YEAR: 1986

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: January

STATE: Illinois

COUNTY: Morgan County

LOCATION DETAILS: 3 miles east of Jacksonville on the Old state road to Mobil Road and north aprox 1/2 mile

NEAREST TOWN: Jacksonville

NEAREST ROAD: Old State Road

OBSERVED: It was winter in 1986-87 in Central Illinois, Morgan county, just 3 miles east of Jacksonville off the old state road.

Myself and another friend were riding a 3 wheeler in the snow thru a pasture area along a creek and wooded area about 11-1130 PM.

We were taking turns riding it and while 1 was riding the other would wait for the rider to come back. 1 of the times while I was riding aprox 200 yds off the road, I spotted a bigfoot aprox 7 ft tall and probably 400lbs. It was walking across the narrow part of the pasture aprox 30yds wide from one stand of woods to another, This part of Illinois is all farmland with a lot of creeks and rivers but not an extreme amount of woodland, my only thoughts were that what the heck had I just seen...

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 11-12 pm, snow covered ground but with moonlight...

ENVIRONMENT: Snow covered farmland, wooded creek running thru the area.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I spoke with the witness by phone.

In summary:

• The animal was walking across the pasture from one woods to the next.
• The animal looked at the witness and kept walking as if unconcerned.
• The animal's height was seven feet tall.
• The weight was over 400 lbs.
• The hair was dark colored
• The witness was 30 yards from the animal.
• With a full moon and snow on the ground the witness was able to see fairly well but was unable to make out any facial details.
• Because the men were taking turns riding the three wheeler only the rider was at the site where the sighting occurred.

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