(Originally published in the Oct. 31 edition of the Times-Herald newspaper.)
By Jeff Bishop
The Times-Herald
Many creatures prowl the streets of Newnan during Halloween, but perhaps none carries quite the cachet as a true Newnan classic, the "Belt Road Booger."
Although it's been 30 years since the Booger's initial appearance, some insist he/ she/ it -- whatever it is -- still prowls the local roads.
Of course, many others say that's "hogwash." In fact, many local residents claim to know the so-called "Booger" personally.
"I know him. His daddy owns a wrecker business," said one local resident who wished to remain unidentified.
"I was in law enforcement at the time the first reports came in, and I knew it was him. Everybody did."
He said the Belt Road Booger started out as a prank. But many people took the tale very seriously. The headline of the Aug. 9, 1979, issue of the Newnan Times-Herald read, "Strange Creature Seen Here."
"Move over, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman and the Loch Ness Monster -- make room for the Belt Road Booger!" the story announced.
The "creature" was initially spotted on Belt Road near the intersection of West Washington Street.
"It was dark. It stands about five feet tall. It's big across the chest. Its eyes look like diamonds at night when you shine a light on them," was how one local woman described the "monster."
The creature was reported to have "a face like a monkey and a long bushy tail."
But it was just a local boy in a gorilla costume, our informant tells us.
"He later became a guard and went into law enforcement, himself," said the informant. "But at the time, I guess the funniest thing that happened was there was a lady out hanging clothes on a clothes line. And this boy took a half-eaten apple and threw it at her. She wound up finding that apple and calling the police."
In fact the Times-Herald reported that the creature was "alleged to have eaten the inside of an apple, leaving only the peeling, and to have bitten a hunk out of an ear of corn."
"At the Kmart warehouse he jumped on the fence gate to scare a security guard out there," said the informant. "It was all in good fun, but there came a time when a stop had to be put to it."
He said local people really enjoyed the series of pranks, however, and basked in the wave of publicity it generated in the late 1970s.
"There was a store that did some taxidermy work around Arnco, and they mounted an old thing and labeled it the Belt Road Booger," said the informant. "That was 30 years ago."
The boy "came from a good family," but later got into some legal troubles, the informant said. Attempts to reach the man apparently once known as the Belt Road Booger were unsuccessful. We were told he also had a brief career as the "Lizard Man" in South Carolina.
"I thought everyone that was in Newnan High at that time knew who the Booger was," said one poster to the Times-Herald Web site.
"Seems like yesterday," remembered Joe Perry. "Man, what happened to our small town? Our kids are grown now, but they know the Booger legend."
Some still aren't convinced that it was all just a prank.
"My dad saw a Booger when he was little, that was way before '79, in East Newnan," said a poster identifying herself only as "Paige."
"He also said it was hairy and ran off on two feet. It came out of a barn that they would play in. It ran by him out the door and he never saw it again."
Years later, in the 1980s, in the same yard, "my family members were all on the front porch; it was dusk, dark, and they saw a hairy 5-foot something standing next to a wall... it jumped straight up onto the wall and was gone. It was never seen in East Newnan again."
Another woman who also wished to remain unidentified said that she doesn't care what anyone says -- she has seen something unexplainable prowling the streets of Coweta County, and it most definitely was not a child in a costume.
"I was just reading online about some kind of creature being sighted in the Newnan area over the years," said the woman, who has the initials A.W.
"I thought for a long time I was crazy, because about three years ago I saw something huge on Hwy. 16 around the Poplar Road area," she said.
"After reading the descriptions people were giving, mine is very similar," said A.W.
"It was about 8 feet tall and covered in black, shaggy, coarse-looking hair, with a flat face, and huge, sharp-looking teeth, and big glowing yellowish eyes.
"If I had any drawing ability at all I could draw it out perfectly," she said, since the image has been seared into her brain.
"I can close my eyes and still see it," said A.W.
"I was driving towards Senoia, and as I was coming up a hill I saw what I thought were yellow lights, or a headlight, maybe. And it moved from the left side of the wooded area to the middle of the road.
"As I got closer, I realized that it was some kind of animal -- and no, it was not a bear."
A.W. said she slowed down her vehicle and drove past the creature.
"I was so close to it, it could have reached out and touched my car," she said. "It looked to be big enough to flip my car over!"
A.W. said she is certain about what she saw, and it wasn't human.
"I am not crazy, I have been in church all my life and always thought people seeing things like this had fallen off their rocker or something, but after reading this article, I know now that I am not the only one who is telling the truth."
So while many people claim that the Belt Road Booger was nothing more than a short-term prank devised by a boy looking for some cheap thrills -- a boy who was fortunate enough to own a gorilla costume -- the legend of the Belt Road Booger definitely lives on.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Do You Have Memories of the 'Belt Road Booger?'
(Originally published in the Oct. 14, 2009 edition of the Times-Herald newspaper)
By Jeff Bishop
The Times-Herald
It was 30 years ago this fall when the first sightings of the Belt Road Booger were reported in a series of Times-Herald front-page articles that captivated the community for weeks.
The headline of the Aug. 9, 1979, issue read, "Strange Creature Seen Here."
"Move over, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman and the Loch Ness Monster -- make room for the Belt Road Booger!" the story announced.
Several sightings of a "monster" sighted on Belt Road near the intersection of West Washington Street were reported that week.
"It was dark. It stands about five feet tall. It's big across the chest. Its eyes look like diamonds at night when you shine a light on them," was how one local woman described the "monster."
The creature was reported to have "a face like a monkey and a long bushy tail."
The Newnan Police Department investigated the incident but found nothing.
The creature was "alleged to have eaten the inside of an apple, leaving only the peeling, and to have bitten a hunk out of an ear of corn." It was also supposed to have climbed into a barn in the neighborhood, and some local children speculated that he slept in some junked cars in the woods near Belt Road.
The Belt Road Booger was spotted again in the Meadowview subdivision near Arnco, described by one local resident as "the ugliest looking thing I've ever seen."
She described the animal as standing between 4 and 5 feet tall, and it was covered with black hair and a tail "like a beaver's, but it's bushy," with "a face like a dog."
She said the creature dug into her flowers and tried to kill her calladiums.
Sightings were reported in the following weeks in the Smokey Road and Ishman Ballard Road areas, and then later at Sargent. Then reports began to become less frequent, and the Belt Road Booger was seemingly forgotten.
Forgotten, that is, until April 2005, when the first sightings of the "Happy Valley Horror" began to pour in.
"Has the nightmare returned?" trumpeted the Times-Herald newspaper.
"More than two decades ago, Cowetans quaked in fear, praying they wouldn't be visited by a hairy, night-walking creature whose true identity still remains a mystery. If a recent tip to The Times-Herald is correct, more sleepless nights could be on the way. Move over, Belt Road Booger, here comes the Happy Valley Horror."
The first known sighting of the creature was reported in spring 2005 in a letter to The Times-Herald. In a printed scrawl, the writer qualified himself as an avid hunter and outdoorsman, very familiar with local wildlife. Then he described "an enormous ... very hairy" beast walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
The letter said, "It scared me to death!" and concluded by asking if anyone else had reported seeing something resembling ... "a Bigfoot."
In August 2005, the Happy Valley Horror struck again.
Happy Valley Circle resident Donna Robards, a lifelong Coweta resident, remembered laughing about earlier reports of the creature.
But she stopped laughing after almost almost running over two of the creatures in late August 2005.
"I thought it was funny before," she says. "Now I'm not so sure."
Robards' thinking about the possibility of strange, hairy critters in north Coweta began to change on Aug. 22, when her son Jeff, 18, had a strange encounter while returning to the Happy Valley home he shares with his folks.
He had just dropped his sister off at her east Coweta home and was heading west on Cedar Creek Road near its intersection with Happy Valley Road just after 2:30 a.m. As he approached the stop sign, Jeff was startled to see a huge, hairy creature strolling down the middle of Cedar Creek Road toward his vehicle, according to Donna Robards.
"He said it was big and hairy and walking upright," said Donna Robards. "At first, he thought it might have been a bear, but he didn't stick around to see. When I asked him about it later, he said it couldn't have been a bear because the face was flat and didn't have a snout like a bear. He didn't know what it was, and I didn't either," says Donna Robards.
Three nights later, on Aug. 25, just before midnight, Donna Robards got to see just what her son had described. She had worked late in LaGrange and was heading north on Happy Valley Circle toward her home. When she reached the Cedar Creek Road intersection, she saw not one, but two of the creatures standing in the road just yards ahead.
She slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop within 20 feet of the hairy pair.
She said the larger of the two creatures was 8 feet tall and covered with coarse black hair. The other was a foot shorter and its hair was reddish-brown in color, Robards says.
When Robards screeched to a stop, she says the smaller one ambled into the woods west of Happy Valley Circle. The big one, however, turned and started right at her.
"I thought oh, dear God, that thing is going to come in the car after me," she says. "And I was scared to death."
After what seemed like an eternity the larger creature followed the first one into the woods and Robards headed home as fast as she could, an awful image imprinted on her memory forever.
"It wasn't human, but you could call it ape-like," Robards says. "It stood upright but the hair on its face was shorter than on the rest of its body. And the eyes didn't bulge like an ape's. They were set back like human eyes."
