260. Choccolocco Monster - DOC Series

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Welcome back to Project
Jackalope.

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I'm Jeremy, and we're back in
the archives, pulling another

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file from the stack of the
unexplained.

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Last time we stood in the
freezing, silent Northwoods of

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Coos County, New Hampshire,
hunting the woods devil.

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Today we're going somewhere
different, somewhere where the

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air hangs heavy and the heat
cleans your skin like a sight

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layer.
We're heading deep into the

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American South, to the red Clay
hills of Alabama.

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There's a name down there that
rolls off the tongue, Choco

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Loco.
To an outsider, it might sound

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almost whimsical, musical even.
But for the locals of Heflin and

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the residents of Cleburne
County, the word doesn't conjure

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images of creeks and
playgrounds.

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It conjures memories of a terror
that stalked the cattle pastures

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and logging roads in the late
1960s.

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This isn't just another Bigfoot
story.

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This is the account of a
creature that didn't just hide

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in the wilderness, it haunted.
From the chilling reports of a

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long haired giant screaming in
the darkness to the armed chaos

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that gripped the back roads.
This is Project Jackalope file

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002 The Choco Loco Monster, The
Ghost of the Ironworks.

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To understand the monster, you
have to understand the land.

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The Choco Loco State Forest is a
sprawling expanse of wilderness

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encompassing over 4500 acres of
dense pine, hardwood bottoms,

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and rolling hills.
It sits under the heavy shadow

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of the southern Appalachian
Mountains, acting as a gateway

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to the rugged Talladega National
Forest.

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But the history here is layered
and heavy.

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During the American Civil War,
this region served as the

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industrial engine for the
Confederacy, a landscape sparred

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by the heat, the open hearth,
Ironworks that forged the tools

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of war.
While those furnaces have long

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since been reclaimed by Ivy and
rust, the ground remains rich

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with iron ore and the echoes of
a violent, industrious past.

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The locals simply call this
place the Valley, a term that

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suggests both a geographical
feature in a closed off

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community where outsiders are
noticed and secrets are kept.

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For generations, the rhythm of
the Valley was predictable,

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dictated by the seasons and the
harvest.

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That changed in late spring of
1969.

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While the rest of the nation was
gripped by the space race and

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their cultural upheaval of the
late 60s, rural Alabama remained

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a pocket of traditional
stillness.

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This was a world of screen
doors, porch swings, and a

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communal trust so deep that keys
were often left in ignitions

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overnight.
Hunters and loggers moved

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through these woods with the
confidence of men walking

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through their own living rooms,
intimately familiar with every

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Creek bed.
But in mid-May, that confidence

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began to erode a predatory
tensions and settled over the

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region localized specifically
around the Iron City Cut Off and

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Chugaloco Rd.
This particular stretch of

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asphalt sits just east of the
Calhoun County line, acting as a

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lonely artery between the tiny
isolate Hamlets of Iron City and

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Chocaloco.
This isn't a road you take by

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accident, It's a bypass through
the deep timber, where the

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transition from civilization to
wilderness is abrupt and

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absolute.
In 1969, Iron City, Cut Off was

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a place of extreme isolation.
There were no St. lights to

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guide the way, and the nearest
neighbor might be miles of

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tangled briars away from your
property.

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If your engine sputtered to a
hole or a tire went flat, you

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were at the mercy of the woods.
For the psychological weight of

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the era's technology, or lack
thereof, cannot be overstated.

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Without a cell phone or GPS,
mechanical failure wasn't just

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an inconvenience, it was a
crisis of vulnerability.

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The trouble local monster didn't
simply appear, it haunted the

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periphery before making itself
known.

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Described as a hulking bipedal
entity covered in shaggy like

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colored fur, it reportedly stood
nearly 7 feet tall, possessing a

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physical mass that defied the
local fauna.

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It wasn't a bear or stray the
Tau.

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It's movement was too fluid, its
presence too deliberate.

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When the sightings began to
peak, the sensory experience of

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trouble of the road became a
gauntlet of dread.

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The air in the valley is
notoriously thick.

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The humidity cleans your skin
like a wet shroud, carrying the

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scent of damp earth and decaying
pine needles.

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At night, the forest undergoes A
transformation.

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The canopy is so dense that it
functions as a literal ceiling,

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tapping the heat and blocking
out the moon, leaving the road

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in a state of void, dark, a
black, and is so total that it

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sort of feels physical.
Driving this road at night in

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1969 meant navigating a tunnel
of green and brown that seemed

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to shrink as the hours grew
late.

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The headlights of a period
vehicle offered only a narrow,

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flickering window into the
gloom, frequently reflecting off

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the eyes of deer or the
shimmering leaves of the

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blackjack oaks.
With the steel frame of a car, a

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driver felt a curated sense of
modern security buffered by the

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crackle of a radio in the hum of
the But the moment those

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headlights caught a towering
figure standing in the center of

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the road, that bubble didn't
just break, it vanished.

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The silence of the woods is
never truly silent.

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It is a wall of insignoys and
rustling wind.

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But witnesses often reported a
dead zone of sound just before

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an encounter, as if the forest
itself were holding its breath.

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By the time the local newspapers
began picking up the story, the

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atmosphere in the valley had
shifted from curiosity to

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genuine alarm.
The Iron City cut off became a

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place of urban legend in the
making, where the boundary

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between the known world and the
prehistoric wild became

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dangerously thin.
You weren't just looking at the

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trees anymore, you were
wondering was looking back from

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the darkness beyond the high
beams.

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It was in this specific
intersection of the industrial

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history, topographical
isolation, and the sudden loss

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of rural safety that juggle
local monster became more than

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the story became a haunting
reality for those caught in the

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road after the sun went down.
The first encounters the very

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first reported incident, the one
that truly kicked the horn's

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nest, involved a woman named
Margaret Teague.

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It was mid-May 1969, margaret's
driving home from her shift at

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Cleburne County Hospital, likely
exhausted, just wanting to get

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home.
The rhythm of tires and asphalt

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had lulled her into that
familiar driving trance we all

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know that autopilot state where
the miles blur together and the

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mine wanders.
Then suddenly, her headlights

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caught something on the side of
the road.

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She would later describe what
she he saw as a bugger.

