Plantation Workers Claim to Have Encountered 'Yowie' in Rural Queensland, Australia

An illustration from *Notes on the Aborigines of New South Wales* by R.H. Mathews, published in 1907, which shows a yowie swallowing a man

Three men working on a plantation in rural Queensland, Australia, were said to have been in "utter disbelief" when they encountered what they could only describe as a yowie while headed inland from the Sunshine Coast to Jimna Base Camp on December 4th, reported The Courier Mail.

Yowies are large, hairy bipeds said to roam the Australian Outback. Similar to North America’s bigfoot, these cryptids stand between seven to twelve feet tall, and have disproportionately large feet. Also similar to bigfoot is the influence this strange beast has had on the culture of Australia's indigenous inhabitants. The Aboriginal people were said to have warned early European settlers of aggressive, hairy wild men who lurked in the wilderness, and ancient cave paintings show huge, bestial figures towering over the island continent's original natives.

According to their testimony, the men initially spotted a "slouched over figure" standing under a street light.

“We initially thought it was a boar or a really big animal until we got closer and saw it run off in a very apelike way,” said Seamus Fitzgerald, one of the workers present for the sighting.

After they spotted it, the creature reportedly stood up and turned to look at them.

The men described the creature as having "very long arms” and an "apelike" face and shape, and said it was covered in "dark, reddish hair."

Fitzgerald described the encounter as "surreal" and added that he had held no previous belief in yowies.

“I’ve never really had a paranormal or strange experience like that before," he said. "I hardly slept that night and the feeling was overwhelming that I had seen something that I never believed in previously.”

Stirling Slocock-Bennett, also reportedly present for the encounter, said he and the other men were afraid and confused when faced with the creature.

“We were in utter disbelief of what we were seeing,” he said. “It definitely was a scary moment for me, as I said, I was so confused and shook of what we were seeing, and as we got closer and closer it didn’t make sense like you’d hope.”

Locals in nearby Jimna, a tiny town of only 91 people, have reportedly seen evidence of yowies out in the Bush before, sometimes as close as the edge of town.

“We went on a few hikes after to see it, but sadly they weren’t organized very well, too many people and too loud,” said Slocock-Bennett. “However, after speaking to locals it seems the yowies are pushed out in storms.”

Fitzgerald said the experience has changed each of the men's minds about yowies, and they plan to do further research on the mysterious creature.

“I’m very intrigued to find out what other people have seen and experienced," he said.

It’s not unusual for encounters like the one described above to have a powerful effect on witnesses.

In November of 2018, a delivery driver was driving in a remote area of the Gold Coast’s hinterland when he almost hit a 6' tall, fur-covered humanoid that struck the hood of his truck before disappearing back into the dense forest.

“It was the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” he said of the encounter. “I tried to push it [to] the back of my head, and think ‘that was freaky, it just can’t be real’. I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. I was having trouble sleeping at night.”

Furthermore, if the plantation workers do decide to investigate more yowie sightings, they won’t be alone.

Groups like Australian Yowie Research have been investigating reported sighting areas of the creature for years, and in April of 2021, even claimed to have captured thermal video of two large, unidentified humanoids in Springbrook National Park on the Gold Coast, although that footage has since been removed from YouTube.

To report your own encounter with the impossible, reach out to us directly at the Singular Fortean Society through our contact page.

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