- KENTUCKY'S 1980 "MONSTER FLAP"
Reprint from Creature Chronicles Issue # 2 Summer, 1980
Subject: Large Black unknown animal sighted on 3/31/80 at 11:30 - 1:00 AM and on 4/1/80 at 11:30 PM.
Big Bone, Kentucky in Boone County App. 25 miles south-west of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Witnesses: Jackie Jones and Dave Stulz 283 AA Ryle Road
Investigators: Ron Schaffner, Earl Jones and John Daily
Police Investigators: Officer Prindle Officer R. Meyers Officer J. Whalen and Deputy Sheriff: J. Fisk
3/31/80 - Jackie, Dave and son Jason were ready to retire for the night when they suddenly heard an unusual sound coming from the boat dock. They said the noise sounded like a combination of a lion and elephant roar. Jackie turned on the outside light which connected to the boat dock when they saw the outline of something moving in the weeds. The object was estimated to be between 2-3 feet wide, around 300 pounds, 5 foot in height and seemed to have a flat face. However, no eyes, ears or snout could be seen due to the darkness. The two witnesses also said that this animal tried to jerk their trailer home around, as if trying to push it over. Dave decided to go out and investigate. When the animal advanced toward him, he got scared and shot at the creature with his shotgun. The creature appeared to jump back into the river (Ohio River backwater) and quietly swam towards the east.
4/1/80 - Dave was talking on the phone with investigator, Earl Jones when something was heard outside the trailer. Jackie called for Dave and again he went outside to see what the disturbance was and hoping to get a better look this time. At this point, Jackie began to talk with Jones in a nervous and frightened manner. She was worried about her son possibly being harmed by this creature. Meanwhile, Dave saw the creature jumping over a ditch and again escaping into the water.
Previous encounter - In June of 1979, this same trailer was occupied by Vicki Jones (Jackie's sister). She had an intercom connected to the boat dock and was hearing strange sounds and they kept getting louder. Her dog began to howl and seemed scared of something. Then all of a sudden her trailer started shaking. The dishes started to fall of the shelves. Was this the same animal, or something else?
Through local legends and old newspaper clippings, John Daily found out that this creature was also seen in 1950. He was also able to find several articles on a creature that was seen in the area on several occasions over the years. The name "SATAN" was dubed by the local residents.
Case Findings/Conclusions - No definate physical evidence was ever found other than the spint bullets from Dave's shotgun that was found lodged in a large tree down by the river. So, Dave did fire off a few rounds, as he claimed. Various markings on the ground could not be distinguished as any prints. The Boone County Recovery Team sent divers into the river, but could not find any evidence. Earl did not hear anything unusual while talking with Jackie. We are left with the testimony of the two witnesses, who seemed very sincere and still frightened as they relayed their encounters to us on seperate ocassions. Their story never changed. We never mentioned the term "Bigfoot" because that fact was never established. However, the Boone County police officers asked us about the possibility. One other small, but interesting point happened when John Daily checked back with Jackie and Dave a few months later, Dave made a statement that he wanted to move back to the city, but Jackie wanted to stay in Big Bone. Dave told John Dailey that he would do "anything" to get Jackie to move. The possibility still re- mains with us that Dave pulled off this entire encounter to scare Jackie enough to move out of the trailer.
One also has to keep in mine that April 1st is Fool's Day.
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Here are more reports from Kentucky which allegedly occuured the following autumn. These series of events appear to be unrelated to the Big Bone happenings.
In these instant cases, we have additional information in which one could conclude that a human was responsible for the rash of reports received. You decide for yourself.
Ron Schaffner
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From Creature Chronicles #3; Autumn, 1980
Subject: Large White, "Ape-like" Creature Reported
Date: October 7, 1980 @ 9:30 PM
Witness: Charles Fulton Location: Mayslick, Kentucky (Mason County)
Investigators: Ron Schaffner and Earl Jones
CASE DATA:
Charles Fulton and his family were watching television when they heard a loud noise on the front porch. Fulton said he heard his son's pet rooster disturbed. When he peered out the front door, he saw a white, hairy creature with pink eyes that must have weighed about 400 pounds and was about 7 feet tall.
The creature was holding the rooster by the neck and then threw it against the side of the house. It then proceeded around the back of the house in a vacant lot. Fulton claimed to have grabbed his .22 pistol and followed the intruder. He fired on the creature twice, as it ran out of sight.
Our investigation began shortly after hearing of the incident through a small article in the Cincinnati Enquirer. We contacted a Maysville, Kentucky newspaper, who in turn told us of a local radio newsman doing his own work into the matter. Doug McGill of WFTM, Maysville was kind enough to give us Fulton's phone number. We called him and arranged an interview on Sunday, October 12.
Fulton believes that the lights coming from his porch and living room may have frightened the creature and that is why it seemed to go on a rampage. Fulton said that its white hair was real long - much like a horse's mane. He also stated that the creature was "man-like", except that those eyes were like that of an animal.
Fulton described other interesting facts. He described the creature's gait as having large strides, but it appeared as moving at a slow speed, as if he (Fulton) could catch up with it. but the faster Fulton ran at it, the further distance between them. Charles said it almost like a dream - the kind of dream that when a wild animal is chasing you and you cannot seem to run away. There was a clothes line that stretches from a tree to the back porch. He did not know why the creature evaded the line, but he remembers that he almost hung himself because it was so dark.