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No, in the South, bugger doesn't
mean something grows from your

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nose.
It means a monster, a haunt,

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something that shouldn't exist
in the natural world.

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The term has been used for
generations, particularly in the

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southern Appalachians, as the
specific designation for a

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Bigfoot like creature that
stalked the mountain hollows.

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This thing was standing on 2
legs.

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Margaret was shocked.
She described in quote UN quote

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abomination a creature that was
God awfully ugly.

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It was completely covered with
matted hair over its entire

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body.
But the most terrifying part was

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the head.
She described an enormous head

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sitting on top human like
shoulders.

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In the book Beast Beyond Belief,
author Michael D Winkle quotes

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Margaret directly.
Lordy, Lordy, what a head.

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Let's pause on that quote for a
moment.

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It sounds folksy, maybe even a
little humorous to us now

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sitting in the safety of our
homes.

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But picture the scene through
Margaret's windshield.

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She wasn't looking at a mask.
She wasn't looking at a blurry

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shadow caught in the corner of
her vision.

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She was looking at a biological
impossibility, standing on two

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legs mere feet from her car,
illuminated in the full glare of

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her headlights.
The sheer shock of the sight,

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the quote UN quote abomination
as she called it, sent her into

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pure, primal panic.
She didn't just drive past it,

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She didn't eat slowly around it.
She tried to flee.

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Margaret whipped the steering
wheel hard, tempting A frantic

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U-turn in the middle of the
narrow County Road.

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That's when the nightmare
scenario unfolded.

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Her tire spun on a loose gravel
shoulder.

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The car lurched sideways and
slid right into the ditch.

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Now the engine is racing.
The wheels are spinning

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uselessly in the mud, of course,
and just feet away, Literally

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just feet away, that quote UN
quote God awfully ugly creature

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is still standing there
watching.

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Margaret sat frozen in that
trapped car, gripped by the

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terrifying realization that
whatever this thing was, it

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could easily reach her before
she can get the car moving

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again.
She was a sitting duck in a

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steel cage.
Her only protection was a thin

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barrier of glass and metal
between her and something that

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defied every rule of nature
she'd ever known.

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Thankfully, Margaret survived
the tell a tale, but she wasn't

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the only one.
Later that same month, in late

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May, an unnamed man was driving
down the same stretch of

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Chokaloga Rd. when he spotted
something he called a varmint.

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But this was no raccoon or
possum.

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He described it as a humpback
combination of bear and Panther.

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That witness struggled to even
categorize what he was seeing.

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He used the word varmint, which
usually implies a pest, a rat, a

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coyote, something small and
manageable.

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But when he described A humped
back combination of bear and

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Panther.
Now take a second to think about

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the silhouette that creates in
your mind the arcing back of a

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feline ready to pounce.
Mixed with a massive, shaggy

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bulk of a bear.
It suggests a predator built for

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both power and speed, something
that could tear through

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underbrush like tissue paper and
outrun anything foolish enough

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to flee.
This sighting set the stage for

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what happened the very next
night to Johnny Ray Teague and

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his companions.
Johnny Ray and three of his

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buddies were traveling through
the same area, likely on high

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alert given the rumors flying
around town, when a car just

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died.
Not a sputter, not a cough.

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Complete mechanical failure.
The engine went silent, the

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headlights dimmed, and they be
coasted to a stop in the middle

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of that dark isolated Rd.
In cryptozoology, we call this

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the dampening effect.
It's a controversial theory, but

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you see it repeated in UFO
reports and high strangeness

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encounters constantly.
The idea is that the presence of

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certain entities somehow
interferes with electrical

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systems.
Batteries drain, engine stall,

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lights flicker and fail.
Whether it's electromagnetic

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interference, psychological
phenomenon, or something else

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entirely remains unknown, but
the pattern is undeniable.

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So there they were, four grown
men, dead silence pressing in

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from all sides.
They climbed out to inspect

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under the hood, thinking it was
just a dead battery or a failed

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alternator.
Something mechanical, something

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fixable, something that made
sense.

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That's when the piece of the
night was shattered by the sound

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of heavy brush crashing
somewhere in the darkness beyond

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the road.
They turned and saw a beast that

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one of the men described as
being, quote, the size of a cow.

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It was Gray to black in color.
And strangely, they noted it was

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quote, humped similarly to a
camel.

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Now let's stop and examine that
specific detail.

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Humped similarly to a camel.
That is a bizarre description

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for a primate or a bear.
We often hear about no neck

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descriptions where the head sits
directly on mass shoulders with

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no discernible neck, like a
gorilla's profile, but a hump

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that suggests something else
entirely.

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Could it be massive trapezius
muscles built up from a lifetime

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of climbing steep terrain and
tearing apart rotted logs for

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grubs?
Or are we looking at a

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nutritional reservoir?
Camels store fat in their humps

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for survival in the desert,
allowing them to go weeks

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without food or water.
Could a relic species in the

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Appalachians have evolved a
similar mechanism for surviving

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the lean winter months when food
becomes scarce?

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It's a detail that feels too
strange to be fabricated.

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If you were inventing a monster,
your story to scare your buddies

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to get attention in a local
paper, you'd say it had glowing

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red eyes or razor sharp fangs.
You wouldn't say it looked like

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a candle.
That detail, that oddness, lends

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00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,440
a strange kind of credibility to
Johnny Rays account.

229
00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,400
The four men scrambled back in
the car and locked the doors.

230
00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:11,920
Their hands were shaking, their
hearts were hammering.

231
00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,240
But the creature didn't attack
immediately.

232
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,880
It didn't charge the vehicle or
attempt to smash through the

233
00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,120
windows.
It didn't run away either.

234
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:22,400
It kind of toyed with them.
The creature lazily strolled

235
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,760
around the car a few times, as
if it was observing them or

236
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,240
waiting for something, or
playing with them like a cat

237
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,480
plays with a mouse.
Animals that are prey do not

238
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:31,920
stroll.
They dart.

239
00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,840
They freeze, hoping to blend
into their surroundings.

240
00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,080
They bolt at the first sign of
danger.

241
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,760
Only apex predators, The things
that the very top of the food

242
00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,160
chain stroll.
Lions stroll through the

243
00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,120
Savannah, bears will stroll
through campsites.

244
00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,080
They move with confidence of
creatures that fear nothing.

245
00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:51,920
This thing acted as if it was
waiting for something, or

246
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,640
playing with them.
Finally, after what must have

247
00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,840
felt like an eternity, the
creature stumbled back into the

248
00:12:57,840 --> 00:12:59,800
tree line and disappeared into
the darkness.

249
00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:02,640
Johnny Ray managed to get the
car started again, the engine

250
00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,160
roaring back to life as
inexplicably as it had died.

251
00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,920
You can imagine the collective
sigh of relief in that vehicle,

252
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,440
the nervous laugh after the
adrenaline starting to fade.

253
00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:14,800
But this event wasn't over.
About half a mile down the road,

254
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:16,280
their headlights caught
something else.

255
00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:20,120
Not one creature this time,
three or four more of the beast

256
00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,640
standing on the edge of the tree
line, watched as the car passed.

257
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,440
This detail changes everything.
Most Cryptid sightings involve a

258
00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:30,560
solitary animal, a lone wolf, a
single entity moving through the

259
00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:33,040
wilderness.
But a pack, a family unit

260
00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,720
actively roaming choco local Rd.
together.

261
00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,680
That's a terrifying implication.
It suggests a social structure.

262
00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,120
It suggests intelligence and
coordination.

263
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,440
It suggests territory.
The first creature they saw, the

264
00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,000
one Johnny Ray described as the
size of a cow, was terrifying

265
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,400
enough on its own.
But now they're seeing a group,

266
00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,600
3 or 4 more of these beasts
making themselves known,

267
00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,480
positioned along the roadside as
if they were centuries, as if

268
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,280
they were flanking the vehicle
they were coordinating.

269
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,200
Were they coordinating?
Were they communicating?

270
00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,880
Were they hurting the car,
pushing it through their

271
00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:10,240
territory like wolves?
Dr. Prey through a killer zone.

272
00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,600
Johnny Ray said each one looked
bigger and more gruesome than

273
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,800
the last.
This wasn't a chance encounter

274
00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,400
with a lone confused animal.
This was stumbling into claimed

275
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,240
ground.
This was trespassing.

276
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,520
Word traveled fast in Cleburne
County throughout the month of

277
00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,560
June 1969.
The sightings continued for a

278
00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,600
span of about 7 weeks.
The descriptions varied, which

279
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,520
makes the whole phenomenon even
more confusing and

280
00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,800
paradoxically, more credible.
Some witnesses said that the

281
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,520
beast was Gray.
Others insisted it was black.

282
00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,000
Some reported a head full of
long, stringy hair hanging down

283
00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,720
like matted dreadlocks.
Others said the thick hair

284
00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:48,600
completely obscured the face,
making it impossible to see

285
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,680
features.
But everyone agreed one

286
00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:52,840
fundamental thing.
It was a monster.

287
00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,200
By June, the news that spread
across the state like wildfire,

288
00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,160
the mystery of the Choco Loco
Monster became the talk of every

289
00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,440
barbershop, every diner, every
church social from Anniston to

290
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,560
Birmingham.
And you know what happens when

291
00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,400
you tell a bunch of Alabama boys
there's a monster in the woods?

292
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:10,480
That's right, they loaded their
trucks.

293
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,920
The forested roads around Choco
Loco were rapidly flooded.

294
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,720
When men from around the state
armed with deer rifles,

295
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,800
shotguns, looking to kill
themselves a monster and claim

296
00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,360
their place in history, it
became a dangerous, chaotic

297
00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,480
scene.
Rifles were being discharged at

298
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,200
shadows.
Trigger happy weekend.

299
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,720
Warriors were shooting at every
rustle in the brush, every snap

300
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,480
of a twig, every glint of
reflected light that might might

301
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,960
be the eyes of a beast.
The woods became a combat tone.

302
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,520
We aren't talking about
organized search parties with

303
00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,000
maps, radios and coordination.
We're talking about pickup

304
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,200
trucks loaded with teenagers
with cheap beer, driving slow

305
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,240
with spotlights mounted on the
cab, sweeping beams of light

306
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,320
across the tree lines in hopes
of catching a glimpse of

307
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,280
something unnatural.
That's a recipe for disaster.

308
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,520
That's how people get shot.
The fear wasn't just about the

309
00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,000
monster anymore.
It was about the mistake, the

310
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,680
wrong target, the wrong shadow,
the wrong moment.

311
00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,480
Local farmers began to panic.
They weren't just afraid of the

312
00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:06,520
monster terrorizing their
livestock anymore.

313
00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:08,960
Now they were afraid for their
livestock.

314
00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,960
They worried that their prized
cows or bulls, animals worth

315
00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,600
hundreds or even thousands of
dollars, would be mistaken for

316
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,080
the monster in the dark and
gunned down by some crazed

317
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,280
hunter on Chocoloca Road.
Every rustle in the pasture

318
00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,920
could be a prized bowl about to
be dropped by a 30 out six

319
00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,760
because some weakened warrior
thought he saw the booger.

320
00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:30,040
The monster had turned the
community against itself.

321
00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:32,520
The roads weren't safe, the
woods weren't safe.

322
00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,080
And trust, that deep communal
trust that had defined the

323
00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,520
valley for generations, began to
fracture under the way of fear,

324
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:45,240
bullets and the unknown.
The confession.

325
00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,920
For decades, the legend of the
Chokaloka monster sat in that

326
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,320
Gray area between folklore and
fact.

327
00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,360
A local campfire story, a
strange chapter in Alabama

328
00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,680
history that refused to be fully
explained or fully dismissed.

329
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,760
The sightings had tapered off by
the end of summer 1969, and as

330
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,280
the years passed, the monster
became just another ghost story

331
00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:09,319
whispered in the valley.
Some believed.

332
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,640
Some and laughed it off.
Most simply moved on until 2001.

333
00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,240
That Halloween, the Aniston Star
published an article that seemed

334
00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,480
to put the final nail in the
coffin of the legend.

335
00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,800
The piece was titled Choke a
Logo Monster Jokester reveals 32

336
00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,440
year old prank written by
reporter Matthew Creamer The man

337
00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,640
behind the confession was Neil
Williamson, who was living in

338
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,040
Nancy's Creek at the time of the
interview.

