One resident of Bishopville, South Carolina is wondering if the “Lizard Man” is back.
The head and face of the Lizard Man is said to look like a cross between a human and a snake, with a center ridge coming down from the top of the head to the snout. The Lizard Man was described at the time as being quite tall, bipedal, and having what appeared to be scaly skin and glowing red eyes. In the popular media rendering, it was said to have three toes on each foot and three fingers on each hand that end in long black claw-like nails.
WIS News 10 in South Carolina recently reported that one Dixie Rawson returned to her parked car recently to discover “The whole front half of our van is chewed up. There are bite marks right through the front grill. Both sides of the van above the wheel wells were bitten and the metal is bent like a piece of paper.”
The incident reminded Dixie of the local legend of the “Lizard Man” that stretches back for decades. Now some are wondering if the Lizard Man is back. If it is, then he’s back after nearly two decades after being spotted near Scape Ore swamp. No one’s ever been able to confirm the account of the seven-foot monster.
In 1988 the eyes of the world focused on Bishopville South Carolina in hopes of catching a glimpse of the mysterious Lizard Man. The sensation began in June of that year when seventeen year old Christopher Davis was on his way home from working the late shift at a local McDonald’s. As he drove along the outskirts of town, his tire blew out.
After having changed the tire, he heard a noise in a field nearby. Looking in the direction of the field, he saw a creature running towards him with bright red glowing eyes. The man jumped inside the car and locked the drivers side door. As soon as he locked the door, the creature was outside the window, grabbing at the handle and scratching against the window. Next the thing jumped up on the roof and began scratching and clawing at it. The young man gathered his wits and started up the car, he raced home, swerving to shake the creature loose from the roof.
When Mr. Davis arrived home, he woke his parents, who said he appeared frightened badly. His dad checked the vehicle, and the drivers side mirror was broken and was hanging, the vehicles roof had deep scratching and marks on it. The police were called, and a report of the creature was made. In the subsequent months a hundred different reports of the creature were made. Three-toed footprints were found at many of the sights where it was seen.
Mr. Davis is quoted as saying the following about that initial encounter:
“I looked back and saw something running across the field towards me. It was about 25 yards away and I saw red eyes glowing. I ran into the car and as I locked it, the thing grabbed the door handle. I could see him from the neck down , the three big fingers, long black nails and green rough skin. It was strong and angry. I looked in my mirror and saw a blur of green running. I could see his toes and then he jumped on the roof of my car. I thought I heard a grunt and then I could see his fingers through the front windshield, where they curled around on the roof. I sped up and swerved to shake the creature off.”
At the time, local law enforcement officials reacted to reports of the Lizard Man with a mixture of concern and skepticism, stating that a sufficient number of sightings had been made by apparently reliable people for them to believe that something tangible was being seen.
On August 5, 1988 Kenneth Orr, an airman stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, filed a report with the police saying that he had encountered the Lizard Man on highway 15, and that he had shot and wounded it. He presented several scales and a small quantity of blood as evidence.
Back To Present Time
In addition to the damage on their van, the Rawsons didn’t find their cats in the boxes where they usually sleep. They did find the towels inside shredded, and the same with the morning paper. Whatever did this is out of the ordinary. It is imporant to note that cats frequently will climb under cars and into their engine compartments because it is warm there. It is possible that the creature was trying to get at a cat that was hiding there. This may or may not be true, but there is one question that we have to ask ourselves after looking at the vehicle damage: Almost exactly twenty years after the initial media circus surrounding the Scape Ore event, is the Lizard Man back?
