YEAR: 1972

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: Summer 1972

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Smith County

LOCATION DETAILS: On the east side of Lake Tyler East

NEAREST TOWN: Whitehouse

NEAREST ROAD: CR 230, I think

OBSERVED: This happened in the summer of 1972, either June or July and I would have been about seven years old.
I was going fishing with my grandfather and cousin at Lake Tyler East. It was about an hour before dark and we were driving down CR 230 I believe. We had just driven through a section of land that had not been developed and when we came to a pasture I saw a large animal walking towards the tree line about 100 yards away. It was a dark grayish white color and was walking at an angle away from us. It turned to look at the car and seemed to have to turn its upper body to be able to see us, like its neck would not turn the way a human would. It sped up walking and I remember its arms really swung as it walked and it seemed like its legs never straightened out, not bow legged but with knee slightly bent. Its hair was not really long, about an inch or so and the hair did not cover the face. The skin was very dark brown but not black and its palms were about the same color. The head seemed to sit almost on its shoulders and the head was slightly pointed, not extreme but enough to be able to see it. The body of the animal was big but not out of proportion to its height. When it got to the tree line it stepped over a 5 strand barbed wire fence almost in stride. This whole incident lasted about 20 to 30 seconds before we lost view of it.
I remember telling my grandfather when I first saw it to look at that horse walking on its hind legs. He slowed to a near stop and watched the creature with me and my cousin. After it went into the woods my grandfather turned the car around and said we were going home. He also told us to never mention seeing this to anyone because people would say we were either crazy or a bunch of liars. My cousin who was six was really upset about it and so was my grandfather. As far as I know my grandfather never told anyone and my cousin won’t talk about it to this day.
Thinking back the creature must have been about 7 ½ to 8 foot tall to step over the fence like that and probably would have weighed about 400 pounds. Most people tend to overestimate weight on animals.

ALSO NOTICED: n/a

OTHER WITNESSES: 3, driving and talking about fishing

OTHER STORIES: Have heard of other sightings of white bigfoot around Lake Tyler, but it was third hand

TIME AND CONDITIONS: close to dusk, clear skies and hot

ENVIRONMENT: open pasture surrounded by mature pines and hardwoods. Across the road was the lake. Seemed creature was coming from lake

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Cliff G.:

This gentleman was interviewed by phone and was able to restate the events as described above. He further stated that he would frequently re-live the sighting in his mind in an attempt to understand it better, or to possibly determine just what it was that he had observed. He’s had significant difficulty dealing with the sighting over the years.

This event so influenced his life that he later sought employment at a zoo, facilitating a more consistent observation of primates and to determine if the entire event could have simply been a misidentification. He was never able to arrive at any alternate conclusion.

I found the witness to be well spoken and very matter-of-fact about the report. He remains and avid outdoorsman who actively hunts, hikes and backpacks.

About BFRO Investigator Cliff G.:

Cliff is a native Texan who grew up camping, hunting and fishing throughout the Southwest. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force serving more than ten years and has been in healthcare for eighteen years with a strong background in Biology, Anatomy and Physiology. Cliff is currently working in critical care. He has a particular interest in studying the human reaction to encounters and interpretation of sasquatch behavior. He has attended conferences on the subject and has attended BFRO expeditions, both public and "members only" in Oklahoma and Arkansas as well as several private expeditions throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisana. For questions or comments, Cliff can be reached directly via e-mail at [email protected].

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