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Knobby or his kin? Shelby man captures video of bigfoot sighting [The Star, Shelby, N.C.](Star (Shelby, NC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) March 24--BOSTIC -- Tufts of bushy brown fur. Thick, powerful legs supporting a stocky frame. If it wasn't Knobby, Thomas Byers thinks the Cleveland County bigfoot has a close cousin. The Shelby native says he saw an apelike creature dart across the road during a trip through the hills below South Mountains State Park Tuesday evening. Byers and friend Carolyn Wright had planned to watch for paranormal phenomena at an old church graveyard when the shrouded, shuffling figure crossed their path. "She was hollering, 'What is it, what is it?' and I couldn't even speak," Byers said. "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. It looked like it was about 300 pounds and it was somewhere close to 7 feet tall. It came out of the field and came through the briars and bushes onto the road." Byers snapped photographs and recorded a brief video of the sighting with a pocket digital camera. As is often the case with footage of the camera-shy sasquatch, Byers' film is blurry and indistinct. He said the darkening sky made clearer pictures impossible, but he's convinced the creature was genuine. "I saw its private parts," he said. I don't think it was anybody in a suit or anything like that. It was definitely male." Could it be Knobby? Byers made his discovery on Golden Valley Church Road outside Bostic in northeastern Rutherford County, not far from the Cleveland County line. Cleveland has a history of bigfoot sightings dating back four decades. In the late 1970s, residents reported more than a dozen sasquatch sightings near Carpenter's Knob north of Casar. A reporter dubbed the creature Knobby, and the legend lay dormant until June 2010, when Casar resident Timothy Peeler called 911 to report seeing an apelike creature. There are several key discrepancies between the two recent sightings, however. Peeler said the sasquatch he saw was at least 10 feet tall with a white-gray beard. Byers' bigfoot stood 3 feet shorter and had darker hair. "I've heard all the legends about Knobby," Byers said. "I've heard people talking about it. I don't know about a blond one, but I know there's a brown one. He was alive and well and in bad need of a bath." Walks like a man Byers believes the creature he saw scampering across the road was a new primate species. But an animal ecologist who analyzed his video said the blurry figure is likely more man than beast. Dr. James English, professor of zoology at Gardner-Webb University, said the "bigfoot" has the gait of a human. "There's nothing about this that makes me believe that it's anything but a person," English said. "This isn't evidence that is in any way convincing. It's just a picture of something walking upright." English said the figure in Byers' video has a limp that makes it appear as if its right leg is injured. Though the video is grainy and texture is difficult to determine, the professor said he didn't necessarily see hair. "There's a shade of blue on his lower torso that looks like blue jeans," English said. "I'm not going to say it's obviously anything because it's such a poor picture." Bigfoot sightings have persisted for generations, but most scientists say believers haven't met the burden of proof. Photos, videos and footprints can be faked, but a sasquatch corpse -- or even bones -- would provide credible evidence of existence. "Just because you don't find one doesn't mean it doesn't exist," English said. "It would be pretty extraordinary. I couldn't say it's impossible; I would just say that it's extremely unlikely." Up close and personal While Byers' video may invite skepticism, the retired Navy petty officer first class said his face-to-face encounter with the creature left little room for doubt. Smoke streamed from the mountaintops in the distance as a prescribed burn consumed dead brush. Byers said the fire was flushing wildlife out of the woods, and he and Wright had stopped along the roadside to see deer and rabbits running across the road when they saw the strange creature. "It turned around, threw up its arms and snarled at me," Byers said. "It was real pissed off. I could see its teeth. I could see every detail of it." Byers said he was 15 to 20 feet away from the bigfoot. Even from that distance, he noticed a pungent odor. "There was a horrid smell like decay," he said. "It was a cross between roadkill and a skunk." What the creature lacked in hygiene, however, it made up for in agility. Byers said the sasquatch scaled a hill on the other side of the road in mere seconds. "It was a lot faster than any man," he said. "It was just as fast or faster than a deer." He knows not everyone will believe his bigfoot encounter was genuine. But if the sighting was staged, Byers said he's not in on the joke. "I have nothing to profit from for it to be a hoax," he said. "I'm open to the possibilities, but I think it was real." Reach Online Editor Corey Friedman at 704-669-3331. WATCH THE VIDEO To see photos and video of Thomas Byers' bigfoot sighting, click here to visit his web page. To see more of The Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.shelbystar.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Star, Shelby, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |