WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.599 In the summer of nineteen sixty eight, when I was nine, we took 2 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:14.519 our annual summer holiday at a small holiday camp at Romney Marsh near Rye in 3 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:20.359 Sussex, located in the south of England. As always, we stayed in 4 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:26.039 a static caravan that was typical of the era. It was basic and small, 5 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:30.839 with seats that converted into beds and a curtain that could be drawn between 6 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:36.799 them for privacy. Lighting came from a gas powered mantle around the walls that 7 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:40.960 my father would light in the evenings. They made a comforting noise as they 8 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:46.280 burned, somehow, much homier than the modern electric lighting systems of today. 9 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.759 My parents were not wealthy, so we always catered our own meals and our 10 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:56.840 entertainment was simple. After tea in the evening we would always go for a 11 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:03.200 walk and usually end up in the camp Amusement and entertainment clubhouse. Dad would 12 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.079 have a pint of beer and Mom a sherry, and we kids enjoyed a 13 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:11.719 coke with a straw and a pack of ready salted crisps. I think you 14 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:17.359 call them potato chips in America. We would never be out late, generally 15 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:22.840 heading back to our caravan around nine thirty or ten. Our holidays usually took 16 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.959 place around late August, meaning it would already be dark by that time. 17 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:30.920 By the late nineteen sixties, the eyes of the world were focused on the 18 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.480 sky, commonly referred to as the space race. It was a time of 19 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:45.359 astronauts and satellites. Unlike today's geostationary satellites, those early versions moved in such 20 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:51.400 a way that live broadcasts on TV and radio between different countries had to wait 21 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:57.480 until the relevant satellite came on stream, usually meaning a limited broadcast of maybe 22 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:02.359 fifteen or twenty minutes. As irritating as it was, these satellites were easily 23 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:07.560 visible as they passed overhead, shining as either red or green lights in the 24 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:14.039 night sky. As we walked back to our caravan from the clubhouse. My 25 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:19.439 mother always found great fun in getting us kids to stare at the nighttime sky 26 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:27.280 searching for those beautiful green and red lights or any stars really. Sussex in 27 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:31.080 the south of England was especially conducive to this activity due to the lack of 28 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:37.919 light pollution in the area. There were a few lights dotted around the walkways 29 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.960 for safety reasons, but these had little effect on the darkness of the night 30 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:46.919 sky. One evening, on our way back to our caravan, Mom had 31 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.280 us all looking up as usual. It was not a cloudless night, but 32 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:54.879 there were very large patches of open sky, so we could see the stars. 33 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:00.400 As we stood there looking for satellites, we suddenly saw a bright white 34 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:06.719 light moving across the sky. It was very high up and looking no bigger 35 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:10.840 than one of the stars around it. We watched it as it came overhead, 36 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:15.520 and then it stopped. After a short time, it moved off in 37 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:21.120 another direction and disappeared behind a cloud. A short time later, we saw 38 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:25.120 it reappear, but from a different direction. Yet again, it suddenly stood 39 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:31.080 still before moving off and yet another direction. We must have watched it do 40 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:37.280 this at least a few more times over perhaps five minutes, before it eventually 41 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:42.759 sped away, and then we never saw it again. We were puzzled about 42 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.159 what we had been watching, and my mother proclaimed that it must have been 43 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:51.039 a UFO. Whenever I have recounted this story over the years, I have 44 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:54.199 always referred to it as a UFO, simply because that's what it was. 45 00:03:54.840 --> 00:04:00.280 It was unidentified. It was too high for an airplane. Besides, its 46 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:04.599 course was too erratic and there were no red and green navigation lights, showing 47 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:11.439 just a bright white light. A helicopter might be flown like that, but 48 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:17.160 again it was too high and there were no additional navigation lights. I later 49 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:24.000 discovered that area of Britain is considered and might still be a hotbed for UFO 50 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:29.879 phenomena. I'm not suggesting that what we saw was an alien spacecraft, just 51 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.959 that it was unidentifiable. In the nineteen fifties and sixties was also the height 52 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:41.160 of the Cold War, with a lot of classified experimental aircraft around. So 53 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:46.120 who knows what we saw. All I know is what we all saw and 54 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.240 watched for around five minutes was real and did not behave in a conventional way. 55 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:57.319 Was it an alien craft or was it something man made? Who knows, 56 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.680 but it will puzzle me for the rest of my life, as it 57 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:08.319 is done for the last fifty one years. It was early November nineteen eighty 58 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:14.480 four. The place was William Atte National Forest, thirty miles east of Eugene, 59 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:23.639 Oregon. Our story starts with a man named Renee Dupree. Renee was 60 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:29.720 of Cajun descent, born and raised around Lake Charles, Louisiana, his father, 61 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:33.720 Bill was a fisherman and a trapper by trade. From the time they 62 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:39.480 could walk, Renee and his brother Bill Junior, everyone called him Bill Junior, 63 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:43.199 except as Mama, who called him little Bill. We're out in the 64 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:47.439 swamp fishing, crabbing, catching crawfish and turtles. If it was in the 65 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:51.240 swamp and they can make a living on it or put it on the table. 66 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.480 They knew how to hunt it, catch it, skin it, cook 67 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:59.360 it, and eat it. By the time the boys were grown, they 68 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:03.439 had their own boats and traps. They were happily entrenched and running the family 69 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:10.720 business. Renee would ping a few muskrats and ducks for dinner, but hunting 70 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:15.360 never really appealed to him. He wasn't against it. He was a Cajun, 71 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.439 after all. Each year he would buy gator tags, and if someone 72 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:21.720 wanted him to get rid of a pesky gator, he would do it. 73 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:27.720 But that was about it. Back when Renee was eight years old, his 74 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:32.040 grandfather, Boudreau, the boys called him Pappy, took the boy's deer hunting 75 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:39.000 and placa mine's perish. Bill got his deer right away. When it was 76 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:44.360 Renee's turn to shoot, he couldn't pull the trigger. Boudreau asked him, 77 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:47.639 why didn't you shoot? Boy, Renee teared up, handing the gun to 78 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:53.000 the old man. Pappy, it was just too alive to kill, he 79 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:58.759 said. The old man placed his hand on Rene's shoulder and comforted him. 80 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:03.319 It's okay, not like a big old muskrat. Huh. They feel dressed 81 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:08.079 bills deer and slowly made their way back to the jeep, the old man 82 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:12.959 lumbering with one hundred pounds of venison packed on his back. On their way, 83 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:16.279 they came across the carcass of a large buck. It had been caped 84 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:21.759 out, with only the backstraps and tenderloins removed. The old man sat his 85 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:27.120 pack down and called the boys over, and, in his thick caging accent 86 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:31.079 tinged with anger, he spoke, you see this, This is wrong. 87 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:36.000 This is a crime against nature. God he put the animals here for us 88 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.639 to eat, not to sport. No, never for trophy. Never. 89 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.279 He leaned forward to the boys for effect. If you kiss something and take 90 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:48.480 that life to God gave, and you don't eat it, it'd be a 91 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:54.680 sin. Boys. Renee rarely carried a gun on his boat. He went 92 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:58.920 happily about his life in the world, marveling at nature and fishing in the 93 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:05.800 swamp. In the fall of nineteen seventy four, everything changed. Brene was 94 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:11.759 way up by you in a cypress swamp, checking his traps for crawfish. 95 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:15.639 He found two of them destroyed, thrown up on the bank with the wire 96 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:20.800 screen torn away. It made him angry. He could fix them well enough 97 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.720 when he got home, but it was the insult in. It must have 98 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:28.680 been them damn Yankees, he thought to a cage in. Anyone born outside 99 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:33.720 the swamp is a Yankee. Even a Florida native would be a Yankee. 100 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:39.080 To a Cajun, there's a code to the swamp. You know everyone in 101 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.759 the swamp, and you know their traps. If you happen to be fishing 102 00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:46.559 next to one, you don't mess with it. If the trap is tangled 103 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:50.639 or in need of repair, you either call the owner or fix it yourself. 104 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:56.399 To do less is considered stealing. As warm as the Cajun folk are, 105 00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:01.759 they do not cotton the thieves. Renee, suspicious now that the thief 106 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:05.679 was still in the area, cut his motor and polled around to the next 107 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:09.960 bin, hoping to catch him red handed. The thief was there, but 108 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:16.200 it wasn't a man. Renee heard the stories and believed in the swampsy squatch, 109 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:22.200 but he had never seen one. Now there was one standing several yards 110 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:26.919 down the bank, tearing up his trap. Renee was surprised. He could 111 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.720 not believe what he was seeing. He watched silently for a moment before whispering, 112 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:37.360 what you got, deaf fella. The squatch whirled around quickly, but 113 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:43.000 Renee continued speaking softly. So you liked him? Crawfishes? Huh. The 114 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.919 big animal held its gaze on Renee while gathering the ends of an old shirt 115 