• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man spent 50 years tricking entire town into believing Bigfoot lived there

Home> News> US News

Published 17:10 3 Sep 2023 GMT+1

Man spent 50 years tricking entire town into believing Bigfoot lived there

Eugene Hendrick hatched a crafty plan to make it look like Bigfoot was visiting the US town

Jess Battison

Jess Battison

Sometimes you might prank your mates by telling them the wrong dress code for an event or you might wrap your uni flatmate’s room in foil.

Or perhaps your pranking days started off as a kid with simple games of knock-and-run.

But rarely is a prank so extravagant that it crosses decades and fools a whole town.

Advert

And one man in Alabama, US, spent 50 years tricking his entire town of Brantley into believing Bigfoot lived there.

Prankster-genius Eugene Hendrick’s plan hatched back in the 70’s, when locals spotted tracks by the river.

Hendrick told WFSA: “I got a wild hair one day. I wanted to do something about a Sasquatch.

Advert

“I cut some big ole feet and bolted some shoes to them and walked around by the river making tracks. I even made claw marks in the trees.”

However, speculation soon filled Brantley as they were convinced that something-out-of-the-ordinary was going on and it got so wild even the police and search dogs showed up.

Eugene Hendrick is the genius behind it all.
WFSA

Local Jimmy McGinty was just a child when the mysterious Bigfoot was supposedly wandering around their town.

He remembered: “I was just going out by the river and saw some unusual tracks on the sand bar. I went and looked and saw these big footprints, and I’m going, am I seeing this right or not?’”

Advert

But, with such fear in the community and the police involvement, Hendrick decided to abandon his antics.

He said: “I put the cut-out feet and shoes away and kept it a secret until 2017."

And for a long while, no one knew that he’d been behind it.

A lot of the town believe Bigfoot was walking their streets.
Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

But then Hunter Royal, who owns the Old Gin Greek County Store in Brantley, decided he’d start selling a 'monster' burger – ‘The Sasquatch Burger’.

Advert

And Hendrick decided it was time. He was going to come clean about his epic pranking.

McGinty couldn’t believe it was him behind it all, and said: “I knew I wasn’t crazy then. But, he got me.”

The store then went on to sell all kinds of Bigfoot merchandise, even picking up a 3,500-pound, solid concrete Sasquatch.

Hunter was pretty surprised when his father-in-law McGinty showed up with the huge creature, saying: “I was in shock. It has made a landmark for the community.”

And in almost sweet end to his operation, Hendrick was the one to paint the giant statue, using his professional artist skills to design the ‘landmark’.

Advert

Although, it seems that locals do still reckon some kind of creature exists in the town as Hunter said: “If you don’t believe in Sasquatch, you’re the problem.”

Featured Image Credit: WSFA/ Getty stock

Topics: Weird, US News, Bigfoot, Conspiracy Theory

Jess Battison
Jess Battison

Jess is a Senior Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include asking everyone in the office what they're having for tea, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021.

X

@jessbattison_

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Couple hiking in notorious Bigfoot area notice eerie detail in one of their photos
  • 'Only man to sneak into Area 51' says what he witnessed will stay with him forever
  • Chilling theory behind 'world's loneliest house' that's hours from nearest town where people are banned
  • Book classified by CIA for more than 50 years explained how the world was going to end

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • Getty Stock ImagesGetty Stock Images
    2 hours ago

    Major warning to Firestick users as world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform is shut down

    The world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform has been shut down

    News
  • Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesJoe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    Epstein files reveal naked photos of Ghislaine Maxwell in billionaire's home

    Footage from his Florida mansion revealed dozens of photos

    News
  •  Instagram/sofi.co__ Instagram/sofi.co__
    2 hours ago

    Burning Man attendee reported missing days after man found dead in 'pool of blood'

    A man was found in a 'pool of blood' at the Burning Man festival on 30 August

    News
  • Phil Faraone/VMN18/Getty Images For Comedy CentralPhil Faraone/VMN18/Getty Images For Comedy Central
    3 hours ago

    Demi Moore reveals ex-husband Bruce Willis' 'difficult' personality change after dementia diagnosis

    Bruce Willis' ex wife Demi Moore opened up about his health condition on the Oprah podcast

    News