Class A First-hand BFRO #37522

Homeowner recalls night time sighting in NW Decatur

1 January 1980 around 3:00 am Decatur, Macon County, Illinois 1 witness

Account

Late at night the witness stood at an upstairs window watching barking dogs when a very large fur-covered figure crossed the backyard clearing. The figure paused, turned and looked up at the witness for nearly a minute before continuing downhill, ducking under tree branches and disappearing from view as the dogs fell silent. At daylight the dogs were unharmed and no physical traces were found on the frozen ground.

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

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 eight and a half feet tall
Build src: big, muscular and broad shouldered
Hair colour src: lighter greyish or beige
Face src: more human than ape, no fur on it
Gait src: smooth and unhurried
Posture src: had to duck UNDER some apple tree branches
Age / size src: very large
Clothing src: none, ALL fur

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date	1 January 1980 Stated BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month, Date
Time of day	around 3:00 am Stated BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, “Time And Conditions” section
Place	Decatur, Macon County, Illinois Stated BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details, Nearest Road
Map point	39.87, -88.98 (± 1000 m) Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence BFRO map layer point for report 37522 (4 decimals, no boundary)
Account type	First-hand Stated BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses	1 Derived BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Figures reported	1 Stated BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness was	standing at upstairs window watching barking dogs Stated BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it	very large 'thing' Stated BFRO report #37522 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification	Class A Stated BFRO report #37522 · 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 summarized additional details.

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 #37522 Primary

Published 2012-11-19 Retrieved 2026-09-25 Version 1 Hash 6eb760c37f51

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
BFRO map layer Reference

Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

The report refers to

“another sighting occurred near the same area previously”
Not in the Anomadex yet