When Robards told her husband, Michael, his response wasn't what she expected.
"We'd both been laughing since the first Happy Valley Horror was sighted," she says, "and he still didn't believe what might be going on. He thinks I've lost my mind," she says with a laugh. "But I know what I saw, and I don't want to see it again."
In recognition of the 30th anniversary of the creature's initial appearance, The Times-Herald wants to do an update. If anyone has any memories to share of the Belt Road Booger or Happy Valley Horror, or any similar reports to share of a "Bigfoot" type creature, call the Times-Herald at 770-683-1763 or e-mail jbishop@newnan.com.
By Jeff Bishop
The Times-Herald
It was 30 years ago this fall when the first sightings of the Belt Road Booger were reported in a series of Times-Herald front-page articles that captivated the community for weeks.
The headline of the Aug. 9, 1979, issue read, "Strange Creature Seen Here."
"Move over, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman and the Loch Ness Monster -- make room for the Belt Road Booger!" the story announced.
Several sightings of a "monster" sighted on Belt Road near the intersection of West Washington Street were reported that week.
"It was dark. It stands about five feet tall. It's big across the chest. Its eyes look like diamonds at night when you shine a light on them," was how one local woman described the "monster."
The creature was reported to have "a face like a monkey and a long bushy tail."
The Newnan Police Department investigated the incident but found nothing.
The creature was "alleged to have eaten the inside of an apple, leaving only the peeling, and to have bitten a hunk out of an ear of corn." It was also supposed to have climbed into a barn in the neighborhood, and some local children speculated that he slept in some junked cars in the woods near Belt Road.
The Belt Road Booger was spotted again in the Meadowview subdivision near Arnco, described by one local resident as "the ugliest looking thing I've ever seen."
She described the animal as standing between 4 and 5 feet tall, and it was covered with black hair and a tail "like a beaver's, but it's bushy," with "a face like a dog."
She said the creature dug into her flowers and tried to kill her calladiums.
Sightings were reported in the following weeks in the Smokey Road and Ishman Ballard Road areas, and then later at Sargent. Then reports began to become less frequent, and the Belt Road Booger was seemingly forgotten.
Forgotten, that is, until April 2005, when the first sightings of the "Happy Valley Horror" began to pour in.
"Has the nightmare returned?" trumpeted the Times-Herald newspaper.
"More than two decades ago, Cowetans quaked in fear, praying they wouldn't be visited by a hairy, night-walking creature whose true identity still remains a mystery. If a recent tip to The Times-Herald is correct, more sleepless nights could be on the way. Move over, Belt Road Booger, here comes the Happy Valley Horror."
The first known sighting of the creature was reported in spring 2005 in a letter to The Times-Herald. In a printed scrawl, the writer qualified himself as an avid hunter and outdoorsman, very familiar with local wildlife. Then he described "an enormous ... very hairy" beast walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
The letter said, "It scared me to death!" and concluded by asking if anyone else had reported seeing something resembling ... "a Bigfoot."
In August 2005, the Happy Valley Horror struck again.
Happy Valley Circle resident Donna Robards, a lifelong Coweta resident, remembered laughing about earlier reports of the creature.
But she stopped laughing after almost almost running over two of the creatures in late August 2005.
"I thought it was funny before," she says. "Now I'm not so sure."
Robards' thinking about the possibility of strange, hairy critters in north Coweta began to change on Aug. 22, when her son Jeff, 18, had a strange encounter while returning to the Happy Valley home he shares with his folks.
He had just dropped his sister off at her east Coweta home and was heading west on Cedar Creek Road near its intersection with Happy Valley Road just after 2:30 a.m. As he approached the stop sign, Jeff was startled to see a huge, hairy creature strolling down the middle of Cedar Creek Road toward his vehicle, according to Donna Robards.
"He said it was big and hairy and walking upright," said Donna Robards. "At first, he thought it might have been a bear, but he didn't stick around to see. When I asked him about it later, he said it couldn't have been a bear because the face was flat and didn't have a snout like a bear. He didn't know what it was, and I didn't either," says Donna Robards.
Three nights later, on Aug. 25, just before midnight, Donna Robards got to see just what her son had described. She had worked late in LaGrange and was heading north on Happy Valley Circle toward her home. When she reached the Cedar Creek Road intersection, she saw not one, but two of the creatures standing in the road just yards ahead.
She slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop within 20 feet of the hairy pair.
She said the larger of the two creatures was 8 feet tall and covered with coarse black hair. The other was a foot shorter and its hair was reddish-brown in color, Robards says.
When Robards screeched to a stop, she says the smaller one ambled into the woods west of Happy Valley Circle. The big one, however, turned and started right at her.
"I thought oh, dear God, that thing is going to come in the car after me," she says. "And I was scared to death."
After what seemed like an eternity the larger creature followed the first one into the woods and Robards headed home as fast as she could, an awful image imprinted on her memory forever.
"It wasn't human, but you could call it ape-like," Robards says. "It stood upright but the hair on its face was shorter than on the rest of its body. And the eyes didn't bulge like an ape's. They were set back like human eyes."
When Robards told her husband, Michael, his response wasn't what she expected.
"We'd both been laughing since the first Happy Valley Horror was sighted," she says, "and he still didn't believe what might be going on. He thinks I've lost my mind," she says with a laugh. "But I know what I saw, and I don't want to see it again."
In recognition of the 30th anniversary of the creature's initial appearance, The Times-Herald wants to do an update. If anyone has any memories to share of the Belt Road Booger or Happy Valley Horror, or any similar reports to share of a "Bigfoot" type creature, call the Times-Herald at 770-683-1763 or e-mail jbishop@newnan.com.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Boogers and Bigfeet: Hope Dies Hard
(Written by Alex McRae and originally published in the Newnan Times-Herald newspaper on Aug. 22, 2008.)
If dreams were balloons, one of my biggest would now be resting on the wreck of the Titanic. All because of a few phonies.
Phooey.
In my second year of college, a close encounter with organic chemistry was the final reminder that medical school was no longer a career possibility. It hurt. Mostly because I considered myself a real science junkie.
I got hooked in kindergarten when I realized you could make plastic frogmen float up and down in the tub by filling their hollow fins with baking soda.
A few years later when UFOs were all the rage, I jumped on the bandwagon with both feet. So did my father. He even bought a telescope. It was allegedly to check out the stars, but we both knew better.
And ever since I first heard the words "Abominable Snowman," I've believed there was a chance that large, hairy creatures might still roam remote parts of the Earth. Lots of times, my beliefs were buttressed by what appeared to be semi-credible reports from allegedly sane and sober people who swore they had encountered such critters.
Once, I even interviewed a solid, reliable citizen who said her son had an encounter with such a creature not 10 miles from my mailbox.
Despite the lack of scientific evidence that such creatures exist, I've always held out hope.
And why not? Virtually every civilization on Earth has a legend of a Bigfoot-type creature, whether it's called Yeti, Skunk Ape or Sasquatch.
So when a couple of Georgia boys showed up recently to announce they had picked up an actual dead Bigfoot and taken it home, my heart turned flips.
These dudes said they found their prize in the north Georgia mountains. I've been convinced strange things roam the Georgia mountains since I saw "Deliverance," so the Bigfoot news wasn't a total shock.
Then these boys promised to unveil their find at a California press conference. Except they didn't. Instead of dazzling the world with their find, the dudes said the carcass was being kept in a "hidden location."
All Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer had for show-and-tell were a few bad photos and a big plug for their Web site.
Their "hard evidence" was a picture of something big and hairy in what looked like an oversized fish box. What a laugh. It was a huge ball of fur with a head that didn't match and a set of teeth that looked like they came for Don's Discount Dentures in Dahlonega.
I've seen better gorilla suits at the local party store, but these fakers insisted they had the real thing. Right. So real they were storing it in a styrofoam cooler behind Bubba's double-wide.
The men said they had submitted DNA samples for testing. To no one's surprise, none of the samples screamed "Bigfoot." Scientists termed one sample as "inconclusive." Another was mostly human. The final sample was said to contain the DNA of a possum.
Trying to pass off a possum as a Bigfoot? When I heard that, I started praying that these two fakers would spend eternity cleaning the monkey cages at Heaven's zoo.
Then it got worse. A few days after the press conference, these phonies finally admitted their "Bigfoot" was nothing but an empty rubber suit. By then, no one was surprised, but a few sure were disappointed. Yours truly included.
I'm crushed. I've recovered from disappointment before, but this one is gonna take a while.
Meanwhile, if you see something big and hairy out there in the woods, give me a call. Hope dies hard.
If dreams were balloons, one of my biggest would now be resting on the wreck of the Titanic. All because of a few phonies.
Phooey.
In my second year of college, a close encounter with organic chemistry was the final reminder that medical school was no longer a career possibility. It hurt. Mostly because I considered myself a real science junkie.
I got hooked in kindergarten when I realized you could make plastic frogmen float up and down in the tub by filling their hollow fins with baking soda.
A few years later when UFOs were all the rage, I jumped on the bandwagon with both feet. So did my father. He even bought a telescope. It was allegedly to check out the stars, but we both knew better.
