Dave Groves Detailed Sasquatch Sighting Account

     

Dave Groves Shares His Sasquatch Encounters With Ed Brown

by Dave Groves

My encounter happened in the spring/summer months of 2010. I took a friend to the Marienville/Timberline ATV trails northeast of Marienville Pennsylvania in the Allegheny National Forest, to ride ATV’s for the day. Allegheny National Forest covers approximately 515,000 acres or 800 square miles of protected wilderness. The Forest is pretty dense in most spots and has many types of terrain. From my understanding the Allegheny National Forest is one of the least densely populated areas east of the Mississippi River. Surrounding the Forest are more woodlands and farm country.

The 2 trail systems we were riding that weekend join together and make an approximate 60-80 mile loop from the northern end down to the bottom, and then back up the other side of the loop. My encounter happened on our return back up, heading North. I remember it rained very hard the night before and through the early morning because my friend, who was new to ATV'ing, didn't bring rain gear. We had to go into town to buy him some cheap rain gear and then headed up to the trail.

It rained the first half hour or so of our ride and I remember the sun coming out and it was turning into a really nice day for a ride. For those that ride ATV’s, they know that the rain makes mud, which is much more fun to ride in than dust. A few hours into the ride, having stopped and observed some beaver dams, some very old oil wells, a couple logged out areas where you could see for what seemed like miles and other cool sites that the forest has to offer, I was getting in more of a hurry to get back - it was approaching the end of the day. My buddy was way behind me so I decided to stop on the trail and wait for him. I usually don't separate from atv buddies when riding, but this part of the trail was an abandoned logging trail and pretty easy so I rode ahead awhile and then decided to stop and wait for him. He didn’t ride fast or dangerous; he "putted" so I knew he was safe, just slow. If he didn't show up I would turn around and meet up with him.

I wasn’t sitting long. I just took my helmet off and my ATV was still running, as I remember hearing the fan kicking on to cool down the engine. That’s when I noticed rocks kept hitting the front right side of my ATV. They weren’t large rocks, maybe about or just smaller than hand sized. It took a minute or so before it occurred to me that I was stopped and that rocks should not be flying through the air and hitting my atv. I was turning my head towards the right to follow the path of these "air rocks" as I called them, when my turn stopped. I noticed this dark figure, approximately 70-90 feet away, that appeared to be in a sitting or crouching, or just a low position, stand up into an upright position. I’ll never forget how it seemed to pop right up like it was on a spring, with very little effort. I never made eye contact with it; my eyesight was lined up right on its right side while it was facing me. It appeared to be taller than a normal human – best guess at this point would be 7 foot or so, and not a bear for sure. It was VERY broad at the shoulders. Almost freakishly broad – I remember that very well. It was on 2 legs and I could see its right arm hanging down, which was on the left side because it was facing me. I remember wanting to watch its arm and hand to see if “it” was armed or what it might be doing. That is funny to me now, because for some reason I assumed it was right handed. I noticed that it didn’t turn and walk away, but rather it stepped straight backwards into the brush and the trees and not take its aim away from me. It stayed square to me as it was moving backwards. This all happened in the span of no more than 30 seconds, from the time I noticed something squatting or sitting, until it moved backwards. When I play it it over and over in my mind, it seems more like 30 minutes. At this point an overwhelming fear just filled my mind, and I remember feeling like I shouldn’t be in this spot right now. I don’t remember shaking in fear or anything like that, but I felt warm and almost like I was going to puke. So I hit the gas and took off.  I wish now that I wouldn’t have just fled, but the feeling that came over me was not like I’d experienced before. I had my smart phone/camera in my fender bag and it NEVER occurred to me to get it out and start video. I honestly couldn’t move for a short period of time.

