What They Saw in the Woods: Two Unexplained Appalachian Encounters

Deep in the Appalachian Mountains, there are places where the woods seem to hold on to the past. Old homeplaces disappear beneath weeds and briars, forgotten trails wind through the hills, and sometimes people encounter things that should no longer be there or perhaps were never supposed to be found at all.

In this episode of Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast, Kevin shares two unsettling stories sent in by listeners. Both happened in remote areas of Appalachia, miles apart and years apart, but the people involved were left with the same question:

What exactly did they see?

In the first story, six teenagers spend a sunny Sunday afternoon exploring a large field and pond surrounded by woods. As they make their way around the water, sunlight reflecting from an upstairs window draws their attention to an old, overgrown house. Before they can reach it, a gray-haired man emerges from the tree line carrying a gun across his shoulder.

Later that evening, one of the teenagers tells her father what happened. Instead of dismissing the encounter, he begins asking strangely specific questions about the house where it stood, what the roof looked like, and exactly what they could see through the trees.

The following Saturday, the teenagers return to the pond with her parents. What they find waiting across the water leaves them questioning everything they saw that afternoon.

The second story follows a young man we’re calling Keith, who travels deep into the mountains with his father and another local man searching for ginseng. While the older men continue on foot, Keith takes a four-wheeler and follows an old trail farther into the woods.

The trail becomes increasingly narrow and overgrown, appearing ready to disappear altogether. But instead of ending, it suddenly opens into a wide, heavily traveled path leading toward a large clearing hidden in the mountains.

What Keith discovers there sends him racing back down the trail.

When his father and the other man appear doubtful, Keith returns the following weekend with several friends. He expects the strange clearing to prove that everything he described was real. Instead, they discover that nearly every trace of what he witnessed has vanished.

But there is one final detail Keith keeps from his friends, something he does not reveal until years later.

These listener-submitted stories take us into the deep woods and isolated hollers of Appalachia, where abandoned places, mountain memories, and unexplained encounters become difficult to separate. Are these stories examples of mistaken identity, forgotten history, or imagination taking hold in unfamiliar surroundings?

Or did Brenda and Keith briefly step into places they were never meant to see?

Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the people who shared these experiences.

Join us for two eerie Appalachian stories about a mysterious house across the pond, an isolated mountain trail, and the unsettling possibility that some places can appear without warning—and disappear just as quickly.

Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast explores the true crime, forgotten history, folklore, legends, and unexplained stories found throughout the Appalachian Mountains.

Where every root tells a story, and every shadow hides one.

You’ve probably heard of the Pinkerton Detective Agency.

But here in Appalachia, we had our own.

The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency began in Virginia as a railroad detective operation and grew into one of the most powerful and controversial private detective organizations in the Appalachian coalfields.

In this episode of Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast™, we trace the rise of Baldwin-Felts from its Southwest Virginia roots into the coal towns of West Virginia, where the agency became deeply involved in railroad security, private investigations, mine guard work, labor disputes, undercover operations, and some of the most violent chapters in Appalachian labor history.

William Gibboney Baldwin and Thomas Lafayette Felts built an organization that worked for major railroads, coal companies, and other powerful interests. Their detectives investigated crimes, chased fugitives, guarded property, infiltrated labor organizations, and in some cases were deputized by local sheriffs, blurring the line between private security and public law enforcement.

We look at how Baldwin-Felts agents operated inside coal communities, including a network of secret operatives who gathered information on union organizers and miners. We also examine the agency’s role during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike, including the infamous Bull Moose Special, an armored train equipped with machine guns that became one of the most disturbing symbols of the West Virginia Mine Wars.

The story then moves to Matewan, West Virginia, where Baldwin-Felts detectives arrived in 1920 to evict striking miners from company-owned housing. By the end of the day, seven Baldwin-Felts detectives were dead, including two brothers of Thomas Felts.

We also uncover the remarkable story of Baldwin-Felts operative Charles Everett Lively, known as Operative Number Nine. Lively opened a restaurant in Matewan, gained the trust of miners, secretly reported back to Thomas Felts, testified against Sid Hatfield, and later became one of the Baldwin-Felts men involved in the courthouse shooting that killed Hatfield and Ed Chambers.

But Baldwin-Felts was never just a West Virginia story.

The agency’s reach extended across the country, with agents operating far beyond Appalachia, including during the Colorado coal conflicts that became connected with Ludlow. At one point, Thomas Felts claimed Baldwin-Felts had representatives in nearly every major city in the United States.

And back home in Virginia, Thomas Felts was building a very different reputation, as a banker, businessman, civic leader, and politician tied to the early development of Galax, Virginia.

That contrast is one of the most fascinating parts of the Baldwin-Felts story.

To some, the name represented law, order, and protection.

To others, it meant spies, evictions, armed guards, and company power.

And nearly ninety years after the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency disappeared, pieces of its history are still being uncovered.

This is the story of Appalachia’s private army.

The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency.

Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast™
Where every root tells a story, and every shadow hides one.

Topics include: Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, Pinkerton Detective Agency, West Virginia Mine Wars, Matewan Massacre, Sid Hatfield, Thomas Felts, William Baldwin, Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, Bull Moose Special, coal mining history, Appalachian history, labor history, Southwest Virginia history, Galax Virginia, West Virginia coalfields, mine guards, union organizing, private detectives, railroad detectives, Appalachian coal wars, and the history of labor conflict in Appalachia.

A Stranger on the Appalachian Trail: The Randall Lee Smith Case

In 1981, two young hikers made their way north along the Appalachian Trail through the mountains of Southwest Virginia. They were experienced enough to know the trail, they had a destination ahead of them, and there was little reason for anyone to believe their journey would end differently from thousands of others who had walked those same miles.

But when they failed to arrive where they were expected, concern turned into a search.

Near the Wapiti Shelter in Giles County, Virginia, not far from Dismal Creek, searchers discovered a scene that would become part of Appalachian Trail history. Two hikers had been murdered in the mountains.

The investigation soon led authorities to a local man named Randall Lee Smith.

What followed included a handwritten note, a search that stretched from the mountains of Virginia to the coast of South Carolina, Smith's eventual capture, and a court case that ended with him pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.

But the story of Randall Lee Smith and the mountains around Dismal Creek wasn't finished.

Twenty-seven years later, in May 2008, two friends traveled into Giles County for a few quiet days of fishing and camping. While fishing near Dismal Creek, one of the men encountered a stranger.

It seemed like an ordinary meeting in the mountains.

A conversation about fishing.

A few trout shared with someone they had just met.

And later, an invitation to stay for dinner.

The two friends had no way of knowing what was about to happen—or how closely their night in those mountains would become connected to something that had happened there nearly three decades earlier.

In this episode of Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast™, we travel to Giles County, Virginia, and the Appalachian Trail to examine the disturbing story of Randall Lee Smith, the 1981 murders near Wapiti Shelter, and the events that unfolded near Dismal Creek in 2008.

It's a story separated by twenty-seven years, yet connected by geography, circumstance, and an unsettling act of kindness shown to a stranger.

Who was Randall Lee Smith?

What happened near the Wapiti Shelter in 1981?

And what brought two more men into the same Virginia mountains twenty-seven years later?

This is A Stranger on the Appalachian Trail: The Randall Lee Smith Case.

Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast™ explores the true crime, history, folklore, people, and forgotten stories of Appalachia. From the mountains of Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee to communities throughout the Appalachian region, we tell the stories rooted in these mountains—and look into the shadows they sometimes leave behind.

In this episode: Randall Lee Smith, Appalachian Trail murders, Wapiti Shelter murders, Dismal Creek, Giles County Virginia, Appalachian Trail true crime, Virginia true crime, Southwest Virginia true crime, Appalachian true crime, 1981 Appalachian Trail murders, 2008 Dismal Creek shootings, Wapiti Shelter, Pearisburg Virginia, Appalachian Trail history, and true crime in Appalachia.

Where every root tells a story, and every shadow hides one.

