WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.000 Now one of your pudding. I got a string going 2 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.120 on here, something just because my dog. Something killed your dog. 3 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:08.960 My dog. We're flying through the air over the tree. 4 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:13.640 I don't know how it did it, Okay, Damn, I'm 5 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.120 really confused. All I saw was my dog coming over 6 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:17.800 the fence and he was dead. And once you hit 7 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:19.679 the ground like, I didn't see any cars. All I 8 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:38.320 saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what 9 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:42.960 are you putting? We got some wonder or something crawling 10 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:51.759 around out here. Did you see what it was or 11 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.159 was it was? Standing enough? I'm out here looking through 12 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.920 the window now and I don't see anything. I don't 13 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:03.880 want to go outside. Jesus Quice, you better hello, hit 14 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:06.439 the body out here, quin, I'm out there. It's thought 15 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:08.959 of a bitch of about tix fort nine. I don't know. 16 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:12.599 Easy him out there. Yeah, I'm walking right, head deep 17 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:15.680 in the wild woods of Alaska, where killer temperatures leave 18 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.280 even the thermostats frozen solid. We are on the hunt 19 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:22.480 for a legend that refuses us to die. I am 20 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:25.439 in the company of Michael Thompson, a law enforcement officer 21 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:28.719 who has spent thirty three years on the trail of Bigfoot. 22 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.920 Or sasquatch to give the mysterious beast its proper name. 23 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.560 Michael fifty two is clutching a cast made from a 24 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.840 footprint discovered on a track near Bluff Creek in California 25 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.719 in nineteen sixty three. He wears a beret bearing a 26 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:46.400 silhouette of the ape like creature, and he won't be 27 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:50.040 giving up his quest for answers anytime soon. People think 28 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.680 I'm a crank, Michael admits, but the evidence is overwhelming 29 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:56.879 when it comes to proving that Bigfoot is alive. The 30 00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:59.200 rest of the world wants a body alive or dead, 31 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:02.760 but I think there's enough physical evidence left behind to 32 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.120 prove that there's something out there evading people. The most 33 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:10.439 important evidence are tracks. They are the most numerous and reoccurring. 34 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:13.560 I have seen them myself in Island Lake and hidden 35 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:17.800 lakes in several spots where I live. His research suggests 36 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.000 that the beasts can weigh up to ninety two stone, 37 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.240 have twenty seven inch footprints, and are up to ten 38 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:27.599 feet tall. Michael is currently probing a report from Tetlin, 39 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:31.439 eastern Alaska. In September, a moose hunter was in a 40 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:35.879 tent when a creature walked past brushing the canvas. Unexplained 41 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:40.879 tracks were found close by. American reports of mysterious ape 42 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:45.080 like beasts go back more than four hundred years. Experts 43 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:48.680 believe a creature could have survived in Alaska's deserted icy 44 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:52.840 tundra on a diet of moose, caribou, coyote, and berries. 45 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.639 Bigfoot truly became a phenomenon after Russia sold Alaska to 46 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:01.960 America in eighteen sixty seven. Fur trappers arrived in the 47 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.840 eighteen eighties, and since then there have been three hundred 48 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:09.199 and fifty official sightings which are considered reliable. But on 49 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.599 top of that, some forty five thousand people in America 50 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:16.719 have submitted online reports of their own encounters to Michael's 51 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:22.759 Bigfoot Filled Researchers organization website, and while enthusiast ghost hunters, 52 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:26.960 UFO truthers, and spiritualists to bicker online about whether Bigfoot 53 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.919 is an alien, a shape shifter, or something that exists 54 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:33.680 in a parallel dimension, Michael has no doubt that it exists. 55 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.080 He is also convinced that there are many Bigfoot out 56 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.400 there and longs for the day he comes face to 57 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:43.400 face with one. The hunter goes on the theory that 58 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:46.599 only one exists is impossible to be true. There have 59 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.319 been countless reports of individual sasquatches, as well as a 60 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.520 mother and her child. Other people have heard groups of 61 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.639 voices while out in the country, adding weight to the theory. 62 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.240 Many sightings have been made hundreds of miles upon art. 63 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:05.199 Only one US state, Hawaii, has never had a reported sighting. 64 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:09.000 It is far from mythical. It is very flesh and blood, 65 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.719 an actual physical being. Because it leaves tracks and other 66 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.399 evidence that cannot be attributed to any other animal. What 67 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.120 we're talking about here is the king of the mountain. 68 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.759 A man would be no match for it. A sasquatch 69 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.319 is the apex predator in America. It will kill anything 70 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.360 before it, even a grizzly bear. If I was to 71 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:31.519 ever see one, I would try to record as much 72 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:33.759 evidence as I could, but I would not try to 73 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.279 kill it. Why would I want to endanger what I 74 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:39.399 have pursued more than half my life. This is not 75 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:43.480 some hobby to me, It's a burning obsession. To those 76 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:46.519 who doubt, I say, prove us wrong. No one can 77 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.439 prove it doesn't exist, and I can't prove one hundred 78 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:53.040 percent that it does it's a stalemate. But my hope 79 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:56.120 is that one day I will find sasquatch. It would 80 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.800 make me world famous. Next year marks the fiftieth and 81 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.759 of versary of the famous Patterson Gimblin video, in which 82 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:05.759 a supposed female Bigfoot was filmed close to a logging 83 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:10.360 road in California. Despite numerous attempts to confirm or discredit 84 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.519 the nineteen sixty seven footage, no one has proved its authenticity. 85 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:17.759 It is expected that the anniversary will lead to a 86 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:23.160 renewed effort to substantiate Bigfoot's existence. Alaska boasts more sightings 87 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:26.199 than any other state, making it the perfect location for 88 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:30.199 the headquarters of Sasquatch Tracker, three hundred and forty miles 89 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.199 east of Anchorage. It is from here that Michael runs 90 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:38.040 his Bigfoot website. While diligently compiling reports of sidings, he 91 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:41.639 treats witnesses just like those involved in a crime, interviewing 92 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:44.000 them for hours in a bid to extract every piece 93 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:47.360 of information possible. They also fill out a detailed and 94 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:52.160 counter report survey designed to weed out the hoaxers. Michael explains, 95 00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:56.399 I am looking for a pattern, some forensic detail. I 96 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:59.279 go over and over their interview with a fine tooth comb. 97 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.519 I look for inconsistencies in their story. They have to 98 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.279 prove that what they saw was a potential sighting rather 99 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:09.480 than something like a moose. I always go into it 100 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:11.759 from the position of I do not believe this person, 101 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:14.319 and they have to prove it to me. Once I'm 102 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:18.839 happy that their information is genuine, my work really begins. Michael, 103 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:22.439 who holds a degree in law enforcement and archaeology and Heritage, 104 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:26.800 supplies hunters with evidence kits and a guide to collect DNA. 105 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:31.040 The packs are similar to those used by FBI forensic 106 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:36.439 teams and include scalpels, collection tubes, cotton swabs, surgical masks, 107 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:42.759 glass vials, and specimen transport bags. Magnifying lenses, tape measures, 108 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:48.519 and a photographic scale bar are also provided. Reports of 109 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:51.839 a mythical beast primarily known for inhabiting the forest and 110 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:55.920 the Pacific Northwest, are starting to gain a big foothold 111 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:02.600 in the tar Hill State skunk Ape Sasqua. Bigfoot, the 112 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:05.519 creature that some believe to be an indigenous North American 113 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:09.480 bipedal primate, reportedly has been seen in Canada in every 114 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:14.000 state but Hawaii. The most alleged sightings have been in 115 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:17.639 Washington with six hundred and fifty three, while Delaware has 116 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.240 the fewest with only five. According to the Bigfoot Filled 117 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:26.399 Researchers Organization or BFRO, the study of Bigfoot and other 118 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:31.560 such creatures, including thunderbirds and chupacabra is called cryptozoology, and 119 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.519 the animals that the scientific world has yet to recognize 120 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:39.439 are referred to as cryptids. Native American legends pre dating 121 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:43.279 European arrival on the continent describe such a beast thought 122 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:46.439 to be a forest spirit. There are several names for 123 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:50.759 the North American cryptid, sasquatch in the Pacific northwestern Canada, 124 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.879 skunk ape in the swamps and forests of the South, 125 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:58.360 and grassman in the Midwest. Bigfoot may also be related 126 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:02.639 to the Canadian windigo, but legends and sightings aren't limited 127 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.079 to this side of the planet, as similar creatures have 128 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:09.360 been reported around the world, including the Yetti or abominable 129 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.560 snowman of the Himalayas, the Alma of Mongolia, and the 130 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:17.600 Yowie of Australia. The North American creatures are said to 131 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:21.000 be very muscular, stand between six and ten feet tall, 132 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.600 and are covered in hair which varies in color from 133 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:27.680 black to reddish brown. The name Bigfoot comes from the 134 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:31.120 reported human like tracks that range from thirteen to twenty 135 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:35.519 four inches in length. Despite the skeptics, sixteen percent of 136 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:40.320 Americans believe Bigfoot actually exists, according to a California Magazine 137 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.600 article from June. Some researchers think the creatures, if real, 138 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:47.720 are a type of great ape, while others postulate that 139 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:51.519 they could be descendants of early hominids. There have been 140 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:55.399 at least ninety six reported sightings in North Carolina, although 141 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:59.840 the BFRO website doesn't list any since twenty fifteen. The 142 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:02.799 three most recent reports that year were close to home, 143 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:06.840 two in Montgomery County and one in Roberson County. The 144 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:10.320 BFRO lists sidings in forty five counties from the mountains 145 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.360 to the coast, with Montgomery County being the most popular 146 00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:17.519 spot with thirteen. There are six reported sidings in both 147 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:22.159 Onslow and Cleveland Counties. The only reported siding in Richmond 148 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:24.519 County is from an unnamed hunter who claims to have 149 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:28.960 found evidence off Grassy Island Road outside Ellerby in two 150 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:33.120 thousand eight. According to the report, the hunter noticed a 151 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:36.639 stinking odour that is often associated with close encounters of 152 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:39.759 the harry kind. He also said that it sounded like 153 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:42.519 something was following me on the way in there, and 154 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:45.600 it sounded like someone was hitting trees with baseball bats. 155 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.320 The hunter also claims to have found one track about 156 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.360 twenty three inches long with a two inch impression into 157 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.159 the ground. By comparison, the hunter said that he himself 158 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:59.120 weighed three hundred pounds and his track only sank a 159 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:03.039 half an inch. About two weeks later, the hundred denotes 160 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:05.639 in his report he was hunting near a stream and 161 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:08.799 heard a huge splash in the water. Thinking it was 162 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:12.279 a deer, he waited, but he never saw anything. When 163 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:14.519 he went out to investigate, the hunter says that he 164 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:17.240 found a single track that was twenty plus inches long 165 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:21.200 and saw other signs like stick formations and large patches 166 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.320 of vegetation that looked like it had been ran over 167 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:26.200 by a steam roller, and several tracks in the leaves 168 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:30.039 with long strides of about four feet. After he found 169 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.840 the first track, the hunter says that he called John Shaw, 170 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:38.080 a biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The 171 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:40.919 hunter claimed that Shaw, when shown the track, said that 172 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.159 he could see what I was saying, but the track 173 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:46.519 was contaminated, so we left it at that, with the 174 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:48.759 second track being at the bottom of the creek. The 175 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:52.399 hunter said that he didn't bother calling Shaw again. Shaw 176 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:54.600 said on Monday that he had no recollection of that 177 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.679 specific incident, adding that the Commission sometimes gets calls to 178 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:02.480 check out claims of EVA evidence. In the other story 179 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:05.000 section of the report, the hunter says that he knows 180 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:06.960 two men who claim to have seen a bigfoot on 181 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.840 the Richmond County side of the Blue It Falls Dam 182 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.120 in nineteen eighty one, and an ambulance driver who said 183 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.000 he saw one on the way back to the hospital 184 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:19.679 in Troy. Although a follow up investigation by BFRO investigators 185 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.519 come up empty handed, the report states investigators were confident 186 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:27.799 that the witnesses were reliable. Across the river, an Anson 187 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:30.399 County farmer claims to have had a close encounter in 188 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.799 May of nineteen fifty six. According to a newspaper report, 189 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.600 Henry Milton said that his watermelon patch was rated by 190 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:40.519 a huge beast that left a track that was thirteen 191 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:44.080 inches long and five inches wide, twice as large as 192 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:46.840 a six hundred and fifty pound black bear, and it 193 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.360 had three inch claw marks. The report never gives an 194 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.919 approximate height of this creature, but Milton said that he 195 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:57.080 saw it briefly, first mistaking it for a deer. It 196 00:11:57.159 --> 00:11:59.480 was foggy, and when I got a closer look at 197 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:01.799 this moving object, it appeared to be a man in 198 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:05.480 a stooped over position, Melton said. Then the beast came 199 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:09.679 out of the melon patch and disappeared. While most reports 200 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:13.159 described the bigfoot as being shy and not aggressive, there 201 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:17.200 had been stories of attacks and abductions. A newspaper report 202 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:22.360 from eighteen seventy five describes a short swamp monster approximately 203 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:25.960 five feet tall, attempting to abduct two children from an 204 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:29.600 area about fifteen miles north of New Bern in Craven County. 