WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:10.599 I'm from Mississippi originally, but I've lived in Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, 2 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:16.000 West Virginia. Since I've discovered the subject of sisquatch. I'm 3 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.079 so sure that they're real. I don't need to see 4 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:23.519 one believe me. But here is my second hand story. 5 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.559 My mom and her siblings made up a huge family 6 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:32.880 who lived on a plantation in Sunflower County. Mom always 7 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:36.799 called it the Patterson Plantation because there were more daughters 8 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:41.039 than sons in this family. Mom and her sisters always 9 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:43.679 worked with their dad in the field hoe in cotton. 10 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:47.359 The boys were too young, The girls were about eight 11 00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:50.079 to twelve years of age, and they were hard workers. 12 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.079 Mom would tell us that when their dad was sick, 13 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:56.520 the girls would go to the field by themselves. They 14 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:00.399 were just carrying on for daddy. The only thing that 15 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.560 truly spooked them was the fact that something on two 16 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.760 legs would paste them. The girls would be on a 17 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:09.879 dirt road which was flanked on either side by the 18 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:15.079 Sunflower River or the forest. This animal would pacete them 19 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:19.000 just out of sight in the forest. Mom said. One 20 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.040 time they asked my grandpa Daddy, what is that walking 21 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:25.359 next to us? Mom said that he grinned and said, 22 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:29.120 it's just a bunch of squirrels. This went on for 23 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:33.200 a while. It never showed its face, And yes, if 24 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.319 it had been a vagrant or an escapee from parchment, 25 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:40.640 surely he would have been seen at some point. The 26 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:43.480 girls were not the only ones who heard this noise. 27 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:46.959 Mom said other adults in the field would also walk 28 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:51.719 the same direction, and they also heard the noises. But 29 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:55.120 to top this off, my mom's family all lived in 30 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:59.040 a little shotgun house that had two bedrooms, a kitchen, 31 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:03.120 and a living room room. The kitchen door was secured 32 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:07.239 by a thumb. Look at night, Mom said, someone would 33 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:11.599 open the kitchen door walk across the linoleum kitchen floor 34 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:14.919 to their bedroom. All the girls slept in one bed. 35 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:18.879 They would walk around the bed and stroke the girl's heads. 36 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.039 Mom says she always wanted to know who was doing this, 37 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:25.719 so the next time it happened, she jumped up and 38 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:28.919 she hit the lights. She wasn't quick enough, though. Darn 39 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:32.240 it anyway, I just thought I would pass this along 40 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:34.840 before I forget about it. Keep up the good work, 41 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:42.840 signed Cheryl in November of nineteen seventy nine. I was fourteen, 42 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.560 not old enough to hunt legally in New York. My 43 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.919 dad was an avid hunter who usually hunted in Naples. 44 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.039 They call it part of the southern tier of the state. 45 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:56.120 My dad worked with a man who owned some prime 46 00:02:56.199 --> 00:03:00.240 hunting property there. My uncle was supposed to go with 47 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.039 him that year, but something came up, so my dad 48 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:05.039 asked me if I'd like to go in his place 49 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:09.800 and push the deer. Of course, I said yes. I 50 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:12.400 was so excited I barely got any sleep the night 51 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.759 before we left. We drove off at four am and 52 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:18.360 headed to the dark and frozen woods and our ford 53 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:23.439 pinto wagon. Dad explained as we went what my function 54 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.560 would be. I would head into the woods alone and 55 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:28.840 push the deer to where he would be set up 56 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:32.319 and ready for them. We got to the gravel road 57 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.599 that took us into his coworker's property and Dad told 58 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.000 me to walk about two hundred yards in the woods 59 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.479 and hunker down for forty five minutes or so, and 60 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:45.319 then start walking east. I actually knew a lot about 61 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:49.800 the woods even then. I spent pretty much every spare 62 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:53.439 moment of my time in the woods around our home. Well. Anyway, 63 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:57.280 Dad handed me his twelve gage shotgun. It was empty, 64 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:59.319 but I had a couple of slugs in my coat 65 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.879 pocket just in case. I stood there watching the tailgates 66 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.360 of the pinto disappear over the crest of the hill, 67 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.199 and then turned and let my vision adjust to the 68 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:13.080 darkness for a minute before