Kentucky’s Pope-Lick Monster is more than just a cryptid. It is more an urban legend because no one has seen the monster. There have been no confirmed sightings like there have been for the Mothman or Bigfoot.

The Pope-Lick Monster is an urban legend like the Slenderman. The Slenderman was born in 2009 from the mind of Eric Knudsen as a prank. The fascinating part of the trick was that it worked. People believed in the Slenderman, and his story spread like wildfire.

Sightings of the Slenderman came from everywhere, and his reputation grew. It grew so much that Director Wincent Sommers made a movie. Slenderman also inspired a video game.

The Pope-Lick Monster is a story with origins shrouded in mystery. Kentucky’s urban legend is a man from the waist up but a goat from the waist down. He was named the Pope-Lick Monster after a trestle bridge. The trestle bridge is part of the Norfolk Southern Railway bridge that crosses over the Pope-Lick creek. Rumors have it that our shy monster lives underneath the bridge.

Differing reports say the Goat-man uses hypnosis or other siren-like methods to control its victims. He causes his hapless prey to climb onto the tracks where a train runs them over. It’s said he can also mimic voices—the voices of loved ones luring victims to their deaths.

This urban legend merges with myth in the history of Pope Lick. The legend of Pope Lick monster is the reason people chance the train. Suppose you believe the myth that the monster hypnotizes his victims? Then it was the monster who lured people onto the tracks to get hit by a train. Since 1984, people attracted by the siren’s lure have walked onto the train tracks and been killed by a train.

The victim’s stories start the same. They were curious about the truth concerning the Pope Lick monster. In 1984, a young boy fell to his death, avoiding the train. Thirteen years later, another young boy met the same fate.

The trestle is a popular site for teens and lovers excited about the monster. Thrill-seekers, too, wanted to see if the legend is true. Witnesses reported accounts of people who fell off the bridge. Other victims failing to get off the tracks in time were killed by oncoming trains. Many more were injured in this hunt to discover the legend’s truth.

If you believe in the power of hypnosis, one could say the monster did it. That the goat-man influenced those people and made them climb to their deaths. I mean, none of these people thought to check train schedules. Is that the goat-man controlling their thoughts and behavior?

There are no sightings reported, yet there is a description of the goat-man. A deformed man with fur covered horned legs with a pale face. A face with horns coming out of his forehead that looked more like sheep horns. If goat-man is an urban legend, then how do witnesses know what it looked like?

Its creator provided Slenderman’s description, but who created the Pope-Lick Monster?

Speculation is a human-goat hybrid created by a man with amorous attentions to his pet goat. Personally? I hope this a theory. Another idea is that the goat-man escaped from a circus. The monster vowed revenge and fled from the train when it derailed. Not surprisingly, the train derailed on the trestle bridge. One less believable version is that the beast is a farmer who sacrificed goats to gain Satanic powers.

I liked the story of the goat-man leaping off the trestle onto the roof of cars, but there have been no reports from victims experiencing a monster dropping out of the sky. Then again, I wouldn’t report a story that sounded crazy either.

Yet, people reported sightings of the Mothman and Bigfoot. Why, not the Pope Lick Monster?

None of the theories sound feasible, but they do sound fascinating. The story of the Pope Lick monster’s origins began somewhere. The legend captured the imagination of Kentucky for over three generations. It is a well-documented myth that has claimed many lives.

The trestle itself has no railings or places to escape an oncoming train. Built-in the 1800s, with no prevailing myths of the monster then. It seemed to manifest out of the air.

Psychologists state that myths and urban legends are born from buried truths. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung believed in the “Collective Unconscious.” A part of the deepest unconscious available to all humanity to tap. It is genetically inherited and is home to spiritual beliefs and instincts.

Jung believed everyone has access to this ‘unconscious.’ We all can access this shared genetic knowledge.

If you believe in the ‘Collective Unconscious.” The Pope Lick Monster could be a shared memory from our ancient past.

In Roman mythology, the goat man’s description fits that of a Satyr. A Satyr is a human above the waist and furry body with cloven feet below the waist. Curved goat horns rising out of its head. The Satyr was a party animal in Mythology. The Satyr was the original partier and loved drinking and dancing. It especially loved women reveling in debauchery.

The descriptions of the Satyr fit that of the Pope Lick Monster. Except, the Satyr isn’t known for murder and death. The more recent name for the Satyr is Faun. Fauns are symbols of peace and fertility and are not known to sing people’s doom.

If you believe in Jung’s theory about the existence of the “Collective Unconscious?” Witnesses didn’t see the Pope Lick Monster. People going to the tracks thought they saw something. Accessing that pool of knowledge put the face of an ancient myth to it. People don’t like being afraid, and it’s frightening to think of all the deaths affiliated with the bridge.

It’s terrifying to think that something unknown could cause your death. Is the Pope Lick Monster real, or is it a memory from an ancient past?

If you are ever in Kentucky and want to see if the Pope Lick Monster is real, I would stay off the bridge just in case it is.