Bigfoot Reports On The Rise In Fayette County
“The creature was walking at a fast pace on two feet, stood about 6 feet 3 inches tall and had a cone-shaped head,” said Landman. “It was moving at a good clip without running, got across the road in three steps, then headed up an embankment and into a thicket. The next thing I knew, I heard my son say, “My god, Dad, what was that?”
As reported by Eric Altman, director of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, there is a rash of Bigfoot sightings in Pennsylvania recently. Most witnesses call to report a sighting under the guise of anonymity, for the fear of being ridiculed. With sightings becoming more and more frequent and investigators meticulously cataloging all reports, if the creature known as Bigfoot really exist, then it won’t be long before compelling video is obtained. I’ll have a champagne bottle on standby.
Full source: Herald-Standard
Is it the power of the pen, the power of suggestion or the promise of anonymity that produced the latest rash of reports of Bigfoot sightings in Fayette County?
An article about a Bigfoot sighting north of Uniontown by a woman who wished to remain anonymous was published in August. Her account was investigated by members of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society and researcher Stan Gordon of Greensburg, perhaps best known for his investigation into an alleged 1965 UFO crash in Kecksburg in Westmoreland County.
Following the publication of the article, Eric Altman, director of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, reports that he has received phone calls about eight additional Bigfoot sightings in Fayette County, four of which were clustered around Dunbar.
“We also had a fifth second-hand report of a teen boy who is alleged to have seen a creature following him through the woods in the Dunbar area while he rode his quad,” said Altman, 39, of Jeannette. “The boy is said to be so shook up by the incident that he doesn’t want to be interviewed and was so frightened he won’t go back to the area.”
Altman claims that Fayette County seems to be quite an active area for Bigfoot sightings, based on the inordinate number of calls he has received over the past six months. Besides the Dunbar sightings, two have been reported in the Jumonville area, one in Confluence and one in Connellsville.
“Since the name of the witness in the newspaper account was kept confidential, I feel that people experiencing the same phenomena are now more comfortable and are coming forth to tell their stories,” he said
When conducting his research, Altman first interviews the witness on the phone, claiming that, over the years, he has become quite adept at determining if they’re telling the truth. After trying to get as much information as he can, he then sets up a face-to-face meeting, preferably at the location of the sighting.
“In a person-to-person meeting, I can read a lot from a witness’ body language, eye contact and facial expressions,” he said.
The latest sighting report came from Heath Landman of Dunbar, who said he doesn’t mind revealing his identity and claims he and his son, Heath Nickolas Jr., 20, saw “something” crossing the road in front of them about 35 to 40 yards away as they were driving on Ferguson Road in Dunbar at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31.
“The creature was walking at a fast pace on two feet, stood about 6 feet 3 inches tall and had a cone-shaped head,” said Landman. “It was moving at a good clip without running, got across the road in three steps, then headed up an embankment and into a thicket. The next thing I knew, I heard my son say, “My god, Dad, what was that?”
In a state of shock, Landman turned his car around, headed for home and called his three brothers on the phone. They, along with two nephews, later went with the Landmans to the site where the creature was spotted. After exploring the area, one brother found pieces of hair stuck on brier and a nephew took photos of footprints in the snow, which were shown to Altman during his subsequent investigation.
“The hair found at the site is now protected in a container,” said Altman. “We have contacts across the country who can conduct lab tests to try to match the hair to that of known species. We can also do DNA tests on the sample.”
Another incident took place on Sept. 23 in the mountains near Dunbar. A mother and daughter out for a drive stopped at a pipeline to take in the view and heard a rustling noise in the brush below. Thinking it might be a bear or a deer, they later saw that it was an upright creature, very muscular and tall, Altman recounted.
“They reported that the creature got to within 150 feet, and just walked away without looking at them or threatening them in any way,” said Altman, who met with the witnesses the following morning. “While hiking around the vicinity of the sighting, we discovered a large 19-inch, foot-shaped impression in very hard ground and an area where the brush had been trampled underfoot.” While investigating yet another sighting report in the Dunbar area, Altman discovered a deer kill that had been eaten away until only the head and hide remained, as well as a 3-by-10-foot lean-to type structure in the area.
One unusual sighting at the end of July involved a woman who claims to have spotted two creatures just outside Dunbar – one a smaller one eating on some blackberries and a much larger one estimated to be about 10 feet tall. “There have been several reports of multiple sightings in other parts of the state,” said Altman. “Many claim that the creatures have large dark eyes and range in size from 7 to 10 feet, are muscular and bulky and have a variety of hair color.”
