The Lake Worth Monster: Case File #012
Location: Lake Worth / Greer Island, Fort Worth, Texas
Date: July 10, 1969
Status: Disputed — anonymous hoax confession in 2005
The Sighting
On the night of July 10, 1969, John Reichart, his wife, and two other couples were parked near the shore of Lake Worth on the outskirts of Fort Worth, Texas. It was a warm summer night. The lake was quiet. Then something landed on their car.
It came from the trees. A large figure — about seven feet tall, estimated at 350 pounds — covered in white fur and what witnesses described as scales. It had long, clawed fingers and goat-like features. It landed on the roof of the car with enough force to leave an eighteen-inch scratch along the side panel. Reichart floored it and drove straight to the police station.
The Encounter
"The monster landed on a man's car after jumping out of a tree."
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 1969
The Reichart incident was the spark, but it wasn't the last. Over the following weeks, dozens of people reported seeing the creature near Lake Worth and Greer Island — a small, wooded island in the lake accessible only by a narrow land bridge. The creature was white, large, and aggressive. In one of the most dramatic accounts, it reportedly picked up a car tire and hurled it 500 feet at a group of onlookers — a feat requiring extraordinary strength.
Local photographer Allen Plaster managed to snap a photograph of something white and large moving through the trees near the lake. The image is blurry and indistinct — as cryptid photographs tend to be — but it was enough to make national news.
What They Saw
- Approximately seven feet tall, estimated 350 pounds
- Covered in white fur and scales
- Goat-like features with long clawed fingers
- Incredible strength — threw a car tire 500 feet
- Leapt from trees onto vehicles
- Seen primarily around Lake Worth and Greer Island
- Left an 18-inch scratch on a car roof
The Aftermath
The Lake Worth Monster became a sensation during the summer of 1969. Crowds of people — sometimes hundreds — drove out to the lake at night hoping to catch a glimpse. The Fort Worth police increased patrols. A local author, Sallie Ann Clarke, wrote a book about the sightings that same year.
When school resumed in the fall, the sightings stopped. This detail was not lost on skeptics. In 2005, an anonymous letter was sent to a local newspaper confessing that three high school students had staged the whole thing, using a tinfoil mask and costume to scare parked couples at the lake. The timing — summer vacation only — supported the hoax theory.
True believers dispute the confession. They point out that no pranksters could throw a tire 500 feet, and that the car damage was real. The anonymous nature of the confession means it was never verified.
The Name
The creature was called the Lake Worth Monster by the press, though locals also referred to it as the Goatman of Lake Worth — owing to its goat-like features and the long Texas tradition of goatman legends. Both names stuck.
Current Status
The Lake Worth Monster has not been reported since 1969. The 2005 confession letter cast serious doubt on the entire episode, though it was never authenticated. Greer Island is now part of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. The lake is quiet. The trees still hang low over the water. And whether the creature was real, a prank, or something in between, it gave Fort Worth one very strange summer.