Class B First-hand BFRO #28678

Man recalls a possible up-close nighttime encounter on Gilchrist Island

March 1961 12:00 midnight Hernando City, Citrus County, Florida 1 witness

Account

Late at night while returning to his Boy Scout camp on an island, the witness took a shortcut through a clearing and approached what he thought was a stump to about six feet away. The shape stood on two legs revealing a broad, hair-covered bipedal figure that stared at him briefly before walking then running away through palmettos with loud crashing footsteps. He returned to camp frightened and was told by the adult leader to go back to sleep.

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 Silhouette

Sounds

Footsteps

Described appearance

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

Height src: 5-6 feet tall
Build src: 200-300 pounds, much broader, broad shoulders and chest
Hair length src: long
Face src: facial details not discernable
Eyes src: eyes not discernable
Arms src: very long and heavy, hung very low, twice as thick
Gait src: long, fast, heavy bipedal stride
Posture src: stood up on two legs, arms at sides
Other features src: completely covered with hair, no visible neck, rounded head top

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date	March 1961 Stated BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month
Time of day	12:00 midnight Stated BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, “Time And Conditions” section
Place	Hernando City, Citrus County, Florida Stated BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details, Nearest Road
Map point	28.91, -82.35 (± 1000 m) Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence BFRO map layer point for report 28678 (5 decimals, no boundary)
Account type	First-hand Stated BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses	1 Derived BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Figures reported	1 Derived BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness was	walking back to camp after evening constitutional Stated BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it	The creature Stated BFRO report #28678 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification	Class B Stated BFRO report #28678 · 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: Cathy Betz (BFRO)

Follow-up

An investigator spoke with the witness by phone for over an hour to record 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 #28678 Primary

Published 2011-01-04 Retrieved 2026-09-25 Version 1 Hash 355235f762b2

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
BFRO map layer Reference

Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization