YEAR: 2002

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: end of the month

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Josephine County

LOCATION DETAILS: About 3-5 miles north of Cave Junction on Hwy 199.

NEAREST TOWN: Cave Junction

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 199

OBSERVED: A friend and I were driving from Vancouver, WA, to Eureka, CA, at about 11.45 pm late in July of 2002. We were lucky enough that the road opened on the same day we planned to travel as it had been closed much of the week before because of the sour biscuit fire. Anyway, we were both alert as we were excited about seeing the effects of the fire and indeed some of it was still burning in isolated pockets all around the road. There was very little traffic that night. I was suprized at first by seeing movement on the left side of the road. My first reaction was hitchhiker? then a millisecond later my brain said "bear?!.. standing...upright? then another fraction of a second and the creature was in the road in the open right in full view of my high beams. At that time I jokingly said "There he goes right there" as I told my friend earlier that bigfoot was supposedly seen in this area before. About the same time my mind was coming to the realization that it was not a bear because it was walking on two feet and my friend started to make this "hooo hooo!" kind of sound and pulled his legs up to his chest fetal style. Now I must interject at this point that my friend and I are not easily frightened and also that he is 6'4" and to pull his legs up to his chest in a Toyota 4Runner is not the easiest of movements. Thats when I was gripped in a fear that I have never known not even when the Cali police have pulled their weapons on me, not when I was surrounded by Yurok indians drunk and pissed off at me and my entire race. But at that moment I was stricken with a fear that I can only say was instinctual as I was not terrified but something deep inside me said" Get the f... away from here now!" Please excuse my language but that is as close as I can descibe my feelings at the time. When the fear hit, me my right foot immediately floored the accellerator, not in an attempt to hit the creature but in an attempt to get away from it. That last little bit of info bothers me to say openly as I have always been interested in things that are supposedly mysterious and I am not someone who would ever be called weak-willed. I wish in hind sight that I would have slowed down or even stopped but my instincts took over and all thoughts of interest in the creature were not even in my mind at the time. The creature was at least seven feet tall, more like eight feet, as it was a full foot taller than my 4x4. I am in construction by trade and I am fairly adept at estimating sizes as I have to do it all the time. It was covered in fur/hair medium to dark brown. Long arms and legs, with each appendage not having any parts out of proportion with the other parts of the same appendage. Which I mean to say is that the calves were not overly long in comparison to the thighs and so forth. The only time I saw the arm go down it went past its knee and the individual fingers flexed, although I will admit to not getting many details. [My eyes] did get drawn to the shoulder area which was very wide and that's when I noticed something that makes me think it was not a trick or hoax. The muscles in the shoulder areas and between them bulged independently. I could see little muscles under the fur ripple in various ways when it moved like an animal, not at all like a bulky costume or a hide worn by a person that would move in a more uniform and less isolated way. The head was somewhat conial and sat upon a thick short neck. I unfortunately didn't see the face up close so I can supply no clear details. I did get a glimpse of the face when it first hit the road and heard us coming, though. It was too far to detail anything accurate but it was wide with very little in the way distinguishable features. When the creature saw us it seemed to pick up speed but never ran or even trotted, just seemed to increase its pace. Now this thing walked directly in front of my truck at very little distance in full view of my high beams. If this was a trick, someone spent a lot of time, money, expertise, and genius to pull it off on a road that was until a few hours before was closed to all traffic. Not impossible but I dont think so. The most unsettling thing for me (besides the abstract fear) was the way the creature moved - something familiar about it. Now I've seen many shows playing what are supposedly films of bigfoot and how it could be faked. But in these reeactments the fakes are easily seen for what they are. Someone in a suit or with fur covering them trying to move like and ape, which usually turns out very mechanical and almost obvious. This creature moved with extreme fluidity and smoothess. All appendages moved at the same time, head turning, legs moving, arms moving, all with the same fluidity. After the creature moved across the road to the trees on the right side, we both looked at each other and said "No way!" with very wide eyes. A few minutes later we came to the first signs of civilization when we passed a Ford Explorer on the side of the road with three firefighters in it. The driver's side doors were both open and I saw the faces of two of them and they looked amazed or shocked. I think they were just a few minutes ahead of us and they may have seen something too or they were the culprits of an very elaborate and expert hoax. If there were any other reports in the area or if it is possible to talk to some of the firefighters fighting the fire in the region I would like to speak to them. Please any info you might have would help.

ALSO NOTICED: The only unusual thing that I noticed (beside the actual creature) was the way it walked. Later after the incident, I remembered why I felt it familiar to me. It moved like a sloth, very puposefully and fluidly. Is it possible that "bigfoot" is the natural evolution of the great american sloth that is supossed to be extinct? just a theory of mine.

OTHER WITNESSES: I was driving with a friend who doesn't want to be named.

OTHER STORIES: Just on shows like "In Search Of" or other media stories of the same genre.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Almost midnight on Highway 199, no lights, but high beams and a little glow from forest fire.

ENVIRONMENT: Typical southern Oregon forest (small trees, medium heavy brush) except that there was a forest fire that was ongoing, leaving scorched open areas and some small unattended fires that were not far from the road. The road was opened only intermittently and we drove in between closures.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dr. Wolf H. Fahrenbach:

The witness states that the moment the creature was recognized by him as not man or bear, an immediate fear reaction set in to something that did not fit. He emphasized its extreme fluidity in the way it walked, apparently almost gliding across the road despite its accelerated pace that never changed into running. The location is near the foot of Eight Dollar Mountain, a 2,400' butte.