NW AL Sighting & Shooting SBRO
***** This report was investigated, written up, and posted to the Southeastern Bigfoot Research Organization (SBRO) by Hawk Spearman, Karen Dotson, Jeff Smith, and several other SBRO memberswho are listed in this report by first names. SBRO no longer exists as a group or a website. However, Spearman Dotson and Smith have joined with other interested persons to create the Southeasten Crypto Society. It is hoped that this report will soon be posted on SCS. ******
Northwest Alabama Investigation
THIS IS AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION IN AN AREA THAT
HAS BEEN ACTIVE FOR MANY YEARS. THE REPORTS AND PICTURES ARE THE PROPERTY OF SBRO AND ANY USE OF THEM-BY ANYONE IS UNAUTHORIZED
In April, 2000
we received a phone call from a man we will call Tom. He said that he and his wife
lived in a house owned by his wife's parents. His in-laws live about 2 miles
from him and they owned about 20 acres of land. He said they had seen an
article about us in his local paper about our bigfoot research. Tom ask us if we
could come to his home and check out some things that were going on. They had
heard something running through their creek that they described as being large
and bi-pedal. He said right before this happened there was an odor that smelled
like rotting flesh. They said they had a door that went under the house. There
were cats/kittens that stayed under there. One night something twisted the door
off the brass hinges, tore out the new plumbing and the insulation and the cats
and kittens disappeared. We went to their house the second weekend of May. We
talked to several people in the area. We were told that in September or October
of 1999 there was a lady in the area who had a sighting. She reported it to the
local law enforcement agency, who investigated the incident. The next afternoon
about 4:00 P.M. they were outside and heard helicopters flying over. The
helicopters were at tree level. When the helicopters got over the wooded area
behind their house they opened fire using 50-caliber machine guns firing into
the woods. This went on until about midnight. Right after the helicopters left
the area several of the people said they could hear screams and hollers coming
from the woods. When we ask what the screams sounded like, they said it sounded like a person getting their guts ripped out. We checked with an retired law enforcement officer from the area and he said he remembered the copters. He said they went right over his house. and they were not wasting any time getting to
their destination and he said he could see the gunners at the door of the
copters. We checked this out and were told that they were eradicating wild boars
in the area. However, when we checked with some the residents of the community
and a wild life officer in the area, we were told that they were had been no
wild boars in that area for the last 20 years or so. A strip mine close to this
property closed down the day the helicopters went over and remained closed for 3
days. A couple months later it closed down for good. We talked to Tom's
mother-in-law and she said you could hear something running past their house
almost every night close to the tree line. She said the odor of rotting flesh
was present right before every incident. She told us of an incident that
happened to her while she lived in the same house that Tom and his wife
presently live in. She was self-employed and she had a little shop out behind
her house. One afternoon she was out there working. She got so involved in her
work she forgot about the time. About 5:00 P.M. she heard something hit the side
of the building. She looked out and saw nothing but she said her miniature
collie was running around inside the building barking and going crazy. She heard
the hits on the building several more times and each time she looked out and saw
nothing. She began getting scared and tried calling into the house to get her
husband to come out and see what it was. He was not home and she was afraid to
go outside by herself. She said the back door to her home was only about 50 feet
away from the door of her building but she was too afraid to try to make it to
her house. She continued to call in the house and it was almost 11:00 P.M.
before anyone answered the phone. She related to her husband what had happened and ask him to come out and get her. After going back inside their house both she and her husband heard several raps on the house during the night. Again the same odor was present. About a week later the miniature collie disappeared. She told us it was an indoor dog and when it was let outside, it never left the yard. Hawk went into the woods and came across some old footprints, but due to the condition they were in he was unable to cast them. The second week of June 2000, Jeff Smith, Hawk and Karen returned to the area. Hawk and Jeff set out 35 bait bags and a bait box while Karen talked to the people at the house. They again told Karen of something running outside their house and the rotting flesh smell. Karen then took a report from a lady we will call Judy. Judy told of an
incident that happened about 15 years ago. She and her husband were walking
through a hay field. She was carrying their kitten. They got about 25 feet from
the tree line and the kitten scratched her and jumped from her arms and ran back
towards the house. She said she and her husband looked around thinking there may
have been a bear in the area. They saw something peering around a tree at them.
