Class A First-hand BFRO #16970

Fly fisherman recalls daylight sighting of a shaggy light haired creature on all-fours in the Cherokee National Forest

March 1987 between 9 and 10 am Robbinsville, Monroe County, Tennessee 2 witnesses

Account

Two companions hiking toward a creek to fly-fish watched a large whitish animal cross the trail about 50 yards ahead and remain visible for several seconds while moving on all fours. It was described as bear-sized with shaggy light hair, a flat sparsely haired face with no muzzle or visible ears, and very long legs. Shortly afterward limbs in a nearby tree shook vigorously, but the animal was not seen again.

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: 3 feet to underside of belly
Build src: size of a large bear, at least 300 lbs
Hair colour src: mostly white or off white with darker patches
Hair length src: shaggy, shaggier than a bear
Face src: flat with very little hair
Legs src: very long
Gait src: trotting / loping on all fours
Posture src: on all fours
Other features src: no muzzle, no ears showing

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date	March 1987 Stated BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month
Time of day	between 9 and 10 am Stated BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, “Follow-Up” section
Place	Robbinsville, Monroe County, Tennessee Stated BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details, Nearest Road
Map point	35.35, -84.05 (± 1000 m) Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence BFRO map layer point for report 16970 (4 decimals, no boundary)
Account type	First-hand Stated BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses	2 Stated BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Figures reported	1 Derived BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, “Observed” section · read with 85% confidence
Witness was	hiking to go fly fishing Stated BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it	some kind of animal Stated BFRO report #16970 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification	Class A Stated BFRO report #16970 · 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 spoke with the witness to document details and judged the witness credible and knowledgeable.

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 #16970 Primary

Published 2006-12-15 Retrieved 2026-09-25 Version 1 Hash 8cccc4dd9338

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
BFRO map layer Reference

Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization