WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:11.800 I'm a retired police officer from Middle Tennessee with twenty 2 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:16.239 six years on the job. My strange encounter happened in 3 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:20.679 nineteen ninety when I was seventeen years old. My cousins 4 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:23.280 and I least seven hundred and fifty acres at a 5 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:28.120 place called Toddy's Bend. It was just a small country 6 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:31.160 road at the time with mostly farm land, and it 7 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:35.719 had riverfront property on the Duck River. My cousins and 8 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.439 I always deer hunted and fished together. We spent several 9 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.880 days at the property scouting and building deer stands to 10 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.679 hunt from. We had hunted the property for almost half 11 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:50.640 of the season with no luck. One day after school, 12 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.759 I decided to drive to the property and hunt until dark. 13 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:57.600 I was alone, but that never bothered me. The fact 14 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:01.560 is I always felt comfortable in a deer stand. I 15 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:04.359 drove on to the property through two different fields to 16 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:07.280 reach the old logging road that led to my deer stand. 17 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.400 It overlooked the river on my right. After I got 18 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.280 situated in my stand, I realized I had forgotten my 19 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:17.480 flashlight and walking out was going to be tricky in 20 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.239 the dark. While I was in the stand, I noticed 21 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:25.000 that no wildlife was moving about. No birds singing, no 22 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:29.239 squirrels hopping. Nothing. When it started to get dark, I 23 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.400 headed back to my truck because I didn't have my 24 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:35.280 flashlight with me. I started my journey out and I 25 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:39.799 heard something walking to my right. I couldn't see anything moving, 26 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:42.400 but when I walked, it walked, and when I stopped 27 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:46.599 to listen, it stopped too. I was halfway to my 28 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.719 truck when I noticed a horrible smell, like a wet 29 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:53.640 dog had been sprayed by a skunk. Now I hunted 30 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:57.920 with a semi automatic three to eight. I dropped the 31 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:00.560 gun to my waist and I was in the ready position, 32 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:04.200 safety off, the finger on the trigger, pointing the barrel 33 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:08.360 where the noise and smell were coming from. Whatever was 34 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.159 escorting me out of the woods accompanied me all the 35 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.840 way to the field where my truck was parked. As 36 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:16.960 I was getting into the driver's seat, I heard a 37 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.919 horrific screen that sounded like a terodactyl from the old 38 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:25.919 Godzilla movies of the nineteen seventies. I still hunt and 39 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:28.639 I fish every chance I get, but I have never 40 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:32.319 gone back to that property. Years later, there was a 41 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.719 man who worked in our county jail as a correctional officer. 42 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.280 He lived on the property adjacent to where my encounter happened. 43 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.400 I asked him one night if he had ever experienced 44 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:48.599 anything weird or inexplainable there. His response was, I have 45 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:56.240 no comment, and he changed the subject. In the early 46 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:58.919 nineteen eighties, my family and I lived in a big, 47 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:03.039 old house in a little town of Saint Leonard, New Brunswick, Canada. 48 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:06.199 It was a two story home built in the early 49 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.960 nineteen hundreds. My father bought it from a man who 50 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:14.080 was reluctant to sell it, but had no choice. My 51 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.960 father had done some renovations on the house, but mainly 52 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.520 on the first floor. The second floor he had left 53 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.039 it as it was. At the top of the stairs 54 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:27.280 there was a full bathroom, and left of that bathroom 55 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:30.759 was my parents' room, and down the hall was my bedroom, 56 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:34.639 and beyond that was my little brother's room. I was 57 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.479 a bit of a scaredy cat. I was young and 58 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:40.199 I was unable to sleep in the dark, so my 59 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:43.159 mother would leave the bathroom light on and my bedroom 60 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:48.439 door open. One night, I had awakened from a deep sleep. 61 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.039 I wasn't prone to waking up in the middle of 62 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:53.879 the night. At that age, it was more like something 63 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:57.159 woke me up. I looked down at my feet, and 64 00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:59.719 sitting on the foot board of my bed was a 65 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:05.840 hideous creature. It had white horns and large, yellow, bulging eyes. 66 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.599 It had long things that protruded from its mouth, and 67 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.639 its small hand had claws that seemed to be digging 68 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.319 into my footboard. Well, I screamed and jumped out of 69 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:21.360 my bed, and I ran to my parents' room, completely hysterical. Now, 70 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:24.519 my father was a man's man and didn't care for 71 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.279 this sort of behavior from his son, but when I 72 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:32.399 described what I had seen, he seemed concerned. My parents 73 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:34.680 turned on the light in my room and looked around. 74 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:38.360 My mother checked on my little brother, who was fine, 75 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:40.879 and I got to sleep with my parents that night, 76 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:46.079 something my father didn't usually permit. I was wary of 77 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.319 going to bed for a little while, but I never 78 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:52.040 saw it again. Years later, my parents told me they 79 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:55.759 were concerned when I described my nocturnal visitor because one 80 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:59.160 of my father's uncles described seeing the exact same thing 81 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:01.519 out in the woods. So it's a couple of months earlier. 82 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:04.759 Apparently there was a group of these sorts of creatures 83 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.879 that chased my great uncle out of the woods. They 84 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:11.639 terrified him and he died not long after that incident. 85 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:16.120 In nineteen ninety four, I was attending the University of 86 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.560 Maine at Fort Kent, and I had the honor of 87 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:24.120 knowing a man named Guy Freegan. He was a shaman 88 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:31.040 of the local First Nation tribe of the Malaseatsma l 89 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:35.560 I se t s mallaseats I believe I pronounced that correctly. 90 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:42.079 I'm always cautious about trying to pronounce people's names properly 91 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:45.639 because it's sometimes it hurts their feelings. I don't mean 92 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:48.639 to hurt anybody's feelings. It's just a phonetic thing with me, 93 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:52.519 and probably an accent and an area where I've been 94 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.480 raised where it's hard to even we don't even understand 95 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:00.560 each other. But mallaseats is I believe the word. Considering 96 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.120 that some members of my family are of First Nation's descent, 97 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.160 I decided to ask him about what my great uncle 98 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:11.839 and I saw. Mister Freegan listened to my story as 99 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:16.199 we sat in the student lounge at the UMFK. He said, well, 100 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:24.199 you saw I can't pronounce this bo love boogla demuche 101 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:29.399 boogola de mouche. Mister Fregan went on to tell me 102 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:33.000 that my great uncle had somehow offended them and that's 103 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.240 why they chased him out of the woods. He went 104 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:39.319 on to explain that they were similar to what Europeans 105 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:43.759 called elves or gnomes. He was uncertain as to why 106 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:46.319 one would have visited me, since I had nothing to 107 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:50.600 do with the offense my uncle committed. Mister Fregan guessed 108 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:55.120 that it may have since that I had shamanic abilities. 109 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.279 He went on to invite me to a sweat lodge 110 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:01.199 and that I would possibly get the chance to see 111 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:04.839 them again. Well, I shared mister Fregan that though his 112 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.639 invitation was generous, my faith wouldn't allow such a thing, 113 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:11.839 and I thanked him for the invitation though, and for 114 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:15.600 the wisdom that he imparted me, and I nor anyone 115 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.399 else in the family has ever encountered this sort of 116 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:26.800 being ever again. I was raised in a small farming 117 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:30.920 community in eastern Canada, and I lost my father in 118 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:34.279 my early teens, and was lucky enough that one of 119 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:37.199 his closest friends took it upon himself to be a 120 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:41.519 role model. He was a logger and would often take 121 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.199 me into the woods with him to repair his equipment 122 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.240 or just hang out in his shop on weekends in 123 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:51.680 summer holidays. Somewhere along the way, I mentioned to him 124 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:53.959 that I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after 125 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:58.360 high school, and he suggested that I become a forest technician. 126 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:02.759 In nineteen ninety one, I received a fresh off the 127 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:07.399 press forest technician diploma and took the first job offered 128 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:12.079 to me in Prince George, British Columbia. As forest texts. 129 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:15.199 It was our job to lay out cut blocks, cruise 130 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:20.480 the blocks checked for volume, health, tree heights, in species composition. 131 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:25.360 We also performed beetle probes, looking for spruce and pine 132 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:29.360 bark beetles that could decimate vast tracts of forests, and 133 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:35.679 silviculture surveys when the areas were replanted. My first incident 134 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:38.360 was when I was doing a beetle probe. I was 135 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:41.639 climbing a long slope upward to a lodge pole pine 136 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:45.519 stand when I crested a rocky knoll and I noticed 137 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:49.039 an odd structure off to my left. It was ten 138 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:53.440 or twelve small diameter pine trees, bent and curved and 139 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:57.480 intertwined with one another. By this time I'd been in 140 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.840 the woods for over a decade and had never before 141 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:04.759 seen this occur. Naturally, the trees were fifteen feet tall 142 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:09.000 and five inches in diameter. They weren't uprooted, but bent 143 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.000 and interlocked in such a way that it was permanent 144 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:17.159 and intentional. Whatever had done this had a massive arm span. 145 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:20.879 It must have been able to reason, and it possessed 146 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.240 enough intelligence to know that this feat could only be 147 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:26.960 accomplished in the spring of the year, when the sap 148 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:31.159 was running and the trees hadn't hardened off. There was 149 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:34.200 another time, in a different area of the forest, I 150 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:39.320 found a second one of these weird configurations. A while later, 151 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:41.919 I was performing a beetle probe again when I got 152 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.840 the distinct impression that I was being watched. It soon 153 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:50.279 escalated to animosity, as if I were trespassing on someone's 154 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:53.600 land and they didn't want me there. I took the 155 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.159 hint and got out of there as quickly as possible. 156 00:09:57.600 --> 00:09:59.679 There was another time when I was working with my 157 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:03.639 co oh walker J. I was busy taking notes while 158 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:07.519 he was performing my compassman. We had just finished our 159 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:10.639 plot and he was heading out on our bearing, dragging 160 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:15.519 our distance, measuring chain. When I heard him stop, I 161 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.240 looked up and saw that he was frozen. He was 162 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:22.960 shaking in fright. He slowly turned to my direction, and 163 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.440 his eyes were so wide I could see them bulging 164 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:29.320 out from twenty yards away. I got the same feeling 165 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:34.000 i'd felt before, only fifty times worse. The entire forest 166 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:38.399 around us had become dead, silent. There were no birds, insects, 167 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:42.240 nothing was making a peat. Even Jay and I were 168 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:46.600 holding our breath. I carefully made my way as silently 169 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:48.480 as I could to Jay, and I got him to 170 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.080 calm down, and I got us sight of that area 171 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:55.360 as fast as we could. This time was different, though, 172 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:59.960 as whatever was inducing the unnatural feel moved with us, silent, 173 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.840 bllantly stalking us. It took four hundred yards before the 174 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:09.320 feeling faded and the thing stalking us apparently satisfied that 175 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:14.399 we were actually leaving. The next incident I had was 176 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:18.679 when I was working with another coworker, Ka. We'd been 177 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.320 sent out to collect some extra tree heights from an 178 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:25.879 area that had already been worked. An hour into our workday, 179 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.039 K informed me that he'd forgotten his water bottle in 180 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.960 the truck, and since it was hot out and we 181 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:35.039 weren't far from the truck. He decided to scoop down 182 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:39.159 and get it. Fifteen minutes later, he came back in 183 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:42.519 a rush and abruptly informed me that we had to 184 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:46.159 get out of the woods, that a bear was stalking us. 185 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.159 I realized I had heard nothing, but I could smell something. 186 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.320 It was intense and musky with a hint of skunk. 187 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.559 Whatever had stunk up the air had deliberately moved up 188 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:02.360 when from our locations so that we could smell it. 189 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:04.960 It wasn't until much later that I remembered that I 190 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:08.519 had been around bears, both in captivity and in the wild, 191 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.720 and they smelled nothing like what I smell. That day, 192 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.080 I had a final encounter, and it happened on the 193 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:20.519 outskirts of Prince George. My friend T and I ended 194 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:23.320 up living in the same city for a while, and 195 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:27.159 one night neither of us could sleep. We decided to 196 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.799 head to the nearest twenty four hour gas station for 197 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:32.799 a couple of twenty ounce coffees and head out for 198 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:37.559 a late night drive. Both of us were stone cold, sober, 199 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:41.039 and were just attempting to kill some time. I was 200 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:44.519 driving my old F one fifty pickup puntering down a 201 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:48.720 secondary road well north of the city. The sky was 202 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.639 crystal clear, and we were about half an hour into 203 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:56.279 our drive, just talking and stargazing. It was then that 204 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:58.960 I caught an odd movement. Out of the corner of 205 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:02.840 my eye. There was a strange bright light off to 206 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:06.799 my left. T noticed that I was distracted and bent 207 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.320 over to peer through the truck's back window at whatever 208 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:14.320 had caught my attention. The bright light started performing impossible 209 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:19.639 aerial maneuvers. It was starting about making perfect ninety degree turns, 210 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:25.200 accelerating and stopping at random intervals. By this time, Ta 211 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:28.519 had his body half out of the truck's cab, his 212 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:32.440 butt perched on the window sill, watching this impossible aerial 213 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:36.559 acrobatic show, and then he started pounding on the roof 214 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:40.799 of the truck, shouting, go, go go. I looked to 215 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:43.159 my left just in time to see the bright light 216 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:48.159 start rapidly accelerating toward us. Te lowered himself back into 217 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:50.919 the cab and I boost off the gas pedal as 218 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.320 hard as I could. T shouted at me to shut 219 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:56.919 off the lights, and without thinking that's what I did. 220 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:00.600 We were tearing down an empty road. Go one hundred 221 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:04.480 miles an hour with the lights shut off. The only 222 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:06.600 thought I had was that we had to shake this 223 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:10.639 thing off. Our tail t gave me the all clear finally, 224 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:15.120 and I slowly let up on the gas. Thankfully, that 225 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:17.279 night there was a good moon out, but when I 226 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.200 finally turned the lights back on, we still took the 227 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.360 long way around to get back home. There was no 228 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:26.159 way in help we were going to chance running into 229 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.080 whatever that was. Again. I hope you enjoyed a few 230 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:36.159 pages of my life story. Sincerely, d all Right. I'm 231 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:39.679 going to drop a couple of archive podcasts from about 232 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.720 five years ago right here, So if you've heard them, 233 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:45.840 just go ahead and click away. But if you would 234 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:47.879 like to hear them again or you haven't heard them, 235 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.840 stick around. These are really good stories, and I hope 236 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:55.200 you enjoy it. I'm from Central Texas and they'll have 237 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:00.440 somehow always believed in bigfoot. I've never had any experience 238 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:03.840 is here that I was aware of. However, as I 239 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:06.360 get older, I think there were times when I may 240 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:10.200 have had experiences and didn't realize it. I want to 241 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:13.039 share with you what happened north of Nashville a few 242 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.919 years ago when I was working there. I went up 243 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.879 one summer for a big job and was fortunate to 244 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.919 have friends from my hometown who lived about thirty miles 245 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:25.879 from where I was working. They live on a big 246 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.720 hill way out in the country near the Kentucky border. 247 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:32.639 The driveway leading to their house ran along the creek 248 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:35.159 that ran through the holler, with a ridge line on 249 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:40.279 both sides. It was absolutely beautiful, surrounded by lush green 250 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:43.440 trees and the sight and sound of the babbling creek 251 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:47.879 over its rocky bed. I often went for walks or 252 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.440 a jog in the evenings when I wasn't too tired. 253 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:55.039 I had done so many times. When one evening, about 254 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.000 an hour before sunset, as I was walking on the 255 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:01.840 far ridge, I heard a woo. I thought I was 256 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:05.360 hearing things, And shortly after that, on the hillside next 257 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:08.360 to me, only a few hundred yards away, I heard 258 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:13.080 a clear and loud tree knock. I really started to think, 259 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.919 now was I hearing things? Was it some locals or 260 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:21.480 meth heads messing with me? I kept walking, my friend's 261 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:24.240 dog at my side as I tried to reason out 262 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.799 what I had heard. I'd gone another one hundred yards 263 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:31.120 when I heard another wool. What the hell, I thought, 264 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:34.799 and it was followed shortly by another wood knock, this 265 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:39.000 time on the fore hill. The dog had disappeared so 266 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:43.000 much for Man's best friend, I decided then it was 267 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.039 time to head back. I heard a few more knocks 268 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:48.720 and wolves before I got back to the house, but 269 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:52.879 none of them were closer than the others. I don't 270 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:55.679 know if they knew I was there. I don't think so. 271 00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:00.799 It was an extremely secluded, rough terrain covered in dick woods. 272 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:05.160 The one thing I'm absolutely certain of is that it 273 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:08.640 was not people I was hearing. I was staying in 274 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:12.079 my RV at my friend's place. From that night forward, 275 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:15.119 I always used my spot like to check before I 276 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:19.880 went outside. I never saw anything, but I did occasionally 277 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:23.119 feel like something was watching me or was close by. 278 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.880 I know this wasn't an actual sighting, but it was 279 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:29.559 enough to change me from being just a believer to 280 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:35.799 a knower. A few years ago, my wife and I 281 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:40.119 were invited to a dinner by old friends. The family 282 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.000 are Lds and have the tradition of inviting local Mormon 283 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:48.039 elders to their home on Tuesday nights for dinner. It 284 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:50.279 is a special treat for these young men who have 285 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:53.799 chosen to leave home for two years to spread their faith. 286 00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:57.960 Upon arriving, we were introduced to the two young elders. 287 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.279 The surprise for me was that one Elder Lux was 288 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:06.240 from Springhill, Louisiana, which is just ninety miles from my 289 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:10.720 hometown of Monroe. We had a genuinely nice hour or 290 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:14.200 so of visiting and talking about home. We had much 291 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:17.079 in common, even though he was in his early twenties 292 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:21.759 and I was in my early seventies. I asked Elder 293 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:24.400 Luck if he was born in spring Hill, and was 294 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:28.599 very surprised to find that he was originally from Falk, Arkansas, 295 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:33.119 which was forty one miles away. Of course, this immediately 296 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.640 prompted me to ask if he had ever seen the 297 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:39.200 Fouk Monster, which was featured in the seventies movie The 298 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:43.119 Legend of Boggy Creek and other books and newspaper articles 299 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:47.240 over the last many decades. Elder Lux replied that he 300 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:50.359 had not seen the creature, but that his father had 301 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:54.839 on two occasions years apart. As a very young boy, 302 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:58.440 he and his family, who lived alongside Boggy Creek, had 303 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:02.960 on a few occasions experience some strange and frightening moments 304 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:07.359 which they attributed to the creature. As our conversation was 305 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.319 getting into more detail, Elder Lux and his partner had 306 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:15.000 to leave because they had another engagement for church business 307 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:19.680 that night. We reluctantly set our goodbyes. Our friend and 308 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:24.039 host promised to have them over again. As the elders left, 309 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:28.519 I was wired and in full investigation and interrogation mode. 310 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:31.680 I had been aware of this creature for many years, 311 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:34.759 and my thirty plus years as a police officer had 312 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:38.000 me compiling a list of questions so I could obtain 313 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:42.079 more details at our next visit. That visit came a 314 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:45.079 couple of weeks later, when Elder Lux and his partner 315 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:49.319 revisited our friend's home to do some genealogy work with 316 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.359 the help of his wife. She runs the local LDS 317 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:57.799 Family Research Center. As she helped Elder Lux's partner, he 318 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:00.160 and I sat down and I got to ask more 319 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:04.640 questions about this time in falk. This is the story 320 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:09.799 of the first encounter of Elder Lux's father, William Bill Lux, Junior, 321 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:13.200 and a little information about the area they lived in 322 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:17.559 in their homes unique location. This description will help with 323 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.160 understanding the story of the second encounter of the creature 324 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:28.200 and finally the family's experiences. Elder Luxe's grandfather, Bill, moved 325 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:31.519 to Falc in the mid nineteen thirties and bought twenty 326 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:34.640 acres of land about three miles south of Falk on 327 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:39.720 Arkansas Highway seventy one. This was the main north south 328 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:45.160 route from Louisiana to Arkansas. The property was heavily wooded, 329 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:48.279 as was most of the land around Falc at the time. 330 00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:53.680 This thick forest area was interspersed with fields of beans, cotton, corn, 331 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:57.519 and other crops grown in that fertile area. The Lux 332 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:00.599 property was fronted by Highway seventy one one on the 333 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:05.240 west side. The north, east and south sides were heavily wooded. 334 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:09.640 Boggy Creek ran through the Lux's property east to west. 335 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:13.559 It flowed under the Highway seventy one bridge, which spanned 336 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:18.319 the creek and continued west to the Sulfur River. Mister 337 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:21.480 Lux built his home about three hundred feet north of 338 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.640 the creek and two hundred feet from the highway. It 339 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:27.759 is not known if mister Lux was aware of the 340 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:31.640 creek's connection to the fabled creature who used it to 341 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:36.160 traverse the country. It was nineteen fifty nine and mister 342 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:40.160 Lux Junior was eighteen years old and home on Thanksgiving 343 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:44.000 vacation from his local high school. That day in late November. 344 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.440 It was the day after Thanksgiving, in the first day 345 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:50.160 of deer season. Bill was hoping to get a little 346 00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:53.119 honting in that day, but his father had other plans. 347 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.519 Projects around the farm kept him busy until almost noon. 348 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:00.400 When he finished, He made a sandwich in s stuffed 349 00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:03.880 into his pocket of his hunting coat. He grabbed the 350 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.599 World War II surplus M one garand rifle he bought 351 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:11.240 from Sears and Robot for twelve dollars, and placed two 352 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:14.720 eight round M one charger clips into his hunting coat 353 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:18.240 pockets and grabbed a small thermos of coffee and then 354 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.720 threw it all into his old Ford truck. The three 355 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:25.359 family dogs had seen this scenario before and were looking 356 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:28.079 forward to the hunt the first of the season, but 357 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:31.240 Bill could not take them on this day. He was 358 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.640 already getting a late start, and dark came early in 359 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:38.400 the late fall, especially in the thick woods, this would 360 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.000 be a still hunt. It was chilly as he drove 361 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:46.400 towards his destination, an old pipeline cut that ran north 362 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:50.240 south through heavy woods about ten miles east of Bill's home. 363 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:53.559 Most of the leaves had been blown from the trees 364 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.519 by the cold winds. The grass was brown but still high. 365 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:00.799 On the pipeline. Bill had first he'd seen the cut 366 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:04.079 one summer when fishing from the highway bridge that crossed it. 367 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:07.319 He had noticed that several deer crossed it during the 368 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:10.319 hours while he fished. He had made a note to 369 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.960 give it a try come deer season. It was about 370 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:17.319 half past one pm when Bill reached the cut. He 371 00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:20.079 crossed the bridge and parked his truck off the highway. 372 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.119 He took out his rifle, grabbed his thermos, stuck it 373 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.079 in his hunting coat pocket, and crossed the road to 374 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:29.960 the north side of the bridge and looked over the cut. 375 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:32.640 It was much lower than it looked from the bridge. 376 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:36.279 It was about three hundred feet wide and miles long, 377 00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:40.920 disappearing into the distance. He understood why the oil companies 378 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:45.240 used small airplanes to inspect the cut and check for leaks. 379 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.519 Once on the flat ground of the cut, he loaded 380 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.039 his rifle with eight cartridges and began walking north away 381 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.039 from the highway. The stiff, knee high weeds and grass 382 00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:58.359 made quite a bit of noise as it rubbed against 383 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:02.119 his thick canvas hunting trail. He moved to the south 384 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.759 side of the cut, nearer the tree line, looking for 385 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:07.240 a good place to hold up and do his hunt. 386 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:09.880 About a half mile from the road, he found a 387 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:12.720 place where he could see easily in both directions, and 388 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:17.799 if necessary, safely fire back towards the highway. Bill could 389 00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.680 see well from his vantage point, about ten feet into 390 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.319 the brush off the side of the pipeline. It was quiet. 391 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:27.240 A wind high in the trees was rustling the leaves 392 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:31.039 that had not yet fallen. An hour passed, Nothing moved 393 00:24:31.079 --> 00:24:34.519 except an occasional car on the highway half a mile away. 394 00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:37.440 He ate some of his sandwich and drank a little 395 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.079 coffee to warm him up. He noticed the shadows of 396 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:43.920 the trees above him were getting longer as they moved 397 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:47.160 over and away from his side of the cut. It 398 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.039 was now near three point thirty pm. He had been 399 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:54.079 there two hours. He thought, I cannot wait much longer. 400 00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:56.480 It was getting cold, and he didn't want to be 401 00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:59.759