YEAR: 1974

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

PROVINCE: British Columbia

COUNTRY: Canada

LOCATION DETAILS: I cant remember the exact address but know the house very well.

NEAREST TOWN: Withheld

NEAREST ROAD: Withheld

OBSERVED: You cannot believe just how nervous I am doing this. I want to relate an incident that occurred many years ago. I am reticant about relaying this story because of the amount of 'grief' and ridicule I have taken over the years from people that I have told. I have always been open about my concern about camping and the risk of running into a Sasquatch and I think it all stems from this incident.

In 1974 we lived in a house on a bench overlooking Okanagan Lake, B.C. The back of the house had a stretch of lawn that met up with orchard that went to the edge of the bank and then down to the lake. The house is (it is still there but owned by other people that I do not know)a rancher and sits in a north/south position with the back of the house facing west. There was a small concrete patio at the back with a sliding glass door - this was positioned about half way down the house. On the south side (facing the lake - west) was a bedroom window where my brother and I stayed.

Early one summer morning, I estimate the time to be around 0500 or so - everyone in the house was still sound asleep but it was very bright out - I got out of bed and looked out the bedroom window across the lake. Immediately I noticed to the right, a very tall and large 'animal' standing and facing the sliding glass door of the house. It was standing perpindicular to me and I was looking at the right-hand side of it's body. From the profile the body appeared thick. It was tall enough that it stooped under the patio eve as it faced the house. It stood there motionless for a very short time and then turned 180 degrees to its left and walked across the lawn and down into the orchard. I have no idea where it went after that. Along with being tall and stooped slightly forward, I recall only that its arms hung by it's side and it was very dark in appearance. It stood still until it turned. It never turned and faced me and I cannot provide any other description with regards to its appearance. I was about 8 years old at the time and never told anyone until many years later.

To say I have been mortified by this encounter is an understatement and thus I am hugely relucant to do this. I do this only because I constantly read about sightings in BC, the Okanagan, and the west coast of North America in the hopes I can get a better understanding about what I saw. It has impacted me enough that I wont camp and wont even drive from the coast to the Okanagan at night. That is the source of amusement/ridicule for people when I tell them about this - that it has affected me so much.

Even thinking about this right now and writing about it has the hair on the back of my neck standing up!

I have decided to go ahead and do this after looking at your website and many others for the past few years and seeing what others are saying. It took me a long time to decide to do this and I am still not even sure it is the right thing to do - though I wonder if I will feel better if I talk to someone in the field. I do not want any publicity or my name used.

I will talk to anyone from your outfit and if there comes a time that I am in the area and someone wants to join me, I can show them the exact house. After 33 years I can remember it very clearly.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing.

OTHER WITNESSES: Other people in the house at the time but I was only witness.

OTHER STORIES: I have recently read online about a sighting in or around the road just below where this house is located. I will try and find the incident and have it read if I am contacted. Where this incident occurred, is at the bottom of the embankment that where the orchard ends. If the creature had walked off the end of our orchard and down the embankment and a little south it would be in this area.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Very early in the morning. Perhaps 0500 or 0530. Cleary and bright summer morning.

ENVIRONMENT: Rural residential. Lots of orchards and trees. Low growth of weeds. Hills and mountains nearby with pine trees. Large body of water nearby. Very small town nearby. Very quiet roadway can best be described one lane country road at the time. Not much in terms of livestock except for domesticated animals such as dogs and some chickens in neighboring yards.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Blaine McMillan :

I have spoken to the witness for well over an hour and I have found him to be honest and forthright. He talked of a shocking incident that happened to him when he was a young boy and it has haunted him to this very day. The witness wishes the area and his identity to remain anonymous.

The witness grew up in a ranch style house overlooking the Okanagan Lake. It sat on a mountain bench some distance back from the water. Early one morning for no apparent reason he woke up at about 5 a.m. His bedroom occupied one end of the house with a window that looked out towards the orchards and the lake below. Because of the positioning of the window he could also look down the length of the house towards the other end. As he stood there gazing out something caught his eye.

Standing before the patio doors, at the other end of the house was a tall upright hair covered creature. He described it as being dark in colour. He told me that the hair covering was long on its body but shorter on its head, which was coned or sloped towards the back. It stood close to eight feet or higher as the brow of its head was at the height of the eves of the house. It was standing on the concrete patio looking in towards the patio doors facing east.

The witness told me that after a minute of standing there the creature turned around 180 degrees and walked away from the house towards the lake. Walking in this direction it would have passed through several orchards and one or two other houses.

This was a tramautic event for the witness. For years he has kept quiet about the incident for fear of being ridiculed by his family and friends. He must be commended for approaching the BFRO with his report.

UPDATE-
The witness has submitted the following sketch of the property showing what took place at the time of the incident.

About BFRO Investigator Blaine McMillan :

• Retired Canadian Military (Reg Force) Safety Systems / Aviation technician with experience fighters and various SAR platforms. Author of Wood Knocks and Tossed Rocks:Searching for Sasquatch with the BFRO


• Married with two young sons. An avid camper, hunter and fisherman.


• Holds a BA in Criminology from the University of Manitoba, courses in Alternate Dispute Resolution, Anthropology and Political Science


• Attended the BFRO BC Expeditions in August of 2005, 2006, 2012 as well as Vancouver Island 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.


• Organized the 2007, 2008 Vancouver Island as well as 2009 North Vancouver Island Expeditions.


• Author of "Woodknocks and Tossed Rocks: Searching for Sasquatch with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.

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