Class 1d Encounter Report in Conway/Mayflower, AR, Case #03080005

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Class 1a
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1a A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
Class 1b
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1b A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
Class 1c
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1c An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 1d
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1d A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 2
Class 2, Competency: Reports involving sightings by professionally trained or highly skilled observers.
2 Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
Class 3a
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3a Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3b
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3b Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3c
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3c No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.


Case: 03080005

Class 1d

Father and son have close encounter while fishing on Lake Conway.

Report Details

Occurrence date: May/1980
Location: Faulkner County, AR
Nearby/Vicinity: Conway/Mayflower
Time / Conditions: Early afternoon. Don?t exactly remember, not rainy.
# of Witnesses: 2

Witness Account:
Let me first say, this incident is NOT made up. There is absolutely no doubt what my father and I saw. Neither myself, nor my father would have any reservations about a polygraph test.

It was my 11th birthday; therefore, my father let me miss school to go to Lake Conway, which is known for its crappie fishing. We were in a boat with small out-board motor in a cove tied to a stump which was in the water (Lake Conway).

For ten to fifteen minutes there were noises in the woods like limbs breaking continually. I kept telling my father there is something in the woods (it is very thick brush and cypress trees), but he continually said "Son - it is the birds." I was fixated (twenty feet away) on the noises so I was just looking in that direction constantly. My father was turned around looking away from the shore line.

All of a sudden, it just came out of the woods (bigfoot) and stood there. I can honestly say that I could not talk (this has never happened before or since). I finally got my father's attention and said "get the hell out of here!!!" My father whipped around and said "Oh my gosh,? then he pulled his .38 and drew on the animal. It never did anything except stand there. It was absolutely not aggressive except for the earlier breaking of limbs.

My father then untied the boat, started it and we kept circling around it for at least ten minutes. I will not break my father's anonymity in the community, but let's say he was very well known in a town of 20,000. Therefore; we never went public with the story, but we still talk about it all of the time.

There is no doubt it was one of two things...Bigfoot or someone in a great costume in central Arkansas on a weekday waiting in a cove way back in the lake to scare someone.

I like to think of myself as somewhat of an intellectual, and my father has his doctorate. My point, is that if it was a "joke" then that person risked death, because my dad had the gun pointed at it, from twenty feet away.

Hand/foot prints:
None seen.

Sounds:
No, except limbs breaking, shaking of trees (that is what I would liken the sound to).

Additional observations:
I looked at it in which seems forever, face covered w/hair. Not huge like 7 ft or anything, but honestly my depth perception at 11 wasn?t good. It was upright, with brown/black hair all over the body. Lake Conway is a brackish lake with stumps and cypress. The terrain is almost like Caddo lake on the Texas ? Louisiana border. I found articles in the Log Cabin Democrat of a "Lake Conway Monster" back in the 50s and a couple of reports in the 70s. Trust me, I have researched this well.

Investigator's Observations

Investigator(s): Charles DeVore

This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in Faulkner County, Arkansas, in 1980.

I spoke with both witnesses about this event on separate occasions and found them both to have similar memories of the event. The reporter of this event was 11 years old at the time and the initial fear of such a traumatic experience kept the memory fresh all these years. However, he could not recall any facial features. The father, being older at the time of the reported encounter, had much to add to the event.

The father told me that the date was remembered because it was the son's 11th birthday. The father had taken him out of school to spend the day fishing as a birthday present. No one including themselves knew exactly where on the lake they were going. The two ended up in a cove on the southeast end of the lake surrounded by national forest land.

The father told me that they motored their boat under a large tree and tied off so they could fish in the shade. The son and father both told me that after a few minutes a large creature about seven feet tall, covered in dark hair, stepped out from the thick underbrush and stood in the shade of the same tree they were under, approximately 20 to 30 feet away. The son remembered that he panicked from fear, getting his dad's attention. The father said that he initially thought the figure was a prankster in an ape costume. It just stood there watching them. The father remembered pulling his .38 pistol, and then aiming at the subject with many thoughts running through his head. The subject reportedly showed no response to the gun. The two witnesses remembered that the father then untied the boat and motored out from the area only to turn around and approach from a safer distance to get another look at the strange figure. The two remembered that the subject was still, standing in approximately the same place, just making enough movement to keep watching the boat.

Both witnesses agreed that the subject was about seven feet tall, and seemed to be built like a human. It was not bulky, according to the men, and was covered in dark hair from head to toe. The father recalled that the face looked like an ape; it had a "dead pan slightly curious" expression on its face. The father continued to circle the boat at a perceived safe distance from the subject for a better look. The son was terrified and wanted to leave. After a few minutes, after seeing enough to convince himself that what he and his son were seeing was not a human, the father steered the boat away, leaving the subject behind.

The men could remember no vocalizations from the subject during the event. All the area around the site had heavy underbrush and there were no roads for several miles. The witnesses estimated that the total time spent looking at the subject must have been about five minutes. Both witnesses believe that what they saw was an unknown animal of some sort like a bigfoot, not a human.

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