1 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:09,599 I was nineteen and in the Navy when this incident occurred. Some of my 2 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:13,359 friends and I from the ship like to hang out at a bar where we 3 00:00:13,359 --> 00:00:17,640 were close friends with the night manager. If you gave us a free drink, 4 00:00:17,719 --> 00:00:21,960 we could be very useful. We would man the entrance to the place, 5 00:00:22,039 --> 00:00:27,480 discouraging the troublemakers and checking IDs, weeding out all the underage drinkers. 6 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:33,399 After closing time, we would escort the lady employees to their vehicles. There 7 00:00:33,439 --> 00:00:37,560 were always a few customers who got a little wasted and tried to push themselves 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,439 on the female staff. Our job was to make sure that these women got 9 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:47,719 out of the bar safely, unmolested. One night, the manager asked me 10 00:00:47,799 --> 00:00:51,920 to take home a woman named Heaven because her car was in the shop. 11 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,960 Isn't that a great name? Yes, that is a great name. I 12 00:00:56,039 --> 00:01:00,640 never thought about naming a girl Heaven, or even a boy Heaven. That's 13 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,200 a great name. Anyway, back to the story. It was after eleven 14 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,799 PM, and Heaven lived twenty miles west of Jacksonville in a small town. 15 00:01:08,599 --> 00:01:11,799 I asked my friend Terry to go with me so that I could have someone 16 00:01:11,879 --> 00:01:17,879 to talk to on the drive back. After Heaven got out of my vehicle 17 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,920 and safely into her house, Terry moved up to the front passenger seat and 18 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,959 we headed back to Jacksonville. As soon as you get past the city limit 19 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:32,840 of Heaven's small town, there's nothing but a small two lane highway with woods 20 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:38,239 on both sides. Ten minutes into the drive with the radio one, Terry 21 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:44,599 dozed off. What an entertaining travel companion, I thought to myself. Well, 22 00:01:44,599 --> 00:01:48,680 while Terry snoozed, I zoned out to some good tunes in my own 23 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:53,799 company. A thick fog began moving in and I flipped on my high beams 24 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:59,239 and I saw something dart across the left side of the road. This thing 25 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,040 was huge, is about eight feet tall, and it was the width of 26 00:02:02,079 --> 00:02:07,719 a kitchen table. It was covered in fur, and it looked like Chewbacca 27 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:14,039 with two steps that swept across the highway and disappeared into the woods. I 28 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:19,000 slammed on my brakes and Terry nearly collided with the dash. Dude, I 29 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,719 yelled at him, did you see that huge, hairy creature walk across the 30 00:02:22,759 --> 00:02:27,400 highway just now? I had my eyes closed. He muttered, I think 31 00:02:27,439 --> 00:02:30,319 I just saw a bigfoot. I said, if you want me to drive, 32 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:36,400 why didn't you just say so? Was Terry's disinterested response. He didn't 33 00:02:36,439 --> 00:02:39,840 believe me. We went back to the bar, where the manager proceeded to 34 00:02:39,879 --> 00:02:45,319 serve me the first of several Long Island ice teas, with only a hint 35 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,120 of the cola he uses for color. As the alcohol loosened me up, 36 00:02:50,479 --> 00:02:53,800 I couldn't tell if anyone else believed me either. I hadn't had a drop 37 00:02:53,879 --> 00:02:59,400 to drink that day. Now, I guess with Bigfoot encounters, your reputation 38 00:02:59,599 --> 00:03:07,039 proceeds right or wrong. Terry drove me home from the bar. I know 39 00:03:07,199 --> 00:03:10,919 firsthand from serving in the military that there are certain things that blur the line 40 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:16,960 between fact and fiction. It's what separates the believers from the skeptics. I 41 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:25,879 saw what I saw long before Bigfoot, or what is also known as Sasquats 42 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:32,960 in the northwestern United States and Canada, was North America's most popular legendary monster. 43 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,680 My late father, Lewis would tell of an experience he had with a 44 00:03:38,719 --> 00:03:44,240 similar creature when he was a young boy living on Bayou Lafouche. I think 45 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,840 that's how you pronounce that in southern Louisiana. My father was ten years old 46 00:03:47,879 --> 00:03:52,680 at the time, and his younger brother, Lloyd, was approximately seven. 47 00:03:53,199 --> 00:03:55,599 My father was born in nineteen thirty two, so this would have occurred in 48 00:03:55,639 --> 00:04:01,080 the early nineteen forties, a quarter of a century before the Patterson Gimlin film 49 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:08,319 that made Bigfoot a common phenomenon. My father would vividly recall this day in 50 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:13,800 great detail. He said he could remember how it was a beautiful sunny morning 51 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,319 and my grandmother had sent him and his brother to pick snap beans along the 52 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:23,439 levee near the bayou for dinner. He and his brother both quickly gathered their 53 00:04:23,439 --> 00:04:27,319 buckets from off the back porch, glad to be able to get away from 54 00:04:27,319 --> 00:04:32,600 home and enjoy a beautiful sunny morning away from their mother's watchful eye. While 55 00:04:32,639 --> 00:04:36,680 they picked snap beans along the rows of the levee, they began to smell 56 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:42,759 a horrible stench. My father remembered it to be similar to the smell of 57 00:04:42,879 --> 00:04:47,439 rotten eggs, only worse. My father and uncle Lloyd decided that the horrible 58 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:54,000 smell was more than likely the decaying remains of an animal, Because unpleasant odors 59 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:58,920 were commonplace on the farm. This did not initially set off any alarms of 60 00:04:58,959 --> 00:05:02,759 what would soon become on one of the most terrifying moments of their young lives. 61 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,800 They knew their mother wanted them to fill their buckets with snap beans and 62 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,920 return home in sufficient time for her to prepare them to cook for dinner. 63 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,360 They decided they would pick more than enough so there would be no need for 64 00:05:16,439 --> 00:05:20,600 them to return to the levee. They were enjoying their time together, but 65 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:27,360 that awful stench was becoming unbearable. When they decided they had picked enough snap 66 00:05:27,399 --> 00:05:32,879 beans to sufficiently satisfy my grandmother's needs for dinner and possibly supper, they picked 67 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:38,680 up their overflowing buckets and headed home. All of a sudden, they heard 68 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:44,040 a frightening guttural growl. My father said it sounded like someone who was heavily 69 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:48,720 congested clearing their throat, but much deeper. The rotten egg stench was now 70 00:05:48,759 --> 00:05:55,160 even thicker in the air. Suddenly, a manlike creature covered in long, 71 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:59,879 stringy, dark brown, matted wet hair walked out of the wooded area near 72 00:05:59,879 --> 00:06:04,680 the by you and stood right in front of my father and uncle. My 73 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:10,519 father said he could distinctly remember that this creature was only about thirty to fifty 74 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,839 feet away. And he could clearly see that it had a face that looked 75 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:19,279 human, but with huge, jagged teeth. The creature then let out a 76 00:06:19,399 --> 00:06:25,480 terrifying, piercing scream and turned and jumped into the bayou, and it swam 77 00:06:25,519 --> 00:06:30,680 away. My father said it was as if everything from that point was in 78 00:06:30,759 --> 00:06:35,399 slow motion. He remembered dropping his full bucket of snapbeans and grabbing his brother 79 00:06:35,519 --> 00:06:41,680 by the arm, as if all in one movement. Uncle Lloyd then dropped 80 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,879 his full bucket, spilling all the contents on the ground. The two of 81 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,519 them started running as fast as they could back towards the house. My grandmother's 82 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,920 version of the events of that faithful mourning made it all the more credible because 83 00:06:55,959 --> 00:07:00,319 my grandmother was never one to embellish a story. She said she looked out 84 00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:04,959 the window and saw my father and uncle running towards the house that she knew 85 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:10,399 instantly they were not playing a game, but that something terrible had happened. 86 00:07:11,519 --> 00:07:15,560 She initially believed that they had been threatened by white men, as this was 87 00:07:15,639 --> 00:07:20,920 southern Louisiana and lynching of blacks were not uncommon at that time. She ran 88 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:26,839 out of the house to meet them. They were both shaking and crying uncontrollably. 89 00:07:28,199 --> 00:07:30,920 She quickly sent one of my aunts to the field to get my grandfather 90 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,480 to let him know that something terrible had happened to the boys. By the 91 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:41,680 time my grandfather reached the house, my father and uncle had calmed down sufficiently 92 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:46,000 enough to talk. My grandmother was confident that whatever happened, they would not 93 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,720 dare lie to their father. When my grandfather asked them to tell what had 94 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:57,560 happened, they recounted seeing a hairy manlike creature near the by you. They 95 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,839 described how this by you beast had walked out of the trees and screamed at 96 00:08:01,879 --> 00:08:05,519 them with a high pitched scream, and jumped in the bayou and swam away. 97 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,560 Because they had none of the snap beans they had spent all morning picking, 98 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:15,160 and they both were still visibly shaken, my grandfather was confident they were 99 00:08:15,199 --> 00:08:20,439 telling the truth. My father would often end this story by saying that he 100 00:08:20,519 --> 00:08:24,720 did not know what he feared the most, the hairy man like creature with 101 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:31,199 a loud piercing scream, or my grandfather not believing him. My father said 102 00:08:31,279 --> 00:08:35,120 he was so relieved when my grandfather turned to my grandmother and said, these 103 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:41,159 boys aren't lying they saw some type of creature. I'm certain of it. 104 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:46,240 It is my father's vivid recounting of this encounter that made me know that sosquatch 105 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:50,159 is real. Oh, yes, he's real. I also recently missed having 106 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:56,720 my very own daytime encounter. On January twenty eight, twenty nineteen, my 107 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,480 sister and I both met up on a connecting flight of Armingham, Alabama for 108 00:09:01,639 --> 00:09:05,480 my son's wedding. We picked up our rental car at the airport and began 109 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:11,960 our hour and a half trip to Huntsville, Alabama. This journey was one 110 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:16,320 I have made many times by car, as I lived in Huntsville, Alabama 111 00:09:16,399 --> 00:09:20,480 for over ten years. However, this particular day, I was turned around 112 00:09:20,519 --> 00:09:24,240 as to how to leave the airport and connect with the highway to take me 113 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:28,879 to Huntsville. After driving for about thirty minutes, we decided to stop and 114 00:09:28,919 --> 00:09:33,240 get a bite to eat. My sister was bewildered as to how I could 115 00:09:33,279 --> 00:09:39,320 be so turned around and unable to get my bearings. I'd only been gone 116 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:43,720 from this area for six years. She was growing impatient. Finally, we 117 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:48,960 were on the correct exchange and headed to Huntsville. We even talked about what 118 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,360 possibility made me so scatterbrained and confused. We both had a good life and 119 00:09:54,440 --> 00:10:00,000 chalked it up to old age, not that we would be considered that old. 120 00:10:00,159 --> 00:10:03,720 Laughed it off and looked forward to the next few days at my son's 121 00:10:03,759 --> 00:10:09,360 wedding. Just as we made the exchange on to Interstate five sixty five leading 122 00:10:09,399 --> 00:10:13,480 into Huntsville, I decided to call my soon to be daughter in law to 123 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:18,320 let her know that we would be at her house. Shortly. I was 124 00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:22,519 driving and talking to her via bluetooth, so I knew exactly what time it 125 00:10:22,799 --> 00:10:28,240 was. It was three zho five pm. My sister then looked at me 126 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,840 and said, with this really blank look on her face, I just saw 127 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:37,039 a sisquatch. I looked at her and initially thought she was talking about a 128 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:43,519 billboard or a sign for a business. I ended my phone call and turned 129 00:10:43,519 --> 00:10:46,480 to her and said, what did you say. She repeated, I just 130 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:52,799 saw a sisquatch. I said, you're joking right. Strangely, my sister 131 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:58,240 and I have never discussed the topic of sasquatch or bigfoot. She then said, 132 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,759 no, I was looking at this thing crouched down off the side of 133 00:11:01,759 --> 00:11:05,279 the road as if it were trying to conceal itself in the trees. You 134 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:09,600 were driving slowly so you could enter the highway and I could clearly see it. 135 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,159 First, I thought, what is an orangutane doing out there? And 136 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:20,080 then I realized I was looking at a subsquatch. There are no words to 137 00:11:20,159 --> 00:11:26,960 explain how I, being a bigfoot enthusiast, felt realizing that I had missed 138 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:31,679 having my own daylight sighting in the safety of a car. I told my 139 00:11:31,799 --> 00:11:35,399 sister, apparently that is what all my confusion was about in trying to leave 140 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:41,919 Birmingham, because had we not had all of that trouble leaving Birmingham, you 141 00:11:41,919 --> 00:11:46,080 would never have had your sighting. We had a quick visit with my son 142 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,039 and his soon to be wife, and I told them about my sister's sighting. 