LET'S PLAY "WHAT'S IN THAT PICTURE?"

Today is test day. Looking for responses to the following photographs. Just tell me what you see. OK? Here we go.

Photo 1 :

Photo 2 :

 Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Ok. That's all for now. In a couple of days, I'll share the results. Thanks for playing, what's in that picture.
Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

URBAN LEGEND SASQUATCH

We're all familiar with Urban Legends : The Hitchhiker, The Hook, The Melon Heads. The list goes on and one. Urban legends have been with us for hundreds of years. And now one is getting a new twist, starring bigfoot.

While researching the Boggy Creek Monster from Kettering, Ohio, I ran across another story for which I can discover no date, no names, no other report except this brief mention in a book.

So, on to the tale :

Some teens decided on an impromptu camping trip. After letting their parents know they were heading out, they took off to find a good spot.  They ended up camped alongside a creek at the far end of a field. The next morning, after waiting awhile for the teens to come home, the parents went out to find them.

After looking around, they were finally able to find the remains of a small campsite. The fire was still smoking, but there was no sign of the teens.

It is said that they were attacked and killed during the night by the Boggy Creek Monster. 

True or not, the teens were never found or heard from again.

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

MIKE FALCONER AND THE SKUNK APE VIDEO

On March 2, 2013, Mike Falconer took a video of a bipedal figure in a field alongside the road.

Still from the Falconer video

Falconer and his son were driving along the highway when they spotted a dark, fast moving figure in the fields. He pulled over and they ran into the field while filming it with the telephone camera. Others began pulling over also and watching the figure in the field.

Skunk Ape is the local name used for bigfoot. It is known for its horrible smell and is said to live  mainly in the Florida Everglades. Other researchers claim it is a different species from sasquatch. Many of the reported sightings are dismissed by skeptics as misidentified animals such as bears.

The video by Falconer is not of the best quality, having been taken with an iphone4s. The footage is grainy, but you can see a figure moving fast across the fields.

"If someone told me they saw a Bigfoot, I would have thought they were a freakin' quack," Falconer explained, "up until I saw something strange for myself and videoed it."

Here is the link to his video. Judge for yourself.

https://youtu.be/MWPw_D5vpuw




For those who are interested, the following link will take you to ParaBreakdown's   breakdown of the  video.

https://youtu.be/z5DA_W5_NFA


Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

SASQUATCH ARTWORK

Drawing by Nancy Marietta

Not many words needed today. Many people out there have put their encounters and their perceptions of sasquatch on paper and canvas. Today I'm sharing some of my favorites.

Bigfoot family pick berries - rocarag.com

Patty sketch - Jesse

Rob Roy Menzies

bigfoot by chrisscalf

Carol Moore

Scott Davis

incolors.club

Silent Solitude - Scott Davis

Yeti on Snowy Mountain

Yeti on snowy mountain

Bill  Asmussen

Knobby - Charles Berlin

Hope you enjoyed the selection. There are many more I enjoy looking at and have used them for some of my posts. I look forward to finding and enjoying many more.

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

DEATH IN A GHILLIE SUIT

Several weeks ago, someone asked the question if anyone had ever been killed wearing a ghillie suit, pretending to be a bigfoot. The answer?  Yes.

Back in August of 2012, a man in a military style Ghillie suit was struck by two cars and killed.

Randy Lee Tenley, age 44, of Kalispell, Montana was standing in the right hand lane of a highway near Kalispell when he was hit by a car. As he lay in the roadway, a second car hit him. Officials said that neither car had a chance to miss him.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jim Schneider said although it had not yet been confirmed, after talking with the man's friends, that alcohol may have been a factor in his decision to play the prank.

"He was trying to make people think he was Sasquatch so people would call in a Sasquatch sighting. You can't make it up. I haven't seen or heard of anything like this before. Obviously, his suit made it difficult for people to see him. He probably would not have been very easy to see at all."

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

OHIO SIGHTING JULY 2018

This experience falls under the "be careful what you wish for" category for an Ohio couple. The event is said to have taken place on a road running between Arlington and Findlay, Ohio on July 5, 2018.

