Geographical Index > United States > New Jersey > Salem County > Report # 76444
(Class A)
Submitted by witness Walter C. on Sunday, October 1, 2023.
Motorist sighting late at night in woods next to Still Run south of Clayton
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YEAR: 1998
SEASON: Spring MONTH: May DATE: Don't remember STATE: New Jersey COUNTY: Salem County LOCATION DETAILS: Up until that point, it was the last house on the left. 293 Hollywood Ave., Monroeville, NJ 08343. Now there are at least 3 other houses in the house around this one. NEAREST TOWN: Monroeville NEAREST ROAD: Hollywood Avenue OBSERVED: I lived with my mother in the last house on the left of this dead end road. I was coming home about 2 in the morning that night. The last part of this road dog-legs to the right and has houses scattered about throughout the woods and side of the road.
My mother's house was down a 300ft dirt lane up to the house. In front of the house was an area of woods with a small building that was an old horse stable, maybe 10' x 10', covered.
As my truck came around the dog-leg, a large, hairy biped, at least 7-8ft tall was crossing the road, right to left. I slammed on my brakes and watched it cross the road about 150 ft. in front of me. My lights were on it because there was no street light right there.
It was walking normally and took maybe two steps to cross the road and into the woods by this rundown stable in front of my mother's home. I waited and realized had to drive past it, up the dirt lane to the house. As I did, I wound my window up and I drove a little faster and kept watch on the woods everywhere. Did not see it again. I told my mother who didn't believe me. She moved from there within a year or two because they built 3-4 houses around hers in the woods there. Over the course of living here, I may have seen it before that but unsure. ALSO NOTICED: Nothing. 5-10 seconds as it crossed the road. OTHER WITNESSES: None unfortunately, just me OTHER STORIES: Just on the web. TIME AND CONDITIONS: 2 am. Clear night and by headlights ENVIRONMENT: Wooded, basically the bottom of the Pine Barrens, so a oak/pine wood forest.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jacob Korbel:
I spoke with the witness over the phone about his road crossing in 1998. From first glance at aerial images this area appears very suburban and close to many main roads, but the river corridor that the figure was seen crossing into passes through into some very thick woodland that runs along route 55, where something can easily move from point A to point B and be relatively unseen, especially under the cover of darkness.
The Still Run corridor eventually snakes into Muddy Run, where there has been a plethora of recent and historical activity all the way down to Cumberland County.
He described the individual as being around 7-8 foot tall as it crossed 20 foot road in about 3 steps. He described the arm swinging as well sticking out to him.
I got out to the location and much has changed since 1998 including new houses and less woods. The area that the individual was walking towards is on private property so I was unable to get a closer look. I believe the witness was very credible, and even recalled a couple other incidents that may have been sasquatch related. Including a brief glimpse of something " brown and furry" and a goose that was ripped apart in same area.
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Investigator Matt Moneymaker
This is a credible sighting report. Although there may be less forest and more houses in the immediate vicinity of where the sighting occurred, the overall area, with respect to the amount of forest cover compared to fields, housing tracts, or other development, has not changed dramatically since the 1980's. The time machine in Google Earth shows the amount of forest cover change over time. It is almost imperceptible compared to large parts of Florida, for example.
The pathways into the area from larger forest and swampy areas like the Pine Barrens has not changed. The swampy creeks are all still there, and the big power tower routes are still there. They provide a private freeway in the wee hours for a large animal that does not want to be seen.
See the images below showing the power tower route I suspect this creature would have used at the time. At the bottom you will see current images of the two places with the most traffic that it would need to cross -- State Route 55 and the Atlantic City Expressway.
Late at night a bigfoot would have no trouble waiting for a lull in traffic to walk across these highway and hug the treelines the rest of the way to the Pine Barrens, moving through more open sections under cover of darkness.
If you are moving along the marked power tower route, the second most heavily trafficked highway to cross at night would be State Route 55. Here is what it looks like from the highway at that point. Would you be able to cross that highway in the wee hours without being seen?
Here is the most heavily trafficked highway that a bigfoot would need to cross while following this power tower route to the Pine Barrens -- the Atlantic City Expressway. Although from aerial photos this pathway appears to pass through a lot of developed areas, this is what it looks like from the ground for most of it.
About BFRO Investigator Jacob Korbel:
I’m a lifelong resident of southern NJ and If I’m
Not working, I’m exploring the vast 1.1 million acres of pine barrens that I live close by too.
I was pretty skeptical on the subject until I had my own encounter in 2018 while doing field work in the pines. To fulfill my curiosity on the subject i went to my first expedition in 2021, where i had another class B sighting and various vocalizations that could only be attributed to sasquatch. Ever since then i do field work as much as i can out in the pine barrens and northern NJ, i remain as skeptical as possible with everything and will eliminate every possibility before calling anything bigfoot related.
I have attended some of the following expeditions
Pine barrens fall 2021
North jersey spring 2022
North jersey fall 2022
North jersey spring 2023
North Jersey fall 2023
North Jersey Fall 2023
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