In 1959, a husband and wife were traveling a lonely mountain road outside Saltville, Virginia, in the darkest hours before dawn when something began moving alongside their car.

At first, it was little more than a shape in the darkness. But as the road twisted through the mountains, the couple realized whatever they were seeing wasn't staying behind them.

It was following them.

And eventually, it came after their car.

The creature was described as having light-colored hair, powerful hind legs, shorter front limbs, and no visible tail. It moved fast enough to keep pace as the couple tried to get away, eventually getting close enough to make contact with the passenger side of the vehicle.

When they finally made it home, there were long scratches along the metal marks that looked almost like claw marks.

But apparently, theirs wasn't the only strange encounter being talked about around Saltville.

Around the same period, another story began circulating involving two nurses traveling to work for the graveyard shift in a convertible. According to the story, they too were chased by a strange creature. This time, it supposedly leapt onto the back of their car, tore into the convertible top, and became caught in the fabric as the driver accelerated and tried to shake it loose.

Eventually, the women escaped.

But the damaged convertible top remained as a reminder of what they claimed had happened.

Decades later, creatures matching descriptions like these would become associated with a strange piece of American cryptid folklore the Devil Monkey.

So what was supposedly roaming the roads outside Saltville in 1959?

Was it an ordinary animal seen under extraordinary circumstances? An escaped exotic animal? A story that grew stranger with every retelling?

Or was it something that has never been explained?

And there's another reason Saltville makes an interesting setting for a story like this.

Long before people built roads through this Southwest Virginia valley, ancient animals once gathered around Saltville's salt marshes. Mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, ancient bison and other creatures once walked across a landscape that looked very different from the one we know today.

Their remains are still part of the history buried beneath Saltville.

That's the root of this story.

The shadow is what supposedly happened on those mountain roads in 1959.

This week on Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast we travel into the folklore of Southwest Virginia and revisit one of the strangest creature encounters ever associated with Saltville.

Something Chased Them Home: The Devil Monkey of Saltville

Where every root tells a story, and every shadow hides one.

High on Whitetop Mountain in Southwest Virginia, long before modern music festivals became what they are today, thousands of people were climbing a remote Virginia mountaintop to hear fiddles, banjos, ballads and traditional Appalachian mountain music.

Beginning in 1931, the White Top Folk Festival grew from a local fiddlers’ contest into a gathering that attracted musicians, folklorists and visitors from across the country.

Then came 1933.

That year, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt made the journey to Whitetop Mountain and her reason for coming had a surprising connection to her father, Elliott Roosevelt, and the time he had spent in Southwest Virginia decades earlier.

This week on Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast, we travel into the mountains where Smyth, Washington and Grayson counties come together to tell the story of the White Top Folk Festival: how it began, the Appalachian musicians who played there, Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous visit, how organizers struggled with the meaning of “authentic” mountain music, and why the festival eventually disappeared.

Along the way, we'll meet some of the people who helped make White Top possible, including Annabel Morris Buchanan, who spent years collecting and preserving hundreds of traditional songs and ballads from Southwest Virginia and the surrounding Appalachian region.

We'll also look at what it was actually like on Whitetop in those early years the rough mountain roads, thousands of people gathering around fiddlers and banjo players, traditional dancing, ballad singing and the old-time music that had been passed from one generation to the next.

And this isn't just a story from the history books. Whitetop remains a unique mountain community today, known for its music, Christmas trees, maple syrup and ramps and for generations of people who have called this high country home.

But the music of Whitetop didn't disappear with the festival ending.

Generations of musicians have continued carrying the musical traditions of Whitetop and the surrounding communities forward. One of those musicians is Martha Spencer, a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and flatfoot dancer whose family has deep roots in the old-time music of Whitetop.

And this week, you won't just hear us talk about that tradition.

Stay through the end of the episode to hear Martha Spencer perform “Wind and Rain,” from her album Wonderland.

Music featured in this episode:
“Wind and Rain” — Martha Spencer
From the album Wonderland
Performed by Martha Spencer
Used with permission.

Special thanks to Martha Spencer's team for granting permission to feature her music in this episode.

Find Martha Spencer's music on all major streaming platforms and learn more about her music and performances at MarthaSpencerMusic.com.

Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia podcast explores the true crime, history, folklore, people and forgotten stories of Appalachia.

In 1981, a twin-engine airplane landed at a small airport tucked into the mountains of East Tennessee.

What authorities found aboard would turn into one of the biggest cocaine cases the region had ever seen.

Inside the airplane were more than 600 pounds of nearly pure cocaine. Federal drug officials at the time estimated its street value at more than $200 million.

But the airplane was only the beginning.

The investigation would lead authorities from Gatlinburg and Sevier County, Tennessee, to South Florida, uncovering fugitives, aliases, mysterious deaths, and a man people around Gatlinburg knew as Jerry Whittier.

Except Jerry Whittier wasn't his real name.

He was Gerald Lyle Hemp.

Before the cocaine case, Hemp had seemingly settled into life in the Smoky Mountains. He lived in an expensive chalet, reportedly gave money to local causes, was known as a pilot, and had even shown interest in taking over operation of the local airport.

Then that airplane arrived.

As investigators began looking deeper into Hemp's life, the story grew far stranger than a massive cocaine seizure. Authorities discovered that the man they were looking for had used other identities and had connections stretching far beyond the mountains of East Tennessee.

And eventually, Gerald Hemp would make claims about what he was really doing with airplanes that sounded almost unbelievable.

Claims involving guns.

Anti-communist forces in Central and South America.

And the CIA.

Were those claims true?

Prosecutors didn't believe they were, and Hemp never produced evidence proving his story.

But years later, some of the very people who investigated and prosecuted Gerald Hemp would admit there were things about his case that still bothered them.

And when you put the timeline of Gerald Hemp's story beside another infamous American pilot operating during the same era, there is one remarkable coincidence that is difficult not to notice.

There is no evidence the two men knew one another.

There is no evidence they worked together.

And there is no evidence connecting Gerald Hemp to the operation that would eventually make that other pilot famous.

But the dates are real.

And they're only seven days apart.

More than four decades later, Gerald Lyle Hemp's story still doesn't have a conventional ending.

In this episode of Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast, we follow the Gerald Hemp case from a small mountain airport in Sevier County to South Florida, through one of Tennessee's most remarkable cocaine cases, a years-long search for answers, and questions that remain unanswered today.

It is a story of cocaine smuggling, fugitives, aliases, airplanes, Gatlinburg, the Smoky Mountains, South Florida, Cold War intrigue, and one man who proved remarkably difficult to hold onto.

A man who disappeared once.

And then somehow...

vanished again.

The Man Who Vanished Twice | The Gerald Hemp Story

Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast Podcast: Where every root tells a story, and every shadow hides one.

A young Appalachian couple. A spur of the moment New Year's Eve road trip. A few days in one of America's most mysterious cities. And a series of strange encounters that would stay with them long after they returned home to the mountains.

Christy and Jeff, not their real names, were in their early twenties and living in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains when they decided they wanted to do something different for New Year's Eve. There were plenty of ways they could have celebrated close to home, but this year they wanted an adventure.

So they packed up the car and headed south.

Their destination was New Orleans, Louisiana.

For two young people from Appalachia who had never experienced anything quite like it, New Orleans was a different world. They came to see the French Quarter, walk the famous Bourbon Street, experience the food and music, and ring in the New Year in the Big Easy.

But New Orleans is a city with more than one side.

Behind the music, restaurants, celebrations and crowds is a place with centuries of history and folklore. Stories of ghosts and hauntings have been passed down for generations. Voodoo has a long and complicated history in the city. Tales of vampires and other unexplained happenings have become woven into the legends surrounding the French Quarter.

Christy and Jeff were curious about that side of New Orleans too.

They weren't paranormal investigators, and they weren't necessarily looking to prove that ghosts, vampires or anything supernatural actually existed. They were simply two young tourists interested in hearing some of the stories and learning a little history along the way.

So when they discovered that they could take a ghost tour through the old streets of New Orleans, they decided to give it a try.

