This month marks 17 years since 'Bigfoot' incident near Castleberry, Alabama

The month of February marks a significant anniversary in local Bigfoot lore as it’s been 17 years since the occurrence of one of the best-documented Bigfoot sightings in Conecuh County history.

According to reports filed with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), two teenagers reported seeing a Bigfoot-like creature one night near Castleberry in February 2000. The incident began around 1:30 a.m. when the witness, who was 15 at the time, and a friend rode a motorcycle to visit a girl who lived in the Castleberry area.

They knew that the noise from the loud dirt bike would wake the girl’s mother, so they hid their bike off to the side of the dirt road around 2 a.m. and began walking toward the girl’s mobile home in the dark. A short time later, they began to hear “very heavy walking, stomping noises” coming from a swampy area to their northeast, the report said. The witness said that these noises sounded like either a large person walking or like a horse galloping, but only on two legs rather than four.

Afraid, the witnesses squatted in the bushes, listened for a couple of minutes, and determined that the noise was drawing closer. The teens decided to run back to their hidden motorcycle and flee the area.

As they ran, the teen in the lead let a branch swing back and hit his trailing friend’s head so hard that it knocked him down and nearly knocked him unconscious. The teen quickly jumped up and continued to run after his friend, “all the while hearing the sounds of stomping, limb-breaking and the crashing of underbrush getting closer to them,” the report said. By the time he reached the bike’s hiding place, his friend was already pushing it into the road.

At this time, the witness said he could hear heavy breathing that seemed to coincide with each of the creature’s footfalls. They both jumped on the bike and took off, and when the witness looked back he saw a “very large creature leap from the edge of the woods.” The creature landed in the road on all fours with an audible grunt and then stood fully erect, facing the witness.

The witness said the moon was full or near full, and the creature cast a shadow. Because of this shadow, the witness was unable to see the creature’s face, but he was sure that it wasn’t a bear. (I checked the moon phases from February 2000, and the night of the full moon was on Feb. 19 that month. Later, the witness told investigators that the incident happened before Valentine’s Day – Feb. 14 – but that the night was clear with bright moonlight.)

The witness said the creature was very wide, manlike and was covered entirely with “fluffy” hair. He also noted that the creature’s arms were longer than a human’s, and that the creature was either dark brown or black in color. The witness estimated that the creature was close to seven feet tall.

This incident occurred 17 years ago, so the primary witness in this case would now be around 32 years old. I’d very much like to talk to either of the individuals involved in this incident, so please call me at The Courant at 578-1492 if you’re willing to share your story in more detail with readers today.

Also, before I close out this week, I wanted to let readers know that the Southwest Alabama Bigfoot Hunters has created its own Facebook page. This group, which is led by local Bigfoot enthusiast Wesley Acreman, aims to study and compile information about local Bigfoot reports, so if you have one to share, please visit the group’s Facebook page.