BFRO #8406: Encounters with a hairy creature in the same area as the well known "Minerva monster flap."

📍 Location

📝 Description

I grew up in Stark County Ohio in Paris Township from 1973 until I went away for school (1990) and then got married. The famous "Minerva Flap" happened in my back yard. The strip mine that was behind the Cayton families home where most of the sightings occurred belonged mostly to my family. We lived on the other side of the strip mine from the Caytons. I went to school with some of the Caytons but never asked about what had happened as there were many rumors floating around the community. Many more people in the area were having encounters but were unwilling to report it because of the ridicule the Caytons received, not to mention all the idiots running around ready to shoot anything with two legs and a pulse. I can't speak for the others but I will tell you what was happening on my family's property and the two sightings I had. The strip mine was owned by my aunt and uncle along with the rest of their farm. We lived next door on a large plot with three mobile homes back in the woods. My family lived in one, my grandparents lived in another and a different aunt and uncle, along with my cousins, lived in the third, all about 60 yards apart. In the late 70's we had our cornfield smashed down and a partial footprint was found. My cousin and I had discovered it and thought the area where the corn had been looked like something had rolled in it. Because of the excitement in the area, we were not alowed outside by ourselves. No one in the community knew what to make of everything. Even though I was young, I clearly remember the fear everyone felt. After a few years had passed there was not a lot of activity. My first sighting came in about 1984. It was such a close encounter I will have to explain the details as best as I can, so you can understand the situation. My brother and I shared a bedroom in the mobile home. We had a bunk bed and it was against the outside wall which put the top bunk right in the middle of the window. This next part is hard to explain if you have never seen how the windows in an older mobile home would open. One window is really a series of smaller windows that would crank open. As you would crank, the bottom of each of the smaller windows would begin to push out tilting the bottom of the windows out and leaving the top stationary. (I hope everyone is still with me.) Keeping all of that in mind, you know how at night windows in your house act as a mirror because its dark outside but the lights are on inside. Okay, I have explained all of this to tell you what I saw. My brother and I were getting ready for bed. I was already on the top bunk and my brother was not in the room yet. There was a night light on in the room and the window was cranked open so I would ordinarily see the reflection in the room, but since the window was open, and because of the tilt, I now could see the reflection straight down. The window in our room was made of two smaller windows, one on top of the other. I was inside of a sleeping bag, which will turn out to be a nightmare in a few moments. I could hear something coming up the drive way about 30 feet from our room. We had a dog outside loose, and I thought it has him. I heard it leave the drive way, and start heading straight for our window. Still thinking it was my white collie, I looked at the window reflecting down and expected to see him walk underneath. Instead, what I saw was black hair taking up the entire window. Now I was still looking for an explanation, and thinking this was my dad I said "Dad" and instead of hearing my dad answer from outside my window, he answers from his bedroom down the hall so I looked back at the reflection and there was a hand in between the two parts of the window. I would not say the hand was reaching for me, I got the impression it was feeling the glass. Well, needless to say I had seen more than I wanted! The problem was I was inside of a sleeping bag and couldn't do anything quickly, but with a hand 1/3 the size of one of the windows, and only inches away, I wasn't hanging around! I flipped over the rail in one motion, sleeping bag and all. I was so scared I still couldn't get free, so I hopped down the hall in my bag. My dad met me half way telling me to calm down. I told him what I saw, he grabbed a gun and went out the back door. He circled the house and came in, he said he saw nothing. The windows are about two and a half feet wide and about one and a half feet tall. I only saw the hand for about one-second before I bailed. I would have to say it was about 1/3 the size of the window. The hair was black and partially growing down the fingers. I did not see the palm. The hand looked very much like a man's only much, much bigger. I have an uncle who is 6 foot 6 with large hands but these were much bigger! The skin looked dark gray to black, but again I only saw it for a second. The thing that sticks most in my mind was the fingernails. Very clear, I think it's what made me realize in that second that this was no joke. The

🔍 Circumstances

For my sightings just me.

🌤️ Weather Conditions

Always in the evening just after dark, and in the early morning.

ℹ️ Additional Details

Always in the evening just after dark, and in the early morning.

🔗 Sources (1)

👥 Community Contributions

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