1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: This story took place in nineteen seventy eight, when I 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,080 was fourteen years old. I grew up in the deep 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,400 woods of the Catskill Mountains, about thirty miles north of 4 00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:18,559 Hunter Mountain ski Resort. My grandfather's five hundred acre farm 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,120 bordered many square miles of the state forest. It was 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,079 a dense wilderness, crisscrossed with dirt roads and logging roads, 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:29,920 and dotted with a few old, abandoned farms. It was 8 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,640 a remote and desolate area. I've spent my whole life hunting, trapping, 9 00:00:34,679 --> 00:00:38,719 and fishing those woods. This encounter happened in late October 10 00:00:38,759 --> 00:00:42,560 on a clear, moonlit night. I was raccoon hunting with 11 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,119 my uncle. He had some very well trained raccoon dogs 12 00:00:46,119 --> 00:00:48,679 that always managed to tree at least three or four 13 00:00:48,799 --> 00:00:52,600 coons every time we went out. It was quite cold 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,960 out that night, and two hours in they were uncharacteristically unsuccessful. 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,600 Finally they started bark hot on a trail. We were 16 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,599 maybe a mile from my grandfather's farm when we started 17 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,280 in the direction of their barking. The dogs were across 18 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:11,840 the gully up on the next ridge, and my uncle 19 00:01:11,879 --> 00:01:14,439 and I were walking up an old dirt road that 20 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,840 would eventually take us up to an old abandoned farmhouse. 21 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,439 From there, it would be a straight walk down across 22 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,799 the gully and up to the ridge where the dogs 23 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:27,599 had by now treed the raccoon. It was two am 24 00:01:27,879 --> 00:01:30,840 and we were about two hundred yards from the farmhouse 25 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,400 when I noticed loud footsteps one hundred yards off to 26 00:01:34,519 --> 00:01:37,840 my right in the woods. I didn't think much of 27 00:01:37,879 --> 00:01:40,040 it at first, because I figured it was a big 28 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,959 deer or a bear, but as we continued up the road, 29 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,680 I noticed it getting closer. What's more, I could tell 30 00:01:47,719 --> 00:01:50,840 it was walking on two feet. My first thought was 31 00:01:50,879 --> 00:01:53,760 that it was another hunter, but that made no sense. 32 00:01:54,879 --> 00:01:57,599 Only raccoon hunters hunt at night, and there were no 33 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,400 other dogs in those woods. Then I noticed how heavy 34 00:02:01,439 --> 00:02:06,200 the steps sounded, crunching branches, and being quite obvious, I 35 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:08,960 asked my uncle if he was hearing what I was hearing, 36 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,719 but he said no. He had served two tours in Vietnam, 37 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,639 so his hearing was bad from all the concussion blasts 38 00:02:15,719 --> 00:02:19,479 during combat. He had a hard time hearing low frequency 39 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,240 noises like footsteps in the leaves. He was a real badass, 40 00:02:24,319 --> 00:02:28,360 with many confirmed kills and multiple gun wounds and hand 41 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,879 to hand combat knife wounds, so he wasn't afraid of much. 42 00:02:32,719 --> 00:02:35,759 He'd also grown up in these mountains, as did three 43 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,879 generations of our family. He told me it was my 44 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,680 imagination getting away from me, so I just said, well, okay, 45 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,000 and I kept walking. I was starting to get nervous, though. 46 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,719 All we had were our twenty two rifles and a 47 00:02:49,759 --> 00:02:54,560 twenty two caliber pistol. Whatever was coming towards us sounded big, 48 00:02:54,599 --> 00:02:57,439 and they weren't going to be much protection against whatever 49 00:02:57,479 --> 00:03:01,840 this thing was. It started walking parallel to us, while 50 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,520 edging closer to the road, until it was obviously really close, 51 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,199 and my uncle finally put his hand on my chest 52 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,840 and whispered for me to stop. We stopped, and it 53 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,840 continued about two more steps, and then it stopped too. 54 00:03:16,039 --> 00:03:18,800 Now my uncle knew there was definitely something out there, 55 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,879 maybe thirty feet to our right. We started walking again, 56 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,759 and so did it again. My uncle put his arm 57 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,479 up to stop us, and just like before, it took 58 00:03:29,479 --> 00:03:32,039 a couple of more steps and it stopped as well. 59 00:03:33,159 --> 00:03:36,800 I could feel the apprehension from my uncle. The full 60 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,120 moon was bright enough to light the road, but we 61 00:03:39,159 --> 00:03:43,039 could not see into the dense forest. My uncle shined 62 00:03:43,039 --> 00:03:45,400 his flashlight into the woods, but they were just so 63 00:03:45,719 --> 00:03:50,000 thick he couldn't see anything. Let's keep moving, he said. 64 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,759 It continued to follow us. Now I could tell my 65 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,319 uncle was getting real nervous. This thing was bipedal and 66 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,240 it was large. By the time when we reached the farmhouse, 67 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,520 it was only a few yards away. We quickly got 68 00:04:04,599 --> 00:04:07,159 up on the broken down porch and turned to face 69 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,319 our stalker. The beast kept coming. Just when it was 70 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,879 about to break into the clearing in front of the house, 71 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,480 it stopped. We stood there, not knowing what was going 72 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:22,000 to happen. Next, he shined the flashlight into the woods 73 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,399 and could vaguely see a large figure just inside the 74 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:30,000 tree line. It was impossible to make out any detail 75 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,480 other than it was very dark in color and at 76 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,399 least three feet taller than my uncle, who was about 77 00:04:35,439 --> 00:04:39,519 six foot two. This thing was massive. It filled the 78 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,120 air with a musky stench, and for the first time 79 00:04:42,199 --> 00:04:44,680 in my life, I could tell that my uncle was 80 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,560 actually afraid. Suddenly, it started to walk to the right, 81 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,480 down through the woods, away from the house. We could 82 00:04:52,519 --> 00:04:55,000 hear it leaving as it stomped down the hill. Until 83 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,920 we could not hear it anymore. We waited ten minutes, 84 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,639 listening for any more movement. It was silent, so we 85 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,240 started down the gully up to the ridge where the 86 00:05:05,319 --> 00:05:10,000 dogs were still barking. We got there without further incident, 87 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,600 shot the coon, bagged it, and in decided to call 88 00:05:12,639 --> 00:05:16,519 it a night. Although we didn't see or hear anything again, 89 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,839 we noticed the woods were unnaturally quiet, like they were 90 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:24,439 devoid of wildlife. The dogs were acting strange, too, They 91 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,120 kept sniffing the air and whining all the way back 92 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,759 to the truck. We'd never seen the mac like this before. 93 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,160 My uncle sold all his coon dogs shortly after that 94 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,079 and didn't hunt at night anymore. When people ask him 95 00:05:39,079 --> 00:05:41,839 why he quit coon hunting, he tell them he wasn't 96 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,240 making enough money on the pelts to make it worth 97 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:48,879 his wild I knew that wasn't true. Back then, pelts 98 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,879 on a big coon so for forty five dollars more 99 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:56,360 than enough to make pursuing that hobby worthwild If I 100 00:05:56,439 --> 00:05:58,800 asked my uncle what he thought it was that night, 101 00:05:58,959 --> 00:06:02,480 he won't talk about that, not even to me. He 102 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,240 rarely hunts during the daytime anymore, neither do I. For 103 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,240 that matter. I had seen very large barefootprints in the 104 00:06:10,319 --> 00:06:13,800 snow when I was trapping for muskrat a few years earlier, 105 00:06:14,199 --> 00:06:16,439 so I'm pretty sure I know what was stalking us 106 00:06:16,439 --> 00:06:20,639 on that cold October night. If it wasn't Bigfoot, what 107 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,920 could it have been. I've had other encounters. I've smelled 108 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,240 him and since his presence, but never really actually seen 109 00:06:28,319 --> 00:06:33,079 one clearly. But those are stories for another time. My 110 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,680 account of this event is exactly as it happened. I 111 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,240 would swear on my children. They are a fact. I 112 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,319 appreciate having an outlet to share my experience and knowing 113 00:06:43,399 --> 00:06:47,000 there are others who have had similar encounters. I don't 114 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:56,040 fill alone on this subject anymore. Bigfoot is alive and well. 115 00:06:56,199 --> 00:06:59,800 My cousin from West Tennessee was visiting me this past weekend. 116 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:02,800 We got to talking about Bigfoot, and I shared some 117 00:07:02,879 --> 00:07:06,360 of your videos with her. She didn't say much that night, 118 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,959 although I do think she enjoyed the videos. The next morning, however, 119 00:07:11,079 --> 00:07:14,600 she shared the story with me. It was about something 120 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,759 that happened to her daddy way back in the nineteen forties. 121 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,120 Back in those days, people walked everywhere they went and 122 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,000 rural areas cars were rare and the roads were not 123 00:07:25,079 --> 00:07:29,800 well maintained. Walking was the most natural method of transportation. 124 00:07:31,199 --> 00:07:34,439 One night, as my uncle was walking past an old cemetery, 125 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,120 he glanced over and saw something. Couldn't quite make it out, 126 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,519 but he thought it might be a really tall person. 127 00:07:41,839 --> 00:07:44,279 The person seemed to be leaning up against a tree 128 00:07:44,319 --> 00:07:47,040 at the edge of a clearing, and it wasn't moving, 129 00:07:47,839 --> 00:07:50,720 nor did he, and judging by his height, he thought 130 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,680 it must be a man, and it acknowledged my uncle's presence. Naturally, 131 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,560 he called out to the man, but again it didn't respond. 132 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:01,560 He thought, and maybe this was someone who was in 133 00:08:01,639 --> 00:08:05,040 trouble and needed help. Maybe this was someone he knew, 134 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:09,399 and therefore he absolutely could not pass without offering his assistance. 135 00:08:10,399 --> 00:08:14,040 So he walked over to whoever this was. He reached 136 00:08:14,079 --> 00:08:18,199 out and put his hand on the man's arm. Immediately 137 00:08:18,279 --> 00:08:21,279 he knew this was a long, muscular, hair covered arm, 138 00:08:21,519 --> 00:08:25,240 too much hair to be human. Before he could recover 139 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,839 from his shock or react in any way, this creature 140 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,839 turned and ran away into the woods, leaving my uncle 141 00:08:31,959 --> 00:08:36,600 standing there dumbfounded. My cousin had heard this story all 142 00:08:36,639 --> 00:08:40,080 over life, but the term bigfoot and sasquatch had never 143 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,480 been used. No one had heard those words when her 144 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,759 daddy had the encounter. Later when people started using them, 145 00:08:47,799 --> 00:08:51,159 it just never occurred to anyone to associate those words 146 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,759 with what he had seen. My cousin now thinks this 147 00:08:54,919 --> 00:08:58,919 is exactly what her daddy encountered, though, based on the 148 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,000 descriptions I've give given her of what these things look 149 00:09:02,159 --> 00:09:05,360 like and the stories she heard on your videos, she 150 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,320 is sure it had to be a bigfoot, and I'm 151 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:13,720 inclined to agree. This all took place in McNary County, Tennessee. 152 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,440 Some of your listeners might recognize that as being Beaufort 153 00:09:17,519 --> 00:09:20,919 Pusser's Neck of the woods. Anyway, I thought you might 154 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:27,679 enjoy hearing this little story, and it is true. When 155 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:29,600 I was young, I spent most of my time in 156 00:09:29,639 --> 00:09:32,240 the woods. I lived with my mom and dad out 157 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,039 in the country. My grandma and Grandpapy lived just over 158 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,879 in the next county as the crow flies. It wasn't 159 00:09:39,919 --> 00:09:42,159 far at all, and I spent a lot of time 160 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,360 at their house as well. I remember my Grandma always 161 00:09:46,399 --> 00:09:49,120 telling me to stay out of one particular holler that 162 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,799 had a creek running through it. She always said there 163 00:09:52,919 --> 00:09:56,159 was wooly boogers over there, and they'd get me. My 164 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,480 Grandpappy always called them wood boogers, but he always said 165 00:09:59,519 --> 00:10:02,600 the same thing thing, stay out or they would get me. 166 00:10:04,039 --> 00:10:06,320 Since it was one place I was told to stay 167 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,279 away from, I just thought Grandpapy must have had a 168 00:10:09,399 --> 00:10:12,600 still back there. I said, Okay, I won't go there, 169 00:10:12,639 --> 00:10:16,039 and I never did. I didn't know until years later 170 00:10:16,279 --> 00:10:21,200 that they were talking about Bigfoot at home. I ran 171 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,200 at will over one hundred plus acres that my uncle 172 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,360 owned next to us. He never went there, so it 173 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,600 was my own little piece of heaven. There were other 174 00:10:30,639 --> 00:10:34,279 big farms around us, and the farm kids roamed anywhere 175 00:10:34,279 --> 00:10:38,120 and everywhere on all of these farms. Nobody much cared. 176 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:40,840 We all knew who was who's and what we could 177 00:10:40,879 --> 00:10:43,360 do and what we couldn't do. And trust me, my 178 00:10:43,399 --> 00:10:45,759 neighbor would whip my butt and send me home for 179 00:10:45,879 --> 00:10:49,559 doing stupid stuff I wasn't supposed to be doing. When 180 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:51,879 I'd get home, my dad would whip my butt again 181 00:10:52,039 --> 00:10:54,720 because the neighbors had called him. That's just how it 182 00:10:54,879 --> 00:10:58,279 was in those days. That was back around nineteen seventy 183 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,360 two or seventy three. On my uncle's land. I was 184 00:11:02,399 --> 00:11:06,240 the king. I had treehouses everywhere, and I had underground 185 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,120 forts and tunnels all over. I made a big clearing 186 00:11:10,159 --> 00:11:12,120 out of those woods and built me a lean to 187 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,840 to camp out in. I even had a fire pit 188 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,879 ringed with big rocks, and it was a cool setup. 189 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,159 In summer. I lived in those woods more than at home. 190 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,360 My mom and dad work, so the woods were home 191 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,639 to me. I'd get up in the morning, eat a 192 00:11:28,639 --> 00:11:31,399 bowl of cereal and make myself a pile of pbn 193 00:11:31,519 --> 00:11:34,080 jy sandwiches and wrap them up and grab a couple 194 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,720 of apples or bananas and put it all in a 195 00:11:36,759 --> 00:11:39,399 brown paper lunch sack, and I was set for the 196 00:11:39,519 --> 00:11:43,240 day and out the door and gone. First I'd go 197 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,120 to the lean to and put my stashus sandwiches and 198 00:11:46,159 --> 00:11:49,320 fruit in there where it was cooler. Then I became 199 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,480 Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett, not head off to build 200 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,919 a new tunnel or add on to a treehouse. One day, 201 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,120 I went back to the lean to to get my lunch, 202 00:11:59,159 --> 00:12:02,080 but I couldn't. My lunch was gone. I had to 203 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,240 go back home and make more sandwiches. It really hacked 204 00:12:05,279 --> 00:12:08,840 me off. Somebody stole my lunch and I don't remember 205 00:12:08,879 --> 00:12:11,080 spending a lot of time in the woods. After that, 206 00:12:11,519 --> 00:12:15,480 I spent more time with my grandpa and Grandpapy. Somewhere 207 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,799 around this time, I started having a bed wetting problem. 208 00:12:19,039 --> 00:12:23,320 I've never had any problems before. I also started having 209 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,279 this very same nightmare over and over. In my dream, 210 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:29,679 I would run into our living room and the front 211 00:12:29,759 --> 00:12:33,039 door would be wide open. Through the window, i'd see 212 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,600 our refrigerator out in the lawn. The door would be 213 00:12:36,639 --> 00:12:39,879 open and the light was on inside it. Our food 214 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,080 was laying out in the snow, and I would hear 215 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,960 my dad yelling and fighting with someone or something. It 216 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,919 would scream back really loud, and Dad would holler at 217 00:12:48,919 --> 00:12:53,360 whatever it was. Later, we moved just over up the 218 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,960 road from my grandma and Grandpa's place. There were woods 219 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,879 behind our new house, and one day while I was 220 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,320 out in them, I ran up on two boys about 221 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,240 my age. They lived about a mile or two back 222 00:13:05,279 --> 00:13:09,320 on another road. We worked in Tobacco and hey in 223 00:13:09,399 --> 00:13:12,480 the summer, so when I saw an old Harley, I 224 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,039 bought it for cheap, and my dad helped me fix 225 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:16,879 it up so I could ride it back and forth 226 00:13:16,919 --> 00:13:20,399 to work on various farms. I used to ride it 227 00:13:20,399 --> 00:13:24,559 to Grandma and Grandpa's house as well. A few years later, 228 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,159 when I was fifteen or sixteen, my mom and dad 229 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,360 went out of town. I called my band and said, 230 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,720 let's practice at my house. Before long, it was a 231 00:13:33,759 --> 00:13:36,919 full out party, live band and all, and there were 232 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,200 girls everywhere. I was drinking some bourbon. Plus I'd been 233 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,600 playing for an hour or two. I needed a bathroom break. 234 00:13:44,759 --> 00:13:47,320 There was a line at both of them, so I 235 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,519 walked out back through the garage into the dark. I 236 00:13:50,639 --> 00:13:53,200 was relieving myself in front of the garage when my 237 00:13:53,279 --> 00:13:57,000 brother must have had the same idea, but instead of 238 00:13:57,039 --> 00:13:59,639 sneaking out into the dark, he came out loud and 239 00:13:59,639 --> 00:14:02,399 flip on the lights and throwing the screen door open 240 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,799 and letting it slam. And there I stood like a burglar, 241 00:14:05,879 --> 00:14:09,840 caught holding the evidence. At that moment, there was a 242 00:14:09,879 --> 00:14:13,440 sound of limbs breaking in leaves rustling. I looked over 243 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:17,679 and froze. My brother saw it, and he frozeen midstep. 244 00:14:18,879 --> 00:14:21,559 There was a massive beast standing there, and it raised 245 00:14:21,639 --> 00:14:24,679 up from behind these bushes under a sugar maple tree 246 00:14:24,679 --> 00:14:27,679 in the yard, ripping branches with its head as it 247 00:14:27,799 --> 00:14:31,720 stood the sugar maple couldn't have been more than forty 248 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,919 five or fifty feet from us, and it turned and 249 00:14:35,039 --> 00:14:38,559 ran across the open backyard over to a woven wire 250 00:14:38,639 --> 00:14:42,000 cattle fence with two strands of bob wire over the top. 251 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,120 This thing was nine feet tall, It was dirty white, 252 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,679 and had a head as big as a bushel basket. 253 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:51,879 We stood there and watched it until it disappeared in 254 00:14:51,919 --> 00:14:55,720 the woods over the fence. It stepped over the fence 255 00:14:55,759 --> 00:14:58,919 in one stride. It wasn't a jump or a bounce, 256 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:03,240 It just stepped over there. I stood, my tackle still 257 00:15:03,279 --> 00:15:06,039 in my hand and my mouth hanging open. My brother 258 00:15:06,159 --> 00:15:10,159 was standing beside and a little behind me. Somebody started 259 00:15:10,159 --> 00:15:12,399 out the door and laughed because all he saw was 260 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,559 me standing there, tucking myself back into my pants, and 261 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,759 my brother asking what the crap that thing was, and 262 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,879 me telling him that it was a bigfoot. I walked 263 00:15:22,919 --> 00:15:24,960 over to my harley and I got on it. I 264 00:15:25,039 --> 00:15:27,840 drove off in the opposite direction from where the monster 265 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,159 had just ran. I rode down the road and deeper 266 00:15:31,279 --> 00:15:34,840 into the sticks. Eventually I had to pull over because 267 00:15:34,879 --> 00:15:38,720 I got to shaking so bad. Memories came flooding back 268 00:15:38,759 --> 00:15:41,600 to me from my childhood. I was back in the 269 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:43,960 woods when I was eight or nine and waking up 270 00:15:44,039 --> 00:15:47,759 in my lean to a bigfoot stepped out of it, 271 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,480 eating my apples with my sack lunch in its massive hand. 272 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,279 It turned and screamed so loud, with so much force 273 00:15:55,399 --> 00:15:59,679 that it hurt me, and it shook my insides. I 274 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,440 think I had blocked it out. It wasn't in my 275 00:16:02,559 --> 00:16:05,960 memories until I saw this white one. It all came 276 00:16:06,039 --> 00:16:08,600 back to me. It had screamed at me, and I 277 00:16:08,639 --> 00:16:12,519 had wet my pants. This huge, hairy, black and brown 278 00:16:12,679 --> 00:16:15,639 monster screamed at me, and I honestly had no memory 279 00:16:15,759 --> 00:16:19,279 of it at all. I instantly knew what the meaning 280 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,759 of my dream was too. My father was a World 281 00:16:22,799 --> 00:16:25,399 War Two vet. He walked up out of the water 282 00:16:25,519 --> 00:16:29,720 onto the Omaha Beach on d Day and walked across Europe, 283 00:16:29,879 --> 00:16:34,000 fighting all the way. My father was my hero, even 284 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,639 after he died, and to this day he still is. 285 00:16:37,639 --> 00:16:40,960 My dream represented him fighting the bigfoot in our front 286 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,639 yard to get back the food that was taken from me. 287 00:16:44,559 --> 00:16:47,320 So there I sat out on this little road, crying 288 00:16:47,399 --> 00:16:51,200 and shaking like a dog, passing a peach seed. It 289 00:16:51,279 --> 00:16:54,159 took me a while, but I finally got myself back together. 290 00:16:54,919 --> 00:16:58,000 I rode to town, where I passed a pool room. 291 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,799 There were a few bikers I knew that playing a 292 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,799 game of pool with one of the boys I had 293 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:06,319 met in the woods behind my house years earlier. I 294 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,279 decided to tell him about the massive white bigfoot I 295 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,880 had just seen run across my yard. I told him 296 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,640 had disappeared into the woods heading back to this old 297 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,599 house that he grew up in. Well, he stood there 298 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:20,960 for a second, looked at me like I was nuts. 299 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:24,319 