I started walking. I wasn't 69 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:17.199 afraid of the woods back then. I walked quite aways, 70 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:19.600 and I had to scale an old fence line. At 71 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:23.319 one point. I remember the patches of snow and how 72 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:26.279 cold I was, despite being dressed in three layers of 73 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.920 clothes and a good pair of winter boots, the kind 74 00:04:29.959 --> 00:04:33.879 with liners that can be removed. It began to get 75 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:37.720 light outside, but the sky was overcast in dark shades 76 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:41.199 of angry gray. I went into a deep gully with 77 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.000 ten to fifteen foot banks, and I followed it until 78 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.759 it turned east, the direction I had to go to 79 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.600 get to my father. Then I climbed the tall bank 80 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.319 and found a good sized tree that had fallen, and 81 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:56.800 where I squatted and rested my back against it. And 82 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:00.360 by then I was tired. Without a good night sleep, 83 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:03.920 I'd been running on pure adrenaline all morning. I guess 84 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:08.199 I've knotted off. I woke up to the sound of 85 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.959 a tree branch snapping, and I panned the area across 86 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.360 the gully to the opposite ridge, thinking it might have 87 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:17.560 been a big buck. And I searched across the area 88 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:20.360 and I saw what looked like a large man standing 89 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:24.399 next to a tree. Well, I focused in and I froze. 90 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.199 It wasn't a man. My father was six feet tall, 91 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:32.199 and this thing was nearly twice that. It was covered 92 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.800 in hair, but it wasn't a bear either. I couldn't 93 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.160 see its face, its long, matted hair covered it, but 94 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:42.000 I could see clouds of breath pouring through the hair 95 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:45.879 on the cold morning air. Its hair was all brown, 96 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.519 but a lighter shade on its chest in the front 97 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:52.600 of its thighs. Based on its body position, it had 98 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:56.560 to be looking straight at me. Well, I figured it 99 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:59.560 was standing like this for five minutes or so, which 100 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.879 felt like a lifetime to me. My heart was pounding 101 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.879 out of my skin the whole time, but I was 102 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.600 frozen in place and I couldn't move. And then it 103 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:13.399 took one step in my direction, and that unfroze me. 104 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.120 I turned and started running as fast as I could 105 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.399 in the direction that i'd come. I had the twelve gage, 106 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:24.199 but I didn't think about it at the time. I 107 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:27.680 approached the fence line and I chucked the shotgun over 108 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.360 it and dove over the fence behind it, and then 109 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:32.399 I grabbed the gun and briefly looked back to see 110 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:35.439 if anything was behind me. And I kept running until 111 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:39.920 I got to the gravel road. During that Olympic run, 112 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:43.519 I managed to lose a boot. I was only wearing 113 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:47.879 the lining, but I didn't care. I got my bearings 114 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:50.240 and headed up the road in the direction my dad 115 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:53.040 had gone, and I found the Pinto parked on the 116 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:55.480 side of the road, but to my horror, it was 117 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:59.199 locked there. I was surrounded by heavy woods in the 118 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:04.120 middle of nowhere, and now painfully aware that monsters do exist. 119 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:08.000 I loaded the gun and knelt down with my back 120 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.800 against the car and waited and listened to every single noise. 121 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:15.360 When my dad finally came out of the woods, he 122 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:18.720 was asking, what the hell happened to you, boy? I 123 00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:22.399 told him exactly what happened. It was probably a bear, 124 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:26.680 if anything at all, he reasoned. I told my best 125 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:30.160 friend back then, and he seemed to believe me. I'm 126 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.879 now fifty six and I live in Florida. Dad has 127 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:37.319 been gone since nineteen eighty seven, but I can relive 128 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:41.560 that morning like flipping a switch. I did some small 129 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.560 game hunting after that happened, but only in the woods 130 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.759 where I grew up in Neverden. When I was in 131 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:51.279 my thirties, I ran across the BFRO and reported the 132 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.879 incident to them. A man contacted me about it, and 133 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:58.839 we spoke for quite a while. The research I've done 134 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:02.800 since then shows that these things migrate from the Adirondack 135 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:07.279 Mountains down through the Herkimer Valley and into the Southern Tier, 136 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:11.879 as well as northern Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley regions. 137 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:19.279 This happened in Brasstown, North Carolina, in nineteen eighty six. 138 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:24.079 I was fifteen and staying at my grandparents' place. They 139 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:26.839 lived in the Styx, and they had no neighbors close by. 140 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.000 The wood circle. My grandparents' trailer about eight miles in 141 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:35.279 every direction. As an adult, looking back in hindsight, I 142 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.480 can say it was really beautiful, and being that far 143 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:43.200 back in the woods, we, being non hair humans, were 144 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:46.600 not in our element. We were only guest actors in 145 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:51.039 Mother Nature stage. I always played in the woods. My 146 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:53.799 grandfather taught me how to carry and use a gun 147 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.799 when I was ten years old. He never let me 148 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:00.600 leave the house without protection. I've always I wondered if 149 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:04.039 my grandpa knew about these beings that dwell in the woods, 150 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.440 and if that was the real reason he taught me 151 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:08.559 how to use and carry a gun at such an 152 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:12.759 early age. I once wrote a comment in response to 153 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:17.240 a YouTube video that really got me angry. I edited 154 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.120 it at the time, and I wrote it because I 155 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:23.240 wasn't nice. It was making fun of the notion of 156 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.720 Bigfoot and the people with the courage to report their encounters, 157 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:30.200 and that's why people won't step forward about what they 158 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:34.159 have seen and what it did to them. Mentally, it's 159 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:37.399 not a joke when you're staring down a monster and 160 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.600 you're the poor bastard who's just stumbled into the domain 161 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.720 of a predator, when suddenly everything becomes primal and your 162 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:48.720 gut reaction is to either fight or flight, and that 163 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:52.519 gun that you've brought for protection, it most likely will 164 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:56.759 only piss it off before it charges you. It had 165 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:59.600 a massive chest, and judging by the size of its 166 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:03.120 head hands, it was a fit specimen that reminded me 167 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:06.080 of those barrel chested men you see on those tough 168 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:10.279 man challenges, except this thing was four times as big, 169 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:13.080 and if it didn't duck its head, it would have 170 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:16.639 clocked it on a tree limb. It had shiny hair 171 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:21.759 that seemed unusually well groomed. More than anything else, I 172 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:25.960 was fascinated by its face. It had a wide jawline 173 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.320 and a mouth set lower than a human, with a 174 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:32.159 wide gap between its nose and top lip. I would 175 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:36.799 compare its brow to a Neanderthal, except a little more evolved, 176 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:41.000 and it didn't protrude as far. Its hairless face was 177 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.919 framed by a beard, and I could understand someone not 178 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:47.039 wanting to shoot at it because of the human characteristics. 179 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.519 I could sense intelligence, but when we made eye contact, 180 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:54.799 there was a feeling of something sinister, like nothing in 181 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.039 the realm of goodness. Have you ever walked into a 182 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.639 room of people you don't get along with. Nobody says 183 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.279 anything nice, They just stopped talking and look right through you. 184 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.200 It was humbling times ten that instantly put my world 185 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:14.840 into perspective and crushed my soul. This monster made me 186 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:17.519 feel like a shell of a man. Now was nothing 187 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:21.399 more to it than pray. The beet stared me down 188 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:24.399 with its greenish red eyes, letting me know who the 189 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:27.919 boss was in our stand off. It was unreal to 190 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:32.440 me to see something so gigantic be so agile. It 191 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.200 walked with no jerk to its step, and its head 192 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:39.320 did not bob up or down. Its attitude was all, Hey, 193 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.639 you're lucky to be alive. You punk human. For lack 194 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:46.080 of a better word, it took the fifteen year old 195 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:50.039 boy right out of me. Other people like me have 196 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:53.200 had similar encounters and won't say a word to anybody, 197 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:56.320 partly because we don't want to be laughed at. I 198 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:59.480 don't know which screws you up more mentally the encounter 199 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:03.200 of the doubters that hang labels on you. There are 200 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:05.799 a lot of fake videos on the internet, and to 201 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:08.960 those uploading them, I would say, please, don't insult my 202 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.440 intelligence by claiming these stage clips are real. They always 203 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:17.080 missed the mark by about four feet or five hundred pounds. 204 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:21.080 In my thirty plus years of digging into this topic, 205 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:24.039 with all the cover ups, the lies, and the truth 206 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:27.960 that would blow the average person's mind away, it's just 207 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.279 another day at the office. To me. I've read thousands 208 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:36.480 of testimonials and stored thousands of pictures and videos that day, 209 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.919 the gun and I were both useless in every sense 210 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:43.679 of the word. To those who want to find a bigfoot, 211 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:47.559 I would say, don't even try to those that have 212 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:55.200 I'm sorry, and I mean that. I remember it vividly. 213 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.440 It was a summer of nineteen ninety eight. Sarah, my 214 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.360 wife the time, and I had spent a lovely first 215 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:05.759 week of our vacation with my parents and siblings in 216 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:10.039 Michigan's Upper Peninsula along the southern shore of Lake Superior, 217 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.840 camping and canoeing near the mouth of the Two Hearted River. 218 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:17.240 It is a wild and beautiful place that I have 219 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:20.799 been visiting since my childhood, and it always seems to 220 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:25.320 call me back. Sarah and I had not spent much 221 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.159 time in the lower portion of Michigan before, so we 222 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:30.720 decided to split off from the rest of the family 223 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.960 and do some exploring For the remainder of our vacation. 224 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:38.879 We spent several relaxing days at Lake Anne State Forest, 225 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:42.399 then planned to break camp take a day to hike 226 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:46.320 the Sleeping Bear Dunes, which culminates with the breathtaking view 227 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:50.279 of Lake Michigan and its many shades of blue. This 228 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:55.000 is where the story begins. The day was sunny and hot, 229 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:58.320 and by late afternoon the ambient temperature on the dunes 230 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:02.399 was probably hovering around any degrees or above, and we 231 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:06.080 were ready to be done. Once we completed our hike, 232 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:09.600 we planned to find a camp site, preferably by the water, 233 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:13.759 and then drive back home to Ohio. The following day, 234 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:18.240 we stopped at the ranger station to inquire about nearby camping, 235 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:21.360 only to discover that pretty much every campground in this 236 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.919 part of Michigan was full. In retrospect. I should have 237 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.519 expected this since it was a Friday in the high 238 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:34.080 summer and had a very popular destination for weekend vacationers. 239 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.840 The ranger told us that we were probably out of luck, 240 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.200 though he knew of a trail camp some ten miles distant, 241 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:46.360 primarily used by equestrian campers. It wasn't much to look at, 242 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:50.480 yet would do as an overnighter. I was grateful for 243 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.840 the tip, and we thanked the ranger and set out 244 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.000 for our destination, and we followed the directions he had 245 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:00.639 written down for us. The site was it's not easy 246 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:03.279 to find, since it ended up being on a road 247 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.759 or off a road off another road, but we finally 248 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:10.679 located it and pulled into the entrance. We travel further 249 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:13.679 down the dusty gravel course that ended with a loop 250 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:17.600 and a clearing. It was sparse, with trees and hitching 251 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:22.200 posts set at regular intervals. To our surprise, there was 252 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:26.480 absolutely no one within view, and my first thought was perfect, 253 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:29.799 we'll have this place to ourselves. And I turned off 254 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:31.639 the van and we got out to look around and 255 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:36.960 decide which site to choose. This is when things got freaky. 256 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:39.840 As in aside, I should point out that I have 257 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:43.440 always considered myself to be somewhat of a psychic brick. 258 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:47.279 If anyone is going to hear ghosts talk with their 259 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:51.360 spirit guides or have premonitions, it isn't going to be me. 260 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.279 Not that I'm not open to it. I'm just not 261 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:58.639 very sensitive in that way. The sun was getting low 262 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:01.240 in the sky and the air was warm, but still 263 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:04.960 it was quiet here, even peaceful. Yet I could not 264 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:09.360 explain this growing sense of dread. I scanned the area 265 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:14.600 to explain my cognitive dissonance. Where was this perceived danger 266 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.679 coming from? All I saw was an apparently tranquil meadow 267 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.799 with nobody around in virtually no places for a threat 268 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:26.879 to be concealed. I pushed down the feeling, telling myself 269 