1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: My bigfoot encounter happened in the summer of my eighth year. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,320 We lived on the outskirts of Bates Full, Arkansas, on 3 00:00:14,359 --> 00:00:17,800 a farm. At this age, I spent every minute that 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:22,120 I could outside. On a hot day in July, I 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:25,559 was making my rounds around our place. I spent a 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,559 lot of time looking for critters around a big pond 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:33,280 on the northwest corner of our land. Catching frogs and 8 00:00:33,359 --> 00:00:36,560 turtles and snakes was one of my favorite things to do. 9 00:00:37,359 --> 00:00:40,439 It was an ordinary day, really. Birds were chirping and 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,640 insects were singing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until 11 00:00:44,679 --> 00:00:49,159 all the noise from the nearby wildlife stopped. I noticed 12 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,880 it right away. At that moment, I was ankled deep 13 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,640 in the water and mud. I stopped looking for animals, 14 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,320 and I tried to take it all in. It was 15 00:00:59,439 --> 00:01:02,280 like the moon of that place went dark and time 16 00:01:02,439 --> 00:01:06,359 slowed down. But I couldn't figure out why. My dog 17 00:01:06,439 --> 00:01:08,920 moved around in front of me, looking at a huge 18 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,760 oak tree across the fence. We both stared at it 19 00:01:12,799 --> 00:01:15,799 for a minute. Maybe he knew what was there, but 20 00:01:15,879 --> 00:01:19,640 I couldn't see anything. When you look at something long enough, 21 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:22,760 shapes began to form, and I saw what looked like 22 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,840 a man hiding behind the tree, maybe the outline of 23 00:01:26,879 --> 00:01:30,640 his shoulder and a leg. My dog began to growl. 24 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,120 Something was there. I caught a whiff of a strange 25 00:01:35,159 --> 00:01:37,879 odor that I mistook for the mud I was standing 26 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,280 in walk around in a muddy pond, and all sorts 27 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,319 of smells boil up, but this odor was different. I 28 00:01:45,359 --> 00:01:48,719 walked towards the tree to sea better. At this point, 29 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:52,439 I was only fifteen or twenty yards away from the tree, 30 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,079 I saw a hand wrap around a branch that was 31 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,920 six feet above the ground. I've never seen anything like 32 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,719 It looked like an FX effect from a horror movie. 33 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,920 I expected to see its face peak around the trunk 34 00:02:07,959 --> 00:02:10,360 because the way it was moving was like it wanted 35 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,439 to look at me, but it never did. I just 36 00:02:13,479 --> 00:02:16,159 stared at that hand. I couldn't take my eyes off 37 00:02:16,199 --> 00:02:20,120 of it. The skin was dark gray, with dark brown, 38 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:25,039 almost black hair covering all but the fingers. The nails 39 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,680 were long and black. They actually looked perfectly groomed from 40 00:02:29,719 --> 00:02:33,599 that distance, but I'm sure they weren't. The nails looked 41 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,599 like a woman's nails after she has had a manicure. 42 00:02:36,719 --> 00:02:41,039 They were long and symmetrical, and the knuckles were oversized 43 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,400 and obvious. But one thing I knew for sure, I 44 00:02:44,439 --> 00:02:48,479 did not want those hands on me. Its hands were giant, 45 00:02:48,599 --> 00:02:51,599 and it could have completely covered my eight year old head. 46 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,680 Something cracked in the brush grown up around the tree, 47 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,719 and my dog left me sprinting straight to the house 48 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,360 a quarter mile away. I was right behind him, running 49 00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:05,879 hard and barefoot through that field. I made it home 50 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,080 in record time. I never told my folks what I saw. 51 00:03:10,199 --> 00:03:13,319 I probably should have. I was eight years old and 52 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,599 I didn't know what to do. Later in years, I 53 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,080 told one of my friends, and he believes me. He 54 00:03:19,159 --> 00:03:24,159 has had an encounter himself. I also confided in my wife. 55 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,680 She thinks I'm crazy. I know what I saw. I'm 56 00:03:28,719 --> 00:03:31,319 now twenty two years old, and I've had one more 57 00:03:31,439 --> 00:03:35,919 encounter since then. I'll send that at another time. Thanks 58 00:03:35,919 --> 00:03:38,919 for telling my story. I know I can't spell worth 59 00:03:38,919 --> 00:03:45,520 the crap. Dyslexia is my enemy. Oh man, uh No, 60 00:03:45,719 --> 00:03:48,159 I can't spell worth the crap either. I mean sometimes 61 00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:50,719 I even put marquees on these videos and I spell 62 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,240 the word wrong. I should do a spell check, I guess, 63 00:03:53,319 --> 00:03:55,520 but I don't know. I get a little impatient, and 64 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,319 it looks good to me, so I'll let it fly 65 00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:00,520 in dyslexia. Dude, you wrote a good story. I fixed 66 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:02,080 it up for you. That was a couple of things 67 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,960 I didn't understand, but I got it straight. So it's 68 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,639 a good story. And uh, I know Batesville. I've got 69 00:04:07,719 --> 00:04:10,759 my family has a place over there, close to Grier's 70 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,039 Ferry go through Braatesville every time we go over there. 71 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,480 Love that racetrack over there in Batesville. I've never been 72 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,480 to a racetrack, but I like driving by it, and 73 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,120 every time I drive by it, I think I'm gonna 74 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,399 go to the races here one summer, but I never 75 00:04:23,439 --> 00:04:27,480 have been able to. But anyways, a great story. And dude, 76 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:29,839 if you get a minute to write that other encounter, 77 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,000 make sure and send it to me. All right, I 78 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:38,040 appreciate it. Let's go to the next one. Okay, this 79 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,920 story is a paranormal story. I don't know if it's true. 80 00:04:43,079 --> 00:04:47,439 I think it's probably not, but it's a damn good story. 81 00:04:47,519 --> 00:04:50,399 So you know the drill, put that chin strap on 82 00:04:50,439 --> 00:04:53,480 your twope, glue your dentures in because this is a 83 00:04:53,519 --> 00:04:56,240 good one. All right, Let's get going with it. In 84 00:04:56,319 --> 00:04:59,240 nineteen eighty five, I was traveling in the northwest part 85 00:04:59,319 --> 00:05:02,639 of Utah. I was dozing off behind the wheel, so 86 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,680 I opted to pull into a hotel motel for the night. 87 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,959 After I flipped the mattress over for a quick bedbug 88 00:05:10,079 --> 00:05:14,319 check and search the fixtures for video cameras. You never 89 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,360 know about these out of the way places. I flopped 90 00:05:17,399 --> 00:05:20,839 down on the bed. For whatever reason, I couldn't get 91 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,680 the television to work, so I gave up and thumbed 92 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,920 through a small stack of magazines on the nightstand. An 93 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,240 article caught my eye about an old silver mining town. 94 00:05:32,079 --> 00:05:34,839 It stated that a theater company was willing to pay 95 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,800 for new hires to serve as re enactors portraying characters 96 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,639 from the Old West for tourists. With visions of the 97 00:05:42,639 --> 00:05:45,560 movie westwarld in my head. I tore out the article 98 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,720 and shoved it in my duffel bag. What did I care? 99 00:05:48,959 --> 00:05:51,439 I thought might be fun to step out of my 100 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,399 boring life for a while to pretend to be someone else. 101 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,319 After several weeks of phone calls and background checks, I 102 00:05:59,399 --> 00:06:02,120 was offered to job as a saloon of pharaoh dealer. 103 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,759 When I arrived, I noted how exact a replica of 104 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:08,920 the place was of an old West town. It was 105 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,759 overrun with tourists, but you could easily tell who the 106 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,439 workers were by their old fashioned dress. All I was 107 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,120 dressed for my part, looking like Hugh O'Brien's character in 108 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,759 the John Wayne movie The Shootest. I tried to copy 109 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:26,560 Hugh O'Brien's cocky arrogance, but thankfully I never had to 110 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,680 defend myself against any soret of losers that lost at 111 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:34,079 my pharaoh table. The tourists thought my act was a hoop, 112 00:06:34,439 --> 00:06:38,360 and it was all in good fun. Once we closed, 113 00:06:38,439 --> 00:06:41,519 my other duties involved making the rounds and securing the 114 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,879 place for the night. Late one evening, I decided to 115 00:06:44,879 --> 00:06:47,240 stay and enjoy the solitude of the mountains in the 116 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:52,160 background and the starry skies above. I found myself back 117 00:06:52,199 --> 00:06:54,600 at the saloon with nothing to do, so I sat 118 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,519 at my table and began to practice some new card moves. 119 00:06:58,959 --> 00:07:01,600 There was no smoking loud on the premises, but the 120 00:07:01,639 --> 00:07:04,480 air began to fill with the smell of burning tobacco. 121 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:07,839 Now I thought my coworkers were pulling a joke, or 122 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,279 that a couple of stray tourists had trespassed onto the 123 00:07:11,319 --> 00:07:16,079 place after hours. There was a distinct sound of boot shuffling, 124 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,519 as if a crowd of invisible line dancers had suddenly 125 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,079 taken the floor. Well. My heart jumped into my mouth 126 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,759 when a player piano roared into life and began pumping 127 00:07:26,759 --> 00:07:32,160 out a saloon worthy rendition of Camptown Ladies. I found 128 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:36,399 myself face to face with a trio of reenactors, one 129 00:07:36,439 --> 00:07:40,959 portraying a cowboy and two playing miners. They pulled out 130 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,480 chairs at my table and they sat down. Why didn't 131 00:07:44,519 --> 00:07:48,639 recognize them? What did you guys start working here? I asked, 132 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:51,800 Are you going to deal the cards? Just sit there? 133 00:07:52,079 --> 00:07:56,199 One of the miners demanded, someone is having a big 134 00:07:56,279 --> 00:07:59,639 laugh at my expense, I thought, so I played along 135 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,319 and off the first hand. The three bellowed for drinks. 136 00:08:04,959 --> 00:08:08,720 An actress playing a pretty saloon girl who I didn't recognize, 137 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,959 brought over a tray and set it off to the side. 138 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,319 The three men down their booze in one gulp and 139 00:08:15,399 --> 00:08:18,800 turned their attention back to the game. By then the 140 00:08:18,839 --> 00:08:23,439 bar was filled and every patron was dressed in period clothing, 141 00:08:23,639 --> 00:08:28,160 as was I all night long. The cowboy had been 142 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:32,639 losing badly. He made a derogatory remark about my Faroh 143 00:08:32,639 --> 00:08:37,720 dealing skills. Thinking this was all play acting, I summoned 144 00:08:37,759 --> 00:08:41,080 my inner Hugh Bryan, and I told him, you have 145 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:46,399 two ways of leaving this establishment, my friend immediately or dead. 146 00:08:48,039 --> 00:08:51,159 Like Hugh Brian's character. I love watching a beaten man 147 00:08:51,279 --> 00:08:55,240 leave the room. The cowboy shuffled dejectedly across the bar 148 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,720 and made his exit through the swinging doors look out. 149 00:08:58,879 --> 00:09:02,279 Someone yelled A few seconds later as the entire place 150 00:09:02,399 --> 00:09:06,919 dove for cover. The cowboy reappeared in the doorway brandishing 151 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,600 a gun. I heard his blank cartridge whizz by me 152 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,919 as I instinctively raised my own gun and took him 153 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,440 down with one shot to the heart. The cheer went 154 00:09:17,519 --> 00:09:20,039 up throughout the bar as a couple of patrons dragged 155 00:09:20,039 --> 00:09:24,480 the cowboy's body out the exit. I holistered my pistol 156 00:09:24,519 --> 00:09:28,080 and continued the game, And in that moment I really 157 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,039 was Hugh Bryan, and all the characters in the saloon 158 00:09:31,159 --> 00:09:35,279 feared and respected me. I told the two actors playing 159 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,720 the miners that I was shutting down the Faroh table 160 00:09:37,799 --> 00:09:41,759 for the night. They chose not to complain and passively 161 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,080 made their way out the exit. I assumed the other 162 00:09:45,159 --> 00:09:48,879 staff in the bar, detracted by their partying, would close up, 163 00:09:48,919 --> 00:09:51,960 so I made my way out, and as my boots 164 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,720 kicked up the dirt, I thought I saw someone sleeping 165 00:09:54,759 --> 00:09:57,840 on a bench in front of the General's store. It 166 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,399 was the cowboy I had pretended to shoot. Wake up, 167 00:10:01,519 --> 00:10:05,759 I said, as I nudged him, Except he wasn't asleep. 