YEAR: 1975-76

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

STATE: California

COUNTY: Inyo County

LOCATION DETAILS: We were on a two-lane road, slightly elevated highway, with the equivalent of a dirt emergency lane located on the opposite side of the road. This is where the biped 'creature' was running in the same direction as we were driving, but on the other side of the road. From the time 'it' came into our completely unobstructed view, to the time we came eye-to-eye (perhaps ten feet away) was perhaps 40-60 seconds. Look at your watch, count the seconds, because the viewing seemed an eternity.

The level valley (which the highway was constructed upon) had some knee high shrub for perhaps half a mile on each side of highway then the sharp incline of mountainside with pine trees above.

NEAREST TOWN: Between Mammoth Lakes & Bishop California. Per the passenger, he estimated the sighting location was between 2 to 21/2 hours, driving time south of Mammoth Lakes.

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 395

OBSERVED: NOTE: Please see the following included sections for elaboration of details. Two of us were driving home from a day of skiing at Mammoth Mountain California. The road was a two lane highway (opposite directions) with a soft dirt shoulder. We were in an open convertible (because the skis did not fit otherwise).

The moon was full and the lighting was un-obscured and visibility was (near daylight) excellent. In the distance (well beyond the reach of the High beamed head lights) two of us could see a very large and (completely out of place) thing running ahead of our approaching car. It was on the other side of the road. We slowed, 50, 40,30mph... now in our headlights. Running on the dirt shoulder, obviously unaware of our approaching auto... There it was "Bigfoot"! At its closest point we were 10 UNOBSTRUCTED FEET FROM IT! EYE TO EYE!

ALSO NOTICED: Perhaps, the most "burnt in" recollection of the sighting was the look of absolute surprise on the creature...We were close enough to SEE (and almost SENSE how very startled it was by us being suddenly eye-to-eye with us.

This was not some lower animal response. This was an intelligent human like, 'Oh crap- you saw me and where did you come from' look of surprise, as it stared at us just prior to running down and off the elevated highway.

The creature was SIGNIFICANTLY larger than even the largest of human beings (NO WAY THIS WAS A HUMAN BEING DRESSED IN COSTUME AS "BIGFOOT").

While, we were sitting in an auto, I can still say, with a high degree of accuracy, that the creature was eight to nine feet tall. The body mass was stout, thick in the chest/trunk, and very muscular. Even though 90% hair covered, you could see outline of significant "muscle definition and mass". This is much better than a guess; it weighed upwards of 500-600 lbs.

I can remember many details of creature: hair 90%, dirty skin tone, where there was leathery skin 10%, arm length, relative appendage size, and the biometrics of the approximate 15 mph running gate...Even the highly expression (because of the surprise) on its eyes...

The other witness, I am quite certain, will have an equally vivid recollection.

OTHER WITNESSES: Two witnesses. Me, the driver (it was my turn at the wheel) of the small convertible and the owner passenger. Both were 19 year old males, and old friends. The top was down, even though winter, because we had skies in the car. This had been a non-drinking day of skiing for us. The car was a little Fiat with a great heater and wind deflection design. We were driving on the Highway......

OTHER STORIES: Just for the record, I am readily willing to submit to a lie detector and/or regression hypnosis. I suspect the second witness would do so as well.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: A full moon, cold and absolutely clear, and the time of night was between 8 & 9:00pm. The light of the intense full moon gave the crispness and brightness of "twilight". We had excellent visual clarity of the surrounding environment and the actual 'creature' less than a dozen feet away.

Additionally, the headlights of the auto added lighting. However, my recollection is such that the ambient lighting from the moon was (if you assigned light character) perhaps 75%, and the remaining acuity of 25%, from the headlights. It was quite nearly like a full daylight sighting.

ENVIRONMENT: See Time & Conditions. There were absolutely no manmade structures or lights from any structures for dozens of miles leading up to sighting. Also, there were no lights of structures for dozens of miles after the sighting. Quite literally, we were in the middle-of-nowhere. I recall that there was no other auto traffic, period. No natural obstructions (trees, bushes).

A & G References: Southern California DeLorme Atlas, Page 27, Index between B & C / 4 & 6

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Richard Hucklebridge:

Per this investigator who has used this 395 highway over many decades, and during this time period, 1975-76, where this highway for the most part was a two-lane road most of the way to the Mammoth Lakes area, but they began working on making this highway into a four-lane road in small sections during this time. I will retell J.E.'s story in an attempt to squeeze out a few more details about this creature as they occurred. This witness is a very believable and credible person, who is a family man holding an important position in the business world.

The first contact with this witness was in the afternoon of 1-10-09, in which J.E. was in route to an appointment. Per this witness, the image of this creature is still very eminent in his mind, and he will feel vindicated when he can get his story out to the public at large, so they can attempt to try and understand this extended sighting and close encounter with this creature that he had back in the 1975 - 76 era. This witness was moved to tell his story by a recent Radio Broadcast he had heard in his home town area of Atlanta, Georgia.

He and his friend, who we will call and talk with later, were driving towards home with their top down in a rear engine Fiat from the ski area in the Mammoth Lakes area, when this creature appeared a head of them moving in a fairly fast fluid jogging motion, in their view. At that moment our witness said, "His view of the world changed", because they both knew it wasn't a man in a suit jogging down this long lonely road with no other vehicles or any lights of any kind in view in either direction for miles. As their vehicle approached this creature the witness said, "They could see the muscles moving under the hide of this large stout creature, and it was not jogging or running like a person would move in a similar circumstance. The witness stated, "That the biometrics of its movement was just not of a man! There was no way that anyone would be out trying to trick somebody driving down this road at this time of night".

As they were sneaking up on this creature they began to slow down to see just what it was that they were both viewing. One of his first thoughts was to get away from this thing as fast as possible just in case they had a flat tire or something. But, as they came along side at a very close distance they could see its facial expressions on its face, and at no time did he ever feel threatened by this close personal face to face encounter with this creature.

I called J.E. on January 11, 2009 and we continued our discussion of what this creature looked like up close and personal.

Facial area: The witness observed a profile and head of a circular face that was light tan in color with a dirty looking Caucasian looking face that had this two-part intelligent expression on that face when first observed. Per the witness this double expression was interpreted as, 'how surprised it was when it was viewed by these witnesses, and where did they come from?" These expressions seemed human like by using its eyes, mouth and facial movements. As for the nose, it looked like a roman-type meaning large and rounded. The facial features seemed more refined, something more humanoid-like, but not as coarse like an animal's. Its eyes were spaced wider apart than a human and they were oval in shape.

J.E. also noticed a heavy eye-brow structure, something like a shelf over its eyes, with a large forehead structure. The head seemed smaller and out of proportion as compared to the rest of its body, but it had a very thick neck. The mouth and lips seemed similar to ours, but it never opened its mouth and/or made any noise that the witness ever saw or heard. A humanistic chin was also observed.


(Drawing by BFRO Investigator Sybilla Irwin)

As for what the rest of the body of this creature looked like, as observed by this witness to the best of his memory is as follows. The body was very large, thick, and muscular with the shoulders much wider than the hips. As they were driving up on this creature he observed the definition of the muscles on its large back and buttocks area. He viewed what he believed were calluses on the bottom of its very large feet as it was jogging down the dirt section of that road. The arms which were swinging as it was jogging and seemed to be proportionally thicker and longer to those of humans. The hands were very large, and were not all covered by hair, but covered as far as the first knuckle of its fingers. The color of this creature was a darkish brown to amber, but he never saw any black or reddish tint to its hair color.

The witness stated that about 90% of this creature was covered in hair; included in that small percentage that was not covered were its hands, the bottom of its feet and the facial area. He further stated that the hair was between 3 to 4 inches long on most of the body. Also, he never viewed its genitals and/or any breasts on this creature but believes that it was a male. He never observed any ears, or smelled anything strange, but he did observe calluses on the lower parts of its knees.

During the afternoon of January 11, 2009, I called and talked with the other witness, B.M., who was the passenger in the vehicle with J.E., and he confirmed that the sighting took place, but couldn't add any further information as to what has already been reported. But, I attempted to nail down a better location as to where this all took place, and he could only estimate somewhere between 2 to 2 1/2 hours south of the Mammoth Lakes area on Hwy. 395. Per the above information, I am going to place it somewhere after the small town of Independence, California, and someplace north of Lone Pine, California.

So in summary, I do believe that J.E. and B.M. had a close encounter with what we call a Sasquatch creature back in the 1975 to 1976 time period on a lonely section of that 395 Highway in Inyo County of California. Yes, it would be a good thing if someone could get a forensic artist to have a sit down with this witness and draw what he saw on that December night.

J.E.'s e-mail message to me prior to talking with him:

"After all these years, why now am I coming forward? It was the Radio Show. I heard a discussion about the quality of other 'hearings' and 'sightings'... I felt that I should share a 100% certain observation.

As odd as my observation may sound to some, I have nothing to prove...Without any intellectual reservation, I know these creatures exist, period, because we were eye-to-eye.

Sure, at that sighting we were scared beyond words...However, for decades I have been at peace with the knowledge of their existence... After all, these creatures must possess considerable intellect to have not been "fully detected" after all these years.
Respectfully, J.E."

About BFRO Investigator Richard Hucklebridge:

• Four years in the United States Navy, 1955-1959 (Combat Air Crewman on P4M Mercator Patrol Aircraft)
• 37 years in the aerospace industry: 33 years with General Electric at Edwards AFB; More than 5 years with the Northrop Grumman Corp. at Edwards AFB (Flight Line Mechanic on the B-2 Bomber).
• During 20 of those years at Edwards he was a Reserve Deputy Sheriff for the County of Los Angeles.

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