WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.279 I can't remember when I got this story. It's been 2 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:12.960 not too terribly long, but it's one of the craziest 3 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.039 stories I've ever read. And I've never thought about this theory. 4 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.440 What you're going to learn about now For the first 5 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:23.800 five minutes or so, she's going to give some background 6 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:27.519 on where she's from, what she does. Hang on because 7 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:31.000 this is a long story and it really gets good. 8 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.799 I mean, it gets really creepy. Here's what Jenna writes. 9 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:38.759 How the past year has changed my life. I cannot 10 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:42.000 begin to express, but I will give it my best shot. 11 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.039 My name is Jenna, and I'm a twenty nine year 12 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:50.000 old female geologist spileeologist, and I was working for the 13 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:54.079 government within the Department of Geological Survey up until recently. 14 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.920 We were responsible to explore and map out old mind 15 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:04.400 chefs and k systems in the eastern United States. There 16 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:07.640 are several of these teams working throughout the country in 17 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:12.200 places like the Rockies, Texas, the Midwest, and in Washington State. 18 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:16.159 I've heard that there are also teams in Canada and 19 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:20.560 Mexico as well. I have been spilunking since I was 20 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.239 five years old with my father and older brothers, so 21 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:26.879 it became who I was and not just what I did. 22 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:31.719 My experience through the years made me useful to this project. 23 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:36.159 I was recruited in my last year of graduate school 24 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.840 at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire by Joseph, who had 25 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:44.760 become my supervisor and mentor. My eight teammates were all 26 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:48.200 roughly the same age, and we had various degrees of 27 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:55.719 interest of study, including engineering, archaeology, biology, herpetology and volcanology, 28 00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:59.920 as well as other fields. We were a mixture of 29 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:03.439 seven men and two women, and all have a love 30 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:06.680 for the world below the surface, resulting in our pale 31 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:10.319 skin in very thin frames. Because we spent most of 32 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:13.319 the days in the dark out of the sunlight, it 33 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.919 wasn't all that bad for me being a pale skinned 34 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.120 ginger and ten minutes in the sun I would turn 35 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:23.159 into a lobster. The meals that we take are mostly 36 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.240 small protein bars and water. It's easier to carry with us, 37 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.680 especially when we stayed in the cave system overnight. During 38 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:35.479 the expeditions there were sometimes ten miles deeper more. We 39 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.400 have done many of these over the past four years. 40 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.800 We have made some remarkable discoveries and we've mapped out 41 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:47.400 miles of cave systems in West Virginia and Kentucky using 42 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:52.879 a combination of GPR oor, ground penetration radar and light 43 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.919 are from the surface, as well as some new technology 44 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.319 that will make for some amazing new discoveries in the future. 45 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.919 Our average expedition would start when we entered a cave 46 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:07.439 or a small hole in a mountainside and started to 47 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:12.240 evaluate if it was safe. Understand that we have left 48 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:15.199 more caves than we explored due to what appeared to 49 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:20.599 be unsafe, or when our equipment detected gas. Once we 50 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:23.599 determine that it is safe, we begin to move deeper 51 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:28.120 into the cave and into the twilight zone. There is 52 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.240 no presence of light in the dark zone, and we 53 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:35.639 see nothing if we turn out the lights. Often we 54 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:38.680 find chambers and passages off to the sides, or even 55 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:42.919 drop offs in sinkholes. We can use special drones with 56 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:46.039 lights and cameras to fly over the drop offs or 57 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:50.080 down the sinkholes, or on top of shelves or ledges 58 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:52.639 above our reach to see if there are any points 59 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:56.039 of interest below or above us that we need to explore. 