That's when things started getting strange.

At first, what happened was easy enough to dismiss as coincidence. After all, when you're walking through dark streets and old buildings while somebody is telling you ghost stories, your imagination can get the better of you.

But then something else happened.

And then it happened again.

As their New Year's trip continued, those little coincidences began piling up. Things that might not have meant much on their own started becoming harder for Jeff to ignore when they were put together.

Still, they had come all this way to enjoy themselves.

They continued exploring New Orleans. They experienced the French Quarter after dark, learned about some of the city's stranger legends, and eventually found themselves surrounded by the massive New Year's Eve crowds that had poured into the city to welcome another year.

Then it was time to go home.

They packed their things, climbed back into the car and began the long journey north. Mile after mile, Louisiana disappeared behind them as they made their way back toward familiar territory.

Back toward Tennessee.

Back toward the Appalachian Mountains.

Back toward home.

Whatever strange things they had experienced during their few days in New Orleans should have ended there.

But maybe they didn't.

In this episode of Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia, we're sharing the story of an Appalachian couple who traveled to New Orleans for what was supposed to be a fun New Year's Eve getaway and came home with a story neither of them expected.

It's a story that begins with a simple road trip from Appalachia to New Orleans and winds its way through the historic French Quarter, ghost stories, vampire folklore, strange encounters, crowded New Year's Eve streets and a long journey back to the mountains.

What happened to Christy and Jeff?

Was it all just a strange series of coincidences?

Did the atmosphere of New Orleans and everything they had heard over those few days simply make ordinary events seem like something more?

Or did something just may have followed them home?

The stories don't always end when an episode is released. Sometimes, that's when they truly begin.

This week on Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast, I'm on the road for a personal trip, but I couldn't let another Saturday pass without spending some time with all of you.

In this special update episode, we revisit two recent stories after listeners reached out with information that adds an entirely new perspective.

First, I share an important correction and additional historical context to last week's episode on Tom Dula (Tom Dooley), details that help paint a clearer picture of one of Appalachia's most enduring true crime legends.

Then we return to The Thing at the End of the Holler, where a listener whose family once lived near the property contacted me with memories and experiences passed down through his family. What began as a confusing conversation about two differently named hollers eventually revealed we were talking about the very same house. The stories he shared offer a fascinating new chapter to one of our most talked-about episodes.

One of the greatest parts of producing this podcast is hearing from the people who know these places firsthand. Every email, message, and family memory helps preserve the real history of Appalachia and reminds us that these stories are still alive through the people who lived them.

If you've ever had a family story, local legend, historical account, or unexplained experience you'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you. Many of the best additions to this podcast have come directly from listeners.

Thank you for joining me for another journey through the mountains, where every root tells a story, and every shadow hides one.

Topics: Tom Dula, Tom Dooley, Wilkes County, North Carolina history, Appalachian history, Appalachian folklore, haunted houses, listener stories, Rich Valley, Virginia, true crime, local legends, Roots & Shadows podcast.

The Story Behind Tom Dooley | The Real Story of Thomas C. Dula, Laura Foster, and America's Most Famous Murder Ballad

Most people know the song "Tom Dooley." Few know the true story behind it.

In this episode, we travel to Wilkes County, North Carolina, where one of Appalachia's most famous true crime cases unfolded in the years following the Civil War. Long before Wilkes County became known for moonshine, the birth of NASCAR, and MerleFest, it became known for the murder of Laura Foster and the trial of Thomas C. Dula, better known to history as Tom Dooley.

What began as a complicated relationship between Tom Dula, Laura Foster, Ann Melton, and Pauline Foster would end in tragedy, leaving behind unanswered questions that have fueled debate for more than 150 years. Was Tom Dooley truly guilty of murder? Did Ann Melton play a larger role than history remembers? And why has this case continued to captivate generations through music, books, and film?

We'll follow the story from Tom's return home after serving in the Confederate Army through Laura Foster's disappearance, the discovery of her body, Tom's flight into Tennessee, his capture by Colonel James Grayson, the sensational murder trial, and his execution on May 1, 1868.

