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Geographical Index > United States > Indiana > Monroe County > Report # 25658
 
 Report # 25658  (Class B)
Submitted by witness on Wednesday, March 18, 2009.
Man hears multiple moans and sees a gray creature outside of Bloomington

YEAR: 2009

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: March

DATE: 16

STATE: Indiana

COUNTY: Monroe County

LOCATION DETAILS: Bloomington location removed per witness

NEAREST TOWN: Bloomington

NEAREST ROAD: Not sure

OBSERVED: I have had two possible "Bigfoot related" incidents. I've wanted to discuss the older incident for quite some time but have hesitated to do so. The second incident occurred March 16, 2009 and unnerved me enough to go ahead with these reports.

(Note: for the older incident, please see report #25793)

This occurred on the western outskirts of Bloomington, IN. While this happened in a subdivision, it is an isolated subdivision surrounded by fields, small growth forest and quarries. Only a few miles further west the forestation thickens and several creeks and streams run through this area. Deer are seen here frequently, as well as other game animals and occasionally turkeys.

My girlfriend and I arrived at her parents' home in this neighborhood. We exited the car and I immediately heard a very, very odd sound. They were short moans, about 2 seconds apart at first, then many different timing variations. But they seemed to come consistently in groups of 4, with each call lasting between 2-10 seconds. After my initial encounters with what I came to believe was a Bigfoot, I found the BFRO site and listened to all the sounds, viewed all the images, read as many reports as I could -- I became an avid fan of the investigation and the science behind the creature. I recognized this sound as similar to the Ohio moans but shorter in duration. I'll have to listen to them again to make certain, but these were not anything like the whoops, screams or "bionic bird calls" that I've heard. These were definitely loud, powerful, reverberating moans. I have heard owls call out responses to environmental noises and also heard coyotes howling many times -- you can tell the difference based on the sheer power of the tones. This was not an owl or coyote. My girlfriend likened it to a very sick or injured cow -- but none are near this location. She had heard sick cows before and this was not a sick cow mooing -- it was, again, definitely a moaning sound.

We listened for 2 or 3 minutes then went inside. She immediately went out the back door to listen, as she knew that I would want to do so. We listened another few minutes and I decided to try and call back. I first tried mimicking the moan and, not receiving a response, I tried to make a whoop sound as best I could. The moaning stopped immediately. Off to our right, about 200 yards away in a stand of trees, I could see a few trees visibly shake -- not wiggle in the wind but shake like an elephant had just moved between them. I heard no noises like breathing, growling, grumbling, footfalls or otherwise. However, at that moment, off to our right a dog started barking ferociously and we could see it backing up closer to its house. This continued down the row of houses -- the dog would bark, growl then back up -- and it was in succession, getting closer to us. I was very scared at this point as, even if it was not a Bigfoot, I'd apparently gotten its attention and it was moving towards us. After passing the barking dog 3 houses away on our right, the dogs silenced and everything fell silent. At that moment, I saw some movement out in the field to the west of the trees, about 50 feet beyond the stand of trees. I heard a couple of quick moans then something streaked across the field from north to south. To describe what I could see is difficult. The moon and star light was enough that I could see a shape and a grayish color. The figure was definitely on two legs. It was running very fast but the legs were taking very large strides while the body appeared to be kept almost parallel to the group, like you would run if someone were shooting at you. The figure did not appear to be much taller than a normal person though it did seem (again, in poor lighting conditions) to be stockier than an average man. The shoulders were much larger than the waist and the legs were long and appeared lean but strong. The trunk of the being was too blurry to see any detail. The creature took 4-5 long and power strides and dropped to the ground behind what appeared to be a bush or clump of weeds. At that point, I felt nervous enough that we went inside. I peeked out several more times in the ensuing few minutes and saw nothing. I had been kicking myself about not having a camera, but the lighting was so poor and the movement so fast that an indistinct gray blur is all that would have turned out. About 10 minutes after all of this ended, we heard the sound of metal clanking and being broken. My girlfriend advised that there was lawn furniture further out in the field and it sounded, to her, like someone was throwing or breaking it. I looked a little later and yes, in fact, the lawn furniture had been strew about when it had been sitting upright when we arrived home (I didn't see this as I am not all that familiar with the setting -- she noticed it was upright because she knew what/where to look at). There were no storms, wind or other natural disturbances in the area that night, though I cannot preclude a common animal, such as a deer, may have run through the area and knocked everything over. Other than being on edge the rest of the evening, waiting for something to happen, nothing else was noted.

In talking with her further about this, I learned that the neighborhood is aware of this creature. They have nicknamed it "The Troll" and generally give it a wide berth and respect it. They say it lives in a sinkhole further out west, but I'm not certain exactly where. I've asked her family to take me out to the sinkhole so I can take a look but have not made the trip yet. Sightings of this creature are seasonal, though I don't know which seasons/time frames it is commonly present in.

This second sighting felt a little more threatening, or at least I had the vibe that the situation was not safe or controlled (from either side -- mine or the creature). I got the distinct impression that this was a juvenile calling out and when he got an unexpected response, he came to investigate, chest puffed out and ready to rock. But he quickly backed off and instead sought to either hide or make his way across the field and away from us. When we went inside, I think he showed his displeasure by trashing the lawn furniture. I could easily be completely wrong in my assessment, but those were the feelings I got from how things played out.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing out of the ordinary either time

OTHER WITNESSES: 2 witnesses, only I am willing to discuss at this time, unfortunately.

OTHER STORIES: Bloomington -- many stories of Bigfoot-like creatures in the area.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: between 10PM and 2AM. Some starlight, low moonlight or cover blocking light. Weather was cool and clear.

ENVIRONMENT: A field near thick forest. Not familiar with the area beyond that.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Eric Lester:

I spoke to the witness at length about his experiences, and decided to separate his 'older' experiences into a new report (see report #25793).

The moans were fairly close to them, within 300 yards. He seemed to think the moans were from one individual.

As the creature moved through the forest, he noticed the trees shaking, and it was about 100 feet away from them at the closest point. The thick brush area that the creature ran into was about 70 feet away. The only thing he noticed after it moved into this spot was possibly a head pop up, then down very quickly.

The witness states that some of the neighborhood residents refer to there being a "troll' in the neighborhood. He couldn't add much detail to this description, for none was ever given to him by anyone. Its possible that other sightings have occurred in this area, with the witnesses choosing to not look into it further.

After speaking to the witness about his experiences, I believe him to be truthful and sincere.

About BFRO Investigator Eric Lester:

Eric Lester is a medical professional and has been investigating possible Sasquatch sightings since 2004.
BFRO expeditions include: