Report Received From: The GCBRO Online Report Submission Form.
 

DATE:    June 16, 1991
 

TIME:     Early afternoon, approximately 2pm
 

LOCATION:   Michigan, Crawford County
 

TERRAIN:    Wooded/Lake
 

OBSERVED:    (The date is approximate- I think it was june of 91, but it may have actually been july or even august)  I used to live in the north central portion of Michigan's lower peninsula. There is an enormous National Guard training area there, and the area is as remote and rugged as you're likely to find.

About 8 miles from my house, back in the national guard area was a lake I called "Lonesome Lake".  I don't know if it even has a proper name. It was really unique in that it was almost like a crater lake. Medium sized lake, completely surrounded by high, very heavily wooded hills. You have to have either a four wheel drive, or an ATV to even get back to it, taking tank trails. I used to take a float tube, which is a big inner tube deal with a seat on it, and fish from that. So, I'm back there one day, just fishing approximately near the center of the lake, having a grand old time. I can remember exactly how it happened, because I had just seen an osprey minutes before and I'd never seen one in the wild before.

Right after I'd seen the osprey, the wind changed. It had been blowing into my face from the front of me, when it changed to my rear. Almost immediately there was the sound of a big animal moving around in the brush on the bank in front of me, about 150 yards away.
Not footsteps, but just general thrashing around in the brush noise.
Well, I kept fishing, and paid attention to the area because I thought that maybe I was going to get to see a deer, or maybe even a bear.
The noises continued for a few minutes, moving towards my left but still in front of me.
After they had stopped for a bit, I whistled really loud.
Bad idea. The animal SCREAMED at me, very loud I have never heard anything like it in my life, and I grew up in the woods and to be honest, it scared the hell out of me.
I started working my way back to my truck, which was parked behind me on the shore. The thing screamed a second time, not quite as loud but there was a kind of jabbering at the end of the scream, as it tapered off. The only thing I could describe it as, it was similar to the weird sound that porcupines make when they're upset. Just a grumbling jabbering gibberish.

I'm almost to shore, and I can hear the thing making it's way around to my left coming around the end of the lake. Now, I have to describe the lake is generally round, but with an indentation. There's only one trail going down to the lake from the main trail, and it's a dead end. You can't turn around on it, you have to go all the way to the end, turn around and then come back out of the lake shore.
My truck is parked just on the far side of the indentation (i.e.: I can't see the trail that I have to take back out) OK, I get out of the water. I can still hear movement noises, and that weird jabbering sound and from where I can hear it, I can tell that the thing has reached the area where the lake trail is coming off the main tank trail. I throw all of my fishing stuff in the back of the truck, get in and fire it up.
I was pretty shook up, but I actually thought that it was all over once I fired up the truck, because it had a pretty loud exhaust. I go to the end of the trail, turn around, and head back.
Trust me, I was not looking forward to coming around that outcropping and seeing whatever it was.
I got to the outcropping, and stopped. I shut the truck off and rolled down the window. I couldn't hear anything, so I honked the horn. Immediately I heard heavy footsteps in the wet sand just around the outcropping from me, maybe 30 feet away. I rolled up the window, started the truck, and just blasted around the corner. There was nothing there, but there were footprints in the sand. They angled off into the brush on the hillside right to the left of me. As I was driving out to the main trail (and believe me, I was FLYING) The footprints were right between my front wheels all of the way. I get to the main trail and whip it to the right, and I got stuck. I jumped out of the truck, ran and twisted the lock outs to four wheel drive, and just as I'm jumping back in, there's another one of those screams in the brush about 50 feet away and it was LOUD.
I get in, had to jockey around for a minute to get the truck unstuck, then start up the tank trail. I had to work my way up a hill, and as I'm driving up the hill, I had my eyes glued to the rear view mirror. Just as I reached the top of the hill (maybe 100 feet from the lake trail entrance) I see it walk out right to the edge of the trail. It was standing near some trees, and I think that maybe it thought it was hidden but it was "backlit" by the light colored sand in the lake trail entrance. It was pretty close to 7 feet tall, though I think maybe a bit shorter that 7 feet. Dark colored hair, and BIG. I stopped at the top of the hill, and turned around in my seat to watch it. We just looked at each other for a few seconds, then it backed away into the brush, and was gone. .

Activities of Witness:   Fishing for walleye from a float tube. Watching an osprey catch fish.
 

Description of Creature:  I only actually saw the thing for a very brief moment, but it's pretty much burned into my memory.....It was somewhere around seven feet tall though I think probably more like about 6'8 or 6'9. Entirely covered with dark brown or black hair. Saggital crest was very plainly evident on top of it's head. It either had no neck, or was very short, and the head was right on top of the shoulders. Broad build, long arms and it's hands reached to about mid thigh. Heavy brow, eyes were deep set, I couldn't see them. Face was pretty hairy, but wouldn't say it was covered with hair per se. I could see lips, they were thin but they definitely stuck out like a chimpanzees, sort of. It was very big, this thing could have pulled me apart with it's bare hands without breaking a sweat. While I didn't get a real close look at the footprints in the road, as I was driving, yet I could tell that they were of general human shape (5 toes, and a heel) and they were big. I'm guessing around 16 inches.
 

Other Notes:    After I had cleared the big hill and gotten out of the area, I did notice a very bad smell but it was faint. My dog, a big yellow lab, wouldn't get into either the cab or the bed of my pickup for a few days. He would just whine, which was totally strange behavior for him, he loved to go for rides in the truck. After it had rained a couple times, he didn't have any more reluctance to get near the truck.

I definitely got the feeling that this thing meant me either harm, or really really didn't want me there. I had nightmares about this for years, there is no doubt in my mind that if that thing had gotten hold of me, it would have ripped me to pieces.

I have never been back nor do I ever intend to go back.

The area has a lot of state and federal land around it and a lot of "city folk" will go up there every year for deer season. There's always stuff in the newspaper every November about someone seeing "something".
 

Additional Notes and or Follow up Comments:  Upon contact the witness had no additional information to add to this report.

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