New Sighting- Freetown, MA- Anonymous

 This occurred in the summer of 2020. 

The witness has asked to remain anonymous so we will call him Ben. He did not ask for the dog to be anonymous but I've also decided to protect the pooch's privacy and have changed his name also.

Ben had recently adopted a dog to have some companionship during Covid lock down. An Australian shepherd mix, Colby has lots of energy and required lots of exercise to keep him happy. Ben had taken Colby to the Freetown State Forest for a walk to get out some exercise. If you're familiar with the area, this incident took place on the path near Assonet Ledge, right near the trees with pentagrams spray painted on them (what is wrong with people? and don't get me started on all the trash there). 

It was getting close to dusk so Ben was trying to get out the last of Colby's energy before heading home. He had him on one of those retractable leashes and had let it out as long as possible so Colby was a bit ahead of him on the path. Suddenly Colby yelped like he had gotten hurt but then froze in his tracks and started to growl at something off the path. When Ben caught up with him, at first he couldn't see what the dog was growling at. He looked around and then looked back and then he saw it where he was looking moments before and saw nothing.

He said the creature was no more than 20 feet away from where they were standing. It was about 3 feet tall, gray skin with patchy black fur, a face like a chipmunk and a big pot belly. The creature seemed to be frozen in fear or shock, possibly scared of the large growling dog. Ben wasn't sure how long the group's staring contest lasted but he said he suddenly realized it was almost dark and they needed to get out of the woods. He pulled Colby away from the creature with a little difficulty and after they were a few feet down the path, Colby began acting normally again. 

Some of the questions I always ask are about sensory information leading up to and during the encounter. While he didn't hear anything strange or see any orbs or other strange lights, he did say there was a strange amount of fireflies that night. This could be completely unrelated but its interesting because the Indiana puk-wudgies of Mounds State Park are known to be associated with fireflies. When I asked Ben if he smelled anything strange he said there was a floral smell at first which then mixed with the smell of ozone as he got closer. 

Ben mentioned that as they were leaving, he repeatedly looked behind him to make sure they weren't being followed but he never saw the creature again.