Primary Investigators

Stan Gordon– Independent Bigfoot and UFO Researcher
Ron Gallucci– Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society member
Eric Altman– Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society Director

Case summary:

On May 14, 2013 at 2:41 pm,

The PA Bigfoot Society received its first email in regards to the case:

The email read “Today in Somerset county PA a turkey hunter shot and killed an animal he claimed is a Sasquatch. The state police were called and responded to the scene, according to chatter on the local police frequencies the officers confirmed there was an unidentified animal shot and killed. Details are a bit fuzzy at this time. Any investigative assistance would be appreciated.“

May 14, 2013 at 3:20 pm.

The Pa Bigfoot Society received a second email. This one had a name and contact phone number attached. The email read “Hello, YES this is legit, a strange report came over the scanner here in Somerset, Pa. just a few miles from Flight 93 memorial. The message went to the local Police department. The report stated that a hunter had shot a Sasquatch while hunting turkey this morning. This is the first day of Spring Turkey in Pennsylvania. Later a second confirmation message on the scanner stated that yes there was a body but was unable to identify who or what it was. This all started about 10:30 AM and continued through most of the day. The location was stated as Russell or Rustic Road (too fast to be sure) here in the local area of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Just wanted to let someone know.”

Both emails were then forwarded off to PBS investigator Ron Gallucci because he is a nearby resident and closest to the area. The emails were also forwarded off to long time UFO/Bigfoot researcher Stan Gordon.

Both Stan and Ron made contact with the author of the second email.

Stan reported he contacted the email author and amateur radio (ham) operator who had made contact with the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society concerning the police radio transmission. From him Stan learned that the radio chatter in question had actually been heard by his friend who is another ham operator. Soon after, Stan talked with that man directly and learned some additional details.

The person who heard the transmission has a public safety scanner radio, better known as a police scanner, which is programmed to receive the Somerset County Public Safety radio transmissions that would include police, fire, and EMS. The radio transmission was broadcast over the scanner, and not over ham radio equipment. The man stated that he had heard a radio transmission come across a county police frequency.

The man stated he heard the Somerset County Dispatch Center contacting an area police department, but he was unsure as to what municipality it was. What he said he heard was that a hunter had called and stated that he had shot a Bigfoot. He soon heard some radio chatter from police who were reportedly joking about the report. It was about 20 minutes later that he said he heard a police officer radio back and state, “there was a body.” He said the next radio transmission to the officer was, “call the center.”

The witness also mentioned to Stan that soon after he heard the sound of what appeared to be a large helicopter near his house. The sound was so loud it shook his house, so he went outside to take a look. It was then that he observed a formation of four Army Apache helicopters approaching from the north and moving in the direction of Somerset. The man frequently sees such helicopters flying around that general area, but he thought the timing was interesting since the choppers were moving toward the direction of the location where the report of a Bigfoot had allegedly been shot just a short time before.

The investigation:

Ron is a long time resident of the area and has made multiple contacts in law enforcement and other departments due to his former career.

Ron placed calls to a trooper he knows that worked in the State Police Barracks at Somerset, and a contact he knows in the Somerset 911 call center. His contact in the Somerset barracks he knows was not available. Ron called the Somerset 911 call center and it was confirmed there was a call to the center but it did not involve a Bigfoot being shot. It was in regard to a gentleman that discovered large human like tracks, and that he believed were Bigfoot prints.

Ron then was informed of the municipal police department that investigated. Being that Ron has contacts at the Paint Township Police Station, Ron called and spoke to the Police Chief about the incident. It was at that time, informed him of the situation and invited him to meet in the office on 5-16-2013, to discuss the case and findings. The Chief also told Ron they had photos of what they believed were bear prints. No discussion or mention of a Turkey Hunter shooting a Bigfoot was discussed at that time.

May 14, 2013:

Thanks to another PBS member, Eric was given the address to a website called Broadcastify. This website houses archived EMS, Fire, and Police transmissions. The website had the archive for Tuesday March 14, 2013. Eric listened to the files and found that there was a call dispatched out of the Somerset 911 call center to a local municipality police force to investigate. Eric has been able to download the file. This is available upon request.

The transcription from the recording is as follows.

Begin Transmission “Dispatcher: Did you have a Mr. ###### at ## Spruce Street?” Police officer: “Negative.” Dispatcher: “He called the 911 call center advising he called the state game commission and no one has returned his calls and he is requesting an officer to his house as he has proof of Bigfoot.” Police Officer: “Bigfoot, Right?” Dispatcher: “Affirmative, he wants an officer to come to his residence.” “Apparently he has proof of Bigfoot.” Police Officer: reply was unintelligible.
End of Transmission.

May 15, 2013.

Contact was made with the Game commission, and it was Stan’s understanding that the Pennsylvania Game Commission in that area had no knowledge of the incident and was not involved in any investigation dealing with this matter on May 14, 2013

In the evening, newspaper accounts were posted on line that a Turkey Hunter shot another person on April 30, 2013 in Somerset Township, Wisconsin. Some are speculating that this is the source of the rumor. It does not account for the witness who claims he heard the scanner report of a Bigfoot shot and confirmed by police on Tuesday May 14, 2013 at approximately 10:30 am. We are unable to determine if this plays a role in the case or not.

May 16, 2013

Eric Altman called the Somerset State Police Barracks on Thursday morning. Eric spoke with the daylight dispatcher. When asked about any involvement of the Somerset State Police in regards to the claim, the daylight dispatcher stated she was not aware of any. She also stated she was working that day and did not talk to anyone filing any type of claim or statement about Bigfoot to the barracks.

The Dispatcher then told Eric she would check into it further and call him back. Twenty minutes later the dispatcher called and stated the Somerset State Police did not receive any calls or information about it, nor went to investigate any shooting. The dispatcher stated she did find out there was a call into the 911 Call Center on Tuesday May 14, 2013 and Paint Township Police were dispatched on an Animal Complaint issue of an individual claiming to find large Bigfoot tracks in the forest. Police responded, took photos and determined the prints to be Bear prints. Two sets of tracks were found. A large set and a smaller set. The tracks were identified as bear tracks.

May 16, 2013.

Ron Gallucci met with Chief of police and met with him today verifying this did indeed happen. He met with him, found out an elderly gentleman filed an animal complaint of “proof of Bigfoot.” An officer responded and confirmed they were 2 sets of tracks. A large and small set of tracks which suggested a Mama bear and cub. Photos were taken and Ron has a copy of the photos, police report and I have a copy of the 911 transmission of the call requesting an officer that took place at 11:30 am on Tuesday May 14.

Ron also checked the claim about the low flying military helicopters. It was found out that there were no military helicopters sent to collect a body. However there are always low flying helicopters in formation and they do fly over that area multiple times a week due to the municipal airport being close by.

Stan also added he is aware that the Pennsylvania Army National Guard operates Apache helicopters out of the nearby John Murtha-Johnstown-Cambria County Airport and commonly conduct training missions around that area.

In Conclusion:

We cannot determine what was heard nor find evidence to confirm what the Ham Operator witness heard on his police scanner on May 14, 2013 at approximately 10:30 am. Stan, Ron and Eric were able rule out the claim of a Bigfoot being shot and killed by a turkey hunter and confirmed by police.

We have confirmation from the Somerset State Police, Somerset 911 call center, Paint Township Police department and the Pennsylvania Game Commission that to their knowledge, there has been no Bigfoot reportedly killed, no body confirmed nor recovered.

We have the 911 call center audio file of the dispatched track discovery call, a copy of the police report from the Paint Township police department and photographs of the bear prints.

The actual 911 call from Eric “Charlie Brown” Altman

Join experienced Bigfoot researchers Sharon Lee and Monica Rawlins for a weekend full of Bigfoot adventure at Salt Fork State Park in Eastern Ohio. The weekend kicks off on Thursday June 13th and runs through Sunday June 16th with some of Ohio’s top Bigfoot researchers and other guests from around the country.

Guest researchers include:

• Eric Altman (Pennsylvania)
• Marc DeWerth (Ohio)
• Alan and Jesse of Fathom Frontiers (Ohio)

This unique event offers first time, casual and hardcore Bigfoot researchers the opportunity to learn techniques from some of the premiere crypto investigators. Participate in classes designed to improve your field research, topics include footprint casting, evidence collection, trail cam setup, baiting techniques and vocalization analysis. The event features primitive camping, expert lead hikes and organized night operations with all meals included.

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The cost is $100 per person and includes a weekend campsite with all meals, classes and events.

The idea is to have a festive “town hall” meeting for researchers and enthusiasts to share their passion for Bigfoot!

Good luck Guy! Hopefully I will be able to make it there for one!

Insanely handsome, incredibly talented, Cliff is a self proclaimed Bigfoot nerd and plays the role on Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot show.

Listen live here tomorrow night or catch it on the archives if you can’t join us!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bigfootfieldreporter/2013/05/09/cliff-barackman

I loaded up my gear on that gorgeous Friday morning, the weather was perfect, I was going on an investigation and I was leaving work early! Doesn’t get better than that!
I picked up Maisel and we headed down Mansfield way. For 2 hours I put the screws to Mark, grilling and interrogating him until I learned so much about the B.F.R.O. that Moneymaker might have to kill me. (just kidding) Seriously Mark has a wealth of knowledge not only about Bigfoot but human nature and life as well. The miles flew by and we rendezvoused with DeWerth and Sonya then proceeded to the address.
The property was situated upon acres of farmland with plenty of water sources and a nearby forest.
When we pulled up the driveway, we noticed no one was home. Oh no. I quickly placed a call and he replied telling us that he was 3 minutes away and he instructed us to stay in the car because his dogs would attack us. We had already been milling around dodging the hundreds of carpenter bees and there were no dogs outside. Interesting. We did hear dogs barking on the inside of the house.>
He then came screeching up the driveway, jumped out of the car and rushed past us without any acknowledgement then said “Follow me, let’s get in the house”. We all looked at each other quizzically but did as we were told.
He was about 6 feet tall, early 40′s very thin with a gaunt face. He was in a highly agitated state and just began a continuous rant, he still hadn’t even let us introduce ourselves, we have been with him for about 3 minutes at this point and we all knew that we had just driven 2 hours to entertain a mad man. He had a water bottle in his hand and he kept tossing it back and forth from hand to hand ranting about how we could go and investigate after the reporter got there and how he was finally going to be rich and that he was splitting his wealth with the reporter. Ok, time to go. We nervously eyed the shotgun on the table and asked if we could go outside and have a look around. He then led us out the sliding glass door and he proceeded to point out the “footprints” he had found. There were no prints, merely matted down areas in the grass and the ornamental wood chips. Sonya wandered to the edge of the property along the tree line and he became more agitated and demanded that she get back and stay with the group, she asked him “Why?” and he said “because they are right there and I don’t want you to scare them away!” to which DeWerth comically inquired “They’re right there?” and he said “Yes” and he grabbed my left arm and urged me “see him? he’s right there! he’s looking at you! He’s beautiful!” and I was like, whoa.. During all of this Maisel is observing the man quietly, intently refraining from engaging him.
The witness then became more agitated with Sonya and demanded that we all gather and stay on the back porch. He entertained us with the follies of his Bigfoot family earlier that afternoon. How they played on the hillside and ate all of the apples, pears, oranges and bananas that he placed out. Then 2 boys with knives come around the corner onto the porch and the one boy says “mom says I have to come get my gun back” then him and the boys go into the house and leave us on the porch. I said he appeared to be on meth and Mark thought he had schizophrenia or was bi-polar and as we were discussing this, I realized that he had separated us from our unlocked vehicles so Marc and I disobeyed and left the porch and as we rounded the corner we walked past the witness peering from an open window with binoculars.
We had been there about 15 minutes by this point.
We got to the cars and came to the mutual agreement that we needed to get out of there now and especially before this reporter from the Mansfield newspaper arrived. We had to wrangle up Sonya and Mark but Mark wasn’t answering his phone! Then I saw another car coming up the driveway. I said “oh no it’s the reporter! We have to get out of here now!”
Too late. The reporter, an elderly gentleman with a very fancy camera and credentials got out of his car and approached us. He asked Marc if he were the witness. We both just laughed and told him, “oh no, you are in for a real treat.” He then said, “Oh he called you all in too? I thought he was splitting with me 50/50.” We laughed and then the witness came flying around the corner of the house and approached us and said to me, “that woman on your team doesn’t believe me that there are Bigfoot here so you need to pull her now!” Then he stormed off and we wished the reporter good luck as he solemnly followed.
Finally we see Mark and Sonya surveying the tree line and corn field and I yell out that we have to go…Mark made sure to cover the B.F.R.O. logo on his shirt as he passed the reporter.
Elapsed time of “investigation”, 20 minutes.
We then jumped in our vehicles, gravel flying and as we exit the driveway we get waived down by an 80 year old man on a riding lawn mower. Now What???? This trip just keeps getting more interesting. We pull off to the side of the road and he rides up to us on his tractor. He asks us, “What the hell is going on up there? That’s my daughter’s house and she’ll be home any minute and I want to know what’s going on.” As we describe the events that were claimed and what we experienced, the old man slowly hung his head and shook it back and forth. Within minutes we see the reporter’s car zooming out of the driveway and he get’s waived down by another neighbor! Then a third car comes down the driveway and it is the old man’s grandson. I guess we provided some brief entertainment to that rural community.
We asked if the witness uses drugs or alcohol and the old man claims that he wasn’t aware of any problems. We thank him and apologize for the excitement and wish him well.
This was by far the quickest and craziest investigation I have ever been on and Mark rates it as one of his top 5.
We then headed to Applebee’s for a bite to eat and to decompress. Laughs and good times, we decided not to let the trip go to waste and headed out to Mohican park for some hiking.>

Mark and Marc

At 7:45 I had to wrap it up because I had a 9 pm radio show to do with Jay Cooney http://bigfootfieldreporter.com/wordpress/2013/02/18/cabelas-strange-rare-and-unusual-sightings-weekend-2/ and I wasn’t going to make it!
I called my research assistant Gabrielle Cole and asked her to set up the studio and patch me and Jay through and I would take it from there. This was Jay’s first radio interview and I wasn’t going to cancel on him! Gabby came through like a pro and managed to get the show to start on time, patch us in and away we go! 70 mph hour on the freeway at 9:00 at night while trying to concentrate on doing an interview is not an easy task, but somehow I managed to pull it all together without killing Mark Maisel. The interview flew by as quickly as I was driving, Jay was a bit nervous but you can’t blame him! He’s 15 and fabulous!

I’d like to thank Eric Altman, Marc DeWerth, Mark Maisel and Sonya Horstman for the support, friendship and education they provide me.
Thank you Gabrielle Cole for all of your hard work and dedication.

Bigfoot research doesn’t always have to have competition and rivalry. We are all striving towards the same goal and when we work together we can accomplish great things!

Guest researchers include:

• Steve Kulls (New York)
• Eric Altman (Pennsylvania)
• Marc DeWerth (Ohio)
• Alan and Jesse of Fathom Frontiers (Ohio)

*(guests subject to change)

This unique event offers first time, casual and hardcore Bigfoot researchers the opportunity to learn techniques from some of the countries premiere crypto investigators. Participate in classes designed to improve your field research, topics include footprint casting, evidence collection, trail cam setup, baiting techniques and vocalization analysis. The event features primitive camping, expert lead hikes and organized night operations with all meals included.

The weekend will be fun for the whole family so pack up the kids and get down to Salt Fork, pre-registration is required.

Don’t miss your chance to do REAL Bigfoot research with REAL Bigfoot researchers. Others can dream it, you can live it. Register NOW at www.bigfootadventureweekends.com.
The cost is $100 per person and includes a

Not everyone operates the same way or conducts an interview the same way, but there are certain key elements that must be consistently observed based on proven interrogation techniques.

The most important piece of information in any Bigfoot investigation is the eyewitness interview. It is imperative that you absorb every possible detail you can from the incident.

Your first action should be to obtain a “written” report. Be sure your reporting form contains questions that will allow the witness to give as much detail as possible. If the eyewitness refuses to leave a phone number or an email address, or expresses no desire to speak to you, you might as well file the report and save it for a rainy day when you are bored with nothing better to do!

The written report will act as your baseline for when you follow up with a telephone interview. Leading eventually to a face-to-face interview.

Of course we will begin with the basics:

1. Date and time of day
2. Weather conditions
3. Are there any other witnesses
4. Describe what happened
5. Describe in detail the height, weight, color, sex, any other distinguishing features or actions of the creature
6. What was the duration of the sighting
7. How far away was the creature
8. Were any drugs or alcohol involved
9. How did this make you feel?
10. Have you had an interest in Bigfoot research?

After you have read the written report, it is best to follow-up, hopefully within a week or two with a telephone call or preferably a face-to-face interview. Ask the witness questions that differ from his answers on the written report just in case they have memorized what they had written. Try to be unbiased towards the witness. Make him/her convince you that the event actually occurred.

When interviewing a witness, always tape record or video tape the interview. (with their permission)

DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT! And always cover your butt! With the written report, and a well documented interview, you will be able to look for inconsistencies (if there are any) or similarities within the report.

At the location take lots of pictures.

I have been on many interviews where it became apparent to me that the witness was either lonely or seeking attention. Be wary and be careful!

Feel free to download this Eyewitness Report .pdf
EYEWITNESS REPORT

We had been hiking for quite awhile when we came upon some barefoot tracks.
This was not a bear. We became more and more excited as we measured and took pics of what I wanted to be the “Hogback Trackway”. But something wasn’t right. The prints were only 11 inches and the stride didn’t seem long enough. We continued on and finally found the source of the prints. It was apparent that our Squatch was actually a runner wearing Vibram running shoes. What a disappointment but also a good teaching point. Always follow through on your research! We may not get the answers we want, but we learn what to look for!