And ever since I first heard the words "Abominable Snowman," I've believed there was a chance that large, hairy creatures might still roam remote parts of the Earth. Lots of times, my beliefs were buttressed by what appeared to be semi-credible reports from allegedly sane and sober people who swore they had encountered such critters.
Once, I even interviewed a solid, reliable citizen who said her son had an encounter with such a creature not 10 miles from my mailbox.
Despite the lack of scientific evidence that such creatures exist, I've always held out hope.
And why not? Virtually every civilization on Earth has a legend of a Bigfoot-type creature, whether it's called Yeti, Skunk Ape or Sasquatch.
So when a couple of Georgia boys showed up recently to announce they had picked up an actual dead Bigfoot and taken it home, my heart turned flips.
These dudes said they found their prize in the north Georgia mountains. I've been convinced strange things roam the Georgia mountains since I saw "Deliverance," so the Bigfoot news wasn't a total shock.
Then these boys promised to unveil their find at a California press conference. Except they didn't. Instead of dazzling the world with their find, the dudes said the carcass was being kept in a "hidden location."
All Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer had for show-and-tell were a few bad photos and a big plug for their Web site.
Their "hard evidence" was a picture of something big and hairy in what looked like an oversized fish box. What a laugh. It was a huge ball of fur with a head that didn't match and a set of teeth that looked like they came for Don's Discount Dentures in Dahlonega.
I've seen better gorilla suits at the local party store, but these fakers insisted they had the real thing. Right. So real they were storing it in a styrofoam cooler behind Bubba's double-wide.
The men said they had submitted DNA samples for testing. To no one's surprise, none of the samples screamed "Bigfoot." Scientists termed one sample as "inconclusive." Another was mostly human. The final sample was said to contain the DNA of a possum.
Trying to pass off a possum as a Bigfoot? When I heard that, I started praying that these two fakers would spend eternity cleaning the monkey cages at Heaven's zoo.
Then it got worse. A few days after the press conference, these phonies finally admitted their "Bigfoot" was nothing but an empty rubber suit. By then, no one was surprised, but a few sure were disappointed. Yours truly included.
I'm crushed. I've recovered from disappointment before, but this one is gonna take a while.
Meanwhile, if you see something big and hairy out there in the woods, give me a call. Hope dies hard.
Happy Valley Group Concerned School Will Harm Bigfoot Habitat
(Written by Alex McRae and originally published in the Newnan Times-Herald newspaper on April 1, 2008.)
A local environmental group has vowed to stop construction of a new Coweta elementary school, claiming the work will destroy the habitat of a Bigfoot-like creature known as the Happy Valley Horror.
"The Board of Education of Coweta County is going to build a new elementary school on Jim Starr Road and forever change our quiet country life," said Michael Bright, head of the newly-formed group Save The Happy Valley Horror (STHVH).
"My concern is that this area is known to be the home of the infamous and rare Happy Valley Horror," Bright said. "The Horror has been seen by several residents recently and is the only one known to exist. If this habitat is disturbed it will surely mean the demise of a truly unique part of Coweta County's history. Please help us stop this travesty by alerting concerned citizens before it's too late."
The Horror was first reported in 2005 when a resident mailed the Times-Herald anonymously to say he had seen what he described as "an enormous, very hairy" beast walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
The letter went on to say, "It scared me to death!" and concluded by asking if anyone else had reported seeing something resembling... "a Bigfoot."
After the first sighting, The Times-Herald launched an investigation. A possible indication of an environmental intruder was a recently-noted shortage of armadillos in the area. Armadillos are suspected to be a favorite food of Bigfeet.
A Happy Valley Circle resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times-Herald, "I used to dodge armadillos every week just driving home from work. But not any more."
Research also indicated most Bigfoot sightings occur near a stream or other body of water. Lake Redwine, located on Happy Valley Circle, offers enough water to support a large Bigfoot population — but at the time, Lake Redwine residents had not reported seeing large, hairy creatures, except for the resident who caused a stir when he was spotted walking home late at night from a Davy Crockett Day party wearing a large coonskin hat.
"You see a big hairy head like that, what are you supposed to think?" asked the resident who reported the sighting. "Even at Lake Redwine you don't see stuff like that."
The Times-Herald also interviewed Coweta County EMS and 911 director Eddie Ball.
"We haven't heard a thing about a Bigfoot," said Ball. "And I'm glad, because that last thing sure did stir up a fuss."
The "last thing" referred to by Ball is the Belt Road Booger, which Ball is actually credited with naming. Years ago, lawmen and emergency personnel were flooded with reports of a large, hairy, two-legged critter roaming the Belt Road area on Newnan's west side, scaring residents half to death.
The Booger has not been reported since the Clinton Administration, but research shows that Bigfoot-type creatures have been spotted in Georgia over the years, including one just south of Griffin.
Since the 2005 incident The Times-Herald has been in contact with the Chattahoochee Bigfoot Organization and the Bigfoot Research Organization. No new Coweta sightings have been reported, although a woman said her super-sized underwear kept disappearing from her clothesline.
STHVH leader Bright says the lack of contacts probably means the beast has found a new location where it can breed and watch SportsCenter unmolested. Bright believes if the school is built, The Horror will lose its last refuge and possibly, its life.
"This would be a crime of the magnitude of the Tennessee River snail darter and the western spotted owl," Bright says. "Global Warming has already killed thousands, maybe millions of species. But nobody cares because they're mostly bugs. This one is different. It has a fur coat. And it must be saved."
Coweta school board officials would not comment, citing privacy concerns about future students at the planned school, including possible offspring of the Horror who might qualify for the pre-K program.
Bright said donations to pay for legal fees and pizza are being accepted. They are not tax-deductible, but Bright said, "donations are way cool anyway."
Those wishing to contribute may write Bright for instructions at 329 Jim Starr Road, Newnan, GA 30263.
"People talk about wanting to save the world," Bright says. "Why not start right here at home. It may be a Horror, but it's our Horror and it deserves to be saved."
A local environmental group has vowed to stop construction of a new Coweta elementary school, claiming the work will destroy the habitat of a Bigfoot-like creature known as the Happy Valley Horror.
"The Board of Education of Coweta County is going to build a new elementary school on Jim Starr Road and forever change our quiet country life," said Michael Bright, head of the newly-formed group Save The Happy Valley Horror (STHVH).
"My concern is that this area is known to be the home of the infamous and rare Happy Valley Horror," Bright said. "The Horror has been seen by several residents recently and is the only one known to exist. If this habitat is disturbed it will surely mean the demise of a truly unique part of Coweta County's history. Please help us stop this travesty by alerting concerned citizens before it's too late."
The Horror was first reported in 2005 when a resident mailed the Times-Herald anonymously to say he had seen what he described as "an enormous, very hairy" beast walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
The letter went on to say, "It scared me to death!" and concluded by asking if anyone else had reported seeing something resembling... "a Bigfoot."
After the first sighting, The Times-Herald launched an investigation. A possible indication of an environmental intruder was a recently-noted shortage of armadillos in the area. Armadillos are suspected to be a favorite food of Bigfeet.
A Happy Valley Circle resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times-Herald, "I used to dodge armadillos every week just driving home from work. But not any more."
Research also indicated most Bigfoot sightings occur near a stream or other body of water. Lake Redwine, located on Happy Valley Circle, offers enough water to support a large Bigfoot population — but at the time, Lake Redwine residents had not reported seeing large, hairy creatures, except for the resident who caused a stir when he was spotted walking home late at night from a Davy Crockett Day party wearing a large coonskin hat.
"You see a big hairy head like that, what are you supposed to think?" asked the resident who reported the sighting. "Even at Lake Redwine you don't see stuff like that."
The Times-Herald also interviewed Coweta County EMS and 911 director Eddie Ball.
"We haven't heard a thing about a Bigfoot," said Ball. "And I'm glad, because that last thing sure did stir up a fuss."
The "last thing" referred to by Ball is the Belt Road Booger, which Ball is actually credited with naming. Years ago, lawmen and emergency personnel were flooded with reports of a large, hairy, two-legged critter roaming the Belt Road area on Newnan's west side, scaring residents half to death.
The Booger has not been reported since the Clinton Administration, but research shows that Bigfoot-type creatures have been spotted in Georgia over the years, including one just south of Griffin.
Since the 2005 incident The Times-Herald has been in contact with the Chattahoochee Bigfoot Organization and the Bigfoot Research Organization. No new Coweta sightings have been reported, although a woman said her super-sized underwear kept disappearing from her clothesline.
STHVH leader Bright says the lack of contacts probably means the beast has found a new location where it can breed and watch SportsCenter unmolested. Bright believes if the school is built, The Horror will lose its last refuge and possibly, its life.
"This would be a crime of the magnitude of the Tennessee River snail darter and the western spotted owl," Bright says. "Global Warming has already killed thousands, maybe millions of species. But nobody cares because they're mostly bugs. This one is different. It has a fur coat. And it must be saved."
Coweta school board officials would not comment, citing privacy concerns about future students at the planned school, including possible offspring of the Horror who might qualify for the pre-K program.
Bright said donations to pay for legal fees and pizza are being accepted. They are not tax-deductible, but Bright said, "donations are way cool anyway."
Those wishing to contribute may write Bright for instructions at 329 Jim Starr Road, Newnan, GA 30263.
"People talk about wanting to save the world," Bright says. "Why not start right here at home. It may be a Horror, but it's our Horror and it deserves to be saved."
Have You Seen 'Bigfoot'?
(Written by Alex McRae and originally appearing in the Newnan Times-Herald newspaper on Nov. 27, 2006.)
They say seeing is believing, and if you've seen Bigfoot or know someone who has, Andrew Marshall wants to see you.
Marshall, 21, is a senior film student at Savannah College of Art and Design and has to produce a short film as a graduation requirement. He decided to do a documentary about the "Bigfoot" phenomenon in Georgia. But Marshall isn't so interested in the beast as those who claim to have seen it — and how the experience impacted their lives.
American Bigfoot sightings appear as far back as the early 1800s. And almost everyone reporting to have seen the creature has been the subject of skepticism if not outright ridicule.
"Everyone has heard the legend of Bigfoot by now," Marshall says. "And everyone who says they've seen one is liable to be laughed at. But people still want to talk about it, knowing it might be unpleasant. I want to know why they'd take such a risk. I can't imagine anyone reporting seeing a Bigfoot if they really didn't believe it."
Marshall's film has to be finished this spring and he is already interviewing people who either search for Bigfoot as a hobby or claim to have seen the creature somewhere in Georgia.
Several people have reported sighting Bigfoot-type creatures in Coweta in the past few years and Marshall will be interviewing them. He also wants to hear from anyone with knowledge about Coweta's other legendary creature, the Belt Road Booger, which made local headlines in the late seventies and early eighties.
Marshall is asking anyone who has had a close encounter with what they believe to be a Bigfoot-type creature to please call him at 770-856-4196 or send him an e-mail at: dmarsh@student.scad.edu.
"I don't need to talk to anyone who knows someone who knows someone who might have seen something," Marshall says. "But if you've seen a Bigfoot-type creature or know someone who has, I'd love to talk to you."
Marshall says although his project is a serious piece of filmmaking, he will approach the subject with a sense of humor. "The topic tends to poke fun at itself almost," he says, "and we aren't trying to prove anything scientifically, so we'll have some fun with it, too. But I'm taking all my interview subjects seriously. I've talked to people who are very sincere about what they've seen and I plan to respect that. I'm not out to poke fun at people who believe. I want to know how it's affected them personally and how they deal with it."
When Marshall graduated from East Coweta High in 2003 he had studied acting with EC's Richard McMichen and film and video production with Kevin Pullen at the Central Educational Center. He knew the regular college route was not for him.
"I was into drama and film and knew that's what I wanted to do. I didn't want to spend time studying other subjects. I got a lot of encouragement from my teachers and parents and jumped into film school with both feet."
So far, it's been a good ride. In his first year at SCAD Marshall decided he didn't want to go the Hollywood route but pursue a career as a documentary film producer and director. He has worked on several student projects including a documentary about Yellow Fever and its impact on Savannah in the early 20th century.
Last summer he got what he calls "the break of a lifetime" when he was selected to spend the summer as an intern with National Geographic's film division in Washington, D.C.
Marshall did some research and filing but was as also invited along on some film shoots and got to travel to Los Angels with a "National Geographic" team doing a documentary called "Rat Genius" about the underestimated intelligence of one of the world's unfavorite critters. "It was a cool experience and I learned a lot about rats," he says. "They're a lot smarter than I thought."
After graduation Marshall hopes to work in Atlanta as a writer/ producer/ director for a couple of years then sign on full-time with "National Geographic."
"As far as I'm concerned they're the absolute best at the kind of documentary film production I want to do. Working for them would be an honor."
But first, he has to finish his Bigfoot film. And he hopes local people can help.
Marshall has contacted people in Coweta and other areas of Georgia who have reported seeing Bigfoot and he is also in contact with several research organizations. This winter he plans to spend time in the north Georgia mountains with a Bigfoot researcher and hunter who has been chasing the legendary beast for years.
"I like to study things and learn things and find out about new things," he says. "If I want to find out about Bigfoot I have to get out there and look. Frankly I can't wait."
They say seeing is believing, and if you've seen Bigfoot or know someone who has, Andrew Marshall wants to see you.
Marshall, 21, is a senior film student at Savannah College of Art and Design and has to produce a short film as a graduation requirement. He decided to do a documentary about the "Bigfoot" phenomenon in Georgia. But Marshall isn't so interested in the beast as those who claim to have seen it — and how the experience impacted their lives.
American Bigfoot sightings appear as far back as the early 1800s. And almost everyone reporting to have seen the creature has been the subject of skepticism if not outright ridicule.
"Everyone has heard the legend of Bigfoot by now," Marshall says. "And everyone who says they've seen one is liable to be laughed at. But people still want to talk about it, knowing it might be unpleasant. I want to know why they'd take such a risk. I can't imagine anyone reporting seeing a Bigfoot if they really didn't believe it."
Marshall's film has to be finished this spring and he is already interviewing people who either search for Bigfoot as a hobby or claim to have seen the creature somewhere in Georgia.
Several people have reported sighting Bigfoot-type creatures in Coweta in the past few years and Marshall will be interviewing them. He also wants to hear from anyone with knowledge about Coweta's other legendary creature, the Belt Road Booger, which made local headlines in the late seventies and early eighties.
Marshall is asking anyone who has had a close encounter with what they believe to be a Bigfoot-type creature to please call him at 770-856-4196 or send him an e-mail at: dmarsh@student.scad.edu.
"I don't need to talk to anyone who knows someone who knows someone who might have seen something," Marshall says. "But if you've seen a Bigfoot-type creature or know someone who has, I'd love to talk to you."
Marshall says although his project is a serious piece of filmmaking, he will approach the subject with a sense of humor. "The topic tends to poke fun at itself almost," he says, "and we aren't trying to prove anything scientifically, so we'll have some fun with it, too. But I'm taking all my interview subjects seriously. I've talked to people who are very sincere about what they've seen and I plan to respect that. I'm not out to poke fun at people who believe. I want to know how it's affected them personally and how they deal with it."
When Marshall graduated from East Coweta High in 2003 he had studied acting with EC's Richard McMichen and film and video production with Kevin Pullen at the Central Educational Center. He knew the regular college route was not for him.
"I was into drama and film and knew that's what I wanted to do. I didn't want to spend time studying other subjects. I got a lot of encouragement from my teachers and parents and jumped into film school with both feet."
So far, it's been a good ride. In his first year at SCAD Marshall decided he didn't want to go the Hollywood route but pursue a career as a documentary film producer and director. He has worked on several student projects including a documentary about Yellow Fever and its impact on Savannah in the early 20th century.
Last summer he got what he calls "the break of a lifetime" when he was selected to spend the summer as an intern with National Geographic's film division in Washington, D.C.
Marshall did some research and filing but was as also invited along on some film shoots and got to travel to Los Angels with a "National Geographic" team doing a documentary called "Rat Genius" about the underestimated intelligence of one of the world's unfavorite critters. "It was a cool experience and I learned a lot about rats," he says. "They're a lot smarter than I thought."
After graduation Marshall hopes to work in Atlanta as a writer/ producer/ director for a couple of years then sign on full-time with "National Geographic."
"As far as I'm concerned they're the absolute best at the kind of documentary film production I want to do. Working for them would be an honor."
But first, he has to finish his Bigfoot film. And he hopes local people can help.
Marshall has contacted people in Coweta and other areas of Georgia who have reported seeing Bigfoot and he is also in contact with several research organizations. This winter he plans to spend time in the north Georgia mountains with a Bigfoot researcher and hunter who has been chasing the legendary beast for years.
"I like to study things and learn things and find out about new things," he says. "If I want to find out about Bigfoot I have to get out there and look. Frankly I can't wait."
Another 'Bigfoot' Sighting in the Happy Valley Area
(Written by Alex McRae and originally published in the Newnan Times-Herald newspaper on Sept. 17, 2005.)
He's back.
And he's not alone.
The so-called "Happy Valley Horror," a Bigfoot type creature which was first sighted last April, is still alive and kicking... and causing potential traffic problems, according to Happy Valley Circle resident Donna Robards.
Robards, a lifelong Coweta resident, remembers laughing when reports of the creature first surfaced in April after an anonymous e-mailer to The Times-Herald claimed he had sighted a large, hairy creature walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
"My husband and I laughed ourselves silly over that one," Robards says.
She's not laughing now after almost almost running over two of the critters in late August.
"I thought it was funny before," she says. "Now I'm not so sure."
Robards' thinking about the possibility of strange, hairy critters in north Coweta began to change on Aug. 22, when her son Jeff, 18, had a strange encounter while returning to the Happy Valley home he shares with his folks.
He had just dropped his sister off at her east Coweta home and was heading west on Cedar Creek Road near its intersection with Happy Valley Road just after 2:30 a.m. As he approached the stop sign, Jeff was startled to see a huge, hairy creature strolling down the middle of Cedar Creek Road toward his vehicle, according to Donna Robards.
"He said it was big and hairy and walking upright," says Donna Robards. "At first, he thought it might have been a bear, but he didn't stick around to see. When I asked him about it later, he said it couldn't have been a bear because the face was flat and didn't have a snout like a bear. He didn't know what it was, and I didn't either," says Donna Robards.
