Historical Witness

Otts Norris

Illinois1973
Location archiveIllinois
Profile overview

At a glance

Encounter period1973
RegionIllinois
Direct visualYes
Repeat / ongoingNo
Co-witness / corroborationYes – three coworkers
Primary sourceMurphysboro police case file
Exact locators0
Media / transcript records0
Encounter & observations

The encounter

Context

Carnival worker; outdoor experience: Not stated.

1973-06-25 · Murphysboro, Illinois

Big Muddy / Murphysboro 1973

Four carnival workers are named in an official police case file describing one underlying group event.

Open case →

What the witness reported

  • 7–8 ft light-brown-haired erect biped near ponies

Original source ↗

Sources & changes

Source chronology

1973

Reported encounter period

Illinois. 7–8 ft light-brown-haired erect biped near ponies

Open source/record →
1973-07

Murphysboro Police Department Case 73-2745

Big Muddy Monster carnival-worker sighting

Open source/record ↗

Changes over time

Stable / recurrent

  • Stable official record

Unresolved

  • No creature evidence / no footprints
  • Compare all four worker statements
  • Exact source locator has not yet been recovered for this profile.
Research assessment

Research assessment

Corroboration & evidence

Reported co-witness / corroboration

Yes – three coworkers. This is not coded as independent testimony unless the co-witness's own source is recovered.

Evidence mentioned in source matrix

Original police report survives. Evidence authenticity and testimony are evaluated separately.

Documentary strengths

  • Already qualified for the Observatory's public baseline witness corpus.
  • Recoverable source URL is preserved.
  • The source matrix codes a reported direct visual.

Limitations / controls

  • No exact source locator has yet been entered for this profile.
  • Current profile is primarily dependent on one entered source layer.
  • Reported co-witness information is not automatically independent corroboration.

What would improve the record

  • Recover an exact timestamp/page/paragraph locator.
  • Search for earlier or independent firsthand source layers.
  • Recover the co-witness's own statement where possible.