Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.
This week: Cryptozoology/Myths
The Goatman we're talking about today has more to do with Bigfoot than it does a cowboy with an unnatural animal fixation. In fact – Goatman pretty much is Bigfoot from the sound of it, just replace all the ape parts with that of goat. He's all covered in fur, he walks on two legs and has cloven hooves. The hybrid has been spotted all over North America, and has several attacks on loving couples attributed to him.
The Goatman, a creature with goat legs, horns and hooves but human everything-else, is shrouded in mystery. Even less is known about him than Bigfoot. Speculation on his origins fly about anyway – according to an obscure Geocities website:
Opinions vary on where the Goatman came from. Some local scholars believe it is just the area's repressed subconscious feelings about the devil and religion that are manifesting themselves in these sitings. Other believe they really are seeing the ancient spirits of the satyrs and Pan. While the last theory seems to have the most interesting qualities. A scientist who worked at the National Agricultural Research Center, which just happens to be located in Prince Georges County, was supposed to have been doing some kind of research with goats. Then something went wrong with the experiments, and the scientist slowly turned into the half-goat, half-human monster [we] now know. Goatman retreated into the woods where he hides most of the time. The Goatman also developed an intense hatred of man and other animals.
Clearly those origins sound pretty comic bookish. In bigfoot stories, the beasty is generally only attributed a typical animal's brain-power. In the Goatman tales, however, it seems to be given human-like intelligence – enough to carry a double-edged battle axe. You read that right – this guy, at least in some sightings, carries an axe. Unknown-creatures.com describes this in a Maryland sighting:
In the first encounter reported, a couple was parked alone a lonely country road during a moon lit love making session, when the suddenly heard something banging on the hood of their car. Looking up they were scared to death to see the goat like creature staring at them, waving what looked like a double edged axe in it's hand. The creature suddenly turned and dashed into the surrounding woods.
Goatman-mania hit the area enough that on Nov 10, 1971, this headline graced the front page of a local paper:
"Residents Fear Goatman Lives: Dog Found Decapitated in Old Bowie"
The article told a story of a woman who heard her dog barking, then looked outside and saw the shadow of a hulking creature in her yard. The dog disappeared, then the next day she found her pooch quite decapitated. The article went on to tell how sightings of the Goatman had been reported all along a few local roads.
As far as we can tell there's been nothing but urban myth and rumours of the Goatman since the newspaper ran that story. It really doesn't give us a lot to work with. Maybe the big beast never existed at all.
Then again, maybe it does.
Read More:
Goatman (Maryland) – Wikipedia
Leslie says
Well, considering that’s near where I live, I will let you know if I see anything.
Shannon says
Interesting!
brian says
i’m right here tryna convince my shorty that this guy/animal is real. i saw 1/2 a deer in the road maybe a month ago….funny, along the same stretch of road, just recently, she, too, saw 1/2 a deer in the road-dead. in both cases, ONLY THE HEAD WAS SEEN…NO EVIDENCE OF THE ABDOMEN.
Sarah says
This reminds me of the book Jitterbug Perfume, maybe the Goatman is actually Pan.