1 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: My family is originally from Sitka, Alaska. I'm the third 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,000 oldest of five children, with three brothers and one sister. 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,640 When I was fifteen, my dad decided to take a 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,839 better job in the lower forty eight, so we moved 5 00:00:20,839 --> 00:00:25,480 to Blewett, Washington. We brought our two pet dogs with us, 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,519 a Border Collie named Awnie and Chance, our golden retriever. 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:32,799 This was the first time in my life I would 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,039 call another place home. We moved into a two story 9 00:00:37,079 --> 00:00:39,479 house deep in the woods on top of a slight 10 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,399 hill on the side of a spur of the East 11 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:48,240 Cascade Mountains near Wanaichi National Forest. It was originally built 12 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,840 by a mountaineer who came there with some friends to 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:54,600 mine the gold and silver. It was notched into a 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,759 cleared space that was thirty feet in diameter and was 15 00:00:57,799 --> 00:01:02,079 surrounded by a dense wall of trees. In addition to these, 16 00:01:02,159 --> 00:01:06,040 there were fruit trees and maples planted by a former tenant. 17 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,959 The property also contained a chicken coop and a pen, 18 00:01:10,439 --> 00:01:15,519 again built by the former occupant. Our closest neighbor was 19 00:01:15,599 --> 00:01:19,840 a co manager of a logging company from Estonia. He 20 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,480 was a reserved, polite man who was approaching middle age. 21 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,439 He spent half the year living alone and blew It, 22 00:01:26,799 --> 00:01:30,920 and the other half in Switzerland. Several times he came 23 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,400 over to cut down dead or dying trees that my 24 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,239 parents were concerned might fall on their children or stove 25 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:41,040 in their house, and in return, my parents invited him 26 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,799 to supper and gave him homemade jams. My brothers and 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,280 sisters and I were excited to move into our new home. 28 00:01:49,319 --> 00:01:52,640 In its surrounding there was even a hot tub and 29 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,319 a swing on the porch that ran along the northeast 30 00:01:55,319 --> 00:01:58,599 side of the house. And aside from visits over the 31 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:02,079 holidays to family and friends in the Deep South, I 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:07,799 had never visited, much less lived anywhere outside of Sitka. 33 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,520 Most people hear about the state of Alaska and they 34 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:16,759 think wilderness. Despite Sitka being situated between the mountains and 35 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,000 the sea, we weren't the kind of family who got 36 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,000 out into nature. We did take the occasional hike, and 37 00:02:24,039 --> 00:02:27,080 we had our share of camping and fishing trips, but 38 00:02:27,159 --> 00:02:29,400 it wasn't until we moved to blew It that we 39 00:02:29,439 --> 00:02:34,240 started spending more time outdoors. Besides the fruit trees and 40 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,479 maples that needed to be tended, my made a garden, 41 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,520 and we all helped with it. We decided to make 42 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,800 use of a coop, so we started with twenty chickens. 43 00:02:44,439 --> 00:02:48,560 We used the existing pen to raise hogs. Because the 44 00:02:48,599 --> 00:02:50,879 house was old and built like a cabin, it was 45 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,639 in need of constant repair. But Dad was an organized 46 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,400 and competent worker who patched the holes where vermin sometimes 47 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,319 got in, and set the water and beams straight, and 48 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,520 put new screens in the windows. One evening in two 49 00:03:05,599 --> 00:03:08,639 thousand and three, my brothers and I were outside on 50 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,400 the apron of the long drive that led down to 51 00:03:11,439 --> 00:03:14,759 the public road, helping Dad bring in some supplies from 52 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:19,319 town when we heard a loud, eerie scream. It rose 53 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:24,039 in pitch and it lasted for several seconds. It sounded horrible, 54 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,240 like someone being murdered. My muscles froze and my blood 55 00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:31,639 ran cold at the sound. Well we thought it might 56 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,199 have come from close by on the hillside above us, 57 00:03:34,599 --> 00:03:37,280 and we stared at each other in the surrounding forest, 58 00:03:37,759 --> 00:03:42,000 but we didn't see or hear anything. The forest had 59 00:03:42,039 --> 00:03:45,199 gone quiet, or maybe it just appeared that way after 60 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,000 the sudden, terrifying howl, and a minute or two later, 61 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,199 the scream came again, and this time from closer in 62 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:57,280 the woods above us. The scream sounded like nothing we'd 63 00:03:57,319 --> 00:04:01,120 ever heard before. Dad said it was probably a cougar 64 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,520 or someone messing around. There was a cabin a mile 65 00:04:05,639 --> 00:04:08,599 or so up the mountain behind the house, and that 66 00:04:08,759 --> 00:04:11,879 was sometimes used by hikers and boy Scouts and a 67 00:04:11,879 --> 00:04:15,479 Bible School youth group. He thought it might be something 68 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,279 like that, but nevertheless, he sent us inside and told 69 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,720 us not to go out again. That evening, Mom and 70 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,040 my sister heard the screams as well, and that evening 71 00:04:26,199 --> 00:04:29,600 my Dad and my oldest brother Sjay, saw to the 72 00:04:29,639 --> 00:04:34,959 feeding and bedding down of the livestock. Later that same night, 73 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,680 after the three youngest of us had gone to bed, 74 00:04:38,199 --> 00:04:40,720 Dad was in the dining room listening to the radio 75 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,600 while working on one of his paintings, when he heard 76 00:04:43,639 --> 00:04:46,399 the dogs barking somewhere at the back of the house, 77 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,399 near the porch. This was unusual, as our dogs were 78 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,040 trained and had already been let out for their last 79 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,759 call of nature of the night. He went to check 80 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,240 on them because he didn't want them making a big 81 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,720 fuss in wake those of us who had already gone 82 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,279 to bed. Well, the dogs were facing the back door 83 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,279 and barking ferociously at something beyond it, with their teeth 84 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,480 bared and their hackles raised. It had been a warm day, 85 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,920 so the windows were partially open to allow in the 86 00:05:16,959 --> 00:05:20,920 cool evening breeze, and as he was dealing with the dogs, 87 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,360 a horrible stench like nothing we had ever smelled before, 88 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,839 walked it in through the windows next to the porch door. 89 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:34,480 It was so offensive that Dad momentarily clobbered s J. 90 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,319 Mam and I awake from our sleep. Arrived at the 91 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,519 back door then to see what was going on, and 92 00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:46,480 right away we noticed that smell too. Something's rilled the dogs. 93 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,199 Dad told us, judging by this stink, I guess it's 94 00:05:50,319 --> 00:05:53,040 probably a bear or a skunk trying to get at 95 00:05:53,079 --> 00:05:57,600 the live stop. He sent Sjay to get a rifle 96 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,560 while we got some flashlights. We didn't have a backyard 97 00:06:01,639 --> 00:06:05,680 light and it was pitch black outside. Mom and I 98 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,040 held back the dogs and Dad and Esjay stepped out 99 00:06:09,079 --> 00:06:11,920 onto the porch and swept the area with the light. 100 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:17,079 They didn't see anything. No horrible visage lunged at them 101 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,519 out of the dark. Even so, they kept their rifles 102 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,279 trained alongside their light beams just in case. The dogs 103 00:06:25,319 --> 00:06:28,360 continued to snarl and bark and tug at their collars 104 00:06:28,439 --> 00:06:31,680 until we finally decided to leash them to the sturdy 105 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:36,600 support beams Inside near the porch door. There were no 106 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,160 signs of a predator other than the sickening stints that 107 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,639 grew stronger the farther my dad and my brother ventured 108 00:06:43,639 --> 00:06:47,920 from the house. They checked the chicken coop first. They 109 00:06:47,959 --> 00:06:51,360 found the steel reinforced lock from the coop door broken 110 00:06:51,439 --> 00:06:54,199 and laying on the ground, and it looked as if 111 00:06:54,199 --> 00:06:57,680 something had literally twisted the steel loop out of the pad. 112 00:06:59,079 --> 00:07:01,720 There aren't many things that could do that to a 113 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,079 reinforced padlock. A bear such as one of our native 114 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,639 black bears might have, but there were no bear tracks 115 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,000 and no claw marks on the coop and no bike 116 00:07:12,079 --> 00:07:15,759 marks on the lock. If it had been a predator, 117 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,000 