YEAR: 1962

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: California

COUNTY: Stanislaus County

LOCATION DETAILS: It was on Apricot ave. about half mile from the San Joaquin river.

NEAREST TOWN: Patterson

NEAREST ROAD: Apricot ave.

OBSERVED: While riding our bike just after sundown my dogs started going crazy, I looked at my dogs and saw that the hair on their backs was straight up. I looked in the direction they were barking and standing in a suger beet field thirty to forty feet away was a humanoid figure covered in long shaggy grey hair. This thing was massive and I would imagine it was at least eight feet tall. It didn't move - it just stood there looking at us. Needless to say in 1962 I didn't know what bigfoot was so I turned my bike around and got the hell out there. My dogs a collie and an Australian shepherd beat me home.

ALSO NOTICED: None

OTHER WITNESSES: My freind Henry K. We were just riding our bikes.

OTHER STORIES: This year my nephew told me that a friend's mother saw a white bigfoot about the same time and area.

Also, a friend's family had an unusual occurrence at their dairy farm nearby our sighting location. The circumstances seem to indicate a bigfoot was frequenting their farm.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Hot summer eve, sun just went down and was at our backs.

ENVIRONMENT: Farm road with fields on either side. It was in a flat suger beet field. San Joaquin river was 1/2 mile away.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tom Yamarone:

I spoke with the witness on April 4, 2009 and have the following details to add:

-He was 12 years old at the time and lived on a dairy farm.

-This part of Patterson, CA had small farms set approx. 1/2 mile apart in 1962. There was a pasture to the west of the sugar beet field with almond and walnut orchards north of the sighting location. A ranch house was due east and several hundred yards away. The San Joaquin River was to the east beyond the farm. It was a wild, riparian environment in the years prior to the construction of the California Aqueduct and Interstate 5 which have since altered the landscape there.

-They were the only ones out at that time on this small farm road.

-As he stated, the lighting was adequate just after sunset.

-The witness stated the creature was facing them, made no movement and no noise during the encounter.

Additional Details to the Physical Description:
-He had a good look at the creature at very close range. It had no noticeable neck; human features to the face he described as “Samoan" or like that of an African American – and no hair on the face, the arms were “massive” and he stated it had a “gorilla-looking upper body.” The hair was grey, long and shaggy on the body. He would estimate it weighed between 600 and 800 pounds. He could not recall any details about the eyes.

Other notes regarding the encounter:
--He estimates the length of the observation was 1 minute. He lost track of time and stated he was frozen in shock as he stood staring at the creature. When he did move to grab his bike and flee, his friend and dogs were a good 100 yards away, already heading away from the scene.

-As he states, they didn’t know what a bigfoot was. This was merely a monster out in the field. Over the course of time, he realized what he had encountered was a bigfoot and he developed an interest in the subject as an adult.