In the summer of 1955, a series of reports came from the South of Georgia, sometimes describing a "kangaroo," a "ghost," a "Man from Mars", " or a "gorilla." The reports were mostly confined in the local newspapers, but one of the stories made the United States news services.
A jeep driver of the Forestry Units of the State of Georgia, Joseph Whaley, aged 20, in the afternoon of August 1, 1955, was busy cutting weeds around "Keep Our Country Green" panels of the Forestry Unit near Kinchafoonee creek right at the edge of the road from Bronwood to Smithville in Terrell county, South-west Georgia.
At approximately 03:00 p.m. or 03:30 p.m., he heard what he thought was a wild pig at the edge of the wood. Hw went to check it out, and a "thing" jumped at him, it seemed to be approximately 6 feet tall or 6 feet long, and to weigh 300 to 400 pounds. Its body was covered of stiff gray hair. Whaley said it "looked like a gorilla" bit was definitely not a gorilla", and it had long pointed ears, hairy hands, long claws, black skin in the palm of its hands, and long tusk-like teeth.
Whaley struck it three times with his sling, but the thing kept coming at him, so he fled to his jeep on a side road, with the "thing" after him breathing down his neck. He said:
"Just as I was about to start the motor, the 'thing' tried to grab him in his arms and tore off a shirt sleeve and scratched me."
Whaley went out of the jeep on the other side and started running, eventually the "thing" dropped the matter.
The "thing" was later called a "Bigfoot", ufologists told about it in UFO literature, and it even became an entry of a "UFO causing vehicle interferences" catalogue in a professional scientific journal.
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[Ref. mr1:] MARK RODEGHIER:
CUFOS director Mark Rodeghier indicates in a catalog of UFO sightings with vehicle interferences that on August 3, 1955, in Bronwood, near Dawson, Georgia, USA, a UFO was seen, after which the engine of a jeep stalled and a strange, hairy, six foot-tall entity came near. It attempted to attack the witnesses, but was driven off.
Mark Rodeghier indicates that the source is Orbit, Volume 2, N.7.
[Ref. jb1:] JANET AND COLIN BORD:
In their book about the Bigfoot, these authors list that on 1 Aug. 1955, near Kinchafoonee Creek on the Bronwood-Smithville Highway, Georgia, Joseph Whaley, a man cutting grass, fought Bigfoot with scythe.
They indicate that the sources are Isabel Davis and Ted Bloecher, Close Encounter at Kelly and Others Of 1955 (Center for UFO Studies, 1978) pp 170-177; which has the best report and analysis; and also the Evansville Press, Georgia, for August 4, 1955, quoted in Green, "Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us", pp 215-16.
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Bronwood, Georgia, on August 1, 1955, at an unknown time, Joseph Whaley, 20, while cutting roadside grass, saw a 6-foot "gorilla" coming towards him, covered with shaggy gray hair and with tusk like teeth; it grunted like a pig. Whaley struck it with his scythe and then ran to this jeep, but it pursued him and clawed him, ripping his shirt and scratching his shoulder. It moved "in a lumbering and slow moving" manner.
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is Ted Bloecher and Humcat 1955-14.
[Ref. sm1:] DWIGHT G. SMITH AND GARY S. MANGIACOPRA:
The authors indicate that in the summer of 1955, a series of Bigfoot reports came from the South of Georgia, sometimes describing a "kangaroo," a "ghost," a "Man from Mars", " or a "gorilla." The reports were in the local newspapers in Georgia, but one of the stories made the United States news services:
A jeep driver of the Forestry Units of the State of Georgia, Joseph Whaley, aged 20, in the afternoon of Monday, August 1, 1955, was busy cutting weed around "Keep Our Country Green" panels of the Forestry Unit near Kinchafoonee creek right at the edge of the road from Bronwood to Smithville in Terrell county, South-west Georgia.
While cutting the weed with a scythe, at approximately 03:00 p.m. or 03:30 p.m., he heard what he thought was a wild pig at the edge of the wood. Leaving his workplace to check it out, a saw a "thing" that jumped at him, it seemed to be approximately 6 feet tall, and to weigh 300 to 400 pounds, and its body was covered of stiff gray hair.
