YEAR: 2009

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 7th

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Clinch County

NEAREST TOWN: between Homerville and Edith

NEAREST ROAD: on US 441 southbound

OBSERVED: On October 7, 2009 at about 11:30 pm , my wife and I were returning to Weeki Wachee , Florida from a trip to North Carolina . We were driving south on US 441 in an unpopulated area at about 65mph. We were about halfway between Homerville and Fargo which is slightly west of the Okefenokee Swamp . It was very dark with very scant traffic and we were the only car in sight. There were no other lights visible anywhere and no houses or businesses anywhere around. My wife had turned on the map light because we were getting low on gas and we needed to check the distance to the nearest probable area for gas. She was looking down at the map and didn't see it, but she sure smelled it. Years before , we had been camping in the Okefenokee Swamp and were aware of the wildlife diversity. I have hunting , camping , and Brazilian jungle experience and I am not easily frightened, but this shook me up. It was an instinctive reaction similar to when you have a surprise encounter with a poisonous snake.

I saw a very dark brown/black constant colored tall humanoid figure standing on the left shoulder of the road , quarter facing toward the road and toward the direction of our travel. The figure was standing still, very vertically erect with both arms loosely down at its sides. I couldn't see any facial features or individual features of hands or feet. I estimate it to be about 7 ft. tall and weigh between 200 and 300 pounds. It was lanky rather than stocky and was not crouching forward , but was standing very vertical. The smell coming into the car vent was very powerfull and was a combination of sewerlike and a strong musky animal odor. There was a small animal roadkill a few yards down the highway that was fresh , so that wouldn't account for the fowl odor. We conjectured that the creature had smelled the roadkill and came out of the woods to investigate. The hair on the head was long and stringy, but the rest of the body hair seemed only two or three inches long and layed down rather than sticking out in a fuzzy fashion. The thing that struck me was that I couldn't see any facial features or varied colors around the hand areas.

We thought about turning around to re- investigate, but in the middle of the night , I frankly didn't think it was prudent. We proceeded to the next major intersection to buy gas, and I asked the station employees if anyone else had mentioned something unusual or if there were any kind of unusual wildlife sightings in the area. They answered "no". That was the end of our incident.

All but one of the sketches I have ever seen of creatures anything like this , showed a more stocky crouching ape-like creature. What I saw was a tall, lanky , humanoid creature that looked almost "helmeted" because of the way the head hair fell straight down similar to a woman with long straight hair. I could see no neck . I don't know what I saw but I will never stop my car at night anywhere that area.

ALSO NOTICED: No

OTHER WITNESSES: My wife witnessed the smell, but not the sighting

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Clear weather--- very dark 11:30 P.M.

ENVIRONMENT: Forest- no structures- sighting was next to a US highway near the Okefenokee Swamp

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Ken Johnson:

I spoke to this witness by phone, and he described his credible encounter in great detail, both in the report, and also as he related it to me. I can add a few details to his account after speaking with him.

The figure he saw looked tall and lanky, and looked rather "spider-monkey-like" to the witness, rather than stocky and ape-like, as he has heard of other bigfoot-type descriptions. It also had arms that were longer than those of a human's, reaching almost to it's knees.

The animal did not seem to react, or to be concerned by the passing of their car, but seemed fixed on something nearby, possibly the road-kill that the witness and his wife mentioned as being a short distance down the road.

When the couple stopped for gas and asked some of the locals if they were aware of any unusual animal sightings in the area, one man told them, after hearing the description of the animal they had just seen, "you saw a swamp ape".

Additionally, the witness told me that this sighting had been quite disturbing for him, even though he is not normally shaken by most situations. He also said that if armed, and presented with a situation in which it became necessary to shoot at one of these animals, it's human-like appearance would make that very difficult to do.

About BFRO Investigator Ken Johnson:

Ken Johnson works as production team leader at a manufacturing facility near Cairo, Ga, where he has spent much time camping and hunting in the woods of southwest Georgia. Ken has a BS in Criminal Justice from Georgia Southern University and has been interested in bigfoot since an early age.

Ken has participated in the following BFRO Expeditions: North Florida 2008, Central Florida 2009, Central Georgia 2009, co-organizer of North Florida 2011, attended North Florida 2012 and North Florida 2014, plus numerous private BFRO expeditions and outings. Ken has also been trained as a Visual Tracker-Level 1.

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