YEAR: 2010

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 9th

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Fairfield County

LOCATION DETAILS: From Tarlton, follow 159 and turn right onto Julian Rd. Right to Drinkle then left onto Clearport Rd. Next, go right onto McDonald Rd. SW then right on Clearcreek Rd. SW. Turn left to stay on Clearcreek Rd. SW then turn left to arrive at Lake Romona.

NEAREST TOWN: Possibly Amanda

NEAREST ROAD: Clearcreek Rd.

OBSERVED: On Saturday, October 9th, 2010, I was finishing up a senior photo shoot at Lake Romona on Clearcreek Rd in Fairfield County, Ohio. Upon arrival at the lake, immediately we observed rocks being thrown into the lake. There were three of us who witnessed it, my wife and young son had gone up another trail however and they were not present. My photo subject and I had gone to the lower area to try and get a few shots, but the rock throwing continued. Also observed was tree knocking and limb breaking by the creature at this time and after we had gone back to where we originally heard it. We were across the lake from it, and at that time I had decided to take a quick succession of pictures to try and find what was throwing the rocks at us. At this point in time, all of us decided to leave the area. Since I had my wife and young son with me, I didn't want to run the risk of them getting hurt. It was when I got home that I realized that I had actually gotten two images of the creature. I also believe that I have another of it observing me when I was taking the picture of the boy in front of the lake, but it is not as clear as the other two. To me in the photos its face resembled an orangutan, only it was completely black. Also of interest is that the creature appears to have something white in its hand.

ALSO NOTICED: There was a smaller black shape in a tree, but I was unable to determine whether it was a young creature. It was impossible to determine the sex of the creature so there was no way to tell of it was a mother protecting her offspring.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself, the young man I was photographing, and his father.

OTHER STORIES: According to a friend of mine living in the area, they have also heard unusual screams.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: This happened at around noon, the day was sunny and it was unseasonably warm.

ENVIRONMENT: Sighting occurred directly across the lake. There was a small foot bridge that we had to cross and small hill we had to climb in order to get to the edge of the lake.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:

I met with the witness and investigator Brad Kennan at the location on November 28. I had already talked to the witness by phone shortly after he filed the report. We had, prior to the point of going to the sighting location, had the original pictures looked at by members of the BFRO to make sure there had been no tampering and to try and get a better look at the images.

This took place at Clear Creek Park which is a 5000 acre portion of the Columbus Metro Park system. This portion is just south of Lancaster, Ohio. While the park itself is not large, it is located in the Hocking Hills Region of southeastern Ohio. It is very close to the Wahkeena Nature Preserve, Old Man's Cave, and is just a couple of miles from the large Wayne National Forest. The park valley itself is the farthest southern point of the glacier reaches, providing rich flat bottoms surrounded by hardwood forests. There is one main road that runs through the park.

The sighting took place at Lake Ramona which is a five acre lake. In order to access the lake you must first park and then walk in. If anyone else was in the area it would have been readily apparent.

After viewing the pictures, talking to this witness and realizing there had been several other reports within two miles of this location, we decided to go and take measurements and get a better idea of the terrain.

After reviewing the pictures, and being at the location, investigator Brad Kennan and I can agree on the following: The location has an existing history of sightings; this area is prime territory for these creatures to exist; the witness was very sincere and believable; and stick breaking and rock throwing is behavior often reported during encounters with sasquatches.

We find the pictures themselves inconclusive. They do resemble a lot of pictures taken around the country and may very well show a bigfoot, it is just impossible for us to say with any certainty. Nonetheless, the pictures are included for the public's own evaluations and opinions. It should be noted that his three photos were taken as he held the camera up with his arm extended, one right after the other, at the direction the noises were coming from. (We have not included the photo mentioned of the boy having his senior photo taken. The background in the photo is just not very clear and not worth this boy's privacy.)

This is one of the images taken, note the dark figure circled in red.



The following two images are an attempt to get a closer look at the dark figure circled above in red. The second image draws attention to possible features of the unknown figure and a white object.





This is a photo of me in the same location as the figure for comparison and for measurements, unfortunately taken at a different time of the year. I am holding a six foot post. As you can see, even with the leaves off the trees the area still provides good cover. We determined the rocks were being thrown from a location that would have provided a secure view, with a readily available escape route to the deep forest. Using a laser we were able to determine that the unknown figure was about 95 yards from the photographer/witness.



This is a blown-up image of me in the above photo for comparison.



In the photos it almost looks like the figure is next to a cave or rocks, when in fact it was next to this rootball pictured below. The creature would have been on the other side of this rootball, as seen from this photo, as we are looking back toward the lake and where the witness stood.



The original larger photo can be downloaded here. It is 5 Meg and can take some time to download.
Click here

About BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:

Dr. Jones brings a background of hunting, trapping and outdoor experiences together with undergraduate and graduate education. He is a master naturalist and has attended numerous public and private expeditions. He has led expeditions for the BFRO in Ohio and West Virginia. He has written two Bigfoot books, the last “The Appalachian Bigfoot” was an Amazon best selling book. He hosts the Wide Open Research Podcast on the Untold Radio Network. Dr. Jones may be contacted at DrRLJ@Yahoo.com