YEAR: 1984

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: January

DATE: 15

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Licking County

LOCATION DETAILS: South of State Route 16 on Brownsville Road just south of the Claylick Bridge.

NEAREST TOWN: Claylick

NEAREST ROAD: Brownsville Road

OBSERVED: I was driving north down Brownsville Road towards State Route 16 with a girlfriend. We were both cheerleaders and were heading to Licking Valley High School for a game. We were driving fast down the road coming up to the Claylick area. As we approached the area we saw something very hairy and very large squatting in the middle of the road. Since the road was very narrow, I decided to drive towards it so I wouldn't go off the road into the creek. At a distance of ten feet away, I waited for an impact but surprisingly nothing happened. Apparently it jumped out of the way or maybe even rolled out of the way. When I looked in my rear view mirror, it was gone. I have know idea where it went and didn't stop to see. When we finally drove about a ¼ mile down the road, we finally spoke to each other. My friend and I tried to decide if that was a dog, a bear, etc… but nothing met the description. Judging by what I saw of the animal, it was baboon like in appearance but much larger in size.

OTHER WITNESSES: There was a friend with me. She no longer lives in the area.

OTHER STORIES: There was another report of a similar looking creature in the same area from a retired sheriff I worked with. After I started working for the sheriffs department I found out there was a lot of possible Bigfoot incidents that had happened in that area between 1982 and 1984.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was a sunny day with the temperature in the low 40’s. The incident took place around 5:30 PM.

ENVIRONMENT: The Black Hand Gorge area which is heavily wooded with small ponds and rock formations throughout the area.

Follow-up investigation report:

The witness had never told anyone about the sighting for years until she started working for the sheriff’s department. She estimated the creature was ten feet away from the front of the car. It must have rolled or jumped out of the way because no impact was made. Since it was crouched down, there was no way to make a height estimate, but she kept saying it was very big and unavoidable when driving on the road. Its hair color was light brown, almost caramel like. When it looked at her straight on, its face had an ape-like appearance. The hair was all over the sides… kind of like a baboon. Possibly road kill could be the reason for it being on the road in a squatting position.

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