Class 3a Encounter Report in Dayton, TX, Case #01100057

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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: 01100057

Class 3a

Early-morning motorist reports encounter on State Highway 321 while on his way to work.

Report Details

Occurrence date: Fall/2004
Location: Liberty County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Dayton
Time / Conditions: 03:00 — Good weather. Lighting of headlights only.
# of Witnesses: 1

Witness Account:
In the fall of 2004, I was driving to work on the early-opening shift at a state prison unit. I was south of FM 1008 heading south on State Highway 321 when I witnessed a large black animal on two legs bending over observing something on the side of the road, possibly road kill. It was at least six feet tall but it was hard to judge height due to the animal bending over. It was at least three times as large as a German shepherd. It's possible it could have been a large black bear, but I don?t think so. My family and I have hunted for decades and it was like nothing I have ever seen. I have had a co-worker that spotted something similar off FM 1960 and he described it in a similar manner.

Physical evidence:
Only eyewitness observation. I was in a hurry to get to work. I had no time to stop because the place where I worked demanded on time attendance.

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 the fall of 2004.

After a comprehensive interview with the witness, my report is as follows:

The witness was on his way to work in the early morning. He was employed at the time at a state prison and was focused on making it to work on time. The prison had a very strict policy regarding punctuality.

The weather was clear and his headlights, although somewhat dim, provided ample illumination of the roadway for some distance ahead of him. He described his commute as boring, particularly since he was a ham radio operator, and there was no on-air chatter whatsoever. He was driving south at approximately sixty miles per hour.

Approximately two miles south of where FM 1008 intersects State Highway 321, he saw something that he could not immediately identify. He could see that it was large, black and hairy?at least the size of a man?and was on the west side of the highway, just a few feet from the edge. He recalled that it was definitely on two legs, and the upper extremities of the subject were up, as if it was in a stooped position, perhaps tending to a small dead animal. He remembered seeing the two legs and what appeared to be upper arms; he could tell that it had long, coarse, black hair, but he could not recall seeing details of a face, nor could he remember seeing eye-shine. It was difficult to ascertain the height because it seemed to be in a stooped or bent-over posture, but he still believed that it was at least six feet tall even in the stooped position. He did not remember seeing the subject move or walk away, and he remembered thinking that it did not seem intimidated by his vehicle. The subject was visible for approximately four to five seconds before the witness sped past it, leaving it behind in the darkness. The witness did not stop or even slow down because he was pressed to arrive at work on time. He lamented not turning around in order to see it in more detail. He remembered thinking at that time that he had just seen a bigfoot. He said that even though he supposed it was possible that what he saw was a black bear, it was unlikely; he believes that what he saw was a bigfoot. The witness remarked that the encounter was deeply puzzling to him, particularly given its proximity to Houston?the fourth largest city in the United States.

Soon after the incident, the witness told his wife, but she was ?not too impressed.? He said that his father?a man who has hunted the surrounding woods for many decades?does not believe that he saw a bigfoot and does not think the animal exists. His grandfather, on the other hand, may have encountered a sasquatch in the 1920s while hunting near Lake Livingston. A large unseen animal stalked him through the woods for some distance before it ceased. His grandfather remembered hearing the stalker crash through the woods. The witness mentioned that one of his co-workers told of seeing a large black animal off of FM 1960 in the fall of 2004. The witness wondered if it could have been the same animal that he saw.

The witness said that his encounter on that early fall morning in 2004 has haunted him ever since. In his ?heart of hearts? he thinks he ?saw a bigfoot? even though skeptics may say that he saw a black bear.

I am confident that the witness believes that he saw something out of the ordinary that terribly disturbed him. For whatever reason, the area continues to be the most prolific in the four-state region in terms of credible reports. While the witness was correct in his observation that Houston is a mere sixty miles to the southwest, it must be noted that stretching from Montgomery County, through San Jacinto, Polk, Liberty, Tyler, and Hardin counties is an incredible dense swath of hardwood-and-pine timber that makes up the so-called Primitive Big Thicket, which at one time encompassed approximately one million acres of forest. Much of it now is parceled and not contiguous, but as we continue to discover, wildlife?particularly mammalian?is deceptively adaptive and resilient. Moreover, the southern Trinity River basin?through the western fringes of which Highway 321 runs?is a rich environment that supports a wide variety of flora and fauna in abundant wildlife habitat. There are many oxbow lakes, marshes, sloughs, bayous, creeks, and branches in the Trinity?s riparian corridor that are home to waterfowl, beavers, alligators, and even bald eagles. This corridor of rich habitat extends well up to FM 787. For me at least, it is not difficult to imagine a small handful of large, highly intelligent primates at large in southeast Texas, sustaining themselves on an omnivorous or opportunistic diet, moving nocturnally along riparian margins of waterways, and mostly frequenting densely-forested environs, only being spied by an occasional hunter in a hunting stand or a motorist who catches a glimpse of one as it crosses a highway from one parcel of forest to another, or even by the remote resident who sees one stealing a chicken. The NAWAC will continue to collect and investigate reports of this nature, in the hope that we may obtain evidence that will warrant official recognition and substantiation of this, for now, hypothetical species, although a substantial number of individuals like this witness would staunchly argue that the sasquatch is much more than hypothetical.

(Daryl Colyer is a banking management professional and former USAF intelligence operator.)

Photos

Another sighting along a remote stretch of East Texas highway.
In the area is abundant hardwood-pine forest.

Map

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