Monday, May 07, 1973

‘It’s Something That’s There” – Monster Lurks Along Wabash

The Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune

Enfield, Ill. (UPI) – Henry McDaniel said he’s seen it twice: a gray, hairy, three-legged monster standing tall like a human being with pink-reflecting eyes bulging from a huge head.

The second time was Sunday morning, after his original report on the monster had brought newsmen, police, anthropologists, experts on unidentified flying objects and the just plain curious to the Wabash River Valley to investigate.

McDaniel, a disabled war veteran, said they found footprints covering the woodland areas around his home. The tracks were three to five inches across with six toes and little hoof marks, he said.

Ed Phillips, a pet shop owner from Kokomo, Ind., came out to look around and verified McDaniel’s description of the tracks.

“It couldn’t be a hoax.” Phillips said. The tracks were hidden under dense bush as well as in the open, he said. Plaster casts were made.

McDaniel said the first time he saw the monster was about 9:30 p.m. on the night of April 25. His family heard a scratching noise at the back door and he went to investigate.

“When I first saw it, I thought it was an animal. I went back (inside the house) and got a gun and a flashlight.” he said. “It was right about three feet from me, I wasn’t scared.

“Then I saw those pink eyes shine at me like a reflector on a car. It had pink eyes, a large head and was a kind of dirtyish gray color …hairy…about four or five feet tall. Standing righ in front of the door on three legs just like a human being.”

McDaniel said he shot at the monster four times.

“I knew I hit it once,” he said. The monster, he waid, hissed, leaped 75 feet in three jumps and disappeared down the the railroad tracks near his home.

Sunday morning, about 3 a.m. CDT, the barking of his dogs awakened McDaniel and he opened his door and looked out. He said he saw the same three-legged monster on the railroad tracks 75 feet away.

“I wasn’t scared,’ he said. “I’d like to have it as a pet and charge admission. It’s something that’s there and we’ve got to accept it.”