'Chasing American Monsters' describes 'creatures' from Alabama

Someone was in the office the other day and asked me if I had any recent Bigfoot news. I had to admit that things have been pretty quiet in the “Bigfoot Capital of Alabama” lately, but I do have a good Bigfoot-related book to recommend.

One day last week, I finished reading a new book called “Chasing American Monsters: Over 250 Creatures, Cryptids & Hairy Beasts” by Jason Offutt. Released last month by Llewellyn Books, this outstanding 367-page book describes unusual creatures from all 50 states, including several from Alabama. As you would imagine, I was especially interested in that portion of the book (even though Evergreen isn’t mentioned).

The Alabama “monsters” described in the book include the White Thang, the Wampus Cat and the Alabama Metal Man. According to Offutt, reports of the White Thang date back at least to the 1930s, and some say it’s a type of Bigfoot while others describe it as an unusual dog or some type of ghost. Almost all of the reports say it has long white hair and has a distinctive scream.

One witness described the White Thang as a cross between a dog and a lion, saying it has a long tail with a ball of hair on the end. Others say it runs on all fours, and others say it can climb trees. Other witnesses claim that the White Thang is around seven feet tall and walks upright like a human (or Bigfoot).

I’ve always had a special interest in panther reports in our neck of the woods, so I especially enjoyed Offutt’s discussion of the Wampus Cat. According to Offutt, these large felines have been reported across the South for centuries. Native American legends say that this unusual cat is a cross between a cursed woman and a mountain lion.

Others say that these large cats are the result of World War II crossbreeding experiments that combined gray wolves and mountain lions. Supposedly, the military planned to use these animals as warzone messengers, but some invariably escaped and began to breed. Of course, state officials say there are no large cats in the Alabama woods, although many eyewitnesses would disagree.

Prior to reading Offutt’s book, I’d heard about the White Thang and the Wampus Cat before, but I’d never heard about the Alabama Metal Man. According to Offutt, a woman in Falkville, way up in Morgan County, called police on the night of Oct. 17, 1973 to report that a UFO had landed in a nearby field. When the police chief arrived, he didn’t see the spacecraft, but he did encounter a “bipedal creature wrapped in metal.” The chief chased this creature in his patrol car, but it outran the car across the field, never to be seen again.

In the end, I highly recommend “Chasing American Monsters” to anyone with an interest in unusual creatures like Bigfoot and Sasquatch. This book contained descriptions of dozens of creatures that I’d never heard of, and it was highly entertaining to read. Plus, as you read, you’ll come to learn that Conecuh County isn’t the only place where unusual creatures are reported.