YEAR: 1981

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 4/28/2008

STATE: Wisconsin

COUNTY: Sawyer County

LOCATION DETAILS: BEING YEARS PAST, I AM UNSURE OF THE AREA CHANGES. THE PROPERTY WAS ON THE LAKE. IT WAS ON FARBER DR/RD. I BELIEVE FARBER MIGHT BE SPELLED DIFFERENTLY

NEAREST TOWN: HAYWARD WI

NEAREST ROAD: FARBER ROAD

OBSERVED: This incident happened when I was 13 years old and still I remember the event and the feeling of awe mixed with fear and disbelief I had that night. Today I am 41 and my work involves public safety. I spent 21 years in the armed forces Army and Navy, a veteran of two wars and been around the world 4 times. I still have not encountered anything like that summer night in Hayward Wisconsin. I was staying with my friend Joe and his dad at their home on Nelson Lake outside Hayward WI. It was approx. 0100, July, 1981, Joe and I were in our room reading and I went to use the rest room. A short time went by when I heard Joe say “Hey Greg quit messing around out side”, I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. I returned to the room and asked him what he meant. He said he saw a shadow of me cast by the yard light from out back as I walked by the bed room window. He again asked what I was doing out back. I need to take a moment and explain two details: First, back then at 13 I had the 1980s hair band style hair going on (I had big hair), Sec we didn’t stop to think about the window being seven foot off the ground at that moment. After arguing a bit we agreed that it must be someone trying to steal tools or material from out back. We both gabbed our 22 cal rifles and flashlights and headed out the side door. Joe’s dad was asleep in his bedroom in the front and our room was in the back. As we stood on the deck and shined our flashlights around the property we heard a loud snap. The sound came from a log trail that ran from our fire wood area out into the woods. We shined our lights in that direction and we could see a huge black haired creature approx. 8’ or 9’ tall and very brawd, running upright up the path toward the woods. A moment later it was gone. I remembered being stunned and the two of us stood frozen in place for awhile. After we came in we were at a loss for words, but we were definitely scared. The following day a family friend named Randy stopped over and we looked around the back yard and the trail for tracks. It rained the night before and everything was pretty awash, but there was a limb down across the path that had a vague depression where it was broke as if what ever stepped on it snapped it in half. Randy weighed about 240 lbs and try breaking a similar piece by jumping on it with his weight, but was unsuccessful. Later that day we drove around the lake to pick up a pizza at one of the resorts. While waiting for our order I over heard some locals talking about strange sound, foot prints and broken fencing around their properties occurring the night before. I will always remember that summer.

ALSO NOTICED: A couple of days earlier, I followed my buddy Joe out into the back woods while he was looking for night crawlers. It was around 11 pm and I spent some time sneaking up on him to play a practical joke. It was a bit deep in the woods and I was following him by his flashlight. As I worked my way through some pines I smelt the same odor in the woods as I did the night we had the sighting.

OTHER WITNESSES: MYSELF, MY FRIEND JOE H, HIS DAD WAS ASLEEP AT THE TIME AND HAS SINCE PASSED AWAY, FAMILY FRIEND RANDY C. AND SEVERAL LOCALS SPOKE OF THE TYPE THE FOLLOWING DAY.

OTHER STORIES: ONLY THE DAY AFTER. FROM SOME LOCALS WHO LIVED AROUND THE LAKE.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 1 AM, DARK AND RAINY NIGHT. LIGHTING WAS BY CITY TYPE YARD LIGHT ON A POLE.

ENVIRONMENT: LAKE FRONT PROPERTY, BACK LOT ENDED AT A LARGE FOREST. 1/4 AROUND FROM NELSON LAKE RESORTS.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Paul Schnabel:

The witness, who seemed sincere and credible, recalled an encounter he and his friend had back in the summer of 1981. Although the encounter only lasted a few seconds the size of the animal he saw left a lasting impression. He estimated the height to be between 8 to 9 feet tall with a shoulder width of 4 feet. An interesting detail that he added during the interview was that he remembered how muscular the creature's back was as it fled down the trail. The area north of the sighting is a vast unpopulated region that encompasses the Totagatic Lake Wildlife Refuge.

About BFRO Investigator Paul Schnabel:

Paul Schnabel is a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service and an EMT for the area search and rescue.

Paul attended the BFRO's 2006 Wisconsin, 2007 and 2008 Michigan U.P. expeditions and the 2008 Minnesota private expedition

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