Class A First-hand BFRO #16294

Mushroom hunter has early morning sighting near Festus

April 1999 5:30 A.M. Festus, Jefferson County, Missouri 1 witness

Account

The witness was driving east in the early morning to go mushroom hunting when a large dark hairy animal crossed the road toward a cedar thicket. The animal was estimated at six feet tall, with heavy shoulders and a human-like walk with swinging arms, then hurried and ran into cover. The witness stopped with the engine off to listen, heard nothing, then continued on and avoided stopping at the crossing site on the way home.

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.

Described appearance

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

Height src
6 foot est.
Build src
heavy shoulders, real muscular on the top part of the body
Hair colour src
more black than anything else
Hair length src
not really all that long
Arms src
a little longer than a human's, swinging as he walked
Gait src
walked almost like a human would walk
Age / size src
large
Other features src
hairy and dark

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date
April 1999
Stated BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month
Time of day
5:30 A.M.
Stated BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, “Time And Conditions” section
Place
Festus, Jefferson County, Missouri
Stated BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details, Nearest Road
Map point
38.23, -90.39 (± 1000 m)
Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence
BFRO map layer point for report 16294 with published boundary
Account type
First-hand
Stated BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses
1
Stated BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Figures reported
1
Derived BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness was
driving to go mushroom hunting
Stated BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it
a large hump shoulderd black animal
Stated BFRO report #16294 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification
Class A
Stated BFRO report #16294 · 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
Tony Gerard (BFRO)
Follow-up

An investigator spoke with the witness by phone and recorded additional distance and appearance 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.

  1. Published 2006-10-17 Retrieved 2026-09-25 Version 1 Hash fda7e2c121a1
    BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
  2. BFRO map layer Reference
    Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7
    BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

The report refers to