YEAR: 2004

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 5/31/04

STATE: New York

COUNTY: Otsego County

LOCATION DETAILS: The witness does not want the specific location published. It is near the town of Sidney, NY.

NEAREST TOWN: Township of Unadilla, close to the Village of Sidney, NY

NEAREST ROAD: Approximately 200 yards from State Route 7

OBSERVED: I was getting ready for work one morning in the late spring of 2004. I walked out of my bathroom and there is a window in my bedroom, directly outside of my bathroom door. I thought I saw something peripherally and turned to look and see what wildlife might be outside my home this day (my backyard is completely wooded). I gasped and RAN back into the bathroom.

What I saw when I looked out the window was no further than four feet from the back of my house and striding by the window when I looked. Whatever it was stood about 7 feet tall and was covered in brown hair. It was moving very quickly and was walking on two "feet". I don't know if it saw me, but I saw it.

I stood in my bathroom for about a minute trying to gather my thoughts and I peeked out. At this point, I saw nothing. I'll be honest, for the past year I've tried convincing myself that there was a bear outside and that I couldn't possibly have seen what I did see. I do remember specifically saying for the next two weeks (around the house to my significant other and my daughter only) that [a] bigfoot lived in our backyard.

ALSO NOTICED: Approximately two months ago, we were having a small fire outside when my significant other, my friend and I were sitting there laughing and talking when there was a noise that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I looked at them and said "what the hell was that?" None of us felt comfortable and we moved inside. It was a noise that sounded almost growlish with a strange hiss in it.

OTHER WITNESSES: I was the only person there.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 08:00 was when I saw this. It was sunny and beautiful out.

ENVIRONMENT: Mostly wooded area with small developments of housing. These are ridges and hills that deer live in and others say they have seen a bear locally.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Paul J. Mateja:

I spoke with the witness on 8/24/2005:

The witness observed the animal for 5 – 10 seconds before running back into the bathroom. She stayed in the bathroom for about 10 minutes before peeking out to see if it was still there.

She described it as being close to 7 feet tall. The top of the animal’s head came almost to the top of the window which she judged to be 7 feet tall from the ground.

The animal had a long torso, wide shoulders. There was little or no neck observed; the head seemed to sit on its shoulders.

It was entirely covered with medium-brown colored hair. The hair appeared to be six to seven inches long and gave the impression of being dusty. Sunlight reflecting off parts of it gave it an almost whitish appearance.

Note: bears have been sighted in the area. However, the witness is certain what she had seen was not a bear because it was walking on two legs.

The noise heard a couple of months ago (June, 2004) was a grunt-like growl that had elements of hissing to it. It sounded as if it was only 30 feet away and was loud enough to be heard over the conversation.

Below are other odd incidents that have occurred. I am not suggesting at this point that these incidents are Bigfoot/Sasquatch related. Nonetheless, I have included them as part of a comprehensiveness investigation and consideration by the reader and other researchers:

1. The witness is missing a cat and another cat was recently killed - its hind-quarter was ripped open.

2. The witness says her dog has been exhibiting unusual behavior.
The dog will stand at the window with its nose pressed up against the glass as if intently looking for or at something.

3. A relative and her two year old daughter stayed with the witness this past summer. The girl awoke one morning and said to her mother, “mommy make the man in the window go away.”

4. A tiki torch was pulled out of the ground and moved approximately 10 feet. Laying next to the torch was an 18 inch shed snake skin.

About BFRO Investigator Paul J. Mateja:

Paul is a network administrator and systems analyst/programmer for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, NY. In addition, Paul and his wife Teresa own and operate a small organic farm in western New York State. He has attended and organized expeditions including New Mexico (Jicarilla), New York (Adirondacks), Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

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