1 00:00:07,559 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: Back in the summer of two thousand and two, Ted, 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,880 his wife Jenny, and their daughter Lauren were camping with 3 00:00:14,039 --> 00:00:18,239 Ted's younger brother Mike in the forests near Sisters, Oregon. 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,679 They both had deer tags for the Metolius unit and 5 00:00:22,719 --> 00:00:26,679 were scouting the area for deer. On the second day, 6 00:00:26,719 --> 00:00:30,399 while planning the next day's excursions, Ted remembered a great 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,520 location where he had camped previously, where there were major 8 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:38,799 game trails going all over the ridge. Mike decided to 9 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,560 check out the area the next morning with his wife. 10 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,399 The next afternoon, they all met back at camp, and 11 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,840 Mike reported that they had something strange happened while they 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:53,200 were up there exploring the game trail. He told Ted 13 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,679 that as they were walking, suddenly, about fifty yards or 14 00:00:56,719 --> 00:00:59,880 so up the trail, they noticed that a twenty five 15 00:01:00,079 --> 00:01:04,000 foot tree was being shaken violently, but they didn't see 16 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,560 anything that could have caused the tree to shake. They 17 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,159 both agreed that it must have been a bear, as 18 00:01:10,159 --> 00:01:12,359 they were not sure what else it could have been. 19 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,079 The next morning, Mike and his wife decided to go 20 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,560 back to check it out, while Ted and his family 21 00:01:18,599 --> 00:01:23,000 decided to go explore some nearby caves. When they returned 22 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,599 to camp, Mike's tent and all their belongings were gone. 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:29,959 All that was left was a note saying that they 24 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,879 had run into a bigfoot and they were heading home. 25 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,000 Mike explained to Ted what happened the next day on 26 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,879 the phone after everyone had returned home. He said that 27 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,959 they made it up to the tree that was being shaken, 28 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,719 and they were looking for tracks when he heard some 29 00:01:46,799 --> 00:01:50,280 brush rustle towards the top of the hill. When he 30 00:01:50,359 --> 00:01:53,280 looked up, a boulder of the size of a basketball 31 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,959 was flying through the air towards them and landed on 32 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,760 the trail right in front of them, shaking the ground 33 00:01:58,959 --> 00:02:02,359 as it hit. At this moment, he said that every 34 00:02:02,439 --> 00:02:05,680 hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. 35 00:02:06,719 --> 00:02:09,719 Before he could say anything to his wife, here comes 36 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:13,719 another rock, similar in size, and this time the boulder 37 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,879 landed to their right. He explained that when this happened, 38 00:02:18,039 --> 00:02:20,919 fear had taken over and he could fear his back 39 00:02:21,039 --> 00:02:24,599 tents up. And then here comes the third rock, landing 40 00:02:24,719 --> 00:02:28,639 right there as well. He raised his twenty two rifle 41 00:02:28,719 --> 00:02:31,680 and shot three times over the area where the rocks 42 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,199 were coming from, and then he shouted as anybody up there. 43 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,400 After waiting with no response, Mike had an eerie feeling 44 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,039 and he yelled to his wife, let's get out of 45 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,680 here before we die. After talking with his brothers about 46 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,039 this experience, a plan was put together to go back 47 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,960 to the area soon and find out what the heck 48 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,599 was going on. The following Saturday, they loaded for bear. 49 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,000 Ted had a twenty two mag pistol and a two 50 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,199 seventy rifle and an Arkansas toothpick, which is actually a 51 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,000 big knife. Mike had a three hundred Weatherby mag and 52 00:03:10,039 --> 00:03:12,960 a twenty two mag pistol as well as a knife, 53 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,120 and both of them had pockets full of bullets. They 54 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,080 loaded up the suburban with all their gear, plus their 55 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,879 wives and all the kids, and they headed out early 56 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:30,240 Saturday morning, arriving around seven am. Everything seemed normal, very calm, 57 00:03:30,479 --> 00:03:34,520 no winds, birds were chirping, squirrels were playing, and the 58 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,000 sun was coming up in the east. Ted and Mike 59 00:03:38,039 --> 00:03:40,360 grabbed their guns and headed to the spot where the 60 00:03:40,439 --> 00:03:44,199 tree was. They had made it to the tree and 61 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,000 were looking for the rocks, keeping one eye on the 62 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,599 ridge where the rocks had come from, and out of nowhere, 63 00:03:50,759 --> 00:03:54,520 a violent crash sounded from the exact spot where the 64 00:03:54,599 --> 00:03:58,080 rocks had come from last week. It sounded like a 65 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,560 tree was being picked up and slam against another tree. 66 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,759 Holy crap. Immediately they were each down on one knee 67 00:04:05,759 --> 00:04:09,159 looking through their scopes trying to find whatever had just 68 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,680 made that noise. Then they noticed that the woods had 69 00:04:12,719 --> 00:04:17,879 shut down with no noise whatsoever. Mike was also scanning 70 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,879 the hillside with his rifle as Ted walked over to him, 71 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,120 whispering what in the world was that. They stood for 72 00:04:25,199 --> 00:04:28,120 a few moments in silence, and Ted said to Mike, 73 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,639 if it charges, I'm gonna kill it. About that time, 74 00:04:32,759 --> 00:04:36,600 a second thunderous crash happened again in the same spot. 75 00:04:37,399 --> 00:04:40,600 Ted's heart was in his throat and beating like a drunk. 76 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,000 As they both stood scanning the trees with their rifles. 77 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,360 Ted looked at Mike and said, let's walk up there 78 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,800 and let's flush it out in the open. Mike must 79 00:04:50,879 --> 00:04:54,319 have thought to himself, good grief, this guy's got a set. 80 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,959 Holy crap. As they started up a hill, the third 81 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:04,040 crash happened, Guns loaded and safeties off. They slowly started 82 00:05:04,079 --> 00:05:07,079 walking up the hill toward where they heard the last crash. 83 00:05:08,079 --> 00:05:10,920 They got halfway up the hill and suddenly heard a 84 00:05:10,959 --> 00:05:15,279 suburban start up. Fearing the worst, they turned and took 85 00:05:15,319 --> 00:05:18,399 off on a dead run to the rig. They arrived 86 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:20,920 in a panic, only to find that their wives and 87 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,360 kids had become cold sitting in the rig and needed 88 00:05:24,399 --> 00:05:28,000 to run the heater. Ted looked at Mike and asked, 89 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,639 do you want to go back up there, and Mike replied, 90 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,680 heck no, my heart cannot take it. They never saw anything, 91 00:05:35,759 --> 00:05:40,959 but concluded that their experience was typical Bigfoot behavior, shaking 92 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:46,120 of trees, throwing rocks, whacking sticks, and that's our story. 93 00:05:47,879 --> 00:05:53,399 Chapter two, The Midnight Visitor. Six years later, in the 94 00:05:53,439 --> 00:05:56,560 fall of two thousand and eight, Ted, his wife Jenny, 95 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,360 and their daughter Lauren, as well as Ted's older brother Traps, 96 00:06:00,759 --> 00:06:04,199 had drawn deer tags for the Metolius unit and were 97 00:06:04,199 --> 00:06:09,000 excited for opening day. They arrived Friday evening and set 98 00:06:09,079 --> 00:06:11,720 up camp near where they had camped with Ted's older 99 00:06:11,759 --> 00:06:15,639 brother a few years earlier. They put their two tents 100 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,639 up about eight feet apart, with a giant tarp that 101 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,360 was thirty by twenty five feet in the trees about 102 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,279 ten feet up to keep the rain and the dew 103 00:06:25,319 --> 00:06:28,879 off of them and their supplies. They had plans to 104 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:34,040 stay Friday night until the following weekend, nine days in total. 105 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:38,560 Everything was going great. They were seeing lots of deer 106 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,079 passing on some smaller bucks and hoping for bigger ones 107 00:06:42,079 --> 00:06:47,079 to appear. On Wednesday evening, after dinner, they decided to 108 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,720 play a game of Bolder Dash. It had been a 109 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,000 long day as they had risen early, and everyone seemed 110 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,480 to have giggles, especially Ted and Travis when it came 111 00:06:57,519 --> 00:07:01,360 to weird words on the playing cards. Let's just say 112 00:07:01,399 --> 00:07:03,920 they were all having a great time at hunting camp 113 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,560 without a care in the world, and then they finally 114 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,519 decided to go to bed around ten o'clock. Around two am, 115 00:07:12,759 --> 00:07:16,319 Ted was awakened to heavy footsteps coming toward the camp 116 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,360 from his brother's truck that was parked about one hundred 117 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,800 feet from the camp. It was dead calm out in 118 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,399 about fifteen degrees fahrenheit. The ground was crunchy because of 119 00:07:27,439 --> 00:07:31,120 the freezing weather. Ted had been sleeping with his two 120 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,800 seventy savage by his right side, loaded and ready, with 121 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:39,000 his wife and daughter sleeping to his left. His first 122 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,800 thought was Travis went to his truck for something and 123 00:07:41,839 --> 00:07:45,560 I'm only hearing him coming back to camp. As it 124 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:48,879 was walking toward camp, Ted could distinctly hear that it 125 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,480 was walking on two legs, and as it was getting closer, 126 00:07:52,759 --> 00:07:56,519 he started to hear it breathe. He thought that his 127 00:07:56,639 --> 00:07:59,160 brother might have had an upset stomach and must have 128 00:07:59,199 --> 00:08:01,959 gone to the truck to get some pills. But as 129 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,600 he heard it walking towards camp, it sounded like it 130 00:08:04,759 --> 00:08:08,560 stopped at the fire pit. The sound was like Darth 131 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:14,120 Vader breathing, low and deep. Unbeknownst to Ted, his brother 132 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,279 was now awaking his own tent, and he was thinking 133 00:08:17,319 --> 00:08:20,120 that it was Ted gathering firewood in the middle of 134 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,079 the night, and that he was out of breath. As 135 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,160 both men were lying there in their separate tents, they 136 00:08:27,199 --> 00:08:30,639 realized about the same time what they were dealing with. 137 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,399 This heavy breathing went on for ten to fifteen minutes. 138 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,559 Ted was thinking that it was spending a lot of 139 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,399 time there because of all the odors, as that is 140 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:44,480 where he had been doing all the cooking. He could 141 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:48,080 not get himself out of bed to peek, but remained motionless, 142 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,360 listening so intently that he was not thinking of anything else. 143 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,559 Then it walked over to Travis's tent and stood right 144 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,480 in front of the doorway and remained there for several 145 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:05,000 minutes and still breathing like Darth Vader. It seemed as 146 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,240 if he was contemplating what to do next or wondering 147 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:12,960 what he was smelling. Later, Travis remarked that the sound 148 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,480 of his breathing seemed to be coming from the top 149 00:09:15,519 --> 00:09:17,960 part of the tent, about seven and a half to 150 00:09:18,039 --> 00:09:22,480 eight feet high. Travis never moved a muscle, controlling his 151 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,519 breathing and thinking, I left my gun in my truck. 152 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,360 Oh crap. And then they both heard it walk off 153 00:09:29,399 --> 00:09:32,639 into the woods about fifty feet and then it stopped. 154 00:09:33,399 --> 00:09:35,919 It was there for quite a while and then started 155 00:09:35,919 --> 00:09:39,480 walking again up the hill, and then everything went silent, 156 00:09:40,399 --> 00:09:44,320 and then suddenly they both heard two long, clear calls 157 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,799 that sounded like a whoop up the hill in the distance. 158 00:09:49,039 --> 00:09:51,480 Soon the brothers both got up and built a huge 159 00:09:51,519 --> 00:09:55,600 fire and started talking about the encounter, each telling the other, 160 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,039 I thought that was you. When daylight came, they I 161 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,159 told the girls what had happened and began looking around 162 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,840 the area for tracks. They didn't find anything, but they 163 00:10:06,919 --> 00:10:09,679 realized that they were not leaving tracks either because of 164 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,879 the frozen ground, which was littered with pine needles and 165 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:18,480 small rocks. As they were recalling the experiences the previous night, 166 00:10:18,639 --> 00:10:21,279 they both agreed that they heard it leave camp and 167 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,120 stop about fifty feet out. They all then began to 168 00:10:25,159 --> 00:10:27,240 scan the woods to find out what it may have 169 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,000 been doing, and then Travis yelled out, I found something. 