YEAR: 2004

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 5

STATE: West Virginia

COUNTY: Preston County

LOCATION DETAILS: We live near Bruceton Mills in Preston County, WV

NEAREST TOWN: Bruceton Mills

NEAREST ROAD: Rt 26

OBSERVED: My fiance B. and I just got done watching a movie, when the dogs started barking, then within 5 minutes they got really quiet, and went into their dog houses. We thought this was strange so we opened our back door toward where the dogs were barking at a few minutes before and saw something near our mineral feeder for the cows. We live on a farm so we had an unused mineral feeder in the back yard.

It looked at first that it was on all 4 legs, and as big as the outline was we assumed it was a bear, until it stood up on two legs. Now mind you we still thought it was a bear because well you know bears do stand on there hind legs. We had our back porch light on so we could see it, but the thing we saw was still about maybe 80 ft away. Anyway what we thought was strange was after it stood up it heard us at our back door,and turned its head our way and when it did we saw big yellow like eyes, we looked at each other to make sure we both were seeing the same thing. Then we saw its side arm move and it looked like it was below its knees. When it started to walk away it walked mostly upright on 2 legs swinging its arms and still looking at us until it turned its head to the hay field and walked away. To this day we stil can't explain what we saw, but we did see it.

ALSO NOTICED: The only thing we heard was really heavy breathing coming from thing. And when we disturbed it, it looked at us and made like a gruff sound.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just my fiance and I, and we were just watching a movie.

OTHER STORIES: No we haven't, this is something we don't discuss with people, they may think we are nuts.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: We saw it at about 10:00pm. The weather was clear.

ENVIRONMENT: Actually we saw it the back yard. We have woods in the back of our hay field.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stephen Willis:

I contacted the witness on 21 April 2006. She stated the incident lasted approximately two minutes and happened around 10 PM. When the creature stood up, they immediately recognized it was not a bear. The height was about 7 feet, muscular built, covered with hair, and approximately 50 yards from the house..

The creature and witnesses stared at each other for a considerable time. Finally, it grunted and walked toward the woods. She said it grunted twice more after entering the woods. The primary witness reported that she could smell a foul odor during the sighting. The creature walked with a purposeful stride swinging its arms and looking over its left shoulder until they lost sight of it.

The witnesses looked at each other and asked, “Did you see what I saw?" After confirming the sighting, went inside as quickly as possible.

They reported to have heard wood knocks during the fall. The witness and her spouse occasionally take walks through the fields behind their house. Sometimes she has a feeling of being watched and at the same time there is a lack of normal animal sounds. They have no knowledge of any lost livestock among their neighbors.

UPDATE:
Responded to the witness on September 12, 2008. She and her daughter were riding an ATV through their fields and noticed a deer stand was swaying from side to side.

They were weaving between large rolls of hay from a recent harvest. Riding to an area where they could see the tower she discovered a large hair covered animal shaking the tree stand. It appeared to be between 8-9 feet tall, with dark colored hair.

The animal saw them, and started running toward them. Her daughter was riding on back, was terrified by the situation and pounded her mother on the back yelling, “I want to go home NOW!” They rode back home (about ½ mile) where the youngster jumped off the ATV before it stopped and ran inside the house.

The adult witness stated her husband returned to investigate but found nothing. The area where the deer stand is located is surrounded by open fields. It is adjacent to a 2-3 acre woodlot they routinely refer to as the “island.” She and her family occasionally walk the fields looking for birds and have heard wood knocks from the island.

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.