Two young Marine reservists on an overnight camping and hunting trip last month claim they got the scare of a lifetime: a possible Bigfoot sighting.
Tyler Kroetsch, 20, and Wil Neill, 23, were in the southwest corner of the Waterloo State Recreation Area in Michigan in the early morning hours of Sept. 16 when they heard footsteps about 20 feet away from them. The seasoned outdoorsmen then froze to listen to what came next: two distinct, four-second-long screams that didn’t sound like anything they’ve previously heard in the woods.
“You could hear each step,” Neill told The Post on Wednesday. “It stopped almost directly in front of me, about 20 feet away, off to my right, and then it screamed two times. After that, we freaked out.”
Neill, of Livonia, Mich., said he was so spooked by the sighting that he and Kroetsch ended up sleeping in their car. They never reported the incident to officials at the state’s Department of Natural Resources, but Neill insists he’s a believer.
“I went from zero belief that night to 100 percent believing in Bigfoot,” Neill said. “It’s ridiculous to say, but, after that night, we don’t know how else to explain it or what to say.”
Neill said he and Kroetsch – who did not get a glimpse of what they heard – later compared what they heard that night in the woods to YouTube clips of purported Bigfoot calls or sounds made in the wild. They matched exactly, Neill said.
“The more and more we looked into it, it just really confirmed our belief that we were within 20 to 25 feet of this thing,” he said. “When we heard that same sound later, no kidding, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I freaked out.”
Kroetsch, of Utica, Mich., characterizing what he heard as the most “loud, freakiest, inhuman yell/scream/roar” coming from a creature on two feet.
“The only remotely close animal I’ve heard make this sound are mountain lions and cougars,” Kroetsch wrote, adding that he thinks whatever he saw spotted the pair in the woods.
Kroetsch told The Post the sound resembled a “fully-grown man running through the woods” in knee-high foliage, with large trees and branches everywhere that would be incredibly difficult for a person to navigate in the early morning darkness.
“It’d be hard for a normal person to run through it without failing, pretty much,” he said. “But to this day, we both don’t know exactly what it was.”
Amy D
WE CAMP IN THAT AREA ALL THE TIME!!! Thanks for posting this Wes!!! We are supposed to camp there in November …It’s a huge area & lots of woods & swamps… perfect habitat for a squatch!
wendy s
Since Amy D is my twin sister I think I will go with them in November, haha. Maybe not. We each live very close Is to Waterloo rec area. And I remember an experience of two young men having a sighting quite a few years ago. But that’s all I’ve ever heard reported. This is a very popular area for camping. Wondering now if there are other things that havnt been reported. This is so exciting.
Charles R
Well I cetainly hope that Wendy and Amy have an encounter of their own, Best of luck in November. I rode my motorcycle through that area in July of 2011 on my way to a bigfoot conference up in Comins, MI for the weekend. Coming up from Ohio via the 127 I cut through there to get to the 52 as I usually seek out state hwys and backroads as opposed to interstates. I was really impressed with the hills and lakes and forested area in this region and there is no doubt there could be a Forest Giant population there.
Myself and my best buddy, now passed on, were witness to one insane scream on Sept. 1, 1996 in the early morning hours a couple hours North of this area in Midland County, Michigan – Mt. Haley Township. Wish these Marines had described the scream so I could compare it.
Robert P
Great story. Y’all be safe out there
Richard C
My son lives close to this location, he has a job that requires him to go out and check oil/gas production at wells in remote locations. He told me at a location that’s near there, that he’s heard tree knocks, trees have been snapped in half, plus some trees put across the road he travels to get to the site. His boss, who lives in the area and has woods backed to his house, says that he sits outside sometimes and hears tree knocks, Boss early one morning (1 or 2 am) was driving home and something “BIG” crossed in front of him in the road.
Charles R
Well there you go. Just more confirmation the giants are in this area.