Three nights later on Aug. 25, just before midnight, Donna Robards got to see just what her son had described. She had worked late in LaGrange and was heading north on Happy Valley Circle towards her home. When she reached the Cedar Creek Road intersection, she saw not one, but two of the creatures standing in the road just yards ahead.
She slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop within 20 feet of the hairy pair.
She says the larger of the two creatures was eight feet tall and covered with coarse black hair. The other was a foot shorter and its hair was reddish-brown in color, Robards says.
When Robards screeched to a stop, she says the smaller one ambled into the woods west of Happy Valley Circle. The big one, however, turned and started right at her.
"I thought oh, dear God, that thing is going to come in the car after me," she says. "And I was scared to death."
After what seemed like an eternity the larger creature followed the first one into the woods and Robards headed home as fast as she could, an awful image imprinted on her memory forever.
"It wasn't human, but you could call it ape-like," Robards says. "It stood upright but the hair on its face was shorter than on the rest of its body. And the eyes didn't bulge like an ape's. They were set back like human eyes."
When Robards told her husband, Michael, his response wasn't what she expected.
"We'd both been laughing since the first Happy Valley Horror was sighted," she says, "and he still didn't believe what might be going on. He thinks I've lost my mind," she says with a laugh. "But I know what I saw, and I don't want to see it again."
Robards says that soon after she and her husband moved into their Happy Valley home in March 2003, she and her husband came home on more than one occasion to find items missing. The thefts were reported to the Coweta County Sheriff's Office, but Donna Robards never suspected anything might have been responsible other than normal low-life human sorts.
She still didn't believe a non-human burglar could have been responsible when the Happy Valley Horror was first spotted last April.
"I thought that story was great fun, she says. "It reminded me of all the fuss that happened when the Belt Road Booger was around."
The Belk Road Booger, Coweta's first reported creepy creature, made several appearances in the 1970s, scaring people and inflating newspaper sales for weeks. The Booger was never identified and never harmed any humans although it is reported the monster ate several plants right off people's porches.
The Booger was eventually written off as an urban legend. But once the Happy Valley Horror was sighted in April, research revealed that Coweta County was not entirely out of the question as home to a Bigfoot-type beast. In fact, some unidentified monsters have been spotted less than 50 miles from the Coweta County Courthouse.
A 2003 story in the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald recounts the story of Steve Hyde, of Griffin, Ga., whose hobby was searching for Bigfoot in central and south Georgia. In 1999, the story says, after locals reported barn damage and disappearing animals, Hyde and a friend, former law enforcement officer James Akin, began a search of Elkins Creek, which flows into the Flint River in Pike County south of Griffin.
They were astonished to find a huge footprint measuring 17.5 inches in length, according to the Banner-Herald story. They were more astonished when a plaster cast of the print was sent off to be tested.
The cast was examined by Dr. Jeff Meldrum, of the Department of Biological Science at Idaho State University in Pocatello, who has studied literally hundreds of Bigfoot sightings over the years. The print, according to the news report, was also examined by J.H. Chilcutt, identified as a fingerprint examiner with the Conroe, Texas, police department.
Georgia Bigfoot (Georgia bigfoot.com) offers links to possible sightings in Georgia and surrounding areas and has a form to submit new sightings. The website of the Chattahoochee Bigfoot Organization (chattahoocheebigfoot.org) reports a possible Bigfoot sighting in March, 2005, in Harris County, Ga., between Coweta and Columbus.
The Bigfoot Research Organization (bfro.net) provides a map showing geographic distribution of Bigfoot sightings in the U.S. Although Washington, Oregon and northern California lead with hundreds of sightings each, 22 Bigfoot sightings were reported in Georgia through the end of 2003.
Most Bigfoot sightings occur near a stream or other body of water. Lake Redwine, located on Happy Valley Circle, offers enough water to support a large Bigfoot population.
The creatures sighted by Robards and her son were both headed in the direction of Lake Redwine when spotted, but Lake Redwine representatives report there were no costume parties scheduled on the night of either encounter. They are relatively certain the creatures are not Lake Redwine property owners.
Donna Robards expects some strange looks and good-natured ribbing after going public with her Bigfoot sighting. She doesn't care.
But she also says that when she's driving home after dark these days, she's a lot more cautious than before.
"I'm always careful to look for deer when I'm on the road," she says. "But now I'm going to be even more careful. Whatever that thing was, I sure don't want to run up on it again."
He's back.
And he's not alone.
The so-called "Happy Valley Horror," a Bigfoot type creature which was first sighted last April, is still alive and kicking... and causing potential traffic problems, according to Happy Valley Circle resident Donna Robards.
Robards, a lifelong Coweta resident, remembers laughing when reports of the creature first surfaced in April after an anonymous e-mailer to The Times-Herald claimed he had sighted a large, hairy creature walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
"My husband and I laughed ourselves silly over that one," Robards says.
She's not laughing now after almost almost running over two of the critters in late August.
"I thought it was funny before," she says. "Now I'm not so sure."
Robards' thinking about the possibility of strange, hairy critters in north Coweta began to change on Aug. 22, when her son Jeff, 18, had a strange encounter while returning to the Happy Valley home he shares with his folks.
He had just dropped his sister off at her east Coweta home and was heading west on Cedar Creek Road near its intersection with Happy Valley Road just after 2:30 a.m. As he approached the stop sign, Jeff was startled to see a huge, hairy creature strolling down the middle of Cedar Creek Road toward his vehicle, according to Donna Robards.
"He said it was big and hairy and walking upright," says Donna Robards. "At first, he thought it might have been a bear, but he didn't stick around to see. When I asked him about it later, he said it couldn't have been a bear because the face was flat and didn't have a snout like a bear. He didn't know what it was, and I didn't either," says Donna Robards.
Three nights later on Aug. 25, just before midnight, Donna Robards got to see just what her son had described. She had worked late in LaGrange and was heading north on Happy Valley Circle towards her home. When she reached the Cedar Creek Road intersection, she saw not one, but two of the creatures standing in the road just yards ahead.
She slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop within 20 feet of the hairy pair.
She says the larger of the two creatures was eight feet tall and covered with coarse black hair. The other was a foot shorter and its hair was reddish-brown in color, Robards says.
When Robards screeched to a stop, she says the smaller one ambled into the woods west of Happy Valley Circle. The big one, however, turned and started right at her.
"I thought oh, dear God, that thing is going to come in the car after me," she says. "And I was scared to death."
After what seemed like an eternity the larger creature followed the first one into the woods and Robards headed home as fast as she could, an awful image imprinted on her memory forever.
"It wasn't human, but you could call it ape-like," Robards says. "It stood upright but the hair on its face was shorter than on the rest of its body. And the eyes didn't bulge like an ape's. They were set back like human eyes."
When Robards told her husband, Michael, his response wasn't what she expected.
"We'd both been laughing since the first Happy Valley Horror was sighted," she says, "and he still didn't believe what might be going on. He thinks I've lost my mind," she says with a laugh. "But I know what I saw, and I don't want to see it again."
Robards says that soon after she and her husband moved into their Happy Valley home in March 2003, she and her husband came home on more than one occasion to find items missing. The thefts were reported to the Coweta County Sheriff's Office, but Donna Robards never suspected anything might have been responsible other than normal low-life human sorts.
She still didn't believe a non-human burglar could have been responsible when the Happy Valley Horror was first spotted last April.
"I thought that story was great fun, she says. "It reminded me of all the fuss that happened when the Belt Road Booger was around."
The Belk Road Booger, Coweta's first reported creepy creature, made several appearances in the 1970s, scaring people and inflating newspaper sales for weeks. The Booger was never identified and never harmed any humans although it is reported the monster ate several plants right off people's porches.
The Booger was eventually written off as an urban legend. But once the Happy Valley Horror was sighted in April, research revealed that Coweta County was not entirely out of the question as home to a Bigfoot-type beast. In fact, some unidentified monsters have been spotted less than 50 miles from the Coweta County Courthouse.
A 2003 story in the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald recounts the story of Steve Hyde, of Griffin, Ga., whose hobby was searching for Bigfoot in central and south Georgia. In 1999, the story says, after locals reported barn damage and disappearing animals, Hyde and a friend, former law enforcement officer James Akin, began a search of Elkins Creek, which flows into the Flint River in Pike County south of Griffin.
They were astonished to find a huge footprint measuring 17.5 inches in length, according to the Banner-Herald story. They were more astonished when a plaster cast of the print was sent off to be tested.
The cast was examined by Dr. Jeff Meldrum, of the Department of Biological Science at Idaho State University in Pocatello, who has studied literally hundreds of Bigfoot sightings over the years. The print, according to the news report, was also examined by J.H. Chilcutt, identified as a fingerprint examiner with the Conroe, Texas, police department.
Georgia Bigfoot (Georgia bigfoot.com) offers links to possible sightings in Georgia and surrounding areas and has a form to submit new sightings. The website of the Chattahoochee Bigfoot Organization (chattahoocheebigfoot.org) reports a possible Bigfoot sighting in March, 2005, in Harris County, Ga., between Coweta and Columbus.
