These two sighting reports come to us from Blake Mathys of West Mansfield, Ohio. Blake tells me that these reports were originally e-mailed to him and he has had them in his files for a while. He has recently attempted to contact the witness, but with no luck as the e-mail is no longer valid and the phone number has been discontinued. Here now are the two sightings Blake learned of from north central, Ohio. I want to thank Blake for submitting the information.
"In 1976 my father purchased some property up the road from Snow Trails (Ski) Resort. As you head towards Bellville past ski resort you will come upon a long thin pond on the right.
A green house sits on the road. Across the street is a white house up on a hill. My father owned both properties from about 75 to 83. I would visit every summer and lived there from 80-81. We had 2 collies who some nights would go nuts barking there heads off. They rarely if ever would have any reaction to the white tails in the area so my only conclusion is something was checking out the house. I would some times go into the woods the next morning to look about.
On two occasions I found some very strange scratch marks high up on pine trees. I am 6 foot tall. I had to reach on my tiptoes to even touch the bottom of the markings. I am not prone to jumping to conclusions. I know a big buck can tear up a tree when molting of the antlers occurs. This was just way to high. I'd find other things but most of which could be explained by other wildlife in the area.
My first sighting was in summer of 76 or 77. I was fishing in a secluded spot where a stream and a river converge next to a quarry underneath a railroad bridge. I hope this sounds familiar. I was only 14 at the time and never could find it or the young couple who I went with. I do remember the willow trees along the river.
Let me give you more detail on my sightings. The second one was early in the morning. I saw only a shape at first for it was foggy out. Then he crossed the road and came into view quite clearly. I estimate his height at about 8 feet. I am 6 foot tall. The fence comes to just mid chest on me. About 2 minutes later my friends came to pick me up for school screaming from their car" did you see it, did you see it?'' It was quite exciting.
I am one hundred percent sure what I saw was a large primate. Not a bear. This would be a good spot for Bigfoot. I would concentrate my searching from mid summer to mid fall. I had a book called "The Bigfoot Case Book" (of which I've lost and can not find another copy). In it were 3 or 4 cases in the 70's from Bellville Ohio. Maybe this can be a lead for you."
Here is a report submitted by Richard LaMonica of Akron, Ohio. Though the report, which was e-mailed to LaMonica, never states it was a Bigfoot the mans father spotted, but it certainly sounds as if it might have been. Here is the report......
To Whom It May Concern, I was wondering if anyone ever reported sightings near Bath, Ohio?
My Dad had a friend back in the 1970's who lived in the area of "Hale Farm and Village". My Dad told me about a strange incident where something had "walked" thru a barn wall at his friends place. My Dad had seen the wall and said whatever had "walked" thru it was approximately 8ft tall or more.
About 2 years later I was at "Hale Farm". To this day I still remember what happened. I was walking alongside a fence, at the time this area had dense woods around it. I remember feeling very strange like being watched. Then I heard the screaming. It was an awful sound. Have you ever heard a rabbit in a trap? It makes an awful wailing, crying sound. (I’ve been a hunter, camping etc..). But, the screaming I heard was like something from Hell, something totally different. Never saw what made the noise. I still am able to hear it to this day though. (Still haunts me 24 years later).
When: Spring of 1971 - Approximately 2:00 a.m.
Where: Columbiana County, Ohio - North of Calcutta Home on one acre, 1 1/2 stories, fields and woodlot in the back of the property, other houses 70 feet and 250 feet away. The nearest house to the rear of the property over one mile. Property was mowed and generally flat.
Who: David M and friend David K, both 8 years old at the time.
The second witness moved away from the area about one year after the sighting. I am currently working to find this individual through a few leads the witness supplied.
What Happened: The witness was hosting his friend for an overnight stay. In the middle of the night the youth went to the kitchen to get a snack. As they proceeded through the house they were turning on lights. A pole style lamp in the living room located adjacent to a picture window of 6' x 5', cast light into the back yard. The witness looked outside as motion caught their eyes and spotted an unknown creature striding across the yard. The creature moved away from the light at an easy gait. They were able to see it take four to five strides until it was out of range of the light. At one point the creature turned its' torso to look at the house. For most of the sighting the creature was less than 30 feet away. No smell or sounds were noticed during the encounter.
