DATE:     7/22/02

TIME:      5:00-5:30 a.m.

LOCATION:  Mingo/Logan County Line, West Virginia

TERRAIN:     Mountains
 

OBSERVED:   This story was relayed to me by my brother.  He is an ex-airborne ranger.  We're both truck drivers.  He came home the other night and he was not himself.  He was concentrating hard on something.  I asked him what was wrong?  He said he saw something this morning and he didn't know what it was. Now when we aren't in coal trucks we're in the hills or at the lakes. We were raised running these hills. When he said he didn't know what it was it peaked my curiosity?

He said he was on the haul road in a strait stretch. He saw something move in his head lights at the end of the strait stretch. He thought it was a deer or bear (this job is covered with deer) so he slowed down to a crawl to watch it and see how big it was.  When he got closer he saw it wasn't a deer, maybe a bear.  He said when he got about 50 yds. he could see it wasn't the right color for a black bear. We used to deer hunt in a black bear preserve, so we know very well what they look like. So when he got about 20 yds. away, he stopped and was watching it.  He said it was squatted down like i do when i'm deer hunting. He said it stood up (that's what threw him off), looked at the truck a few seconds. He blew the airhorns and it just turned and walked off. He said now go ahead  and laugh at me.

I told him no.  I've seen things like that on other surface mines but i never told anyone because they would think you were crazy around here. I worked on a surface mine on mystery mountain in ragland,wv. when i saw it one of the few times. It was crossing the haul road when i rounded the curve i saw it in the headlights. It cleared 30ft. in a few steps and up into a cow pasture in a few steps. I slammed on the breaks and went wild on the cb about what i saw. An older man (big mike) told me to be quiet and wait on him. We got out and he told me that what i had seen had been there since he had worked there. He told me to keep my mouth shut because the bosses and other truck drivers would make fun of me like they did him. A few days later there was a state trooper asking questions about any of us seeing anyone going into the cow pastures.  We said no, and asked why? He said someone had killed one of the man's cows and mutilated it.  I just said no and went and got in my jeep.
I've seen something on a few more jobs and strip mines but i've never told anyone til my brother told me that and i found this sight. Maybe someone else will see this and post something.

ACTIVITIES OF WITNESSES: truck drivers hauling coal off a surface mine

DESCRIPTION OF CREATURE:
(Brother saw: tall, hairy and sat squatted then stood erect and walked away on 2 feet.
This one of a few times for me: ran erect like a man with unbelievable long strides,

OTHER NOTES: haul roads are easy traveling through the mountains. Just step off the side of the road and you're down into the woods
 

OTHER SIGHTINGS IN THIS AREA:   yes, i will post it later. i don't have time right now