Some more stuff of sightings of the Mt. Vernon Monster in FFX County decades ago...
The Mount Vernon Monster
http://dapht.blogspot.com/p/mount-vernon-monster.html
Back in 1979 there was a rash of sightings and sound encounters in Fairfax County, VA, in a subdivision called Mount Vernon -- of course, very near our first President's home, from which it takes its name. I heard about this a little later on as I had already moved out of state by then, but it was quite near where I used to live just previously, and my wife lived even closer. In fact, she went to Mount Vernon high school, and several of her friends were witnesses to the strange sounds that emanated from the tract of forest land that their subdivision abutted. Until recently, I thought that only the sounds were heard, but I have now found some sources that tell of actual sightings during that time.
The first is a local historian who gave a talk where he mentions a sighting -- you can see the whole thing here (you have to scroll down a bit, past the part about the lost gold of General Braddock), but here is the relevant portion:
One resident said she spotted the monster. She described it as a creature about six feet tall, which lumbered into the woods after being sighted.
(Note: You can see that he has used the wording of the article I linked up above for much of his talk, so I think most of his information has come from that, but he must have at least one other source because he mentions the sighting, which isn't in the article.)
During an outing with Billy Willard, Tom L. and Billy's brother, we drove out to meet with a fellow named Charlie to do some surveillance at a local sighting location. We didn't find much, except one strange, large bit of scat, which was collected and has been sent for some analysis -- perhaps there'll be more on that later. But I did get a chance to talk to Charlie, who, it turns out, had been a police officer in Fairfax County back during the Mount Vernon Monster saga.
He said he heard about the goings on out in Mount Vernon and wanted to see for himself. He spoke with the game warden at the time and heard from him that there had indeed been sightings of the creature, and that there were families that knew about the creature. The warden also played a recording of it's call for him. (What I wouldn't give to get that recording now!)
Here's a transcription of what Charlie told me (I've edited out some of the salty language for my more squeamish readers):
Anyway, the game warden says, "Hey Charlie, come here, I want you to listen to something," and he plays this recording that's got these screams on it. I said, what the hell is that, I've never heard anything like that before. And he says, "Well, these people on the dead end of Old Mill road report they've seen this bigfoot-type creature." So he says, "I went down there to investigate," and he says, " sure enough, I heard it and I recorded it." So he got his shotgun and went back in the woods and he says he found a footprint, and cast the footprint. He says, "Now Friday night, we're going to put the SWAT team in the woods. I talked to the chief and its alright." And I says, well I'm working down Rt 1 area anyway, give me directions and I'll slide by there.
I get over there about 8pm with my partner, there's people standing around there, and the SWAT team is in the woods. They come out about 8:30 and they're putting their [stuff] in the SWAT van -- they were gonna go eat and, they had borrowed some night vision from Belvior and they were gonna come back and hit the woods again and stay until midnight. They no sooner got out to the van than that thing let out this hellacious scream. I said, "holy [stuff]!" and I ran back to the edge of the woods. And just as I got to the edge of the woods, it screamed a second time. And I could feel the reverberations.. I could feel it in my chest, like if you stand in front of a bass speaker, I could feel it in my chest, and it made every hair on the back of my neck stand up. And I could hear twigs break and branches snapping, and I drew my revolver and I was looking around but I couldn't see anything.
It was right before dark, and [the SWAT team] all grabbed their [stuff] and ran back in the woods and stayed until 10:00 but they never saw anything. I spoke to the game warden later and that was the last anyone ever saw or heard of it. But it came out like it knew, it was like it was saying, "[screw] you!" But the people there were saying, "Leave this thing alone, we feed it, it eats out of our trashcan." The people on the end were leaving pies on their trashcan, and the thing was coming up to the house and looking in the window. That went on for a few months but then it died out after that night. Now I have hunted all my life and I have never heard anything that sounds like that. Even afterward, listening to the recordings on the net, I've never heard anything that sounds like that.
This is a lot of information and it adds quite a bit of detail to the story. I can't thank Charlie enough for telling his story and allowing it to be written out here. The Mount Vernon Monster story was always a "classic" to me, probably because it was so near where I lived, but also because it was news in its day and so many people experienced it. Many of those people are still alive now. I'd love to hear from the witnesses who actually saw the creature.
LATE UPDATE: An anonymous poster added this in a comment:
I was there. I decided to debunk it and went in the woods on Union Farm right off Old mill in a swampy bottom at 2:00 AM and climbed a tree and waited. I had a sigting within thirty minutes, it came trudging though the swamp right at me. It was a full moon and there was no mistaking this thing for a person even though it walked upright on two legs. It got to within 15 yards and then suddenly turned and ran up the hill and hid behind some trees. It must have smelled me or something. Anyway I tracked it for some time and found it was living in a large cement storm drain adjacent to Old Mill Rd.I saw it more than once and actually had it in my sights twice and couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. This thing didn't really go away for some time, people just stopped calling the police or the news about it. Most decided it was better left alone including me after it decided it wouldn't put up with me anymore. It got agressive and would come directly at me breaking trees as it came imediatley after I entered the woods. It threw rocks at me the size of softballs with enough force that you could hear them whistling as they came through the air. It does eat meat, I found parts of deer tucked up in under cuts along the creek bank where it was nice and cool. Be carefull out there fellas.
Another poster pointed out that the concrete storm drain didn't exist at the time of the events, so there is reason to question this account.
EVEN LATER UPDATE:
Since my last sign in for this story, I've collected a few more reports. Several have been left in comments by the good readers of this blog, for which I thank them. I have also found a reminiscence left on a local bulletin board referenced by one of the posters here, which I'll just put up here for safekeeping. It was posted by a user there on November 25, 2008:
Does anyone remember the Mount Vernon Monster?
True story: In 1979 or 1980 I drove over to a residential area near mount vernon with 3 friends, we parked down past the last house on a street that continued into the woods with a single house at the end. We went to hear the strange screeching animal sound that had been heard by people in the area.
We had been sitting there for about 45 minutes and hadn't heard a thing. We were a bit nervous though, as some of us had been out there before and heard this strange noise. I was sitting in the back seat on the left side.
Suddenly I saw the creature rise up across the street from behind some bushes! The bushes formed a hedge about 6' high and this creature loomed above them. I estimate that its height was around 8'.
I yelled "There it is!", and my friends all turned to look. It looked back at us. Its head was oval shaped and the head, neck and top of the shoulders (all we could see) were covered with smooth, dark hair. Its eyes were dark and glittering. It watched us from behind the bushes.
I said loudly "It's just someone in a ski mask!", loudly enough for the creature (or faker) to hear (the window was open about 6 inches). I was hoping to elicit a reaction if it was someone playing a prank. There was no reaction to my statement.
After a total of around 30 seconds, the creature ducked down behind the hedge and disappeared.
It moved slightly as it stood there, in the way a real animal moves. This was not someone in a suit or some kind of mannequin. It looked something like a large ape, but it stood erect. I'll never forget its face, I can picture it now: oval shaped, somewhat flat, dark hair, shining dark eyes.
I swear I am not making this up.
I returned to the area a couple of times after that and spoke to someone who lived on the street. They said they had seen it before as well. During the same time period there were some news stories on the "Mount Vernon Monster", but I've been unable to find them on the web. Perhaps they could be found in microfilm of newspapers from the time, (probably the Post).
How's that for a weird local incident?
And again, this is a true story.
Does anyone else remember hearing about the "Mount Vernon Monster" in the late 70s or so?
This poster mentions news reports from the time of the events. I've searched online for free access to old newspaper reports, but I've only come across multiple copies of the one we've already mentioned. I can't find other local reports that weren't syndicated. If anyone comes across any, I'd appreciate hearing about it.
In the comments that existed on the old Blogsquatcher site, a few people who were there at the time told their stories. One anonymous commenter posts:
I lived on Gateshead RD from 1968-1986. My mother was best friends with Mrs. Crisp. Among the kids of the day, it was known to be a hoax put on by a MVHS student living on Adrianne DR, at the foot of Dandridge TERR. His house backed to those same woods. His dad had a massive stereo system capable of producing plenty of bass. He made the sounds the people on Union Farm RD would hear at night. It was said he dug in their trash cans too. If you recall the news from that time you only ever heard people on Union Farm RD talking about it. You never heard a word from people on Adrianne DR. Strange, don't you think?
