Geographical Index > United States > Ohio > Harrison County > Report # 37692
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Sunday, November 25, 2012.
Couple hears a series of "Whoops" while night fishing at Tappan Lake
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YEAR: 2010
SEASON: Summer MONTH: March DATE: 2 STATE: Ohio COUNTY: Harrison County NEAREST TOWN: Bowerston NEAREST ROAD: Route 250 OBSERVED: In the summer of 2010, my family had met my sister and her family at the end of a bay at Tappan lake in Harrison county, Ohio. We were fishing at a point of the bay where you had to walk approximately 40 to 45 yards to the lake shore. My wife Amy had decided to walk back to our van for another chair and I decided to go with her because the trail was a bit winding through the woods. As we went, we heard a "whooping" sound not too far from our location. My wife asked me what it was and having never heard anything like it at the time and thinking rationally, I said it was an owl.
Then, about a year later, while watching an episode of Finding Bigfoot, she heard the same sound that we heard that night at the lake. I wont tell you what she said to me, but she is now a firm believer. We haven't gone fishing at Tappan lake at night since that experience. OTHER WITNESSES: My wife OTHER STORIES: I can provide details on a return call. TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was after midnight and the lighting conditions were next to none. The closest lights were the campfire and about 100 yards or more to the road. ENVIRONMENT: Good forested area, marshy on one side of the road, lake on the other...mostly hills and woods.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator James Thompson:
I contacted the witness by phone and arranged to meet at the location of the encounter.
I met the witness at 3:00 in the afternoon at the same location where he parked his vehicle the night of the encounter. We then proceeded to retrace the path they took to their fishing location along the bank of the northern point of North Bay at Tappan Lake. The distance was about 100 yards from where the vehicle was parked.
It was around midnight the night of the incident, they had gotten a fire started and placed their poles out when they decided that they needed another chair. The witness grabbed a flashlight and walked with his wife back the path towards the vehicle. About 45 yards down the trail, his wife stopped and asked him what that sound was. The witness didn't hear the first one, but then, seven more "whoops" a few seconds apart that he did hear, soon followed. Not familiar with that sound, the witness wanting to reassure his wife, told her it was an owl.
The brush and timber was very thick and in the darkness, they could not see that far with the flashlight. The ground in the direction that the sound came from, gently rose to a ridge that could be seen on the skyline about 300 yards away.
They didn't hear any other "whoops" that night. A few years later while watching an episode of Finding Bigfoot, his wife heard the sound that she remembered from that night.
Tappan lake is part of the Muskingum Watershed Conservatory District. The lake covers 2,350 acres along with 5,000 acres of land surrounding it. The small village of Deersville sits above the southern side of the lake on the ridge, with the nearest town over seven miles away.
There have been many reports over the years of sightings of unknown animals and sounds echoing down the hollers and over the lake.
About BFRO Investigator James Thompson:
Jim served as a Marine Corps helicopter engine mechanic / air crewman for 24 years. He recently retired as a County Veterans Service Officer. He is a lifetime hunter and outdoorsman. Jim has attended expeditions in Ohio during 2019, 21 & 22.
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