Nearest City: White Pine not far from Nina Lake
Closest Road: Hwy 113
I do not want my name released. Mom never saw it but something 2 footed
followed her every footstep when she had a garden next to the woods. Just
tonight my younger half-brother told me about he and some friends hearing the
bone chilling sound that I described. The year after the sighting we had
many rabbits where the lids were raised and the rabbits taken, only pools of
fur were left on a trail made through woods that joined the ones we saw it
at. I still don't know what took them but when it came our dogs wouldn't go
to the porch away from the barn and tremble with fear.
My cousin and I sat on the barn several times when the dogs acted afraid
with guns, heard the foot steps, but it never showed itself. We eventually
shot at something one night that was black and hairy and almost the size of
a Black Angus cow I had. After 2 rounds fired my cousin ran throwing down
his rifle. While I didn't throw down mine, I was right behind him and only
got off 2 shots myself. We both claimed to hit it, but it didn't seem to do
anything to it. It was standing upright, but far enough away it could have
been a bear, even though we don't usually get them here. We were using 22
caliper rifles. I eventually turned loose what was left of my rabbits since
I couldn't stop it. Whatever it was it couldn't catch them when they were on
the ground. All the above occurred in a sparse populated area, mostly
woodland. The lake was about ¾ a mile or less from each sighting, except
for the swamp devil. I never saw or heard the swamp devil, just heard people
from I think New Market talking about it.
Standing in a ditch this thing was at least 2 feet taller than I was. I was
5' 10" back then. The ditch was at least 2 - 3 feet deep. I'd say it was about
3½ - 4 feet wide, large head. Covered with 1 - 2 inch hair, dark colored.
He stood upright. Other than that I was so scared that is all I actually
noticed. Later in life I heard they had red eyes but I was so scared I
couldn't say. I was a farm boy and still to this day I hate to admit that I
was that scared.
Years ago, while out on a date my girlfriend and I were parking on the side
of the back road at the beginning of what has been called the haunted woods.
We went there alot in front of an entrance to land my family owned to park.
The road was a back road seldom traveled back then. We are not far from the
Great Smoky Mountains, about a 20-minute drive. I got out to answer the
"call of nature" and I went to the side of the vehicle so my date could not
see me. I felt someone looking at me so I turned around to see. There in a
ditch stood a big hairy man-like something looking at me. It never made a
move or a sound that I can remember, just the size and the look of him
scared me. I'm not easily scared but I was so scared that I couldn't move. I
remember thinking if I ignore it maybe it will leave. My date in order to
aggravate me hit the brake lights, again I looked back and it was still
there, only lit up. When I finished I looked back a third time and it was
gone. After I returned to the inside of the car, my date was smiling and
said, "I saw you standing back there." I quickly asked her to point out
where and she pointed to the rear of the car. I said that it wasn't me. She
laughed and asked if I was standing on a stump. I quickly started up the car
and took off.
The next day we returned to the exact area to show her where she pointed,
there wasn't a stump, but a ditch about 2 - 3 feet deep. She was puzzled but
to this day I don't know if she believed it wasn't me. When I told people
about it I was made fun of. I couldn't honestly tell you any specific
features other than it was standing in a ditch, over 3 foot wide and at
least 8-9 feet tall. It never made any threatening gestures or sounds, it
didn't have to.
Over the years there were may other sightings and at one town a few miles
from here they called something with red eyes the swamp devil, even though
it was actually a bog, I never saw it. When people would try and tell me
about stuff like that I wouldn't tell the story I just told unless they
convinced me they were serious. Many of the adults use to go fishing down at
Nina Lake. My cousin and I would go on motorcycle and meet them down there.
There was a bone-chilling scream one night from across the water. I remember
the adults hunted a lot and asked what it was. They didn't know but we all
packed up our stuff and never returned. The adults left first but they
seemed to know more than they were telling. I never saw my uncle scared of
anything except that night. Everything is quiet these last 15 or so years,
but then again there are many houses now and fewer types of woodland left.
Name and phone number withheld but available to known researchers in the
Tennessee area.
REMOTE_HOST: 17.knoxville-03-04rs.tn.dial-access.att.net
REMOTE_ADDR: 12.77.85.17
REMOTE_USER: withheld - Sunday, December 31, 2000 at 20:54:11
