Some Stupid Stories about the Lake Worth Monster

In 1969, one of the most famous Bigfoot "flaps" occurred around Lake Worth, located near Fort Worth, Texas. People in the area reported seeing a tall, white haired, something, which supposedly jumped on cars, threw tires, and even grabbed a man sleeping in the back of his truck one night until he shoved a chicken at it, which it grabbed in its mouth, and then swam across Lake Worth to Greer Island. Some said the creature looked like a white Bigfoot, while others said it looked like, as the newspapers would call it, a "fishy goat-man."

The only known photo of the LWM, taken by Allen Plaster

There were several theories as to what the monster really was other than those mentioned above. Some said the 7-foot tall, (thought to be) 300 pound monster was a bobcat (!), while others screamed hoax! Over the years, there have been several people who have come forward and said that they were the monster, some saying they used a faceless gorilla costume, and others saying they used a tinfoil mask or hang goat skins in trees about parked cars at make-out spots to then drag the goat across the hood of the car (which, if it weren't more ridiculous than the idea of a Bigfoot or goat man, would be to explain the sightings where the creature jumped on people's cars). Another man, only known as "Vinzens," was tracked down by a reporter for the Fort Worth Magazine and said he and some others rolled a tire down a hill, which was the tire the monster supposedly threw over the heads of 30-40 astonished people witnessing it one day. But, there is another explanation that has been put forward that is even more ridiculous than those!

Jan Galloway is another who claims she knows "who" was responsible for the LWM sightings. Jan Galloway told the Domain of Horror blog:

"It started out as a joke…the teenagers parking on top of the hill across from Greer Island…my two younger brothers thought it would be funny to scare the parkers. They tied ropes and grapevines off in the day time and at night my younger brother Jack Shelby wore my rabbit coat and they would fly across the hoods of the cars and barely touch the hoods…one night my brother Billy Shelby decided to come across the ground on all fours like a monkey…he jumped on top of a car and scratched the windshield and scratched the windshield and made a tarzan sound and jumped off. The two people in the car went to Lake Worth Police Station and said something half goat and half man jumped on their [car]…well that is how it started…people started coming to the pit and we decided to play it to the hilt…Billy Shelby was 15 years old at the time and Jack Shelby was 11 years old I was 17 we decided to dress Billy up he put on cut off shorts and I cut them around the bottom of the legs…then a white t-shirt and I ratted his hair and put black eye pencil on his face, arms and legs and rubbed it in. So every night Billy Shelby,. Jack Shelby. Mike Roper, Dean Carpenter and Deans younger brother went thru the trailer park which came out at the top of the pit. When people started coming Billy would make one appearance a night he would come out on the cliff and hit his chest and make tarzan sounds. The night they said the tire went 500 of whatever feet it was pulled back like a sling shot by 4  boys and let go of it looked like Billy threw it but he did not…after that I don't remember how many days we did that maybe 5 or 6 but then they brought guns to kill goatman and I went up the hill and told them to get they were going to kill them…and that was the end of goatman."

I find it extremely hard to believe that two kids (15 and 11) could be mistaken for a 7-foot man-like monster. And the way she said they dressed up - in a "rabbit coat" and a white t-shirt with cut-off shorts and markers? No way. Also the "giant slingshot" part of the story just sounds ludicrous!

Another person, "Robert," told Domain of Horror the monster was really his uncles and their friends. He says the men who did it were Billy Shelby, Jack Shelby, and Kenny Goins. Robert's grandfather owned the Liquor Store close to "the pit" and the three would go up there and roll tires down, he said, and scream "goat man!"

Now its obvious that "Robert" is probably related to Jan, and Mr Dark who wrote the post on Domain of Horror concludes that the LWM was "nothing more than some mischievous pranksters just as almost all of the other cryptids turn out to be in the end."

I don't believe that, though, as these stories are too stupid to have been the real deal. They both do say that Billy and Jack rolled the tires down the hill, but Jan mentioned them pulling back the tire like a sling shot and Robert doesn't. Robert also says they did it with one other person, when Jan says they had three acquaintances. Also I don't think someone would mistake some kids in a rabbit coat and a white t-shirt for a seven-foot, hair covered monster.

Also, Mr Dark on Domain of Horror says he has a PhD in cryptozoology and the paranormal, which you can't get, btw, or other people who research this stuff would have it. And he also says he got online and got in in 15 minutes so I bet it's real. 😂 Not.

Anyway, the mystery of the Lake Worth Monster apparently lives on…