YEAR: 1983

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: October

DATE: 25

STATE: California

COUNTY: Tuolumne County

LOCATION DETAILS: Specific location available to BFRO researchers.

NEAREST TOWN: Sonora

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 108

OBSERVED: On or about oct.25th 1983, a friend and myself went to look at a three wheeled motorcycle from an ad above Sonora, CA. We arrived in late afternoon, met the lady that wanted to sell it. We entered a fenced area w/a large gate. The area was about thirty feet across [hard packed red clay], w/ an old shed to the right against some manzanita brush. To the right was a trail through the brush leading to a cabin [unoccupied for years] and unfinished. It was built against the side off a hill where you could walk into it from the trail but when you looked out the window off the main room it was about a forty-foot drop [it was partially on stilts] to the ground. I am an outdoors person, hunter, fishing, hiking, etc., but I didn’t feel good about this place. We had trouble starting the trike and I recommended leaving it, but my friend wanted it badly and the lady persuaded him to stay the night in the cabin and she would rent a trailer the next day. We went to Sonora for dinner and came back about 8:00 pm. We pulled into the gate [the lady lived about an eighth of a mile up the mountain in a mobile home]. As we exited the 1951 GMC P.U. and walked towards the trail, the brush to the right of it parted and out stepped this huge figure, like a man but taller [we are both 6 feet tall] and wider. It was a dark night but it was darker than the brush and silhouetted very well. It was about ten to twelve feet away and looked right at us. My friend jumped into the truck and I pulled my bowie knife out and swept it back and forth as I backed onto the hood of the truck w/out turning away from it. It casually turned to its left and started across the clearing towards the shed. As it moved it partially turned its head/torso towards me and made a "huff" noise, arms swinging as it crossed the thirty feet in about four strides, turning away from us. We spent a sleepless night in the cabin, as the door didn’t have a knob or lock.

Follow-up investigation report:

I spoke to the witness by telephone. The following details can be added to the report:
--just prior to the event, the homeowner's dogs where barking and acting strange;
--the creature smelled like a wild pig wallow, heavy and sour;
--when the friend jumped into the truck, the witness banged on the hood to get him to turn on the headlights. The lights went on just in time to see the creature walk behind the shed;
--its eyes did not glow or reflect any light;
--the shoulders of the creature were the same height as the shed, with its head being taller than the shed;
--it walked just like the creature in the Patterson film, and covered the space between the location and the shed in a just a few steps;
--they took turns during the night staying awake and guarding the door, but nothing further happened; and
--in the morning, they didn't tell the lady with the 4-wheeler anything, but they did tell the friend's sister when they got home. She was able to pull out a newspaper clipping (at least 14 years old, or so from 1969?) from the Merced Lone Star that described some sightings from the Sonora area.