143 00:11:50,759 --> 00:11:54,200 They found it to be extremely humorous, but I was a bag of 144 00:11:54,279 --> 00:11:58,720 nerves because I knew she was telling the truth. I couldn't wait to check 145 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,840 into the hotel so she could give me even more details of what she could 146 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:09,200 remember in that brief moment. She did say the creature was pale skinned and 147 00:12:09,279 --> 00:12:13,720 had a face that looked more Neanderthal than ape, and it had long, 148 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:18,159 stringy red hair. It had a thick brow ridge and a really huge face. 149 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,039 The head was cone shape, but not really as pronounced as the Patterson 150 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:28,440 Gimlin film. She said it looked more manlike than ape. Of course, 151 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:33,679 I reminded my sister of our father's encounter on the Bayou. She said she 152 00:12:33,799 --> 00:12:37,639 remembered it and that she had always believed my father was telling the truth, 153 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,480 but now she was certain of it. I really hate that there appear to 154 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,600 be so many encounters all over North America and other parts of the world, 155 00:12:46,759 --> 00:12:52,000 and people have been made to keep their sightings and encounters to themselves. I 156 00:12:52,039 --> 00:12:56,600 do believe that more people that share their encounters, the more it will minimize 157 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:03,440 the stigma around it, and mayxtreme scientists will have to take this subject more 158 00:13:03,519 --> 00:13:11,679 seriously. In nineteen sixty seven, when I was seven years old, my 159 00:13:11,799 --> 00:13:16,200 family moved to White Spring, Florida. Dad was a pipe fitter at a 160 00:13:16,279 --> 00:13:20,480 nearby chemical plant. He found us an old country house to live in that 161 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:24,840 sat about two hundred yards from the Sewanee River. We were surrounded by woods. 162 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,120 It was a veritable paradise for a kid like me. I didn't see 163 00:13:30,159 --> 00:13:33,759 trees and bushes. I saw forts and treehouses. I walked through. The 164 00:13:33,799 --> 00:13:37,600 woods was never going to be a simple day hike for me. It was 165 00:13:37,639 --> 00:13:41,919 a safari, like a journey the likes of the travels of Marco Polo. 166 00:13:43,039 --> 00:13:48,240 Likewise, the river held endless possibilities there. I had visions of Huck Finn 167 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,919 and the Lewis and Clark expedition. One evening, while I was sitting on 168 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:58,559 the back porch checking out the woods and planning my next adventure, when I 169 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:03,720 heard a strange noise. It was coming from the backwoods that was my domain. 170 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,360 I couldn't quite place the sound. I'd never heard it before, nor 171 00:14:07,399 --> 00:14:13,080 could I figure out quite where it was coming from. I looked all around, 172 00:14:13,159 --> 00:14:16,879 but I didn't see anything, And then I looked up sitting in a 173 00:14:16,919 --> 00:14:22,559 tree was a monkey or a chimpanzee. That was the only way my seven 174 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,440 year old mind could identify it. To a kid like me, all the 175 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:31,600 primates were monkeys or chimps. I watched it for a few seconds while it 176 00:14:31,679 --> 00:14:35,960 sat up there watching me back. Then it started to climb down the tree. 177 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:41,039 That was when I saw the dark brown figure at the base. It 178 00:14:41,159 --> 00:14:43,919 was much larger than the little one up in the tree and when the little 179 00:14:43,919 --> 00:14:48,879 one got low enough, it climbed onto the larger one's back. A minute 180 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:54,399 later, they had disappeared into the dense woods. Earlier this year, I 181 00:14:54,399 --> 00:14:58,799 saw the same thing in a video that's been going around the internet. When 182 00:14:58,799 --> 00:15:01,840 I saw that video, it sent a cold chill down my spine, and 183 00:15:01,879 --> 00:15:07,720 I said to myself, Oh my God, I've seen this before. Once 184 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,559 the creatures were gone, I turned around and ran inside, and I asked 185 00:15:11,559 --> 00:15:13,919 my older brother and dad if there were any monkeys around there, and they 186 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:18,440 said that there weren't. I was sure they were wrong, so I told 187 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:22,000 them I had just seen one that didn't go over very well. They teased 188 00:15:22,039 --> 00:15:26,600 me about it endlessly. They could be pretty cruel about it at times. 189 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,399 I had put it in the back of my head and forced myself not to 190 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,320 think about it. I probably wouldn't have thought about it again if not foreseeing 191 00:15:35,399 --> 00:15:39,480 that video. It brought it all back like a flood. I didn't play 192 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,440 in those woods much after that. I guess even Lewis and Clark might have 193 00:15:43,519 --> 00:15:48,080 given a little extra thought to exploring this country if they had seen what I 194 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:52,639 saw. It wasn't all bad. Dad and I floated the Swanee on some 195 00:15:52,639 --> 00:15:58,240 pretty cool fishing trips. It was a fascinating and beautiful place back then, 196 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:03,080 and it still is. It contributed to some pretty amazing memories from my childhood, 197 00:16:03,639 --> 00:16:07,720 But I can't help but wondering now if maybe we weren't always alone out 198 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:08,759 there on that river.