YEAR: 1991

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Michigan

COUNTY: Marquette County

LOCATION DETAILS: 17 M north of Ishpeming, off Deer Lake Road turning R after Steel bridge on Big Dead river

NEAREST TOWN: Ishpeming MI

NEAREST ROAD: Red Road, twnship

OBSERVED: About 10 years ago, in the Upper Peninsula of MI in pine and hardwoods country (mixed) I was riding my white gelding, SILVER just before dusk. I was about 1 1/2 miles from my camp, when Silver stopped dead in his tracks on the dirt road we were on, and stared into the woods. I looked in the direction his head was turned and to my surprise, I saw a tall white animal coming towards us at a quick speed. It almost looked like my horse, coming at us! IF I wasn't riding him at the time, I would have thought he got lost and it was him running towards me. All of a sudden, the animal came within about 30 yards from us, stopped and turned to go sideways... running behind some pine trees. HE just disappeared!!! I didn't see him come out of the other side, go back, nothing. JUST GONE. I was quite scared at the time, and real excited, too. I was too scared to go into the woods to find where it went, or what it was for that matter. I had white hair, looked like a horse standing tall, looking at me, but when it turned sideways, to run, there was no large body behind it. IT looked like an upright animal running. IT was totally silent, with no noises even though he was running through the trees, and in a very heavey blue berry patch area. THE area has since been logged off in that stretch, and I know my kids saw something running in the woods the same summer while 4-wheeling. We made a big joke about our albino sasquatch, and to this day, I do believe I saw something real remarkable. I tell my story, and they laugh at me, but I know what I saw, and my horse saw it too. HIS reaction was quite extraordinary. I think what ever the animal was, it thought Silver was one of them. HE looked so similar in the woods, til he turned and there was no body behind it. I never reported it to any officials here as there isn't anyone to report it to. Thought of calling the DNR about it, but I swear my family teases me terrible so I know I would get ridiculed about it if I went too public. Everyone at camp knows of this though and I do tell it often. I know it was something unique for me to witness. We have a large wooded area in the U.P. where our camp is, with very rugged terrain. Many bluffs are located in this area, and one large ridge runs behind where the animal was observed. I have not seen this since that summer, and no one other than my children and their friends have reported any such sightings that I know of. It has always bothered me I didn't go and investigate further. BUT the primal fear I felt in me was something I have never dealt with and I just couldn't do it. I don't know if this is worth telling you now, since the area was logged and it was so many years ago, but I guess I am wondering if anyone else has ever reported anything so bizarre... especially it being all white like that.

ALSO NOTICED: within a mile or two of this site, my children saw something white running through the woods while they were 4-wheeling, but never saw it real clearly, so not sure what it was.

OTHER WITNESSES: one, horse back riding alone......

OTHER STORIES: NONE......

TIME AND CONDITIONS: clear, cool, dusk, riding my horse alone

ENVIRONMENT: about 1/2 mile from BOISE river bridge on Red Road Ishpeming twnship In jackpine forest, blueberry country, near large hardwood, pine ridge

Follow-up investigation report:

Witness insists that the animal she saw was white and every bit as tall as the horse she was riding. She estimates that the creature changed course and fled at a right angle to her direction of travel only after closing to a distance of twenty feet ahead of her. The creature was described as moving quickly and noiselessly until the moment at which she suddenly lost track of it's whereabouts. There was little understory vegetation, mostly consisting of low ferns, and the trees were estimated to be 6" in diameter, which is typical of jackpine stands of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Witness was sober and serious in her description and is at a loss to explain how the animal was able to suddenly conceal it's whereabouts under such circumstances. Witness turned around and left the scene in great haste and did not investigate further. Witness has since returned to the site and observed that the site has been commercially logged since her sighting.

Further communication from witness:
Thom,
Even though this was years ago, I remember it like
yesterday, because it was so bizzarre.
When Silver put his head up to see the creature coming
towards us, I felt the creature thought Silver was one
of them, as he came right towards us, not noticing me
on his back, I am assuming. Kind of led me to
believe there were more of them in the area, and white
too.... The pine forest he was in was tall, thin
jackpine, but quite thick. When it came in
real close to where I was, he must have noticed we
weren't familiar to him, and he turned, running
sideways towards some trees. All of a sudden, he just
disappeared. HE didn't come out on the other side of
the tree, but just vanished. I was thinking he could
have run back straight, but the trees weren't that
large to where his whole body could hide behind it, and
it was strange I didn't see him running away from me
at all... just sideways, then behind the tree and
gone. I guess that is what gave me the creeps more
than anything else I observed. Like I said before, it
was going on dusk, and even though there was
sufficient daylight for me to venture in a ways, I was
too scared to do it.
IT was totally silent, too. I
didn't hear it breathe, break twigs, nothing...just
quiet woods...which was another thing that bothered me. Knowing
Silver stopped dead in his tracks to watch this thing
gave me comfort as I know even though there wasn't
another human observing this thing, Silver did see it,
too. I have seen albino deer and honestly thought that is
what I thought it was BUT when there was no large body jutting out
behind it, I knew it was something all together
different. I tell everybody I saw an albino
sasquatch, as I can't explain it any other way. I
truly believe I saw something very unique, and have
since looked into the site and read the other U.P.
sitings stories. Nothing else seems to be like my
siting, though. There was one in Marquette county
years back, though.... maybe only footprints and
strange sounds? not sure, and I guess it doesn't
matter. My family teases me, but I know what I saw
and no one can convince me otherwise...

Sincerely,
V.O.