"I had been doing research and watching videos on YouTube about Bigfoot for about a week and I found it very interesting. I told my wife just about everything I learned and she said she would like to try to go find one at some point," related the husband.

He shared the conversation with a friend at work who told him how he knew a guy who went out regularly to go looking for bigfoot. And that the man even did night searching. The friend had apparently gone once with the researcher and having heard growling like nothing he had ever heard before, decided that he would never go out looking for bigfoot again. He was much too scared.

Armed with the information that his work buddy shared, the husband and his wife began to make plans. They decided that after watching a local fireworks display that they would go out and look for bigfoot. 

After the fireworks were over, they gathered their "bait", some hotdogs and a raw chicken and set out on their adventure. The couple were about half way to the next town when they spotted a deer, and less than 50 yards away from it on the other side of the road was a big black figure. They watched as it dropped to all fours and hurry into the cornfield next to it. The glimpse was so quick, all they could make out were bright yellow eyes.

The husband continued to drive past and into the town where he turned around and headed back. He drove past the cornfield where they had seen the figure, then turned around again and stopped near the spot. Rolling down his window, he noticed how quiet it was for a warm summer night in the country. No crickets, no night bird sounds, just dead quiet.

Taking the hotdogs and chicken, he dumped the meat on the ground outside the car and they sat quietly for a moment. Although the wife wanted to wait longer, the husband realized that staying was not a good idea. He disliked how quiet it was and was nervous about sitting in a black car, parked on the side of a highway, that passing motorists might not see until too late to avoid hitting it. He also realized that if they wanted to have a chance to see a bigfoot, they would need to leave to give it a chance to approach the meat. They would come back later.

Driving back into the town, they again turned around and headed back towards the cornfield. It was less than ten minutes before they returned. The husband was looking for the meat while his wife scanned the fields. Both were certain the meat would still be there, with maybe a small scavenger eating it. As they approached the area, the husband was surprised to see only small pieces of the feast left. His wife found the one eating it.

She saw a huge black figure with amber glowing eyes standing upright in the cornfield eating the meat that they had left. The two made eye contact for a few seconds, then the bigfoot ducked down into the corn. They could still see the eyes shining through the corn stalks.

Unnerved, the wife shouted, "Get us the heck out of here!" The husband hit the gas and they sped back home.

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

WHITEHALL POLICE ENCOUNTERS - Brian Gosselin

In the Whitehall saga there is a third Police Officer encounter that makes the rounds. There are slight variations in how the encounter unfolds. So let us examine the Brian Gosselin encounter.

The one thing that can be said is that Brian Gosselin saw a bigfoot. There are variations in the story, depending on which source you look at. However, I believe most of the confusion comes from the fact that there are THREE Gosselin's involved in the story. Brian, his younger brother Paul and their father Wilfred. Both Brian and Wilfred were law enforcement officers.

John Green reported the story including all three of the men. I consulted quite a few other sources and have speculated this is how the encounters happened.

The story appears to begin with Paul being out with his friend Marty Paddock. They were driving down Abair Road when they heard what they thought was a woman screaming. They stopped the car and began looking in the field for what was going on. They soon saw it was no woman. They were looking at a "large, ape-like creature between 7 and 8 foot tall."

One version states that the two returned a couple of time to look at the creature in the field; the third time bringing a friend with them, Bart Kinney. It was said that while they were looking at the creature, it began running towards the car. They scrambled back in and drove to the Whitehall Police station to report what was happening.

Paul's brother Brian was on duty and when the Paul and Paddock and their father came to tell the story, Brian knew he had to see for himself. "They were so strung out with excitement and fear."


John Green reports that after they told the police, the Whitehall police, the New York State Police and a Washington County Sheriff searched the area but "were only able to spot the creature from a distance."

Wilfred, a Whitehall Police Sgt.,  said all he was able to see of the creature was an "awful tall shadow in the field off Abair Road." He continued, after hearing what everyone else had to say, "I'm not saying this is a monster or anything else, but there is something out there, and it's no animal that belongs in the northern part of this state!" He also added that the creature had not hurt any humans but could have killed a deer that had been found in the meadow on Abair Road.


