Report # 1089 (Class A)
Submitted by witness on Thursday, January 4, 2001.
Woman & her horse have a daytime encounter, near Keystone State Park
YEAR: 1971-2-3?
SEASON: Summer
STATE: Pennsylvania
COUNTY: Westmoreland County
LOCATION DETAILS: I don’t know know the names of the roads, all I can say is it was on the outskirts of Keystone State Park, Derry Pa. This is a little back road that leads to the village of Superior, Derry Pa.
NEAREST TOWN: Derry Pa.
NEAREST ROAD: I was on the road.
OBSERVED: I had a little pony I was riding and I was supposed to meet a friend (Holly) by this little village. I was riding bareback that day, and as my pony (King) came to the top of this hill, (we were on a little back road) he suddenly stopped dead and braced himself and put his ears straight forward. (As though he were looking and listening to something) I looked down the road, and about 400 feet away, I saw this big reddish brown thing on the road, (which happens to be the same color as Hollys horse) and it was moving toward us. Keep in mind this all happened so very quickly, but at the time it seemed like everything was going slowly.
My first thought was, oh, Holly must have got thrown and her horse is heading back to the barn. But as I was thinking this, the thing was getting closer, and I could see it was very big, it had LONG reddish brown hair, and it’s arms were swinging back and forth as it walked toward us. (It had very long arms) As I suddenly realized that this was Bigfoot, my pony (on his own) reared up and turned at the same time, and took off running back down the hill we had just come up. Believe me, I had to hang on, my biggest fear was falling off, and Bigfoot ‘getting’ me. I made him turn into this ladys yard at the bottom of the hill, and I yelled and screamed till she came out, then she went in and called my uncle. My Uncle showed up, and followed me in his truck till I got the pony back to the barn, then he had me get in the truck and we went back to where I saw Bigfoot. He got out and looked at the woods along the road, and he did find a place where the branches had been broken as if something had left the road and went into the woods. This was all reported to Stan Gordon, many years ago.
The only things I can really say, as far as being descriptive, are that it was very, very quiet that day. It also seemed as if my pony and I were hit at the same time with the knowledge that this was not something ‘normal’ coming toward us. We both reacted together, (thank goodness cause being bareback, I almost slipped off).
As far as Bigfoot himself, he was very tall, but also very broad, a stocky or sturdy kind of build. He had reddish brown LONG hair all over, although his head seemed like there was less hair, and it was small in proportion to his body. I did not see his face. His arms were very long, and they just swung back and forth as he walked. For some reason, those long arms stand out in my mind. Anyways, it doesn’t matter to me anymore (after all these years) if anyone believes me or not. I know what I saw. Oh, and when I saw Holly later that day, I HAD to ask her if she had got thrown off her horse while out riding. She said no.
ALSO NOTICED: All I can think of that seemed different, was that it seemed very, very quiet at the time of the sighting.
OTHER WITNESSES: None, other than my Uncle, who went back to where I saw Bigfoot, and found a trail of broken branches going into the woods on the right hand side of the road.
OTHER STORIES: Many incidents at the time this happened. My Aunt was leaving for work very early one morning, and Bigfoot stepped out from behind a tree as she was walking to her car. Scared her to death. She got a close look at him.
One night my cousins and I were sitting outside the trailer, (in the dark), and we suddenly heard this scream down by the barn. A horrible scream. We all looked at each other for a second, and grinned, (like, Ya, I’m not scared) then we all jumped up and ran for the trailer as fast as we could. Then two of my Uncles went down by the barn with flashlights, and didn’t see anything, but heard something big running through the field behind the barn. The next morning, we found a big footprint outside the barn door, and that is when they called Stan Gordon and when he came out, he made a cast of the footprint.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was in the afternoon, and it was a normal summer day in Pa. The weather was calm, and the sun was out.
ENVIRONMENT: This was on the outskirts of Keystone State Park. Westmoreland County Pa. The area was wooded on the right hand side of the road, (heavily) and there were 2 trailers on the left side, but nobody was outside of the trailers that day. The rest of the area, around and behind the trailers was wooded.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Ron B.:
The witness stated that, she has not told anyone except family, and one close friend about these incidents for fear of public ridicule.
She stated that, the animal was approx 100 -110 feet away from her when she realized it was NOT another horse. She said her horse tensed up, ears forward, highly alert when first spotting the animal.
She also stated that, the scream she heard, was unlike anything she has heard before. She is familiar with the sound of bobcat & cougar. She described this as, “a cat in great pain, being ripped apart”.
She also goes into the woods often, and on several occasions, has felt like she was being watched, and has had a “feeling” come over her, described as “get out….Get Out….GET OUT NOW!!!”.
This area has a history of sightings in that time era.