YEAR: 1982

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: January

DATE: 15

STATE: Oklahoma

COUNTY: Oklahoma County

LOCATION DETAILS: Ravine at entrance to Hafer Park, at 9th and Bryant. The ravine runs parallell to Bryant.

From I-35, take Edmond Road (2nd St) west to Bryant, then south on Bryant to 9th. This is the entrance to Hafer Park.

NEAREST TOWN: Edmond

NEAREST ROAD: Bryant Avenue

OBSERVED: Winter, 1982:
On this occasion, there had been a big snowstorm, and nothing was moving on the streets. There weren't even any tire tracks. I was about fifteen years old, and worked at a fast-food restaurant about a mile north of this location, and was forced to walk home because my father had called and told me that conditions were so bad he couldn't get the car out of the drive. The heavy blanket of snow made visibility good, reflecting light as it does. As I cleared some trees to the east, I observed movement to my left through peripheral vision, and looked to my left into the ravine, and saw a figure apparently playing in the snow.

For an instant, I thought that it was a child wearing a dark colored snow suit, but as the moment passed, I became very aware that this was no child. I had a very clear view of it, and could see that it was black, or very close to black, and covered with long hair or fur from head to toe. It was probably around five feet tall, and weighed about 160lbs. The creature continued playing in the snow, bending over at the waist, and throwing snow up into the air with both hands in a wide scooping motion, throwing it up so that it came back down on its head. It also began rolling in the snow.

I felt stark terror at the sight of the thing. I was also very unnerved knowing that I was very far from any residential area, in the early morning, and that there was absolutely no traffic on the road.

The creature was only about thirty to thirty-five yards from me, and I had about an eighth of a mile to clear until I was out of sight of the creature. I thought about running, but I feared that my footfall and rapid motion would catch the thing's attention and that it would then begin chasing me as is instinctive for a lot of animals.

The point is, I had quite a bit of time to view this thing, and the longer I looked at it, the more I realized that what I was looking at did not fit any rational explanation. Once I was out of sight, and I thought I was out of earshot, I ran as fast and as far as I could.

This area is now a park, Hafer Park, but at the time, nothing was there but a wooded area and the ravine, which is a drainage ditch. Even now, with the park, there is still a good deal of wooded area there.

David A. Farris, author of "Mysterious Oklahoma," says that locals have dubbed this creature the "skunkape," reportedly because of its terrible odor. I did not smell anything in this incident, but I have a very poor sense of smell and serious sinus and allergy problems which are routinely exasperated by the cold weather.

OTHER WITNESSES: No, none besides myself

OTHER STORIES: Have heard of accounts of other smaller statured "bigfoots" or "skunk apes", but the closest sightings I know of were in El Reno. I remember seeing a story about these creatures on a local television news broadcasts a couple of years after this incident, but can't remember many details.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Between 1:30-2:30 am. Heavy, heavy snowfall, enough to stop any traffic on the roadway. The blanket of snow added visibility by reflection. Very cold, of course.

ENVIRONMENT: Just off a 4 lane roadway. At the time, no residences or businesses were within about a mile, except to the north. The area to the east of the roadway was a creek/drainage ditch, becoming wooded area the a short distance from the roadway. To the west, a field, and wooded area beyond. A shopping center to the north, about half a mile.

The area where the creature was actually standing was a creek bottom (rarely filled with much water).

Follow-up investigation report:

The date shown is only a rough guess.

The witness is a thirteen year veteran of a metro area police department.

This is a resubmission of an old report.