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Oregonbigfoot.com Photo Research Journal
June
12 , 2002
Diamond Lake, Douglas County
Follow-up
investigation
On
June 11, I received the following report via our website
submission form:
Date:
06/09/02
Time: 8:00 p.m.
County: Douglas
Diamond
Lake Resort turn off
We were heading west on north umpqua hwy when we observed
what we first thought was a bear on the side of the road.
It was very similar in color to a grizzley bear. That is
when I realized there are no gizzley bears in this area.
It then ran across the road on its rear legs, something
a bear could never do. We came so close to it we had to
slow down so we didn't run it over. I would say we probaly
came with in thirty yards of it. It ran into the trees on
the other side of the road with out even slowing down. It
moved like no other animal I have ever seen. We never got
a look at its face, but it was definetely something out
of the norm. We turned around to go back and look for it,
but it was no were to be seen.
looking
east on Diamond Lake Rd. at a black bear |
On June 12, Bob and I made the approximate 2 hour and 15
minute drive to Diamond Lake. We arrived in the area at
7:30 p.m. We stopped to the east of the Diamond Lake turnoff,
and I got out to test the roadside debris for trackability.
300 yards down the road I saw a black shape and exclaimed,
"What's that?!" Bob said it was a car, and I laughed,
saying, "On four legs?". He needs glasses. It
was moving across the road, not down it. It turned
out to be a large black bear. We piled in the van and drove
down to the spot, but lost sight of it and couldn't be exactly
sure where it had entered the trees. (This was an excellent
opportunity to check out reaction time. Had it been a Sasquatch,
we would have missed the filming opportunity of a lifetime!)
We zoomed in and got some blurry camcorder footage. Again,
had this been a Sasquatch, this film sure wouldn't be the
proof everyone's been clamoring for. We maxed out the zoom
on our Sony (which has a 360x zoom, BTW) and you can barely
see what it is! And everyone wonders why there's no good
photographs...
looking
west on Diamond Lake Rd. at the same (?) black bear
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A
few minutes later, the bear (who had apparently circled
around us, or has a twin) crossed the
road on the west side of us. I got more camcorder footage
as we floored the van trying to catch up with it. This time,
notice how ethereal it looks through the nearly-opaque bug
guts on the window. Two chances at bear footage and this
is all I get?
At
any rate, after the excitement the bear(s?) caused, I got
down to work, scouring the sides of the road for tracks.
There were clear elk prints and some disturbances likely
caused by the bear, but the ground cover was composed of
gravel and pebbles... not optimal for tracking.
At
one point, on the right side of the road I was growled at,
likely by the bear. I got back in the van, and headed down
the road a bit.
We saw two women doing something alongside the road (at,
it turns out, the EXACT location of the sighting, and the
exact time of day) and stopped to visit with them. We thought
perhaps they were looking for tracks, too. They were looking
at flowers. Unfortunately, if there were tracks left over
from the sighting, they were trampled by that time.
One
of the women, when told of the recent sighting, mentioned
that she had been horseback riding at Lake Selmac once and
had seen three bears (?) run across the trail on their hind
legs. She said two cubs had crossed the road, then a female
had stood on its hind legs, sniffing the air and waving
its head back and forth (this is typical bear behavior).
The bear, spooked my the horses, then remained on its hind
legs and ran across the trail, followed by two other (?)
bears also running across the trail on their hind legs.
Not
that I doubt that the witness saw what she says she saw,
but this is VERY odd behavior for bears. Having worked at
Wildlife Safari managing the traffic in the bear compound,
I've had occasion to watch many black bears. I have seen
black bears stand up and use their paw to bang on a door
to be let in, and I've seen a black bear stand up and take
a few steps on their hind legs. But although I have "heard"
from a few people that black bears can RUN on their hind
legs for short distances, I have had a difficult time finding
any official documentation that this is the case. If anyone
has knowledge of this, please email
me. (For reference: one of the best websites available
regarding bear behavior is BearSmart.com)
At
any rate, back to the Bigfoot sighting. I received a message
the following day from the female witness, that they had
heard that there were high schoolers in the area playing
"pranks" on people so the sighting was likely
a hoax. She gave me the number of her male companion on
that day. I called him and questioned him. The witness indicated
that he had told a friend of their sighting. The friend
called another man who lives in Honey Creek, which is up
toward the sighting area. This man had mentioned something
about having heard that some high school kids were playing
pranks and caused a man to wreck his truck. He discounted
the couples' sighting as another victim of this "hoax".
