YEAR: 1978

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

STATE: Iowa

COUNTY: Dallas County

NEAREST TOWN: Adel/West Des Moines Iowa

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 169/University Avenue (rural West Des Moines)

OBSERVED: Here is my written account of the four Bigfoot sightings I told you about on the phone. I will start by giving you a little background as to the year, area and season. The year is about 1978 give or take a year or so. The area is between Adel and West Des Moines Iowa, roughly following the Raccoon River. It is late fall, in November.

The story starts when a girlfriend of mine told me about a neighbor of hers, a farmer, who said that early one morning about 4 am as he was making coffee he noticed a big creature standing beneath his yard light. He described it as standing about 7 feet tall and covered with black hair. He watched it for awhile until it walked away.

I didn't think much about it until a few days later when I heard on the news that a truck driver on the I-80 in the vicinity of the Raccoon River saw apparently the same creature in his headlights. I was surprised when I heard this given the story from my girlfriend just a few days before.

As it happened, a few days after that I was talking to a friend of mine from high school about the sightings. He began telling me that he too had seen the creature although he did not report it. He said that one evening during the same time period and in the same area he went to a small cabin he'd built in the woods near the river. As he approached the structure a tall creature with black hair jumped up and ran out the door. He assumed it had been sleeping on the floor in a pile of leaves. This building was not completed and there was no roof. It was just turning dark so he didn't get a good look at it, but because he was so close there was no mistaking it's size. He described it as about 7 feet tall and covered with black hair. It scared him so much that he ran in the opposite direction.

What happened next was truly amazing to me. A few days later my brother who farms with me was driving a tractor home from the fields very late at night. It was 11:30 PM with a full moon and just a dusting of snow on the ground. He stopped in a rural portion of West Des Moines and watched as two Bigfoot creatures walked calmly by the side of the road. They were about 100 yards away and walked parallel to the road beside a fence in an open area, that has no trees. One of the creatures was taller at about 7 feet and the second was about a foot shorter. He said they had long swinging arms, a short neck, black hair from head to toe and they were not afraid of his presence, although he was some distance away. He reported to me that the next day he went back for another look and to his surprise discovered that the area where these creatures had been was covered with dense short prickly underbrush. There is no way a human could walk so freely in that area. It is just not possible.

But there is more. The next night or so, as I was working in our farm shop late into the evening I heard a sound that I'll never forget. I can best describe it as a long, loud, mournful cry/wail. I suppose it lasted five to ten seconds and I heard it twice. It was NOT a dog, coyote, fox or owl. I know the sounds of these animals. I've never heard a large cat wail before, but it was a bit like that I suppose. When I first heard it I immediately noticed that our two dogs took off running for the barn. THAT I'd never seen before. Usually animal sounds are returned with loud barking. We live about three miles North of where my brother saw the two creatures. My Mother heard it too.

I still find the series of events that fall to be intriguing to say the least. When I discovered the BFRO web page I just had to write a report.

ALSO NOTICED: I find it interesting that all four of the witnesses did not know each other before I gathered their stories.

OTHER WITNESSES: As stated above.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: I'm not totally sure of the year but I know it was November.

ENVIRONMENT: Three of the four sightings were along the Raccoon river. One was about three miles North of the river in an open area along a farm fence.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dawn Harrack:

* I spoke with Larry W. who saw the creature standing under his security yard light.

Larry described the scenery as being timber area with a group of evergreens in his yard around his yard light. He stated, he had heard screams and noises coming from his Alfalfa field and the coons dogs were barking and crying. He opened the patio door to tell the dogs to be quiet. He stated, it was 30 degrees outside and when he opened the patio door he heard a wisp, woof, woof sound that scared him and he went in search of his rifle slugs for protection. Larry stated, he was up 15 to 16 feet above ground, inside his home, when he looked towards his security yard light and saw a creature walk in front of the light. He estimated the distance from the creature to his window to be approximately 150 feet. The creature was heavy, with a fluid grace, with arms swinging, hands went head high as it proceeded down his driveway. Larry noticed the dogs went quiet when the creature was in his yard. He couldn't tell what colour it was, but believes it was dark and had a slight hump on it's back.

Larry called the sheriff and both of them went to look for it. They found tracks in the frost that measured 48" apart. The clothes line poles were 6'3" to 6"5". Larry estimates the creature was taller then the poles. He stated, in this area their are gopher mounds that have tunnels underground and near one gopher hole was the front part of a big human foot.

* I spoke with the person who had told a friend he had seen the same creature sleeping on the floor of a cabin that had no roof.

The witness stated, that after so long a time he could not remember exactly what he had seen and therefore he did not want to relate his story. He said it was really dark that night and it is hard to remember what he saw.

* I spoke with Dale D. about his sighting of two creatures he saw walking along a fence.

Dale stated, he had been out working late in the evening trying to get his farming done before freezing. He was driving his tractor home, it was 11:30 p.m. and it was snowing lightly. Dale stated, he saw something moving but never thought to stop his tractor. He saw two "beings" walking down the property line, in a clear part of a timber area. They were walking "side by side". One of them was described as being bulky and so... big. The other one was smaller, slightly hunched over. Dale's thoughts at the time were, "what are people doing out at this time of night". Then he noticed they appeared to be furry and walked with a long gait, swinging their arms. They walked along the fence line up and along the timber and disappeared into the timber. Dale estimated the two of them were 100 feet from the road and all he could see were their silhouettes. Dale stated, the fence posts were four feet high and estimated the tallest creature as being seven to eight feet tall. Still to this day, Dale is amazed at what he saw and counts himself as very fortunate to have seen them.

* I spoke with Russ D. about the vocalization sounds that he and his mother heard while he was working away in his farm shop.

Russ stated, he was really surprised by his dogs running away, as they had never done that before. He also stated, he can still remember the vocalization sounds he and his mother heard and will never forget them. Russ and his brother Dale are really excited and amazed by the sighting reports in their area, especially these sighting reports as they all happened within days of each other and they were themselves a part of.

Russ contacted me after he read one of the BFRO's sighting reports on our website and he felt it was time he reported them to someone who would believe in him. He also wanted to know if anyone else had encountered anything unusual in this same time frame?

I would like to extend my special thanks to Russ D., as he was the one that helped me to contact witnesses and connect the sighting reports together.

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