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.080 that I was just imagining things all because I didn't 270 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:33.480 want to worry Sarah. She looked at me and she asked, so, 271 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:37.159 what do you think. I don't know. I said, something 272 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:41.639 feels off. She agreed too quickly, and it turned out 273 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:44.600 that she had been sensing the same unease and didn't 274 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:47.440 want to mention it to me either. Let's get the 275 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.080 hell out of here, I said, in a low voice, 276 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:53.639 without wasting another moment, we hurried back to the van 277 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.399 and locked the doors and spun the tires in our haste, 278 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.759 leaving a cloud of dust behind all to put some 279 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:05.960 distance between us and a nameless menace. We traveled east 280 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:09.359 toward home, and we molded over, trying to understand what 281 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:14.079 had just transpired. There had been absolutely no visual or 282 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:18.240 auditory que to indicate that anything was amiss in that camp, 283 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:22.039 yet we both had the distinct feeling that something very 284 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:25.559 bad was about to occur, and had we stayed, we 285 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:31.440 most certainly might die. Since then, I have never experienced 286 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:35.680 that level of dread for something that didn't happen. More 287 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:38.839 than twenty four years later, I still think about it 288 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:42.400 from time to time, and I wonder what did we avoid? 289 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.720 Had there been an axe murderer in camouflages hiding behind 290 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:51.799 a tree preparing to pounce. Was something paranormal about to unfold? 291 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.759 I wonder if that feeling of something being wrong precedes 292 00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:59.759 an abduction event or the spontaneous opening of time and 293 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:05.039 based portals. Only many years later did I discover that 294 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:09.079 the Great Lakes area, particularly Michigan, is known for its 295 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:14.000 unexplained disappearances of people, ships, and aircraft, as well as 296 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:18.680 other paranormal activity. On multiple occasions, I have tried to 297 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:23.079 locate the trail camp that we visited using Internet searches 298 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:27.759 based on its probable position, but without any success, and 299 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:33.799 unfortunately the original written directions have long been lost. Did 300 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:37.640 we wander into and out of an unstable pocket of 301 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:41.519 reality just before it collapsed? I'd love to know the 302 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:45.519 answer from a distance, though I'm eternally thankful that we 303 00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:53.599 didn't experience at firsthand whatever it was. Back in nineteen 304 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:56.519 seventy five, while we were in law school, a friend 305 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.799 of mine and I were fishing in Lake Chappaka on 306 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:04.119 the Canadian Washington border. At that time, the road to 307 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:08.400 the lake was long, dirt, rough and rocky drive. They 308 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:10.599 may have paved it since then. I really don't know. 309 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.039 We were poor students who didn't have trucks or four 310 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.039 wheel drives in the lake, but instead we had my 311 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:23.400 family's old Volvo. Volvos and rocky roads don't mix well. 312 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:26.920 But soon he'd lost his steering or transmission or some 313 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:29.880 damn thing, and I crawled under the car to take 314 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:33.200 a look. When he fired it up, a stream of 315 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.119 fluid came shooting out of a metal tube. Apparently a 316 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.119 rock had punctured the line. We had no choice but 317 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:43.960 to try to make it back to civilization, and we 318 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.680 got to the main highway before we could go no further. 319 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:52.599 As we sat there, a huge yellow nineteen sixty Pontiac 320 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:57.559 convertible pulled up. A six foot five inch tall man 321 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:01.039 got out and asked if he could help. The man 322 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:05.200 looked rather strange. He was very pale and long bleached 323 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:08.960 blonde hair that was combed straight back. He was slender 324 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:12.200 belt and had bird like features. But hell, he wanted 325 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:14.880 to help and we needed to get to the nearest town. 326 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:19.640 We explained our circumstances and he said, no problem, I 327 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:23.440 can help. He walked back and opened his massive trunk, 328 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:28.319 and inside we could see his entire life. Clothing was 329 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.920 deeply folded in the cardboard box, and toilet trees were 330 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:37.160 organized in another. We saw framed photographs, food and water, 331 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:40.799 and tools, and you name it, he had it. He 332 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:43.960 proceeded to pull a long four inch nylon strap out 333 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:45.839 of a box and affix it to the front of 334 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.000 the volvough and then towed us into town, which boasted 335 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:55.200 a gas station and very little else. The attendant put 336 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:58.400 the car on the hoist and proclaimed that we were screwed. 