The Bigfoot Research Organization (bfro.net) provides a map showing geographic distribution of Bigfoot sightings in the U.S. Although Washington, Oregon and northern California lead with hundreds of sightings each, 22 Bigfoot sightings were reported in Georgia through the end of 2003.
Most Bigfoot sightings occur near a stream or other body of water. Lake Redwine, located on Happy Valley Circle, offers enough water to support a large Bigfoot population.
The creatures sighted by Robards and her son were both headed in the direction of Lake Redwine when spotted, but Lake Redwine representatives report there were no costume parties scheduled on the night of either encounter. They are relatively certain the creatures are not Lake Redwine property owners.
Donna Robards expects some strange looks and good-natured ribbing after going public with her Bigfoot sighting. She doesn't care.
But she also says that when she's driving home after dark these days, she's a lot more cautious than before.
"I'm always careful to look for deer when I'm on the road," she says. "But now I'm going to be even more careful. Whatever that thing was, I sure don't want to run up on it again."
Could Bigfoot Be in Coweta?
(Written by Alex McRae and originally published in the Newnan Times-Herald on April 24, 2005.)
Has the nightmare returned?
More than two decades ago, Cowetans quaked in fear, praying they wouldn't be visited by a hairy, night-walking monster whose true identity still remains a mystery.
If a recent tip to The Times-Herald is correct, more sleepless nights could be on the way.
Move over, Belt Road Booger, here comes the Happy Valley Horror. Maybe.
The first known sighting of the creature was reported in a letter to The Times-Herald. In a printed scrawl, the writer qualified himself as an avid hunter and outdoorsman, very familiar with local wildlife. Then he described "an enormous... very hairy" beast walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
The letter said, "It scared me to death!" and concluded by asking if anyone else had reported seeing something resembling..."a Bigfoot."
The good news is, no other sightings have been reported. At least not to Eddie Ball, director of the Coweta County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), which operates the local 911 system."
"We haven't heard a thing about a Bigfoot," said Ball. "And I'm glad, because that last thing sure did stir up a fuss."
The "last thing" referred to by Ball is the Belt Road Booger, which Ball is actually credited with naming. Years ago, lawmen and emergency personnel were flooded with reports of a large, hairy, two-legged critter roaming the Belt Road area on Newnan's west side, scaring folks half to death.
A reporter was on hand when Ball visited a woman who claimed to have sighted the beast. Ball was asked if he thought there was any substance to the stories.
"I don't know," Ball replied, "but I sure am tired of chasing boogers up and down Belt Road.'
The next day's Times-Herald headline screamed, "Belt Road Booger." And a legend was born.
Ball believes the original booger was a man, now deceased, who was very large and a bit strange and shy about being seen walking down the local roads. When cars approached he would duck into a ditch, then reappear and continue his trek to nowhere. He wore a water faucet handle around his neck, Ball reported, and was totally harmless, if a bit eccentric.
"He would have provoked a few questions," Ball said. "No doubt about it."
But not all locals share Ball's belief. One woman claiming to have had a Belt Road Booger encounter reported that the beast had actually come up onto her porch and eaten her flowers right out of the clay pots. Other rumors regarding the Booger's identity are still tossed about in local barber shops, beauty parlors and liquor stores.
But rumors regarding Bigfoot in Georgia are not as rare as one might think. Research shows that not only have Bigfoot-type creatures been spotted in Georgia over the years, some have been spotted less 50 miles from the Coweta County Courthouse.
A 2003 story in the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald recounts the story of Steve Hyde, of Griffin, Ga., whose hobby was searching for Bigfoot in central and south Georgia. In 1999, the story says, after locals reported barn damage and disappearing animals, Hyde and a friend, former law enforcement officer James Akin, began a search of Elkins Creek, which flows into the Flint River in Pike County south of Griffin.
They were astonished to find a huge footprint measuring 17.5 inches in length, according to the Banner-Herald story. They were more astonished when a plaster cast of the print was sent off to be tested.
The cast was examined by Dr. Jeff Meldrum, of the Department of Biological Science at Idaho State University in Pocatello, who has studied literally hundreds of Bigfoot sightings over the years. The print, according to the news report, was also examined by J.H. Chilcutt, identified as a fingerprint examiner with the Conroe, Texas, police department.
Chilcutt, like Meldrum, had examined other suspected Bigfoot artifacts in an attempt to determine their origin, according to the story. The report from Chilcutt to Meldrum ended by saying, "The Elkins Creek Cast is that of an unknown primate."
The story also reported two other Georgia sightings, one near Augusta in 1979 and another from a retired Clarke County sheriff's deputy who claimed to have seen a Bigfoot-like critter just outside Athens while investigating a nuisance call.
Although law enforcement officials were involved with both the Elkins Creek and Athens incidents, local lawpersons have not yet encountered such a creature, according to Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager.
"We haven't heard a thing," said Yeager. "But our office is prepared for anything; and if Bigfoot shows up, we'll deal with it."
Yeager added some of the biggest feet he had ever seen belong to Coweta County Deputy Sheriff John LaChance. Yeager was confident LaChance was not involved in the latest incident.
Most Bigfoot sightings occur near a stream or other body of water. Lake Redwine, located on Happy valley Circle, offers enough water to support a large Bigfoot population; but so far, Lake Redwine residents have not reported seeing large, hairy creatures who were not registered property owners.
A possible indication of an environmental intruder is a recently-noted shortage of armadillos in the area. Armadillos are suspected to be a favorite food of Bigfeet. A Happy Valley Circle resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times-Herald, "I used to dodge armadillos every week just driving home from work. But I haven't seen one since St. Patrick's Day."
In researching this article, e-mails were sent to several groups which gather information on Georgia Bigfoot sightings. The Bigfoot Research Organization website (bfro.net) provides a map showing geographic distribution of Bigfoot sightings in the U.S. Although Washington, Oregon and northern California lead with hundreds of sightings each, 22 Bigfoot sightings were reported in Georgia through the end of 2003.
The Chattahoochee Bigfoot Organization website (chattahoocheebigfoot.org) reports a possible Bigfoot sighting in March 2005, in Harris County, GA, between Coweta and Columbus.
Samuel Rich, of Georgia Bigfoot (georgia bigfoot.com) e-mailed to say that, to his knowledge, this was the first Bigfoot sighting in Coweta. But Rich said he was rechecking old news reports to make sure something hadn't been overlooked.
Coweta residents take heed. Bigfoot experts say that in Georgia, though they might be rare, they might also be there. So take care.
And take some pictures. For some stories, words just aren't enough.
Has the nightmare returned?
More than two decades ago, Cowetans quaked in fear, praying they wouldn't be visited by a hairy, night-walking monster whose true identity still remains a mystery.
If a recent tip to The Times-Herald is correct, more sleepless nights could be on the way.
Move over, Belt Road Booger, here comes the Happy Valley Horror. Maybe.
The first known sighting of the creature was reported in a letter to The Times-Herald. In a printed scrawl, the writer qualified himself as an avid hunter and outdoorsman, very familiar with local wildlife. Then he described "an enormous... very hairy" beast walking upright in a field on Happy Valley Circle.
The letter said, "It scared me to death!" and concluded by asking if anyone else had reported seeing something resembling..."a Bigfoot."
The good news is, no other sightings have been reported. At least not to Eddie Ball, director of the Coweta County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), which operates the local 911 system."
"We haven't heard a thing about a Bigfoot," said Ball. "And I'm glad, because that last thing sure did stir up a fuss."
The "last thing" referred to by Ball is the Belt Road Booger, which Ball is actually credited with naming. Years ago, lawmen and emergency personnel were flooded with reports of a large, hairy, two-legged critter roaming the Belt Road area on Newnan's west side, scaring folks half to death.
A reporter was on hand when Ball visited a woman who claimed to have sighted the beast. Ball was asked if he thought there was any substance to the stories.
"I don't know," Ball replied, "but I sure am tired of chasing boogers up and down Belt Road.'
The next day's Times-Herald headline screamed, "Belt Road Booger." And a legend was born.
Ball believes the original booger was a man, now deceased, who was very large and a bit strange and shy about being seen walking down the local roads. When cars approached he would duck into a ditch, then reappear and continue his trek to nowhere. He wore a water faucet handle around his neck, Ball reported, and was totally harmless, if a bit eccentric.
"He would have provoked a few questions," Ball said. "No doubt about it."
But not all locals share Ball's belief. One woman claiming to have had a Belt Road Booger encounter reported that the beast had actually come up onto her porch and eaten her flowers right out of the clay pots. Other rumors regarding the Booger's identity are still tossed about in local barber shops, beauty parlors and liquor stores.
But rumors regarding Bigfoot in Georgia are not as rare as one might think. Research shows that not only have Bigfoot-type creatures been spotted in Georgia over the years, some have been spotted less 50 miles from the Coweta County Courthouse.
A 2003 story in the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald recounts the story of Steve Hyde, of Griffin, Ga., whose hobby was searching for Bigfoot in central and south Georgia. In 1999, the story says, after locals reported barn damage and disappearing animals, Hyde and a friend, former law enforcement officer James Akin, began a search of Elkins Creek, which flows into the Flint River in Pike County south of Griffin.
They were astonished to find a huge footprint measuring 17.5 inches in length, according to the Banner-Herald story. They were more astonished when a plaster cast of the print was sent off to be tested.
