1
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,800
Speaker 1: I never had an experience with Bigfoot, and I don't

2
00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,279
expect I ever will, at least not where I live.

3
00:00:13,359 --> 00:00:16,920
But after listening to you recount many stories, I'd like

4
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,800
to share my thoughts with you. You may or may not

5
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:25,839
have read the books by Carlos Castanetta. In case you haven't,

6
00:00:26,039 --> 00:00:31,399
Castanetta's mentor was a yacky Indian named Don Juan, and

7
00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,200
he taught Castanetta sorcery. At least that's what he called

8
00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,520
it to begin with. This was to grab Castanetta's attention,

9
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,799
but later he called it knowledge. The second book Castanetta

10
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,280
wrote their Ten of Them is entitled a Separate Reality.

11
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,560
The key to these realities is the ability to stop

12
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,200
the internal dialogue or in other words, the constant chit

13
00:00:58,359 --> 00:01:01,719
chat of thought. If you think about it, we never

14
00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:06,959
stop thinking. Even when we are sleeping, our minds are active. Apparently,

15
00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,400
when we stop this internal dialogue, we open the door

16
00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:15,239
to new realities and abilities. So many of the anomalies

17
00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:20,200
surrounding the Bigfoot experience are almost identical to the experiences

18
00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:25,120
Don Juan put Castanetta through, like being frozen to the spot,

19
00:01:25,359 --> 00:01:27,959
or the feeling of being ill, or the now you

20
00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,200
see me. Now, you don't type thing that Bigfoot displays.

21
00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,920
I can't help thinking that due to the fact that

22
00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,959
Bigfoot doesn't have the distractions of the modern world to

23
00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,120
fill his or her mind, he or she has these

24
00:01:42,159 --> 00:01:46,599
abilities that Don Juan taught Castanetta. I don't think they

25
00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,799
come from other dimensions. Rather, I think some of them

26
00:01:49,879 --> 00:01:53,239
have mastered the art of stopping the world, as Don

27
00:01:53,359 --> 00:01:57,560
Juan calls it, in other words, stopping thinking, and they

28
00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,799
can therefore jump from one dimension to another. The reason

29
00:02:01,879 --> 00:02:04,519
I think this is because there are videos of mother

30
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:09,039
Bigfoots with young ones. If they did come from another dimension,

31
00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,919
why on earth would they bring their kids with them.

32
00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,759
That doesn't make sense to me. So I think it's

33
00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,599
more a case that they're from our world but can

34
00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,319
jump into another dimension when cornered. At least some of

35
00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,840
them have this stability. And then he goes on the right.

36
00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,120
Keep the stories coming, buddy. And by the way, I

37
00:02:28,159 --> 00:02:35,120
love your accent. Oh man, this accent thing. This is

38
00:02:35,159 --> 00:02:37,240
a big deal to get to some people. I don't

39
00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,280
know why, but it's just the way we talk down here,

40
00:02:40,319 --> 00:02:44,439
so I can't disguise it anyway. This was an interesting

41
00:02:44,479 --> 00:02:48,319
email and it's not so much that it has to

42
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,879
do with Bigfoot, but it intrigues me about this idea

43
00:02:53,159 --> 00:02:57,159
of being able to stop thinking. I mean, think about that.

44
00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,719
Our minds are working all the time. They never stop working.

45
00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,560
I never stopped thinking. I think all the time, and

46
00:03:04,599 --> 00:03:06,960
I wonder what it would be like to just in

47
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,120
a conscious way, remain conscious and stop thinking, go into

48
00:03:12,159 --> 00:03:15,840
such a deep meditative state that you actually stop thinking

49
00:03:15,879 --> 00:03:18,479
and kind of go blank for a few minutes. Would

50
00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,240
you stop breathing? Would your heart? Would your involuntary organs

51
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,360
stop beating like your heart? Would you stop breathing? I

52
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,080
don't think so, they're involuntary, so, but I don't know.

53
00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,240
I just don't know what that would lead to, but

54
00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,560
it is a fascinating concept. Sometimes. I've read a few

55
00:03:35,599 --> 00:03:39,639
things about this remote viewing phenomenon that I think even

56
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,319
our military has used were people I'm not even sure

57
00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,479
exactly what it is. That's how dumb I that's what

58
00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,759
a moron I am with this stuff. I don't I

59
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,520
just don't have time to read up on it. But

60
00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,319
it's interesting stuff to me, and I myself would love

61
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,680
to be able to just shut my mind down, man,

62
00:03:57,879 --> 00:04:00,840
just for fifteen minutes a day. That would be fantastic.

63
00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,280
And I wonder if I did, could I transport myself

64
00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:09,120
to another place? Maybe not physically, but psychologically go to

65
00:04:09,199 --> 00:04:13,759
another place. I don't know if that's even feasible or not,

66
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:19,120
but the whole concept is fascinating and if it has

67
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,680
to do with Bigfoot, it would make perfect sense. Now

68
00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,680
here's the thing. We can all have opinions on any

69
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,560
of this stuff because none of us know anything about Bigfoot.

70
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,639
And if you think you do know something, you really don't.

71
00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,040
You really don't. You're just acting like you do because

72
00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,120
we don't know anything about these things, and all opinions

73
00:04:37,319 --> 00:04:40,199
and ideas are up in the air. I mean, we

74
00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,240
can come up with anything we want. This one seems

75
00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,480
very interesting to me. Hope you guys enjoyed his theory.

76
00:04:46,879 --> 00:04:54,199
Thanks Keith for sending the email. Please accept the following account.

77
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,959
It is true and has turned me from a disinterested

78
00:04:58,079 --> 00:05:03,399
skeptic into a thoroughly fence sitter. All right, here we go,

79
00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,319
That's what he writes. All right, here we go. Let

80
00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,160
me preface my story by saying that although I grew

81
00:05:09,199 --> 00:05:12,920
up in a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, I've always

82
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,879
been a country boy at heart. My paternal grandparents had

83
00:05:16,879 --> 00:05:20,839
a farm in central North Carolina, and when I wasn't there,

84
00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,800
I wanted to be. There were rolling hills, creeks, and

85
00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:30,839
milo fields, separated by tracks of hardwoods teeming with squirrels, rabbits,

86
00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,519
and quail. Some of the happiest times of my life

87
00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,519
were spent on this farm, roaming the woods, camping, hunting,

88
00:05:38,759 --> 00:05:42,920
and fishing. For a young boy who craved adventure, it

89
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,000
was paradise. I would disappear into the woods for days.

90
00:05:47,959 --> 00:05:50,759
Back then, it simply wasn't a big deal for a

91
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,759
young boy to go off camping by himself, as long

92
00:05:53,759 --> 00:05:57,120
as his parents had a general idea as to where

93
00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,000
he would be and when he would get back. Looking back,

94
00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,319
I was probably safer in the woods on my grandfather's

95
00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:08,879
farm than just about anywhere else. There are no dangerous

96
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,439
animals in this part of the state, and the only

97
00:06:11,519 --> 00:06:15,040
things that caused me concern were ticks, chiggers, and the

98
00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:20,079
occasional copperhead. When I wasn't playing Daniel Boone on the farm,

99
00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,680
I would often go on trips with my boy Scout

100
00:06:22,759 --> 00:06:27,120
troop in the nearby Ywary. He spelled it out phanatically

101
00:06:27,199 --> 00:06:30,439
for me, you warri and see I pronounced it wrong.

102
00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:36,480
In the nearby Yuari National Forest, if you aren't familiar

103
00:06:36,519 --> 00:06:40,839
with it, this National Forest is about fifty one thousand acres,

104
00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,839
with most of it in Montgomery County. I've hiked a

105
00:06:44,879 --> 00:06:50,000
considerable amount of this forest, sometimes willingly and sometimes begrudgingly,

106
00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,160
due to a directionally challenged assistant scout master who we

107
00:06:54,360 --> 00:07:02,040
nicknamed lost Again Lewis Oh. That's so his shortcuts could

108
00:07:02,079 --> 00:07:05,120
turn a five mile day hike into a twenty mile

109
00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,399
overnight hike. I mention all this simply to establish that

110
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,759
from an early age I would regularly spend time in

111
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,480
the woods. I'm familiar with the local animals, and I

112
00:07:16,519 --> 00:07:21,879
don't spook easily. Unfortunately, when relating a story such as this,

113
00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,439
you feel obligated to qualify yourself in order to preemptively

114
00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,560
silence some of the questions from armchair synics. I've never

115
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,160
really understood why, but to me, a lot of the

116
00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:39,759
Yuari National Forest has a foreboding feel. There are places that,

117
00:07:39,879 --> 00:07:42,519
even on a sunny day and winter when all the

118
00:07:42,639 --> 00:07:48,439
leaves have fallen, seem unnaturally dark and sinister. Several books

119
00:07:48,439 --> 00:07:53,720
written by local folkloreist Fred Morgan support this observation and

120
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:58,759
contain many accounts of disconcerting and often violent events that

121
00:07:58,839 --> 00:08:03,360
have occurred in the area. In early March of twenty twelve,

122
00:08:03,399 --> 00:08:06,000
I had a little time off and I decided to

123
00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,759
load up my old land Rover and head out for

124
00:08:08,839 --> 00:08:14,000
a remote camping spot in the northwest Uaris. I've always

125
00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,759
preferred to hike, hunt and fish and camp alone. To me,

126
00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,560
the solitude is cathartic. To my delight, the campground I

127
00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,519
chose was completely deserted. There was a host site that

128
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:31,240
contained an older travel trailer, but its condition indicated that

129
00:08:31,319 --> 00:08:35,000
it was abandoned. I selected a site at the very

130
00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,679
end of a loop road, as far from the unoccupied

131
00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,679
trailer and as close to the dense woods as I

132
00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,919
could get. I planned on being there at least four

133
00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,440
or five days, so I set up my large, six

134
00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:51,840
person Cabella's dome tent rather than my smaller backpacking tent.

135
00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,320
After eating supper, I decided to turn in early. It

136
00:08:56,399 --> 00:08:59,879
was already getting dark and I was bushed. I settled

137
00:08:59,879 --> 00:09:02,840
into my sleeping bag and turned off my lantern and

138
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:08,080
was very quickly fast asleep. Around midnight, I was awoken

139
00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,039
by a distant howl that my sleep addle mind tells

140
00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,200
me is probably a wolf, even though I know there

141
00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,639
are no wolves in central North Carolina. In response to

142
00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,960
the cry, a pack of dogs began to bay. I

143
00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,039
lay still for a few minutes, listening to all the racket,

144
00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:30,240
but soon it died down and all was quiet. Having

145
00:09:30,279 --> 00:09:33,200
heard many odd noises while in the woods, and being

146
00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,840
a pragmatic I chuckled to myself and tried to go

147
00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,679
back to sleep. My sixth sense was tapping me on

148
00:09:40,759 --> 00:09:44,600
the shoulder in saying that something wasn't exactly right, but

149
00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:49,440
I closed my eyes anyway. Ten to fifteen minutes later,

150
00:09:49,519 --> 00:09:53,080
as I began to drift back to sleep, the howls repeated,

151
00:09:53,639 --> 00:09:57,039
and this time it was closer. Again. It was a

152
00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,639
similar cry of a wolf, but the tone wasn't right.

153
00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:05,159
It was lower and deeper. The dogs again reacted with

154
00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,399
a chorus of yowling, but they seemed rather far away.

155
00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,399
They were reacting to an unknown coller, but they were

156
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:17,120
not following it, or it had eluded them. At this point,

157
00:10:17,159 --> 00:10:20,360
I was a bit puzzled, but certainly not scared. It

158
00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,360
bothered me that I couldn't identify the animal that was

159
00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:27,080
making the yells. But I knew for an absolute fact

160
00:10:27,159 --> 00:10:29,799
that there were no dangerous animals in this part of

161
00:10:29,799 --> 00:10:33,600
the state. Also, I had a pistol on me, and

162
00:10:33,639 --> 00:10:36,519
what were the eyes that this animal, whatever it was,

163
00:10:36,759 --> 00:10:40,039
would come directly to me into my camp. There was

164
00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,440
no chance at all. Right, Again, I shrugged and closed

165
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,600
my eyes. This time I fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

166
00:10:49,879 --> 00:10:53,200
Forty five minutes later, I'm jolted away by a rumbling

167
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,159
bellow that seemed right on top of me, and it

168
00:10:56,279 --> 00:11:00,639
was just as loud, very loud. My first thought, as

169
00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,720
I shook the sleep from my head was that someone

170
00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,159
outside my tent was roaring at me through a bullhorn.

171
00:11:08,039 --> 00:11:12,879
It was so close, so unidentifiable, and so loud that

172
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:17,759
I was immediately terrified. Even more disturbingly, as the scream

173
00:11:17,879 --> 00:11:22,000
slowly died out, it was replaced by heavy breathing and

174
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,879
bipedal footsteps in the leaf litter heading towards my tent.

175
00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,639
I tried to convince myself that this must be a

176
00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,639
person playing a dangerous practical joke, but the steps were

177
00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:38,080
much too heavy. I remember having the bizarre thought that

178
00:11:38,159 --> 00:11:41,919
this prankster must be stomping around with anvils tied to

179
00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,639
their shoes, and that absurd idea made me quickly realize

180
00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,799
that this was no prank. There was an exceptionally large

181
00:11:50,799 --> 00:11:54,279
and angry animal outside my tent, and I had no

182
00:11:54,399 --> 00:11:58,840
idea what it was. Sitting up but still halfway in

183
00:11:58,919 --> 00:12:02,720
my sleeping bag, I slowly and quietly scooched to the

184
00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:07,399
middle of the large tent, ridiculously believing that somehow being

185
00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:11,919
in the center would provide some safety. I quietly grabbed

186
00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,120
my compact nine millimeter out of my duffel bag, and

187
00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:20,200
I slowly flipped the safety and I listened. When you're

188
00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,960
truly frightened, you feel flushed. Your senses seemed to sharpen,

189
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,600
and time appears to slow down. I could hear every

190
00:12:27,759 --> 00:12:31,159
leaf and twig that broke under this creature's feet as

191
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,919
it approached. I also vividly recall turning my head towards

192
00:12:35,919 --> 00:12:40,440
the oncoming noise, and with each footfall, seeing small ripples

193
00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,120
being created and a half empty bottle of water across

194
00:12:44,159 --> 00:12:50,080
the dark tent, exactly like in the first Jurassic Park movie.

195
00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,440
Options ran through my mind. I could yell out and

196
00:12:53,519 --> 00:12:56,639
hope that whatever this was would be startled and leave.

197
00:12:57,519 --> 00:12:59,639
I could step out of the tent and confront it.

198
00:13:00,279 --> 00:13:04,200
I could remain quiet and see what happened. I had

199
00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,360
no idea what was outside, so I decided to sit

200
00:13:07,519 --> 00:13:12,200
still and wait. The footsteps were getting closer, but they

201
00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,720
slowed in pace. They stopped at what I guess would

202
00:13:15,759 --> 00:13:18,919
be about ten feet away from my tent. I had

203
00:13:18,919 --> 00:13:22,000
my pistol pointed in this thing's direction, and I was

204
00:13:22,039 --> 00:13:25,120
debating whether to fire off a couple of blind rounds

205
00:13:25,159 --> 00:13:29,639
through the tent wall. I'm very conscious about gun safety

206
00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:33,120
and would normally never consider this, but abject terror can

207
00:13:33,159 --> 00:13:38,879
result in bad decisions. In retrospect, I genuinely believe that

208
00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,200
had this creature taken another couple of steps towards me,

209
00:13:42,639 --> 00:13:47,720
I would have emptied the clip. Thankfully I didn't. The

210
00:13:47,799 --> 00:13:51,360
animal was now standing still, and it began making an

211
00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,399
odd snuffling sound that led me to believe it was

212
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,200
smelling the air. It reminded me of a pig running,

213
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,279
only deeper, and it was all followed by a long

214
00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,639
and heavy excel. The animal was a few feet outside,

215
00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:09,840
sniffing and grunning and snorting, trying to determine its next step,

216
00:14:10,399 --> 00:14:12,159
and I was sitting in the middle of the tent,

217
00:14:12,279 --> 00:14:15,840
sweating and horrified, with a death grip on my little pistol.

218
00:14:17,159 --> 00:14:20,240
This went on for what seemed like several minutes, though

219
00:14:20,279 --> 00:14:23,799
more likely it was only thirty to forty seconds. I

220
00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,919
was so tense that my arm holding the pistol began

221
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,120
to shake, and I felt like I was going to hyperventilate.

222
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,360
I felt that I was close to a physical and

223
00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,320
mental breaking point, and I knew that I desperately needed

224
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,600
for this to end. After a few more frantic seconds

225
00:14:41,639 --> 00:14:44,759
of thought, I realized that, for good or bad, I

226
00:14:44,879 --> 00:14:49,519
must try to take control of the situation. I resolved

227
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,559
to quietly slip out of my sleeping bag, slit open

228
00:14:53,639 --> 00:14:57,360
the back tent, and jump out, ready to shoot. I

229
00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,600
made a bit of noise while trying to slide my

230
00:14:59,679 --> 00:15:02,600
legs out of the sleeping bag, and the animal let

231
00:15:02,639 --> 00:15:06,600
out a grunt that almost sounded like a question. There

232
00:15:06,639 --> 00:15:09,279
was an upward inflection at the end of the noise

233
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,679
that made me think it might have been confused. Looking back,

234
00:15:13,759 --> 00:15:16,159
I believe it may not have been certain that I

235
00:15:16,279 --> 00:15:19,720
was in the tent until I heard the movement. I froze,

236
00:15:19,759 --> 00:15:22,639
and for a few more seconds there was an absolute

237
00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:26,919
and terrifying silence. Then there was a deep in what

238
00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:31,320
I imagined to be a derisive grunt. It sounded like a

239
00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,480
bull snorting, but seemed to have an almost cynical tone.

240
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,120
It then began to stomp off in the direction from

241
00:15:38,159 --> 00:15:42,240
which it came, grunting loudly with every step. As this

242
00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:45,559
thing trudged off, I heard a loud cracking sound, as

243
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,840
if a large tree branch was being broken, and then

244
00:15:48,879 --> 00:15:52,360
another deafening roar, the sound of something being dragged in

245
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:57,360
the leaves, and heavy footsteps continued to move away. I

246
00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,840
stayed perfectly quiet until I couldn't hear it any longer,

247
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,159
and then I took a deep breath to relieve some

248
00:16:03,279 --> 00:16:07,039
of the stress in my body. I was still on alert,

249
00:16:07,159 --> 00:16:12,000
but slowly beginning to relax a little. After a few

250
00:16:12,039 --> 00:16:15,039
more minutes of silence, I decided that the animal was

251
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,600
probably gone, but there was no way that I was

252
00:16:17,639 --> 00:16:20,120
going to spend the rest of the night in that flimsy,

253
00:16:20,399 --> 00:16:24,480
nih line tent. I grabbed my car keys and stealthily

254
00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,320
unzipped the tent and crept to my vehicle. My pistol

255
00:16:28,399 --> 00:16:31,480
was still in my hand. I would drive to the

256
00:16:31,519 --> 00:16:34,919
closest town, find a well lit parking lot, and sleep

257
00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,440
in my car. Tomorrow I would go back to collect

258
00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,720
my gear. So I fired up my rover and turned

259
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,000
on the headlights, and to my horror, there was a

260
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:46,600
large tree limb about ten feet in front of the

261
00:16:46,639 --> 00:16:50,639
truck blocking my exit. It was big enough that I

262
00:16:50,639 --> 00:16:53,240
don't think I could drive over it without doing some

263
00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,720
significant damage to my vehicle, but it was not so

264
00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,759
large that I couldn't drag it partially out of the

265
00:16:59,759 --> 00:17:03,519
way and drive around it. I decided, however, that I

266
00:17:03,559 --> 00:17:06,039
wasn't going to get out of my car until daylight.

