Modern Witness

Justin Smeja

Named California witness whose first-person account describes a disputed 2010 shooting incident near Gold Lake that later became linked to Sample 26 in the Sasquatch Genome Project.

Gold Lake area, Northern CaliforniaOctober 8, 2010
Location archiveCalifornia
Profile overview

At a glance

Encounter periodOctober 8, 2010
RegionGold Lake area, Northern California
Direct visualReported yes
Primary sourceUpdate: Sierra Kills Shooter Talks
Media / source records1
Encounter & observations

The encounter

October 8, 2010 · Gold Lake area, Northern California

Justin Smeja reported encounter

Smeja said that on October 8, 2010, while bear hunting near Gold Lake in northern California, he and a companion entered a clearing and saw a large hairy figure walking on two legs. He said he viewed it through a rifle scope at roughly 80–100 yards, fired at it, then encountered two smaller figures after the adult moved away. He later claimed that he shot one of the smaller figures as well. No body was recovered. Material later said to have come from the incident became associated with Sample 26 in the Sasquatch Genome Project, but the origin and interpretation of that material remain disputed.

What the witness reported

Source-linked observations

  • Large hairy figure walking on two legs
  • Observed through a rifle scope from an estimated 80–100 yards
  • Adult described as thick/heavily built
  • Two smaller figures later described as cinnamon-colored with long arms, large heads and large hands
  • Smeja said the smaller figures alternated between two-legged and four-legged movement

Original source ↗

Media

Watch, listen & read

1 source record0 playable here1 transcript located
Interview / transcriptJanuary 4, 2012

Update: Sierra Kills Shooter Talks

Cryptomundo / first-person interview transcript

First-person interview transcript documenting Smeja’s account of the 2010 Sierra shooting claim and the observations he attributed to the adult and smaller figures.

TranscriptTranscript reproduced by the source
Open original source ↗
Sources & chronology

Source chronology

October 8, 2010

Reported encounter

Smeja said that on October 8, 2010, while bear hunting near Gold Lake in northern California, he and a companion entered a clearing and saw a large hairy figure walking on two legs. He said he viewed it through a rifle scope at roughly 80–100 yards, fired at it, then encountered two smaller figures after the adult moved away. He later claimed that he shot one of the smaller figures as well. No body was recovered. Material later said to have come from the incident became associated with Sample 26 in the Sasquatch Genome Project, but the origin and interpretation of that material remain disputed.

Research assessment

Research assessment

Documentary strengths

  • Named first-person witness
  • Specific date and general location are stated
  • A companion was reportedly present and later discussed the event publicly
  • The event became linked to a traceable biological-sample controversy

Limitations

  • No body or independently verified creature remains were recovered
  • The shooting account is disputed and rests primarily on testimony
  • Sample 26 provenance is contested and later sequence reanalysis reported a black-bear match
  • The public record contains later retellings and commentary that must remain separate from the earliest firsthand statements