Class 3a Encounter Report in Harrisburg, AR, Case #03080018

close

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: 03080018

Class 3a

Man on riding lawn mower observes upright hairy figure.

Report Details

Occurrence date: April/2006
Location: Poinsett County, AR
Nearby/Vicinity: Harrisburg
Time / Conditions: 20:00 — Cloudy with light rain - overcast skies.
# of Witnesses: 1

Witness Account:
I was riding my lawnmower to the cemetery to clean up my mother?s grave. I have a trail that I ride to avoid the road. I guess it was 7:40 p.m. or so when I saw something cross the field in front of me. I had my 9 year old golden retriever with me in the trailer that I tow behind the lawn mower. When she saw something walking across the path adjacent to the field, she started barking for a moment then she started whimpering like she was scared. When I saw the animal, I really didn't know what to think. I had seen TV shows on bigfoot before but they were all in other places. When I saw it cross the road, it looked like a really tall man with hair entangled in briars and leaves.

When we got to where it crossed the trail, I stopped and turned the lawn mower off to see if I could hear anything. I listened but I couldn't hear anything but my dog whining in the trailer. The hair stood up on the back of my neck and I got scared and started the lawn mower and left. I have never seen anything like that before in my life. It was an eerie feeling to be so close to home and see something that I've been taught there's no such thing as. Well me and my dog are firm believers now. There is something definitely out in the woods and I'll never think about going into them again unprotected. It really touches on the reality that we are not the only ones out in the wild...

Hand/foot prints:
I didn't stop to look because I was too scared. I'm sure there was but we never went to look. I just told my family what we saw and I don?t think you could find anything now because it's been raining.

Sounds:
I was on my John Deere lawn mower and I didn't hear anything. There have been weird sounds coming from the woods but mostly I can account for most of them being an avid hunter.

Additional observations:
It was tall, hairy, and walked upright like a man but it only took about two steps to cross the path and get in the woods. After that I don't know where it went but I do know that I was scared and my dog too...I really couldn't tell if there were any odors, by the time I got up to where the animal passed it was too late because the wind was blowing out of the southeast.

Investigator's Observations

Investigator(s): John Morley

This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in Poinsett County, Arkansas in May 2006.

I interviewed the witness on the evening of 6 May 2006 regarding this alleged sighting of a large hair-covered biped. This was six days from the sighting date.

The witness has lived in this location all his life, except for six years in the U.S. Marines. He stated that he grew up in the outdoors, and knows all the woods in this area very well. He hunts extensively, stating that he presently had two bobcats pending taxidermy work. He also maintains deer feeders in these same woods.

The witness related his story along the same lines as filed in his report. The trail he mentioned in his filing actually parallels a gravel road. The reported sighting took place as he approached a private road ahead of him, and some 15 feet in width from tree line to tree line. The subject had apparently just crossed this road, and took another two steps to enter the tree line. This all occurred at an estimated distance of about 40 yards.

When asked if other family members had ever experienced anything similar, the witness stated that he did recall an event involving his mother back when he was about three or four years old. His mother told of encountering a large "form" in their backyard. She told the family that she had gone out into the back yard after dark, where the yard light illuminated a rather long and large grapevine growing upon a trellis. As the story goes, she saw a large shadowy form standing behind the trellis with the upper part of its body visible above the trellis itself. The witness did not recall his mother mentioning anything about a face or eyes.

The witness stated that to his knowledge, none of his neighbors had ever reported seeing anything similar or hearing anything that might be related to what he saw. He stated that he and his dad had on more than one occasion heard what they believed was a panther screaming in the surrounding woods. He described the vocalization as sounding as if a "woman was being attacked." He further stated that he was going to query his neighbors further regarding any unreported past events about which they might have knowledge.

I asked the witness about tracks or other possible signs one might find in association with a sighting of this type. He stated that it was raining at the time, and had rained almost continuously since April 29th. He had not returned to the location but was certain that due to the leaves covering the ground in the immediate location and with the rain, he would not expect to find any tracks.

The witness declared that the subject never turned to face him, so a frontal view was never presented and he could not speculate on gender. The witness has a friend who is almost seven feet tall; he stated that he thought the subject was about a foot taller than his friend. The witness was unable to estimate any possible weight, but I referred to Dr. Henner Fahrenbach's weight/height extrapolation table (Fahrenbach, W. H. [1997-1998] Sasquatch: Size, Scaling, and Statistics. Cryptozoology Vol. 13: 47 - 75), and based on the witness's estimate of subject height, the weight of the subject would fall between 580 and 670 pounds, and have a foot size of 14 to 16 inches. If what the witness saw was indeed a sasquatch, the inference is that it was most likely an adult.

The witness described the woods in which this event reportedly occurred to be pine and hardwood. He described the hardwood as being oak and hickory, with honeysuckles, blackberries, and other vines and vegetation. When asked about surrounding water resources, the witness mentioned several. One was Distress Creek, which I had already located on a map of the area. By line of sight, he reported this creek to be about two and one-half miles from his home, and rather large in size. He further reported waterways which he termed "ditches." One such was called "26 ditch" and was reported to be 60 to 80 yards across with a minimum depth of about 16 feet. It appears that several waterways in the area are connected so there does seem to be ample travel corridors available for an elusive rare animal without having to be far from a water source.

The witness wanted to know if "these creatures" are known to be aggressive. He said that while he had always been at ease walking in the woods, even unarmed, his sighting had shown him there were other things in the woods he had not previously considered. I advised him that, generally, the NAWAC's position is that the sasquatch, is in fact, a rare living species of primate and based on the majority of reports and our own personal observations, they will normally try to avoid human contact.

Map

Left Menu Iconmenu
WoodApe.org
Right Menu Icon