Written By Ken Hulsey
For over a decade, I have been writing about sightings of Bigfoot-like creatures in and around Southern California. As a general rule, these encounters have taken place in rural, mountainous, and even desert areas. Many of them occurred in secluded locations, while others surprisingly happened in populated areas adjacent to those mountains, forests, and deserts. It seems that Bigfoot wanders into neighborhoods from time to time, probably in search of food.
I was recently surprised to learn that Bigfoot may have ventured all the way into Orange County. At first glance, the idea of such a creature making its way into the heart of a metropolis like the Los Angeles/Orange County area seems utterly preposterous. However, some strange events took place in Buena Park in early May 1982 that are too compeling to carelessly dismiss away without taking a deeper look. Local residents began hearing unusual noises and witnessing something large moving in the town's drainage system.
Residents near the old McComber Jr. High School began reporting strange occurrences. Initially, people heard unsettling growls and screams, but these soon escalated to sightings of a large, hairy, human-like creature with red eyes. This creature was often seen lurking in the area but would retreat to the river bed behind the school whenever spotted. Many residents chose to keep these encounters to themselves out of fear of ridicule.
On the night of May 10th, a group of five people were outside when they witnessed a creature emerge from a tunnel where the drainage channel passed underneath Beach Blvd, just off Franklin Street. They watched as the creature walked west through the channel, splashing through the water. It soon stopped and began rummaging around behind the Executive Park Apartments. The witnesses—Bennie Hinsley (18) and brothers Raymond (16) and Chris Bennett, along with two other unnamed teenagers—observed the creature for about an hour before it moved west down Brea Creek.
What they saw was an 8-foot-tall, hair-covered creature with red eyes and a horrible stench. The creature reportedly made sounds that the young men described as a cross "between Godzilla and a gorilla." The teens weren't the only ones to see the Buena Park Monster that night. Apartment managers Frank and Lorraine Missanelli saw the shadows of something large moving around in the channel. Although they didn't get a clear look at it, they did hear the sounds it made, describing them as "sounding like a dinosaur in a movie."
The group reported the incident to the local police, and soon after, someone leaked the story to the press, sparking mass panic. The Buena Park Police Department began receiving hundreds of phone calls, either reporting sightings or expressing fear of the creature. Paranormal investigators Dennis Ruminer and Tom Muzila heard about the situation and arrived on the scene to gather evidence, but they were met with a chaotic crowd. Despite the pandemonium, they were able to obtain a large handprint casting and witnessed a large human footprint, measuring over seven inches wide, before a couple of unruly kids trampled over it and destroyed the evidence. It seemed there could have been more evidence present, but if there was, the crowds wiped it all out.
The police were frustrated with all the publicity and soon held a press conference to quell the "Buenafoot" hysteria (as locals had dubbed the creature). During the conference, another paranormal investigator, John DeHerrerra, presented a photo he had reportedly taken on Beach Boulevard of a tall, shirtless, and very hairy homeless man who was wandering around the area. His conclusion was that the monster was no monster at all, but rather a large, smelly, unkempt transient.
This explanation satisfied most people, and reports of the Buenafoot began to taper off, but not before it made the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. However, the homeless man story did not satisfy the witnesses who claimed to have seen the monster. Later, in July of 1982, a new piece of evidence emerged. Employees of Ralph B. Clark Regional Park discovered a set of human-like footprints measuring 15 inches long and 7 inches wide near their office. It should be noted that the park is east of where the monster had been sighted and is adjacent to the Brea Creek channel. Interestingly, these tracks provide evidence of how a creature like Bigfoot could have ended up in Buena Park.
If you're familiar with the geography of Southern California like I am, you know that just north of the park is the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve. There’s another channel that connects to the Fullerton Golf Course, which then links to another channel that travels through Brea and eventually leads into the hills near Carbon Canyon. From there, it stretches for miles into open wilderness, with Chino Hills to the North, heading south towards Corona and Riverside County.
Now, navigating from that wilderness to the center of Buena Park would be quite a journey for something like Bigfoot, and I'm not suggesting that one actually made that trek. However, it does illustrate that while highly unlikely, it is theoretically possible.
So, what really happened in '82? Was it actually Bigfoot who got lost trying to find the Brea Mall? Or was it just an ex-band member from Aerosmith who couldn't get into Knott's Berry Farm because he refused to wear a shirt and take a bath? No one will ever know for sure.
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