Now, back to Brian's part in the tale.

One version had Brian on night patrol just coming upon the creature as it ran across the road in front of his patrol car. When his headlights picked up the figure, it "screamed like a woman", flung it's arm over its eyes and ran into a nearby field. He stopped his car, turned his spotlight to that area and saw large reflective nocturnal eyes in the distance. He noted that the creature moved as if "heavy weights were attached to arms and legs."


Brian then said a state trooper arrived and they both saw the creature before it moved off into the woods. 

Now for the rest of the story.  Brian was out in the meadow and the state trooper was on top of the hill on Abair Road. They were communicating via radio.

It was about an hour, hour and a half when the state trooper suddenly radioed 
the other. "Brian, what the **** is that. I'm heading out of here." And he sped away, leaving Brian alone in the field.

Brian kept hearing noises. "Not twigs snapping, limbs snapping." Something made him turn around with the spotlight. 

"I turned my spotlight on it and it was now about 30-35 feet away. It was over 7 feet tall, probably around 400 pounds. When I put the spotlight on it, it raised its hands, they weren't paws, they were hands. I could see the fingers, to cover it's eyes. They were red and about the diameter of a mayonnaise cover, they didn't glow like a deer's eyes in headlights though."

Then suddenly the creature turned and walked away, making a lengthy guttural noise. "It's impossible for a human to make that noise. This thing showed no aggression though. If it wanted me it could have had me, let's put it that way."

Brian remained in the field for at least another 15 minutes trying to come to terms with what he had just witnessed. "I knew everything it wasn't, it wasn't a man, it wasn't a bear, it wasn't an ape."

Brian also added later that the body hair was shorter than the head hair. It's movements were "slow and deliberate."


Other witnesses who reported seeing this creature at that time include : Darin Lamphere of the Washington County Sheriff's Department; Arnold Mercier, two reported sightings; Tom (or Bill) Jones, two reported sightings; and a New Jersey couple who were just passing through the area.

The general description gathered from all the reported encounters  for a composite :

The creature ranged from 7 1/2 to 8 feet tall. It had shaggy dark brown fur or hair and long arms that swung like a pendulum when it walked. It had large red bulging eyes and weighed around 350 pounds.

Marty Paddock had given the description of what he saw from a distance of six feet. The eyes were either red or pink and it had a foul smell like rotten eggs. It screamed like a woman or a pig when he first saw it.  He described it as having a rugged, muscular build and said it could move very fast, while not actually running.

Paddock had a plaster cast of a footprint made by Deputy Sheriff Glen La Rose of the Washington County Sheriff's department. The cast was measured and photographed. Measurements : toe to heel 19 1/2 inches; maximum width at ball of foot 7 1/2 inches; arch instep 5 inches. The heel appeared to be rounded. There were faint impressions of toes present, the large toe was prominent.


Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

WHITEHALL SIGHTINGS BY COPS

The most recent sighting in Whitehall, New York, got people remembering the time the cop saw the bigfoot. Seems more than one police officer had an encounter. There are three who shared their experiences publicly. Many never have shared what they saw or heard.

It was in 1977 when Officer Delano Berube had his run in with sasquatch. He had set up his radar to monitor traffic along Ryder Road, about a mile south of Tub Mountain. Being early morning, there was not much traffic. A light rain was falling, so Berube had his window cracked instead of wide open.

"That is when I first heard the screaming. Sounded like a wild animal and one of those ladies in the horror pictures," he recounted. "I shut off the engine to get a better bead on the direction of the screams and was just about to radio it in, when the bushes a few feet in front of my cruiser shook like we were in a terrible winter storm, unnatural like. Especially, since there was hardly a breeze that morning."

Berube needed to get a better look. "I turned on my headlights and that must have startled it. Because out from the bush, stepping right on to the road, was an 8 foot hairy creature. The life I lead flashed before my eyes when we two locked gazes. It was pure evil, I could feel its chilly soul in that hungry gaze. If you remember, I had switched off my cruiser, which I realized when the beast started toward me. In a pure moment of training, I flipped on the overhead cherries and siren. The Bigfoot stopped dead in the road. It threw its hands up over its ears. Then turned its left shoulder down, just like a running back would the moment of a hand off. 