Conclusions:
Close scrutiny of the family pet rooster revealed no signs of physical harm or injuries. It would be difficult to believe that this animal could withstand the force of being projected against the house by a creature of the reported size. Fulton also told us that another pet - a raccoon was found on the roof later that night and no one knew how it got there. It had been in a closed cage earlier that day. The clothes line may have been a depth perception, or night blindness on Fulton's part. He probably just for got about it being there.
We spent several hours backpacking the surrounding area and could not find any trace evidence, such as footprints, droppings, or hair. There wasn't any recent rain, so the terrain was quite hard. The last instant the creature was observed, it was headed up the gravel road that lies to the west of Fulton' house. Other members of the family told us about a car with some teenagers that may have seen it. They told us that when their father chased the unknown around the house, this car stopped for a few seconds and then spun away at a high rate of speed, leaving tire marks a good distance up the road. These marks were still visible on our visit. Attempts to track down this car were fruitless.
While there is no physical evidence, we are still left with the testimony of Mr. Fulton. His credibility - in our opinion- lends credence to the story. It should be remembered that it was the press - not him that began using the term bigfoot.
We can neither prove, nor disprove Fulton's story; therefore the
case is still listed as an unknown.
Composite
Drawing from witness testimony
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Subject: Unidentified Intruder or Unexplained Hominid
Date: October 11, 1980
Witness: J.L. Tumey Location: Fairview, Kentucky (Fleming County)
Investigators: Ron Schaffner, John Dailey and Doug McGill
Case Data:
Mr. Tumey was sitting home watching the baseball game when he heard a strange noise originating from the back porch. Thinking that a prowler was present, he retrieved his pistol and went around back to investigate. He saw what looked like a large dark man-like entity running towards the woods. he fired shots at it, then ran back to his trailer for more bullets. He then saw it again by an old stable. He fired at it again, but missed.
Tumey discovered that the freezer on the back porch had been broken into and some frozen chicken was removed and scattered outside. He also found some unusual white hair and impressions on the ground.
Tumey told the Flemingsburg "TIMES DEMOCRAT", "It was very dark, so I really could not tell exactly what it was. It stood up like a man, but it was so dark, about all I could see was a huge shadow. It made a thumping noise as it ran away."
Mrs. Tumey arrived home and when her husband told her what had happened, she immediately called Sheriff G.W. White. Deputies arrived along with a group of locals who had heard the complaint on police scanners. The entire group searched the area until 3:00 AM, when the deputies found the scattered meat.
The next day, more tracks were discovered by a gully. Evidence indicated that something had slid down the embankment. Other prints were found in wet sand and were estimated to be between 12 and 14 inches in length and 6 inches wide. Unfortunately, the prints were not clear enough to establish whether it was a man's print. More soft evidence was discovered, as Tumey found long white hairs on the door knob of the freezer.
Conclusions:
Evidence indicates that something entered the back porch and robbed the freezer of chicken, hot dogs and bread. Tumey's reputation is without question, just as Charles Fulton. Let us for a moment believe it was a prowler, rather than a hairy hominid. Police reports show that they were receiving calls about a strange blonde haired man seen roaming about over the past few weeks. The white hairs found at the sight were forwarded to the Kentucky State Police for analysis by the crime lab. A week later, the results were back and it was determined that the hair was of human origin. The state police concluded that the hair was light brown, blonde and white - from a Caucasian.
Mr. McGill learned from the local police that they possibly had a subject in mind. There was a white male, who was a former mental patient who had been seen by others in the area. This man was described as having long blonde hair and a beard. However, this is circumstantial and to the best of our knowledge, nobody was ever charged.
In a later interview, McGill told us he was not convinced that the subject seen at Tumey's was a human. Sheriff White told him that they discovered the remains of packaged meat and bread that had been ripped open and consumed in a frozen state. The Sheriff said that if the meat had thawed, there would have been signs of blood. No blood was found.
Hair analysis can be inconclusive and it does take longer than one week to fully complete the comparison testings. The prints could have been weathered. Eating frozen meat is not a human tendency, so this case is still up in the air, although the evidence does weigh towards the prowler theory.
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Subject: Tall, white haired "ape-like" creature
Date: November 5, 1980 @ 4:00 or 5:00 AM
Witness: Noble Clay
Location: Mason County, Kentucky - west of Maysville on U.S. 68
Investigators: Doug McGill (WFTM radio) and Date Jones (Maysville police detective)
Case Data:
This incident is on file with the Maysville, Kentucky police department. We consider it to be valid. We cannot comment any conclusions because no researcher interviewed the witness.
Mr. Noble Clay, an Alabama truck driver was hauling steel west on U.S. Route 68 when he saw a figure on the opposite side of the highway. He slowed his vehicle and turned on his high beams thinking that it was a hitch hiker. When he approached the figure, he was shocked to see a 6-7 foot tall "ape-like" creature with white hair.
After his encounter, he contacted some locals on C.B. channel 22 to see if there was a zoo or circus in the area. He thought that possibly an ape had escaped. When police were called to investigate, they took Clay's statement and filed a report. He stated to police that he had never been to this area before and knew nothing about alleged Bigfoot reports. (Clay had heard about previous reports from other C.B'ers. The police believe that Clay was serious on what he reported.
From the files of Ron Schaffner