337 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.039 He had nothing to place a tube on the volvo, 338 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:05.680 and before we had time to digest this fact, our 339 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:10.480 newly acquired friend, who had been standing patiently and knowingly nearby, 340 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.640 again proclaimed I can help. He then walked back to 341 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:18.559 the cavernous truck and pulled out a small rubber hose 342 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:22.119 and two small hose clamps, and followed by a hack saw. 343 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:26.519 The hose was soon replaced, but the gas station didn't 344 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:29.359 have the fluid we needed, and it should have come 345 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:32.720 as no surprise when our blonde friend dove back into 346 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:38.200 his trunk and produced the proper fluid. Our amusement had 347 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:42.799 now progressed a full on amazement. We offered to pay him, 348 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:47.640 but he refused any form of compensation except for the fluid. 349 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:51.319 He then offered to follow us out of town to 350 00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:55.799 make sure everything worked okay. About five miles out, the 351 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.480 road straightened and went uphill. We heard the roar of 352 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:02.400 his huge as he passed us at a high rate 353 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:05.960 of speed, smiling and waving with his blond hair flying 354 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:09.400 in the wind. It's a side I will never forget. 355 00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:12.960 And then as he screamed up the hill in front 356 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:18.039 of us, he and his convertible vanished. They faded away. 357 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:22.559 There were no side roads, no turn offs, no brake lights, nothing. 358 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:27.079 The dude was just gone. My friend and I looked 359 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:30.279 at each other. Our eyes were wide. Where the hell 360 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.119 did he go? I asked. We slowed and looked along 361 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.279 the roadway, but neither of us could find a place 362 00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:40.400 where he could have pulled off the road. He simply 363 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:45.519 disappeared into thin air. My companion has since passed away, 364 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.799 and I'm pushing it, but I will not be surprised 365 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:52.400 at all if upon crossing over that blonde guy will 366 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:57.680 be there to guide me along. This is a true story. 367 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.079 It wasn't until I listened to you tell other people's 368 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:07.200 UFO encounters on your channel that I decided to share mine. 369 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.880 I hope I can put it into words, as I 370 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:13.039 have never told this story to anyone except my husband, 371 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:16.920 and that was only recently. So in your words, here 372 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:20.240 we go, all right, here we go. Though I'm forty 373 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:22.759 one now, on the time of my encounter, I was 374 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:25.799 ten years old and living with my parents in Arkansas. 375 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:29.720 We were in my father's pickup truck heading home after 376 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:33.200 a visit with one of his friends. It was late. 377 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:36.839 It was past midnight on one of those clear summer 378 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:39.240 nights where you can see every star in the sky. 379 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.920 I was tired, and, as I always did on long 380 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.160 journeys at night with my folks, I laid my head 381 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:48.759 on my mother's shoulder so I could close my eyes 382 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:53.039 and nap. On the way home, we were probably only 383 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:57.000 thirty minutes from our house. I caught glimpses of the 384 00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:59.799 stars as I drifted in and out of sleep because 385 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.920 of the bumpy back roads my father always took to 386 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:06.240 get us home a little quicker. Suddenly, I heard my 387 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:10.359 mother call out my father's name, Wane. She said to him, 388 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:13.759 as my father snapped to attention behind the steering wheel. 389 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:18.000 What in the world is that, she said. I opened 390 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:20.880 my eyes and I saw my mother steering in disbelief 391 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:24.720 at something she'd spotted through the driver's side window. I 392 00:24:24.759 --> 00:24:27.799 looked in the same direction and my mouth fell open. 393 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:32.640 There was a huge cigar shaped object over a pasture 394 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:36.200 just off the road, maybe one hundred yards away, and 395 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:40.599 it was hovering in the air. The trees blocked some 396 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:43.559 of our view, but the object was so close that 397 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:46.720 I could see. It had what looked like portholes that 398 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:49.279 dotted the sides and went around the hall, just like 399 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:53.400 a ship. The moon was bright that night, so I 400 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:56.680 could tell it was gray or silver in color. And 401 00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:59.480