Incident #1000602
Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz Cty, California
Jun 1980
Account
Dave Wilhelm and Ben Lawson were in sleeping bags in a grassy field off Granite Creek Road east of Scotts Valley, a few houses around and a steep, forested hillside at one side. They heard heavy footsteps coming down the hill through the brush, sounded bipedal but moving too fast for human. Heard very loud, sucking, painful-sounding breathing for about 10 minutes, close at hand. Sound moved toward roadway, and as a car passed Lawson saw by the headlights a figure estimated 12 feet tall. Witnesses decided to leave, and when they started to get up the creature backed off up the hill. They left.
When
- Observation Date
- JUN 09 1980
- Month
- Jun
- Year
- 1980
- Season
- summer
- Time of Day
- before 3 a.m.
- Duration
- considerable
Where
- State / province
- California
- County
- Santa Cruz Cty
- Nearest Town
- Scotts Valley
- Direction from Town
- East
- Population of Town
- 200
- Elevation/Altitude
- 5
- Latitude
- 37025-
- Longitude
- 122000-
What was seen
- Individuals
- one large, sex unknown
- Total Individuals
- 1
- Population Status
- rural
- First Seen
- in
- Terrain Object
- open
- Near or/at
- camp
- Super Human Action
- Came through brush too fast for human
- Shot Hit
- No
Witnesses
- Witness(es) Sex
- Male
- Report type
- 1st person
Setting
- Terrain
- hill
- Exact Terrain
- clearing
- Slope
- steep
- Cover
- heavy
- General
- none
- Undergrowth
- heavy
- Undergrowth type
- poisonous
- General undergrowth
- none
- Variety
- poison oak
Weather and light
- Lighting
- headlights
- Visibility Index
- 3
Source
- Source
- Watsonville, Cal., Register Pajaronian, Jun 17 198
- Source Type
- newspaper
- Source Date
- 1980
- Source reliability
- 5
- Incident reliablility
- 6
- Jwg file date
- 1980
- Incident type
- 1
Creature description
- Hair Covered
- presumed
- Height
- 12 ft
- Posture
- erect
- Movement
- staying still
- Later Movement
- went up slope
- Sound
- panting
- Reaction
- approached, avoided
- Other Unusual Y/N
- Yes
- Describe Unsual
- Footprints were only gouges in the hill, about 6 feet apart.
- Evidence Left
- footprints
- Position when first seen
- erect
Witness
- Sex
- Male
- Interviewer
- Robin Hutchings
- Interview date
- JUN 12 1980
- Witness Saw with
- naked eye
- Observer Was
- camping
- Moving Y/N
- Yes
- Position
- lying down
- Making Noise Y/N
- Yes
- Closest horizontal distance
- close
- Action on sighting
- stayed still, fled
- No of witnesses
- 1
- Age
- 21 to 30