Database: Sightings & Evidence 1950-1959

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The Cauldron 1950-Related 1965

Little naked male Creature

In 1950 two campers, Tony Parkes and Ned Struthers were exploring the 'Cauldron', deep gully at the southern end of Megalong Valley and west of Narrow Neck Peninsula. Tony momentarily separated from Ned to fill his water bottle in a nearby creek.

Crouching down he proceeded to fill it at the creek edge. Having done so, he stood up. In front of him on the opposite side of the creek was a 2 metre high flat rock, upon which there sat a "little naked male creature, no taller than a chimpanzee", as Tony later described 'him'."He had long dark hair, a thinnish wrinkled face and his skin was a dark brownish colour."

"I'd no sooner caught sight of him than he stood up, looking past me, then turned around and dashed off into the surrounding bush." "At this point I turned around to see, standing some yards away, watching me above another rock ledge, three more of his kind, two male and a little female, all with shoulder-length blackish-brown hair. One male wore a little kangaroo hide cloak."

"I ran from the creek calling out to Ned, who at first didn't believe me and laughed. We returned to the spot but the little natives had vanished. Then Ned spotted a number of little human footprints in the sand a short way along the creek from where I had seen the little natives and he then believed me."

The above story, given to me by Tony Parkes in 1965.

Goesi-Western Dutch New Guinea 1950

Hairy man Ape

In 1950, a "7ft tall, long breasted hairy female 'Masalai' monster", as she was later described, scared a group of natives when she emerged from bushes to interrupt their fishing activities near Goesi, in what was then western Dutch New Guinea. A few years later two 7-8ft tall hairy 'man-ape' creatures were claimed to be terrorising natives in the Fak Fak area west of Goesi. They smashed huts and carried away a native whose half-eaten body was found after as search the following day.

Island Of Tana 1950's

Semsen Manbeast

Back in the early 1950's on the island of Tana, a woman called Onda was captured in the forest by a male Semsem, but after a struggle she managed to break free and escape. Running through jungle she hid in a hollow tree trunk until the monster was gone. Following this incident, her tribe decided to do something about it. The men of the tribe subsequently tracked down and killed the Semsem manbeast with stone axes and spears.

The natives of the Seniang district of southern Malekula, generations ago called the female Semsem ogres 'Nevinbimbaau'. These 2m tall [and over] females were often seen gathering clams on the shoreline. These primitive hominids were said to have roamed the island since long before the creation of the first natives. The male Semsem mostly kept their females and young secreted away in their remote lairs. The Malekulans say their ancestors killed off the last Semsem long ago.

Dr Loius Burkhalter 1950

Gigantic Men

In 1950 Dr Louis Burkhalter, former French delegate to the Prehistoric Society, wrote in the Revue du Musee de Beyrouth: "I want to make it clear that the existence of gigantic men in the Acheulian age [ie between about 75,000 and 150,000 years ago] must be considered a scientifically proven fact."

In his paper, "A Report On Gigantic Implements Found In South Morocco", Dr Burkhalter refers to 'gigantic' stone tools unearthed at Sasnych [Syria], located five miles from Safitah in the alluvial ground of Nohr Abrach. These included bifaces of 'abnormal' dimensions weighing 2.5kg to 3.5kg. These finds were followed by similar discoveries made by Captain R Lafanechere in south Morocco - biface tools of Acueulean manufacture weighing 4.150kg, while one specimen was over 8kg.

The stone megatools recovered from Australia to date appear to be the largest and heaviest, reaching weights of up to and over 20kg! Tools which only beings of 3 to 4 metres or more height would have been capable of using. Dr Burkhalter theorised that ancient and modern gigantism could be caused by biological mutations related to both quantitative and qualitive variations in the solar emission of infra-red rays, which are connected with biochemical variations [ie endocrinian or neuro-endocrinian] and biophysical variations in the human body, particularly the secretion of thyreo-type hormone, which causes a tendency to gigantism.

Whatever were the causes of giantism among the Pliocene-Pleistocene hominidae and hominoidae remains a mystery which is the cause of much continuing scientific debate. Perhaps the answers to this great mystery may eventually be found here in Australia, where the greatest amount of evidence in the world is lately coming to light.


