Sam
The Tall Man Spirit is a dark figure from Native American beliefs, particularly of the Dakota and Lakota people in the state of South Dakota. The belief and stories surrounding the Tall Man date back decades if not centuries where it has become linked to the tragic history that many Native Americans have endured.
This tragic history is very prominently linked to 1890, when the U.S. cavalry came in to put a stop to the spiritual movement known as the Ghost Dance. What would follow is a confrontation that led to U.S. soldiers open firing on unarmed Lakota Sioux, many of whom were women and children. This site would become known as the Battle of Wounded Knee. It would, a century later, be the site of a 1973 protest that would turn into a months-long standoff between Native American activists and law enforcement.
With this history, add to it the widespread poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, alcoholism, child abuse and other crimes such as rape and murder so prevalent on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It’s understandable that one of the most prevailing problems in Pine Ridge is that of suicide, especially among the youth, would, at the very least, see the personification of an entity called Tall Man Spirit or Walking Sam manifest.
Description
The Tall Man Spirit has been described as having a similar appearance to Slender Man and is likely one of many sources for Slender Man’s inspiration. The Tall Man is said to be tall, exceeding seven feet in height, slender, long thin legs and arms, lacking a mouth and nose, and wears a black stove top hat. Much like Slender Man, Tall Man is said to have the ability to control people’s minds.
Other descriptions place the Tall Man as being between 12 and 15 feet in height, covered in hair, with red eyes and smelling horrific like a sewer. That sounds more like a classic description of Big Foot. Over among the Oglala Sioux, a very similar entity is mentioned, that has hooves.
Big Man – Going by the more correct translation of this entity, the Big Man spirit seems to be more of a local protector of the forest than any dark malevolent spirit tied to death. It seems to be more a spirit of the land. In that respect, it’s taking on a much darker aspect is likely just a reflection of the history and how it has affected the Lakota. As if a connection has deeply gone wrong and soured.
Slender Man – The figure of Slender Man is relatively new to the Urban Folklore landscape, making it a 21st century Bogeyman. This being’s first appearance was on June 10th of 2009, having been created by Eric Knudsen, using the name “Victor Surge” in the Something Awful forums for a photoshop contest. The idea had been to create an Urban Legend so believable it would take on a life of its own, which it certainly has. It has been noted, after researching The Tall Man Spirit, that Slender Man draws on a lot of the same imagery motifs.
Stovepipe Hat Bigfoot – This is one name for the Tall Man when people describe sightings of seeing it wearing clothing. Stovepipe Hat Bigfoot is notable for being mentioned around the Pine Ridge Reservation. As the name indicates, this is also people misidentifying Big Foot or Sasquatch with Tall Man.
Walking Sam – This is another name for the Tall Man Spirit as it is known around the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. It did make local news and even the New York Times a few years back in 2015 with a high rate of suicides occurring on the reservation, especially among the youth. As a result, Walking Sam is considered a suicide spirit, one that is rather dangerous.
There is one notable incident where several teenagers were planning a mass suicide. They had planned to head out to an area where there were mostly trees where they would hang themselves. The local pastor, John Two Bears learned of what was to happen and was able to head off this group attempt.
More modern manifestations of this entity show it making appearances on the internet, taking advantage of vulnerable people, particularly youth, telling them to end their life. Situations have to be particularly dire if it can seem capable to do that.
Walking Sam is reported to have the ability take control of peoples’ minds, telling them to kill themselves so that it can collect their soul that will then join the others hanging from his long, spindly arms. One comment made is that Walking Sam was sent to earth as punishment and by claiming the souls of suicides, it is looking for company.
“In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse”: Written by Peter Matthiessen in 1983, he makes mention of Walking Sam as a supernatural entity that is both spirit and real, able to slip through the forest as if the trees weren’t there.
Folklore & Urban Legend
At first glance, yes some could approach the story of the Tall Man Spirit as some sort of spooky campfire story told in the same vein as that of Bigfoot and other Urban Legends. It could explain too one name of “Stovepipe Hat Bigfoot” that I came across. That is a disservice to this entity and what it is. Unless you want to try diminishing it’s power by making light of it, to be less scary or intimidating.
It is very likely people have confused two different entities together based on possible mistranslations from the Sioux languages into English. In the Lakota or Western Sioux language, they call Big Foot by the name “chive-tanka” meaning Big or Great Elder Brother. In English, the term gets translated to be “the Big Man.” It’s easy to see why Big Foot hunters and enthusiasts would glom onto a potential mistranslation to embrace it.
On the Oglala reservation, sightings of Big Foot or Big Man are seen as ill omens and warnings of potential tragedies. Where there seems to be sightings and claims of more than one creature or entity, some have put forward the ideas that this entity is a local forest spirit and protector of the land.
