YEAR: 2010

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 28

STATE: Massachusetts

COUNTY: Worcester County

LOCATION DETAILS: Leominster state forest, back side of No Town Res.

NEAREST TOWN: Leominster

NEAREST ROAD: Rt 2

OBSERVED: I am 45 years old, have spent my whole life in the woods. I have been hunting and fishing since I was very young. On June 28th my wife and I decieded to take a walk in the woods. We were heading to a secluded resivior located aprox. 2 miles in the woods. We came upon a spot in the woods that seemed liked someone was watching us. We heard a noise come from some bushes. I thought it was a grunt from a buck. We both expected to a deer come outof the brush. I said, maybe it was a Bigfoot. She told me to shut up and keep walking. We walked for another 15 minutes and realized we were on the wrong path to the lake. We stopped, ate lunch and headed back into the woods. We had stopped at some power lines and sat in some shade. It was over 94 gegrees that day, and this was about noon time.
As we walked back, we both noticed some very DEEP foot prints that did not look right. They were clearly 5 toed "Human" prints. In between the prints, was some deer tracks. The tracks clearly looked like the Human prints were chasing the deer prints. We both looked at each other and said, why would someone be running Barefoot, in 100 degree weather in the middle of the woods on a Tuesady afternoon? There were no other people in the woods at that time. The tracks were not there the first time we passed this spot, the noise was, the tracks were not. At this point I became very concerned that what ever made the prints was still in the area. I grabbed a big rock and told my wife to take some pictures with her cell phone. The tracks were about 6 to 7 feet apart. I could tell the first print was a right foot, that jumped out of the woods. The sixth and final step was a left foot that looked like it pushed off into the woods. No other tracks were before or after these six prints. We both became very nervous and started talking loudly and whistling. I did not want to run into this "person". We became a little confused and ended up on the worng path home. We walked for a couple hours, no way were we going back the way we came.


Did not notice any smells or sounds. Just very quiet. No animal sound at all.

ALSO NOTICED: We took many pictures and made a casting of one of the prints. They were the deepest prints I have ever seen. No doubt a HUGE animal (human) made them. They were at least 3 to 5 inches deep. I did not even make a print when I stepped in the same area. I am 230lbs.

OTHER WITNESSES: My wife. Went back to the spot on 7/18 and found the same tracks with my brother and Friend

OTHER STORIES: We did feel like we were being watched the whole day yesterday. No animal sounds, very quiet again.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Prints were found at 1:00 pm EST

ENVIRONMENT: Rough trail, prints were in hard mud- looked very fresh, lots and lots of cover, blueberrys and deer tracks.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator D.A. Brake (PhD):

Both husband and wife witnesses were independently phone interviewed approximately 3 weeks after the reported incident. Both witnesses retold the same story and a 40 minute inquiry provided some additional details summarized below.

The couple had previously hiked in this rural area of the state forest numerous times and was somewhat familiar with the secondary trails on which they were hiking. Approximately 1 hr into the hike the husband heard a loud and distinctive, single ‘grunt’ from close range followed by very brief heavy footfall movement. The area on both sides of the trail had thick under bush with no significant visibility. The wife did not hear the vocalization but described the brief movement as ‘heavy leaf crunching”. The couple remained still and relatively quiet for approximately 30 seconds, and not hearing anything further continued on the trail.

Approximately one hour later, about 1 PM, the couple was headed back on the same trail. In the same area of the initial vocalization both simultaneously observed a highly visible set of 6 footprints (3 pairs of right-left prints) on the trail in a patch of relatively hard, dry mud. The tracks were headed in the same direction as the witnesses were walking. Both witnesses stated that they did not see the footprints on the trail while stopped earlier on the hike in, and were particularly surprised by both the depth and distinctive toes of the prints. Upon further questioning, the husband stated that a set of fresh looking deer prints were co-located with the footprints, along with a short track of less distinctive but noticeable smaller footprints. The husband commented that he believed whatever left the footprints was ‘chasing’ the deer, since both sets of tracks were co-located and headed in the same direction. While stopped and investigating the prints and tracks, both individuals commented that the forest was unusually still and quiet.

After taking cell phone photos, the couple continued on the trail but quickly became uneasy, nervous and disoriented to the point that both reported becoming temporarily lost on the trail network. Both witnesses reported not seeing any other hikers on the trail that day. The original cell phone photos are of relatively poor quality.

The witness and two other adults returned to the site approximately 3 weeks later and the witness reported that several of the prints were still visible. A cast was successfully made of a single, right-foot print. Two photos of the footprint cast are shown below. Measurement shows print to be approximately 10" length, 5" width, and heel depth of 2.5".

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This incident took place in a relatively unused portion of Leominster State Forest, a 4,300-acre parcel of forested land that has remained largely undeveloped since Colonial settlements in the early 1700s. The forest is part of an expansive greenway area that includes Wachusett Mountain State Reservation containing the largest known area of Old Growth Forest east of the Connecticut River in Massachusetts. The entire greenway is comprised of upland hardwood forests, alpine meadows, ponds, streams, and wood and shrub swamps. The area supports a rich and diverse wildlife and bird population. The location of these prints is approximately 4 miles northwest of an area in southern Leominister known by locals as “Monsterland”, a nickname that originates from purported sightings by numerous individuals of a hairy man on the same stretch of road in the 1950s and early 1960s. This incident is also approximately 15 miles southeast of BFRO Report 8717.

About BFRO Investigator D.A. Brake (PhD):

D. Brake holds a PhD in Immunology and attended the Maine 2008 expedition.

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