YEAR: 2009

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 18

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Duval County

LOCATION DETAILS: This is a close military base in an area rumored to have held nuclear arms.

NEAREST TOWN: Jacksonville

NEAREST ROAD: highway 228 and New World Ave.

OBSERVED: Right on the northwest corner of New World Ave. and Normandy Blvd. FSCJ owns approx. 135 acres. When things are slow I take our electric golf cart thru the woods just to look around and maybe spot wildlife as I go. Between the college and the city pool which is west of the college are numerous ponds, wetlands, and pine tree flats on forestry land. There are also alot of training areas left over from the Navy days and a few old roads that are similiar to power line right aways running mostly north and south.

Now to the day in question: We were allowing a contractor to drive thru our property to gain access to the forestry land and I went to talk to them to get an update on the project. It turned out they were not working that day so I was riding around just looking for wildlife. I came up to one of the old roads and when I looked north on the road there was something in the road sitting on it's hunches and it appeared to have one arm in the air and the other was scratching it's side. I was traveling kind of fast and could not stop until I was about 10 feet past the road. I put the cart in reverse to back up and it was not in the road any longer. I looked just past the spot where it was in the road and it was on the side of the road and was bending down a limb from a 4 or 5 foot pine tree peering out at me. This lasted for maybe 3 or 4 seconds and it ran in from what I could tell was an upright position. The small pines hindered my view when it was running but I am fairly positive it was running up right. What ever it was, was about 2 maybe 3 foot tall judging by the trees and was very black and resembled a primate. I worked at the Jax Zoo in maintenance for a few years and one of the exhibits I was responsible for was the Great Apes so I am very familiar with several different primates and it reminded me very much of a bonobo.

I was fairly shaken up and I did not go look for tracks, signs, or anything. Now to present, a few weeks ago forestry had a timber company thinning the pines in the same area, I went back there to talk to the job foreman as they were using our property to gain access. They were two or three hundred yards back in the woods and I did not want to drive my cart back there because of the road. I got maybe thirty yards off the road down the skidder trail and I am not sure what it was but the hair on my neck stood straight. I had a strong sense something was out there watching me. It may have been my imagination but I really believe I was being watched.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 2pm, very sunny and clear

ENVIRONMENT: On a ex military training road between two pine flats. Also near one man made pond and natural creek.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator David Wright:

On 9/17/9 I met this witness at his place of employment whereupon we proceeded in a golf cart to the location of his sighting. It was through a locked gate and onto a very large property that is now owned by the City of Jacksonville, Fl. but was formerly Cecil Field, a large USN airbase. The location of the sighting was between a quarter, and a half mile from his work place. The sighting took place as the witness crossed perpendicularly, a cleared right of way that was lined on both sides by slash pine sapling about 3'-5' tall. We walked back to the approximate location of the animal during the sighting. The witness demonstrated how the animal appeared when be backed up and saw it the second time, crouching behind a pine sapling of about 5' in height, bending down a branch, and peering between the needles of the trunk and the bent down branch. He stated this brief "stare down" lasted about 3-4 seconds, whereupon the creature darted to its left and ran into the thick brush. The witness stated that he caught glimpses of it bobbing through the brush as it ran away and had the distinct impression that it was exhibiting bipedal locomotion. The witness did not check for tracks, in that he was somewhat shaken and did not feel compelled to do so.

We then went to the site of the second encounter that occurred a few weeks later, which was between the original sighting and the work place, where he recounted that second experience. During this time the witness stated that on the second encounter, the "feeling" of being watched and the "hair on end" was definitely directional, from behind and to his left. This produced an immediate fear response in him, causing him to look in the direction of the "feeling" where he saw nothing. It should be noted here that no sound whatsoever caused this reaction, but that it was spontaneous and occurred while he was walking. This experience is very common among witnesses, and is particularly interesting in that regard, in that it was spontaneous and without being triggered by a sight or sound out of the ordinary.

Of further particular interest in this report is the fact that the witness was previously employed by the Jacksonville Zoo for several years, prior to his current employment, and worked in the primate area about one day per week, maintaining a temperamental air conditioning system. He stated that he had a particular interest in the primates, and became familiar with their identities as to type, looks, smells, and behaviors. He stated that the subject of his visual encounter was very much like a bonobo, a kind of chimpanzee.

Concerning its observed physical characteristics, the witness could recall the following;

-As the creature appeared to be squatting flatfooted on its haunches with one arm raised in the first view, the arm appeared to be longer in proportion to the torso than that of a human.
-The witness described the creature as being slender.
-While the creature appeared black, no hair or fur could be readily discerned, but he felt sure it was hairy.
-No ears were visible.
- It appeared that the creature’s knees were protruding somewhat away from its torso in the squatting position.

While no adult creatures were seen by this witness, if this was a very young juvenile Sasquatch, it is likely that the mother was very close by. It may very well be that the witness’ second experience involved an adult.

This geographic area borders Jennings State Forest where numerous other sightings have been reported and investigated by this investigator. It would be no far fetch for these properties to be overlapping territories of Sasquatch creatures. They are large wild areas of pine flatwoods, with mosaics of bottomland hardwood swamps, ponds, creeks, and streams interspersed, which support large populations of big game animals, including wild hogs, deer, panthers and alligators.

About BFRO Investigator David Wright:

• Certified Florida Master Naturalist (U. of Florida)
  
• Visual Tracker, Level 1
• Teaches Biology, A.P. Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Science at a rural high school SE of Jacksonville
• See local TV interview with D. Wright
• Participated in the 2007 Private Florida Expedition [Click the video link on that page.], the 2007 South Carolina Expedition, the 2008 South Florida Expedition and assisted with the organization of the 2008 North Florida Expedition. Assisted with the organization of the 2009 Central Florida Expedition.

• Explanation of the report classification system
• Submit a report for the sightings database
• Please send any comments or inquiries to ContactUs@BFRO.net