1 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,519 Speaker 1: I have a letter that was mailed. I got in 2 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,359 the mail some time ago. The man who wrote the 3 00:00:13,439 --> 00:00:17,679 letter does not want his name revealed on this podcast, 4 00:00:17,879 --> 00:00:21,480 but he's a seventy one year old. He describes himself 5 00:00:21,519 --> 00:00:23,760 as a good old boy of hillbilly from the back 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,399 holars of eastern Kentucky. And he's got quite the resume. 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,760 He's got a lot of experience in two or three 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:36,000 different trades. He is a professional, he's not a he's 9 00:00:36,039 --> 00:00:40,200 a formally educated man. And he tells me all that 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,000 to say that he's credible. That you know, someone's educational 11 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,200 resume and even their work resume is not necessarily an 12 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:55,079 indication they're credible. However, you know, the Bigfoot stories are 13 00:00:55,359 --> 00:01:00,679 normally attributed to people like me, just average guys, rednecks 14 00:01:00,679 --> 00:01:04,040 living in Mississippi. I saw Bigfoot, and so I think 15 00:01:04,079 --> 00:01:06,239 that's the point he was trying to get across. And 16 00:01:06,879 --> 00:01:09,239 so with all that said, this is a long story, 17 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,079 and it's a long letter, and I'm gonna read every 18 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,840 word of it. It's very very good and I hope 19 00:01:14,879 --> 00:01:17,200 you enjoy it. And since it is a letter, you 20 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,159 may hear some paper turning, because I'm just gonna flip 21 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,359 the pages as I go, and I probably won't even 22 00:01:23,519 --> 00:01:26,280 edit that out, but it's really good, so I'll shut up. 23 00:01:26,359 --> 00:01:30,400 Here we go. His first incident was June of nineteen 24 00:01:30,519 --> 00:01:34,120 sixty four. He was fifteen years old. I was a 25 00:01:34,159 --> 00:01:37,280 fifteen year old boy scout when our troop was taken 26 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:41,319 to Carter Caves State Park in eastern Kentucky for a 27 00:01:41,359 --> 00:01:45,400 week of primitive camping. One evening, after a day of 28 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,920 carousing around, swimming, hiking, cave, exploring, and loving to be 29 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:55,920 while young teenage boys, we finally had a very late supper. Afterward, 30 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,280 we drove the chilly night away around our campfires, a 31 00:01:59,359 --> 00:02:02,480 large one of the troops and a second for the 32 00:02:02,519 --> 00:02:06,840 scout master and his assistant some twenty feet away. Upon 33 00:02:06,959 --> 00:02:10,240 this scene, about ten PM or so arrived a park 34 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:15,000 ranger on his nightly visit to our camp. He usually 35 00:02:15,319 --> 00:02:18,360 just looked us over, asked if we had any needs, 36 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,639 and then he left, but this evening he apparently had 37 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,479 a couple of things on his mind. Upon gathering up 38 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,360 the scouts, the ranger said he was looking into an 39 00:02:28,439 --> 00:02:33,759 incident concerning one enterprising scout. He said that he was 40 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,719 told that this scout was going down to the trading 41 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,639 post at the bottom of the mountain, buying up all 42 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,479 the nickel candy bars during the day, coming back to camp, 43 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,599 and selling them after dark for a dime. After being 44 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,360 informed that doing such a dastardly thing to fellow scouts 45 00:02:51,479 --> 00:02:55,800 was wrong, the culprit who was me was admonished for practicing. 46 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,599 My first try it for a enterprise. I thought it 47 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,520 was fair. I spent two hours trudging up and down 48 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,240 the mountain every day, and for the past four days 49 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,159 they bought every candy bar I had. But a snitch 50 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,360 tried to blackmail me into giving him a share of 51 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,080 my profits. I wouldn't do so, so he reported me 52 00:03:16,159 --> 00:03:19,280 to the ranger. The guys really gave it to me good, 53 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,479 rising me and shoving me around in the circle. The ranger, 54 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,000 on his part, put his hand on his hips and 55 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,039 smiled at me and shook his head and walked over 56 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:33,800 and sat down at the scout master's fire across the campsite. 57 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,159 Wondering if they'd talked more about me. I made a 58 00:03:37,159 --> 00:03:41,360 small circle around the tents and I crept nearer. I 59 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,680 sat down outside the fire circles, listening in on the 60 00:03:44,759 --> 00:03:48,439 adult conversation, but what I heard had nothing to do 61 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,479 with me. The ranger was cautioning the scout masters that 62 00:03:52,639 --> 00:03:55,719 in the general area around the park there had been 63 00:03:55,759 --> 00:04:00,319 a tax on area farm stock. They put the blame 64 00:04:00,439 --> 00:04:04,639 on dog packs, codies, coy dogs, cougars, bears, and maybe 65 00:04:04,639 --> 00:04:08,120 black panthers, which we had and still having this part 66 00:04:08,159 --> 00:04:13,159 of the country. The attacks were particularly prevalent in one 67 00:04:13,319 --> 00:04:17,199 area about eight miles away from the park. He said 68 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,800 that recently, thinking that they had the animal cornered, about 69 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,439 one hundred volunteers formed a line with twenty five feet 70 00:04:24,519 --> 00:04:27,480 or so between each one, with some extra men at 71 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,879 the closing end. When it began to get dark, every 72 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,079 man lit up some kind of lantern or flashlight. As 73 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,680 they pushed through the stifling, hot and dusty tall brush. 74 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,000 It was a bit hard to breathe because there was 75 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,759 a dry spell one and the shaking the parched weeds 76 00:04:45,959 --> 00:04:49,600 dusted the air with an artificial yellow fog of pollen, 77 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,959 which grew about eight feet high or more this time 78 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,800 of year. At one point, as they fought their way 79 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,079 among the entangling brush, they heard a scream and a 80 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,199 shotgun blast, and they rushed to the point in the 81 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:07,000 line they found one of the younger men, he was 82 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,439 about twenty years old, groaning in amongst some crushed vegetation. 