60 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.520 Using those drones have given us access to new passages 61 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:05.680 and chambers that no human has ever seen, some of 62 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:09.560 which have led to miles of passages and enormous chambers, 63 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.719 one of which was over one hundred feet tall and 64 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:17.639 three football feels long fifty yards wide, and we nicknamed 65 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:22.439 that one the Ballroom. We have discovered entrances to cave 66 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.639 systems that were not noticeable from the top side or 67 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:31.199 outside the cave. Some of the entrances have been behind waterfalls, crevices, 68 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:35.079 and cliffs, and under roots of large trees, and even 69 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:37.959 behind some dead falls that appear to have been pushed 70 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:42.399 up against it to conceal the entrance. We have mapped 71 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:46.560 some systems that will travel miles into another exit or entrance, 72 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:49.639 with the longest one being twenty seven miles in southeast 73 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:53.560 Kentucky and it goes into Tennessee and that required us 74 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:57.519 to stay in the cave for over two weeks. We 75 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.839 have scanner units mounted onto our helmet. It's that capture 76 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:04.000 three D imagery of the cave as we travel, and 77 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:08.000 we also use GPS signals that rarely are detected above 78 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.319 the surface, but we still have them and occasionally get 79 00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:13.680 close enough to the surface to get our data to 80 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:17.480 the base camp to be collected. We have other tools 81 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.560 that we have used in the past. One includes a 82 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:24.240 buoy with a GPS unit. We dropped one in a 83 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:28.240 fast moving underground river near the West Virginia Kentucky state 84 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:31.439 line to see where or if it would ever surface. 85 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:36.399 To our amazement, it reappeared five weeks later, almost three 86 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:41.040 hundred miles away in the Clinch River near Kingston, Tennessee. 87 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.360 We were astonished it must have traveled under another river 88 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:49.160 system to arrive to the Clinch River. We are now 89 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:52.879 developing equipment that we can capture imagery of the underground 90 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:55.879 river system without our team having to dive into those 91 00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:59.839 underground rivers, with the hopes of capturing the constant location 92 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:02.879 of the device and the depth under the sea level 93 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:06.600 as well that will be able to explain how these 94 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:11.920 rivers are crossing. Other findings are also worth mentioning. We've 95 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:15.639 found several species of animals or insects that were unknown 96 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:19.199 or thought to not inhabit this region, as well as 97 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.800 numerous cave drawings that date back over ten thousand years, 98 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:28.720 along with artifacts such as pottery from the early fourteen hundreds, 99 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:34.240 spears and arrow heads, muskets or black powder rifles. A 100 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:39.079 couple of swords. We found knives, shells, some gold and 101 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:43.959 silver coins from seventeen hundred Europe, along with bones and 102 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:49.399 I mean a lot of bones. These discoveries found miles underground, 103 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:54.800 far from known entry points. We report our findings before 104 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:59.199 moving further, and it slows down the exploration process because 105 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:01.360 we have to wait for another team to go in 106 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:05.959 and gather the artifacts. Without us, we would contaminate the scene. 107 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:10.279 The real question was how did someone get this far 108 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.360 into the cave system with torches, as they would have 109 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.319 to have burnt out well before they got that deep. 110 00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:20.160 They would have had to carry extra torches with them, 111 00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:24.399 and why would they have traveled this deep while the 112 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:27.040 other team was in our cave. We would go to 113 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:29.680 another cave for several weeks until we were given the 114 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:33.439 go ahead to continue our explanation of the original cave. 115 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:37.439 Rarely were we given any information on what the other 116 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:41.920 team's findings revealed, especially when it was about bones or 117 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:45.680 modern day items like a shiny new shotgun we had found, 118 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:49.040 or the backpack with a West Virginia Park map that 119 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:53.120 was printed in twenty eighteen and it was over seven 120 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:57.600 thousand feet into the cave system. We would write it 121 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.399 off to people going beyond their limits and getting lost 122 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:03.279 in the cave and losing their belongings as they roamed 123 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:07.399 about in the darkness. And as for the other team, 124 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:10.959 they were a dull bunch of people with no personality. 125 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:14.560 Forget trying to talk to them. They were tight left 126 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:18.000 about their business. They were almost what we would think 127 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:23.879 of as a stiff government or maybe a CIA personality type. 128 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:27.040 There were occasions where we would pass them coming or 129 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:29.920 going and they wouldn't take the time to speak to anyone. 130 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:34.960 They wouldn't drop any clues or share any findings, absolutely nothing. 