YEAR: 1972

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

STATE: Oklahoma

COUNTY: Pittsburg County

NEAREST TOWN: Kiowa

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 63

OBSERVED: My family and I were driving home early in the morning between 2 and 3 A.M. We took a shortcut down HW 63 which runs between Haleyville,Ok and Kiowa, Ok. The Highway now is paved, but at the time of our encounter it was a well maintained dirt road. The road had many curves and hills. We were traveling around 40-50 mph. We crossed over a hill and right below the hill was a small bridge. On this bridge was a creature that was standing to the right of our pickup as we passed by. The creature was between 6-7 ft. tall and had brown shaggy hair all over it similar to an irish setter dog. As we passed, I looked at the creature right in the face. His face resembled that of an old man's. More human than apelike. I could see that the creature's face had wrinkles and very little hair around it's eyes and nose. The creature had no neck and it looked as if his head was just plopped up on his shoulders. I felt like we surprised the creature and once he finally saw us, he had nowhere to go. I remember seeing him stand real stiff against the bridge's railing as we passed. I asked my mother to turn around and see if we could get a better look at this mysterious creature. She replied"No way!!" I asked her what she thought we saw, she replied"I guess it was a bear." I felt that it looked more like a man. She said that it was way to big to be a man. At the time of this incident, I had never heard of such thing as a bigfoot or sasquatch. Although we only got a quick glimpse of this creature, it couldn't have been an illusion. We all felt that we saw the same thing.

OTHER WITNESSES: There were 5 witnesses involved. My mother, two brothers, sister, and myself driving down the road going home.

OTHER STORIES: my older brother is a accomplished trapper. He is also an outstanding woodsman. He lives in the Broken Bow, Okla. area. While scouting for bobcat tracks, he claims to have had an encounter.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 2 A.M. in the morning, very dark, very little moonlight

ENVIRONMENT: Hilly and it was a heavily wooded area. The encounter happened while crossing over a small bridge that covered a small creek.

Follow-up investigation report:

I talked to the witness about the experience that he and his family had in 1972 in rural Oklahoma. Though it occurred many years ago, the event left an indelible mark on the witness and his family.

The witness explained to me, just as he mentioned in his report, that at the time of the encounter, he and his family had absolutely no knowledge of a creature referred to as "bigfoot" or "sasquatch." All in the vehicle saw the animal as their vehicle crossed the narrow bridge.

The witness recalled that the animal was so close to him as their vehicle passed it, that he probably could have touched the creature had he extended his arm outside the window.

The witness recalled that the face reminded him of an "old unshaven man."

Immediately after passing the animal, the witness told his mother to turn around, but his mother refused, and told the children that what they had seen was a bear. However, years later, his mother admitted that it was no bear and was way too large to have been a man. Besides, they all saw that the creature was covered with hair. They really had no explanation for what they saw.

The next day, the witness's father ridiculed them and made light of the experience. It wasn't until years later that the group talked about it again.

It is now discussed from time to time at family gatherings; the family still ponders about what they saw and how it defied reason. They have come to terms with the realization that what they saw was most likely an undocumented, rare species of animal, commonly referred to as bigfoot.