168 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,879 I noted the dry blood across his chest. I turned 169 00:10:10,919 --> 00:10:13,799 and ran back to the saloon to summon help. I 170 00:10:13,799 --> 00:10:16,600 could hear the player piano, but as I entered I 171 00:10:16,639 --> 00:10:21,000 saw the place was deserted. The gravity of the situation 172 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,519 was dawning on me that I had just shot and 173 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,879 killed a man in front of a saloon full of 174 00:10:25,919 --> 00:10:30,039 eye witnesses who had suddenly vanished. I rushed back to 175 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,159 the general store, thinking I could still help the cowboy 176 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,519 if it wasn't too late. But he had gone missing, too, 177 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:42,360 had my fellow re enactors removed the body. I checked 178 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,120 the blanks in my colt and counted five still in 179 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,519 the cylinder. There were two unaccounted for mine and his. 180 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:53,840 I searched every inch of that saloon and couldntfideen neither 181 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,840 had someone found the spent cartridges and taken those two 182 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:01,720 somewhere in panic had occurred to me that I was 183 00:11:01,759 --> 00:11:05,360 being prank. You can't kill people across the room firing 184 00:11:05,399 --> 00:11:09,159 only blanks, and dead bodies don't go missing, and large 185 00:11:09,159 --> 00:11:13,000 groups of rowdy bar patrons don't disappear without a trace. 186 00:11:14,879 --> 00:11:18,720 The next day, I took my coworkers to task, congratulating 187 00:11:18,759 --> 00:11:22,519 them on pulling off such an elaborate hoax. No one 188 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,159 seemed to know what I was talking about. A few 189 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,000 humored be enough to listen as I recounted the events 190 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,720 from the night before. You say you heard music coming 191 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,080 from this piano, asked one of them. He swept his 192 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,159 hand down the keyboard, but the instrument produced no sound. 193 00:11:40,399 --> 00:11:45,360 This piano doesn't have hammers, he continued. It's a prop. Well, 194 00:11:45,399 --> 00:11:48,879 I shook my head. I'm starting to feel somewhere between 195 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,720 foolish and possibly insane. You know your characters based on 196 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,039 a real guy, he added, I had assumed there was 197 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,399 no history behind any of the people that we were 198 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:04,279 supposed to be portraying. Some cowboy drifter didn't like his cards, 199 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,440 so he and the pharaoh dealer got into it. Continued 200 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,600 the co worker the Pharaoh Dealer shot him dead. The 201 00:12:11,639 --> 00:12:14,759 next night, a gang of cowboys rode into town and 202 00:12:14,799 --> 00:12:17,480 took care of the Pharaoh Dealer. You want to hang 203 00:12:17,519 --> 00:12:21,720 around and see what happens to your character tonight? They 204 00:12:21,759 --> 00:12:25,799 all started laughing at my so called ghost story, real 205 00:12:26,159 --> 00:12:30,600 or imagine? I knew I was know Hugh O'Brien. It 206 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:34,360 was boring old me that removed my gun belt and 207 00:12:34,399 --> 00:12:40,159 bid my farewells and got the hell out of dodge. 208 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,000 I live in a small town in north Mississippi, right 209 00:12:44,039 --> 00:12:48,039 below the Tennessee state line in Benton County. This person 210 00:12:48,159 --> 00:12:51,639 is my neighbor, one county over. In two thousand and nine, 211 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,519 I was going through a nasty divorce and a custody battle. 212 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,919 My one year old daughter and I had to move 213 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:00,960 in with my parents. They own thirty eight and after 214 00:13:01,039 --> 00:13:03,639 all of us kids moved out, they converted the barn 215 00:13:03,799 --> 00:13:07,759 into a two bedroom cabin. Growing up, I always had 216 00:13:07,759 --> 00:13:10,759 a weird feeling that I couldn't explain when I would 217 00:13:10,799 --> 00:13:14,320 be in the barn alone feeding or messing with the horses, 218 00:13:14,759 --> 00:13:19,360 even though I never had any paranormal experiences. My daughter 219 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,120 slept in a pack and play because I was unable 220 00:13:22,159 --> 00:13:24,120 to bring her crip with us when we had to 221 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,360 leave our former home. Around three thirty am on this 222 00:13:28,399 --> 00:13:31,840 particular night, I was in that state where you're asleep 223 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,960 but still kind of aware of what's going on around you, 224 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,879 and I heard a voice say, she's waking up. Opened 225 00:13:39,879 --> 00:13:43,480 my eyes and I saw two little twin girl ghosts 226 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:47,080 who looked to be around eight years old. They wore 227 00:13:47,159 --> 00:13:51,000 antique dresses and their hair was fixed in ringlet curls, 228 00:13:51,039 --> 00:13:55,039 just like a pair of Victorian porcelain dolls. Both of 229 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,240 them were sitting in front of the pack and play 230 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:01,480 with their legs crossed, looking at my daughter. They must 231 00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:04,279 have realized they were being watched by me as they 232 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,279 took flight and exited the room. It felt like all 233 00:14:08,279 --> 00:14:11,919 the energy left with them. My daughter slept through the 234 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:14,799 hole encounter, but I was so scared that I just 235 00:14:14,879 --> 00:14:18,639 laid there wide away. I never believed in ghosts until 236 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,639 that night. I don't think they had any ill intent. 237 00:14:23,399 --> 00:14:25,759 I got the feeling that they were behaving like normal 238 00:14:25,879 --> 00:14:30,639 girls around that age, fascinated by the baby. My parents 239 00:14:30,639 --> 00:14:35,399 still continued to experience paranormal activity in the house, though 240 00:14:35,399 --> 00:14:38,080 none of the spirits appeared to be menacing or threatening. 241 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,840 My mother witnessed the ghost of a little boy dressed 242 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,879 in Civil War era clothing and swore as she detected 243 00:14:45,919 --> 00:14:49,559 the scent of a woman's perfume in the hallway. And 244 00:14:49,639 --> 00:14:52,240 my sister once saw the figure of a man dressed 245 00:14:52,279 --> 00:14:56,320 in cowboy clothing. She said he seemed more interested in 246 00:14:56,399 --> 00:15:00,919 tending to his chores than bothering with her. There's a 247 00:15:01,039 --> 00:15:04,440 dark history to the place. It was once burnt to 248 00:15:04,519 --> 00:15:07,039 the ground during the Civil War and rebuilt on the 249 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,840 same site. There were rumors of a family with three 250 00:15:10,879 --> 00:15:14,960 small children buried nearby and on mark graves. It was 251 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,159 assumed that they were bystanders caught in the bloodshed. It's 252 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,879 all kind of tragic when you think about it. A 253 00:15:21,919 --> 00:15:25,480 farm family innocently going about their business until the war 254 00:15:25,679 --> 00:15:28,840 ended up at their front door. And that's the end 255 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,559 of that story. But you know, during the Civil War 256 00:15:31,759 --> 00:15:35,879 where I live, when the Union forces came through here, 257 00:15:36,519 --> 00:15:42,799 they burned in everything, courthouses, churches. You can look at 258 00:15:42,799 --> 00:15:47,000 the historical markers on almost every courthouse in every county 259 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,559 in at least north of Mississippi, I'm guessing North Alabama 260 00:15:50,559 --> 00:15:54,440 and Georgia. It'll say that This courthouse was burned down 261 00:15:54,519 --> 00:15:58,519 during the Civil War and rebuilt in eighteen eighty nine 262 00:15:58,679 --> 00:16:04,159 or eighteen seventy six during the Reconstruction period. But none 263 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,559 of it was pleasant for people in the Southern States. 264 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,200 And nothing about the war was easy. It wasn't just hard, 265 00:16:12,279 --> 00:16:15,159 it was. It was much harder on the soldiers, but 266 00:16:15,399 --> 00:16:19,000 nothing was easy for the whole population down here. And 267 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,960 some people may say, well, they deserved it, blah blah blah. 268 00:16:22,399 --> 00:16:24,639 I'm not saying whether they deserved it or not. I'm 269 00:16:24,639 --> 00:16:27,440 just saying that's a fact. It just wasn't easy living 270 00:16:27,559 --> 00:16:30,320 for people. And a lot of our customs and a 271 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,320 lot of our food and a lot of our language 272 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,639 and the things that the way we live in the 273 00:16:37,679 --> 00:16:42,840 Southern States are marked by that era. And I don't know, 274 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,679 it just came to mind with this story. I've read 275 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,720 a lot about the Reconstruction era, and from customs to 276 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,559 food to in the post slave culture and everything. It's 277 00:16:53,639 --> 00:16:57,120 real interesting stuff. And you kind of find out why 278 00:16:57,159 --> 00:17:00,919 people like I found out why my grandparents ate like 279 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,399 they did that. I'll just tell you a little story. 280 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,839 I remember my grandmother and this is probably from the 281 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:12,079 reconstruction area posts Civil war and from living through the 282 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:16,440 Great Depression. But she would cook a batch of biscuits, 283 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,000 and those biscuits would sit on her stove out in 284 00:17:20,039 --> 00:17:23,519 the open for a week until they were all gone. 285 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,200 Now today, if we cook a dozen biscuits and you 286 00:17:27,279 --> 00:17:30,160 eat six, you just throw the rest of them away, 287 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,079 or you give the rest to the dogs, or you 288 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:35,240 throw we throw them out to the chickens. But they 289 00:17:35,319 --> 00:17:38,559 came up in an era where you did not waste 290 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,119 an ounce of food. You just didn't waste it. You 291 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,759 kept it and you would eat on it all week. 292 00:17:43,839 --> 00:17:47,240 And if you threw throwing something out that was edible 293 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,079 was just