Mystery Beings: 1970s Maryland Bigfoot Sightings Unsolved

Bigfoot sightings have been reported in many places around the world, and Maryland is no exception. In the 1970s, there were a series of apparent Bigfoot sightings in the White Marsh area, northeast of Baltimore. These sightings took place in the swamps around the Bird River, and some of the reports are quite fascinating. Richard and Elvis Steward were out cutting brush near a grove of trees when they heard breaking branches. As they stopped to listen, they became aware of a swamp gas-like odor. That's when they saw the creature. It stood about eight feet tall and had big red eyes. When it saw them looking at it, it ran away. On May 31, 1973, the Sykesville Herald published a police report on an encounter by Anthony Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey went outside to discover what could be upsetting his dog. By the light of his flashlight, he saw two large blowing eyes seven feet off the ground. He called the police, and they responded, but the officer never saw anything himself. However, he was witness to the sounds of something big moving around in the dark underbrush. The next day, police chief Omar Herbert joined in a search party, which found a 13-inch footprint and two partial prints showing a six-foot stride. Then, on that Sunday, three people reported that they had seen something moving in a thicket. The creature had short fur-like hair and an egg-shaped head and it appeared to be about eight feet tall. The following day, a man reported that he also saw it and described it as a large hairy ape-like creature. Eventually, over 30 people reported encounters that were investigated by not only the local police but included the Odyssey research personnel, conservation officers, the state patrol, and the assistant director of the Baltimore Zoo. The descriptions were almost identical, and some of the witnesses were tourists who had no previous knowledge of any encounters. The creatures seen were estimated to be between seven and eight feet tall, 350 to 400 pounds, and were covered in one and a half an inch long black hair. They were said to walk upright like a man, and sometimes it was reported that their legs were covered in mud. Dogs refused to follow any trails of the reported creatures, and there were no reports of any livestock harmed in the area. However, the wild creatures appeared to have moved from the location. Most of the places where a creature was seen were in the heavily wooded parts of the Patapsco State Forest, which is 20 miles long and three to four miles wide, running along the Patapsco River. Odyssey research made recordings of all the witnesses, but despite all the encounters reported, nothing definite was ever recorded or found, and no creatures or people were harmed, despite the fears of the police. In April 1975, the state police received a report from a Bell Air motorist that he had just hit a seven-foot-tall creature. The upright figure had walked into the road in front of his sports car. The creature fell to the ground but then got up and continued to walk on two legs off the road, although it was now limping. The driver was going around 50 miles an hour, and when he hit the bipedal creature, it did considerable damage to his car. It is said that the police steadied the hair taken from the car, but they later announced that the hair came from a cow. Several weeks later, a Darlington area woman claimed she had found huge human-like footprints in her garden. Unfortunately, the prints were destroyed before they could be photographed or cast. With the publicity from these experiences, a former resident of Harford County let people know that he had seen a Sasquatch in Churchville back in 1914 when he was only eight years old. He was living at Wolfiney corner near Route 155 and Glenville Road. On the night he had his encounter, he had gone outside to search for his head. He was making his search by lantern light when he suddenly came upon a figure sitting on a log between two trees. He was holding the lantern pine in the air and it was at eye level with the seated creature. It was close enough to be able to reach out and grab him, but it remained seated and just watched as the boy began to walk away from it. The witness said the creature had a definite nose, a sharp chin, and hair all over. He never told his parents the story because he thought he would be punished, but hopefully not because he had seen a Bigfoot.