The cast was examined by Dr. Jeff Meldrum, of the Department of Biological Science at Idaho State University in Pocatello, who has studied literally hundreds of Bigfoot sightings over the years. The print, according to the news report, was also examined by J.H. Chilcutt, identified as a fingerprint examiner with the Conroe, Texas, police department.
Chilcutt, like Meldrum, had examined other suspected Bigfoot artifacts in an attempt to determine their origin, according to the story. The report from Chilcutt to Meldrum ended by saying, "The Elkins Creek Cast is that of an unknown primate."
The story also reported two other Georgia sightings, one near Augusta in 1979 and another from a retired Clarke County sheriff's deputy who claimed to have seen a Bigfoot-like critter just outside Athens while investigating a nuisance call.
Although law enforcement officials were involved with both the Elkins Creek and Athens incidents, local lawpersons have not yet encountered such a creature, according to Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager.
"We haven't heard a thing," said Yeager. "But our office is prepared for anything; and if Bigfoot shows up, we'll deal with it."
Yeager added some of the biggest feet he had ever seen belong to Coweta County Deputy Sheriff John LaChance. Yeager was confident LaChance was not involved in the latest incident.
Most Bigfoot sightings occur near a stream or other body of water. Lake Redwine, located on Happy valley Circle, offers enough water to support a large Bigfoot population; but so far, Lake Redwine residents have not reported seeing large, hairy creatures who were not registered property owners.
A possible indication of an environmental intruder is a recently-noted shortage of armadillos in the area. Armadillos are suspected to be a favorite food of Bigfeet. A Happy Valley Circle resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times-Herald, "I used to dodge armadillos every week just driving home from work. But I haven't seen one since St. Patrick's Day."
In researching this article, e-mails were sent to several groups which gather information on Georgia Bigfoot sightings. The Bigfoot Research Organization website (bfro.net) provides a map showing geographic distribution of Bigfoot sightings in the U.S. Although Washington, Oregon and northern California lead with hundreds of sightings each, 22 Bigfoot sightings were reported in Georgia through the end of 2003.
The Chattahoochee Bigfoot Organization website (chattahoocheebigfoot.org) reports a possible Bigfoot sighting in March 2005, in Harris County, GA, between Coweta and Columbus.
Samuel Rich, of Georgia Bigfoot (georgia bigfoot.com) e-mailed to say that, to his knowledge, this was the first Bigfoot sighting in Coweta. But Rich said he was rechecking old news reports to make sure something hadn't been overlooked.
Coweta residents take heed. Bigfoot experts say that in Georgia, though they might be rare, they might also be there. So take care.
And take some pictures. For some stories, words just aren't enough.
Booger or Snipe?
(Written by Will Blair, originally appearing in the Newnan Times-Herald on June 4, 2001)
Fate found me in a compromising position in the woods last week, and she had to have laughed.
It was nighttime and the half-moon half lit the evening sky. I had been traveling by country roads when it hit me that I needed to stop somewhere quickly. I won't supply the details but, needless to say, when you gotta go...
A gas station wasn't available, and I've always felt comfortable in the great outdoors.
I parked my truck roadside and tripped my way deep -- way deep -- into the brush, as I am fairly private about such matters. It was moments into the fact that I heard and briefly saw something startling.
Prepare yourself, but I think it was a snipe. Yeah, I know, snipes are mythical creatures, created by generations upon generations of hunters to initiate apprentice hunters into the ranks and to create laughing stocks out of those who know little of the outdoors. But myths are rooted in some form of reality and a snipe, like mythology, comes in many forms. It's a shape-shifter, as witnessed by millions of gun-toting types. Some hunters, depending on the level of alcohol in their blood at a campsite on the night before a good hunting, speak of the snipe's sharp teeth and powerful tail, which is used for striking. Others articulate about the creature's great speed. Following many years of storytelling, a snipe can weigh anywhere from 10 pounds to 1,500 pounds. It can lope around on four feet, or it can travel upright on two. Some snipes have pouches to carry their young, and some have trunks that drag across the ground. Others can shoot flames from their gnarled claws.
Years ago, at a zoo in Washington D.C. , I was in awe of a white tiger. It was much more massive than your average tiger. When it breathed, as it sucked oxygen into its massive, heaving lungs, you could feel the atmosphere shift.
On this night, as I was concluding my stop in the woods, I similarly felt the wind shift suddenly (no pun intended). Something powerful was present. I heard breathing. Dry, throaty breathing -- and it wasn't lovebirds.
I turned and spotted a shadow moving among the bushes. It didn't appear to be a bear, nor was it a raccoon or any other traditional nighttime creature. And no, it wasn't the Blair Witch, the Belk Road Booger or Izzy the Whatizit (but it might have been blue, which would explain its difficulty with breathing). I couldn't tell precisely how it traveled, but it moved both gracefully and awkwardly at the same time. Or should I say it ambled, with an awkward grace.
I thought I counted six legs and two heads. If I'm not mistaken, its eyes glowed and liquid fire dripped from what could have been a snout. But by the time I got a good bead on it, it had discovered me, shrieked, and galloped-hopped-scurried in the other direction. With an awkward grace.
As much as my curiosity was perked, its banshee cry encouraged me to conclude my visit. Calmly, of course. Today, my memory only serves to try to identify a shadow of sorts, with super-heated snot. Again though, it appeared to have six legs and two heads. Or was it six heads and two legs? I've looked through all kinds of books on mammals, reptiles and Boris Vallejo paintings to try to identify it. No luck. Therefore, it must be a snipe.
Laugh if you will, but I plan on returning to that spot in the woods and await the return of the beast, even if it takes all night. I'll take my camera and my .22 with me, and I'll prove all those stories true. The joke will be on all those who thought the mysterious snipe merely a rumor.
I wonder if it really tastes like chicken.
Fate found me in a compromising position in the woods last week, and she had to have laughed.
It was nighttime and the half-moon half lit the evening sky. I had been traveling by country roads when it hit me that I needed to stop somewhere quickly. I won't supply the details but, needless to say, when you gotta go...
A gas station wasn't available, and I've always felt comfortable in the great outdoors.
I parked my truck roadside and tripped my way deep -- way deep -- into the brush, as I am fairly private about such matters. It was moments into the fact that I heard and briefly saw something startling.
Prepare yourself, but I think it was a snipe. Yeah, I know, snipes are mythical creatures, created by generations upon generations of hunters to initiate apprentice hunters into the ranks and to create laughing stocks out of those who know little of the outdoors. But myths are rooted in some form of reality and a snipe, like mythology, comes in many forms. It's a shape-shifter, as witnessed by millions of gun-toting types. Some hunters, depending on the level of alcohol in their blood at a campsite on the night before a good hunting, speak of the snipe's sharp teeth and powerful tail, which is used for striking. Others articulate about the creature's great speed. Following many years of storytelling, a snipe can weigh anywhere from 10 pounds to 1,500 pounds. It can lope around on four feet, or it can travel upright on two. Some snipes have pouches to carry their young, and some have trunks that drag across the ground. Others can shoot flames from their gnarled claws.
Years ago, at a zoo in Washington D.C. , I was in awe of a white tiger. It was much more massive than your average tiger. When it breathed, as it sucked oxygen into its massive, heaving lungs, you could feel the atmosphere shift.
On this night, as I was concluding my stop in the woods, I similarly felt the wind shift suddenly (no pun intended). Something powerful was present. I heard breathing. Dry, throaty breathing -- and it wasn't lovebirds.
I turned and spotted a shadow moving among the bushes. It didn't appear to be a bear, nor was it a raccoon or any other traditional nighttime creature. And no, it wasn't the Blair Witch, the Belk Road Booger or Izzy the Whatizit (but it might have been blue, which would explain its difficulty with breathing). I couldn't tell precisely how it traveled, but it moved both gracefully and awkwardly at the same time. Or should I say it ambled, with an awkward grace.
I thought I counted six legs and two heads. If I'm not mistaken, its eyes glowed and liquid fire dripped from what could have been a snout. But by the time I got a good bead on it, it had discovered me, shrieked, and galloped-hopped-scurried in the other direction. With an awkward grace.
As much as my curiosity was perked, its banshee cry encouraged me to conclude my visit. Calmly, of course. Today, my memory only serves to try to identify a shadow of sorts, with super-heated snot. Again though, it appeared to have six legs and two heads. Or was it six heads and two legs? I've looked through all kinds of books on mammals, reptiles and Boris Vallejo paintings to try to identify it. No luck. Therefore, it must be a snipe.
Laugh if you will, but I plan on returning to that spot in the woods and await the return of the beast, even if it takes all night. I'll take my camera and my .22 with me, and I'll prove all those stories true. The joke will be on all those who thought the mysterious snipe merely a rumor.
I wonder if it really tastes like chicken.
Booger Is Sighted At Sargent
(From the Thursday, Aug. 23 1979 edition of the Newnan Times-Herald newspaper.)
Only one sighting of the Belt Road Booger has been reported this week, according to Coweta County Sheriff Aaron Massey.
Tuesday the sheriff's department received a call that the creature had been spotted in the Sargent area. The caller did not leave her name, however.
A car was sent to the scene, but nothing was found.
