Geographical Index > United States > New Jersey > Warren County > Report # 13276
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Thursday, December 15, 2005.
Motorist has nightime sighting near Harmony
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YEAR: 1987
SEASON: Summer MONTH: September DATE: tuesday or wendsday STATE: New Jersey COUNTY: Warren County LOCATION DETAILS: forested wetland at the base of a ridge on southeast side and agricultural field on west. whatever it was it crossed west to east NEAREST TOWN: Harmony NEAREST ROAD: ridge road OBSERVED: I was coming home after work about 9:30 to 10 pm heading north on ridge road. It recently rained. Something rain across the road on two legs. It was about 50 to 100 yards away. It appeared to be about as tall as the hood of my car.
It stopped momentarily as my headlight hit, and looked at my car, and then it turned and continued to cross the road and disappeared into the woods. I was thinking, "what the hell was that?"
I live nearby and hunt throughout the surrounding woods. I know it wasn't a bear or any thing we normally see in the area. ALSO NOTICED: It crossed the road at the same place where a deer trail crosses the road. TIME AND CONDITIONS: night after a rainstorm ENVIRONMENT: This is some what of a rural area along the upper Delaware Valley. The area is a creek valley above the Delaware Valley.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator D.A. Brake (PhD):
I spoke with the witness for approximately 30 min. on Dec0 31, 2005. The witness is a forester by occupation and is very familiar with the region and habitat. He recanted the incident with clarity and good detail.
He was in his Jeep returning home from work, had just made a turn onto the road he lived on, and was traveling less than 30 mph. His headlights revealed an upright animal standing approximately 50-75 yards in front of his car in the middle of the road. He estimated the height at approximately 4 – 4 1/2 feet, about as tall as the hood of his Jeep.
He described two impressionable observations: First, he described the hair texture as ‘shiny’ and a ‘greenish’ tinted black color. Secondly, the standing animal briefly turned its head toward the car and then quickly took several long ‘hopping’ bipedal strides off the road and into a thick forested area. The entire sighting was less than 5 seconds in duration and weight, arm length and other body features were not recalled.
Upon further questioning, the witness revealed that this road crossing sighting took place on a ridge line at the location of a deer trail crossing. It was moving in a west to east direction.
Immediately to the west of the road is significantly lower elevation farmland, containing numerous swampy and wetlands. Immediately to the east is heavy forest with rapidly increasing elevation toward a higher ridge. The 'shiny' hair coat may have been due to wet hair from a brief thunderstorm that moved through the area shortly before the sighting.
The witness still lives approximately 1 mile from the sighting location. He owns a private tract of land on the mountainside.
He is highly familiar with the area, terrain and local wildlife, and spends a lot of time outdoors. He has not seen or heard any unusual things in the 18 years since the sighting. He noted that the sighting took place at a time when there was significant land development and foresting activity in the area including the construction of a nearby large reservoir. Although there as been further development and periodic commercial foresting since the sighting, the area remains very rural and sparsely populated.
This sighting took place at about 1000 ft elevation between a lower and higher mountain ridge and approximately 1 mile from the Delaware River.
This general area is located within the Valley and River. This is the physiographic province of Northwest New Jersey, characterized by numerous broad, low valleys broken by steep-sided linear ridges. The area is dominated by Kittatinny Mountain, a broad even-crested ridge about 40 miles in length and 1 to 5 miles wide, including the highest point in New Jersey at 1800 ft. There are numerous streams, small lakes and swamps throughout the valleys. The entire region is replete with wildlife including black bears, deer, bobcats, other small game and fish.
About BFRO Investigator D.A. Brake (PhD):
D. Brake holds a PhD in Immunology and attended the Maine 2008 expedition.
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