WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:11.679 My name is Randy Ritchie. I'm fifty eight years old. 2 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:15.359 I'm an ordained minister and had been ministering for twenty 3 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:19.879 four years. I'm a logger, farmer, and I'm a strong man, 4 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.719 you know, the kind that tears phone books into flips 5 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:28.079 cars by hand, and bends steel bars, etc. While preaching 6 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:31.199 the gospel along with it. I have lived on the 7 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.520 same farm all my life, and what I'm about to 8 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:38.119 tell you is the God's honest truth. I live in 9 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.039 south central Kentucky, and all of these encounters except two, 10 00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:46.640 were within three miles of each other. My first encounter 11 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.840 was in nineteen seventy two, when I was ten years old. 12 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.280 My parents and I were coming home one night. We 13 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:56.479 lived on a large farm, as I have all my life. 14 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.880 We were driving down the little country gravel road that 15 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.200 goes through our farm. I was in the back seat 16 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:06.879 and my parents were up front in our car. My 17 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.719 mother called out to my dad, you didn't see that 18 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.519 big black thing step across the road. She said. It 19 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:17.680 cleared the road in two steps. My father turned around 20 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:20.439 at our shop and drove back, but it was already gone. 21 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:25.200 He told my mother that she was crazy. Some years later, 22 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:28.439 she told me that my grandmother had told her for 23 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:31.799 years that they had seen something. From time to time 24 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:37.359 she referred to it as the old Man. Several years 25 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:40.120 went by, and I grew into a teenager and then 26 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.760 a young man. But years before that there was more 27 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:49.480 to tell. My second encounter, a mile and a half 28 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.959 behind our farm, was in an abandoned old rock quarry 29 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:56.959 from the nineteen forties. My friend Mark and I one 30 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.000 day hiked down to the old quarry with Daisy BB's 31 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.480 guns in hand. The old quarry was grown up with 32 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:06.359 trees and bushes, pretty much what we would called the 33 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.680 thicket here in south central Kentucky. The old quarry was 34 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.800 one hundred and twenty five feet long, seventy to eighty 35 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:18.159 feet wide, and sixty five feet deep. My friend and 36 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:20.479 I were on the left side, about a third of 37 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:23.400 the way down from the top, admiring the beauty of 38 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:28.280 the wilderness, and then it happened. We heard the most 39 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:32.280 god awfulous roar which turned into a blood curdling yell 40 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:35.439 that would stand the hair up on your head. Mark said, 41 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:39.879 what was that? I don't know, I replied, And then 42 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.520 whatever made that awful sound did so again. Let's get 43 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:47.120 out of here, Mark exclaimed, I wanted to see what 44 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:49.840 it was. Me, being a twelve year old boy, said 45 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:52.879 we can shoot it in the eye with our baby guns. Well, 46 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.319 how stupid was that? And then it yelled again and 47 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:59.520 started throwing rocks from the bottom of the old quarry. 48 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:02.439 It hit the side that we were on from some 49 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:06.400 distance away with rocks the size of soft balls or larger. 50 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:10.879 It roared one more time, and my friend said to 51 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.120 hell with this and took off in a flash down 52 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.960 the side of the hill back to the holler. I 53 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.400 took off right behind him, and we ran for three 54 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:22.080 quarters of a mile before we just collapsed in a 55 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:25.840 pasture field. But a large bull came down off the 56 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:29.240 grassy hill right for us, so we pulled ourselves up 57 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:32.240 and climbed a large tree, wondering if that would get 58 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.319 us past the bull and the thing that ran us 59 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.919 off from the old quarry. We finally got down and 60 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:42.159 got home. No one would believe us, except my mother 61 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:47.080 because she'd seen something a few years prior. We went 62 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:49.680 to school the next week and told our close friend 63 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:52.840 about our encounter. He would be the man who would 64 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.560 later be the best man in my wedding, and his 65 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.560 name was Wendell. I said, I wanted to go back 66 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:00.560 down to see if I could see what it was, 67 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:04.120 but I wanted someone to stay with me. Wendell said 68 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:06.360 if I'd let him