83 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,480 His gun was found with the stock smashed in the 84 00:05:15,519 --> 00:05:18,959 barrel bent at the base of a nearby tree. He 85 00:05:19,079 --> 00:05:21,279 was out of his head with fright, so he was 86 00:05:21,319 --> 00:05:25,040 transported to the hospital where he was kept overnight for 87 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,839 chest bruising and shock. He was sedated, so nothing could 88 00:05:29,879 --> 00:05:34,759 be learned about the incident until the next morning. After 89 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,399 a day or so, according to what I overheard the 90 00:05:37,519 --> 00:05:41,040 ranger say, the boy had calmed down enough to relay 91 00:05:41,079 --> 00:05:44,920 his story. He said that he was walking through the 92 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,600 dusty growth with his lantern raised in one hand and 93 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,040 a shotgun in the other. He said he heard and 94 00:05:52,319 --> 00:05:56,360 saw a rush of movement from directly ahead that something 95 00:05:56,439 --> 00:06:00,279 was coming directly for him. When a huge white wall 96 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:05,759 came crashing down on him, he awkwardly lifted his shotgun 97 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,040 in one hand and fired, but was immediately struck in 98 00:06:09,079 --> 00:06:13,079 the chest and launched through the air. The crush of 99 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,079 vegetation gave little clue as to the type of an 100 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,639 animal that had attacked the boy. There was no blood 101 00:06:19,639 --> 00:06:22,040 at the scene, and I don't know if anyone tried 102 00:06:22,079 --> 00:06:24,639 to backtrail it through the weeds to see where it 103 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,519 came from, but they didn't get even another glimpse of it, 104 00:06:28,759 --> 00:06:32,519 and no one would volunteer to follow after it. The 105 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,120 boy didn't know if he'd even shot it and had 106 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,120 no idea what it was. He was sure that it 107 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,439 struck him with more powerful of a push than a hit, 108 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,279 but it was able to propel him through the air 109 00:06:45,439 --> 00:06:48,480 in what he perceived to be a very little effort 110 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,199 on the thing's part. But the thing was never caught 111 00:06:52,319 --> 00:06:56,319 after apparently getting through the line. Needless to say, that 112 00:06:56,439 --> 00:06:59,279 was the end of any more skirmish lines, and for 113 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,959 this thing could withstand a shotgun blast than all bets 114 00:07:02,959 --> 00:07:07,199 were off. It has still been seen throughout the following 115 00:07:07,319 --> 00:07:10,920 decades as something like a white shadow going through the woods, 116 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,639 and has remained around the southeastern portion of Carter County, 117 00:07:14,879 --> 00:07:18,000 about twenty miles south of the park even to this day. 118 00:07:18,279 --> 00:07:22,600 But more on this particular thing later. As I squatted 119 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,439 shaking in the night, the forest noise around me seemed 120 00:07:26,439 --> 00:07:31,079 to go quiet. I realized I was alone in the dark. Spooked, 121 00:07:31,399 --> 00:07:33,639 I made it safely back to my tent and my 122 00:07:33,759 --> 00:07:37,600 sleeping bag. At that time, the mention of it being 123 00:07:37,639 --> 00:07:42,680 a sasquatch was never discussed or even considered. Bigfoot was 124 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,720 alive and well at this time, supposedly in the Pacific Northwest, 125 00:07:46,879 --> 00:07:49,720 or so we thought back some fifty five years ago, 126 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,439 not as it would be in the later sixties and 127 00:07:52,519 --> 00:07:56,160 early seventies, and so was lost in my mind for 128 00:07:56,279 --> 00:08:02,720 all these years. And now Incident number two occurred not 129 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:07,160 in August of nineteen sixty six, and this gentleman was 130 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:11,000 seventeen years old. Here's a little note, he writes to 131 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,720 me before he starts the story. I finished writing this 132 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:20,040 incident four months after incident. I I've never told anyone ever, 133 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,480 not even my wife, until now about this occurrence. I 134 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,319 thought the event of over fifty three years ago would 135 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,800 be easy to put down on paper and ready to 136 00:08:29,839 --> 00:08:33,159 send to you in a couple of hours. I found, 137 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,120 to my surprise that I hardly remembered any details at all. 138 00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:40,440 But in starting to piece it all back together, I 139 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,200 was shocked by what I remembered concerning the terror I 140 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,799 had buried regarding this incident so many years ago. Over 141 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,120 the last four months, things that I hadn't thought about 142 00:08:52,159 --> 00:08:56,080 in any detail over the last half century fell back 143 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:00,399 into place, having been a counselor. I'm aware that I 144 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,799 blocked much of it due to trauma, but unplugging the 145 00:09:03,879 --> 00:09:07,600 memories started it flooding back so fast I could hardly 146 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,399 keep up with my thoughts. Worst of all was that 147 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,600 I felt like weeping for that boy and the horror, 148 00:09:14,639 --> 00:09:19,759 and especially the loneliness of this singular night. But be 149 00:09:19,879 --> 00:09:22,360 that as it may. Let's go forward with a little 150 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,440 over two years after the first incident to when I 151 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,080 was seventeen. A few weeks before my senior year began, 152 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,000 a couple of my friends and I were invited by 153 00:09:33,039 --> 00:09:36,639 a very close family member, Billy, to go hiking through 154 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:41,320 areas of eastern Kentucky from north to southeast, in places 155 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,559 where we'd never tramped before. At that time, there were 156 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,879 hardly any inhabited areas in this part of the states, 157 00:09:48,919 --> 00:09:52,840 and roads were few and far between. It was to 158 00:09:52,879 --> 00:09:55,600 be a two day trek off trail and through the 159 00:09:55,639 --> 00:09:59,279 dense woods in steep ravines, not far from where the 160 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,200 white Thing had had been roaming some years earlier, but 161 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,240 we didn't give it any mind. Only Billy had a firearm. 