YEAR: 1982

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

STATE: Pennsylvania

COUNTY: Jefferson County

LOCATION DETAILS: My father could give better directions than myself, but since this occured so long ago I doubt that a visit to the site would be helpful

NEAREST TOWN: Siegel

NEAREST ROAD: Route 36 is closest major road

OBSERVED: On the opening day of antlered deer season in 1982, my father, a family friend, and myself encountered a strange figure walking towards us in the pre-dawn woods. This occured in state forest land in North-Central Pennsylvania.

There was about 1/2 foot of snow on the ground, but the temperature had risen all night, leading to fog and drizzle by dawn. We had just walked about half a mile down a logging road towards our spot. We were catching our breath before ascending a steep hill when we noticed a hulky figure approaching, walking upright through some fallen timber that covered a beaver swamp in that area.

This figure was dark in color (no red or orange hunting clothes), carried no visible equipment (including a flashlight--its ability to navigate through the terrain in the dark was an immediate signal to us that something out of the ordinary was going on here), and did not answer our attempts to communicate.

It stopped about 50 feet away from us, looked in our direction, than headed back from where it had come. Our reaction at the time was that this was probably the dumbest hunter we had ever seen, but in later years (especially with some reports of Bigfoot sightings coming from PA) we wonder who or what it was. There is no doubt for any of us that this was not a bear.

ALSO NOTICED: No

OTHER WITNESSES: Three; deer hunting.

OTHER STORIES: In the same general area, my father once found unusual tracks in the snow during the second archery season (around Christmas time). This was in the mid 1960's. He didn't think much about them being created by Bigfoot, but followed them for a while out of curiosity, thinking they might be lynx tracks. He had an uncomfortable feeling of beeing watched after a half hour or so, and quit. Years later he recalled the incident and we still wonder if the tracks were the real thing.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: About 6:30 AM; fog and drizzle, snow on the ground

ENVIRONMENT: Forest broken with beaver swamp and meadow

Follow-up investigation report:

Additional information added to this sighting by witness:

1. The creature or being was strange in that it didn't behave in a way consistent with any known things in that area. It walked upright like a man (I am 100% convinced that this thing was not a bear due to this) but would not respond to us and had no equipment that a hunter would have.

2. My father attempted to communicate by saying something like 'Hey buddy" or "What's up?" It turned its head in our direction, but did not reply at all.

3. The height was not remarkable (probably only 6.5 ft tall) but the body mass in proportion to the height was; as I recall, the shoulders were extremely broad, and there was little or no neck. In reflection, it was sort of like a football player with shoulder pads, but the shoulders were not quite that big. I would estimate weight at over 200lb, but not exceeding 400. Gait was not extremely long as this thing was walking, and the posture was slightly hunched. Arms may have been slightly longer than human, but I am uncertain.

4. We did not look for tracks because we were deer hunting, and thought that we had encountered a stupid hunter. What makes me think this could be a legitimate encounter is that we really gave it no thought at the time. We had all heard of bigfoot, but thought it was a phenomena of the Pacific Northwest, not Northwestern Pennsylvania. In later years we wondered if this could indeed have been something else.

5. The tracks found by my father in Clear Creek State Park (around 1966) were like unusually large human prints--barefoot human prints. I think he had heard of bigfoot at the time, but just like I mentioned in #4, he was certain that such a thing could not exist in PA.

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