YEAR: 1979

SEASON: Summer

STATE: New Jersey

COUNTY: Passaic County

LOCATION DETAILS: Heading down from the top from Oakland side to Ringwood. First curve toward right.

NEAREST TOWN: Ringwood

NEAREST ROAD: Skyline Drive

OBSERVED: In 1978-1979 I saw the lower half of a bigfoot when driving home from work. It was just getting dark and was on Skyline Drive in Ringwood, NJ. I came around a bend in the road and caught a glimpse of the hips and two hairy legs walking across the road. Definitely not a human. Took one step from the center of my lane and with one step, not a run, was over the sideline and into the woods. I was about 19 at the time. No one believes me to this day. I was told by my mom about a year later that the cars that were always parked on the top of the mountain was a bigfoot research team. Makes sense. Have you ever considered checking Ringwood out?

OTHER WITNESSES: no

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Dusk, getting dark

ENVIRONMENT: wooded mountain

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Larry Rippon:

I met the witness on site January 17th, 2014. The witness recalled an August summer night from 1979 when a friend and her were driving home from work at dusk and as they came around a bend on Skyline Drive in Ringwood heading west, she noticed what she described as the hips and 2 dark blackish legs of a human like creature walking across the road. The creature was in the middle of the same lane she was driving in when she caught sight of the figure and according to the witness, it took one step to the north and was off the roadway and into a wooded area. The witness stood in the same spot she recalled seeing the creature and imitated the creature's stride and it took her 3 steps to move off the road. The area is very close to the Ramapo Mountain State Forest, the Ramapo Valley Reservation and the Wanaque Reservoir. She explained it couldn't have been a bear because of the human like aspect of the figure and stated she has seen bears before and knows what they look like. I asked her why she didn't see the upper part of the creature and she stated that it must have been out of her line of sight. This may be possible since she was approximately 40-50 yards from the creature. Also, in 1979, the car she was driving may have had inferior headlights, unlike the modern cars of today.

The witness seemed credible and it's important to note that when I first contacted the witness, she mentioned my phone call to her sister, who in turn said that she remembered the exact night of the encounter and how "freaked out" her sister (The witness) was when she arrived home just after the encounter. I asked the witness if I could interview her friend who was in the car with her but she explained that she passed away a few years ago.

About BFRO Investigator Larry Rippon:

Larry is a lifelong New Jersey resident, having lived the past 26 years in the northern part of the state. He became interested in Bigfoot after seeing the Paterson-Gimlin film when he was a young boy. Larry likes spending time with his family and is an avid hiker. He is the curator of all BFRO northern New Jersey sightings, reports and investigations. Larry has attended the following BFRO expeditions:

2014 northern New Jersey
2016 southern New York
2017 northern New Jersey
2018 southern New Jersey
2019 northern New Jersey (co-organizer)
2020 southern New York #1
2022 northern New Jersey spring (organizer)
2022 northern New Jersey fall (organizer)
2023 northern New Jersey spring (organizer)
2023 northern New Jersey fall (organizer)
2024 northern New Jersey spring (co-organizer)

If you have seen a Sasquatch anywhere in northern New Jersey, please contact me immediately.

Email: NJ_BFRO@yahoo.com
Twitter: @NewJersey_BFRO