162 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,200 The rest of us had hunting knives and hatchets. The 163 00:10:10,279 --> 00:10:14,159 temperature was over one hundred with near one hundred percent humidity, 164 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,240 a typical southern hot and dusty August day with a 165 00:10:18,279 --> 00:10:22,240 miserable time for such a hike. All the creeks we 166 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,799 passed were dry. Only the largest creek, Tigert Creek, had 167 00:10:26,799 --> 00:10:30,080 a good amount of water, whose course constantly doubles back 168 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,080 on itself. Our tongues were clinging to the roofs of 169 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,679 our mouths, and we were inhaling hot air and exhaling 170 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,200 hot air back out using our canteens cause a problem 171 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,320 as we were going to fill up as we went 172 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,200 with clear creek water, but as I said, they were 173 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,960 all dry. We started out in jackets in the cool 174 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,799 of the early morning, but as the heat quickly rose, 175 00:10:54,919 --> 00:10:58,519 we soon were shedding down from jackets to shirts to 176 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:03,519 T shirts. On we went, snagging our way through heavy 177 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:09,679 brier patches, ankle catching vines, tripping over hidden rocks, insects 178 00:11:09,799 --> 00:11:13,039 die bombing our faces, and gnats doing their best to 179 00:11:13,159 --> 00:11:17,679 land on our open eyeballs. Finally, at the end of 180 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,559 the day, Billy decided that we would set up camp 181 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,440 in a limestone cave set in the side of a 182 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,080 steep cliff with a clear but small stream of cold 183 00:11:27,159 --> 00:11:31,519 water running through it. The gurgling brook echoed over and 184 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:36,000 over in the small cave. A wide flat stone porch 185 00:11:36,159 --> 00:11:39,240 in front of the cave overlooked a sixty foot drop. 186 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,679 The cave was in the side of a limestone cliff, 187 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,200 and I shined my light and checked the drop of 188 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:49,879 the cliff from above the cave's position. It was about 189 00:11:49,919 --> 00:11:52,919 forty feet down from the trail that we had been following. 190 00:11:53,799 --> 00:11:57,559 Billy chose the cave for its natural cool air conditioning 191 00:11:57,639 --> 00:12:01,399 due to the damp limestone walls the running stream for 192 00:12:01,519 --> 00:12:05,200 a water supply. The old man was a hunter and 193 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:09,559 seasoned hiker that knew what he was doing. I was 194 00:12:09,639 --> 00:12:12,720 sure glad to unload my backpack and sleeping bag and 195 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,600 quickly lay down before I threw up. I was suffering 196 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,519 from a pounding headache. I had all the signs of 197 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,720 heat exhaustion. There was nothing to do but try to 198 00:12:23,759 --> 00:12:27,960 sleep the horrible pounding headache away. We were whipped, so 199 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:32,200 there wasn't much talking around the campfire. We ate a 200 00:12:32,279 --> 00:12:36,360 late meal, gorged ourselves in cold water, and then turned 201 00:12:36,399 --> 00:12:39,960 in as soon as darkness fell. About nine thirty PM. 202 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,600 I tossed in turn for hours in a fitful sleep, 203 00:12:43,639 --> 00:12:46,759 but about one am I felt the result of all 204 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,480 that water. Groggily pulled on my socks and gem shoes, 205 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:53,879 buckled my jeans, and went out to water the grass. 206 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:57,399 This is the downside of sleeping in a cave. We 207 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,000 had to walk back up the trail to take a leak, 208 00:13:00,399 --> 00:13:02,279 and Billy didn't want us to go out to the 209 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,159 porch edge for fear that we'd be so sleepy that 210 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:09,519 we'd likely fall over. It was chilly in the cave, 211 00:13:09,879 --> 00:13:12,919 much cooler as I stepped up on the ground above 212 00:13:12,919 --> 00:13:16,120 the cave aways in just my t shirt. I would 213 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,080 be back in my warm bag in just a couple 214 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:22,159 of minutes, though. I had my rail backed flashlight and 215 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,879 my bowie knife tied on my right leg in a 216 00:13:24,919 --> 00:13:28,200 low quick draw sheathe, both of which my dad had 217 00:13:28,279 --> 00:13:32,519 made for me. I turned several times and finally chose 218 00:13:32,519 --> 00:13:35,679 a direction that wouldn't spray in the direction I would 219 00:13:35,759 --> 00:13:38,919 have to use in the return to the cave. Aiming 220 00:13:39,279 --> 00:13:43,120 is important. As I was doing my business, the great 221 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,360 chattering noise brought on the night air suddenly ceased. I 222 00:13:47,399 --> 00:13:50,399 felt creepy, so I finished as quick as I could. 223 00:13:51,399 --> 00:13:53,960 The night was clear, and the air was cold and damp, 224 00:13:54,039 --> 00:13:56,399 and I was shivering, so I headed back to my 225 00:13:56,519 --> 00:14:00,679 sleeping bag where it would be warm. Still in the 226 00:14:00,759 --> 00:14:03,840 throes of heat exhaustion, and I stumbled away in the 227 00:14:03,879 --> 00:14:07,639 wrong direction. After not coming back to the trail to 228 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,679 the cave for five or ten minutes, I knew I 229 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,879 had lost my way. I grew a bit frantic as 230 00:14:14,879 --> 00:14:17,440 I went each way along the cliff and I couldn't 231 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,200 find the small trail over the edge and down to 232 00:14:20,279 --> 00:14:24,639 the cave. I let out desperate shouts, but I got 233 00:14:24,679 --> 00:14:28,879 no reply. The loud babbling brook that echoed in the 234 00:14:28,879 --> 00:14:33,360 cave must have drowned out my pleas I was in 235 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,080 heavy brush, so the path to the cave did not 236 00:14:36,279 --> 00:14:40,240 stand out. I'd been a scout and an explorer for 237 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,080 six years, and I had hunted since I was eight, 238 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,679 so I was filled with the false overconfidence of youth. 239 00:14:47,919 --> 00:14:50,679 I believe that even lost, I'd be able to walk 240 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,799 out in a few hours. I had a strong flashlight 241 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,440 and a twelve inch blade bowie knife, but the heat 242 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,679 exhaustion and the lower temperatures were now causing me to 243 00:15:00,759 --> 00:15:04,720 sometimes shake violently. I felt like I was in an 244 00:15:04,759 --> 00:15:08,320 ice house, but I knew that when I found Tigert 245 00:15:08,399 --> 00:15:12,120 Creek that I'd find my way out. If I walked 246 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,600 against the current, so to speak, I was bound to 247 00:15:14,639 --> 00:15:20,240 eventually run into an east west highway a few hundred 248 00:15:20,279 --> 00:15:23,879 yards further. The bank gave way under my right foot, 249 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,440 and I was launched out in space on an elevator 250 00:15:27,559 --> 00:15:33,039 ride to Hell. The fall seemed to take forever. I 251 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,200 had crashed through flimsy branches, falling about forty feet to 252 00:15:37,279 --> 00:15:40,720 a point where the limestone wall met the incline. When 253 00:15:40,759 --> 00:15:44,159 I hit a heavier, forked branch covered with tangles of 254 00:15:44,279 --> 00:15:48,759 vines and briars, my back landing on the limb, knocking 255 00:15:48,799 --> 00:15:53,159 the wind out of me. Thank God for the outstretched limb. 256 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,879 Without it, I would have hit the rock strown basin 257 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:01,919 far below the entangling limb. Ye and slowly tipped sideways 258 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,919 with my weight, And I saw by the waning moonlight 259 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,639 that I might be able to use the vines as 260 00:16:07,679 --> 00:16:10,519 a sort of lighter and climb down to within ten 261 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,320 feet of the steep bank under me. When I got 262 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,000 free enough to drop down, I knew that my best 263 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,399 bet would be to dig my heels into the earth 264 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,720 upon impact and ease down the rest of the way 265 00:16:22,759 --> 00:16:26,639 to the bottom. I let go and my heels hit 266 00:16:26,799 --> 00:16:30,399 and jammed in the loose earth. I was in for 267 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,679 a fast, hard tumble and slide to the rocky bottom 268 00:16:33,759 --> 00:16:37,519 of the draw. When I stopped tumbling, I lay there, 269 00:16:37,559 --> 00:16:41,039 surveying any damage done to my body. I was happy 270 00:16:41,039 --> 00:16:43,919 to find that, aside from many thorn scratches and some 271 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,159 probable bruising, I was whole. I slowly got up on 272 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,240 very shaky legs, and I turned around, and as soon 273 00:16:51,279 --> 00:16:53,559 as I could think, I saw that I was standing 274 00:16:53,639 --> 00:16:58,039 beside a tiny creek. A person would think you could 275 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,799 look up and see the fireplace slight in our cave, 276 00:17:00,919 --> 00:17:03,399 but it would have died down by now, and I 277 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,079 didn't know in which direction to look. I tried anyway, 278 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,119 but upon searching the cave, I could not see anything 279 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,640 but the leaves and the brush and the walls effectively 280 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:18,160 made this a prison hole. I did try to find 281 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,000 either or both my flashlight and a knife, but those 282 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:26,079 two were lost causes needles in a black haystack. I 283 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:30,240 stood there alone in the dark in a steep wedge. 284 00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:32,880 I struggled over the bottom of the draw in each 285 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,720 direction for at least an hour. When I heard the 286 00:17:35,799 --> 00:17:39,640 sound of that of a bear, quieting the forest chatter 287 00:17:39,799 --> 00:17:43,680 once again. I looked around into the darkness of the 288 00:17:43,759 --> 00:17:47,240 narrow pit of the mountain. I saw nothing, but felt 289 00:17:47,279 --> 00:17:50,079 once again that I was being watched by something, and 290 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:52,480 I prayed it wouldn't be a cougar or a black 291 00:17:52,519 --> 00:17:55,960 panther or a bear aside from wolves or worse, a 292 00:17:56,039 --> 00:17:59,480 dog pack. I tried to climb the side of the hill, 293 00:17:59,559 --> 00:18:02,519 but each time I slid back down on my belly. 294 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:06,720 I tried to choose the right way back along the 295 00:18:06,799 --> 00:18:10,240 dimly lit cliff, but I couldn't discern from which side 296 00:18:10,279 --> 00:18:13,839 I had fallen. Logically, I chose to go down the 297 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,880 draw following the dried up creek bed, which is all 298 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:21,799 I had since it was away from the growl. After 299 00:18:21,839 --> 00:18:26,359 a long stumbling journey of constantly having to climb over, under, 300 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,720 and around obstacles without a light or knife in the 301 00:18:29,759 --> 00:18:32,839 near darkness, I finally came to a break in the 302 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:38,759 limestone wall on one side. I stopped and laid my sweaty, 303 00:18:38,799 --> 00:18:42,279 filthy body over yet another tree. Falling from a bank 304 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,119 to bank gasping for breath. With much effort, I used 305 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,799 small trees to drag myself out of my limestone prison, 306 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,920 sliding two steps down the bank while advancing just three, 307 00:18:55,240 --> 00:19:00,039 getting filthier and sweatier by the minute I found He 308 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,079 made the top edge of the flat on the mountain side, 309 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,079 and I flopped over above the cliff, and I drew 310 00:19:06,279 --> 00:19:11,119 in a heavy, damp breath of air. After resting on 311 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:15,000 the grimy flat in order to stop wheezing out my lungs, 312 00:19:15,319 --> 00:19:18,079 I got up and continued to crash through the thorn 313 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,599 rows and stumble over rocks and depressions covered by dirt, 314 00:19:22,759 --> 00:19:26,000 gasping for air, sweating in the cold night. When I 315 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:30,759 made out a larger game trail. Imagine the fear of 316 00:19:30,799 --> 00:19:34,480 a skinny one hundred and forty five pound kid, three 317 00:19:34,519 --> 00:19:39,720 months into his seventeenth birthday, shivering in a filthy, wet 318 00:19:39,759 --> 00:19:43,799 T shirt, groping through the darkness, almost legally blind and 319 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,559 not knowing what direction to go. The moon was going down, 320 00:19:48,599 --> 00:19:51,440 and once again the noise of the forest stopped, but 321 00:19:51,599 --> 00:19:55,960 this time it stopped around me. My heart was pounding 322 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,519 through my ribs as I struggled onward, so again all 323 00:19:59,559 --> 00:20:04,599 I could say, were silhouettes of trees and bushes. And there, 324 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,640 in a right hand curve in the trail, looking through 325 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,039 and over the brush. Standing on each side of the 326 00:20:11,079 --> 00:20:16,119 game trail were two large back lip figures, one slightly 327 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,559 taller than the other. They were massive and the last 328 00:20:19,599 --> 00:20:24,000 thing I wanted to run into. Suddenly, the thought of 329 00:20:24,039 --> 00:20:27,319 a bear or a cougar was more preferable than the 330 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,240 pair of things I was looking at now. At first, 331 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,200 coming up slightly from the side, I thought they were 332 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,079 two massive black panthers sitting on large boulders, because they 333 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,599 seemed to have cat's ears pulled back to a point 334 00:20:42,519 --> 00:20:45,880 my knees got weak. The worst possible meeting was about 335 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,119 to take my life. But as I turned to view 336 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,799 