She said it was about 4 feet tall, dark brown hair covered, had pointed ears and
a long nose. Her husband shot at the creature. After the first shot the creature
got up on two feet and started running through the woods. As he shot again the
creature got down on all four again...and again after the shot it returned to
two legs and continued running through the woods. She said it was like the
creature was ducking to keep from getting shot. She drew a sketch of what she
saw. She said she did not see that creature again. Then last fall the day after
the helicopters went over the area firing the live ammo Judy was driving up the
gravel road to her driveway. She said she was watching the road and she saw
something out of the corner of her eye. She looked to the left of the gravel
road and saw some kind of creature running through the woods. She said all she
saw was the back part of it going behind a tree. She said it was between 8 to 9
feet tall, and dark brown in color. She drew a sketch of this also. After Jeff
and Hawk came back from putting out the bait bags and box we talked awhile
longer and explained why we were putting out the bait. Again, we made plans to
return to the area. Three days later Judy emailed Karen. She said that her
sister had returned late from a date the night before. As she was coming into
the driveway and in the middle of the bend she saw a creature hunched down
beside the driveway. She said it had red eyes due to the headlights shining on
it. The creature jumped up and ran into the woods on two feet in the direction
that Hawk and Jeff had placed some of the bait bags. She described the creature
as being on two legs, about 7 or 8 feet tall, and a dark brown in color. That
same-night Judy's other sister called her and told her their dogs had almost
been chocked to death. She said they smelled the rotting flesh odor and heard
something running through the creek again. She said her dog was trying to get
away from what ever it was in the creek and that is how it was almost chocked.
Right after they got off the phone Judy said there was a loud thump on her
house. They looked out the living room window and saw nothing. They heard
another thump and went in to check on their kids. Judy said when they got to the
kids room she saw something looking into the bedroom window. She yelled at her
husband and he got the gun and opened the back door. By the time he got to the
door whatever it was had disappeared. The next day they went out and found a
dent in the aluminum siding on the house. On June 29, 2000 Rick Vereen, Jeff
Smith, Josh Vereen and Hawk went back to the property for an overnight campout.
They got there about noon and for several hours walked through the woods
checking to see if the bait bags were still there. On the first property they
found one bait bag next to the pond. It still had the bait in it. They found one
more bait bag further into the woods and it was completely shredded. Those were
the only two bait bags they found out of the 35 they had put out. After walking
over the area they went and talked to the people to find out if anything else
had been going on. They said it had been pretty quiet the last couple weeks
except for the occasional smell of rotting flesh and hearing the creature
running through the creek on a couple occasions. About 3:00 P.M. they got the
campsite ready, gathered their wood for the fire and unloaded the vehicles.
Approximately 4:00 P.M. Hawk went into the woods on the backside of the
property. He walked about 300 yards into the woods when he came upon a small
creek that ran into a pond that measured about 1/2 acre. He found four foot
tracks...two left and two right that looked like they were freshly made. He
radioed back to the campsite to Jeff, Rick and Josh about the foot tracks. He
heard the sound of branches snapping and a loud scream. He looked around and all
of a sudden he heard something running towards him. He turned to leave the woods
the way he came in but the something chased him in the opposite direction and he
was forced to leave the woods in the direction of the main road. By the time he
got out of the woods he was about a mile from camp. When he got back to camp and told Jeff, Rick and Josh what happened, Rick and Hawk decided to go back into the woods and see if they could find anything else in the area. Jeff and Josh
stayed at the campsite. They were in constant contact via two-way radios. Rick
and Hawk were almost to the creek where Hawk had found the foot tracks and Rick
noticed something moving about 15 or 20 feet from them. Rick snapped a 35 mm
picture at this time. They started to walk toward the spot where the creature
was standing and that was when they heard a low guttural growl coming from the
bushes. They then heard what sounded like monkeys chattering. Hawk was
videotaping by this time. Hawk turned around in a complete circle with video
camera running. They decided it would be best to leave the area because the
creatures were advancing towards them. Again the sound of heavy foot falls were
coming towards them. Hawk and Rick headed for a clearing in the woods. They got
to the clearing and stood back?to--back looking in all directions to see if they
could see anything. They radioed Jeff and Josh to let them know what was going
on, but one of the batteries in one radio was dead. They could hear the
branches snapping by the wood line and could hear what sounded like chest
beating. They began to leave the woods in the direction they went into them and
again they were chased in the opposite direction towards the main road. After
getting back to camp and telling Jeff and Josh what had happened, they started
the campfire and were getting ready to settle in for the night. The sound of
wood on wood echoed through the area. Jeff was the first one to hear it. As
darkness fell, they were sitting around the fire and they all had the feeling
they were being watched. They heard the sound of branches snapping and heavy
foot falls. Josh and Hawk saw what appeared to be a beige creature at the wood
line. Then Jeff, Hawk, Rick and Josh heard footsteps all around them. Not
knowing who or what was surrounding them, they decided to go to the people's
house to see if they were home. The people ask them which one of them had been
standing beside their old blue car down by the wood line. They all said they
had been down by the camp area and had not been near the house until they
arrived a few minutes age. The people said they had seen a creature about 8
feet tall standing by their pond looking in the direction of the camp site about
15 minutes before they got to the house. They decided to leave the area that
night due to the aggressive manner of the creatures in the area. Tom called
about that time and ask them to stop in his house before they left. He said he
wanted to view the video they shot. In the video, it showed 2 possibly 3
-bi-pedal creatures in the wood line. They all saw the creatures in the video.