With the recent snowfall, Altman is hoping that people in the area come across unusual or revelatory footprints. Since the recent snowfall, members of the Bigfoot Society have gone back to sighting areas in search of footprints five or six times — but have found no additional evidence.
“We encourage anyone who’s experienced a Bigfoot sighting or who has information on the subject to phone us at 724-516-6344 or file a sighting report on our Web site www.pabigfootsociety.com,” said Altman. “We keep the names and personal information of witnesses confidential and promise to take their reports seriously.”
Written by Javier Ortega - javier@ghosttheory.com
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Remember that trail cam picture from 2 years ago from the McKean County forest? A bear IMO.
I grew up there and saw a Black Panther one hunting season long ago. It was quite a shock to say the least.
Bigfoot is said to be migratory but I don’t understand why they would choose to be in miserable cold and snowy PA in the winter.
One thing about the PA rednecks is they like to tell tall tales. 10ft tall in this case I guess.
The hundreds of sighting across the country every year are probably thousands….mostly unreported. The skeptics will continue to insist that people are seeing bears (walking upright like Yogi Bear) or just a guy in cheap suit. The average person can discern the difference between an actual animal and a guy in suit, certainly if the figure is in plain view for several seconds. These things simply don’t move like people, and they are generally much larger. The problem is cognitive dissonance.
Its a common problem unfortunately, wherein anything that is outside the individual’s accepted world view is rejected out-of-hand. Bigfoot exists, and so do cell phones and cameras. We could use less verbal reports, and quicker hands grabbing the cell phone, which is typically close at hand. More images wont be enough for some people, but the really good ones can change minds.
hey everyone good afternoon wow this wonderful new article about pa sasquatch activity etc keep me updated ok ty bill green
Hako,
I don’t know if your comments are directed at me but if they are I’d suggest you get to know me first.
I know a bear when I see one. Especially a thin one that likely just came out of hibernation. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in the PA forests. In all that time a saw zero sign of Sassy. That’s not to say it’s not there as it’s as good a place as any outside of the Pacific NW.
I am a supporter of Bigfoot for the most part but to claim they are 10 ft tall is ridiculous. Imagine how many would be spotted if they were actually 10 ft tall?
There are plenty of sighting reports over at the BFRO that I believe but there are also lots that I don’t believe. I also know that these reports can’t all be misidentification.
Jbondo,
Regarding the Black Panther sightings. I have seen them too in Fayette County.
It was 2000 or 2001, my friends and I always used to go camping in these caves in the State Game Lands around Deer Lake, in the mountains around CHalk Hill, PA.
When walking back to our campsite one night, we saw three black cat like animals, very low to the ground, and too small to be black bears. They stopped in the middle of the path we were walking on and looked right at us. We stopped and stood still, except for my friend who had a battery powered Million-Watt spotlight who ran back because he was scared. Although it was dark all three of us all said “look at those black panthers”. We didn’t think for one second they were bears. Although we were called crazy many times, we still to this day stick to our story.
Also, around 2003, I was driving back to the same area. I was on Chalk-Hill RD going towards Ohiopyle and made the first left after you cross the bridge over Deer Lake. I drove about 50 feet on the road and my friend looked left down this gravel road and said “Look at that Bobcat”. To my amazement, clear as day, there stood not a Bobcat, but a Mountain Lion. Just staring at my car, not a fear in the world.
For those who have seen Black Panthers and Mt. Lions in that area I believe them because I have seen both.
Maddog,
The PA game commission will deny the existence of panthers as long as they can. The thing is if they admit the cats are out there they will then have to do studies, track them, protect them, etc…It’s much easier to just deny them. I can’t say I blame the commission.I’d rather it stay a legend then have poachers with packs of dogs running these poor animals up trees and killing them.
All these sightings people, even police, gas co. workers, loggers, state police, preachers as well as everyday locals who claim to see Bigfoot, or UFO. Even ghosts don’t push us asside. There are many things unexplained. Even the bible it’self talks about these things. Many say it’s the work of the devil, or the goverment experiments gone wrong. I don’t think so.
I personaly had on two different occassions came face to face with these creatures, one not more than five feet away from the back of my camper window, in Mc Kean. Co. Pa. The other much larger, and grey in color right here behind my mobile home, less than 20 feet from my bedroom window after it actually walked on my roof and fell off leaving a dent above my kitchen window. It hit the ground, with a big thump, the next thing there it was behind my mobile home, I woke my husband he looked for the flashlight, and started for the back door. I ran to the front door, I yelled out, is that you honey? Dear God there it was, in full moonlight, big, about 9 feet or yes, 10 feet tall. It turned it’s upper body at the waste, and looked at me covered with dark grey hair, then turned and in three steps was gone into the pines. My husband just made it to the driveway and said, I don’t see anything, I told him it took three steps and was gone, that quick!
The one in McKean co.,Pa. I was sitting up in the back of the camper watching turkey vultures circleing over Mr. Herzocs Mountain. I reached down and took my blanket to finally go to sleep, when I turned around to lay down there it was, staring at me face to face, black as cool, hair all over it, and eyes shinning in the moonlight. With a human face! I was in total shock it was not more than five or six feet from my window, at first, I didn’t know what to think and always being a skeptic about every thing thought it was someone playing a trick on us. but there was no one there to play a trick, we were all alone there at my uncles camp. It just stared at me eyes glowing like when you shine a fash light at an animal in the dark, it had human features, and it looked kind, it kept staring at me and I couldn’t unglue my eyes from it’s eyes. then I snapped out of it, and started to kick the heck out of my husband who was sound asleep, he growned and said, quit kicking me go to asleep. I couldn’t speak! The creature had to be at least 9 feet tall, because the camper when blocked you can’t see in the bedroom window at all. I threw the covers up at the window, and when they fell back down , it was gone. I heard three loud thumps and so shook up today even when I talk about it I can’t hold back the tears. Everyone laughed at me, made fun of me, and I was reluctant to even tell my story, till I talked to a fella that saw one too, and he assured me I am not crazy. The next morning my husband and I walked all around there looking for tracks. He said it was the mop hanging on the clothes line, the line was all rolled up hanging on the old outhouse, the mop was inside the outhouse.
Please, just because YOU haven’t seen this creature, or a UFO, or even a Ghost, until all this is proven keep a watchful eye, today you have all the technology right at hand. But don’t make fun of people who still have nighmares when they think about what they experienced. I was a sketic too. Not anymore.
leona,
Where exactly were you camping? Can you name something other than Herzog? Close to Bradford? My memory isn’t serving me very well.
As for 10ft tall, height is the most mistaken claim other than distance. People more often than not see things bigger than they actually are, often swearing to it. It’s just natural especially when adrenaline is pumping.
You may be right about the misjudgement of height, but this was bigger than the one I saw in McKean Co. Pa. I couldn’t swear to it but the one I saw here just above Belltown on the Clarion river was huge. I mean it was huge! Ok have you ever heard of Pitula? Smitheport in that vacinity, McKean Co. On Potato creek, right after you pass the Maples bar, and go aways cross the bridge, then make a left turn and follow that road all the way till you come to a farm. It is that area there. but what surprised the heck out of me was when I told my brother whom I hadn’t seen for quite sometime that has a camp there also here he and four other fella’s had an encounter with something that scared them so badly they left that area. They reported their episode with a bigfoot investigaters.
I didn’t even know this, it was the same year and with in a few months after my husband and I parked our camper beside my uncles camp. since then my uncle’s daughter-in-law sold his camp but my cousins camp is right next door, the camps are just down the road from Herzocs old farm. I NEVER WENT BACK THERE! So I don’t know if the Herzocs still are alive or own the farm but it sets at the base of this mountain.
Later there was a report of a bigfoot chasing two boys on bikes there, Smitheport,and down at Belltown by the Clarion River there was an old report of these hunters that claim they saw the one I saw. I know it’s hard to believe these creatures exsist and even harder to believe how big they are but just recently on the Today show the tallest man is around nine feet tall, so go figure.
Don’t know if you are aware also but on the History channel on the Dish network researchers are still determind to find these creatures. They also had a program on how because of global Warming Polor bears and Kodiacs are inner breeding and getting huge, almost like the pre-historic bears. And yes after living in these mountains, there is Mountain Lions, and a friend of mine did see a black one with in forty feet of his head on a big boulder. You would have to live up here on a day to day basis, and ride your horses through these mountains and pipelines like I have to see things people say don’t exsist. To witness things, it’s like I’m always in the wrong place at the right time. Now I am afraid to ride alone anymore. Thank you for your input.
Sorry for ending up in Fayette, Co. but didn’t search all the other counties in Pa. To answer as to where I saw these creatures, the first one in 1986 in Clairmont, outside of Smitheport, Mc Kean, Co. Pa. then again here in Elk Co. In 1991 just above Belltown, on Gregg Hill RD. I know many hunters and fisherman would know these places. I am sure you have heard of the famous Halton Hilton.
Thank you for sharing my experiences. I felt so afraid no one else went through this but as I go into all these other sights I am realising I am not alone in this. I feel better than I told someone.
Leona V.
leona,
I grew up in McKean County and spent much of my youth in the forests there. I fished potato creek many times and hunted in and around the Allegheny National Forest. Furthermore I’ve been studying Sasquatch since the age of 12 and I’m 47 now.
I’m amazed that so many people that you know as well as yourself have all seen a Bigfoot. In all my years in McKean County I never knew even one person that had seen a BF. I’m not saying you and the others you mention didn’t see one but I am truly amazed at all these sightings. You’d think at least one of these people would have a camera with them or have taken a cast.
You also mention a 9′ man but how many 9′ men are out there? In fact the tallest living man is not 9′ but 8′1″. There are actually two men known on the planet that are said to be 8′1″ but only one is recently verified.
Lastly, since you all seem like BF magnets I’d carry a camera if I were you.
Have a great day!
Okay so I’m doing this report over bug foot and I honestly belive all this stuff is just one BIG HOAX!
Of all the pictures i have seen “Big Foot” just looks like an ape!
It’s obvious the people who say they’ve seen “Big Foot” is just so they can get there face in the publicity!!!
Have a great day!
I was camping in the sam aera as Loena yrs. ago. I didnt see a bagfoot but thank I smelt one. It smelt like sueage. I did see a mounton lion ones it was brindle in color it could have bean a feral cat. Leona I wish you good luck in the fueture dont be scaret they are timad cretures. I was told by loren Coolman that if they leave a feeces on you property that they are accept of you.
Jess
Looks like Brittanie has solved the mystery for us all! Javier, thanks to her spot-on assessment you can save yourself tons of time since you will no longer need to post Bigfoot stories. Thanks Brittanie!
I’d just like to know who Loren Coolman is.
All kidding aside Jess, I find it hard to believe that Loren ColEman would say anything like that. No offense.
jbondo/redngreen
I also don’t think that was something that Loren Coleman ever has stated.
I guess we can ask him, since I know he lurks around this site once and awhile
-Javier
I meet him at a bigfoot confrence. Maybe it was someone saing they was mr. colemun I met Bob Gliman in Ohio two weeks ago. He had a broking arm where he fell or rather got throwed off a whorse. I saw Jeff Meldrum to. From what I could tell he wears a topay. I thought his hair was fake. If you ever smelt a bigfoot you will never forgot it.
Jess forgive me for being amused but I had to laugh out loud when you misspelled all the seemingly easy names and then come out with Jeff Meldrum as easy as you please. Then you mention the toupee and it was all over with! LOL!
You might want to go out on the interwebs and get an auto spell checker. It will check your spelling everywhere you write as you write.
No problem with the Coleman comment. I’m sure it was just a case of mistaken identity or misunderstanding.
Thanks for attempting to clear that up.
mr. jbondo, i never was a good speller even though I grduated from a two year school. my wife ususally spell checks me.
when I was at the confrence I did a fair amount of listenting and to be honest heard a fair amount of hogwash. This one fellow was talking about the eastern bigfoot;; the western bogfiit and two or three other bigfoots. He went on to explain the pyhsical diferences etc. I could tell he was a bs’er of the first degree espesailly when he claimed he sees them all the time. But for every bs’er there seemed to be a decent everyday sort that had a real interest in pigfoot.
Actually Jess, from what I’ve studied over the years it would seem that there are different physical traits based on region. Especially in the Everglades where the animal is smaller and lighter. However, I’d say that those are the only 2 distinct animals in North America. Then you have the Australian, Himalayan, Russian, etc…versions which differ in color size and shape.
Of course we can’t say for sure if the animal really exists.
I don’t doobt there are regional diferences what i doubted was his “seeing them all the time”. I belieeeve their real flesh and blod animals – farley intelligent animalw. I’ve read a milloin reports along with some of hte bbooks. I’m positive by now that more than one government entitty is awre of them and have probably studied them to some degree. One can only imagine how many pics of them are lieng orund in dresser drawers, closets, etc.