them straight on, I realized they were not on boulders, 337 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,160 but things that stood eight to nine feet tall. They 338 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,480 didn't move but for a small sway. Their heads appeared 339 00:21:01,519 --> 00:21:04,519 to be directly attached to their three to four feet 340 00:21:04,519 --> 00:21:09,079 wide shoulders. Whatever they were if they were looking at 341 00:21:09,079 --> 00:21:12,160 me at all, I could not tell, and looking back 342 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,079 on it now, I probably misconstrued their sloping heads for 343 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:21,039 possible ears, them being a pair of sasquatch again, never 344 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,240 even occurred to me until decades later, when sightings became 345 00:21:25,319 --> 00:21:30,559 more common outside the Northwest. I stood there, shaking, as 346 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,839 my sweat soak body trembled with cold and just plain 347 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,720 near panic. I then leaned over and put my hands 348 00:21:37,799 --> 00:21:41,880 on my trembling knees to steady myself. I was as 349 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,279 wet as I could be, covered with a filth of 350 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,880 many stumble and falls, and I already had had blood 351 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,000 running down my arms from the briars that had torn 352 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,960 at them. I had been lost so long, so many hours. 353 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,359 I was tired and weary. It seemed so unfair to 354 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:04,240 be stopped, injured, or even killed. Now I tried so hard. 355 00:22:04,559 --> 00:22:07,960 Was it for nothing? I raised my head and gazed 356 00:22:08,079 --> 00:22:11,200 up at these beasts. I was only about twenty five 357 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,920 feet from them at this point, but as I stood there, 358 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,240 I could make out hair and a shadowy face, but 359 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:22,640 again no details. It would be four decades later before 360 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,039 I read about such encounters and how the creatures almost 361 00:22:26,079 --> 00:22:30,359 become as still as statues while observing humans, and how 362 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:34,359 many people went through exactly what I did. But for now, 363 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,720 I realized that I was halfway up the mountain. To 364 00:22:37,759 --> 00:22:41,839 my left were briar patches and wildly tangled brush. To 365 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:46,200 my right was empty darkness that meant a cliff's edge. 366 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,079 I could not go back because I didn't know where 367 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,039 back was, my strength was not up to it, and 368 00:22:53,079 --> 00:22:55,519 I didn't know what would happen if I turned my 369 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,000 back on them. Why they stood in the brush on 370 00:22:59,079 --> 00:23:01,920 each side of the train instead of blocking it, I'll 371 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,079 never really know. They still swayed slightly in the dead air, 372 00:23:06,559 --> 00:23:09,160 but as with any predators, I knew that if I 373 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,039 kept my head about and made no eye contact, perhaps 374 00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:15,920 they would just look at me as a harmless curiosity. 375 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,319 As I slowly lowered my head, I got the impression 376 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,240 that they too might have lowered their heads to better 377 00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:26,799 watch me. I'm not sure. The path was a good 378 00:23:26,839 --> 00:23:30,359 three feet wide, so I very slowly made my way 379 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,759 towards these two things. I wanted to look up and 380 00:23:33,799 --> 00:23:37,119 see what kind of beasts they were, but I think 381 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,400 my first thought was correct, and I kept looking down. 382 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,480 As I stepped closer. I wanted to scream and run 383 00:23:44,519 --> 00:23:47,720 for it. All either of them had to do was 384 00:23:47,759 --> 00:23:52,839 crush my head like a grape. The forest was dead still, 385 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:54,839 and it came to me that they could have been 386 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,319 stalking me all through the night. As of now, though 387 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,480 it seemed as eternity was marked in slow inches. But 388 00:24:02,599 --> 00:24:06,599 in the end I was permitted to pass unharmed. I 389 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,079 looked neither right or left or back, and neither did 390 00:24:10,079 --> 00:24:13,960 I raise my head. I didn't realize that their feet 391 00:24:14,039 --> 00:24:16,759 were partially on the trail, but I couldn't make them 392 00:24:16,799 --> 00:24:21,279 out in the gloom. After passing by them, I quickened 393 00:24:21,319 --> 00:24:25,799 my pace until the beautiful night's noises began again. I 394 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,880 must state that even passing by within a foot of 395 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:33,039 these things, I smelled nothing beyond my own sweaty stink. 396 00:24:34,519 --> 00:24:37,319 I walked on for an hour or so and finally 397 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,240 hit Tigert's Creek. I collapsed forward on all fours into 398 00:24:42,279 --> 00:24:45,279 the creek, putting my mouth under and slurping up water 399 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,000 through my parched lips like there was no tomorrow. I 400 00:24:49,039 --> 00:24:52,240 didn't have a canteen, but this time I followed the 401 00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:55,720 creek opposite its flow to keep my thirst quenched. And 402 00:24:55,759 --> 00:24:58,720 within a few hours I heard a lone truck's moan 403 00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:02,920 just south of the creek. I stumbled about five hundred 404 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,079 feet in that direction upon an east west highway. I 405 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,039 tried to flag down the four or five passing cars 406 00:25:10,039 --> 00:25:13,519 and trucks at that early hour, but looking at myself 407 00:25:13,559 --> 00:25:18,119 a hardly looked human in my totally filthy condition, I 408 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,319 then walked what turned out to be over five or 409 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,759 six miles until I flagged down a cruiser and told 410 00:25:24,759 --> 00:25:28,319 the deputy of my plight. He drove me clear back 411 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:31,519 to the farm where we'd started out from the day before. 412 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,920 Several hours later, a car pulled up outside and out 413 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,160 the rest of the team jumped out and shouted with relief. 