Now that the statute of limitations has expired, Clay Jennings Desmond tells us about that night he and a friend went frog gigging and he decided to scare his buddy. It worked, but when the two made it back to civilization, exhausted from running and one of them still scared out his wits, the story had to be told.
Pointing at me, he said: “He heard something big in the bush while we were frog hunting. It sounded really big. I mean, like huge. When he turned his five-cell flashlight on it, oh my God!” He let out a theatrical gasp, his hand going to his throat. Limitations aside, he was a masterful performer with an audience.
I picked up the improv tale. “When I heard a stick snap, I knew it had to be something pretty large, real near us. I focused the light in that direction and saw this thing.”
“What thing?” asked the chorus of boys and girls outside the car. Our group of rapt listeners was quickly growing.
Scottie added inspired embellishments. “It was about seven feet tall,” he said with elaborate hand gestures, “had the face of a man, but covered with fur. It had big reddish eyes. It growled and snapped its fangs at us.”
A fine tall tale, told admirably. But the word got around, the police got involved, there was a search with tracking dogs, and even physical evidence. The seven-foot-tall creature became an urban legend that lingers on 60 years later. Read what really happened and how it got out of hand at Narratively. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: Matt Rota)