The RFP Research Project (RFPRP) Report of Encounter
Date Report Submitted to the RFPRP: Initial statements received 09/14/07.
Preface: The Investigator who is the author of this report and two friends were on leased hunting land on the night of September 14 where they were listening to their ‘coon dogs running a trail. While there, another club member and his girlfriend drove up, stopped, and asked if they could listen to the race. The men welcomed them, and they all sat and listened for about 15 minutes. The visitor then asked the men about coyote hunting on the lease. During the ensuing discussions about coyote hunting, the man mentioned strange incidents that had occurred on the lease and on nearby property. (Neither the man nor his wife were aware that two area researchers had been conducting baiting and surveillance operations on the lease for some time, and they were unaware of recent reports of enigmatic primates in the area.) His accounts of the “strange incidents”, and the Investigators’ subsequent field notes, are detailed below in chronological order.
State: Alabama:
County: Talladega.
Nearest City or Town: Sylacauga.
Location: Kahatchie Mountains.
Nearest highway or road: U.S. Highway 280 is about 1.5 miles to the east, and Talladega County Road 036 is about 2 miles to the south.
General Land Use Description: Timberlands that have been owned by a timber company for about 50 years. Until 1996, hunting was allowed by permit only. Thereafter the hunting rights were leased to a group of area residents.
General Terrain Description: The area is within the foothills marking the southwest termination of the Appalachian Mountains. It consists of rolling hills and ridges cut by many branches and spring-fed creeks.
Nearest Lakes or Streams: The Coosa River (impounded to form Lay Lake) is about 6 miles to the west of the area. Cedar Creek passes about 3 miles to the south, and South Kahatchie Creek is about 3 miles to the west. There are several man-made lakes within a few miles of the location of the incidents.
Witness Profile: The witness is in his early 30's, and employed by a small manufacturing company. He grew up on a cattle farm in the area, and has hunted and fished in the area since childhood. He is familiar with the known wildlife in the area.
Dates and Details of Initial Incidents: On August 21, 2007 the witness’s grandfather was inspecting his pasture fences and found a dead deer. The grandfather informed the witness of the deer and its location that morning. That afternoon the witness drove his ATV to the site to look at the deer. He found that the deer’s head had been bent back over its body, and a large section of flesh had been torn from over its rib cage. The witness at first thought the deer had been struck and killed by a vehicle, but was not convinced of that since the nearest road was about one mile from the site of the carcass.
The witness decided to use the deer carcass as coyote bait. He tied the deer’s back legs to the back of his ATV with a rope and drug the carcass about 2 miles to a spot on the lease where he had seen a lot of coyote activity and sign. In a small clearing at the base of a hill he untied the rope from the ATV and attached the rope to the base of a small pine tree which was about 4 feet in height with a base diameter of about one and one-half inches. He then left the lease.
After returning home from work the next day (August 22) he rode his ATV to the site, arriving at about 5:00pm. Upon close inspection, he was surprised to find that the carcass was untouched by scavengers. He then left the site and drove home.
On August 23, he drove back to the site on his ATV and arrived again at about 5:00pm. As he approached the site he saw that the deer carcass was missing. After dismounting and carefully checking the area he saw that the rope, and the pine tree to which it had been attached, were both missing as well. He could see where the pine tree had been pulled out of the ground, and the grass and small weeds around the original location of the carcass were laid flat against the ground. He then began walking in widening circles around the area to attempt to find the rope and pine tree or the remains of the deer. He did not find either, and was unable to find any sign indicating the deer and tree had been dragged away from the site. He assumed that coyotes had been responsible for the missing carcass, rope and pine tree, although he could not believe they had removed them without leaving drag marks in the grass and weeds. After a while he drove home.
Details of Encounter/Incident: September 3rd was humid with daytime temperatures in the 90's and a storm was approaching the area from the southwest. About noon the witness drove to the lease on his ATV and parked on a hill overlooking the small valley where he had left the deer carcass on August 21. The witness stated he was sitting on the ATV about 100 yards from the spot the carcass had been left. He had been looking across the area for about 10 minutes when, while he was looking away, he noticed a movement in his peripheral vision near the site of the missing deer carcass. He quickly turned and looked directly at the area but saw no other movement. He then became aware of a large brown “stump”, but he could not remember having seen the stump before. He continued to stare at the “stump”, but the longer he looked the more convinced he became that “something was not right about it.”
