YEAR: 1976

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: N/A

STATE: California

COUNTY: San Bernardino County

LOCATION DETAILS: I believe it was on the west side of the lake. I remember when we drove thru Big Bear city; the lake was on the passenger side. We traveled on a paved road, and then to a dirt road for a little ways. The cabin was a couple hundred yards off of the dirt road.

NEAREST TOWN: Big Bear city

NEAREST ROAD: N/A

OBSERVED: I was living in Southern California at the time, I was 12yrs old, and was invited by my friends family to stay at a cabin with them at Big Bear lake for the weekend. We arrived before noon that Friday unloaded the suburban, and helped my friends dad take down the plywood from the windows before heading off to explore the woods and rock formations around the cabin. After dinner we were discussing the next days activities and went to bed.

The cabin look like in had been there awhile. Sometime during the night I had to go to the bathroom, and I knew the toilet wasn’t working. I got up walked thru the kitchen and turned on the light before going outside. I left the door open so the light would shine thru, and I closed the screen door behind me. I didn’t want to go right there by the door so I walk over to the tree line on the other side of the parking area, and was reaching down to start when I felt really scared.

I looked over to my right and about 20ft away something was looking at me over a bush. It was between 2 large trees and standing behind a bush parting the top of the bush with its hands looking right at me. All I could see was the upper chest, head, arms, hands. I stood there looking back for 15-20 seconds, and then I just bolted for the cabin. I didn’t look back, because I didn’t want to.

I ran up the steps and dove thru the screen door landing on the living room floor; I then reached back and slammed the door. I crawled to the other side of the room next to the couch before my friend’s father came into the room. He walked over to me and asked what was wrong, I looked up at him, and I just lost it!! I was crying and shaking so much I couldn’t speak. By that time my friend and his mother were there, and she helped calm me down bit.

I told them I went outside to go to the bathroom, and something was standing there looking at me, They ask me was it a person, I said no! It was huge, black and very tall. His father asked was it a bear, I said no! Bears don't have hands! My friends father went and got his flashlight, he then walked over to the door and opened it. He looked at the screen door and looked back at me, what happened to the screen! I said I left the door open for some light and jumped thru it when I ran back into the cabin. He looked back at the screen door for a second and then shut the door.

My friend’s mother said no one goes outside until morning when it is light out. We stayed up for awhile maybe an hour or so, before going back to bed. In the morning I showed my friends father where I was standing and the spot were it was standing he look at the ground a little and the area nearby, but found nothing. He just said it was probably a bear. I told him it was not a bear its face was flat and the hands had long fingers. He said we should stay close to the cabin the rest of the weekend and not to go wondering around.

Nothing else happened the rest of the weekend. The description of the face was very ape-like, and the nose area was different not as pronounced just smaller, with hair all over except the mouth area and eyes. I didn’t see any eye shine at all, and the head was pointed. The upper chest was massive, very wide and powerful looking. I notice the hands first when I looked over at it that night. The hands were long with some hair not as much as the rest of it. I did see a thumb on the left hand when it was parting the top of the bush. The bush was taller than me at the time I was 5'7”. I didn’t smell or hear anything.

When we got back home my parents were told what happen, and that I was pretty shook up about it, and that I didn't sleep much over the weekend. I didn’t know what I saw until later when I was in our local Woolworth's looking at state boards, and as I past the magazine racks, there on the cover was a picture of Bigfoot from the Patterson film. I bought the magazine, and I now show it to my friends, and my family.

ALSO NOTICED: N/A

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself

OTHER STORIES: N/A

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 12am to 2am, dry with some moonlight.

ENVIRONMENT: Pine forest, with mountain ridges on two sides.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Richard Hucklebridge:

On November 23, 2004 I had a frank conversation with D.M. about his face-to-face encounter with what I believe was a sasquatch. At the time he had no idea what he was looking at, except that it wasn’t a bear. He defined the creature that he encountered back in 1976 in very definitive terms, and this encounter has had a profound effect on his life ever since. D.M. had nightmares for maybe five years after his encounter. He even had a rough time going over his story with me while we were discussing it over the phone, and that was twenty-eight years ago.

I asked D.M. what I considered to be some pertinent questions that he didn’t quite answer in his report:

Q: Was it covered in hair, and could you see what color it was?
A: “It was covered with a very dark hair, because the light from the kitchen light was kind of lighting it up. The kitchen window was quite large, something like you might find in a dining room.”

Q: What would you estimate its height and weight to have been?
A: “I looked at the bush it was standing behind the following day, and it was a little taller than me, and I was about 5’ 7” at the time (I am now 6’ 5”), so I could see its chest, shoulders, head and arms. So, I estimated its height at eight foot plus. I will estimate its weight at five times heavier than myself, which would put it over five hundred pounds.”

Q: Did you see any facial features, and can you describe them?
A: “I noticed the nose as not being pushed up or turned up like a gorillas. I didn’t look at his face for very long, especially at its eyes, because they frightened me, so I concentrated more on its arms, hands and its massive shoulders.”

Q: Could you describe the arms, and could you tell if it was a male or female? A: “The reason that I looked at the arms the longest was the fact that its hands had thumbs, and the chest was large but flat like a male would have been.”

Q: Did it ever make any noise, and did you ever look for prints?
A: “No noise was heard from the creature. We--my friend his father--and myself went over the area the next morning. I pointed out the bush it was standing by, but no prints were observed.”

I received the following e-mail message on the evening of November 26, 2004. I followed the directions and found a very interesting site (http://home.comcast.net/~paul.smith7/sas.htm).

Richard, I got back home today and was on the Internet site Bigfoot Forums, and there's a new topic in the media section on Bigfoot Art!! If you go to the post where you can link to Paul Smith's site there is a picture of just a face. THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I SAW!! You take away the bush from around the sides and top. The next picture is of a Bigfoot standing in the Hoh Rain Forest. The upper body matches except the shoulders were more rounded instead of squared off. I hope this helps paint a better picture than my conversation with you.





In summary, after a very believable interview with D.M., I am convinced that he had a face-to face encounter with a sasquatch in the San Bernardino National Forest back in 1976. If you have time, check out some of the media articles on the BFRO site, Los Angeles County back in 1973, and note the distance between the Antelope Valley and Big Bear Lake.

On a good day, we can almost see it from here!

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