131 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:40.480 Using our newest technology that we had developed was the sphere, 132 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:44.639 which was a mobile GPR light hoar sphere that set 133 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:47.240 up on a tripod in the middle of chambers, which 134 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:52.200 we would leave overnight to scan. The results were beyond belief. 135 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:55.519 We have found new tunnels that are blocked by large 136 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.440 rocks or boulders. The stones are so heavy that several 137 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:02.039 men working together could not move them for us to 138 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:06.039 explore further. But we knew the boulders had been placed 139 00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:09.240 there because the scars remained on the floors and walls. 140 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:13.799 They had been rolled into position. We had a heavy 141 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:17.600 hydraulic jack designed to lift rocks off of us should 142 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:21.080 we become trapped, and we found that this jack could 143 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:24.480 move the boulders enough to gain entrance into hidden chambers 144 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.080 or caverns. And now that I've given you a brief 145 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:31.000 description of what we do and how we do it, 146 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:34.039 I want to tell you of my account that began 147 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:38.960 on Friday, August the thirteenth of all days in twenty 148 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:43.240 twenty one. We had been mapping out a cave system 149 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.720 south of Grayson, Kentucky, and we were five miles deep 150 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:49.960 into the system when we dropped off of a shelf 151 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:53.480 about twenty feet using our climbing gear to discover a 152 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:57.679 new passage. It led back east to half a mile 153 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.480 to an oval shaped chamber and and at the far 154 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:03.720 end of the chamber was a large boulder blocking another 155 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:07.879 passage that we found by setting up our sphere overnight. 156 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.840 The following Monday was August the sixteenth, and we analyzed 157 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:18.639 the data and we determined it was worth exploring. After 158 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.759 moving the rock, we followed the passage for another half 159 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.600 mile and then we decided to back out and call 160 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:28.840 it a day. We returned on the seventeenth to the 161 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:32.159 oval chamber, and we found the rock had rolled back 162 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:36.320 to block the entrance. We jacked it back open again 163 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.759 and placed smaller rocks under it to keep it from 164 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:42.919 rolling back while we were in there exploring. We then 165 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:46.039 entered the passage and began to map out the system 166 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:49.759 where we left off. Through the day, we discovered a 167 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:54.720 labyrinth of passages going in all directions. Some were dead 168 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:57.879 ends and some were working their way back to the 169 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:02.879 main cavern. The areas that didn't reconnect, we would follow 170 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:07.000 those for five hundred feet and then turned back. There 171 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.559 were so many that we wanted to see, but this 172 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:14.120 system could be thoroughly explored. Later. We were getting our 173 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:19.480 bearings and taking notes, and we were excited about this discovery. 174 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:24.279 We started noticing different items, such as fresh leaves and 175 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:28.279 small twigs on the cave floor. They were green, they 176 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:30.240 weren't dead, but they shouldn't have been there in the 177 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:34.679 first place. In the largest passage, we found a shallow 178 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.799 stream with a mud and a swet bottom and bank, 179 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:41.960 and in that mud we found tracks of all sizes. 180 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:46.600 They were human looking tracks. Some were smaller than my 181 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.279 feet and others were twenty four inches long and ten 182 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:56.320 inches wide. Laurie, my female teammate, carefully examined the toes 183 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:58.879 to see if there were claw marks, because that would 184 00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:00.799 lead us to believe that it was a bear, but 185 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:04.399 she found none. Well, the day was late and we 186 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:07.759 pulled out again, marking our route with illuminated paint of 187 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:11.480 different colors, as we always did when exploring new systems. 188 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:16.799 The footprints gave us all concern, but it also was exciting. 189 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.679 The passage was nine feet high and we could not 190 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:23.840 imagine a giant of a man walking around in there. 191 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:28.360 But this raised questions beyond belief, so we all decided 192 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.399 to keep this finding to our selves for the time being. 193 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:36.240 On Wednesday, the eighteenth, we found that the rock had 194 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.960 again been rolled back over the entrance and we had 195 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.399 to move it with Jacks. Rodney, the archaeologist, said that 196 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:45.639 he was going to bust it into pieces if it 197 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:49.639 happened again, and we proceeded to the stream where we 198 00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:52.960 had left off the previous day to find more tracks. 199 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:57.480 We slowly moved along the stream, following the direction of 200 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.639 the footprints as it flowed down the center of the cavern, 201 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:04.200 a quarter of a mile through the passage and into 202 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.919 the chamber. We discovered some of the most disturbing items 203 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:12.840 we had ever found. There were numerous shoes of different sizes, 204 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:17.559 including boots and children's sneakers, some clothing that appeared to 205 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.360 be torn, and some looked like it had dried blood 206 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:22.960 on it, and they were all in piles like someone 207 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:27.639 had been sleeping on them. There were backpacks and coats. 208 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:31.480 There was a hatchet and some knives, a couple of firearms, 209 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:35.559 and children's toys such as dolls and barbies and action figures. 210 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:39.639 There were balls and toy cars lying all about the chamber, 211 00:13:40.919 --> 00:13:44.159 and then we found a pile of human bones of 212 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:48.960 all sizes, including children's, all piled up against the wall 213 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:52.679 at the far end of the chamber. Laurie screamed at 214 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:56.279 the top of her lungs and began crying uncontrollably, And 215 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.879 as the others tried to comfort her, out of the 216 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:01.960 darkness of a passage at the far end of the chamber, 217 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.240 near the pile of bones, came a scream or a 218 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:11.120 roar of a monstrous volume that shook my insides. It 219 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.759 lasted a long time and was immediately answered by another 220 00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:19.399 roar from a different cavern, and then several more The 221 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.200 team instantly began to run toward the exit, with me 222 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:26.120 bringing up the rear. I had a feeling that something 223 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:29.279 was behind me, and I quickly looked back over my 224 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:33.919 shoulder with my high intensity LED light, and I illuminated 225 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.440 the face of a beast that was the size of 226 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:41.559 a refrigerator, only ten feet behind me. In that brief instant, 227 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:45.279 I could see the beast's lips were curled back, bearing 228 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.919 large teeth which were like ours except for the canines, 229 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:53.000 which were larger in proportion than a human. It had 230 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.519 large round of black evil eyes and a flat nose, 231 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:00.960 and everything around the face was covered with hair. The 232 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.000 animal covered its eyes from the light with its hands 233 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:07.200 and screamed in pain as if the light heard it, 234 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:10.840 and it shrank away from me and my light. It 235 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:13.360 curled up into a ball onto the floor of the cave, 236 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.759 wailing in pain. I was now backing out of the chamber, 237 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:19.960 trying to keep the light on the beast when I 238 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.519 must have passed the exit and tumbled into a sinkhole. 239 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:27.200 I got lucky it was only five feet below the 240 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:30.679 chamber floor. It could have been deeper and I would 241 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:34.159 have never gotten out of there. I am only five 242 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.600 foot four to start with, and I weighed less than 243 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:39.960 one hundred and ten pounds fully clothed, and I knew 244 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.360 if I couldn't do something quick, I would end up 245 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:46.200 in that bone pile. In front of me. I saw 246 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:49.200 a small crevice that looked to me about my size, 247 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:52.080 so I dove into it headfirst, and I began to 248 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.000 crawl on my belly back into the darkness. I was 249 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:58.639 ten feet into the crevice when I heard the monster 250 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:01.840 scream into the mouth of the crevice behind me, and 251 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.360 I could feel it reaching into the hole as it 252 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:08.240 started to claw at the walls. The creature was so 253 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:11.519 close I could smell its foul breath, and this gave 254 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.799 me a surge of strength to move ahead faster. I 255 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.279 crawled ahead without thinking. I was in survival mode and 256 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:21.960 I wanted to get as far from this thing as possible. 257 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:26.440 The roars began to fade the further into the passage 258 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:29.759 I went, and after an hour, I dropped into a 259 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:34.679 room stalactites hung from the low ceiling and I had 260 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.360 to walk hunched over, but at least I could stand. 261 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:40.919 I tried to reach my team on the radio, but 262 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:44.519 I got nothing in response. If I was going to 263 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:46.679 get out of there. I had to move upward while 264 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:49.480 avoiding these creatures. I had to get to the surface. 