But this episode goes beyond the courtroom.

You'll also discover how this Appalachian tragedy became one of America's best-known murder ballads. We'll explore the historic 1929 recording of "Tom Dooley" by G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter, musicians whose work helped preserve Appalachian music during the early days of commercial recording. Along the way, we uncover a remarkable connection between this story and another Appalachian tragedy, the wreck of the Old 97, revealing how the people, music, and history of Appalachia are often intertwined in unexpected ways.

Whether you know the Kingston Trio's famous version or have never heard anything beyond the chorus, this episode separates fact from legend, examining the historical record behind one of the most enduring murder stories in American history.

• The true story of Thomas C. Dula (Tom Dooley)
• The murder of Laura Foster
• The roles of Ann Melton and Pauline Foster
• Wilkes County, North Carolina after the Civil War
• Tom Dooley's escape into Tennessee
• Colonel James Grayson's capture of Tom Dula
• The 1868 murder trial and execution
• The origins of the Tom Dooley murder ballad
• G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter's landmark 1929 recording
• The surprising connection between Tom Dooley and the Old 97 railroad disaster
• How Appalachian history became one of the greatest folk songs ever recorded

Production Note: This episode features the original public domain 1929 recording of "Tom Dooley" by G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter as part of the historical narrative. All additional music and sound effects featured throughout the episode are from public-domain sources.

The conversation continues in Part 2 of our special interview with Danny Gordon as we take an even deeper look into one of Appalachia's most enduring UFO mysteries, the 1987 Wytheville UFO Incident. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, we highly recommend starting there before joining us for the conclusion of this fascinating discussion.

For nearly four decades, reports of strange lights, unexplained aerial objects, and unusual encounters have surrounded Wytheville, Virginia. What began as an extraordinary sighting by local residents quickly became one of the most talked-about UFO cases in the Appalachian Mountains. Witnesses described massive silent craft, brilliant lights hovering over the landscape, and objects that appeared to move in ways no conventional aircraft could. The reports drew attention from investigators, skeptics, believers, local law enforcement, and eventually the national media, leaving behind a mystery that still sparks debate today.

In this episode, Danny Gordon shares his years of research into the case, discussing the eyewitness testimony, the evidence that has surfaced over the years, and the many theories that attempt to explain what happened over the skies of Wytheville. Together, we explore not only the reported events themselves but also the human side of the story. How did the experience affect those who claimed to witness it? Why have so many people continued talking about the incident decades later? Could there be a conventional explanation, or does the mystery remain unsolved?

Throughout our conversation, we discuss the timeline of the sightings, the descriptions of the reported craft, the reactions of local residents, and the investigation that followed. We also examine the role that Project Blue Book played in shaping public perception of UFO reports, how government investigations evolved over the years, and why so many Appalachian communities have their own stories of unexplained lights and mysterious encounters in the mountains. Whether you approach these accounts with curiosity, skepticism, or an open mind, the Wytheville incident remains one of the most intriguing unexplained events ever reported in Southwest Virginia.

This interview also explores the broader cultural impact of UFO stories in Appalachia. Long before social media and smartphones, stories were shared on front porches, around family dinner tables, and in small-town newspapers. Tales of mysterious lights crossing remote ridges, strange sounds echoing through isolated valleys, and encounters that defied explanation became part of local history. Some stories faded with time, while others became woven into the identity of the communities where they occurred. The Wytheville incident stands as one of the best-documented examples of those enduring Appalachian mysteries.

As always, our goal at Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast is not to tell you what to believe, but to present the stories, historical context, eyewitness accounts, and available evidence so you can draw your own conclusions. Appalachia is filled with remarkable history, unforgettable people, unsolved mysteries, fascinating folklore, and true crime cases that deserve to be remembered and explored.

This two-part interview also marks an important milestone for Roots & Shadows as our very first full-length video podcast. Whether you're watching on Spotify or YouTube or listening on your favorite podcast platform, we're grateful you've joined us as we continue expanding the show while staying true to our mission of telling authentic Appalachian stories.