267
00:17:06,759 --> 00:17:09,519
I turned off the lights, I lowered my seat all

268
00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:11,880
the way back, I rolled my window down about a

269
00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,799
half inch so I could hear, and I turned off

270
00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:18,240
the ignition. The rest of the night is a blur

271
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,880
to me. Now. I didn't go back to sleep, but

272
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:25,039
there were times that I wasn't completely awake either. I

273
00:17:25,039 --> 00:17:27,480
would start to not off, but my mind would not

274
00:17:27,559 --> 00:17:31,680
allow it. Thankfully, nothing else happened, and at first light

275
00:17:31,839 --> 00:17:34,319
I was able to break camp and move the tree

276
00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:39,039
branch enough to get my vehicle out. When I returned home,

277
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,200
my wife immediately asked why are you back so soon?

278
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,480
I didn't want to lie, but I simply couldn't figure

279
00:17:45,519 --> 00:17:48,400
out a way to explain what had happened without sounding

280
00:17:48,519 --> 00:17:51,640
like a lunatic. So I just made up a story

281
00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,640
about not realizing that there was no self service, that

282
00:17:54,839 --> 00:17:57,720
I didn't feel comfortable being out of touch with her

283
00:17:57,839 --> 00:18:02,440
for four or five days. Again, before this incident, I

284
00:18:02,519 --> 00:18:07,240
had no real interest in cryptids. However, I immediately began reading

285
00:18:07,319 --> 00:18:10,880
everything I could on them, focusing on reports from the

286
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:16,119
Yuari region. To my great surprise, I found several accounts

287
00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:20,640
from this area, including a rather famous one. I learned

288
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,839
that I was remarkably close to the sighting made by

289
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,240
Michael Greene I think that's his name, who at the

290
00:18:27,319 --> 00:18:31,400
time was involved with the BFRO in North Carolina, and

291
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:36,319
who had recorded thermal video of a humanoid figure snatching

292
00:18:36,319 --> 00:18:38,880
a candy bar from the top of a tree stump

293
00:18:39,759 --> 00:18:43,559
at a family gathering. Not long afterwards, my maternal grandmother,

294
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,640
who grew up just outside the northwest boundary of the forest,

295
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,000
became upset when she was told I had been camping

296
00:18:51,039 --> 00:18:54,799
there alone. She said that I shouldn't go there by myself,

297
00:18:54,839 --> 00:18:58,039
and it was too dangerous. Well, When I asked her why,

298
00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,680
she wouldn't give me a straight answer. She would simply repeat,

299
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,039
just don't go there alone. You should not go there alone.

300
00:19:06,319 --> 00:19:09,119
I'm still not convinced that I had an encounter with

301
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,599
the hairy linebacker, but I don't know what animal walks

302
00:19:12,599 --> 00:19:16,599
on two feet and causes the ground to vibrate, roars

303
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,440
louder than a lion, and breaks tree limbs. If you

304
00:19:20,519 --> 00:19:24,000
can come up with one, please let me know. However,

305
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,480
I didn't actually see anything, and the more practical side

306
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,640
of me believes that there must be a rational explanation.

307
00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,039
If it was a bigfoot, then I'm glad I didn't

308
00:19:34,079 --> 00:19:37,440
see it, and I'm very happy not having a close

309
00:19:37,519 --> 00:19:41,119
up image of that ugly mug in my head. The

310
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,759
event alarmed me enough that I didn't go into the

311
00:19:43,799 --> 00:19:46,640
woods for a while, but I couldn't stay away for long.

312
00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:50,200
I gave away my tents, I bought some larger guns,

313
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:54,279
and eventually I purchased a small travel trailer. When I'm

314
00:19:54,279 --> 00:19:57,920
out overnight. Now I sleep like a baby. Maybe it's

315
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:03,680
a false sense of security, but helps were made