Kid Playing in Woods Was Not So Alone

Georges Creek Boulevard and woods, today.

Whenever I start explaining my Weird Western Maryland project, some student immediately says, “Oh, you mean like Bigfoot.”

The modern legend of Bigfoot is certainly one of my research interests, as is the wider field of cryptozoology, or the search for unknown animals. Bigfoot also is one of the modern legends best known to my undergraduates, thanks to Hollywood and to decades of T-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, chainsaw art, and other merchandise. And as Western Maryland is largely wooded, students tend to assume that Bigfoot, if it exists at all, abounds regionally.

In fact, Bigfoot sightings are not all that common in Western Maryland. (Southwestern Pennsylvania, just across the Mason-Dixon Line, is an entirely different story, one we’ll get to later.)

The only Allegany County sighting in the excellent database of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) took place more than 20 years ago and in a surprising, far-from-remote location: relentlessly suburban LaVale, a bedroom community and retail center just off I-85.

The date was 15 July 1999, a Thursday. The daytime sighting was in the woods off Georges Creek Boulevard, a residential street that parallels National Highway and dead-ends at District Park.

“I was kinda lost,” said the (unidentified) witness. “I tend to do that so I do not really know where I was.” Here’s his account (typos and all):

I was playing near a creek on a elevated point. I happened to glance up into a thicket about 30 yards away. there was a creature about as tall as a small tree beside it. I guess the tree was around 8 foot. It was a muscular shape with brownish grayish colored hair. Surprisingly the feet were not as large as you would think. But yet they were still larger than a average human being. He turned around began to walk towards the creek above the hill. In fright I ran away. Never saw it again

The witness presumably was very young at the time, as few older teens would describe themselves as “playing.” If so, the youngster may well have lived in the neighborhood, within walking distance. The report wasn’t filed until 13 Feb. 2001, when the witness was older.

As for conditions at the time, the witness says (typos and all):

It was a fairly dry season and the main creeks on the top of the mountain began to start drying out. We were in the middle of a drought. The sun was shinning through the tops of the trees.

Judging from that day’s weather in nearby Frostburg, LaVale had a clear sky and few clouds, if any, with a high in the low 80s. Partially as a result, BFRO considers this a “Class A” sighting, reserved for “clear sightings in circumstances where misinterpretation or misidentification of other animals can be ruled out with greater confidence.”

A BFRO investigator (identified only as “Ron B.”) spoke with the witness and added the following (typos and all):

Witness stated that, the animal was first crouched down, then stood erect, on two legs, the animal was limping, favoring it's right side. He (witness) did not see the face, or notice any details due to fright.

Witness feels the animal was looking for a water source, due to local drought.

“He” is the first clear indicator of the witness’s gender – unless you count the fact that the witness assumed, on no stated evidence, that the Bigfoot was male. Males tend to assume default maleness. “Ron B.,” to their credit, didn’t make that mistake.

The area may well have been less built-up in 1999 than it is today, but as my 2021 photo shows, it’s still surprisingly wooded, once you pass the houses.

One wonders whether the witness is still in the area, and what he thinks about his Bigfoot report 20 years later. One also wonders whether others in the neighborhood have seen anything similar, in or near District Park.

Sources:

Latta, Greg. National Weather Service observations for July 1999. https://www.frostburg.edu/personal/latta/weather/jul99wx.txt. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.

“Report #1748 (Class A).” The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO). https://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=1748. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.