YEAR: 1978

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Perry County

LOCATION DETAILS: Just off of State Route 668 south of Somerset, Ohio. The parking lot is at the dam.

NEAREST TOWN: Somerset, Ohio

NEAREST ROAD: State Route 668

OBSERVED: This took place in the summer of 1978 at a place called Clouse Lake in Perry County, Ohio. I was ten years old at the time, about to turn eleven. I was in the woods playing explorer with three other kids. All of a sudden, it got very quiet in the woods. We also got very quiet, but continued to walk through the woods. I was in front and we were walking single-file. We were following a deer trace. It went around a large tree in the distance. I started to smell something very malodorous. I rounded the tree and I almost ran into it. It was a huge, hairy creature, very smelly, over six feet in height and dark brown in color. It was NOT a bear. It had an almost human face. The creature spun around and I screamed at the other kids to go back, now, as fast as they could. We ran back to the parking lot of the lake as fast as we could.

ALSO NOTICED: The birds and squirrels got quiet before I saw it. I also smelled something rank in the air too.

OTHER WITNESSES: The other kids didn't see it. We were walking through the woods, I was leading and prevented the other kids from seeing it. There view was obstructed by the large tree.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was mid-afternoon, clear and sunny and we were in the middle of dense woods.

ENVIRONMENT: In the woods around Clouse Lake. The lake was not in view at the time.

Follow-up investigation report:

An obvious terrifying experience for an eleven year old. The witness almost walked into the creature when rounding a large tree.