Monsters are Real!

There must be something about the Texas winters. During January and February of 1976, citizens of south Texas from the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio were reporting sightings of enormous, flying creatures. The encounters started on New Year’s Day, when two teenage girls in Harlingen observed a man-sized, vulture-like bird leering at them. It apparently left behind some impressive tracks. Within a few days, Brownsville resident Alverco Guajardo had a run in with a winged monster that he said was, “Like a bird, but not,” Guajardo stated that it looked like something, “Not of this world.” A week later, a Raymondville man named Armando Grimaldo was rushed to a hospital, after he claimed he was attacked by a gigantic, bat-like beast that ripped his clothes with its claws. As media outlets around the world spread news of the strange sightings, more eyewitnesses came forward. Some described animals that resembled leathery skinned pterodactyls, including three school teachers on San Antonio’s south side. Things died down significantly after that, but reports occasionally still surface. It has been three years since my first book on the subject was published and I’m very pleased to report that a new publication is on the way, which promises to update my research over that time. Stay tuned for some fascinating new reports! ^v^

My book is available from most major book retailers.

While researching the recent San Antonio Sasquatch flap, it occurred to me that the Alamo City has a notable history of mysterious hominid reports. Beginning in November of 1974, when a man named John Martinez sighted a Bigfoot creature while, rabbit hunting with his friend Rick, on the outskirts of the city. The following year, Sasquatch expert Dr. Grover Krantz received a letter from a gentleman who was fishing at a secluded lake thirty miles north of San Antonio. The man wrote that he had heard a loud splash and when he glanced across the lake, he spotted an eight or nine foot tall creature on top of a limestone cliff. When the man looked through his rifle scope, he could observe that the man-like being was covered in long, gray fur and had a cat-like head. The next day, the man investigated the location where he had seen the thing and found trampled brush, broken branches and an overturned boulder. There were some highly publicized reports which emanated from Kelly Air Force Base on the south side of San Antonio, during the summer of 1976. First, a telephone worker named El Olivarri saw a seven foot, hairy Bigfoot lurking in his backyard one morning. A week later, his next door neighbor Rose Medina heard her dog barking and when she looked out her back door, she was horrified to see a three-foot tall, furry animal sitting on her back porch. Rose estimated that the beast was about as big as a nine year old child and had an apelike appearance. The creature became startled when someone opened up a window and it ran off on two legs. There were other reports of activity in the area for a couple of weeks and then the hysteria seemed to die down. Very recently, I spoke to a young man who confided in me that he encountered a white colored, eight-foot tall Bigfoot about a decade ago, while riding his dirt bike at the intersection of Loop 1604 and Guilbeau Road, on the City’s west side. The witness also noticed a dead pig nearby. In addition, there is a well-documented report from 2005, which details how a couple who were cleaning a trailer in a newly developed, residential area at Interstate 10 and Bandera Road. At first, they both heard something banging on the walls of the trailer. When the woman looked outside, she spotted a tall, hairy man beast leering at her from behind a tree. The woman was able to observe that the creature had a pointy, conical-shaped head. All things considered, it would appear that San Antonio must be counted among the places where Bigfoot is said to roam.

