STATE FILE · KY
Cryptids of Kentucky
What cryptids are in Kentucky? The best-known are Kelly–Hopkinsville Goblins, Pope Lick Monster, Herrington Lake Monster and Goatman, among 5 on file.
Kentucky gave the world the phrase “little green men.” On the night of August 21, 1955, members of the Sutton family and their visitors at a farmhouse near Kelly, outside Hopkinsville, told police that small, glowing, big-eared creatures had besieged the house for hours. The press coverage helped popularize the image of alien “goblins,” and for years Kelly celebrated it with a “Little Green Men Days” festival; since 2024 Hopkinsville has marked the August 21 anniversary with an Alien Invasion Day at its visitors center.
Cryptids reported in Kentucky
HUMANOID · 1955
Kelly–Hopkinsville Goblins
Sutton farm, Kelly, near Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Small, glowing-eyed beings that a rural Kentucky family said besieged their farmhouse for hours in August 1955 – the case behind “little green men.”
REGIONAL LEGEND
HUMANOID · 1980s
Pope Lick Monster
Pope Lick trestle, Fisherville area of Louisville, Kentucky
A goat-legged figure said to haunt a towering railroad trestle east of Louisville – a legend that has drawn people onto a deadly, active train line.
LOCAL LEGEND
LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1920s
Herrington Lake Monster
Herrington Lake, Mercer, Garrard and Boyle counties, Kentucky
A fast, eel-bodied creature with a pig-like snout said to swim in Herrington Lake, Kentucky’s deepest lake, made famous by a professor in the 1970s.
LOCAL LEGEND
HUMANOID · 1971
Goatman
Fletchertown Road, Bowie, Prince George’s County, Maryland
A half-man, half-goat said to stalk the back roads of Prince George’s County, Maryland – a 1970s legend fed by teenagers, folklore archives and the press.
REGIONAL LEGEND
HOMINID · 1958
Bigfoot
Pacific Northwest forests, reported across North America
North America’s most famous cryptid: a huge, hairy, upright ape-like being reported from the Pacific Northwest to Florida since the 1958 “Bigfoot” tracks.
WIDELY REPORTEDThe legends of Kentucky
Louisville has its own famous legend: the Pope Lick Monster, a goat-man hybrid said to lurk beneath the towering Norfolk Southern railroad trestle over Pope Lick Creek. The tale has tragically lured thrill-seekers onto the active line, and several people have died there – a sobering reminder not to trespass. Central Kentucky’s Herrington Lake, the state’s deepest lake, has a fast-swimming, pig-snouted monster popularized by a local professor in the 1970s, and Goatman stories circulate in many counties.
The Appalachian east, especially the Daniel Boone National Forest and the Red River Gorge, is the state’s main source of Bigfoot reports, while the caves of Mammoth Cave National Park add their own ghost stories. Skeptics note that the Kelly witnesses may have seen great horned owls, that lake monsters may be large fish such as paddlefish or gar, and that legends like Pope Lick spread through teenage “legend trips” rather than evidence.
Hotspots
Site of the 1955 “little green men” encounter, now commemorated each August by nearby Hopkinsville.
Railroad trestle at the center of the Pope Lick Monster legend – an active line that is dangerous and off-limits.
Kentucky’s deepest lake, home of an eel-like monster legend.
Eastern Kentucky sandstone arches and forests that supply most of the state’s Bigfoot reports.
Sightings timeline
- 1925The lake fills Herrington Lake Monster
Dix Dam was completed and the river valley flooded to form Herrington Lake. Local lore holds that the first strange sightings came soon after the water rose.
- August 21, 1955A light in the sky Kelly–Hopkinsville Goblins
Around 7 p.m., Billy Ray Taylor said he saw a bright, silvery object with a rainbow-colored trail hover and then come down beyond the trees. The family reportedly dismissed his story until the first creature appeared near the house.
- August 21, 1955 (night)The farmhouse siege Kelly–Hopkinsville Goblins
For several hours the household said small creatures approached the doors and windows – one reportedly reached down and touched Taylor’s hair – while the men fired at them. Around 11 p.m. the family drove to the Hopkinsville police station to report the attack.
- August 22, 1955Police search and the creatures’ return Kelly–Hopkinsville Goblins
A large group of officers and military police found no trace of the beings, only signs of gunfire. The family said the creatures came back in the early morning hours after the officers left.
- 1972A professor’s sightings Herrington Lake Monster
University of Kentucky professor Lawrence S. Thompson said he had seen the creature on several occasions from his lake home. His account, given to a Louisville newspaper, is the basis of most later descriptions.
- February 1988Earliest documented mention Pope Lick Monster
A Courier-Journal article about teenagers going out onto the trestle is the oldest known printed reference to the legend. Norfolk Southern later said two teenagers had died in separate incidents on the bridge in the preceding two years.
- 1988<em>The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster</em> Pope Lick Monster
Ron Schildknecht’s low-budget short film gave the creature a face and spread the legend far beyond eastern Louisville; sources differ on whether it premiered in March or December 1988. The railroad warned at the premiere that anyone found on the trestle would be prosecuted.
- April 23, 2016Visitor killed on the trestle Pope Lick Monster
A 26-year-old woman from Dayton, Ohio, visiting the site on a paranormal-themed trip, was struck by a train and fell from the bridge; her companion survived. The coroner said the couple had heard about the legend and called the death preventable.
- August 2016Little Green Men Days Kelly–Hopkinsville Goblins
The sixth annual Little Green Men Days festival marked the encounter’s 61st anniversary near the old farm site with music, a costume contest and a replica flying saucer. The festival later lapsed, and Hopkinsville revived the commemoration in 2024.
- May 26, 2019Teenager killed by a freight train Pope Lick Monster
A train struck two teenage girls on the trestle, killing a 15-year-old and seriously injuring her friend. Neighbors and police renewed pleas for people to stay off the bridge.
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Videos
ARCHIVE.ORG3:07
Patterson–Gimlin film (unedited)
Roger Patterson and Bob GimlinThe original 1967 Bluff Creek footage – the most famous and most debated minute in Bigfoot history. Marked public domain on archive.org.
ARCHIVE.ORG4:59
The Film That Made Bigfoot A Star
Oregon Public BroadcastingOPB’s short documentary on how the Patterson–Gimlin film turned a regional legend into a global icon – and the hoax claims around it.
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Sts’ailes Sasquatch Days in Harrison Hot Springs
Tourism Harrison River ValleyShows the festival celebrating the Sts’ailes people’s Sásq’ets, the being behind the word “Sasquatch” (no archive.org equivalent).
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Cryptid: Goatman
Small Town MonstersFeature-length documentary on American goatman legends from an independent cryptid documentary studio.
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Pope Lick legend draws trespassers to dangerous trestle
WHAS11Louisville TV news report on the legend and the very real danger of the active trestle.
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The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster
Germantown FilmsThe 16-minute 1988 short film that did much to popularize the legend; shown here as a piece of local film history.