YEAR: 1980

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: January

DATE: 01/1980

STATE: Illinois

COUNTY: Macon County

LOCATION DETAILS: 1403 Highland Place, Decatur, IL.

Our property backed up to an undeveloped part of Garmen Park. Behind our property was a large field, and there was a creek running through the wooded area S. of the field. That thicker woods led west along the creek, as we were barely inside the city limits where we lived.

NEAREST TOWN: Decatur

NEAREST ROAD: State Rt. 121 (several blocks north)

OBSERVED: I know this is a years-old report, but..

I've only told 3 people about this, EVER. If I hadn't just read that another sighting occurred near the same area previously, I still wouldn't say anything.

It was a very cold 3:00am sighting on the NW edge of Decatur, Il. The moon was full enough to make our whole back yard visible. I was standing in the dark at our second story window looking (south) out at the back yard, partly because I am an insomniac, but this time because our 3 Beagles at the bottom of the hill were all barking in a way I'd never heard.

From the SW corner of the house walked a very large 'thing' covered in either a lighter greyish or beige fur, moving diagonally SE in front of me toward where our dogs were. My first thought (because my mind couldn't wrap around anything else) was that it was our neighbor looking for his horse again, but this 'thing' was ALL fur, huge, muscular. As I stood there, fixed, it suddenly stopped and turned a little sideways and looked straight up into my eyes...like it knew I was there. We stared at each other for almost a full minute.
I was frozen, but knew I was witnessing something truly wonderful, that I'd made a connection to a wondrous creature, and was in awe. I could see perfectly its facial features, more human than ape, no fur on it, and sensed from the expression that it was a curiosity there, not an aggressiveness.

Then awe suddenly turned to fear that it was going to harm our dogs, as it turned back, in no hurry, but a deliberate 'going on about his business and direction'. It had to duck UNDER some apple tree branches and continued on down the hill where I lost sight of him, but our dogs suddenly stopped barking and everything was still. I had no idea if he'd killed them or not.

My kids were asleep, my husband wasn't the type to believe me...so I stayed at that window, praying, afraid to go outside, for over an hour...stayed up all night checking. No further sighting.

When it got light I went out and checked. Dogs were all fine. They must've just gotten so scared when they saw him that they froze, too. I don't know. What I do know is that my husband is 6'2" and when I asked him later that day to reach up to try and touch that branch that my 'creature' had to duck to avoid, he couldn't reach it and it was about a foot higher than his extended arm. I'll let YOU do the math on the height.

I found no fur/hair on any branch or the dog run fencing. I looked. No footprints because the ground was frozen. If I'd had one ounce of proof, I'd have turned it in or called somebody. All I have is a memory forever burned into my brain like it happened yesterday, and feel so privileged that I was allowed to witness this. I don't need anyone to ever prove beyond a doubt that they exist. I KNOW THEY DO!

ALSO NOTICED: Already inserted in my report.

OTHER WITNESSES: No. Not that I'm aware of.

OTHER STORIES: Not personally, no.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 3:00 am. Moon was either full or almost full. Bright night. Flood light on, on the E. side of house facing south.

ENVIRONMENT: My backyard. We had 5 very large apple trees pretty in the yard, one very large maple at SW corner, and several other trees at the bottom edge of the property, and only 3/4's acre. The back yard was probably more than half of the entire property. There were at least 20' of clearing between the house & the trees where I sighted our creature. He was completely exposed in that clearing when he stopped to look up at me

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I spoke with the witness by phone.

In summary:

• The animal was about eight and a half feet tall.
• The animal was big, muscular and broad shouldered.
• Hair coloring was beige or medium grayish.
• Witness was unable to estimate a weight.
• The witness was less than fifteen feet from the animal.
• The witness described the face as having expression, curiosity and intelligence.
• The movements were smooth and unhurried as it left the area.

• Earlier in the year a series of apples had been thrown at the house. The teenage son was blamed for the apple throwing but still denies it years later.

About BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

Stan Courtney has a special interest in wildlife audio recording. He has attended numerous BFRO Expeditions. See Stan's blog StanCourtney.com for recordings he has collected over the years.

Stan Courtney can be reached at illinois@bfro.net