The New York Times of June 30, 1931, reported that police at Mineola were hunting an “ape-like animal–hairy creature, about four feet tall.” Half a dozen people reported that this creature came out of the woods, looked at them, and went back into the woods. No reports came of escaped zoo or circus animals. By the 29th of June, the police captain in Mineola sent out well-armed motor patrols, as well as a posse of armed citizens. They found numerous footprints: “about the size and shape of a man’s hand, though the thumb was set farther back than would be the case with a man’s hand.” Reports fell off about the last of June, but it was seen again on July 18th, near Huntington, Long Island. A farmer saw the strange animal three miles away. Policemen found tracks, but no animal. It was not seen again.
–Charles Fort, Wild Talents, p. 902ff (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).