I have been surprised by people walking up on me in the woods and have hunted all my life, so animal encounters, even bear-from a distance - do not scare or alarm me. I was in the military for 6 years, and actually had the honor to serve as SEAL TEAM 4 and SDV TEAM 2 (the old UDT TEAM 2) support, as part of a spec war boat crew. During that time, I had many highly anxious experiences as one could imagine. (I.e.: in country support for the Grenada team that rescued the college students in the early to mid 80’s, as well as providing small gunship support in Lebanon in the early 80’s and several off shore central American excursions). To summarize, I am pretty observant, I don’t have a tendency to over react and I don’t scare easy. I am very level headed and definitely not crazy. I didnt instantly think "Bigfoot" as I wasn’t a REAL believer then. At least I doubted their existence in the Eastern US and if they existed it was only in the Northwest US, Canada or Alaska.  This encounter took my emotions to places they had not been or at least had not been for a long time. It has been going through my head for over 4 years. I didn't tell anybody except my fiancee within the first year after the encounter. Now - quite a few people know. The person I was riding with that day just found out in 2014. I never told him about the story before, but because I couldn’t remember if it was springtime or late summer/Fall when this happened. I asked him last week if he remembered. When he told me it was springtime, he naturally asked why – what’s up? I told him what happened. It turns out that he believes in these creatures too. He then realized why I was acting so weird when we finally caught back up with each other, and then on the 2 and a half hour truck ride home. Now I wish I would have told him then. Maybe we could have joined together and went back to look for signs or whatever we could find. Instead, the overwhelming feeling of “What the hell was that”, and “I can’t tell anybody-they won’t believe me anyways” took over and I kept it to myself.

Nobody has to tell me what I saw or didn't see. I knew what I saw. I saw a large dark figure with hair that could throw rocks (and very accurately), stand up within 100 foot from me, in a large dense forest where there arent any cabins or people just hanging out.  I still do leave the option open for an extremely large man in a heavily padded Gilly suit with hair on it standing about 100 foot from the trail just waiting for someone to stop in that exact spot so he could throw rocks at him and take a chance of getting shot (most folks on ATVs will pack a handgun when riding in deep woods. At least that's my experience). Now that’s being honest, but trying to make a truth out of what happened. Of course that option is slim, but it will always be there as I didn't walk up to this thing and shake its hand or hug it, so being 100% sure it was a Sasquatch just isn't possible. I am at 99.999% sure though. I do know that a fear like I’ve not felt in a long time, if ever, took over me for awhile. Something told me to go, to move on, that I shouldn't be here right now. Again - I am a very rational person and this just didn't make sense to me at all.

I eventually plan on returning to that general area, on ATV and parking the bike and doing some walking. I just need to look around and feel comfortable with that. Ever since my encounter, I cannot put this down. I’ve been researching since and came across various online groups that discuss encounters. I want to learn as much as I can before returning and looking around and I want to go armed with more knowledge than I have now. I'm getting close and actually want to return this Fall, for at least another day of riding. Some of my biggest questions since learning more about these creatures are “What the hell was it doing there, close to used ATV trails” and “Why did it draw my attention to itself?” If it hadn’t thrown rocks I would not have looked and if it hadn’t stood up, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. Someone from another group (Debbie’s name will not be mentioned –lol), told me that maybe it was travelling and recently crossed that trail. The reason for rock throwing and drawing attention to IT was possibly to draw attention to it on purpose so my attention wouldn’t go to something else nearby less able to protect itself. I interpret that as young ones. That NEVER crossed my mind. Just to realize that one was in the area blew my mind away and made me start thinking differently about what could be out there. Now, there may have been more? I’ll never know that for sure, but it does make sense to that question that’s been bugging me.

In the spring of 2014, I had a member of one of the groups I belong to, contact me and ask me if I would be interested in helping him research one of many habituation areas that he knows of. This area is 75 miles North East of my home, and only 20-30 miles West of where my encounter occurred. I took him up on that offer and have been travelling the 75 miles each way, approximately every other weekend. It has been amazing. We have found and photographed many tree breaks, snaps of green live trees. Those snaps are at about 4-6 foot off the ground. We have not located most of the tops of those trees, as they were apparently carried somewhere else. My research partner has figured out, through years of watching this area that something has been making this area “thicker” and bringing in tress. I assume that’s where the tops of those small to medium size live trees are going as well.  We have found other medium sized trees lying near the snap, and followed the tree up to approximately 6 foot high, if the tree were still standing. We found some amazing “grip” marks and tears as if something was holding that tree about 6 foot high. We have found several prints, from 14-16 inches long. Several trees along a track way with bang marks on them at 5-6 foot high – as if something smacked a rock hard against those trees. We have had sounds from one of the hillsides that I cannot explain, nor have ever heard from the Pa. woods before. We will continue to research here and hopefully they will become used to us and trust us. Who knows?

Since my 2010 encounter, I have dropped my long guns and do not deer hunt anymore. Even though I deer hunted over a hundred miles away from this area, I just no longer feel right about going in the woods, in the dark, by myself to hunt and kill something bigger than I am that may be this creatures food. I am not sure why I quit, maybe out of respect for this creature now that I know they exist. I still enjoy the woods and will always ride ATV’s in as deep in as I can get them – where the real wild lives. I will continue to camp when the opportunity presents itself. This encounter didn’t stop me from enjoying the woods, but it made me think differently of the woods when I’m in them.

I remember when the show FINDING BIGFOOT was airing an episode from Allegheny National Forest, maybe 2-3 years ago. The show was named Bigfoot and the Redhead and centered on the Kinzua railroad bridge that blew down in bad winds several years ago, and the valley below it. I texted everybody that I knew at the time, whether they knew of my experience or not, and told them this show was doing an episode from Pa. The show was actually filmed approximately 30 miles from my encounter, but I found it interesting they thought something might exist in the Forest. Today - I KNOW that something out of the ordinary DOES exist in and/or around Allegheny National Forest north of Marienville Pa. For those that ride that trail, keep an eye open and please post if you see something interesting. I for one would love to know if someone else see's something similar there. I will certainly post if I have another encounter or gather evidence from that area when I do return.

Thanks for believing! They DO exist and they ARE out there………..

For those that don’t believe, good for you too. We all have our opinions. But this wasn’t an opinion; it was a truth that happened to me.  Take it for whatever it’s worth. I can only say that now I know what’s really out there. I have no idea what their intentions are, but my encounter wasn’t met with violence or aggression. At least not the kind of aggression that would result in my having to defend myself.  This creature acted on experience, not self preservation. It left me alone for the most part. It could have easily attacked me before I could have gotten off my ATV and drew on it, which by the way NEVER crossed my mind.

So – there is a lot to learn now. I just hope I can return to this area, hopefully soon, and look around in a woods that I’ve been in many times, but looking for something different than I have in the past.

Blog Post by Dan Lindholm

Bigtruth on YouTube

Bigtruth on Facebook

Bigtruth Community Group

Bigtruth Researchers Unite

Bigtruth Presents

Harper's History Vol.1 #5 - ARKANSAS

by Scott Harper

  When it comes to Sasquatch in Arkansas, the thing that tends to leap to mind first is the famous case of the Fouke Monster. Sightings of this creature were many in the area of Miller County, Arkansas in the early 1970's. Reports of the Fouke Monster stretch back to at least the early 1950's, though. However, the Fouke Monster is far from the first time such beings have been sighted within the state's borders.

  1834 saw a report filed of a "gigantic" creature that was covered in hair. The reported creature was said to cover 12-14 feet of ground at one time as it leapt from sight, and into cover.

In 1846, 22-inch-long footprints were found in a place named Crowley's Ridge.

  A "gigantic wild man" was reportedly seen by hunters to be chasing cattle in the year 1851. This report was from Greene County, Arkansas. According to the report, the Sasquatch seemed to be trying to catch a calf that was part of the herd of cattle. When the creature became aware of the hunters, it stopped chasing the calf, stared at the men for a short time, and then ran away. The hunters claimed the Sasquatch left 13-inch-long footprints behind.

  In 1856, a newspaper carried many accounts of sightings of a 7-foot-tall being. The creature had been spotted numerous times by hunters, hikers, campers, and others spending time in the woods. So many reports of what seemed to be the same creature ended up being filed that locals took it to mean that one Sasquatch was wandering the area, responsible for the mass of sightings.

  April of 1856 brought in a report of a tall, hair-covered being breaking through the ice covering a frozen lake. It seems that this sighting took place far enough from the general mass of sightings elsewhere in the state to have been considered a different creature than the one responsible for the larger collection of accounts in the state that year. This sighting spurred one of the relatively few violent encounters on record between human, and Sasquatch.

  A group of hunters went out on horseback. They planned to not only find the creature, but to capture it alive. They succeeded in only the first part of their endeavor. The men tracked down the Sasquatch, but the creature didn't turn, and flee as they had expected. Instead, it charged at the hunters, and their horses. Before the men could properly react, the Sasquatch grabbed one of the hunters, yanking him from his horse—injuring the horse in the process.

  Once the man had struck the ground, the Sasquatch set upon him, scratching violently at him, and even going so far as to bite chunks from the man's shoulder, and several other parts of his body. The frenzied scratching of the creature took out one of the man's eyes, also. The wounded hunter survived the violent attack. When the Sasquatch finally broke off, it immediately left—hauling the injured horse away as it went.

  Why didn't the other hunters open fire on the Sasquatch as it attacked one member of their group? Nothing to answer this question seems to be on record. Maybe they were simply too stunned by the abrupt, and vicious turn of events to react? We don't know.

  The wounded man's friends joined up with a few Choctaw Native Americans who were in the area, hunting. The merged group tracked the Sasquatch deeper into the mountains. Ultimately, however, they lost their quarry in passes clogged with deep snow from a harsh winter.

  In 1865 a trapper discovered a trail of very large footprints. He followed the tracks, not knowing what type of animal had made them. While following the prints up a steep hill, a rumbling sound made the man look up. He discovered a large boulder rolling down the hill toward him, followed closely by a second one. After evading them, the man turned his attention back uphill, spotting a huge man-like figure at the top of the incline. As the creature set about sending a third boulder downhill after him, the trapper turned, fleeing.

  Throughout the year of 1874 several sightings of "wild men" were reported. Most of these reports came in from hunters, trappers, and other people who spent the majority of their time in the woods. Many attempts were made to track down one of the creatures. None were, as far as we know, successful.

  Given the old sightings reports, and footprint finds recounted above, and looking at the steady flow of modern-day reports from the state, it seems that it has a long history of Sasquatch habitation. The boggy swamplands of Arkansas would provide plenty of food for a species such as Sasquatch—in the forms of both vegetation, and prey animals. They would also give plenty of water, and cover in which to conceal themselves. The large areas of swamp would also offer track ways for the creatures to use without leaving footprints.

  Not to say that the state of Arkansas is all swampland! Arkansas boasts a very diverse geography. Within its borders are also valleys, mountains, lakes, forests, and even hot springs. Each of these would also provide Sasquatch in the area with needed cover, and other resources.

Given the mix of elements found within the state, and having reports of Sasquatch reaching so far back, it looks as if Sasquatch have long since made Arkansas home.


About the Author

 Scott Harper is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 30 published short stories, and several novels. Harper grew up in Ohio, and graduated from Marysville High School in 1993, and began screenwriting in 2007, after the publication of several short stories and novels. He has worked on projects for James Tucker Productions, and 11th Dimension Films. He is currently involved with several projects, covering literature, film, and comic books. He was also a contributing writer for "Nuclear Winter Entertainment" for several months before that site shut down. Scott is very happily married to bestselling paranormal author Desirée Lee. Together, they have a wonderful little girl, and are working jointly on several projects. Those projects include multiple books, as well as the hit webcomic "MoonWraith." 

  More information about his work can be found on his website: www.scottharper.net

Blog Post by Dan Lindholm

Bigtruth Youtube Channel

Bigtruth on Facebook

Bigtruth Community Group

Bigtruth Researchers Unite!