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534 encounters
2 July 1980 Lake County, Florida Class A #725

Large tracks found investigated by Federal authorities

A contractor doing roadwork found about half a dozen large footlike prints near a bulldozer in a remote part of the Ocala National Forest. Law enforcement and forestry personnel made casts of the prints, described as 17 inches long with an arch, five toes and a four-foot stride. Most investigators viewed the prints as a possible hoax but ordered casts because of lingering doubt.

Tracks
July 1980 NAPLES, Collier County, Florida Class B #13889

Man describes incidents in teen years in swamp area outside Naples

The witness and two companions were exploring a swampy wooded area when they found a large steel cage trap baited with fresh meat. After noticing a foul musty odor, they heard a very loud roar from behind them and fled as a large log flew over their heads. They ran home to tell the witness's mother and stayed out of those woods for a long time.

VocalizationObject throwingOdor
30 June 1980 Pittman, Lake County, Florida Class B #5510

Man finds and casts large footprints after hearing of sighting

After hearing about a reported sighting, the witness went with a companion the next morning to the described location to look for footprints. They found large footprints crossing a sandy road from a clear-cut area into a swamp, noted a long stride, depth, and disturbed tree blossoms, and made plaster casts. No creature was seen during this visit.

Tracks
Spring 1980 Orlando, Orange County, Florida Class A #1275

Bigfoot rips door off of home. Witness has to flee from home

Late one night the witness was sitting on the porch at home alone with a dog when something was heard breaking through brush. The witness went inside for a rifle, heard the thing move to the back of the house and try the door, then fled through an orange grove, fell into a swamp and lost the rifle. After looking back and seeing a creature, the witness reached the road and got help, and friends later found the back door torn off.

Partial sightingUnidentified soundDoor or window contactProperty disturbanceOdor
1980–1981 Lady Lake, Lake County, Florida Class B #13976

Possible tracks and sounds outside a home near Lady Lake

As a child staying at a relative's house near lakes and woods, the witness heard growling, snorting and footsteps outside a bedroom window late at night and stayed in bed frightened. The noises lasted several minutes. The next morning the witness found two very large human-like bare footprints in a sand pile in the driveway and measured them, but relatives dismissed them. The witness now interprets the incident as involving a bigfoot.

GrowlVocalizationFootstepsTracks
1980–1989 Geneva, Alabama, Holmes County, Florida Class A #9545

Motorist has morning sighting on road outside Sweet Gum Head

The witness was driving home from a night shift in the morning when she saw a very tall dark figure ahead on the road. The figure crossed the road and walked straight into thick woods as she approached. As she got closer she realized it was completely covered in medium brown hair and about seven feet tall, which frightened her and she drove on. She avoided the route for a time but later resumed using it without further sightings.

Full-body sightingRoad crossing
August 1979 Ochopee, Collier County, Florida Class A #7205

Morning sighting by carpenter crew near Ochopee

A work crew waiting on the roof of a house in early daylight watched a tall hairy figure come out of the basement and walk upright toward nearby trees. The figure then squatted about 40 yards away facing the crew without sound before standing, looking west, and vanishing within a few steps. The crew later noted a foul odor and a makeshift sleeping spot of clothes, rags, weeds and fur under the basement stairs.

Full-body sightingOdor
Fall 1979 Dunnellon, Marion County, Florida Class B #7692

Possible brush nest, tracks, smell, noticed by DeMolay teens visiting rural home Dunellon

Three teenagers walked down a dirt road at night to take time-exposure photos of stars away from house lights. They noticed a strong foul odor and an unusual silence, became frightened, and ran back to the house. The next morning they returned and found an area of flattened brush and a very large footprint in damp soil nearby, which they photographed in black-and-white before having to leave.

OdorTracksStructure or nest
July 1978 Jupiter, Martin County, Florida Class A #5369

Man recalls childhood evening encounter in Johnathon Dickenson State Park

The witness was camping with family and jogged alone to an observation tower in the evening. After resting on top, the witness climbed down, slipped and landed noisily in brush. A hair-covered animal about 25 yards away raised its head, stared briefly, then ran across the clearing, rising to two legs before crossing the road and vanishing into woods. The witness ran back to camp, where family dismissed the account.

Full-body sightingRoad crossing
January 1978 Brewster, Polk County, Florida Class A #24032

Multiple witness motorist sighting in daylight at the edge of the Alafia River

On New Year's morning in 1978 the witness was riding as a passenger south on Highway 37 over the Alafia River when she saw a large hairy figure squatting at the water's edge splashing water. She got out at the bridge rail for a closer look; the figure looked up, stood, briefly faced her, then climbed the bank into the woods. Her sister, the driver, saw it as it entered the woods, after which they left in the car.

