1 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: I was born in southern Ohio in the mid nineteen fifties, 2 00:00:09,839 --> 00:00:13,279 and my parents moved to northern Indiana before I quit 3 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,320 wearing diapers. But my dad was from central Kentucky, just 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,399 north of the Daniel Boone National Forest. When I was 5 00:00:21,519 --> 00:00:24,039 nine years old, my dad was injured on his job, 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,160 and for reasons that I'm still not clear about, he 7 00:00:27,239 --> 00:00:29,960 went to his parents' house in Kentucky, where he would 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,479 soon die. He took five of us kids with him, 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,079 and my baby's sister and my mother would follow very soon. 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,920 My grandparents' home was out in the sticks, and many 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,560 sounds could be heard there. While sitting on the porch 12 00:00:43,759 --> 00:00:47,920 in the evenings, we often heard what was described as 13 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,240 wildcats bobcats, screaming just like the sound of a woman. 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,960 But several times we would hear unusual sounds from the 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,719 mountains surrounding their home. These were just described as boogers 16 00:01:00,759 --> 00:01:05,000 by my uncles who lived with my grandparents. When we 17 00:01:05,079 --> 00:01:08,079 heard these screams or sounds, it meant it was time 18 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,319 to go inside the house and stay there. If a 19 00:01:11,359 --> 00:01:14,480 privy trip was kneaded out back, it was done by 20 00:01:14,519 --> 00:01:17,120 several at a time, but it was done really quickly. 21 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,879 A few times they would speak with quiet reverence about 22 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,760 bookers and how they had, and still at times would 23 00:01:24,879 --> 00:01:28,239 enter the home and eat whatever the leftovers were in 24 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,000 the bean pot or the slot bucket for the hogs. 25 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,439 The next day. I once heard them say that you 26 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,359 could hear a booger scraping the bottom of a bucket 27 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,959 with a spoon or its nails. We were told to 28 00:01:41,079 --> 00:01:44,560 lay still and keep quiet if we heard anything entering 29 00:01:44,599 --> 00:01:47,159 the house late at night, and on a couple of 30 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,200 nights I could hear the adults talking in whispers about 31 00:01:50,239 --> 00:01:54,680 seeing something outside near the window. One night, as my 32 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,159 brother and I were laying on a couch in a 33 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,920 sitting room just off the kitchen, I heard a no, 34 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,560 he's at the kitchen door, and my brother said he 35 00:02:02,599 --> 00:02:06,200 saw something looking in the window. I could not see 36 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,759 the window, but I heard whatever it was slam the 37 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,080 door open, and we could hear the heavy breathing and 38 00:02:12,159 --> 00:02:16,400 the smell, Oh, what a terrible smell, like all the 39 00:02:16,439 --> 00:02:20,159 privy had just been brought in with this thing. We 40 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,759 heard what was later discovered as a slot bucket being scraped, slurped, 41 00:02:24,759 --> 00:02:28,759 and even thrown firmly against the cast iron wood stove 42 00:02:29,199 --> 00:02:33,360 and then subtle on the floor. After a little snooping 43 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,960 around the kitchen, we finally heard this thing leave and 44 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,840 most of the smell went with it. Soon after, my 45 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:45,439 grandmother came out of her in Grandpa's curtain covered bedroom doorway, 46 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,120 and she gently closed the kitchen door. Nothing was ever said, 47 00:02:50,159 --> 00:02:54,080 but I could hear her praying under her breath. The 48 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,479 next morning, I got up early and went out to 49 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,800 the privy, passing a small shed where the big black 50 00:03:00,039 --> 00:03:03,759 angus bull spent his nights. I noticed the bull was 51 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,120 lying down and he wasn't breathing. I ran back to 52 00:03:07,159 --> 00:03:10,400 tell Grandpa, and when he finally believed me, he came 53 00:03:10,439 --> 00:03:13,080 out and discovered the big bulls and neck had been 54 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,639 broken by being twisted three hundred and sixty degrees, which 55 00:03:17,719 --> 00:03:21,159 was a devastating blow to my grandfather, as his bull 56 00:03:21,199 --> 00:03:26,280 supplied an extra income in breeding fees. Grandpa and my 57 00:03:26,439 --> 00:03:28,759 uncles had to quarter the bull just to get it 58 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,400 loaded for burying. My father died a few days later 59 00:03:33,439 --> 00:03:37,199 at almost forty years of age, and we left soon after, 60 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,639 heading back to Indiana and away from what was a 61 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,240 strange world to us kids. Later in life, in the 62 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,159 mid nineties, I went to Kentucky to go deer hunting 63 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,599 with my cousin on some property adjacent to the Daniel 64 00:03:51,639 --> 00:03:55,919 Boone National Forest. We scattered out a good ridge that 65 00:03:56,039 --> 00:03:59,159 even had a couple of caves to access in bad weather. 66 00:04:00,039 --> 00:04:02,199 I chose to hunt in a creek bottom while my 67 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,919 cousin hunted the ridge, and just as day was breaking, 68 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,960 I heard a noise that sounded like something crashing down 69 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,800 from the ridge in my direction. I mean trees being 70 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,199 broken repeatedly, and like a dozer without an engine was 71 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,639 putting in a new road. When whatever it was got 72 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,879 to the bottom near a trail, it stopped and gave 73 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,879 a loud growl that nearly made me wet my pants. 74 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,959 At the same time, this thing stopped about forty or 75 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,639 fifty yards away, and several deer were trying to step 76 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,839 gingerly over my head while I remained in position on 77 00:04:39,879 --> 00:04:44,319 a tree route in a creek bank. After maybe fifteen 78 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,759 seconds and it felt like twenty minutes, I could clearly 79 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,279 smell the stench of this beast, and my mind went 80 00:04:51,399 --> 00:04:54,079 back to the mid sixties and what had happened at 81 00:04:54,079 --> 00:04:57,720 my grandparents' house, which was only about twenty minutes away 82 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:02,079 by the curvy country road. Then the beast chose a 83 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,279 path leaning away from me, in a different direction from 84 00:05:05,319 --> 00:05:08,399 the deer that it was possibly chasing, but between my 85 00:05:08,519 --> 00:05:12,800 cousin and myself. I waited about twenty minutes and left 86 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,560 to find my cousin, and I found him examining a 87 00:05:16,639 --> 00:05:20,600 newly built path coming down the mountain. I ask if 88 00:05:20,639 --> 00:05:23,639 he heard all the commotion, and he simply replied, it's 89 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,680 time for us to leave now. And we spoke nothing 90 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,639 about that hunt to each other or anyone else since, 91 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,040 perhaps not as much concerned with anyone not believing us 92 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,120 as to worry about having the beash return to us 93 00:05:37,319 --> 00:05:44,759 in greater anger. Later, on a cold winter night in 94 00:05:44,879 --> 00:05:48,639 nineteen seventy three, my friends and I gathered our ice 95 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,399 skates and headed for the pond. It had recently frozen, 96 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,600 and we wanted to be the first to skate it 97 00:05:55,439 --> 00:05:58,879 with our thermoses full of hot chocolate and our snacks. 98 00:05:59,079 --> 00:06:01,319 We walked a river track that would take us to 99 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,600 the pond. It was a little over a mile away. 100 00:06:05,319 --> 00:06:07,720 The railroad was a line that ran back and forth 101 00:06:07,759 --> 00:06:11,199 to the coal mines. They delivered coal to the Pittsburgh 102 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:16,240 Steel mills. The tracks were surrounded by forests, and after 103 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,199 dark it was a bit creepy, but even so we 104 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,000 enjoyed the walk. When we arrived at the pond, our 105 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,399 group was excited to be the first to arrive. Others 106 00:06:26,399 --> 00:06:29,120 would arrive later, but for now, we have the whole 107 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,680 pond to ourselves. My friend Larry carried an old tire 108 00:06:33,759 --> 00:06:36,160 with us, and he used that to start a fire, 109 00:06:36,439 --> 00:06:39,600 adding wood to it. After it was burning, we were 110 00:06:39,639 --> 00:06:43,560 having a wonderful time, and then my friend Joyce yelled 111 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,040 that something was wrong. She had seen a yellow light 112 00:06:47,399 --> 00:06:51,639 glowing under the ice where she skated. Everyone stopped to 113 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,879 hear better. We looked like mannekins frozen on the ice 114 00:06:54,959 --> 00:06:58,639 for a minute. I skated toward the fire. I had 115 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,040 an uneasy feeling about this. I could see the light 116 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:04,959 getting brighter until half of the pond turned from blue 117 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:09,079 and white to a glowing orange. It wasn't long until 118 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,399 everyone was near me by the fire, and we watched 119 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,600 as the disk that I would estimate to be twenty 120 00:07:15,639 --> 00:07:19,279 feet around and a few feet thick, broke upward through 121 00:07:19,319 --> 00:07:22,920 the ice and hovered for a few seconds. The ice 122 00:07:22,959 --> 00:07:26,879 and water blew all over us. Thank goodness, everyone had 123 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,399 gotten off the ice or someone could have been drowned. 124 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,199 The disk covered above the ice for a minute and 125 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,319 then accelerated up into the sky until we couldn't see 126 00:07:36,319 --> 00:07:39,720 it well after that, we talked about it every day 127 00:07:39,759 --> 00:07:42,360 on the bus going to school for a long time, 128 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,759 and then this subject grew distant until we stopped talking 129 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,160 about it. There is no way to know what we observed, 130 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,439 who would ever be able to explain it. But I 131 00:07:52,519 --> 00:07:56,199 remember it well. It feels fresh in my memory, and 132 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:03,680 I'm glad no one was hurt. In July of twenty fifteen, 133 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,240 my son was on a seven day, fifty mile backpacking 134 00:08:07,279 --> 00:08:10,920 trip with his Boy Scout troop between Yosemite National Park 135 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,160 and Mammoth Lakes, California. He has since achieved Eagle Scout 136 00:08:16,319 --> 00:08:21,199 and graduated high school. He was honor rolling First Lieutenant ROTC. 137 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,079 I'm sorry I had to brag. I'm a real proud dad. 138 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,120 Well you should be proud. That's those are great achievements. 139 00:08:27,199 --> 00:08:31,399 Eagle Scout is a phenomenal achievement. I have a good 140 00:08:31,439 --> 00:08:33,039 friend of mine that was an Eagle Scout and he 141 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,559 went on to be a doctor, and he was and 142 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,960 he lives in Nashville, and I went and visited him 143 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,279 about two months ago and stayed the night there. And 144 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,240 he's a single guy. He's got this huge house. He's 145 00:08:47,279 --> 00:08:50,440 fifty nine, fifty nine or sixty years old, and he's 146 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,159 already retired. He's done really well. So Eagle Scouts tend 147 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:58,440 to be achievers. Okay, let's get moving here. His scout 148 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:03,120 troop completed the fifty mile every year. In twenty fifteen, 149 00:09:03,279 --> 00:09:06,600 eight boys and two adult leaders started the trip, and 150 00:09:06,639 --> 00:09:08,840 I was no longer able to go along because of 151 00:09:08,879 --> 00:09:13,000 issues with my knees. They quickly realized that one of 152 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,639 the boys wasn't quite prepared for the journey, so they 153 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:19,000 decided to alter the route to go through easier terrain. 154 00:09:20,399 --> 00:09:22,559 Their first day out, they ran into a group of 155 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,399 free range goats and cattle. My son said that of 156 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,600 the livestock had bells around their necks and it was 157 00:09:29,799 --> 00:09:33,320 annoying as hell listening to them bang and clank around. 158 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,360 They decided to make camp under some small trees there. 159 00:09:38,519 --> 00:09:43,679 No open fires were allowed in California outside of designated campgrounds, 160 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:46,600 so they went to bed shortly after dark, which would 161 00:09:46,639 --> 00:09:50,279 have been around nine pm. They hung their packs in 162 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,399 the trees to keep the wildlife out. My son settled 163 00:09:53,399 --> 00:09:58,399 into as one man coffin tent. At two thirty am, 164 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,200 he woke to the sounds of cat clanging in the livestock, 165 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,440 mewing and bleeding as they were upset and moving quickly 166 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,840 away from wherever they were. The sound was interrupted by 167 00:10:10,879 --> 00:10:14,919 what my son described as the strangest cry or scream 168 00:10:15,039 --> 00:10:18,919 he had ever heard. Even more disturbing, it was answered 169 00:10:18,919 --> 00:10:23,240 by by another strange howl from the opposite direction. He 170 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,039 was now fully awakened, sitting up in his tiny tent 171 00:10:26,159 --> 00:10:29,320 with only a four inch survival knife, and he listened 172 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,360 to the yells or perhaps communications, and they got closer 173 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:38,000 and grew louder. Then there was a terrified ball from 174 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,919 a cow, along with a loud clanging of its bell, 175 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,840 as if it were running away from a predator. Then 176 