An Army veteran turned Bigfoot expert says a 25-second encounter with these massive creatures changed the entire course of his life forever.
Todd Neiss admitted he was originally a skeptic that Bigfoot existed before stumbling upon three creatures in the Oregon Coast Range during a military exercise in 1993.
Neiss, a former Staff Sergeant in the Army’s 1249th Combat Engineer Battalion, described the creatures as standing roughly seven to nine feet tall, with human-like faces and hair covering very large and athletic bodies.
He told Fox & Friends First: ‘Their silhouette was completely disproportionate in terms of the arm length and even the length of the legs as it pertains to a human torso.’
Neiss, who retired from the military after more than 20 years of service, founded the American Primate Conservancy in 2015, a nonprofit dedicated to the discovery, study and protection of the creatures known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch throughout the US.
While Neiss’ encounter with a pack of Bigfoots took place in the Pacific Northwest, an infamous location for Bigfoot sightings, he noted that Americans have recently seen a surge of activity in Ohio.
In March, there were at least eight separate Bigfoot sightings throughout the state, with residents describing eerie encounters, unexplained sounds and massive footprints left behind in the wilderness.
Some of these fresh tracks have measured up to 17 inches long, and Neiss described Ohio as a particularly active area for Bigfoot sightings.
Pictured: Bigfoot as seen in the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin Film, which depicts a suspected Sasquatch that was spotted in Bluff Creek, California
Oregon, where Neiss reportedly saw three Bigfoot creatures in 1993 ranks sixth in terms of US hotspots for Bigfoot sightings
‘Ohio is actually, believe it or not, ranked number four of all the states in the United States that have sightings, so it isn’t really all that unusual,’ Neiss explained.
The rankings come from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, the most widely cited and comprehensive public collection of Bigfoot reports in the US.
Washington state has seen the most Bigfoot sightings, with more than 700 on record. California ranks second with over 400 sightings on record.
Meanwhile, Neiss’ home of Oregon, which sits right in between the two leading states, was only sixth on BFRO’s list, with just over 250 sightings recorded.
As for Ohio, witnesses have allegedly spotted a Sasquatch more than 300 times, including the most recent occurrences in the northeastern part of the state.
‘There seems to be a pocket of them in them there woods,’ Neiss told Fox News.
Neiss revealed that he always dismissed conversations about Bigfoot until he and three fellow soldiers were out on maneuvers involving high explosives in the Oregon wilderness.
He noted that the giant ape-like creatures seemed to be observing the military exercise when they were spotted, adding that the trio was ‘not really all that human.’
Todd Neiss (Pictured) is an Army veteran who claims he and three other soldiers encountered a group of giant creatures during a military exercise in 1993
The recent wave of sightings in Ohio began on March 6, when a woman in Portage County reported finding unusually large footprints across her yard.
Local sheriff’s deputies said they were unable to readily explain the prints in the ground.
Since then, the sightings have multiplied across the region, particularly in the wooded corridor between Akron and Youngstown, fueling speculation that something, or someone, was moving through the area.
The claims have drawn the attention of local researchers, including Mike Miller, co-founder of the Ohio Nightstalkers Bigfoot Research Group, who has been tracking the recent activity.
Miller told Fox 8: ‘This isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this,’ adding that the last concentrated wave of Bigfoot sightings in the area occurred in 1978 following a very harsh winter.
Despite the widespread reports from various residents in Ohio, and Neiss’ eyewitness encounter, many people have remained skeptical that such a creature or a race of creatures could stay hidden for decades and possibly centuries.
Witnesses across northeast Ohio reported finding unusually large footprints in March 2026, many measuring around 17 inches in length – far exceeding the size of a typical human track
The prints have been discovered in clusters across wooded areas and in residential yards, with one early report on March 6 prompting confusion among responding sheriff’s deputies
‘With all the technology, infrared, drones, modern cameras and still nothing,’ one person said in response to Neiss’ story.
‘Over three billion cell phones with high resolution cameras have been sold, and still not one clear picture or video of Bigfoot,’ another skeptic added.
Neiss, however, contended that the lack of evidence all comes down to the odds, saying there may be very few Sasquatch left in the wild for cameras to find.
‘They’re just a very rare species,’ Neiss said. ‘It’s just the odds of getting one to fall just right through that particular picture zone. It’s very, very difficult.’