A newspaper clipping from 1976, describing Bigfoot reports in the Alamo City

On Tuesday, December 01st, I received news that there had been a Bigfoot report on the west side of San Antonio the previous night. Since that time, I have been involved in an ongoing investigation of the case, which has received quite a bit of publicity. I’ve spent considerable time at the sighting location, which lies a mere twelve miles from my home and have also been allowed access to the original police report. Unfortunately, the eyewitnesses cannot be located, but there is their recorded 911 call, which has been made public. Here’s what we know – Just before midnight, a police officer responded to a call from a homeless woman named Jennifer. The woman and her boyfriend claimed that they had witnessed a huge, hairy, figure on two legs, pick up a dead deer and then carry it away. The couple, who apparently were living in a tent in the woods, also reported that the creature emitted a foul odor and that it made screeching and howling noises as it retreated towards a nearby water tower. The responding officer found the witnesses to appear completely sober and rational, but understandably frightened. He decided not to search for the creature and the police have been reluctant to have any further involvement. The somewhat residential location, which lies near the intersection of Loop 1604 and Highway 151 near Sea World, is wooded and lies next to a water treatment facility. Understandably, the eyewitnesses have since moved out of the area and because the weather has gotten cold and wet in the interim, there is speculation that they could be staying in a nearby homeless shelter. The phone number listed on the police report is bad. It rings a department store, frustrating all attempts to track the couple down and raising more questions than answers. Reporter Joe Conger and I determined that the sighting probably took place at a dump site, where a bag full of food belonging to the eyewitnesses, along with the remnants of an abandoned campfire were left behind. My own searches of the area have revealed no tracks, hair or other evidence and I have not been able to locate any remains of the alleged deer. GCBRO investigator Rick Tullos discovered one track-like impression that was thirteen inches long and I have found a number of animal bones strewn throughout the area and some empty food containers, so a lot of animals are probably drawn to the spot. The local news stations have been running broadcasts about the incident and I have been made aware of two other Bigfoot sightings in the area, within the past decade. There has also been rampant speculation that the culprit could be an escaped monkey from Southwest Research facility (ironically founded by Bigfoot pioneer Tom Slick), based on incidents at a southside body shop where workers encountered an animal resembling a monkey. It goes without saying that Jennifer’s description does not resemble a monkey, nor are monkeys known to carry off deer. On one trip out to the sighting location, I heard some loud, brush popping noises in the woods, but couldn’t pinpoint the source. Less than a week after the report, the area was plowed over by heavy machinery, strange timing indeed.

Location of the San Antonio Sasquatch sighting.

As November draws to a close, I can’t help but to remember Lake Worth Texas’ ‘Goat Man’, which caused quite an uproar during the latter part of 1969. Sadly and ironically researcher Sallie Ann Clarke, author of the classic book – The Lake Worth Monster of Greer Island, Fort Worth Texas, passed away earlier this month. Clarke was an aspiring writer and detective who, like many other residents in Fort Worth had read of the goat man’s exploits, as reported by the local newspaper and reporter (now UFO writer) Jim Marrs. The monster first had been reported by three couples who were parked by the shore of the lake  in early July. They had run into the police department in the middle of the night claiming that, “A scaly, white goat man,” had jumped out of a tree and onto the roof of their car. The following evening, the area was overrun by curiosity seekers and self-proclaimed monster hunters, who were duly rewarded when a hairy, white, manlike creature (presumably Bigfoot), climbed up a cliff overlooking an area known as ‘the Pit’ and thrust a spare tire at a crowd of thirty or so people, causing them to run to their cars and flee. Apparently, there were even some sheriff’s deputies present at the incident, which must rank as one of the most witnessed monster encounters ever. Sallie Ann Clark became a regular among the throng that gathered at the lake for the ensuing months and subsequently penned her now famous book, admittedly mixing in a little fiction to make it more exciting for the readers (something she later regretted after seeing the monster herself). There was even a photograph taken by a business owner named Alan Plaster, which alleged to show the monster, though it was ultimately too out of focus to be conclusive. The last sighting of the beast involved a man named Charles Buchanan, who claimed he was sleeping in the bed of his pickup truck by the lake one November night, when the creature began to drag him to the ground. Thinking quickly, Charles shoved a bag of uneaten chicken into the monster’s mouth. It apparently worked, since the thing lumbered off and dove into the lake, swimming away with the bag of chicken still clenched in its teeth! The events of 1969 were commemorated this past October at the Greer Island Nature Center, at a festival honoring the 40th anniversary of the goat man. For more info about the Lake Worth Monster and recent evidence discovered by investigator Nick Redfern and myself, check out Nick’s excellent book – Memoirs of a Monster Hunter, available at major book retailers.