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:49,399 it cut off suddenly, like someone had turned off a switch. Well, 177 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,559 that was followed by complete silence. My son spent the 178 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,759 rest of the night holding that small knife and jumping 179 00:10:56,799 --> 00:10:59,759 at every sound, And the next morning he asked his 180 00:10:59,759 --> 00:11:02,080 friend and if he had heard anything, but he hadn't. 181 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,960 We've listened to sasquatch cries and sounds on the web, 182 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,360 and he says some are similar, but not exactly what 183 00:11:10,519 --> 00:11:14,679 he heard. I know we live in California, the land 184 00:11:14,759 --> 00:11:17,559 of fruits and nuts, but we have spent a lot 185 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:21,600 of time outdoors, backpacking and camping. We know what most 186 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,279 of the wildlife in the southwestern deserts in Sierra sound like. 187 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,120 My son won't come right out and say that it 188 00:11:29,279 --> 00:11:32,120 was bigfoot, but he will say that it sounded like 189 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,600 nothing he had ever heard before or since. I just 190 00:11:35,639 --> 00:11:38,559 thank God that he still loves the outdoors and refuses 191 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,519 to get spooked by this experience. He has the right attitude. 192 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,159 He believes these creatures do exist, and if they do, 193 00:11:46,759 --> 00:11:48,639 they have been out there for a long time and 194 00:11:48,799 --> 00:11:51,600 probably don't want anything more to do with us than 195 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:57,840 we do with them. I was a college student in 196 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:02,360 rural Tennessee in the mid nineteen eighties. The campus is 197 00:12:02,399 --> 00:12:04,840 on a plateau in the Blue Ridge Mountains and has 198 00:12:04,879 --> 00:12:08,879 been there since the Civil War. There are ten thousand 199 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,919 acres of woods, with the buildings all clustered together, and 200 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,879 we were thirty minutes from the nearest wal mart and 201 00:12:16,039 --> 00:12:20,240 hours from a big city. There are lakes and caves 202 00:12:20,279 --> 00:12:23,639 and waterfalls and I had grown up in a congested area, 203 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:28,679 so this place was a dream come true. I attended 204 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,799 one session of summer school in nineteen eighty five. Class 205 00:12:32,919 --> 00:12:35,679 was over at noon most days, and it was hot 206 00:12:36,639 --> 00:12:39,399 at lunch. On one of those days, my friend Jane 207 00:12:39,399 --> 00:12:42,120 and I decided to go swimming out at a lake 208 00:12:42,159 --> 00:12:46,039 where we didn't have to wear bathing suits. We did 209 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,679 it partly to cool down because it was so hot, 210 00:12:48,759 --> 00:12:51,600 but mostly to be wild, free and brave in our 211 00:12:51,639 --> 00:12:55,039 own little way. No one ever went to this lake. 212 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,320 Jane and I discovered why as we stepped in and 213 00:12:58,399 --> 00:13:02,600 sunk deep into the monkey bottle. We were standing there 214 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:05,519 up to our knees in the murky water, swatting it flies, 215 00:13:05,639 --> 00:13:08,480 trying to pull our feet out of a suctioning mud, 216 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,759 and laughing at the gigantic failure our swimming venture had become. 217 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:17,440 When a silver craft appeared over the treeline across the lake. 218 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:23,679 It looked like the classic nineteen fifties flying saucer. It 219 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,799 moved from right to left, neither fast nor slow, and 220 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,039 then stopped right in the middle of my field of view. 221 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,240 It hovered in place for what was probably only a minute, 222 00:13:34,519 --> 00:13:38,840 but it felt much longer. I remember it seemed to vibrate. 223 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:43,960 It's hard to describe. It was just almost imperceptible vibrations, 224 00:13:44,039 --> 00:13:48,200 but with absolutely no other noise. Well, Jane and I 225 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,320 were dumbstruck. We were naked and afraid, but without the 226 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,559 camera crew to film it. The bottom of the lake 227 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,720 was the closest thing to quicksand I hoped to ever 228 00:13:58,799 --> 00:14:03,039 stand in. We snapped out of our shock and started 229 00:14:03,039 --> 00:14:06,200 clumsily trying to get back to the bank. I was 230 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,159 trying to keep my eye on the saucer without falling down, 231 00:14:09,279 --> 00:14:11,720 while at the same time pulling each foot from the 232 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,039 deep muck and then sinking it back in another step 233 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,720 closer to the bank. As we tried to run away, 234 00:14:18,759 --> 00:14:22,440 the saucer zipped off in the direction it was already heading, 235 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,799 and then it accelerated to an incredibly high speed and 236 00:14:26,879 --> 00:14:31,679 disappeared from sight. We were in such a hurry to escape. 237 00:14:31,759 --> 00:14:35,039 We jumped into Jane's car, still covered in mut from 238 00:14:35,039 --> 00:14:38,919 our knees down. She was and still is, such a 239 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,159 tidy person. We kept saying how weird it was and 240 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,960 that it was a UFO, and we agreed not to 241 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,799 tell anyone because they wouldn't believe us, and worse, they 242 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:54,600 would gossip about us being crazy or weird. I recently 243 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,120 learned that Bigfoot has been spotted in that area. I've 244 00:14:58,159 --> 00:15:00,759 talked to Jane about that day. They both get white 245 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:05,159 eyed thinking about it. The hovering maneuver, the silence, and 246 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,039 the high speed at which it left convinced us that 247 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,840 it was no normal technology. We both feel like it 248 00:15:11,879 --> 00:15:14,759 was going about its business when it spotted us and 249 00:15:14,799 --> 00:15:18,080 observed us in naked earthlings for a minute, and then 250 00:15:18,159 --> 00:15:21,559 made up for lost time getting out of there. It's 251 00:15:21,559 --> 00:15:24,399 funny because we picked that lake hoping no one on 252 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,639 earth would spot us, and in a way, I guess 253 00:15:27,639 --> 00:15:32,960 we succeeded. Twice more in my life I have seen UFOs. 254 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,799 Both were in northern California, and both times I was 255 00:15:36,879 --> 00:15:42,679 sober and with a friend. The sightings were three years apart. Sadly, 256 00:15:42,759 --> 00:15:47,120 it's been decades since I've seen one. One UFO chased 257 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,080 my friend and me as we sped off in our 258 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,600 rental car. There was no Bigfoot connection there, but if 259 00:15:52,639 --> 00:15:56,639 you're interested in the story, let me know. Of course, ma'am, 260 00:15:56,799 --> 00:16:00,080 of course we're interested. Please send him. Thanks for there 261 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,399 were a great resource for all of us who are 262 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:07,399 curious about and open to the strange possibilities of our galaxy. 263 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,120 During the summer of nineteen seventy five, about a month 264 00:16:14,159 --> 00:16:17,279 before my seventeenth birthday, I was hanging out in front 265 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,279 of my house with my friends Anne, Bob, and Wayne. 266 00:16:21,399 --> 00:16:23,399 They were all two or three years younger than me, 267 00:16:23,759 --> 00:16:26,799 so they were like my little brothers and sister. We're 268 00:16:26,799 --> 00:16:30,679 all still close to this day. Bob and Wayne had 269 00:16:30,679 --> 00:16:32,799 to be home by eight pm, so Anne and I 270 00:16:32,879 --> 00:16:36,600 walked them to their house. That was when kids played 271 00:16:36,639 --> 00:16:40,519 outside after dark without fear of strangers, and houses were 272 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,840 left unlocked. As we walked back to my house, we 273 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,519 were looking up, as we often did, trying to find 274 00:16:47,519 --> 00:16:51,039 the big and little Dippers and any other constellations we 275 00:16:51,039 --> 00:16:55,639 could identify. I looked over into the southeast and noticed 276 00:16:55,639 --> 00:16:58,840 something dark hovering over the park. Hey, look at that, 277 00:16:59,159 --> 00:17:02,679 I said to Anne, what is that thing? The object 278 00:17:02,759 --> 00:17:05,480 was a big dark mast that wasn't making any sound 279 00:17:05,519 --> 00:17:08,119 at all. It had a light under it. It was 280 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,440 moving very slowly from side to side in a sweeping motion, 281 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,119 and then it would go straight again before repeating the 282 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,960 pattern over and over. We couldn't see any sky as 283 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,640 it moved, but what freaked us out was the absence 284 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,519 of sound. You can hear prop planes and helicopters coming 285 00:17:26,559 --> 00:17:30,279 even from a distance, and this object was completely silent. 286 00:17:31,599 --> 00:17:34,039 We watched as it moved over the trees of the 287 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,279 road to the east of my road, until it had 288 00:17:36,319 --> 00:17:39,279 traveled from the south to the north, always making that 289 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:43,319 same side to side motion, followed by going straight again. 290 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,720 I was having trouble making out the defining shape, but 291 00:17:47,759 --> 00:17:51,039 the size was as big as three or four baseball diamonds. 