YEAR: 1953

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Connecticut

COUNTY: Fairfield County

LOCATION DETAILS: Proceding north on Howe Ave. in Shelton, CT take a left at Indian Wells State Park. The road turns into a windy, one lane road above the park, with blind curves and "pullovers" because only one car can pass at a time. At about 2 miles, the road crosses over a railroad track and continues to the cottage area. It was about 100 yards above the crossing that this event took place.

NEAREST TOWN: White Hills Region, Shelton, CT

NEAREST ROAD: Can't remember

OBSERVED: This took place 53 years ago, however, I have lived with the vision of this creature all my life and have told no one about it.
I was visiting a relative's cottage on Housatonic Lake near Indian Wells State Park in the White Hills region of Shelton, CT. Back then (1953) this area was not inhabited very densely and still is not today.
There were 3 of us, all age 5-6, and we left the cottage and headed for the railroad track, which ran along the Housatonic River and Lake, to pick wild blackberries to put on our cereal. It was about 1/3 mile from the cottage. As we were busy picking, a large (6 1/2' to 7' tall) creature came down the steep hillside and proceeded to walk northward along the railroad tracks, staring at the 3 of us once, and moving at a fast walk. I remember the length of it's stride (about 5') and it's arms which looked like they went almost to it's knees. The body was covered in a dark brown/grayish color hair and it had the face of a primate. The hair was shorter than Bigfoots I've seen on TV (Patterson film) and it's body was thinner than those also.
We ran back to the cottage to tell our parents who dismissed this as children's fantasy.
This event took place BEFORE there was ever a mention of anything like Bigfoot, especially in this area.

ALSO NOTICED: No. Trains used this track maybe 3
times a day and all was quiet when we saw this creature. Maybe the blackberries were a source of food for this creature and they grew all along the tracks. So if it wanted to stay hidden,and eat, it could do so by staying on the far side of the tracks and easily dart into the forest if a train came along. You could hear a train coming miles before you saw it because of the echo in the valley.

OTHER WITNESSES: Two others watched this event with our mouths open in disbelief!

OTHER STORIES: No. I only learned that Bigfoot had been sighted in every state, recently.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Morning approx 9:00AM. Bright, sunny day

ENVIRONMENT: Extremely steep mountainsides on the edge of a major river valley, with a crudely cut road and a railroad track below the road at the waters edge. The area contains large tracts of uninhabited land and forms a corridor to even more remote areas the further north one goes.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator D.A. Brake (PhD):

A 30 minute phone interview was conducted with the witness who now lives out of state. The interview produced the following additional information.

The witness and two friends were picking berries approximately 50-75 feet off the track and down in a gully and did not hear the creature approaching on the tracks. The bipedal animal was first sighted at a distance of approximately 50 yards as it was walking along the tracks toward the group. The witness and friends, being young children, believed the animal to be a man in a monkey costume and did not feel frightened or threatened and so they remained in the gully below the tracks and continued to watch the approaching animal. The witness reported that he thought that the creature did not see the group until it was approximately 25 yards away. At this point, the bipedal animal turned its entire upper torso and head toward the group, maintaining eye contact with the group for approximately five seconds until it passed the point on the tracks directly in front of the group. The animal made no vocalizations as it passed and no strong odor was noticed. As the animal walked past the group, the witness noted that the animal had a slightly forward leaning posture and a slightly pointed head with the crown of the head higher than the forehead. The witness reported that the animal was tall, lanky but not massive and walked with a continuous arm sway. The creature’s walking speed and stride frequency appeared to remain constant throughout the entire sighting. The animal continued to walk north along the tracks until it disappeared out of view.

The area of the sighting is along the forested banks of the Lower Housatonic River Region which is characterized by very steep mountainsides that quickly rise to 500 foot hilltops. Through this region runs the Paugussett trail, an old trail named after the Native American tribe that once inhabited the area.

We receive numerous reports near railroad tracks. It is possible that these creatures use the tracks as easy travel routes.

About BFRO Investigator D.A. Brake (PhD):

D. Brake holds a PhD in Immunology and attended the Maine 2008 expedition.