The Missouri Monster (“Momo”) Story Louisiana, Missouri – July 1972 (with sightings 1971–1976)What Actually Happened In the summer of 1972, the small town of Louisiana, Missouri (pop. ~4,000) was terrorized for several weeks by reports of a huge, hairy, bipedal creature that smelled like rotting meat. The panic became national news and gave the creature its name: Momo (short for Missouri Monster).Key Incidents (Chronological)
| Date | Incident | Witnesses |
|---|---|---|
| July 11, 1972 | 15-year-old Terry Harrison, his 17-year-old brother Wally, and friend Doris Harrison are playing in the backyard near the woods behind their house on River Road. They hear a loud growl and see a 6–7 ft tall black hairy creature carrying a dead dog under one arm, blood dripping from its mouth. It smells “like rotten flesh.” | Terry, Wally, and Doris Harrison |
| July 11, 1972 (evening) | Their older sister, Joan Harrison, hears loud footsteps on the porch and sees glowing orange eyes outside the window. | Joan Harrison |
| July 12–20, 1972 | Multiple reports of roaring, howling, foul smell, and large three-toed footprints. Police find prints 12–14 inches long. | Dozens of locals, including police |
| July 21, 1972 | A local farmer fires a shotgun at a tall hairy figure near Marzolf Hill; creature runs off unharmed. | Edgar Harrison (no relation) |
| August 1972 | Sightings peak: car headlights illuminate a creature crossing Highway 79; hairy figure seen near the town water tower. | Multiple motorists and teenagers |
| 1971 & 1975–76 | Earlier and later sightings in the same general area (Pike County) reported, but 1972 is the main wave. | Various |
Physical Description (from police reports & interviews)
- Height: 6–8 ft (some said taller)
- Covered in dark brown/black hair, head hair covering face (no neck visible)
- Glowing orange or yellow eyes
- Three-toed footprints (unlike Bigfoot’s five)
- Overpowering smell of sulfur/rotting meat
- Often seen carrying dead dogs
The Panic & Media Frenzy
- Hundreds of armed men formed posses and hunted the woods at night.
- National TV crews (CBS, NBC) came to town.
- Local radio offered a $1,000 reward (never claimed).
- Schools let out early; parents kept kids inside.
What It Probably Was The most accepted explanation today (and by many locals at the time) is that the main July 11 sighting was a person in a dark ghillie suit or dark clothing carrying a dead dog as a prank. The smell, glowing eyes (flashlight reflection?), and subsequent sightings were a mix of:
- Mass hysteria (classic “monster flap”)
- Misidentified bears or large dogs
- Hoaxers jumping on the bandwagon
- Some honest mistakes in the dark
The Harrison family stood by their story for decades, but in later interviews Terry Harrison admitted he thought it might have been a prank that got wildly out of hand. Legacy
- “Momo” became one of the most famous American Bigfoot-type cases of the 1970s.
- Inspired the 2019 horror movie The Missouri Monster (part of the Small Town Monsters documentary series).
- Still celebrated every year at the Momo Fest in Louisiana, Missouri.
So Momo was real in the sense that hundreds of people genuinely believed they saw something terrifying in 1972… but almost certainly not a real monster.
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