Burwick is out surfing this morning, so I guess I’m going to have to take the wheel on this one. You’d think, being trapped in an undisclosed location out here in the Pacific Northwest, I’d be hearing all the local Sasquatch news, right? Well, it’s been radio silent. Maybe now I know why. I have to seriously ask, is it me? Bigfoot? Do I stink?
Yes, it’s true. Bigfoot may be best known for wandering the forests of the Oregon and Washington area. But a group of researchers are following reports of the legendary creature much farther east. In New Jersey, investigators are looking into a growing collection of alleged encounters, with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) listing 79 reports from the Garden State alone in recent months.
Whatever, Harry. You jerk. That’s the last time I come to visit your stomping ground, only to have you bail like a butterball turkey the day after Halloween.
The reports span several counties, with Sussex County accounting for 18 listings, Burlington County reporting 16 and Ocean County contributing 11. That puts New Jersey on the map for East Coast Sasquatch enthusiasts, even if nobody has produced irrefutable evidence that the creature actually exists.
This sounds like Bigfoot is hard on the press trail, trying to prove he’s still around after the recent documentary Capturing Bigfoot pretty much confirmed that the legendary Patterson-Gimlin film was a fake.
Bigfoot researcher Mike Familant and his team have been investigating reports around the state, including the forests of the Delaware Water Gap and Stokes State Forest. One account that caught their attention came from a trail runner who was out in Stokes State Forest at dusk last fall. She initially thought she heard a bear, but then reportedly watched two full-sized trees begin shaking after hearing two loud grunts.
“She was running at dusk and she heard two very loud grunting sounds. She assumed it was a bear and then all of a sudden two full-sized trees began to shake,” Familant told the New York Post.
Another investigation took place at High Point State Park in northwestern New Jersey. Familant said his team was mimicking an owl when they heard an unusual response from somewhere in the distance. He described the sound as three low, sustained moaning howls, which the group managed to record in 2019.
The recording reportedly received further scrutiny from a military linguist. According to Familant, the expert concluded that the sound was outside the range of known human vocalizations and could not be matched to an animal known to live in northwestern New Jersey. Familant documents his investigations through the online series In the Shadow of Big Red Eye.
New Jersey investigator Jacob Korbel also told NJ.com about an experience that changed his attitude toward the possibility of Bigfoot. Korbel said he had been skeptical before joining the group on an expedition in the Pine Barrens in 2021. During the outing, he recalled hearing a strange whooping sound from roughly 100 yards away.
“And right away, I’m like, that’s nothing that I’ve ever heard before. That’s not an owl, that’s not a coyote, fox,” Korbel said. He also described hearing the sound gradually move closer to the group, making it seem as though whatever produced it was approaching their position.
Familant says his team uses audio equipment to rule out possible explanations before logging a report, including sounds made by black bears and other wildlife. He believes New Jersey has an unusual combination of heavily visited forest trails and remote stretches of wilderness that could account for the number of reports. Familant also claims the state ranks fifth nationally for reported Bigfoot sightings.
“You have to have two things to get a Bigfoot sighting; you have to have a person and you have to have a Bigfoot,” he told the Post. “New Jersey is unique because we have a good mixture of both.”
The BFRO’s database currently lists 79 New Jersey reports, although those listings should not be confused with 79 verified encounters. The organization’s most recent entries include a possible sighting by a hiker in Ocean County’s Pine Barrens in November 2024, along with earlier reports from Burlington County. The database is a record of submitted accounts, not confirmation that Sasquatch is roaming the state’s forests.
That distinction matters because the Bigfoot mystery remains just that. Enthusiasts have pointed to alleged footprints, photographs, hair samples and strange recordings as evidence, but none has established the creature’s existence. Even the famous footage and other supposed proof have faced questions, including a recently exposed hoax involving one of the best-known Bigfoot recordings.
For now, New Jersey’s forests are giving East Coast Bigfoot hunters plenty of stories to investigate. Whether those strange sounds belong to an undiscovered creature, familiar wildlife or something else entirely is still an open question. But with nearly 80 reports in the state’s BFRO listing, the Garden State has certainly become a regular stop for people hoping to find Sasquatch.
