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Lair of the Beasts: Paranormal Monsters of Texas

Creatures of the Strange Kind

By Nick Redfern November 14, 2009

Man-Monkey, in search of the British BigFoot, by monster hunter author Nick Redfern(2007).
© cfz

Although many mainstream cryptozoologists (those dedicated souls who pursue Bigfoot, Nessie and the many and varied other beasts that are said to haunt our planet) are reluctant to admit it, the fact is that there are a considerable number of reports on record in which the critters in question seem to be far more (or, paradoxically, much less) than mere flesh-and-blood animals of unknown origin.

Indeed, there are many cases on file in which Bigfoot, in particular, seem to possess skills, talents and senses that practically border upon the supernatural. I have no real idea why this should be the case. What I can tell you, however, is that witness testimony relative to Bigfoot has taken some very strange twists and turns over the decades – something that leads me to believe we still have yet to successfully scratch the surface of what lies at the heart of all-things of a definitively Sasquatch nature.

For the last decade or so I have made my home in the Lone Star State: Texas (on the fringes of the city of Dallas). And, it is from within this huge state that more than a few encounters of the monstrous kind have been brought to my attention – encounters that strongly suggest we should carefully reconsider the notion that Bigfoot is simply an unknown form of ape or ape-man, even.

Two extremely similar cases in particular which stand out both occurred during the late 1970s in the huge, dense area of forest in southeast Texas called the Big Thicket. Weirdly, both incidents involved Bigfoot having the apparent ability to adversely affect the electrical systems and engines of automobiles – which is highly odd, to say the very least.

Consider the evidence: Gerald told me that his sighting in the Big Thicket took place in the summer of 1977 – and just about as midnight was looming, too, somewhat appropriately. The location was right around the Old Hardin Cemetery, which can be found near the town of Kountze.

Without warning, the engine of his vehicle spluttered and its headlights began to dim – something ominous was most assuredly afoot. As he pulled the vehicle to the safety of the side of the road, and at around twenty yards from him, Gerald told me, he saw what he described as a seven-foot tall, incredibly thin creature covered in dark hair. It walked like a man, Gerald added, but was “leaning forward and swinging [its] arms.”

The encounter barely lasted mere moments, Gerald explained, and the beast disappeared into the shadowy woods. But, perhaps, most intriguing of all was the next development: only seconds afterwards, a basketball-sized ball of light came floating through the trees at a level above the road of about fifty or sixty feet, and from the same, precise location where the hairy man-beast had entered the trees.

The aerial intruder maneuvered at a very slow pace; until it was ultimately lost from view amid the dense woods on the opposite side of the road. Notably, after both the creature and the ghostly-light disappeared, Gerald was able to re-start his vehicle with absolutely no problems at all; strange, indeed.

Very similarly, there is the tale of an elderly man named Dwight, who resides in the relatively-nearby Texas town of Nederland, and who personally saw a large and lumbering ape-like creature crossing a road close to the Big Thicket’s Bragg Road late at night in the winter of 1978/1979.

Dwight described the beast as being around seven feet in height, jet-black in color, and with a head that sat squarely on its wide shoulders. He added that the creature moved slowly across the road, and swung its arms as it did so, but did not appear fazed or at all concerned by the fact that the headlights of Dwight’s car illuminated its face.

Interestingly, and in a situation that very eerily paralleled the story of Gerald, when Dwight came within around fifty feet of the creature, the engine and headlights on his car both failed. It was only when the creature had departed into the woods that Dwight was able to re-start his vehicle again. And, as a result, he has, today, become a solid adherent of the theory that the Big Thicket Bigfoot is some form of paranormal creature, rather than merely a beast of a conventional, flesh-and-blood nature.

Some might, of course, relegate such tales to the world of fantasy or hoaxing; and, perhaps, in some cases they might be correct to do so. But, when tales of very high-strangeness can be found in the files of numerous Bigfoot researchers here, there and practically everywhere, it’s time – in my view, at least – to reevaluate our views and opinions on just what the beast may be – or may not be.

READ A New York Monster

Nick Redfern’s new book, Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction, is published by New Page Books on December 21.

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