Lake Worth Goatman- Texas

Many towns in America have their own Lover’s Lane monster. Seems there’s just something about amorous couples in parked cars that draws hidden beasts out of the dark woods like moths to a porch light. Honestly, it’s a wonder anyone parked at those remote spots can even get to first base with all the vengeful ghosts, hook-handed serial killers, hairy hominids, lizardmen, and other supernatural oddities trying to get into their vehicles.

One of the more memorable of these voyeuristic creatures hails from Lake Worth, Texas. Described as resembling a seven-foot satyr covered in thick white fur- and possibly scales- the Goatman has been haunting the brushy hills and cliffs around the lake since at least 1969, when it attacked a car packed with three couples out enjoying the night.

Soon after that initial attack, crowds of people along the Lake Worth shore claimed to have seen the Goatman trudging through the underbrush. Cars were attacked in the dark, their metal chassis torn and shredded by inhuman claws. Several witnesses even saw the creature pick up a truck tire and hurl it 500 feet through the air. As is typical when any new cryptid makes an appearance, the Goatman's antics quickly brought in a rush of tourists, reporters, and self-proclaimed monster-hunters- the latter of whom became a public hazard as they prowled the scrub around the lake with loaded rifles.

One man, Allen Plaster, even snapped a blurry photo of a tall, hairy white creature emerging from a stand of tall grass.  Plaster, though, would eventually come to doubt that the thing he saw was an actual cryptid, theorizing instead is that it was merely local kids playing a prank.  

Indeed, many other folks around Lake Worth eventually came to the conclusion that the creature was nothing but a hoax, perhaps begun by bored teenagers on summer vacation. Still, regardless of whether the Goatman was real or not, it has become a fond part of Lake Worth folklore. The Forth Worth Nature Center & Refuge, located on the shores of the lake, has  even begun celebrating an annual Lake Worth Monster Bash, featuring an appearance by the infamous creature (or at least, a person in an impressively-detailed Goatman costume).

One can’t help but notice that the Goatman’s description as a hairy, possibly scaly hominid, and its propensity to attack and damage parked cars, are strikingly similar to the appearance and habits of the  Bishopville Lizard Man. Could both creatures be part of a Southern population of small, lightly-built sasquatches with an odd hatred of motorized vehicles? Or maybe both are just hoaxes drawing on classic American folklore about monsters lurking in the dark, ready to trash unwary vehicle, and perhaps their unlucky occupants if they aren’t careful.

SOURCES

Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge

A local news story about the history of Goatman sightings

Texas Hill Country story about the Goatman

A story from NBCDFW about the Goatman