YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: End of month

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Paulding County

NEAREST TOWN: Dallas

NEAREST ROAD: Dabbs Bridge Road

OBSERVED: It was roughly around the end of August 2011 and I was at my mothers house. The house is located in the Burnt Hickory area of Paulding County, GA. She lives in a subdivision but it is still out in the country. I have always been and still a night owl. I stepped out on her back deck around 0200 in the morning to have a cigarette. Behind her house is nothing but trees, shrubs, hills, and creeks. There is an abundance of wildlife in the area that range from deer to coyotes. I was a Reconnaissance Marine for 8 years with multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. I have been to numerous survival schools all over America from Maine to California. Most of my life was spent in the woods and I understand what animals make what sounds. I do not unnerve very easily. So back to my story. I was on the back deck smoking a cigarette when I heard this loud howl/scream. The first howl grabbed my attention instantly. Because I had only heard it one time I was unsure what it was. So I listened with a bit more interest the second time and I was trying to run everything through my mind to to figure out what it was. I knew it was not a deer or coyote because the howl was so deep. So then I started to think about my surroundings. There is a highway a couple miles away so I thought it may have been a big rig/semi. Then I heard it again. That option was completely ruled out. So I started to think of what else it could be. Perhaps it was a generator running in the woods. Again I heard the howl. Not a generator! I had run through so many different scenarios that I was starting to get freaked out. The howl was from a living creature and it was much larger than I. Each howl lasted approx. 5 seconds with a 10-15 second rest before the next. I stood out there for about 5 minutes before listening to this before I was to freaked and headed inside. I immediately ran up to my computer and googled howling sounds in Paulding County, GA. There were several websites regarding howling in the area but most of them were referring to Picketts Mill Battlefield. Then I came across BFRO. Initially I was like "yeah...okay!". I started looking through the website and I came across some of the audio submissions from Ohio. Once I heard it I nearly crapped my pants. That howl was to a T of what I heard. The only difference was mine sounded much deeper, closer, and I didn't have dogs barking in the background. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I read through some of the other posts from Paulding County and Bartow County. What they all had to say was pretty freaky. Then I looked at the time frames they were made and where. During those time frames there was construction in the area. And when I heard my sounds they had just recently begun construction in the area. Not sure if there is any connection with that. I did bring it up to my wife the next day and she could hear the fear in my voice as I talked about it. Anyone that has been willing to listen I have mentioned it to.

OTHER WITNESSES: Sadly, no.

OTHER STORIES: So many countries have stories about bigfoot that date back to who knows when. While in Afghanistan I was speaking with my linguists and they too also have their own versions of the creature. When they described it for their country it was just like how we here stateside would describe it. One of the biggest things they mentioned about thought was the howl. They said that their howl sometimes sounds almost like a laugh. I would describe it as a Mexican war cry. A lot of our equipment over there has IR capabilities and your jaw would drop if you could see some of the images we capture on camera. They are so large on the camera that closest thing it would resemble would be a bear, but I dont think bears are in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Things that make you wonder what is really out there and how well they have adapted to their environments.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Time: 0200
Weather: Clear with low visibility due to no moonlight.

ENVIRONMENT: Open forest with creeks all over the place.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Morris Collins:

I spoke with the witness by phone on 18 January 2012. He is a former marine (8 years) with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and as an area recruiter. His Marine training and length of service make him a trained observer and ability to relay facts. He is currently attending college.

He was smoking on his mother's back porch around 0200 when he heard a loud, long, deep howl. Due to his training, he instinctively went to SLLS (Stop, Look, Listen, Smell). He is quite sure that due to the depth of tone and pitch that it was not a coyote. Whatever produced the sound seemed very large. He estimated the distance to the sound at 200 meters. The sound was repeated 6 times with a pause of 10-15 seconds between each iteration. He is confident it was not someone yelling or screaming. His reaction was that it startled him to the point that his arm hair was standing up. In his words, it "freaked him out".

He immediately returned inside and started researching sounds and reports of strange sounds in the area. He found references to strange noises at Pickett's Mill Battlefield (Civil War) and finally came across the BFRO. He listened to the sound files and determined that the sounds he heard were identical to the Ohio howls on the web site.

The area is semi developed with on going construction of homes. There are patches of undeveloped forrest and farm land all around this area still though. Just to the west is the northern side of the Sheffield (3,300 acres) and Paulding (26,600 acres) WMA. Both areas support a large turkey and deer population as well as other associated wild life. The area is mixed hardwood and pine forrest with numerous water courses through out. To the east is Allatoona Lake which has a history of strange and unexplained noises.

About BFRO Investigator Morris Collins:

Morris holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Auburn University and additional coursework toward an MBA in International Business. He is an avid backpacker and SCUBA diver. Morris attended Georgia 2006, 2008, 2009 & 2011; North Carolina 2006 and SC 2007 expeditions. He is a member of the SE BFRO Tracking Team and has completed a first course in visual tracking.