414 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,920 They had been searching for me, and we simply had 415 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,359 a tremendous emotional release from the worst night of my 416 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,519 life thus far. But the really bad part was that Billy, 417 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,680 who led us in whom I hunted with several times, 418 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,319 never allowed me to go out in the woods with 419 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:03,240 him again. Until now, I hardly remembered any of this incident, 420 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,839 having just told one of my friends at the time 421 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,119 about spotting the creatures, but he just told me I 422 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,440 was hallucinating from the terrified time that I had had. 423 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,960 But it's very clear that God and God alone spared me. 424 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,480 This friend, even though it was fifty four years ago, 425 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,839 still refers to it as the night that you went crazy. 426 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,839 But those of us who were there no better, and 427 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,839 I never ever mentioned it again, not even to my 428 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,759 wife until we were listening to many of your people's tales. 429 00:26:36,319 --> 00:26:39,279 Be it as it may. Until now, I hadn't realized that, 430 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,319 aside from mentioning, I had gotten lost in the woods 431 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,839 and fell from a cliff. I never ever had thought 432 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,920 about this in such minute detail until the last few 433 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:55,200 months of piecing it all back together using twenty twenty hindsight. 434 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,440 Having studied everything about Bigfoot for over fifty years and 435 00:26:59,519 --> 00:27:04,200 listening to others' run ends with Bigfoot, I wonder there 436 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:07,240 were all of those sudden silences as I fought my 437 00:27:07,319 --> 00:27:10,759 way out of the unentangled forest, forcing me to flee 438 00:27:10,839 --> 00:27:14,519 in the opposite direction of the growls. Could it be 439 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,440 that the creatures were just hurting me, making sure that 440 00:27:17,559 --> 00:27:19,720 I would take the right path out of the woods. 441 00:27:20,599 --> 00:27:23,960 Once I hit Tiger Creek, there were no more silences 442 00:27:24,039 --> 00:27:29,079 or growls. I just don't know. And now incident number 443 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:33,319 three November two thoy fourteen, and the Gentleman was sixty 444 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,400 five years old. I was speaking with a local author 445 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,359 who had a popular bestseller, whom I had asked to 446 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,920 sign a copy of his book for my daughter in law. 447 00:27:43,759 --> 00:27:46,599 While passing the usual small talk, we got on the 448 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,000 subject of strange tales, and I told him of the 449 00:27:50,079 --> 00:27:52,880 talk I had overheard the ranger tell when I was 450 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,720 in the Scouts back in Incident number one. When he 451 00:27:56,799 --> 00:27:59,480 finished listening to my tale, he asked if I would 452 00:27:59,519 --> 00:28:02,039 like to come to a meeting of the Carter County 453 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:06,559 Bigfoot Research Group in Grand Kentucky and listen to others 454 00:28:06,799 --> 00:28:10,559 encounter stories and retell my story of the white thing 455 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,000 for the group. I was glad to go, but why 456 00:28:14,039 --> 00:28:17,160 that minor tale seemed important to him, I didn't know. 457 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,319 That evening I heard a lot of great stories from farmers, 458 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:25,319 a doctor, and other professional people. The author then told 459 00:28:25,319 --> 00:28:27,920 the group that they should listen to my story as 460 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,559 it would be of great interest to them all. After 461 00:28:31,599 --> 00:28:34,559 completing the story, there was some silence, and then the 462 00:28:34,599 --> 00:28:38,039 group's leader explained that there had been a white bigfoot 463 00:28:38,119 --> 00:28:42,480 around eastern Carter County for decades, but that this was 464 00:28:42,519 --> 00:28:46,319 the oldest confirmed story with dates and details they had 465 00:28:46,359 --> 00:28:50,559 heard about from so long ago. I reiterated that I 466 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,559 didn't know if it was a bigfoot, since at the time, 467 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,400 it was just described as some kind of large white thing. 468 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,240 They went on to tell me any more stories of 469 00:29:01,279 --> 00:29:05,160 this old white bigfoot, two of which a woman also 470 00:29:05,279 --> 00:29:09,359 recounted some five years later for a local newspaper. I've 471 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:14,160 included two quotes from that newspaper, and here's quote number one. 472 00:29:14,839 --> 00:29:18,799 The title of the article is Carter County Bigfoot Regional 473 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:24,240 Sightings prompt Questions. The author of the article is Jeremy Wells. 474 00:29:24,839 --> 00:29:29,559 The publication is the Grayson Journal Times, dated February six, 475 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:35,400 twenty nineteen, and here's the quote. Other sites online, including 476 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:40,240 Kentucky hunting dot Net, also record sightings from the area 477 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:45,279 around Carter Caves, including a supposedly all white bigfoot that 478 00:29:45,359 --> 00:29:49,960 the person reporting the sighting was nicknamed Big John, who 479 00:29:50,039 --> 00:29:54,720 reportedly liked to eat from the lodges dumpsters, but naturalists 480 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,400 at the park have stated that they are not familiar 481 00:29:57,519 --> 00:30:01,640 with any reported sightings from the park or the lodge. 482 00:30:01,759 --> 00:30:05,720 The next article is also by the same writer's same publication, 483 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,920 and that the title of the article is Grand Squatching 484 00:30:09,359 --> 00:30:13,200 Bigfoot meet Up draws witnesses and the curious, and the 485 00:30:13,319 --> 00:30:18,359 article reads like this once she Tabitha Siegel started investigating, 486 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,240 she found out that there are sightings dating back to 487 00:30:21,279 --> 00:30:25,359 the nineteen sixties and earlier, and one hair raising tail. 488 00:30:25,559 --> 00:30:28,640 A young man writing a mopad after dark had a 489 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,680 bike stall on him as he was trying to get 490 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,480 it started. He glanced at his side mirror and saw 491 00:30:34,519 --> 00:30:37,400 a tall creature covered in white hair coming up the 492 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,680 road behind him. With this extra motivation to get moving, 493 00:30:41,759 --> 00:30:43,799 the young man was able to get his bike to 494 00:30:43,839 --> 00:30:48,400 turn over and fled the area without looking back. So 495 00:30:48,559 --> 00:30:51,839 at last, after fifty four years, I finally was able 496 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,079 to put a face on the creature from back in 497 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:59,279 my scouting days. And here is incident. For the last incident, 498 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:04,880 it's dated February twenty fifteen and he is sixty six 499 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,240 years old. At this time, I had purchased a farm 500 00:31:08,359 --> 00:31:12,559 on fifty five acres of mostly forest in nineteen ninety three. 