Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy

While camping, family hears loud vocalizations.

Report#: 01000001
Occurred July 15, 1972: (Submitted July 13, 2003)

Witness Observation

1. Strange howling scream.
2. Foul stench. Shortly after moon set, the lake wind had died down and the night was calm. Our dog started getting nervous & ran whimpering under the car. A few minutes later the air filled with the most god-awful stench, like that of rotten meat only mustier. I remember my mother saying what the hell is that smell & my brother sat up in his cot. When he sat up is when all of us heard the scream.

My family & myself have spent many hours in the Texas woodlands & I know most of the sounds native animals make. I have never heard anything like that in my life. Even thinking about it now, some twenty four years later, it still makes me shiver & break out in goose bumps. As I have stated I KNOW most of the animal sounds in this state. I can tell you that it was not a bobcat, panther, cougar, javalina, screech owl or anything else I can think of. I have only heard one thing that even comes close & that's the audio tape of Sasquatch that Art Bell has played on his radio show. And as I said, it was only close. The scream started out as a low growling sound that ended in a shrill scream. It was loud, I mean incredibly loud. I shot one round from my gun into the air and what ever it was went away or so we thought.

By now we had built a roaring fire, but this did not stop it. It came back eight times before day break. It was not afraid of us nor of the fire; only the sound of the gun fire drove it off. All shots were fired in the air because quite frankly we could not find a target to shoot at. As soon as it got light enough we went looking for tracks, a path through the grass, something. There were plenty of tracks from raccoons, possums, the dog, ourselves, mice & birds. But nothing unusual. The only thing we found was a small stand of saplings with their tops broken about 5-1/2 feet above the ground about 200 yards East of our camp. I mention this because these saplings had that same horrible stench, only not nearly as strong.

The second night we were there, the full moon had set about 03:00. Earlier that night I had moved our garbage can up to the road after dinner to keep the raccoons from keeping us up all night.

Sounds

Strange howling scream

Time and Conditions

12:00 am - It was mid-summer, hot, very dry. We had our lean-to pitched between two live oak trees in a tall grass field that sloped down to the lake's shore. There had not been any rain in the area for some time so that most of the grass had dried out, dry grass cuts down on ticks & chiggers. There was about an 8th inch of dust over the hard tack in the exposed areas. There was also a small pond about 40 yards down slope between our camp site & the lake shore. This I believe this had once been a stock tank. The open end of the lean-to was facing the lake shore so as to get the breeze from the lake. The other end (foot) faced a dirt road that was about 300 yards up grade.

Investigator's Comments

Daryl Colyer

This report was published after an investigation of an incident that allegedly occurred near Lake Somerville, in Burleson County, Texas, 15 July 1972.

The family clearly felt menaced by the sounds endured by them that night. They were later puzzled by the tops of the trees and saplings that they found. This incident, involving multiple and seemingly reliable observers, could not be easily dismissed or disregarded.

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Class 1a: A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
Class 1b: A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
Class 1c: An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 1d: A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 2: Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
Class 3a: Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3b: Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3c: No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.