YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

STATE: Michigan

COUNTY: Oceana County

LOCATION DETAILS: It is nearby valdu lakes campground and concert grounds. The grounds just began doing outdoor concerts this summer and is very loud throughout the area.(could this bother a Sasquatch and make it move?)

NEAREST TOWN: Mears mi

NEAREST ROAD: Us 31

OBSERVED: Myself And my friend were leaving a venue in the country. The location is mears, mi. We were driving down this curvy rd going roughly 30 mph. It was roughly midnight. I do know the exact location. My friend was driving and all of the sudden he says " dude, what is that in the rd?" we got roughly 20 ft from the object and my friend turned on his high beams. When he did this the thing stood up in the middle of the rd and then ran very quickly up a hill. There is no doubt that it was either a Sasquatch or someone in a very large big foot suit. It ran up the hill on two feet and it looked like a kind of "skip" like a ape. Could not be a bear. There were other people that weekend that claimed to see it also. I am very certain of what we saw. I have looked on the internet and there are quite a few sightings in this area. The terrain is similar to the terrain that I have seen on your show.

ALSO NOTICED: I have not given the info for the person that was with me, but I'm sure he would recount the details if requested.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself and another person . We were in the car, and it was crouched in the rd with it's back to us. I do not recall if there was road kill in the rd or not

OTHER STORIES: Yes. I have searched the Internet and there are websites dedicated to Sasquatch in the mears mi area. I have not contacted anyone else. Not sure if I believe in bigfoot or not, but I know what We saw with 100 percent certainty. Either big foot or someone playing a bad joke.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Roughly midnight

ENVIRONMENT: Very hilly wooded area. Technically it is manistee national forest. There are many lakes around and a river. Plenty of deer and other animals. Bear is rare, but they are spotted from time to time

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

The area around this report is dominated by the Huron/Manistee National Forest. Established in 1938 and combined with the Huron National Forest in 1945, this area was created to "change the lands that nobody wanted into healthy forests again." To a great extent this has happened, when one considers the diversity of species in the area. Bordered on the South by the Muskegon River, and to the North by numerous swamps, this area contains many animal and plant species.

The individuals in this report were leaving an outdoor concert around midnight and traveling on a winding road at a rate of about thirty miles per hour. The weather was warm, and the day had been clear and so it was this night. While negotiating the curves of the road, the driver saw something in his headlights and slowed down. He asked his passenger, "What is that in the road?" He continued to slow down and turned on his high beams. They both saw something that was "huge and furry, crouched down in the middle of the road." They slowly eased up to within fifteen feet of it when the object of their attention stood up on two legs. It had been facing away and they had only seen the back of the figure. It turned to look at them, then quickly "ran" up a hill. Their car came to a complete stop in the middle of the road.

The figure was dark in coloration and approximately 7' tall. It covered the distance from the middle of the road and up the hill (about 80') in 8-10 steps. The description of the figure's movement was "...similar to an ape, but very fast." It behaved as if it was trying to run fast on all fours but was, at times, missing steps with the front "legs." The arms seemed to be much longer than a humans. While the distance between the figure and the motorists was short, they did not get a good look at the face because "the creature did not turn completely before running away."

Both witnesses remained in the car, but they did use the headlights to shine into the woods where the figure disappeared. They were convinced that this creature could have only been "...a bigfoot or a great impersonator; there was no way it was a bear or any other animal."

About BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

Jim is a High School History teacher and Track and Cross Country coach. He attended the Michigan Northern Lower Peninsula Expedition in 2011, the Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition in 2012, co-organized the Michigan UP 2013 Expedition and attended the 2014 Wisconsin Expedition. He assisted in the production of Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot Michigan episodes (Bigfoot and Wolverines and Super Yooper). He participates in Ironman Triathlons and enjoys fishing and camping with his wife and daughter. Jim can be contacted at [email protected] and Twitter @shermanbigfoot and his YouTube account is : Lordcryptid

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