2 days ago
Bigfoot, monsters, UFOs: There's no shortage of sightings across region
Our region has plenty of myths and mysteries. I recently sent some Mothman and Flatwoods Monster – West Virginia's own cryptid and very own alien visitor – stickers to one of the little boys in my family. He's a young dinosaur enthusiast who's just discovered cryptids, those creatures science hasn't confirmed. He's a guy after my own heart. Creatures came up last week when photographer Tara Wyatt and I attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for a restored atrium and a new mural at Bluefield Middle School. Anyone visiting this space will immediately notice some interesting features including a huge Bigfoot silhouette, Bigfoot tracks on the ground and a colorful painting featuring Bigfoot walking midst the mountains. There was a reason behind the Bigfoot theme. During and after the ceremony, Principal Kim Miller and Sherry Bradley, a social worker for Communities in School, spoke about their encounters with Bigfoot. What was really striking was the setting of these encounters. They didn't happen out in Canada or the Pacifice Northwest. They happened right here in Mercer County. Miller said she was driving home late one afternoon when a huge figure came running down a mountainside, dashed across the road and disappeared into the woods. This happened in the McComas area. Bradley said there were big footprints in front of a window and strange occurrences at her Speedway home. These were not the first times I had heard of Bigfoot encounters. One evening I sat outside a Bluewell home listening for Bigfoot cries that had been reported in the area. Bigfoot didn't turn up that night. I later spoke by phone with Matt Moneymaker, a host on the Animal Planet show 'Finding Bigfoot' and heard how the Appalachian Mountains area considered good Bigfoot habitat. In another instance which happened years ago, I spoke with a McDowell County man about a sighting. He described how a Bigfoot walked across this property and how it yelled so loudly, he could feel the noise. The he heard a reply in the distance. Now I'll admit I'm a skeptic when it comes to Bigfoot. Part of me says that surely we would have found solid evidence of an 8-foot or taller ape creature wandering North America by now. The other part argues that as sure as I declare that Bigfoot is impossible, I'll see one while I'm out hiking and fail to get my cellphone out in time. There are huge areas up in the mountains where people rarely go because the terrain is so rough. One time I thought about trying to hike along the top of East River Mountain, but one look at the possible path and I dropped that idea. If I got hurt, first responders would have hard time reaching me and that's assuming that I'd be able to contact anybody. Bears forage up there, so a chance encounter leading to a painful misunderstanding would be just as bad. Of course, a humanoid creature standing 8-feet or more tall and weighing 600 or more pounds wouldn't have those problems. There have been reports of Bigfoot creatures trekking up glacier paths and up mountainsides that would deter the strongest human beings. A creature that big wouldn't worry about black bears, either. Moneymaker also told me that the region offers creatures like Bigfoot enough to eat. They could prey on deer and we know there are plenty of those roaming the woods. I'll admit that it's fun to think that something like Bigfoot could be wandering our region. I fantasize about hiking through one of our state parks and suddenly spotting something huge and unexplainable up on a ridge or crossing the path. This fantasy includes getting a clear photo or a few seconds of clear video. This wouldn't prove Bigfoot's existence, but it's still fun to think about. I'd also like to see a UFO, Mothman or a ghost. Those have all dodged me. However, I sometimes wonder if I've seen or heard any of these weird things but didn't realize it. Could any of those shadowy figures I see along the road while driving home be a ghost?. Was that odd barking sound I heard once up in the woods coming from a Bigfoot or just a deer? Maybe Bigfoot was mimicking a deer to fool me. Was the light I saw going across the sky an alien spaceship or just a jet? I wonder about things like that. What I don't do is make fun of the folks who say they've seen these weird things. There may come the time when I'm the one with a strange story to tell.
