YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 1

STATE: Illinois

COUNTY: Madison County

NEAREST TOWN: Edwardsville

NEAREST ROAD: I-55

OBSERVED: I had just gotten my son down to sleep. It was 1 o'clock in the morning. He sleeps in the back bedroom. I happened to walk by the window in the hallway because I had to go to the bathroom. For some reason I heard a cough. It sounded like somebody clearing their throat. I had just put the pool down. We have one of those quick set ring pools that you blow up for my son. I just took it down and it was drying off, I thought somebody was out there looking at it or messing with it. So I opened the blinds and looked. I didn't see anything right off the bat.

But then I saw something between the woods and my shed. It was just standing there and it was big. The head looked huge. So I ran upstairs and got my night vision. When I kicked that night vision on I could see every detail. It was staring up in the trees. He was at least eight and a half foot tall. He was about 40 yards from the window. He looked gray in color.

It looked like a really big human. If people want to know what the face looks like, if you put this guy in a Viking movie with a horned helmet on people would say he was a Viking, that's how human looking he was. He had really sunken eyes. But he was just looking up in the trees.

And then I heard somebody's radio down at the parking lot of the bike trail. It was pretty amazing. I was watching him and thinking "He's hanging out there because he's waiting for people to leave." Nobody could see him there, and the only reason I did is because I was walking by the window and saw something in my yard that is not normally there.

I even went to wake my wife and have her see too, but he was gone.

OTHER WITNESSES: None

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 1 a.m.

ENVIRONMENT: Mixed fields and woods.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I met with the witness and visited his home.

In summary:

• The animal was about eight and a half feet tall.
• The animal was very muscular.
• The animals weight was 400 to 450 lbs.
• The animal appeared gray through night vision.
• Distance from the house was 40 yards.

About BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

Stan Courtney has a special interest in wildlife audio recording. He has attended numerous BFRO Expeditions. See Stan's blog StanCourtney.com for recordings he has collected over the years.

Stan Courtney can be reached at [email protected]