YEAR: 2016

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

DATE: 12/22/2016

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Hernando County

LOCATION DETAILS: Approximately 50-75yds on the south side of Cortez Blvd just before the intersection at Pine Island Dr heading west on Cortez blvd.

NEAREST TOWN: Weeki Wachee

NEAREST ROAD: Cortez Blvd. / Pine Island Dr.

OBSERVED: While on vacation, we were on our way to watch the sunset. My daughter pointed out her window and said "look! What is that?!" My son sat to her left and I to her right. All three of us looked out the window to see what appeared to be an 8-10 foot tall hairy being. It was standing slightly turned so we were looking at its left shoulder & back. It was very hairy and we could definitely make out a head and shoulders. All three of us had a definite clear, unobstructed visual for 7-10 seconds. It was light brown to tan in color. About 45 minutes later we were on our way back and it was gone.

OTHER WITNESSES: 3 witnesses total. 11 passengers in vehicle total. Only 3 saw the creature. All were driving to the beach to watch sunset.

OTHER STORIES: Saw a few reports on the BFRO site in this area.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Approximately 5pm
Clear sunny day. Around 65 degrees. Light wind.

ENVIRONMENT: Open field of 3-4ft tall grass/swamp land with wooded area nearby. There is a local seafood restaurant on the opposite side of intersection.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator B.G. Martin:

The witness and her two children were in the back of a passenger van with eight other passengers. She was able to quickly pick out and see what her daughter was pointing out because it was clearly visible in the middle of a field 50 - 75 yards from the road. There weren't any bushes or trees nearby; as a result, it made the object more distinct in a field of knee-high grass. The object was on the south side of the road and the setting sun was shining on it.

The three witnesses were able to continue watching the object through the back window as the van made a right turn to go north on to Pine Island Drive from Cortez Boulevard. The driver slowed to 5 – 10 mph to make the turn. For the 7 - 10 seconds that it was in sight, it didn't move. When they came back 45 minutes later after watching the sun set the object was gone. The mother didn't recall if there was a path of something going through the grass leading to-or-away from where the object was viewed. She was more focused on locating the spot where they had seen the object originally.

But then, the object could have taken a route paralleling the road and a path wouldn't of been apparent from the road.

The object was light brown to tan and had hair that was three - four inches long. She described it as "very hairy”. The amount of hair and its size stood out and the likelihood that it was a person seemed unlikely to her. The distinct features of shoulders and a head were something that was apparent. The head was rounded off and there was no neck. She described the shoulders as being as wide as three or four of its heads. From the angle (10 o'clock) they were viewing it from, they couldn't see any definition of the legs, arms, or hands to the side. The daughter noted that the hair appeared like there were highlights in the hair. The mother had the impression that whatever it was had its back to them. The three family members felt that what they were observing weighed 600 pounds.

The field that the unknown object was in is a field that will fill with water in high tide. There are water moccasins and Diamondback rattlesnakes and alligators that inhabit the Chassahowitzka Wildlife area. For someone to walk through a field in this location would be very risky. The field wasn’t submersed in water when the witnesses viewed the subject.

The witness couldn't explain why she thought it was 8 - 10 feet tall. There wasn't anything nearby to use as a size reference other then the grass it was seen in was knee height, 2 feet. The road surface is four to five feet higher than the field and it was viewed from 50 - 75 yards away.

The witness has been a nurse for 24 years and her daughter is 15 year old, and the son is 13. They were in the area to visit family and the local tradition of watching the sunset. The previous day it was overcast and they wanted to see the sunset before they left the next day to go back home to the Midwest.

I feel they saw something that wasn't a tree, bush, or some type of vegetation. There are bear in the area but they're black, and when bear stand they don't have shoulders and they aren’t 8 – 10 feet tall. The Chassahowitzka Wildlife Area is 38 square miles in size and the majority of the wildlife area is inhospitable to humans. There are many places in the wildlife area that something could live and go unnoticed.

Below is an image of the field where the object was seen. The tan graphic in the image is an approximation of the spot of where the object was seen stationary. The light tan graphic is not to scale.

The image of the field is from Google Street View.

About BFRO Investigator B.G. Martin:

Investigator Since 2006