- Class 1a
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1a A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
- Class 1b
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1b A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
- Class 1c
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1c An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 1d
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1d A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 2
- Class 2, Competency: Reports involving sightings by professionally trained or highly skilled observers.2 Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
- Class 3a
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3a Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3b
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3b Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3c
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3c No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Case: 01040017
Class 3aWhile riding bicycle, teenager has close encounter near Old River.
Report Details
Occurrence date: August/1983
Location: Liberty County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Old River-Winfree
Time / Conditions: 14:00 — Mid afternoon, very clear sky and unlimited visibility. The weather was about the 90 degree mark and it hadn't rained for some time that I recall. The environment is like almost any other in the area very wooded with different types of tree and brush very heavily populated with small game and deer at the time. A large creek bed or gully was also very near and access to the Old River was very near as well.
# of Witnesses:
Location: Liberty County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Old River-Winfree
Time / Conditions: 14:00 — Mid afternoon, very clear sky and unlimited visibility. The weather was about the 90 degree mark and it hadn't rained for some time that I recall. The environment is like almost any other in the area very wooded with different types of tree and brush very heavily populated with small game and deer at the time. A large creek bed or gully was also very near and access to the Old River was very near as well.
# of Witnesses:
Witness Account:
First off I was a young boy when this happened so please forgive some memory errors. I was riding my bike in the woods and going home on a trail, I could "feel" something watching or "following" me. I raced out of the woods to a better trail I could hear in the bush as something was keeping pace with me. The bush was being thrashed about as if it were chasing me or just following me. I cleared the woods and turned to look and I could see something that had reddish-brown hair all over it. It stood very tall well over 8 feet. It had "blackened skin" along the facial areas that I could see. This incident has haunted my childhood and adulthood dreams. The area in which I had seen this "creature" is now cleared and a subdivision is built upon it. Most of it is still very wooded. As a young boy I hunted these woods often and would smell a horrid stench and often attributed it to a decaying animal, but after the chase I quickly remembered the smell as it filled the air. I was now looking at as this thing stood there. I remember my father telling my about Bigfoot and that he and some friends had seen something he could not identify as a boy in West Virginia.
There was no forest noises, ie birds or wild game running around. That is what made me feel uncomfortable and why I began to leave most quickly.
Investigator's Observations
Investigator(s): Daryl Colyer
This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in Liberty County, Texas, in 1983.
East Texas is not short on stories about the "swamp man," "mossyback," "wild man," "swamp ape," "wooley booger," or bigfoot. Anecdotes about inhuman screams in the night or strange encounters with large, upright, hairy ape-like creatures are very much a part of the culture here. That being said, many who have heard the stories would simply dismiss them as rural legend. When I spoke to the witness who submitted this report, he was very quick to point out that what he encountered was certainly no fictional, rural legend. Up until that summer day of August 1983, the witness had not given much thought to tales of a "swamp man" that was said to roam the local woods and river bottoms. However, for the better part of six months following his encounter, the witness refused to set foot in the woods. Even now, he is still bothered by what he saw.
As the witness (now 32 years old) rode his bicycle on a trail through the woods, he could hear the sounds of something just inside the trees as it seemingly following him. When the witness finally turned to look over his shoulder as he attempted to quickly flee the area, he saw what he described as a "reddish-brown or rusty beast." The witness said he can still recall the face of the animal having very little or no hair, and its facial skin was dark or black. The witness said the subject was huge and when he saw it, it was standing there just outside the trees watching him ride away on his bicycle. The witness did not hear any type of vocalization. The hair appeared "shaggy." Overall, the witness thought that his encounter lasted perhaps one half minute.
For a long time afterward, the witness told no one of his encounter for fear of ridicule. Finally, several years later, the witness told his father, at which time his father admonished him for not having spoken up sooner about the incident. Apparently, the witness's father had some sort of strange encounter years before in West Virginia.
This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in Liberty County, Texas, in 1983.
East Texas is not short on stories about the "swamp man," "mossyback," "wild man," "swamp ape," "wooley booger," or bigfoot. Anecdotes about inhuman screams in the night or strange encounters with large, upright, hairy ape-like creatures are very much a part of the culture here. That being said, many who have heard the stories would simply dismiss them as rural legend. When I spoke to the witness who submitted this report, he was very quick to point out that what he encountered was certainly no fictional, rural legend. Up until that summer day of August 1983, the witness had not given much thought to tales of a "swamp man" that was said to roam the local woods and river bottoms. However, for the better part of six months following his encounter, the witness refused to set foot in the woods. Even now, he is still bothered by what he saw.
As the witness (now 32 years old) rode his bicycle on a trail through the woods, he could hear the sounds of something just inside the trees as it seemingly following him. When the witness finally turned to look over his shoulder as he attempted to quickly flee the area, he saw what he described as a "reddish-brown or rusty beast." The witness said he can still recall the face of the animal having very little or no hair, and its facial skin was dark or black. The witness said the subject was huge and when he saw it, it was standing there just outside the trees watching him ride away on his bicycle. The witness did not hear any type of vocalization. The hair appeared "shaggy." Overall, the witness thought that his encounter lasted perhaps one half minute.
For a long time afterward, the witness told no one of his encounter for fear of ridicule. Finally, several years later, the witness told his father, at which time his father admonished him for not having spoken up sooner about the incident. Apparently, the witness's father had some sort of strange encounter years before in West Virginia.
