YEAR: 2016

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: January

DATE: January 20

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Lane County

LOCATION DETAILS: Field next to the new business park.

NEAREST TOWN: Springfield

NEAREST ROAD: High Banks Rd

OBSERVED: January 20th, 2016 about 1100. I was driving towards hwy 126 on High Banks road. I saw a large animal covered in long hair in a field to the right of the road. It was a lot larger than a bear. It was so out of place, in the open field. It was frozen still. I haven't seen any cattle in that field lately. I regret not stopping to take a picture. I was on my way to a doctors appointment and had a car tailing me. I was planning on asking the farmer who owns the property what animals he has had in the field lately.

ALSO NOTICED: It is private property.

OTHER WITNESSES: I don't know if the person in the car behind me saw it. I slowed down to try to figure out what it was.

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 1100 AM

ENVIRONMENT: Open field between farm house and business park.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Brian Herzog:

The investigator had brief phone call and an in-person meeting with the witness. She is a nurse and has spent much time in both agricultural and forest settings. She has spent time around farm animals and is comfortable identifying deer, bear, elk, and other large forest animals… as well as cattle, horses, llamas, and other large farm animals.

At approximately 11 am on Wednesday January 20th, the witness observed a large black hairy object in a cow pasture she was passing. She assumed this was an animal. The witness described the animal as broader than the back end of a cow, but not as wide as one. She couldn’t make out any arms, legs, or head and determined that it was far too large to be a bear. The witness described it as looking like a large burned-out hairy tree stump. The witness does not know what she saw, but indicated that if it were a bigfoot, she assumed it would have been hunched over and facing the other direction. She estimated the animal to be approximately 5 ½ feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide. The animal’s hair was long and dark. The animal was still during the observation and did not move at all.

The witness first saw the hairy object/animal as she passed the adjacent farm house and slowed her car to get a better look. She indicated that she would have gone even slower or maybe even stopped her car and gotten out, except there was pressure to go faster from a car behind her and she was on her way to a doctor's appointment. The witness did not capture a photo. A recreation of the drive was performed and it appears that the witness observed the hairy object for 20 to 25 seconds.

At the time of the sighting, the weather was overcast and not rainy nor foggy (the investigator verified that this weather claim is accurate). The witness indicated that she got an excellent look at the object. The animal was approximately 70 yards from the road and 20 yards from the far edge of the pasture. The grass in the pasture was approximately 2 - 4 inches high.

The witness passes this farm often and a few weeks later stopped to talk to the property owner. While talking to the property owner, the witness indicated the following. The property owner does own hairy cows, but they were on another part of the property. There were no cows or other animals in that pasture on the day of the sighting. The property owner does not own llamas. The property owner thought the witness’ questions were odd. The property owner did not indicate that any strange animal had ever been seen in the area before.

The property owner was not available to be interviewed. The investigator and witness did not enter the property to attempt a recreation of the sighting.

The property is adjacent to wilderness and other farms and a light-industrial site. The McKenzie River is at the back of the property so there is plenty of wilderness cover in the area.

The investigator concludes that the witness is credible. The object/animal in question is not fully identifiable. However, there is enough detail in the witness’ story to conclude that this is a Class B report of interest.

About BFRO Investigator Brian Herzog:

Brian has been an Audit Professional for more than 10 years and is currently a Controls Manager for a Fortune 500 company. He is a lifelong Oregonian and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University in the area of GeoSciences. Brian attended the following BFRO Expeditions: 2011 Coastal California, 2012 Washington Cascades, 2013 Oregon Coast, 2013 Oregon Cascades, 2014 Oregon Cascades, 2014 Oregon Coast, 2014 Washington Cascades, as well as multiple small group and private expeditions.