First, I would like to thank everyone for the kind words and positive feedback that I have received regarding The Real Wolfman, which aired on the History Channel during the week of Halloween. Overall, I think the producers did a nice job addressing lycanthropy and I feel honored to have been involved with such an enduring mystery. Now that I have had time to sit back and digest the show’s impact, I’d like reveal some of the research that did not make the final edit. I regret that the episode did not include our investigation of Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron, a French, feral child who was discovered living in the woods during 1797. Victor’s behavior was reportedly animalistic to say the least. Could some werewolves have been savage, wild humans? Also, I don’t recall if the show truly broached the topic of ergot, which is a grain fungus that can cause hallucinations and other psychosis. There have apparently been entire towns that have succumb to its mind altering symptoms, due to eating infected bread. Could the Beast simply have been a mass hallucination? In addition, there was a torture museum in Marvejols that Duke and I visited. There on display for all to see, were the implements of torture that the inquistion employed in past centuries, in order to keep the masses in line; sound reinforcement that the church’s witch hunts may have had a hand in the ensuing werewolf panic. Also, I regret that the show did not include my visit with French cryptozoologist Jeanne-Jacques Barloy, who was the first investigator to use computers, in order to build a cumulative model of the Beast of Gevaudan. The brilliant Barloy is quite a character and had some memorable moments! Ultimately, I confess that I am still not 100% convinced about the guilt of Jeanne Chastel. I mean, why didn’t anyone ever notice the hyena in Chastel’s care, with so much reward money being offered… and where did a poor, outcast like Chastel acquire a rare animal in the first place? With so many eyewitnesses to the Beast, why didn’t anyone report Chastel prowling the area? I feel a more likely scenario is that there was an escaped hyena running around loose at the time attacking people and also a serial killer who took advantage of the situation. Maybe it was Jeanne Chastel, maybe it wasn’t. The rulership of the time more than likely took advantage as well, in order to scare the legions into submission. Chastel, an excellent hunter, shot the creature and probably embellished the event for selfish reasons. In retrospect, the Beast was the result of composite identity.

250 years later, the Beast of  of Gevaudan is still a world class mystery.

La Beté du Gevaudan - a werewolf for the ages

This Wednesday, October 28th my long awaited werewolf documentary will premiere on the History Channel (9pm EST), with a re-broadcast later that evening and then again on Halloween. For the investigation, I had the distinct pleasure of pairing with one of the top criminologists in the United States and together we traveled to France to look into one of the most famous legends in that nation’s history. La Beté (The Beast) as it became known, was allegedly responsible for a three year killing spree in the mountainous and remote Gevaudan region during the 1760s. Up to 102 victims, mostly children and women may have fallen victim to the monster, which witnesses described as resembling a werewolf. Eventually, the king became concerned and dispatched entire batteries of soldiers to deal with the blood thirsty menace. Hunts were undertaken and many wolves killed. But, in 1767 a hunter named Jean Chastel apparently dispatched the Beast with a lone silver bullet. Whatever became of the creature’s body is still unknown, though it was said to have been paraded around the region before being presented to the king in a smelly and decomposing state. Amazingly, my partner and I were able to reach some startling conclusions about this enduring mystery that spans more than two centuries. Tune in to see the story behind The Real Wolfman!

Famous frame from the Patterson Bigfoot film

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the famous Patterson Bigfoot footage that was filmed at Bluff Creek, California on October 2oth, 1967. Perhaps one of the most recognized film clips in history, it has sparked decades of controversy about whether or not a tall, hairy, humanlike creature could actually exist in North America. Ex rodeo cowboy and Bigfoot enthusiast Roger Patterson and his friend, horse handler Bob Gimlin, were riding along the creek searching for giant, manlike tracks, because they had heard that some had been found in the area a week prior. According to Gimlin, who I’ve had the great honor of meeting twice, the men suddenly rode up on a gigantic, hair covered being that resembled an ape, walking on its hind legs. When Patterson’s mount began to act panicky, Roger jumped from the saddle and drew his small movie camera. As he stumbled toward the retreating creature, Patterson was able to capture it on film for a minute or so. Gimlin dismounted as well and had a rifle at the ready, but had decided not to shoot at the animal unless they were threatened. The two men got the distinct impression that it wouldn’t be wise to follow the brutish monster, which appeared to be a female (based on her pendulous breasts). They did make plaster casts of several footprints that she left behind. Sadly, Patterson died just a couple of years after the film was shot. Reaction to the film at the time was widely skeptical. Most scientists that watched it were in disbelief at what they were seeing, many thinking that it was a man in a costume due to its upright posture. Dr. John Napier, a primate expert at the Smithsonian Institute acknowledged that there was a chance that the footage was genuine and if so, it was one of the most important discoveries in the history of anthropology. Canadian Bigfoot researcher René Dahinden flew to Russia in the early 1970s following Patterson’s death, in order to garner scientific opinions there. The film was subsequently studied at length by scholars Dmitri Bayanov and Igor Bourtsev, as well as a biomechanics expert named Dr. Dmitri Donskoy. All of them concluded that the subject in the film was genuine and displayed a gait that was definitely non-human and yet completely natural. Other scientists who were convinced of its authenticity include the late Dr. Grover Krantz of Washington State University, who agreed that the creature in the film illustrated a bent-knee walk and anatomy that were befitting of a massive hominid with re-designed leverage. Most recently, primate anthropologist Dr. Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University has mad some strong statements in support of its authencticity. Strangely, the one surprising critic of the film is the father of cryptozoology, the late Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans, who felt that it was a fake. Many claims have come forward that the footage was hoaxed by Patterson, but thus far no one has been able to produce the costume. One important thing to point out is that costume technology in 1967 didn’t include muscles and the type of realistic hair flow that the Bigfoot creature in the footage possessed. Even modern attempts to recreate the film, have looked fake in my opinion. Interestingly enough, recreations of ‘Patty’ portray her as having a very human looking face. The bottom line is that the Patterson Bigfoot looks exactly what thousands of eyewitnesses have reported all over the world for decades. To many cryptozoologists, it is the holy grail of photographic evidence. But, the fact that it is still controversial 42 years later, illustrates how difficult it will be to prove Bigfoot exists without an actual physical specimen.

