YEAR: 2006

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: June

DATE: 17

STATE: California

COUNTY: Mono County

LOCATION DETAILS: [Location specifics removed at the request of the witness.]

NEAREST TOWN: Mammoth Lakes

NEAREST ROAD: 395

OBSERVED: I was living up in Mammoth Lakes, on this weekend I decided to go to Laurel Canyon to do some fishing and exploring. This area is not easily accessible because of the terrain and the road being obstructed by snow in some areas. As I was coming back down the canyon I came to an open spot along the side of the mountain heading into a more wooded area next to a meadow. The meadow was about 300 yards away. I was looking ahead of meyself at the beginning of the wooded area when I saw a human like creature cross the road heading towards the meadow. Its gait was very unhuman like bent at the waist and arms swinging like you might see a vaudeville actor do at the end of a show as they exit the stage, a bit looney tunes like. I observed it for about 3 to 4 strides. It was all black, long arms (longer than ours), tall, muscular, and slim with no neck visible. It must of been at least 7 to 8 ft. tall and weighing about 400 to 500 lbs. I reached for my camera and that is when I saw it cross back over the road again this time in a slow more human like gait like it was trying to elude something without illiciting a chase response from whatever it was trying to elude like you might do if you saw a growling dog.

ALSO NOTICED: It appeared like the creature was trying to cross before the oncoming truck came to that location. Then it looked as if it noticed the other people in the meadow and headed back up the side of mountain at a slow pace. I am a Registered Nurse that specializes in Orthopedic Surgery so I have a good understanding of the human gait.

OTHER WITNESSES: I assume just myself by the behavior of those I had seen.

OTHER STORIES: I did return to the scene a week later and found tracks of something large and heavy powering itself up the hill. I have heard of nothing else. I really think that these creatures encounter us out in the wild on a regular basis we just never realize it.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was 1630

ENVIRONMENT: At the begining of where the meadow starts coming from Laurel Lake. Pine forest with other types of non connifers. The meadow had many creeks coming down Laurel Lakes into the meadow.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Brandon Kiel:

Witness is a former marksman in the US Marine Corp. He is currently a traveling medical professional very familiar with human and animal anatomy. As a former marksman he is very adept at judging height, size, and distance.

The animal was covered in 1.5” - 2” of fur that was black in color: “almost a blue black”. It was lean and very muscular and he felt it was a younger more adolescent animal between 7-8ft t in height and between 400-500lb. He says it was definitely male as the pectoral muscles were easily visible and very developed. He was keenly aware of the movement of various muscle groups underneath the hair including the shoulders, thigh, chest, and waist. The animal had no visible neck and he states that the conical shaped head pretty much sat directly onto the trapezius muscles. The arms were “easily at knee length and it seemed as if the it was using the exaggerated movement of its arms to propel itself forward almost like I do when I’m hiking up a hill”.

I asked the witness if it was possible that this could have been a person in a suit to which he chucked, “No way. Everything was too perfect: the height, the weight, the size of the muscles, the gait…everything was proportional and worked as expected for an individual of that size. The muscle groups were all there working properly, the hair appeared to be attached to skin and skin attached to muscle and all of it was a part of this animal. Nothing was sitting or stretched over a structure”.

About BFRO Investigator Brandon Kiel:

Brandon Kiel is a professional photographer and naturalist living in the Bay Area.

He was the chief coordinator of Northern California Expeditions for 7 years and has planned/attended more than 20 expeditions throughout the US.

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