Father & son use a spotlight to observe a Bigfoot behind their home near Kodak witnessed in Sevier County, Tennessee

Open Map

It was late October of 2008, unsure of the exact date. At approximately 2:30 am, my oldest son called me on his cell phone. I was upstairs doing some research on the computer & he was downstairs on the back porch smoking a cigarette. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was scared or excited about something. He said, 'You need to get out here right now, and bring the spot light and the shotgun with you!' I immediately retrieved both items from my bedroom and met him on the back porch. His eyes were as big as dinner plates and he looked a little pale. Now, my son (18 @ the time of this sighting) started hunting the swamps of north FL with me when he was 4, and he is normally very calm & doesn't get spooked or excited very easily. So, when I saw him like this I knew something had definitely gotten his attention. I said, 'What's up?' He said, 'Point the light over there between the 2 sheds, at the oak tree.' I aimed the spotlight to where I thought he had indicated, but saw nothing. Then he said, 'No, beside the oak tree.' Again I aimed the light, but still didn't see anything. At this, he became agitated and grabbed my arm, moving the spotlight where he wanted it and exclaiming. 'Right f'ing there!' The light revealed a large upright figure standing behind the oak tree. The animal was standing obliquely to us, using the tree to block our view. The tree was probably 3 ' to 4 feet in diameter, and about 30 yards from us, but we could still see it standing there, with the right side of its body at an angle to us. I noticed how the arms hung almost to its knees, and it stood slouched forward a bit, with its knees bent slightly. It was covered with brownish-red hair, maybe 2-3 inches long and appeared to be uniform in length except for the face, which appeared ape-like. It sounds funny, but the face looked similar to 'Harry' from 'Harry & the Hendersons'. As the animal stood there, I panned the spotlight off to the right from its location. When I did this, it half-stepped from behind the tree, peering to see what we were doing. When I brought the beam of light back, it immediately stepped back behind the oak tree, remaining at an oblique angle to our position. I again panned the light away to the right, and the animal again half-stepped to the right to see what we were doing. When the light came back, it again hid behind the tree. Almost in amusement, I turned the spotlight off for 3-4 seconds. I then pointed it directly at the tree and hit the on switch. The beam of light revealed the animal standing to the right of the oak tree, squarely facing us. When the light came on, the animal squinted and retreated back behind the oak tree, only this time it retreated back through the woods, using the tree to block our view of its departure. After we could no longer hear it crashing away through the brush, my son and I stood there shaking in amazement of what we had seen. After a moment, I finally managed to smile and said, 'Holy crap dude, we just saw a sasquatch!' With that, my son replied, 'That was fricking awesome!' We went back inside and talked about the details of what we'd seen for quite awhile before heading off to bed. The next morning, I went out to look for tracks where we'd seen the late-night visitor. Here in east TN, the soil is mostly clay and not conducive to tracking, but I was still able to locate 2 footprints behind the oak tree. They measured just under 17 inches in length and about 6 ' inches wide across the ball of the foot. Also, there was another print in the leaf litter to the right of the tree, but it wasn't clear enough to measure. Due to the hardness of the soil, the tracks were not deep enough to cast. Further investigation did not yield any further tracks or spoor along the animal's route of egress. I have discussed this event with friends and co-workers, mostly being met with doubt and skepticism, but my son and I both have no doubt whatsoever about what we had seen. Before we moved out of that house due to divorce, we continued to observe strange occurrences from time to time but never had another visual encounter.