why hadn't the hens and roosters raised the expected cries 118 00:07:20,079 --> 00:07:26,879 and squawks? A human seemed the more likely explanation. If 119 00:07:26,879 --> 00:07:29,319 it was a human, why hadn't the thief used a 120 00:07:29,319 --> 00:07:32,600 little more traditional method of picking the lock or using 121 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,720 a laser torch? And what kind of human had the 122 00:07:35,759 --> 00:07:40,600 strength to tear a steel lock apart. The door was 123 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,319 closed when my dad and brother reached it, but when 124 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,959 they went inside, the chickens were all gone. Not a 125 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,839 single bird was left in the coop. Even more incredibly, 126 00:07:50,959 --> 00:07:54,639 there were no telltale feathers that chickens released when they're 127 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,199 in distress, nor was there so much as a drop 128 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,759 or smear of blood anywhere. A Dad had seen some 129 00:08:01,879 --> 00:08:05,399 crazy things in his life, but this surpassed anything he 130 00:08:05,439 --> 00:08:10,639 had ever experienced before. They checked the hog pen next, 131 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,160 but all six hogs were still there, and then they 132 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,439 did a cursory search of the perimeter in the storehouse 133 00:08:17,519 --> 00:08:22,319 before coming back inside. All the doors and windows were locked, 134 00:08:22,639 --> 00:08:25,160 and Dad told us what they'd found and said to 135 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,079 stay inside the next day. I'll notify the sheriff in 136 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,159 the morning, he said, and I'll check with the neighbors 137 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,480 to see if any of them have had any problems. 138 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,559 After we all went back to bed, Dad stayed up 139 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,559 with his rifle. I think he was worried that the 140 00:08:41,639 --> 00:08:44,320 thief might still be in the area, and he didn't 141 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,840 want to lose the hogs or any property in the storehouse. 142 00:08:48,879 --> 00:08:52,440 He might have remembered those strange screams we'd heard earlier 143 00:08:52,519 --> 00:08:56,440 and wondered if they were more than a coincidence. Well, 144 00:08:56,519 --> 00:08:59,720 dawn came without incident and with no further signs of 145 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,519 thief thaves. Dad reported the theft early the next morning, 146 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,080 and then he, as Jay and my sister Kathy scouted 147 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:12,200 the area around the house with our dogs. No sign 148 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,240 was found of either the thieves or the missing chickens, 149 00:09:15,799 --> 00:09:17,679 and when the dogs caught a whiff of what we 150 00:09:17,759 --> 00:09:20,720 assumed was the lingering scent of the predator from the 151 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,879 night before, they grew agitated and pulled at their collars again. 152 00:09:25,919 --> 00:09:28,720 The scent trail led from the chicken coop to the 153 00:09:28,759 --> 00:09:33,600 woods behind the house. They followed the dog's lead through 154 00:09:33,639 --> 00:09:37,759 the dense forests, scratching and clawing branches for a short 155 00:09:37,799 --> 00:09:40,679 distance up the side of the mountain and down into 156 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,519 the swamp at the bottom of a ravine before the 157 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:47,720 dogs lost the scent. Try as they might, they weren't 158 00:09:47,759 --> 00:09:50,799 able to find the trail again, not even a track 159 00:09:50,879 --> 00:09:55,200 in the swampy ground. I suspect the thief chose that 160 00:09:55,399 --> 00:09:59,720 route to throw off the pursuit. While the younger ones 161 00:09:59,799 --> 00:10:02,080 were we were confined in the house for the next 162 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,000 couple of days my parents and two other siblings ventured 163 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,039 outside only when required to complete the necessary chores for 164 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:14,159 the live stock. On the second day after the chickens 165 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,480 were stolen, we went into town, where Dad purchased some 166 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,559 home surveillance cameras and a couple of extra large caliber rifles. 167 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,639 He figured if it had been, as he suspected, a 168 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:29,320 bear or an unusually strong human who might try to 169 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,679 steal more live stock or harm us, it would be 170 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,480 better to have a stronger gun and bigger bullets for 171 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:40,159 self defense. If trouble came, at least we would be ready. 172 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:44,720 We kept the dogs inside and watched them for any 173 00:10:44,879 --> 00:10:48,519 signs that they were sensing something. None of us heard 174 00:10:48,519 --> 00:10:51,759 the trespassers stealing the chickens, so we doubted that we 175 00:10:51,799 --> 00:10:55,879 would hear them if they came again. The cameras were 176 00:10:55,919 --> 00:10:59,679 strategically positioned, but the dense woods so close to the 177 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:05,159 house there was still a disadvantage. Nothing unusual happened that afternoon, 178 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:08,639 or that night or the following days. Dad stayed up 179 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,279 to keep a vigil with the dogs, while Mom did 180 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,759 her best to reassure us that the boogeyman. As I 181 00:11:14,799 --> 00:11:17,159 and my younger brothers had begun to think of it 182 00:11:17,519 --> 00:11:20,480 would not come back to get us, and over time 183 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:25,559 we became more relaxed and life returned to normal. Seventeen 184 00:11:25,639 --> 00:11:28,519 years later, I and many of my siblings are now 185 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:32,080 convinced that it was a bigfoot. Back then, the question 186 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:36,120 never entered our minds. Although we were from Alaska, we 187 00:11:36,159 --> 00:11:40,080 didn't take that sort of thing seriously. Like most families. 188 00:11:40,159 --> 00:11:42,879 We'd seen Harry and the Hendersons and heard a few 189 00:11:42,919 --> 00:11:46,159 stories on coast to coast, but I doubt my parents 190 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:51,159 even considered the possibility. A week later, just as we 191 00:11:51,159 --> 00:11:55,360 were all beginning to settle down again, we had another experience. 192 00:11:55,399 --> 00:11:58,799 As the sun was going down, My brothers and I 193 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:00,679 had gone for a walk down on one of those 194 00:12:00,759 --> 00:12:04,600 half paved, half dirt country lanes that connected us to 195 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:08,600 Highway ninety seven. We were sipping on ice sodas and 196 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,919 enjoying the freedom of being outside again after the events 197 00:12:11,919 --> 00:12:15,080 of the week before, when we realized the sun was 198 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,879 beginning to set behind the mountains across the valley. We 199 00:12:18,919 --> 00:12:21,080 were half a mile from the house, so we decided 200 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,840 to head home before it got too dark. It wasn't 201 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:29,279 like we were unusually sensitive townspeople who were easily shaking. 202 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,759 Since the trespasser from the week before had left behind 203 00:12:33,759 --> 00:12:36,879 no visible signs of his crimes, it was easy to 204 00:12:36,919 --> 00:12:40,799 believe nothing had happened, and the natural sounds of birds 205 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,960 and crickets around us served to lessen any fears that 206 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,720 we might still have been holding on to. But nothing 207 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,360 in our previous experience had prepared us for our chicken thief, 208 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,840 so we were still admittedly slightly on edge. We were kids. 209 00:12:57,399 --> 00:13:01,559 My brothers and I were goofing around, laying joke, sharing 210 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:06,080 unrealized dreams, and generally enjoying each other's company and not 211 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,159 paying much attention to our surroundings. The road we were 212 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,840 on ran alongside Ingle's Creek for a quarter of a 213 00:13:13,879 --> 00:13:17,039 mile before looping back around the mountain toward our house. 214 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,279 We'd come to an area of the road where the 215 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,679 creek was calmer and ideal for fishing. A bear liked 216 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:27,840 to frequent the spot to fish as well, not to 217 00:13:27,919 --> 00:13:30,679 mention the abundance of berries that grow along the banks 218 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:34,159 of the creek there, and deer and other wildlife often 219 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,720 came down to that spot for a cool drink of water. 220 00:13:36,759 --> 00:13:40,840 Where the creek didn't run as fast we were walking 221 00:13:40,879 --> 00:13:44,279 along and bantering back and forth in the growing twilight. 222 00:13:44,399 --> 00:13:48,159 When my brother Rick stopped, What are you doing? I 223 00:13:48,279 --> 00:13:52,759 asked him. We didn't answer. He was focused on something 224 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:57,000 up ahead along the creek. Surprise and fear played across 225 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,720 his face as he continued to stare in that direction. 