"I knew it planned on ramming right into my cruiser, but its pause was just enough time for me start the car and throw her into drive. I peeled out. Just as the creature was about to shoulder into my hood, I took an evasive maneuver and the **** thing hit the side of the car instead. Banged it up good. Had to replace the door, in fact. I half expected the car to flip, but it kept going. The creature took chase, it was fast enough to stay about three car lengths behind me. Grunting and growling the whole time. It finally broke off when I crossed over Wood Creek. ****ed thing just stopped and screeched bloody murder."

The officer's story was not believed by very many of his fellow officers. The repairs needed for his cruiser were docked from his pay.

His story is highly colored and is taken from his relating it to a conference group. Tends to make me think that perhaps there might have been a little "color" added to make the story "good".  Sadly, no further description of the creature is given beyond being hairy and overly aggressive. 

The next story is one that was mentioned in the comments in one of the groups. The story of Dan Gordon. 

In February, 1982, Dan Gordon and his partner were making their rounds when they had an extraordinary experience. It was around 4:30 am while driving on Route 22,  when it happened. A tall hairy creature dashed across the road and up a steep embankment at the base of the mountain. Although the officers reported the incident, they kept their identities secret, fearing being ridiculed.

In 2005, Dan Gordon decided to go public. And he provided further details. The creature had narrow shoulders, was "lanky", and was between 7 1/2 to 8 ft. tall. It was covered in "dirty, mangy, dark brown fur." Gordon was convinced that it wasn't someone playing a joke. When questioned further on that statement, he said:

"There is no way in hell that I could believe this was a man in a fur suit..."

He continued to describe what he saw. He said it looked like an ape with poor posture because it was slouched. The arms were long and swung back and forth with each huge stride. The speed at which it moved was "remarkable" and he added "a relay runner would have trouble keeping up with [it]."

Gordon got out of his car and had tried following the creature. The second officer felt no need to leave the car and was "content to watch the proceedings from afar."

Don Gordon passed away in January of 2014.

Next post : Whitehall Police Officer Brian Gosselin's encounter

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it, is up to you."

FAMILY STARTLED BY BIGFOOT

July 4, 2006 took a different direction when a Wysox, Pennsylvania, family returned from their outing late at night. As they walked from the car to the house, they were startled by loud screams coming from the wooded area behind the house.

"Old Forest" by Delichon

Puzzled and frightened, they continued to listen to the screams. They appeared to be coming from three different places in the several hundred acres of forest before them. One scream would come and then a few moments later it would be answered by a scream from another direction. And then a third would respond with yet another scream from a third direction. This lasted for over 15 minutes before the family went inside.

The next day, the children decided to check out the woods and try to find out what or who may have been screaming in the woods. They came upon a dead deer, wedged tightly in the "y" of a small tree.  The deer appeared torn apart. They also found large human shaped footprints on the ground which led the family to speculate that a bigfoot or similar type of creature was responsible for the deer's death.  Broken trees and branches were in the area, along with several trees ripped out of the ground with the roots still intact.

The family contacted a research group who visited the location about 8 days later. They looked at the deer. It was still there, no other predators appeared to have touched it. The tracks and other evidence was also still evident. However, the weather and elements had contaminated the tracks, the deer, the tree and the rock assumed to have been the weapon used to kill the deer.

While there, the researchers heard screams like those heard on July 4. They were not able to see what made the screams or killed the deer. Circumstantial evidence pointed to the possibility of a bigfoot doing both, according to the research team.

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

SASQUATCH SIGHTING IN WHITEHALL, NY

Bigfoot has been seen in Whitehall, New York -- again. This community has had many reported experiences, has erected statues to honor him, and even passed a law making it illegal to shoot a sasquatch.

This latest encounter took place the night of August 7, 2018. A motorist driving down a highway was surprised to see a figure step over a guardrail and disappear into the dark. It appeared to be 6 to 6 1/2 feet tall. The figure was dark with wide shoulders and no neck.

