http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/blairsvill...h/s_175909.html

Bigfoot strikes In Derry Township

By John Jennings
MANAGING EDITOR
Friday, January 23, 2004

Bigfoot sightings were big once again in the Chestnut Ridge area in 2003, according to the annual roundup of the unexplained from word processor of Stan Gordon. The "X-Files" may come and go, but Greensburg-based Gordon has maintained an A to Z compendium of mysteries for lo these many years.
Derry Township has become the hairy heart of Bigfoot sightings in recent months, including one dated Aug. 15, when a woman in a heavily wooded area walked out to her garden to pick lettuce for lunch. Instead of produce, she received a shock to see a "huge manlike creature with dark hair and long arms," leaning against a tree only eight feet away, and looking curiously at her.

When Gordon says huge, he's not whistling in the dark. The creature's head, according to the witness, was scraping a branch that was later measured at 96 inches--eight feet--off the ground. Gordon searched the area and found some older footprints, about 15 inches long, in the area.

That sighting oc-cured only a few miles from another Bigfoot visit, also in Derry Township. This one came April 13, when three witnesses observed a tall beige-colored creature with long arms swinging, walking through a cornfield. (Bigfoot has been called many things, but never before "beige.")

Shortly thereafter, Gordon received a call from a man who said he was on a motorbike with his son on a rural road around the Westmoreland/Fayette county border. They said "a hairy manlike creature, with arms hanging down to around the knees" (Bigfoot definitely would have trouble buying long-sleeve shirts) jumped out of the woods and stared at them from 75 feet away, then ran back out of sight.

But the best, most intriguing Bigfoot sightings of recent months dates from September 2002, also in Derry Township.

This was actually two sightings in a remote part of Derry Township, the first by a teenage boy, the second by his mother.

In the first instance, the boy heard crashing sounds in the woods, then saw a "big brown" creature, about eight feet tall.

A couple weeks later the boy's mother was driving and talking on her cell phone when the creature reappeared.

What was most impressive, and athletic, about this sighting was that the woman claimed the creature stepped--not jumped, stepped--over a barbed wire fence 44 inches off the ground without even breaking stride.

And of course there were other oddities to report, although UFO sightings were rather sparse in 2003.

In February, a woman driving between Latrobe and Greensburg reported seeing a large dull-gray square object with a light on each corner and a red light on a domed top hovering low above a field.

She approached within 200 feet of the object and stopped her car to get a better look at it. "Suddenly, it just vanished," she said.

Strange sounds--a whoosh with no whooser--were reported in March and April in both Westmoreland and Indiana counties.

Several people, unknown to each other, called Gordon and said they heard something that sounded like something big climbing into the sky, like a large gust of wind, but nothing was seen.

One man said he had the sensation of something big climbing overhead, moving fast. The sound was so intense, Gordon said, that he ducked his head, but nothing was seen.

Sounds like the Klingons have perfected their cloaking device.

And finally, in June from Everson, outside of Scottdale, several boys playing in the afternoon said they observed a heart-shaped greenish object falling straight down from the sky. As they watched, a probe came down from the base of the object. The object hovered at treetop level, then climbed straight up and was lost from sight.

Gordon deliberately tries to debunk the calls he receives, including Bigfoot sightings, to separate the trash from the intriguing. "Some Bigfoot sightings were only misidentifications of a bear or large dog," he said--"but some cases aren't so easily dismissed and remain in the unidentified files."

To report a strange sighting, call Gordon at 724-838-7768 or e-mail at paufo@westol.com. All information is kept confidential. Gordon has been doing this since 1969, and now speaks to groups on his findings.

More information on his investigation work is available at www.stan-gordon.com.

John Jennings can be reached at jjennings@tribweb.com or (724) 459-6100, ext. 10.

What the article fails to mention is that the PBS was also involved in the April sighting investigation. We had two members on site a few days after the sighting and did not find any tracks. The one witness told us where the creature came out of the woods into the cornfield. We did find a skull of a cat that still had its fur and hyde attached to it, as if something ripped the hyde off of it. We also found several deer carcasses and bones in the area. We have been watching the area but have not found any tracks nor have their been any sightings afterwards.

Did you see to the right of the article they provided a link to our bigfoot forums?

After reading the article I am just curious as to what everyone thinks about the idea that maybe one thing occurred causing so many of these other sightings. Like lets say for instance someone sees a sasquatch and then that leads to the UFO sightings. I mean paranoia tends to get the best of people. Could it be that several people see something that is much more explainable as terrestrial (is that how you spell it?) then their thought process doesn't just open up to the possiblility of sasquatch existing, but opens up even further to the possiblity of "oh well I saw that so aliens, witches on broomsticks, and vampires must definetly be out to get me." I guess what I am asking is, is this like when someone says they see an escaped convict in the area by misidentification and then suddenly everyone is seeing that person? A.ka mass hysteria. Could someone please shed some light for me because as I continue to type here i get more and more confused myself. Thanks.

I understand your point, but in this particular article Stan isnt combing the two. The media may have potrayed it as such but that is not the case. Stan is simply stating that people have had UFO sightings in PA, and Bigfoot sightings in PA. He sent out a press release earlier that I recieved and it had 44 counties reporting strange activity in 2003 here in Pennsylvania.

I personally do not think the UFO sightings are related to the Bigfoot sightings. These are different people reporting them, and this the first time that these reports have been released to the public in the media. Local researchers may have known about them, but the general public did not. Stan had not updated his website data base since the spring of 2003. Some of these reports happened afterwards.

If these reports were released to the general public while they were happening, then I could see your point about mass hysteria, but I dont think that is what happened here in this case because the public was not informed of these until this article was released. It is the first the story broke in our area.

Tug,,while my adventures trough the woods did bring me to that area at one time, and not very far,maybe 90 miles is where i had the occasion to hear the scream late at night.The sound was that of a woman being butchered..That time i heard it 3 times,,a sound i will never forget.Very long, loud,and took around 5 minutes for the event to begin and end.The hair on my neck was standing on end!!hehe.I asked around the next day and a person that does live in that area told me that he has heard it and it occurs around three to four times a year.There is definatly something in that area that demands some serious research.I have done alot of travel trough that area,,West Virginia,Virginia and Maryland and could be prime habitat for a sasquatch population.The deer population has grown very much in the last 10 years or so,so food is plentyfull there.

Well damn, my uncle lives in Derry, Pa. They have 3 acres up there. Probably close to the same spot as the sighting. I should call and ask them about it. I am supposed to go up there hunting this year so maybe I will get a chance to look for that big hairy bastard.

There have been quite a few sightings in the surrounding areas all along the Chestnut Ridge area of PA and the frequency of sightings in general in PA were on the increase in 2003.