The RFP Research Project (RFPRP) - Report of Encounter
Location: Near the Pearl River.
Nearest Highway or Road: Undisclosed.
General Terrain Description: Gently rolling sandy hills which in places rise sharply forming larger hills that severe erosion has dissected to form steep ridges, deep ravines and plateaus. There are numerous swamps and marshes in the bottom lands along the river.
Near the sighting location there is a light growth of pine timber interspersed with tall sage grass in a cut-over which adjoins an old trash/garbage dump located on private property. Within the cut-over there is a cultivated food plot for deer and turkey.
General Land Use Description: Pine timber production.
Nearest Lakes, Rivers, or Streams: The Pearl River and the various streams and creeks emptying into the river in that general area.
Witness Profile: A 13 year old young man. He is familiar with area as he has hunted there with his parents since age nine. He has been hunting deer, rabbits, squirrels and hogs since his parents allowed him to hunt alone one year ago.
Activities of Witness Prior to Encounter/Incident: About 3:15 pm the witness’s father drove him from their residence to the hunting site which is about 2-1/2 miles from the home. The witness was dropped off and his father drove on to another location to hunt, with plans to pick him up when he returned. The witness entered an open field through a 6 ft. metal gate, and crossed the field to his leaning tree stand. The stand was located in the edge of a wooded area and provided a view of the cut-over and the dump site. He seated himself in the stand about 3:30 pm armed with a scope-equipped .243 caliber rifle.
Details of Encounter / Incident: About 4:45 pm, the witness watched as a doe deer entered the food plot. He eased the rifle to his shoulder and was looking through the scope for a good shot placement when he was distracted by something ricocheting off the bottom of the ladder stand steps. He looked down and assumed that a pine cone or limb had fallen off the tree above him and bounced off the steps. The witness again raised his rifle when something hit the bottom of the stand again but this time the witness saw a rock ricocheting off the tree trunk and onto the ground.
From the direction that the rock bounced, the witness determined that somebody was throwing rocks at him from the dump area. The noise flushed the doe back into the woods so the witness stared intently toward the dump. He then noticed the back of a large creature with red/maroon colored hair standing behind some bushes near the dump. Only the creature’s upper torso and head were visible because the bushes obscured his view of that portion of his body below its lower back. The witness stated the visible portion of the creature’s body was covered in hair that was very "long and scraggly' and appeared very "messy looking”. He stated it had very broad shoulders, a very heavy upper body, and a cone-shaped head. At that time the witness became very frightened and immediately called his mother on his cell phone.
His Mother was at home when she received the call and could tell immediately that something was very wrong. The witness did not tell his mother what he had just seen and from the gist of the conversation she thought that somebody was trying to harass her son. She told him to stay on the phone with her while she drove to pick him up.
(The witness’s mother later told the investigator that she left the drive-way in her truck so fast that she left tire marks on the concrete. She said she was angry and worried at the same time, as she felt that her son needed her and she was so far away to help him. She said she felt totally helpless as she could not do anything but talk to her son over the phone until she got there. She stated that she drove the distance faster than she should have as she was sliding around the curves in the narrow road. She stated she continued talking to her son, trying to remain calm so as not to alarm her son any more. She felt as long as she could hear him he was alright. She told her son that if the "person" started walking toward him to threaten them with the rifle and if that did not work to shoot a round or two off just to show that he meant business. She said she was horrified to think that her son might have to shoot somebody and she didn't want to suggest something like that.)
While waiting for his mother to arrive, the witness was trying to figure out how to climb down from the deer stand without turning his back to the creature. He was very nervous and even considered trying to shoot at the creature but decided against it. (Even for his age, he was apparently wise enough to realize that the rifle he had might not be large enough for that purpose.)
The son finally heard a vehicle approaching and asked his mother on the cell phone if it was her arriving. She told him she was approaching the metal gate. (His mother said later she even considered ramming through the gate and driving across the field up to the tree-line where the deer stand was located.)
The witness then climbed down and jumped from the stand. While doing so he said the creature evidently began throwing bottles toward him as he distinctly heard the sound of glass shattering against the bottom of the stand and falling along the ground around his feet twice as he was leaving the stand. Immediately upon reaching the ground the witness turned around and shined a flashlight that he had in his coat pocket toward where he last saw the creature. At that time it was getting darker early due to the heavy cloud cover. He then saw that the creature was moving and angled toward him. In the beam of his flashlight he saw a green reflection from one the creature’s eyes. At that time the animal began barking at the witness with a short, deep, and choppy, “woofing” sound. The witness then turned and ran as fast as he could across the open field toward his mother who was walking across the field toward him.
After the two reached the truck and started home, the witness’s mother stated her son was very pale and shaking uncontrollably. She said it was obvious that the her son was badly frightened. She tried to start a conversation with her son as she was worried that he might be going into shock. After a few minutes he seemed to calm down but he was still shaking. She was talking about what she was going to do to whoever did this to him when he hesitantly said, "Mom, I think I just saw Bigfoot," to which she replied, "What?" He said again, "I think I just saw a Bigfoot.” At that time the witness became very distraught.
Description of the Animal: The witness stated that he first saw it from the lower back up as it was behind some bushes. He described it as, "a large creature with red/maroon colored hair" and that the hair was very "long and scraggly" and appeared very "messy" looking. It had "very broad shoulders, a very heavy upper body, with a coned-shaped head."
After it turned toward him, when he was on the ground and shined his flashlight toward it, he saw "one eye producing a green color."
Photos or Drawings Made? Yes. Shown below.
Description of Related Sounds: The witness stated that he heard, "a short, deep, choppy, “woofing”sound repeated several times.
Description of Related Scents / Odors: When questioned, the witness told his mother that during the encounter he smelled a “rotten egg” odor.
Other Details: His parents told him they couldn't explain what he had seen, but for the first time, they related to him the story of his great grandmothers sighting in the 1970's. (See Historical Notes below.) They also told him that they believed the creature wasn't trying to hurt him, and that it probably just wanted him to leave. They said it was probably getting old food out of the dump and that it may have felt threatened by the son’s presence.
The witness’s mother went to the encounter location the next day to look for tracks but found that if any tracks had been left, they had been obliterated by the rainfall that occurred overnight. She measured the bush that her son had said the creature was standing behind, and found it was just a little over four feet high. From the young man’s description of his view of the animal, and the height of the bushes, the mother estimated the creature would have been about 7.5 to 8 feet tall. She saw the broken bottles along the bottom of the tree stand and a rock she believed may have been thrown toward the stand by the animal.
After his encounter, the young man’s mother told the writer that, "My son is a very honest person. He will get in trouble at school or at home before he will lie to us. I knew just by the look of his face he had seen what he described. Also he is not afraid of the dark. He goes out at night and feeds our animals with the headlight by himself. So, I know he is telling the truth. That's why I was so concerned.”
His mother also stated that for a few nights after the incident, the 13 year old young man did not sleep well as he would re-live the encounter again in his sleep. She said he is just now starting to try to hunt again, but now returns before dark.
Historical Notes: The property has been owned by family members for many years. About 1977, the witness’s great grandmother (on his father’s side) was going with her neighbor to the dump a few miles from her house. After she arrived and began unloading the garbage, she caught a glimpse of something on the other side of the dump looking at her. She looked up and saw what she at first thought was a man, but then realized it was about seven feet tall and covered in long red hair. She could see that the naked, hair covered creature was a male. The creature began to move toward her and she could see that it had some human features, but that it looked like an ape. She said that it had an odor like rotten eggs. After staring briefly at the creature in disbelief, she and her neighbor quickly got in her car and left the dump. (The young man’s great grandmother reportedly raised her children alone, and spot-lighted alone at night until she passed away in her 80's. It was said she was not afraid of anything and a “salt-of-the-earth” kind of person.)
Follow-up investigation: Any follow-up reports will be posted here.
Investigator’s Comments & Notes: The witness’s description of the animal’s odor as being like “rotten eggs” is very typical in such encounters. Many witnesses describe the odor as being like sewer gas. Both odors emanate from hydrogen sulfide gas that result from the bacterial decomposition of organic materials in nature. It is also the unpleasant smells that originate from the “pulp” process in paper production plants. Humans are able to detect small quantities of the gas in the air around them. Although the gas is highly toxic, in small concentrations most people are not adversely affected by it during short exposures. About 18 hours after it is released into the atmosphere, the gas will break down into sulfur dioxide and sulphuric acid.
This investigator has found that, by some unknown method, these creatures when agitated or irritated emit the odor of hydrogen sulfide gas in quantities that cause humans to become exceptionally nauseous during the encounter and leave them suffering with migraine-like headaches later.
This investigator can also confirm that the short, choppy “woofing” sounds the witness heard (which I and others sometimes refer to as “ape-like barking”) are also typical of these primates, particularly in the Southeast.
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Report received and recorded by: DB, Field Researcher/Investigator, The RFP Research.