Appearance of the Creature: The witness stated that the creature was dark brown in color with a uniform hair length of four to six inches. He states the color and texture of the hair reminded him of musk ox. The face was darker than the rest of the creature. He stated the hair was shorter on the face but only has an impression of seeing the face below the nose (lips and chin) and remembers that area being large and protruding. Based upon a tree that was 15 feet in height, the witness estimated a height of eight to nine feet as it stood well over 1/2 the height of the tree. As the creature strode away, its arms swung and reached about or just below knee level. A weight estimate of 600 pounds was given, his impression was of a healthy creature describing it as being in its' prime.
Physical Evidence Found: The witness states they fled back to his bedroom, leaving the lights on and spending a sleepless night. In the morning, he states that they went out to the area of the yard, did not discover any tracks but did find spots where the grass was heavily matted. He further stated he was unable to jump from one matted spot to the next.
Impact Upon Witness: He reports that he first was dumbfounded, but not scared because it was walking away. His first thought was of a man in a gorilla suit, but realized it was too late and too large to be a person. He said he then became scared and fled back to the bedroom. He further states that he did not tell his parents as he did not want them to think he was nuts, he slept with a light on for several weeks and did not go outside after dark for a very long time.
The following report was sent to me via e-mail on June 26'th, 2000 from a Licking county, Ohio resident. Names, exact locations and places have been left out for obvious reasons.
"Strangely enough I live with-in a few miles of an area that my dad had an experience while working for the Licking county sheriff department back in the early 70's. Apparently two girls were walking across a field when a large hairy creature stood up from under an old combine. It looked at them, walked to a fence, pushed it down then stepped across and vanished into the woods. Dad was on patrol and since he did the Fallsburg area got the call. He said that it was pretty obvious that something large had been bedded down under the combine and I believe he even collected hair from the bed and where it crossed the fence (that would have to be verified by him.) The one girl was quite upset and was sent on to the hospital while the other related the story.
Phil Brocco sent the following report in. It deals with a sighting from the Mogadore Reservoir vicinity of northeast Ohio.
Today, I finally had a talk with one of my friends that had the encounter of seeing Bigfoot, East of Mogadore Reservoir back in the 70's. She really couldn't think in detail what year it was but she said she was about 12 years old and she's about 36. I asked her a couple questions and it had the same story as most encounters. She said it ran almost as fast as her Horse. At first she had a feeling something was watching her and then they smelled something fowl, they saw it just staring, just standing still and when they got too close it ran off. The Horses got spooked and she held on for dear life. I thought she got thrown off but she was able to stay on the Horse. Later she said she smelled the same smell coming by the barn but didn't see anything.
I saw a bigfoot standing on my parents back porch, it was approx 8 ft tall and a male. It was reaching for the patio door with its back towards me. I was looking out my bedroom window...which faced onto the patio. It was a full moon as I saw the thing, was grayish almost silver...shining in the moonlight. It turned and faced me and looked right at me...its eyes were not glowing, but light bluish and lit up...I could hardly move or take my eyes off of it.
I went into the bathroom, next to my room and looked out at where it was standing...and it was gone. I have told several people about this and...well, you can imagine...they think I am crazy. I know what I saw and I will never forget it. I was 16 at the time.
This was in Medina, Ohio on the outskirts of town. I have read about sightings, near there and some people actually said the thing was a gray color. I was awake, not asleep, and sober. It scared the hell outta me.
I have to add some detail to my story. The reason I know approx. how tall it was...it was standing next to the sliding glass door (standard size and height doors). There is a step down which is about 8 inches drop. It was taller than the doors, plus the step down.
What was really odd, it was reaching for the door on the left side. You opened the door from the right. It had it’s back to me, and slowly turned around and looked right at me. I knew it was a male because it had a bulge where it’s privates would be...I did not see a penis as such, just a bulge, and so I figured it was a male.
The eyes were like I said not throwing off light, but they were lit up... light blue like a sky blue.... emitting light, not reflecting it. After it saw me, it did not move again at all.
I was really scared, I managed to go into the bathroom (next to my room )that also looked out onto the patio. There was a window too in the bathroom, I looked out again and it was gone. Just a matter of seconds that it took me to go in bathroom.
It was very dark in my folks back yard, but the moon was giving off light that night. This thing had silver, gray hair and face. Long arms like a gorilla. Shorter hair than you see on other bigfoot pictures. And it was hairy all over.
I have come to the conclusion that they are either in another dimension or some kind of alien being. And only certain people can see them for whatever reason. Trust me, I saw this just like I am telling you.
I saw that one and never saw one again.
Submitted on April 28th, 2005 via web form...
Around '73, my brothers had gone for a hike to one of the hills south west of our house. It was about a quarter of a mile up blue valley road south of geneva hills church camp. They came into the house all excited for me to come and see something they'd found. Two of them were older and one younger than I. I went up there with them as they wanted to know what I thought about what they'd found. There not far into the woods was a small stream running down the crown of the hill, it was around June, the weather clear and it was a sunny day.
We traveled up the farmer's dirt access road to where it came to an end in a small cattle pasture at the top. We took a well trodden path into the woods which were fairly clear of underbrush. Along the small creek was a construction of limbs, torn clothing, animal remains and various junk which was strewn about. It stunk like a mix between a big wet dog, something big and dead and a skunk. It looked every bit like a nest of some sort which had been lined with the scraps of clothes which were torn to shreds. We looked all over for any sign of a dead animal or anything else that might be dead. They were all acting very scared and were pale.
We heard something large moving from time to time at a distance so we moved back to the trail. We walked slowly back towards the tree line. I heard something large snap a twig underfoot very close to where i stood on the path. I got my brothers to go a little way up the path and look out towards the entrance of the woods and tell me if they saw anything. As I was standing there I heard the snap again and knew it was very close to me. My oldest brother heard it too and begged me to come along with them. I told him to make sure it was ok first. I looked to my right where I'd heard the sounds and saw something intermingled within a big bush. I was watching with my peripheral vision to see if I saw it move without it knowing that I'd seen it. I saw it move and this time i saw the size of it. It was behind the bush which I could see through. I turned slowly like I was just looking around the area while watching it from my peripheral vision the whole time. I didn't look at it directly but then I did and I felt my breath stop. It was looking right at me. It appeared to be a juvenile from it's unsteadiness and it seemed as curious about me as I was about it. It's eyes looked every bit human and sentient like a being who made decisions like we did. I cannot explain why it didn't appear to be completely solid in form but yet it was there.
I could smell it alright and hear it's breathing. I looked back at my oldest brother who asked me what I'd seen and did I need help. I told him to stay put and not run off from me and I was going to walk slowly towards him. I did so and as we reached the edge of the woods I ran like hell as far as I could. They saw me fly past them and gave chase while yelling to me to tell them what was wrong. They kept looking behind them as I was doing the same thing. They made me sit down and rest as I had trouble talking. I told them we had to leave now. They said we'd all stick together and walk down that lane back to the main road. The rest of the walk was farm fields but they still kept a lookout. When we got home they all watched me for a time and my older brother got the others to leave. He asked me what I'd seen and said he knew I'd seen something bad. I told him I didn't know what it was that I'd never seen anything like it before. I told him it was like a man but hairy all over with human looking eyes and was squatting behind that bush. He turned white and said it was the same thing he'd seen though from a distance. He asked me if I could see through it and when I told him I could he nearly choked. I knew he'd seen it too and told him to tell me. He said they'd been back there before coming to get me and did so because he'd seen it. He didn't trust his eyes only but came and got me because I had very good eyesight in the woods. I chewed him out for not telling me what it was about but then he said he couldn't or he might think he was nuts himself. He had to know if what he'd seen was real and so that's when they came to get me to go with them.
NAME... Kenneth Holycross
COUNTY OF INCIDENT... Marion
DATE... 1975 or 1976
TIME... 10 or 11 p.m.
WITNESS... Myself (Mr. Holycross)
LOCATION OF INCIDENT... Behind my house on the Erie Lackawana railroad tracks in Marion, Ohio.
TERRAIN... A good bit of wooded areas. It was very very hard to get through at the time. A good bit of it is still the same.
WEATHER... Very hot clear full moon lit night.
HOW CLOSE TO THE CREATURE... Between 50 to 100'.
HEIGHT... Six to seven feet.
COLOR... Dark in color.
WEIGHT... Between 350 and 400 pounds.
DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED... It was a hot night so I went outside to get cool and watch the bats and other wild animals go through the yard. As I looked towards the tracks I spotted the animal walking right down the middle of the tracks. I sat there very quietly. I never moved or made a sound. I was more interested in what it was than scared. It walked to the south on the tracks and I do not think it saw me because it never looked my way and it never ran. I watched it until it was out of sight. It walked like a human but a lot bigger.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION... The strange thing was that all of a sudden it got very quiet, no coyotes howling, no dogs barking, no crickets chirping and no animals came around for a long time after it left.
