The Lake Worth Monster

Picture published in the Dallas Morning July 12, 1969

There’s just something about a cryptid. Who doesn’t just love a creature that may or may not exist? A Schrodinger's monster if you will.

In the summer of 1969, it was hot and terrible - as are all summers in Texas. Back then, the area near Greer Island in Fort Worth wasn’t gated off like now. It was a place where local teens came to do the things teens do in dark, empty places.

The story goes that somewhere around midnight a “beast” lept down from the trees onto the car. This led to a complete and utter stop of the things going on in the backseat. According to these folks, the monster tried to grab the woman through the open car window, but the driver was able to speed off. However, the beast left an 18-inch gash just under the window on the side of the car.

This led to a Texas-sized monster hunt.

The next night truckloads of people with guns (because of course there were) headed toward Greer Island to hunt the thing. Families with lawn chairs and coolers full of beer came out to catch a glimpse of it. Even reporters swarmed around the story and the police reportedly just tried to keep the peace between all the drunks with guns.

Rick Pratt, director of the Greer Island Nature Center at the time said, “Here was a Sasquatch, our very own. It was a party, what the hell, let’s go.”

Later that same night, a few dozen people were at a clearing near the lake that was known for dumping when the monster made another appearance. It stood on a cliff, looked angry, and threw a tire about 500 feet towards them. Everyone, including a group of sheriff’s deputies, took off running.

The monster has been described as a giant white goat that walks on two feet, has scales along its back, and long clawed fingers. Over the years it’s been seen by numerous people, but there’s never been another mass sighting like the summer of 1969.

In 2005, a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram received an anonymous letter from someone claiming to be one of three high school classmates who, in the summer of 1969, "decided to go out to Lake Worth and scare people" using a tinfoil mask. In 2009, Fort Worth, Texas magazine published a report about an unidentified man who said that he had been a perpetrator of the tire-throwing incident.

It doesn’t really matter because since 2009 (the 40th anniversary of the sightings), the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge has held a Lake Worth Monster Bash every October.

Guess what month it is?

If you feel like looking for the Lake Worth Monster, grab your hiking shoes and head out there. You never know what you might see.