Ken Gerhard was born on Friday, October 13th, 1967 in Lansing, Michigan – exactly one week before the Patterson Bigfoot footage was filmed in California. His parents were Canadian immigrants. While his father worked as a forestry professor, his travel agent mother dazzled him with tales of a strange being known as the Mothman. Growing up as a boy in Minnesota, Ken saw a Tv special about Bigfoot and was enthralled. Soon after, he visited an exhibit at the state fair, which featured a frozen man-like creature known as the Minnesota Iceman. He started to read everything he could on the subject of real monsters. At age nine, his family traveled to South America, where they camped along the Amazon, hiked the Andes and cruised the Galapagos. Ken quickly developed a passion for animals and natural mysteries. His mother subsequently arranged trips to Australia and Switzerland, where Ken was intrigued by stories of legendary creatures like the bunyip and tatzelwurm. By age fifteen, he attempted his first research at Scotland’s Loch Ness, questioning the locals about Nessie, while he patrolled the shores of the lake with a camera. Following a successful music career which spanned fifteen years, Gerhard began doing extensive field work with some of the top Bigfoot researchers in Texas. Traveling across North America, he investigated weird creatures like Wisconsin’s Beast of Bray Road and Ohio’s Loveland Frog. In 2004, Ken led an expedition to the mountains of Belize, in order to search for mystery hominids known as the Dwendi and Sisemite, returning there in 2006. Later that same year, he was featured in the Travel Channel Tv series Legend Hunters. During 2007, Ken’s book – Big Bird! Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters was published. It summarized his years of research into reports of gigantic, birdlike creatures over south Texas. He subsequently appeared on the first season of the series Monster Quest (History Channel), to discuss thunderbirds. In season two, Gerhard was featured in the Monster Quest episode dealing with the mysterious Chupacabra. In 2009, he appeared in an episode about flying humanoids over Mexico, titled Terror From the Sky.

Ken is a noted cryptozoologist and field researcher for the Centre for Fortean Zoology and Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization, as well as being a fellow of the Pangea Institute and a consultant for several paranormal groups. He has investigated reports of monsters and mysterious creatures all over the world including man beasts, lake monsters, the Chupacabra, winged monsters and even werewolves. In addition to appearing on television, he has appeared on numerous, radio and Internet broadcasts. His credits include appearances on Eyewitness News, Coast to Coast and Ireland’s Newstalk Radio, as well as being featured in major books, DVDs and in articles by the Associated Press, Tampa Tribune and Amarillo Edge. Ken is author of the books Big Bird: Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters and Monsters are Real and has written for publications including Animals and Men, The Journal of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club and Bigfoot Times. He has lectured at the Southern Crypto Conference, GhostTechCon, VAPRCon, MUFON meetings and has exhibited at paranormal conferences in Texas, Washington State, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Ken has traveled to twenty-six different countries and has visited forty-three of the states. An avid adventurer, he has visited many ancient and mysterious sites, from Machu Pichu to Stonehenge.