WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.800 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.