WEBVTT 1 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:14.679 All right, let me see if I remember how to do this. I've 2 00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:18.679 been busy so long, something been gone so long, But I'm back, 3 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:24.519 and I hope people are still around to listen. Let's jump into Mark's story 4 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:29.239 here. He's from southern California, and here's what he writes. You recently 5 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:33.280 said that you didn't know if there were bigfoot in southern California. Well, 6 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.520 I can assure you that there are, and they have been there for a 7 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:41.119 long time. In fact, one of the very first bigfoot encounters I heard 8 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:46.679 online was around seventeen years ago, and it came from a former marine stationed 9 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:52.159 at Camp Pendleton Marine Base. My ranch was nine miles up the canyon from 10 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:57.119 the back of the base. Bigfoot stripped my fruit trees every spring. It 11 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:02.320 scared my big dogs into their beds. They silenced the millions of frogs and 12 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:11.239 Deluze Creek nightly and roam the canyons around Fallbrook Temkula Vista. I'm sorry if 13 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.840 I didn't pronounce that right. And I went to the border of Mexico lost 14 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:22.120 mastros de la Fonterra. The monsters of the border are no joke to the 15 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.439 Mexican people crossing the border illegally in southern California. A route they used to 16 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:32.239 take through the back of De Luz had so many people disappear it isn't used 17 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:38.280 anymore. Sheriffs, rangers and border patrol agents and ranchers all have stories to 18 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.359 tell. If you're among the trusted to keep your mouth shut now, I 19 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:46.840 too have had encounters. Once scared me so bad that my bones turned to 20 00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:51.040 ice. At night, I would sit on my back patio with my two 21 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:56.159 eighty pounds all business ranch dogs and smoke a cigar, have a beard, 22 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.480 watch the stars. This was how I relaxed after running my business all day. 23 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:06.519 The frogs in the creek would shut up around eleven PM. At the 24 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.840 same time my dogs would slink into their beds in the garage. No amount 25 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:15.319 of coaxing could get them to come back out, and I let them room 26 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.520 free. And some nights they would be out late and then come racing back 27 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.439 into their beds without stopping to sit with me. One afternoon, my share 28 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:29.120 friend came down my entry road and headed straight up to the barn without stopping. 29 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:31.759 I was working up at the house, but he motioned for me to 30 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:36.360 come on down to the barn, which was curious to me well. I 31 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:38.719 met him there and he asked if I knew of any holes around, meaning 32 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:45.479 graves and waiting for thieves and the avocado groves, which include hundreds of acres 33 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:49.159 in the area. Then he wanted to know if I'd seen a couple of 34 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:53.520 suspicious guys around my property in an old pickup. He went on to explain 35 00:02:53.560 --> 00:03:00.280 that these guys were junkie thieves and they had disappeared a week earlier. Their 36 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:02.800 goals that they were going to rip off my barn because they knew I had 37 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:07.400 expensive equipment, and I guess the girls had cased my place with the guys. 38 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:12.240 I told him that I hadn't seen anyone or anything, and then he 39 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:16.400 went on his way. Two days later, I awakened at two am to 40 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:22.520 find my two dogs facing the barn and growling loudly. I dressed and walked 41 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:27.199 down to the barn with my shotgun and my two fierce dogs. I decided 42 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.240 it was better to go through the trees and stay off the road in case 43 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:34.360 I was about to surprise the junkie thieves. But when I got to the 44 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:37.680 barn, I reached in and flipped on the lights. As I leveled the 45 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:40.360 gun and there was no one there. There was nothing but me and my 46 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:46.479 two brave canine companions. And then I heard a noise from down behind the 47 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:49.919 barn in the equipment area. So I turned out the light and I acted 48 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:53.439 like I was heading back to the house, but instead I headed around the 49 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:59.199 barn the other way. Again, nobody was there. I crept along the 50 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:03.080 eighty foot tap, a five foot in diameter eucalyptus trees that lined up most 51 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:08.039 of the groves. Well, that was when I discovered that my fierce guard 52 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:11.479 dogs were no longer at my side. Now I looked back to see them 53 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.400 standing at the barn fifty feet away, staring at me like I had lost 54 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.079 my mind. Get down here, you cowards, I yelled at them, 55 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:23.439 and as I yelled, I turned my back on the eucalyptus tree I had 56 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.879 been walking around. The dogs took off like a shot and ran full boar 57 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:30.800 all the way back to the house and into their beds, whining all the 58 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:35.639 way. It was at that moment that I realized that someone or some thing 59 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:40.680 was behind me. If it had been a person, I knew my dogs 60 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:45.639 would have tore into them. It was their ranch and nobody ever entered without 61 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:49.560 my permission. And then I smelled it. It was a gagging smell that 62 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:55.560 I've heard described on YouTube so many times, that was followed by a low 63 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:00.959 moan. I dropped the gun barrel to face the ground. I let go 64 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.759 of the trigger and I held it by the stock. And then, with 65 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:08.079 every ounce of courage I possessed, I walked slowly away, straining my ears 66 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:12.079 with each step to see if it was following me. Well, thankfully, 67 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:15.920 I heard nothing. I reached the barn, turned all the lights out, 68 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.759 inside and out, and then I jumped on my four wheeler and I raced 69 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:24.000 to the house. When I checked on my dogs, I found them still 70 00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:27.439 shaking and sweating. I got a beer and a cigar, and I sat 71 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:30.399 in the garage floor with them until they calmed down. And in reflection, 72 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:35.720 I was thankful to be alive. Why didn't I turn around. It's because 73 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:40.439 I was afraid it was a dog man. I already knew from the terrible 74 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:43.800 experience a friend of mine had that you should never look at them, if 75 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.279 at all possible. Well, a few days later they found the truck of 76 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:54.000 the two thieves hidden in a defunct overgrown grove nine hundred feet from my barn. 77 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:57.639 They searched for the thieves, but they were never found dead or alive. 78 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:00.560 To this day, I don't know if I was spared because I was 79 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.720 at my ranch in the Bigfoot eight my fruit that year, or if it 80 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:09.800 was because I had a shotgun and didn't level it on the Bigfoot, or 81 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:15.079 maybe it was another reason. God only knows, but I am grateful now. 82 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:19.439 In my life, I've known two Vietnam War veterans who were tunnel rights. 83 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:25.439 They were the soldiers who searched the NVA tunnels and killed those they encountered. 84 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:30.120 I met these two men forty years apart. Their stories were identical. 85 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:35.879 Unfortunately, so were their mental issues. They both carried a selection of knives 86 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.399 and a forty five to do battle in the dark tunnels, so it's no 87 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:45.279 wonder they were ordered to carry the guns loaded, but one shot would bring 88 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:48.399 hordes of NV eight to them. Stealth was what kept them alive, so 89 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:54.360 they actually didn't shoot the guns inside the tunnels. They weren't willing to take 90 00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:58.560 a chance. I'm telling you both of their names because they were brave men 91 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:03.079 and they deserve to be honored for their sacrifice. Bud was the brother of 92 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:06.800 Renee, a girl I worked with in high school. When he came home 93 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:11.160 from his third tour, I met him. He was a scary, being 94 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:15.680 a truly dark presence. The week after I met him, Renee woke up 95 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:18.199 to find him on top of her holding his ke bar to her throat. 96 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:23.480 She had to yell at him several times before he got a grip on reality 97 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:27.879 again. The next morning, he said his goodbyes and headed off to do 98 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:30.920 his fourth tour, and it would be his last. He never came home. 99 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:36.319 May he be in God's house today. The other person's name was Phil. 100 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:41.240 I met him four decades later when I put my fifth wheel on a 101 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:46.000 campground by a river in the Arizona Desert for the summer. Phil was a 102 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:50.279 hard man by this time, deeply troubled by his war experiences. People thought 103 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:54.360 he was crazy, but he was my neighbor and I spent a lot of 104 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:58.600 time sitting by the fire feeding him beers and cigars, so I had time 105 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:03.120 to study him. I soon learned that he used that persona as a mental 106 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.199 fence, but we did become friends. He didn't have much, but he 107 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:11.959 was a grateful guy. I took him boating and bar hopping at the waterfront 108 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:16.759 bars. Phil found in me someone he felt he could share his life experience 109 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:20.279 with. But little did he know I was a counselor for years. I 110 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:26.720 was empathetic and I employed my craft without him realizing it. He was broken 111 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.519 his bud and my heart broke for him. Well. One weekend, I 112 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:33.840 arrived early on Saturday morning. I knocked on Phil's door and expected him to 113 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:39.080 be ready for breakfast and going for a boat ride. His car was there, 114 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.440 but he didn't answer. Strangely, all the windows were covered in full 115 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:46.720 and paper from the inside. And I went to my place and made breakfast 116 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:52.200 in coffee, but still there was no Phil. It wasn't until five pm 117 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.799 the day that he appeared. He was pale and nervous and looking around like 118 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:00.960 someone was going to jump in. I asked him what was but he wouldn't 119 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.000 talk about it. That evening, I made a fire and I sat down, 120 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:09.399 and Phil came out to the fire cautiously. He took a beer and 121 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:13.600 sat for half an hour without saying a word, and finally, in tears, 122 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:16.840 he said, I want to tell you what happened, but you'll think 123 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:20.120 that I've lost my mind. Well, I laughed and said, hell, 124 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:22.720 Phil, I already think you've lost your mind, and he punched my arm 125 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:28.320 and he laughed too. Okay, he said, well, last night I 126 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.879 was watching TV about eleven thirty when something hit my motor home. It sounded 127 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:35.879 like a slap. I looked out the window and I couldn't see anyone. 128 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:41.559 And then a minute later there were three or four more loud bangs. This 129 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.919 time when I looked out the window, there was this werewolf looking thing standing 130 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:50.799 there looking at me. Phil took a deep breath and added and then three 131 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.440 more appeared behind him, and they started circling my trailer and they were slapping 132 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.480 it. The biggest one stepped out and stared at him. He said it 133 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:03.080 was telling him to come outside. He could feel it. He couldn't hear 134 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:05.120 it, but he could feel it. He went and got his gun and 135 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.759 laid on the floor for hours, thinking they would get in at any moment. 136 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:13.720 I told him that we would look for the tracks in the morning, 137 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:16.039 but his coach was sitting on gravel, so I knew where they wouldn't find 138 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:20.559 any Mostly, I wanted to take his mind off of it. We went 139 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.879 through the motions the next morning, and I was right. We weren't going 140 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.840 to find any tracks in the gravel. And Phil told me he had decided 141 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:33.919 that it was a prank by Hollywood film students. He was guessing. So 142 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.399 these guys drove six hours, put on costumes at nearly midnight, hung out 143 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:41.600 for hours, and filmed our coach and went back to Hollywood. I asked, 144 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:46.919 does that make sense. He looked at me with fear in his eyes, 145 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.559 and he said, it's what I have to believe or I'll go crazy. 146 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:54.519 I told him that I understood that, but pointed out that they didn't 147 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:58.440 hurt him, they only scared him. I asked around the camp to see 148 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:03.799 if anyone else had seen or heard anything strange, and many of our fellow 149 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:07.759 campers were up by their fires at that time, and none of them heard 150 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.759 a thing. Plus, the gates are locked at ten PM. A week 151 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:16.120 later, Phil pulled up stakes and he left. Another week after that, 152 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.519 I woke up at two am to the sound of a loud bang on the 153 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:24.000 side of my coach. I sat up and grabbed my twelve gates just before 154 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:28.600 another loud bang rocked my forty foot fifth wheeler. I could see a shadow 155 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:33.879 through my curtain, and I realized that this thing had to be eight feet 156 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.000 tall for me to see its head. I reached to open the curtain, 157 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:41.879 but then I pulled it back when I remembered what Phil said about the wolf 158 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.399 thing, trying to mentally get him to go outside. Instead, I yelled, 159 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.720 I'm not Phil, and I racked my shotgun the universal sound forget lost 160 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:56.440 or get dead. Whoever or whatever was out there evidently got the message. 161 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.279 It ran through the gravel to the fence, up the hill to the other 162 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:05.840 side. The next morning, I found giant handprints in the dust on the 163 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:11.759 side of my coach that were eleven feet up. There were scuffle marks in 164 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:16.559 the dirt on the hill, and since then dog Man has been confirmed on 165 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:20.360 that part of the river. I noticed later that people quit walking around the 166 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.600 park after dark. I never told a soul, and I'm pretty sure Phil 167 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:30.600 didn't either. Now, look, they're real. I've seen donkey kills. 168 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:35.480 While donkey kills in the desert, They're not the cute and fuzzy creature portrayed 169 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:41.039 in some be movies. They're ugly and vicious looking. And that's the end 170 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:43.159 of his email, And that sometimes I couldn't tell in this story whether he 171 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:48.039 was dealing with bigfoot or dog man. But this guy knows what's going on. 172 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.919 I think in the first story, when he was at his barn, 173 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:56.840 it could be he first thought it was a dog man, but then reconsidered 174 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:01.240 and figured it was a bigfoot. But his buddy then that he knew from 175 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:07.080 the Vietnam War. This guy Phil absolutely says he saw something. Why would 176 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:11.440 he make that up? I don't know. I don't some of these stories. 177 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:15.240 I'm not sure what to make of them, but I do know they 178 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.720 are great stories. And this was a good story. This was a good 179 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:26.000 story. Okay, here's a story from the Northeast. The writer doesn't say 180 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.480 to use their name or not, so I won't. I grew up in 181 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:33.519 southern Maryland, surrounded by cornfields and forest. It's kind of place where a 182 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:39.879 kid's fun is instigated by their mother kicking them out of the house until dark. 183 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:43.759 We spent a lot of time in the woods. When we went out 184 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:46.000 for a walk at night, the moon was our only light. Now, 185 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:50.039 granted, we lived on the Chestpeake Bay, so we had a lot of 186 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:54.480 light bouncing off the water. My family's beach house was only a few miles 187 00:13:54.480 --> 00:14:00.879 from the Point Lookout Lighthouse, which was once a military hospital turned poa camp. 188 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:05.799 During the War of eighteen twelve. One of those major television ghost hunting 189 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.679 shows did an episode from there once. Now ours was an eerie play, 190 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:13.480 so it was not uncommon for us to have a creepy feeling or to have 191 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.759 strange things happen when we were in the back part of our property. Our 192 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:22.639 lights were always flickering, even when a new bulb was just put in, 193 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:26.440 and we'd see dark figures in the back near the creek. We always stayed 194 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:30.799 close to the house, or we went out front to the beach and we 195 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:35.600 avoided the back where the creek was after dark. Now, I've always had 196 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:39.279 experiences with the ghosts and demons and cryptids. There was a house of a 197 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:43.720 buddy of mine where strange things would happen to me at night. I learned 198 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:48.759 that his brother had drawn a pentagram on his bedroom floor with his own blood. 199 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:54.200 Sometimes I would feel someone sit down on the bed beside me when no 200 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:58.600 one was there, or between three and four am, I would feel the 201 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:03.000 sensation of someone's wiping their hand across me. While I slept under the covers. 202 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.480 At another friend's house, we would often see dark figures. One was 203 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:13.559 a tall man in black dress clothes wearing a top hat. Once, when 204 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:16.679 I was in the basement, I saw a dark figure with a body like 205 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:22.720 a spider and a face of a human but completely dark. I thought it 206 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:26.879 was going to attack me, but then it suddenly withdrew back into the shadows. 207 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.120 When we would ride our bikes along the path by the marsh, we 208 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:35.559 always had the feeling that someone was watching us, in the sensation that something 209 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:37.919 was telling us to get out of there. But there was one time in 210 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:43.200 particular that still has me a little biffle. I'm twenty four years old now 211 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:48.360 and I live in Washington, d C. My parents divorced when I was 212 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:52.240 younger, and my dad moved to San Antonio. I only got to travel 213 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.360 out there to see them twice a year, so we would try to pack 214 00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:00.600 everything into those short week long stays. When I was fifteen, we went 215 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.919 to visit a friend of my step mom's who had a ranch about two hours 216 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.840 from the border. It was near a town that was so tiny that they 217 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:14.600 had a one room school house with a bus that was actually an old limousine. 218 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.320 The ranch was located down a seldomly traveled road in a small valley that 219 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:23.440 wasn't much bigger than a ravine. The house was actually a double wide trailer 220 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:27.720 with a shipping container on the side, and the water was a five hundred 221 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:33.000 gallon tank that had to be brought in. The closest neighbor was a mile 222 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:37.120 away, and we were there for three days. The first two days were 223 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:41.720 not bad. Everything was quiet that first night. The second day, my 224 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:47.480 father and I decided we'd hunt some boar and ride the ATVs around the place. 225 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:52.639 There were paths all over the woods there, and my stepmom's friend pointed 226 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:56.200 us in the right direction and we had it out. My father was not 227 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:00.759 a hunter. He was being loud, so I knew nothing was going to 228 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:03.640 come our way. He couldn't help himself. He was an it guy with 229 00:17:03.680 --> 00:17:08.480 a pinstriped shirts and the business pants hiked up to his rib cage. It 230 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.039 didn't matter though. We were having father son time, and that was all 231 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:17.480 that I cared about. While Dad rambled on, I began to get an 232 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:21.880 aery feeling like I was being watched. I looked all down the trails, 233 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.680 hoping to spot a deer or some other animal watching us, but I didn't 234 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:30.119 see anything. At dark, we gave up and headed back to the house 235 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.440 to eat, and after supper we built the fire outside. The adults were 236 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:38.119 all talking, but I was staring at the fire and realizing that I didn't 237 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:42.680 have anything in common with them. Sometimes I'd look up and the stars and 238 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:48.559 mentally compare the sky to how it looked back home on the beach. Now. 239 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:52.359 I don't know how long I sat there before an eerie feeling of being 240 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:57.440 watched started coming over me again. I started scanning the woodline. Then just 241 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:00.960 beyond the fire, looking back at me was a pair of eyes, and 242 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:06.920 it felt like our eyes connected. Something was telling me not to make any 243 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:11.759 sudden moves, not to move at all. Mentally, I was running through 244 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:15.000 the possibilities of what I was looking at. Was it someone who had crossed 245 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:18.400 the border to rob us? There was a lot of that going on at 246 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.759 that time. It wasn't a headlamp. It would have produced a lot more 247 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:27.160 light as close as it was. But while I watched, I was blindly 248 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:33.519 searching for my flashlight and phone without moving too much, and finally had to 249 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.920 accept that I had left both in the house. But sometime had gone by, 250 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:41.519 so I felt safe enough to get up and grab the flashlight. Unfortunately, 251 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:47.160 when I came back out, those eyes were gone. I sat back 252 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:49.759 down and thought about what I had looked at. The color was sort of 253 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:55.640 orangeish red. If it had been headlamps, it would have been two people 254 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:57.720 who were up in a tree because it was eight feet off the ground, 255 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.799 and they almost would have had to have their heads right next to each other. 256 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:07.079 Eventually, the fire died down and we all went inside. We got 257 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.839 ready for bed and played a few hands of Texas, Hold Them and Blackjack 258 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:15.799 before turning in. I had asked my dad to sleep in the other bed 259 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.519 in my room the night before and to keep a gun with him. There 260 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:23.119 had been a lot of break INDs down there by border jumpers. An older 261 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:27.400 couple was even held hostage and killed, and I was terrified that someone would 262 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:33.480 try to break my windows and kill me. At three am, my stepmom 263 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:37.480 came to the door and started yelling for my dad to wake up. Someone 264 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:41.480 was making a lot of noise outside her window. He got up and loaded 265 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.200 his gun and went to check the windows and doors. I assume he didn't 266 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.680 see anything, because he went back to bed, and I didn't hear anything 267 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.759 else from him the rest of the night. Of course, I couldn't sleep 268 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:56.359 now, and I lay there staring out the window, certain that something was 269 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.440 going to happen, And finally I began to feel drowsy. But just before 270 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:04.359 my eyes closed, I heard what sounded like the boards creaking on the front 271 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:10.640 porch that was to the right of my window. The footsteps moved across the 272 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:15.240 porch, and the silhouette of an extraordinarily large human being covered the shades. 273 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.759 When I got to the window, it stopped and turned, and I saw 274 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:25.240 those reddish orange eyes again. I couldn't make out any detail because the blinds 275 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:32.400 were opaque to obliterate its features, but those eyes were clearly visible. It 276 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:36.039 did a motion as if it was trying to look in on either side of 277 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:41.039 the blinds, and then it moved on. I was wide awake now it 278 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:45.720 would be quite some time before I would manage to fall asleep. When we 279 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.880 all got up the next morning, everyone went outside to look around. There 280 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:53.000 were crushed pots and the grill was open with grates lying on the ground. 281 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:57.119 It looked like someone had dug through it and had stepped on the pots in 282 00:20:57.160 --> 00:21:03.119 the process. The adults all blamed border jumpers for the mess, but I 283 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.880 kept wondering why they hadn't taken the pots and pans that were out there, 284 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:11.880 or why hadn't they tried to steal the four wheeler. We hadn't locked the 285 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:15.599 shed, and there was a lot of other things in there as well, 286 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:18.839 none of it was touched. And why would they take the time to bend 287 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:22.960 up and break and crush the pots when they could have taken them to use 288 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.519 or sell. Later that day, when we saw the Border patrol drop by, 289 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:33.599 the adults pointed and nodded knowingly. I wasn't so easily convinced. I 290 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:37.119 still think that it was a bigfoot that stepped up on the porch that night, 291 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:41.119 and I think it was a bigfoot watching us by the fire earlier that 292 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.079 night, And it was a bigfoot that watched my father and me in the 293 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:49.200 woods that day, Now that I think about it, that would have been 294 00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:55.559 the veritable paradise for one. With all the boars and deer and farm pond 295 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.359 up the road, not to mention all the trees for covered, a bigfoot 296 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:03.599 could live a pretty lavish lifestyle right there. Well, that's a good story. 297 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:07.519 You never you saw eyes, but you never really saw the creature. 298 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:12.200 I think you said you saw a silhouet. That's kind of interesting. Austin, 299 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:18.039 Texas, down in close to the border, you know, there's a 300 00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:21.400 lot of people coming across the border. Now. I don't know if they're 301 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:25.880 coming across there, but wonder if Bigfoot's given them any trouble. This was 302 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:29.079 a good story. I really appreciate the writer and thank you for sending it. 303 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:33.640 All Right, that wasn't a long podcast. It's my first podcast that 304 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:40.480 I've recorded since Thanksgiving, and I've been so busy. You guys have heard 305 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:44.079 this story over and over. But I'm done with my work and I'm going 306 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:48.440 to be semi full time podcasting for the next few months. So you can 307 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.119 expect the upload schedule to pick up steam, the podcast to get longer. 308 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:56.839 Hear more Steve Lily on the Steve Lily channels. I'm writing one of those. 309 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:02.200 I'm actually about to finish one. Get it recorded, get it up 310 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:04.680 soon. I've got audio books. I'm working one that I want to get 311 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:10.759 out. For the very few people who've waited for me to get back into 312 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:15.599 this, I'm here. I'm back into it full time. Not full time, 313 00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:18.119 but pretty much full time, and this podcast would be longer, but 314 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.200 through the last six months, I have spent so much time in this office 315 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:29.319 working on other projects that are part of my regular business that I haven't spent 316 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:32.880 much time with my wife. So I'm going to cut this podcast short. 317 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:36.480 It's about noon on Friday. I'm going to go in there and see if 318 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:40.279 she wants to go to dinner and maybe to a matinee this afternoon, and 319 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.680 her and I just spend the rest of the day and evening together, and 320 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:47.839 then this weekend, I'll be recording podcasts all weekend, so I hope to 321 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:52.799 get several podcasts up over the next week or so. And I've also got 322 00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:56.039 a lot of fun things planned, different formats, different ways to present stories 323 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.519 that have been crossing and running through my mind as working on this other stuff 324 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:03.440 that I think should be fun. They're going to take a little time, 325 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:07.480 but I got to figure out how to do them quicker. But it should 326 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:11.599 be add a little spice to everything for me, so I'm excited about that. 327 00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:14.440 Anyway, I've got some good stuff coming. And for those of you 328 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:18.640 who stuck around the audience who's stuck around, I really appreciate you. All 329 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:22.400 Right, that's enough talking. I'll see you guys on the next video. Thanks.