Geographical Index > United States > Wisconsin > Iowa County > Report # 43122
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Wednesday, December 4, 2013.
Driver startled to see a tall figure next to U.S. Hwy. 151 near Mineral Point
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YEAR: 2013
SEASON: Fall MONTH: November DATE: 27 STATE: Wisconsin COUNTY: Iowa County LOCATION DETAILS: Around mile marker 36 on Hwy 151 southbound. NEAREST TOWN: Mineral Point NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 151 southbound OBSERVED: On Tuesday November 26th, 2013 I was driving south on Hwy 151 from Madison, WI going back to Iowa after seeing a concert at the Red Zone which ended around 11:30 PM. My wife was laying down and trying to get some sleep in the back seat of the car since she had to work the next morning. I normally work night shift so I had no problem staying awake to drive home.
The oncoming traffic on the highway was spaced about one car every 3/4 of a mile to a mile with some farther apart so I couldn't use my high beams. I'm a former Iowa police officer so I have a habit of periodically looking at the mile markers along the road so that if I have to call for help I can give a better idea of where we're at.
I would say about a half mile or so after coming around the large curve southwest of Mineral Point, which I believe would be about mile marker 36, I was in the outside lane and I passed a large black figure standing upright on two legs where the grass meets the gravel on the inside shoulder of the median on my left.
The headlights never hit it directly as I approached but the outside area of the light field lit it up as I passed it. I'm 6'02" and I was able to see the body from the ground up to the shoulder. I would estimate the shoulder height to be around 6'06" to 6'08". With the angle of the light beam and how low the car sits to the ground it looked like the head was shadowed by the shoulder so I wasn't able to see its face.
The distance between us was about fifteen feet when I passed by. I was able to see it's hand hanging down along the thigh and it was a lighter color and not midnight black like the color of it's body. The thickness of it's body looking from the side, it's back to it's chest, was about two feet thick. The fur or hair was hard to see do to the distance, the light conditions, and the speed of the car (cruise was set at 65mph) but it was short.
I thought to myself, "What was that?" even though I know what it was and "I didn't just see that." My immediate physical reaction was extreme anxiety. My chest tightened and I made excuses to myself to not stop and look at it. From what I saw I had no desire to stop.
A couple miles passed while I tried to overcome the fear then I realized I need more facts on the conditions of the sighting. I also felt that it was trying to cross the highway from the south that's why I didn't see it up ahead of me in the headlights.
Until this event I was always open to the possibility that they exist but never was a big believer in them. My tune has now changed and I don't care to ever see one again. ALSO NOTICED: I didn't stop and I don't care to go back and look for "IT". OTHER WITNESSES: No, wife was sleeping in the backseat. OTHER STORIES: No TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 12:30 AM, clear skies, gods fingernail for a moon, a couple inches of snow on the ground but the road was clear. The car said that the outside air temp was 10 degrees F. ENVIRONMENT: Median of the highway. No large trees, shrubs, or plants anywhere that I saw while driving to Madison during the day.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Robert Barhite:
On December 9, 2013 I interviewed this witness. There wasn't much traffic - a car was maybe a mile ahead, and a semi was about a half mile behind. His lights were on low beam due to the proximity of the car ahead. About a mile south of the large curve south of Mineral Point, he saw a large, black figure standing next to the passing lane close to mile marker 36. He knew that the figure wasn't a bush or shrub as he couldn't see through it. The car's headlights produced enough light as he passed it to make out that it was standing in profile as if it had been planning to cross the road, black with a thick torso ("...like a laundry basket thickness"), the right arm hanging lower down its leg than on a human, and a very clear hand which was not covered in hair as he could see that its skin was lighter than the creature's hair. The creature was tall enough that he couldn't see the head, and the hand was about eye level to him. As he recounted the incident, his voice became shaky and rushed. "It scared the s**t out of me. My first thought was what the heck was that? Then, did I really see it? It was too close for my taste. I don't want to see it again."
As an ex-law enforcement officer, this witness is a trained witness with an excellent eye for detail. I found him to be a very credible witness.
About BFRO Investigator Robert Barhite:
A native of far northeast Iowa, Robert has always had an intense interest in Bigfoot and exploring the great outdoors.
His first expedition was the 2012 BFRO Iowa Hill Country Expedition He the 2013 Iowa Big River Expedition, 2013 Oregon Cascades Expedition, 2013 Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition, 2014 and 2015 Wisconsin Expeditions, 2014 Iowa Expedition, and the 2015 Iowa Spring Expedition. Since 2012 Robert has participated in several private expeditions in Iowa and in Wisconsin. In addition to expeditions, he has conducted numerous solo research trips in Iowa and Wisconsin throughout 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. And for the last two years has been a guest lecturer at the request of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Robert led the 2016 Iowa Spring Expedition and is assisting with the 2016 Iowa Fall Expedition and is scouting locations across North America for 2017 expeditions, and continues to monitor activity in a long-term study location in the Midwest.
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