YEAR: 1995

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: probably mid-month

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Clark County

LOCATION DETAILS: This incident occured on our rural, somewhat wooded lane, within sight of our house.

NEAREST TOWN: Yacolt

OBSERVED: As usual for my afternoon activity, I left the house to pick thimbleberries. I was approximately fifty yards away from the house, and had been devouring berries for no more than three minutes. It was then that an enormous creature stood up suddenly, from what I presume to have been a squatting position, from behind the hedge of thimbleberries, no more than three feet away from me.

Although I was only two years old at the time my memories of the incident remain quite clear. The creature was covered in thistly stark white fur. Its build consisted of exceptionly broad shoulders, long burly arms which dangled at its sides, and a waist easily twice as large I was. The whole appearence gave it a rather squarish appearence. For the three or so seconds that I remained there I stood petrified by how large the monster was.

I didn't look up to see the monster's face, but my peripheral vision told me that it had a humanish-shaped head and that it touched a twig on the tree behind it.

After those few second passed, I ran. I ran back to the house as fast as I could. I was terrified.

Looking back and wondering what it might have been, I was looking on Youtube watching various bigfoot documentaries when one showed a clip of a white creature very much similar to the one I had encounted many years ago. Only now do I know that what I had encounted was a sasquatch.

ALSO NOTICED: Various members of the family have had vaguely unsettling experiences in the woods/creek near our house over the years which might well point to a sasquatch's presence (sounds of large unseen animal moving slowly through the brush, bad smells, dogs freaking out, feeling of "the creeps" when out alone in the woods, etc.) but nothing as concrete as what [witness] saw. There are also numerous recorded sightings by others in this vicinity over the years.

OTHER WITNESSES: A note from [witness'] mom: While no one else in the family saw the animal that frightened him, I do well remember him running into the house, quite terrified and almost incoherent, saying he'd seen a "big white thing" on the other side of the bushes. We had, at the time, a white standard poodle named Charlie, and when I asked him if perhaps he'd just seen her instead, he denied it vehemently, exclaiming, "How could Charlie have got that big?!" I went out to see if I could find any trace of anything, but the ground was baked hard and there were no tracks of any sort. An acquaintance suggested a day or two later that I look for hair caught on a branch, which I did, but I found nothing. Less than a week later, a cougar was spotted in our neighbor's field, so I thought perhaps this was what my son had seen, or perhaps a deer, with bright sunlight shining on its fur, making it seem white.

While we couldn't determine what he actually saw, the effect on him was unmistakable. For days, he would not go out of the house. If we had to drive somewhere, he insisted that both my husband and myself held his hands while we went from the front door directly to the car, and even then, he was obviously spooked and nervous. Eventually he did go outside with his older siblings to play again, but it was many weeks before he'd venture out of the yard or go play alone.

This all happened when he was 2 1/2 years old, so he didn't have the vocabulary to fully describe his encounter, but there was no doubt that something traumatic had indeed taken place.

For years, we referred to this mysterious incident rather jokingly as "[Witness'] big white thing" and didn't think too much about it. Then, a few months ago, when an alleged bigfoot sighting on the east coast made the news, [witness] and I looked the subject up on your website and also looked at clips on you-tube. I still had not made the connection, and I don't know if [witness] had, either. But when we saw accounts of white sasquatches being spotted, I looked at [witness] and he looked at me, and I just let out an "Oh, my goodness!" I asked him to describe the incident for me again, what he remembered of it, now that he was older, to see if any light could be shed on it. I had always thought he saw an animal move past him on the other side of the bush, but he clarified that for me, saying, "No, Mom, it ROSE UP from the other side of the bush." This also struck a chord from what I later read on your website. He also says that, to this day, it remains the most terrifying thing he has ever encountered. He won't even watch bigfoot documentaries now because they bring back frightening memories. I also asked him if, at the time this happened, he had even heard of "bigfoot" or "sasquatch" and had any idea what was meant by these terms. He said he had, but his concept of bigfoot was a giant man, like Paul Bunyan. The fact that he didn't have any preconceived ideas about encountering a sasquatch as a tall, furry, thick-set animal just adds credence to his story, in my opinion.

OTHER STORIES: Some are listed on your own website. We're within a mile of Rotschy Road, where another young boy reported seeing a sasquatch some years back, and about a mile from the Yacolt little league field, where there was apparently another sighting. We had not known of these sightings previously, but many people who live up here in the north county have their own bigfoot stories to tell.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Sunny hot dry afternoon.

ENVIRONMENT: Ours is a gravel lane, lined (at the time) with thimbleberry bushes, vine maple, douglas fir, and other thick growth. At the time, our property was bordered on two sides with forest land. We are within easy walking distance of Cedar Creek.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Cliff Barackman:

I spoke to both the witness and his mother on the evening of 12/14/10. The witness' memory of the event is understandably vague, but interestingly, developmentally appropriate for the young age at which he saw the creature. He largely described shapes, colors, and feelings. When asked for details on anatomy, he had little to add. He did note that its arms hung to its sides and were big. He described the color as an ivory white, which could indicate an albino individual.

On a side note, the location of the sighting (Yacolt, WA) is rich with bigfoot history. The name "Yacolt" actually means the "place abounding in evil spirits," which seems to be a likely sasquatch reference.

About BFRO Investigator Cliff Barackman:

• Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music (Guitar) -- Cal. State Long Beach
• Professional educator with more than a decade of experience.
• Attended many public BFRO expeditions since 2005 (Redwoods, Sierras, Arizona, Southern California, Vancouver Island, Mendocino).
• Attended and/or led numerous non-public BFRO expeditions (CA: Bluff Creek, Blue Creek, Stanislaus NF; WA: Stevens Pass, Olympic Peninsula, Gifford Pinchot Nat'l Forest; Ohio: Beaver Creek; Florida: Green Swamp)
• Led the 2007 and 2008 California Sierra Nevadas Expedition (public), and the Oregon Expedition (public) in June 2008
• Can be reached at [email protected]

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