170 00:10:32,159 --> 00:10:35,360 That something ended up being a giant tird that the 171 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,519 bigfoot had left. Travis looked at it and exclaimed, I 172 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,600 have hunted my entire life and I've never seen a 173 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:47,320 tird like this. Lauren joked that it was probably hers. 174 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,799 These people have a sense of humor. I love it. 175 00:10:52,799 --> 00:10:55,279 It was about twelve inches long and three to four 176 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,360 inches around and had pieces of bark and leaves in it. 177 00:10:59,039 --> 00:11:01,279 Travis said that they should wrap it in fall and 178 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,919 put it in the cooler, to which Jenny replied, oh, 179 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:08,039 hell no. As they stood there that morning, they were 180 00:11:08,039 --> 00:11:12,039 in disbelief that they experienced another bigfoot encounter close to 181 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:14,519 the spot where they had come across him a few 182 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:19,600 years before. Ted remembered reading once that bigfoot is attracted 183 00:11:19,639 --> 00:11:24,679 to laughter and noise. Now he knows they are coincidentally 184 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:30,399 Travis decided to go home later that day. Chapter three, 185 00:11:31,159 --> 00:11:36,360 I finally got a glimpse of one. In twenty seventeen, 186 00:11:36,519 --> 00:11:39,639 Ted and his wife Jenny had purchased elk tags for 187 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,759 the Cascade Range in Oregon. They got up early on 188 00:11:43,919 --> 00:11:46,639 opening morning, threw all the gear in the truck, and 189 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,720 headed out in hopes to bag a couple of bull elk. 190 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,279 They decided to begin their day in the woods around 191 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,279 the Marion Forks on Highway twenty two and then travel 192 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,720 Sheep Creek to Highway twenty. This would provide a full 193 00:12:01,759 --> 00:12:05,919 day of hunting and driving. That afternoon, they arrived at 194 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,200 Highway twenty and Ted said to Jenny, well, we have 195 00:12:09,279 --> 00:12:12,200 at least one hour of daylight left. If we head 196 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,559 to our old deer camp area where we have all 197 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,919 the bigfoot activity, we could hunt the last half hour 198 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,279 of daylight. Jenny agreed, and as they arrived at the area, 199 00:12:22,399 --> 00:12:25,240 the sun was going down and the woods were getting dark. 200 00:12:25,879 --> 00:12:28,240 Ted made a turn down a gravel road and as 201 00:12:28,279 --> 00:12:30,840 he was coming out of a corner, he looked down 202 00:12:30,919 --> 00:12:34,639 the road. About three hundred yards on the left side, 203 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,960 he could see something dark, black standing just off the 204 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,320 side of the road. Next to the pines. It looked 205 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,240 out of place. It was the only thing black that 206 00:12:44,399 --> 00:12:47,399 was close to the edge. He slammed on the brakes 207 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,759 and he yelled for Jenny to get the binoculars. As 208 00:12:50,799 --> 00:12:53,799 he focused the binoculars, he could see the shoulders and 209 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,879 the head, but no facial features. It had a cone head. 210 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,240 As he was looking at it through the binoculars, it 211 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,919 just stepped off the road and he clearly saw that 212 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,200 it walked on two legs. Then he yelled, hang on 213 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,240 and punched it to get a little closer. They got 214 00:13:11,279 --> 00:13:13,759 to where it had been standing, got out to look 215 00:13:13,759 --> 00:13:16,039 and listen for a while, but did not hear or 216 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,159 see anything. The next morning he put out two game 217 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,679 cameras on that trail, but he captured nothing. The area 218 00:13:24,759 --> 00:13:27,639 where he spotted this bigfoot was about a mile and 219 00:13:27,639 --> 00:13:30,240 a half from where they had the midnight visitor in 220 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,200 about three quarters of a mile from where the bigfoot says, 221 00:13:33,279 --> 00:13:36,679 get the hell out. All these incidents happened in the 222 00:13:36,759 --> 00:13:40,639 late summer early fall of the year. The crazy thing 223 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,279 about this is the brothers had all heard of bigfoot 224 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,200 while growing up, but did not really give it much 225 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:52,039 of thought until these experiences. It serves to change one's 226 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:56,240 minds about what is out there. Ted's opinion is it 227 00:13:56,279 --> 00:13:59,159 is an ape that walks upright like a human and 228 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,879 that it is not eternal. It still will move during 229 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,480 daylight hours if it needs to. Thanks for listening to 230 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:13,600 our stories and happy Honting. My first encounter happened when 231 00:14:13,639 --> 00:14:16,240 I was nine years old. I was fishing with my 232 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,039 brother and my stepdad on a remote part of the 233 00:14:19,159 --> 00:14:23,480 river in Edwards, New York. We were about two miles 234 00:14:23,519 --> 00:14:25,799 back in the woods from any main road or house. 235 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,440 I was fishing by myself in a section of the 236 00:14:29,519 --> 00:14:31,519 river when all of a sudden, I had a sense 237 00:14:31,519 --> 00:14:34,600 of fear come over me. I was scared like any 238 00:14:34,679 --> 00:14:37,320 nine year old boy would be, when all of a sudden, 239 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,159 on the other side of the river, a forty foot 240 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,320 tall dead pine was pushed over thirty yards inside of 241 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,600 the woodline, right in front of me. There was no 242 00:14:47,639 --> 00:14:50,039 breeze this day, and no black bear was going to 243 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,440 knock over such a huge tree. It scared me to 244 00:14:53,519 --> 00:14:56,279 my core, and being a clueless kid, I ran to 245 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,240 find my stepdad at the time, just for a sense 246 00:14:59,279 --> 00:15:03,759 of safety. My second encounter happened in a small town 247 00:15:03,799 --> 00:15:07,000 in western Vermont, where I have lived my entire life, 248 00:15:07,759 --> 00:15:10,360 and I was heading to a job site early that morning. 249 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,759 When driving down a two lane country road which I 250 00:15:13,799 --> 00:15:16,440 had traveled a thousand times, I came around the corner 251 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:18,759 in the road and a figure stepped out from behind 252 00:15:18,799 --> 00:15:21,679 a tree for a few seconds. As I caught it 253 00:15:21,679 --> 00:15:25,000 in the high beams of my lifted Chevy pickup truck, 254 00:15:25,919 --> 00:15:28,200 I was at a loss for words when my brother 255 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,440 said from the passenger's seat, did you see that too? 256 00:15:33,039 --> 00:15:35,639 Judging by the hood of my truck, this thing was 257 00:15:35,679 --> 00:15:39,240 all of seven feet tall that had yellow eyes shine. 258 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,639 Although the sighting was one of only a few seconds, 259 00:15:43,919 --> 00:15:46,759 but I knew what I had seen, and my brother 260 00:15:46,919 --> 00:15:50,000 was there too to witness it with me for verification. 261 00:15:51,759 --> 00:15:55,600 My third encounter happened in November of twenty twenty. I 262 00:15:55,639 --> 00:15:58,440 was hunting with my brother on an eleven thousand acre 263 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:02,039 parcel of state land around ten in the morning, and 264 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,200 I had not seen a thing, when all of a sudden, 265 00:16:04,759 --> 00:16:07,840 I had an overwhelming sense of fearing something was watching 266 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,799 me in the woods, and everything went quiet, and I 267 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,120 couldn't help but fixate on a strange looking stump one 268 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,039 hundred and twenty yards out through the hard woods, and 269 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,679 it didn't look right. Many people have the experience of 270 00:16:22,799 --> 00:16:26,200 mind speak from these creatures. I knew what was in 271 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,879 the area, and I simply said in my mind that 272 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,600 I was only here for one deer, and I meant 273 00:16:31,679 --> 00:16:36,360 him no harm. Would he please leave me alone? Although 274 00:16:36,399 --> 00:16:39,200 I didn't get a response, after five minutes or so, 275 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,080 the feelings went away and the stump I was fixated 276 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,720 on was gone. I've had many odd things happen to 277 00:16:46,759 --> 00:16:49,039 me in the woods in my twenty one years of hunting. 278 00:16:49,919 --> 00:16:57,399 These times are definitely the weirdest, so I've been reluctant 279 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,120 to send this to you. I'm a private person, and 280 00:17:00,799 --> 00:17:03,440 the less people know about my private life, the better. 281 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:07,160 I have nothing to hide. I just prefer the peaceful 282 00:17:07,279 --> 00:17:12,599 forest over the business of crowds and town life. My brother, 283 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,359 who sent you his recollection of the event I'm about 284 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,960 to relate, is the exact opposite. If there's a crowd 285 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,680 gathering in Times Square, you can bet he'll be in 286 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,960 the middle of it, telling a story and entertaining the masses. 287 00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:29,359 I think our different personalities and outlooks on life will 288 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,480 become evident to anyone who compares the two versions of 289 00:17:32,519 --> 00:17:38,359 the story. As for me, I would rather remain anonymous. 290 00:17:39,039 --> 00:17:43,839 I will leave identifying details a bit blurred for anonymity's sake. 291 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,039 And when my brother sent me his account for review, 292 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,400 having already sent it to you, I was pretty upset 293 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:54,640 to see how many identifying details he had included. He 294 00:17:54,759 --> 00:17:58,880 feels the details make the story. I'm too private for that. 295 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,440 When I was five, my family moved from Long Island, 296 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,480 New York, to a small town in Maine. It was 297 00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:09,319 there that I discovered my love for hunting and being 298 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,720 in the woods. My dad was not a hunter nor 299 00:18:12,759 --> 00:18:16,000 an outdoorsman, but that is all I ever wanted to be. 300 00:18:17,839 --> 00:18:21,119 At age seven, I packed a knapsack with canned goods, 301 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,279 a sleeping bag, and a hunting knife and a tent, 302 00:18:23,319 --> 00:18:25,559 and I sat on my bike with a fishing pole 303 00:18:25,599 --> 00:18:28,079 in a tackle box, and I headed off for a 304 00:18:28,079 --> 00:18:30,920 few days of camping on top of a local mountain 305 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,960 located a few miles outside of my town. My wife 306 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,240 never believed that story until my mother confirmed it, saying 307 00:18:38,519 --> 00:18:41,640 it was who he was and we couldn't stop him. 308 00:18:42,559 --> 00:18:44,799 I loved being in the woods. I think that's why 309 00:18:44,799 --> 00:18:47,759 I joined the Army after high school, I wanted to 310 00:18:47,759 --> 00:18:50,240 be out in nature, even if it was wet, muddy, 311 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,240 and labor intensive and mandatory fun, as my sergeant would 312 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,359 call it. As an adult, I still love hunting season, 313 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,920 from both seasoned to black power to rifle season, and 314 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,079 if the deer season is in, I'm in the woods. 315 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,000 But nothing I have ever seen or heard would have 316 00:19:09,079 --> 00:19:13,119 prepared me for what I saw that night. It was 317 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,920 a cold but clear January night, and my brother and 318 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,079 I were traveling back from Florida to college in Ohio. 319 00:19:21,519 --> 00:19:23,920 We are two years apart, but I had spent two 320 00:19:24,039 --> 00:19:26,519 years in the Army after high school, so we were 321 00:19:26,519 --> 00:19:30,519 now classmates in college together. I'd had to cut my 322 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,720 Christmas break short to get back for Army reserve duty. 323 00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:37,519 The following weekend. We packed my small car with all 324 00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:39,920 the clothes and care packages we could fit, and we 325 00:19:40,039 --> 00:19:44,799 headed off on the long drive. We switched off driving 326 00:19:44,839 --> 00:19:47,319 whenever one of us would get tired, but neither of 327 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,279 us truly slept while the other was driving. And during 328 00:19:51,319 --> 00:19:54,400 this particular leg, it was in the early morning hours 329 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,519 and I was driving I seventy seven through West Virginia. 330 00:19:58,599 --> 00:20:00,640 I was tired, but I had played tent of a mountain, 331 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,200 dew coursing through my veins, and combined with the experience 332 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,240 of plenty of long nights pulling guard duty, so I 333 00:20:07,319 --> 00:20:12,920 knew some techniques to stay awake and alert. Interstate seventy 334 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,920 seven northbound was quiet at one am, and there was 335 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,039 not much traffic either way. The moon was full or 336 00:20:21,079 --> 00:20:24,839 close to it, as I recall, the moonlight lit up 337 00:20:24,839 --> 00:20:27,720 a fresh blanket of snow that covered the median and 338 00:20:27,839 --> 00:20:32,200 long sloping shoulders on either side of the highway. I 339 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,680 could see ahead for several hundred yards. The air was 340 00:20:35,799 --> 00:20:39,000 clear and cold, and there was nothing to obstruct or 341 00:20:39,039 --> 00:20:43,160 obscure my field of view. The Army taught me several 342 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,440 things that I still used today, target location and ranging, 343 00:20:47,559 --> 00:20:52,799 defensive and offensive driving. I never used either skill in combat. 344 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,519 I left active duty just prior to our first Gulf War, 345 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:02,519 but I definitely used those skills at night. Ahead of me, 346 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,160 on the shoulder of the southbound lanes, I saw what 347 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,319 appeared to be too deer. They were high on the 348 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,039 shoulder at the tree line, four to five hundred yards ahead. 