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Speaker 1: Okay. The writer's name is Todd, and here's what he writes,

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hold on to your weaves on. I got a strange

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story from Ohio to tell you. I hope someone who

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was in that campground that night, or who lives in

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the area and heard it, will remember the event and

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write in or comment. It happened at a campground with

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a lake just outside of Wilmington, Ohio, during the summer

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vacation of nineteen eighty three. I was almost eighteen and

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my girlfriend was seventeen at the time. Today, Becky and

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I have been married for thirty five years. That's cool, man.

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That's an awesome that I could end right there and

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just be happy for you. Todd, that's awesome. But let's

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get on with your story. The campground consisted of thirty

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to fifty permanent camsites for trailers in RV I think,

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and there was also an area to the west end

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for overnight tent campers. On the south side of the

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lake was some woods that wrapped around to the east

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and the west. There were forty yards of open area

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to the north side of the lake that reached down

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to a little beach area, with the rest of the

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north shore set aside for fishing access. We were there

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with my best friend, John, who was nineteen, and his girlfriend, Judy,

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who was twenty one, and as such was the designated

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purchaser of alcohol for our group. They've been married now

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for thirty six years. Oh man, that's another great. That's awesome.

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John and Judy thirty six years. That's great. Judy's dad

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and older brother had adjacent permanent camp sites at the campground,

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and since they were going to the races that weekend,

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the trailers were available. Because Becky and I were the

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only other couple in our little group of about a

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dozen friends, we were invited to join John and Judy

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for romantic weekend getaway. Judy worked at Stump's grocery store

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at the Forest Park Plaza, so we picked her up

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there on Friday night when she finished her shift. While

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we were there, we purchased the supplies that we would

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need for the weekend, and then we headed out. We

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arrived a couple of hours before sundown and set up camp.

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The campground was packed with activity. Kids were riding their

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bites on the gravel road that snaked its way through

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the park, people were walking their dogs, and men were

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riding around in their golf carts visiting neighbors. Several people

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stopped by to check up on Judy and ask about

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her dad and her brother. Off to the races was

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the standard reply. Soon we grilled our dinner and the

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girls had gotten the trailers ready for the night. After that,

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we all sat around the campfire, ring, swapping stories, enjoying

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each other's company, and relaxing to the sounds of the

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southern Ohio summer night. The bugs, the frogs, and the

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nighttime birds created a wondrous symphony of calming sound. A

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couple of hours after dark, we all decided it was

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time to turn in for the night. Before we went

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to bed, we had to tidy up our campsite, and

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John and I were churning the fire with a shovel.

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Went out of nowhere, and I mean like out of

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left field. We heard from way off in the distance

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what sounded like a woman's screaming, bloody murder. It was

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like her arms were being ripped from her body. John

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looked at me as if to say, man, what are

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we hearing. The girls came over with us with puzzled

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expressions on their faces. Twenty seconds into the scream. It

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changed to what sounded like a baby crying. That lasted

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for another twenty seconds, and then there was nothing. We

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could hear the normal night sounds all around us, but

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the screaming stopped. The other campers burst out into chatter,

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What was that? What the hell that? And a bounty

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of other anxious comments could be heard from every direction.

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We were certainly adding our share. The entire campground was

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a buzz with excitement and activity for another ten or

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fifteen minutes before everyone began to calm down and turn

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in for the night. We decided whatever it was, it

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was far enough away that it wasn't going to bother us.

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John and Judy took her parents' trailer, and Becky and

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I were in Judy's brother's trailer. Once inside, Becky and

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I were winding down, smoking a cigarette and having a

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pretty lively discussion about what had just happened. What exactly

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did you hear? She asked, and then before I could answer,

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she added, I heard a woman screaming in distressed. Then

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it changed into like a baby crying. Yeah, that's exactly

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what I heard. I said, Well, what do you think

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it was? I think it was a bobcat, she said, again,

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not letting me answer. You know they're still in Ohio. Well,

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I quickly answered, well, I don't know about that. Their

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mountain lines down in the Smokies, and with the warm weather,

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maybe one of them made its way up here into Ohio.

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We both pondered that for a moment before she asked,

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how did it cross the Ohio River? Then he crossed

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over the Brent Spence Bridge like everyone else. I quipped, Oh,

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you're funny. I suppose he did it during rush hour too,

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she exclaimed, as she threw her shirt at me. Well

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he did sound like one peste off cat, I laughed.

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We began to ponder again, and she climbed into bed.

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A stream of ideas came to me, and I said,

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you know, maybe some local has an exotic cat as

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a pet. Or we aren't too far from Cincinnati. Maybe

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some rich guy or Reds player, even better, a Bengals

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player bought themselves a big cat and it escaped. Her

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reply was wouldn't we have heard about that on the news? Well,

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not necessarily, I answered. If they didn't have the right

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perm to own an exotic pet and it escape, they

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wouldn't want to get into trouble, so they ain't gonna

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call anybody. Remember, Shannon, her family had to move to

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Michigan because Ohio passed that law where you have to

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have a permit to own exotic pets. Her family had

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those two cheetahs, but they didn't get the permits. Oh yeah,

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you're right, she said. Now get your butt in bed,

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now see there. Don't you feel better about it? And

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all I answered, returning a grin. Yes, come to bed already,

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she groaned. I had no sooner turned off the light

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when I heard the faint sound of a baby crying.

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I turned to Becky in and saw her eyes getting

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bigger and knew she was hearing it too. Before either

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of us could speak a word, the sound changed to

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the woman's screaming bloody murder. Again a cat. Remember it's

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just a cat, I spoke up quickly. It's a very

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big cat, she added from inside the trailer. The sound

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was faint, but we could still hear as it changed

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into something like a jungle cat's growl, and then it

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became more like a lion's roar, and then it changed

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yet again to what we have come to refer to

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as a mix of an angry King Kong versus Godzilla

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with eyes as big as saucers, and our jaws dropped

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to our chests. We stared at each other for what

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felt like an hour, but it was in reality only

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a few seconds. What the hell was that? Becky whispered.

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Before I could answer, the damn thing started up again.

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This time it started with the King Kong versus Godzilla roar,

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followed by a bear's roar. I burst out of our

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trailer to find John poking his head out of his

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The growl had already changed to that of a lion

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and now morphing into that of a jungle cat's growl.

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When it changed back into the screaming woman, John muttered,

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what is that? The sound faded back into that of

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a baby crying, and John came out to stand beside me.

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The campground was beginning to come to life again. Someone yelled,

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can someone shut that thing up? Someone else said, what

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is that? Further down still, another camper asked, did you

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hear that? Standing outside? It sounded louder and closer than

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when we heard it earlier that night, though it still

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seemed to be coming from the same general direction, which

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was southwest of the campgrounds. We stood there for several seconds,

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lost in thought as we anticipated the next sound. How

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far away do you think it is? John asked, startling

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me back to reality. And do you have any ideas Sherlock?

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He added, before I could answer. Well, sarcastically calling me

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Sherlock was a running gag between us, brought on by

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my frequent use of the phrase elementary, my dear Watson elementary.

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But this time he sounded nervous. Back in. I thought

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it might be a big cat, like a bobcat, or

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a mountain lion, told him a mountain lion in Ohio.

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I was sure he was going to add or you nuts,

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but I cut him off by adding, or it could

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be someone who owns a big cat, Remember Shannon. He

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looked puzzled for a moment before remembering and saying, oh, yeah,

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the girl with the cool looking jungle cats. They were cheetahs,

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I corrected him. Have you ever heard anything like that before?

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Those parts that sound like a bear, I mean the

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big gorilla or something, he asked. I noted a bit

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of quiver in his voice. It was a regular king Kong,

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I said. Unwilling to give a direct answer, we snapped

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our heads back to the southwest as the baby crying

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sound started up again. The depth and duration of the

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calls was unbelievable. It wasn't like it was one sound,

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take a breath, and then another. It was one continuous,

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deep call, lasting anywhere from fifty seconds to two minutes,

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transforming from baby to woman to animal and one breath.

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The long capacity of whatever was out there had to

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be massive, and the range was incomprehensible. John and I

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stood there looking at each other mentally repeating the same question.

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Everyone was asking what was this thing? It still sounded

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like it was pretty far off in the distance. I

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was guessing around five to ten miles away. Alarming, yes,

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but I didn't feel like we were in any danger.

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That's why John's next statement caught me off guard. Man,

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we have shotguns in the trailers and spotlights if we

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need them. Let me show you where yours are in

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the trailer. We went inside and he showed me where

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the shotgun and box of shells were, and then he

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pulled out a spotlight and we made sure the battery

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was working. It was one of those old nineteen sixties

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handheld lights made with the VW Beetle headlight attached to

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a metal battery box that had a handle on it.

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I don't remember the gauge of the shotgun, but I

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do remember that it held five shells and it was

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a pump action. John, Becky and I then went outside

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and stood for twenty minutes. It had been half an

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hour or more since we last heard its call when

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John broke the silence with well, I'll see you guys

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in the morning. Goodnight. Hey, I'm only a year younger

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than you, old man, I replied. John turned and went

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back to his trailer with a smile on his face.

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When we went back inside, Becky peppered me with questions

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about what John and I thought it was. I'm not

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sure how long we stayed up, but I can say

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one thing for sure, the night no longer had any

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romantic feeling. I don't know how long it was until

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we heard it again, but I would venture to guess

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it was around an hour later when King Kong started

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up again. By the time it had worked its way

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to the Jungle Cat, I was out the door with

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my shoes on, a shotgun in one hand and the

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spotlight in the other. It was no longer just a

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faint sound inside the trailer. Outside it was even louder,

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and now it sounded like it was just across the lake.

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John was out his door almost as fast as I was,

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and he was wearing his shoes and carrying his gun

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and his light as well. The whole campground seemed to

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be awake, and people were coming out of their trailers

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in r OF's and gathering in small groups. John and

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I walked down to the road as the call wound

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down to the baby crying. That sounds just like it's

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across the lake, John said, confirming my earlier thought. We

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were standing at the edge of the road closest to

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the lake, where there was mostly open field. The woods

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across the lake were silent as a grave. Gone was

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the music of the night dwellers. The insects, the frogs,

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in any other wildlife all seemed to be holding their

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collective breath. We could hear the people from the campground

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behind us talking and opening and closing doors, and after

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a few minutes, a couple in their thirties and a

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man in his fifties joined us where we stood. We

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formed a little group and made our introductions, and then

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quickly turned our conversation to the same questions we'd all

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been asking for hours. Another man walked past us and

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called to us, it's a banshee. Man, I tell you,

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it's a banshee. We all chuckled nervously but swallowed our laughter.

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When all hell broke loose across the lake. The baby

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crying started again, followed by the cracking of wood. It

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sounded like a bulldozer was tearing through that timber. In

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my lifetime I have heard and seeing deer, elk, moose,

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and bears crashed through the forest. Nothing, and I mean nothing,

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even come close to the cracking of wood that we

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heard that night. John and I spun around and flipped

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on our life. As the call changed from the baby

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crying to the woman screaming. We could clearly see the

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trees and bushes shaking, but we couldn't see what it

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was making the commotion. It was coming from the southwest

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and heading east. By the time the call had made

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its usual gamut of jungle cat to lion to bear

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to King Kong versus Godzilla, it had made it halfway

240
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to the bottom stretch of the lake. The guy who

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walked by with the bansheeth theory ran past us at

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a dead sprint back to its trailer. Oh God, that's funny. Okay,

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I'm not laughing or ridiculing anyone. Just want to be

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clear there. I just thought that sentence was funny. I

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do have a sense of humor. We could still see

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the trees and bushes swaying back and forth as the

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thing made its way to the east side of the lake.

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The woman in our little group said to no one

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in particular, my god, what is that thing? And then

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as an afterthought, she added, and what are we going

251
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to do about it? It wasn't screaming anymore, but we

252
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could still see it crashing through the woods. It was

253
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halfway to the road that dead ended in the woods

254
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on the east side of the lake, but there it

255
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could easily run up the east side road about one

256
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hundred yards or so, right into the campground. We were

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all sizing up the situation and formulating possible outcomes. Not

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more than a year before that night, I had watched

259
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the movie Rambo. Furthermore, I was a big fan of

260
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Billy Jack movies from the nineteen seventies. As if that

261
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wasn't enough, I saw myself as a hoodlum from the

262
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main streets of Dayton, Ohio. So it should come as

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no surprise that I was thinking John and I should

264
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head over to the east side road, cut this thing

265
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off at the past, and teach it a lesson by

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feeling it full of lead. I was just about to

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make that very suggestion when John said, I don't know

268
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about you, guys, but we're getting the hell out of

269
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here now. The rest of us were so startled by

270
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John's words that we just stood there dumbfounded as he

271
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walked away. A second later, we sprung into action, each

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of us heading back to our respective trailers. I didn't

273
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catch up with John until we were almost to the trailers,

274
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and the girls were dressed and standing outside, and they

275
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were waiting for us. Get the stuff, pat girls, he barked,

276
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We're out of here. They were way ahead of us.

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All we had to do was put away the guns,

278
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lock up the trailers, and jump in the car and go.

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It must have taken us a good twenty minutes to

280
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get out of the campground because of the traffic, it

281
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looked more than half of the campers were heading home.

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We kept a watchful eye on the East Road as

283
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we sat in the long line of cars but nothing

284
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ever came out of the woods. Once we'd answered all

285
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the girls questions, the ride home was pretty quiet. We

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never heard anything about it on the news, and after

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a week or so, the frenzied questions and the retelling

288
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of the story to our group of friends died down.

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Over the years, beck and I have shared this story

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with various new friends that we've met. A couple of

291
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weeks ago, I shared a Dixie Cryptid video with Becky

292
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and she suggested that i'd send the story. So here

293
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it is, and we're sticking to it. There were a

294
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lot of people in that campground that night, and a

295
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lot of them left. Not to mention all the people

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who lived in a twenty square mile radius of the campground.

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We would love to hear from anyone who experienced those

298
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strange calls in the summer of nineteen eighty three. And

299
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one other thing. I often wonder what would happen that

300
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night if I had spoken up first with my Billy

301
00:17:49,799 --> 00:17:56,440
Jack plan. I guess we'll never know, Thank goodness, Oh man,

302
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what a great story. Nobody was heard. Everybody was just scared,

303
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and you heard a really unique sound. I mean, it

304
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sounded like it went on all Night Todd, But I

305
00:18:08,279 --> 00:18:10,720
don't know what else to say about this story. He's

306
00:18:10,759 --> 00:18:14,839
this man obviously has a sense of humor, unlike some

307
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of the really curmudgeon bigfoot people in the bigfoot community.

308
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But this guy has a sense of humor and he

309
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can laugh. He can actually laugh at himself. And I

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love these kind of stories. I really appreciating I really

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appreciate him sending it folks. I have Will Jevining and

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his sidekick Tom on the line, and we're going to

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ask them some questions and just dive right into Instead

314
00:18:42,839 --> 00:18:45,839
of this being one long interview, we're going to take

315
00:18:46,519 --> 00:18:49,640
specific topics and give them five to ten minutes to

316
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discuss it, and we're gonna chop those up and put

317
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those in podcasts with stories throughout the month. And I'm

318
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really excited about this because sometimes these interviews go so

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long that people tend to drop off after thirty or

320
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forty five minutes. So what I want to do is

321
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try to mix up a little bit of authentic stuff

322
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and then put some of my bullcrap at the end.

323
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That's what so to kind of give my podcast just

324
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a little bit more of a serious tone and so

325
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that you can hear from people who actually study these things,

326
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which I don't. Will and Tom, thank you for joining us.

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Speaker 2: Well, Hi everybody, and Cam, I sure appreciate it. It's

328
00:19:29,559 --> 00:19:32,559
a real honor. Tom is coming back on in a minute.

329
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He had to reboot his computers having some issues. All

330
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you are here, Yeah, yeah, I'm on, So Cam, thanks

331
00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:40,559
again and really appreciate it.

332
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Speaker 1: And hello to everybody out there.

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Speaker 2: This is actually it's kind of a treat for us.

334
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This is something different and it's going to be a

335
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lot of fun.

336
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Speaker 1: Yeah, it should be fun and we'll see how it goes,

337
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,440
and I think it'll people will love hearing from you.

338
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So let's dive into what people want to hear. And here,

339
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let me just real briefly say this. My videos and

340
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,799
podcas has get twenty or thirty thousand views, and I

341
00:20:02,799 --> 00:20:06,279
would say probably thirty percent of those are people who

342
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are interested in the Bigfoot topic, and the other sixty

343
00:20:11,039 --> 00:20:14,960
or seventy percent are people who just enjoy stories and

344
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this is a bit for them. This is for people

345
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,720
to learn a little bit about what people have learned

346
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and studied really throughout their whole lives and they're actually

347
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consumed with the study of this creature. And I want

348
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you to hear what some people have found. So let's

349
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get started. I put out a community post today I

350
00:20:36,079 --> 00:20:38,960
ask people for questions. I was trying to get five,

351
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and we have I think we have one hundred and

352
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,480
fifty responses. So thank you to the audience for doing that.

353
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,519
That's very nice of you. One question that pops up

354
00:20:51,559 --> 00:20:53,799
over and over, and I was reluctant to ask Will

355
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:59,160
and Tom this question is that this Nephelm theory are

356
00:20:59,279 --> 00:21:04,119
the Bigfoot the Nephilum from the Old Testament. And I

357
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,160
was a little apprehensive to ask that because I think

358
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I know just the hot points of Will's opinions on

359
00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,720
some of these things based on experience in his study.

360
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But he's more than willing to talk about this and

361
00:21:16,279 --> 00:21:20,240
I appreciate it. So Will and Tom, you guys, let

362
00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:22,880
us know what you think about the Nephilum theory.

363
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,319
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I get asked that pretty often myself,

364
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,440
and I tell people know. And the reason they tell

365
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,920
him know is because when you go back, I mean,

366
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you have to take a look at the King James Bible.

367
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,680
It's actually kind of a watered down version of previous

368
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writings that they put into that. Now if you go

369
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to Ivan Sanderson's book. Ivan Sanderson was a zoologist. For

370
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those who don't know who he was. He wrote a

371
00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,240
book called The Bottle of Stone, Manlage and Come to Life,

372
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published in nineteen sixty one. Even a book that old,

373
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it has some great information in it. And in the

374
00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:01,119
chapter seventeen, actually page three seventy nine, there's a couple

375
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,039
of paragraphs that address this specifically. So you know, pardon

376
00:22:05,079 --> 00:22:06,799
me if I butcher this a little bit, and some

377
00:22:06,839 --> 00:22:09,160
of the pronunciations, I'm not even gonna try. Maybe I'll

378
00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,079
spell the name, but it says in here Nephelim is

379
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,160
often translated giants. But the commentators, and this was written

380
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:18,759
by a Jewish scholar by the way, who was a

381
00:22:18,799 --> 00:22:21,680
friend of Sanderson's and let him put it in a book,

382
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,440
the commentators tell us that they were so called because

383
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:29,200
men would fall, and the word nephelim, the first part

384
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,400
of that is nofel n oph e l, and that

385
00:22:32,559 --> 00:22:35,160
means they would fall in their faces with fright at

386
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,559
the sight of them. So it wasn't actually giant, it

387
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,400
was it was the appearance and the actual behavior that

388
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:47,160
they would do. So then it goes into some other abbreviations.

389
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,519
I'm not sure what they are. But then they talk

390
00:22:49,599 --> 00:22:55,519
about the Gibbraum GiB or m were later on referred

391
00:22:55,559 --> 00:22:59,039
to as the Gibbori and I'm not even going to

392
00:22:59,079 --> 00:23:02,920
try to pronounce this a y i D and are

393
00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:06,720
reputed to have been as tall as a tree in

394
00:23:06,799 --> 00:23:10,599
contrast to the shambling Nephlom. So we have two different

395
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:15,680
types of beings here. The second one, the jiroal t

396
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,359
s A y i D means the mighty ones of

397
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,880
the hunt, so they were not the nephylum. Our main

398
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,599
concern here must be, however, the rest of the creatures

399
00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:28,960
who terrified the Israelites during the exodus, during Egypt and

400
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,039
their period of wandering in the Sinai desert. These were

401
00:23:32,079 --> 00:23:35,200
the shidiam S h e I d i M or

402
00:23:35,319 --> 00:23:38,920
the destroyers who had been known to the patriarchs Abraham

403
00:23:39,039 --> 00:23:44,400
Isaaca Jacob Jacob as the serum or the hairy ones.

404
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,279
So we're talking about two completely different things. And there's

405
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,559
in other passages they talk about, you know, the nephylum,

406
00:23:52,599 --> 00:23:55,559
and they had actually specific measurements of beds, I mean

407
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,519
beds like men slept in things like that, and the

408
00:23:58,519 --> 00:24:02,559
other creatures are something entirely different. So when people refer

409
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,839
to the Sasquatch as the four or the descendants of

410
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,559
the Nephilum, they're not. If you look at the context

411
00:24:09,599 --> 00:24:11,880
of these ancient writings, it.

412
00:24:11,599 --> 00:24:14,039
Speaker 1: Doesn't make sense to me. I'm not that well versed

413
00:24:14,039 --> 00:24:16,880
in the Old Testament. I'm kind of a New Testament guy.

414
00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,599
I probably should be more so, but the New Testament

415
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,240
seems to be more pertinent to this day in time

416
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:25,680
or to what I need to pay attention to. However,

417
00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:28,680
even when I did read the Old Testament, I just

418
00:24:28,759 --> 00:24:31,039
kind of skipped over some of that stuff because it

419
00:24:31,079 --> 00:24:33,880
was like, I don't even understand what this is. So,

420
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,480
but that's a that's a great explanation, and I so

421
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,680
you tend to line up with his way of thinking

422
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:42,799
on that, I would assume.

423
00:24:43,519 --> 00:24:47,000
Speaker 2: I think it's a more correct assumption, and that's what

424
00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:49,960
Sanderson is doing. You're saying, well, look, you know, on

425
00:24:50,039 --> 00:24:54,079
one hand, you have the Nephilum, and you have also

426
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:58,119
these other creatures who more closely resemble what we're talking

427
00:24:58,160 --> 00:24:59,880
about out in the forest today.

428
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,160
Speaker 1: That leaves the possibility open that it is an ancient species.

429
00:25:05,079 --> 00:25:07,599
Speaker 2: Very much so. In fact, I've got plenty of Native

430
00:25:07,599 --> 00:25:10,000
American friends who've told me point blank that the creatures

431
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,039
were here before their people came to the lands that

432
00:25:13,079 --> 00:25:14,559
they settled on the continent.

433
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,640
Speaker 3: A few years ago, I had the opportunity to talk

434
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:25,519
with John Bendernagel, obviously before he died, was with a

435
00:25:25,559 --> 00:25:29,880
Ouiji board, and when in our conversation I asked him

436
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,640
with the most convincing evidence he felt was in support

437
00:25:32,759 --> 00:25:37,200
of the existence of Bigfoot, and he cited footprints. I

438
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,400
can't argue with him, especially those prints that show dermal ridges.

439
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,119
But I do have a question about the fact that

440
00:25:43,599 --> 00:25:47,119
some of the plaster casts I've seen are squared off toes,

441
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,079
some have an offset big toe. In the South they

442
00:25:51,079 --> 00:25:56,119
only have three toes. What is that about? Why why

443
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,400
are there so many different foot formations.

444
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:00,519
Speaker 2: I have to tell you, I'm not real sure about

445
00:26:00,519 --> 00:26:04,440
this three toad stuff. In fact, even even in the

446
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,480
movie The Legend of Boggy Creek, where they incorrectly stated

447
00:26:08,599 --> 00:26:10,759
in one point there was some tracks that were three

448
00:26:10,799 --> 00:26:14,279
toad I know somebody who was actually there and helped

449
00:26:14,279 --> 00:26:16,720
film that, and he said, the tracks are actually five

450
00:26:16,759 --> 00:26:21,000
toad prints. Yeah, most of the time they're five toad

451
00:26:21,039 --> 00:26:22,799
now what you're seeing some of that. Now, there's going

452
00:26:22,839 --> 00:26:26,400
to be two things going on their variation within the species.

453
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,240
So like with humans, no two are identical, you know

454
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,359
what I mean. So, and a good example is that

455
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,839
if you've ever tried to wear somebody else's shoes, how

456
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:38,680
uncomfortable they feel because their feet are slightly different shaped

457
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:44,119
and wear differently. Then there are some subcategories of creatures.

458
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:49,359
And what I was told by sirs, they can't reveal

459
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,599
that there were there were two main groupings, and for

460
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,519
the sake of conversation, we'll call him group A and

461
00:26:54,559 --> 00:26:57,839
group b uh, And then there were two subgroupings in

462
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,440
each one of those. So you're going to get some variations.

463
00:27:02,319 --> 00:27:04,519
And it makes sense if you've got a breeding population

464
00:27:04,559 --> 00:27:07,799
over a large region, let's say the United States in Canada,

465
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:14,000
there are geographical barriers to keep, you know, one one

466
00:27:14,079 --> 00:27:17,920
regional group from interbreeding with another one. So over time

467
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,920
and evolution, there's some different changes that occur. So, and

468
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,000
you see with other animal species.

469
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,440
Speaker 3: So well that leads to another question. Then, so you're

470
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:35,799
saying there are roughly four subspecies of bigfoot, four groupings, Yeah, okay,

471
00:27:35,839 --> 00:27:37,680
and what are those? I mean, can you use.

472
00:27:37,559 --> 00:27:40,839
Speaker 2: There a name for them, Well, I call them, and

473
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,480
people have sort of latched onto it since then. I

474
00:27:44,559 --> 00:27:47,960
called there's two. The two groups in species Group A

475
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,200
would be the Type one and Type four. The Type

476
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:52,799
one is what you see in the Patterson film and

477
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,720
the Type four is more like what you'd see in

478
00:27:55,799 --> 00:28:00,400
pictures with the Minnesota iceman. And what what I why

479
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,200
they're in that category is based on their teeth. Primarily,

480
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,519
the teeth have no canines there. They're blocky similar ours,

481
00:28:09,799 --> 00:28:12,880
but there's some size differences and some other configurations that

482
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:16,440
are different between those two groupings. Then the other side

483
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:18,880
of the house, the let's say the A this is

484
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,319
the A grouping and the B grouping, which predominantly in

485
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:28,640
the South, and the Type two. They have very prominent canines.

486
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:30,599
They look a lot like the ones you see in

487
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,240
the Patterson film, but they're more often or as often

488
00:28:34,279 --> 00:28:36,400
as they are bipedally. They're moving in all fours and

489
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,160
they're more you'll see more in groupings. And then there's

490
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,480
the other one that has actually kind of a baboon face,

491
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,759
almost a snout, and that one resides primarily along the

492
00:28:46,759 --> 00:28:49,200
Mississippi River drainage basin that's a type three.

493
00:28:51,039 --> 00:28:53,839
Speaker 3: Is that the one that they do? Some people call

494
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,680
it a gugwy or a gugway.

495
00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,279
Speaker 2: Probably, yes, Well, are you familiar.

496
00:28:58,559 --> 00:29:00,839
Speaker 3: That's a new term to me. I have no idea

497
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,160
what that is, to be honest with you. I mean,

498
00:29:03,279 --> 00:29:08,000
I honestly, I've seen some researchers group it with Dogman

499
00:29:08,079 --> 00:29:11,759
and others research it. I'm sorry, not research it, group

500
00:29:11,799 --> 00:29:16,559
it with it's bigfoot, And I have no idea.

501
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:23,480
Speaker 1: It's pretty vicious, that's the that's the creature everybody writes

502
00:29:23,519 --> 00:29:26,640
the fictional books about, right.

503
00:29:28,599 --> 00:29:31,599
Speaker 3: I think gugway means space eater, right, But that's an

504
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:33,440
Algonquian term, I think.

505
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,599
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, if you can take a creature and

506
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,920
make him main and you have to kill him and

507
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:41,000
he's the villain, that's always a big seller.

508
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:42,799
Speaker 3: So yeah, it is

