- Class 1a
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1a A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
- Class 1b
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1b A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
- Class 1c
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1c An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 1d
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1d A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 2
- Class 2, Competency: Reports involving sightings by professionally trained or highly skilled observers.2 Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
- Class 3a
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3a Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3b
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3b Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3c
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3c No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Case: 04080015
Class 3bExperience of NAWAC Investigator in Atchafalaya Swamp.
Report Details
Occurrence date: April/1983
Location: Iberville Parish County, LA
Nearby/Vicinity: Butte LaRose
Time / Conditions: Late evening, clear, beautiful day, sun going down. This was in Bayou Sorrel, Atchafalaya Swamp. Very swampy and seems like I remember a lot of willow trees.
# of Witnesses: 4
Location: Iberville Parish County, LA
Nearby/Vicinity: Butte LaRose
Time / Conditions: Late evening, clear, beautiful day, sun going down. This was in Bayou Sorrel, Atchafalaya Swamp. Very swampy and seems like I remember a lot of willow trees.
# of Witnesses: 4
Witness Account:
It was April of 1983. We were on a crawfishing trip and camped out, I think, on Bayou Sorrel in or near the Atchafalaya Basin. The reason I say "I think" we were on Bayou Sorrel is because we took the Whiskey Bay exit off of the Atchafalaya Bridge but then we had to travel about 20 miles on a dirt-road levee to get to where we were gonna camp. On the camping trip were my now ex-husband, my dad, my brother-in-law, my sister, my uncle and me. A friend of my uncle's told him about a lake that was about an hour's boat-ride away from where we were camped that had a lot of big blue catfish. We had a couple of aluminum boats for the crawfishing and my ex-husband brought his new bass boat along just so we could do some sight-seeing. The reason I mention this is if anyone familiar with the area is reading this I don't want them to think we are a bunch of know-nothings bringing our fancy glitter bass boat down to go crawfishing. We knew better but it was a new boat and we just wanted to try it out. Back to the issue....my ex-husband, my dad, my brother-in-law and I took off for this great fishing spot down what looks like a canal but is really an opening in the middle of a bunch of woods. In the spring the water fills up this basin area so just the tops of trees are sticking up out of the water. Sometimes you just see the roof of an old camp site or home site sticking up out of the water. During this time crawfishing is great. After the water drains out it is leafy bottoms, good hunting ground for deer or whatever. Truly a sportsman's paradise. We traveled what seemed like forever and fished for a little while. The sun was starting to go down so we decided we had better head back to camp because it would be impossible for us to see anything in the dark with all the trees around. What we didn't realize was how shallow the water was in the first place. The tide had evidently gone out while we were en route to the and our heavy bass boat with that great big motor on the back of it bottomed out. So there we sat, the sun going down, our boat bottomed out, and it's pretty snaky around those parts. We had already seen a few snakes in the limbs of trees (resting, escaping the high water) while we were checking our crawfish traps and nobody wanted to get in the water to pull the boat out. We tried kicking the motor up with it running to get it off the bottom and rocking the boat back and forth, making quite a bit of racket. We turned the motor off and while we were discussing our dilemma we heard something moving through the water, like walking towards us. We stopped talking, listened, it stopped moving. We wondered what it could be, maybe a deer, maybe a bear, but none of us had ever really heard of any bears around there. It started moving closer to us, this time limbs are cracking off of some trees. Not twigs, limbs. I don't remember any other noises, just the walking through the water, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh at a very steady pace and the limbs cracking. I had a .380 Bersa pistol next to me which my ex-husband promptly took from me and I have to say I was quite relieved of the responsibility. We were all pretty nervous and nobody moved or said anything. My ex-husband told whatever it was that he had a gun, if it is somebody then they had better start talking. Still, "it" kept moving closer and the tree limbs were cracking louder and sounding nearer than we were comfortable with. All of the men in my family have hunted and fished all of their lives and they all felt like this wasn't a deer or a bear because it wouldn't move away from us, only kept getting closer. Finally, my dad said "to hell with this" and jumped in the water and pulled us off of the bottom we were wedged on. We hurriedly dropped the motor and got moving. We never saw anything. From time to time I ask one of the men if they really think it was a bigfoot, thinking maybe we all overreacted. We all admit we were scared but don't know what it was. I believe that it was a bigfoot.
Physical evidence:
N/A
Hand/foot prints:
N/A
Sounds:
I don't remember any other noises, just the walking through the water, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh at a very steady pace and the limbs cracking.
Additional observations:
My daddy said when he was about 15 years old he, his dad, and his grandfather went on a hunting trip in the Atchafalaya. This would have been around 1951. The men in my family belong to the Masonic Lodge and when they stopped at a little store to get a few things for their trip my grandfather shook hands with the store owner. The Masons have a secret hand-shake so when you meet a Mason you know them by the hand-shake. The guy told my grandfather that he had been hearing stories about something half-man, half-ape back in the woods. While my daddy was hunting he said he heard something screaming in the woods, he assumed it was a panther or something like that. But it went on and on so he went on back to camp. While they were camped out that night they heard something in the woods by them that just kept making a racket all night. Just a lot of noise like something moving around in the woods. The next morning they looked around a little and saw where something had torn up the ground. My great-grandfather, who mostly ran the show whenever they were hunting or fishing, decided they should pack up and leave. My great-grandfather was always hunting and fishing, even fished for a living for a while. Always took my daddy along from the time he was a little kid and that was the first time anything made them feel like they should leave the woods. Again, nobody actually saw anything but still felt uncomfortable enough to leave the area.
Investigator's Observations
Investigator(s): Charles DeVore
This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in the Atchafalaya Swamp of Iberville Parish, Louisiana, in 1983.
Daryl Colyer, Scott Kessler and I have discussed this incident with the witness on a number of occasions. The witness is now a volunteer investigator with the NAWAC. Ms. Elkins has avery keen memory and is of the highest credibility.
While her report was very detailed, she did have a couple points to add:
Timewise, from the first sound of the unidentified subject approaching to the time when they actually freed the stuck boat and left the scene was in the 5 to 6 minute range.
Ms. Elkins is certain that the sound was of a two legged animal in the water. All of the occupants in the boat were familiar with sounds of four legged animals (deer) verses two legged (human) sounds walking in shallow swamp water.
Apparently the subject would approach the party when they were making noise (rocking boat, revving boat motor, talking) and stop when they got quiet. While they never saw the subject, Ms. Elkins and her party believed that the subject, with its behavior of approaching after verbal threats, along with the apparent sounds of bipedal walking in the water, and becoming quiet when Ms. Elkins and her party would become quiet, indicated possible bigfoot behavior.
This location is approximately 25 miles south of Iberville Parish sighting report of 23 October 2003.
This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in the Atchafalaya Swamp of Iberville Parish, Louisiana, in 1983.
Daryl Colyer, Scott Kessler and I have discussed this incident with the witness on a number of occasions. The witness is now a volunteer investigator with the NAWAC. Ms. Elkins has avery keen memory and is of the highest credibility.
While her report was very detailed, she did have a couple points to add:
Timewise, from the first sound of the unidentified subject approaching to the time when they actually freed the stuck boat and left the scene was in the 5 to 6 minute range.
Ms. Elkins is certain that the sound was of a two legged animal in the water. All of the occupants in the boat were familiar with sounds of four legged animals (deer) verses two legged (human) sounds walking in shallow swamp water.
Apparently the subject would approach the party when they were making noise (rocking boat, revving boat motor, talking) and stop when they got quiet. While they never saw the subject, Ms. Elkins and her party believed that the subject, with its behavior of approaching after verbal threats, along with the apparent sounds of bipedal walking in the water, and becoming quiet when Ms. Elkins and her party would become quiet, indicated possible bigfoot behavior.
This location is approximately 25 miles south of Iberville Parish sighting report of 23 October 2003.
