WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:12.160 Two thousand and five, I was a fifteen year old growing up in southwestern 2 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:17.000 Virginia. I've spent most of my life in the woods. I still love 3 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:21.000 to be in nature. It's where I believe I have a stronger relationship with 4 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:26.559 my creator. I was sitting under some pines overlooking a deer trail on a 5 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:30.519 cold morning. My uncle had a deer stand in an old tree in the 6 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:35.200 same spot, and he'd killed a few deer from there. Because of that, 7 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:38.159 in the cold front that had come through the night before, I had 8 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:43.880 a feeling something was going to happen. As I sat there with my old 9 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:49.399 side hammer, muzzleloader loaded and ready for any deer to walk by, I 10 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:54.640 heard the distinct sound of something crunching through the leaves. I put my rifle 11 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:58.880 to my shoulder in anticipation of the deer I knew was about to pop up 12 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.799 over the hill. What came over the hill wasn't a deer. It was 13 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.640 a man who looked to be in his forties. Right away I noticed he 14 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.959 was wearing clothes that weren't from this era. He had on a flat brim 15 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:19.040 leather hat with metal buttons on the front for decoration. His coat was made 16 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:23.159 with the fur turned to the inside, and his pants were the same, 17 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:29.200 with worn leather on the outside. His shoes were harsh soul moccasins, and 18 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:34.000 he carried a leather possible's bag, the bag Muzzloder hunters carry with everything they 19 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:38.879 need inside. It was across one shoulder, with a powder horn on his 20 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:46.280 opposite shoulder. His rifle was longer than the hawking style rifle I had. 21 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:52.200 His hair was coarse and brown. His bright blue eyes sized me up from 22 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:57.079 a face covered in a full graying beard. It was as if he had 23 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.680 stepped through the mists from a distant past. He had a look of confusion 24 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:07.519 on his face as he approached, but asked in a congenial voice if I 25 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:13.439 had seen anything yet. Perplexed by the fact that someone was hunting the farm 26 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:17.479 that I knew I had sold permission to hunt, I managed only a kurt 27 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:23.360 no. He took another minute to look me up and down, and I 28 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:29.199 did the same to him. Can I see your gun, he asked. 29 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:34.560 I handed it over, and he passed his to me. He sat down 30 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:39.360 and we each inspected each other's weapon with awe. Although his gun was longer 31 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:44.639 than mine, it was lighter. More impressive to me than the gun was 32 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:49.840 the man's appearance. I was amazed that someone was hunting in full mountain man 33 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.919 apparel. Nothing he wore could have been as warm as my modern day insulated 34 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:00.120 clothing. It was a sight I never would have expected to see here in 35 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:04.199 the Blue Ridge Mountains. But I thought he must be a man who wished 36 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:07.400 to live in a different time, and this was his way of coming as 37 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:12.639 close to that as possible. Still, I couldn't help but wonder at his 38 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:17.439 reaction to me. Maybe he really was from a different time. He handed 39 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:22.319 back our guns and he smiled at me as he stood up. I might 40 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.120 have asked him a few questions, but at that moment we both heard the 41 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:31.479 sound of a deer walking. He's coming, the man said, without another 42 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:36.400 word. The man got behind me and we both watched as a buck came 43 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:40.000 over the hill. The man put his hand on my shoulder and he told 44 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:45.080 me to take a deep breath and squeeze the trigger. I did as I 45 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:50.520 was told. Pop. It wasn't the boom of the rifle, just the 46 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:54.560 pop of the percrussion cap and the powder igniting. It was enough to send 47 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:59.639 the buck running. The man's hand was still on my shoulder. As I 48 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.439 turned around to say something, the words died on my lips. Though as 49 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:09.199 I looked around for him, he wasn't there. I could still feel his 50 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:13.680 hand on my shoulder, but he just wasn't there. I jumped up, 51 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:17.199 and as I did so, the weight of his hand fell away. I 52 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:21.360 decided it was time for me to call it a day. I was confused 53 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:26.120 and frightened, but I didn't feel he meant me any harm, so there 54 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:30.040 was no need to run. I just walked home, reliving those moments in 55 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.959 my head, wondering who he could have been or where he might have come 56 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:40.639 from. When I got home, I put another percussion cap in the gun 57 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:46.839 and fired. This time, the rifle operated properly. I cleaned my gun 58 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.360 and put it away. I never got the man's name, nor did I 59 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:55.560 ever figure out where or when he may have come from, and I've never 60 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:00.560 seen him again. I'm thirty now, and I haven't hunted that area since. 61 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:04.800 Sometimes I think about going back just to see if he might be there. 62 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:10.160 There are some old rock walls in that area said to be from the 63 00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:14.319 eighteen hundreds, though no one knows what they were for. Or who built 64 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:23.600 them. I like to think they were his once. I've seen three bigfoots 65 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:28.000 in my life, the first when I was four years old. I can't 66 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:32.439 talk about it though, without first talking about my dad. Dad didn't have 67 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:36.399 more than a ninth grade education, but he joined the Air Force during the 68 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:44.160 Korean Conflict. That led to opportunities that placed him inside Cheyenne Mountain as one 69 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:48.319 of the first programmers. He was a brilliant man who was respected in both 70 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:55.680 his career and his community. He was my hero and I was his shadow. 71 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:59.279 Where he was, that's where I wanted to be, and what he 72 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.839 did, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be just like 73 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:06.439 him. He was born in Florida in the first year of the Great Depression. 74 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:12.079 They lived so far out in the sticks it was a four mile walk 75 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.600 into town. Even after they got a truck. The condition of those old 76 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:20.120 sandy roads made travel so difficult. It was still a four mile drive, 77 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:25.839 but it sure beat walking. Back in the nineteen sixties, we lived in 78 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:30.040 Wichita Falls, Texas, where Dad was stationed at Shepherd Air Force Base as 79 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:35.560 a flight electronics instructor. He and my mom ran a restaurant on the side, 80 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:41.800 But his greatest joy was being outside hunting and fishing. Because he worked 81 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:46.279 so much, he usually fished at night when everybody else was asleep. He 82 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:50.040 loved catfish and had access to all the local ponds and lakes. And that's 83 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:56.920 where I saw my first bigfoot. One evening, Dad was closing down the 84 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:00.639 restaurant when a buddy stopped in and asked if he wanted to go fishing. 85 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:04.079 Of course, my dad said yes, and I beg to go. His 86 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:09.759 buddy had a small five hundred acre cattle ranch where he raised Brahma cattle. 87 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:14.560 I love going out there. Somewhere. There's even a picture of me sitting 88 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:17.600 on top of one of those big bulls. He made a quick stop at 89 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:23.040 the house to pick up our fishing gear, my dad's twelve gage Ithaca shotgun 90 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:27.399 that he always had with him whenever he was outdoors. A few snacks in 91 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.680 my blanket, a lot, changed into my pajamas and we headed to the 92 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.319 ranch. And when we got there, Dad made my usual spot on the 93 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:41.000 ground with my blanket and started a small fire to keep me warm and occupied. 94 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:45.920 It was your typical ranch cattle pond built in a draw with an earthen 95 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:49.279 dam. I laid there by the fire while Dad and his budy fished. 96 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:56.399 They had a few beers and they swapped stories. Suddenly a group of about 97 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:01.399 twenty cows bellowed below us and started running in our direction. Something had spooped 98 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:07.680 them. A small herd of the one ton Brahmas bellowed in the night as 99 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:11.560 their thundering hoofs shook the ground. And that's something that's not easy to forget. 100 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:18.360 Terrified, all I wanted to do was crawl inside my dad's pocket. 101 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:20.759 I was close to the truck, and he was ten feet away, next 102 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:24.160 to the bank of the river, and he ran over and he scooped me 103 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.920 up and he put me in the pickup. Then he grabbed a shotgun and 104 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:33.399 ordered me not to move. I remember peeking my head over the side of 105 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:37.279 the bed and seeing the cattle run by. They were still bellowing and making 106 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:43.080 all kinds of racket, and then I saw something a four year old will 107 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.759 never forget. I had no idea what it was, but it was huge, 108 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:50.440 bigger than the cattle. It was on two legs, and it was 109 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:56.799 ten to fifteen feet behind them. I couldn't see every detail, but the 110 00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:00.440 moon must have been bright enough and the fire must have been bigg enough that 111 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:05.519 I could see something. My father's buddy drew his side arm and hollered at 112 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:11.600 it with a whistle and a good cowboy shout. The creature stopped dead in 113 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:15.600 its tracks fifty feet from us, and when it looked in our direction, 114 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:20.919 I could see the eye shine. A few seconds later, he raised a 115 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:26.720 pistol and fired a shot. The sound made me jump. Just as quickly 116 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.320 my dad raised his ithaca and he fired three rounds. I can still close 117 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:37.240 my eyes and see the fire explode from the barrel. All the while both 118 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.720 men were shouting something to the effect of get out of here, Get out 119 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.679 of here, y'all. It all happened within seconds, but even today, 120 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:50.320 more than fifty years later, it replaces in my mind in slow motion. 121 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:56.639 The creature quickly bolted away, vanishing from my view in seconds. Both mid 122 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:03.399 now had their weapons leveled in that once they felt it was gone, they 123 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:07.960 moved quickly to break camp. The reels were thrown into the back of the 124 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:11.320 truck, the fire was doused, and I was scooped up and placed in 125 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:16.399 the cab. But not a word was spoken, and when my dad dropped 126 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:20.519 his buddy off at the ranch house. He said, you okay. The 127 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.440 man replied with a nod and said, I hate those things. And they 128 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:30.440 were the only words I remember either of them saying. Well. Curiosity got 129 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.720 the better of me on the ride home, and I finally got the nerve 130 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.360 to speak. I was only four, and four year olds always have tons 131 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:43.200 of questions. Daddy, what was that? I asked, What's nothing you 132 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.679 need to know about? Son? He told me, Well, wasn't a 133 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.720 man. It was Harry, I said, but there was no answer. 134 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.480 My father was silent, intently staring at the road ahead. Dad, was 135 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:58.519 it a hobo? I pressed? Hoboes were still a thing back in the 136 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:03.000 nineteen in the sixties. No, Son, that wasn't a hobo. It 137 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:07.799 just wasn't. Well, what was it? And I wanted to know. 138 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:11.120 My dad knew I wasn't going to give up. No four year olds give 139 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:16.960 up on questions. He took a deep breath and said, well, it's 140 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:20.240 kind of a monkey, son, that lives in the woods. They're afraid 141 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.120 of people. Well, a four, I didn't know monkeys lived in Texas. 142 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:28.600 Things like that weren't on my radar. But if Dad said it was 143 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.879 a monkey. Must have been a monkey. However, even at four, 144 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:37.840 I recognized that my dad was afraid. Even then, I knew what guns 145 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:43.159 were for hunting and protection, and this wasn't a hunting trip. And then 146 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:48.159 we left real quick, and so I continued my questions, Well, Dad, 147 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:52.240 why was it chasing the cows? Is it mean? Are they poisonous? 148 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:56.519 Which woods does it live in? Well, my dad was used to 149 00:11:56.519 --> 00:12:01.559 my interrogations, and he would usually lovingly answer them in ways I could understand, 150 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:05.879 But this time was different. He was silent, and after a few 151 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:09.240 more minutes of NonStop questions, he pulled the truck over and looked at me 152 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:15.799 with his piercing steel blue eyes. Son, here's the problem. For some 153 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.559 reason, the government doesn't want people to know about this monkey. The government 154 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:24.559 was well known in our house. I knew my dad worked for the government. 155 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:30.440 The government owned things. When I was born, my sister asked if 156 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.279 I belonged to the government or to my mom and dad. Well, we 157 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.960 didn't know or understand exactly what the government was, but we knew it owned 158 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.600 things and it had rules. My dad continued, Because I worked for the 159 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:48.200 government, I have to do as they ask and since you're my son, 160 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:52.080 so do you. You have to help keep this monkey quiet. You can't 161 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:56.559 tell anyone, you understand, You can't even tell your mom. It's your 162 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.720 job now to keep this a secret. You can ask me more questions later, 163 00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:05.440 but right now you need to be quiet about it. Do you understand, 164 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:09.240 son, Yes, sir, I will, I assured him, and 165 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:15.399 I did. Until this year, I've never told anyone this story. First 166 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.159 I told my wife, then my son, and now I'm telling you. 167 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:24.679 A few years later, during a trout fishing trip in the Colorado Rockies when 168 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.440 I was nine, I brought it up again, and that was when my 169 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:33.480 dad explained in detail the creature that he called a skunkate. But that's a 170 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:43.080 story for another time. I'm a sixty eight year old resident of Central Indiana, 171 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:46.279 where, following a thirty five year career, I retired as a captain 172 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.919 of detectives. I've always had a passion for being in the woods. As 173 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:56.840 early as the age twelve, I had a trap line. I loved doing 174 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:58.840 it, and I was good at it. So I spent every free minute 175 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:03.759 in the woods, especially in the late fall and winter. At various times 176 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:07.159 over the years, the price of furs was high, and that was an 177 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:13.360 added incentive. Every morning, I'd leave my house at four am walk one 178 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:18.679 mile to the large wooded acreage where I trap and run my lines. Sometimes 179 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.799 I had more than I could carry in my pack, so I'd have to 180 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:26.879 retrieve the rest after school. In all my years in the police force, 181 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.559 I've heard it all from every angle, but I can't say that I ever 182 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:35.200 saw Bigfoot. Back when I was a kid, Bigfoot wasn't even a thought 183 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:39.879 in my head. However, I have heard and seen some very strange things 184 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:45.639 in the woods that cannot be explained. There were many times in the woods 185 00:14:45.639 --> 00:14:50.879 when I had the uncanny feeling of being watched in the darkness. I would 186 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.919 hear trees crashing too often to be at random occurrences. And I remember one 187 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:00.279 early weekend morning in particular, when I was looking for a new trail wrapping 188 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:03.759 area adjacent to where my other traps were set, and a hard rain the 189 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:09.039 week before had flooded the bottom land near the large creek. Afterwards, a 190 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:15.200 deep freeze left pockets of water trapped after the creek receded back into its bank 191 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:18.919 and covered in four inch thick sheets of crystal clear ice. That were like 192 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:26.720 window panes into the many aquatic ecosystems below. As I passed over one of 193 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.679 these frozen ponds, I looked down and I saw two large snapping turtles trapped 194 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.960 under the ice in suspended animation. Turtle meat was excellent. My father taught 195 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:41.159 me the art of cleaning a snapping turtle. It can be a difficult task 196 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:46.679 if it isn't done right. So I decided to take these two turtles home 197 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.759 for some good eating. I tried stomping the ice with my bootheel, but 198 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:54.879 I couldn't even crack it. I decided that i'd bring a hatchet with me 199 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:58.120 to chop them out. When I came back the next day and went on 200 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:03.360 my way, I made a three mile circle around the area, looking for 201 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:07.519 fur sign and new places to set my traps. The ground was frozen hard. 202 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:11.679 A couple hours later, as I came back around the little frozen pool 203 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:17.840 with the turtles, I couldn't believe my eyes. Laying on the root ball 204 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:22.759 of a tree were the two turtles. The ice had been smashed, That's 205 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:26.639 how I know it was four inches thick. I could see how thick the 206 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:30.200 chunks were. The turtles had been ripped open from the bottoms to the tops 207 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:34.720 of their shells, and all the flesh was completely gone. I couldn't imagine 208 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:38.559 what could have had the strength to just rip those turtles open like that. 209 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.519 Well that night it snowed again. The following morning, I went back to 210 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:49.159 the down tree. That hard frozen rootball was completely destroyed, with the root 211 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:55.559 and roots strewn all around in the snow. I looked around and found huge 212 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:59.879 tracks leading to a part of the creek that ran too fast to free, 213 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:06.519 and then they disappeared into the water. After all these years, I still 214 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:10.839 think about those two turtles and the tracks that led into the creek. I 215 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:15.400 have no earthly explanation for what it was, but I hope if you share 216 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:19.720 this story, someone else may have had an encounter similar in relation to Bigfoot, 217 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.240 and it will confirm what I think I'll already know.