Incident #991814
Mount Holly, Gaston Cty, North Carolina
Jul 1976
Account
Children on Oakland Street in Catawba Heights had claimed that they were chased through a wooded area by a huge black animal. Mrs. Brenda Rudisiall said she saw it, as did her sons, Brian, 7, and Scott, 9. Then Roger Hoffman, sitting on his front steps, looked down a path from his house to a creek, saw a 7-foot creature standing there, got a rifle and fired seven shots at it. He and Claude Wilson tracked it two miles through the woods to the Catawba River. Hoffman said it seemed to walk on its hind legs but dropped to all fours when it jumped across a small waterfall along a creek. They heard a whining sound. There is no specific description of observed action by the creature, and the only tracks referred to were four toed and "larger than those of a dog and deeper in the soil."
When
- Observation Date
- JUL 30 1976
- Month
- Jul
- Year
- 1976
- Season
- summer
- Time of Day
- night
- Duration
- considerable
Where
- State / province
- North Carolina
- County
- Gaston Cty
- Nearest Town
- Mount Holly
- Latitude
- 3518
- Longitude
- 8101
What was seen
- Individuals
- one large, sex unknown
- Total Individuals
- 1
- Population Status
- rural
- First Seen
- in
- Terrain Object
- trees
- Near or/at
- occupied building
- Shot Hit
- Yes
Witnesses
- No. of Witnesses
- 1
- Witness(es) Sex
- Both sexes
Setting
- Nearby Water
- creekýriver
Source
- Source
- Gastonia, NC, Gazette, Aug. 1, 1976, and Durham, NC, Morning Herald, Aug. 6, 1976, quoting Roger Hoffman, 6 Oakland, St., Mount Holly, and Mrs. Brenda Rudisill, Mount Holly, NC.
Creature description
- Hair Covered
- yes
- Height
- 7 ft
- Posture
- erect
- Hair Colour
- black
- Later Movement
- jumped
- Sound
- other
- Position when first seen
- erect
Witness
- Witness Saw with
- naked eye
- Observer Was
- at home
- Action on sighting
- chasedýshot