205 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:32.600 The father of one of the children confronted the creature 206 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:35.120 and knocked it head over heels with a well directed 207 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:38.000 blow on the forehead, causing it to drop the kids. 208 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.840 It then scrambled to its feet and ran into the 209 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:45.240 woods with lightning rapidity. Prior to the abduction attempt, the 210 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:49.240 beast had reportedly been preying on poultry, garden vegetables, and 211 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:55.480 green corn at an alarming extent. A woman reports seeing Bigfoot. 212 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.600 I drove to twelve foot Davis Graveside and picnic grounds 213 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.720 in Peace River with my boyfriend. We walked on the 214 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:06.360 hillside behind the grave site. There were no birds chirping. 215 00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:09.440 Everything was silent, and the hairs on my neck were 216 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:13.519 standing up. I chose to go to the outside toilet facilities. 217 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:16.840 My boyfriend went back to the car. When I got 218 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:19.720 about two feet from the washroom door, I saw a dark, 219 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.399 hairy shadow move and I heard a heavy, outgoing breath, 220 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.919 and there was some musky stench in the air. The 221 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:29.799 toilet facilities were about eight to nine feet high in 222 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.080 a pyramid shape. This thing was standing beside the toilet, 223 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:35.440 and I estimated its height at at least seven to 224 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.440 seven and a half feet tall. I was so scared 225 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.559 I decided to forget about the washroom trip. I started 226 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:44.080 to walk away towards the grave side, and my friend, 227 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:46.440 who had been watching the whole time, yield at me 228 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:49.159 to get back to the car. I turned around and 229 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.399 looked behind me, and I felt immediate terror. This thing 230 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:55.759 was now down on its front arms with its bum 231 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:59.320 in the air, pushing itself along in an ambling fashion, 232 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:03.240 following behind me about four feet away, and it appeared 233 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:06.840 to be sniffing at me. It had dark blondish colored hair, 234 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:10.320 not like a bear. Its hair was sparse on its body, 235 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:13.679 with more hair on the arms and legs. This thing 236 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:16.679 had an ape like face with very little hair, but 237 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:20.559 more on the head. The hair looked extremely coarse, almost 238 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:23.879 like a horse's mane in winter. I quickly ran to 239 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:26.159 the car, jumped in, and we sped around the corner 240 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:29.399 and down the hill. As we were speeding away, this 241 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.600 thing rose up and tried to chase the car a 242 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:36.039 short ways. It was angry, standing straight up, more like 243 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:39.080 a human, and it was swinging its arms and screaming. 244 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:42.559 We barely got away from it. It followed us down 245 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:45.639 the hillside of short Ways. When I came home, I 246 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.360 was so upset. I told my mother. She in turn 247 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:50.840 pasted this information along, and someone went up there the 248 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.559 next day but didn't see the creature, but they did 249 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:57.480 find some small tufts of hair. And stay tuned for 250 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.840 more sasquatch ot to see. We'll be right back after 251 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:06.399 these messages. It's been about thirty years and I still 252 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.279 have these details stuck in my head, and I imagine 253 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:12.879 I always will. A person does not survive that kind 254 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:16.600 of terror without remembering it for the rest of their life. 255 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:19.440 This incident occurred in nineteen seventy five, when she was 256 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:22.559 just eighteen years old. She says that her boyfriend, who 257 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:24.360 was with her at the time of the incident, is 258 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:28.159 now deceased. She recalled driving up to that location with 259 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.039 him on a late September evening around six thirty to 260 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:34.600 seven o'clock PM for a walk. They strolled over to 261 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:36.919 the lookout point, and when they were walking back to 262 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:38.720 the car, she decided that she had to stop and 263 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.799 use the lady's room. She had heard a deep breath 264 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.080 exhale within twenty feet of the facilities. She assumed that 265 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.480 it was a bear, so she started backing out slowly, 266 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:50.360 as if they were a bear in the brush. Then 267 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:53.080 she saw the animal standing upright next to the washroom. 268 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:56.279 Her boyfriend was parked more than thirty feet away. He 269 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:58.639 saw the animal and said, get in the car now. 270 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:00.960 When she looked back at the animal, it was five 271 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.039 to six feet away from her, down on all fours, 272 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:06.320 and it was sniffing the air behind her. It was 273 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:09.159 crawling in an awkward position with its rear end up 274 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.559 in the air, like kids do when they're crawling on 275 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:15.080 their hands and knees, and they're straight legged. Due to 276 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.799 how close this witness was to the subject, she was 277 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.799 able to report a lot of detail. She said that 278 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:23.840 the hair was copper brown in color. It had more 279 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:26.360 hair on its limbs and on its body and less 280 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.240 on its ape like face and on its head. She 281 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:32.159 described the hair to be coarse, like a horse's mane. 282 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:34.919 Once she got into the car, the animal stood up 283 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:38.200 on two legs and started this loud screeching sound and 284 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:41.480 went into an angry fit and chased them as the 285 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:46.639 vehicle drove away. Bennington County, Vermont, two thousand and three, 286 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:50.080 a Weanowski man believed that he saw a big foot 287 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.679 type creature at dusk while driving north on Route seven 288 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:59.600 on Wednesday at about seven ten pm. Reydy Frame forty five, 289 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:02.240 was heading back up north after visiting his daughter at 290 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:06.079 Southern Vermont College when he spotted a six foot plus tall, 291 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.519 two hundred and seventy pound big black thing walking upright 292 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:14.519 near the highest point of elevation on Route seven. It 293 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.200 was hairy from the top of its head to the 294 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:19.279 bottom of his feet, said Defrayane. It was not walking 295 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:22.720 like a normal person. Although Defrane could not see the 296 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:25.519 animal's face, he said. From his vantage point, which was 297 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:28.200 about one hundred and forty feet away, he could see 298 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:31.920 that the creature had very long arms and was covered 299 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:35.400 in long black hair. He said, it walked east into 300 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:39.359 the woods toward Glastonbury Mountain. The first thing I thought 301 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:42.119 was this was a gorilla costume. I thought it was 302 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:44.960 a joke, he said. Then I put two and two together. 303 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.720 There were no houses or abandoned cars nearby, so Dufrayne 304 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:54.039 surmised that this dark creature could not have been a person. Furthermore, 305 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.359 Defrayne has been an avid hunter since the age of fifteen, 306 00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:00.160 and he says he knows his animals. It was not 307 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.279 a moose or a bear, he said. Although he had 308 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:06.519 heard of the bigfoot phenomenon before, Dufrayne said he had 309 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:10.759 never heard of anything happening like that in Vermont. Dufrayne 310 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:13.160 also attested that he had not been drinking or doing 311 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:16.960 drugs on Wednesday, and he has no history of mental illness. 312 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.039 Why would somebody be walking down the road like that, 313 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:23.319 Dufrayne said he asked himself at the time, I kicked 314 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:27.519 myself for not turning back. Defrane continued driving north to 315 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:30.480 his home. He said that at his job at a 316 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:33.920 car dealership in Burlington on Thursday, people were having a 317 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.039 laugh at his expense when he retold his story. Lieutenant 318 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.759 District Chief Dane Hathaway of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife 319 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:44.119 Department said that that was the first time he had 320 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:46.720 heard of anything like that during his thirty two years 321 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:50.000 working for the state. His view on the siding was 322 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:52.839 a down to earth one. It was a black bear, 323 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:55.759 said Hathaway. He said that black bears do stand on 324 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:58.400 their hind legs, and in some cases they can actually 325 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:01.440 walk on their hind legs. Train bears do it all 326 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:04.599 the time, he said. It doesn't happen very often, but 327 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:07.680 they do do that. People see a lot of strange 328 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.720 things in the woods, said Hathaway, like catamount, but these 329 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:14.720 often turn out to be tricks of the mind. Your 330 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:19.079 mind does strange things to you sometimes, he said. Retired 331 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.839 game warden Bob Monley, seventy three, of Bennington, said that 332 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.480 during his thirty five years with the state, he has 333 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:28.279 had a lot of strange calls, but none quite like 334 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:32.319 the one Defrane describes from Wednesday. He, like Hathaway, believes 335 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:34.559 that the creature was probably a moose or a bear, 336 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.240 as they both have dark fur. The mind tells you 337 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:41.759 what you think you saw, says Momley. However, Dufrayne is 338 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:44.759 not the only one to report strange sightings of such 339 00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:48.480 creatures in the Bennington area. In fact, The New York 340 00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:52.759 Times reported on October eighteenth, eighteen seventy nine, that two 341 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.960 young Vermont hunters saw a wild man while hunting in 342 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.559 the mountains south of Pownell. The Time said that on 343 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:03.319 October Mber seventeenth, eighteen seventy nine, the two young men 344 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:06.759 described the creature as being about five feet high, resembling 345 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:09.599 a man in form and movement, but covered all over 346 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:13.559 in bright red hair, and having a long, scraggly beard 347 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:17.960 with very wild eyes. When first seen, the creature sprang 348 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.359 from behind a rocky cliff and started for the woods nearby. 349 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.559 When mistaking it for a bear or other wild animal, 350 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:26.960 one of the two men fired, and it is thought 351 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:31.160 wounded it. For the fierce cries of pain and rage, 352 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.400 it turned on its assailants, driving them back at high speed. 353 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:37.559 They lost their guns and ammunition in the fight and 354 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:40.839 dared not to return for fear of encountering this strange being. 355 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.079 Other accounts are much more recent. According to a report 356 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:48.119 printed at the Space on the Run newsletter website in 357 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.079 December nineteen eighty nine, a man from Eden in Lamole 358 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.759 County found footprints in the snow measuring twelve to fourteen 359 00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:59.440 inches in length and about six inches wide. This was 360 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:01.720 in an area that was about ten miles from the 361 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.880 nearest house in East Haven. In October nineteen seventy six, 362 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:08.640 a woman who was reading in the woods saw something 363 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.279 like the creature that Defrain saw. It had a muscular neck, 364 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.839 a large head, and broad shoulders. It stood between eight 365 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.319 to eleven feet in height, with ape like hair and 366 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:24.160 long arms. A similar account and description was given by 367 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:28.759 a boy in Essex Junction in nineteen ninety four. Back 368 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:30.920 in two thousand and four, my husband and I were 369 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:34.319 given three of our grandchildren to raise. The boys were 370 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:36.440 aged one and a half three and four and a 371 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.559 half years old. The boys were followed a few months 372 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.759 later by their sister, a newborn, who was also given 373 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:46.720 to us to raise. After having raised our own children, 374 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:50.240 my husband and I found ourselves once again new parents. 375 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:53.680 We lived in a small town in New England, so 376 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:55.319 small that you could step out of the house and 377 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.799 see the police station, fire department, and post office just 378 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:01.799 beyond the house. When I was young, we had stop 379 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:05.839 signs downtown where the stoplights are now. My grandmother and 380 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:09.160 grandfather were born there, and I lived there for six decades. 381 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:11.559 In that town, it was the kind of place where 382 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.200 if you needed vegetables for supper, you went to a 383 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:16.839 neighbor's house who had a garden, took where you needed 384 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.279 and left the money on their front porch. We lived 385 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:22.599 there on the main street, but we were surrounded by 386 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:26.400 many forested acres. Three rivers ran through the town, and 387 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:29.359 we had a large field behind our house. There were 388 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.160 many fields throughout the town, and the other towns nearby 389 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:35.119 were of similar make up. There were also many farms 390 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.160 in the area and the neighboring towns as well. They 391 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:43.000 were very New England type towns, small, comfy and cozy. 392 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:45.400 When the children first came to live with us, both 393 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:48.240 my husband and I worked. He worked at the transit 394 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:50.240 company in a local city and I worked as a 395 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:53.079 pair ofalegal. My job was a total of a four 396 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:56.039 hour commute, two hours in the morning and two hours 397 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:58.640 at night. I would be gone from the house twelve 398 00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:01.359 hours a day, at a minimum. I often worked on 399 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:04.839 weekends too. My husband took a leave of absence from 400 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.960 his job and stayed home with the children for two 401 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.880