Shots Fired at Mammoth Cave After Man Claims to Have Seen Bigfoot

A couple’s camping trip in the back country of Kentucky was interrupted by none other than Bigfoot itself per recent reports. According to LEX 18, Brad Ginn and Madelyn Durand were staying at a campsite in Mammoth Cave National Park Sunday night when gunfire rang out after a man reported seeing the fabled creature roaming the woods near their campsite

Speaking to the outlet, the couple explained that they were woken in the middle of the night by a man and his son who told them that “something had destroyed his campsite” and that they were going to investigate because this was “Bigfoot Country.” He then warned the couple to be careful and advised them to run if they heard gunfire.

Shortly after, the man yelled “There it is!” before shooting in the direction of the couple’s tent, later explaining that he had seen Bigfoot standing behind it.

Although neither Ginn nor Durand reported seeing the creature of legend, Durand did report that she had heard “a strange whooping noise” that had been keeping her awake. The couple and their dog packed up their things following the eruption of gunfire and hiked five miles back to their car.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the national park confirmed the incident.

“Mammoth Cave Law Enforcement Rangers responded to an incident involving an individual with a firearm at one of the park’s backcountry campsites at approximately 2 a.m on Sunday, July 28. Park rangers made contact with all parties involved and no injuries occurred,” the statement read.

The statement added that the incident “is still under investigation,” though “no threat remains in the park.” The statement also explained that the discharge of a firearm within the park is “strictly prohibited.”

While the spokesperson didn’t seem ready to backup claims of a Bigfoot sighting, the trigger happy camper Sunday night isn’t alone in his encounter. According to kentuckybigfoot.com, which is run by the Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization, there have been 398 Bigfoot sightings in Kentucky alone, with four such reports in Mammoth Cave National Park.

The earliest recorded sighting within the park is in the early 1990s, when an employee for The National Park Service at Mammoth Cave National Park claimed he saw “a large hairy creature down on what he thought to be all fours walking” on a trail. The creature eventually “ran into the darkness on two legs.”

Three more sightings within the park occurred in 2013, 2014, and again in 2015.