"In 1976 I was 11 almost 12. We went camping every year at Atwood Lake around Dover in the Muskingum Watershed Conservatory district. Back then you could be 11 and go off on your own in the woods all day and no one worried. I was collecting butterflies and bugs for a collection I later donated to the nature center. I rode my bike but always left it at the bottom of the trail. I was so far back in the woods I even startled a pig. Wild or domestic I don't know, but I heard it squeal and run in front of me. I figured I startled it and kept up the trail. I have not told anyone in over 25 years what I saw that July day. I wasn't quite sure what I had seen either, but I know it smelled something very musty before I even saw it and it was covered in hair and very tall. Taller and larger than the average man even for an 11 year old. Its hair was dark and matted in spots. It stood upright and it was as if I had scared it. When I looked up I was about 40 or 50 feet away up the trail a little. Neither one of us moved. I remember walking backwards slowly and it just stared at me and I took faster bigger steps and went running down the hill, got on my bike and rode off as fast as I could. I was sure it would chase me but it didn't and I never looked back to see if it followed me.
I never went back there. I never told a soul until years later when I watched some footage and saw a real one for the first time on film. The people I told laughed at me and teased me about kidding. Since then I've just kept it to myself. I didn't tell my parents because I knew if I did I'd never get to go bug hunting again. I see that the Ohio Sasquatch is reported mostly red, but this one was dark almost black. I don't remember it's feet and I don't know if it was male or female, but what I saw was real. I noticed that there were no sightings in Muskingum County so again; I wonder if I'll be believed, but I did see something and the closest I've ever heard it described is a Sasquatch."
It was 5 a.m. in February of 1977. Geneva and her sister, Mary, were just north of Calias, Ohio in Noble county. It was a very hilly terrain with some farmland and lots of woods. It was a cold winter morning with light snow on the ground.
"My sister Mary and I were heading to work at an early morning hour driving northeast out of Calias, Ohio. My sister was lying back in the passenger seat when I noticed in my car headlights on the left hand side of the road the head of an animal in the creek bed. I said out loud 'what the heck is that?' My sister became aware that I was looking at something and started looking too. As I slowed down to see what it was, it came out of the creek bed on two legs and it ran right towards our car. It then ran along the side of the car for a few seconds. We noticed its brown shaggy hair all over its body and its immense size. Being very scared, we sped off as quickly as possible fearing the animal was going to jump on our car. When we told people what we had seen, they said all we saw was a horse or a large dog. We both know that whatever this thing was, it ran on two legs, had brown shaggy hair and was extremely large in size. It was not a bear or a person."
NAME... Kathy Sills
DATE OF INCIDENT... Fall of 1979
TIME... Appx. 2 o'clock a.m.
WITNESSES... Roger A. B. (my ex-husband) and myself (Kathy Sills)
LOCATION... State Route 205 appx. three miles from Jelloway (Knox county).
TERRAIN... Hilly location... is by an abandoned house where my cousin raises sheep.
WEATHER... Fall night... clear.
HOW CLOSE TO THE CREATURE... Appx. 10 feet
HEIGHT OF CREATURE... Crawling out of ditch, semi-standing. My guess is about 5 1/2 feet.
COLOR... Golden reddish.
WEIGHT... Appx. 150 pounds.
DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT... I was about 17 years old. Roger (my boyfriend at the time, my ex-husband now) and I had been to a square dance in Zanesville until midnight. We were on the way back to my parents home in Jelloway. We were traveling toward Jelloway on S.R. 205 and the very sharp turn where my cousin owns property as stated above where he raises sheep. Roger slowed down to negotiate the curve which put us at about 20 m.p.h. At this time we both saw something crawling out of the left hand ditch. I kinda screamed and my first thought was that it was an old man who had had a wreck and was just getting out onto the road. A second look instantly told me otherwise. It looked like it had sort of a mane type fur around its face and its face was sorta concave looking. Its eyes were sorta slit-like but shined in the car headlights and it stopped like it had been startled by us and just watched as we passed. It looked human-like in form with what appeared to be a smooth "coat" of golden, reddish brown fur.
When it had been crawling out of the ditch I thought it was a man because of the way the arms were jointed, not like that of an animal but like a human.
Roger wanted to go to another cousins who lived at the next house about 1/2 mile away, but I said "NO, take me home!" We went to my house and immediately woke mom and dad up and told them the whole story. Mom asked the cousin who owns the sheep if he had ever seen anything strange when he was there and told him the story and he just thought it was funny.
I DO NOT THINK IT WAS FUNNY!
I still travel that same road to visit my mom and every time we pass what I call "creep corner" my doors are locked and I get through there as soon as possible. I am scared and the goose bumps rise on my arms the most, because we were so close to whatever that was and it definitely saw us.