339
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,680
Williamson claimed he was the
mastermind behind the entire

340
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,360
fiasco in the article.
Williamson explained on boring

341
00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:44,120
weekend nights in June of that
year, when he was only 15 years

342
00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:46,800
old, he would sneak out of his
house after his parents had gone

343
00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:48,840
to bed.
He'd quietly take the family

344
00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,160
forward and drive down the dark
back roads, Choco Loco, looking

345
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:54,160
for the perfect spot to stage
his prank.

346
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,120
You'd pull the car off the road
and drive in a short distance

347
00:17:57,120 --> 00:17:59,600
into the forest to conceal it
from passing vehicles.

348
00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,040
In the backseat, he had stowed
away his makeshift costume, an

349
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:07,160
old cow skull in a large coat.
The plan was brilliantly simple

350
00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,160
and terrifyingly effective.
Williamson would wait in the

351
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,000
darkness until he saw the glow
of headlights approaching in the

352
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,720
distance.
Then, at just the right moment,

353
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:17,880
he would throw the skull over
his head and drape the coat

354
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,560
around the shoulders, transform
himself into a bizarre hunched

355
00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,720
silhouette.
He would step out onto the

356
00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,480
roadside and perform what he
described as a quote UN quote

357
00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,680
strange dance, which was jerky
and unnatural movements designed

358
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,600
to look as inhuman as possible
in the sweep of the headlights.

359
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,160
He claimed he did this regularly
throughout the month of June

360
00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,840
that year, and to keep things
unpredictable, he would

361
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,200
sometimes swap out the black
coat for a white sheet, which he

362
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,280
said explained the variations
and witness descriptions.

363
00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,720
Some reporting a dark shadowy
figure, others describing A

364
00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,840
pale, ghostly creature for a 15
year old kid in rural Alabama in

365
00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,960
1969 must have felt like
harmless fun, little mischief, a

366
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,280
good story to tell his buddies.
But the prank grew far beyond

367
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:06,440
his control, spiraling into a
full blown monster panic that

368
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,480
gripped the entire region.
Then came the night that almost

369
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,480
ended, and tragedy.
Williamson had brought along 2

370
00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,640
buddies, boys he'd let in on the
secret with plans of having them

371
00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,600
join in on the fun.
A truck came slowly down the

372
00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,200
road in the late hours of the
night, and the boys prepared to

373
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,040
spring their surprise.
But Williamson wasn't ready for

374
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,760
what happened next.
The sharp crack of a rifle shot

375
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,280
out from the cab of the truck,
aimed directly at them.

376
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:33,960
Williamson and his two buddies
scrambled into the woods,

377
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,120
running for their lives at a
pitch Black Forest.

378
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,160
He described the scene in
terrifying detail, the beam of

379
00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,640
floodlight from the truck
sweeping across the tree line,

380
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,360
illuminating the trunks they
desperately hid behind, their

381
00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:48,120
hearts pounding, their breath
coming in ragged gasps, the very

382
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:51,440
real possibility that they might
be shot dead over a stupid

383
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,120
prank.
When the truck finally crept

384
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,440
away, Williamson kept running.
He burst through the forest into

385
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,400
a neighboring pasture, not
daring to slow down until he was

386
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,480
far from the road.
In his panic and the darkness,

387
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,520
he tried to climb over to
properties barbed wire fence and

388
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,440
injured himself badly enough to
leave a lasting impression.

389
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,480
That, according to Williamson,
was his last night as Choco Loco

390
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:13,560
Monster.
The fun had stopped being fun.

391
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:15,520
The joke had nearly gotten him
killed.

392
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,920
His confession seemed to close
the book on one of the Alabama's

393
00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:22,520
strangest Cryptid legends.
A teenager in a cow skull and a

394
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,440
coat.
A simple prank that got out of

395
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,160
hand.
The monster reduced to mischief.

396
00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:29,600
The terror reduced to teenage
boredom.

397
00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:34,560
Case closed.
Or was it the cracks in the

398
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:39,440
confession?
It's a tidy ending, isn't it?

399
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:44,440
A poor teenager, A cow skull?
A prank gone wrong, Case closed.

400
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,440
Or is it?
When you actually line up

401
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,880
Williamson's confession with the
original reports from 1969 start

402
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,360
to appear?
Not small hairline fractures,

403
00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:56,000
but glaring inconsistencies that
demand closer examination.

404
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,520
Before we go further, I need to
acknowledge something.

405
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,080
The sources for this material
are frustratingly difficult to

406
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:02,920
verify.
What you often find when

407
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,880
researching cases like this is
what is referred to as the

408
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,720
Source Loop. 1 website sites our
website, which sites A blog

409
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,560
which sites the first website.
It's a game of telephone played

410
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,560
over 50 years where details get
shaved off with each retelling,

411
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:21,000
nuance gets lost and you end up
with nothing but regurgitated

412
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,640
facts that may or may not
reflect what actually happened.

413
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,200
I did this myself in earlier
drafts of the script.

414
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,720
We all do it, rewriting
information in our own words to

415
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,600
stay away from plagiarism.
But this common practice is also

416
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,680
how minute details go missing
between reports.

417
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:42,080
After this occurs, report after
report after report, repeated

418
00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:46,600
10s or even 100 times across
decades of retellings, you could

419
00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,160
be left with almost nothing of
the original account.

420
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,920
That's why for this analysis, I
went back to the primary text,

421
00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:56,320
the newspaper articles from
1969, Williamson's 2001

422
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,240
confession in the Anniston Star,
and a handful of first

423
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,480
generation accounts that haven't
been filtered through multiple

424
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,040
layers of interpretation.
And when you compare those

425
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,360
sources directly, that piece is
simply don't fit the puzzle

426
00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:12,400
Williamson is trying to sell us.
Let's start with the most

427
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,760
obvious problem, the timeline.
The first sighting, the

428
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:18,880
terrifying encounter with
Margaret T that truly kicked off

429
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,000
the panic, happened in mid-May
of 1969.

