The RFP Research Project (RFPRP) - Report of Encounter

Date Report Submitted to the RFPRP: November 26, 2005

Date of Encounter: Summer of 1990

Time of Incident: After midnight

Weather Conditions: Clear and hot

State: Arkansas

County: Saline

Nearest City or Town: Paron

Map Location: Southeast 1/4 of Section 14, Township 2 North, Range 18 West

Nearest highway or road: On Ouachita National Forest Road #114

General Land Use Description: Timbered mountains in National Forest.

General Terrain Description: Very rocky slope of the South flank of what is locally called Tower Mountain or Fairchild Mountain.

Nearest Lakes or Streams: Encounter site is immediately North of Lake Winona and west of spring fed Rocky Branch.

Activities of Witness Prior to Encounter/Incident: Restoring power to one leg (phase) of a 7620 volt power transmission line.

Witness Profile: The witness is a 48 years old male who resides in Benton, AR. He is now, and has been for over 20 years, an electrical lineman for Arkansas power companies.

Details of Encounter / Incident: The witness was called about 11PM to restore power to a data transmission tower which was located on top of Fairchild Mountain in the Ouachita National Forest. He drove alone to the area in a small repair service “bucket truck”. He stopped at the Lake Winona Operations Area at the dam site at the location of the on-pole breakers for the three-phase power line to the tower. He found that the breaker for one leg of the power was thrown, and would immediately trip when it was engaged.

He then began to drive the road alongside the power lines to see if he could find the problem. The power line runs immediately alongside NFR #114 on part of its route to the tower, which is about 6 miles by road from the dam. Part of the power line is situated out of sight of the road, and the line at times crosses the road. After driving and looking for an hour or so, he decided he needed to call for additional help in finding and repairing the problem quickly. At the time the tower was reportedly used to transmit high priority information for a federal agency, and the tower was reportedly operated by AT&T. The tower is no longer used for that purpose, according to the lineman.

He continued to inspect the lines which he could see with a spotlight from the road after he arranged for another lineman and his helper to bring their bucket truck to assist him After a while he noticed a broken insulator on one of the poles alongside the south side of the road. He pulled past the pole several yards and called the other lineman by radio to tell them what he had found and the location of the damage. The other crew told him they were close and he decided to wait for them. The other truck arrived a few minutes later, and it was backed off the road so the pole could be accessed by the bucket on that truck. The helper got into the bucket and began the process of replacing the broken insulator.

During that time the two linemen were leaning across the passenger’s side of the hood of the truck that was being used by the helper. They were facing the rear of the other truck which was parked on the opposite side of the road. The road in front of the idling truck was fully illuminated by the headlights that were left on. The first lineman was talking and looking up the brightly lit road when road when suddenly he saw a large hair-covered, man-like creature walking slowly off the slope on the north side of the road. The man was so stunned, he was unable to speak for a few seconds. The creature slowly walked across the road ditch and onto the shoulder of the road. The lineman then excitedly asked the other if saw the animal. The other said he was watching it. The animal turned away from the men and slowly walked west on the road until it passed over the crest of a ridge and out of sight. The animal never looked toward the men or the noisy vehicles, and seemed completely unconcerned about their presence.

Description of Animal: Over seven feet (7') tall, covered in dark hair, long legs and arms. It walked with a peculiar gait and stride noticeably different from that of a human. The witness did not see the animal’s face, and did not see breasts to indicate it was a female. He saw no genitalia.

The witness stated he could not remember some of the details about the animal’s appearance because of the time that had passed since the sighting. He said that for several years he could visualize more in detail what he had seen, and had told many people about the encounter and described the animal’s appearance.

Photos or Drawings Made?: None.

Description of Related Sounds: None heard.

Description of Related Scents / Odors: None noted.

Related Details: When the second lineman was asked by the first what kind of animal the two had just seen, the second lineman reportedly said, “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.”

(Note: The second witness was contacted by telephone on November 27, 2005. He stated that he had seen a very large animal that frightened both men, although he said it was not an animal he could identify. His description of the animal’s color was brownish hair with a greyish tinge.)

The lineman’s helper who was actually doing the work in the bucket did not see the animal because he was facing the opposite direction and could not hear the other two men talking about it because of the noise from both vehicles. The primary witness stated that after the animal went out of sight, he loudly told the helper to hurry and get through with the repairs so they could get out of the area. When the repairs were completed, the primary witness said he had to drive up the road in the direction the animal had traveled to be able to turn around at the intersection of the road leading to the tower location. He stated that even inside the truck he was still fearful of encountering the animal again while turning the truck around.

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Related Investigation Report(s) by The RFPRP: The following links are reports of other investigations conducted by the writer in this area of the Ouachita National Forest. One of the reports involve two large male animals fighting. That incident took place about 1/4 mile due North of the location described in the above report. That sighting occurred about five years prior to the incident described above. The area described in the other linked report is about 8 miles due west of Lake Winona. There are known to be two small groups of these animals in that area at present.

Tal H. Branco, Field Researcher/Investigator, The RFP Research Project