If anyone can corroborate any of the details in that post, I'd appreciate hearing about that too. I'm not all about monsters. If it turns out to be a hoax, let's debunk it.
[UPDATE 2/25/11]
I have collected a few more things that might be worth adding. One is a UFO sighting from the same area just a few years before these events began.
UFO over Mt. Vernon in 1975:
National UFO Reporting Center
Sighting Report
Occurred : 4/20/1975 17:00 (Entered as : 04/20/75 17:00)
Reported: 2/23/1999 00:22
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Mount Vernon, VA
Shape: Oval
Duration:3 minutes
I was about 12 yrs old and saw this oval object hovering, silently, over my home, near Ft. Belvior, VA. It had circles around its diameter and they were brightly lit. The craft was black.
Please see above for description. I dont have much else to tell you. Thank you.
I'm not saying the two are directly related, but I do find that in places where one finds a bigfoot sighting, one also often finds UFO sightings, even if not at the same time. So here it is again.
There are more reminiscences on the Fairfax Underground site, which I think has multiple threads devoted to the Mount Vernon Monster. Here's a link to the one which bears that title. The other thread there is under the title "Weird local incidents you remember." I think you may note there that among those who want to debunk the story, you find something like the construction, "They said it was done by a guy.." Only one debunker claims to actually know the (alleged) hoaxer, which he says was his son.
Re: Mt. Vernon Monster
Posted by: Cannho ()
Date: January 07, 2011 10:59AM
The Mt. Vernon Monster was a couple of kids that had more fun with technology than drugs!! It was in 1979 or '80. A few people with vivid imaginations said the saw the monster. Well there was no such thing, just some very savy Mt. Vernon High boys that put speakers in the trees! One of the boys I am very famaliar with - my son!
I would like to hear from Cannho, or even better, his son, to talk about how the hoax was perpetrated.
Several other posters do not claim that the creature was real, but insist that they do not accept one ordinary explanation, that it was a fox. I like this one:
Re: Mt. Vernon Monster
Posted by: Mt. Vernon Resident ()
Date: June 19, 2010 11:41PM
Yeah right, if you ever heard it, you would know its not a fox. Foxes dont make a noise like that, being from the country, I know what a fox sounds like and that was no fox the nights I witnessed the sound from the Mt. Vernon Monster in the early 1980's
And I like this one because of its description of the neighborhood reaction:
Re: Mt. Vernon Monster
Posted by: MVHS 84 too ()
Date: August 11, 2010 08:21PM
I lived in Southwood then. I heard it one night while babysitting for a neighbor whose house backed to those woods. Every house along the woods turned on the lights in their back yards.
Also, I have found, and purchased, a Washington Post article from May 12, 1979 called "The Mount Vernon Monster -- Police, Residents Intensify Hunt for Howling Haunt," written by Blaine Harden. This is a different article from that linked above. Believe it or not, it was front page news:
Since it is behind a pay wall I'll just give a few facts from the article here:
According to the article, the events in question had been ongoing for nine months at the time of writing, which puts their onset at about September of 1978.
Many people are named in the article, including witness Thelma Crisp (who is also briefly quoted), "Search Supervisor" Captain Jack Coleman, and Game Warden Ralph Strickland.
The article references "infrared cameras" and a helicopter, along with a large police presence in the woods. Though "SWAT team" doesn't show up, the article provides a fair bit of corroboration to Charlie's account above.
I have the article in my files and may quote from it at a later time.
COMMENTS FROM THE ORIGINAL BLOGSQUATCHER POST:
Here I will add the comments that came into the Blogsquatcher and also any that come in from here on out.
That was a very good update. So this was apparently witnessed(heard) and documented by a police dept as well as the S.W.A.T. ?
Would like to see this on America's Most Wanted!
Wheellug
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at January 13, 2009 2:10 PM
That's what Charlie said. At least two police officers (counting Charlie's partner, whom he mentions) and the SWAT team. They never saw anything, only heard it.
