YEAR: 1977

SEASON: Fall

STATE: Pennsylvania

COUNTY: Erie County

LOCATION DETAILS: I-20 west from Erie, PA to West Springfield, PA. Goto Crayton Road. Head north less than 1/4 mile on the west side of the road.

NEAREST TOWN: West Springfield

NEAREST ROAD: I-20 and Crayton Rd

OBSERVED: My experience with Bigfoot occured when I was about ten years old during the fall of 1977. I was always exploring the wooded area between route 5 and route 20 in northwestern PA, west of Crayton road. One cool, wet evening just before dusk, I walked north into the woods via the main trail from our house. At the fork in the trail, running north and east, was a small sand pit which I crouched into because I saw someone or something in the distance. I peered over the rough, looking slightly northeastward. I watched this thing for nearly five minutes. It was over 7 feet tall and weighted about 500 - 700 pounds from as far as I could tell. It was black from head to toe. Even its face was black. It was tearing off tree limbs and pushing over rotted trees. Playing as such as I had done several days earlier at the exact same spot. It must have been watching me. It amazed me because there were really no rotted trees left to push over or rotted tree branches to break. It's strength was incredible. I could hear the sounds of trees crackling and smashing to the ground. I grew extremely scared by bigfoots size and strength and what it might do to me if it saw me. The hair on my body stood straight up and without looking back I turned and ran as fast as I could. I ran approximately 50 yards back along the trail and another 100 yards through the field to my parents house. I never returned to explore the woods for another six months.

OTHER WITNESSES: None

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Early Evening, just before dusk. It was a cool, somewhat wet day.

ENVIRONMENT: It was a large wooded area, patches of under brush, and a corn field to the north. There was a small swampy area where I sighted Bigfoot.

Follow-up investigation report:

BFRO volunteer Mark Maisel worked with investigator DB Donlon on this report. Mark interviewed the witness and adds these comments:

"I contacted the witness by phone on 6/7/05. Further information can be added to the report. The area is seasonally swampy. There are cornfields, wild apple trees and a few pear trees nearby, providing a food source. The animal moved in a hunched manner from tree to tree while pushing them down. The witness also stated that while the
creature was large it also had a lanky muscular build with broad shoulders. He further described its hair color as being light blackish. The witness also stated that it had no neck. He watched the creature for about five minutes until fear overtook him and he ran to his parents' house. He did not go back to this area for six months."

"I contacted the witness again by phone at 4:15p.m. EST on June 8th 2005. He stated that from his vantage point the animal was between 50 to 75 yards in the distance."

About BFRO volunteer Mark Maisel:
Mark Maisel is employed in the medical field in Ohio.

• Explanation of the report classification system
• Submit a report for the sightings database
• Please send any comments or inquiries to ContactUs@BFRO.net