Class A First-hand BFRO #20197

Nighttime sighting by motorist near Mt. Madonna Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains

October 1980 night, dark but hadn't been for long Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California 1 witness

Account

The witness was riding in a vehicle at night on a winding redwood highway toward Mt Madonna in early fall 1980 when the car rounded a turn. She claims she saw a huge brown hair-covered biped walking upright along the side of the road with its back to her. Her companion did not see the figure but recalls her frightened reaction, and they continued to their destination.

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

Described appearance

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

Height src
huge
Build src
extremely large
Hair colour src
brown
Gait src
walking just like a man
Posture src
with back to witness
Other features src
covered in brown hair from head to toe

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date
October 1980
Stated BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month
Time of day
night, dark but hadn't been for long
Stated BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, “Time And Conditions” section
Place
Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California
Stated BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details, Nearest Road
Map point
36.9236, -121.7724 (± 15 km)
Geocoded BFRO report #20197 · gazetteer:place · read with 50% confidence
Census 2023 Gazetteer centroid of Watsonville city (GEOID 0683668), matched from nearest town 'Watsonville'
Account type
First-hand
Stated BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses
1
Derived BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Figures reported
1
Stated BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness was
driving up Hecker Pass from Watsonville
Stated BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it
one of these sasquatch-bigfoot things
Stated BFRO report #20197 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification
Class A
Stated BFRO report #20197 · 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
Bart Cutino (BFRO)
Follow-up

An investigator spoke with the witness at a holiday party after she overheard discussion of the subject and encouraged her to report it.

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 2007-07-11 Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash 7ead26afd66c
    BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization