YEAR: 1996

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 11

STATE: West Virginia

COUNTY: Pendleton County

LOCATION DETAILS: go up Spruce Knob road

NEAREST TOWN: Circleville, West Virginia

NEAREST ROAD: Spruce Nob rd. to top of the mountain

OBSERVED: I was working with my friend Brad B. for about a month at a private camp near Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia. Brad and I were clearing brush repairing paths and fences and doing general labor, Brad and I were the only people for miles around.

Every night we made a fire after a big dinner and hung out and talked. After a week or so I felt real paranoid that someone was watching us as we worked throughout the day. One night sitting around the fire we started hearing these amazing noises, yelling, screaming, loud squealing. I'm from West Virginia and had never heard anything like this. Brad talked with the caretaker on the phone and asked what he thinks the noises were. He said it was a screech owl and he had heard them before while staying there.

After hearing them again a few more times, one night it got real close but sounded like it was keeping its voice down low, then I heard three distinct grunts directly behind me, turning to look I could see nothing at all with the fire blazing and my eyes not adjusted to the dark. I yelled for Brad and he said "what” from at least thirty yards away in the completely opposite direction across from the fire.

When Brad got back and sat down I told him that there was someone messing with us and they were in the woods behind me. After a few minutes the noises started again real low like it was close and trying to keep its voice low. Brad immediately took notice of what I was talking about and we planned to take action we both had our knives on us. I already had mine out.

We both jumped up at the same time and yelled and ran towards the woods kind of just to see if we would hear anything and we sure did, it sounded like a large person tearing thru the woods we both stopped and Brad hit the flash light only to see nothing. Later as I was trying to go to sleep I heard the noises again loud and far away.

The noises never got as close as they did that night, on the second to last night as I was sleeping I awoke to what sounded like heavy breathing out side of my tent. It could have possibly been a cow that had got loose during the night, that sometimes happened but had never heard them breathe.

I’ve never talked to anyone about this and I feel as if the noises were very strange .The whole time I was working their was very strange.

ALSO NOTICED: no........not aware of

OTHER WITNESSES: Brad B.

OTHER STORIES: no..........

TIME AND CONDITIONS: always at night - very dark nights, clear and cold

ENVIRONMENT: woods, clearings, creeks, caves .800 feet below summit of Spruce Knob.very weird landscape above 3,500 feet.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stephen Willis:

I contacted the witness on 15 January 2006. He was 25 years old when the sighting occurred.

His job was teaching survival skills to 10-12 year old kids near the top of Spruce Knob. Groups were up to 40 youngsters. He never saw anything directly. Something generated noises running away which sounded bipedal and very large. It was after the men yelled in the direction of what was inside the woods. On some evenings sticks were thrown at the men. He estimated that the closest approach was about 20 feet from the campfire ring, just inside tree line. Incidents happened at night, between 2200-midnight. Something out of the ordinary happened 10 times over a 30-day period.

His tent is a Yurt, a round structure 15 feet across the center going to a point about 10 feet high. One night, it sounded like someone was climbing on his Yurt in the middle of the night. Another time he was awakened by what sounded like someone slowly pushing the side of the dwelling. It then ran its hands downward along the sides.

Wood knocking occurred on evenings when the camp was approached. They could hear loud noises at a distance, which sounded like unknown calls.

About BFRO Investigator Stephen Willis:

Grew up in central West Virginia. Retired from the US Army in 2003. Small manufacturing business owner. Lived for almost 7 years in Germany and 1.5 years in the Mideast.