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:52.000 that it was using as a pouch to hold the stolen crawfish. Renee's boat 116 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:58.159 drifted closer. You know itms my crawfish, deaf fella, Renee continued soothingly, 117 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.919 But before he could finish the sentence, and quicker than his eyes could 118 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:07.000 follow, the squatch threw the trap at him, hitting him square in the 119 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.840 chest, knocking him backwards into the water. By the time he managed to 120 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:16.200 get back on his feet in the slick mud, the siequatch and his crawfish 121 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:22.360 were gone. He stared dumbfounded at the spot where the creature had been as 122 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.279 the muck and filth dripped from his body, but all he could do now 123 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:33.120 was laugh. After that, Renee spent a lot less time fishing and a 124 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:37.600 lot more time polling up and down those backwaters looking for the foots. He 125 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:41.840 asked all the folks he knew if they had ever seen one. He was 126 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:48.039 infatuated with the beast. Now. He heard about a Bigfoot meeting in Mobile, 127 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:52.600 and he drove one hundred miles to attend. He watched a film there 128 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:58.720 and listened to the lectures. During the question and answer periods, he asked, 129 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.559 if I wanted to see one, where would be the best place to 130 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:07.879 look. They conferred with each other before declaring that the Pacific Northwest was the 131 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.879 best place. If that's where they are, he told himself, then that's 132 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.320 where I'm going to be. He quickly sold his boat, traps and nets, 133 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:22.399 and other equipment, mostly to his brother, and headed for bigfoot country. 134 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:26.679 He ended up in Oregon, where he found a job working for the 135 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:31.240 Forestry Service at the william At National Forest. Here he was able to search 136 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:37.759 while on the job. It was nineteen eighty four and muzzle loading season, 137 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:43.000 and Renee was checking in a man named John Scope and his fourteen year old 138 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:48.919 son, Danny. They were there for Danny's first deer hunt. Certain they 139 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:52.799 were abiding by all of the stringent Oregon rules for youth hunters, Renee pulled 140 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:58.000 out a map and showed them which trails to take to reach the regulated hunting 141 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:01.159 area. Taking a hard look at the boy for the first time, he 142 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:07.360 noted his pale complexion in his trembling hands. Is he okay, he asked 143 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:11.559 the father. Oh, yeah, he's fine, just first hunt jitters. 144 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.600 Renee was taken immediately back to his first hunt. Mentally, he decided, 145 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.519 since he'd worked the night shift and the sun was breaking on the horizon, 146 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:24.720 that he would go up and check on the boy as soon as he got 147 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:30.879 off work. He'd seen too much of himself in the kid's eyes. As 148 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:33.840 Renee pulled into the gravel parking lot at the foot of the trail up to 149 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:39.600 the youth hunting area, three gunshots rang out in rapid succession. It was 150 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:45.159 a call for help. He jumped from his vehicle and ran up the steep 151 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:50.080 trail, finding John waving his arms at the entry gate. John, he 152 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:54.559 yelled, where's Danny. It got him? John answered, through sobs, 153 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:58.639 it got my boy, calm down, Renee told him what got him, 154 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:01.600 I don't know. It was as we saw a deer through the brush and 155 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:05.240 when Danny flanked to get the better shot at him. Show me now, 156 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:11.720 Renee demanded. John led Renee through the gate into the meadow, where the 157 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.879 thick line of small trees and brush mark the edge. Renee whispered to John, 158 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:20.279 you stay here. If you hear me holler, you come running. 159 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.000 Then, he added, reload your gun and be ready to shoot if need 160 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:28.840 be, before slowing making his way through the brush line the two hundred feet 161 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.840 or so to where the meadow opened. He'd wanted badly to see a si 162 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:37.440 squatch, but not like this. As he drew closer, he heard a 163 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:43.279 low, soft whistling sound like a flute being played ever so softly. Then, 164 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.639 as he rounded the brush pile, he saw something that his mind could 165 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:52.360 not accept standing there was a creature with the body of a goat or maybe 166 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:56.000 a deer or something, with long, straggly hair, not quite the color 167 00:13:56.039 --> 00:14:01.919 of auburn, but not quite brown either. Most unbelievably, where the neck 168 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:05.840 should have been sprung a torso of a boy no more than eight years of 169 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:11.480 age. The human part was pale and freckled, with the long, thin 170 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:16.759 arms and the typical features of a child, except for a long red goateee 171 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:20.600 on his chin. Two small horns jutted out of the mass of red curls 172 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:26.519 on his head. This strange creature stood before Danny, cupping its hands to 173 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:33.480 its mouth, creating the soft, flutelike whistle. It seemed to be dancing 174 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:37.360 side to side and back and forth, all the while staring into Danny's eyes. 175 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:43.159 Danny never moved. He was frozen in place, mesmerized by the strangely 176 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:48.559 magical creature that seemed more like something out of a Disney movie or a fairy 177 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:54.320 tale than any kind of reality. It would have been comical if it weren't 178 00:14:54.360 --> 00:15:01.320 for its obvious intent on Danny. Renee moved forwards, slowly, hands up 179 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:05.960 palm's fork to show that he was unarmed. In that same quiet voice he 180 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:11.120 had used on that swamp squat so many years before, he said, hey 181 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:16.799 fella. The beast looked towards Renee for a split second before returning his gaze 182 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:22.240 to Danny. Renee continued speaking softly, the boy, he didn't mean no 183 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:28.679 harm. The thing gestured with its chin towards Danny, and Renee continued to 184 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:33.600 walk forward the gun. Huh okay, I'll fix that. He walked slowly 185 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:39.759 over and tried to remove the gun from Danny's grasp, but Danny was frozen 186 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:45.200 in place. The gun wouldn't come free. Renee tried to lift Danny to 187 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:48.320 point him in the gun in the other direction. It was as if Danny 188 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:52.799 was rooted to the ground. Renee could not even begin to lift him, 189 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:58.360 so he stepped between Danny and the creature and then back deliberately into the gun 190 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:03.360 barrel until it pressed into his own flesh. If Danny tried to shoot, 191 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:07.519 the bullet would have to go through him to hit the creature. At this 192 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:12.399 realization, the creature quit his little dance. The tune he was playing grew 193 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:17.799 a bit louder. It bowed to Renee, It leapt, and then leapt 194 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:22.600 again. With a third leap, it bounded into a flash of light and 195 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:27.080 was gone. Renee dove to the ground in a split second before Danny pulled 196 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:32.519 the trigger. The melody of the flute was gone with the creature, replaced 197 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:37.200 by the fading, distant echo of a child's laugh. At the sound of 198 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:44.159 Danny's gunfire. John bolted onto the scene, frantically waving his gun. When 199 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:48.720 he saw Danny standing there with Renee lying on the ground, he slowed to 200 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:52.320 a stumbling walk and tried to reholster his gun, dropping it to the ground 201 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:57.840 instead. Renee stood up and pushed the barrel of Danny's gun towards the ground. 202 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:03.120 As the boy, relief from his trance, began to tremble and cry, 203 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:07.119 Renee put his hand on a shaking shoulder and said, not like shooting 204 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:11.519 a big old muskrat, is it. It's okay, son, It's okay, 205 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:17.279 John said comfortingly. Danny looked down at the gun, stealing his hand 206 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:21.519 and threw it to the ground. Through great wailing sobs, he told his 207 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:26.759 father, I don't want to hunt anymore. John led Danny back down the 208 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.039 path. Renee picked up the muzzle loader and the pistol, looked around one 209 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.319 last time for the creature. It was as if it had never been there, 210 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:41.440 and then he followed them back to their vehicle. John was sitting in 211 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.640 his truck staring out to space. Danny was busy crying himself to sleep next 212 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:52.279 to him. When Renee approached, John got out His demeanor had changed. 213 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:56.039 He shook Renee's hand and he hugged him. Thank you for saving my boy, 214 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:00.559 But we're not filling out any damn report, he said, tersely. 215 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:04.680 Okay, Renee said, I'll call you in a couple of days. Don't 216 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:10.000 bother. I won't answer. John told him, well, here, let 217 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.799 me get your guns, then keep them. We're done, was all John 218 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:18.440 said. With that, he was back in the truck and they drove away. 219 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:22.799 The pistol and the muzzleloader are still locked in a safe at the ranger 220 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:30.240 station. Renee is no longer there. He moved toward Washington State, in 221 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:33.960 the general area of Mount Hood. Someone told him he might find what he's 222 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:40.119 looking for there. I wish him well. Here's a note from the writer. 223 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:45.720 I tried to contact the people involved before I committed myself to writing it 224 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:49.880 down, but a lot of years and some bad storms have come and gone. 225 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:55.400 The story is just as I heard it. I changed the names to 226 00:18:55.480 --> 00:19:00.160 protect their privacy. The sad truth is Renee was heart when that trap hit 227 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:04.200 him in the swamp. He almost drowned when he fell back into the water. 228 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:10.000 The part about him selling all of his stuff in a hurry is true 229 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:15.200 too. He wanted to get as far away from that swamp as possible.