349 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:18,319 I easily picked up their movement target acquisition. Seeing deer 350 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:22,400 was fairly common on this stretch of the highway. The 351 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,559 lead deer started running toward the highway, with the second 352 00:21:25,599 --> 00:21:29,640 one following, but their git was wrong. Something was off 353 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,200 about it. As I closed the distance, I saw that 354 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:38,359 they weren't deer, but perhaps they were wolves. I had 355 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,240 heard that West Virginia might have a wolf population, but 356 00:21:41,279 --> 00:21:44,599 had never seen a wolf outside of a National geographic 357 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,559 special on the television. As I watched the road and 358 00:21:48,599 --> 00:21:51,240 the animals, it appeared that they were going to intercept 359 00:21:51,319 --> 00:21:54,880 my car. At seventy miles an hour, it wouldn't be 360 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,240 long before they were on my side of the highway, 361 00:21:57,279 --> 00:21:59,160 and I did not want to hit anything of that 362 00:21:59,319 --> 00:22:04,200 size with the small car. As we sped toward each other, 363 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,599 I could see that yes, they were wolf like, but 364 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,559 they were not wolves. They were much larger, with downward 365 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,920 sloping backs, much like a hyena. I had never seen 366 00:22:16,039 --> 00:22:20,640 or heard of anything like this. At one hundred yards 367 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,440 or so before impact, the lead creature stood on its 368 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,799 two hind legs and in two bounds, crossed the southbound 369 00:22:28,839 --> 00:22:32,920 lanes and was halfway across the center median. The second 370 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,119 creature was now running and leaping like a human, but 371 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:40,480 with enormous strides. I could see its wolf like face 372 00:22:40,599 --> 00:22:43,480 and teeth bared like an angry dog, and evil eyes. 373 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,599 Its upper body was wiry, like a pro fighter. It 374 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:51,240 was a muscular insinewy. I could see the muscle through 375 00:22:51,279 --> 00:22:55,079 its coarse hair. Yes it was hair, it was not fur. 376 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,640 At the last second, I slammed the gas pedal and 377 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,359 the end engine roared. The little sportstor came to life, 378 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,359 and we jumped to eighty miles an hour. Almost instantly, 379 00:23:07,519 --> 00:23:10,759 the lead creature leaped at the car with its jaws 380 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:15,119 wide and hate in its eyes. It barely missed the 381 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,839 back quarter panel before continuing up the other shoulder into 382 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:24,039 the woods, with its partner following just behind. This event 383 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:28,440 happened over thirty years ago. I just turned fifty this month, 384 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,720 and my life has been pretty uneventful since. I've lost 385 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,519 the fine points of many of my memories, but I 386 00:23:35,599 --> 00:23:40,599 remembered this story clearly. With that said, I honestly didn't 387 00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:43,400 recall my brother being in the car with me, and 388 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,039 it wasn't until I read his account that my memory 389 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,319 was jogged. Perhaps it was because he was semi sleeping 390 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,319 quietly in the passenger seat. I'm not sure, but I 391 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,119 do know what I saw, and that I had never 392 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:01,200 heard of a dog man prior to this. I grew 393 00:24:01,279 --> 00:24:04,680 up on bigfoot stories ever since we watched Colonel Steve 394 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,319 Austin's run in with Sasquatch on The six Million Dollar Man. 395 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:13,319 But this story has a twist. The next few days 396 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:17,039 I spent getting settled back into my college routine. I 397 00:24:17,079 --> 00:24:19,440 got my apartments set up and went back to work 398 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:23,000 at the university bookstore. But the event of that night 399 00:24:23,039 --> 00:24:27,039 on I seventy seven still haunted me. This was the 400 00:24:27,079 --> 00:24:30,880 early nineteen nineties, before the Internet. There weren't a lot 401 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,839 of resources to look things up like we have today. 402 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,200 The following weekend, I was at my Army reserve dre 403 00:24:38,319 --> 00:24:41,799 a weekend. Normally, I ate lunch outside the armory on 404 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,160 a picnic table under a big oak tree with a 405 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,720 few of my buddies. We would laugh and tell stories 406 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,039 and lies and other things soldiers do to pass the time. 407 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,400 But today it was cold and sleety in the Ohio 408 00:24:54,519 --> 00:24:58,720 Valley on a winter day, so we ate inside. As 409 00:24:58,759 --> 00:25:01,799 we ate, I told the story of my trip back 410 00:25:01,839 --> 00:25:05,920 to campus and the strange creatures I had seen a 411 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,440 few of the guys were ribbing me pretty hard about it, 412 00:25:08,599 --> 00:25:12,279 but that was okay. That's army life. We teased the 413 00:25:12,319 --> 00:25:14,480 hell out of each other, but we'd lay our lives 414 00:25:14,519 --> 00:25:18,119 down for each other without a second thought. It is 415 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,240 a strange existence, but those are some of the greatest 416 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,480 men I've ever had the privilege of knowing. As I 417 00:25:25,519 --> 00:25:28,359 was finishing my story, one of the newer guys to 418 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,720 the unit sat down and was listening. He turned a 419 00:25:31,759 --> 00:25:34,799 ghost white and I could see most every hair on 420 00:25:34,839 --> 00:25:39,039 his body standing on end. He had recently gotten married 421 00:25:39,079 --> 00:25:41,480 and moved from the other side of West Virginia to 422 00:25:41,559 --> 00:25:44,200 the Ohio Valley for work and to be closer to 423 00:25:44,279 --> 00:25:48,079 the unit. He and his father had packed their belongings 424 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,160 into the pickup truck and a moving van. It was 425 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,640 a little after midnight when using walkie talkies to communicate, 426 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,000 they decided to get off the highway to answer to 427 00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:02,119 nature's call. Cell phones had not been in yet. My 428 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,359 friend was in the moving van and his dad was 429 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,759 in the truck. They pulled into a gravel parking lot 430 00:26:07,839 --> 00:26:10,240 of a small drive in hot dog and ice cream 431 00:26:10,279 --> 00:26:13,440 place a few miles off the highway. It was a 432 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:18,160 cold and quiet night without another car in sight. My 433 00:26:18,279 --> 00:26:20,599 friend walked a few yards to the wooded edge of 434 00:26:20,599 --> 00:26:23,880 the parking lot to believe himself. He was a Gulf 435 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,839 War combat vet and a police officer with a keen 436 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,519 sense of situational awareness. As he stood there, his father 437 00:26:32,799 --> 00:26:35,559 was in the van fifteen yards or so behind him, 438 00:26:35,599 --> 00:26:38,960 making small talk. He could hear what sounded like a 439 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,720 few dogs or coyote. He's about ten or so yards 440 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,759 into the dark woods ahead of him that were darting 441 00:26:44,839 --> 00:26:47,720 back and forth from his left to his right, and 442 00:26:47,759 --> 00:26:51,079 he could hear the footfalls on leaves and thought coyotes 443 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:55,559 are big dogs. They kept their distance as he finished, 444 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,799 but then he heard a deep, low growl that went 445 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,200 right through him. His dad yelled out, what the hell 446 00:27:02,319 --> 00:27:06,039 was that. He was buckling his belt as he started 447 00:27:06,039 --> 00:27:08,759 to turn back to the truck when the footfall sounds 448 00:27:08,839 --> 00:27:13,640 went from four doglike feet to two heavy footfalls. The 449 00:27:13,759 --> 00:27:17,920 yips became low growls and barks and blood curdling screams, 450 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:20,680 and he began running to the truck, yelling for his 451 00:27:20,799 --> 00:27:24,279 dad to get the gun, he said. His dad grabbed 452 00:27:24,279 --> 00:27:26,839 his nineteen eleven from the holster next to him and 453 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,119 fired off five rounds into the woodline. My friend never 454 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,200 did see what it was, but he said it went 455 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,480 from running on four legs to running on two, and 456 00:27:36,599 --> 00:27:39,640 it was big. He said he had never been so 457 00:27:39,799 --> 00:27:42,640 scared in all his life. They tore out of there 458 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,160 and arrived at the new house about an hour later. 