501 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:17,119 The property was twenty five hundred feet deep and sixty 502 00:31:17,119 --> 00:31:20,160 eight hundred feet wide and locked into all of my 503 00:31:20,279 --> 00:31:24,519 other family's properties. We all used the combined area for 504 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,240 hunting and simply to enjoy the woods. A lot of 505 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,599 people from out of state would come in just to 506 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,000 get a big buck in its rack, and it was 507 00:31:33,079 --> 00:31:36,680 common knowledge that I wanted deer to butcher and didn't 508 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,200 care about the rack. Since we have never been on 509 00:31:40,279 --> 00:31:43,599 a high side of income. We eat lots of game, rabbit, squirrel, 510 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:47,720 and of course deer. The hunters would feel dressed them, 511 00:31:47,839 --> 00:31:50,319 so all the skinning and butchering was up to my 512 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,720 wife and I. When we had to dispose of the 513 00:31:53,799 --> 00:31:56,519 rest of the head, hide, bones, and bits of meat, 514 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,599 I had a certain place that I dumped the remains. 515 00:32:00,079 --> 00:32:02,960 It was about five to six hundred feet out back 516 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,319 of our barn. It was at the base of a 517 00:32:05,359 --> 00:32:09,799 small ledge overlooking a creek bottom. There were tracks in 518 00:32:09,839 --> 00:32:12,680 the mud on both sides of My Creek, a tributary 519 00:32:12,839 --> 00:32:16,480 of Upper Tiger Creek. My home is about sixteen miles 520 00:32:16,519 --> 00:32:21,079 from my nineteen sixty six adventure. There are many prints 521 00:32:21,119 --> 00:32:24,559 of animals that I can identify, very large and small, 522 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:28,240 from possum, squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, to mountain lion and an 523 00:32:28,279 --> 00:32:33,200 occasional bear. I've done this for decades, which lent to 524 00:32:33,319 --> 00:32:37,000 one mystery. I would come back to dump other carcasses 525 00:32:37,279 --> 00:32:40,799 and the ones before would be totally gone, usually within 526 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:45,000 eighteen to twenty four hours. I've seen what happens when 527 00:32:45,079 --> 00:32:48,880 dogs codies lines and black panthers get into them. The 528 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,240 remains are strewn about and with only bones or bits 529 00:32:52,319 --> 00:32:55,359 of meat or left. But that is not the case now. 530 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:59,880 There was nothing left of almost sixty carcasses. I'd drop 531 00:33:00,279 --> 00:33:03,759 back there. So after twenty five years, I finally got 532 00:33:03,799 --> 00:33:07,519 curious enough to borrow my son's trail cam and change 533 00:33:07,519 --> 00:33:11,319 things around. I stacked the remains of the deer on 534 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,359 the flat overlook of the creek, just above the area 535 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,319 in which I tossed the remains. I then placed the 536 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,119 trail cam about eight feet up a tree on the 537 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,039 side of a bank, which placed it about four feet 538 00:33:24,079 --> 00:33:28,480 above the level of the flat rock. Here it couldn't 539 00:33:28,519 --> 00:33:31,359 be reached by anyone without a step lighter, or be 540 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:35,240 quickly noticed by any game. Then I came back the 541 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:38,759 next day, all that load of remains was gone, right 542 00:33:38,799 --> 00:33:42,680 down to the dirt. When I excitedly took the camera 543 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,359 down and rushed at home, all I had was a 544 00:33:45,359 --> 00:33:48,480 photo of me putting the camera up, then a second 545 00:33:48,519 --> 00:33:51,440 from the next day when I took it down. What 546 00:33:51,599 --> 00:33:54,160 in the world happened to all the other photos that 547 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,640 should have been taken. I checked the camera when I 548 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,640 took it down, and it hadn't been disturbed. In fact, 549 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,640 you really had to look for it. It was concealed 550 00:34:04,839 --> 00:34:09,320 very well. During this time, there seemed to be nightly 551 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:13,480 noises and movements around our house. I've caught possums and 552 00:34:13,559 --> 00:34:16,519 coons around here. So I took the trail camera and 553 00:34:16,559 --> 00:34:19,360 placed it twenty feet behind the house in a tree 554 00:34:19,519 --> 00:34:22,679 on top of a six foot cutaway bank. About five 555 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:26,480 feet up the tree. That put the camera at twelve 556 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,960 feet above my driveway looking at the back of the house, 557 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:33,840 so there was no way to step around this tree. 558 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,000 I wanted that so that no curious possum or coon 559 00:34:37,079 --> 00:34:39,920 could climb around the linbs. And then set it up 560 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,000 and I focused it on the back of the house, 561 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,159 the parking area, and the edge of my garage. The 562 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,519 tree had no limbs below or around the camera for 563 00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:52,519 a bird to light. The only toe hold was a 564 00:34:52,559 --> 00:34:55,599 five inch ledge that allowed me to reach up and 565 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:59,599 hang the camera. And then he has sent me three 566 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,719 hard copies of photos that he got from where he 567 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:06,800 set this camera up. I might scan him and put 568 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,880 him on here, but I mean, I really don't see 569 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:13,400 anything in these photos, and I'm not being ugly about it, 570 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,760 But I just don't see anything. I see a house, 571 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,239 and I see a truck and a man walking away, 572 00:35:18,519 --> 00:35:22,920 which I assume is the writer. And I see some 573 00:35:23,119 --> 00:35:25,719 lights in the back of a house. And another photo 574 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,599 there's nothing there. There's another photo that's kind of blurry here, 575 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,719 and then there's another photo that's just over exposed. But 576 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,320 I'll read what he writes here. These photos begin on 577 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:43,039 the eleventh of February in twenty fifteen, at about eight pm. 578 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:45,960 The days were in the thirties during the day in 579 00:35:46,039 --> 00:35:48,960 twenties at night, so that thin crust of ice froze 580 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,559 on top of the snow. Understand that this camera was 581 00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:56,320 a low light there was no flash involved. In the 582 00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,440 first picture, you can see me jumping down the short 583 00:35:59,519 --> 00:36:03,679 ledge dry installed it. The next picture was taken about 584 00:36:03,719 --> 00:36:08,800 six pm on February thirteenth, twenty fifteen, of my wife's 585 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:13,159 return from town. See the ice reflecting off the lights. 