Year: 1987
Month: July
Time of Day: 11:00pm
County: New York Cortland
Terrain Description: I lived in the small town of Cortland NY. I actually saw the
creature in my front yard crouched behind 6 or 7 foot shrubs which was right next to my porch. My
house was located on a small dark street which is a 5 minute walk to a dense forest of rolling hills that stretch for at least 30 miles or more(with the exception of a few country roads dividing them).
Lighting Conditions: My porch light was on and 1 street light about 50 to 75 feet away from my
house.
Nearest Town or Landmark: Cortland NY
Description of Encounter Area: It was about 11:00pm on a summer night. I was playing games on
my front porch with my younger brother and best friend at the time. I looked up at the bushes and
noticed they were moving and thought it was my cat crawling in them. I got up and looked over the
ledge of the porch calling my cat and saw what I thought to be a “wild man” crouched on its hands and knees. It had reddish brown hair and because of the porch light I could clearly see the almost human like back and arms with a cone shaped head. It turned its head towards me and I noticed the eyes had almost a red reflection to them probably from the light. I ran inside as it put its hand on the ledge of my porch. the hand looked like a big version of a human hand with hair all over it and grungy long nails that made my hair stand up. My friend and brother saw the hand and screamed and ran inside about 2 or 3 seconds after I saw it. We had told my grandmother that we saw a man with hair all over his body but she didnt believe us. She said it was probably someone in a gorilla suit trying to scare us.
Are There Food and/or Water Sources in the Area? (if so, describe): There is a river that runs
close to the area of the rolling hills that basically surround the small town.
Occupation/Background: I work for the physical plant at suny cortland and have 3 semesters of
college credits
Number of Witnesses: 2 my brother and best childhood friend
Length of Observation: probably 1 minute but when I looked at it it was about 3 feet down from
where I was standing
Animal Description: Reddish brown hair. broad shoulders with a cone shaped head. the movement of
the thing seemed to be wild. it was “man like” but wild.
Aprox. Height: It was crouched down but because my porch ledge was over 6 feet high it was well
over 6 feet tall
Aprox. Weight: I would have to say between 300 and 400 pounds.
Head/Facial Description: Cone shaped head with red reflecting eyes.
Can Witness Provide a Sketch of Animal Seen?: No
Wood Knocks Heard?: No
Recordings Made?: No
was on my front porch with my brother and best friend. I saw the shrubs moving that are located along side my porch. I looked over the edge to see what it was and saw what I described as a man covered with hair on its hands and knees. It heard me calling for my cat and looked up at me. At that point I had backed up fast and saw what looked like a large human hand covered with hair and long dirty finger-nails.
Mike Humphrey