459 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,240 They were both tired and in a state of shock. 460 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,880 The next morning, over coffee, they kind of stared at 461 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,839 each other, neither one able to believe what they had heard. 462 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,559 Thank you for protecting my privacy. I live in a 463 00:28:00,559 --> 00:28:03,759 small town in North Carolina now, and I'm fairly well known. 464 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,799 I truly enjoy my privacy and would like to keep 465 00:28:06,839 --> 00:28:07,400 it that way. 466 00:28:11,279 --> 00:28:14,319 Speaker 2: I don't really know how true this story is, but 467 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,279 a friend of mine and I were sitting on this 468 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,279 front porch one day a few years back when one 469 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:22,279 of the kids from down the road stop by. The 470 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,799 kid asked if my friend would tell the story about 471 00:28:24,839 --> 00:28:28,079 the bigfoot that took him. As you might imagine, this 472 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:32,279 peaud my interest. So I turned to my friend and said, yeah, Bill, 473 00:28:32,279 --> 00:28:35,880 tell us that story. Bill seemed reluctant to do so, 474 00:28:36,079 --> 00:28:38,319 but with a little protting I managed to get him 475 00:28:38,359 --> 00:28:42,480 to tell us. This is what he said. I'm not 476 00:28:42,559 --> 00:28:45,680 saying it was a bigfoot. He said, I don't really 477 00:28:45,759 --> 00:28:48,920 know if it was. But a long time ago, when 478 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,640 I was a kid, about eleven years old, me and 479 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,559 a friend were fishing down on the creek. It was 480 00:28:54,599 --> 00:28:56,920 getting to be time to pack up and head home, 481 00:28:57,279 --> 00:28:59,279 but I had just gotten a bite, so I wanted 482 00:28:59,279 --> 00:29:02,440 to give it a few more casts. My friend wanted 483 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,799 to get going, so he said he'd meet me up 484 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,000 the trail by the road. I cast my line three 485 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,519 more times before I decided it was time to go. 486 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,640 From out of nowhere, I was picked up by what 487 00:29:13,759 --> 00:29:16,720 I took to be someone in a gorilla suit. He 488 00:29:16,799 --> 00:29:19,039 put me on his right shoulder like your dad would 489 00:29:19,119 --> 00:29:22,440 when you were little, and started walking into the woods. 490 00:29:23,039 --> 00:29:25,599 I was not scared because I thought someone might be 491 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,319 pulling a prank on me. I was not going to 492 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:30,319 let them get the best of me, so I just 493 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:32,880 enjoyed the ride and held onto his head with my 494 00:29:33,079 --> 00:29:35,880 left hand while he held my legs to his chest. 495 00:29:37,039 --> 00:29:39,880 After about thirty minutes or so of walking in the woods, 496 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,640 I started to wonder who was doing this and where 497 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,680 we were going. After all, it was getting dark and 498 00:29:45,759 --> 00:29:48,759 it didn't look like we were headed home. We rounded 499 00:29:48,759 --> 00:29:51,559 the corner of a hillside, and suddenly there were three more, 500 00:29:52,079 --> 00:29:54,519 one who looked like a mom, and two smaller ones 501 00:29:54,559 --> 00:29:57,880 almost my size. He sat me down on the ground 502 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,000 in a little nook formed by the hillside in some trees. 503 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,240 It almost looked like the trees naturally fell that way, 504 00:30:04,559 --> 00:30:06,400 but if you really looked, you could tell that it 505 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,240 was made to hide in. The ground was covered and 506 00:30:09,279 --> 00:30:11,880 the kind of grass found in a river bottom. It 507 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,519 seemed like a nice, warm place. The one who'd brought 508 00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:18,759 me there, that I now saw as the dad, stepped 509 00:30:18,759 --> 00:30:21,400 into the opening of the nook and sat down looking out. 510 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,759 The mom started feeding us all some berries and some 511 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,640 kind of root. None of it was very good. After 512 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:33,319 about an hour, everyone started to settle down and fall asleep. Relieved, 513 00:30:33,359 --> 00:30:35,519 I climbed out of the nook and started home. In 514 00:30:35,599 --> 00:30:38,799 the pitch black, It took all night to find my 515 00:30:38,839 --> 00:30:41,759 way out of the woods. By the time I made 516 00:30:41,759 --> 00:30:45,000 it home it was very late. My friend had gone 517 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,599 and got my dad. They'd come back to look for 518 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,920 me and found my fishing pole and tackle box. When 519 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:53,960 I got home, Mom and Dad were talking with the police. 520 00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:57,200 There must have been about twenty men there. Some of 521 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,279 them had dogs, and they were all getting ready to 522 00:30:59,279 --> 00:31:02,200 go out looking for me. When I told my dad 523 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,000 and the policeman what had happened. The policeman looked at 524 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,200 me and my dad and said, I believe him. No 525 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,240 one ever asked me about it again, not my dad, 526 00:31:11,599 --> 00:31:15,839 not my mom, and not the police. I'm not sure 527 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,079 if my dad was as willing to believe me as 528 00:31:18,119 --> 00:31:22,119 the cop was. To this day, I'm still not sure 529 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,759 if it was some kind of prank. I just know 530 00:31:24,839 --> 00:31:28,839 what happened. After my friend finished telling his story, I 531 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,759 just looked at him and told him I believe him too. 532 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,079 I don't know if it really is true, but he 533 00:31:34,119 --> 00:31:37,039 has never been one to tell lies or stretch the truth. 534 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,640 And I've known him for twenty five years, and all 535 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,559 that time, I've only heard him tell the story two times. 536 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,200 There were ten years between each telling, but the story 537 00:31:47,279 --> 00:31:50,839 didn't change. Plus, he only told it because one of 538 00:31:50,839 --> 00:31:53,880 his children or the neighbor's kid asked him about it. 539 00:31:57,039 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 1: A few years back, I was in Brunswick, Georgia, working 540 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,359 on one of movie. I guess it's okay to tell 541 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,839 you that it was X Men first Class. Hell, it's 542 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,000 been out so long most of your listeners may have 543 00:32:08,039 --> 00:32:12,000 been kids. When it came out. I was a welding foreman. 