226 00:14:00,519 --> 00:14:03,240 And by now my two older brothers had also noticed 227 00:14:03,279 --> 00:14:06,960 what Rick was staring at, and they had stopped too. 228 00:14:07,639 --> 00:14:09,480 I turned my head to look over at what they 229 00:14:09,519 --> 00:14:12,639 were seeing, and my heart caught in my chest when 230 00:14:12,639 --> 00:14:16,080 I saw it. Fifteen yards from us, on the bank 231 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,759 of the creek, and hutchdown almost on all fours was 232 00:14:19,799 --> 00:14:23,279 what looked like a huge eight Now this was our 233 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,440 first close up encounter with a sasquatch. I will forever 234 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:31,200 regret not having even an old fashioned video or flash 235 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,320 camera with me to capture what we saw. Even so, 236 00:14:34,519 --> 00:14:36,879 it left such an impression on me that I can 237 00:14:36,919 --> 00:14:39,960 still recall with absolute clarity what it looked like and 238 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,639 how it smelled some twenty years later. Even in a 239 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:49,320 crouch's position. The sasquatch was tall, at least six feet. 240 00:14:50,039 --> 00:14:52,799 It had a shoulder span of three feet across, and 241 00:14:52,879 --> 00:14:55,440 its face was hairy, but not as thick and as 242 00:14:55,559 --> 00:14:58,519 mad at as the rest of the body. It had 243 00:14:58,519 --> 00:15:02,559 a sloping and almost muzzled front forehead with a pronounced 244 00:15:02,639 --> 00:15:07,440 brow ridge. The eyes staring into us were slightly retreated 245 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,919 into its skull and wore a grayish black tint. Its 246 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,360 nose was flatter than the human's, to the point of 247 00:15:14,399 --> 00:15:18,679 being almost ape like, but not quite. The thick, stringy 248 00:15:18,879 --> 00:15:21,759 black hair on its head hung and flowed to blend 249 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,960 seamlessly with the dark hue of its chest. It gave 250 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,399 the creature the appearance of having a conical shaped head, 251 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,720 and later, when I read about people's encounters with sasquatch, 252 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,759 I wondered if they erroneously thought that it actually had 253 00:15:37,759 --> 00:15:40,919 a conical head because of the illusion caused by the 254 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,000 mess of hair. I thought it might have been fishing 255 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,279 or drinking, or both. Because its beard and chest were 256 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,600 wet with water, and it seemed caught off guard by 257 00:15:51,639 --> 00:15:55,279 our presence, I supposed the noise of the rushing creek 258 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,559 water could have masked our approach. We stood there, rooted 259 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,600 to the spot with a shot. I'm not sure of 260 00:16:02,679 --> 00:16:06,960 how long the sasquatch eventually stood up without taking its 261 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:12,039 eyes off us. Upright, it was even more intimidating, and 262 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,559 we later went back with our parents and measured a 263 00:16:14,639 --> 00:16:17,559 branch that was closest to where it stood, and that 264 00:16:17,639 --> 00:16:21,679 thing stood eight feet four inches tall. As the bigfoot 265 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,320 stood there staring at us, I got a whiff of 266 00:16:24,399 --> 00:16:28,240 that horrible odor, and it reminded me of garbage left 267 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:31,440 in the sun for several days to rite, mixed with 268 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,639 wet dog. I don't know if that smell is representative 269 00:16:35,679 --> 00:16:40,120 of the entire species or particular to a less hygienic 270 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,120 minded individual, but several times in my life I've been 271 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,720 reminded of that stench by similar odors, and I found 272 00:16:47,799 --> 00:16:53,159 myself looking around expecting to see one nearby. Considering that 273 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,440 some of those instances have been in the woods, it 274 00:16:56,559 --> 00:17:02,679 probably wasn't too far off, that's my guess. The sisquatch 275 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,400 slowly turned and started up onto the road ahead of us, 276 00:17:06,519 --> 00:17:10,160 keeping a watchful eye on us the whole time. That 277 00:17:10,279 --> 00:17:13,119 road was twenty feet across, but it crossed it in 278 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:18,279 two strides, and it disappeared silently into the woods. My 279 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,160 brothers and I waited for several minutes to make sure 280 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,039 the creature was gone before we were willing to pass 281 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:28,160 by That spot, and our hearts were pounding in our chests, 282 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,119 and our limbs were trembling. My feet felt as if 283 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,960 they had been turned into boiled pasta and might buckle 284 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,160 it any minute before I reached the safety of our house. 285 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,200 It was the longest walk home I ever took. Our 286 00:17:44,279 --> 00:17:48,519 long driveway passed through several patches of dense forest, and 287 00:17:48,599 --> 00:17:51,720 with each step I imagined that that monster would lunge 288 00:17:51,759 --> 00:17:56,079 out of the brush and rush us at home. Our 289 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,960 minds raised with our mouths as adrenaline pumped the words 290 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,839 faster than our brains could sort them. Dad tried to 291 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,119 calm us down, and we eventually managed to get the 292 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:10,519 whole story out. He told us that we'd seen a bear. 293 00:18:11,799 --> 00:18:14,400 There is no such thing as a real bigfoot, He 294 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,519 told us. Bigfoots are a legend created by ignorant or 295 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:23,079 sensational minded people who most likely made them up or 296 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:29,200 misidentified other wild animals as these mythical creatures. In his mind, 297 00:18:29,319 --> 00:18:33,319 we did see a bear. It may seem unfair, but 298 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,559 Dad had a point. He didn't need us scaring other 299 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,039 family members out there in the middle of nowhere. The 300 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:44,720 last thing we needed was a reason to panic. Still, unconvinced. 301 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,039 We witnesses worked together to help each other try to 302 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,400 understand what we saw out there on that road, and 303 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,880 it's an experience that still gives me nightmares and panic 304 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:59,519 attacks to this day. I am now a truck driver 305 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,799 based in Washington State. I've been doing this for ten years. 306 00:19:04,599 --> 00:19:07,279 I liked my job despite the long, lonely, and often 307 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,759 odd hours on long stretches of sometimes remote highway, but 308 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:17,200 it's not really bad. In midwinter of twenty fourteen, I 309 00:19:17,279 --> 00:19:20,960 was traveling on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains 310 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,799 on Interstate Highway seventy seven. This is in north central 311 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,240 Washington State. I came to work that day with instructions 312 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,119 to drive a shipment from Auburn, Washington to Bigbie. It 313 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,960 was a longer stretch of driving than usual, but I 314 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,599 was glad for the work because the pay was good. 315 00:19:40,839 --> 00:19:43,440 I started my long track at around six in the 316 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,000 morning Pacific time. I would need to make several stops 317 00:19:47,039 --> 00:19:49,160 along the way since it was going to be between 318 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,960 ten and fifteen hours until I reached my end destination. 319 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,920 That evening, I was cruising down Highway seventy seven through 320 00:19:58,039 --> 00:20:02,640 Aubrey National Forest and listening to the radio. I'd passed 321 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,759 a few other vehicles on the highway. It was dark 322 00:20:05,799 --> 00:20:08,000 by this hour, and I had my high beams on. 323 00:20:09,039 --> 00:20:14,079 Fortunately it wasn't particularly bad weather. I was sipping at 324 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,200 my hot coffee in my thermos. One of my favorite 325 00:20:17,279 --> 00:20:21,079 radio shows had just begun. My truck had just rounded 326 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,720 a sharp corner and entered a stretch of a more 327 00:20:23,799 --> 00:20:26,960 level road where the tree line was further back from 328 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,200 the highway, as much as twenty feet in some places. 329 00:20:31,039 --> 00:20:33,400 It was then that I saw a large, dark brown 330 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,359 figure start from the side of the road one hundred 331 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,720 and thirty yards ahead and quickly cross it in a 332 00:20:39,759 --> 00:20:43,359 few steps. The creature remained on the other side of 333 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,160 the road as I passed it. All this happened in 334 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,599 about four or five seconds, but I remember how surprised, 335 00:20:51,039 --> 00:20:54,880 even somewhat disturbed, I was at the unusual appearance of 336 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,720 this thing. Even from the seed of my eighteen wheeler, 337 00:20:58,799 --> 00:21:00,640 I could tell that this thing had to have been 338 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,279 eight or nine feet tall. It had a conical shape 339 00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:07,759 to its head. I don't remember the exact features of 340 00:21:07,839 --> 00:21:10,279 its face, as it only turned its head towards my 341 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:14,440 oncoming truck for a brief heartbeat, but its eyes reflected 342 00:21:14,519 --> 00:21:18,720 reddish gold in the high beams. I noticed these too, 343 00:21:18,799 --> 00:21:21,839 were large and larger than any human or even a 344 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:26,640 bear's eyes. The creature's arms were long. They swung back 345 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,039 and forth all the way down to its knees as 346 00:21:29,079 --> 00:21:33,079 it moved. It crossed the road so fast I was 347 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,039 moving at sixty five miles an hour, but this thing 348 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:40,359 still made it over with space despair. I think it 349 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,079 could have easily crossed back a second