YEAR: 1969

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: 11/24/1969

STATE: West Virginia

COUNTY: Pocahontas County

LOCATION DETAILS: Know the name of the family that owned it.

NEAREST TOWN: Marlinton

NEAREST ROAD: Don't know

OBSERVED: It was November 1969, and I was on my first hunting trip with my Winchester 30-30 I had received on my 11th birthday in August. My Dad and I were near Marlington WV at a camp site we frequented a lot. I do know the name of the people that owned the land, but I will not give it here even though I know they are deceased. It was well past daybreak on a clear, crisp morning, (Dad was not one to rise to early since he knew he was hunting on private land with an apple orchard to boot), so about 7:30 AM we headed out. Now I could not get you to this place now, and Daddy passed away in 1990, But I can draw you maps, layouts whatever you want because this place was my favorite, and even after this took place, we still went there for several years afterwards. As we left the camp house down the dirt road past a small pasture area, you came upon a wooden fence around a hay field that stretched from the dirt road to the river. That river is a famous, in my mind. trout river in WV. It was 300 yards from the fence by the road to the fence by the river. Right at the corner of the fence, Dad made me kneel down saying he saw a bear. Well I'm excited as heck thinking this was a good day. Dad slowly rises and peered through his scope mounted on his 30-06. After what seemed a decade to me, about 15 seconds, he kneels back down. I said did you lose him and Dad said no, it is still there. I said are you going to shoot him, and he said no because I don't know what it is. Now my daddy taught me about every critter that ran through the woods, and for him to say he didn't know what it was, sent me into shock. He told me to look at it. I always carried field glasses when I hunted, still do. I slowly stood up, located the animal and put the glasses to my eyes. I am retired military, and what humans do to humans scares me more than what I saw that morning. It was a very large animal about 7 foot tall standing across the hay field at the other fence post. There was very little hair on the face and I remember thinking he looked like the very kind and wise black gentleman that my Father knew. I was not afraid at all, as I felt at that time it was more afraid of us. I looked at that animal for nearly a minute before kneeling back down. It had brown hair with streaks of red, and a dark brown face with very dark eyes, but not " without Soul". Its hair, not fur, did not seem to be matted or nasty. No, I did not smell anything. After a minute, Dad and I stood back up and the thing was still there. Dad scoped it and I glassed it for 30 seconds when Dad said come on, lets head back to camp. Once there, he took my gun and chambered the only round I had in it, and then filled the magazine. He loaded a 12 gauge with slugs and then got a 300 H&R Magnum from the gun case and loaded it. On a beautiful fall day, he would not let me out. The morning, Sunday, you could not hunt till noon. After Breakfast, Dad asked what I had saw. I told him and he said me too. He said we should keep this to ourselves, and as far as I know we did. I did share it wit my sons after Daddy passed away, saying that was the only time I saw him "nervous".

ALSO NOTICED: Not really. Except I was not as scared as Daddy and did not feel threatened.

OTHER WITNESSES: Daddy.

OTHER STORIES: No. the Braxton Co. Monster and Mothman were far from this place.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Sunny and clear. Cool.

ENVIRONMENT: Hay field, small pastures, hardwood and apple trees on hillsides.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:

I talked to this witness at length about the sighting that his father and he had. The witness himself is a 52 year old retired Air Force veteran. At present he is an operator for an oil company terminal in North Carolina.

His father at the time of the incident was a captain in a fire department near Charleston, WV. His father was also an admiral in the Cherry River. He relates that his father was a big strong man and this is the only time in his life that he had seen him panic. In fact, the next day his father stood on the porch with his 30-06 watching him go to the outhouse for safety. It should be noted that the witness at no time felt threatened by the animal.

In addition to what the witness originally reported I can also add that they were hunting near the Greenbrier River. The corner of the pasture where the animal was located was overlooking the river. There was also a small apple orchard in the immediate area which had a lot of deer around. This is commonly where they hunted.

When they were walking toward the pasture they noted that the roughly 75 head of black angus cattle were stirred up and staying in a ravine near their cabin. They had never seen the cattle in that location before.

The total length of the sighting was 5-10 minutes with the animal looking directly at them. Based on the height of the fence posts the witness believed the animal to be around 9 feet tall. He also noted that the head was conical in nature.

The family went back to the location many times over the years and while they had no other sightings they did hear some sounds and noises that they could not readily explain.

As with many witnesses, this witness says that he thinks of that day often. Sometimes a certain morning or setting will serve as a reminder.

One of the reasons that I like this report is that it is a prime example of what the BFRO calls the 'the Halibut Effect'. Although the sighting took place a long time ago, it took place at a location that is still a prime location for bigfoot sightings in the present.

About BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:

Dr. Jones brings a background of hunting, trapping and outdoor experiences together with undergraduate and graduate education. He is a master naturalist and has attended numerous public and private expeditions. He has led expeditions for the BFRO in Ohio and West Virginia. He has written two Bigfoot books, the last “The Appalachian Bigfoot” was an Amazon best selling book. He hosts the Wide Open Research Podcast on the Untold Radio Network. Dr. Jones may be contacted at [email protected]

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