YEAR: 2013

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: 13 & 14

STATE: California

COUNTY: Tulare County

LOCATION DETAILS: White River campground 4.9 miles above Pine Flat resort

NEAREST TOWN: Pine Flat resort

NEAREST ROAD: Mountain rd 56

OBSERVED: Slapping sounds, grunting sounds & chatter

ALSO NOTICED: largely deserted camp, only 2 sites in use

OTHER WITNESSES: 3 adults,1 8yr old boy

OTHER STORIES: no

TIME AND CONDITIONS: after 11 pm both days

ENVIRONMENT: mountains, pine and oak

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Bob Collier:

I spoke with the witness by phone and I found him to be very credible. The witness is a veteran of the U.S. Navy of twenty three years, and an avid outdoorsman where he spends a lot of time in the woods fishing, exploring along with panning for gold. The witness stated he was camping in an area south of the town of Pine Flat Resort California. The witness has camped in this campground four or five times before, and he had never experienced anything out of the ordinary there before. He stated on September 13th or 14th of 2013 he pulled in to the campground and set up his camp with his friend. He noticed since it was late in the season he only noticed one other camping trailer in the area, and it was pulled off to the side of the road. The trailer was not parked inside the campground.

At around dusk the witness heard what sounded like chatter and rocks being banged together in succession. The witness said as he listened more carefully at this noise, he could definitely hear stone being struck together. He said this went on for a minute, but he did not think much of it at the time. At approximately 11 PM he decided to go to bed and he entered his tent. The witness did not place his rain-fly over the roof of the tent. As the witness laid there for a few minutes he began to hear what he described as a cat coughing up a hair ball, and then a loud “shushing” noise. The witness’ friend was staying in his own tent a few feet away. The witness did not yell out to his friend nor did his friend yell out to him.

The witness stated he figured these noises were coming from some animal near his tent, and he began yelling along with hitting the side of his tent to scare whatever it was away. The witness said as he laid there he did not hear anything for a few minutes, until he heard a deep guttural grunt noise coming from the back of his tent approximately thirty feet away. The witness did not know what was making this guttural noise, because it was a noise he had never heard before in the woods. Eventually the noise stopped, and the witness fell to sleep.

On the second day in the morning the witness asked his friend if he had heard noises last night coming from the woods, and his friend had told him he heard some weird noises, but he was tired and fell to sleep quickly. During that second day the witness decided to pan for gold in the nearby local stream. The witness stated he noticed the normal sounds in the woods of squirrels and birds making noises could not be heard. The witness described the forest around him to be very still, where he felt as if he was being watched by someone or something. Later that evening at camp he decided to go to bed at about the same time. As he was lying in his tent small debris began to hit his tent. I asked the witness if it was debris falling from a nearby tree, and he stated the debris was hitting his tent from the side as if someone was throwing something at it.

The witness said this debris hitting his tent only went on for a few seconds before it stopped. The witness said nothing else occurred that evening, and he did not hear any other strange noises. The witness was very perplexed by what he heard and what was thrown at his tent those two evenings. He had never had an experience like this before while camping in the woods or at this particular camping area.

About BFRO Investigator Bob Collier:

Law enforcement officer in southern California.
Avid outdoors-man fishing, hiking, and backpacking.
Conducted numerous investigations in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.