FROM THE FILES OF RON SCHAFFNER

SUBJECT:

Unusual Encounter with a large hairy animal

DATE(S):

11:00 PM on Tuesday, April 12 and 11:45 PM on Wednesday, April 13, 1977

WITNESSES:

Tom and Connie Courter

LOCATION:

Henschen Road and Indiana S.R. 56, Ohio County, Indiana between Aurora and Rising Sun

INVESTIGATOR:

RON SCHAFFNER ET AL.

CASE DATA:

The Courters had left their mother's house in their car and were headed back up Henschen Road to their trailer. Once home, Tom got out of the car first so that he could get the diaper bag out of the back seat. (The Courters had a six-week-old baby, which was also in the back seat.)

As he turned back around, he heard a strong noise which sounded like an "UGH." As he looked up, he saw a large hairy animal about "18 inches" away.

In a later interview, he told me that the creature was about 12 feet tall, black and hairy, with large red eyes. He further stated that the head was shaped like a human's and that its arms were hanging to the ground.

Tom quickly jumped into his car and spun his tires, as the creature took a swing at him. Tom said that the creature hit his car. Both Tom and Connie were obviously very scared and they went directly back to their mother's house.

On the next night, they stayed at their mother's house until 11:45 PM. This time, Tom had his 16-shot .22. They had been parked in front of their trailer for a while, when they saw the same animal standing next to a tree on the other side of the road.

Tom fired one shot at the creature, but missed. He fired several more shots. He said that the animal seemed to dive to the ground and then seemed to vanish.

The Courters filed a police report, but the Ohio County Sheriff's Department was very skeptical. In fact, they told us that they believe the couple were on drugs.

The authorities stated that they could find no evidence to back up the Courters' claim. Our group did find smashed vegetation a few days later at the sight. The side of their car was smashed and we found no evidence of rust, or other metal shavings or paint.

Both Tom and Connie were still very frightened as we interviewed them a few days after their alleged encounter. At the time, we could find no hidden motive as to any possible hoax.

Note: The newspaper accounts of this case can be found in several Fortean publications including Sasquatch: The Apes Amoung Us by John Greene and Creatures From the Outer Edge by Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark.

Please remember that the size and distances mentioned by the witnesses are probably exaggerated.

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