Bigfoot Report: Ohio, USA
SENT IN BY: Rich La Monica
LOCATION: Southeastern Ohio, USA
DATE OF INCIDENT: 1988, 1993, and 1994.
After having lived in the Great state of Alaska for ten years, and never seeing a Forest Wildman, I was totally amazed at actually seeing one here, in Ohio, where I was born. Although at a distance of about 150 to 200 yards, I am sure that the individual was not a human figure. The size of the individual was just too enormous to be human. Also, at that time of day, (4:30 to 5:00 P.M.), it didn't make any sense to me that a person would be going INTO the woods, as it was growing darker outside. The year was 1988. This particular individual, was moving at a rather rapid pace, faster than any man I have ever seen in the woods. It's gate was fluid and it seemed to have no problem navigating through the leafless scrub that inhabits the area. I was driving a delivery straight truck at the time and by the time I made a complete stop, the individual had vanished.
It was not until I read a newsarticle in a paper published in New Philadelphia, Ohio, proclaim ing a meeting of Bigfoot enthusiasts in Newcomerstown, Ohio, that I decided to come forward and describe my incident to the group. Up until that point, I did not know that such a creature possibly existed in Ohio.
In 1993, I decided to go camping in the area where I had made my sighting. Unfortunately, the land was privately owned and I was denied access. So, I moved my camp to an area about 1 mile down the road where I did get permission to camp. It was on the night of the second day out, that I noticed it became oddly quiet. Unlike the last night's chorus of tree frogs, crickets, nightbirds and the like. I had been reading a book, of all things the "Joy of Camping" and as my eyes were growing increasingly tired, I decided to turn in. My fire at this time was just a mass of glowing red cinders, so making sure it wouldn't spread out, I retired to my tent.
It was about 10 minutes later, that I heard the sound of a large branch being broken, and then out of a clear dark sky , came a howl/scream that could have awakened the dead for miles. Although it lasted for mere seconds, it totally shook me to my very breadth. It sounded as if it were some kind of air-raid siren, emanating only a few yards from the rear of my tent. Afterwords, I could hear dogs going crazy, first on my left and then on my right. Of course, I stayed awake for a while, and then without my really even noticing it, there they were again. Tree frogs, crickets, and nightbirds.
The next morning, I decided to check out the hillside for any evidence of it's passing. About, 35ft,(I measured the distance), above my tent, I found a solitary footprint. It had five toes, was 131/2 inches long, at the ball it was 51/2 inches wide, and at the heel it was 41/2 inches wide. It was nearly on top of me and I didn't hear anything except the tree branch and the scream. I did take a plaster cast and some pictures of the print, which I still have in my posession. Nothing else happened the rest of the week.
In 1994, I decided to take a trip to that very same spot. It was Labor Day. I had worked 17 hours that day, and had driven the 90 or so miles to get to that spot. I had taken with me two tape recorders, which, when I arrived had put one on each side of the hood of my conversion van, just above each tire. Equipped with the Auto-Voice control, I turned them on and went back into my van's electric bed. There I fell asleep, almost instantaniously. I had told my research partner that I would be there and to come by. About midnight or so, my friend arrived, banged on the door, and I got up. As I was going to turn the recorders off, I noticed they were no longer where I had situated them at 9:30 P.M. that evening. They were now both together, in the middle of the hood. My partner had told me, later that they were not responsible for moving them. Just as they entered the van, it was noticed that my AAA compass was spinning wildly in circles. We watched it in amazement for what seemd like ten minutes. Eventually, it stopped, on it's own. When rewinding the tapes, to listen to them the next day, there recorded on both tapes was a voice. It definetly is not in a language that is known on this earth. I have had it analysed by a professor in the Speech Path Audiology Department at Kent State University. His findings were thus: The subject was speaking in a range that would make it a tenor. Also, it's vocal tract was determined to be about 17 centimeters long, which would put it's height at about 6 feet or slightly less. Also, it was determined to be what they term, a spontanious recording, meaning that, whoever made the sounds, would have to have been standing in front of the recorders, when it was imprinted. I have pondered the question of the makers identity for a few years, now. I believe it to belong to a young Sasquatch, that is a not fully mature one. My reason for this is the voice is not characteristically loud or booming, but with less bravado. Also, on the other tape recorder with the same speech sounds, was the sounds of sniffing and growling into the recorder. Apparently, the individual, had picked up the recorder in it's hands and smelled it. It also is heard playing around with the buttons of the recorder. This is all captured on the tape.
I am currently a member of the Eastern Ohio Bigfoot Study Group and have been since that 1992 meeting. I will continue to try and capture the forest wildmen on film and tape for as long as it takes me to accomplish this again.. Thanks for providing me the opportunity to tell of my experiences. Also, a short sound clip of the voice can be heard at this site: http://users1.ee.net/pmason/bftalks.html. It is the Unusual Research Web site. Look under the heading: What's New. The topic is what is Bigfoot Talking About in Ohio.
OTHER RELAVENT INFO: My name is Richard J. La Monica, my occupation for the last fifteen years is truck driver and my age is 44. I have been interested in the various cryptozoological subjects since 1970.
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