YEAR: 2023

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: September

DATE: 22

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Twiggs County

LOCATION DETAILS: Take GA Hwy 96 to West Lake Road. Do not try to travel far down this road without a very capable 4/4 or atv-utv. Follow West Lake to the right turn where it crosses the railroad tracks and follow that side cut to the clearing near the cypress swap at the river edge.

[Investigator (MM) Notes:

GPS for the boat launch area: 32.485700, -83.488258

NEAREST TOWN: Jeffersonville

NEAREST ROAD: West Lake Road

OBSERVED: I ride UTV’s regularly near GA DNR property on West Lake Rd in Twiggs County GA.

Early evening on September 22, 2023 my wife and I rode to the makeshift boat ramp area along the Ocmulgee River. Best guess approximately 4 miles from the nearest paved road. We parked the utv and walked around near the bank like we normally do. I thought I stepped in feces based on the unbelievably bad smell that came suddenly out of nowhere. Imagine a trash truck rolling around in dog doo. I checked my shoes, the tires on my utv and even asked my wife to rinse her shoes off in the water so none of “whatever that was” made it in to my utv. She and I both went to the water edge to rinse our shoes.

Turning back to return to the utv from the river edge she and I both saw a stone fly from the woods 45 yards in front of us over our heads and land in the water behind us. We turned and looked at each other and before either of us could speak another rock flew over us in to the river behind us. Neither of us saw what threw the stones or heard anything unusual.

That ended our evening ride and we got out of there as quickly as possible. Bigfoot is not something regularly discussed in my home. It was far from my first thought during and immediately following the incident.

On the way home my wife Googled “smell bad throws rocks” or something like that and had a “holy cow!” Moment when the search results came back as Bigfoot.

When we got home I tried to throw a similar sized rock (7 inches in diameter) as a comparison. I was able to get it across a 2 lane road at about 6’ at the height of its arc. I am 6’ tall 200 lb lineman who climbs telephone poles daily so I’m at least moderately healthy and at least average strength for a 40 yo male.

Who or whatever threw these stones was considerably stronger than I am and could throw the stones around 25 feet high and for 45 yards. Three + times further and much higher than I could. I’d like to think this could have been a hilarious game warden or practical joker but the isolation of the area combined with the fact that there were no other vehicles or ATV’s within sight or earshot makes it unlikely. It would take several days to reach this area on foot without motorized vehicles.

ALSO NOTICED: See description

OTHER WITNESSES: 2, see above.

OTHER STORIES: Never

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Pre dusk

ENVIRONMENT: Cypress swamp, river access point and circular clearing surrounded by woods.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

I spoke with both witnesses. They are both credible and well known in their community. The wife is a real estate agent. Her name appears on many for-sale signs in a particular suburb of Macon. The husband is a manager at a local Internet-related company. These are the reasons why they don't want their distinctive surname publicized along with this noteworthy report.

Neither of them had much knowledge on the bigfoot mystery. They don't watch TV shows on the topic, and the were not following sighting reports beforehand. They were only prompted to report the incident almost a year later after hearing about the recent daylight sighting west of Fort Valley.

They drove to this riverbank location on their UTV buggy. They arrived around dusk. The sun was at least behind the trees, and may have been just below the horizon when they reached the river on this difficult road.

The road looks like an easy jaunt from the aerial view, but the last half mile is red clay soil and very soft when wet. Due to frequent flooding in this river basin, the last half mile or so is often under water. The witness is not kidding when he says you need something more than a regular SUV to get there. You need a vehicle built for driving on submerged muddy roads.

Consequently, not many people visit this crude muddy boat launch spot.

I confirmed with both the husband and the wife that their backs were to the river when the rocks were thrown. They caught only a peripheral glimpse of the first big rock (cantaloupe sized) that was thrown in a high arc above them, but they definitely both saw the second one, another cantaloupe size rock. They saw flying through the air before it hit the water. The loud splashes were definitely not beaver tail slaps (which sound like big rocks splashing into water).

Standing at the river edge, the tree line of the woods was roughly 40 feet in front of them. The closest point that the thrower could have been to the tree line from inside the woods, while still being out of their view, would be roughly 20 feet from the tree line. The rocks landed roughly 20 feet out into the water from the bank. Thus, these cantaloupe size rocks were thrown roughly 80 feet (20+40+20=80). No human can hurl a rock that size for that distance.

A "dusk protest" is the informal name for this type of situation. Sometimes it happens to hikers who have not exited a trail before sundown. Other times it happens to fisherman who arrive at a remote fishing spot around sundown.

Sometimes it involves thrown rocks. Other times it involves tree snapping, branch snapping, tree shaking, loud knocking, etc. The "protester" is never seen. The witnesses usually do not understand what is happening, but they always leave the area. The humans always get the message that they need to leave.

This has probably been happening to humans on occasion for many thousands of years. We know it happens, and in different parts of the county, but we don't know why. The best guess relates to deer. Deer often start moving around around sundown. In this case the witnesses may have been at a spot where deer routinely come to the river to drink at dusk, or deer may cross the river there routinely at dusk. Bigfoots eat deer (among other things). They have a relationship with deer that is almost like that of a shepherd with his sheep. They protect their flock even though they will sometimes eat from their flock, like a shepherd will do.

The importance of this report is not just that it's another case of "dusk protest". It is also important because the location. This same behavior may occur again at this same location under the right circumstances. Ten people showing up with cameras around sundown ... is not the right circumstances. Whereas, two people in one mud buggy at dusk seems to be the right circumstances. In other instances the observers were never more than two people.

This boat launch location on the Ocmulgee River is 10 miles southeast of Robins Air Force Base. I am hoping the mechanics at this Air Force Base who have subscribed to the BFRO's Facebook group (wherein we posted noticed of new reports added to the database) can follow up on this report with their own vehicle and some attached GoPro cameras and audio recorders. The human visitors should not be holding cameras, or holding anything in their hands that could be perceived as a weapon.

There are two types of animals that can throw big rocks a long distance. One is human, the other is bigfoots. In a place like the one mentioned in this report, it is not difficult to ascertain whether you are the only humans around for miles. These people were the only humans there. Between the big alligators and frequent flooding, there would be no humans living along this river.

It could only have been a bigfoot that threw those big rocks.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net