However, whereas most people would immediately file this
away as a hoax at the first mention of the word, further
questioning of the witness points to the HOAX possibly being
a hoax!
The
witness related that, after hearing this story, he checked
with local papers to see if there were any news articles
about teen shenanigans resulting in a car accident up near
there. He watched the local paper for three days and saw
nothing to indicate a story of that nature. He called the
Diamond Lake resort, explaining what they had seen and asked
if they know anything about it. The resort staff laughed
at him. I mentioned to the witness that, had there been
a car accident, there would likely be flare marks and/or
skid marks on the road. There were none. (I also researched
this at the News
Review website - the closest large daily publication
- and found nothing. My subsequent calls to the Oregon State
Police, Douglas County Sherrif Dispatch and US Forest Service
also yielded NO information about pranksters or an accident)
The
witnesses' view of the road and sighting location
(the road veers to the left and the sighting occurred
just before the corner)
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Next,
I further questioned the witness about the sighting. He
gave me this additional information: They were travelling
west in a Ford pickup, the subject crossed from the right
to left (heading TOWARD the resort). They first saw it at
about 500 yds, were travelling 65 mph, slowed to 30 mph
and were within 30 yds of it. It was light-cinnamon, "buff"
colored. When asked if it was covered with hair or fur,
he said "fur", indicating a thick coat. The hair
was straight. The witness mentioned several times how it
"happened so fast". There was a car coming the
other direction. He said the occupants of the car "had
to have seen it, but didn't stop". It was hunched slightly
as it ran, and was 6 1/2 tall or so, hunched over. The witness
clearly said that it did not turn its head at any time and
look at them. When I asked the witness if HE had been running
across the road, was the car close enough that he would
have looked at it to be sure he had gauged the speed right
and would not be hit and he replied, "definitely".
They drove on about a mile, then turned around and came
back to the spot but saw nothing. The spot was just to the
west of the berm which is right past the Diamond Lake turnoff
(see photo). When asked if HE thought it was a kid in a
monkey suit, he said, "That's not what I thought when
I saw it. At first, we thought it was a grizzly, because
of the color. Then it ran across the road." When asked
if it was a bear on its hind legs, he laughed and said,
"No way. That's the one thing I AM sure of!"
The
witness plans to contact the man who claimed to know of
the teenagers and their prank. He said the man is reliable,
but he doesn't know where he heard it or if HIS source was
reliable. I'm waiting to hear from the witness on this issue.
The
June 9th sighting location
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Was
it a hoax? Possibly. The fact that there was mention of
a hoax could indicate so, or it could simply be someone's
"logical explanation" for something they don't
understand or don't believe in. The fact that the sighting
occurred so close to a resort could indicate a hoax. But
what are teenagers doing 60 miles from home at 8 p.m. perpetrating
a hoax when they have school in the morning? Where would
they procure a "buff-colored" monkey suit? And
why would the teen not turn to check the proximity of the
car, or to see the look on his victims' faces? If it was
a hoax, I suppose we'll know soon enough. Teens like to
brag when they've pulled a fast one. Anyone having knowledge
of a hoax, or of another sighting in the area, is encouraged
to contact
us. Proof of the hoax, of course, including the suit
used to perpetrate the hoax, would be necessary to close
the case on this one.
We
won't be conducting any further investigations in this area
unless more sightings ensue. However, readers are welcome
to visit the area and contact us if any indication of further
presence is found. Take plenty of mosquito repellent, though.
The clouds of blood-suckers are so thick they sound like
rain on the windsheild as you drive down Hwy 138. :)
Text
and photos by Autumn Williams
Do
you have information which might be helpful to us? Please
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us a line!
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