YEAR: 1997

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 23

STATE: New York

COUNTY: Ulster County

LOCATION DETAILS: Lake near Modena, New York.

NEAREST TOWN: Modena

OBSERVED: Original submission from Doug Pridgen.

I have a tape you may want to see. It's that of a few friends drinking around a camp fire up state New York.

The tape was shot in 1997 and not looked at until a year or two ago.

My girlfriend was watching the TV while we were transfering the tape and said what is that in the tree? I had to rewind the tape ten or more times. I did not know what to make of it at first, but I knew it was not from the wilds of N.Y. state!

At first, you think "big monkey," but what the hell would a monkey be doing in the woods of N.Y.? The thing swings from one tree to the next and moves up and down it with ease! It hangs by one arm and pulls its self up and around in this tree at a speed you have to see. It looks to me to be about 5 to 5-1/2 feet in height, dark in color, very strong upper body and fast as hell in the trees.

ALSO NOTICED: Not a thing.

OTHER WITNESSES: None of us at the camp saw a thing that night. It was not till 5 or 6 years after the event that the thing was spotted on the tape. Everyone that was on the camping trip saw the tape and thinks it might be an ape or a baby bigfoot.

OTHER STORIES: I was at this camp site for 4 days. I never heard a thing about the spot before or after.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was at dusk. Clear sky, a cool night.

ENVIRONMENT: The camp site was in a apple grove next to a small lake that sat in a valley. All around it is farm land.

Follow-up investigation report:

After reviewing the tape, doing a frame by frame analysis, and speaking with the film maker for some three months, I have come to the conclusion that the tape was not hoaxed. The film was taken at dusk, and appeared to capture two unknown bipedal creatures in the background. Because of the lighting conditions, details of the creatures are silhouetted.

Weather conditions, including sunrise, sunset, and temperature, were cross referenced for the date of the video. They matched the conditions shown on the video for the time given.

Subject one is a large bipedal figure . It appears to have a conical shaped head. A second smaller subject apparently springs from the back of the big one and climbs into a tree, hand over hand, with great speed and agility. Subject one moves to the left of the screen perhaps fifteen feet, returns to its original location, stands in a wooded area, and apparently enters it after several seconds. All of this is in silhouette.

The "baby" appears to have no tail. After climbing the tree it swings out on a large branch approximately 20 feet in the air.

The big one is on film for approximately 10-14 seconds; the "baby" for approximately 40 seconds.

The property is privately owned, but allows camping, fishing and hosts ATV races. No pets are allowed on the property.


The campsite in the footage was set on the opposite side of the lake from the other campers.

There was a small outdoor music festival (100-200 people) happening on the property when the footage was shot. At the entrance of the property, vehicles were searched for glass bottles and pets. One man tried to bring in a parrot and was turned a way. A chimp or gibbon would have been difficult to miss ... even if someone dressed it up and put a Raiders hat on it ...

The property owner did not know about this footage, and has not heard of any anomalous events on the property.

See feature on the BFRO homepage for more information on this footage and follow up efforts.

The initial follow up was by investigator Steve Kulls. Further follow up was done by investigator Paul K (lawyer - NYC).