YEAR: 2002

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 8

STATE: New Jersey

COUNTY: Essex County

LOCATION DETAILS: [Not for public display]

NEAREST TOWN: West Orange

OBSERVED: I began my morning like most, waking up & heading to the bathroom. Sorry to get so descriptive in the following sentence but I'd like to include all details. As I was sitting on the toilet seat, I happened to look outside the window and saw what I thought was an ape steadily running along the backyard fence. As soon as it came into my view, I thought to myself, "What in the world. . .?" So, I opened up the window and poked my head out to follow where it was headed. It was about 5ft. 5 in. and it ran at a steady pace. The way it ran also made me conclude that it could not have been a human as well as it wasn't an ape. For one, when people run, we tend to usually lose balance, stumble over hilly like ground, etc. Since the area in my backyard is covered with leaves, huge branches, etc. you're bound to trip over something (especially since it's very forest like.) And that was what astonished me. The creature ran as if it were running on flatland with both arms positioned like most runners do. It was jet black all over, hair very straight but not long. Then I listened out for it while having my head outside the window. It ran very silently but I noticed after it was out of my site about a minute later, I heard sounds of rocks knocking together coming from further into the woods. Although it resembled closely to an ape, I've now realized it could not have been that either. Apes usually run on all fours even though they're able to stand on 2 legs. This creature ran on 2 legs the entire length of the backyard, like a human would run. (Never tripping or falling.)

OTHER WITNESSES: I was the only person awake to witness at that time. My mate was just waking up & missed the sighting by a few minutes.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Early in the morning. 8:20 AM to be exact. The lighting outside was an extremely sun shiny, bright morning. No rain or clouds in sight.

ENVIRONMENT: The environment is a very wooded and foliage type of small forest within the hills of West Orange.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Spoke with the witness in this case. She indicated that the night before the AM sighting, she heard a sound like a cat fight and then a cat or animal dying sound in the wooded area behind her house late at night. A few weeks ago she also heard what she described as a woman screaming, again from the direction of the woods, about dusk. She could not make out any facial features but reports the animal's head appeared broad; it ranquickly and fluidly over broken terrain, with it's arms held like a human runner's. She observed it a distance of @ 100 ft for @ 20 seconds. She reconfirmed the rock hitting sound, occurring about one minute after she lost sight of the animal. She said it was a sound that was intentionally made, not like scree falling on itself and was repeated@ 10 times. Reported no smells and inspection of the area where the creature was observed running revealed no footprints and was basically leaf litter. The fence was a chain link type which you can easily see through. She had the impression that whatever she was observing was a juvenile.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO