A list of some of the reported Bigfoot sightings and evidence in the Beehive state. The Information on these reports are from the files of Ryan Layton.
1960s: A possible Bigfoot sighting near Beaver.
1970s: Some residents of Clarkston, northwest of Logan, reported that something took a midnight trip through their community, awakening and frightening residents.
~An Indian reported seeing a creature in the Dixie National Forest.
1973:Craig R Johnson of Farr West, Weber County, was elk hunting with friends in theManti-La Sal Mountains. After returning to camp, they reported something very powerfull had lifted the door off a 300-pound horse trailer nd tossed it 10 feet away. An imprint in the dust on the door didn't indicate a bear or human.
1977:The first major reported Utah sighting: Jay Barker and Larry Beeson of north Ogden were hiking one summer morning with five men in the Cuberant Basin of the Uinta Mountainsand reported watching a 8 to 10 foot creature with a mantle of white hair from 600 to 800 yards away for 20 minutes until some loose rock alerted it to their presence on a ridge. An expedition to the area a few days later found no tracks, but the ground was very hard.
1979: Larry Darley of Clearfield was Elk hunting with his wife in the fall near Monte Cristo, east of Ogden. They later reported a loud noise and an awful odor at twilight. Mrs Darley said she spotted a "hairy thing, with fangs" at a water hole about 50 yards away through her rifle scope. They watched it for several minutes before rushing to their truck after the animal seemed to look at them.
~ Hikers near Flaming Gorge reported stumbling onto a watering hole with a huge pine bed and a dead deer hanging nearby, They said they heard unearthly screams and made a quick retreat to their boat.
1980s: (by month) A man from Lapoint,Uintah County, flying a small airplane from Ogden to his home one winter, reported seeing a large, hairy creature walking through the deep snow of the High Uintas.
~Lee Fielding of Hooper, Weber County, who works for Utah Wildlife Resources, was camping in the Elizabeth Mountain area of the Uintas. He reported that something stormed through his camp one night and scared all the horses away. The next morning, his horse would not go in a particular direction, and he met a group of hunters in another nearby camp who told him they were spooked by seeing what they described as Bigfoot.
~A man on a dirt bike behind the Francis Peak Towers said he was chased by some sort of creature.
~Indians in Ouray Reservation near Roosevelt, reported Bigfoot like creatures in a particular canyon, but since they consider the area sacred, to outside investigation has yet been permitted. Ute Indians also have a legend that similar creatures sometimes congregate in the Island Lake area of the High Uintas. There are also periodic reports of large rocks being thrown in the middle of the night around Island Lake.
~A Vernal church leader and family reported seeing the outline of a large creature near their tent one summer night. They also saw a huge handprint press against their tent.
February; In February, Bigfoot made big news in Utah with numerous sightings:
~Paulene Markham said she saw something like Bigfoot walking on a ridge behind her house...
~Ron J. Smith reported a creature in the moonlight in a pasture next to his house. he also said he heard it make an inhuman scream.
~Walter G. Ray reported that a pan of burnt stew set outside to cool, was mysteriously licked clean....
Possible Bigfoot tracks were reported in the South Weber area...
~Lee Padilla of Clearfield reported seeing a 10 foot tall beast dart across Riverdale Road in front of his headlights at 3:30 a.m.
~A Uintah man reported seeing somethinghe described as non-human out a window of his home in the foothills...
~A South Weber resident, Edna Arave, said she was frightend by the unearthly screams of what may have been Bigfoot one February night. she also believed many South Weber residents saw or heard things they never did report for fear of ridicule, or the publicity they could receive from the media.
April:A 13-year-old Washington Terrace, Weber County, girl reported a hairy creature standing up with its back to her- only 10 feet away in a gully near the Weber River. She also said she smelled a terrible odor and rushed home. Her brother, cutting oak brush nearby, also saw something "large and black" about the same time.
May: An Ogden couple picking asparagus along the Weber River near 12th Street and I-15,reported an 8-foot-tall black figure with glowing red eyes about 40 yards away. they ran to their car and later returned to the area with Ryan Layton and others and found hundreds of tracks... Several footprints were also discovered in a residential area ofNorth Ogden.
August:Teenagers reported hearing an unearthly scream and smelling a terrible odor one night. Large footprints were also later found in the area..
1981: The police chief of Garland, Box Elder County, said he saw a creature run in front of his car. Several other residents also reported sightings and tracks are found that lead in a northwest direction.
1982: Several drivers along Beck Street in North Salt Lake reported seeing a hairy creature run across the road in the early morning darkness.
1983: A jogger in Farmington reported seeing Bigfoot near the city cemetery early one morning...
~Ryan Layton and a friend were camping on Sept.1 in the Hoyt Peak area of the Uintas. Layton who collects Bigfoot stories, had heard a tape recording of a Bigfoot scream that a Montana rancher had given to another Utahn. At 3a.m. he said just for fun he imitated- as best he could- one of the Bigfoot sounds and almost instantly got back a reply. It was the same as the Montana recording, and Layton described it as an "almost ungodly, sinister and weird scream" that lasted five to ten seconds. It had too much volume to be human or made by any known animal...
~Several men in the Wheeler Canyon area near the Snow Basin Road, reported seeing something large with glowing red eyes at about 3 a.m. one night. They left their camping gear and rushed off to Huntsville to report it and also said they saw several other creatures in the vicinity.
1988:Ranchers near Garland reported seeing two Bigfoot-like creatures near their lambing pens after dark. Soon after, many tracks were found in the Garland area in deep snow and were followed two miles.
1990:An Orangeville, Emery County, man told Ryan Layton he's spotted Bigfoot four different times in the High Uintas, including one time with his whole family. He also said his grandfather had told him he'd seen Bigfoot in the same area.
1991:(Aug) Bigfoot sightings reported by residents in North Ogden.
1992:(Aug) Screams and a foul odor were reported in the same North Ogden area.
THE SEARCH CONTINUES
For The Legendary Creature In Utah
EXPERIENCED BIGFOOT RESEARCHERS AND INVESTIGATORS IN UTAH
EXPLORING THE EVIDENCE, DATA AND REPORTS, TRACKING &
8The Track Record -The Western Bigfoot Society Newsletter
Ryan Layton and Ron Mower. Ryan introduces us to Ron, and gives some background. Ron seems honest, and a bit unworldly, and is frequently coached by Ryan, a Layton, UT, researcher. Mower claims nine sightings. Fishing on the Indian reservation, Ron says, he saw three at once, one brown and one reddish, and they followed him along a stream in the Uintah Mts, along Swift Creek.
He was there five times, and feels a part of the phenomenon. At hunting camp, the creature came and reached up and took a shot-and-hung deer out of a tree, and let it drop to the ground. This happened twice...they pulled me into a sort of mental limbo...and time was gone, he said. Ryan said that the creatures were meta-physical, and we will perhaps never get a body part. He had interviewed two individuals in N'rn Utah, who told of the "Star People," and their telepathic communication. The alien beings say they (Bigfeet) are punished beings, and they have been planting the "Agmar" (alien Bigfeet) in the mountains near your home.
Ross was inUtah, south of the Dugway Proving Ground, and about 20 miles north of Delta. He had been sleeping in his truck at an old sheepherders camp near a dry creek bed, one mile south of the old Pony Express Campground. He woke up in the early hours when something made a noise running, and had the feeling that something had looked in his window, made a noise, and ran away through the three foot high grass.
Cuberant Basin, Utah - Eight people observe a 10-foot-tall Bigfoot-like creature. The creature was in view for about four minutes and was seen at a distance of 800-1,000 yards. Footprints were discovered and a rabbit was found physically mutilated along the trail.
November 2002 Gray /brown Bigfoot seen in Farmington, Utah near Lagoon. residents report hearing the Bigfoot scream every night for a month. a small hunt for the creature resulted in a brief sighting.
Description of sighting: >Every night we could hear something screaming that sounded sort of like Elk but in a higher more human like scream but higher than a human and much louder. Upon hearing these screams, my friends and I decided one night to go out and look for it and to see what was screaming. We had quite a few guys and we went to the back of my field where the Farmington Power Plant is right behind it and heard the screams and saw something go through a clearing in the trees. ;After seeing this thing go through the clearing we turned and ran. The next night we heard the screams again and went in the back of my field and saw nothing. Then we went onto the lagoon trail with big flash lights and as we went through, you walk past the Elk and Buffalo that are in cages.We went past them the first time and they were scattered and the elk screamed at us. We went all the way through and on the way back to my house, we walked past the elk and every single one of them were huddled in a corner screaming and very restless. We then walked past the buffalo and every single one of them were huddled in the corner and as we came to where the trail took a bend, there was a very disgusting odor that none of us have ever smelled before and then almost directly in front of us there came the loudest most ear piercing, blood curdling scream. It was the scream that we had heard every single night for a whole month. None of us saw anything because the ones with the flashlights were in the back because we thought that we just wasted our time and nothing was back there. We all ran as fast as we could out of that trail and back to my house. After that month passed, we have never heard the screams again and have gone back to the lagoon many times trying to convince others that it really happened but to no avail.
Physical Attributes:
In the clearing it had to be very tall because right after the trees, where the clearing is it drops quite a bit and this thing was still very tall and on the slant down. It was very dark and we shined the light on it and it appeared sort of grayish brown. Didn't\' see the eyes or anything else. Very bad smell and very distinct scream.
Location: Garfield County, UtahEscalante Monument (nearest town, Boulder Utah).
This area is surrounded by National Parks ("Bryce" -west, "Zions" and "Glen Canyon"-south, "Capital Reef" and Canyonlands- north and east) not to mention the Henry Mountains to the north and Lake Powell and The Grand Canyon to the south. This is said to be "the most wild place in the contiguous United States." The terrain is riddled with canyons and benches made up of "redrock" and smooth light colored rock. Very little vegetation on the benches and yet some canyons are fed by springs or streams of water and are sometimes impassible due to the thickness of the vegetation.
This particular sighting took place between a canyon called "The Gulch" and one called "Deer Creek Canyon" on top of the Bench that separates the two, which is several miles wide.
Actions of reporter: Every spring, since 1982 I have led a small group to this wilderness area for a "vision quest". During this time, we were hiking to a remote location to spend some time "connecting with Mother Nature" and thinking about the direction of our lives. It is a very challenging trip.
Witnesses:
Another hiker (I don't have permission to release her name) was with me at the time and was frightened by the sight.
Report to any other org: Yes If yes, to who: BFRO and Oregon Bigfoot Society, others-recently
Description of sighting: We were hiking west from The Gulch with a goal of reaching Deer Creek before nightfall. We needed to hike across the bench which had a significant elevation (between 5000-6000 feet)in order to obtain water. The terrain was a very light colored; pale (in the sunlight it appeared white). As we followed the direction west we hike up and down with the flow of the land. We were hiking up out of a "wash" and spotted the creature on the crest of the bench. Initially we both thought it was human, as it exhibited scouting behavior peering to the north, then pacing to the south and back to the north to peer again, raising it arm and hand to shade it's eyes. After what seemed like several minutes we were observed by the creature, which caused it to duck behind a rock. This movement was so quick as to seem almost like a reflex action. We discussed the strange behavior and decided not to investigate further. Instead, I led the way slightly to the south and circled the area to head down the other side toward Deer Creek. The sun was overhead, the weather was clear and as we passed downward we both turned to look back toward the top to meet the eyes of the curious creature as it stared at us. It dipped it's head below the rock and remained out-of-sight.
Two days later we went back to the area and were surprised to find that the crest of the bench where the creature was pacing was surrounded by rock formations approximately 70 inches high, making a "fortress". What was surprising about this was that we clearly observed the creature pacing within the fortress from below and it had to duck to hide itself. Before it noticed us, it lifted one leg up and placed it's foot, easily, on the rock as it peered north. To be able to do this the creature had to be taller than we originally thought.
Since this experience, I have had several unique experiences involving "the Forest People" and am gratefulfor the new awareness this has given me.
Physical Attributes:
The creature was white in color, very tall (at least 7 to 9 feet tall) and seemed to be in excellent physical shape with well proportioned arms,legs and torso. (Not stocky or thick like the Patterson film creature). The creature was pacing back and forth with a smooth agile and very human-like gait. Because of the muscular chest and lack of noticeable breast, I assumed this was a male. It\'s head was peculiar in shape (it forehead and parietal area seemed higher than a human). Its eyes were human-like , (perhaps more round) and intelligent as it stared toward us with (what seemed to us) curiosity.
A avid bowhunter says he picked up and held Bigfoot bones and even the skull on top of Lone Peak mountain. Leaving the bones without knowing what they were. Later seeing a documentary with a similar skull, he realized what he had seen. The bones have not yet been relocated to confirm his story.
Two witnesses scouting for deer near the Strawberry Reservoir Area when they smelled a strong odor resembling raw sewage. After awhile the smell sort of dissipated and they kept walking on the trail. As they rounded a bend there was a tremendous crash, like thunder, in the forest off to their right.
Twigs and branches breaking and something huge running at a high speed preceded it. Later they heard more sounds and a sound resembling a "grunt." One of the witnesses thought he saw a shadow or an outline of a "person" walking from tree to tree. He estimated it to be from 5 to 6 ft tall and bipedal.
The witness suddenly woke up from a sound sleep and felt someone holding her hand very gently. She opened her eyes and saw a huge hairy humanoid sitting besides her on her bed holding her hand. The witness screamed then the tall hairy creature ran down a hallway and into the family room and vanished.
The witness again woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and as she came back to bed and lay down she felt something moving across the bed, she then saw two large hairy hands moving beneath her. She was then lifted from bed by a huge hairy Bigfoot type creature that then stepped back a few feet and rose straight up with her, apparently carrying her through floors and ceiling.She closed her eyes and felt moving up. She does not recall what happened and next thing she knew she was being deposited back in her bed. The being again held hard and apparently became angry when she removed his hand and jumped on top of her but without any apparent harm to her.
HC addition # 1651Source: James L Thompson, Aliens and UFOs Type: G?
I am a Brigham Young University graduate, and was active in the church from 1977 to 1995, and hung around in the offshoot groups until 1998. I am still on the books as a member.
An interesting story from Latter Day Saints history describes how one of the original "twelve" had an encounter with "Cain" about 1840. I think it was David Patten. He said he was on horseback somewhere in New York it seems, and a creature covered with hair from head to foot, stinking very bad, walked up to him, and looked him eye to eye. That would make him about 8 1/2 feet tall. This now obvious as a bigfoot creature said his name was Cain. As a Cherokee, I know that anytime he shows up, you can expect 7 years of BAD luck. He showed up at Pine Ridge just before the shootings of two FBI agents in the 1970s, culminating in the 60 day siege at Wounded Knee. Navajos, (I am not an expert) call a very similar creature "Skinwalkers" I know someone who has seen two of them. One of the well known [fairly recent] (going back about 10 years) general authorities, who has since been put out to pasture, said that encounter with "Cain" was in the basement of the Salt Lake Temple. There have been lots of rumors of Satanic stuff going around for a long time... many people giving testimony of abuse. Most are, of course, treated as nut cases
lBigfoot Lives with Ute Indians? UFO - Bigfoot Connection?
The National Enquirer (11-07- 78) carried a story about the Yakima UFO sightings, as well as the high number of UFO reports from the Ute Indian Reservation in northeastern Utah. The article quoted one Virginia B. Martin, described as a former lecturer on Indian languages at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, as saying that there was an Indian legend of a man with red eyes and incredible healing powers who had come from afar to live with the tribe. When he grew old and was dying, he asked that upon his death his body be taken to a certain place. When this happened, a large flying object descended and took his body off with it.
l Mark Woody - Bigfoot Researcher for over 31 years & UUFOH Investigator since 2000.
Has recon' d numerous locations where Bigfoot is known to frequent. Has Studied the creature for years. He has been interested, and studying large hominids or Sasquatch since 1976. Has personally investigated 7 eyewitness sightings and done 5 in the field investigations
l Brian Whitesides, An investigator of Bigfoot for 20 years. Investigated Bigfoot sightings in South Weber, North Ogden, Placerville and Georgetown, California. Now with UUFOH
lRyan Layton - Investigating Sasquatch for over 25 years & UUFOH Investigator since 2001.
Has collected numerous reports and met with witnesses from around the state. Also has performed recon on known locations where Bigfoot has been seen. Has done several television and news media stories on Bigfoot in Utah. Bigfoot Daze in 2003. Met with probably all persons involved in Bigfoot research in Utah. has witnessed several Track locations. has had one Vocal experience with Bigfoot.
lDerrell Smith - Bigfoot Researcher. Derrel has been hunting Bigfoot for 15 years (all in Utah). He has documented over 160 reports of Bigfoot in Utah. Though he has never had an encounter with the creature face-to-face, he has had come in contact with second-hand evidence, such as footprints and hair samples. he and Ryan have been hunting Bigfoot together for a long time in Utah. Derrel also has work closely with Rudy for 15 years. We hope to get some of Derrel's impressive bigfoot track photos he has taken to post here at aliendave.com UUFOH-SLC MUFON Speaker 5/17/03
lRudy Drobnick, A retired Division of Wildlife employee, Investigates Bigfoot in Utah
Rudy has an impressive amount of knowledge about Bigfoot as a species and Bigfoot in Utah.
a "Manimal" as he calls it. 'Something different than a normal animal' Rudy also says the creature 'probably migrates" and quite possibly is more than one type of Bigfoot.
When hunters would bring their antlers in to the office to be measured he's ask if they'd seen a bigfoot? Sometimes they had and Rudy would have another story. UUFOH-SLC MUFON Speaker 5/17/03
North Logan, Utah on January 2, 2003, at 11:30 p.m. MST, a very tall, hairy Bigfoot creature was seen walking along a canal behind houses. Tracks Photographed
Spring of 2002. Got this photo (see image at link) while taking pictures in a canyon in Utah. Didn't notice what was in photo till I enlarged it at a later date. --Barry B. CREDIT: coasttocoastam.com
Fact:
l There are as many Bigfoot or Sasquatch sightings in Utah as there are in Oregon and Washington.
over 160 known reports of Bigfoot in Utah
l Most sightings of Bigfoot in Utah have been in Mountainous areas, rarely have they been reported
in the desert areas. Until recently...... (updated)
l The Bigfoot seen in Utah have a color range from white to black.
l Bigfoot tracks in Utah have been found with three and five toes.
l Sightings in Utah have been reported as close as 8 ft.
l Bigfoot in Utah are known to be meat eaters, taking rabbits, pigs, and pets, away never to be seen
again. One report notes a 'Scared' Bigfoot holding a 35 pound pig in one hand as it fled the scene.
l Utah's Bigfoot Hotspot is Coldwater Canyon
l Other known Hotspots are: Big Cottonwood Canyon, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Timpanogas,
Logan, Ogden, High Uintah's, West Desert
l Bigfoot has been seen so frequently in the Uintah mountains near Ogden that in September, 1977,
a search party was organized to search for the creature. The hunt was put together, according to a
newspaper account, after "two North Ogden men and six youths reported seeing the gorilla-like
creature that ambled off into the timber after seeing them. The party was about one-half mile away
on a ridge and watched the creature move off for about a one-half mile before it disappeared."
Unfortunately, the expedition turned up no conclusive evidence.
l Horses and dogs are scared of Bigfoot, and won't even return to an area after encountering one.
l Hair samples have been found in Logan ,Utah and have been analyzed.
l Bigfoot / Sasquatch / Yeti / Mountain People
These hairy apemen are probably the most consistently witnessed unknown creatures in the world. Whether they are called Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, Skunk Ape or Yowie, they have been seen in isolated woodlands and mountain areas in virtually every corner of the globe. Every state except Rhode Island & Hawaii, And the descriptions - from the North American northwest to Florida to Australia - are remarkably consistent: Its the one creature known to leave physical evidence behind - footprints.
l Descriptions
- large humanoid, muscular, heavy
- very agile, elusive, intelligent
- taller than an average man (seven to eight feet)
- covered with long brown or auburn hair (or white hair in the case of the Yeti) - color varies
- a strong, repugnant odor
- large feet, as evidenced by castings of footprints - ranging from three to five toes
- psychic abilities, telepathic abilities
- a piercing, eerie howl , bark like grunt,
- the ability to disappear or instantly blend in with its surroundings
Some researchers have brought forth theories that the creature might be a interdimensional being, or an alien, due to the reports of UFOs seen near or at the same time Bigfoot was sighted and reason that this is why no physical evidence such as bones or a dead Bigfoot have ever been found.
Some even wondered if there is a Mormon connection to Bigfoot, which may be associated with "a spirit of 'intrigue' with evil and the devil, demons, and evil spirits only invites such influences."
In any case, Bigfoot sightings in Utah continue.........
Does Bigfoot roam while gold lies hidden under Indian maiden?
By Lynn AraveDeseret Morning News
Bigfoot — Only 10 of the 50 states have more reported sightings of "Sasquatch" than Utah. Many of these purported experiences are reported in or along the Wasatch Mountains. From the mountains east of Ogden and North Ogden to the foothills of South Weber and Francis Peak, sightings date back almost 25 years.
Ryan Layton of UUFOH reports on a sighting in November of 2000 in Layton, Utah which a witness obtains video tape of a possible Bigfoot creature - Report & video still
"I believe what you are seeing is the real thing based on the location is a real Sasquatch individual, appearing to possibly have a young juvenile on its back." ........Ryan Layton
Creature seen, Tracks Found and photographed, Screams heard
An impressive report from a witness who has seen and heard the creature for months in early 2003 and discovering dozens of footprints. The witness has since returned to one location and photographed dozens of recent tracks and sent them to us. The witness also reports seeing tracks in the area for three years.
This is an interesting report and has been updated
UUFOH Investigation continues now with other investigation teams
The UUFOH recon report below is found here - click on photos for more.
This is a photo of the cast taken from one of the 10 prints found near Hoyt Peak in the Uintah Mountains 5 miles from Marion, Utah - cast taken July 5 2003
The tracks, leading down a slight hill were approx. 5 feet apart.
lApril 3, 2001- The Uinta Mountains have outstanding wilderness qualities and are geologically unique. They are the highest range in the State of Utah and the most prominent east-west trending range in the contiguous United States. The core of the range is pre-Cambrian rock, over 600 million years old, composed of quartzite, sandstone, and shale. The crest of the range is a high, narrow ridge more than 60 miles long and rarely more than a mile wide at its base. The crest extends from Hayden Peak on the west to Leidy Peak on the east. Secondary ridges, as high or higher that the main divide, extend north and south from the main ridge. A series of articles on Sasquatch sightings were published in Ogden, Utah from 1977 to 1980. To follow are those newspaper articles with special appreciation to John Moore and Ron Shaffner's Creature Chronicles >http://home.fuse.net/rschaffner/
A party of "Big Foot" experts from throughout the nation is scheduled to be in the Uintah Mountains this weekend to check on Utah's reports of the creature. The group will be taken into the Cuberant Basin at the head of the Weber River drainage where such a creature was reported seen a couple of weeks ago. Leading the party will be Jerry Dahlberg, Weber County conservation officer, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Officer Dahlberg says he plans to make a plaster cast of a footprint believed made by the creature that was spotted near a small lake. Two North Ogden men and six youths reported seeing the gorilla-like creature that ambled off into the timber after seeing them. The party was about ½-mile away on a ridge and watched the creature move off for about a ½-mile before it disappeared.
Jay Barker of North Ogden said the creature had a mantel of white hair down its body. He said it was 10-feet tall. Since the report by the group, others have said they spotted a similar creature in other areas of the Uintah Mountains.
lOTHERS IN AREA
Others in the Cubrent Basin area, two weeks ago, said they heard "strange" growling and howling in the area. They said the sounds were like nothing they had heard before and they were frightening. They also heard heavy crashing in the brush and timber at the same time. Mr. Barker also said on a trip back to the basin a week ago, there was a strange smell present throughout the area. Big Foot investigators from all over the nation have been calling Mr. Barker and state wildlife officials to check on the reports and add information. One expert in Colorado said the creature is nocturnal and feeds on both meats and plants. He told Officer Dahlberg the evidence of such a creature he has collected is overwhelming, although he is a disbeliever. Wildlife officers say the initial description of the animal fits that of a grizzly bear. They said, however, it would be "extremely unusual for a grizzly to be in the area.
Two couples said they saw such a creature last June in the Mt. Elizabeth area, about 20 miles from Cuberant Basin.
Credit: John Moore. Source Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles
Whatever (or whoever) Big Foot is, he's an elusive creature. For the past three weeks, scores of persons have scoured the high Uintas looking for the human-like monster - but none has reported sighting him, let alone capturing the beast. An official search party from Weber County scoured the Cuberant area of the Uinta Mountains for the legendary Big Foot, but reported finding "nothing conclusive." Jerry Dahlberg, conservation officer for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said his party covered some ten square miles without a trace.
He said some of the area was "so primitive it looked like it had never before been penetrated by man. We covered the entire Cuberant Basin area one day and the following day searched the Bear River side of the area." Officer Dahlberg said that although they failed to turn up any concrete evidence that the ape-like creature tabbed Big Foot existed, "we are not going to just write the whole thing off. "If such a creature is in the area, he would be constantly on the move, but we should be able to find some evidence of existence, such as animal carcasses, torn tree bark, a form of shelter, etc. But we found none." Officer Dahlberg said he plans to take a look at the area later, probably in the area of Holiday Park on the Upper Weber River. "There are miles and miles of rugged terrain up there," he said. "The two areas of sightings are very primitive, very rugged. Few people have visited the areas." In fact the two areas where Big Foot was sighted are some 17 miles (direct line) apart but descriptions by the two parties, eight in one group and four in the another, bear some resemblance. The smaller group of two middle-aged couples reported sighting - and viewing clearly for more than ten minutes - not one but three beast-like creatures which they said were eight to ten feet tall with human-like features but animal-like characteristics. The group of eight persons, including two adults and six youngsters, reported seeing one such creature. All are reputable persons. Elk season, which open the latter part of September, should draw scores of hunters into all parts of the Uintah Range. But after that, snow should begin to fly and it probably will be next spring - if ever - that there will be more Big Foot sightings. Persons camping or hiking in the Uintah Mountains are urged to take their cameras, not only for the beautiful scenery but "just in case." Neither party reporting the first sightings had cameras with them.
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles
SOUTH WEBER - This small community is buzzing - quietly - today about one Of those things that makes most people crinkle their browns and crack skeptical smiles: a possible visit last week by the elusive creature known to most as Bigfoot. The beast was sighted by at least two people. Its possible tracks were found by a Standard-Examiner reporter and an employee from the Standard-Examiner's composing room on Monday. I am the reporter and, though I would have been the last to believe any of this, I've never seen tracks like these before!
The sightings came a few days apart over a week ago. First, a South Weber woman, Pauline Markham, reported seeing Bigfoot on the ridge above this valley community on Sunday, Feb. 3, 1977. The creature was reportedly coming down the ridge above the brush line toward the Davis-Weber Canal about 2:30 p.m. Then, about 12:20 a.m. Feb. 4, Ronald Smith was arriving home from work. He got out of his truck and walked back to his pasture on South Weber Road and "heard something out in the field." What he heard and later saw, he now believes is Bigfoot. "I was going back to feed the horse and he wouldn't come to the fence. I started out there to feed him and I heard, crunch, crunch, it was something walking on two legs through the snow. Since only the horse is out there, I thought it might have been some kids getting into something," Smith said. "I looked out there, it was moonlit, and I saw this dark figure walking across the pasture. I thought it was a high school kid trying to get away before I saw him. I didn't think of how big it was."
Smith continued, "I saw it walk into some trees. The horse wasn't scared, but it was acting a little funny and looking over that way. Then I heard the screams. They were unlike anything I've ever heard. "They sounded like a cougar, but only with a lot of volume. They were just different. I got out of there and into the house," Smith said. "My wife was telling me to get a gun or a camera, but it only lasted seconds. It screamed four times when I was outside and three more times after I got inside. I told my wife, 'I think it's Bigfoot out there' and I was sort of kidding, but those screams were unbelievable. Smith said if the beast hadn't screamed, he would have passed off the figure in the moonlight as a "kid in the pasture." Smith went into the field the next day to look for tracks and said he found marks about six feet apart that looked like it was something with toes, but that the horse had trampled the tracks throughout the night. He also said he thought his horse was "acting funny" for several days and he feels that could have been an indication that the Bigfoot was around [sic] for some time. Pauline Markham told Standard-Examiner employee Jay Barker, who saw Bigfoot in the High Uinta Mountains along with another man and five other people in 1977, that she had a clear look at the "big, black creature" coming down the ridge in broad daylight.
Jay Barker and I spent Monday afternoon searching for tracks along the canal banks near the area of the Markham sighting. We were ready to call it a day when a line of tracks became visible in the unmelted snow along the dirt road next to the canal. The measured over 15 inches, had clear markings of toes and appeared to be human, with one exception: the bottom of the feet must have had pads. They were also made by something unusually heavy. The tracks were about four-feet apart and next to them appeared a smaller set of identical tracks. Some tracks wear clearly defined and preserved in ice. They were totally different than any of the human tracks made by boot prints. They were prints of a large, toed and padded bare foot. We tracked them until the snow ran out, but I had seen enough. In an odd footnote to this, about the time Mrs. Markham spotted the beast, a South Weber man's five-year-old horse was so frightened by something, it ran through two barbed-wire fences and dropped dead in South Weber Road.
Jay Barker, who has been pursuing the Bigfoot since his first encounter, believes it has returned to the mountains with its young, possibly to the headwaters of the Weber River, where it has been sighted before. [Accompanying this article was a photograph of a footprint in the snow, for which the caption read: The product of a hoax? Not likely]. This track, though human-like, measured over 15-inches, had toe marks and showed the padded part of what could be one footprint of the elusive Bigfoot, which eyewitnesses say paid a visit to the lower Weber River Valley last week. A man identified the tracks that have seen Bigfoot before and he asks, "Who would walk a mile in the snow barefooted"?
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles
SOUTH WEBER, Davis County - Two South Weber residents have reported seeing someone or something hat looked like Bigfoot near their homes last week.
Paulene Markham, 1789 E. 76th South, said she saw whatever it was Walking along the ridge of a hill behind her house a week ago Sunday. Ron J. Smith, 174 E. South Weber Drive, said he saw it in the pasture behind his house the next night when he went to feed his horse.
Smith said he was about 150 feet from the creature when he saw it. Miss Markham said she was about a half mile from it. She was standing at her kitchen sink, getting a drink of water about 4 p.m., when she looked up and saw it on the hill.
"I looked at it and I thought, 'Well, I'm going crazy,'" she said. "Then, I walked away from the window and came back, and it was still there." Miss Markham said she was frightened and curious, but she didn't go outside to get a closer look. She said she was home alone, it would have taken a snowmobile to get up the hill, and she was late for church anyway. So she left the house and went to church, telling only one friend about it.
Sunday and Thursday she heard that Smith had seen something, too. Miss Markham, a high school student and Smith an aircraft inspector at Hill Air Force Base, are cousins. But they said they haven't talked to each other about their respective sightings - they've only heard about them through others. And Smith said he was not aware on Monday, when he saw whatever he saw, that Miss Markham had seen something the night before. He said he learned Wednesday what she'd seen.
Neither Smith nor Miss Markham insisted that the thing was Bigfoot. "I really don't know what it was, I just don't have the slightest idea, because I don't know if I believe in Bigfoot," Miss Markham said. Smith said that when he first heard two feet crunching in the snow behind his house, he immediately assumed it was a high school student or a prowler. When he saw the creature in the moonlight, his first thought was that it was a husky high school kid, wearing a big coat. He said it walked rapidly across the pasture into a clump of trees. Only then, Smith said, did he become alarmed, because from the trees he heard four loud, inhuman screams in rapid succession. The sounds were something like the cries of a cougar, but louder, Smith said. He said the sounds then stopped for a moment, and by this time he was inside his house. From inside, he heard another three screams, then silence. After awhile, he went back to the pasture to check on his horse, and the animal was standing close to the house, looking in the direction of the trees but without apparent alarm. Smith said he told his wife what had happened, but she hadn't heard the sounds. He checked later with neighbors and they hadn't heard anything either. Smith said he decided against calling the police, because "we couldn't produce any evidence, so I just thought, 'Well, just let it go.'" Smith said he checked the snow the next day for tracks and could find only three prints that were not horse tracks. These, he said, were not distinct, and they did not resemble the human-like prints attributed to Bigfoot in the past. He said they were about a foot and a half long and 8 to 9 feet apart. Miss Markham and Smith both said the creature walked like a human, but with a longer stride. Miss Markham said it appeared to be black or dark brown, and it was very tall - perhaps 8 to 10 feet, and said it had long arms. Ken Rosenbaum, who takes care of the apes at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, said the zoo has not lost any of its apes recently, and e doesn't know of any zoos or circuses in the South Weber area that might have lost an animal. And Cling Groll, a forester for Wasatch National Forest, said it's the wrong season for bears to be out. "They're holed up" in this cold weather, he said. But Groll said the fact that Smith's horse was not upset by the incident makes him question whether a strange creature was really in the pasture. Smith said he didn't notice his horse acting strange at all that night, although for two or three days the week before it had refused to come into the trees to get its food and would only eat in a clearing. [Accompanying this article was a comic of a large Bigfoot stepping on a man.]
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles
Giant footprints in the snow of the High Uintas are perhaps those of "Big Foot," a Pleasant Grove man reports. Leonard Howlett and his son, Lester, first spotted the prints early in January at their logging camp in the Unita [sic] Mountains.
A professional logger long familiar with the mountainous terrain there said he could not explain the prints in any other way. He discounted any possibility of them being made by bear and mountain lion nor by moose which live in the area. Howlett said he has always scoffed at reports of "Big Foot" or "Sasquatch," as the legendary creature is often called. He explained that he has been a logger or a cowboy in the region for many years and had never seen anything that could be construed as "Big Foot." that is, until the huge prints were located recently. He said there were two sets of tracks six feet apart. The prints measured 19 inches from heel to tip of toe and were more than 11 inches across at the widest point. The stride measured 54 inches. Many of the prints showed distinct toe, instep, heel and ball of foot imprints. Snowshoes [rabbits] would not have made these types of marks either, he said. Howlett reported that during the evening before the first prints were found, there was a sound of crashing in the willows, a sound of something being beaten and a grunt or a growl. The Howletts followed the prints for some distance before returning to camp to finish logging as Lester had to get back to school. A second trip to the camp two weeks later found the first prints covered with fresh snow although some new prints were seen but filled in somewhat with drifted snow. A beaver carcass was found which had been picked cleaned much as a man would do to a chicken, Howlett said. Howlett plans to return to the area soon with hopes the creature will become accustomed to him and perhaps let themselves be seen. [Three photographs accompanied the article. The caption for them reads: Close up of one of the giant prints found in the snow of the high Uintas recently. Giant footprints in the snow of the Uinta Mountains with the comparative size of a normal man nearby. Leonard Howlett, Pleasant Grove attempts to measure the huge prints found at his logging camp in the Uintas.]
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles, April 3, 2001.
SOUTH WEBER - A specialist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said this morning he was still in the process of trying to identify the hair that two Ogden men think came from the mysterious "Bigfoot." Paul Woodbury said he was still looking at the strands of hair.
"Right now, it looks like it's in the horse, cattle or bear family" he said. He said he is definite that the hair is not human or from a dog or other small animal. He's sure it isn't a horse, he said, and he's still working on the bear possibility. One hair, he said, is about five inches long and is white. Another three are black hairs just under three inches long and he has some smaller, broken pieces. "If it's a known mammal to the state of Utah we can key it out," he said, saying there looks to be enough hair to make a positive identification. If he runs into any trouble, he said, he'll ask the criminologist at Weber State College to take a look. "Bigfoot" is the name given to an animal reportedly sighted in the upper northwest of the United States. he animal, said to walk upright in on two legs and be vaguely humanoid, has never been captured, positively identified or clearly photographed. The hairs Woodbury is working on were found by Michael Sanders, 1027 21st, and Steve Ukena, 434 3rd. The pair said they tracked what they thought was a pair of the "Bigfoot" animals here Tuesday, and found the hairs where it appeared what they were following had crossed a barbed wire fence. At least one South Weber resident, Darrin Cuttler, 355 W. South Weber Drive, said he's not sure of the whole thing. He's lived in the area for more than 20 years, he said, and he leans toward the theory that the "Bigfoot" sightings are really a bear. He's never seen a bear in the area, he said, but he's seen lots of deer and wouldn't discount the possibility of a bear coming down off the mountain.
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles, April 3, 2001.
SOUTH WEBER - Hair that two Ogden men thought might be from the mysterious "bigfoot" is really from a cow, according to an expert from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resource office in Ogden. Paul Woodbury, regional enforcement officer, said he examined several hairs two men found on a barbed wire fence in South Weber and determined that they were from "some breed of cattle". He said he didn't know what sort. The hairs were discovered Tuesday by Michael Sanders and Steve Ukena, both of Ogden, who said they found them at a spot where they thought a bigfoot" animal might have crossed a barbed wire fence. Several people have reported seeing an animal they thought was bigfoot in the South Weber area over the past week.
Bigfoot is an animal that has been the subject of many sightings over the past decades, but no one has ever photographed one clearly, captured one or positively identified one. Mr. Woodbury said a few fragments of hair turned over to him by the two men haven't been identified yet. He said he is going to send them to a Wyoming hair specialist who has samples of hair also thought to be from bigfoot for comparison.
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles, April 3, 2001.
l'Bigfoot' Sighted Now in Riverdale By Bert Strand, Standard-Examiner Staff
Ogden Standard-Examiner_ February 27, 1980
RIVERDALE - "I didn't believe in them, but I sure do now," exclaims a Clearfield man who says "bigfoot" ran through the headlights of his vehicle early Monday morning. Lee Padilla of 143 W. 650 N. said he was driving east on Riverdale Road about one mile west of Weber River about 3:30 a.m. when the 10 to 11-foot tall creature loped across the highway about 25 feet away.
LONG LEGS
"It had long legs, a head like a gorilla with long, dark brown, furry hair that was in layers. The thing was very graceful. I would say it would weigh about 600 pounds. It crossed the road from north to south and I would estimate it was running about 35 miles an hour. I saw it for maybe four or five seconds," said Padilla.
The creature kept his face faced in the direction he was running, Padilla said. When asked if the incident frightened him, Padilla answered with a slow "No." and then added, "I was more curious than anything else. It didn't pay the least bit of attention to me or my car." A check of the area Tuesday by Padilla, Jay W. Barker of North Ogden and photographer John Shupe failed to uncover any tracks. The highway sides, however, were solid grass and weeds and fields in the area were hard or planted in alfalfa and even the footprints of the men did not show, said Barker.
ONE FIELD
"There was one plowed field on the north side, but we didn't find any tracks in it," said Barker who also reported seeing the creature together with three other men and several boys three years ago in the Uinta Mountains. Padilla said after the creature crossed out of the headlight beams, he turned down a small, dirt side road and directed the beam of his headlights across the field hoping he could follow and spot the creature again. The headlight beams didn't spot the creature, Padilla said, but they did attract the attention of a state highway trooper who drove up and asked him what was going on. When the trooper was told what had taken place, "he took off in a hurry and I got the impression he was going to also look for it," said Padilla.
The witness said the creature had long arms and was very erect as it ran across the highway. Padilla said the creature "moved gracefully" and not in the manner usually attributed to the slouch and swinging gait of a gorilla or member of the ape family. Padilla said the area where the creature crossed is farmland with open fields and little cover.
