Search results

2,771 encounters
BFRO YEAR: 62 or 63 Manistee, Manistee County, Michigan Class B #30089

Memory told of a possible encounter while deer hunting east of Manistee

The witness was deer hunting alone in a swamp in late November when he heard an unfamiliar loud scream to the north followed by a loud branch breaking. He became uneasy and walked out to his car while watching behind him. Near his car he noticed a broad, roughly 8-foot-tall bipedal form standing about 35 yards away behind dense cover, which he believed had followed him. He left with a handgun ready and avoided hunting the swamp for several years.

ScreamTree breakPartial sightingSilhouetteAnimal behaviour
BFRO YEAR: 85-present Whittemore, Iosco County, Michigan Class B #14854

Possible ongoing activity outside Whittemore

The witness reports recurring nighttime activity over many years at her parents' wooded property. She and others hear footsteps pacing them along the tree line, loud crashing movement, screeching sounds and cracking noises, often accompanied by a strange smell. Family members and visitors have also reported red eyeshine and ape-like figures, and large footprints were found in snow. An investigator later visited, interviewed family members and noted unusual stick and vegetation features in the woods.

FootstepsScreamUnidentified soundMovement onlyOdor
BFRO YEAR: 1988? - 2003 National City, Iosco County, Michigan Class B #42418

Former Michigan native recalls possible activity near National City

When the witness was about nine, she was walking with an older neighbor girl in the back portion of family property. Something nearby growled loudly at them, and after they walked about 200 feet into the front pasture it growled and shrieked again. The companion looked, exclaimed, then grabbed the witness and ran with her to the house. The witness never learned what the companion may have seen, and the companion never walked there with her again.

GrowlScream
BFRO YEAR: Late 60's Iron River/Crystal Falls, Iron County, Michigan Class B #29549

Memory told of a possible daylight sighting while driving deer on a farm east of Iron River

In the late 1960s, the witness was stationed at a fence corner during a family deer drive on fenced farm land. He reported seeing a large hairy figure step over a four-foot barbed-wire fence from the west and then over a second fence to the north. The rest of the hunting party later emerged from the woods behind it, and the witness maintained the same account into adulthood.

Full-body sighting
BFRO YEAR: 2008, 2009 Jackson, Fife Lake, Grand Traverse County, Michigan Class B #32976

Possible daylight sighting by a mountain biker in the Pere Marquette State Forest

The witness was mountain biking on a game trail in thick forest when he stopped in a clear-cut opening to repair a flat front tire. A loud thump came from a burnt-out RV about 50-60 yards away, and he saw a large jet-black furred head appear in a broken window about six feet off the ground. The head tilted slowly to the side as he remounted his bike, and he rode back to his cabin using GPS. He reported smelling a pungent odor at the site and again outside his cabin the next morning, which he interpreted as the animal having followed him.

Partial sightingOdorUnidentified sound
BFRO YEAR: Maybe 1974 Stevensville, Berrien County, Michigan Class B #7386

Observer hears scream changing to low "demonic" chuckle

The witness was awake alone on the living room couch late at night while younger siblings slept. A very loud, close howling scream outside the window shifted into a gurgling laugh-like sound lasting about 10 seconds and did not repeat. After waiting, the witness searched outside in fresh snow but found the snow totally undisturbed with no tracks to indicate the source.

ScreamVocalization
BFRO YEAR: 1989/90 Bluffton, Wells County, Indiana Class B #15926

Possible vocalization/intimidation at Ouabache State Park

The witness, on duty overnight at a park gate, heard a loud terrifying scream from about 250 yards away accompanied by the sound of a large tree snapping and falling. After waiting about 45 minutes in the booth, the witness walked to the same spot and heard another scream from about 50 yards away, then stayed in the booth until daylight. A search of the immediate woods the next morning found nothing unusual.

ScreamTree break
BFRO YEAR: 84 to 86 Atwood, Piatt County, Illinois Class B #47469

Memory told of possible vocalizations and footprints found near Atwood

On a winter evening around 10 p.m., the witness opened the door to let a dog out and heard an immense scream-howl from just north of the house. The sound felt like a physical impact and frightened the dog so it would not go outside. The witness's mother also heard the vocalization from inside the house.

HowlScream
BFRO YEAR: 2000(?) Ste. Marie, Jasper County, Illinois Class B #10879

Mushroom hunters find series of large footprints near Ste. Marie

The witness and a companion were mushroom hunting when they found about ten barefoot-like prints crossing a muddy stretch of a mostly dry creek. The prints appeared to enter from water on one side and exit into water on the other, heading east toward a nearby river. The witness felt no barefoot person should have been in that remote bottoms area and no photos were taken before rain.

Tracks
BFRO YEAR: 1998 & 1999 Edgewater, Volusia County, Florida Class B #747

1. loud vocalization sounds woke sleeping couple. 2. family dog found injured

In the fall of 1998 two witnesses were asleep at home when they were awakened around 10 p.m. by two extremely loud vocalizations, first a growl and then a rising scream that felt as if it was inside the room. Their two dogs were too frightened to move, and a check outside found nothing.

GrowlScream
BFRO YEAR: 2002; 2007 Hosford, Wakulla County, Florida Class B #67296

Vocalizations heard and nests found in remote part of Ochlockonee River bottom

Around 2002 the witness was hunting alone from a tree stand in river-bottom woods during an afternoon hunt. After a prolonged silence and faint squabbling sounds, just after dark he heard a loud piercing call immediately followed by a deep prolonged growl, repeated three times at closer range while a deer moved past. He called out, scanned with lights with his rifle ready, saw nothing, then left quickly when a boat arrived.

VocalizationGrowl
BFRO YEAR: 1979 or 80 East Of Lakeland, Polk County, Florida Class B #1608

Noise, like wood being banged against tree. Tracks found

The witness was on a trail on a sunny hot afternoon when a loud impact like a large stick hitting a large tree trunk was heard 20 to 30 yards off the trail. Tracks were later found in the area several weeks afterward. Two other witnesses were said to have been involved but would not come forward.

Wood knock
BFRO YEAR: 1985 86 Lakeland Fla, Polk County, Florida Class B #3918

Hunter has unexplained, late night encounter while in small boat on Saddle Creek

Late at night the witness paddled a small boat up a creek with two dogs and heard something following on the bank, then a loud blowing noise. The dogs refused to go ashore and later barked intensely. The witness shone a light and saw a large ape-like figure running away over a hill, then noticed a group of tracks while leaving. A skunk-like brassy odor was noted before the sighting.

Partial sightingTracksOdorUnidentified sound
BFRO YEAR: About 1995 Bartow, Polk County, Florida Class B #15310

Possible daylight sighting by fisherman near Bartow

The witness was fishing from a hilltop near a park in Bartow while companions checked lines. She noticed a dark, hairy form protruding chest-high from the water among reeds, seemingly staring at her. She stared back, testing the sighting by closing and averting her eyes, but when companions returned and she tried to point it out, it was gone.

Partial sighting
BFRO YEAR: 1993? Blackman, Okaloosa County, Florida Class B #24441

Man recounts his possible daytime sighting while bowhunting near Crestview

The witness was bowhunting alone from a tree stand overlooking a field in autumn. About 2000 feet away across the field, a very large bipedal figure emerged from the woods, passed in front of a large oak tree, and reentered the woods over about a minute. Its dark appearance and arm-swinging walk reminded the witness of well-known Bigfoot footage. No sound was heard at that distance, and the site could not be checked until after dark.

Full-body sighting
BFRO YEAR: 08 Baker Fl, Okaloosa County, Florida Class B #25037

Kayaker experiences frightening incidents while traveling down Yellow River

While kayaking a long stretch of river in northwest Florida near dusk, the witness heard moaning to yelling sounds and smelled a strong musky odor. Rocks were thrown from the treeline toward the water and near the kayak, while sticks and trees were heard breaking. The witness also heard coyotes and loud unidentified sounds suggesting animals fighting, felt followed for much of the trip, and never saw the source.

VocalizationOdorRock throwingUnidentified soundTree break +1
BFRO YEAR: 1975-76 North Key Largo, Monroe County, Florida Class B #24241

Family has a strange and terrifying encounter while fishing in the Everglades National Park

While night-fishing beside a canal in the Everglades with his parents as a young child, the witness heard something pacing back and forth in dense vegetation behind them. His father threw a piece of coral, shone a spotlight, and shouted, but the movement continued without any visible source or response. Frightened by the persistent, methodical pacing, the family fled in their car without breaking down their fishing rods.

FootstepsUnidentified soundMovement onlyAnimal behaviourPossible misidentification
BFRO YEAR: 1988-89? Greenville, Madison County, Florida Class B #32302

Memory told of a possible dusk sighting at a hunting camp near Greenville

A year after hearing loud growls in the same area, the witness and a companion were scouting without rifles. While driving and looking for wildlife, they stopped to watch an animal grazing at a distance that moved toward the companion on all fours. When the companion made noise, it stood upright on two legs, appearing tall with a light underside, before retreating into the woods.

Full-body sighting
BFRO YEAR: 1982/83 Lehigh Acres/Ft.Myers, Lee County, Florida Class B #13048

Scream Heard in a Cypress Swamp outside Ft. Myers

Around mid-summer 1982 or 1983, the witness and a companion were camping in a wet cypress swamp in Lee County after dark. After building a campfire, they heard a single deep, drawn-out scream from the swamp less than a mile away, after which insects went silent. They saw and smelled nothing, broke camp immediately and left on foot.

Scream
BFRO YEAR: 1971-72 Homestead, Dade County, Florida Class B #1719

Possible collision with vehicle outside Homestead

Early one Saturday morning in 1971 or 1972 the witness was driving south on US 27 when he stopped at a fresh single-car wreck with law enforcement present. He saw a car with a crushed front fender and overheard officers remark that no one could have walked away from such an impact and about a bear moving unusually. He did not see any animal himself but later heard a radio news report saying the driver claimed to have hit a Florida Skunk Ape that officers chased into a thicket.

Vehicle contact