YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 1

STATE: Illinois

COUNTY: Madison County

NEAREST TOWN: Edwardsville

NEAREST ROAD: I-55

OBSERVED: I had just gotten my son down to sleep. It was 1 o'clock in the morning. He sleeps in the back bedroom. I happened to walk by the window in the hallway because I had to go to the bathroom. For some reason I heard a cough. It sounded like somebody clearing their throat. I had just put the pool down. We have one of those quick set ring pools that you blow up for my son. I just took it down and it was drying off, I thought somebody was out there looking at it or messing with it. So I opened the blinds and looked. I didn't see anything right off the bat.

But then I saw something between the woods and my shed. It was just standing there and it was big. The head looked huge. So I ran upstairs and got my night vision. When I kicked that night vision on I could see every detail. It was staring up in the trees. He was at least eight and a half foot tall. He was about 40 yards from the window. He looked gray in color.

It looked like a really big human. If people want to know what the face looks like, if you put this guy in a Viking movie with a horned helmet on people would say he was a Viking, that's how human looking he was. He had really sunken eyes. But he was just looking up in the trees.

And then I heard somebody's radio down at the parking lot of the bike trail. It was pretty amazing. I was watching him and thinking "He's hanging out there because he's waiting for people to leave." Nobody could see him there, and the only reason I did is because I was walking by the window and saw something in my yard that is not normally there.

I even went to wake my wife and have her see too, but he was gone.

OTHER WITNESSES: None

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 1 a.m.

ENVIRONMENT: Mixed fields and woods.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I met with the witness and visited his home.

In summary:

• The animal was about eight and a half feet tall.
• The animal was very muscular.
• The animals weight was 400 to 450 lbs.
• The animal appeared gray through night vision.
• Distance from the house was 40 yards.

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