time before I 350 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,200 drove by it, that is how quickly and easily despite 351 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,680 its book, the creature moved. I was amazed and freaked out, 352 00:21:52,079 --> 00:21:54,160 and I didn't know what I had just seen. Though 353 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,119 I'm certain it was not a bear. I'm certain it 354 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,839 wasn't a prankster in a gorilla suit either. The way 355 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:02,960 it appeared and moved so congruently for such a hawk, 356 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,079 and the idea that a nine foot prankster with an 357 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,119 extremely cut body would be out in the middle of 358 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,200 nowhere on a late freezing cold evening on one of 359 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,240 the most remote stretches of highway instead of a more 360 00:22:16,319 --> 00:22:22,160 important well travel route seems at best equally remote. I'm 361 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,680 certain of what I saw. It was dark, yes, but 362 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,400 I had enough time to observe the creature well enough 363 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,480 in the illumination from my high beams and at the 364 00:22:31,519 --> 00:22:34,920 proximity that I did, and I'm convinced that it was 365 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,480 a sosquatch. I didn't want to hang around this part 366 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,279 of the wilderness with that thing I'd just driven by, 367 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,519 so I continued on my way, applying a little more 368 00:22:44,559 --> 00:22:47,599 pressure to the pedal until I had left the mountains 369 00:22:47,759 --> 00:22:51,799 and that thing far behind me. At the next town 370 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,119 I reached, I made a call to a friend of mine, 371 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,440 telling him what I had seen. And although he believed 372 00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,920 that I had seen something and he knew me well 373 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,279 enough to know I didn't tell tall tales, he didn't 374 00:23:03,319 --> 00:23:06,359 know what to make of it. I decided to keep 375 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,559 this strange encounter to myself because I did not wish 376 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,960 to bring ridicule on me or my family, or possibly 377 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:17,160 jeopardize my job. At the time, I didn't really know 378 00:23:17,279 --> 00:23:20,400 much about size squatch, and I believe them only to 379 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,759 be a myth and a tourist attraction to the Pacific Northwest. Later, 380 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,240 when my curiosity got the better of me, I began 381 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:33,319 researching the subject of bigfoot encryptids. Now I was amazed 382 00:23:33,319 --> 00:23:36,480 at how many people had actually had similar encounters with 383 00:23:36,599 --> 00:23:40,039 creatures like the one I saw on Highway seventy seven. 384 00:23:41,039 --> 00:23:44,039 I'd never realized a large number of sightings that were 385 00:23:44,079 --> 00:23:48,559 reported and continue to be reported every year, not just 386 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,920 from the Pacific Northwest, but from all over the United 387 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,880 States and Canada. In the years since. All the research 388 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,519 and meeting people who were more knowledgeable on this subject 389 00:24:00,559 --> 00:24:04,079 than I am, it helped me better understand and absorb 390 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,960 the reality of what I had seen that midwinter night. 391 00:24:08,279 --> 00:24:10,359 I still drive trucks for a living, and I have 392 00:24:10,519 --> 00:24:13,880 made several journeys through that same area where I encountered 393 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:18,319 the sasquatch. I've recently shared my story with several family 394 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:23,119 members and friends. I've also revisited alone and with others 395 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,440 the sight of my encounter. I haven't personally witnessed another 396 00:24:27,559 --> 00:24:31,640 sasquatch encounter myself since then, but I know now without 397 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:36,920 a doubt that these mysterious creatures do in fact truly exist. 398 00:24:37,519 --> 00:24:40,319 What they are, I'm not sure that they are out 399 00:24:40,319 --> 00:24:44,279 there even today, I am sure. I hope this story 400 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:48,000 helps not just others who have had similar encounters, but 401 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:52,160 also anyone who reads this and that this narration helps 402 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,440 spread awareness and a desire to learn more about Sasquatch. 403 00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,559 Though I am lucky to have not suffered any deep 404 00:24:59,599 --> 00:25:03,480 cycle logical trauma as some witnesses have with these things, 405 00:25:04,039 --> 00:25:08,240 I nevertheless am glad to get this off my metaphysical chest, 406 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,160 so to speak.