I'd love for some of the original witnesses from that area to come forward. I do know some who heard the creature, but they were at a distance from the sighting location, so they never saw anything.
Posted by dbd to The Blogsquatcher at January 13, 2009 10:15 PM
Great report DB. It makes you wonder just how many times have police/military been involved in sightings or even a brief search. Good stuff,maybe with a little luck,some of the original witnesses will come forward.
Posted by In Search Of to The Blogsquatcher at January 14, 2009 4:06 AM
I was there. I decided to debunk it and went in the woods on Union Farm right off Old mill in a sampy bottom at 2:00 AM and climbed a tree and waited. I had a sigting within thirty minutes, it came trudging though the swamp right at me.It was a full moon and there was no mistaking this thing for a person even though it walked upright on two legs. It got to within 15 yards and then suddenly turned and ran up the hill and hid behind some trees. It must have smelled me or something. Anyway I tracked it for some time and found it was living in a large cement storm drain adjacent to Old Mill Rd.I saw it more than once and actually had it in my sights twice and couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. This thing didn't really go away for some time, people just stopped calling the police or the news about it. Most decided it was better left alone including me after it decided it wouldn't put up with me anymore. It got agressive and would come directly at me breaking trees as it came imediatley after I entered the woods. It threw rocks at me the size of softballs with enough force that you could hear them whistling as they came through the air. It does eat meat, I found parts of deer tucked up in under cuts along the creek bank where it was nice and cool. Be carefull out there fellas.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at January 19, 2009 6:04 PM
My father is a retied Police officer. In 1979 he was with the Fairfax County Police.
He told my bother and I all about the Mount Vernon Monster and all the weird calls he was sent out on. Reading this brought back some really good memories of my Dad.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at February 19, 2009 11:32 PM
I was one of those teenagers in the late 70's who heard the Mt. Vernon monster. I actually had a tape recording of it but my little sister taped over it. Yes, down an unpaved road leading to Union Farm we parked our cars late at night and quietly waited. Dogs would start barking nearby and sure enough we then heard the howl of the Mt. Vernon Monster.
I also have a friend who saw the creature not far from the back gate of Mt. Vernon, off Old Mt. Vernon Road near the Potomac River one snowy day. She was nearly 200 yards away and at first glance thought it was a man walking towards the woods. She quickly realized it was not. She described it as large and hairy. Standing upright but hunched over slightly. I wish I could find her now to get a better account. I have been telling my son of the Mt. Vernon Monster since he was about 6 years old. He is now 9 and we have gone to Union Farm Rd. around dusk. He gets a little anxious and doesn't want to hang around. He is a believer though and tells the story to his friends who remain a bit skeptical. Happy to hear of others who remember him and will keep history alive.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at July 25, 2009 7:44 AM
I lived on Gateshead RD from 1968-1986. My mother was best friends with Mrs. Crisp. Among the kids of the day, it was known to be a hoax put on by a MVHS student living on Adrianne DR, at the foot of Dandridge TERR. His house backed to those same woods. His dad had a massive stereo system capable of producing plenty of bass. He made the sounds the people on Union Farm RD would hear at night. It was said he dug in their trash cans too. If you recall the news from that time you only ever heard people on Union Farm RD talking about it. You never heard a word from people on Adrianne DR. Strange, don't you think?
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at September 4, 2009 10:49 PM
I'm looking into it now with a friend that lived on Dandridge.
My son and I just saw a Bigfoot show on the Travel Channel tonight and it made me Google "Mt. Vernon Monster" to show him. I came across your thread and one on www.fairfaxunderground.com. It's interesting that someone there mentioned a fox. Around that time, my neighbor's dad saw a large fox on the edge of the same woods, but on our side of Old Mill RD. It had a strange, strangled barking sound. I'd heard it at night myself, but never saw the fox. I never heard the Mt. Vernon Monster, that I can recall. Back then, I searched the woods between Adrianne and Union Farm with friends a number of times and never found a thing.
By the way, that Anon is pulling your leg. Back then, there was no "large cement storm drain adjacent to Old Mill Rd". If there was, that road would not have flooded over with every large summer storm we had.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at September 5, 2009 1:05 AM
I heard the Mt Vernon Monster on numerous occasions and saw it twice. I was friends of the Crisp's and spent many a night in their yard waiting to hear it yell. The Crisp's house backed up to the woods, on serveral occasiions there were muddy hand prints on the basement sliding glass door, too large for a man, you could see from the print that the hand was covered with hair.
The yell was like nothing I had heard or have heard since. I have hunted most of my life and no animal I know of makes a noise like that. Your heart would vibrate in your chest from the intensity of the yell.
I took a girl I was seeing at the time down there and spent the evening talking to the Crisps sitting in the front yard, about midnight we decided to go home, stood up, turned to go to my car I apologized for her not hearing or seeing it, it yelled we looked up the street and it was walking across the neighbors front yard. It was atleast 7 feet tall, covered with hair, long arms, a hugh gate. It walked upright, it looked like a bigfoot. I can tell you that neighborhood hated the stories and wanted nothing to do with the press, they were afraid it would affect the value of their homes and draw an unwanted element to the road. The second time I saw it we were standing on the road talking, it yelled from down near the end of the road we all turned to look and it was walking across the road toward the golf course, it looked at us and ran on the golf course and back into the woods. My family thought I was crazy, my close friends all heard it and knew about.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at October 16, 2009 10:04 AM
When Boo was close, Mrs. Crisp called it/him Boo, the smell was swampy smell mixed with skunk. His head was larger than a normal mans head somewhat elongated hard to tell because of the hair, he had a sweeping gate almost like he stepped up off the ground and walked on air, he didn’t actually do that, but the smoothness of his walk looked that way. Color was dark brown, but not black. He/it loved apple pies, McDonald’s apple pies, we would leave them out behind the house, well above the ground so dogs and other animals couldn’t get to them, the pies were always gone. We put them in the trash cans as well, the lid would still be on the pies would be gone. Was never close enough to see facial features. I will keep thinking about this.
From an email to dbdonlon. Name withheld by request.
I grew up on the edge of the George Mason University campus in Fairfax. They owned the woods all in the area and left it undeveloped. I admit that in the early 70s when movies like "Legend of Boggy Creek" and other Bigfoot documentaries came out, there was a rush of people telling stories about it being in those woods. Being a kid and very interested in Bigfoot, I spent an entire summer staking out the Pohick Creek that ran through those woods, thinking Bigfoot, if he existed there, would eat from the streams--lots of fish and crayfish at the time. I spent lots and lots of hours sitting and listening, using binoculars, and even leaving out food with hopes he'd show. Literally, an entire summer. Still, people told stories of seeing him out there. In all that time, I saw many deer, several foxes, a porcupine, a few skunks, and a lot of potheads from the campus smoking pot along the pathways. No Bigfoot, but if you put it in the context of those times, I bet all woods had a huge surge of Bigfoot sightings following "Legend of Boggy Creek." It might be worth checking out the year it came out and seeing if reports spiked then.
Posted by Autumnforest to The Blogsquatcher at October 27, 2009 11:35 PM
You said: "I'm pretty darn puzzled as to how any kind of bigfoot-like creature can have gotten into the suburbs within a few miles of Washington DC."
Hiding in plain sight seems to be one of Squatchy's special talents, so don't be too puzzled by his suburban propinquity. As long as there is a contiguous forested or meadowed area leading down into a riparian zone it doesn't really matter how many homes are nearby or how built up the aea may be. Most folks would be truly flabergasted if they were told the truth about Squatchy's haunts.
