It was a scene unlike anything witnessed by human eyes. A few hours before dawn, the dark quiet of the country sky was ripped asunder by lightning so intense that the accompanying thunder literally threw people from their beds. Lights and electronic equipment flashed on and off... fuses blew and computer monitors exploded as the lightning struck over and over... arcing down from the heavens and seeming to strike the same spot in the woods just past the Holt house. It was nature's fury like none had ever seen or heard... and yet there was not a cloud in the sky. Between the flashes of impossibly bright lightning, reporters and police could clearly see the stars. Sandwiched between rumbling peals of thunder were the rapid crackle of gunfire, and loud booms of what may have been echoes... or explosions. Something was happening.

The assault lasted for about five minutes, during which reporters kept their eyes glued to the horizon. The lightning intensified, and soon it became so constant that one could read by its light... assuming it was possible to focus past the consistent roar of thunder. Jagged bursts of God's fury poured down like drops of rain. Some swore they still heard gunfire and explosions, though it was almost impossible to even hear one's own voice.

And then, just as quickly as it began, it ended. Silence washed over us, as did the thick acrid smell of ozone mixed with the undeniable scent of rotten-eggs. Even without the thunder, many still had trouble hearing each other or the police as they asked us to move further back. Our ears were ringing, and one woman swore that she was now completely deaf. Reporters scrambled to coax life back into computers and cell-phones, but most were hopelessly damaged. Those that did work would not do so until several hours later, possibly due to some residual energy from the lightning.

Or was it lightning? No one, not even the police, had ever experienced anything like it. Some, myself included, questioned whether it was a natural occurrence. But what was it? Some new military weapon?

It turns out that we were never to know the answer to that question.

Police officers ventured out toward the Holt residence, where the military was encamped. They returned minutes later, escorted by armed men who ignored our questions and said in no uncertain terms that anyone approaching their camp without escort would be shot on site.

Hours later, after dawn, two vehicles arrived at the press area... one was a jeep, and the other was a personnel carrier. An unidentified man bearing no rank or ensignia announced that the creature had been killed, and that he was to escort the press into the camp to view the remains. Like the armed men of the night before, he answered no questions, and gave no indication of just what it was they had managed to destroy. Or of HOW they destroyed it. There wasn't room in the vehicles for all of us, but I was fortunate enough to be one of the one's allowed in. We rode the short distance to the Holt residence. The temporary camp that the military had set up days before was almost gone... soldiers were busily packing crates and loading trucks, preparing to move out. There was a single tent, where four soldiers stood guard. Beneath it saw the green tarp stretched out on the ground, covering something of considerable size. We gathered around, and the man who'd escorted us in drew the tarp back without speaking a word.

I expected a gasp or maybe even a scream. I heard neither. There were a seconds of silence, and then the click of cameras and mumble of newsmen speaking into their microphones.

I, for one, was not only disappointed... but supremely insulted.

What greeted us underneath that tent was the butchered and mutilated corpse of a large bear. It was in several parts, the upper and lower sections appearing to have been separated by some explosion.... possibly a grenade. Its size was indeterminate due to its condition... perhaps it was abnormally large for its species, and perhaps not. White froth mixed with blood was quite obvious around its nose and mouth... probably intending to signify rabies, although I unsure that bears can even contract the disease.

Our escort mumbled a few vague words about the savagery of wild animals, and how they could grow even more dangerous if they were sick or mistreated over long periods of time... seeming to imply that this animal was both physically and mentally ill. We were allowed exactly three minutes with the ursine remains before soldiers hustled us back to the press area and strongly suggested that we pack up our equipment and prepare to leave. We all did so, but not without objections which were completely ignored.

Soldiers remained at the press area to make sure that no one wandered off.

After speaking with fellow members of the press, I was happy to note that I wasn't the only one who had misgivings about what had been shown to us. The words "Obvious Fake," and "Cover-Up," were thrown about with abandon... along with other phrases that are not suitable for printing. But yet, the vast majority accepted the supposedly rabid bear corpse as proof positive that the strange case of the Henry County Horror was indeed closed. Those of us who knew better just shook our heads and talked amongst ourselves. We all had the same questions: Since when did a bear look like a large dog... which is how the creature was described by those who saw it? And even if it was a rabid bear, why all the armament and secrecy? When did the gun-toting, flag-waving, NRA card carrying hunters and police officers of Henry county become so inept that they couldn't track and kill a sick bear in their own back yards? Was it even physically possible that Alexander Holt... a man in his sixties... could keep a rabid, angry bear in his basement? And what of the events of the night before... lightning, gunfire and explosions? Is that what it took to kill a bear?

We were still asking each other questions when the soldiers escorted us out of the area. We exchanged notes on the way to our cars, hoping that somehow we could get enough information to piece together what had really happened here in Henry County. We couldn't. All we can say is what the police and the military... if the soldiers are even members of any branch of the US military... allow us to know.

Something stalked the woods of Henry County.... something possibly, but not necessarily, related to the grizzly murders supposedly committed by Alexander Holt. Something killed eighteen people... including three armed police officers and nine trained hunters. Something forced citizens out of their homes, creating a convenient vacuum in which a strange military group could enter the area and operate without civilian scrutiny. Something was here... and it required the might of military weaponry and possibly even the wrath of God Himself to stop it.

What was it? Despite what authorities are saying, this reporter remains uncertain.

We know for a fact that there is now one less brown bear in the world, but whether this is the end of the Henry County Horror or not remains to be seen.