REPORT RECEIVED FROM: The GCBRO Online Report Submission Form.

 
REPORT POSTED TO GCBRO WEB SITE ON:  August 31, 2013
 

DATE:    11/22/73
 

TIME:     3:00 PM
 

LOCATION:   Etowah County, Alabama
 

TERRAIN:    Wooded mountainside, near a small stream
 

OBSERVED:    I had been sitting on a rock outcropping about half-way up the side of a tall hill, overlooking a park-like clearing with a small cold stream running through it. I had been sitting there since about 1PM, having walked in from hunting some nearby fields that morning. I carried a Remington 700 in 7mm Remington Magnum, mounted with a fixed 4 power scope and was watching the deer trail that paralleled the stream. I also had a pair of 8x binoculars with me. I had just finished eating an apple when I caught movement in the trees, about 2oo yards away to my left. I first saw it with my naked eyes, and could only make out a dark shadow, walking upright on two legs...what I assumed at first to be another hunter, wearing a dark coat, walking into my area. At first, I simply waited and hoped he would pass, but then this guy picked up a large stick and began to whack at large tree trunks as he would pass. I grew increasingly irritated that the guy was making so much noise and most likely ruining my chances of seeing a deer for the rest of the evening. That is when I picked up my binoculars to see who the jerk was, and that is when I got the shock of my life! This was no hunter, but a very large human-like creature whose entire body was covered with thick, dark brown hair. His features appeared to be half man, half ape, with a flattened nose and a slightly elongated skull and a prominent brow. He walked upright like a man and not at all like an ape. He had a long and graceful stride with knees slightly bent, and his arms were longer than those of a man his size. I watched him for what seemed like half an hour or more, but when I glanced at my watch to check the time of the sighting, realized it had actually been no more than about 5 minutes. He continued to move slowly through the park-like area, obviously unaware of my presence, until he had covered the distance between where I first saw him, and a tall oak tree, which stood directly across the small clearing from me, and only about 100 yards away from where I sat. He stopped abruptly and his head quickly turned in my direction. I swear he looked right at me and it sent a chill up my spine. I never knew if he actually saw me, smelled me, or perhaps smelled the apple that I had just eaten...the core of which still lay on the granite boulder upon which I sat...but he took a single step in my direction and I dropped my binoculars and grabbed my rifle. I quickly put my scope on the thing and was prepared to shoot it, but I could not bring myself to do so. What if this were someone dressed up in a costume and playing a prank on me? What if my mind was playing tricks on me? He stood there, with his right hand gripping a branch that was slightly above head level, looking right at me for maybe 30 seconds before he slowly turned and ambled down the backside of the ridge. I had just finished my first enlistment in the Marine Corps and had seen a tour in Vietnam, but I don't mind telling you, that was the most frightening experience of my life, even to this day. I guess I will never know for sure what it was, but I am convinced it was a Bigfoot, or what locals jokingly call the Ballplay Swamp Monster or the Ballplay Mudflap Monster. Tales of a tall hairy ape-like creature in the area surrounding the Ballplay Swamp have flourished since the mid-1800's. It took some time...possibly an hour...before I realized that it was starting to get late and I had better get out of those woods before dark. I had to go right by the tree where this thing had stood in order to pick up the trail back to my truck, so I made sure I had a round in the chamber and prepared myself for an attack which, thankfully, never came. It wasn't until I reached the oak tree that I actually realized just how huge the creature had been. Gripping my rifle by its pistol grip, it was all I could do to touch the limb upon which he casually leaned...I estimated the limb to be about 9 feet off the ground, so that meant this creature was every bit of 8 1/2 feet tall! I considered myself very lucky to get out of those woods alive, and I never went back, but that hunting trip still haunts my dreams. 
 

ADDITIONAL THINGS:  It was a sunny day. The weather was quite mild for late November. I remember there was just a slight breeze and that just before I saw the creature, I had removed my jacket because it had gotten too warm to wear it...maybe 70 degrees or so. I also remember that the forest seemed to go unusually quiet just before I saw the creature. I remember looking around to see what was going on and feeling like I was being watched. This was the only one I saw, but I swear I felt like I was being watched by something or someone the whole time I was watching this thing.
 

DESCRIPTION OF CREATURE:  I had been deer hunting since daybreak, sitting at the edge of a meadow about 1 mile away from where the creature was spotted. About 10 AM I had left my stand, intending to stalk hunt the edge of the meadow until I located a place to hunt that evening. That is how I found this place where the sighting took place.
 

ACTIVITIES OF WITNESS:   About 8 1/2 feet tall, large human-like creature whose entire body was covered with thick, dark brown hair. His features appeared to be half man, half ape, with a flattened nose, a slightly elongated skull and a prominent brow. He walked upright like a man and not at all like an ape. He had a long and graceful stride with knees slightly bent, and his arms were longer than those of a man his size.
 

OTHER NOTES:   I never believe in Bigfoot until I saw one.
 

HISTORICAL OR NEIGHBORING AREAS:  I have never seen another one, either prior or since.
 

ADDITIONAL NOTES AND-OR FOLLOW-UP COMMENTS:  Upon contact the witness had no additional information to add to this report.

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