YEAR: 1988-2003

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 05/10/1988

STATE: West Virginia

COUNTY: Monongalia County

LOCATION DETAILS: Northeast of Morgantown, WV

NEAREST TOWN: Morgantown

NEAREST ROAD: US Highway 119

OBSERVED: There are three encounters that I have had not in the physical or in another words I did not have a visual sighting but had heard weird behavior in the woods.

To begin with I am a 40 year responsible adult male and I have not told anyone about these encounters or experiences that I have had for fear of being ridiculed and/or being labeled as loony by my friends, family and the community. I found this website many years ago on my own by accident and was surprised to read about others who had the same experiences as I had. I finally found the courage to tell you what had happened to me.

I have been in and lived near the woods all my life. In my family hunting is a tradition. All the animal noises and natural sounds of the woods I know and am familiar with and have honed over time a very acute sense and perception that most hunters have or any outdoors man would have honed.

I would go sqirrel hunting often after work along some railroad tracks that ran just a quarter of a mile from my home at the time. One late fall afternoon I was just walking with my .22 mag rifle at the ready quietly along the tracks when I heard a noise or a rustling of leaves in the woods when I suddenly stop and stood motionless while I scanned the woods with my eyes looking for the source of the noise thinking it my be a large gray or fox squirrel. After awhile I did not hear nothing more so I moved on.

Now I have hunted alone many times and had never been afraid of anything but just after I had moved on I began to hear what sounded like foot steps in the woods just behind me and parelling me 50 to 75 ft. away. At first I thought of deer or a dog or a person walking up in the woods and after a few minutes I decided to call out to who ever may be there and let them know that I was where I was there for safety precautions. Well there was no reply and I called out a couple more times just to be sure. No reply. So as it was about 1/2 hour before sunset I was compelled to call it quits for that day and head back to my truck which was parked about a mile back near the RR.

Whatever it was proceeded to follow me keeping pace with me at a parallel distance of 50 ft. It became more and more clear that what ever it was was heavy and big for several times along the way back I heard loud heavy branches breaking and heavy footfalls that I know could not have been a deer or bear (there has not been a bear seen in the area that I was hunting for as long as I can remember nor have I had ever found any sign of one in that area.). Every time I would stop it would stop and when I moved it moved this when on until I came to the area near where my truck was parked and was an opened field. Whatever it was followed me right up to where the wood line was about to end and the field begin.

The other encounter happened in the same area only a year or two later and this time the unknown animal was shadowing me on the other side of the tracks between the tracks I was on and the river. There was a heavy growth of rhododendron bushes that ran the entire length of the shelf of land that was about 50 yards wide from the river to the tracks.

There is an embankment that is an accent of 75 ft. from the rhododendron bushes to the tracks above where I was at. I could see the wake that this thing was making from time to time through the rhododendron bushes for it was right in the middle of them as it was keeping up with me, which was remarkable to me how it did that without exposing itself in some manner, but again I thought through all the possibilities of what it could be for there are few animals that would follow you for a mile stopping and starting in sync with your every step.

I never saw any part of it as it moved through the brush and even though I could see a wake made by the branches as it moved through the thick brush it was only here and there, mostly it was if a large contortionist where moving through the heavy with the brush with the utmost of ease.

The third time was near spruce knob in Pocahontas County, WV while on a field trip for a summer class I was taking in the spring of 2003 some of my fellow classmates and I were outside one night trying to call in Bard Owls. After some minutes later we heard a few in the pine trees near our camp returning our calls.

We were having fun with our success with calling them in and after 30 minutes we had called in 4 or 5 more in the pine trees that bordered the road across the road from our camp. Then all of a sudden while in the act of making more calls we heard a huge commotion up on the hill about 75 yards. from us it sounded like a couple of huge guys romping around and making the Bard Owl call, we all stood there trying to make out what it was but could not see anything. Someone shined a flashlight in the direction of the sounds and they ceased immediately.

We did night hear anything more on that hill that night. I do not know for sure what it could have been but would not rule out that it could have been a bigfoot.

ALSO NOTICED: I did not smell any bad or foul smells. Heavy foot falls and large braches breaking.

OTHER WITNESSES: myself on the first two encounters and my fellow classmates the third encounter.

OTHER STORIES: No, not in Mon. County or where I was hunting in the first two encounters.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: The first two encounters where at dusk and the third was late at night around 11pm-12am.

ENVIRONMENT: many hardwoods, confers, low brush, rhoderdendren bushes, etc.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stephen Willis:

I spoke to the witness on October 10, 2006. He talked freely about his incidents over a ten year period. Many of his experiences took place not far from Morgantown, WV -- a large northern town in West Virginia.

He has hunted since the age of 8 and is now 42, and spends a significant amount of time in the woods hunting and scouting for game. He has never told anyone about his unusual incidents.

The place where he squirrel hunted was a location where being followed and feeling uneasy happened nearly every fall. On two separate occasions something large followed him along a railroad grade, one moving through rhododendron bushes with ease. He could see the wake of what was trailing him but without making much noise. The second was from the up hill side of the tracks. There he experienced an intimidation display of limb breaking and sounds of something moving back and forth, seeming to make their presence known.

He believes his residence (a mobile home) has been slapped on several occasions with great force. It has been loud enough to waken him. On one occasion, he was awake between 2 and 3 in the morning during the summer. He observed three silhouettes walk past his window on one occasion. The next morning he walked outside the residence to determine their approximate height. He is 6-1 and his head was below the level of the window. He estimated the height of the three as 8+ feet, 7.5 feet and 6-8.

Once in Upsher County near Buckhannon, he found a pile of dead deer. The animals had been stacked, all having their necks and legs broken. He stated they may have had their backs broken also. He stated the carcases had been opened along the stomach.

About BFRO Investigator Stephen Willis:

Grew up in central West Virginia. Retired from the US Army in 2003. Small manufacturing business owner. Lived for almost 7 years in Germany and 1.5 years in the Mideast.

• Explanation of the report classification system
• Submit a report for the sightings database
• Please send any comments or inquiries to ContactUs@BFRO.net