go, he would take his twenty 69 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.039 gage shotgun and that he would not run. Well, of course, 70 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:13.560 I agreed. Wendow Len and I took a hike down 71 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.399 the old quarry, and I decided that we would go 72 00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:18.920 in towards the top of the old quarry, this time 73 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:23.120 about thirty feet above the opening. As we were hiking 74 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:25.879 towards it, we were stopped in our tracks by the 75 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:29.600 same roar that again turned into a blood curdling scream 76 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:32.319 that you could feel hit you in the chest like 77 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:36.680 a brick. I turned back to see Wendell's reaction. He 78 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.000 with a shotgun, was now in a crowd's position, and 79 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.480 he was trembling. I turned back towards the sound, and 80 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:46.600 here it came again. I turned back to see Wendell 81 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:50.199 tearing through the briers with a shotgun in hand, obviously 82 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.560 not wanting anything to do with whatever was roaring. And 83 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:57.600 so there I was alone with my rifle in my hand, 84 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:01.240 and I took out right behind him. And when we 85 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.720 got home. He said, what in the world was that. 86 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:09.600 All I could say was, I don't know. So we 87 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:12.519 told our neighbors. They were some of our running buddies, 88 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.839 one Scotty, who was like a little older, and then 89 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:19.240 there was me and one a little younger, Tracy. Scotty 90 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:21.959 was bold and said, by God, I'll stay as long 91 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.319 as I have a gun. So he was all in 92 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.120 for us to take the hike back down, and my 93 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:33.360 fourth encounter was about to begin. Two weeks after Wendell 94 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.160 and I had gone in, with all three of us 95 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:39.000 having guns in hand, we went back and I took 96 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.480 the lead. I took the same path that Wendell and 97 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:45.720 I took. As we closed in on the top, I 98 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:48.279 was standing less than two feet from where I was 99 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:53.800 standing the previous time, the same roar, yell, scream all 100 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.040 over again, and I turned to see Tracy and Scotty 101 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:01.839 and they were already retreating fast. In less than six 102 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.600 weeks time, I had personally experienced something life changing. I 103 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:09.319 didn't go back for years, but what I experienced in 104 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.120 those weeks is why there is a smith in Western 105 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:16.279 forty four magnum pistol in my bedside nightstand to this day, 106 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:22.720 Tyler and Justin's stories. Tyler said his brother Justin had 107 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:26.000 an encounter. As he was taking the garbage to the 108 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:28.959 end of the road on a dark night, something very 109 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:32.680 large spooked him. He caught a glimpse across the road 110 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:37.040 of something very large standing between two ponds. As he 111 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:39.439 got back in the vehicle to turn the headlights on, 112 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:43.560 it stood up and ran. It left the fence in 113 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.240 two steps, and it was in the road and then 114 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.879 it left the fence on the other side. It startled 115 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.639 him pretty good, so he retreated back to the house 116 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:58.000 very quickly. In another encounter, Justin and another man were 117 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:01.439 out scouting for deer because the season would open soon. 118 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:04.040 They were at the end of a hollow in a 119 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:07.199 vast thicket when they came across a deer hanging from 120 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:11.040 its hindquarters in the middle of nowhere. If that wasn't 121 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.600 strange enough, its hindquarters were up to about twelve feet 122 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:18.040 in a tree, putting the deer's neck at six feet 123 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:20.759 above ground level, and that was too high for a 124 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:24.720 coyote or most dogs to reach. The deer's neck had 125 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:28.759 a large bike taken out of it. Justin and Tyler 126 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:33.240 also described another encounter involving their cousin James. So he 127 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.879 walked to his deer stand before daylight. This is the 128 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:41.319 same holler that separated our two farms. The hollow runs 129 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.600 by the springs from the old quarry, and James had 130 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.480 just climbed into his deer stand and heard the blood 131 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:52.639 curdling roar, yell, scream. He was so terrified that he 132 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:56.319 didn't move for about seven or eight hours. Tyler and 133 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:01.519 Justin had heard it also. Now he's gonna tell us 134 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:06.839 about Cody and Caitlin's encounters. Around that same time, my 135 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:10.120 