YEAR: 2002

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: Sept. 17, 2002

STATE: New Mexico

COUNTY: McKinley County

NEAREST TOWN: Rocksprings,NM

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 264

OBSERVED: I work for (removed at request of witness). The headquarters dispatcher reported some customers were without water in the Rocksprings community. I responded and went up to the storage tank site which is located approximately 1 1/2 miles Northwest of the Sagebrush Bar. I checked the tank level and found them to be empty so I proceeded back towards Highway 264, the road to the tanksite is a dirt road. I was about 150 yards from the highway, the only light was from my unit's headlights shining straight down the road. My mind was traveling around the water system thinking about the scenarios that would be causing this water outage.About 20 yards from the truck I saw something walk out from behind a Juniper tree that is located on the west side of the dirt road. Right when it stepped out into the lights of the truck, it hesitated and it looked towards me,I stopped the truck at that moment. It then started to walk faster, picked up it's stride a little more. It took about 4 steps walking across that road, it did not cross the road in a straight manner, it crossed at an angle on the road and walked behind another Juniper tree that is located on the East side of the dirt road. I had stopped the truck as soon as it had stepped out onto the road, my visual contact time with what I now refer to as "the Creature" was about 15 seconds. I waited there to see if it would come back out or if I could see any type of movement, I did not see any. I sat there for awhile thinking,what did I just see ? My mind went through an elimination process, I thought, that was not a horse, a cow, a deer or an elk, 4 of the large animals that are prevalent in this area. The creature had a shiny brown hairy coat, it was approximately 7 feet tall, it's face was like a monkey's and the eyes were big and black, like a big teardrop shape. it's head was small and it came to a long point towards the back. The torso was skinny, narrow shoulders, the arms and legs were about 3to 4 inches in diameter, it had elbows and knees but I did not see any hands, fingers or a type of foot or toe structure. The hand and foot area were just rounded off, like nubbed. The only closest description would be like the way an amputee's arm or leg might look, rounded off.It took about 4 steps for it to cross the road,it's gait was long. I sat there about 30 seconds wondering if I should start driving forward towards the highway or turn around and use the other turnoff further west. Also at that time, a chill came over me and I hurriedly locked both doors, I did not even want to look out towared my side window because a fear had come aver me at that point. I just revved the engine and drove fast towards the highway. I drove fast down to the pumphouse and found the problem, it was a power outage to the wellsite. I had to go back to Ft. Defiance to pick up some fuses, I did not want to go back out to the area alone, so I had the dispatcher contact the Electric Line standby and I went back to the well along with him and I got the well back in service.
The next day, my co-worker and I went back to the site and found the footprints, he had a digital camera and he took some photos of the footprints. The footprints were about 4 to 5 ft apart, we tracked it to the East into the brush area. That night I went home and drew what I had seen and told my children of the incident.

ALSO NOTICED: None, I have a drawing and photos of the footprints on a CD.

OTHER WITNESSES: I was alone when the incident occurred.

OTHER STORIES: I have heard of a grandma that lives North of the storage tanks getting visits by a creature of some sort to her home. It chases the sheep around inside the corral and the nephew or some relative has shot his firearm in it's direction and it runs away.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 11:45 PM, Dark, no moonlight, clear skies

ENVIRONMENT: The area has some Juniper trees and alot of sagebrush. The road was packed dirt and the area off of the road is sandy, that was why we could see the footprints easily, The Sagebrush Bar is about 1/2 mile to the East of the location.

Follow-up investigation report:

I interviewed the witness in person on February 15, 2005. The location of the sighting is well known to me because of other activity reported very nearby in the fall of 2002 and in 2004. I also drive by the location several times a week. I revisited the location in late February after the interview in order to obtain a UTM reading for mapping purposes.

As a result of this interview, the following additional information was obtained from the witness along with clarification on several key observations:

- the hair on the animal was brown and the witness estimated the length to be similar to the length of a dog's fur.

- the animal very clearly turned its head toward the witness and glared at him while crossing the dirt road. The witness retains a very vivid image of its facial expression and remains unsettled by it to this day.

- the animal's mouth was small and its lips seemingly pursed. The face was "monkey like". It had less fur on its face compared to other parts of its body.

- the animal walked very much like the animal in the famed Patterson film - arms swinging with long steps.

- the witness did not see any details of the animal's hands or feet. The witness was struck by the appearance that they ended in stumps. I asked the witness how he could account for such an odd condition, and he indicated that the animal could have had hands and feet that simply were not clearly discernable in the dark of night during the relatively brief encounter. He also stated that the hands could have been cupped, thus appearing to end without fingers. The witness' sketch made immediately after the sighting clearly show hands and feet, though they are not portrayed in any detail. It seems likely that, in this case, basic hand and feet shapes were at least minimally discernable but that they did not stand out to the witness during this brief but stunning event.

- the witness submitted a sketch showing a thin animal much like the description provided.

- photographs of foot prints were taken the day after the sighting. Copies of these photographs are in the possession of the investigator. Unfortunately, sediment conditions are extremely poor for foot print retention in the area of this sighting. Local sediments are characterized by relatively deep, loose fine sand. The conditions were also quite dry during the period in which this event occurred. Accordingly, the prints appear as little other than circular intrusions into the dry sand which are partially covered by sand falling back in upon itself. No measurements of the tracks were taken by the witness.

The witness' description of the animal as being quite thin is worthy of brief discussion. The sketch provided to the investigator certainly supports this observation. The standard image of a sasquatch is one of substantial brawn, musculature, and weight. Yet many of the reports from the desert southwest and even some from other parts of the country confirm that these animals can and often do appear quite thin. A review of other formal and informal reports from the four corners area does confirm that a significant percentage of reports do portray thin animals. While there may be many explanations for this, it seems likely that one or both of the following two explanations apply. First, 2002 was a very, very dry year in the four corners area. So dry, in fact, that much of the permanent pinyon pine forested canopy died that year in the region surrounding this sighting. For large animals food and forage was quite scarce. Accordingly, it is possible that large animals such as a sasquatch could have been somewhat thinner than normal as a result the effect of this drought on the entire food chain. Second, it is reasonable to expect that, like humans, sasquatch come in all different sizes - short, tall, well muscled, thin, heavy, young children, sprawling teenagers, etc. Genetics and one's specific point in the growth life cycle surely produce sasquatch of a variety of sizes and statures. Our images of large, heavy sasquatch are understandably built upon the perception of an average. The animal in this case, although perhaps not meeting our expectations of the average, seems to fit well within the range.

Finally, it is worth noting that I am currently investigating at least three other reports from the fall of 2002 and 2004 that involve potential Class A and B sasquatch activity in this immediate area. The pattern of activity seems to suggest that one or more sasquatch frequent this specific area. Although the location is within a short distance from a state highway, the general vicinity is quite rural and is suspected as being a migration corridor for sasquatch and other large wild game. A small herd of elk is known to frequent the area. The seclusion of this specific area is augmented by the fact that it is bordered by a very large coal lease area that is protected from human intrusion and not subject to human settlement.