265 00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:53.879 That's all I could think of. I turned down the 266 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:57.200 intensity of my light to get more life from my batteries, 267 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:02.639 and I continued walking and crawling. I wandered the uncharted 268 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:06.400 passages and caverns alone for hours, not knowing where I 269 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.640 was or if I was moving to freedom. I lost 270 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:12.960 all sense of time, and I didn't know if it 271 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:17.079 was day or night. And to make matters worse, not 272 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:20.240 long after that, I was down to my last spare 273 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:24.160 battery pack. The only light I would have after those 274 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:27.759 batteries died was my cell phone. I had turned it 275 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:30.519 off long ago to save it as a last resort 276 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:35.319 for light. And the exhaustion set in, and I clicked 277 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.000 off my light and I sat in the blackness, and 278 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:42.920 I fell asleep. I woke to the distant sounds of 279 00:17:43.079 --> 00:17:47.000 clicking and some sort of gibberish that I didn't understand. 280 00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:51.039 The sounds weren't close, thank goodness, but they were looking 281 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.640 for me. Once it sounded so human that I thought 282 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:56.920 it might be in my team members calling for me, 283 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:00.200 and I almost shouted to them, but I waited to 284 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.440 make sure, and I'm glad I did, because minutes later 285 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:08.559 another roar came from the same direction. I drank the 286 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:11.960 last of my water and I ate the final protein bar. 287 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.279 I then turned my light off and I curled into 288 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:18.480 a fetal position, hoping the sounds would stop so I 289 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:23.160 could move again. Strangely, I felt an evil presence near me, 290 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:27.480 and I knew the creatures were near, but still I waited. 291 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.880 Hours later, the noises stopped, and I assumed they had 292 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.440 given up their search for me. So I got moving, 293 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:39.880 always trying to move upward. Freedom was above me, and 294 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:44.400 I had to get there. Two maybe three days later, 295 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:48.720 I felt hope slipping away. I had lost all sense 296 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:51.759 of time, and I was weakened now from hydration, and 297 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:56.599 I was starving to death. I only used my headlamp briefly. 298 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:58.799 I would click it on, look ahead as far as 299 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.799 I could see, and then turn it on, and then 300 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:03.440 I would feel my way to something until I needed 301 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:09.240 light again. While alone in a place this silent, your 302 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:12.960 sense of hearing heightens. There are no other noises to 303 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:17.279 interfere with what you were hearing. While taking a break, 304 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.200 and without the noise of my movements, I heard the 305 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:24.359 hum of traffic. I moved toward the sound until I 306 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.839 saw a faint rays of light penetrating the passage wall. 307 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:31.440 I was overjoyed, and I was filled with a surge 308 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:35.400 of energy. There was a small crevice that would be 309 00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:38.799 tight even for my small body to escape through, but 310 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:43.079 I pushed through it anyway into the sunlight. I was 311 00:19:43.079 --> 00:19:45.799 standing at the base of a cliff that I would 312 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.720 later find out was next to Kentucky State Route seven. 313 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:54.880 Cars were speeding past below me. I had made it 314 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:59.759 out alive. My phone still had a charge, and I 315 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.640 call my supervisor. Well. She was ecstatic to hear from me. 316 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:07.640 She said they picked up my GPS tracker twenty minutes ago. 317 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:11.559 My tracker must have started broadcasting when I got near 318 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:16.039 the crevice, and state troopers were on their way, she said. 319 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:19.960 The police took me back to my hotel room, and 320 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.559 I felt like I drank a gallon of water while 321 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.920 we drove. Now, I wanted to get a shower in 322 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.759 something to eat, but as I got out of the car, 323 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:32.640 four men approached and ushered me into a small hotel 324 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:36.799 conference room. I assumed they knew I was exhausted and 325 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:40.039 hungary and that this meeting would not take long, but 326 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:44.000 I was wrong. Two of the men were from the 327 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:48.000 Department of the Interior, one was a Federal Game and 328 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:52.359 Fish official, and the last was with the US Geological Survey. 