absolutely unheard of. And my grandparents wound up 294 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,799 in real good shape later in their life. But they 295 00:17:55,839 --> 00:17:58,680 were born and raised and came up through the Great 296 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:03,559 Depression by people who were raising families during that time, 297 00:18:04,079 --> 00:18:06,720 and that's how they came about those customs, and they 298 00:18:06,759 --> 00:18:08,920 never let go of them. I just think that's so 299 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,400 fascinating to me. I'm running this story kind of long. 300 00:18:13,559 --> 00:18:15,920 I'm going off on a tangent like I do sometimes 301 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,400 when I get talking. But it's interesting stuff, and I 302 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,640 don't take any particular pride in it. I don't take 303 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,079 I don't look down on it, even though I'm Southern 304 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,200 born and I've lived here all my life. These are 305 00:18:29,279 --> 00:18:35,599 just interesting facts about humanity that really consume me. I 306 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:40,279 love reading about why we do what we do. It's 307 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:46,200 interesting stuff. Okay, let's go to another story. I moved 308 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,880 to Parker County, Texas two years ago with my wife 309 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,440 and our three dogs. The property that we purchased and 310 00:18:52,599 --> 00:18:56,279 currently live on is five acres and it's located outside 311 00:18:56,279 --> 00:19:01,240 of Springtown. The property is surrounded by others similar sized properties, 312 00:19:01,279 --> 00:19:05,319 but there are large wooded sections. The back three acres 313 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,480 is open to the neighbor that borders me to the west, 314 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,319 and they have a thick scrub brush on the back 315 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,680 side of their property. The metal barn that was here 316 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,000 when we bought the place sits twenty feet from the 317 00:19:17,039 --> 00:19:20,440 property line and eighty feet from our back door. Now, 318 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,079 I tell you all of this so that you can 319 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,920 get a mental image of how everything is positioned on 320 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,880 the property. When we first moved in during the summer 321 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,880 of twenty twenty one, we were excited to start some 322 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:36,039 projects and make our place our own. After picking up 323 00:19:36,079 --> 00:19:39,119 one thousand pounds of scrap metal and giving the pasture 324 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,200 a good bush hogging. The back acreage was looking a 325 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,640 lot better than it had when we first moved in. 326 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,440 We made a plan to move my wife's horse from 327 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,920 her grandmother's property to ours once I fixed the fence 328 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,960 that ran down the western property line. One June evening, 329 00:19:56,039 --> 00:19:59,440 after it all cooled down, I started making the necessary 330 00:19:59,519 --> 00:20:02,680 repair to the fence when I heard something moving around 331 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,799 in the brush fifteen yards in front of me. Now 332 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,480 it sounded like a large animal trying to be quiet 333 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:13,200 but failing miserably. I wasn't concerned, since this part of 334 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,640 Texas has deer and hogs and other wild game, and 335 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:21,119 that's what could have been making the noises. Thirty minutes 336 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,799 into this episode, with on and off breaking of sticks 337 00:20:24,839 --> 00:20:28,960 and crunching leaves, I started to feel uneasy, like something 338 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,400 was looking right at me or through me. I'm a 339 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,200 big man six foot four and three hundred and twenty 340 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,480 five pounds, and having hunted the woods and swamps of 341 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,039 Mississippi all my life, there's not much that has raised 342 00:20:42,039 --> 00:20:44,720 the hair on the back of my neck. But even so, 343 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:49,039 something had my nerves on edge. So I quickly finished 344 00:20:49,039 --> 00:20:50,920 the work and walked back to the house. At a 345 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,119 fast pace. After getting into the house and shaking off 346 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,240 the feeling of being watched, I turned on the baseball 347 00:20:58,319 --> 00:21:02,079 game and I was able to rely. Later on, my 348 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,480 wife reminded me that she had to go out of 349 00:21:04,519 --> 00:21:07,240 town for the next few days for work, and she 350 00:21:07,319 --> 00:21:09,319 asked about the fence, and I told her that I 351 00:21:09,319 --> 00:21:12,400 would have it completed, but I didn't mention the incident 352 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,039 that made me nervous. She asked me if I could 353 00:21:15,039 --> 00:21:19,200 clean out the barn while she was gone as well. Well. Naturally, 354 00:21:19,279 --> 00:21:22,000 I waited until the last day before my wife came 355 00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:25,640 home to start this work. There was no electricity running 356 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,640 to the barn, just a floodlight on a pole pointing 357 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,200 toward the south entrance, so I had to get everything 358 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,839 cleaned out during the day while filling my truck bed 359 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,519 up with old water hoses and boxes of bucks and newspapers. 360 00:21:39,559 --> 00:21:42,440 From no telling how long, I worked my way toward 361 00:21:42,519 --> 00:21:46,079 the northwest corner of the barn. That's when I started 362 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,039 to notice a rancid smell. The closer I got to 363 00:21:49,079 --> 00:21:54,680 that corner. After finally getting the wall of boxes cleared out, 364 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:59,079 I found the source of the smell. There were old 365 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,079 horse blankets covered in gore in what looked to be 366 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,799 an old deer carcass. Well. I thought it was strange, 367 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,079 but stray dogs in codies are opportunistic, and if no 368 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,119 one is bothering them, I guessed that they would take 369 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,680 up shelter in the barn. Well. I gagged a few 370 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:18,960 times at the smell, and I managed to get all 371 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,279 the terrible smelling horse blankets in the bed of my 372 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,960 truck and on the way to the county dump. And 373 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,680 when I got back home that evening, I got cleaned 374 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,480 up and I let the dogs out to use the 375 00:22:28,519 --> 00:22:33,200 bathroom and get some exercise. It was about thirty minutes 376 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,720 before dusk, and that uneasy feeling that I had of 377 00:22:36,799 --> 00:22:40,400 being watched hit me again. I wasn't the only one 378 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,160 that had an immediate feeling of eyes peering at me 379 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,559 from somewhere. All of my dogs were on alert. They 380 00:22:47,559 --> 00:22:51,160 were looking over toward the barn. The biggest of these 381 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,839 dogs is one hundred and twenty pound Great Pyrenees Retriever mix. 382 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,319 He was a real protective dog, but he was frozen 383 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:03,599 in that spot, rowling, and his hackles were raised. I 384 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,920 gathered myself and got the dogs back inside, and I 385 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,640 still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something glaring 386 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,599 at me through the windows. The thought crossed my mind 387 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,599 that there might be a big cat in the area, 388 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,119 even though the game warns will tell you that there aren't. 389 00:23:18,519 --> 00:23:21,720 But I hadn't seen any tracks or signs. So after 390 00:23:21,759 --> 00:23:25,160 closing all the blinds, I felt a little better. But 391 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,720 that was until about nine thirty when I heard my 392 00:23:27,759 --> 00:23:32,799 neighbor's dog raising hell. Against my better judgment, I went 393 00:23:32,799 --> 00:23:35,000 to the gun safe and got out my three hundred 394 00:23:35,039 --> 00:23:38,559 blackout AR fifteen, and I racked around in the chamber 395 00:23:38,559 --> 00:23:41,000 and I flipped on the weapon mounted light and I 396 00:23:41,039 --> 00:23:45,160 stepped out the back door. The instant that I pointed 397 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,160 the light toward the barn, there was an ear piercing 398 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:53,039 howl or growl that vibrated in my chest. Now I'm 399 00:23:53,079 --> 00:23:56,200 not a believer in encryptids or that UFO stuff, So 400 00:23:56,279 --> 00:23:59,000 I started walking toward the barn with my muscle trained 401 00:23:59,039 --> 00:24:02,960 on the entrance. I had only made it ten steps 402 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,359 before this, well, it was this thing. It jumped into 403 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,039 the beam of my light just inside the barn doors. 404 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:12,799 So I froze in my tracks out of sheer disbelief. 