Zoinks!
A group of terrified teenagers called police in a panic after claiming they encountered a growling, Bigfoot-like creature with “glowing eyes,” officials said.
The recent high school graduates from Houma, southern Louisiana, were camping in the Kisatchie National Forest, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Baton Rouge, when they reported the terrifying encounter last week, the Natchitoches Parish sheriff’s office said.
They recalled seeing a large animal that looked like “Bigfoot” shortly after setting up camp about 1.5 miles from Back Bone Trail in southern Natchitoches Parish, police said.
On June 28 at approximately 9:20 p.m., a member of the group, all of whom were 17 and 18 years old, called 911 after reportedly “hearing a growling noise and seeing what appeared to be an animal with glowing eyes and was approximately five feet long,” the sheriff’s office said.
Officers arrived on scene and walked towards the campsite, being vigilant for any mythological creatures.
They followed the sound of their whistles to the campsite and found the teens frightened but unharmed. They were escorted safely out of the woods by the officers.
Despite a thorough investigation, officers “were unable to locate any suspicious activity involving a growling male with glowing eyes and standing 5 feet 10 inches tall,” the sheriff’s office said.
They congratulated the teenagers on their graduation and wished them much success for the future.
This is not the first time a Bigfoot has been sighted in the Kisatchie National Forest.
Two self-proclaimed Bigfoot researchers, who gave their names only as “Tex-La” and Claude to avoid ridicule, claimed in 2019 that they had visual and auditory evidence of the cryptid’s existence in the dense, 600,000-acre forest.
The pair left camouflaged cameras and audio equipment in trees to capture hours of footage and recordings, including loud howling sounds, which they later studied and analyzed, local newspaper Town Talk reported.
They also claimed to have seen footprints and evidence of Bigfoot “markings,” such as twisted tree branches.
“It is what it is. If you choose to believe, that’s great. If you choose not to believe, that’s great too,” Tex-La said.
“It’s something you have to look at with an open mind,” he added.
In October, a man and his wife captured video of a creature believed to be Bigfoot walking around Colorado in the middle of the day during a romantic getaway.
Shannon and Stetson Parker were enjoying a tour of the narrow-gauge railroad between Durango and Silverton in the far southwest corner of the state when they filmed the creature.
The large, ape-like creature, also known as Sasquatch, has its origins in Native American folklore and has been reported by European settlers since the 19th century.
“Those who claim to have seen Bigfoot have described everything from a large, upright ape to an actual hairy human, sometimes standing over eight feet tall and described as powerfully built,” the Washington National Guard wrote in a release about the legend.
“The debate and investigation continue,” it added.