The witness reported his sighting to bigfoot researcher Paul Bartholomew who investigated the report. The witness has asked to remain anonymous so as to avoid any ridicule or repercussions from his sighting.

Bartholomew discovered footprints in the area of the sighting and cast them for future reference and study.

"This is actually a very typical type of sighting. It's called a road crossing sighting," commented Bartholomew.

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

"YES, VIRGINIA, THERE ARE SASQUATCH IN IOWA"

I was checking out some of the bigfoot groups that I am a member of and saw someone's post asking if there were any bigfoot in Iowa. Well, the answer to that is : Yes, dear doubter.

The BFRO data base currently has 62 reports publicly listed with probably countless others still waiting to be added. One of the "busiest" counties appears to be Humboldt County. So let me take you on a trip to 1978 when bigfoot seems to have stirred up a small town in that county. (report #1268)

The start of the "flap" seems to have been around July when Humboldt County Sheriff Marvin Andersen was sent to discover what had three boys, ages 10 to 12 running home terrified after seeing something on the edge of town.

"We heard this scratching noise come from the buildings, like something rubbing up against something," explained one  of the boys. "We tossed a rock into the building."

When the rock landed inside, a face appeared in a window and then quickly disappeared. The boys saw enough to frighten them : a big, square head with black hair and a flat nose on top of broad shoulders. As the boys took off running for home, the creature fled into a nearby cornfield.

While investigating the boys report, Andersen was told that this was not the first time this creature had been sighted. Days earlier, one of Jan Henkins's daughters had gone to her grandmother's house about a block away mid morning. Hearing a noise she stepped out to see what it was and came face to face with the creature. She screamed and fled back inside to tell her uncles what had just happened.

About a half hour later, another of her daughters joined two other girls in riding their bikes to town. They quickly returned home when they saw a strange figure at least 5 foot tall standing in front of a vacant lumber building.

Henkins and her friend Pat Young headed for the town to see what had frightened the girls. When they reached the area, they saw a hairy head peeking around one of the buildings. They quickly returned home and sent Henkins' brother and one of his friends to town to check it out. They took along one of their dogs. As they neared the building, they got a quick glimpse of something large around the building. The dog yelped and ran for home.

Henkins saw it again the next night when she and Young left Young's house to find out why the dogs were barking. They saw the creature about one block away from them. When it took a step towards them, they turned and ran for the nearest house.

After all this, Henkins sent her daughters to stay with her sister in another town for a few days because they were so frightened.

From July onwards, the town began to file reports of eerie night screams, broken fences, stampeded cattle, deaths of farm animals, and sightings of strange bipedal creatures.

Oregonbigfoot.com

Anna Dodrill had her experience on September 11. She looked up from doing the dishes to see a "big-nosed, black-faced, hairy creature" with "burning red eyes" staring in the window at her. The window was only a few feet away from her. She stood, terrorized, staring into its eyes until she was finally able to scream. The creature turned and ran off.

"It was the first time in my life I couldn't move," Dodrill explained.

Her brother Jennings Dodrill had seen what he described as a  large, hairy arm reach out from behind a cattle shed earlier that evening.

September 12, Robert Newell IV was getting dressed when he heard a deep whining sound coming from the backyard. He looked out of the bedroom window towards the barn, which was about 35 feet from the house. He saw a tall, hairy hunchbacked figure go into the barn. It first jumped sideways into a manure spreader. It then got out and after standing for a moment, climbed into a grain spreader. Newell felt it was looking for food. It then stood up in front of the barn for a moment, then walked around a grain silo and walked sout into a recently harvested cornfield.

He watched the creature for around three and a half minutes. It appeared to be about 6 to 7 feet tall, had black hair and walked only on its hind legs.

Both the Humboldt and the Kossuth Sheriff's offices received numerous complaints and reports on the sightings of the large, hairy creature or of being disturbed in the middle of the night by strange screams and eerie, high-pitched whistles.

Some made the claim that the whole thing was an elaborate hoax or just the figments of imagination. But that didn't stop the residents from gathering in places in town and talking about being awakened by the screams in the night; or of seeing the strange footprints two hands wide by three hands long; or of the unusual feces found in Marilyn Schmacher's lean to; or of how the children were so frightened by the things they had seen that they couldn't sleep and wouldn't walk down the streets alone day or night.

Sheriff Andersen : "I'll tell you, if you're a non-believer, after you talk to a few of these people, you have to believe there's something there. I think those people have seen something, but I don't know if its this Bigfoot connection they are talking about."

The town became filled with thrill seekers and those who were looking for the creature. The Sheriff's department sent many of them back home.

"People are afraid to say anything any more," said Henkins. She indicated that the ridicule from others who hadn't seen the creature was the reason.

"I'm not a nut and I know what I saw," stated Dodrill.

"They'll ridicule about it until they're unlucky enough to see it themselves," said Newell.

Reports continued to come into the Sheriff's offices. In addition to the sightings and sounds, reports of farm dogs refusing to leave their yard and other strange and unusual animal noises were reported.

Postmaster Edna Kampen summed it up : "At first they thought it was a hoax, I think. But now there's been so many classes of people -- farmers, townspeople, etc, -- who saw it, that they're taking it more seriously."

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

NEBRASKA BIGFOOT SIGHTINGS

Last November (2017), the State Troopers investigated an alleged bigfoot sighting.

"Last night at about 10:15, somebody reported seeing BIGFOOT on the shoulder of I-80 near MM 197.

A trooper responded, but reported that 'Sasquatch remained elusive.'

Must have just missed him."

Harriet Mcfeely and friend Robin Roberts were on their way back from Colorado. Roberts had dropped Mcfeely off at her home and continued on her way. A short time later, she called Mcfeely, excited, to tell her of what she had just witnessed.

Explained Mcfeely : "She said 'I just saw a Bigfoot -- he was standing right here on the shoulder of the road.'" Mcfeely went on to say "She said he was really big. He was really heavy and stocky."  The creature was standing inside the fence that is meant to keep deer away from the road, and was about 20 feet away from the roadside. Roberts estimated the size as at least 8 feet tall. "Right at that time, there wasn't a lot of cars going either way right there. That's why she saw him so clearly."

"I said 'Is this considered an official sighting of a Bigfoot?' They said 'definitely'," she said referring to the State Troopers.

Mcfeely is the CEO and founder of the Nebraska Bigfoot Crossroads of America. She started believing in bigfoot at the age of 8 when she read about Hillary's finding of Yeti tracks up on Mt. Everest. She's been researching and chasing after rumors and reports since then. 

Some called this sighting a hoax, and an effort to boost tourism and publicize the Nebraska Bigfoot Crossroads of America annual conference that was held in February of 2018.

"This might make a big Nebraska tourism campaign. We had the total eclipse last summer. Let's promote Bigfoot hunting in 2018," wrote one skeptic.

Despite those who say there are no bigfoot in Nebraska, the BFRO has over a dozen encounters listed. And if you consider that most experiences go unreported, and yet still deduct those that are mistaken identifications and those that are imagined, made up, or hoaxed, there is still enough left over to say there are bigfoot in Nebraska.

In 2014, Mcfeely and her husband, Dick, saw a family of four bigfoot in Central Colorado during a midnight encounter on a camping trip with their friend Robin Roberts.

"She always talks to them. She called them and they came down . . . . 'Hey guys, we're here.' It was the weirdest feeling I've ever had in my life. They were standing in a line, in a row, looking at us. And we were standing looking at them. Nobody was afraid and they never, ever threatened us," said Mcfeely.

The adults were 8 to 10 feet tall with broad shoulders. They were covered in dark brown or black hair and had large red eyes as big as "golf balls". The juveniles stood about 5 feet tall.

It was in 2012 after attending other conferences in near by states and having to drive miles to get there, her husband Dick suggested to her that she should organize her own festival or conference in Nebraska. Dick's death in 2016 did not stop Mcfeely from pursuing that idea. Along with 5 women friends and fellow researchers, she established her organization and an annual conference in the state of Nebraska.

Mcfeely states that Nebraska has all the habitat needs for a population of bigfoot. The best places to look are in the wooded areas along the streams and rivers.

