YEAR: 1995

SEASON: Fall

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Erath County

LOCATION DETAILS: Leon River basin.

NEAREST TOWN: 20 miles south of Stephenville

NEAREST ROAD: US 281

OBSERVED: I was on my way to Gatesville traveling south on US281 south of Stephenville when I topped a hill and noticed something at the edge of my high beams crossing the road. It appeared to be a large man possibly a hitch hiker but as I got closer it turned towards the truck continuing to walk in the bar ditch. This thing was approximately 8' tall and covered in long hair. It appeared to have long hippie like hair and somewhat of a beard. From what I could see this thing was very big as all I could see was from the thigh up and it still towered over the top of my truck. As I got closer the one thing that really got my attention was the eyes. They appeared a yellowish green and only slightly shined. The nose wasn't like a pig’s nose but more human with flaired nostrals and the face seemed very humanlike in its expression. It had a very large upper body and chest. It appeared to have no neck as the deltoid muscles kinda flowed into the head. As I passed I checked my rearview and could see it turn into the brush. I checked my brakes and started to turn around but then thought what am I doing, thinking my eyes and the early hour of the morning were playing tricks on me and continued on to Gatesville. The rest of the way to Gatesville I kept trying to figure out what I had seen. Was it a man, hitch hiker, transient, or animal. I tryed to put it out of my mind but could quite not let it go. I told my wife only after 3 or 4 years had passed and I got that look so I never told anyone else until I found this website and found how many other people have had similar experiences.

OTHER WITNESSES: Driving listening to the radio. There were no other witnesses.

OTHER STORIES: No.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 5:30 am, clear and mild.

ENVIRONMENT: Hilly with sage, mesquite brush and scrub oak.

Follow-up investigation report:

On the evening of Monday April 4, 2005, I conducted an interview with the witness.

At first, the witness was somewhat reluctant to discuss his sighting, but I was able to "prod" him along and get to the report. He also stated that at first he did not want to report his sighting, but later he discovered both the TBRC and BFRO websites. With reluctance, he decided to report his encounter to the TBRC. His reticence was understandable and not atypical; I do not feel that it detracted from his report.

The witness added to his report that the animal's hair color was "sort of a mottled grey-brown color, and that it was considerably taller" than his truck (a 1991 Ford Ranger pickup). At the time of his sighting, the witness was heading south on US 281, just north of the junction with State Hwy 6 and north of Hico, TX.

It was approximately 5:30 AM when he spotted the creature in his far distant headlights, moving from off the highway on his left (east) to his right, with a rapid stride, while walking across US 281. The witness said it crossed the road with about three strides and was standing in a ditch to the west side of the highway. Arms were down to just above the knees and the creature watched him as he passed.

He commented that he traveled about a quarter of a mile down the highway trying to decide whether to turn around and go back to see if he could view the creature more clearly. However, after giving it some thought, he voted in favor of continuing on to Hico, and perhaps a hot cup of coffee to clear his mind and to ponder what he had just seen!

The creature was not carrying anything in its hands or arms. The face was "human-like in its shape with its hair a salt and pepper effect but brownish in color." He described the eyes as a yellowish green with a slight glowing effect. As he approached the creature, it remained standing in a ditch along the road. The witness estimated the ditch to be three to four feet in depth and the creature was standing just about mid-thigh level in the ditch. The witness also noticed that the hands were human-like in appearance, but covered with hair.

The witness stated that he traveled this highway for several months prior to the sighting since he was working in Gatesville, Texas at that time. He has had no other subsequent sightings. He also stated that he is not a "regular hunter" although he fishes a lot.

NOTES: This area of the sighting is between the North Fork of the Bosque River and the northern part of the Leon River watershed. The area is predominantly dairy farms and ranches, is hilly with thick cedar and thick hardwood groves of mostly oak. It also has a high density of feral hogs and other wildlife such as deer and turkey. This area is prone to flooding with high rainfall amounts. In spring 2004, the heavy rains flooded a large portion of this area with both US 281 and Hwy 6 being submerged. These two rivers are approximately 35 miles apart.

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