Report 24948: Campers experience possible harassment all night in the Red River Gorge

In the evening, my boyfriend and I along with a friend were camping out in Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We got set up, and were sitting outside the tent while it got dark. There were no campfires allowed in the area we were in, so it got dark fairly quick. At around 7pm, a really loud howling sound began not too far away from where we were camped. It sounded like a primate, hooting and howling out in the mountain. It lasted about 10 or 15 seconds, and then stopped. After about midnight, when we were in our tents and trying to go to sleep, twigs and branches were snapping around our tent. Things were being moved, thrown around. My boyfriend got up and loaded his rifle, and lay back down. Whatever it was went away for a little bit. At around 3 in the morning, another ear-piercing scream not ten feet away from our campsite echoed off the trees. We stayed awake after that, and something pulled the tent stake out of the ground on our friends tent a little while later. We got out and looked around, but couldnt see much because it stayed in the treeline. It felt like there were more than one, because it kept hitting sticks against the trees and breaking branches. After the sun came up, whatever it was went away.