YEAR: 2000

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: first week

STATE: Tennessee

COUNTY: Monroe County

LOCATION DETAILS: Location is in Cherokee National Forrest.

NEAREST TOWN: Coker Creek Tn.

NEAREST ROAD: Joe Brown Hwy.

ALSO NOTICED: the creature broke a large limb from a fallen tree to get our attention.WE saw its arm go up ,grab the limb and break it. then I made eye contact and held it for about 20 seconds.A very strong ammonia,or insecticide smell. PLEASE take this report seriously. I swear it is true! Please have someone call me.I can hardly sleep anymore since the sighting.

THe creature stayed in the area for about two weeks. It slept in a feild about 50 yards from my camp.It was only seen once,but I smelled it several more times.SO did my dog,who allerted me to its presence behind me one morning.The dog went beserk and then the smell hit me .I dropped my dredge
and ran back to my camp.

OTHER WITNESSES: two witnesses
we were talking about prospecting.
no drugs or alchohol involved.
two witnesses,myself and friend.

OTHER STORIES: There are several people repeating my story and claiming it as there own.
besides that,nothing.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: about 5 pm est
bright sunlight
clear skies

ENVIRONMENT: creek bottom,heavy forrest,mountian ridge to east

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tony Gerard:

I spoke with the witness by phone. The sighting occurred after the witnesses had spent the day dredging for gold in a creek. They had finished for the day and were talking when they noticed a large, dark shape about 100 feet away. The creature was partially obscured by a dead tree and an old mine tailings pile. As they watched, the creature reached with its right arm and snapped a limb off the dead tree. The limb was two or three inches thick. After looking at the two men for ten to twenty seconds, it turned and walked into the woods.
The body build was described as "enormous, it had to weigh at least 400 pounds" and "extremely muscular." The tailings pile it stood behind was waist high on the witness, but "it wasn't that high on him, I could clearly see mid thigh." The arms appeared to reach to mid thigh." When he snapped the limb I noticed he definitely had a thumb." He estimated the creature's height to be between seven and eight feet.
The facial features were described as "short black hair over a human face. Its features were exactly human." Its eyes were dark; the nose was "slightly flattened," and the mouth looked large with full lips. It had a "broad chin, not so pointed as a human." The ears were "black and appeared human shaped." The head was pointed, but not sharply so. The body hair was estimated to be three or four inches long on the body and "somewhat shorter on the arms". The hair color was black over most of the body, but silver on the back. "It was just gorgeous." The hair appeared well groomed and not matted or dirty.
The witness did not notice any sexual organs or breasts; he assumed the creature to be male.
The gait of the creature was described as a "walk like a human, slight slouch in the shoulders."
When the creature and the witness were looking at each other "it didn't strike me as a dumb animal. It broke that limb so we would notice it; it wanted us to see it."
The witnesses stayed in the area for another two weeks. Although they had no further sightings they did smell the creature several times.
Once, upon returning to his dredging equipment, the witness found an old, dirty, cork stopper type bottle sitting beside his equipment. It had not been there the evening before. He suspected it was placed there by the creature.
The witness has returned to the area many times in the years since and has had no further encounters.
Update 2/7/06
The BFRO was contacted by the second witnesss after he saw the posted report. The second witness confirms the story of the original witness and adds these details.
The two were wet from dredging and had started a fire to warm up and dry out. He said they smelled the creature before they saw it. He describes the smell as "like a bear, only worse, like it had urine and feces in it's hair". He said the original witness had a better viewing angle. He related that he heard a stick crack, looked across the creek and saw the creature reach up and break the limb. He estimated the creature's height at between seven and a half and eight feet. The fur color was dark, but with some gray in the fur, "like it was elderly". He added that one at least two occasions prior to the sighting he had heard "howls", similar to those on the BFRO website, in the area. These howls were always in the distance.

About BFRO Investigator Tony Gerard:

Tony Gerard is a community college biology professor.