A Knock, a Whistle, and a Reply in Larue County, Kentucky

What happened

Three friends drove River Road, a small gravel road off Howardstown Road near Hodgenville, and stopped at a lookout. According to the BFRO submission, filed on 25 August 2026 under the headline “Country boys have frightening nightime encounter 50 miles south of Louisville,” they heard a distant knock, a whistle was answered, and they later spotlit a large figure in the tree line before driving away. Investigator Charlie Raymond, founder of the Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization, interviewed the submitter on Zoom.

The footage

No footage of the encounter exists. The video below is the investigator’s witness interview, uploaded by the Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization YouTube channel on 1 September 2026. It is titled “NEW Kentucky Bigfoot Sighting!! Witness Interview | BFRO Report #82512” and runs 27 minutes 43 seconds, according to YouTube’s metadata. The BFRO report links it as “the recorded Zoom interview.” The report cites no timestamps. The interview is testimony, not evidence of the animal.

Timeline

• 2007: Kentucky Fish and Wildlife confirms a young male black bear in neighboring Nelson County (WDRB).
• 2016: Kentucky Afield names the Knobs, including Larue and Nelson, as potential future bear habitat.
• 25 July 2024: WEKU reports that black-bear sightings in central Kentucky are “becoming more frequent.”
• 23 August 2026, 8:25pm EDT: Sunset at Hodgenville. Civil twilight ends at 8:52pm (USNO).
• 23 August 2026, about 9–10pm: The knocks, the whistle, and the sighting.
• 25 August 2026: BFRO report submitted.
• 28 August 2026: Full moon (USNO).
• 1 September 2026: Interview video uploaded.

What witnesses reported

The submission reads: “We stopped and got out of our vehicles to look around at the lookout when we heard what sounded like a distant knock.” After a friend suggested a call, “I let out a long whistle. We got a response back with what sounded like sticks or tree saplings being broken.” On a second stop, “I shined a spotlight into the woods… It was around 7 to 8 feet tall. Its back was turned to me.” The witness described “a yellowish green eye shine.”

Raymond’s summary adds that the figure stood about 50–60 yards inside the tree line, and that the witness “observed mostly the upper body and said the entire visual encounter lasted only about five seconds.”

What the research found

BFRO’s own grade signals limits. BFRO defines Class A as sightings where “misidentification of other animals can be ruled out with greater confidence.” It defines Class B as incidents “observed at a great distance or in poor lighting conditions” or that “did not afford a clear view.” This report is Class B.