YEAR: 1978

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

DATE: 18

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Lane County

LOCATION DETAILS: At the edge of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, close to Cleawox Lake just west of Highway 101, across from the Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park.

NEAREST TOWN: Florence

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 101

OBSERVED: I just wrote a long report then lost it by clicking on the "why we need location" line and could not get back to my report to submit it.

The report was recounted in detail to W.H.F. and his written report edited and amended by the witness.
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This sequence of events occurred in December 1978, a few days before Christmas. The location was at the edge of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area near Cleawox Lake, about half a mile west of the Coast Highway 101 across from the Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park. The air was slightly hazy but brightly illuminated by a waning moon between full and third quarter.

The observer with her German Shepherd dog had been walking in the beautiful night, very warmly dressed, as was her habit. She had been standing quietly on a high spot with trees in the ridged terrain covered with beach grass and intermittent impenetrable thickets, at about 1 AM, when she observed the silhouette of what she thought was a man approaching in her direction from the north about 400 yards away. This person was walking on an elevated ridge that projected him against the skyline, the north-south ridge oriented running past her to the west. Throughout the entire pacing sequence she could see light through the legs. Not wanting to have an encounter at that hour with anybody, she retreated below the ridgeline and sat down in a concealed and dark hollow with her dog. As the “person” got closer at a brisk pace, the dog bolted towards it, barking and with its running start ran to the top of the ridge about 500’ ahead of the figure. There the dog immediately made several “yaiyeeee - yaiyeee” distress calls and ran back to the observer, huddling close to her and shivering. It should be mentioned here, that the dog had lived in Alaska and had had encounters with moose, bear and other mammals and had never reacted in this manner.

The approaching individual seemingly took no notice of the dog, did not break stride or slow down but kept getting closer with its steady stride. At this stage, it made a left turn and walked directly toward the observer, she observed that the head and shoulders traveled without vertical motion, as if the individual were traveling on cross-country skis. She also observed a distinct “sliding” motion of the feet, which she believes was caused by a peculiar sideways swing of the foot and leg. It came to a stop about 150’ from the observer. It should be added at this juncture that during the entire approach, the creature walked on the anterior half of the foot with a 5’ pace, as ascertained by inspection on the next day.

It stopped in the exact place where the dog had turned around and faced in the direction the dog had run. The hooded observer shielded her face with her gloved hands and hood to be less visible. After several minutes with no motion on either side, the “person” got progressively smaller until only a lump remained visible. The observer contemplated whether the “person” was receding but decided that it was simply hunkering down and watching. After a while, in fact, the figure stood back up and seemed to hold both of its hands beside its head, perhaps cupping its ears to hear better in the prevailing brisk wind from its rear (from the west). It then started walking more slowly toward the observer, taking 3’ steps (as verified later). During this approach it swayed dramatically from side to side. The observer now also noticed that the creature was evidently naked by its silhouetted legs clearly outlined up to its crotch. Its legs turned out in a peculiar manner during each step but each footfall was set exactly in line with the preceding foot, a detail verified later in daylight. At this juncture, she came to the inevitable conclusion that she was observing a non-human individual (Only to be positively confirmed when it subsequently ran). Intermittently, she noticed that the hair on the head and shoulders “bristled” and flared out. She could now estimate that its height was between 8’ and 9’.

During the walking and standing phase, light was always visible between its long legs which were rather slender in front view, but thicker when seen from the side. Upper and lower legs seemed of normal relative proportions, but longer than human proportions in reference to the upper body. In face-on view, the individual had a huge head and masssive shoulders, no visible neck, with a peak to the head and backpack-like hump on the shoulders, long arms with hands hanging clear of the torso to either side almost to the knees and a narrow waist. The hair on the peak of its head occasionally flared up and was additionally ruffled by the wind.

After some time, after the creature had held its hands again to its head (ears), it suddenly dropped low down and then launched itself with a powerful push-off off the side of the ridge, about 10' high, into an instant high-speed run, in which it covered 95’ to concealment in three 30’ steps, with the legs straight out in front and back, giving the impression of a different hip articulation than that of man. [The human record for the corresponding effort, the triple jump, is just over 60’] To this point about 30 minutes had elapsed.

The creature appeared to run at an angle toward the observer rather than away, perhaps to circle to the downwind side. The dog was shivering violently at this time, when the observer decided to show herself on top of the ridge behind her, where she stood for a moment waving her walking stick demonstratively in the air, while the dog pressed against her legs. Then she forced herself to walk, fighting the inclination to run, the half mile or so back to the parking lot and her car, where she and her dog sat with open windows. The dog would intermittently look in one direction or the other and woof slightly. At this point the hidden creature let out two intense, loud and powerful screams, a sound “paralyzing” in its intensity and beyond comparison to anything else. Thereafter, it appeared to be gone and the dog fell asleep.

The next morning the observer surveyed the scene of the previous night and made additional observations. The approach of the creature along the ridge top was shown by half footprints, 8-9” wide, with a step length of about 5’4”, in a straight line without stradle. The width of the foot would indicate a foot length of between 18” and 20”, in turn commensurate with a height above 8’, in congruence with the observer’s estimate. The uniform walking on the front part of the foot suggests that the animal was using a “stealth” walking, undoubtedly having detected the observer early on as she had seen its approach. The footprints were not particularly deeply imprinted, in keeping with the rather slender-waisted and thin-legged appearance observed during the night.

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

About BFRO Investigator Dr. Wolf H. Fahrenbach:

Hair analysis since 1965. Field work since 1989. Sasquatch courses given in Oregon and Arizona (3-10 weeks duration); Published in Cryptozoology.

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