YEAR: 2014

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 16

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Lewis County

LOCATION DETAILS: Not Disclosed

NEAREST TOWN: Morton

NEAREST ROAD: State Route 12

OBSERVED: During an expedition in the western foothills adjacent to Mt St Helens, two men from our group spotted themselves in a trail depression approximately 100 yards from, and looking down our location, planning to utilize the FLIR from that vantage point to observe myself and another man who planned to spend a few hours in darkness in a known “hotspot” deep in these woods.

After being on-site without artificial illumination for over an hour, at 1 AM we still could not see our hands, legs, etc. If/when we observed/heard anything interesting we would signify that observation to the remote FLIR observation post by playing the song “Jingle Bells” on the harmonica. That song was only to be played when some form of contact was made.

The two of us positioned ourselves roughly facing each other to facilitate a 360 degree field of view. We talked about our plans for the upcoming hunting season, recapped some past events, joked, laughed and played various little ditties on our harmonicas. At approximately 1:00 am we heard the sound of a stick breaking a short distance directly behind my partner. This was followed a few minutes later by two or three soft knocks, believed to coming from the same direction. Approximately 20 – 30 minutes later my partner advised to look behind me. I initially turned to the right (saw nothing) then to the left and when tightly twisted around in my chair saw what appeared to be a floating red ball (with a slight tinge of orange). The ball appeared to be in close proximity to the forest floor as it illuminated the ground in front (fan shaped pattern) with enough light to silhouette some ferns (estimated distance of ground illumination at 14-16 inches). The ball moved slightly to the left and right and up and down (somewhat akin to a sniffing motion) then we saw what appeared to be a large index finger, again silhouetted by the light emanating from the source.. My partner started playing Jingle Bells (with some vigor) and I attempted to talk to the red ball in reassuring/comforting tones. My partner made it about half way through another song (neither of us can recall which one) before the red ball gradually dimmed and went out. We also observed what appeared to be the finger tip, and the first and second knuckles. The “finger” moved slowly in our direction and toward the forest floor prior to the light source fading out.

The two of us remained in the dark and marveled at whatever it was that we had just experienced and wished that the two men in the remote outpost had either been with us to see same or had some form of experience on their own. We started playing more songs on the harmonica followed by a minute or two of silence, followed by some casual conversation followed by another tune.

ALSO NOTICED: Tree fall during previous night with no noticeable wind.

OTHER WITNESSES: three other witnesses, purposely eliciting a bigfoot encounter in a known hotspot.

OTHER STORIES: long history of sightings (class A) and encounters.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Early morning hours. Rising moon, clear and cool, approx 58-65 degrees.

ENVIRONMENT: Doug fir forest, confluence of three creeks within 400 yards.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Geoff Robinson:

The witness, his friend, and the other two gentlemen in the remote FLIR post location were all attending the WA 2 Expedition along with myself as host, for the BFRO in mid-August 2014.

He provided a very detailed written description of the events, and his partner corroborated the testimony by describing the encounter in detail as well.

It appeared that the subject approached the two men very low to the ground, since both men described seeing the finger, complete with knuckles illuminated by the red "ball" of light at a height of not much more than 14 inches.

The moon had not risen at that time, and the location is very densely forested by 100-150 ft Douglas Fir trees with thick canopy overhead. This absolute darkness would have enhanced the two witnesses' ability to see the light anomaly.

I interviewed the two men in the "FLIR post" and while they were equipped with a thermal imaging device, they did not observe any heat signatures that would confirm a very large, warm-blooded mammal in the vicinity - except for the witness and his companion who were being observed from a distance by the other two men with the FLIR imager.

After much discussion on this lack of thermal signature, we hypothesized that the subject may have spent the entire duration of the encounter either flat, or very low to the ground.

This location is considered a "hot spot" by many enthusiasts and has a history of class A sightings. (see reports # 35812, # 22475).

There were also two tree fall events in addition to the event described in this report, both during twilight hours during the expedition and both within a 3/4 mile radius of this encounter location.

After the encounter the next morning, I questioned the men extensively with regard to what they saw and heard. They did not detect any noticeable odor, or made no mention of vocalizations or utterances made by this subject.

The pictures below provide some daylight representation of the encounter site:

This picture depicts the vantage point seen by the two men in the "FLIR post"




The men in the FLIR post believe the subject was lying and moving while flat on the ground and this log obstructed their ability to view the thermal signature via the FLIR camera:





Vantage point of eye-witness while viewing the "silver dollar size red ball of light":





The witnesses believe this to be a possible footprint or knee impression about 12-14" by 6":




Based on eye-witness testimony of the two men and other ancillary and circumstantial evidence, I believe there is a very high likelihood that both men encountered a Sasquatch in close proximity to their position in this dense forest that night.

About BFRO Investigator Geoff Robinson:

Geoff Robinson is a software engineer and manufacturer's representative. As a teenager Geoff spent many nights in remote Georgia forests raccoon hunting. Mystified by seemingly inexplicable events during that time, Geoff has pursued explanations in the Pacific Northwest via study of an elusive bipedal primate that leaves tracks attributable to the taxon Anthropoidipes ameriborealis

Since those early experiences, Geoff has had encounters at his home in Granite Falls, WA, at the 2008 and 2009 WA Cascades expeditions, the 2009 Olympics expedition, as well as a number of smaller outings in WA and OR. He currently resides in Portland, OR with his wife and two sons.