Borderland Between Indochina & Thailand 1951

Enormous shadowy figure-Taw Taw

Back in the days of French Indochina [as Vietnam was once known], an employee of the French Government, Jean-Pierre Delaine, was on a visit to a small village located on the borderland between Indochina and Thailand. The year was 1951 and the French were fighting a war to hang onto their colony. Delaine was on a mission to attempt to convince a native tribe to support France in this was, and was already on good terms with the village chief.

However, the chief only allowed him to walk about the village with spear-carrying bodyguards, his reason being that the 'Taw' were prowling about in the nearby jungle and that the Frenchman needed protection. Delaine retired to a small hut to sleep at that night, while two bodyguards armed with spears stood outside the entrance. Suddenly he was woken up by what he later described as "an awful shriek", and the "roar of some primeaval monster".

Running outside he found his bodyguards hiding out of sight, trembling in fear of their own lives. It was a moonlit night, and as villagers hiding in their huts screamed "Taw! Taw!", he spotted an enormous shadowy figure striding down the main thoroughfare of the village, a figure at least 9ft [2.75m] tall. It was covered with long hair and walked upright like a human.

Hearing a scream coming from a nearby hut, Delaine saw another 'Taw' striding out of the dwelling with a grown woman tossed over his shoulder, her struggles in vain against the strength of the manbeast. Grabbing a pistol from his hut Delaine only got off two shots at the manbeast as he vanished quickly into the dark, although Delaine was certain his bullets had hit him.

However, he seemed to pay no attention to my bullets" he puzzled later. Meanwhile Delaine had forgotten about the other Taw, which suddenly appeared out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground with a powerful hairy arm, dislodging the pistol from his hand. Three times the manbeast picked him up only to slam him down against the earth. He barely had time to grab the pistol before the monster began giving him a death hug. The smell from the creature's hairy body was horrible.

Then, as the monster momentarily relaxed its grip, Delaine was able to fire his pistol. The manbeast dropped Delaine, then moved away from him. It was then Delaine realised his shot had only grazed the creature's hip, yet it was enough to frighten the manbeast and it ran off behind one of the huts and into the jungle.

A search the following day resulted in finding the dead body of the woman, and about the area were found the huge footprints of several Taw giants, on or more of whom had eaten the flesh off her arms. Delaine was glad to leave the area. The Vietnamese believe many tribes of gigantic Taw of from 3 to 4m in height inhabit the remote mountainous regions. The Taw or 'mouth-men' of Vietnam appear to be related to the Kung-tu 'mouth men' of Burma. Their range also extends from Vietnam and Thailand into Cambodia.


Great Sandy Desert 1952

Monsterous Footprints-Jinka Monster

Brassey Range: Many years before, in 1952, mineral surveyors working in a remote area on the edge of the Gibson Desert in the Brassey Range found over a dozen monsterous footprints over two feet in length, embedded in drying creek mud about a day old. An Aboriginal guide with the party told the men that a "Jinka monster" was nearby and they should leave the area right away. The men heeded his advice and promptly abandoned their camp.

Dove Lake Area 1952

Several man-sized hairy Creatures

Very little was heard of the 'Bugaloos' thereabouts until, in 1952, a lone bushman reported sighting a group of several man-sized hairy creatures in the Dove Lake area while on a camping trip.

Jenolan Caves Road 1952

Tall hairy man-like ape-like Creature

Mrs W. Williams of Katoomba, during the years 1951-1952 was working with a Blue Mountains tourist bus company, driving coaches between Katoomba and Jenolan Caves. During this period she knew one coach driver who claimed he had seen a tall, hairy man-like, ape-like creature one night while driving along a lonely stretch of the Jenolan Caves Road near Hampton. The man-ape appeared ahead of him in the glare of the headlights, crossing the road into thick bushland.

A man-like ape-like Beast

Mrs Williams was to recall this tale, when one day in 1952, on a day off work, she was to have her own personal experience with the Yowie. She was taking her niece out for the day in her car to Jenolan Caves. On the return trip she decided to turn off the Jenolan Road and take a dirt road short cut to Lithgow.

As they drove along the densely wooded road, the women caught sight of an "ugly-looking hairy 'hulk', a man-like, ape-like beast 5 ft [l.5 m] in height, standing up off the road atop a grassy embankment on the edge of the scrub, observing them as they passed.

Mrs Williams observed that the 'hulk' appeared to have no neck, the head being sunk into the shoulders, giving the manbeast a stooped posture [like the Gigantopithecus-type creatures already described]. The ladies did not stop, but instead increased speed.

The Brassey Range 1952

A dozen monsterous Footprints


Back in 1952, mineral surveyors working in a remote area on the edge of the Gibson Desert in the Brassey Range, found over a dozen monstrous footprints up to 60cm in length embedded in the dried mud of a water hole, about a day old. An Aboriginal guide with the party told the men that a "Jimbra monster" was nearby and that they should leave the area right away. The men heeded his advice and promptly abandoned their camp!



Scottsdale District 1953

Several huge five-toed Footprints

The Scottsdale district was one of these no-go areas in the old times, I am told by Mr Joe Grant now of Melbourne, but for many years a backpacker in the north-east forests. In 1989 he told me the following story: "I was camping out in the scrub north of Scottsdale one week in January 1953.

I was filling my water canteen in a creek when I suddenly found embedded a couple of inches deep in the sand right next to me, a huge five-toed footprint. Several more were nearby and they couldn't have been more than a day old. They measured about 40 cm in length by about 17 cm in width."

"There were signs that the maker of the footprints had squatted down to drink at the water's edge." "I felt distinctly uneasy and left the place just as soon as I could, for I figured that, if the feet impressions were genuine, the bloke that made them was much bigger than my 5 ft 10 in height, and might still be lurking not very far away!"

"A few years later I got talking to a mate, Dave Hill, in Launceston. He was raised in the bush and knew a lot about the north-east wilderness. He'd seen a 'tiger' thereabouts on one occasion in the '40s' and when I told him about the footprints he said there were a few more similar reports from that area."

"He had heard that an 8 ft tall blackish-brown, long-haired 'apeman' had been claimed seen by campers in the bush outside Derby to the east of Scottsdale in 1949. This incident, he said, for a time revived old bushmen's yarns of the district; like one that happened back in 1893, when a timber cutter was supposed to have been grabbed from behind by one of these creatures, while he was resting on a log outside his isolated hut.

He beat off his attacker - a 7 ft tall hairy, muscular brute - with a spare axe handle he managed to grab, and escaped with bruises and scratches; resulting he claimed, from the grip of the man-beast's strong arms and hands with long, dirty fingernails."

Penamba Range-Sawarak Region 1953

Hairy man Ape

In the Penamba Range of the Sarawak region in 1953, a "(ft tall [2.75m] hairy man-ape" terrified a young hunter on a bush track. The youth fired his .22 rifle at the 'manimal' but 'it' kept coming at him. At this the hunter, now the 'hunted' took to his heels. Having escaped, he afterwards reported his experience to a plantation owner, who told him that "nothing short of a .303 would have dropped the monster"!


Luzon-Appari Area 1954

Hairy Creature

Back in 1954 a 2m tall, hairy creature, was claimed by people in the northern forests of Luzon [Appari area] to be stealing poultry and generally terrorising the locals. In one instance 'he' was claimed to have attempted to drag one young woman off a track into the forest with him. She fought and broke loose, running away screaming for help, to be pursued by the manbeast. Two men appeared on the scene and the brownish-haired creature disappeared into the jungle.


Near Singleton 1955

Two black Natives

In 1955, a farmer living at the north-eastern tip of "the wilderness" near Singleton, was shocked one night when he caught in the glare of his torch, two 1.3 m tall black natives in the act of uprooting vegetables from a back paddock garden. They escaped into nearby scrub

Tully River 1955-Letter 1975

Blackish brown gorilla-like Creature


In 1975 I received a letter from Mr Ron Brooks of Cairns, in which he related an experience of his that took place when he was 25 years old in 1955. "In those days I worked for a timber company. One day, while delivering a load of timber to a property out on the Tully river, I was driving my truck through a stretch of forest on a dirt track.

Ahead of me was a tree-covered swamp on my [drivers] side of the track. I spotted a tall, dark figure wading through the swamp water among the trees and approaching the edge of the track." "Thinking it was the bloke who owned the nearby property that I was approaching, I slowed down and yelled out, 'G'day Bert'." "It was a clear spot and as I pulled up, the figure emerged from the trees and I got the shock of my life."