He decided to crank up the ATV to see if the “stump” moved, but he saw no movement at all when the engine started. He decided it must have been a stump after all, so he killed the engine and continued to watch the area. After several more minutes he thought he detected movement on the left side of the stump. He then decided he should drive down to the site just to see what he had been watching. He started the ATV and proceeded to the spot on a “four-wheeler” trail. About half way down the hill the trail curved and he lost sight of the area. When he got to the spot, he could not find the “stump.” He then drove back to his original vantage point and “got a creepy feeling” when he saw the “stump” was now missing from the area below him. He soon left the area and drove home.
Description of the Animal/Object Seen: The witness stated that whatever he had seen was of a uniform brown color. He said that from his vantage point it had a somewhat rectangular shape, with the upper portion being about three and one-half to four feet off the ground and about three feet wide from top to bottom.
He smelled nothing unusual from the hillside or when he drove to the site.
He heard no unusual sounds.
Other Details: As mentioned in the Preface, Field Researcher/Investigator MG first learned of the witness’s strange experiences on September 14, 2007. On September 16th MG accompanied the witness back to the site from which the carcass, rope and tree were removed. MG saw that the grass and weeds had been flattened and, although the area is very rocky, he noticed what appeared to be a large heel print in one area of exposed soil. He examined the spot of ground from which the small tree had been removed and could clearly see that it had been pulled vertically out of the ground rather than having been pulled out horizontally (as by pulling sideways on the rope with a vehicle for example).
The two men experimentally attempted to physically pull similarly sized pine trees out of the ground nearby but found they were unable to do so. They also conducted another futile search to find the rope, pine tree or the remains of the deer carcass.
While the two men were walking back to their vehicle, MG asked the witness what kind of animal he thought he had actually seen on September 3rd. The witness said he figured it may have been a bear because of its size, but he could not be sure of that. MG commented that the bear in the southeast are generally black, and asked him what he thought about the “Bigfoot” legend. The witness did not answer for a minute or so, and then said he had “ thought about that before”. When MG asked why he had thought about Bigfoot, the witness recounted the following described incidents.
The witness said that on several occasions late at night he had heard loud screams coming from the woods behind his grandfather’s pasture. He said the screaming sounds were not like those made by either wild or domestic cats.
He stated that in 2003 his grandfather bought ten heifer cows, each weighing about 300 to 400 pounds. Late one afternoon a heifer was found dead in the back of the pasture. Its belly had been ripped open and some of the entrails pulled out and eaten. They burned the carcass. About a month later they found another cow dead but it showed no visible injuries. A local vet was called to determine the cause of death but he was unable to do so. He suggested the cow might have died from “Blackleg” and split one of the legs to inspect for that disease. No evidence of the disease was found and a tissue sample was taken and sent to Auburn University’s Animal Science Lab. The lab reportedly found no evidence illness or disease. A month or so later another cow was found dead in the same are of the back pasture with no visible injuries. The family searched the pasture for unusual or noxious plants but found none.
In May of 2007 the witness and his girlfriend were riding on ATV trails on the hunting lease. After a while they stopped to rest along a small branch. A few minutes later his girlfriend told him that she smelled something that was causing her eyes to burn and asked him what the smell was from. At the same time he smelled a strong odor that burned his nose and eyes. He stated the odor was like that of rotting garbage and urine. The two quickly left the area because the primary witness had no idea as to the source of the smell, but he was concerned that the odor had not been there when they stopped to rest. He stated that neither he nor his girlfriend had seen or heard anything unusual while stopped along the branch.
It is particularly interesting to note that the area in which the witness saw the disappearing “stump” is about one and three-quarters mile from the area used as a baiting area by MG and KT and described in their Field Investigation Report posted on this web site. When this witness was told of that work, and the recent sightings from the area, he stated he was not at all surprised. (The same day this witness found the deer carcass missing was the same day that MG and KT found that bait had been taken from their research site, and the heavy nylon cord that had been used to suspend it had been broken.) This witness’s sighting of the “stump” occurred in the same hollow in which MG and KT’s baiting station was located.
The writer believes that the “stump” that the witness saw was probably one of the primates squatting at the site and waiting to see if another deer carcass was going to be left by the man on the “four-wheeler.”
The witness in this report also stated another member of the hunting club may have seen one of the primates in the past. An attempt will be made to contact that individual.
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Report received and recorded by: MG, Area Researcher/Investigator, the RFP Research Project.