good friend and neighbor and god son, Cody found a 136 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:13.160 structure made of cedar trees that had been bent and 137 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:15.600 broken to keep the wind and rain off of whatever 138 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:19.519 had been using it. Cody had also had an encounter 139 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:23.079 while frog gigging just up from the lake one night 140 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:27.160 in the holler that parallels the old quarry. Large rocks 141 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:29.360 were thrown at them as they made their way up 142 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:33.879 the holler. Cody's wife also had her encounter around the 143 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:37.799 same time, as she was driving one night. Her sightings 144 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:40.480 were very close to where my mother had her sighting 145 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.080 some forty years earlier. The location is less than two 146 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:48.720 hundred feet apart. Caitlin recalls what she saw as very 147 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:52.159 large and tall. It stepped over a fence in front 148 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.440 of her and crossed the road. It turned to look 149 00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:58.679 at her in the headlights, its eyes reflecting red, as 150 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.320 it stepped across the other fence. She never took that 151 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:10.320 road home again. My fifth encounter, My next episode was 152 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.080 a few years later, when I was fourteen or fifteen. 153 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.480 I was with a friend of mine, Donovan, who had 154 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.080 lost his mother some years earlier and would come and 155 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:21.480 stay with us for a couple of weeks at a time. 156 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:26.600 He would later become our city's assistant chief of police. 157 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:29.159 We were on the backside of the farm where there 158 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:32.600 was a very steep hill in our woods. I was 159 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:35.799 climbing the hill in my Yamaha dirt bike, like a 160 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.360 lot of us here in Kentucky. Do Donovan was standing 161 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:41.720 at the top of the hill watching me climb over it, 162 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:44.799 and as I pulled up to start my third ascent 163 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.960 of the day, Donovan came running down the steep hill. 164 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:51.279 As he got to me, I saw that his eyes 165 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:54.200 were wide open and he was as white as a ghost. 166 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:57.559 We jumped on the back of the motorcycle, and he 167 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:01.080 says to me, go, go go. I said, what is it? 168 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.559 He said, please just go. So I tore out, and 169 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.000 when we got within sight of the house, I slowed 170 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:11.720 down and stopped. He said what are you doing and 171 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.720 encouraged me to keep going. And I said, no, what 172 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.960 is it? He said, I saw it? You saw what 173 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.360 I said? He said it had to be what we 174 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.519 had heard a few years earlier, so we had my attention. 175 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.519 And I said, well, what did it look like? He 176 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:29.919 said it was big and black, and it cleared the 177 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:35.639 border fence in just one step. And now his sixth encounter. 178 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:40.559 Fast forward a few years when we were nineteen years old, 179 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:44.159 myself and my friends Mark and Robin went back with 180 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.039 a solid agreement between all three of us that no 181 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:51.120 one would run. We all had high powered rifles in hand, 182 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:54.039 and this was the first time that Mark had returned 183 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:57.279 to the old quarry. We took the hike down and 184 00:10:57.320 --> 00:10:59.799 braved our way all the way to the inside of 185 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:03.320 the old quarry and poised ourselves for a standoff that 186 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:07.759 we might encounter. We stood our ground for four hours 187 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:12.720 from two to six pm. When we retreated at dark, 188 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.639 we had seen or heard nothing and was the legend gone. 189 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.360 It would cross my mind from time to time, but 190 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:23.919 I saw and heard nothing for about thirty years until 191 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:31.039 I was in my late forties. Here's Tyler's encounter. My 192 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.960 neighbor Tyler, who had lived on the next farm over, 193 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.080 had at one point given me the honor of performing 194 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.080 his wedding ceremony. He was over helping me unload the 195 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.000 firewood one day when he mentioned doing some deer hunting 196 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:47.559 with his family. I casually said to him, well, don't 197 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:49.919 go down by the old Rock quarry without a gun. 198 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.320 And he looked at me with a funny look on 199 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.919 his face and said, Randy, why would you say that? 200 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.519 While look back and said why would you ask like that? 201 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:04.320 He said, I didn't think anybody else knew. Now on 202 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:08.679 to Paul's story. This encounter is from one of my 203 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:13.440 neighbors and Christian's Strength team members. This young man is 204 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.519 almost as big as a bigfoot. He's six feet seven 205 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.679 inches tall, weighs three hundred and eighty pounds, and wears 206 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:24.000 a size sixteen shoe. Paul was walking to his favorite 207 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.759 fishing hole one day when he heard a large stick 208 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:30.480 break off to his right. He glanced over to see 209 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.759 what he had made the noise and couldn't believe what 210 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.159 he was seeing. He was looking at a dark figure 211 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:40.039 that was crouched down, and he recalled its facial features, 212 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:45.039 including heavy eyebrows and dark eyes, and it was huge. 213 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:47.919 Paul kept walking, but sped up his pace to get 214 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:51.919 out of the area fast. Coming back from his fishing hole, 215 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:55.360 he stumbled upon a very large footprint in the wet ground. 216 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:58.960 It was filled with water from the night before, but 217 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:02.200 he said it was huge, huge. It made his size 218 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:06.960 sixteen look small. Paul wasted no time on his route 219 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:11.720 to get back home. Now this is Richie's next encounter. 220 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:15.240 I think this would be encounter number seven in his forties. 221 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:18.720 When I was forty nine, I was coming home one 222 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:22.519 night from the gym about ten thirty pm. As my 223 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:25.919 boxer dog, Turbo and I walked up towards the house. 224 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:30.039 In the distance, I heard a distinctive, very familiar sound. 225 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:33.799 I got turbos still and leaned up against my home 226 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:37.720 and again heard the roar, yell scream that I'd heard 227 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.279 so many years ago into my childhood. The hair on 228 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:43.279 the back of my neck stood up, and I said 229 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:47.360 to myself, it's back. I told two of my neighbors 230 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:50.720 and my wife Carolyn what I heard. We all dismissed it. 231 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:53.679 But the next year I turned fifty and I was 232 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:57.519 diagnosed with a leaking aortic heart valve that could only 233 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:00.320 be taken care of by God or a heart urgent. 234 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:04.039 So I was in my backyard, in my hammock. We 235 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.879 live in a remote place, just a few farmhouses around. 236 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:12.799 It was on Tuesday night, around eleven PM. Carolyn was 237 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:16.840 already in bed. I was pouring my heart out in prayer, 238 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.960 trying to reach the throne room of Heaven. I'm praying 239 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:24.639 hard out loud, and as I'm wailing through the trees, 240 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:29.360 I hear something repeatedly using something to strike a tree. 241 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.320 I cried to remove it from my thoughts and my hearing, 242 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.200 and I kept praying. The louder and harder I prayed, 243 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:40.519 the louder and faster the wood knocking got. When I 244 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:44.159 would stop, it would stop. So I said to myself, 245 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:46.279 who in the world would be down in my holler 246 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:48.960 next to my house at this time of night and 247 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.559 on a Tuesday in the middle of July. So I 248 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:55.919 started putting it all together, the yelling, the rock throwing 249 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:59.159 and now the wood knocking, it can only be one thing. 250 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:02.840 I squatch a bigfoot or whatever you call it. I 251 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:05.080 still don't know what I and my friends and my 252 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:08.919 neighbors have experienced. But there's something out there now. I 253 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:12.000 personally have never seen it, but I know what I heard. 254 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:15.559 It's big and it's real. I don't think it means 255 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:18.000 us any harm, but I would not want to corner 256 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:22.679 it or provoke it. But there's actually more encounters here, 257 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:26.360 so so let's keep going. I'm on page six of 258 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:32.559 his book, and this is entitled Clay's Encounter. Clay's story 259 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:37.120 is in Halfway, Kentucky, which is in Allen County. Clay 260 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:39.559 is also one of the original team members of My 261 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:43.519 Christian Strongman Team. Clay is a big man. He's six 262 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:46.159 foot five and he weighs two hundred and sixty pounds. 263 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.679 He's no sissy or coward. Clay's an avid deer hunter 264 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:54.559 travels all over the United States hunting big game. I 265 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.399 would call him a professional big game hunter, and he 266 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:00.440 has all the trophies to prove it. He's been hunting 267 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:03.919 on one of the largest farms in Allen County. His 268 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:06.759 first encounter was a vocal while he was in his 269 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:11.600 deer stand overlooking a large bluff. The roar yell scream 270 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:15.519 was very loud and robust. Clay says the roar was 271 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.480 so loud that he said whatever made that sound was 272 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.559 really large. He was startled by the intense sound, and 273 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.120 he said to himself, what in the world is that? Clay, 274 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.759 being the sportsman he is, went back the next year 275 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.360 to hunt for the big trophy buck. While in his 276 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:34.120 stand with a bow and arrow in hand, he heard 277 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:37.279 animals scurrying out of the large woods below the bluff 278 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:40.120 he's hunting, and then the same thing he witnessed the 279 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:45.000 year before, the roar, yell scream happened again. The deer 280 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:48.639 came running out first, they were followed by livestock, and 281 00:16:48.679 --> 00:16:53.080 then birds flew out. At this time, Big Clay decided 282 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:55.480 it was time to get his happy hind end down 283 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:58.799 and out of the tree stand. He hurried very quickly 284 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.320 to his truck and reached treated and Clay said, he 285 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.639 didn't see it, but it had to be very big 286 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:06.960 to make chest shaking sounds like that that he heard. 287 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.880 Clay said, Wow, what else could it be other than 288 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:17.480 a bigfoot? Here's another encounter Seth's father and David's encounter. 289 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.400 One day, David was out on the farm doing his 290 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.799 farm work and he heard a sound that was not 291 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:27.200 familiar with anything he had heard before, and he had 292 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.559 been on this farm forty plus years. Whatever it was, 293 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:32.640 David said, it was very loud and had to be 294 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:36.920 coming from something really big. Seth said to his dad, 295 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.319 what in the world is that? He said, I don't know, 296 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:44.160 but we're going to the house. And here's Seth's encounter. 297 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.839 Seth lives on a farm in Halifax, Kentucky, which is 298 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.880 in Allen County. His farm has been in his family 299 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:56.400 for three generation. The farm backs up to an even 300 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.759 larger farm, which is three hundred acres of wilderness. While 301 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.759 deer hunting one evening, Seth was sitting on the ground 302 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.319 leaning against the log when he heard something take a 303 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:11.480 step to his right. Seth looked over and raised his 304 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.039 deer rifle up and looked through the scope. He saw 305 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:18.920 something that was around seven feet tall. It had long arms, 306 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.480 and it was all brown in color. While looking through 307 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.039 his rifle scope, Seth whistled and it looked right dead 308 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:28.799 at him for a few seconds, and then it just 309 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:32.759 kept walking away from him. Seth said he was proud 310 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:35.720 he kept walking because he didn't think his deer rifle 311 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:40.480 would have taken it down. And then here is Seth 312 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:45.240 and Cooper's encounter. Seth and Cooper were out one night 313 00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:49.000 coyote hunting, trying to call up some coyotes. Now, after 314 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:53.039 a while of calling, they laid down. Seth heard something 315 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.480 coming through the woods and it was crashing through the 316 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.400 woods and breaking down small trees and limbs. As it 317 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:02.599 was coming closer and closer, they were beginning to wonder 318 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:06.720 what it was. It was definitely not coyotes. It started 319 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:09.400 getting closer and then it was right on top of them. 320 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:14.559 Cooper said, shoot it Seth. While laying down, Seth spun 321 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.400 over and pulled the trigger of his twelve gay shotgun 322 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.880 right at the sound, which was less than twenty feet away. 323 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:25.240 The minute Seth's shot, Cooper flicked the big light on 324 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:28.519 and there was nothing there. They both said, where did 325 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.200 it go? It was just right there. It was a 326 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:35.880 very intense moment for both of them. And here is 327 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:40.559 Derek's encounter. This story comes from my neighbor that lives 328 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.759 about a mile down the road from me. But as 329 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:45.279 the crow flies less than a mile from my farm. 330 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.799 He's lived on the farm all of his life. This 331 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.160 is his encounter. When I was young, me and my 332 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:54.960 brother and a friend that was staying the night got 333 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:58.359 bored and went to the pond. As we did many times, 334 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.440 we would gather rocks and try to snaw up on 335 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.720 the frogs that line the banks of the pond. As 336 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:06.400 anybody that grew up with a pawd knows, the frogs 337 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:08.400 would all jump in as soon as they knew a 338 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:11.839 predator was near. The goal was to sneak up on 339 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:13.799 the frogs and see if we could hit one before 340 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.839 they all jumped in. After I'd thrown my stones, I 341 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.640 heard something in the woods. I turned to see a 342 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:24.480 hairy beast running on two legs through the forest, tearing 343 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:27.799 saplings away side to side to make its way through. 