430
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:24,960
But Neil Williamson's confession
clearly states he began his

431
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,080
hopes in June.
I know it's small, but that's a

432
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,000
gap of anywhere from two to six
weeks, depending on exactly when

433
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,760
in May Margaret had her
encounter and when in June

434
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,400
Williamson claims he started.
So here's the critical question.

435
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,000
Who was Margaret Teague looking
at in that ditch in May?

436
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,400
Williamson was still talked
safely into his bed.

437
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,160
If Williamson is telling the
truth about his start date, and

438
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,360
we have no reason to believe
he'd lie about when he began,

439
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,320
given that he's already
confessing to the prank, then he

440
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,880
cannot possibly be responsible
for the sighting that started

441
00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,440
the entire panic.
He cannot be the creature that

442
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,120
sent Margaret into the ditch.
He cannot be the abomination

443
00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:06,840
with the enormous head that she
described in such visceral

444
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,800
detail.
This isn't a minor discrepancy.

445
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,680
This is foundational.
If Williamson didn't create the

446
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,960
first sighting, then what did?
Next, let's examine the skull

447
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,640
detail.
Williamson's entire confession

448
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,320
revolves around wearing a
visible cow skull as the

449
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,080
centerpiece of his costume.
Yet when you examine the

450
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:30,120
contemporary reports, actual
newspaper accounts published

451
00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,640
while the sightings were
happening, not a single witness

452
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,520
mentioned a school.
Not one.

453
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,760
Margaret mentioned a huge head
and described the creature as

454
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,880
God awfully ugly.
The unnamed witness described

455
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,720
long matted hair.
Johnny Ray T's group saw

456
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,320
something the size of cow with
dark shaggy fur.

457
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:51,560
But nowhere, and I mean nowhere,
does anyone say it looked like a

458
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,400
man wearing a skeleton head.
Or I saw a bone where the face

459
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,480
should be.
Think about the anatomy of a cow

460
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,400
skull for a moment.
It's hollow.

461
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,480
It has empty eye sockets, dark
voids where the eyes once were.

462
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,640
If you put that over your head,
your own eyes were either hidden

463
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,640
deep inside those sockets or
you're looking out through the

464
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,520
nasal cavity.
Either way, what witnesses would

465
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,840
see is bone calcium, the
unmistakable structure of a

466
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,320
skull.
But the witnesses described

467
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,000
eyes.
Is that connected eyes that

468
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,080
reflected light?
In at least one account,

469
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,920
witnesses reported seeing red
eye shine, that distinctive glow

470
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,400
when light hits a living retina
at the right angle.

471
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,000
You cannot fake biological eye
shine with a dry bone mask

472
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,640
unless you're rigging up battery
powered lights behind the

473
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,680
sockets.
A 15 year old kid in rural

474
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,120
Alabama didn't have access to
compact LE DS or sophisticated

475
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:43,440
lighting rigs.
If witnesses saw eyes glowing in

476
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,960
the darkness, they were seeing a
retina reflection.

477
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,400
They were seeing biology, not
calcium.

478
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:49,920
They were seeing something
alive.

479
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:51,960
Then there's the white sheet
claim.

480
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,960
Williamson says he sometimes
swapped out the black coat for a

481
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,960
white sheet to keep things
interesting, and that this

482
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,280
explains the variation in color
descriptions.

483
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,640
But here's where his story
reveals either ignorance of

484
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,080
local folklore or a fundamental
misunderstanding of what people

485
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,840
were actually reporting.
In Alabama folklore, a white

486
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,760
creature is a very specific
thing, a Cryptid known simply as

487
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:19,800
the White Thang, spelled THA&G
for Thang.

488
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,400
To understand why this is such a
glaring discrepancy, you need to

489
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:28,360
know what the white thing
actually represents in Alabama

490
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,240
lore.
It's a legendary creature

491
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,720
frequently reported in Morgan,
Etawa, and Jefferson counties,

492
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,480
described as a massive, upright
entity covered in thick, white

493
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,320
shaggy hair, looking like a
cross between Bigfoot and a

494
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,400
polar bear.
Some versions of the legend even

495
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,040
suggests it's a shapeshifter, or
a spirit capable of vanishing

496
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,560
instantly.
This is deeply established

497
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,200
Southern folklore, with
sightings dating back

498
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,800
generations.
If Williamson had truly been

499
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,520
running around Choco Loco Rd. in
a white sheet in June of 1969,

500
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,400
right in the middle of Monster
Mania, locals would have

501
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,160
immediately identified it as a
white thing.

502
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,240
Sighting.
The newspapers would have made

503
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:08,440
the connection.
Reports would have reflected

504
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,040
that specific terminology.
Because the white thing was

505
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,320
already part of the regional
consciousness.

506
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,200
But look at the actual reports
from Choke Local Rd.

507
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,520
The varmint was described as
dark.

508
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,000
The cow sized beast was Gray to
black.

509
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,440
The booger was covered in matted
dark hair that blended into the

510
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,880
tree line.
Margaret's abomination wasn't

511
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:30,880
white.
Johnny Ray's creature wasn't

512
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:32,720
white.
Every single credible

513
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,360
contemporary sighting describes
a dark, earth toned creature

514
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:38,680
that could disappear into the
shadows.

515
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,080
If Williamson was out there
dancing in a bed sheet, why did

516
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,080
no one report seeing a ghost or
a white thing?

517
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,960
The answer is simple.
Either he wasn't using a white

518
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,680
sheet as often as he claims, or
he was performing for an empty

519
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,840
theater, scarring nobody,
contributing nothing to the

520
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,360
actual wave of sightings that
gripped the valley.

521
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,040
We also need to address the
Teague connection.

522
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,360
We have Margaret Teague
reporting the first sighting in

523
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:05,680
mid-May.
Then roughly a week later we

524
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,000
have Johnny Ray Teague and his
companions encountering multiple

525
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,960
creatures on Choco Logo Road 2.
Dramatic reports close together

526
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,360
in time involving people with
the same last name.

527
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,400
I attempted to verify whether
Margaret and Johnny Ray were

528
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,720
related siblings, cousins,
parent and child, but I was

529
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,960
unable to find a reliable source
that proved the connection.

