1 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety six, twenty years after graduating from college, 2 00:00:14,759 --> 00:00:18,800 Roger reconnected with a former roommate in an adjacent state. 3 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,839 His friend had always been interested in ghosts and had 4 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,719 joined a ghost hunting club. He invited Roger to join 5 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,640 his club on a hunt in Beaver Creek State Park 6 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:35,039 in Ohio. Roger was excited to go. There are no 7 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,880 cities in the area, only a few small towns. The 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,159 woods are thick, and they're famous among ghost hunters for 9 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:47,560 a variety of alleged haunted places. On the weekend of 10 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,799 the excursion, Roger packed a sleeping bag and drove from 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,280 southwest Michigan to Beaver Creek State Park to meet up 12 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,880 with the group. He had never had a paranormal experience 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,039 in his life. While his former college roommate was sensitive 14 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,840 and could detect changes in the ambience when ghosts were around, 15 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,799 Roger was as insensitive as they come. He is a 16 00:01:10,879 --> 00:01:14,079 scientist by profession and was a skeptic of the group, 17 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,879 they pitched their tents and ate their dinner and cooked 18 00:01:17,879 --> 00:01:21,560 over a campfire, and the group relaxed with the preparatory 19 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,319 chores for ghost hunting. There were a couple of techies 20 00:01:25,359 --> 00:01:30,280 among the group. One fellow wielded an EMF meter, which 21 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:35,120 supposedly spikes when paranormal forces are nearby. However, it will 22 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,640 also detect electrical lines in a building. Another fellow was 23 00:01:39,719 --> 00:01:44,640 handed a digital thermometer, because ghosts allegedly create coal spots 24 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:49,000 as they suck up the thermal energy to fuel their activity. 25 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,280 There were several polaroid cameras in the group, as well 26 00:01:52,319 --> 00:01:56,519 as a few electronic cameras. Orbs that many don't see 27 00:01:56,519 --> 00:01:59,599 with the neked eye can often be captured on camera, 28 00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:04,000 though naysayers attribute them to lights scattered by dust, fog, 29 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:09,319 or even insects. There was also an infrared video camera 30 00:02:09,439 --> 00:02:12,680 in the group, which was rare and expensive in nineteen 31 00:02:12,759 --> 00:02:17,840 ninety six. The infrared camera detects heat sources and displays 32 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:23,000 these in false color, in this case orange. Somewhere in 33 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:27,319 the group there was an electronic voice phenomenon recorder. It 34 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,240 creates a background of white noise over which recordings are made, 35 00:02:31,759 --> 00:02:37,199 and playbacks often include faint, ghostly voices answering questions or 36 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:42,400 worse yet, threatening intruders. Deniers say that such voices are 37 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:47,159 caused by auditory periodolia. Now paradolia is when the brain 38 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,639 is presented with something that can't quite figure out, and 39 00:02:50,719 --> 00:02:54,400 it interprets it as a common object. This is the 40 00:02:54,439 --> 00:02:59,319 phenomenon behind people seeing faces in burnt toast and hearing 41 00:02:59,439 --> 00:03:03,599 music voices when a fan is running. The white noise 42 00:03:03,719 --> 00:03:07,840 creates interference that confuses the brain into generating words from 43 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,759 what is otherwise and nonsensical input. The group was camped 44 00:03:12,759 --> 00:03:15,280 along the edge of the forest, and as they sat 45 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,759 around the campfire, eating marshmallows and exchanging stories and waiting 46 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,120 for dark, they heard a noise in the nearby woods. 47 00:03:24,039 --> 00:03:26,960 Out of nowhere, a man broke through the clearing and 48 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,520 then he asked if we had heard or seen anything. 49 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,879 We just heard you, they said. He reached into his 50 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,319 pocket and pulled out a business card with information about 51 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:42,159 his bigfoot hunting club. So, not to be outdone, Roger's 52 00:03:42,159 --> 00:03:45,120 friend pulled a business card from his pocket with information 53 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:50,080 about his ghost hunting group. The interloper explained that Beaver 54 00:03:50,159 --> 00:03:53,719 Creek State Park is a hotbed of bigfoot activity, and 55 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,400 the officers of the ghost hunting club said the area 56 00:03:56,599 --> 00:04:00,800 was also well known for its hauntings. The tracker wished 57 00:04:00,879 --> 00:04:03,840 us luck and proceeded to his group camp several spots 58 00:04:03,879 --> 00:04:08,000 away from us. After he was out of earshot, several 59 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,439 of the ghost hunting group joked about the crazy bigfoot hunters, 60 00:04:11,879 --> 00:04:14,599 but they were self aware enough to comment that his 61 00:04:14,639 --> 00:04:19,519 group was probably laughing about the silly ghost hunters. Well, 62 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,680 darkness fell and the fires were put out, and the 63 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,360 group assembled for the hunt. The first order of business 64 00:04:26,439 --> 00:04:29,839 was to visit a lock where supposedly the face of 65 00:04:29,879 --> 00:04:32,399 a woman is visible in the window of one of 66 00:04:32,399 --> 00:04:37,079 the buildings. She was buried somewhere in the embankment along 67 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,279 one of the locks, which is allegedly haunted. Afterward, they 68 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,720 drove to the area haunted by Simon Kenton, a man 69 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:49,399 captured by the natives and held near another lock. He escaped, 70 00:04:49,399 --> 00:04:52,120 but his spirit is supposed to appear near the lock, 71 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,000 and Kenton's ghost is also reported to haunt several other 72 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,879 areas in Ohio, separated by hundreds of miles. His spirit 73 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:06,120 apparently gets around. The moon had not risen and it 74 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,439 was pitch black in the dense forest. The group walked 75 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:14,160 through unbroken, brushy terrain without trails. Roger felt a hard, 76 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,680 flat rock under his foot, and he stopped abruptly and 77 00:05:17,759 --> 00:05:20,759 looked ahead with his flashlight and saw that he had 78 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,160 come to an abandoned lock with a drop off twelve 79 00:05:24,399 --> 00:05:28,160 feet straight down just under his feet. He was lucky 80 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,639 not to have become one of the ghosts of Beaver Creek. 81 00:05:31,639 --> 00:05:34,160 The group carefully returned to their cars and drove to 82 00:05:34,199 --> 00:05:38,480 find the ghost of gangster pretty Boy Floyd. Word had 83 00:05:38,519 --> 00:05:41,079 it that he did not like being called pretty boy, 84 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,920 and that calling him by that name might rile his spirit, 85 00:05:44,519 --> 00:05:46,800 but no amount of insults got him to show up 86 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,639 that night. The night had been uneventful up until that point. 87 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,959 There was lots of speculation, several cases of things people 88 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,480 heard or may have heard, but mostly quiet until they 89 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,959 arrived at the cemetery. It was large for a private cemetery, 90 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,639 with maybe seventy five graves, many of them dating back 91 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,759 to the early eighteen hundreds, and some of them were 92 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,480 more recent. There was a little moonlight by now, but 93 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,800 not much. People were looking for orbs when the fellow 94 00:06:18,879 --> 00:06:23,199 with the infrared VCR excitedly whispered to the group, come 95 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:28,839 here and look. His display showed light reflected from tombstones. 96 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,040 Moths could be easily identified, but the air above the 97 00:06:33,079 --> 00:06:38,279 cemetery contained a number of bright rubber band shaped images, 98 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,279 expanding and contracting from about two feet around to six 99 00:06:43,319 --> 00:06:47,079 feet long, floating and moving just over the group's head. 100 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,839 One suddenly expanded and dove into a grave mound and 101 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:57,000 it was gone. Another dove into a headstone and it vanished. 102 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,800 Another emanated from a different grave and joined the group 103 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:06,319 floating along. These shapes were clearly not insects, dust, or 104 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:12,839 lens flares, and Roger could provide no logical explanation. The 105 00:07:12,879 --> 00:07:16,240 group watched this display for thirty minutes before calling it 106 00:07:16,319 --> 00:07:21,120 a night, and they arrived back at camp at three am. Fortunately, 107 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:25,079 they saw no signs of bigfoot. Roger was almost swallowed 108 00:07:25,079 --> 00:07:27,519 by a dry canal, which taught him a lesson about 109 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,399 wandering off the path in the forest late at night, 110 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:36,680 and he saw paranormal activity for which he had no explanation. Now, 111 00:07:36,759 --> 00:07:39,319 Roger's a little old now to be driving hundreds of 112 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,120 miles and staying up most of the night to hunt ghost, 113 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,560 but he still remains mystified. By that night. In the 114 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:52,279 cemetery in the backwoods of Ohio, I worked in a 115 00:07:52,319 --> 00:07:56,959 restricted area in the Nevada Desert. The place was to 116 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:02,519 be perfectly candid, full of strangeness, like clockwork, something weird, 117 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,920 what happened all too often. I spent six years at 118 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,399 this place, working exclusively at night, training to be an 119 00:08:09,399 --> 00:08:14,879 excellent observer and reporter. Learning to track individuals and estimate 120 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,959 ranges at night quickly taught me how the mind can 121 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:23,079 distort details even when the memory is fresh. Even unwitting 122 00:08:23,199 --> 00:08:27,920 observers tend to exaggerate details unless they discipline their minds 123 00:08:28,079 --> 00:08:31,920 as the brain struggles to fill the gaps. Knowing about 124 00:08:31,959 --> 00:08:35,080 these breaches and our being, I learned to cut fat 125 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:41,240 from the reporting and deliver frank, unexaggerated facts. On my 126 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,799 first night out there, during my orientation of the area, 127 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,559 several of our security patrols got into a chase with 128 00:08:48,639 --> 00:08:52,519 a small ball of bright shining light. It was the 129 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,440 size of a vehicle headlight, but interestingly, it did not 130 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:00,840 seem to illuminate the desert around it. It didn't pose 131 00:09:00,879 --> 00:09:04,799 a recognizable threat. It just ran along the edge of 132 00:09:04,799 --> 00:09:07,919 the perimeter before taking a thirty degree turn to the 133 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,679 left and shooting off into the darkness over a stretch 134 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:16,279 of terrain impossible for our military vehicles to follow at 135 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,440 such high speeds. I watched the race ensue from a 136 00:09:20,519 --> 00:09:23,759 hilltop looking down a long part of our vast perimeter. 137 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,960 Years later, a partner and I were posted on what 138 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:33,559 we called an exterior patrol. These were patrols on the 139 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:39,799 outermost perimeter that intercepted anyone who inadvertently or purposefully approached 140 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:44,919 our location. We often got lost ATV riders or dirt 141 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,679 bike riders who'd be in for a shock of their 142 00:09:47,759 --> 00:09:52,080 lives as a heavily armed patrol intercepted them and escorted 143 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,320 them away. Anyone who has served around aircraft in the 144 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:00,519 military has heard the old tales about grimlins, the tiny 145 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:05,879 creatures allegedly attracted to aircraft and bombs, often blamed for 146 00:10:06,039 --> 00:10:10,279 all manner of mishaps. Personally, I was not a believer, 147 00:10:10,519 --> 00:10:16,080 but that night, something strange really happened. It was one 148 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:20,600 point thirty on a very still, quiet desert evening. My 149 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:23,200 partner and I had just part near a hot pad 150 00:10:23,279 --> 00:10:26,720 full of ordnance waiting to be loaded onto an aircraft 151 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:31,200 when we heard a clear, distinct whistle. By then, I'd 152 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,879 spent several years working twelve hour night shifts and was 153 00:10:34,919 --> 00:10:38,320 familiar with the wildlife in the area, so this whistle 154 00:10:38,399 --> 00:10:42,360 stood out as more than peculiar, but since neither of 155 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,960 us had been trained to jump to a fantastic conclusions, 156 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,559 we decided it was likely an odd bird and we 157 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,399 ignored it. Shortly after that, we heard the whistle again, 158 00:10:53,759 --> 00:10:57,320 and we decided to check it out. We got out 159 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,759 of the vehicles and approached the hot pad, hearing the 160 00:10:59,759 --> 00:11:03,399 whistle once again, only this time from within the tall, 161 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:08,480 stacked rows of ordnance. It had sort of a melodic tone, 162 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,039 well within the range of what I would expect a 163 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:15,559 bird to be capable of producing, yet extremely peculiar. At 164 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:19,440 the same time, the whistle kept sounding like it was 165 00:11:19,519 --> 00:11:23,639 moving deeper within the ordinance, either fleeing from us as 166 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:28,159 we approached, or perhaps luring us in. By this point, 167 00:11:28,279 --> 00:11:32,639 weird had become a workable staple, and this ranked extremely 168 00:11:32,759 --> 00:11:35,919 low on the scale of strangeness, so we didn't think 169 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,039 much of it. It was nothing more than a curious 170 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:43,399 diversion for two very bored troopers, so I told my 171 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,120 partner to move along the perimeter of the hot pad 172 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,720 towards the rear while I plunged into the rows of 173 00:11:48,759 --> 00:11:53,200 stacked equipment to investigate on my own. I figured if 174 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,480 it was an animal, I would inevitably flush it out 175 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:58,759 the other side and my partner would get a very 176 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,120 clear view of it through night vision, and then settled 177 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,879 the mystery. As I moved along the rose, with the 178 00:12:05,879 --> 00:12:10,639 whistling continued always ahead of me. I cleared the rose 179 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,440 on the other side of where my partner had been waiting, 180 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:17,200 but he had seen nothing exit the pad. Much to 181 00:12:17,279 --> 00:12:20,679 our surprise, we heard the whistle again, this time from 182 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,639 a small way into the desert. Whatever it was had 183 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:29,759 slept right past my partner, unheard and unseen. He shrugged 184 00:12:29,799 --> 00:12:34,000 it off as yet another strange peculiarity of our work environment. 185 00:12:34,519 --> 00:12:38,399 Until we returned to our vehicle, we heard the whistle 186 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:43,039 again from the hot pad. It wasn't a particularly scary situation. 187 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,600 It was just perplexing, and it called to mind the 188 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,039 rumors of grimlins that loved to play pranks on air 189 00:12:50,159 --> 00:12:55,120 crews and bomb guy since World War II. We remained 190 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,480 in the area just to make sure this thing wasn't 191 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,200 a threat to the equipment, but eventually the whistling stopped 192 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:06,639 and the night remained quiet. A year before I received 193 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,600 my honorable discharge, I was once more on an exterior 194 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:15,200 patrol where most of the weird stuff happened. A patrol 195 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,000 in the inner perimeter reported they had spotted vehicle headlights 196 00:13:19,039 --> 00:13:23,159 on a nearby mountain. Now this wasn't a strange occurrence. 197 00:13:23,759 --> 00:13:28,279 People would inadvertently wander into our outermost security perimeters from 198 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,840 time to time without realizing it. Most of the time, 199 00:13:31,879 --> 00:13:34,960 we just sat quietly and observed, and only moved to 200 00:13:35,039 --> 00:13:38,519 intercept if they were heading straight for us. It was 201 00:13:38,639 --> 00:13:42,080 best not to draw attention to ourselves or our location. 202 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:46,120 My partner and I drove to a bluff from which 203 00:13:46,159 --> 00:13:49,440 we could observe the approaching headlights and quickly move to 204 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,639 intercept them if we needed to. Upon arriving, I verified 205 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,480 the headlights. They were clearly visible about two miles away 206 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:01,399 on the gentle slope of a nearby mountain. In the 207 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,519 night vision, I could even see the headlights bouncing up 208 00:14:04,519 --> 00:14:08,600 and down, illuminating the ground sporadically, the way a truck 209 00:14:08,639 --> 00:14:12,399 would on a bumpy road. It began to draw near 210 00:14:12,519 --> 00:14:15,919 enough to cause some concern. We started thinking we'd soon 211 00:14:16,039 --> 00:14:19,519 have to move to a blocking position, and then the 212 00:14:19,559 --> 00:14:24,440 headlights suddenly went out. Knowing the terrain, I understood that 213 00:14:24,519 --> 00:14:27,320 the vehicle had yet to enter a series of waddies 214 00:14:27,639 --> 00:14:30,559 where it could have slipped out of sight. So the 215 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:35,080 headlight suddenly going dark made my alarm bells ring. Clearly 216 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,879 it was somebody who knew what he was approaching and 217 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,720 did not want to be seen. We would occasionally get 218 00:14:41,799 --> 00:14:46,440 curious ofvilians coming too close looking for a thrill or 219 00:14:46,559 --> 00:14:52,240 for alien spacecraft, but our greatest concern was intelligence gathering 220 00:14:52,399 --> 00:14:57,200 by foreign agents. We called in asking for a powerful 221 00:14:57,279 --> 00:15:01,879 infrared camera mounted on a tall to begin scanning the mountain. 222 00:15:03,039 --> 00:15:05,639 While it got to work, I used our own thermals 223 00:15:05,639 --> 00:15:10,240 a night vision, quickly moving to a blocking position. The 224 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:15,240 situation had become a legitimate security concern. We received back 225 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,399 up from a canine unit, and several patrols had taken 226 00:15:18,519 --> 00:15:22,039 up positions on high ground to observe the desert and 227 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:26,360 gain a better vantage point. For a few long minutes, 228 00:15:26,559 --> 00:15:29,320 we saw and heard nothing, and the dog did not 229 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:34,240 indicate once that it had detected anything. And then suddenly, 230 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,440 over the radio, one of the inner patrols called out 231 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,519 a bright colored light directly at our three o'clock, several 232 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,039 hundred meters away, moving slowly toward us. We turned to 233 00:15:46,039 --> 00:15:49,799 our attention in that direction, yet we saw and heard nothing, 234 00:15:50,799 --> 00:15:54,919 despite the desert being relatively flat with nothing blocking our view. 235 00:15:56,159 --> 00:15:59,519 Shortly after that, a second patrol called out a second light, 236 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,519 this time at our twelve o'clock, several hundred meters away 237 00:16:03,559 --> 00:16:07,440 and moving toward us as well. Once more, we saw 238 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:12,399 and heard absolutely nothing, and the dog never once detected anything. 239 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,679 Shortly after the second call, a panic patrolman called out 240 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,279 a third light, this time to our nine o'clock, and 241 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,440 again we couldn't see it. At this point I felt 242 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:30,279 a bit of fear. Something invisible and soundless was moving 243 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,679 toward our position. My security commander requested that I switch 244 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,840 radio channels where we could talk openly and clearly. I 245 00:16:38,919 --> 00:16:43,799 remember his words to this day, Hey, Bud, Yeah, I 246 00:16:43,799 --> 00:16:46,039 don't know what's going on, but I can see them 247 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,919 and they're coming straight at you. That was unsettling, to 248 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,960 say the least, and I immediately ordered the guys with 249 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,960 me to ready their weapons. My partner had attached an 250 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,200 M two three grenade launcher, and I ordered him to 251 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,919 stick one in the barrel. If these things coming at 252 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,279 us were vehicles, they were threatening to run over us. 253 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:12,319 The three of us faced to our threes nine and twelves, 254 00:17:12,519 --> 00:17:15,559 but the dog along with this handler on the nine position. 255 00:17:16,799 --> 00:17:20,440 Still we heard and saw nothing. The dog wasn't picking 256 00:17:20,519 --> 00:17:24,599 up anything. Another panic call came over the radio from 257 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:27,720 a patrolman saying the lights were almost on top of us. 258 00:17:28,519 --> 00:17:31,640 We waited, We prepared for the action to break out 259 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,960 at any second, when I realized the lights should have 260 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,359 been on top of us by now, and not only that, 261 00:17:38,559 --> 00:17:41,000 it had been several minutes since we had heard a 262 00:17:41,039 --> 00:17:44,960 single radio call. The other guys all seemed to be 263 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,119 thinking the same thing, so I called over the radio 264 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,440 back to security control and got no response. We tried 265 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,319 our backup channel and all three of our radios, but 266 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,599 got nothing. We waited and watched for another minute until 267 00:17:59,599 --> 00:18:01,799 I found only made a command decision to head back 268 00:18:01,839 --> 00:18:04,480 to the vehicles, deciding it was more important to re 269 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,440 establish radio contact than to sit in the desert trying 270 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:13,039 to find ghosts. Now, this is where time got weird. 271 00:18:13,519 --> 00:18:17,799 When we finally re established radio contact a long while later, 272 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:21,359 we were told to immediately head to our security control 273 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:25,799 center and meet our commander. I can't go into details 274 00:18:25,799 --> 00:18:28,680 of the briefing, but to make a long story short, 275 00:18:29,079 --> 00:18:32,680 he confirmed the lights, confirmed that everyone had seen them 276 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,799 converge on our position, and that we had been out 277 00:18:35,839 --> 00:18:40,559 of radio contact for much longer than we realized. Not minutes, 278 00:18:40,599 --> 00:18:46,000 he clarified it was nearly an hour. Not long before 279 00:18:46,039 --> 00:18:49,599 I left the military, we held training exercises every night 280 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,559 to keep our tracking and facility assault skills sharp in 281 00:18:53,599 --> 00:18:55,960 case we ever had to track down in an intruder 282 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,400 or retake a facility from a hostile force. This would 283 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,440 typically last half an hour to several hours if it 284 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:08,680 were a true manhaunt exercise, which was by far my favorite. 285 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,119 On this particular night, however, we undertook a fairly simple 286 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:17,640 facility assault exercise, using a training structure specifically made for this. 287 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:22,200 Given the sensitive nature of the materials we guarded, our 288 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,640 policy was to have a fifteen man assault force ready 289 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:30,319 and actively retaking a structure within five minutes of an alarm, 290 00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:34,839 no matter where the alarm was. Part of this assault 291 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,720 included the actual assault team, which would clear the facility 292 00:19:39,039 --> 00:19:44,079 and exterior security to watch the team's back. This included 293 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,079 two separate machine gun teams who would set up on 294 00:19:47,279 --> 00:19:51,799 overwatched positions somewhere they could see large swaths of the 295 00:19:51,839 --> 00:19:54,599 desert around us. In case, the bad guys were planning 296 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,680 to ambush our assault team from behind out in the 297 00:19:57,799 --> 00:20:02,759 dark desert night. This night's exercise went by the numbers. 298 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,039 Our assault team was ready to penetrate within two and 299 00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:09,640 a half minutes of alarm activation when suddenly one of 300 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,599 our overwatching its called in that they had two individuals 301 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:18,960 on their thermal imaging. The individuals were lying prone fifty 302 00:20:19,039 --> 00:20:22,160 meters behind us out in the desert, and their heat 303 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,640 signature was clear as day against the cool desert ground. 304 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:32,079 Nothing stops or recapture assault, so the exterior security repositioned 305 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,839 while the assault team prepared to make entry. When our commander, 306 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,119 who was supervising the training, called an immediate halt to 307 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:44,240 the exercise. I was the onseen commander of responding forces. 308 00:20:44,839 --> 00:20:47,279 He called me over and told me in a deathly 309 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,079 serious tone, I don't have any guys out there, and 310 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,440 this is real world, and then he barked orders for 311 00:20:54,519 --> 00:20:59,240 a sweeping element to be formed. We initiated a real 312 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:04,519 world's security penetration, which created an absolute crap storm of 313 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,000 consequences for our poor security controller, who had to immediately 314 00:21:09,079 --> 00:21:14,319 notify all manner of military and federal authorities. Then we 315 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:18,400 set up a sweeping element consisting of twelve individuals arranged 316 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,799 in a long line. Our plan was to push toward 317 00:21:21,839 --> 00:21:24,759 the contacts out in the desert and flush them out. 318 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,640 Our overwatching patrol, who had originally spotted the individuals on 319 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,759 their thermals, were our only eyes on the potential hostiles. 320 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,960 Let me tell you nothing feels worse than advancing toward 321 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,839 two potential hostiles you can't see, knowing you are a 322 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,920 perfectly silhouetted target. We'd been trained to walk chest forward 323 00:21:48,079 --> 00:21:50,319 so that if we took around, it would strike the 324 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:54,240 plate on our armored vest, and as I had numerous 325 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,759 times before in my career, I found myself praying that 326 00:21:57,839 --> 00:22:00,920 whoever this was would shoot center mass like a good boy. 327 00:22:02,559 --> 00:22:04,960 I suppose if this had been a Hollywood film, we 328 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,000 would have been moving quickly through the desert, gung ho 329 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,240 and ready for a fight. But real life is different. 330 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,240 We had a saying slow is smooth, and smooth as 331 00:22:15,279 --> 00:22:20,400 fast it meant. We moved with purpose, but carefully, valuing 332 00:22:20,519 --> 00:22:25,079 accuracy and mobility over haste. You can't hit the broad 333 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:27,440 side of a barn if you're rushing like an idiot, 334 00:22:27,759 --> 00:22:30,920 especially when it's a nighttime in the wilderness, and you 335 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,799 can't see what you're supposed to be engaging, and that 336 00:22:35,039 --> 00:22:38,000 was also our problem. We couldn't see what we were 337 00:22:38,079 --> 00:22:42,720 after the terrain heavily favored the two individuals hiding in it, 338 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,880 and it was thick with bushes and tumbleweeds. Only our 339 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,200 overwatching machine gun team with the high ground had a 340 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,680 clear line of sight to them. Even our thermals were 341 00:22:53,799 --> 00:22:58,039 useless because of all the vegetation in the way. As 342 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,519 we moved toward the targets, our o watch patrol reported 343 00:23:01,559 --> 00:23:04,119 that the two individuals had lain on the ground and 344 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:09,640 were slowly sliding backward, reacting to our movements. The handheld 345 00:23:09,759 --> 00:23:13,000 thermals at the time were good, but from that distance 346 00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:16,039 they could only make out a vague man like shape 347 00:23:16,319 --> 00:23:19,720 and provided few clear details. Aside from the fact that 348 00:23:19,759 --> 00:23:23,640 the figures clearly had two arms and two legs, there 349 00:23:23,759 --> 00:23:26,599 was no way to tell whether they were carrying equipment, 350 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,319 if they were armed, or who or what they might be. 351 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,519 I got nervous when our overwatch called out that we 352 00:23:33,519 --> 00:23:37,119 were only twenty meters away and yet we still couldn't 353 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:42,200 see a thing. And then the figures suddenly disappeared. They 354 00:23:42,279 --> 00:23:45,039 didn't run or cross somewhere that blocked the line of 355 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,680 sight to the thermal unit or disguised their heat signature. 356 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,759 They just straight up disappeared. They blinked right out of existence. 357 00:23:53,839 --> 00:23:57,160 As far as the heat sensitive thermal unit was concerned. 358 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,519 The news hit the sweeping l like a lightning bolt, 359 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,880 but we pressed on nonetheless. When we finally reached the 360 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,200 exact location where our overwatch had last spotted the individuals, 361 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:14,359 our own thermals confirmed residual heat on the ground from 362 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,279 two warm bodies having been pressed against it for several minutes. 363 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,480 Whatever or whomever the machine gun team had spotted was real. 364 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,240 We spent the rest of the night conducting an exhaustive 365 00:24:28,319 --> 00:24:32,279 search but found nothing. None of our perimeter alarms had 366 00:24:32,279 --> 00:24:35,759 ever been triggered, and we had three different alarm systems 367 00:24:35,799 --> 00:24:41,519 forming a wall of detection that was completely impenetrable. Surprisingly, 368 00:24:41,799 --> 00:24:45,079 we were never officially debriefed on the incident, and the 369 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:50,039 Air Force Office of Special Investigations wasn't contacted either. As 370 00:24:50,039 --> 00:24:54,000 far as I'm aware, It's almost as if everyone in 371 00:24:54,079 --> 00:24:58,559 a vast chain of responsibility ignored what happened after it 372 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:03,000 was reported. Now, this was incredibly perplexing to me, to 373 00:25:03,039 --> 00:25:06,799 say the least. Now, back in the early two thousands, 374 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,880 ELKED funding request showed the military was interested in pursuing 375 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:17,119 technology to create life like hologround projections, which could in 376 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:23,119 turn be used for psychological warfare. The document explicitly stated 377 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:28,079 that things such as religious events could be staged to confuse, confound, 378 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:33,119 and terrify the enemy. Now, while I can't find this document, 379 00:25:33,319 --> 00:25:37,160 I did find a twenty seventeen document from the US 380 00:25:37,319 --> 00:25:41,200 Army Research Laboratory touching on the use of holography on 381 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,240 the future battlefield. I believe that at least some of 382 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:50,759 the events we experienced were tests of classified psychological warfare weapons. 383 00:25:51,519 --> 00:25:54,559 The practice is not new to the military, which has 384 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:59,200 routinely used its own troops, either wittingly or unwittingly, to 385 00:25:59,279 --> 00:26:03,440 test news and non lethal weapons. And who better to 386 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,880 test these things on than the people responsible for providing 387 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,880 security for some of the most important materials in the nation, 388 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:16,039 And in my opinion, this explains many UFO sightings and 389 00:26:16,079 --> 00:26:21,160 the like experienced around military facilities. I also say this 390 00:26:21,279 --> 00:26:28,119 was some personal proof that this technology already exists. One night, 391 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,079 while approaching our work site, I very clearly saw for 392 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:36,599 two or three seconds a massive American flag projected onto 393 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,240 the side of a nearby mountain. The image was not 394 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,000 just massive insize, spanning the entire side of the mountain 395 00:26:44,039 --> 00:26:48,680 facing US, but also crystal clear, as if an actual 396 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,440 enormous American flag had been draped over the mountain side. 397 00:26:53,519 --> 00:26:57,319 It wasn't faded or diluted as a projection tends to 398 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:02,319 be when projection reaches along dists. This to me seem 399 00:27:02,519 --> 00:27:08,160 like an active demonstration of a very secret holographic projecting technology. 400 00:27:09,319 --> 00:27:14,519 I'm okay with that explanation. I prefer non paranormal explanations, 401 00:27:14,599 --> 00:27:18,079 since more often than not, what seems paranormal to someone 402 00:27:18,599 --> 00:27:22,519 is just their senses deceiving them. Now, trust me, I've 403 00:27:22,519 --> 00:27:25,240 seen the phenomenon at work many times, and I know 404 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:30,119 just how bad eyewitnesses are. However, there are other genuine 405 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:35,160 events that I cannot rationally explain. Could I buy that 406 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:39,279 some sort of secret US dealth tech was being tested 407 00:27:39,319 --> 00:27:42,640 against us by two individuals on that night, and that 408 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:48,119 it can somehow defeat total body thermal radiation? Sure, I guess. 409 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,200 But can I believe that these individuals then easily evaded 410 00:27:52,279 --> 00:27:55,920 an attire security sweep and exited the area with a 411 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,920 highly trained team just meters away. That's a lot harder 412 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:03,680 for me to swallow. I'm also unable to explain my 413 00:28:03,799 --> 00:28:09,039 missing time that night with the lights so long ago. Sadly, 414 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,240 as my events occurred in a highly restricted area while 415 00:28:12,279 --> 00:28:17,000 serving in the military, I'd appreciate my identity being kept confidential. 416 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,039 I am still under a thirty year non disclosure contract, 417 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,480 and believe me, I take my duty to my country seriously, 418 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:32,240 and that includes keeping its secrets. My name is Sam Carter, 419 00:28:32,839 --> 00:28:36,440 and I didn't kill my friends. I know that's how 420 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,799 this starts for everyone like me, But if you're still reading, 421 00:28:40,359 --> 00:28:42,400 you're the kind of person who at least lets the 422 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:47,599 story finish before deciding. That's all I'm asking. You need 423 00:28:47,599 --> 00:28:50,640 to understand something before I tell you about that night. 424 00:28:51,759 --> 00:28:54,480 Me and Lena. We weren't supposed to exist in the 425 00:28:54,559 --> 00:28:59,400 same world. I grew up in foster care, house to house, 426 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,000 name to name, never stayed long enough anywhere to feel 427 00:29:03,079 --> 00:29:06,640 like I belonged. I learned early not to get attached 428 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,799 to anything you couldn't carry in a trash bag. By 429 00:29:10,839 --> 00:29:14,240 the time I aged out and was emancipated, I knew 430 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,480 how to work, how to keep my head down, and 431 00:29:16,599 --> 00:29:20,359 how not to expect anything good to last. Lena was 432 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,759 the opposite of that in every way. Her dad. People 433 00:29:24,759 --> 00:29:28,240 around her called him the old King, money stack so 434 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,119 high it didn't even look real anymore. Land and wells 435 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,799 and trucks and men working under him and all that. 436 00:29:36,079 --> 00:29:39,039 Lena grew up in a world where doors opened before 437 00:29:39,079 --> 00:29:42,119 she touched them. I grew up in one where they 438 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:47,880 stayed locked. We met anyway didn't make sense to anyone else, 439 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,480 but it didn't matter to us. He hated me. Her 440 00:29:51,519 --> 00:29:55,359 father didn't even try to hide it to him. I 441 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,279 was exactly what I looked like, nothing from nowhere, no 442 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:03,359 business day, next to his daughter. He told her that 443 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,240 more than once, and he told me once to But 444 00:30:07,359 --> 00:30:10,880 Lena didn't care. That was the thing about her. When 445 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,000 she chose something, she chose it all the way. So 446 00:30:15,079 --> 00:30:18,960 we had plans, real plans, not just talk. I was 447 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,119 saving for a ring, even had the ring picked out. 448 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,640 I was just waiting for the right moment. The trip 449 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,000 to Broken Bowl was supposed to be good for all 450 00:30:30,039 --> 00:30:33,920 of us, one last quiet weekend before life started pulling 451 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:38,680 everybody in different directions. Mark was talking about moving to Dallas. 452 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,720 Jesse wanted to start real estate classes. Caleb and Torre 453 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,519 were still new enough in love that they acted like 454 00:30:46,559 --> 00:30:49,079 the rest of us disappeared when they looked at each other. 455 00:30:49,799 --> 00:30:53,480 And Lena. Lena just wanted peace for a little while. 456 00:30:54,359 --> 00:30:58,400 No family pressure, no fighting with her dad, no expectations, 457 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,759 just woods, music, few beers, and a few nights where 458 00:31:02,799 --> 00:31:06,880 she could pretend life was simple. Three years ago, the 459 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,240 six of us went out to the cabin near Broken Bow, Oklahoma. 460 00:31:10,799 --> 00:31:14,240 There were three couples a weekend that was supposed to 461 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:18,000 be nothing more than a break from everything. The first 462 00:31:18,079 --> 00:31:21,640 day felt perfect. The cabin sat deep in the trees 463 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,319 near a shallow creek with cold water running over smooth stones. 464 00:31:26,319 --> 00:31:28,319 There was an old fire pit in front and a 465 00:31:28,319 --> 00:31:31,880 stack of chopped wood and a rested horseshoe nailed above 466 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,200 the porch door. The place looked old enough to have 467 00:31:35,359 --> 00:31:39,880 stories already living inside it. We spent most of the 468 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:44,400 first afternoon hiking trails behind the cabin, taking pictures and 469 00:31:44,599 --> 00:31:48,400 throwing rocks in the creek. Mark and Jess kept sneaking 470 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,119 off from the group every chance they got. Caleb and 471 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:56,079 Torre stayed close together the whole time. Their hands locked 472 00:31:56,119 --> 00:31:59,559 like they were scared of getting separated, and Lena stayed 473 00:31:59,599 --> 00:32:05,000 beside me. She was always beside me. At one point 474 00:32:05,039 --> 00:32:07,559 we stopped near a clearing where the trees opened up 475 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,680 just enough for sunlight to hit the ground. There were 476 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,160 BlackBerry bushes growing there, and Lena started picking them off 477 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:18,079 the branches and tossing them at me. I remember thinking, 478 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,400 I've never seen her look more relaxed. That's the part 479 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,799 that hurts the most now, knowing she was happy before 480 00:32:24,839 --> 00:32:30,119 all of this happened. Later that evening, we cooked outside, 481 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:32,759 and we drank too much, and we played music through 482 00:32:32,759 --> 00:32:37,960 a cheap speaker. Everybody loosened up after dark, just danced 483 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,880 barefoot of the dirt, and Mark tried singing old country 484 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:45,960 songs horribly on purpose. Even Lena laughed hard enough. She 485 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:50,599 snorted once and got embarrassed about it. I'd give anything 486 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:56,839 to hear that sound again. But sometime after midnight things changed. 487 00:32:58,039 --> 00:33:02,680 First it was footsteps. They were heavy out beyond the firelight. 488 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,119 They weren't quick, they weren't nervous or slow. They were measured. 489 00:33:08,279 --> 00:33:11,799 Lena heard it before anyone else. She looked toward the trees, 490 00:33:11,839 --> 00:33:15,880 and whispered saying, that's not right. I told her it 491 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:21,839 was probably a deer. I was lying. The next morning 492 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:26,079 we found trash ripped apart outside the cabin. Wasn't scattered 493 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:30,079 like raccoons got into it. It was just torn apart, 494 00:33:30,359 --> 00:33:33,480 and one of the coolers had deep scratches across the lid, 495 00:33:34,079 --> 00:33:37,880 four long grooves carved through the plastic. They were deep 496 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:42,279 and they were clean. That afternoon we hiked farther down 497 00:33:42,319 --> 00:33:46,400 the creek. That's where we found the tracks. They were huge, 498 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:51,960 they were wide. They were wrong. Mark joked about Bigfoot. 499 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,839 Nobody really laughed, because standing there, looking at those prints 500 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,799 in the mud, something deep inside of all of us 501 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:03,799 already knew we were not alone out there. On the 502 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,839 second night, it circled us, slow and deliberate, like it 503 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,280 was learning us, and then it hit the wall hard 504 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:15,440 enough to shake the whole cabin. Nobody slept after that. 505 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,840 We sat in the living room pretending to watch movies 506 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:23,280 while every sound outside made us jump. At one point, 507 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,239 Caleb swore he saw something move between the trees near 508 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,440 the porch light. Said it was tall. It was too tall. 509 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:35,199 We should have left, but we didn't. The third night, 510 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:40,400 that's when they came. The door didn't break, it came 511 00:34:40,559 --> 00:34:45,360 off the hinges. It stood there. It was tall. It's 512 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:51,559 too tall, too wide, too calm, and it wasn't alone. 513 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:56,280 You could feel the others outside moving and waiting. The 514 00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,719 smell hit us first. It was wet fur, like something 515 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:05,039 rotten and mixed with mud, like something had lived underground 516 00:35:05,079 --> 00:35:09,440 too long. Mark ran straight at it and he didn't 517 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,800 even think. He grabbed the fireplace poker and he swung 518 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,079 it hard, and the thing caught it out of the air, 519 00:35:16,679 --> 00:35:18,960 like it knew what he was trying to do before 520 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:24,159 he did it. And then it hit him once. Mark 521 00:35:24,199 --> 00:35:26,960 flew sideways into the wall, hard enough to crack the 522 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:32,239 wood behind him. Jes screamed. Something came through the window 523 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:36,440 behind her, and glass exploded across the room. There was 524 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:40,840 a second, one smaller than the first, but faster, and 525 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:43,360 it grabbed her around the waist and dragged her backward 526 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:47,360 through the broken window frame. I could still hear her 527 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:52,480 screaming Mark's name out in the trees, and then there 528 00:35:52,559 --> 00:35:58,559 was nothing. Everything fell apart after that, screaming and running 529 00:35:58,599 --> 00:36:02,880 and furniture breaking and things crashing in the walls. Caleb 530 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,199 stabbed one with a hunting knife near the kitchen. I 531 00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:08,880 know he hit it. I saw the blade go in. 532 00:36:09,519 --> 00:36:12,400 The thing barely reacted. It just looked down at him, 533 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:16,800 almost confused. And then it grabbed Caleb by the throat 534 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,440 with one hand and lifted him off the floor. Tory 535 00:36:20,559 --> 00:36:23,880 tried to pull him free. Another came from nowhere and 536 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:28,079 slammed her across the counter so hard dishes exploded everywhere. 537 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,320 There were too many of them, and that's what people 538 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:37,760 don't understand. This wasn't one creature. There were shapes moving 539 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:43,199 past every window, more sounds outside, heavy footsteps circling the cabin. 540 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:48,880 They were watching and waiting, like they were coordinated. I 541 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,920 grabbed Lena and ran toward the back bedroom. I shoved 542 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,840 the window open, and cold air rushed inside, and I 543 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:00,559 started helping her through. And something grabbed her and she 544 00:37:00,679 --> 00:37:03,079 screamed my name, and I caught her wrist and I 545 00:37:03,159 --> 00:37:07,039 held on. I held on with everything I had, and 546 00:37:07,079 --> 00:37:10,480 it pulled and I was pulling back, and then another 547 00:37:10,519 --> 00:37:14,079 one grabbed her legs, two of them, pulling her away 548 00:37:14,079 --> 00:37:19,679 from me. I remember seeing her fingers slipped through mine. 549 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:24,320 I remember her crying. I remember blood covering both of 550 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:28,760 our hands, and I felt her skin tear under my fingers. 551 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:33,360 I told her not to let go, and she didn't. 552 00:37:34,559 --> 00:37:37,960 I let go, or maybe I just wasn't strong enough. 553 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,800 The last thing I saw before they dragged her into 554 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,920 the dark was her reaching back towards me, still trying 555 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:49,559 to hold on. They found me the next morning, a 556 00:37:49,639 --> 00:37:53,280 mile from the cabin. I was barefoot and covered in blood. 557 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:57,920 Most of it wasn't mine. They said I killed them, 558 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:03,480 said I sniped, made it all up. I just stopped arguing. 559 00:38:04,039 --> 00:38:08,880 It didn't matter until recently. Three years and two months 560 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,679 after that night, they found a body three hundred and 561 00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:17,719 sixty seven miles away. At first, they weren't even sure 562 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,880 it was Lena. There wasn't much left to identify, not 563 00:38:21,079 --> 00:38:24,320 enough for anyone to say it out loud. And then 564 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:27,760 the DNA came back and it was her. And there 565 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:33,480 was something else, something they didn't expect, something they couldn't explain, 566 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:40,719 evidence that she had given birth three years. Do you 567 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:45,280 understand what I'm telling you. Lena didn't die that night. 568 00:38:46,159 --> 00:38:49,000 She was alive for a long time after they took her, 569 00:38:50,079 --> 00:38:53,880 and she wasn't alone. Last week, her father came to 570 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,599 see me first time since the trial. He sat out 571 00:38:57,639 --> 00:39:01,880 across from me like he didn't recognize me anymore, didn't 572 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:06,119 say a word, just play something on the table. It 573 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:08,480 was her ring, the one I gave her, the one 574 00:39:08,519 --> 00:39:12,360 she was wearing that night, and he looked at me 575 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,239 and for the first time he didn't look angry. He said, 576 00:39:17,079 --> 00:39:21,719 I don't think you did this, and then he left. 577 00:39:22,559 --> 00:39:25,599 So now I'm writing you because if there were more 578 00:39:25,639 --> 00:39:29,639 than one of them, and there were, then this isn't over. 579 00:39:30,519 --> 00:39:33,719 They don't just kill you, They take you. And whatever 580 00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:37,400 took Lena kept her and something out there is still 581 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:41,679 alive because of it. Okay, I've selected a couple of 582 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:46,239 stories that are about five minutes long each from the vault. 583 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,760 They were done about five years ago, and I thank 584 00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:52,920 you guys. If you're new to the podcast, she'll enjoy them. 585 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,760 So here we go. When I was five years old, 586 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,360 my brother and I would stay with my grandmother during 587 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:03,079 the summer Hot Springs, Arkansas. I slept on a pull 588 00:40:03,119 --> 00:40:06,840 out couch in the living room. This event happened when 589 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,719 I was four years old in nineteen seventy nine. I'm 590 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,760 forty five years old now, and people might say this 591 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,039 event was a child's imagination, but I know what I 592 00:40:17,039 --> 00:40:20,440 saw was real, and to this day, I still believe 593 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:24,880 it was real. Every time this occurred, it was well 594 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:30,079 past midnight when everyone was sleeping, including me. The first time, 595 00:40:30,199 --> 00:40:32,320 it was as if I felt something watching me in 596 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,079 my brain woke me up. The second time this happened, 597 00:40:36,199 --> 00:40:39,039 I was convinced it was waking me up with telepathy. 598 00:40:39,679 --> 00:40:41,760 Now I can't be sure why I woke up, but 599 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,039 that's how it felt. In the middle of the night, 600 00:40:45,079 --> 00:40:47,039 I would wake up and look out the front door. 601 00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:49,960 I know I didn't wake up because of any noise, 602 00:40:50,039 --> 00:40:52,480 and there was no reason for me to wake up, 603 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:57,199 which is why I mentioned telepathy. Every time I woke up, 604 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,400 I always looked straight at the door. The door had 605 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:03,519 three little windows in it. I never saw a face, 606 00:41:03,559 --> 00:41:07,480 but it had long, silky hair covering it. It reminded 607 00:41:07,519 --> 00:41:11,000 me of cousin it. The hair was light colored and 608 00:41:11,079 --> 00:41:14,960 it never moved. The first time, I stared at this 609 00:41:15,079 --> 00:41:17,559 thing for almost a minute, and then I ran to 610 00:41:17,599 --> 00:41:20,280 my grandmother's room and told her that something was watching 611 00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:23,159 me at the door. I don't know how long the 612 00:41:23,199 --> 00:41:26,679 time was between those occurrences, but the second time it happened. 613 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:29,719 I felt myself waking up, and before I opened my 614 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:34,320 eyes this time, I knew it was happening again. As 615 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,920 I opened my eyes, there it was. I looked again 616 00:41:38,039 --> 00:41:40,599 for a few moments and ran to my grandmother and 617 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:42,960 told her that the thing was back looking at me. 618 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,119 I know my grandparents never went to investigate because they 619 00:41:47,159 --> 00:41:51,480 thought it was my imagination. On the third occurrence, I 620 00:41:51,519 --> 00:41:54,440 did not spend time looking at it. As soon as 621 00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,119 I saw it, I just booked it to Grandma's room. 622 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,599 After some time, Grandpa placed the door with one without 623 00:42:01,679 --> 00:42:04,920 little windows. Well. I was happy about that, but there 624 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,599 was a window right behind the pullout couch. That made 625 00:42:08,679 --> 00:42:11,159 me more afraid because in my mind, that thing would 626 00:42:11,199 --> 00:42:15,199 now be directly behind me and closer to me. However, 627 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:18,840 it never happened again. It was only those three times. 628 00:42:20,199 --> 00:42:22,280 The years went by, and I have listened to other 629 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:26,119 people's stories, but none ever described a bigfoot that looked 630 00:42:26,199 --> 00:42:29,840 like mine. My grandmother told me that because my dad 631 00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:33,000 lived in the area, it might have been him. I 632 00:42:33,079 --> 00:42:36,199 knew it wasn't him, but I asked him anyway. He 633 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:38,360 told me that he would never scare me like that. 634 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:43,320 I then knew for sure that it wasn't him. After 635 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:47,119 reading one person's account, she justified my story by saying 636 00:42:47,159 --> 00:42:49,800 Bigfoot tends to walk around the house at night and 637 00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,760 look in the windows. Well, I shared that with my 638 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:56,719 husband and I said, see, not everyone believes in Bigfoot, 639 00:42:57,239 --> 00:43:01,000 but he believes that I believe. I've always wanted to 640 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,000 share my story with the bigfoot community, but none ever 641 00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:08,440 felt right until today when I stumbled across your YouTube channel. 642 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:12,079 I may not have submitted my story if it wasn't 643 00:43:12,079 --> 00:43:15,000 for the fact of how the man described how Bigfoot looked. 644 00:43:15,639 --> 00:43:18,360 The way he described the hair was the closest anyone 645 00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,000 has come to My own story, and it was set 646 00:43:21,039 --> 00:43:24,840 in Arkansas. It was the story of the eight year 647 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:27,440 old boy whose dad worked at night, and after dinner 648 00:43:27,519 --> 00:43:29,639 he went outside to sit on the porch while his 649 00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:33,320 mom and sister were inside doing the dishes, and by 650 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:35,800 the light of the kitchen window, he saw a frog 651 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:39,320 and looked up to see Bigfoot at the fence line. 652 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:41,760 His sister came out and then his mom pulled them 653 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,480 back in the house. So there you have it. That's 654 00:43:45,559 --> 00:43:48,880 my story, and I have never told anyone outside my family. 655 00:43:49,639 --> 00:43:52,239 My name is Holly and I now live in Michigan, 656 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:54,800 which has a ton of Bigfoot stories all its own. 657 00:43:57,840 --> 00:43:59,840 A few years ago, my wife and I were living 658 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,519 in Laneville, Texas, which is located twelve miles south of 659 00:44:03,599 --> 00:44:07,800 Henderson on farm to market Route two twenty five. My 660 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:10,719 wife loves gardens, and we always had a chicken pin. 661 00:44:12,159 --> 00:44:15,039 Our adult children enjoy the garden produce and the fresh 662 00:44:15,119 --> 00:44:19,079 eggs from our hens. We lived this way for many years, 663 00:44:19,559 --> 00:44:21,920 and we had moved there in nineteen eighty one and 664 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,719 had no intention of ever going back to the big city. 665 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:29,639 The event that I'm writing about happened in twenty fifteen, 666 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:34,039 and it signaled the end of our chicken business. Each morning, 667 00:44:34,039 --> 00:44:36,159 I would walk down to the chicken pin that was 668 00:44:36,199 --> 00:44:39,400 one hundred and fifty feet behind our house. After I 669 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:41,840 fed the chickens and checked their water, I headed back 670 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:45,360 to the house to eat my own breakfast. I had guns, 671 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:49,239 but I never carried one around our own property. At 672 00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:52,159 that time, we had a terrier named Buffy, who went 673 00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:55,480 everywhere we did, and in her whole life, had never 674 00:44:55,519 --> 00:44:59,199 shown any inclination to be afraid of anything. But on 675 00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:01,719 this day, I was in the middle of my chores 676 00:45:02,079 --> 00:45:06,599 when Buffy stopped dead still. She was fixed on something 677 00:45:06,679 --> 00:45:09,599 beyond the tree line behind the chicken pen, and the 678 00:45:09,679 --> 00:45:13,760 hair on her neck and back stood straight up. Buffy 679 00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:16,480 was frozen in place and didn't move a single muscle, 680 00:45:17,039 --> 00:45:19,440 and I shifted my gaze to the tree line, and 681 00:45:19,559 --> 00:45:23,079 what I saw caught my breath. I knew I was 682 00:45:23,119 --> 00:45:27,320 looking at something I had never seen before. This thing 683 00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:30,639 apparently had been walking just outside the tree line, and 684 00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:33,800 it stopped when we did. It seemed to be the 685 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,360 size of a wolf. Its hide was light gray, and 686 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:41,159 there wasn't a single hair on its body. Its rear 687 00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:43,920 legs made it appear as though it could easily walk 688 00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:48,599 on all fours or stand upright like a man. The 689 00:45:48,679 --> 00:45:51,320 tail was the same length of its body, and from 690 00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:54,559 where I stood, it looked like a dog until it turned, 691 00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:57,679 revealing the head that looked more like a feeline than 692 00:45:57,679 --> 00:46:02,559 a canine, with a similar short, pointed ears. The eyes 693 00:46:02,599 --> 00:46:06,920 were something unworldly. They were bright blue, and the thing 694 00:46:07,119 --> 00:46:10,519 just bored into us with them for about fifteen seconds, 695 00:46:10,719 --> 00:46:14,320 showing no sign of fear, and they then turned and 696 00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:17,559 walked to the woods and out of sight. I tried 697 00:46:17,559 --> 00:46:19,800 to make sense of what I had just witnessed. As 698 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:22,760 I hurried and tossed the chicken feed into the pen, 699 00:46:23,719 --> 00:46:26,639 I realized Buffy had already tailed it back to the 700 00:46:26,679 --> 00:46:30,559 house ahead of me. Over breakfast, I told my wife 701 00:46:30,599 --> 00:46:33,800 about the encounter, and from that day on where Buffy 702 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:36,119 would not go near the chicken pin unless she was 703 00:46:36,159 --> 00:46:39,360 with me, and even then she stayed behind me, always 704 00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:44,599 watching the woods. I did too. It's strange how random 705 00:46:44,679 --> 00:46:47,800 things can suddenly make sense once you see a connection. 706 00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:51,280 A few weeks later, a feral dog got into the 707 00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:54,119 pen and was trying to kill a chicken. I was 708 00:46:54,119 --> 00:46:57,239 going to gather eggs, and ever since the strange encounter 709 00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:59,559 that day, I had begun carrying a rifle with me. 710 00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,719 I shot the dog and got a shovel and dug 711 00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:05,920 a hole behind the pen. The dog was the size 712 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:09,519 of a large collie and must have weighed eighty five pounds. 713 00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:12,360 I had to drag the carcass to the hole and 714 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:15,760 roll it in, and after burying the dog and securing 715 00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:18,199 the pin, I went back to the house and that 716 00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:22,280 was the end of it, or so we thought. Two 717 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:25,320 days later, while feeding the chickens, I noticed something odd 718 00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:27,400 behind the pen, and I walked around to have a 719 00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:30,599 look see, and what I found was a hole two 720 00:47:30,639 --> 00:47:33,599 feet across right where I had buried the dead dog, 721 00:47:34,199 --> 00:47:38,480 and the carcass was gone. There were no drag marks, 722 00:47:38,519 --> 00:47:41,079 so whatever it was, it was big enough to pull 723 00:47:41,079 --> 00:47:43,440 the body up out of the dirt and carry it 724 00:47:43,519 --> 00:47:47,320 off without leaving a trail. I searched all over the 725 00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,199 back of our property and never found anything that would 726 00:47:50,239 --> 00:47:54,159 suggest some sort of scavenger was at work. My wife 727 00:47:54,159 --> 00:47:56,119 and I were the only ones who knew what I 728 00:47:56,159 --> 00:48:00,519 had buried back there. The next morning, when I went 729 00:48:00,559 --> 00:48:03,039 to feed the chickens, it looked like a crime scene. 730 00:48:03,599 --> 00:48:07,159 They were all dead and their headless remained scattered about 731 00:48:07,199 --> 00:48:11,119 the pen. The rooster had been tossed twenty feet from 732 00:48:11,119 --> 00:48:15,360 the ground into the top of a presimoned tree. Oddly, 733 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:17,800 given the scale of the carnage, there was not a 734 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:21,559 single drop of blood anywhere. The gate was latched, and 735 00:48:21,599 --> 00:48:23,840 there was no hole in the fence or signs of 736 00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:27,079 something that had gained entry by digging under the fence. 737 00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:32,239 But the killer had left some evidence behind the pen 738 00:48:32,599 --> 00:48:36,800 were footprints and deep gouges made by three long claws 739 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:39,559 we estimated to be two and a half inches long. 740 00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:43,360 I drove over to my neighbor's house and I asked 741 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,719 him to have a look at the tracks. That he 742 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:48,320 was an expert hunter who was born and raised in 743 00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:53,119 the area, but even he was stumped at his suggestion. 744 00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:55,719 We called a friend of his who was a constable 745 00:48:55,719 --> 00:48:59,840 and another longtime resident. He looked at the tracks, and 746 00:49:00,079 --> 00:49:02,519 he examined the dead chickens, and he made a once 747 00:49:02,559 --> 00:49:05,920 over of the pen and noted the dead rooster still 748 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:09,960 dangling in the tree. His advice to us was to 749 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:12,079 not go out of the house at night without a 750 00:49:12,119 --> 00:49:14,920 gun until we found out what this chicken killer was. 751 00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:18,960 And when I revealed what Buffy and I had experienced, 752 00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,400 he nodded his head and never questioned a single word. 753 00:49:24,119 --> 00:49:26,920 From then on until the day we moved away, I 754 00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,960 carried a gun everywhere I went on the property. We 755 00:49:31,039 --> 00:49:36,280 did not replace our chickens.