405 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,000 This beast was standing on its hind legs with its 406 00:24:17,039 --> 00:24:20,599 front arms hanging down just above its knees, and it 407 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,599 was black. It's blacker and dark. The next thing I 408 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,279 noticed was the claws on the end of the raccoon 409 00:24:27,519 --> 00:24:31,799 like hands that glistened in my light. They looked long 410 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:36,559 and dangerous. I slowly raised my rifle, working that light 411 00:24:36,759 --> 00:24:40,200 up the creature, and I saw the ugliest canine face 412 00:24:40,279 --> 00:24:45,000 that I've ever seen in my life, thick, vicious drool 413 00:24:45,079 --> 00:24:48,400 that hung from its yellow, jagged teeth, and suddenly it 414 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,000 looked like the edges of its mouth had turned up 415 00:24:51,039 --> 00:24:55,240 in some sort of a twisted grin. Its eyes reflected 416 00:24:55,279 --> 00:24:58,119 green from the light. I had no idea what I 417 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:00,960 was looking at, but I knew that thirty rounds of 418 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,960 three hundred blackout probably wasn't enough to take it down 419 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,720 Before it got to me. I got lucky, and it 420 00:25:07,799 --> 00:25:10,759 turned and with one fluid motion, it jumped over the 421 00:25:10,799 --> 00:25:13,799 backset of barn doors and started running into the night. 422 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,200 From the time the creature jumped into the light, from 423 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,759 the time it suddenly turned away and bounded over the 424 00:25:20,759 --> 00:25:23,799 back barn doors and ran off, crashing through the brush, 425 00:25:24,279 --> 00:25:27,839 may have been a total of thirty seconds. I got 426 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:29,960 a good enough look at it to know that I 427 00:25:30,039 --> 00:25:32,440 was keeping my gun loaded, in lights on, and my 428 00:25:32,519 --> 00:25:36,279 doors locked that night. The next morning, I went out 429 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,599 and measured where I thought the height of the beast was. 430 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,839 My best guess was that it was seven foot tall, 431 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,440 and the barn doors that cleared without effort were even 432 00:25:47,519 --> 00:25:51,319 with my chin. Now I found large canine style prints 433 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,240 all over the dirt floor of the barn. My wife 434 00:25:54,279 --> 00:25:56,359 came home later that day, and I chose not to 435 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,519 tell her about any of the events that happened the 436 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,640 night before. It has been almost two years since that night, 437 00:26:02,759 --> 00:26:05,279 and I haven't seen her or felt the presence of 438 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:10,000 anything on or around our property since. My best guess 439 00:26:10,079 --> 00:26:12,200 is that the thing had been staying in the barn 440 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,839 while the previous owners had been gone, and I disturbed 441 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:20,079 it by cleaning everything up. Hopefully I never have another 442 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:24,279 encounter with anything like this again. Oh man, Hopefully you don't. 443 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,680 And you're going to catch some flight from the audience 444 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,359 for not telling your wife. And there's a lot of 445 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,000 stories that guys will say that they'll say, oh, I 446 00:26:32,039 --> 00:26:34,640 saw this monster, but I never told my wife about it. 447 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:36,920 It was on our property it was close to the house, 448 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:41,200 but I never told my wife about it. You know, honestly, 449 00:26:41,319 --> 00:26:43,519 I might not tell my wife because I know that 450 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,680 it would scare her to death. She probably wouldn't want 451 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,759 to live here. So I get it, and I almost 452 00:26:48,759 --> 00:26:51,039 support what you're doing. If you hadn't had any problem, 453 00:26:51,039 --> 00:26:53,519 that's a good deal. But you're going to catch some flight, 454 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,319 So don't read the comments. How about that? Don't read 455 00:26:57,319 --> 00:27:00,599 the comments. To the man who wrote this, I think 456 00:27:00,759 --> 00:27:03,559 was his name, I appreciate the story, man, this was great. 457 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,319 You think you saw a dog man or a werewolf? 458 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,839 What's the difference in a dog man a werewolf? Some 459 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,880 people say, well, the werewolf's change and the dog man don't. 460 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:13,920 But how do you know when you see a dog 461 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,359 man if it didn't change like an hour before? So 462 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:18,799 how do you know? How do we know all these things? 463 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:27,440 I don't know? All right, buddy, thanks for the story.