YEAR: 2009

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: October 4th

STATE: Oklahoma

COUNTY: Johnston County

LOCATION DETAILS: Camping area 2 in Tishomingo State Park. The park is locked down at 10 PM.

NEAREST TOWN: Tishomingo

OBSERVED: Several of us old hippies meet once a year in October at Tishomingo, Ok to camp and enjoy each other. This October (the first week-end) we met as usual at the Tishomingo state park. There were 15 of us at the campsite on Saturday night. It was around 9:30 pm when I was leaving the burning embers and people behind me to walk to my tent alone. When I got about halfway to the tent, someone ran across in front of me in front (close to) the tent. I knew all of the campers were at the site and most of them cannot run. I don't drink or do drugs and so I stopped for a moment and thought about who it could have been. My tent was facing the Blue River. I stopped, turned around and decided to try to get back to all of the people. When I reached them, I asked for someone to walk me back to the tent with a flashlight. Two of my friends, males, made fun of the sighting I informed them about and told me it was probably a deer. Deer run on four legs! Then they told me it was probably one of the brown bears. Brown bears can't run with the stride of a man and they aren't that tall (around 6' or more). I got in my tent and loaded my gun and slept with it under my pillow (my hands making sure the steel was touching the gun all night long). I had two small dogs with me that I felt would alert me to any other encounters with something outside of the tent. I know I saw the stride of a man as he ran from West to East. There is a large light towards the South end of the camping area that allowed me to see the creature. I am positive everyone was at the campsite when the "Thing" was seen running. When I told my girlfriend in Florida about the sighting she said I ought to tell someone and therefore I am telling you (whoever you are.

ALSO NOTICED: There were none.

OTHER WITNESSES: I am the only witness and I am a 57 year old woman.

OTHER STORIES: No. I am from Lawton, Oklahoma (about a 3 hour drive from Tishomingo State Park.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Cold night, Light in the middle of the camping area enough to illuminate the camping area but not bright enough to keep someone awake.

ENVIRONMENT: My tent was about 30 feet from the river with trees and foliage all the way to the river. There are paths all around the river area. The river is running pretty high this year due to the rain. That night (later than the incident) a rain washed out the bridge on the highway leading East to Durant, Oklahoma.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tim Sermons:

The witness added the following facts to the report:
The camping area is remote, with a steep bluff to the west and the Blue River to the east. She and her group were about 500 feet away from the tents at a centralized campfire. She was headed to bed around 10pm and began to walk to her tent that was located about 40 feet from the river. Half way to her destination the witness saw a 6.5 foot, largely built figure "trot" from west to east toward the river. The witness states that the gait of the creature was too long to be a man as it cleared 400 feet in approximately 6 to 9 seconds. The creature had a forward gait and appeared to be carrying something as it went by. It's head was also larger than a normal human's head. The witness states that she was approximately 150 feet away from the creature as she watched it for 9 seconds. There was a low light that was dimmer than a street light located further behind the creature making it hard for the witness to see any color. The witness immediately retreated back to the group to have someone walk her back to her tent, as the creature passed relatively close to her tent.

About BFRO Investigator Tim Sermons:

-Navy Veteran - Hospital Corpsman, Field Medicine qualified
-Registered Nurse
-Currently working on MBA degree
-Experienced Hiker
-Attended Expeditions: Missouri '08, Georgia '09, Oklahoma Spring '09, Oklahoma Fall '09 and Missouri '09

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