"We're not hearing anything right now," Sheriff Massey said. Newnan Police Chief Jerry Helton reported no calls about "booger sightings" during the past week.
Local game warden Walt Taylor said that traps from the Game Management Division of the Georgia Game and Fish Commission have not yet arrived.
"We're having so many complaints, it's hard to know where to put the things," Taylor said.
"There's no use putting the traps out" unless the location of the creature can be pinpointed within two miles, Taylor added.
Scott Massey of Atlanta has spent several mornings this week looking for the booger near Belt Road and Meadowview subdivision where it had been sighted earlier.
Massey, who said he learned of the booger by reading the Times-Herald, decided to spend his vacation in Coweta County searching for the elusive being.
One morning "a pack of dogs was chasing something that was crashing through the woods, but I never did see what it was. That's about it," he said.
Only one sighting of the Belt Road Booger has been reported this week, according to Coweta County Sheriff Aaron Massey.
Tuesday the sheriff's department received a call that the creature had been spotted in the Sargent area. The caller did not leave her name, however.
A car was sent to the scene, but nothing was found.
"We're not hearing anything right now," Sheriff Massey said. Newnan Police Chief Jerry Helton reported no calls about "booger sightings" during the past week.
Local game warden Walt Taylor said that traps from the Game Management Division of the Georgia Game and Fish Commission have not yet arrived.
"We're having so many complaints, it's hard to know where to put the things," Taylor said.
"There's no use putting the traps out" unless the location of the creature can be pinpointed within two miles, Taylor added.
Scott Massey of Atlanta has spent several mornings this week looking for the booger near Belt Road and Meadowview subdivision where it had been sighted earlier.
Massey, who said he learned of the booger by reading the Times-Herald, decided to spend his vacation in Coweta County searching for the elusive being.
One morning "a pack of dogs was chasing something that was crashing through the woods, but I never did see what it was. That's about it," he said.
Belt Road Booger Is Seen Again
(From the Newnan Times-Herald, Thursday, Aug. 16, 1979, pg. 1)
At least one sighting of the "Belt Road Booger" has been reported since last week.
Mrs. Nancy Jackson, who lives in Meadowview subdivision near Arnco, said that when she was arriving home from work Tuesday morning at about 7:00 a.m. she saw "the ugliest looking thing I've ever seen."
She said that the booger was on her patio when she drove in the driveway. "I was just thinking, 'This couldn't be happening to me," she said.
She described the animal as standing between four and five feet tall and it was covered with black hair and a tail "like a beaver's, but it's bushy," Mrs. Jackson said.
It had "a face like a dog," she said.
The creature "dug in my flowers and tried to kill my flowers (calladiums)," according to Mrs. Jackson. "Nobody can tell me I didn't see that thing," she said.
One person, who requested to remain anonymous, reported that the creature has been seen for around nine years in the Belt Road - Smokey Road area.
The booger has been heard "bellowing" in the area, the person said.
Two dogs found mangled in the woods and some chickens killed when they were bitten in the back have been attributed to the booger by the source, but there are no reports of the animal harming humans.
Dogs reportedly cower on the porch in the area when the animal is around.
"I'm afraid to let my children go out in those woods now," the source said.
A brother of the person, who also requested that his name be witheld, recalls an incident seven or eight years ago involving the booger.
He and his brother were riding in the Wallace Gray - Ishman Ballard Road area in the early morning. As they rounded a curve, they saw a large animal the size of a cow standing on its hind legs.
"At first I thought it was a cow standing on its hind legs," he said.
As they approached it, the animal got down on all fours, crossed the road, and was last seen "going through a field, a sort of marshy looking place," he added.
Coweta County Sheriff Aaron Massey confirmed rumors that traps will be placed in the area where the "monster" has been sighted.
Local game warden Walt Taylor will be putting out traps, but will capture the entire body of the animal, Massey said.
Massey, Taylor, and members of both the sheriff's department and the Newnan City Police Department have walked through the area and seen nothing, according to the sheriff.
The only tracks seen were dog tracks, according to Taylor.
At least one sighting of the "Belt Road Booger" has been reported since last week.
Mrs. Nancy Jackson, who lives in Meadowview subdivision near Arnco, said that when she was arriving home from work Tuesday morning at about 7:00 a.m. she saw "the ugliest looking thing I've ever seen."
She said that the booger was on her patio when she drove in the driveway. "I was just thinking, 'This couldn't be happening to me," she said.
She described the animal as standing between four and five feet tall and it was covered with black hair and a tail "like a beaver's, but it's bushy," Mrs. Jackson said.
It had "a face like a dog," she said.
The creature "dug in my flowers and tried to kill my flowers (calladiums)," according to Mrs. Jackson. "Nobody can tell me I didn't see that thing," she said.
One person, who requested to remain anonymous, reported that the creature has been seen for around nine years in the Belt Road - Smokey Road area.
The booger has been heard "bellowing" in the area, the person said.
Two dogs found mangled in the woods and some chickens killed when they were bitten in the back have been attributed to the booger by the source, but there are no reports of the animal harming humans.
Dogs reportedly cower on the porch in the area when the animal is around.
"I'm afraid to let my children go out in those woods now," the source said.
A brother of the person, who also requested that his name be witheld, recalls an incident seven or eight years ago involving the booger.
He and his brother were riding in the Wallace Gray - Ishman Ballard Road area in the early morning. As they rounded a curve, they saw a large animal the size of a cow standing on its hind legs.
"At first I thought it was a cow standing on its hind legs," he said.
As they approached it, the animal got down on all fours, crossed the road, and was last seen "going through a field, a sort of marshy looking place," he added.
Coweta County Sheriff Aaron Massey confirmed rumors that traps will be placed in the area where the "monster" has been sighted.
Local game warden Walt Taylor will be putting out traps, but will capture the entire body of the animal, Massey said.
Massey, Taylor, and members of both the sheriff's department and the Newnan City Police Department have walked through the area and seen nothing, according to the sheriff.
The only tracks seen were dog tracks, according to Taylor.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Strange Creature Seen Here
(From The Newnan Times-Herald, Aug. 9, 1979, pg. 1)
Move over, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman and the Loch Ness Monster -- make room for the Belt Road Booger!
There have been several reports of a "monster" being sighted on Belt Road near the intersection of West Washington Street in the past week.
"It was dark. It stands about five feet tall. It's big across the chest. Its eyes look like diamonds at night when you shine a light on them," Mrs. Mary Strozier said in describing the monster.
The creature is reported to have a face like a monkey and a long bushy tail. Mrs. Strozier's children saw the creature Thursday night.
"The kids were out in the yard, and they came in hollering for me to see it," she said.
Mrs. Strozier said that she was afraid, but went into the yard anyway. She saw the monster, which is reported to stand upright, standing near the home of her father-in-law, Robert Strozier.
Robert Strozier said that he had not seen anything at all.
When Mrs. Strozier and her children saw the creature, "We ran. We didn't stay, we ran," she said.
Newnan Police Chief Jerry Helton investigated the incident but found nothing. He checked on tracks reportedly made by the monster on a creek bank near the Strozier residence.
"I couldn't tell what made them. They could have been made by a big dog," Helton said.
"It must be scared of lots of lights," Mrs. Strozier said. "As soon as the police left, that thing came back."
Although Mrs. Strozier has seen the Coweta county creature only at night, her son, Mark, 13, has seen it during the day.
He described it as looking "kind of like a gorilla," and having eyes like silver.
The monster is alleged to have eaten the inside of an apple, leaving only the peeling, and to have bitten a hunk out of an ear of corn. It is also supposed to have climbed into a barn in the neighborhood, and some local children have speculated that he sleeps in some junked cars in the woods near Belt Road.
Move over, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman and the Loch Ness Monster -- make room for the Belt Road Booger!
There have been several reports of a "monster" being sighted on Belt Road near the intersection of West Washington Street in the past week.
"It was dark. It stands about five feet tall. It's big across the chest. Its eyes look like diamonds at night when you shine a light on them," Mrs. Mary Strozier said in describing the monster.
The creature is reported to have a face like a monkey and a long bushy tail. Mrs. Strozier's children saw the creature Thursday night.
"The kids were out in the yard, and they came in hollering for me to see it," she said.
Mrs. Strozier said that she was afraid, but went into the yard anyway. She saw the monster, which is reported to stand upright, standing near the home of her father-in-law, Robert Strozier.
Robert Strozier said that he had not seen anything at all.
When Mrs. Strozier and her children saw the creature, "We ran. We didn't stay, we ran," she said.
Newnan Police Chief Jerry Helton investigated the incident but found nothing. He checked on tracks reportedly made by the monster on a creek bank near the Strozier residence.
"I couldn't tell what made them. They could have been made by a big dog," Helton said.
"It must be scared of lots of lights," Mrs. Strozier said. "As soon as the police left, that thing came back."
Although Mrs. Strozier has seen the Coweta county creature only at night, her son, Mark, 13, has seen it during the day.
He described it as looking "kind of like a gorilla," and having eyes like silver.
The monster is alleged to have eaten the inside of an apple, leaving only the peeling, and to have bitten a hunk out of an ear of corn. It is also supposed to have climbed into a barn in the neighborhood, and some local children have speculated that he sleeps in some junked cars in the woods near Belt Road.
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