FEW MILES
The location is only a few miles from where sightings were reported and tracks of "bigfoot" found early in February in South Weber outside the mouth of Weber Canyon and near the Weber River. Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident seven years ago, Craig R. Johnson of 1111 N. 2000 W., Farr West, told of strange happenings that may have involved a "bigfoot" in the Manti-La Sal Mountains.
Johnson said he and friends had pitched camp with their horses for a elk hunt. During the night, "something very powerful" lifted off a 300-pound horse trailer door and tossed it seven to 10 feet away. An imprint in the dust on the door was checked by a local bear hunter who said it was not that of a bear, and nothing like he had ever seen before.
WAS AWAY
Johnson also said when the hunting party was away from camp the next day "something" bit down on a full beer can left standing in a wheel well. The bite split the can and the beer was dripping out when the group returned. "The thing that was funny was the fact the beer can showed teeth marks, but was not punctured, just split. Whatever bit it also replaced it in the exact spot it had been left," added Johnson. He said although the horses tied to the same trailer made a small disturbance during the night, "it was nothing like they would have done if a bear had gotten that close."
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles, April 3, 2001.
RIVERDALE - There it was. Standing in the middle of a dark and lonely South Weber Drive Sunday night was no other than "Bigfoot."
Riverdale Officer Rich Dean was on routine patrol in his squad car when He rounded the curve near the Davis-Weber county line and spotted the creature in his headlights. He was aware of the alleged sightings in recent days, but could the really be happening? "I jumped out of my car and walked toward it," he related a half-hour later at the police office. "I was apprehensive." His hand was resting on his gun as he cautiously approached the 7-foot monster. Was he scared? "You bet," he admitted. As he go closer to "Bigfoot", which suspiciously stood motionless, he found out what the creature really looks like. "Bigbag." Surprisingly, it looked just like trash bags, carpet remnants and wood scraps, assembled, no doubt, but some young aspiring Dr. Frankenstein(s) in the area. Dean, feeling like "Bigfool" by this time, "captured" the creature and loaded it up in the trunk of his squad car. "You should have seen the looks I got with those big legs sticking out of the trunk," Dean said. When he arrived back at the office, he and Brian Morgan, the sergeant in charge, decided Dean shouldn't be the only one suckered into this caper. Chief Michael Daily was called and told "Bigfoot" had been caught. "He was here in 35 seconds, I think," Dean said. Lt. Mel Hackworth was called in "because he wanted to be notified of any major developments on 'Bigfoot'," Morgan said. "I told Hackworth I had someone here to interrogate," the sergeant said.
"He couldn't get anything out of the suspect, but he talked to him for a long time." "Yea, he was one of those hard heads," Dean quipped. Officer Pat Donehoo, after being called, grabbed his semi-automatic rifle "and I was on my way."
Several other Riverdale officers responded, as did two Washington Terrace policemen. All in all, nine officers showed up. Oh, and one newsman. Daily decided the press needed to be a part of this early night caper. He phoned a reporter and swore up and down that the city had really captured "Bigfoot." After everyone got a good laugh, police pointed out that the situation could have been dangerous."
"If I had been going 35 or 40 miles and [sic] hour, I would have run over it or run off the road trying to avoid it," Dean said. "This 'Bigfoot' deal has gotten out of hand." [A photograph of 5 police officers standing with Bigbag accompanied this article. The caption reads: STANDING IN FRONT of the Riverdale police office with, um ... "Bigfoot," are five of the officers who helped "capture" it. They are (from left) Rod George, Chief Michael Daily, Brian Morgan, Rich Dean and Pat Donehoo.]
Source: John Moore and Ron Schaffner, Creature Chronicles, April 3, 2001.
A state wildlife biologist studying footprints thought to possibly be those of "big foot," said today it is extremely difficult to make a determination. Officer Ralph Blotter, northern region, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said perfect plaster casts made of two footprints last week in the backyard of a North Ogden residence have human characteristics. The footprints are 13 inches long and 4½ inches wide at the toes. Officer Blotter said it appears as if whatever made the prints "slid a bit in the mud" which could account for their size.
A 13-inch foot, however, is not uncommon among humans, said Blotter. The prints are very clear, showing toenail marks, the "pads" and heel marks, and even the lines and groove
Several researchers have visited this location since the discovery of tracks were reported.
UUFOH found numerous tracks but all were in poor condition, due to weather and other animals. Despite the fact, a plaster cast was made of one of the better tracks found.
< PHOTO: The track measured 19 inches long and 8 inches wide.
The tracks were approx.4 1/2 feet apart photo by UUFOH
Note: Examining this track we noticed the tracks were heading uphill and the creature pushed off leaving a raised portion in the middle. Due to the rocky terrain the cast shows little detail other than the size, depth and the raised section were it pushed off.
Researcher Derrell Smith visited the location 7/28/03 and found 10 tracks higher up on the hill. Interesting fact was, the tracks were ten feet apart, it must have been running? since most are around 5-6 feet apart.This seems to be an 'active' area and we will continue to investigate
A friend of mine told me that as he was driving down Pole Canyon from his brothers cabin about 12:15 am Monday morning the 12 of this month ,he hit his brakes because a huge black ape like thing was crossing the road in front of him. He said that it walked upright and had long arms and long legs, but in the headlights he noticed that the hands seemed human like.. It didn't seem to be bothered by the lights of the car and continued to walk off down into the brush. He told me that he actually took out his flash light to see if he could watch him as he walked off.
Pole canyon is about two miles up the road in Sanquin Canyon, Sanquin, Utah..
The information we provide is presented in the interests of open-minded scientific learning and the free exchange of research, ideas, and theories. UUFOH makes no specific claims or endorsements regarding any materials, views, or subject matter presented by our guests, reports, links, or other.
