Hornell, Steuben County New York

I have had two sightings. One in 1976 and the other in the 1980’s…

The first one was sometime after 1976 in the late fall. It was about 10:00 pm on a paved country road. I had seen no traffic on the 20 miles I had traveled on that road. This gives you an idea of the traffic on that road and why I chose to travel it. I was keeping my speed down to 45 mph because of deer and other possible dangers.

As I was approaching a bridge over a small creek with running water year around, I had all lights on, that would be two running lights and headlights were on high beam. The bridge rose about 3 ½ feet above the road level. Upon approaching the bridge I saw red-orange eyes looking at me from about 6 feet above and just on the far side of the bridge. The eyes were moving left to right and I could tell they were on me; I watched to see something real big. Then I lowered my high beams as I would with any animal in the road, slowed way down and as I approached the bridge
I aimed for the left side of the road… I saw enough to know I had never seen this animal before.
(I have been in the woods hunting from the age of 8; we lived with the woods being out the back door and my mother felt I was safer out there than downtown.) I could see a 9-foot hair covered something to my right, the thought entered my mind their could be more to my left, so I turned on the power and got out of there. The next day I went back with my oldest son, he was 15 at the time looking for footprints. But it had been a very dry year; we did find broken bushes near road.

2nd sighting was some time in mid 1980`s, my wife and I were driving at night again, up over a high hill near were we have lived for 30 years now. We were approaching a place where there is a large old apple tree right at the edge of the road. My lights were on high beam; we both saw the red-orange eyes looking at us in our Jeep and we could see the creature was picking and eating apples. I lowered my lights and started to slow down. The hair on the animal seemed to absorb my lights as there was no light reflecting back, or so it seemed to me. The height of the second sighted Bigfoot was closer to 9 1/2 feet tall; it was dark brown and the hair appeared about 5 inches long on its back and legs; hair on the back of the head longer, upper body appeared shorter.... The overland distance between the two sightings I would think to be less than 30 miles. 

Right at that time my wife panicked and screamed get me out of here. Having been married long enough to know when to do as told in that tone, we left in a hurry.. I now read all I can about these Bigfoot and I have told my stories to others, but they do not believe me.

There was at one time, a story published in the Corning Leader Newspaper about footprints found around ponds here in Steuben County. I talked to one of the people who saw those tracks and I also talked to State Troopers who took casts and sent those casts to Cornell University.

To my knowledge, nothing has ever become of it.......
Gary E. Powers Sr.
Logged: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 2:19 PM