An account in Pasco County, Florida

This is an old sighting, having occurred around 1981 or 1982 in coastal Pasco County, Florida. I have not reported this for professional reasons, but now that I am retired, this is less of a concern. At the time, I was teaching an Oceanography class at the local community college. One evening of the week would be classroom lecture on campus and another evening would be lab or fieldwork at a science center operated by the school district. I was also director of the center. The center is located on an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico called Salt Spring Run, and surrounded by a typical upper west coast Florida Juncus-Spartina marsh with mangrove islands. After class, approximately 8:30 or 9:00 PM, I drove out of the gates of the center, got out to lock the gates, and then drove down the dirt access road to the center. As I came round a bend in the road, a creature stepped out of the vegetation onto the road. I stopped and stared at the creature, which was illuminated only by my headlights. It did not seem frightened and simply stared back at the car. We were about 40 – 50 feet apart. I had a chance to take a long hard look at the creature and tried to note everything I could. It was not a human, nor was it an emaciated bear. It had a simian face, flat nose (not a snout), and ears on the side of its head. It was slim, not heavily muscled, and was covered by grayish-brown hair or fur. The hair was not thick and bushy. It also stood only about 5.5 to 6 feet tall at most. I could see the entire body of the animal because it was out in the road. It was turned sideways to me and only its head turned in my direction. Because of the angle of view, I could not tell if it was male or female. I was not frightened by the thing because I was in an old Dodge station wagon I had at the time, which was a tank. Also, the creature did not seem agitated or aggressive, but simply wary. Eventually, the creature calmly walked across the road and into the salt marsh at the edge of the road. I got out of the car with a flashlight and tried to get another look at the animal. I sniffed and tried to detect any odor, but there was no odor. I never heard any vocalizations. I eventually drove home and told my wife, but did not share this with anyone else. Eventually, I told my sons, one of which encouraged me to make this report. At the time, I was not only sober, but also well rested. I was not sleep deprived, and had at least a full minute to look at the creature. I simply do not know what I was looking at. The closest thing to what it looked like would be one of those National Geographic artists renditions of what an early hominid looked like – not large, slim, a walk with knees slightly bent. The next morning I surveyed the area, but found no tracks. The road was hard-packed limerock and oyster shell and even shoe impressions weren’t left. Near where the creature entered the marsh is a small hammock with cabbage palm, saw palmetto, etc., and it may have been moving toward that. I found nothing in the hammock the next day.