A listener writes “Hi Wes, I live in Midland county, MI but I am from Oklahoma. My mom is from there and my dad is from MI. They met when he was in the Airforce,so I am an airforce brat. Every summer my family would drive to Michigan in July for family vacation. I have alot of cousins I would get to see and our family would go to the UP for camping and fishing.
In the summer of what I think was 1978, I was at my aunt and stepuncles house in rural midland county. Our parents had all left the house to go out for a drive and us kids were in the back yard looking for something to do. My cousins were excited to let me know they had a minibike. So we all decided to take turns on it and drive back into the woods,on a trail that goes through there. After a couple of them took turns,my step cousin Kathy and I went together,she drove and I was on the back.
We got going along this trail and we drove into this clearing that was a sandy turnaround that went to the left in a circle,and back out the trail. Well when we got into this turnaround,straight ahead above some blueberry bushes, was a big dark brown/black head of a creature that had huge round dark eyes and it was staring at us, not moving. Well I guess Kathy saw it the same time I did,because she turned the bike over on us,I burned my leg on the muffler.
We didn’t say anything,just grabbed up the bike and took off out of there. When we got back I asked her if she saw what I saw,and she stated:Yes but I don’t want to talk about it: She went in the house then and I didn’t ride that bike either again. None of the other kids mentioned anything about seeing anything that day…..So now we are all older and have all talked about this and I found out that both my cousins saw that thing and also with a neighbor kid,when they saw it picking apples off a tree out in a field.
When I saw it that day on the minibike,it had a large kind of flattened nose,big eyes,no hair,at least not what I could see, on its face. It had dark hair or fur on its head,the bushes that summer were about 6ft 2 inches,and this thing was a full head taller than the top of the hushes. I have pics that I took that day with my new kodak 110 pocket camera my mom had bought me for Christmas but the pics don’t tell me which year it was, but I believe it was 1978. Of course I didn’t have my camera on me when I got on the bike and probably would not have took a pic anyway as I was in shock and at the time did not realize what I had seen.”
Paul M
Hey hey more Michigan sightings… They are thick in dem MI. woods
Charles R
Hi Listener. Man this hits home. I was raised in Midland, MI. 1978 being the year I graduated from Northwood University. As a youth my Mother always took us blueberry picking out in the sandy area that is now the Power Plant in the Gordonville Road area. Me and my buddies spent our teen years on the Dow Chemical ( non used area ) property that was bordered by Bay City, Waldo, Salzburg, and Bay Midland County line road, hunting, fishing, biking and snowmobiling. Once in Nov. 1973 I was bow hunting and it got dark quick. Something was standing 10 feet away from me. I always thought it was a deer at the time, but it did not act like a deer and I could hear it breathing. I did not have a flashlight, I new the area so well I just followed the sand trail back to the car. Now of course I realize it could have been something else.
My real story was Sept. 1, 1996. Exact location was 554 Bradford Road, Midland, Michigan. ( Mt. Haley Township area ). Very rural setting, his being 10 mostly wooded acreas. 2 rivers in this area. I slept over at my best friends house ( Mike Walters, now passed on ) He had a large in ground pool. I was on the sofa sleeping, he was in a hospital bed next to me. There was an open 8 foot window as a warm night. Around 3 am this ungodly scream came ringing out from his pool area, about 40 foot at most from us. It was that woman being torn apart scream and it actually shook the house. That scream lasted over 5 seconds. Mike and myself bolted from sleep. His dog cowered in his open cage. What the hell was that we both shouted. At that time there was a large Chupracabra craze in the far south so I said maybe its the Chuprecabra, teasing of course. Though we were both armed, the thought of going outside to investigate was the furthest thing from our mind. Over the years Mike and I talked of that night often. He passed in 2008. It was in 2009 that I actively began Bigfoot researching and then I knew what made that scream. I so wish I could have talked that over before he passed. The property got passed on this Mike’s nephew Chad. He built a new house and Mike’s house got torn down, but the pool may still be there, it was in 2012. I talked to Chad about what happened to his uncle and me in 1996. To my surprise he believed it. He said he has often heard strange sounds at night coming from the woods that he can not identify.
Just curious listener – what part of Midland County did your event take place in. I also have good friends out in the northern rural areas. And my sister and brother in law live in Homer Township.
Linda P
Hi Charles,it took place on North Stark road…my boyfreind lives off south homer road,what year did you graduate and from what school?
Charles R
Hi there Ms Linda P. Thanks for the reply. Very good North Stark road is indeed rural, farmland, and woods if I remember right. Now your boyfriend on South Homer could be close to where Mike and myself heard that scream back in 96 as it crosses Bradford Road. I grew up on Cottonwood St. which is in the Waldo, Bay City Road area on the south side. As kids we had access to all that Dow Chemical land which was totally undeveloped at that time, and most still is I believe, Easily 4 to 6 square miles. I graduated from Midland High in 1974. I moved from Midland in 1978 and know live in Arcanum, OH but get up to Midland area at least a couple times a year. I have not done any research into the Gordonville area, but I am sure they move through there, and maybe hang around a bit from time to time. My sister and brother in law live on North Homer Road and have a lake cabin in Iosco County, Sand lake region about 10 miles west of Tawas. That place is alive with the Bigfoot. I have heard them far away, and very close at night hunting and scavaging and making bird sounds. One through a rock at my nephews and myself while camping out one night. My wife has heard one at night. I found a trackway in Feb. 2011 after new snow that my golden retrievers would not follow. They just stayed at the road barking for me to come back. Very strange for dogs that followed me everywhere. I have found several curious stick structures in that area. If I were to tell a person where to go in Michigan ( and there are many places ) to have an experience I would say close to the Au Sable River from Mio to Oscoda. Just camp in the woods, find the higher ground, and be yourself, and by all means take friends should one desire.
I understand you being a bit frightened, it has happened to me. I do not think these creatures will harm a person if they perceive no threat from us. If they did they would have been hunted to extinction. Others will disagree. A good friend had a very close sighting in 2000 while bow hunting in Iosco County. The bigfoot was so huge it scared him from ever hunting again. He got very chocked up while telling his story to myself and some researchers back in 2011 at a Bigfoot Conference in Comins, MI. It is so neat talking with someone from where I grew up and I still appreciate the Midland area very much. I much enjoyed your experience even though it put you into a state of shock. It has happened to 10s, most likely hundreds of thousands of people. I will conclude with this BFRO report from Midland County that may from the description be close to the Stark Road location. Take care.
Chuck
http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=43968
Linda P
Could i ask you Charles if you have done any research on the Gordonville area bigfoot? Im very curious,i am not a researcher myself because im to chicken to go out in the woods by myself,lol.
Linda P
Wow that was great report,Id love to know where the bustop was charles R. And yes, my boyfreindlives very close to Bradford road and has a small herd of deer tht hang out in his back woods/yard. My avatar pic was taken there. Take care, Linda
Charles R
The report was by Jim Sherman. He is a teacher at Birmingham Groves High School, Detroit suburb area. He also has you tubes out and goes by the name of Lord Cyptid.
Charles R
Sorry Linda P. I hit post to soon. I too have wondered but the description seems to put it into northern Midland County. My friend Mike had always had deer and rabbits on his 10 acres. He fed them all year long. He never hunted them, he had to many disabilities. Another story about his property. I visited Mike for a weekend in middle of June 2007. He passed the following January. He said the week before I got there him and his buddy Troy ( works for local hospital system ) were out on the patio by his pool late at night. All of a sudden the ground starts shaking and something is running through the yard with a thunderous sound. It ran between the house and garage in a flash and was large. That would put whatever it was only 20 feet away from them. His neighbors had horses, but he said it was definitely no horse. Mike had bad eyes. If I ever run into Troy again I have always wanted to ask him for his description of the event. With the Pine and Chippewa rivers close by you never know what may happen at your boyfriends house. Heck just go outside in the back yard at night with keen senses. One(s) may be watching. So great to chat with you
Chuck
Gumshoguy
Charles R – Are you on the SC Forum? I am in southeastern Michigan, and more specifically the Detroit metro area. I’m not sure if this is updated information but last I checked, the BFRO shows about 212 reports. I created a Michigan spreadsheet database containing over 1,200 reports across the state several years ago, and. Midland County shows 14 reports.