Alabama White Thang

The White Thang is north Alabama's own monster. The name is just the local way of saying "thing", and people across the region have been telling stories about it for generations. Most sightings fall in a rough triangle between Morgan, Etowah and Jefferson counties, with places like Walnut Grove, Moody's Chapel, Happy Hollow and the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge coming up again and again.

Most people describe it as a white Bigfoot: a big, hairy creature covered in white or pale hair that stands on two legs, often put at around eight feet tall, sometimes with glowing red eyes. It's known for its cry, a high-pitched scream that people compare to a woman screaming or a baby crying. Not every story agrees. Some witnesses describe something more cat-like that runs on all fours, and over the years it's been compared to a white lion, a bear, a wolf, and even a kangaroo with a cat's head. It's said to be fast, able to jump fences and climb trees, and gone in the blink of an eye.

In Courtland, in northern Lawrence County, it goes by another name: the Slough Thing, after the marshy slough along Big Nance Creek where it's supposed to live. The town's mayor, Linda Peebles, has said her own mother ran into it near the creek during the Depression in the early 1930s.

Nobody knows what it is. Guesses range from an albino animal or escaped exotic cat to something supernatural. It's also not the same creature as West Virginia's White Thing, a separate legend of a shaggy, dog-like beast with a similar scream.

What witnesses report

• Pale or white hair
• A scream like a woman or a crying baby
• Upright and very tall, or fast on all fours
• Glowing red eyes at night

Witness stories

First-hand accounts people have shared publicly, retold in full and credited to them. All witness stories