Class A First-hand BFRO #8717

Snowmobilers have daylight sighting near Ashburnham

17 December 1977 about 4 p.m. Ashburnham, Worcester County, Massachusetts 2 witnesses

Account

In December 1977 the witness and a companion were riding a snowmobile on a fire road near a swamp to a cabin. When they turned the sled around, the witness saw a large dark hair-covered biped cross the road in front of them in about two steps, swinging its arms. The creature looked at them, then quickened its pace into the woods.

Summary drafted by AI from the source report and checked by code before I publish it. The witness's own words remain with the publisher — read the original report .

What was reported

Every kind of observation in the account. Select one to find other encounters with it.

Sightings

Full-body sighting Road crossing

Described appearance

In the source's own words, field by field. Hover a field's marker to see where it was read.

Height src: about 7 to 9 ft high
Build src: huge, about 400 to 500 pounds
Hair colour src: black
Arms src: very long arms that hung down close to knees, swung when walking
Gait src: walked on two legs like a human, arms swinging, crossed road in two steps
Posture src: bipedal, upright like a human
Other features src: appeared to have little to no neck

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date	17 December 1977 Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month, Date
Time of day	about 4 p.m. Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Place	Ashburnham, Worcester County, Massachusetts Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details, Nearest Road
Map point	42.67, -71.90 (± 1000 m) Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence BFRO map layer point for report 8717 (4 decimals, no boundary)
Account type	First-hand Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses	2 Derived BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Figures reported	1 Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness was	riding snowmobile with sled, taking turns driving Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Witness's word for it	this creature Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification	Class A Stated BFRO report #8717 · BFRO classification label

Evidence & investigation

What the source says was found or done. Claimed evidence is listed as claimed; the Anomadex has not examined it.

Investigated by: Stan Courtney (BFRO)

Follow-up

An investigator spoke with the witness by phone and recorded additional details about the sighting.

BFRO report, “Follow-Up” section

Source timeline

Every record this entry is built from, earliest known first. Records are versioned and never edited in place.

BFRO report #8717 Primary

Published 2004-05-20 Retrieved 2026-09-25 Version 1 Hash c1fb451d1089

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
BFRO map layer Reference

Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization