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Speaker 1: This happened in the early nineteen seventies in the small

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town of Piedmont, Missouri. There was extensive news coverage at

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the time. It began when we all started seeing lights

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in the sky. One was a huge ball, but it

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was too far away to gauge how big it was.

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Each night, we could all go to the highest point

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in our town and see the events unfold. We would

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watch as smaller balls of light drop from beneath a

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huge ball. There would be fifteen to twenty that would

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come out and then zip around in all directions, heading

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off to who knows where. Then sometime later, maybe fifteen

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or twenty minutes, they'd all start coming back, first a

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couple and then a few more. We started calling the

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big ball the mother ship. If the smaller bass sailed

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over our local radio station, it would go off the air.

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There was a lake about five miles from town, and

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they were seen coming out of that. These things were

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all over the place, but we never understood their interest

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in our town. One night, as we were coming back

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into town, we decided to drive through it and turn

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around at the feed store a couple of miles on

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the other side. As I was pulling into the parking lot,

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we suddenly saw a huge object floating up from the

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field behind it. We all jumped out of the car

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to see what it was. This thing was almost as

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big as the field that it was rising from. It

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had a dim glow, so we could see that it

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was round. There were portholes all around with different colored lights.

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I tried my best to see what was inside, but

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I couldn't see anything. It was completely silent. We watched

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as it floated above the telephone poles, and then, with

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lightning speed, it took off and was gone in three seconds.

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Shortly after that we moved to Kentucky, so we've never

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seen any other events. My mother, however, just told me

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a couple of years before she died of something she

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had witnessed. It wasn't long before her husband passed away.

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She had been visiting my brother and was in her

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car heading home when she saw something in the sky

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she could not identify. She had to stop and take

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a look. She said it was a see through like

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cling wrap, but floating and moving like a flag wood.

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It didn't seem to be in a hurry. It just

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moved slowly across the sky. We could never decide what

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it could be, but it was definitely something. If anyone

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knows what this thing might be, please comment. I don't

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even know what to call it. I would love to

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know what it is. I wanted to share these stories

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with you and the audience, and I hope you've enjoyed

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reading it. You may use my name and you can

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interview me if you like. Best regards, Anita. I stumbled

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across Dixie Cryptid on YouTube about a month ago, and

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I thoroughly enjoy what people are willing to share about

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their experiences with Bigfoot. I'm amazed at how much information

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is out there on this creature, and I'm intrigued by it.

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In fact, I've been intrigued by it since nineteen seventy eight,

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when I had my one and only experience. At that time,

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I was fifteen years old. So here we go, all right,

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here we go. Back around nineteen seventy seven or seventy eight,

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I was spending an October weekend at my dad and

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uncle's hunting camp near the south shore of Lake Superior

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in the north central Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The camp

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was built by my great grandfather. As usual, there were

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a bunch of guys at camp, including my dad, my uncle,

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my grandfather, and their hunting partners. All of these men

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were World War II, Korean War in Vietnam vets. They

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were big and strong and fearless outdoorsmen. When you shook

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their hand, you knew you had a hold of something.

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Our camp included two hundred and fifty acres of heavily

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wooded and rugged land. Our neighbors to the east and

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north of us owned a couple of thousand acres, also

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the same terrain and woods. My father and my uncle

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were hosting our annual woodcutting bee for the upcoming November

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deer season and winter snowshoe hair season. I loved the

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autumn up there, with the crisp bear and the colors

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and the smells. Sunday morning of that weekend was spectacular.

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As usual, Grandpa had made a hearty breakfast like only

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his generation could make. Now I needed to walk it off,

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and I asked Dad if I could go grouse and

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squirrel hunting before we started on the wood. He gave

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me two hours before I had to be back, so

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I loaded up my shotgun, put on my orange hat

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off down the camp road. Back then, the area was

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extremely remote, with only one country road. Our camp was

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a mile down a two rut road. Off the country road,

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I swung south of the camp road and up into

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the hills that were covered with oak and sugar maple

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and poplar. I was hoping to jump a rough grouse

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and maybe bag a couple of big gray squirrels. I

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had walked the land with Dad and Grandpa often, and

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I knew the lay of it. I had a compass

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pen to my hunting vest in case I got turned around.

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There was no such thing as cell phones to call

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for help in those days, and back then I was

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a tall and skinny kid. I was six foot one,

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but I could put the miles under my feet and

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I still can. About halfway into the hills, I decided

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to take a break in my uncle Charlie's seat in

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an area we called the big Ravine. And as I

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sat on the side of the ravine, I could hear

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something coming behind me. Well, I swung around in my

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seat and I got my shotgun ready, and over the

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hill came a red fox at a dead run. He

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came within twenty feet of me. Well, I didn't want

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to shoot the fox, so I just watched him slink

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through the forest. It was really cool and I couldn't

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wait to tell the guys what I had seen, And

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then I wondered what had spooked the fox, as there

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was nobody around for miles or so. I fought. Twenty

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minutes went by, and I felt rested enough to turn

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back north and walk over to a stand where I

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had seen a black bear while hunting recently. For about

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two weeks, I'd been baiting bear with fish scraps and

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such that I'd obtain from a local fish market in town.

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I figured it'd be a great bear bait and bring

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them in, and it worked. My intent was to see

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if I needed to replenish my bait bucket, which hung

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about six feet off the ground, and the bait stand

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with more fish and snacks, and so off I went.

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I used another two rut road on the property my

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Grandpa maintained for walking. It was quiet walking because the

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forest had melted off the leaves and the ground was

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damp on the road, and I walked silently to my

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bear stand. I knew the route that I was taking,

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and as I walked over the hip of a small

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knoll where my stand was located, I could see the

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bait bucket had been pulled down. Well. This was a

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good sign because bear were the only animal that could

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reach up and snap the rope the bucket was hanging from. Furthermore,

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I could smell something sour, which I figured was a bear.

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But black bear are nearly always nocturnal, and they only

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come out just before dark and then they disappear before dawn.

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Big bears get big for this reason. I climbed up

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over the hip of the knoll and I moved silently

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in the damp leaves, and then I saw something big,

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black and hairy over the bucket, laying on the ground.

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It was on all fours. My first thought was, holy smoked,

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that is really a big bear. And in broad daylight

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I could hear it rummaging around, which is why it

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probably hadn't heard me coming. Its hair and fur was

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kind of shiny. I wasn't thinking about anything but bear

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at that point, and I wished I had more than

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my twenty gauge pump with me. All of a sudden,

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this thing stopped what it was doing and it lifted

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its head to look around. Well, I'd positioned myself to

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shoot if I had to, should the bear charge me, Well,

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this thing was huge. I had a good view of

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the back inside of his head, and I was wondering

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why his or her head was shaped pointy. It looked

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left and then right, and then was facing away from me.

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If I'd had my dear rifle with me, that would

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have been one dead bear with a funny shaped head

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like that. Grandpa would have bawled me out if I'd

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have shot that bear and hauled me back to camp.

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And then I thought, man, this thing stinks. And then

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this thing must have sensed me, but it didn't know

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where I was. I was only fifty feet away, and

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all of a sudden, it took off on all fours

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directly away from me, and I was thinking, what in

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the hell is this thing? It ran like a cheetah

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from the TV series Doc Torre. Bears don't run like that.

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Not spend enough time in the woods to know this. Anyway,

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I was standing there in amazement until I couldn't hear

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it running any longer. I wasn't the least bit scared.

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I was armed, and I knew Dad and the guys

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were at camp, so if I didn't show up on time,

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they'd come looking for me. There's no way anything could

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face those combat bats down and lift tell about it.

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I started my walk back to camp as my time

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was up, and I had a good mile to walk

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and I could make it back in time. And in

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a quarter mile I made it back to the road

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and I wanted to be on that led back to

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the camp. But off to my east in the wood,

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I could hear something walking parallel with me. It would

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walk when I did, and it would stop when I stopped.

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This went on for three hundred yards. Whatever it was

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seemed like it was about forty yards out, and at

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one point I stopped and squatted down to peer under

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the brush, and I couldn't see it, And when I

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was about three hundred feet from camp, I couldn't hear

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it anymore. In fact, I heard a chainsaw startup, which

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would have been the guys getting ready to start cutting wood. Well,

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I told the guys what I had experienced the fox

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and the funny looking running bear on my walk back,

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and they listened to me intently, but we had work

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to do, and so the weekend went on. I had

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forgotten about my experience for years until the subject of

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bigfoot sisquatch came on the news. More and more. I

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hope you share my story. It happened just as I

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wrote it. I know what I saw and experienced it.

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I grew up in showing the outdoors, hunting and fishing

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as much as I could, probably at the expense of

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my high school GPA at times. When I left high school,

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I went into the United States Army as an airborne

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light infantryman in two different units. I was in the

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battalion scout platoon, which in a light battalion is something

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you have to be selected for. We spent a whole

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lot of time in the woods and small teams, trying

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to remain hidden and silent in the course of our duties.

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Every now and then, especially in Alaska, I would hear

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or see something that I couldn't place, but I was

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never thinking about sisquatch. It was not until after the

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Army that I became suddenly aware that something else was

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out there. My Army career ended at fifteen years of

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active duty. I was a senior in CEO, but I

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was stuck and recruiting and it was killing me. I

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long for the days of leading soldiers in the field

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and not trying to survive in the recruiting command from

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day to day. We moved from Maine to our last

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duty station, where I earned the right to be a hunting, fishing,

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and recreation guide. I say earn the right because to

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be a registered main guide is a bit of an ordeal.

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You can't just hang out a sign and start a business.

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The licensing process is thorough. You have to demonstrate you

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are a capable outdorsement and leader. The main woods can

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be a dangerous place, and the Department of Inland Fisheries

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and Wildlife are careful about who should or who should

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not be taking people into the wilderness. It was a

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great opportunity, but after the economic turndown of two thousand

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and eight, I struggle to keep things going for a

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few years. I ended up landing a great job with

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the federal government. Though I certainly don't spend as much

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time outside now as I would like to. I'm a

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lifelong outdoorsman who has probably spent a whole lot more

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time in the wilderness area than many of the keyboard

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skeptics who insist that we all must be crazy for

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believing in Sasquatch. I'm not just a believer. I'm a knower.

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My wake up call came in the main bear season

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of two thousand and nine. I was guiding an area

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just northeast of Bald Mountain Pond, a fairway southeast of

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the last paved road at Moxie. I had two hunters

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on stands two miles apart. It was nearing sunset on

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a beautiful day. Because I needed to pick up the

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hunters within an hour or so, I decided to quietly

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roll my truck out onto a high point on a

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logging road between the two hunters. From there I would

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hear any shots that might come from either side, and

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from there I could plan my approach to pick them up.

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Both stands were crawling with bears, so I expected one

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of them to harvest one. Typically, i'd wait until a

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half hour past sunset and that i'd start to walk

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into the stand and get them. In the dark. In

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those woods, a guide can't let their sports climb down

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on their own to walk out. That's just asking for trouble.

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I had the window down and the truck off, and

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I was enjoying air while reading an awesome Lewis Lamore book,

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and suddenly, from a dark shadow one hundred yards to

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my left, a loud howl erupted. This started as a

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low growl, and it worked its way up in pitch

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to a volume that no human can match. Whatever made

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00:14:53,159 --> 00:14:56,759
this noise had lungs much larger than a human, and

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it was directed at me, and it penetrated deeply into

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the truck and into my core. I quickly went through

254
00:15:04,919 --> 00:15:09,279
my mental rolodex of critters from the main woods, and

255
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,799
nothing matched. I wasn't in full panic mode, but I

256
00:15:13,879 --> 00:15:17,799
was a little concerned. I did have a loaded revolver

257
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on my belt, and I did unsnap the holster and

258
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roll up the window. There was something big in that

259
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,480
dark shadow, but it was in the timber and I

260
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couldn't make out a shape. As dust grew, I slowly

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crawled the truck off to pick up my hunters. I

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went about my business for the rest of that trip,

263
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,480
and I'd almost put it out of my mind when

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the season was over. Then it all dawned on me.

265
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While the family was flipping through channels on television one night,

266
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just as the kids were clicking past the show on Sisquatch,

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the team of researchers was deploying what they called the Ohio.

268
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,919
Howell well, I'll be damned if that wasn't exactly what

269
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I heard. I stopped the kids at the channel and

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I watched transfixed through the end of the show. Since then,

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I've been fascinated by anything about this supposedly mythical creature.

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00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,440
Well that's the end of my first story, and I've

273
00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,320
had one or two minor things happened since then. My

274
00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,480
daughter and I had some impressive wood knocks on either

275
00:16:28,559 --> 00:16:31,279
side of us while we were hunting deer out in

276
00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:33,720
the hard to reach part of the Black Hills of

277
00:16:33,759 --> 00:16:38,000
South Dakota. She thought that was cool, and since she

278
00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,960
was in her first deer season at about age eleven

279
00:16:41,039 --> 00:16:45,720
at the time. I have another story that's just as interesting.

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00:16:45,799 --> 00:16:49,559
It isn't about me, though. At the time I was guiding.

281
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,600
We lived in Jefferson, Maine. It's a great little village

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00:16:53,639 --> 00:16:57,320
at the top of Oh gosh, here's another here's another

283
00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:03,039
name I can't pronounce. Let me try to sound it out. Okay,

284
00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:08,720
Tomorrow Scotta Lake, Damaras, Scotta Tomorrow Scotta Lake. I'm just

285
00:17:08,759 --> 00:17:12,039
gonna go with that. If you're ever there, it's well

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worth the stop at the village store to grab a

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00:17:14,519 --> 00:17:18,440
sandwich and ask what the fish you're hitting on. My

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00:17:18,559 --> 00:17:22,279
neighbor was also a registered main guide. In fact, he

289
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was a master guide. There were three of us there

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00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:29,039
on the road. We're all pretty friendly with each other.

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00:17:29,799 --> 00:17:33,200
And this fella also owned a Christmas tree farm which

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00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,640
he liked to hunt on his own. His property was

293
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,519
up the road and technically in the next town. One

294
00:17:41,599 --> 00:17:43,920
day he arrived in my driveway and he was a

295
00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,279
bit flustered. He was saying that he saw a werewolf

296
00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:51,200
on his property. He came down to see me because

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he knew I had young children. He was sitting in

298
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,440
his tiny toolshit at the far back of his property,

299
00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:02,839
right along David's Stream. This was a habitat edge where

300
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,680
the acorn laden oaks abutted his tree farm. At the stream,

301
00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,559
there was a deer trail that meandered alongside the inside

302
00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,440
edge of the oaks, and from his little shed it

303
00:18:14,559 --> 00:18:18,799
was an easy fifty yard shot. He'd been doing this

304
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:23,359
for years because he was getting older. Hunting ridgelines and

305
00:18:23,519 --> 00:18:27,599
swamps was not for him anymore. Besides, it was his

306
00:18:27,759 --> 00:18:30,799
land and it was a safe place to shoot. He

307
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,759
hunted ethically and he didn't bait deer. The natural fodder

308
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,279
was enough to attract the deer. He said he saw

309
00:18:39,319 --> 00:18:43,200
a large creature walking on two legs, coming down the

310
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,319
deer trail from right to left as he was facing

311
00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:50,480
the stream. At first, he thought the figure was a

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00:18:50,519 --> 00:18:55,480
trespasser in dark clothes. As this thing got closer, he

313
00:18:55,519 --> 00:18:58,880
could tell that it wasn't a man. He said it

314
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,000
was eight feet tall, and it walked on legs that

315
00:19:02,079 --> 00:19:05,240
looked like a powerful set of dog legs, which he

316
00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:11,319
said looked really awkward. This lifelong hunter and master guide

317
00:19:11,519 --> 00:19:16,000
described this creature as having a snout and pointed ears,

318
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:20,920
unlike a bear. He said, the upper torso was powerfully built,

319
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:26,079
like a serious weightlifter. The dog man creature walked until

320
00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:29,359
it was directly in front of him at fifty yards,

321
00:19:29,799 --> 00:19:32,119
and then it dropped to all fours and it ran

322
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,920
down the deer trail toward where my house was at

323
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,599
the time. Well, this frightened him because he knew that

324
00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,200
my kids spent a lot of time outside playing in

325
00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,000
the dirt or playing an army and just being kids.

326
00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,519
He told me his story with awe sincerity and no

327
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:54,640
obvious deception. In his demeanor, he expressed fear and legitimate

328
00:19:54,759 --> 00:19:59,799
concern and sadly This kind man took his own life

329
00:20:00,079 --> 00:20:04,279
very shortly after the incident. I hope that his sighting

330
00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:08,359
had nothing to do with it. So there you have it.

331
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,480
There are two stories from the great state of Maine.

332
00:20:12,079 --> 00:20:17,160
It is a beautiful place with endless miles of shoreline, forests, lakes,

333
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,319
and mountains to explore. Just keep your eyes open and

334
00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,519
you just might see something when you're taking it all in.

335
00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:31,400
So I'm a Bigfoot believer, and I've read countless stories

336
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,160
and have seen almost every photo or video documented on

337
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,759
the Internet. In two thousand and seven, i'd been studying

338
00:20:40,079 --> 00:20:43,960
encounter stories for a year, and I'd heard of several

339
00:20:44,079 --> 00:20:48,480
in the Adirondack Mountains. It wasn't that far from where

340
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,200
I live, so I convinced my best friend to take

341
00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,960
a hiking trip with me in search of Bigfoot. We

342
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,319
were both in our twenties at the time and looking

343
00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:01,720
for adventure. Within a few weeks, we made our plans

344
00:21:01,839 --> 00:21:05,440
and purchased our supplies and loaded our backpacks, and we

345
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,400
were on our way. We'd picked a remote hiking trail

346
00:21:09,599 --> 00:21:14,079
and headed out. An hour into our hike, the trail

347
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,400
came to a fork and one path was well worn.

348
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,559
It was clearly the path most people chose. The other

349
00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,400
path was overgrown and grassy. Which way should we go,

350
00:21:25,599 --> 00:21:29,000
my friend asked, and I pointed to the overgrown path,

351
00:21:29,039 --> 00:21:32,440
and I said, let's go that way. For sure, I

352
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,640
knew if I wanted to have an encounter of any kind,

353
00:21:35,799 --> 00:21:39,599
I would have to choose the path less traveled. We

354
00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,559
hiked a long way before we reached a point where

355
00:21:42,559 --> 00:21:46,079
we could take a rest. My friend immediately noticed that

356
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,880
there was no sound in the forest. No insects were chirping,

357
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,640
no birds were singing, no other animals were even moving around.

358
00:21:55,599 --> 00:21:58,519
It was unsettling, and I thought maybe we were about

359
00:21:58,559 --> 00:22:02,160
to be attacked by a mountaine or something. I knew

360
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,599
that silence in the forest usually meant a predator was

361
00:22:05,599 --> 00:22:10,000
in the area, so we decided to keep moving. Not

362
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,920
long after that, the forest grew dark. It wasn't nightfall yet,

363
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,079
but the sun was shining on the other side of

364
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,000
the mountain, and it cast a long shadow that made

365
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,759
the whole area look like something out of a creepy movie.

366
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,400
The dark forest ahead of us felt like it was

367
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,359
swallowing us up, and I couldn't help being a little

368
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:32,200
bit afraid. My stomach sank and I took a few

369
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,839
big gulps of air, and I could feel my heart

370
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:39,279
pounding in my chest. Somehow I knew we shouldn't be there.

371
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:42,039
I told my friend that I didn't want to go

372
00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:45,240
in there. She said, oh, come on, we can't stop. Now,

373
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,039
Let's go just a little bit further. I was uneasy

374
00:22:49,079 --> 00:22:53,279
with every step. Finally I convinced her it was time

375
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,319
to turn back. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

376
00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,119
I had the sense that something was watching us, and

377
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,359
I didn't know if it meant to harm us or

378
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,599
what its intentions were. After a while, we got out

379
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:08,400
of that area of the woods, and I felt a

380
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,119
bit relieved. It was time to start heading straight back

381
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,519
to the car. The woods had fallen darker, and I

382
00:23:15,599 --> 00:23:17,839
did not want to be lost out there. After the

383
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,759
sun went down, we were still two hours from the car.

384
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:26,119
We picked up the pace as we walked back. I

385
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,359
admit that I felt a bit disappointed that we didn't

386
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,720
have an encounter with the creature, and that thought didn't

387
00:23:32,799 --> 00:23:37,119
last for long. Five minutes later, we heard a loud

388
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,519
popping sound of a boulder hitting another rock as it

389
00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:43,839
landed on the ground, and then it rolled twenty yards

390
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,119
before coming to a stop. It had come from our

391
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,359
left and behind us. There were no hills in that

392
00:23:50,519 --> 00:23:54,200
direction that it could have fallen from, and the landscape

393
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,480
behind us was flat. I looked toward the sound to

394
00:23:57,519 --> 00:24:00,440
see what was going on, but we didn't see anything.

395
00:24:01,039 --> 00:24:02,960
But all of a sudden, I was excited, and it

396
00:24:03,039 --> 00:24:05,680
gripped me as I realized that something had to have

397
00:24:05,799 --> 00:24:10,279
thrown it. Maybe we had contact. Finally, this is what

398
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,119
I had come for. I wasn't scared at this point.

399
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,039
Suddenly I was thrilled. I picked up a handful of

400
00:24:18,079 --> 00:24:20,680
small rocks and I threw them back into the woods

401
00:24:20,799 --> 00:24:24,279
in an effort to communicate with whatever had thrown the boulder.

402
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:27,960
We slowly moved down the trail, looking into the woods,

403
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,400
hoping to see this thing, and a handful of small

404
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:35,480
rocks soared through the air and landed behind us. We

405
00:24:35,519 --> 00:24:39,960
stopped and smiled. This was it. I picked up more

406
00:24:40,039 --> 00:24:42,880
rocks and I gently threw them in the forest, and

407
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,599
we waited, and then more rocks came flying back to us.

408
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,720
I couldn't believe this was happening. I was growing more

409
00:24:50,759 --> 00:24:54,839
excited by the minute. For the next forty five minutes.

410
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,119
We walked the trail, tossing rocks into the woods, and

411
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,960
back and forth it went. I never saw herd or

412
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,640
smelled anything other than the rocks. But what animal was

413
00:25:05,759 --> 00:25:11,039
possibly capable of playfully throwing rocks back and forth? When

414
00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:13,640
we reached a point with a small pond on one

415
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,240
side and thick woods on the other, I heard the

416
00:25:16,279 --> 00:25:18,880
sound of a tree creaking back and forth at a

417
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,039
rapid pace. I'm not a stranger to the woods. I

418
00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:25,079
grew up in the country, and I spent most of

419
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,319
my days playing and walking out there, and I know

420
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,839
the sound of the wind blowing through creaky trees. This

421
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,279
is not what that was. It sounded like someone was

422
00:25:35,319 --> 00:25:39,640
shaking the tree. My friend was now afraid, but I

423
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,799
became more curious, and I begged her to let me

424
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,519
inspect the sound a little closer. Against her better judgment,

425
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,200
I stepped off the mark path and into the woods.

426
00:25:51,039 --> 00:25:55,319
That was my first mistake. My intuition was telling me

427
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,119
not to go any further. The energy in the area

428
00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,839
was heavy and thick, and it took everything I had

429
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,240
to move my legs forward. I looked down at my

430
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,720
arms and the hair was standing straight up. I should

431
00:26:09,759 --> 00:26:13,640
have turned back right then, but I didn't. I picked

432
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,079
up a large rock and I threw it as far

433
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,000
into the woods as I could. I had a good

434
00:26:19,039 --> 00:26:21,920
throwing arm, and I sent it as deep into the

435
00:26:22,039 --> 00:26:26,039
darkness as it would go. The tree continued to shake

436
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:32,119
one last rock. I thought, I'll just throw one last rock. Well,

437
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,279
that was my second mistake, and it almost cost me

438
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,839
my life. My friend walked up behind me with a

439
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,400
rock in each hand. We must have looked like a

440
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,279
couple of idiots creeping through the woods with those rocks.

441
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,160
And I cranked my arm back and I began to throw.

442
00:26:48,079 --> 00:26:51,359
Upon my release, a rock the sides of a softball

443
00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:55,599
came buzzing past my head at incredible speed, and it

444
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,200
missed me by half an inch. I felt the wind

445
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:02,200
off of it as it hung by. Then it hit

446
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,599
a tree behind us and it landed on the trail.

447
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,000
I turned to my friend and shock, and I was

448
00:27:08,039 --> 00:27:10,960
hoping she was playing a joke on me. And all

449
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,160
I could see was the fear in her eyes as

450
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,599
she held up both of those rocks in her hands.

451
00:27:16,079 --> 00:27:18,400
She said, I brought one for you and me, but

452
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,359
we didn't throw them. Let's get out of here. We

453
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:26,240
both said at the same time. Somehow, unintentionally, we had

454
00:27:26,279 --> 00:27:29,599
made this creature angry, and if that rock had hit me,

455
00:27:29,839 --> 00:27:32,759
it would have killed me. If it was a person

456
00:27:32,799 --> 00:27:35,319
who'd thrown it, they would have had to be close

457
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,119
enough that I would have seen them. We started beating

458
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,000
feet out of the woods while more rocks were thrown

459
00:27:42,039 --> 00:27:45,400
at us. But this time it wasn't playful and they

460
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,720
weren't small rocks. They were being thrown directly at us,

461
00:27:50,519 --> 00:27:52,839
and for the next forty minutes, as we headed out

462
00:27:52,839 --> 00:27:55,279
of the trail as fast as we could, we had

463
00:27:55,319 --> 00:27:58,440
to take cover several times from the rocks being flung

464
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,440
at us. We were lucky. The rocks hit the leaves

465
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:04,920
as they flew through the air and gave us a

466
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,039
split second warning that they were coming. Again and again

467
00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:12,720
we had to duck to avoid being hit. These rocks

468
00:28:12,799 --> 00:28:15,039
kept coming at us until we were a half mile

469
00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,160
out of the trail. They were making sure that we

470
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,240
were leaving. I should have never thrown that rock. It

471
00:28:22,279 --> 00:28:25,079
was a stupid move on my part. You know the

472
00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:28,079
old saying, it's all fun and games until someone loses

473
00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:32,319
an eye, right, There is no doubt in my mind

474
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,319
that I was interacting with a big foot that day,

475
00:28:36,279 --> 00:28:38,640
and this is one of my favorite stories to tell

476
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,440
those friends who won't laugh at me, and now I'm

477
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,319
sharing it with you all. Thank you,