Geographical Index > Canada > British Columbia > Report # 13371
(Class A)
Submitted by witness on Saturday, December 24, 2005.
Early morning sighting by a trucker on Othello Road
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YEAR: 2005
SEASON: Summer MONTH: June DATE: June 10th PROVINCE: British Columbia COUNTRY: Canada NEAREST TOWN: Hope B.C. NEAREST ROAD: Highway #5 OBSERVED: Friday June 10TH 2005. I had just spent all day loading my tractor trailer unit with bottled water. It was late (about midnight) and I decided to call it a night ther in the parking lot. About 5:00 a.m. I woke up and started to leave. I was traveling east on the Othello road to get on the #5 highway to Kamloops B.C. and I just travelled past the Othello campgrounds when I saw what thought was someone walking down the road facing away from me. A very tall person, I might add. I got about 50-60 yards away from him(it) when it stepped off the road into the ditch.
It stopped 2 steps off the road and then it turned to look at me. It was covered with hair, which looked reddish in my headlights. The face had no hair, but dark skin. What really caught my attention was it's eyes. They were just glaring at me as if I did something to offend it. As I got close to where it was standing, it turned away and almost casually strolled away. It was over 6 feet tall and must have weighed a at least 500 lbs. I did not want to stop and get out of the truck. OTHER WITNESSES: no other witnesses. OTHER STORIES: I have not been told of any other incidents, but that is not saying there hasn't. TIME AND CONDITIONS: Early a.m. sun already up, not a cloud in the sky. ENVIRONMENT: Mountains, rather rugged, river to the south, tall forest to the north.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Blaine McMillan :
I spoke to the witness at length.
Additional pertinent details:
It was early morning and there was no other traffic on the road.
This particular road is narrow, just over 20 feet in width and is bordered by trees and scrub bushes on both sides.
This report underscores the BFRO's conjecture that many of "road crossing" sightings are not cases where the animal happened to be crossing the road at the same moment a vehicle was coming along. Rather, they are cases where the animal was walking down the road in the dark, and did not get off the road before it was illuminated by the vehicle's headlights.
Most often, by the time motorists notice them, they are getting off the road. This creates the impression that the animals were merely crossing the road, rather than walking along it.
In this report the witness observed the animal continuing to walk along the road for a distance before it exited the road.
There are many, many roads and highways in North America that get little or no traffic late at night. Other animals use roads and highways at night when there is no traffic. Unused roads are the fastest, easiest ways for large animals to get from point A to point B. They are the paths of least resistance.
An intelligent animal would find them safe to use, because the engine noise and headlights of approaching vehicles usually provides ample time to exit the road and hide in the shadows.
Electric or hybrid vehicles are nearly silent. As they become more common, and more of those vehicles are outfitted with thermal viewers (which are designed for safe driving in heavy fog, but they also allow drivers to drive at night with the headlights turnedoff), more people will begin driving back roads and remote highways to see how many animals are using those roads at night. This is an inevitable development that may lead to more observations like this one.
About BFRO Investigator Blaine McMillan :
- Retired Canadian Military (Reg Force) Safety Systems / Aviation technician with experience fighters and various SAR platforms. Author of Wood Knocks and Tossed Rocks:Searching for Sasquatch with the BFRO
- Married with two young sons. An avid camper, hunter and fisherman.
- Holds a BA in Criminology from the University of Manitoba, courses in Alternate Dispute Resolution, Anthropology and Political Science
- Attended the BFRO BC Expeditions in August of 2005, 2006, 2012 as well as Vancouver Island 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
- Organized the 2007, 2008 Vancouver Island as well as 2009 North Vancouver Island Expeditions.
- Author of "Woodknocks and Tossed Rocks: Searching for Sasquatch with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.
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