Or, maybe in fact, the talons:
Can it be confirmed the creatures were never actually observed having 'claws' and it was in fact 'talons'.
This seems indisputable and at no time in either his documentation of events, or the sketches, does the word 'claws' appear, with Ledwith also noting:
T"HE HANDS WERE LARGE - WAY OUT OF PROPORTION, THEY ALL AGREED. LUCKY VENTURED THE POSSIBILITY - THIS REMARK, TOO, WAS UNSOLICITED - THAT THERE MAY HAVE BEEN WEBBING BETWEEN THE TALONS, ABOVE THE FIRST KNUCKLE. AND SO ON, UNTIL THE PICTURE INCLUDED EVERYTHING THE MEN COULD REMEMBER"
When did our talons become claws?
Not in the these two articles:
'Kentucky New Era'
22 August
"The men decided to go outside and see if the visitor had been hit. Taylor was in front and when he emerged from the front door, a huge hand reached down from the low roof above the door and grabbed him by the hair. He pulled away, and the two men went on out of the house".
(End)
'Madisonville Messenger'
22 August
"Taylor started to step out the front door and one of the creatures reached down from the roof and grabbed at him".
(End)
This, however, seems to be our culprit, claiming of 'Lucky' Sutton:
'Evansville Press'
22 August
"He reported they had webbed hands with claws, their fingers were about six inches long and had ears that came to a keen point".
Next day, this is followed by our aforenoted, syndicated article:
Various
23 August
"A few minutes later, a "little green man" approached the house. "He was about three feet tall, with eyes like saucers and set about six inches apart, with hands like claws and glowing all over," Sutton said".
(End)
Isabel Davis makes reference to it twice.
Firstly, when Mrs Lankford reportedly told her that during the 3:30 a.m. sighting, a creature was observed at the bedroom window:
""Close enough to put his little clawy hands up on it", she said.
The second occasion, is during her narrative of the main events:
"It then jumped up, we thought, right on the roof of the house. As Billy went out the door to get another shot at it, the thing's clawy hands snatched at Billy's head".
Ledwith's next day documentation is critical here and would seem to leave no margin for any misunderstanding.
It's specific - even though arguably not quite reflected in the actual drawings.
Should there have been herons involved at some stage, it does seem perfectly conceivable that in darkness and confusion those lengthy wings tucked in could be perceived as arms and the long talons on their feet, mistaken for being duly attached - nobody apparently had a clear observation of the feet aspect.
Personally, whatsoever the explanation, I have now resultantly concluded it's not a massive problem if the ears are no match for any candidate. There was a dispute about how large they actually were and just a realisation that not everything is going to be an exact fit.
If there were actual creatures and perfectly terrestrial, then how can we expect the witness depictions to compare exactly?
There's nothing identical, otherwise it would have been resolved long time ago.
Something has to give, simply because, logically, something isn't right.
That is, as noted, subject to both assumptions!
As how to reconcile any candidate, not only this one, with the proclaimed survival of direct hits from gunfire at close range, something has to also be amiss here.
Will come back to that, as it involves both the connundrum with the timeline and Mrs Lankford's participation therein, plus an associated question which is becoming equally disconcerting... the alleged appearance of our creatures at the actual farmhouse itself.