YEAR: 1987

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: 11/01/1987

STATE: Connecticut

COUNTY: Litchfield County

LOCATION DETAILS: This happened on Town Hill Rd, Rt 219 going toward New Hartford from Bakersville.

NEAREST TOWN: New Hartford

NEAREST ROAD: We were on Town Hill Rd, Rt. 219

OBSERVED: My friend and I were out late on a saturday night visiting some girls. We didn't have a car and we had walked about 7 or 8 miles to arrive. We were both on the JV soccer team at our highschool and even though the season was over we were in very good shape. For this reason we jogged maybe half the trip which got us there in time for saturday night live. We stayed long enough for me to watch SNL with one girl and my friend to spend some private time with his beau. It got to be late and we knew we had a long trip back to his place.

I felt fine and wanted to leave after awkwardly watching TV with this girl. Getting to this location was easy because it was mostly downhill, but getting back was going to take longer. We were still in good shape so we jogged most of the way back up the long hill on Town Hill Rd.(219) near Bakersville, but in New Hartford, CT.

It was a crisp night without much moonlight. We had grown comfortable jogging side by side in the middle of the road. Since it was so late nobody was out driving and we set a consistent pace for about 2 hours. We finally made it to the top of the long hill where Route 219 flattens out. We were casually jogging in the middle of the road past houses and an occasional farm when we heard a bad sound.

It made us stop dead in our tracks and we were both frightened. It came from the left of the road perhaps behind a farm and a fair distance away. I distinctly remember turning my head as the sound swept from left to right and thinking to myself that is a big sound.

I would like to comment on the sound. I have spent alot of time in the woods of Connecticut and was familiar with sounds from area wildlife including birds, squirrels, coyotes, dogs etc. I immediately asked my friend "What the f!$# was that?" He responded that he did not know. From the left, the sound was a cry that sounded like a cross between a baby and a woman screaming bloody murder that started very high, held for a number of seconds, and then came down in pitch. When it got lower it changed into a broken cackle that made the echoes more pronounced. It was very disturbing and unlike anything we had ever heard. I asked my friend if he wanted to stay and check it out but he was very disturbed and did not want to hang around. It was a bad sound that you don't want to hear in the middle of night. We stood there for a few moments confused and scared, and decided to get going.

We continued jogging for another hour discussing along the way what it could be. Eventually we became more relaxed and the conversation moved onto other things like the events earlier in the evening. Things were fine again and we were making good progress over a few more miles when we heard the sound again, this time on the right side of the road and closer.

Again it was a blood curdling scream that held for a few seconds, slowly descended in pitch and cackled at the end, but on the other side of the road and closer. We were now more scared and both had the feeling we were being followed or tracked. I turned to my friend and said pointedly that we might not get another chance like this again and I grabbed his arm. In panic he cocked his right arm back and said some expletives to the extent that if I did not let go he would lay me out flat right there. He sprinted down the road without me and I had no choice but to follow him since I lost sight of him in the dark. I caught up with him soon enough and we quietly jogged the remainder of the distance to his house though we were shaky.

For years he was not open to talking about what we heard and he apologized for threatening me and leaving me standing there. When it was discussed we never came to a decision about what it was.

A few years ago I came across the BFRO website and started reading reports. I listened to a few audio recordings from OHIO but nothing clicked until I read reports of screams. The recordings on the site are like moans and long whoops, but some reports describe a more stressed vocalization that puts the listeners instantly into panic- this is what we heard. Its a really really bad sound that is confusing because it sounds sort of familiar, but is so extreme its difficult to describe. The reports I have read that describe the scream include hunters and military folks who pretty much bolt when they hear it.

Since this happened I have worked professionally in molecular genetics and neurobiology at UCONN and Yale University. I have also had careers in the financial industry as a quantitative analyst, and as a sound designer and audio engineer to the musical instrument industry.

Whatever made the sound was able to project over a great distance, and kept up with us over enough miles to convince us we were being stalked. I cannot say for sure what made the sound, but based on: other credible reports in the BFRO database, the similarity to other screams and our own responses, a sasquatch is my best candidate without invoking the supernatural which I personally would never do.

Looking in the database for reports from Connecticut, the only one I found was surprisingly in the same County - Litchfield.

ALSO NOTICED: There was a time when I was delivering newspapers very early in the morning. I took a shortcut down a path through some woods and I could barely see anything. I came around a corner in the path and got scared because I saw what I thought was some large dark person laying down next to the path taking a rest and looking at me. I could not discern any features and could not tell if it was a log or a person, but something made me stop and stare. I kept blinking trying to get the nerve to get closer, but I could not see clearly enough. I went back the way I came. Since this was a path I used regularly I couldn't remember if a log was there or what that could have been. This might not be worth mentioning.

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes, one of my best friends that I was jogging to his home with.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Between 3-5AM, moonless night

ENVIRONMENT: It was cold but not below freezing, and pretty dark without a moon.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Nick M.:

I contacted him and he was a credible witness. He is not sure what he heard that night. He described the sound as being a scream like from a baby or a woman with a cackling at the end.

He also added that the land around the local lake is all protected wetland for the town reservoir. This is all undeveloped land going north almost to the Massachusetts line.

On-site investigation has not been conducted yet but we will post it if there are more details to add.

About BFRO Investigator Nick M.:

Nicholas Maione is a business owner and a trained biologist. After attending 2005 New York Adirondacks Expedition, the 2006 West Virgina Expedition, and 2007 South Carolina Expedition he became very interested in the feeding habits of bigfoots.

Nick will be organizing the BFRO's 2009 New York Expedition. He also led the 2008 Maine Expedition.

Academics, etc.:

• BS Marine Biology from URI -- focus on Biogeography and Distribution of Corals and Mangrove Trees in the Great Barrier Islands, Australia
• AS in Mathematics from CCRI
• Began his Masters in Environmental Science & Management
• Former Veterinary Technician and Primate Assistant Zookeeper