YEAR: 2008

SEASON: Summer

DATE: 15 ,16

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Josephine County

LOCATION DETAILS: End of NFD 029, at Fiddler Gulch

NEAREST TOWN: Selma,

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy. 199

OBSERVED: Maybe nothing, but, my wife and I were camped in Fiddler Gulch, (Lat 42.220218 Lon -123.748328 deg.), over the weekend of June 15th, 2008. Several times we heard what sounded like a branch hitting a tree. The sound was the same each time, two cracking sounds spaced about two seconds apart.

My wife thinks that the sound may have been heating or cooling of a burnt out tree, cracking as it expands or contracts. We were in the Biscuit fire area.

There was not much of a breeze to cause branch movement, so not likely wind. The sound was two measured beats, and was heard just once or twice morning and evening.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing, but I have a placer claim up Fiddler Gulch, and will be there periodically through the summer. Guess I'll pack a camera and some plaster in my gear.

OTHER WITNESSES: 2

TIME AND CONDITIONS: AM & PM, clear and dry.

ENVIRONMENT: Thick creek bottom area, a couple miles east of Kalmiopsis Wilderness

A & G References: Oregon DeLorme Atlas, Page 18, Index of 2 / 3 - C.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Richard Hucklebridge:

Spoke with our witness W.N. on the afternoon of February 16, 2009, about he and his wife's brief experiences in June of 2008 while they were working at their gold claim, and camping out in a wilderness area. W.N. seemed very astute and credible in talking about their experiences that occurred to them while on their claim in southern Oregon.

On several different occasions while the witness and his wife were spending several days and nights out on their claim last summer, they had the opportunity to hear what the witness believed to be wood on wood knocks close to their camp. The wife tried to justify those sounds as tree embers still cooling down from the "Biscuit" fire, but in all reality that fire had long ago been put down due to several years of winter rains. The Biscuit fire was one of the largest in that part of Oregon. This fire burned over 500,000 acres in the area of their claim. He explained to her that the fire had been out for several years and through several winters, so the burned trees could not be making those sounds.

What can be added to this report, and was a strange happening, was the fact that during those two days while the wood knocking was taking place, they had several deer come down into their camp and just seemed to hang around; almost close enough to touch, which had never happened to them before. Those burned areas do draw many wild animals after several years, especially deer, because of the new growth.

Prior to last year's BFRO expedition in southern Oregon, the wife and I had the opportunity to drive up into this area, just checking on locations where our large friends might be hanging out. This area seems to be recuperating very well from that very large "Biscuit" fire that occurred several years ago. Please note that this area of Oregon also has a reputation for many Class "A" and Class "B" encounters in the recent past.

The main reason this investigator thinks there is a good possibility the knocking sounds were being made by sasquatches, is the behavior of the deer around the couple.

About BFRO Investigator Richard Hucklebridge:

• Four years in the United States Navy, 1955-1959 (Combat Air Crewman on P4M Mercator Patrol Aircraft)
• 37 years in the aerospace industry: 33 years with General Electric at Edwards AFB; More than 5 years with the Northrop Grumman Corp. at Edwards AFB (Flight Line Mechanic on the B-2 Bomber).
• During 20 of those years at Edwards he was a Reserve Deputy Sheriff for the County of Los Angeles.