In 2013 Mcfeely investigated a 15 year old boy's claim of seeing a bigfoot on a country road during predawn hours. Although it was a little while before she was able to get there, she did find 5 different arches in the area. She offered the opinion that the arches were a way of marking territory. As for the boy's sighting : "I have no doubt in my mind it was true."

Other encounters in the state :

A couple years ago, Sharon Jorgensen was out walking her dog at the Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course in Curtis, Nebraska. She discovered unusually large tracks in the snow. They were 14 to 15 inches long with a 6 foot stride.

Photo courtesy of the

 Omaha World-Herald

In 1986, in an area west of Macy, Nebraska, strange footprints were reported. Roger Sharpe, an associate professor of biology at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, was called in to investigate the alleged bigfoot tracks.

The police report by Macy police officer Milton Miller stated that the prints were 15 inches long, with the middle part of the foot spanning 3 1/2 inches and the toes spanning 7 1/2 inches. As the tracks were weather worn from the hot sun, blowing winds, and rainfall they were unable to come to any conclusion on who or what caused the tracks.

As for Sharpe, he proclaimed that neither the size nor stride of the tracks appeared "abnormal" to him.

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."

Elsie Morris, Mynema Morris, Tim Hawkins and Sharpe

Photo courtesy of Omaha World-Herald

FROM GOLD TO BIGFOOT - Don and Peggy Avery

Blurry Forest by Anna Brunk 

In 1989 Don and Peggy Avery moved to eastern Washington to pursue their deep interest in the history of the Gold Rush and to mine for gold themselves.

Deciding to use the dousing method, Don bought a Metsker's map of the region and used a quartz crystal he had owned for a number of years. He used this "map dousing" to try to locate gold deposits, and triangulated on a sand bar some 55 miles to the northeast in the Snake River below the lower Granite Dam.

It was a few days before Don and Peggy drove to the area. As they wandered the beach, they were dismayed to see what they thought was streaks of oil contaminating the sands. Upon closer examination, Don realized that the discoloration was actually "black sand", signifying gold deposits in the area. After a search, he found a ledge a dozen yards inland, took some samples. After panning, he found gold in the pan.

Don hit upon a good spot on a beach above the creek (Che Elum area) through dousing and sampling. He filed his mining claim in 1995.  He loved the area, stating it was "always peaceful, inviting, mysterious, and provides a strange sense of solitude". Don was soon to find out he was not the only one enjoying the solitude and peace.

In 1996, it snowed three or four inches on the Veteran's day three day weekend. Don arrived at his claim, parked on the highway, loaded his pack and began the 3/4  mile walk in. Peggy decided to stay in the car and read her book. Don was halfway to his claim when he heard a "guttural snarling sound" coming from a short, steep embankment above the road and off to his right side. The sound was repeated every 10 to 12 seconds. It reminded him of the sound a man might make just before vomiting.

He could see something large and furry or hairy standing at the edge of the tree line about 70 to 75 feet away. Don was afraid and stayed where he was, watching and listening for maybe 10 to 12 minutes. It was then that he realized that whatever this was could have attacked him if it had wanted to. Deciding that the intent was to intimidate, not injure him, he left his gun holstered and began to walk by the figure toward his claim. He was very frightened but was not going to let it scare him away; he figured that the creature must have known him from his prior trips into the area.

Don described the figure as about 6'5" to 6'7". It had no snout or conical ears, appeared "stout", "substantial" weight but no guess as to how much. Having never seen a bear or signs of bear in the area, Don felt pretty sure he could eliminate that explanation.

Don worked his claim for about 20 minutes then decided to return downhill to see if the creature was still around. In addition, he was getting the wet snow from the trees falling on him and his wife might be getting tired of waiting for him. As he approached the hillside, he could again see the creature. It had moved about 25 yards along the bank and closer to the road. Once again it started to make the guttural sounds. Don figures he must have watched the creature for at least 20 minutes that day. 

After he returned to the care, Don mentioned to Peggy that he thought he had seen a sick bear, only that it didn't really look like a bear or sound like a bear.  With nothing else to go on, he dismissed the experience from his mind. At least until late March of the following winter (1998). 

