Location: Yambah Station, Northern Territory
Date: 22nd Feb, 1987
Source: Alice Springs Advocate
Reporter: Unknown
Title: Desert Family Sticks to ‘Monster’ Claim.
Alice Springs – Relatives of a family chased by a huge “half-man, half-beast” in the central Australian desert are convinced they saw a monster, despite police having arrested a man nearby.
Alice Springs woman Phyllis Kenny, her four grand-children and friends Frank Burns, were chased by what they described as a terrifying “yowie-like” creature eight days ago at an isolated bore on Yambah Station, 50km north of Alice Springs.
Mrs Kenny said the creature leapt from an empty water tank at the bore, chased and caught hold of their utility truck before disappearing into the bush.
The man-like animal was covered with hair and stood at least 2m tall. The two adults and four children were rabbit-shooting and decided to stop at a favourite camping spot, Top Bore, for water and tea.
It was 5pm and still fully light. A large fig tree was beside the bore. They had some kangaroo tail with them, Mrs Kenny was passing around food and the two elder boys, Daniel Kenny and Ronald Dodd, were some distance away.
Daniel was the first to see the creature. “He was in the tank,” he said. “He leapt out, not climbing out, but just jumping straight out of this big tank”. Daniel and Ronald ran towards Mrs Kenny and Mr Burns. “Then, Nanna (Mrs Kenny) saw it and shouted out to jump in the ute,” Daniel said.
Ronald said: “It was coming towards us, not making any noises or anything or waving, just walking towards us.”
Mrs Kenny said yesterday she had not slept since the sighting and was too scared to leave the house. “When I saw that thing coming towards me, I nearly died,” she said. “You can tell the difference between and man and beast – and that was no man. There are some things you just can’t explain, that are just scary, and that was one of them.”
Daniel said: “It had sort of an apes face. It had big eyes, a large forehead and was all red around its mouth.”
Ronald said: “It ran like a gorilla. Its arms hung down by its sides and it just sort of loped along.”
But Mr Burns said: “I think it was a man. He looked like a man to me.”
Police said yesterday a patrol arrested a large naked man in the area a day after the Kenny family’s fright. Constable Sean Sandry, of Alice Springs police, one of two officers to arrest the man, said he was “definitely not a yowie.”
“We had a call from Yambah Station and we went out to see what was going on,” he said. “We found this bloke sitting on the side of the road completely naked. He was a great big bloke, about six foot eight, and I reckon he would have weighed about 20 or 25 stone. But he didn’t give us any trouble. He just came along quite peacefully and hopped in the back of the van.”
Police took the man to Alice Springs Hospital. He was admitted.
The hospital superintendent Dr Peter Bradford, refused to comment yesterday. Under the Northern Territory Mental Health Act, doctors may not divulge information about patients except with their consent.
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