The authors quote Whaley, according to an anonymous article headlined "Forester Is Attacked By Mysterious 'Thing'" in the newspaper The Dawson News, Georgia, for August 4, 1955, page 1, columns 1-3:
"It looked like a gorilla except for its long, pointed ears. It had hairy hands, long claws, black skin in the palm of its hands, and long tusk-like teeth."
"I struck it three times with my sling-twice on the left arm and once in the chest, but he kept coming at me. I ran to my jeep on a side road near the negro church and he followed me to it."
"Just as I was about to start the motor, he tried to grab me in his arms and tore off a shirt sleeve and scratched me."
"I could feel him breathing down my neck and just when he grabbed for me, I lunged out of the jeep on the other side and started running."
"The best way I can describe it, is that it looks like a gorilla but definitely is not a gorilla."
The authors indicate that Whaley made a wide circle through the woods before finally outdistancing this creature and returning to the jeep, admitting later that he never knew before that he could run so fast.
He then told his employer, Forest Ranger Jim Bowen, of the encounter, and Bowen went into the woods where Whaley was attacked and found a trail and that "very definitely something was there that looked like a large object," confirming Whaley's account of something unexplainable being in the region between the towns of Dawson and Americus.
The field investigators supposed that no matter what that was, it must have left the premises immediately afterwards, and the local families living very close as well as the Bronwood residents did not report any strange noise or strange observation of anything.
The authors indicate that this report is now tardily identified as being the oldest known "close encounter" with a small Bigfoot.
[Ref. bf1:] "BIGFOOT FACT OR FANTASY?" WEBSITE:
This website indicates that on August 1, 1955, near Kinchafoonee Creek on Bronwood-Smithville Highway, Georgia, USA, Joseph Whaley, a man cutting grass, fought Bigfoot with scythe.
the source is said to be data from "Chronological List of Bigfoot Sightings (1818-1980)" in "The Bigfoot Casebook", Janet and Colin Bord, 1982, Granada Publishing.
[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on August 1, 1955, in Bronwood, Georgia, USA, Joseph Whaley, 20, while cutting roadside grass, saw a 6-foot "gorilla" coming towards him, covered with shaggy gray hair and with tusk like teeth; it grunted like a pig. Whaley struck it with his scythe and then ran to this jeep, but it pursued him and clawed him, ripping his shirt and scratching his shoulder. It moved "in a lumbering and slow moving" manner.
The website comments that "an unidentified object at close range and its occupants were observed by one male 20-year-old witness in a forest for a few seconds (Whaley, Joseph). One 6-foot-tall hairy pongid, wearing naked, was seen."
The website indicates that the sources are Webb, David, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports; Contact U.K.; Stringfield, Leonard H. CRIFO Newsletter and CRIFO Orbit; Bloecher, Ted R., Ted R Bloecher investigation files; Eberhart, George M., A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies, Greenwood Press, Westport, 1980; Rosales, Albert S., Humanoid Contact Database; Rodeghier, Mark, UFO Reports Involving Vehicle Interference, CUFOS, Chicago, 1981; Newspaper Clippings; Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Redwood City, 2002.
People who defend the notion that "Bigfoot" really exists might find in this case a testimony in this direction, they can give it credibility and the reliability as they wish.
Personally, although I do not see how I could firmly prove anything, I do not refuse to consider that Joseph Whaley might have been attacked by a wild boar, that he might not have recognized clearly as such in the panic of the attack and the escape that followed, or because of his inexperience with wild animals. Of course, it was him who started the fight by going to check out the wild pig noises - wild boars do not like very much to be checked out. But perhaps Bigfoot exists after all, I do not have a clue about that.
What on the other hand does appear obvious to me is that it was very clearly an animal, and that there was absolutely no reason to call it a UFO occupant, from a UFO completely missing in the report anyway.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None. | ||||||||
Probable boar. Not UFO-related.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | February 20, 2008 | Creation, [mr1], [jb1], [ar1], [sm1], [bf1], [ud1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 20, 2008 | First published. |