530
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:27,520
There were a few websites that
made the claim, but when I

531
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,760
followed their cited sources, I
found myself right back in the

532
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,040
source loop. 1 site referenced
another which referenced another

533
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,880
with no primary documentation at
the end of the trail.

534
00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:41,400
So I cannot definitively prove
these two people were related,

535
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,440
but here's what I can say. 2
reports on a week or so apart of

536
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,000
the same type of creature by
people sharing the same surname

537
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,480
and a small rural community.
The likelihood that they were

538
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,120
related is probably pretty high.
Cleveland County wasn't exactly

539
00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:58,640
teaming with people.
Families knew each other, Names

540
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,200
meant something.
If they were related, does that

541
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,960
make the story more suspicious?
Does it point toward a

542
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,720
coordinated hoax within a single
family?

543
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,280
Or does it suggest something
else, that this family, for

544
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,520
whatever reason, was being
targeted, That they lived or

545
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,240
worked in an area where
something was actually moving

546
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,440
through the woods and they had
the misfortune of encountering

547
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,720
it?
Without access to genealogical

548
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,480
records or interviews with
surviving family members, we

549
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,880
can't know for certain, but the
question hangs there,

550
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:29,680
unanswered.
Finally, let's talk about the

551
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,320
embellishment problem.
When you dig through the

552
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,080
available sources on the truck
Local Monster, you find a lot of

553
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,840
dramatic details that simply
don't appear in the original

554
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,880
accounts.
Descriptions of the skull,

555
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:41,840
specific colors, behavior
details.

556
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,600
Where did these come from?
Often they appear to originate

557
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,600
from later retellings, authors
and researchers adding

558
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,720
flourishes to make the story
more engaging, more vivid, more

559
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,800
fantastical for modern readers.
I've done this myself.

560
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,200
We all do.
It's part of storytelling, but

561
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,040
it's also how truth gets buried,
period, under layers of

562
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,360
narrative Polish.
The skull detail specifically

563
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,440
seems to appear almost
exclusively in two places,

564
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,520
Williamson's 2001 confession and
subsequent articles that cite

565
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,160
his confession.
But in contemporary 1969

566
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:14,360
reports?
Nothing.

567
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,280
No mention of bone, no mention
of a skull faced creature

568
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,520
stalking the roadside.
This suggests that either

569
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,400
Williamson is telling the truth
about his specific prank and he

570
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,640
was scaring people who never
made it into the newspaper

571
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:28,160
reports, or he's retrofitting
his teenage mischief into

572
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,000
someone else's monster.
So here's the most likely

573
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,280
scenario if we're being brutally
honest.

574
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,440
Neil Williamson was a bored 15
year old kid who heard the

575
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,440
stories circulating through town
in May and early June.

576
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,320
He saw the panic building, he
read the newspaper accounts, he

577
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,040
watched as armed men flooded the
back roads looking for something

578
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,880
to shoot, and he decided to join
in to ride the wave, be part of

579
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,200
the phenomena.
He went out in June, after the

580
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,920
initial wave sightings had
already begun, and played his

581
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,920
prank.
He might have even scared a few

582
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,760
people, drivers who didn't
report their encounters or

583
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,200
incidents that got lost in the
noise of the broader panic.

584
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,960
But claiming he started it,
claiming he was the booger that

585
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:09,080
Margaret saw in mid-May, weeks
before he ever put that cow

586
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,400
skull over his head, that claim
crumbles under the weight of the

587
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,160
calendar.
Neil Williamson was the echo,

588
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,400
not the voice.
He was a shadow puppet trying to

589
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,200
mimic the monster.
He was a teenager who saw an

590
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,120
opportunity for mischief and
took it.

591
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,760
Then decades later, perhaps
seeking closure, perhaps seeking

592
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,920
attention, Perhaps perhaps
genuinely believing his prank

593
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,840
was responsible for more than it
actually was, came forward with

594
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:36,360
a confession that conveniently
explained away one of Alabama's

595
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,280
strangest legends.
But the confession doesn't

596
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,000
explain Margaret Teague's
encounter in May, Doesn't

597
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,920
explain the I Shine, doesn't
explain the pack behavior Johnny

598
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,560
Ray witnessed.
It doesn't explain why every

599
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,160
single description pointed to a
dark animal like creature rather

600
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,040
than a boy in a bed sheet.
The Choco logo monster may have

601
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:59,200
been joined by a prankster in
June 1969, but in my opinion,

602
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,040
something else, something
unexplained, was already

603
00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,760
stalking those roads when Neil
Williamson was still asleep in

604
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:12,240
his bed.
Everything else Before we close

605
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:16,000
this file, there are a few more
threads worth pulling, details

606
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,520
that don't fit neatly into the
timeline of sightings and

607
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,920
confession, but that add
important context to the Choco

608
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,960
logo monster legend.
By late June or early July of

609
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,280
1969, the sighting simply
stopped.

610
00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,000
There was no climatic final
encounter, no definitive

611
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,520
resolution.
The creature just vanished as

612
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,800
mysteriously as it had appeared.
The armed patrols gradually

613
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,000
dispersed.
The local newspapers moved on to

614
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,000
other stories.
The valley returned to its

615
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,680
predictable rhythms, though with
a lingering sense of unease that

616
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,240
would persist for years.
The panic lasted roughly 7

617
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,000
weeks, a concentrated burst of
terror that gripped the

618
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,840
community before evaporating
like morning fog.

619
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:02,480
This timeline is itself curious.
If something genuinely unknown

620
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,120
was roaming these woods, why did
it stop?

621
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,680
Did it move on to new territory?
Did it simply learn to avoid the

622
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,240
roads after encountering so many
armed humans?

623
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,640
Or did the presence of dozens of
trigger happy weekend warriors

624
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,960
make the area too dangerous for
a teenage prankster to continue

625
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,840
his game?
We'll never know for certain,

626
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,280
but the abrupt end to the
phenomenon is as much a part of

627
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:25,040
the mystery as the sightings
themselves.

628
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,920
To truly understand the trouble
of a monster, we need to

629
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:29,880
acknowledge the lands deeper
history as well.

630
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,400
Long before European settlers
arrived, the region was Creek

631
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,520
Nation territory.
The area was inhabited by Native

632
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:41,240
Americans as far back as 2500
years ago, and the Ibaka people,

633
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,600
one of the most ancient tribal
towns within the Muskogee

634
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:49,160
Nation, maintained ceremonial
grounds along choco loco Creek

635
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,840
until 1830's.
The name choco loco itself comes

636
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:56,680
from the Creek language, though
sources vary on exact

637
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,320
translation.
Some say it derives from choco

638
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:03,320
Lago, meaning big Shoals,
referring to the wide, shallow

639
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,360
stream with large rock
formations.

640
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,760
Others claim it comes from Choco
Rocco, meaning big house, which

641
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,320
by the 1700s referred to the
Creek Ceremonial Square, a

642
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:17,080
structure bounded by wooden
bleachers with awnings too large

643
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,520
for a roof but still called a
building.

644
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:23,200
Creek mythology, like many
southeastern indigenous belief

645
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,520
systems, included powerful
entities that inhabit the

646
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,320
natural world.
The Big Man eater, or

647
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:33,640
Atipatakoba, appears in
traditional Alabama in Creek

648
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,320
folklore as a giant cannibal
monster.

649
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,520
While this figure doesn't match
the Choco Loco monsters

650
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:43,480
description exactly, it
establishes A cultural president

651
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,880
for large, dangerous beings that
dwell in the forest and prey on

652
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,200
those who venture too far from
safety.

653
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:54,120
Did the 1969 witnesses tap into
these older narratives, perhaps

654
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,440
unconsciously?
When Margaret Teague saw

655
00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,400
something God awfully ugly
standing on 2 legs in the

656
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,560
darkness, was she seeing
something entirely new?

657
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:06,480
Or was her mind teaching for
ancient archetypes, stories

658
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:09,120
passed down through the land
itself, echoing through

659
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,639
generations?
We can't draw a Direct Line from

660
00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:15,199
Creek folklore to the choco
local monster the way we could

661
00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:18,000
connect the Woods Devil to the
Abenaki Kiwok.

662
00:34:18,199 --> 00:34:22,719
The cultural disruption of the
Indian removal in 1830s severed

663
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,280
many of those narrative threads.
But the land remembers even when

664
00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,360
the stories are forgotten.
One specific description appears

665
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,440
repeatedly in the witness
accounts and deserves closer

666
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:34,600
examination.
Multiple people describe the

667
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:36,239
creature as being the size of a
cow.

668
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,159
This is a strange comparison.
It's oddly specific but

669
00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:43,320
simultaneously vague.
A cow can weigh anywhere from

670
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:46,000
800 to 1500 lbs, depending on
the breed.

671
00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:50,360
When someone says the size of a
cow, what exactly do they mean?

672
00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:52,040
The height?
The mass?

673
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:55,080
The general impression of bulk?
The comparison suggests

674
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:57,880
something important about what
witnesses were experiencing.

675
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,720
They weren't describing
something that looked human

676
00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:02,800
size.
They weren't comparing it to a

677
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,760
bear or a deer, animals they
would have been intimately

678
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,400
familiar with as rural Albanians
in the 1960s.

679
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:13,880
They reached for cow because
what they saw had a similar

680
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,920
sense of mass and presence,
something substantial, something

681
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:20,800
that takes up space and way that
demands attention.

682
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,960
This detail also complicates
Williamson's confession.

683
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:28,000
A 15 year old boy, even 1,
standing on tip toes or hunched

684
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:30,400
over to create a strange
silhouette, doesn't have the

685
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,080
massive cow.
You might mistake his shadow for

686
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:34,880
something larger in the panic of
the moment.

687
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,160
But the repeated use of this
specific comparison across

688
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:41,680
multiple independent witnesses
suggests they were seeing

689
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,400
something with real physical
presence, not just a skinny

690
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:48,240
teenager in a costume.
What's perhaps most telling

691
00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:51,280
about the Choco Loco monster is
what wasn't found.

692
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,440
Despite 7 weeks of intense
activity, multiple sightings by

693
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:58,120
different witnesses, and dozens
of armed men combing the back

694
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,840
roads, not a single piece of
physical evidence was ever

695
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,200
recovered.
No footprints were photographed.

696
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,760
No hair samples were collected.
No photographs were taken,

697
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:08,120
despite the creature reportedly
appearing in full glare of

698
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:09,680
headlights on multiple
occasions.

699
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:14,200
In an era when many rural
Alabamians kept cameras in their

700
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,120
vehicles for documenting deer
kills and fish catches, is the

701
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,800
complete absence of photographic
evidence is striking.

702
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,560
This absence cuts both ways.
For skeptics, it supports the

703
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:27,080
hoax theory Williamson was
careful, quick, and left nothing

704
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,360
behind.
For believers, it suggests

705
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:33,200
something with an almost
supernatural ability to avoid

706
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:36,240
leaving traces moving through
the landscape like smoke.

707
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:40,560
The only evidence we have is the
testimony itself, the voices of

708
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:43,040
frank people describing
something that terrified them,

709
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,280
recorded in newspaper articles
and passed down through local

710
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:48,600
memories.
Since Williamson's 2001

711
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,800
confession, there have been no
credible reports of the Tropolo

712
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,800
monster returning to the valley.
The creature appears to be a

713
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:58,800
phenomenon frozen in time A7
week window in the spring and

714
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:02,960
early summer of 1969, after
which the roads fell silent.

715
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:08,160
This complete cessation of
sightings is itself unusual in

716
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,120
cryptozoology.
Most crypto legends continue to

717
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,440
generate sporadic reports over
decades.

718
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,320
Bigfoot sightings persist across
North America.

719
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:19,200
The Alabama white thing
continues to be reported in

720
00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:21,480
other parts of the state.
But the trokolocal monster?

721
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:23,480
Nothing.
Either Williamson successfully

722
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,080
scared off any real creature
that might have been in the

723
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:29,240
area, or his confession
successfully killed the legend.

724
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:32,040
People no longer look for the
monster on Choco Logo Rd.

725
00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:35,800
because they know it was just a
teenager in costume.

726
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:40,440
The mystery has been solved.
The file close and the case

727
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,280
archived.
But as we've explored, that neat

728
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,080
conclusion doesn't quite fit all
the facts.

