Geographical Index > United States > Florida > Washington County > Report # 5884
(Class A)
Submitted on Saturday, February 22, 2003.
Road crossing sighting by motorist
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YEAR: 2003
SEASON: Winter MONTH: February DATE: 18 STATE: Florida COUNTY: Washington County LOCATION DETAILS: Interstate 10, east of Caryville NEAREST TOWN: Caryville NEAREST ROAD: I-10 OBSERVED: The witness' daughter originally submitted this report after he
had relayed it to her. Subsequently, Vince Lauria and myself met with the witness on March 19, 2003 and conducted a personal interview and had the witness take us to the actual sighting location.
The following is the account of the sighting as told to us by the witness.
On February 18, 2003 at approx. 5:30 AM, the witness was heading eastbound on Interstate 10 when he saw what he first believed to be a person stepping out onto the highway just as a tractor-trailer rig had passed it. Because the tractor-trailer rig's rear lights illuminated the animal he was able to see it. The witness tapped his brakes to disengage the cruise control and turned on his high beams. He stated to us that his first thought was perhaps someone had broken down on the Interstate or been involved in an accident but when he got a better look at it, he realized it wasn't human. He stated that, "its hands hung almost to its knees and it moved in a hunched posture." When questioned further, the witness stated that it moved with its knees bent in "almost a glide" and that its arms stayed by its side as opposed to swinging back and forth.
He further described the creature as being approximately 7' in height; 250 to 275 pounds with a muscular, "squatty" build and was covered with reddish hair. The head appeared to sit directly on the shoulders and was somewhat pointed. A note of interest; the witness told us the hair on it's head looked "slicked back" as if it had just been combed, not as if it were wet. He also stated that the creature never looked toward his truck so he didn't notice any facial detail.
According to the witness, the creature wasn't running but was moving "at a good trot". It crossed both traffic lanes and the breakdown lane in 4 or 5 steps. At the time of the sighting, the creature was approximately sixty to seventy yards from the witness, and the sighting lasted about thirty seconds, maximum.
OTHER WITNESSES: Although the witness' wife was in the truck with him, she was asleep at the time the sighting occurred. TIME AND CONDITIONS: 5:30 AM, dark, no moon, clear skies ENVIRONMENT: Very swampy area with some pine uplands.
Follow-up investigation report:
Vince Lauria and myself, Tim Cullen, interviewed this witness at length and we both feel he is credible and very forthright in his retelling of the encounter.
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