586 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:19,039 The next photo, also dated February thirteenth, is of just blackness. 587 00:36:19,039 --> 00:36:22,239 It's not included. The shutter went off, but something appears 588 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,880 to be blocking the lens. But nothing could prepare me 589 00:36:25,079 --> 00:36:30,000 for the photo taken next there's a tremendous white shine 590 00:36:30,079 --> 00:36:33,559 around it, and it doesn't appear to be anything blurry, 591 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,760 And in truth, it seems that the mystery picture is 592 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:41,440 in focus, displaying at least muscle, eyelids, and blood veins, 593 00:36:41,599 --> 00:36:46,559 doesn't it or what? Well, I'm looking at that photo 594 00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:49,559 right here, and I don't see anything. I just see 595 00:36:50,079 --> 00:36:56,000 an overexposed. It could be hair, and it looks like 596 00:36:56,159 --> 00:36:59,960 white hair if it is hair. But I really can't 597 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,960 what this is, so he asked, what is it? I've 598 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,280 had dozens of people view it in the last five 599 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,800 years without luck. A white owl was kicked around by 600 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,119 some people, but the owl would have to hover to 601 00:37:11,159 --> 00:37:14,519 get this image. The kicker here is there were and 602 00:37:14,639 --> 00:37:17,960 still are no white horses in this area. But the 603 00:37:18,039 --> 00:37:21,800 last photo also seems to have something to tell. The 604 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,760 lens caught a really large flash and then it was gone, 605 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,960 the next shot being another black streak. Again. There is 606 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,559 no outside light other than the above back door. I 607 00:37:33,639 --> 00:37:36,400 say again, the camera has only a low light lens. 608 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:39,760 The light had to be from an outside source, and 609 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:43,320 no animal that I know of is internally lit, although 610 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,239 my wife thinks it might be an angel horse that 611 00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:50,239 floats above the ground. It's as good a guess as any. 612 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,840 The last thing the camera caught was almost as mysterious 613 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:57,320 as the shining animal. There was a tremendous flash, and 614 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:01,639 the final photo is black, and I'm looking at I'm 615 00:38:01,679 --> 00:38:07,719 looking at just a white, over exposed photo here. Do 616 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:10,440 you have any idea what this thing is? It's also 617 00:38:10,519 --> 00:38:13,480 been speculated that it could be a twelve foot tall bigfoot, 618 00:38:13,519 --> 00:38:16,920 face turned back toward the camera, perhaps looking over its 619 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,679 left shoulder. It is of the eck andeers of sorts 620 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:24,000 instead of an eye, but I just don't know. However, 621 00:38:24,039 --> 00:38:26,400 as I said before, there was a thin glaze of 622 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,920 ice over an inch of snow, and nothing could have 623 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,239 walked around that tree without leaving places where a foot 624 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,880 would have crushed in its crust. This is the first 625 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,039 thing that I thought of after this, was to look 626 00:38:38,079 --> 00:38:41,480 for any prints, because hoofs would have broken through, and 627 00:38:41,559 --> 00:38:45,440 there weren't any. Again, I had mounted that camera over 628 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:47,480 the edge of a little edge. If a horse had 629 00:38:47,519 --> 00:38:50,320 stood behind the tree and twisted its neck around, the 630 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,320 thin ice would have been broken. Aside from leaving dozens 631 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:57,679 of other hoof prints, I have no further ideas. And 632 00:38:57,719 --> 00:39:01,559 then the gentleman goes on to ask for anonymity, and 633 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:03,960 he gives me his name and phone number and all 634 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,679 those things. So that was a long story, and I 635 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,239 did not a lot of these stories. I do a 636 00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:12,880 little bit of editing to make them a little more. 637 00:39:15,039 --> 00:39:17,719 I don't know, to follow a line of a story. 638 00:39:18,159 --> 00:39:20,519 You're kind of getting all these pages back together here, 639 00:39:20,559 --> 00:39:24,679 But that's what I do. But I didn't know on 640 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:27,440 this one because this man had spent a lot of 641 00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:31,199 time putting this together and me not being able to 642 00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,719 see anything in these photos. I'm not making fun of 643 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:38,400 him or you know, I'm not being ugly about it. 644 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:40,840 I just don't see anything in the photos. It just 645 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,519 looks like a house and some people and you know, 646 00:39:43,559 --> 00:39:46,000 some blurry things and it could be anything. I mean, 647 00:39:46,039 --> 00:39:48,239 it could be anything to set off the lens of 648 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:50,599 the camera, and if they're right in front of it, 649 00:39:50,599 --> 00:39:52,760 it's just going to pick up, you know, some blurry 650 00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:57,119 over exposed hair or fur or whatever. So I don't 651 00:39:57,119 --> 00:39:59,480 think they show anything, so I'm not going to show them. 652 00:40:00,039 --> 00:40:03,039 But I appreciated the story. I think his tale of 653 00:40:03,119 --> 00:40:09,559 getting lost was spectacular. And walking right walking right by 654 00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:13,239 to Bigfoot is oh, that's unreal. And then the tale 655 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:16,960 of the that the ranger told the scout masters was 656 00:40:17,039 --> 00:40:20,039 pretty good. So Carter k the Carter Caves area in 657 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:24,639 eastern Kentucky must be a big white bigfoot running around there. 658 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,280 Thank you to the writer for taking so much time 659 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,639 in mailing me this, and I really appreciate it. I 660 00:40:30,679 --> 00:40:33,239 hope you guys enjoyed the video On that long story. 661 00:40:33,599 --> 00:40:37,320 It may have seemed to have creeped along at times, 662 00:40:37,719 --> 00:40:40,320 but I wanted to just read his letter word for word, 663 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,000 and I hope you hope you appreciate that. All right, 664 00:40:43,039 --> 00:40:45,159 We'll see you guys on the next video. Thanks