Don stopped by his claim and again walked the road to his claim. The snow had melted down to where the road was passable on foot. He was amazed at what he found. He saw tracks in the snow where no man would have any logical reason to go. Some of the tracks were fairly old, but all of them were very large. The tracks appeared to follow a regular route, seeming to stay off the road. The creature seemed at times to come part way down the embankment and watch the cars on the highway from behind a bush. Don guessed that maybe the lights attracted it.

He began to leave celery and carrots in the area but had no takers. He set up a camcorder to film the area around him while he worked the claim. He got nothing. At some point, he switched to leaving apples, discovering that the creature liked apples, especially the red ones. Don began to lose interest in working the claim, but he would continue to come by and leave apples in 5 selected places.

In July 1999, Don was on his claim doing some clean up work when he heard the car door slam from down below. When he returned to the car, he asked Peggy what had caused her to leave the car. She told Don that she had heard him call her by name. Don felt a chill, for he rarely called her by her given name. They discussed it for quite awhile. The event still numbs him when he thinks about it.

In late March 2000, Don stopped on his way to Tacoma. The snow was so deep, he had to use snowshoes to get to his claim. Although the snow was very deep, the sun was out. Several yards below his claim near the basalt dike and a steep hill, he noticed some very fresh tracks going from the stream across the road and up the steep hillside. Don could clearly see the toe imprints in the fresh snow and was amazed that this creature could run in deep snow unaided. He tried to run up after it, but fell down and rolled into the ditch below. Feeling like he was drowning in the snow, he was finally able to get his feet under him. Even though he felt the creature was only minutes ahead of him, he gave up the pursuit.

Don and Peggy stopped by on their back from Leavenworth one evening in August 2000. It was around 7 pm. They parked below the claim and exited the car. This time Don carried his camcorder. He could hear a holler or a high-pitched yell coming from down below them near the stream. It was repeated roughly every 10 seconds. They listened for awhile, not knowing what to do.

Don finally yelled a hello in its direction. The creature fell silent. He began to climb the hill to his claim. After a few minutes, he heard something stomp through the brush down below on the other side of the road. Although the sound was coming towards him, whatever was making it managed to avoid Don. He never thought to turn the camcorder on to record the sounds.

Through the years, the creature has left Don a sandstone block at one of the apple placement sites and several handfuls of woodchips at another. The chunk of sandstone would get moved around. When Don would move it back, it would get moved again.

The two moved from the area for a few years, Don let his claim lapse although he would sometimes go back and left apples at least twice a year. They moved back to Washington in 2007.

Don made visual contact again with the creature in October of 2008.  He attempted to sneak up on it while it was slapping a tree with a rock on the far side of the stream below his claim.  

In November of 2008, Don visited his old claim area and again left apples for it. Downhill a few hundred yards from where Peggy had parked the car, they began to hear a very strange noise. It was nothing like anything Don had ever heard. The sound moved on the bank across and above the stream. He knew it wasn't an elk, bear, deer, cat, rodent, or bird. They listened and watched the area for 15 to 20 minutes. The could not be certain what it was, but it was fast and curious and almost brazen.

After over 20 years of interaction, Don and Peggy had these observations and opinions :

1. Peggy thought it knew Don and communicated because he fed it. Don said he had left enough apples to claim it as a dependent.
2. They cannot walk quietly through the brush. It sounded more like an elephant.
3. It was territorial and worked a regular route. The developments west of Cle Elum terrified Don because of the loss of habitat and more people wandering the woods did not bode well for the creature.
4. It picked Don up at a considerable distance. Approaching the creature while concentrating on only positive thoughts was important. 
5. Pay attention but don't think too much about finding it.
6. It was very quick and basically nocturnal. It knew when there was a camera mounted close by day or night.
7. They also thought it knew his car.
8. Sometimes he got the impression that he was maybe dealing with a phantom.
9. It had cognitive abilities that men only dream about. If it could call his wife, having not heard her called by name, then men are moved one step lower on the intelligence ladder.

Nancy

"I'll spark the thought; what you do with it is up to you."