Dudlow
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at October 29, 2009 5:34 PM
along the same lines as the comment above, i'm not at all surprised that these sightings happen so far into civilization. I live in Washington State, and just this year we had a sensational black bear incident. A black bear managed to get from just north of downtown Seattle almost all the way up to Everett, which is over 20 miles north. it was seen by a lot of people because that entire stretch of land is city/suburban residential areas. almost no one was able to capture a picture of the bear, and for a while i thought it was just some kids pulling an epic prank. they did end up catching the bear in a park, but the bigger question was how the bear got into North Seattle in the first place? I guess the bear traveled the train lines north from the first sighting, but no one really explained how it got from the mountains to Seattle unnoticed? if a huge black bear can travel through suburban and city areas unphotographed and hardly seen, why not bigfoot? From what little we know about them, bigfoot (bigfeet? bigfoots? what's the proper plural here?) seem to have a fairly high intelligence level. i believe they come closer to our "civilized" communities more often than we realize. that would explain why they're so good at avoiding us, imo.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at November 16, 2009 8:06 PM
I'm really glad that I found this blog. I used to go there every week to listen for the "monster". I remember reading about it in the Alexandria Gazette when I was about 15 or so (79'). The 1st time I ever went to investigate the monster was with my friend Jay. That was in 83'. we have heard it several times but have never seen it. The scariest moment of my life was down there one evening. About 5 other friends & I were sitting on the small bridge just at the gate to the Old Union Farm house. We were playing 20 questions to pass the time. I kept hearing some tapping on the trees like a big stick or something. The third time I heard it I told my buddies that it was the 3rd time I heard that sound. Just then it yelled. We all took off running for the car which was parked in front of that last house on the left. It was about a 30 yard sprint & the worst part was that we had to run right by the monster to get to the car. The thing was about 15 feet away from us when it yelled & at the point when we were running by it it was about 8 or so feet away. I have never been that scared in my life, or even since then. A couple of the guys we were with were skeptics up until that night but not anymore. I have been there several times & there have been times when we have heard or seen nothing. I would estimate that our ratio of hearing the monster was about 70%. One evening I was there with another friend who didn't believe & some rocks were thrown at us as we stood next to the car. We saw vapor from breath as well right on the edge of the treeline along the golf course. We chucked some rocks at where the breathing was & they came back at us within seconds. Actually there is a storm drain in the woods as well. I've gone back there in the daytime & have seen it. I had a theory that he was living in that drain as well because every time we heard him it was either raining or just after a rain & I figured he was flushed out of his spot. I am still friends with some of the guys that would go down there to listen to the monster & I will ring them up & get them to check out this blog. One is an Arlington County Sheriff (Capt) who was with me the most. One evening he & I were down there with our dates & we went into the woods to investigate but didn't hear anything. We went back to the car & the police came down to see what we were doing. There were 3 police cars & my buddy told the officer we were there to listen for the monster. The officer kind of giggled & said he didn't believe in it but that his partner did. Just after he said that the monster yelled and the officer almost freaked out. He drew his gun & told us to get out of there. All 3 police cars went racing down into the old plantation driveway with their spotlights on in every direction. We left immediately. That was the 1st time I ever heard it yell & the last time I ever went into those woods again after dark. I've told my wife about it & she is not a believer. I've been out in the woods my entire life as a Boy Scout, hunting etc... & I have never heard anything like that yell before. It is truly monsterous like nothing you have ever heard. No owl, fox, deer or anything can scream like that. I used to have a recording of it screaming but after so many years & moving a few times I wouldn't have a clue as to where it is. In any event, I am just glad that this website is here & I will continue to check it out periodically for nostalgia. Thank you.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at December 14, 2009 11:09 PM
I can verify "Anonymous's" account that this was a hoax by teenagers of the day involving a stereo. Also a car battery, and a slowed down recording of a scream and several Mt. Vernon HS students, not going to name names....but I could
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at March 17, 2010 6:32 PM
Anonymous, I really can't get past the fact that I have people who tell me that they saw the creature, and they share with me their names and addresses, answering my questions, and giving names of other people who were there. And then I get two anonymous guys on the internet who want to debunk it by giving the vaguest of explanations, without anything to back it up. I mean, why on earth wouldn't you just tell who did it, and when and where and all that? Do you you actually think there's, like, a LAW against playing animal sounds on your stereo in the woods? If there were, every bigfoot researcher would be locked up.
Posted by dbd to The Blogsquatcher at March 17, 2010 7:34 PM
sorry to sas-squash your story....but, I know who did it and I know the tape recorder and speakers and car battery used....I heard the tape, it was a slowed down scream. There were 5 or 6 MVHS students involved (I'm directly related to one of them) It's been a big joke with them ever since. Seriously....its a hoax.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at March 17, 2010 9:48 PM
And you are unwilling to say who was involved because..?
