The Vagabond has place together several strange happenings in Etowah County, so over the next few weeks we will discuss such topics as a Bigfoot roaming locally, large monsters of the Coosa River and UFOs. It is an adventure in itself, and The Vagabond actually has witnessed some of these strange happenings.
This week we’ll discuss sightings of Bigfoots in this area. The Vagabond has had two Bigfoot encounters in the area, one off Scenic Drive and another up at what is called the Sandhouse just above Turkeytown Gap Road. Both incidents occurred on Lookout Mountain.
The first incident was when a Bigfoot was seen knocking a tree down to the ground. The other was when a several of us were camping at the water spring and a creature came at us, throwing rocks and us making strange howling.
Needless to say, none of us remained at either place very long.
A well-respected Christian person who has been serving the public for many years has seen a Bigfoot many times around his place.
Late evening in November 2012 near the Appalachian Road, Allen Ragan stepped out to his driveway and saw something in the shadow. Whatever it was turned and stepped across the lighted area and into the woods. It only took one and a half steps to cover a distance of about eight to 10 feet.
“Since then, there’s been a lot more incidents and there is always a rotten, dead-like odor,” Allen said.
Allen has about 12 acres of field, woods, and a creek about one and a half miles from Lookout Mountain. Located nearby is an area where trees six inches in diameter have been pushed to the ground and the middle area is scratched up. Allen also noticed that something kept throwing rocks and hitting his truck in the driveway. Other people have ridden by and witness it in the driveway on different nights.
Even one of Allen’s neighbors saw something similar standing next to her fruit tree. For a three-day period, the cows were mooing non-stop, day and night.
Earlier during a late fall, Allen and his son were remodeling a bathroom. They had been going in and out of the house to cut boards by the light of an outside light pole.
Allen’s son carried one board in and Allen grabbed a second board. As he did, he looked out over the backyard. The outside light cast a shadow over the trees in the backyard. He noticed a raunchy smell like something dead.
Allen then realized that he had one too many trees in the yard.
All of sudden, the new ‘tree’ took a step and a half in crossing a 10-foot wide path of light. The creature was at least eight feet tall and about 500 pounds, with graying hair and patches of dark brown. It was very muscular with knee length arms.
A 15-year U.S. Marine veteran, Allen stated that he had seen a lot of things but not once did he think of grabbing a gun. He knew what he saw.
Two nights later, Allen’s brother, a pastor, saw the same creature cross between his truck and a car in front of him with his headlights on.
Two nights after that, Allen and his 27 year-old son were leaning against the tailgate of the pickup.
“There’s a little one at the edge of the woods,” his son said as they looked across the yard.
As they watched, the “little one” stood up and it turned out to be the eight-foot adult that was seen four nights before.
A few days later, Allen’s nieces came running in screaming, saying something was chasing and throwing rocks at them.
Allen and his brother grabbed two rifles, a 30-06 and an AR-15. They stood on the pool deck looking around. The longer they stood, the more the cool night air took its toll.
Allen started back inside, only to hear his brother – a conservative pastor of many years – exclaim an expletive word.
Allen’s brother stated that when Allen moved to go in, the creature also moved from behind the tree. The brother was wide-eyed with disbelief as he was told, “Welcome to the club.”
Since that first night, Allen posted on Facebook for the world to see, not caring what people thought, because he KNEW.
Allen received a call from a neighbor the same night that Allen saw the creature. His neighbor couldn’t sleep and went out to her deck. While on the deck, she observed the same creature eating pears from her tree.
Since then, Allen has had many people step forward with their own sightings.
Allen not only has had six-inches diameter trees torn apart, but rocks, dirt and other objects thrown in his direction. He states that the creature has never tried to hit anyone. Either that, or it has really poor aim.
In January of the next year, a motorist noted two sightings on the Appalachian Highway heading from Hokes Bluff to Gadsden. The site was located right pass the Appalachian bridge between Coates Bend and the Coosa River.
The motorist’s first sighting was a month earlier. It was about 12 midnight and the motorist was on his way home. It was raining steadily. This was the countryside, and on each side of the road were guardrails with woody swamps on each side. The headlights lit up the reflectors on the guardrails all the way down.
About midway down the rail, the man saw a black space, almost like a gap in the rail. Once he drew a little closer, he realized that it was some type of animal. It looked hairy and seems to be standing over the guardrail crossing it.
Before the motorist got close enough to see, it had gone into the woods. But it was big, and the man honestly didn’t really know what it was and didn’t think much of it.
A week or so later, the motorist was leaving his house heading to work in a light rain. It was about 8:30 or 9 in the morning. He went on the same highway and past the same spot as the first sighting. As soon as he pulled out after about 200 to 300 yards, he saw something weird-looking on the side of the road, like it was something out of place.
As the motorist started down the road, the creature slowly walked out on the highway and took its time walking across the road. It then stepped over the guardrail (the same one as first sighting), doing so with ease.
The creature continued to walk down the ditch and into the woods.
At this point, it was about 150 yards in front and a couple hundred yards out.
Details that caught the motorist’s attention included the way the creature seemed to walk. It had short legs and a longer upper body. Its head stuck up away from the shoulders. The arms hung beside it and hands were nearly touching the knees. The creature was all black.
At first sight, the motorist thought it was a man. Moving closer, however, he could see how different it looked and how much bigger it appeared. Plus, the creature came from the woods and walked across the road into a swampy area.
The motorist could tell that it didn’t have clothes on because it was just one slick figure. It was defiantly not a bear or any human. This thing was big and it gave you a chill just looking at it.
If anyone has had run-ins with a Bigfoot, let The Vagabond know at dkcrown@bellsouth.net.
