W-File: bf981212.html

Type: Bigfoot
Date: December 12, 1998
Location: Manitowoc

Source: UFO Roundup, Volume 3, Number 50, December 15, 1998

WEIRD ANIMAL SURPRISES PAIR IN WISCONSIN

On Saturday, December 12, 1998, at 4:45 p.m., teenagers Michael M. and Jerance F. were walking along the Wisconsin Central Railroad tracks in the west end of Manitowoc, Wis. (population 32,520) when Mike heard an unearthly scream.

"It was just past dark," Mike reported, "It was near the railroad, over the rails...Then I heard the most horrifying sound in the world. It was a deep roar, screeching deep, and it was a growl."

As they turned, they saw "a large creature rising behind us, maybe 45 yards to the south. Then it moved toward us, and we ran fast, faster than we ever have in our lives."

Mike's mother, Debbie, corroborated her son's report but added that the creature may not have been a Bigfoot. "But for the most part he did see some kind of white, dirty furred animal that made the most bizarre noise he had ever heard. His friend also saw this animal. At first they thought a train was coming and that the sound was from that. But then they looked and they did not see a train. They heard its weird sound and that's when they saw what they did."

Manitowoc is a port city on Lake Michigan approximately 84 miles (134 kilometers) north of Milwaukee. (Email Interview)

(UFO Roundup Editor Joseph Trainor's Note: Manitowoc is reputed to be another "corner" of the Lake Michigan Triangle. Among the mysterious events here were the disappearance of airliner Northwest 2501 in June 1950 and the disappearance of the steamship Alpena in 1880. Like its sister city across the lake--Ludington, Michigan--Manitowoc is no stranger to unusual phenomena.)