Class A First-hand BFRO #9197

Motorist surprises animal crossing freeway

BFRO YEAR: about 1980 about 10 p.m. Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington 1 witness

Account

About 25 years ago on a summer night, the witness was driving north on I-5 south of Bellingham when an animal ran across the freeway from left to right. He swerved to avoid it and saw it in the headlights running on all fours, noting reddish fur, a higher shoulder line, and a flat ape-like face with large eyes. He first thought it was a large dog then a young bear before concluding its face did not match either. He did not stop, and his passenger slept through the incident.

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 3 ft from ground to top of back; around 4 ft on all fours, 6-6.5 feet if standing upright
Build src: slim build; size of a small bear
Hair colour src: reddish / reddish-copper
Hair length src: short
Face src: flat face with no snout, ape-type face
Eyes src: big eyes / big eye sockets like a gorilla
Gait src: running on all fours
Posture src: on all fours, quadrupedal
Other features src: shoulders higher than hips; about 5 1/2 ft in length; round head shape; no ears recalled

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Time of day	about 10 p.m. Stated BFRO report #9197 · BFRO report, “Time And Conditions” section
Place	Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington Stated BFRO report #9197 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details, Nearest Road
Map point	48.69, -122.41 (± 1000 m) Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence BFRO map layer point for report 9197 with published boundary
Account type	First-hand Stated BFRO report #9197 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses	1 Stated BFRO report #9197 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Figures reported	1 Stated BFRO report #9197 · BFRO report, “Follow-Up” section
Witness was	driving north on the freeway Stated BFRO report #9197 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it	something running across the freeway Stated BFRO report #9197 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification	Class A Stated BFRO report #9197 · 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.

Follow-up

An investigator interviewed the witness about details and spoke with a relative about regional beliefs.

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 #9197 Primary

Published 2004-08-20 Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash 7390b86e62ea

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
BFRO map layer Reference

Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization