DATE:              04-15-86

TIME:               8:00  P.M.

LOCATION:     Spruce Pine, North Carolina, Madison County

TERRAIN:        Wooded
 

OBSERVED:    Well, it was about 8:30 pm and me and some friends were camping at a place called the hoot owl mines right off highway 19 E,  and I guess the reason we were there was that was the place to go during the times.  I was young,  unmarried and with my girlfriend sitting in my 1973 Matador and I was sitting in the drivers side and my girlfriend was sitting in the passenger side, when a friend of mine named XXX XXXXX said XXXXXX give me your pistol, and I said why Shawn boy( that was his nickname), Whats going on?  He said just hand it to me.  We had a fire going in front of my car and in front of that was a pop tent only about three people could sleep in it, but a couple of us made provisions to sleep in the car. So without thinking I reached in my glovebox and handed him my small 22 pistol. but when he started to move backwards, I thought somethin was wrong, cause he don't spook for nothing.  He yelled XXXXX, XXXXXX look and off in the woods about 30 feet away we all saw a big red eye!

I know you must be thinking , boy he's lost it. But I swear there it stood to dark to see the outline of whatever it was but from what I figure looked it must of stood about 8 foot tall, well then when I saw that I remembered the old legend of the screecher,  what was an old wive's tale of an elderly lady that just disappeared one night in the early 1800s, and was accused of being a witch, but when she was never found, there was a rumor of her selling her soul to the devil and in return he changed her into half cat and half witch.  Well when XXX started to back up his trigger finger trembling as he pointed into blackness, he suddenly pulled the trigger, we heard an ungodly scream and what appeared as if the woods were on fire aquathump noise which lasted about 30 seconds an then there was silence. Then XXXXXX started to scream and I jumped out of the car and grabbed the pop tent and crammed it into the small back space of my matador.

We got the heck out of there as fast  as we could, but was still curious enough to get hi powered rifles and return. only to find nothing so I thought I would share this experience with you hoping in return to get a little piece of mind, because I still think of the episode as if it were yesterday.  We returned about an hour later and found absolutely nothin, not even a trace of blood.
 

ACTIVITIES OF WITNESS(ES):    Camping out
 

DESCRIPTION OF CREATURE:  Was pitch dark and the only thing I observed besides the sounds was the red eye which looked from a distance like maybe three inches wide, but still not sure.

OTHER NOTES:  All people involved were completely freaked. That night there was no alcohol so halloucinations couldn't  play a factor.
 

Follow up: fa

OTHER SIGHTINGS IN THIS AREA?: No.