YEAR: 1983

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

STATE: New Jersey

COUNTY: Ocean County

LOCATION DETAILS: At the time of the incident it was pretty dense with pine trees and a over growth of bushes.I can't exactly remember directions to it it was some time ago but I will locate my old friends and ask them.

NEAREST TOWN: Jackson near Lakehurst

NEAREST ROAD: RTE. 571 / Hope Chappelle rd.

OBSERVED: I have e-mailed you before but wasn't ready to describe my encounter.I have also offered to help in the area of investigations I am experienced in the outdoors and have tracking skills among other skills that would be helpful I am an experienced investigator as well as acriminal justice student.I had an experience many years ago in Jackson NJ, I was a teenager then. My younger brother and I and 3 friends set out to steal some wood from a house that was being built to build on our fort. We really didn't think anything wrong of it at the time we were all pretty young.It was about 8:00 pm when we set out we would have to walk back through our friends property to get to the house. About 3 acres of property past some old chicken coupes and down a narrow path with thick vegitation and trees.I was in the lead position and everyone else following single file through the woods. All I had was a small disposable flashlight it only covered about a 10 foot distance. We figured one flash light so there would be less of a chance of being spotted. As we past the chicken coupes we heard a sound ahead of us in the darkness but figured it to be our friends dog, thinking it followed us. We kept going I was still in the lead with the flash light it was just pitch dark around us surrounded by trees and bushes we could no loger see any house lights from our friends house. I would shine the light behind me now and then to make sure my brother was ok and everyone was keeping up. Then I got butterflies in my stomach I felt like some one was watching us telling my friends to be quiet so I could listen for any one. I shined the flashlight around but couldn't see anything then I heard a noise in front of us I spun around and all I could see was a very large figure what ever it was it's eyes reflected red it looked like a siloute in the darkness with my small light. I tried to talk to it saying hows it going? but got no response then the figure moved closer and I got scared and yelled to my friends to run but they began to pick up anything they could to throw it at the figure once that happened I heard a deep low growl and began too run right past my brother and friends. Then they followed suit when i got to the chicken coupes I plowed through the door and my friends and brother followed me in.We were scared as hell we didn't move for probably an hour we just sat there listening for this thing. When we got brave enough we ran all the way back to our friends house telling his mom and dad what happened but they did not believe us. We then decided to brave again and go back out to look for this thing with base ball bats. We did alot of talking but never went back I think we were just trying to save face with each other. I know what I saw wasn't a man it was just to big and the eyes were red like a dark red. And I never heard of any bears in Jackson NJ and I lived there for at least 13 years. So I don't know what it was but i'm positive it wasn't a man.

ALSO NOTICED: My brother and I never went back to the location after what happened.

OTHER WITNESSES: Besides my self there were 4 other people. Getting ready to steal the wood.Getting dressed and such.

OTHER STORIES: Not that I can recall

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 8pm it was a pretty warm nightbut overcast

ENVIRONMENT: It was pine forest not far from a swampy area and old dog kennel. Where it was later discovered the owners of the kennel kept their adopted kids in the kennel that happened some years later.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dennis Pfohl:

Lance was fifteen years old at the time. He was walking after dark with a brother and three friends down a path that crossed a field overgrown with high grass and pine trees. They were going to steal wood from a nearby construction site to build a fort. He first noticed two large eyes reflecting dark red from the light of his flashlight. The figure stood upright, facing them ten to fifteen feet away, dark brown in color and appeared to be a large hairy man. Height was approximately seven to seven and one half feet tall with very wide shoulders.

I asked if he could have mistaken it for a bear standing on its hind legs but he insists it had shoulders like a man, but very wide.

He described the head as having an egg shape to it, but no facial features could be seen with the weak disposable flashlight other than eyeshine. The figure appeared to be shifting its weight from left to right as it stood watching them.

Lance is a criminal justice student and an experienced private investigator.

About BFRO Investigator Dennis Pfohl:

Dennis Pfohl is a business owner in Colorado and an avid Outdoorsman. He attended the 2004 New Mexico Expedition (Mescalero IR), 2005 New Mexico Expedition (Mescalero), 2005 California Sierras Expedition, and 2005/2008 Oklahoma exp. 2008 Texas Expedition. Organizer of the first Colorado
BFRO expedition in 2005, and organized the 06,07,08,09,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 and( non public) Colorado Expeditions.

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