Posted by dbd to The Blogsquatcher at March 17, 2010 9:51 PM
.....becasue they dont want anyone to know it was them....it really is that simple. Sorry. One is currently Fairfax Co. Law enforcement. Others have moved to the west coast. Others, we have lost touch with.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at March 18, 2010 4:50 AM
It was not a hoax, I saw them many times, and heard them many many more. There were 3 to my count, and I researched them and was interested in them from about 78 to 83. Later I went out of State. I usually used the Crisp house as my base of operations to tape or try to film. I hiked day and night many times. I have many tapes from over those years. The only animal that has an even remotely similar sound is the Howler Monkey, which could not survive those winters, has a very particular diet, does not leave that large of footprint and is not 6 to 7 feet tall. I was one of the local youths alluded to in the original article.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at March 31, 2010 1:37 PM
Oh, and by the way, those who say it was a hoax are not telling the truth as in the Winter of 1981/82 when I spent cold nights in the Barn behind the Crisp house with a recorder, movie camera, and light set up-locking myself in and sleeping in the loft, what I briefly saw that night, heard clearly, and threw a very heavy log against the barn and did not come into my light and bait area when I turned on the lights, were not MVHS students with a car battery. All the nights I spent chasing these things, I would have caught them in a heartbeat, and known them, since I had gone to MVHS.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at March 31, 2010 1:48 PM
And I guess we could compare tapes if someone is not afraid to, meaning they are not lying.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at March 31, 2010 1:49 PM
Anonymous, can I get a copy of what you recorded to analyze? I think there are things on the recording that might help us to prove something one day. Please contact me by email at the address in the upper right corner of this blog if you are willing. Your anonymity is assured.
The same goes for those who claim it was a hoax. Contact me and let me know who you are and how you did it. I'll keep you anonymous if that's what you want.
Posted by DB Donlon to The Blogsquatcher at March 31, 2010 1:52 PM
I will try to make a copy of my cassette, old technology, and then get with you. I will not give the original tape to anyone. Re, I did this for years, and in the summer and in winter breaks, every night. Anyone think the hoaxsters were that committed? Maybe someone some nights or so played some games,early on, but not for years, and every night for months on end during those years. If I copy, I will recontact you after I check out the blog. And anyone from MVHS during 75-79 knows who I am and that I have the capability of checking folks out. ( : Also, I was there the night the police were going into the woods with the dogs, I was at the Crisp house. There were many representatives from private Wildlife agencies, etc., too. What they said publicly was not what they said privately. And the peacock thing is funny, if you heard my tapes. They sound like 6 to 7 foot Howler monkeys, sometimes, but much much more powerful.
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at March 31, 2010 2:09 PM
Thanks, and I can respect your wanting to hold onto the tapes. If you run into trouble getting them digitized, I have a project studio in my home and I would be very happy to help you. What you have is an important historical document in my mind, so getting it digitized seems important to me in any case.
Let me know if I can help you in any way.
Posted by DB Donlon to The Blogsquatcher at March 31, 2010 2:15 PM
Hi DB. This is awesome! I am the poster from Dec 17th 2009. Finally someone else who can validate what I've heard & encountered. I also moved away from the area in 1985 & my research ended then as well on the Mt. Vernon Monster. It was no hoax & like the poster above mentioned......Nobody could sustain a hoax for so long...every night?.....of every week?....I would have caught them as well. I've spoken with a few law enforcement officers familiar with the case & just like the poster above mentioned.....what they say publicly is totally different from what they saw privately. I took my tapes to a friends father who worked for the Wildlife federation & he was totally intrigued with them. He took them to his work & gave them back to me a few months later. He was told that they were inconclusive.....but this was back in 1984 mind you & technology has advanced since then. I would love to meet the anonymous poster who researched this. I am totally excited about this now that he has posted this new information. Mrs. Crisp used to feed these creatures for goodness sakes.....what motive would she have to lie about it? I do believe she has since passed away. I believe she was in her late 60's way back then. I didn't personally know her though. Thank you for the new info. Take care, Steve
Posted by Anonymous to The Blogsquatcher at April 11, 2010 12:52 PM
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