YEAR: 2011-2012

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 7/1/2011

STATE: Michigan

COUNTY: Isabella County

OBSERVED: I live in central Michigan and I have been hearing this sound all last summer. It is not an animal that I have ever heard before. I have it recorded several time and I would just like you to listen to this and tell me this is bigfoot. I have head many recordings of bigfoot and it sounds just like it. I can send them to you at any time. We hear them all the time...I even heard them last night.

ALSO NOTICED: We head howls, tree knocking and a deep guttural noise and whooping noise. We then hear talking...but not able to make it out.

OTHER WITNESSES: 3 witnesses, we were finishing up chores outside with animals

OTHER STORIES: We hear them here all the time...I head them last night. Whooping.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 11pm dark and clear night

ENVIRONMENT: swamp, farm land open fields and forrest

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

The first part of this report is the newest as I have continued with this investigation. I have included several videos that highlight some of the further research and recordings that have happened since this report was first published.

“Singing Howls"

"Double Howl"

“Whistle and Shriek"

“Real-Time Investigation"

There are more videos from this and other BFRO investigations on YouTube, just look for Lordcryptid.


Here is the beginning of the report as it was first published:

I began researching the report from the witnesses in part because I was looking into sightings in Central Michigan for the Animal Planet show Finding Bigfoot. While I was specifically tasked with finding cases involving sightings this case intrigued me because I attended college nearby and had heard of a history of interesting reports from this area.

I contacted the witnesses and they sent the vocalizations they had recorded with their video camera. Immediately on hearing the first few moments of audio I was impressed with what seemed to be out there. I heard what appeared to be communication between multiple vocalizers, mimicry of farm animals, and even interaction between humans and whatever it was in the woods.

I set up a day to drive to the location and meet with the witnesses. On February 25th I arrived at the farm the witnesses own. The witnesses were matter-of-fact and very personable. I knew I was going to enjoy my stay but even though I was excited about the recordings I did not expect anything to happen. I was introduced to their horse, which I was told could predict nights when activity would occur. I was shown how to milk goats. I watched how you keep the water for the cows warm in the winter. Then we took a walk in the woods a day after a fresh snowfall had occurred. The snow was between one to one and a half feet deep.

The land area around the location contains open water in the form of rivers and a cedar swamp. There are numerous fields that have not been utilized for years. The trees in the area are filled with tree stands for the plentiful deer. We found an area where a sizeable deer herd had been bedding down for at least the past few days. We eventually walked an area of four square miles and found deer tracks everywhere and plenty of cover, and warmer temperatures, particularly in the pines.

When we returned to the farm we noticed that the horse was running around his corral and kicking up its back legs. "We are going to have a visitor tonight," I was told. We decided that we would sit outside once it became dark and see if we could elicit any responses from the woods by tree knocking. The witness stated that she had received responses to her calls and so we tried these as well. I did not hear any responses to the knocks or calls we initiated but the witness did and subsequent review of the recordings proved that she was correct. Distant wood on wood knocking could be heard in the woods.

At around 9 pm I set out a recorder in the middle of a field and left it to get some dinner. We then went about the evening chores. We heard dogs barking a few miles away. You could hear the different dogs begin barking and the ones that were closer to the property were the last to begin barking. On the ground it appeared as if something was making the dogs bark and moving in our direction. Soon coyotes began to join in the cacophony. However, we believed that we could hear something different along with the known animals. We heard high pitched whoops and whistles. Occasionally we could hear what sounded like screams and moans. This was later verified when we reviewed the recordings. One of the howls recorded was similar to what is commonly referred to as the 1994 Ohio Moan.

After things had calmed down we walked out to the recorder in the field. What we subsequently learned was that about fifteen minutes before we left to pick up the recorder something walked within 100 feet of the device. Initially I thought this was me coming to pick it up but later you can hear the barn door shut and three of us walking out to pick up the recorder. After reviewing the recordings I called the witnesses and asked them to check the area around the recorder for possible prints or signs of activity but it had rained that day and the snow had been melted.

As I was standing alone near the where I had placed the recorder I heard what I can only describe as a male sounding voice from the wood line 100 yards away which seemed to be talking but I could not make out what was being said. It was the only "voice" I heard at that time but it was nearing midnight and the nearest home was one mile away. It almost seemed as if the voice was directed at me and left me wanting to leave the area. Review of the audio shows what sounds like gibberish but cannot replicate the feeling that I should vacate the area.

By 12:15 a.m. I was preparing for the three hour drive home and thanking the witnesses for their hospitality and planning another visit. We discussed the vocalizations we heard and I promised to send them what I had recorded. We were standing in the driveway about 100 yards from the woods. I had just recommended that the witnesses wait around after I drove away to see if they heard anything from the woods as I have found that sometimes there are audible "all clear" notifications given in the form of wood knocking or vocalizations. At this point I had my recorder in my hand and captured something growling very loudly at us. Then there were multiple vocalizers howling from differing parts of the woods. This lasted twenty-one minutes and as time progressed the vocalizations moved further and further away. The witnesses stated that this is how it happens every third night or so in the winter but almost every night in the spring and summer. The horse reacts strangely, then the dogs to the south-west begin barking, the coyotes and farm animals act up; the vocalizations are then very close and eventually move away. The whole process from dogs barking to the end of the event normally lasts for over an hour.

Since that date I have kept in regular contact with these witnesses. We have multiple recorders capturing everything that goes on in the woods. As of the date of this report I have about 210 hours of analyzed recordings. An ongoing recording process will continue in this location. One example from the collected audio is below and shows the possible interaction between two individuals in differing parts of the woods.

Whoops and a single wood knock

Update: The BFRO Investigator, Jim Sherman, continues to work with the witness and maintains a continuous audio collection project at this research locale. BFRO Investigator D.K. from Virginia, a former cryptologic linguist now studying sasquatch vocalizations, is a collaborator in this project and has isolated the following vocalizations which suggest the persistent presence of multiple, suspected sasquatch at this location.

Howls
• July 1, 2011 - Howl, Moan Howl, Two Howls
• January 22, 2012 - Vocal and Moan Howl
• January 23, 2012 - Howl, Singing Howls
• March 14, 2012 - Three Howls
• March 15, 2012 - Howls
• March 16, 2012 - Four Moan Howls, Howl, Woo Aaa Vocal
• March 31, 2012 - Vocals
• April 2, 2012 - Long Howl
• April 3, 2012 - Woo Vocals, More Woo Vocals
• April 4, 2012 - Knock and Howl
• June 30, 2012 - Howl

Whoops
• July 1, 2011 - Whoop
• March 31, 2012 - Three Whoops
• April 2, 2012 - Three Whoops
• April 3, 2012 - Whoop

Shrieks
• July 1, 2011 - Howl and Shriek
• August 1, 2011 - Shrieks and Moan Howl

Various Vocals
• April 1, 2012 - Many Vocals
• April 3, 2012 - Various Vocals
• June 17, 2012 - Roars and Vocals
• July 2, 2012 - Roar and Vocals
• August 31, 2012 - Various Vocals
• July 15, 2012 - Woos and Whoops

About BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

Jim is a High School History teacher and Track and Cross Country coach. He attended the Michigan Northern Lower Peninsula Expedition in 2011, the Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition in 2012, co-organized the Michigan UP 2013 Expedition and attended the 2014 Wisconsin Expedition. He assisted in the production of Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot Michigan episodes (Bigfoot and Wolverines and Super Yooper). He participates in Ironman Triathlons and enjoys fishing and camping with his wife and daughter. Jim can be contacted at germanicus1@hotmail.com and Twitter @shermanbigfoot and his YouTube account is : Lordcryptid