WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:28.039 Weird things happened, Weird, weird, Weird. Welcome to Bledsoe said, so, everybody, 2 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.480 I just love saying that. I just love the the 3 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.719 inviting energy of that. It feels really nice to welcome 4 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.039 people to the show before we get into today's topic, 5 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:41.479 which is something that I've been meaning to do for years, 6 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:44.359 and finally the night is upon us to do this, 7 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:47.840 at least this night. While we're recording as usual, I 8 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:49.799 wanted to get a few things out of the way. So, 9 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.320 if you want to stay current with our events and 10 00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:58.840 with our public appearance schedules, check out our Instagram, Bledsoe said, 11 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:01.759 So if if you want to know everything we got 12 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:04.920 going on, which includes all of our links to the show, 13 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:08.319 to our merchandise, to our Patreon in every possible way 14 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:10.040 that you could support the show if you love it, 15 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:14.319 go to bledsosaids dot com. We do also have our Patreon, 16 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.439 which is patreon slash. Bloso said, so where we have 17 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:21.280 a couple tiers there with different ways that you can 18 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:24.519 not only support the show if you're so inclined, but 19 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:26.920 you can be a part of the show. On the 20 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:31.040 five dollar tier. We have a wonderful discord community full 21 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:33.640 of like I think right now, it's at eight hundred 22 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:38.920 something people and really good vibes. Just a bunch of 23 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.840 like minded people coming together to talk about really deep things, 24 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:45.319 spiritual things, connect on experiences they've had, and a lot 25 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:48.920 of people are just making friends and not feeling so 26 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:50.959 lonely in the world, being able to talk about these 27 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:54.040 kinds of things that most people don't want to don't 28 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:56.239 want to listen to them talk about. And then on 29 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:58.879 our ten dollar tier, in addition to all of the 30 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:02.640 perks below it you actually you've probably noticed by now 31 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:05.719 that you will get your name in the show credits. 32 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:08.560 So if you want to literally be a part of 33 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:10.919 the show, that's one way that you can support us 34 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:13.120 on our Patreon. Blitz just said, so there was something 35 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:17.680 else I wanted to mention, retreat. I have a retreat 36 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.439 coming up. I think by the time this comes out, 37 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.639 it'll have just happened, right, So that's cool, No stress, 38 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:28.840 got my first Monroe Institute retreat out of the way. 39 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:31.439 Don't panic, because I'm going to be doing a lot 40 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:33.159 more of these, and I'm going to be doing them 41 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:37.759 more regularly, and that is something that I'm very excited 42 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:41.360 about to where basically, I'll be able to host my 43 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:45.439 own Monroe Institute outreach programs with people. So I'm in 44 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:48.199 the process of building a website for that. So if 45 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:53.879 by the time you're listening to this episode and at 46 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:55.479 the current time, I don't have the website, but if 47 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:57.800 it is out by then check my socials. If it's 48 00:02:57.840 --> 00:02:59.479 not out by then, it's still in progress. But I 49 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.039 am building a website for that. And then the other 50 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.560 thing is, you know, one way that you can help 51 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:06.759 us out is literally, I know, I'm going to say 52 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:13.599 it like inscribe, Guys like inscribe, if you subscribe to 53 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.319 the show on YouTube, it helps us out, following our 54 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.199 socials things like that, because we're trying to get the 55 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.520 message out there into the world. So, you know, help 56 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:24.240 us out people. And yeah, so enough of all that stuff. 57 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:27.039 It's not bad. Three minutes got all that stuff out 58 00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:32.599 of the way. Tonight is an important episode. This is 59 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:36.639 something that was very intentional on my part. Over the 60 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:42.840 last four years, I have very intentionally not told the 61 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:46.800 story of my family of what happened to us in 62 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:50.960 the first place. I've talked about the story. I've talked 63 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:54.599 about the impact of it and things that have happened after, 64 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.080 and before and even during. I have never sat down 65 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:05.879 and conclusively actually told the events of the Cape Fear River, 66 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:10.879 and that was actually intentional on my part because I 67 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:14.759 wanted to. I always knew in the back of my 68 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:16.839 mind that we wouldn't come out the gate with that, 69 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.480 that it would be understood that people that are finding 70 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:22.120 our show are already aware of some elements of this, 71 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:25.360 and I did not want to just make the show 72 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:31.839 be about constantly talking about these events. I wanted to always, 73 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.279 at a later time tell this story to its completion. 74 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:39.959 And Alex and I have been talking about things lately 75 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.800 that we want to get into. Obviously, the show has 76 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.360 been restructuring, and it just kind of hit me, you know, 77 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:46.959 I think it's finally time to do what I've always 78 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.079 wanted to do, which was tell the story. Because my 79 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:52.839 hope is that people out there hearing about us from 80 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:56.079 the first time and then look this up and they're 81 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.040 curious about what happened to us, or you know what 82 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:01.600 the story is, you know. Obviously, A, they could read 83 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:05.920 it from my father's book. B. They could hear either 84 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:09.279 him or myself, or my brother Chris Junior, or maybe 85 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:13.600 even my sister talk about it on other people's programs 86 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:15.800 out there in the wilderness of the Internet, that we 87 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.000 don't have any control over their publishing or their platform 88 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:25.240 or anything like that. Or now from this point forward, 89 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.480 they could hear it from me on a platform owned 90 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:33.040 and operated by the Blacksweb family, which has never really 91 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:39.000 been done. So, yeah, I just realized it's finally time 92 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:43.360 to do this. And you know you're probably thinking back now, 93 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:46.120 I'm going, yeah, actually that I don't recall you ever 94 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:50.360 telling this story, yeah, because that was intentional from the start. 95 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:55.000 I didn't want to do that, knowing that I would 96 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:56.759 do it at a later time when we've built more 97 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:00.199 of a platform. So anyway, let me just get into it. 98 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:04.279 Many of you have probably read the book. That's great. 99 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.920 Many of you have probably heard this story many times. 100 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:10.800 That's great. I still want to tell it. I still 101 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:13.079 want to talk about what happened. And also, I think 102 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.120 in some way it would be cathartic for me to 103 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.319 in some way control the publishing of this on my 104 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:26.240 own platform, right that's named after and representing the Blessed Family. Also, 105 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:30.240 I think that there's probably and I've already said this, 106 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:32.920 but there's probably a lot of new listeners that will 107 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:37.000 visit us at different points in the future that maybe 108 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:40.600 they've just saw a reference to us on some other 109 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:42.040 show and they're curious and they want to hear it 110 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:45.120 for the first time. Great, here for me, listen to 111 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.399 it for me. So to get into the story, we 112 00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:52.519 need to go back a little bit before two thousand 113 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:55.240 and seven and we need to talk about what was 114 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:02.959 going on around our family. So my father was a 115 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:08.279 very successful business man, and by the time I was born, 116 00:07:09.399 --> 00:07:14.600 we lived in a gated community where the millionaires lived. 117 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.720 If I'm putting it bluntly, you know, rich people. We 118 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:21.079 were very successful. We had means, you know, we had 119 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:23.920 whatever we wanted. I was born into this life. I 120 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:26.600 didn't know different. We were church going people, good people, right, 121 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:32.800 but we were different people and we had it all 122 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:38.720 man and we just had basically this empire where if 123 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:44.360 you looked at all of the construction companies in the area, 124 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:49.839 like the region, my father's business that he built was 125 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:56.240 like top three next to some very big players, some 126 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:58.639 very very very big money players. My dad made it 127 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.600 very successful at a pretty young age. By the time 128 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:06.560 I was born, he was only thirty one or something. 129 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.759 You know, and I'm like thirty two now, so put 130 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.399 that in perspective. He was just a very successful guy, right. 131 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:16.560 So anyway, moving on past that part, Up until I 132 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:22.399 was twelve, we had everything. We had a normal experience 133 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.720 of being very wealthy, living in a pretty much million 134 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:28.319 dollar house, you know, with the big pool and all 135 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:32.080 the toys, and given to all the you know, my 136 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:34.039 dad would always give to the community. He would donate 137 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:36.799 to the schools, He would help people in the military 138 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.200 or law enforcement, or kids that were poor. He would 139 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.519 be buying him Christmases because he felt sorry for him 140 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:43.639 because you know, maybe their parents worked for him and 141 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.039 they couldn't afford Christmas for their families. He was just 142 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.679 that kind of guy, you know what I mean. And 143 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:55.360 he suddenly around two thousand and four or five, by 144 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:59.440 the time I was by the time I was like 145 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:01.679 ten years old, Oh, he got really sick. He already 146 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:04.639 had Crohn's disease my whole life, but he got to 147 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:07.679 the point to where he couldn't manage in his day 148 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:12.240 to day life anymore because the stress from everything that 149 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.759 was going on with his crones disease flaring up and 150 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:19.919 his business basically running into trouble, especially post nine to eleven, 151 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.519 the construction business started to plummet, and then, as we know, 152 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.679 many years later, two thousand and eight, there was this 153 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:30.480 massive collapse, right, you know what I'm talking about. So 154 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:32.200 in two thousand and eight there was a massive collapse. 155 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.879 So the years leading up to that, his business was 156 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:37.960 facing troubles and paired with his Crohn's disease, which is 157 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:42.519 a very serious inflammatory stomach condition, and the stress and 158 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.159 anxiety that he was experiencing, he was having a lot 159 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:47.600 of really bad Crownes disease flare up. So he starts 160 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:52.679 to see a doctor and I'm going to skip over 161 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:55.639 a lot of details here. This doctor was psychotic and 162 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.840 he gave my father a concoction of medications that were 163 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:04.279 extremely they were lethal. They basically killed my father. And 164 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:08.120 he was laying in the bed just a fun fact, 165 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:10.559 laying in the bed floated out of his body. Actually 166 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:15.799 read the doctor's name tag and or not not the 167 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:17.840 psychotic doctor, but like in the hospital when he was 168 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:22.039 being resuscitated, he read the doctor's name tag. Later, when 169 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.200 he was awake, he told my mom this person's name 170 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:26.559 and she was like, there's no way you would have 171 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:30.279 known that he was basically, you know, dead on the 172 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:34.919 hospital bed, so he's resuscitated from that, had his out 173 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:40.039 of body experiences, near death or whatever. He's basically physically 174 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.480 and mentally crippled for a year or two. Then by 175 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:45.039 the time I'm twelve, we went bankrupt and we lost everything. 176 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.039 A lot of our stuff was basically like just repossessed 177 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:51.799 and taken from us, and we had nothing, and we 178 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:53.480 had to move across town to go live in a 179 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.360 trailer that luckily, my dad had a little bit of 180 00:10:57.399 --> 00:10:59.879 cash left over from his his you know years run 181 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:02.240 the business, and we dumped it all into like building 182 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:04.759 an addition on this trailer because me and my three 183 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.360 siblings needed, you know, space to live. So when I 184 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:13.360 was twelve, every weekend after school we spent it building 185 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:19.120 onto this trailer, which was a nightmare. And then the 186 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:21.759 second half of that year, you know, we settled into 187 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:24.720 this trailer and we're literally in poverty on the other 188 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.559 side of town, out in the country, completely removed from 189 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.480 our previous life, lost all of our friends and all 190 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.559 the little kids we knew, and it was just this like, 191 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.840 you know, this this gut wrenching event of literally losing 192 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:41.240 everything and having to move out to the country and 193 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:46.320 live in this added on trailer, go to completely new schools. 194 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.919 I mean, we were devastated as the kids, We were 195 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:52.480 completely devastated. I was in a like a severe state 196 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:56.480 of clinical depression because of this. My point is we 197 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:00.519 hit rock bottom very quickly, right around the time this 198 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:04.639 UFO stuff started. So from all these sequence of events, 199 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:08.480 you know, being pretty well to do, successful people, going 200 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:11.879 to rock bottom and being completely broke and broken as 201 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:15.799 a family to where I remember at like that year, 202 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:19.799 my father's crying because he can't even afford Christmas, you 203 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:21.360 know what I mean. Can you imagine that? Can you 204 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.279 imagine as a kid being like I want to intend 205 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:25.840 a we and your father starts weeping and he's like, 206 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.000 I can't afford it, you know what I mean? Like 207 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:33.200 just the the thought process involved there as a young kid, 208 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:36.039 it's like those are things you should never see, you know. 209 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:39.840 I remember having a digo in my grandma's drawer for 210 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:45.919 pennies to have lunch at school. Well, and then of 211 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.159 course we went and we got government assistants to where 212 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:50.840 you can apply if you are a certain level of poverty, 213 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:52.399 they just give you free lunch. You don't even have 214 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:54.320 to pay. So by the time I'm in high school, 215 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:55.639 we didn't even have to pay. They're just like, yeah, 216 00:12:55.639 --> 00:12:58.320 you get free lunch, you can have it, just take it. 217 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:03.039 Feed the kids. You know, all of those programs of 218 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.679 government assistants for the groceries, you know, all that stuff. 219 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:08.519 We had to do all that stuff because we had 220 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:14.799 nothing after having everything right around when all that collapsed 221 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:19.679 and us children were devastated. But ultimately, you know, obviously 222 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.080 there for her parents and you know, concern for them 223 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.879 and not really understanding the scope of everything that was happening. 224 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:29.759 That's when the UFO started. So let's get into that. 225 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:36.559 So my father was so mentally destitute from all of 226 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:40.840 this trauma and heartache of like falling into poverty and 227 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:44.559 not being able to provide for his children. By the way, 228 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:51.240 when the business was sold, basically he was like on 229 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.799 the verge of death in a hospital and he was 230 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:58.480 not able to like, you know, navigate that. So my 231 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.120 poor mom she just had to, you know, she sold 232 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:09.799 it and he had to deal with the consequence of that, 233 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:12.000 just just the way that that all went down and 234 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:16.320 everything not being able to recover from that. So that 235 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:19.720 was that was kind of tough for him to deal with. 236 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:22.440 So just the consequence of everything, you know, selling the business, 237 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:27.159 losing everything. He's going fishing this night after finishing a 238 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:35.039 small job, and he's very depressed. He's like, not himself, 239 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.960 he's not enjoying it. Some time had passed between you know, 240 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.360 hitting the rock bottom point to this point to where 241 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:43.840 he got himself back up on his feet enough to 242 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:48.240 start doing small jobs like maybe remodeling a beach house 243 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:50.480 or something like that, you know, not building and selling 244 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:52.440 one hundred homes a year. He was doing small jobs 245 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.799 with small crews at this point, right two thousand and seven, 246 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:04.159 and he had just finished a small job. So him 247 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:08.200 and his three contractors and my brother, they were fishing 248 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:09.960 on the Cape River that night, and my dad just 249 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:11.799 he wasn't feeling it. Man, he wasn't in the mood. 250 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.360 He was, as he says, and I'm just gonna leave 251 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:16.879 it at this. My dad always says, I was thinking 252 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:21.000 the worst thoughts, you know, you know what I mean. 253 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.600 So he walks off from the group. He's not really 254 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:26.080 feeling it. He wants to be alone. He doesn't want 255 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:27.960 to bother anybody, he doesn't want to bring the vibe down. 256 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:35.240 So they were in this open clearing. He always says 257 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:38.080 the word could a sac but this was not paved. 258 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:43.480 This is literally forest. You drive out past the country. 259 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:47.960 I mean we're talking like, you know, eight ten miles 260 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:51.080 outside of Fayetteville, maybe even farther out in the country 261 00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:54.159 on the south side to where you hit the you know, 262 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:56.759 the highway headed towards Wilmington, which is where you and 263 00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:59.120 I live, right but geographically for the listeners, So we 264 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:02.279 were way deep in the country past the south side 265 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.840 of Fayabville, in this place called Gray's Creek, which is 266 00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:10.519 where I grew up twelve on and he's out in 267 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.120 the country of the country, you know what I mean, 268 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:17.320 like acres of forest, to where there was this field 269 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:22.240 where it's just trailers on like probably one hundred or 270 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:25.679 so acres of just grass with a dirt road and 271 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:29.120 just trailers. And then there's a highway that runs, you know, 272 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.080 through it. So he comes off the highway, they go 273 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:37.519 through this huge grass field down the dirt road and 274 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.679 then it stops and there's a gate and there's this heavy, 275 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:47.879 heavy forest. You drive through the forest all on like mud. 276 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:51.039 This is not paved. This is way out in the wilderness. 277 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:57.159 There's no light, there's there's nothing out here, right, it's 278 00:16:57.240 --> 00:17:02.519 a naturally like formed I mean people like kind of 279 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:04.440 shoveled it out and everything. But it's like a road 280 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:09.680 of dirt and mud and leaves and pine straw that's 281 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.480 that's wide enough for one single car to go either way. 282 00:17:13.640 --> 00:17:18.319 So going on this trail, you're going into the forest 283 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.079 about a half mile. And then when you get to 284 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.599 the end of this trail, there's this huge circular clearing 285 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:26.880 on the bed of the Cape Fear River and it's 286 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:29.680 all just grass. It's it's wilderness, but there's a part 287 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:32.400 where some trees were cut down where that always caught 288 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.160 it a cul de sac because it's like a circle 289 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:37.200 in the middle of the forest that's cleared. That's maybe 290 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:40.799 like fifty yards either way or something like that of 291 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:43.240 this spot to where you could park your truck. You 292 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:46.839 could walk down to the lake bed. People had, you know, 293 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:48.839 people had a little tire swing on the tree and 294 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:50.559 stuff like that. You know, people have been fishing in 295 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:55.079 here probably for hundreds of years, this little spot. So 296 00:17:55.200 --> 00:18:01.119 they're in this clearing, deep in the forest, and so 297 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.599 Dad leaves them at this clearing and he goes to 298 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:07.240 walk back up that path that the car comes in 299 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:11.960 to go into this forest. Right, And at this point 300 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:15.240 it is January eighth, two thousand and seven. So what 301 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.279 do we know about the timing of the sunset in 302 00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:21.640 North Carolina in January? It starts getting dark at about 303 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:27.960 five o'clock, right, that's accurate. It's about four thirty, so 304 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:31.400 the sun is beginning his set, but it's still light out. 305 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:36.079 That's important for later. My dad starts to walk up 306 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:38.839 this path. So it's about a half mile, right, So 307 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:40.880 if you do the math, that's about a fifteen minute 308 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:46.960 walk at a normal pace, which is accurate. He's for 309 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.480 the next fifteen minutes or so, he's walking up this path, 310 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:54.240 but he keeps stopping because he's hearing these these weird 311 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:57.200 noises in the bushes and in the trees. And it's like, 312 00:18:57.880 --> 00:18:59.680 at first he thought, maybe it's a turkey, Maybe it's 313 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.559 a fox. Like this rustling rustling the bushes, rustling the leaves, 314 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:04.279 and it made his hair stand up on his neck. 315 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:07.160 And he would stop and he was like, something's following me. 316 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:09.599 He gets down on his hands and knees. 317 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:13.920 Did he describe I might be making this up? Didn't 318 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:16.200 he talk about it stopped when he stopped. 319 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:20.640 Yes, So he's getting down on his hands and knees. 320 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:22.960 He's looking under the bushes. Is it a turkey, Is 321 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:24.599 it a raccoon? Is it a fox? What is it? 322 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:28.200 And as you said, it would stop when he stopped, 323 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.160 and then he would get up and he would keep walking, 324 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:33.400 and he would keep hearing it maybe a little you know, stick, snap, 325 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:38.319 the leaves, rustling. Something's following him, something's tracking him, and 326 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:42.519 it unnerved him. My father was like pretty much a 327 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:47.599 professional hunter, professional fisherman, I mean, dude, Like literally, we 328 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:53.480 lived in the country. You know, think like people on 329 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:55.599 their rocking chair, you know what I mean. Like that's 330 00:19:55.799 --> 00:20:00.319 how we grew up. Man, and people out there where 331 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:04.119 either hunters or fishers are both period, especially in the 332 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:07.079 Bledsoe family, not just my father and my brothers, but 333 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.599 my whole extended family and then my mother's side too, 334 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.640 the Dickens, all hunters and fisher fishers. Dude, you've been 335 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:18.119 to our property. It's just a bunch of taxidermied fish 336 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.920 and deerheads. Like that's literally, and that's my mom's side. 337 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:24.079 You should see my grandfather's house where my dad grew up. 338 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:26.960 It's like that times ten in just the living room. 339 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.920 I mean, it's literally like it's all hunting and fishing, 340 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:30.960 and it's the culture there. 341 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:33.160 I mean, it's a large part of the culture in 342 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:35.799 North Carolina, in the south of the United States, you know, 343 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:39.279 because if you don't if you're if you're poor, then 344 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:41.880 you don't eat. If you can't catch it or kill it, 345 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:42.480 you can't eat. 346 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:44.920 Yeah, and see, I always felt like an outcast in 347 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.720 my family because even as a little boy, I hated fishing. 348 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.640 I wanted to read books and play Pokemon on my 349 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:52.000 game boy, you know what I mean. I never was 350 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.559 that way. The last animal that I shot, I was 351 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:57.519 eleven years old, and I was depressed for three days. 352 00:20:57.720 --> 00:20:59.319 I shot a bird and I hated it, and I 353 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:03.000 felt terrible. Nobody nobody said, what's wrong with you? Why'd 354 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.319 you do that? Nobody even knew. I just took on 355 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:08.119 my twenty two shot a bird. Miserable for three days, 356 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.240 I was like, this isn't for me. I'm not killing 357 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:13.799 animals ever again. But anyway, back to the story. So 358 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:19.160 he's he's walking up the trail and this thing is 359 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.079 tracking him. Whenever it is he gets to the top 360 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:26.799 of the trail. After about that fifteen minute walk, it's 361 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:30.680 still light out right. But when he so this trail, 362 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:34.480 the one from that grass filled out by the highway 363 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.759 leading into this like cul de sac clearing inside the forest, 364 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:42.000 that trail was at a slight decline to where at 365 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:43.400 the bottom of it and at the top of it 366 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:46.599 there's a there's a difference in elevation. It's not huge, 367 00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:48.920 but it's enough to where if you're driving up this 368 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:50.839 trail you can't see over it in your car or 369 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:52.440 on foot until you're at the top of it. Then 370 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.799 you can see the horizon and everything else. It's like 371 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:58.200 walking up a hill, right. So my dad gets to 372 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.640 the top of that hill where that gate was going 373 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:05.000 into this path, and immediately he stops, and he's stunned 374 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:09.319 because there's these two orange balls of fire in the horizon, 375 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:12.480 these massive orange balls. They look like the setting sun, 376 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:17.039 both of them did, but the sun wasn't there. They 377 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:21.440 were orbs. There were orbs of light, you know, and 378 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:26.240 my dad has freaked out. He turns to run, but 379 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:29.960 then he looks back one more time, and a third 380 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:34.759 one shoots there, and next thing he remembers, he's back 381 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:43.279 at the campfire, so he's like, you know, not necessarily 382 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.319 clear on all the details. He's walking back to the 383 00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:48.920 campfire and he's thinking, oh my god, I gotta find 384 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.599 Chris Junior. I got to tell him what I just saw. 385 00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:53.079 So I'm gonna come back to this. But he ended 386 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:56.599 up being missing at that point for four hours, and 387 00:22:57.079 --> 00:22:58.839 that's important for later. And if you want to hear 388 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:01.039 more about that, go and listen to I think it's 389 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:04.720 I'm not sure what it is. We just recently did 390 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:07.319 a re recording of it, of my dad's first regression, 391 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:11.960 which covers the material of what happened during those missing 392 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.480 four hours. But I'm going to talk about it too. 393 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.680 So anyway, he gets back to the campfire and he's like, 394 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:20.920 looking for Chris Junior. Where's Chris Junior? Where's Chris Junior? 395 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:23.480 The other three guys, which were grown men. Junior was 396 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:26.440 only seventeen, but the other three grown men are like, 397 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:28.519 where the hell have you been? You've you've been gone 398 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.680 for hours. We've been looking for you for hours. And 399 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:33.599 Dad's like, there's no way, I've only been gone for 400 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:36.920 like twenty minutes, you know, fifteen thirty minutes. And the 401 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:39.480