Helenwood Devil

The Helenwood Devil was an alleged petrified giant with four-inch horns protruding from its skull and wings stretching out from its shoulders that was claimed to have been excavated at a former Keene-Strauck Coal Company mine in Helenwood, Scott County, Tennessee on 20 July 1921. It was reported to have been discovered by Reuben Crusoe "Cruise" Sexton, who suggested it was an idol of "an old tribe of Indians of cliff dwellers" and briefly displayed it to locals (for 25 cents a viewing) before selling the find to J. C. Pemberton as a touring exhibit. The idol was ultimately revealed to have been fabricated by Sexton, in secret, from simple clay over a period of some years before being revealed to the public as a found object.