Remembering to keep the two separate, Tall Man is found in older stories of bad spirits or giants that once wandered the Earth. They had become prideful and arrogant to the point that they challenged the thunder and lost to it.
Big Foot or Sasquatch by themselves are in an entirely different category belonging more towards cryptids and cryptozoology. The Tall Man Spirit fits more towards a broader category of supernatural beings like the Bogeyman and Shadow People. A portent of ill omen and tragedy.
Mind-Control
This is one of the powers attributed to the Tall Man Spirit, to make a person or even a group of people do things they normally would not otherwise. One of which is to whisper to people, commanding them to commit suicide.
I don’t know if I’d call that a power, as this entity, particularly Walking Sam seems to prey on and target those already vulnerable, feeling the extremes of depression, despair, powerlessness and hopelessness. That all it seems to do is give people that nudge to push them over in that direction.
Superstition
The belief in Tall Man is very prevalent on the Pine Ridge Reservation. While many will call it mere superstition that people use to blame the causes of suicide. The harsh reality is that even if the Tall Man is chalked up to superstition, what it represents or is a manifestation of, is not. Suicide is still a very real thing that many Lakota, especially their youth are having to confront with the deeply root despair, depression, and potentially overwhelming helplessness.
While it was easy to take apart Slender Man and analyze him, given how new to the folkloric and urban legend scene it is. Tall Man is harder as it’s had longer to seep deeper into a local region and people’s culture. Of course, it’s easy for the Tall Man spirit to seem as powerful as its portrayed when the helplessness and despair is that deeply rooted.
Nor does it help when some gruesome images associated with the Tall Man are that of nooses. Sheriffs, law enforcement and other people report having found them hanging from trees. Comparisons have been made to found footage films like Blair Witch Project. Even if we go with the simple explanation of someone leaving nooses to be found, another comparison is made to Japan’s infamous “suicide forest,” Aokigahara.
That is all rather disturbing.
Reservation Dogs
The Tall Man Spirit makes an appearance in episode six when Willie Jack and Leon go hunting. This episode does lean more on treating Tall Man as a protector of the Forest.
National Suicide Hotline
If you’re in the United States and you need help or someone to talk to, there is this link,
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Sheepsquatch
Also Known As: Devil Dog, White Creature, White Devil, The White Thing
First off, I have to say it’s rather hard to take this particular cryptid seriously due to the name. That said, the Sheepsquatch or White Thing is an American cryptid that is found in the mountains of West Virginia in the United States. Some accounts hold The White Thing and Sheepsquatch as being two separate creatures, yet the descriptions or so similar, it’s likely they’re one and the same entity.
The creature, first known as The White Thing, makes its way into American folklore with the 1965 book: “The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales” by Ruth Ann Musick. A folklorist, Musick puts forth the idea that The White Thing has both a physical and phantom or spiritual presence.
As the White Thing gained in popularity and stories of it began to spread, it would later become known as Sheepsquatch, a name owing more to people trying to give it a name that is more accurately descriptive of what it looks like. An impossible hybrid of sheep and Sasquatch in the imaginations of some.
Description: The Sheepsquatch is often described as having dog-like features, large like a bear with long, shaggy white or dirty white hair, goat-like horns and a large fanged mouth. The front paws as being paw-like hands such as those of a raccoon and even a long ringed tailed like a raccoon’s. Much like the previous raccoon description and those of bears, the Sheepsquatch can move about either on two or four legs. It’s reported to be incredibly fast with lightning speed and a scream like a woman. Mountain Lions are also known to have a scream like a woman. The creature is often spotted racing through the forests and down to river banks to drink.
That tends to be more the original description. Later accounts vary and seem to have altered what the creature looks like. These later descriptions give it a humanoid big foot or demonic appearance. Some will say it’s just a large unknown mountain cat. Further reports say the creature has too many legs, that it has four eyes, that the eyes are red, in addition to large fangs, it has large claws, that its tail is long and hairless like a possum.
These later altering descriptions certainly give the idea that people might be misidentifying what creature they’re seeing, or they may have heard a vague name from somewhere and are describing what they think they saw. West Virginia does have a lot of cryptids in its local lore, so is there a different cryptid being seen or an ordinary animal getting misidentified?
Phantom Creature – People further describe the Sheepsquatch as being very blood thirsty and will attack without any provocation. What marks the Sheepsquatch as being a potential phantom creature is that people will say they’ve been attacked by it and can feel the monster sinking its fangs into them. When the attack is over, to the person’s shock and surprise, there isn’t a mark on their body.
Now, if the creature were real, it would need to have a reason to attack, the simplest being it’s protecting its territory, or it’s sick or just possibly learned to become aggressive if enough people are out there hunting it and not leaving it alone.
Sulfur – The smell of sulfur follows it and can be indicator that a Sheepsquatch is nearby. The smell of sulfur is attributed to the TNT Area of Mason County where it is said to have originated. It’s possible that this sulfur smell is nothing more than the animal’s musk.
Incidentally, the TNT Area of Mason County is also the same place that Mothman is from.
Cherokee Legend
To try and give this cryptid any historical accuracy; Cherokee lore is brought up about white wolves. How a white wolf is an omen of magic and premature death. Overtime, the white wolf becomes a white dog in Appalachian lore. This large white dog is described as having matted, unkempt fur and a powerful build. The dog will appear alongside roads and follow a person home where it will sit far enough away from the house and wait. This dog seems to be wait for when a death occurs, only appearing to a person about ready to die. Sometimes this death occurs within a few days or up to a couple weeks and sometimes those close to the person will also die. The rest of the time, the dog remains invisible.
Black Dog
The above legend sounds very much like the British folklore of Black Dogs and how they are an omen of death. Most Black Dogs encountered in British folklore might protect a family or warn an individual of coming death with some cases outright heralding it.
Cemeteries – Like the Black Dog, some Sheepsquatch seem to be connected to cemeteries and those ones seen, are a death-omen.
Sightings
Kanawha Valley – This is generally the location for the majority of The White Thing or Sheepsquatch sightings. The Kanawha Valley and its surrounding mountains, river and many branching streams and creeks seems to be an ideal place for such a creature to exist.
The creature has also been spotted in other counties of: Boone, Mason and Putnam. All areas located to the west and southwestern West Virginia. The mid-1990’s saw a rash of sightings of this creature near Cross Lanes, West Virginia.
1973 Point Pleasant, West Virgina – In July, in the TNT area of Point Pleasant, where the Mothman sightings are to have occurred, a white creature was reported seen. In 1994, a twenty-eight-year-old man reported how he was seven years old at the time, had seen a white shaggy haired creature whose head was three feet wide. This creature suddenly appeared alongside the car he was riding in with his family. He says the creature floated through the air, keeping pace with the car at 65 miles an hour.
1994 Point Pleasant, West Virgina – A group of women were driving cautiously along on a particularly icy road near the TNT area. The women report seeing a large, seven or eight tall creature stepped out of the woods ahead of them on the road. They describe the creature as having white shaggy hair with a prominent snout, ram-like horns and standing upright like a human. The creature froze for a moment when the headlights of the car shone on it before taking off running back into the forest.
1994 Mason County – A former Navy Seaman by the name of Edward Rollins reports having witnessed the White Thing appear in the forest. Rollins had been out in search of another West Virginian cryptid, the Mothman. Only instead of Mothman, it was the White Thing that Rollins encountered.
Rollins was out in an area near Bethel Church Road when the White Thing is to have exited the forest, coming down to a creek where it drank before crossing over the creek and moving on towards a nearby road. Rollins notes the creature had a sulfurous smell to it and believes the smell is just likely due to the lingering waste and pollution from when explosives used to be manufactured in the area.
1994 Boone County – The same year as the previous account, two children report having seen the Sheepsquatch while out playing in their yard. The two describe the creature as looking like a large white bear, standing up on its back legs to tower some six feet in height. The creature was startled by the presence of the children and took off back towards the forest.
1995 Boone County – In this sighting, a couple were driving when they spotted a large white beast sitting in a ditch by the roadside. Curious, the couple slowed their car to get a better look as they passed by. The couple describes the creature as having four eyes. Unlike other incidents where the Sheepsquatch ran away, this time, the creature attacked the car. Frightened, the couple drove away quickly. Once back home, that’s when they noticed the large scratches on the side of the car where the creature attacked.
1999 Boone County – This time around it’s campers out in the forest at night. As the group is sitting around their campfire, they hear an animal snorting and scuffling, much like what is thought of when a bear is nearby. Initially, the creature didn’t come into the light of the fire, then suddenly it charges the group. The campers jump up and run back towards their homes, the whole time being chased by whatever it is. The White Thing stops at the edge of the forest when the groups flees the tree line. The thing let out a loud scream before turning to retreat back into the woods. In the morning, when the group returned to their campsite, they found it all torn up. The commentary given is that it looked “like someone had tilled it up for gardening.”
2011 Patrick County – This story takes place in June, posted on June 11th and is to have happened in Fairy Stone State Park. A woman identifying herself as “Teena” tells how she was out hiking a few weeks ago with a friend. They had been out for about an hour when the friend stops and points towards a large group of rocks. There was something moving, but it had been too far away to see it clearly. As the two walked closer, they got a better look at what looked like a medium-sized bear with light colored fur, almost yellowish gray, the head was unusual too. The pair immediately left and went for home.
2015 Fulks Run, Virginia – This story claims to be the most recent sighting of the creature, this time in the Appalachian forests. Another group of campers reports having seen the creature. It stood about 8-9 feet tall and with shoulders some 4-5 feet wide. One camper reports seeing it at the top of a hill, crouching down. When the camper stood to alert the others, the creature started running towards the group. Fortunately, a river separated the group of campers from the creature and they report how the creature looked for a way to cross the river before wading across. When the creature got closer, the group describes it as being like a bipedal dog with wet fur. A loud gut-wrenching screech was heard that campers said sound about two miles away from their location. The creature got a look of shock to its face before whimpering and turning to run away, opposite of the sound that was made. As for the campers, they quickly packed camp and left, reporting their story to the locals instead of the authorities. The identity of the campers remains unknown.
Sweet Home Alabama
West Virginia isn’t the only place that The White Thing has been encountered. The people of Alabama, particularly around Argo and Trussville, tell of a 150-year-old legend of the White Thing of Happy Hollow that has been sighted for generations along this stretch of road. It is described as being man height, furry and white with sharp claws capable of scraping bark of trees and a shrill cry like a baby’s or a woman in distress. This beast is notorious for mutilating livestock. This White Thing is noted as looking more like a white or albino Sasquatch.
Possible Reality
It’s very likely, with some of the varying descriptions of the Sheepsquatch that people are misidentifying what they’re really seeing. Anything from ordinary animals like dogs, wolves and mountain lions to practical jokers dressed in costume looking to scare the tar out of campers and passersby.
Ice-Age Survivor – One idea put forward is that it could be Panthera Atrox or the American Cave Lion, a now extinct animal. If there were such an Ice-Age Survivor, it could be this animal that’s being seen.
Misidentified Animals – This is always a strong likelihood. Especially for any reported sightings of Sheepsquatch that try to describe it as being a feline or smaller like a dog. They might have seen an albino animal and with that fear of the unknown, some people tend to be rather confused and easily persuaded by the power of suggestion to misidentify what they saw.
Practical Jokers – And of course, as Sheepsquatch seems to clearly be in that realm of spooky campfire stories to tell people, I wouldn’t put it past someone to go scare the living tar out of a group of campers who will then run off to report having been terrorized by Sheepsquatch again.
Reality T.V.
Sheepsquatch has featured on a couple of different Reality T.V. shows that claim to be exploring the unknown and searching for evidence of mysterious cryptids and urban legends.
Monsters and Mysteries in America – In 2013, on the Destination channel, an episode of this show featured two hunters who claimed to encounter a nine-foot tall creature with white fur and long talons. The hunters shot at the apparent monster before it fled but were either unable to hit it or their firearms just didn’t affect the creature.
Mountain Monsters – In 2014, on the Destination channel, this show featured a video taken by a person claiming to have seen Sheepsquatch attack a pile of lumber.
Having seen that episode clip, wrong color.
Fallout 76 – The latest installment in this video game series is set in West Virginia. The game took advantage of the state’s wealth of local urban legends, cryptozoology and folklore to adapt many monsters to the game’s post-apocalyptic setting. The White Thing is just one of many such monsters found in the game.
Ufology & Mothman
The Mothman sightings were very prominent in the 1960’s and the spate of sightings for Sheepsquatch seem occur in the mid-1990’s. Most of which were all around the Cross Lanes section of West Virginia with a couple in Point Pleasant’s TNT Area. For those who readily believe and want to make connections, it’s easy to continue to attach a connection of the two entities. West Virginia does have a wealth of local folklore and monsters to draw upon.
Modern Folklore & Urban Legend
This particular post for me really feels as if all I’ve done is take two different cryptids in the way of “White Thing” and “Sheepsquatch” and mushed them together.
And it feels that way when starting with “The White Thing’s” first appearance in American folklore as a potential campfire ghost story. Whose early description and what it means; has a strong feeling of being the adaptation of British folklore with Black Dogs being brought by early British settlers, bringing along their beliefs. It’s possible that when hearing the local native folklore about white wolves and death-omens, the two just blended together.
Now somewhere along the line, due to the increasing popularity of Sasquatches or Bigfoot and the belief in mysterious unknown hominids still living in the wilds, somebody heard about The White Thing, heard its description and dubbed it Sheepsquatch. Once it gets that name, the creature moves away from its Black Dog, ghost story roots to the campfire quality stories of telling Bigfoot stories to scare people. Of course, because of the origin of West Virginia and Mothman, a lot of people into Fortean Phenomenon and chasing Ufos also glom onto the lore of Sheepsquatch.
You can see how there’s slightly, alternating descriptions from different accounts and sightings of Sheepsquatch and how it seems to be gaining in size, going from 6-7 feet to the latest reality T.V. show claiming sightings having it at 9 feet tall. It’s the fish story that just keeps getting bigger!
The description and location of where The White Thing and Sheepsquatch are found is what really puts it to mind for me they’re one and the same creature getting described. Like any good story, they do have a way of taking on a life of their own.
Brickthology 