544 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,400 This is partly why I had the experience that I had. 545 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:18,880 We had been working twelve to fourteen hours on a 546 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:22,119 spacecraft for the movie. I was the foreman of the 547 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,559 Atlanta crew, and there was a huge crew from LA 548 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,200 that rather looked down on us. My crew was young, 549 00:32:28,319 --> 00:32:30,880 but talented, and they were eager and wanted to learn 550 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,759 new methods of fabrication. By the time I cut out 551 00:32:34,799 --> 00:32:40,000 the lights, it was past two am. Everyone hit their rack, 552 00:32:40,079 --> 00:32:42,079 and I was sitting there in my truck with the 553 00:32:42,119 --> 00:32:45,039 motor running, ready to drive the two blocks back to 554 00:32:45,119 --> 00:32:48,359 our rental house. And then it hit me. It was 555 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,200 that deep, growling, angry instinct to turn right and hit 556 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,559 the waffle house. If I was lucky, some of the 557 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,920 strippers from the only club for two hundred miles might 558 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,680 be snacking there. The idea forced my hands to make 559 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,519 the right turn motion on the steering wheel, and off 560 00:33:05,599 --> 00:33:09,519 I went. The whole way there. I never even considered 561 00:33:09,519 --> 00:33:12,400 the fact that my underwear was older than the girls. 562 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,839 This was not to be the harsh reality I was 563 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,160 met with when I swung open the door to the 564 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:22,519 waffle house. In fact, thinking back on it now, the 565 00:33:22,559 --> 00:33:25,400 smell was in the parking lot when I had pulled up. 566 00:33:26,279 --> 00:33:28,319 I used to live near a paper mill that was 567 00:33:28,359 --> 00:33:31,440 close to an inner coastal waterway. And if you took 568 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,680 those two odors and mixed in some skump, a cat 569 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,839 litter box, and some horse piss and opened it up 570 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:43,079 at a garbage dump, well it was like that. Even so, 571 00:33:43,599 --> 00:33:47,119 my hanger was unaffected, and I walked in like I 572 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,400 owned the place. And as usual, honey Pie was at 573 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,519 her station while he was on the grill with his 574 00:33:53,599 --> 00:33:57,039 giant grin, and Maria was working the floor, and what 575 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,480 should normally be a packed house was replaced by three 576 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,960 of the scariest dudes I have ever seen. Honey Pie 577 00:34:05,319 --> 00:34:08,239 she had a nickname for every customer. Had my coffee. 578 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,840 Sitting at my normal spot on the end of the counter, 579 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,559 nearest the AC unit in the window, I found a 580 00:34:14,559 --> 00:34:17,039 great deal of relief from the odor, but I was 581 00:34:17,079 --> 00:34:22,239 also adjacent to these three scary looking dudes. There was 582 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,760 no way to avoid making eye contact with them, and 583 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,639 a chill ran down my spine as I tried to 584 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:32,440 look away. The first thing I noticed was an air 585 00:34:32,559 --> 00:34:36,239 Gas Memphis logo on the loud guy's shirt, and I 586 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,519 figured he was the boss because the other two were 587 00:34:38,519 --> 00:34:43,480 listening intently to his every word. The conversation abruptly ended 588 00:34:43,519 --> 00:34:46,360 as soon as I sat down. The guy on the 589 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:48,960 right of him was a huge black man. He had 590 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,320 a strange, powerful look. He looked like he would be 591 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:54,519 the kind of guy you wanted on your side if 592 00:34:54,559 --> 00:34:58,840 the ship went down. He strangely reminded me of John 593 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,360 Coffee from the movie The Green Mile. On the other 594 00:35:03,519 --> 00:35:06,559 end was a guy with a T shirt adorning skulls 595 00:35:06,599 --> 00:35:09,800 and electric guitars, and it was stained badly with what 596 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,719 looked like dried blood. He had a huge gun hanging 597 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,360 off his belt and a homemade, leathery looking fur back. 598 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:20,880 That's the only way I know how to describe it. 599 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,719 It was nasty looking. The gun, the bag, my bar mates, 600 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,320 all of it filled me with a sense of dread. 601 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,320 My hands trembled as I sipped my coffee, and I 602 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,360 hoped they didn't see how nervous I was and skinned 603 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,239 me alive right there. But just then the leader looked 604 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:42,039 at me dead in the eyes. He seemed to scan 605 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,679 me and it was like being analyzed and evaluated at 606 00:35:45,679 --> 00:35:50,599 the same time. Well, I felt naked and afraid. I 607 00:35:50,599 --> 00:35:53,360 had visions of the strippers coming in later and kicking 608 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,880 small pieces of me out of the way so they 609 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,320 could put down their purses. And just as I was 610 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,880 trying to look away away from him, he smiled at 611 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,880 me with a big, shittying grin and he said, are 612 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,559 you a welder. Well, a huge sense of relief came 613 00:36:08,599 --> 00:36:12,199 over me, and I realized it was okay to breathe. Yes, sir, 614 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:16,719 I replied. Looking for common ground, I asked, are you 615 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,760 guys here working on the movie? Well? This brought a 616 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,320 huge round of laughter from all three of them, which 617 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,840 somehow made me feel uneasy. And he leaned over and 618 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,719 stuck out his dirty, calloused hand and he said, I'm Steve, 619 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:32,400 and this is Lewis and this is Hook. We're stopping 620 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:36,800 in on a hunting trip. What's the movie you're working on? Well, 621 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:40,440 from this point on we got along. Gray Lewis wasn't 622 00:36:40,559 --> 00:36:43,239 very talkative, but he had a great laugh that shook 623 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:47,159 the cups on the wall. Hook and I talked about motorcycles, 624 00:36:47,159 --> 00:36:49,800 and I pulled out some pictures of my old sixty 625 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,800 seven hardtail Bonnivale and my seventy two T one twenty 626 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,039 V race bike. We laughed and told colorful stories about 627 00:36:58,159 --> 00:37:02,480 racetracks and bike rallies, and Steve kept quizzing me on 628 00:37:02,559 --> 00:37:07,039 welding techniques and plasma cutting. At times I felt like 629 00:37:07,119 --> 00:37:10,000 I was being interviewed for a job in Hell. But 630 00:37:10,119 --> 00:37:13,760 his good nature was reassuring, and the dread I experience 631 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:19,280 turned into a fun experience with some obviously nefarious individuals. 632 00:37:20,599 --> 00:37:23,000 They all laughed when I told them how the LA 633 00:37:23,119 --> 00:37:25,960 crew was struggling with the panels matching on the top 634 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,800 of the spacecraft we were building, but they seemed to 635 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,519 miss the detail on the plan that in the scene 636 00:37:31,559 --> 00:37:35,719 the spaceship was upside down on the beach. Well, after 637 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,079 a couple of hours of laughing my ass off, we 638 00:37:38,199 --> 00:37:41,280 got up to leave at the same time, and Honey 639 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,960 Pie brought the bill and Steve grabbed my ticket and 640 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,239 he winked at me. I got this devil by here's 641 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:49,719 my number. If you come to Memphis, you give me 642 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:54,199 a call. Well, I've never been to Memphis since. Well, 643 00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:57,760 there's another story with people running into Steve Lily and 644 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:01,519 his crew. What is going on. If you guys have 645 00:38:01,679 --> 00:38:05,159 run into Steve Lily, or if you know someone who's 646 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:09,440 run into the Squatch Operator's crew, send me an email 647 00:38:09,519 --> 00:38:11,800 and tell me your experience and I will get it 648 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,159 in a podcast. Write it clear and crisp. So I 649 00:38:15,199 --> 00:38:17,480 don't have a lot of editing to do, but I 650 00:38:17,519 --> 00:38:20,239 would love to share these stories of you guys running 651 00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:26,719 into the Steve Lily crew. I think they're awesome, all right. 652 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:29,239 A few weeks ago I got a couple of emails 653 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:31,760 from guys who had run into Steve Lily and his 654 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:36,039 crew while doing various things. I've got several more, and 655 00:38:36,119 --> 00:38:38,400 I thought I would share this one with you and 656 00:38:38,519 --> 00:38:42,639 end this podcast up and with a happy note. So 657 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,880 this gentleman writes his story, and he says, opened my 658 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:48,599 eyes and I looked at the clock and it was 659 00:38:48,639 --> 00:38:51,239 four am. I rolled out of bed, and I had 660 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,559 coffee in I got suited up and got my thermos 661 00:38:53,559 --> 00:38:56,880 of coffee and some sandwiches ready. It's the first day 662 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:00,920 of rifle deer season in Vermont. I have my backpack 663 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,320 and my rifle and a handful of AMMO, and I 664 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:05,719 started from my deer stand that I set up two 665 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,400 weeks ago. Well. I saw my breath and a wave 666 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:11,599 of cold air hit me, making me want to go 667 00:39:11,679 --> 00:39:14,880 back into my warm bed, and I slung my backpack 668 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,920 over my shoulder and I started to walk to my 669 00:39:17,039 --> 00:39:22,119 tree stand. I needed to cut through it. Thirty minutes later, 670 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:24,199 I was in my tree stand and I looked at 671 00:39:24,199 --> 00:39:27,280 my watch and it was five thirty am. So I 672 00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:31,800 started to get comfortable. I saw headlights coming down the 673 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:35,599 dirt road. It turned down the dirt driveway and stopped, 674 00:39:35,639 --> 00:39:38,880 and the lights went off and everything went silent, and 675 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,159 I thought, probably hunting back on the old Stevenson's place. 676 00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:47,880 And I settled back in and I got comfortable. It 677 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,519 was an hour later and the sun was up pretty good, 678 00:39:50,639 --> 00:39:54,000 but I didn't see any activity. The birds were quiet, 679 00:39:54,039 --> 00:39:56,320 and the flock of turkeys I heard this morning hadn't 680 00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:00,639 even made an appearance. Another thirty minutes and I don't 681 00:40:00,639 --> 00:40:03,280 hear anything in the woods. There were no squirrels, no 682 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,800 footsteps in the leaves on the ground. And then I 683 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:11,239 heard two car door slam and then I hear gunshots, 684 00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:14,480 and then a tall, hairy person started running at my 685 00:40:14,599 --> 00:40:18,039 tree stand. I could see four bullet wounds on him. 686 00:40:18,159 --> 00:40:20,719 There were three in the chest and one in its thigh, 687 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,760 and it kept charging at me. And I chambered around 688 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:25,639 and I aim for where I thought the heart would be, 689 00:40:25,679 --> 00:40:28,639 and I fired. It kept running for a few minutes, 690 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:32,079 but it dropped like a rock. I slowly lowered my 691 00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:34,960 rifle and I took a deep breath. I thought, how 692 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,079 am I going to explain this? What is this thing? 693 00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,760 A few minutes later, I heard someone in front of 694 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:44,039 me say, well, that's nice shooting there, brother, Glad you 695 00:40:44,079 --> 00:40:47,079 didn't go for the head. I was so focused on 696 00:40:47,119 --> 00:40:49,119 the creature on the ground, I didn't notice the two 697 00:40:49,199 --> 00:40:52,599 men walking up. Well. I climbed down and I walked 698 00:40:52,599 --> 00:40:56,880 over and I introduced myself. Hey, y all, my name's Tater. Hey, 699 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:01,719 my name's Steve. This is Huck the introductions, I noticed 700 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:05,480 hook cutting off this thing's head. Why are you cutting 701 00:41:05,519 --> 00:41:08,000 off its head? I said, And what is this thing? 702 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,519 You don't know what this is? This is a squatch, 703 00:41:12,679 --> 00:41:15,559 it's a bigfoot. We need it so we can get paid. 704 00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,480 There three more over that hill. Now, look, we're gonna 705 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,920 share the money with you because you finished this one off. 706 00:41:21,199 --> 00:41:26,119 Steve said, you get paid for doing this. I asked, well, yeah, 707 00:41:26,239 --> 00:41:29,840 you know Imo and Gas ain't cheap. Hook said, well, 708 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,480 originally we came up here to fish, but we got 709 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:35,960 called to do this job. Man, that's a sweet gig, 710 00:41:36,079 --> 00:41:39,000 I said. We shook hands and they walked off with 711 00:41:39,079 --> 00:41:42,400 these heads, and I never saw them again. And on 712 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:44,800 my way home, I thought to myself, how am I 713 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:47,639 gonna explain the shots that we're fired up here and 714 00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:50,480 I'm not coming home with any deer. I'm gonna be 715 00:41:50,559 --> 00:41:54,719 made fun of for that. Steve Lily is in Vermont? 716 00:41:55,079 --> 00:41:59,079 What what? I didn't even know that. Anyway, you guys 717 00:41:59,119 --> 00:42:03,119 keep sending these Steve Lilly encounter stories. He seems to 718 00:42:03,159 --> 00:42:05,599 be getting around quite a bit. Thanks to the writer 719 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,159 for letting us know you run into old Steve Lilly.