On July 1, 2000 Hawk, Karen and Steve Hyde returned to the area. They walked
through the woods to look for any signs that may be there. About 1/2 miles into
the woods they found a skeleton of a dog that was about the size of a miniature
collie. The back legs were snapped above the paws. There were no teeth or claw
marks. The skeleton looked completely in tact except for the back legs. The
dog?s mouth was wide open. Steve took a picture of this skeleton. About 1/2 mile
farther they came across a drop-off. They were standing there looking around and
heard a grunt. They could see nothing that would have made the sounds. Steve
was looking around and saw a pond. They decided to go climb down, and when they got down there they found a cave entrance. Upon entering the cave they found
about 15 or 20 old tracks about 14 inches long. They could not tell the width
due to the age of the tracks and the toes were not visible. A mile farther into
the woods they came across two other dog skeletons. They still had hair around
them. Due to the locations of the skeletons they were unable to get a good view
of them. They then left the woods. Back at the house Hawk and Steve talked in
length to the people at the house. Steve and Hawk told the people they thought
it would be a good idea to continue to investigate the area. The people agreed.
On Monday July 3, 2000 Tom called Hawk. He said he was calling to inform us
that their dogs had chased something into the woods the night Steve and Hawk had
been there. He said the dogs ran so far in the woods then turned and ran back to
the house, and would not go back out into the yard by the woods. The pictures
from the outing have since been developed. One of the pictures Rick Vereen took
on the outing appears to have what seems to be a large, hairy, creature in a
kneeling position peering out through the brush. In September Jeff, Hawk and
Karen returned to the area one more time before fall. Hawk and Jeff walked
through the woods, but seen or heard nothing. Upon returning to the house Judy
ask them if they would like to see something she had found. She brought out a
cast of a footprint she had made. She apologized for it not being very good but
said it was the first time she had ever attempted to cast a track. It was found
beside their pond when the water has receded due to the drought. It appears to
be a three-toed track and Hawk has the cast in his possession. Judy ask them if
the sketches she had given them earlier in the year could possible have been the
same creature. They would have been 15 years apart, which could account for the
difference in height. Tom arrived home from work right before we were getting
ready to leave. He walked up into the field beside the house with Jeff and Hawk
and said when they did another overnight outing he would like to go with them.
He also agreed to take them into an area that they had not been into yet. Due
to some unforeseen problems we have been unable to return to the area since
September. However, the people who originally made the report have either
called us or we have called them several times during the fall and winter
months. They told us they do not venture outside without each other after dark.
From time to time they still hear something large running through their
property at night, and they still smell the odor of rotting flesh right before
something happens. Once in awhile they still hear the thumps on their house.
They also have two new dogs that they keep outside, but they said the dogs do
not venture off the porch after dark. THIS IS STILL AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION.
Another outing is planned for the near future in this area. An update will be
posted shortly after the outing occurs. We will continue to investigate this
area until we feel there is nothing more there to investigate, and we are
satisfied we have done all that we can do. The sketches done by Judy will be
posted on the field photos page on this site
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This proviso is applicable throughout the entire website
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