There is an "eerie silence prior to the encounter, an appreciable stillness in the woods that commonly surrounds predatory animals."

The Mogollon Monster [named after the region it lives in] is said to be a legendary creature. There are accounts of it coming from central and eastern Arizona and along the Mogollon Rim. Although most often described as a bigfoot or ape-like creature, descriptions vary somewhat.

Mainstream scientists remain skeptical of its existence despite the footprints, videos, and hair samples collected by researchers and enthusiasts.

This nocturnal creature is described as a bipedal humanoid standing over 7 feet tall and covered in long black or reddish brown hair except for the chest, face, hands and feet. It's large eyes are characterized as "wild and red". Researchers say it is territorial and sometimes violent. It has been reported as hurling rocks at people from hidden locations and will even invade campsites. Some reports talk of a strong odor like that of "dead fish, a skunk with bad body odor, decaying peat moss and the musk of a  snapping turtle". 

Stories say the creature walks with wide, inhuman strides, leaving behind tracks measuring up to 22 inches long. It builds nests out of pine needles, twigs, and leaves.  Reports have been made of it allegedly decapitating deer and other wildlife before eating them. It is omnivorous. In addition to its blood curdling scream, sounding like a woman in distress, the creature is said to mimic birds, coyotes and other wildlife and to emit unusual whistles.

The first ever documented sighting comes from a 1903 edition of the Arizona Republican. I.W. Stephens told of seeing a creature with "long white hair and matted beard that reached to his knees. It wore no clothing, and upon his talon-like fingers were claws at least two inches long. . . . A coat of gray hair nearly covered his body, with here and there a pot of dirty skin showing". He had come upon the creature drinking the blood of two cougars. Upon seeing the witness, it waved a club at him and "screamed the wildest, most unearthly screech".

Don Davis, a cryptozoologist, reported an encounter during the mid-1940's while on a Boy Scout trip. "The creature was huge. Its eyes were deep set and hard to see, but they seemed expressionless. His face seemed pretty much devoid of hair, but there seemed to be hair along the sides of his face. His chest, shoulders, and arms were massive, especially the upper arms; easily upwards of six inches in diameter, perhaps much, much more. I could see he was pretty hairy, but didn't observe really how thick the body hair was. The face/head was very square; square sides and squared up chin, like a box".

Marjorie Grimes claimed to have multiple sightings of the creature between 1982 and 2004.

A number of people on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation also say they have seen the Mogollon Monster.

A witness camping at a USFS campground had a sighting on June 26 2016. "I had finished reading a book when I looked across the campground and I noticed a very fast moving dark figure, heading from north to south." At first he thought it was a "large kid on a bicycle" because of how fast the figure was moving. Then he realized that was not what he was looking at. "It was a very large Bigfoot. It only lasted about three seconds, but I was lucky to see it at all." The fast moving figure was about 125 yards away, so he was unable to see any facial details. "It ran with a  slight forward slant to its body. Its head did not bob up and down like a human runner's head at that speed". He reported the hair as almost black with a slight reddish tinge.  

He reported his sighting to the BFRO which sent an investigator. Although a few days had passed, depressions in the grass were still visible where the creature had run. Said the investigator : "It was not possible to get an accurate measurement of the foot size, but the length of the stride was clearly longer than what a human could achieve." He estimated the height of the creature at around 8 foot.

Stan Lindstedt, professor emeritus of biology of Northern Arizona University denies that a large hominid creature could remain unknown in the that area of the country. "I put that in the category of mythology that can certainly make our culture interesting, but has nothing to do with science." Sightings had to be either hoaxes or misidentifications. It is suggested that prior to the mid-1930's, people were seeing grizzly bears, or perhaps people are seeing black bears, mountain lions or elk.