YEAR: 2009

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 9th

STATE: New Mexico

COUNTY: Taos County

LOCATION DETAILS: Withheld by request

NEAREST TOWN: Red River

NEAREST ROAD: State Highway 38

OBSERVED: We were getting up early to hitch up our travel trailer and start home to Oklahoma. My wife had gotten up first and then I got up and went into the bathroom. My wife opened the door and said that someone was standing outside the entry door to the bedroom of the trailer. I went back to the room and saw a large shadow in the window. The window is privacy glass so they couldn't see inside. I could see a chest, a head and about half of the arm. I reached into the night stand a took out my pistol thinking that it was someone. I then started toward the back of the trailer to the main entry door. While I was doing this my wife thought to take photos. She took 3 photos which does show the shadow of whatever it was very well. When I was at the other end of the trailer I opened the door and turned on the outside light at the same time. There was nothing there, I did hear what sounded like someone walking very quickly in the distance. I went around the trailer but couldn't see anyone. It was at this time that I realized that the window on the door is too high for someone to have been standing there. I took pictures to show how high it is. We waited until daylight to go back outside, I looked around the front and side of the trailer and noticed what appeared to be large tracks in the gravel. I took pictures of these. My friend who is a photographer took a copy of the pictures showing the shadow in the window and enlarged them while trying to keep the clarity and it is possible to make out some of the features. His exact words are " it kind of looks like Harry from Harry and the Hendersons". I don't know what it was but it was very strange and the photos are quite interesting.

ALSO NOTICED: only what appeared to be tracks which I photographed

OTHER WITNESSES: 2 My wife and myself

OTHER STORIES: none that I'm aware of

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 4:50 AM, clear night/morning

ENVIRONMENT: The Red River was about 20 feet from the trailer, it's really just a creek. Across the river It is heavily wooded, it is a fairly steep hill/mountain. This would be to the south.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Todd Perteet:

I’ve spoken with the submitter of this report, H, numerous times in an effort to cover as many details as possible regarding the incident. His wife, J, is referred to herein as well. The author’s narrative is somewhat restated below so as to include additional, important details within the event timeline.

J got up around 4:15 A.M. and went to the bathroom to get ready. After J had left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, H took his turn in the bathroom. They estimate that he had been in there (bathroom) for two to three minutes. Through these several minutes she watched the figure at the window in a state of “shock” and disbelief. She then walked to the bathroom to tell H someone was looking into their bedroom. H came out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where he also witnessed the figure. Thinking it was a person, he quietly removed his pistol from the nightstand and proceeded to the other end (back) of the trailer in hopes that he could exit from that end while simultaneously turning on the outside light, thus catching the culprit in the act. While making his way to the other door, H attempted to be as quiet as possible as well as to not cause any movement of the trailer. During his progression through the trailer, H chambered a round into his semi-auto pistol while J took the photos. Total time from when he came out of the bathroom to when he got to the other door is estimated at one and a half to two minutes, putting the total time of the figure being observed peering in the window at between three and a half and five minutes. Upon reaching the back door, H flipped on the outside light (the light located near the bedroom door) as he opened the back door and stepped out. H fully expected to see their visitor at this point but there was no one in sight. He did, however, hear bipedal footsteps exiting down the gravel road to the east at a brisk pace. After checking around the trailer, H realized that it couldn‘t have been a person standing there due to the height of the window and decided to take some pictures for reference. He then went back inside to wait for daybreak. After sunrise H and J went back outside to look for any signs the intruder might have left. They found a couple of impressions in the gravel which resembled large human footprints, estimated at between fourteen and sixteen inches long. Though these were also photographed, they are not included here due to difficulty in making out the details.

Also noted:

- H and J were the only two people in their trailer.
- They had spent six nights at the same location and had not noticed anything unusual prior to this incident.
- When H opened the back door, he did not see anyone else outside but did hear dogs barking in the adjacent trailer.
- Their trailer was in the last (west) space on the row. The figure appeared on the west side of their bedroom so it wouldn’t have been between two trailers.
- Figure was somewhat backlit by a street light near a building approximately 200-250 feet to the west/northwest of their location.
- They had left the bedroom television on all night, as they normally do. For reference, I asked H to turn on the television and see if the flashing of the screen could be seen from outside, through the privacy glass. He confirmed that it could, but that you could not actually see into the trailer from the outside.
- The creature did not make any noises while at the window.
- The step below the bedroom door was retracted and no movement was felt in the trailer which would indicate the visitor was standing on the ground, not the step. There was also nothing else nearby to stand on.
- Measured height from the ground to the top of the window (where figure was photographed) is eight feet. Glass pane is sixteen inches wide by twenty-four inches high.
- Track observed, closest to the trailer, was approximately three feet away.
- J's reasons for photographing the figure were that she believed it was possibly somebody that meant them harm, also that it was so strange to see someone standing at the window.
- Photos were taken with a JVC GZ-MS100 camcorder in digital photo mode.
- H and J did not speak of the encounter with anyone else in the campground prior to departing.
- There were numerous other people in RV’s occupying the campground.

Due to the dark nature of the original photos, we created this .gif to enhance the viewability of one of the images:



This photo was taken after the figure departed and the witness realized how large it actually was:






Another view of the bedroom door and window after sunrise. Measurement to top of window also shown:




I personally visited this location to get a better understanding of the general area and surroundings. There is an abundance of cover to the south, with a heavily treed mountain rising up directly behind the stream. It is definitely plausible, particularly in cover of darkness, that something could easily approach and exit the area undetected.

The location of this report is within the 1,507,000 acre Carson National Forest. Elevations range from approximately 7,000 feet to 13,161 feet at Wheeler Peak, New Mexico’s highest point. Thick spruce, fir, aspen, ponderosa pine and juniper forests as well as rugged terrain dominate the surrounding landscape. Wildlife and water sources are plentiful.

About BFRO Investigator Todd Perteet:

Todd Perteet lives in northern Idaho and is a lifelong outdoorsman. Expeditions attended include Colorado (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), Oklahoma (2008, 2009), Utah (2009), Wyoming (2009, 2010, 2014), and Nebraska (2011).