Media Article # 414

Tuesday, August 23, 1983

Weird mountain "creature" is reported by picnickers

The Berkshire Eagle

"It stood on two legs, silhouetted on the trail in the moonlight, and it was huge. I don’t scare easily, but it scared me."

So said Eric Durant, 18, of 183 First Street, one of two men who came to the Eagle office yesterday to report their sighting of a strange humanlike "creature" Sunday night on October Mountain.

Durant’s companion was Frederick Parody, 22 of 771 Tyler St. They said the episode took the place near the former Boy Scout Camp Eagle, which is on Felton Lake in the town of Washington and has been abandoned since 1970. They said they had been having a steak and chicken cookout with two friends.

At about 10 p.m., Durant said, they heard noises in the woods. Around midnight, he and one of the others decided to investigate. He said when they were about 100 yards away from the cookout site, they spotted the creature 50 yards ahead of them on the trail, silhouetted in the moonlight.

They rejoined the party, which ended about an hour later. Both said it was not a drinking party; that there was only one six pack of beer among the four participants. Durant said he doesn’t drink anyway.

As the quartet was about to leave, the headlights of their car picked up the creature, lurking behind some bushes, according to Durant and Parody. They said it was erect on two legs and was 6 to 7 feet tall. It was dark brown in color and had strange eyes that glowed, they said. Both were emphatic in saying that it was not a bear. Parody said he has hunted bears in Maine and was quite familiar with how they look.

Parody said he got out of the car and began walking toward it, and it quickly disappeared. "Whatever it was," he said, "it didn’t look like it was going to harm you.

Parody said he and one of the others returned to the scene yesterday at midday and caught a fleeting glimpse of the creature again. It moved extremely fast, he said. About all he really saw, he said, were "arms moving" in the woods.

He said he plans to return Thursday just before dusk and would stay most of the night, if necessary, trying to see the creature again.

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