I'm definitely more interested in the ghosts and hauntings side of paranormal research, and long-time readers of the blog and Theresa's Haunted History Facebook have surely noticed that those topics get the most attention from me. However, I've always been fascinated in all aspects of the strange and unexplained---including cryptozoology.
As with other areas of interest, I'm always up for reading books and articles about cryptids, watching documentaries and other shows exploring their existence, and as of late, listening to as many podcasts on the subject as I can. But, unlike my ghosts and hauntings research, I don't have a lot of field experience. As much as I love nature and enjoy being outdoors, even in my younger days, I didn't do a whole lot of deep-woods camping or hiking. So, I always thought my chances of spotting any cryptid, let alone the king of all cryptids---BIGFOOT---was pretty low.
And then I saw it.
I don't think most people who witness a Bigfoot go out with the intention of having such an experience, and that was true with me, too. I was actually out doing some historical research. I'm not sure of the actual date, but this would have been between 12 and 14 years ago (between 2006 and 2008), before my son was born, but after I had already joined Huntington Paranormal Investigations and Research as Historical Research Manager. I BELIEVE it was sometime in the spring, summer, or very early fall. And the location was near Ironton, Ohio.
Huntington Paranormal had gotten several tips about a haunted cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio and had been to the location several times with some interesting results. The Kelly Cemetery was a small, family cemetery that had been the victim of countless vandals over the years, but was quite the history-packed little place. Dating back to the 1850's, the cemetery held not only the family of prominent businessman, William Kelly, but many other early Ironton citizens as well, before the WoodlandCemetery was opened nearby.
In order to gain some historical perspective on the cemetery and its inhabitants, I was joined by fellow HPIR investigator, Danny, on a trip to the Lawrence County Historical Society. We had a lovely chat with the docent on duty who gave us some information on the Kelly family and seemed genuinely interested in why we wanted that information. When we told her, she suggested we go visit ANOTHER small local cemetery, which she said was connected to the Kelly Cemetery. She gave us directions, and off we went. It was warm and sunny, perfect for a cemetery stroll.
We found the road she had told us it was on, but initially, we couldn't find a cemetery. The road dead-ended at a private property, so we turned around, heading back to the main road. With the car now facing the opposite direction, we did notice a little hill on our right, with what looked like a 4-wheeler path going up it, and an open farm gate. We thought...'could this be the cemetery?' We found a place to pull off, trudged up the hill, and were delighted to see a tombstone!
Someone had been taking care of this cemetery, but not putting in a whole lot of effort. There was a mown path that led between the scattered tombstones, but the rest of the area was covered in waist-high grass. As we stood in front of a surprisingly modern tombstone (I think it had an engraved cartoon elephant) we heard a really loud rustle in the grass on the hill above us. I'm thinking deer? Property owner? Pot farmer come to check on his stash? Never in a million years did I think Bigfoot, and to be honest, I still have no idea what the hell we saw. Typing this whole experience out makes me realize that there are details that I thought I vividly remember...but that just don't make a whole lot of sense, logically.
Anyway, we hear this loud rustling and look up to see this THING, running away from our direction, up towards the ridge line. As it was running away, we didn't see the face, but what we did see was a bipedal being absolutely covered in long, white hair. This hair wasn't pure, snow-white, but it had that dingy, yellowish, nicotine-stained look that you'll see in older dogs that desperately need groomed.
We were probably 100 feet away, if not more, and with the high grass, we didn't get a super good look at this thing, but it appeared to be crouched or hunched over, whether from just being in a running position, or from trying to conceal itself in the grass, I don't know. The grass obscured most of its legs, but from the buttocks up, it seemed pretty broad and pretty tall...not supernaturally large, but as big, if not bigger, than an average human man.
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| Closer...but still not exactly what I saw. Source: Etsy |
It took about three long strides before it disappeared up and over the hill where we couldn't see it, and presumably ran into the wooded area. We didn't hear or see anything after that, but both felt a strong sensation of being watched. The feeling wasn't necessarily threatening, but we still didn't remain there much longer!
Back in the car, we tried to rationalize it. We must have seen an albino deer, or a shy mountain man with long, white hair. But, we couldn't convince ourselves that we hadn't seen a bipedal creature of some sort, not wearing any clothing that we could see, but instead, completely covered in long, stringy white hair. This creature had managed to clear not a short distance with three large strides, then seemingly disappear without a trace.
I still have no idea what I saw, and I don't tell this story that often because to me, its so unbelievable. What did we see? Despite the grass being anywhere from waist to shoulder high on me (I'm about 5'5''), why didn't we see this thing when we got there? Was it lying down? Where did it go so quickly? From the grass rustling we heard to the height of this thing, it doesn't seem like it could have made it all the way into the trees before we lost sight of it, and we certainly FELT like it was still in the area.
Interestingly, while trying to find out more about what I could have seen, it occurs to me that the shorter stature and the longer hair (especially being white) of this creature sound more like the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman...but what would such a creature be doing in OHIO?
Although our recollections aren't 100% the same, even after all these years, Danny and I still agree on the basics of what we experienced that bright, sunny afternoon in Lawrence County, Ohio.We weren't out in the deep woods, or some long-forgotten location unseen by man for decades. We were half a mile from the main highway. So, keep your eyes and your mind open---you never know what you're going to experience and where!
