THE OHIO BIGFOOT FLAP

Researcher and Reporter: Jeremiah Byron, host of the Bigfoot Society Podcast

Local Investigators: Glenn Adkins and the Ohio Squatch Project team

Event Window: March 6 – March 10, 2026

Geographic Scope: Portage and Trumbull Counties, Ohio

CASE #01: MANTUA

• Date/Time: March 6, 2026 | 12:23 PM

• Location: Mantua Center, OH (Heavily wooded terrain)

• Subject: 9ft tall, Brown hair

• Details: Observed by a field researcher with MCO that was hiking in the area. The subject was stationary in a woodline before realizing it was being watched and was about 120 yards away. It then started moving away because it seemed to know that I was there. It left quickly and I left just as quickly from the area. 

• Note: This was first reported via the Bigfoot Mapping Project website (www.bigfootmap.com)

CASE #02: MANTUA

• Date/Time: March 7, 2026 | 10:52 PM

• Location: Mantua Area, OH

• Subject: 7 to 8 ft tall, Brown hair.

• Message received from witness:

          I was walking along a trail near the edge of the woods when I started hearing heavy footsteps    deeper in the trees. At first I thought it was a deer or maybe someone else hiking, but the steps were slow, spaced out, and much heavier than anything I’ve heard out there before.

A few minutes later I noticed movement about 40–50 yards away. Something tall stepped between two trees. It looked easily 7–8 feet tall, covered in dark brown hair, with long arms that hung low by its sides. It moved upright and slowly turned its head toward the trail like it knew I was there.

The craziest part was the sound it made — a deep grunt that echoed through the woods before it stepped back behind the trees and disappeared. After that, everything went completely quiet.

• Note: This was reported directly to Bigfoot Society via the Tiktok social media platform.

CASE #03: GARRETTSVILLE

• Date/Time: March 9, 2026 | 10:20 AM

• Location: Garrettsville, OH (8 miles East of Mantua)

• Subject: 8ft tall, Black hair.

• Details from witness: 

  "I was walking through the woods and i saw an 8 foot Sasquatch looking creature and i got scared and ran away he also had a lot of fer" 

• Note: This was first reported via the Bigfoot Mapping Project website (www.bigfootmap.com)

CASE #04: HEADWATERS TRAIL

• Date/Time: March 9, 2026 | 11:47 AM

• Location: Headwaters Trail near Hankee Rd.

• Subject: 10ft tall, Pitch-Black hair.

• Message sent directly from witness:

My name is *ANONYMOUS*, and I wanted to report something unusual that my friend and I experienced while hiking near Garrettsville, Ohio earlier today.

At approximately 11:47 AM, my friend Jacob Taylor (who said he would like to go on record) and I were hiking along a wooded trail when we noticed movement coming from the treeline ahead of us. About 25–30 feet away, we observed what appeared to be a very large, upright figure stepping partially out from the trees. The figure was completely covered in black hair and looked to be roughly 8–10 feet tall.

It stood there for several seconds while we watched. The shoulders appeared extremely broad and the arms were unusually long, hanging well below where a normal person’s would. When it took a step forward, we could clearly see that it was walking upright on two legs. The ground shook slightly as it moved, and we also noticed a strong, musky smell in the air.

After a few seconds, the creature seemed to notice us. It turned its head toward us, let out a deep grunt-like noise, and then quickly stepped back into the trees. We could hear heavy footsteps moving away through the brush for several moments afterward.

We were both pretty shaken up and didn’t approach the area any closer. We didn’t manage to get a photo because it happened so fast.

Jacob Taylor said he is willing to be listed as a witness, I would like to be anonymous if you are documenting sightings. If you need any additional details about the location or what we saw, feel free to reach out.

• Details: Witnesses Anonymous and Jacob Taylor had a 15-second face-to-face encounter. They described a "stilt-like" gait—unusually long, stiff-legged strides—and a "torso-pivot." Because the subject appeared to lack a flexible neck, it had to rotate its entire upper body to track the witnesses.

• Biological Markers: Massive 4ft wide shoulders; a "musky, wet-dog" odor; ground-shaking footfalls.

• Followup: I was able to contact this anonymous witness directly via phone. The individual was extremely shook up as the encounter had just happened. I asked if there were any weird details that he remembered about the encounter and the anonymous witness said it was only able to turn its head by turning its shoulders and not just its neck. The anonymous witness said that it also had a weird way of moving like it was on stilts.
• Note: This was reported directly to Bigfoot Society via the Tiktok social media platform.

CASE #05: WINDHAM

• Date/Time: March 9, 2026 | 6:00 PM

• Location: Windham, OH (Residential woodline)

• Subject: 6ft tall, Brown hair.

• Details: Reported by younger relative but observed by a self-proclaimed skeptic from her living room window in her house. It was 100 feet away from her position. Despite its smaller 6 foot frame, she noted an "extremely long stride" that covered a clearing in seconds. It was bipedal and running. The full duration of the sighting was six seconds.

  The witness in this case is a self-identified skeptic of the Bigfoot phenomenon, lending significant weight to the report. Her statement was as follows: "I know what I saw but I don’t know what I saw,".

   

• Note: This was reported directly to Bigfoot Society via email. This case was investigated in person by Glenn Adkins and the Ohio Squatch Project.

CASE #06: STREETSBORO

• Date/Time: March 9, 2026 | 8:00 PM

• Location: Route 303 near Tinkers Creek crosses the road just after railroad tracks (driving from Streetsboro to Hudson)

• Subject: 6.5ft tall, Lean, Brown hair.

• A mother and daughter nearly struck the creature with their car. It was walking in the lane of traffic against the flow of cars.

• Contact Message from Witness:

Tonight Monday March 9th, my daughter (18yr) and I were out around 8:00pm- headed home.  We were heading west on 303 from Streetsboro, Ohio.  We were around the Tinkers Creek (low lying wooded and swampy area) headed towards Hudson, Ohio and came across something that just left us stunned.  We both saw it, but didn’t know exactly what we were looking at.  It was tall, brown, had very long arms and was walking very strange.  Stilt like maybe?  Just was so weird.  This thing was headed in the direction of Streetsboro- so opposite of us.  I looked right at it as did my daughter and we both went (excuse my language) what the hell?!  Speechless. I don’t know what we saw- but it made me think of a Bigfoot or something.  We are both sort of freaked out by our experience.  I know I’m not crazy- because my daughter saw it too.  I don’t know, but I felt the need to reach out.  I probably should’ve reached out earlier, but honestly this is the first time I’ve ever experienced anything of the sort.  I am up in that area all the time and have NEVER seen anything like it.  I don’t know if this helps you or not, but I felt the need to reach out.  You are more than welcome to contact me.  Thank you.

• Follow up Details: I called this witness on the phone and she was emotionally shaken. I then found out the following information. It was in their lane of traffic and walking towards them in the road. They had to drive around it to get past it. Her daughter could have stuck her arm out the window and touched it as it was only feet away. It seemed to have a blurred face with no visible eyes. The facial hair was lighter than the rest of it and it was all brown around the face. The facial features were not spread out. The arms were extremely long and the legs were stilt like because it was so tall. It was walking in a weird fashion. They passed by it and the witness looked in the rear view mirror but it was gone in the dark and into the swamp area. The witness didn't want to turn around and look at it. She also mentioned it was not overly muscular but it was lean. The witness was not into Bigfoot and had not seen my other Bigfoot videos before her sighting.

• Note: This was reported directly to Bigfoot Society via email.

CASE #07: NEWTON TOWNSHIP

• Date/Time: March 10, 2026 | 4:00 AM

• Location: Newton Township, OH (Trumbull County Line)

• Subject: 10ft tall, "Black Shadow" / Silhouette.

• Details: A resident was letting their German Shepherd out at 4 am when the dog lunged toward the woods before retreating in terror. The witness saw a massive figure "crashing" through heavy brush with no regard for stealth.

• Follow- Up Notes: 

  Witness knows they have bear on their property but what the witness saw was much bigger than any bear they had ever seen. Witness remarked that their dog was shaking uncontrollably when back inside the house in a way they had never seen before.

• Note: This was reported directly to Bigfoot Society via email. I followed up with the witness on the phone. The witness was extremely emotionally effected by their experience and was adamant that they be anonymous.

CASE #08: LAKE MILTON

• Date/Time: March 10, 2026 | 10:30 AM

• Location: Lake Milton, OH (Private residence)

• Subject: 7ft tall, Dark Reddish-Brown.

• Details: A female witness observed the subject for 30 seconds from her window. It was 200 feet away.

• Follow up Notes: The Bigfoot was big, was a dark reddish brown or rust color and was moving fast into the woods. The witness had a view of the side and back of the Bigfoot and noted it was not shaped like a deer. The subject ran with a heavy forward lean toward a pond on the property and then went under a tree and underbrush and then disappeared into the woods. The witness was adamant and stated that "It didn't seem like no deer" and ruled out a bear due to the bipedal shape and its "big, fat, round, muscular arms". The witness stated they felt curious at what the heck it could have been. The witness had not checked the area for tracks because she's been busy.

• Note: This was reported directly to Bigfoot Society via email. I followed up with the witness on the phone.

   

  Closing Flap Notes: In my opinion, the Ohio Bigfoot Flap is closed and has seemed to have started as quickly as it began. The theory from Glenn Adkins seems to be best as to why this happened: The weather during this time frame was unseasonably warm so you had many more people outside taking advantage of the weather doing outdoor activities. More people plus Bigfoot moving around equals 8 reported sightings in 5 days.

• The above mentioned areas and any reports sent to Bigfoot Society from those areas are still being investigated by boots on the ground investigator Glenn Adkins of the Ohio Squatch Project. http://www.ohiosquatchproject.com

Jeremiah Byron from Bigfoot Society can be reached for comment at email: bigfootsociety@gmail.com or by using the contact form on this website, www.bigfootsocietypodcast.com

If you also had a Bigfoot encounter in NE Ohio during the time duration of 03/06-03/10 in 2026 or surrounding time period then please contact me immediately using the subject line "OHIO BIGFOOT FLAP" at email bigfootsociety@gmail.com

Any Bigfoot encounters in any geographic area or from any time frame are also requested to be reported at the email shared above ASAP.