729
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:50,040
And sometimes the stories that
stop being told are the ones

730
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:56,000
most worth remembering.
So what really walked down Choco

731
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,720
Logo Rd. in the summer of 1969?
Was it a 15 year old boy with a

732
00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:02,920
cow skull and a death wish
playing a prank that spiraled

733
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,560
beyond his control?
Or was it the booger that got

734
00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,560
off the ugly thing that sent
Margaret Teague into a ditch?

735
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:13,280
Was it the humpbacked varmint
that defies easy categorization?

736
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:16,200
Was it the thing that could
stole a car just by being near

737
00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:18,240
it?
Moved in packs that stroll

738
00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:21,240
lazily around the vehicles like
an apex predator toying with its

739
00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:23,200
prey?
History is often rewritten by

740
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,160
the loudest voice and it
confession in a newspaper is

741
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,600
pretty loud, especially when it
offers a tidy, rational

742
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,960
explanation that lets everyone
sleep a little easier at night.

743
00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:36,200
Neil Williamson's story became
the official narrative.

744
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,240
The Except the truth.
Case closed.

745
00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:41,440
Mr. Solve, move along.
But the whispers of the

746
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,400
witnesses are still there if you
listen closely enough.

747
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:47,560
Margaret frozen in her car in
the ditch, staring at something

748
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:49,640
with an enormous head and human
like shoulders.

749
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,840
Johnny Ray and his companion
surrounded by multiple creatures

750
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,920
on a dark Rd., their engine when
dead, watching those things

751
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:58,240
circle their vehicle in the
silence.

752
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,400
The unnamed hunter who saw
something that was neither bear

753
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:06,360
nor Panther, but somehow both.
The radio callers who insisted

754
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,040
it's real.
I saw it run faster than a deer.

755
00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:12,280
Those whispers don't quite fit
him since confession.

756
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,240
They're too detailed, too
specific, too early.

757
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:19,400
They they carry the weight of
genuine terror, the kind that

758
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,920
doesn't come from seeing a
teenager in a costume, but from

759
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,840
encountering something that
shouldn't exist.

760
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:30,080
Maybe Williamson did prank a few
drivers in June of 1969.

761
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:34,360
Maybe he added his shadow to the
chaos, his fake monster dancing

762
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,680
alongside something real.
Or maybe he heard the story, saw

763
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:41,920
an opportunity for notoriety 32
years later, and claimed credit

764
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,400
for a legend he never created,
becoming in death shadow after

765
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:48,520
that rifle shot.
The acceptable answer to an

766
00:39:48,720 --> 00:39:51,720
unacceptable question?
We may never know for certain.

767
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:54,440
The truck logo monster belongs
to that Gray space between

768
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:58,560
folklore and fact, hoax and
horror, where the best mysteries

769
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:00,320
live.
What I do know is this.

770
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:04,240
Something happened in the valley
in the spring of 1969, something

771
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:07,720
that frightened people who knew
these woods, who understood the

772
00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:10,680
difference between a bear and a
man, between a shadow and a

773
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:13,840
presence.
And whatever it was, prankster,

774
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,120
predator or something we don't
yet have words for, it left its

775
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,040
mark on Chuckle up a Road.
The creature may be gone, the

776
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,560
sightings may have ended, but
the questions remain hanging in

777
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,360
the humid.
Alabama air like morning fog

778
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:30,240
than never quite burns away.
Thank you for joining me for

779
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:31,760
this file.
If you have a story from

780
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,840
Cleveland County or if you know
the truth about fatigue

781
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:36,840
sightings, we want to hear from
you.

782
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,080
Perhaps you're a family member
who can't confirm or deny their

783
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,120
connection.
Maybe you were there in 1969 and

784
00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:45,720
saw something that never made it
into the papers.

785
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:48,680
Or maybe you know something
about the nights before

786
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:52,360
Williamson claims he started his
prank those critical weeks in

787
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:56,120
May when the terror first began.
You can find Project Jackalope

788
00:40:56,120 --> 00:41:00,640
on all major podcast platforms
under the Infinite Rabbit Hole

789
00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,280
RSS feed.
Please subscribe, leave a

790
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:06,800
review, and share this file to
help us continue documenting the

791
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:08,800
creatures on the fringe of our
reality.

792
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,120
Until next time, check your
backseat, lock your doors.

793
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,400
And if you find yourself on a
dark country Rd. where the

794
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,960
canopy blocks out the moon,
remember, sometimes the hoax is

795
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,640
just a mask for the horror.
Goodnight everyone.

796
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,880
Sources used for this research
in this episode included the

797
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:46,440
Innocent Star newspaper articles
from June 1969 and the October

798
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:50,600
31st, 2001 edition featuring
Matthew Creamer's article, The

799
00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:54,680
Choco Logo, Monster Jokester
Reveals 32 Year Old Prank, The

800
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:59,440
Birmingham News coverage from
1969, BFRO or Bigfoot Fuel

801
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:03,360
Researchers Organization
reports, and contemporaneous

802
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,920
radio broadcast from VHMA in
Anniston, AL.

803
00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:11,400
Additional sources include the
book Beast Beyond Belief, Sneaky

804
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:15,000
Werewolves, Flying Cats,
Accidental Apes by Michael D

805
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,760
Winkle, Alabama Lore, the Choco
Local Monster Hug and Molly, The

806
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,040
Lost Town of Cotton Port, and
Other Mysterious tales by Will

807
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:25,560
Elrich, and various historical
accounts from the Alabama

808
00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:28,560
Forestry Commission and
Encyclopedia of Alabama

809
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:32,440
regarding the Choco Local State
Forest, Alum County history and

810
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:37,760
the Civil War era iron industry.
Information on Creek Nation

811
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:41,560
history and the Choco Local
Creek Archaeological Complex was

812
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:45,840
drawn from the Alabama Mound
Trail Digital Alabama and

813
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:51,040
scholarly sources on Muskogee
mythology and Southeastern

814
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,760
Indigenous folklore and
historical context, and

815
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:57,520
Alabama's iron furnaces during
the Civil War was sourced from

816
00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:01,080
the Encyclopedia of Alabama's
entries on Janae Furnace,

817
00:43:01,240 --> 00:43:03,280
Calhoun County, and Aniston.