292 00:17:52,319 --> 00:17:56,200 The light underneath was not a spotlight, it just illuminated 293 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,759 the underside well. We were flabbergasted the life of us. 294 00:18:00,759 --> 00:18:04,240 We couldn't figure out what it could be. We got 295 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,839 to the end of my street and kept following it north, 296 00:18:07,279 --> 00:18:09,960 and at one point, when it was directly east of us, 297 00:18:10,759 --> 00:18:13,359 I was able to make out that it was round. 298 00:18:14,599 --> 00:18:18,039 It wasn't a blump bow. No blimp couldn't maneuver like that. 299 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:21,799 We kept watching and following until we lost it in 300 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,559 the trees to our north. We were frustrated and ran 301 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,640 back to my house, and I immediately called the Jacksonville 302 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:34,359 International Airport tower, nervously trying to hind the fear in 303 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,039 my voice. I said, do you have any airplanes on 304 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:42,119 your radar coming from Daytona or Orlando or maybe Saint Augustine. No, 305 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,079 he answered, I have nothing on my radar. Why. I 306 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,759 quickly explained everything we had seen and where, being careful 307 00:18:49,799 --> 00:18:53,960 to stress just how oddly silent it had been. And 308 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,319 in turn, he asked me where I lived and if 309 00:18:56,359 --> 00:19:00,200 I had family or friends in the Arlington area. Him 310 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,519 I had an elderly aunt and uncle there, but that 311 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,000 was it. He then told me that he had already 312 00:19:06,039 --> 00:19:09,720 received twenty calls from people who describe the exact same thing. 313 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:12,880 But I have nothing on my radar, and I can 314 00:19:13,079 --> 00:19:16,759 explain it, he said. Then he asked if I could 315 00:19:16,759 --> 00:19:19,359 give him my phone number in case he needed to 316 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,839 contact me. I'm not going to have any men in 317 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,839 spacesuits show up at my door, am I? I asked? Okay. 318 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,720 I was a sixteen year old, dorky girl, I know, 319 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,440 but I was genuinely afraid of what would happen. He laughed, 320 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,559 and he said, no, sweetie, nobody in spacesuits is coming 321 00:19:37,599 --> 00:19:41,640 to your house. That was forty years ago, and I've 322 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,279 never seen anything like that since. And and I still 323 00:19:45,319 --> 00:19:48,279 talk about it from time to time. It's just something 324 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:52,680 we cannot explain. To add to this as a bonus, 325 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,279 if you will. Back in nineteen seventy two, my grandparents 326 00:19:56,279 --> 00:19:59,480 were coming home from Tennessee driving down Ice seventy five 327 00:19:59,559 --> 00:20:03,640 to I. Their car was one of only a few 328 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,480 on the road. As the dusk fell across the sky. 329 00:20:07,519 --> 00:20:10,400 My grandfather was driving when he saw what looked like 330 00:20:10,519 --> 00:20:14,279 a plane flying very low in the distance. They were 331 00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:16,279 flying so low he was sure they were going to 332 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,359 crash land on the interstate, and that maybe they thought 333 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:23,599 I ten was the runway. My grandparents pulled over and 334 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:28,079 waited for the inevitable crash. Bebop as I called him, 335 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:30,160 got out of the car, and the first thing that 336 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,039 struck him was the absence of sound. As it got closer, 337 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,559 he could tell it was triangular, but it never did 338 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,240 make any noise. It passed over them at the tree 339 00:20:40,279 --> 00:20:42,880 top high and then took off straight up into the sky, 340 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,920 and just like that, it was gone, no wind, no nothing, 341 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,960 a shot straight up into the sky like a slingshot. 342 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:54,920 He said. After that, whenever they went to Tennessee, they 343 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,720 took a different route because my poor grandmother was afraid 344 00:20:58,839 --> 00:21:02,480 they would see it again. They took ten. Thanks for 345 00:21:02,519 --> 00:21:05,119 reading my story, Cam. It has stayed with me for 346 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,480 a long time, and it still freaks me out a bit. 347 00:21:08,079 --> 00:21:11,400 I wish I knew who was piloting that aircraft. I 348 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,640 really wish I knew why we couldn't hear it, and 349 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,599 she signs off Anita, Nita, thank you for that story. 350 00:21:17,599 --> 00:21:21,119 It's fascinating. I really do appreciate it. I would love 351 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:22,839 to see one of those myself.