Full-body sighting
Summer 1978 Hudson, Pasco County, Florida Class B #7627

Man recalls childhood encounter near Hudson

On a summer night the witness and a young relative awoke in their shared bedroom and saw a dark figure looking down through a small high window, noticing glowing red eyes. Both remained motionless from fear until the figure left.

Partial sightingEyeshine
1978 Miami, Florida #3ce4c404-9e20-4586-bf2d-352367434e4c

Movement only near Miami, Florida (1978)

A young pilot with two passengers flew a small Cessna from the Miami area toward the Bahamas and entered a tunnel-like cloud. The plane emerged over Cuba, landed on a road, took off again, and later crash-landed farther in the Bahamas. The pilot died but the two passengers survived to describe the tunnel and fog.

Movement only
15 November 1977 Marion County, Florida Class A #728

a close-range, daytime sighting by a 67-year-old Baptist minister

A minister cutting wood with a chain saw in a national forest noticed an upright, hairy creature standing in palmetto bushes and watched it for about 30 seconds. The creature was described as very tall with dark hair on the head and chest, little hair on the arms, none on the face, with a flat face and nose and sunken eyes. The witness went back to a truck to get an ax, but the creature had disappeared upon return.

Full-body sighting
November 1977 Naranja Near Homestead Fla., Dade County, Florida Class A #21951

Man describes figure looking into window outside Homestead

In fall 1977 a teen woke just before sunrise and looked out his screened window, exchanging grunts with something outside that made the screen vibrate. He and his father then went outside and watched a very large hair-covered creature near the woods that faced them before running into the woods, breaking two small pines as it left. The next day a neighbor reported seeing the creature as well.

Full-body sightingVocalizationTree break
5 October 1977 Marion County, Florida Class A #726

A hitchhiker reports seeing a bigfoot in a forested area off U.S. 441

A hitchhiker reported encountering a Bigfoot-like creature in a lightly wooded area south of Belleview in darkness. The creature was described as taller than the six-foot witness, brown and black in color, with a horrible garbage-like odor. The account comes from a 1977 newspaper article which notes the sighting was not substantiated.

Partial sightingOdor
October 1977 Palm Harbor, Pinellas County, Florida Class A #47378

Memory told of a close nighttime encounter while hunting rabbits in a rural backyard near Palm Harbor

Late one night the witness and his father turned on yard floodlights to shoot rabbits. The witness saw a stocky fur-covered biped rise from a crouch near the treeline about 30 yards away and stride rapidly into the pine forest with its head tilted to the left. The father, facing the opposite way, only heard loud crashing exit sounds, and both later heard distant hunting dogs barking in an unusually agitated way.

Full-body sightingFootsteps
November 1975 Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida Class A #16683

Daylight sighting at edge of woods near fishing hole outside Jacksonville

The witness had carried fishing gear to a creek and walked back to the parked car for more equipment when footsteps in the woods stopped. He turned toward the sound and saw a tall hair-covered figure at the woods edge pushing a branch aside. He called to two companions at the fishing spot, and when he looked back the figure was gone as loud footfalls moved rapidly away through the woods.

Partial sightingFootsteps
20 June 1975 Redland, Dade County, Florida Class A #49084

Memory told of a 'Hairy Man' crossing Hwy. 27 north of Homestead

Late at night in June, the witness was driving south on a dark two-lane highway through swampland with three children asleep in the back. She saw a large hair-covered figure come up from a roadside canal, stand on two legs and cross in front of her car. She slowed to almost a stop and watched it at very close range as it turned toward her before walking into the canal, then woke the children to tell them.

Full-body sightingRoad crossing
15 January 1975 Coral Springs, Broward County, Florida Class A #592

Two witnesses observed a large, black-brown human-like form between Wiles Rd. and Sample Rd

The witness and a relative were playing in a vacant lot across a narrow canal from a wooded area with a dirt-bike trail. They heard grunting and movement in bushes beside a large tree and saw a large black-brown human-like figure near the tree. The figure reportedly snapped a thick branch at its base with ease, then ran into the woods knocking down small trees.

Full-body sightingVocalizationTree breakMovement only
Fall 1975 Everglade City, Collier County, Florida Class B #14271

Possible tracks noticed by hunters in the Everglades outside Everglades City

The witness was hunting with five relatives and family friends in a remote part of the Everglades in the fall. About an hour into the evening hunt, the group found large footprints in mud at a dried water hole near a tree line, with disturbed brush beyond. The group left the area soon after, ending the trip. The witness later interpreted the tracks as those of a skunk ape.

Tracks