Chris Marler
Primary reporting witness.
Open witness profile →Modern case
Spartanburg County Road Encounter — 2026
Two motorists reported seeing a very large dark upright figure illuminated by their vehicle headlights near Highway 292; an investigator later searched the wooded area.
Location archiveSouth Carolina
The encounter
On the night of May 29, 2026, Chris Marler and passenger Ethan reported seeing a very large dark upright figure near a road in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Marler said the figure was illuminated by the vehicle's headlights and initially considered whether it might be a bear.
Marler reported that the figure moved quickly and fluidly toward the woods while remaining upright, which led him to reject his initial bear interpretation. The view was brief and dark enough that he did not report facial detail. Ethan was interviewed separately and described an extremely large, hair-covered figure with human-like movement, comparing its size to a horse standing on its hind legs.
An investigator later visited the area, searched the woods and checked for relevant surveillance coverage. No tracks, directly connected physical evidence or useful surveillance footage were reported. The two witness accounts are therefore important as separate testimony about the same event, but they do not by themselves establish the identity of the figure.
At a glance
- Date
- May 29, 2026
- Location
- Spartanburg County, South Carolina
- Witnesses
- Chris Marler and Ethan
- Observation
- Nighttime roadside visual
- Lighting
- Vehicle headlights
- Primary source
- BFRO Report #81207
What was reported
- Very large upright dark figure illuminated by headlights
- Figure reportedly moved quickly and fluidly toward woods while upright
- Marler initially considered a bear, then rejected that interpretation
- Ethan described hair-covered appearance and human-like movement
- Ethan compared the figure’s size to a horse standing on hind legs
Witnesses
Evidence & corroboration
- Investigator searched the wooded area after the report.
- No tracks or other directly connected physical evidence were reported.
- No relevant surveillance footage was recovered.
- Nighttime and brief viewing conditions limited visual detail.
Sources & media
Research assessment
Two vehicle occupants are associated with the reported roadside sighting, and an investigator later searched the wooded area. No tracks, relevant surveillance footage or other directly connected physical evidence were recovered, and nighttime viewing limited visual detail.
Connected record
Case dossier
This section assembles only relationships explicitly preserved in the Observatory’s canonical research graph. Its presence does not change evidence grade or verification status.
Witness roster
Related media
Evidence boundary
Relationship assembly is not corroboration. Each witness statement, media source, and unresolved claim retains its own provenance and evidentiary limits.