"Standing only yards away was a 7ft [2.1m] tall, blackish-brown long-haired, upright-standing, stooped gorilla-like creature, with very muscular long arms; a big, powerful-looking beast with a big chest and muscular legs with big feet."

"I did not wait any longer and drove off at increased speed, but I do recall that 'he' had human-like genitals, and his head looked very ape-like; big, dark eyes set deep inside large projecting eyebrows and a receding forehead." "I later made the mistake of telling some locals and got laughed at.

But two old blokes who had been timber cutters up in the mountains believed me. They said that old settlers had known of the 'hairy ape-men of the mountains' last [19th] century, and that early timber cutters hardly ever went into the scrub unless they were in armed groups, in case they met up with one or more of these 'apes'. Also, the local blacks say 'hairy giants' have inhabited the whole of the far north since the Dreamtime."


Sassafras-Shoalhaven District 1956

Strange hairy Animal

Twenty one kilometres north of Wandandian lies Nowra and the Shoalhaven River. Here in the Sassafras district of the Shoalhaven in 1956, Mr Max Anderson was spotlight shooting one night when he observed a strange hairy animal moving through bushes. As first he thought it to be a kangaroo moving about.

However, as he watched it he realised it was moving upright upon two legs and was a good 2.3 m in height. Dumbfounded, Max watched as the creature moved off into thick bush to disappear from view. Claims of sightings of Yowies by property owners and others have persisted for the past 70 years in the Bundanoon/Kangaroo Valley area, and around 1900 the district was alive with reports of a "hairy boy" roaming the bushland.

Even today these areas are still the scene of Yowie sightings.


Liverpool Boys High 1957

Aboriginal myths & legends Book

Three personal experiences can be said to have spurred me on in my quest; namely, my first meeting with the Yowie in some long-forgotten Aboriginal myths and legends book when I was 14 years of age and a student at Liverpool Boys High School outside of Sydney in 1957; and my two possible Yowie sightings in Jamieson Valley, south of Katoomba, and more recently, an encounter on the NSW Central Coast, all to be fully dealt with in the course of this book.

Indeed, the origins of this book can be said to be traced back to that day in 1957, when I read that other book in the High School library. The creature described in those ancient legends did not at all compare with the traditional 'Bunyip' tales of the aborigines, but rather some primitive hominid from the dawn of Man. If I recall correctly, I was already regarded as a "bit odd" by my fellow students and teachers alike, for my fascination with the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti and other 'unknown' animal species.

That the vast and inaccessible mountain ranges of Australia might still hide remnant populations of long thought extinct species, such as the Tasmanian Tiger, did not at all seem altogether impossible to me. It is now many years since that day in 1957, that I had my first meeting with the 'hairy man' in the Liverpool Boys High School Library with the Aboriginal myths and legends book.

Since those early days of my search, I have never given up my enthusiasm nor my faith in the existence of these Australian survivors from the dawn of Man, and I hope that this book will serve as an encouragement to others who share my enthusiasm and dedication. The available evidence, namely the Mudgee Homo erectus skull and recently manufactured stone tools revealed in this book, is enough to indicate that there really is 'something' lurking 'out there' in the vast, mysterious Australian bush in need of a proper scientific investigation.

From the mass of past and present-day sightings reports and fresh footprint discoveries, it should be obvious to university anthropologists that the Yowie mystery should be given more attention than it has had in the past. I would like to believe that some more open-minded scientist will read this book, and from the mass of circumstantial evidence I have presented, realise that there is a major anthropological mystery which has gone ignored for too long, by a scientific establishment which has hitherto made no attempt to investigate it.


Katoomba 1958

Tradtional yowie Country

What I consider to be the turning point in my future life as a Yowie researcher came in 1958, when my family moved from our old farm in Lansvale near Liverpool, to Katoomba, where I completed my education. However, my interest in the Yowie soon inspired a number of pet names for me among the students of Katoomba High School, and the Yowie became known as "Rex Gilroy's Hairy Man".

Even to this day I am known affectionately by locals as the "Yowie Man" - a title I wear with pride! Soon after my family moved to Katoomba, I discovered that the Blue Mountains was traditional "Yowie country", where the folklore of the early pioneers, as well as the surviving traditions of the former Aboriginal tribes of the district, offered me far more significant information than I had previously had access to.

It convinced me that, not only was the Yowie an Aboriginal tradition of immense antiquity, but that, as I soon learnt, the creatures were claimed to have been seen by early European settlers of the district. Before very long I would also discover that the Yowie was known to settlers over a wide area of Australia. More recent sightings claims also convinced me that, perhaps some of these mysterious 'manimals' still survived in remote regions of our vast mountain ranges. This conclusion soon led me to undertake my first field investigations.

My interest in these "hairy people" eventually extended to a study of their physical features and possible evolutionary origins and other aspects of their daily lives, gleaned from ancient Aboriginal legends and early European settlers tales.

People often ask me what it is that drives me on, year after year, fighting my way through some of the most rugged mountainous bush country in Australia, in search of creatures regarded as nothing more than an Aboriginal myth by conservative scientists?

My answer used to be, firstly that I hoped to find some sort of physical evidence to prove the Yowie's existence to my own satisfaction, and secondly, to present that physical evidence to sceptical scientists so as to have the creatures recognised as a still-living link with our ancient hominid past.

I now believe I have found some of that physical evidence, in the form of the Mudgee NSW Homo erectus skull, and recently-made crude stone implements uncovered near Nundle, in the New England district of northern NSW. It is now up to the scientific community to consider this evidence, and the implications it raises concerning our 'unknown' stone-age past.

Bendemeer 1958-Related 1970's

Hairy male Creature

Back in 1958 Tom Ward, a timber cutter, was working on hot day in forest country near Bendemeer. Sitting down on the ground for a rest he soon dozed off. Some time later he awoke to a bad smell, as if a rotting carcase was nearby, only to find that the smell was coming from a 3m tall hairy male creature, whose face looked more ape than human and who was at this moment standing nearby among the trees watching the terrified Tom.

"He had a large muscular chest, a big arm and leg muscles, enormous feet, and his big powerful hands reached down towards his knees, as he stood in a stooped posture." "His face had a flattish nose and eyes set deep inside very thick and protruding eyebrow ridges, and his forehead sloped back. Long, thick brown hair covered his head, hanging over his big shoulders, and his head seemed to sink into the shoulders which gave him the stooped appearance.

I saw there was long hair all over his chest, back, arms and legs." "I slowly reached for my axe lying next to me, then quickly got to my feet and began carefully backing away. All this time the giant man-ape made no sound, just looked at me with an inquisitive expression. Then, he just turned around and walked away into the trees, leaving me in a state of mild shock."

"I never returned to that place again, and was always wary of cutting timber in remote places thereafter," Tom said to me some 20 years after his eerie encounter.

Pabamulih Region-Sumutra 1958

Sedapas

Whole families of these primitive hominids have been claimed seen in these parts, even with recent years. The height of average Sedapas is aid to be at least 1.5 to 1.8m for the males and 1.2 to 1.5m for the females. In June 1958 a small female, half-human creature, was captured by a party of natives in the Pabamulih region of Sumatra.

She appeared teenaged, had long dark hair and stood about 1.5m in height. The natives expected they would be rewarded for her capture. However, when the authorities failed to pay them, they released her back into the wild.


Mt Victoria 1959

Huge hairy man-like Creature

Late one night in early 1959 Mr and Mrs Ken and June Jeffcott, together with their young daughter Vicki, were driving towards Katoomba through Mt Victoria township, along the Great Western Highway. On the southern side of town, near the turnoff to Victoria Falls, as they rounded a bend in the road, they were surprised when their car headlights caught a huge, hairy man-like creature, about 3 m tall, crossing the road ahead of them. The 'manbeast' strode quickly into the roadside scrub.

Southern Swamplands-Sampit Java 1959

Four Orang Gadangs

In February 1959 a group of four hominids; a female with a young male and two 7-8ft [2.15m-2,45m] tall male Orang Gadangs were claimed seen by natives moving about in the southern swamplands near Sampit.

Hairy Giant

A "hairy giant", a male creature of 2.6m height and of strong muscular build, was seen by a farmer, as the manbeast fed upon the torn limbs of a water buffalo 'he' had just killed with a large wooden club, then begun cutting open with a large jagged stone knife. The farmer ran for help. By the time he returned with an armed group of men the manbeast had left the scene. All the men found were large footprints in mud and the remains of the butchered buffalo.