329 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.880 The date was August twenty second, and they wanted me 330 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:02.119 to recount the last ninety six hours my scanner was 331 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.759 still operating. From that data, we found that I had 332 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:09.079 traveled eleven miles underground from the point at which I 333 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:13.680 fell into the sinkhole. They began asking me about the 334 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:17.880 bear we had encountered. Well, I was a biology major, 335 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:19.960 but I knew damn well that the creature was not 336 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:23.759 a bear, and I said so. I described the creature 337 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:27.200 in great detail, but still they continued calling it a bear. 338 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:33.519 They questioned me for three hours. At some point I 339 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.480 told them I had answered every question and that I 340 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:39.799 was done, and after walking out, I headed to my 341 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:43.559 room and I took a long shower. Some food was 342 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:45.720 brought to me, so I ate like I had never 343 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:50.079 tasted food, and then I went to sleep. I was 344 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:53.079 still a bit confused when I woke, but I felt 345 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:56.640 rested and ready to find my teammates. I went to 346 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.079 all their rooms and the only one who remained there 347 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:03.240 was Tony. He told me that Laurie was so upset 348 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.880 after the event that she had to be sedated and 349 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:09.720 was taken to a local hospital. She had been released 350 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:13.559 and sent home. The other members of the team had 351 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:16.799 been put on leaving sent home. They had all been 352 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:20.160 notified that I made it out, and Tony said they 353 00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:22.480 allowed him to stay because he was the only one 354 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:25.599 who wasn't freaking out. I think that came from his 355 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:30.880 military training. I later learned that a task force had 356 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:33.960 come in and Tony guided them back into the cave. 357 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:37.839 There were way too many people there to be looking 358 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:42.000 for a bear, though their main mission, Tony later decided 359 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:46.960 was to gather the human remains in clothing. Tony searched 360 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.440 the area with those men, and he found no sign 361 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:52.720 of a bear, and then they made castings of several 362 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:55.599 tracks in the mud before they destroyed all the evidence 363 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:59.680 they could find. They spent days in that cave system 364 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:03.359 for that bear, they said, but they never found an animal. 365 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:07.039 And then it occurred to me that I may have 366 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:10.319 been the only one who had seen this creature, because 367 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:14.000 Tony never mentioned it. He kept saying they searched for 368 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.799 a bear, and I think that is what he thought 369 00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:19.839 we were dealing with, and I had never told him 370 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.759 about the creature. I had seen only the men in 371 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.920 the conference room. I was going to leave the next day, 372 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:29.799 but that evening we went to the bar, and there 373 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:34.200 we found two members of the task force drinking. After 374 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:38.559 several drinks, one of them began to talk. This fellow 375 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:41.599 told us that this team was a unit of special 376 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:46.000 forces that were used to hunt down Bigfoot. I had 377 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:48.599 yet to think of a Bigfoot, and I was stuck 378 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:52.920 on an unknown monster until then, and bigfoot was a myth, 379 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:57.039 wasn't it. He continued to tell us that this was 380 00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:00.519 only the second underground assignment they had been on, and 381 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:03.759 that his unit hated the darkness of the cave systems, 382 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:07.279 even though they were equipped with special equipment that allowed 383 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:10.160 them to see in the dark zone, or the part 384 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:12.799 of the cave where there was a complete absence of light. 385 00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:16.920 He said, we were some of the luckiest people he 386 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:20.720 had ever met, and my falling into that sinkhole gave 387 00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:24.640 all my friends an opportunity to escape because it had 388 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:27.640 captured the interest of the bigfoot trying to catch me. 389 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:32.519 He admitted that the government has proof that these animals 390 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:35.720 are traveling underground as much as they are in the moonlight, 391 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:39.720 and there is also evidence of them kidnapping people and 392 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:43.839 eating them. That was obvious to me. I had seen 393 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:48.000 the chamber with a pile of bones. He was about 394 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:51.880 to continue with more information. I mean, this guy was 395 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:54.920 a real bliber mouth. But one of the men who 396 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:57.400 questioned me grabbed a hold of him by the shoulder 397 00:24:57.400 --> 00:24:59.839 and said that that was enough, soldier, and you should 398 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:04.480 try This fellow then sat down and he asked us 399 00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:07.880 what we were told. Well, at first we were hesitant 400 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.720 to tell him, but we did so any way, to 401 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.680