(I submitted this to BFRO the next day)

In the very early morning hours of Tuesday, September 21, 2004. I drove up to Oroville Dam (in Northern California, approx. 60 miles NE of Sacramento and 20 miles from my house) in my pickup to take photographs of the lights of the Valley before sunrise. I drove across the top of the dam stopping a couple of times to take photos. On the far end of the dam the roadway drops down and crosses the spillway and then continues along a ridge for about 1500 feet before dead ending in a small cul-de-sac.

It was extremely dark at the end of the road since the sun was not yet up and the cul-de-sac is against the mountain side to the North and North East sides. I turned my truck around stopped with my truck pointing toward the South West looking out over the Valley. (My passenger side window was rolled all the way up but the driver side window was down). I had only been sitting there a couple of minutes when I heard a loud very angry sounding "roar" approaching very rapidly toward the back of my truck on the passenger side. I was quite startled (to say the least..) and immediately looked back toward the direction of the sound but could not see anything but blackness since the sun had not yet come up and the moon had already set. I quickly threw my truck into gear and took off.

What frightened me the most about the incident was that the sound came from somewhere above the height of the cab of my truck and nowhere near the ground. It began behind me near the far edge of the cul-de-sac lasted about three to four seconds before ending abruptly right at the back of my truck near the tail light on the passenger side. I could tell that whatever was making the sound was approaching very quickly. The sound was quite loud and very aggressive sounding and can only be described as a cross between a lions roar and the sound a tire makes spinning in deep gravel. I have never heard anything that sounded like it before in my life.

I do not know whether it was a bigfoot or not, but I have since found out that there are no bears around Oroville lake. The wildlife in the area consists of mule and whitetail deer, bobcats, cougars, coyotes, foxes, wild pigs, rabbits, beaver, raccoons, oppossums, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks, Geese, ducks, phesants, grouse, turkeys, etc. Also, the Feather River is full of salmon this time of year due to the large fish hatchery at Oroville Lake.


Supporting info:

It was very early in the morning just before sunrise (between 5:45 and 6:00 AM). The weather was dry and clear and the air temperature was about 65 degrees with a 10 to 15 MPH wind blowing from the NE (off of the lake). There are street lights along the East side of the roadway along the entire length of the top of the dam but no lights of any kind on the road on the North end of the dam. It was very dark on the North side of the dam due to the roadway being up against the mountain side to the North and North East. The moon must have already set since I don't recall seeing it at all.

The area around the lake is thick with pine and oak trees along with thick brush and manzanita. On the West side of the cul-de-sac the land drops off very steeply all the way down to the Feather River below. To the North and North East the land is flat for a short distance (20 feet or so) and then slopes sharply upward. To the South East is the Lake and to the South is the Dam. I have a map and a photo showing the terrain, etc. that I will glady send. I was hoping I could upload then here but I guess not.

Do you have any photos from that morn? You will have to wait for awhile to upload or until a moderator comes by.There have been quite a few possible episodes in that area.

Yes, I have photos, but none that were taken during or after the incident. It is easy to see why there are so few photos of those guys... I had a camera in my hand and never even thought to try to take a picture. My only thought was to get the heck out of there asap ...lol. I have attached a pic I found online of the dam showing my exact location.

Man..You could have turned clicked and got it's waist and chest in the flash!

All you would have seen was my reflection in the rear window of my truck.. and I'm sure it wasn't a very pretty sight... ahem. Below is a pic I took from the center of the top of the dam just a couple of minutes before the incident showing the lighting and weather conditions.

Great that's what I wanted to see. Well there's only one thing to do....GO BACK TO THE DAM!

I recall hearing more than a few instances where there have been encounters during Salmon runs.

Maheekat is right. You need to go back to the dam. This might seem obvious, but BE PREPARED. Take a camera, video or still and if you can, something to record sound. You might even want to try doing an overnighter. Take someone with you that can corroborate your experiences should something happen. Keep us posted and GOOD LUCK!

LOLOLOLOL... Before I'd go near that place again (I was 20 miles away before I rolled my window back down) I'd have to #1 not be alone, #2 be armed with some sort of protection, and #3 have brought along another pair of pants to change into just in case...

You should go back as soon as posible and look for any evidence such as prints that might be there. Do whatever you need to do to feel safe, but remember, there has never been any reported attack on a person from a Sas.

Dig deep..breath, be all you can be...take a boat horn for protection, blast him then take it's picture holding its ears!

That's quite interesting. I'm fairly familiar with the area around Oroville, but have not been to the location that you are describing. There have been some reported encounters in the area north of Oroville decades ago. Most of them in my opinion were somewhat dubious. There was one however from 1969 that seemed to have some substance that occurred in the Magalia area. A retired man(if memory serves he was a retired Dr.) and his wife were driving home late at night as their vehicle approached a figure that appeared to be a "large man" but looked to be completely covered with hair. The figure(again if memory serves) then crossed the road as they passed with a pronounced limp. Jim McClarin interviewed the couple and his impression was that it had substance. I personally have not heard the tape, but an indiviudal who I contacted back in the Mid 1990's when I first became interested enough in the BF phenomenon to start contacting other people, had heard the taped interview and was also convinced they were not lying about what they felt they saw.

When you say the roar sounded like that of a lion, are you talking about an african lion or a cougar?

There are cougars in the Oroville area and a few years ago, one was sighted by some fisherman in the Low Flow area of the lower river a mile or so out of town. If you've never actually heard a cougar, the sound they make is NOT IMHO, a noise one would intrisically attribute to a cougar. There is also a population of black bears up the NF canyon and I saw one about ten days ago while returning from fishing the NF with a freind in the PM. This bear was in the Pulga area which is a ways up the canyon. It is not inconcievable however for a bear to be wandering in the reaches of the valley.

Did you return to the area and check the area out later?

Either way I'll be fishing for steelhead on the lower river on Saturday and will check out the area that you've described to see if there is anything of note.

I guess I should leave some kind of an intro so folks know who the hell I am later.

Thanks for posting this.

WR

Also, the anadramous fish cannot make it up past the fish hatchery. There's a fish barrier right in town that prevents that.

WR

Here's the report I was thinking about
swimmers

In my opinion you should go back as soon as possible, but not alone, and if possible, armed. Bring sound recording equipment, and if you have a 35mm cam, use 3200 black and white film with a big lens (like 50mm f/1.2 or 1.8). Try to have some moonlight on that night. I don't know what the equivalent in digital would be. Or use fast color film and a flash. You should find a researcher to go with you, if possible. Someone with Bigfoot experience or at least knowledge. I think he may have hurt you if you stayed. Just opinion, so use your own judgement. Nobody knows a whole lot about these critters, so be careful. I really do not see them as necessarily overly dangerous for the most part, but I know that sometimes they do not want people around, and if they decided to press the issue, someone could get hurt.
BSF

"I am but a simple bigfoot investigator..and there were alot of big words in your post... - Jimf" from APT's post.
Sounds like you had an encounter with a sesquipedalian.

You've got the moon right now...

Er... ok, let me get ahold of a friend of mine and see if he will go up there just before dawn.. Geeze, it gives me butterflies just thinking about it... To reply to WillinYC.. definitely African not mountain. I have encountered a cougar at Loafer creek while trail riding a couple of years ago (it ran away when it saw us) and the volume of the sound that I heard had to come from a much larger animal. The sound was a booming "gravely" roar, not a snarl or a growl. If it was a bear it had to be standing upright while it was approaching and at at least 6 and a half feet tall (due to the beginning and ending location of the sound). The largest black bear I've seen was running down the middle of the road just this side of Quincy and it was about the size of a calf.

Sacrifice yourself in the name of science I know real funny right? I know, I had one yell at me. I thought I was going to die

Encounter? No one can say for sure. All you have is a roar. No prints or anything else. This makes it very hard. It could be a hundred different things including somene screwing with you. Not much to indicate a bigfoot was involved as much as a dinosaur or king kong, or homer simpson. Could be lots of things including bear that they say arent in the area. I live in the southern end of Florida, they say there arent ANY bears down here. Does not make it impossible though and that is probably a thousand times more realistic than a BF being involved.

As far as the location of the sound. That’s very hard to determine sometimes, especially if you were not actively paying attention to hear it, even more so if it took you by complete surprise. I had a peacock scream at me in the woods late one night. I can swear it was screaming in my face at eye level. Actually I had no clue what it was at first and may have had a mild heart attack when it happened. I was totally surprised as my attention was not in that direction. It was actually about 8 feet away slightly to me left and on the ground. Though I could swear that the sound came from head level with me, I know for a fact it was on the ground. I almost shot the damn thing for the ruined pair of shorts.

Known animals make unknown and strange sounds all the time. Could have been a cougar with a raspy throat, a bear, etc. I heard a Panther once and the scream it made was totally terrifying it sounded like a baby at first then built up to a psycho woman like shriek. The panther was at a high school football game in a cage and EVERYONE shut up and stared at the panther. I have never heard anything like that again. I downloaded and listened to EVERY panther sound out there and none sounded like that. I fact what I heard (as well as the entire school) was something totally different. Totally. Yet it was a regular panther.

I am not trying to ruin the mystery but its important to to keep things in their proper light. Like the others said, head back out there and give it a look over. Cant hurt. But until something points it to a BF possibility I wouldnt label it Bf related, not yet anyway.

Do you have the coordinates of the area? Maybe an intersection? I would love to see a satelite image or arial photo of the surrounding area.

yikes

be careful and good luck

gael

CalifB, I just tried to send you an email. I'll be in the area flyfishing on Saturday. I'll stop in the area you've described and check it out fairly thouroughly. I've never heard anyone describe a bear as making a roar, more of a gutteral moaning. Again, as SH states, unless you've actually heard a big cat, and seen that it was indeed the source of the roar, intuitively, you'd never believe a cat was the source of the noise. Either way, it's not that far away from where I'll be fishing, so I'll give it a going over and check the area surrounding the lot over.

WR

Hi Will,
Got your E mail. Good idea, you go and let us know what you find. Be careful, whatever it is is territorial and aggressive.

3200 speed film?

If he captures anything, there will be little to no chance of getting any kind of detail on an analysis due to the excessive grain and fast lenses = $$$$$ that most folks just dont have laying around.

I would suggest using normal 200, 400 speed film with an external speedlight (if possible), otherwise, use the regular flash.

APT:
Graininess is a problem. I was trying to help him get away from a flash if there was enough moonlight. Blurring would be the problem with slower film in moonlight. 50/f1.8 lens is about $80.00, and most amateurs have one. It is called a "normal" lens. 3200 film is around $10.00 for a 36 exp roll, if I remember correctly. Actually takes pretty good pics if you don't blow it up too much. Definately grainy though. I am not expert, just trying to help. Perhaps the 400 film with flash is the better choice.
BSF

Like you, Im just trying to help too :-)

About the lens, I was thinking of something like a TP or zoom, but youre right, the 50's are cheap.

Went fishing last night with a friend on the Feather River just South of Gridley, Ca -about 15 miles South of Oroville. My friend brought along his night vision scope, and with me being more then a little nervous after what happened at the dam last week I spent most (ok, all) of the time scanning the thick brush and Cottonwoods on the opposite shore for whatever. I didn't see anything outside of a beaver and a ring tailed cat (nor did we catch any fish for that matter) BUT, that night scope is great! It gives you a whole new perspective on what goes on in the dark, and best of all, you can easily see if anything is trying to sneak up on you.... The scope ran for several hours on one 9v battery and is still going strong. I'd have to say that it is an absoulte must-have for excursions into desolate or wooded areas at night. I wonder if they make them with built in cameras with telephoto lenses..?Unfortunately the cost of one would probably be a few bucks more then I'll ever have...

Hey, CalifB:
What model was it, do you know? 1st, 2nd or 3rd Gen? I would like to get one, but know nothing except what i have read here and on a few other sites about them. Can't afford but a cheap 1st gen. Most people say they aren't worth having. Just trying to get another opinion.
BSF

I just called my friend at work and asked him about the make/model. He said he dropped it off at his house and doesn't recall (someone gave it to him in lieu of payment for work). I remember seeing the brand and model on the body but can't recall what it was (I'll find out the info on it later this evening). I do recall that it said "Made in Russia" on it. Also, that it has both the infared and the standard light gathering abilities with an infared "spot"? about the size of a dime on the front right underneath the lens. It looks like a tiny video camera but only about the size of the body of a standard 35mm still camera, and very lightweight. It is monocular with a separate focus on the lens and eyepiece. Maybe I can run a dogpile or google search and find one exactly like it. I'll let you know.

Don't want to put through a bunch of trrouble for the info. Whatever you could tell me would be appreciated. I could afford a 100-200 buck NV monocular, but not too sure how worthwhile it would be. Thanks! I could think of several uses for one.
BSF

Ok, I ran a search and found out that it is definitely first generation and one just like it retails for about $150. I saw scopes that attached to 35mm cameras, hands free ones that clamped on your head (wow, that would be handy!) and ones that had zoom capabilities (an absolute must-have. I kept saying last night "I wish this thing had a zoom lens"). Some things I didn't like about it was that I kept having to constantly refocus it - but my eyesight is really poor so it was probably just me. Also it was so light and small it was hard to keep it steady unless you were sitting down and could rest your elbow on something fixed. Uh.. oh, and every few minutes you had to re-press the light gathering button because it would slowly get darker and darker.. but I overcame that problem by holding the button down for a few seconds before releasing it. The infared ability didn't impress me but it was a full moon and that option is supposed to only be used in total darkness. There was a small amount of "sparkle" in the very center of the field of view when it was at it's highest light gathering ability (I was trying to see into a dark shadowy area). But overall I thought it was great. But if I was going to purchase one I'd make sure to get one with a stablizing lens and a zoom.

Thanks, CalifB. Lot of good info there for me to ponder.
BSF

1st generation NV is better than NO NV.

Get what you can, grab a decent IR flashlight while your at it, makes a good combo.

Thanks, SH, I might just do that. Seeing at night would open up a whole new world.
BSF

Dig deep..breath, be all you can be...take a boat horn for protection, blast him then take it's picture holding its ears!

Then run extra fast when he falls in love with your boat horn.

I have to not agree with this one. If you count things like what happened in Ape canyon then attacks have happened. They may have been provoked but the thing is it has happened if them stories are true.
Most people who believe in Bigfoot believe what happened at ape canyon did happen.
Then you have other old stories of them attacking people even killing some if the stories are true.

But like Bigfoot itself nothing can be proved one way or the other right now. So they might just try being to run you off or they might just ripe your head off we have no way to know.

yikes, i woulda been scared too. i think you should go back with a camera, peper spary and an extra pair of pants . just go and look for some prints, it wont hurt to take a little look. :willies:

a guy i work with came into my office last night and told me his aunt, who lives in the lake oroville area, thinks she has a bigfoot on her property. i asked where she lives and he told me "the other side of the lake" . i dont know the area, so i dont know what that means.

he said she has found tracks and has taken photos of them. i think he said she was hearing odd noises too. (there were a few conversations going on in the room and i missed some of what he said)

i made him promise to take me with him next time he goes to visit her, and to try to get a copy of the photos of the prints. i dont know if he will really take me with him, but i'll keep bugging him.

this same guy (a correctional officer at the prison) told me about hearing and smelling what he thinks was a bigfoot once while hunting..i dont know where. i asked him to submit a report to the bfro but i doubt if he will.

if i can get anything else out of him, i'll post it

gael