344 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:31.279 The breath was taken from me, and it's like everything 345 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:34.720 else stood still when it was gone. I yelled that 346 00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:37.920 I had seen something running through the woods. No one 347 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:41.440 saw it, no one believed me. I just remember dark hair. 348 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.160 I had nightmares of were wolves for years after that. 349 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.440 I had not been exposed to bigfoot at that time. 350 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:52.640 I was, however, exposed to the monster movies of were wolves. 351 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:55.680 To my young eyes and mine, that's what it was. 352 00:20:56.759 --> 00:20:59.160 Let me just break in and say, that could have 353 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:03.279 been a dog man. If you're thinking werewolf subconsciously, maybe 354 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:05.799 that's what you saw, Derek, I don't know. I'm sorry 355 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:10.440 to interrupt Randy's stories here. Let's go to the last story, 356 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:16.400 and it is called Matt Pettigo's experience. I'm the editor 357 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:20.880 and publisher of our local newspaper in Randy's hometown in Kentucky. 358 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:23.839 Randy is a good friend. He's a fine man and 359 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:27.400 as truthful a person as you will ever know. I'm 360 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:31.039 originally from northern California, and I still have relatives in 361 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:35.599 California and Oregon. In the summer of two thousand and nine, 362 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:39.759 I was visiting my now late grandfather in Bend, Oregon, 363 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:43.359 when I took a ride up into the nearby Cascade Mountains. 364 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:47.920 At an elevation of fifty four hundred feet above sea level, 365 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:51.279 between two peaks high enough to host snow year round 366 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:56.440 lies Scenic Sparks Lake. It is a lake of snow 367 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:01.680 melt between the peaks and it fluctuates in size. Looking 368 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:06.200 for that perfect postcard landscape shot with my camera I 369 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.240 ventured far out onto the dry lake bed until it 370 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:12.960 began to get marshy. I leapt over a small stream 371 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:16.599 of clear, cold snow water draining into the main body 372 00:22:16.599 --> 00:22:19.680 of the lake, and I landed on a small island 373 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:25.440 and into something unexpected. I weighed two hundred and sixty pounds, 374 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:28.000 and I estimate, landing from a jump that I hit 375 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:31.279 the packed sandy volcanic soil with the impact of over 376 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:35.920 three hundred pounds. My hiking boots sank in about an 377 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:39.559 inch into the dense soil, paling in comparison to the 378 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:43.880 footprint I was now seeing. For scale, I laid my 379 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:47.880 six inch wide Panama Jack sunglasses beside it, and I 380 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:51.599 snapped this photo. The print was two inches deep, at 381 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:55.759 one point fourteen inches long, and more than six inches wide. 382 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.519 Based on the soil condition and my jump, you can 383 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:02.200 see my print on the left side of the tuft 384 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.640 of grass. Whatever made this print had to weigh over 385 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:10.000 five hundred pounds. What's more, whatever made the print had 386 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:12.960 dug its front toes into the soul as it walked, 387 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.160 ripping frontal soil upward and scrunching the other soul towards 388 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:21.480 the center of the print as it pulled its foot upward. Thus, 389 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.559 whatever made the print seems to have had a hinged foot, 390 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:29.200 a trait often seen in gray apes. At the upper 391 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:31.920 left of the print is the impression of a very 392 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:35.759 large big toe. It doesn't show well in the photo, 393 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:39.359 but it had dermal ridges, the mark of natural skin. 394 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:43.759 I saw nothing else, and I heard nothing strange, But 395 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.240 there it was a good reason for me to head 396 00:23:46.279 --> 00:23:49.559 back to the car. I never knew what to make 397 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:52.680 of the bigfoot mystery. Is it fact or fiction? I 398 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:56.400 can say with certainty that something large, heavy, and barefoot 399 00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:00.920 made this track in the wills of central Oregon. Randy 400 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:03.920 and his family, friends and neighbors, and thousands of other 401 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:07.680