Then he laid his que on the table and said, 300 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,880 come on, motioning for me to follow him. He and 301 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,759 I walked outside, and he said, follow me up the road. 302 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,119 We rode our bikes to a driveway just out of town, 303 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,920 where we pulled up and stopped. What are we doing here, 304 00:17:38,079 --> 00:17:41,680 I asked, This is where my little brother lives. Now, 305 00:17:41,839 --> 00:17:44,960 he told me. Then he laid on the horn. The 306 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,680 porch light came on, and his little brother stepped out 307 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,119 on the porch and waited as we crossed the yard. 308 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,000 After we sat down, he said, tell him about what 309 00:17:54,039 --> 00:17:56,839 you told me at the pool room. Now, I was 310 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,400 getting angry because I was beginning to think he just 311 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,559 brought me so he and his brother could get a 312 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,759 laugh at me. But when he said, no, really, just 313 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,880 tell him, I took a deep breath and repeated my 314 00:18:08,039 --> 00:18:12,480 story about what I'd seen earlier that night. As I spoke, 315 00:18:12,599 --> 00:18:16,480 the younger brother's eyes widened and his face paled. When 316 00:18:16,519 --> 00:18:19,079 I was done, the older brother apologized to him for 317 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:24,000 not believing him believe him about what I asked. The 318 00:18:24,039 --> 00:18:27,720 younger brother then told me his story. He reminded me 319 00:18:27,799 --> 00:18:30,160 that the old house where they grew up had the 320 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,759 kind of big windows that go from just above the 321 00:18:32,839 --> 00:18:36,920 floor and almost to the ceiling. Back in those days, 322 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,960 country folks put curtains on just the bottom half of 323 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,799 those windows. The top was left uncovered. My grandparents had 324 00:18:44,799 --> 00:18:47,759 these kind of windows, too, and I remember how I 325 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,000 used to look out at the stars at night when 326 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,839 I stayed with them. The younger brother went on to 327 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,079 tell me how he had woken one night to see 328 00:18:56,079 --> 00:18:59,079 this huge white haired thing looking down at him from 329 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,359 outside in the window. It was just a little taller 330 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,079 than the window, and it scared him so badly he 331 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,400 just laid there. He was too scared to move or 332 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,559 even to scream. When he tried to tell his parents 333 00:19:11,599 --> 00:19:14,960 about it, they just laughed and told him he was dreaming. 334 00:19:16,039 --> 00:19:20,039 His older brother didn't believe him either. On many occasions, 335 00:19:20,079 --> 00:19:23,279 he even made fun of him about it. The younger 336 00:19:23,319 --> 00:19:25,960 brother went on to say that the creature never showed 337 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:30,039 any aggression towards him. He never felt threatened in any way. 338 00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:33,119 It was the sheer enormity of the thing that had 339 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,799 frightened him so much. After that, it showed up from 340 00:19:37,799 --> 00:19:41,200 time to time until shortly after his dad passed away 341 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:45,119 and they had moved into town. The younger brother assured 342 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,880 me that he'd had many opportunities to get a good 343 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,359 view of it. He described the beast as dirty blonde 344 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,400 or beige when he first started showing up at the window, 345 00:19:54,839 --> 00:19:58,559 but over time he began to get more gray. He 346 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,880 said the eyes were black with very little white around them, 347 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,680 and sat back under a heavy brow. His face looked 348 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,960 like an old catcher's mitt, but wrinkled. His teeth were 349 00:20:09,079 --> 00:20:12,920 like big square blocks and kind of yellow. He never 350 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,119 opened his mouth much beyond a narrow opening that looked 351 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,880 sort of like a shy grin. There was this one time, though, 352 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,319 when he opened his mouth wide but he was looking 353 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,039 out across the yard. His eye teeth were long enough 354 00:20:26,039 --> 00:20:28,799 to hang below the other teeth, so not so long 355 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,799 as to be construed as fans. He had thin lips 356 00:20:32,839 --> 00:20:35,720 stretched across a wide mouth that seemed to go all 357 00:20:35,759 --> 00:20:39,240 the way across his face. He said he never saw 358 00:20:39,319 --> 00:20:42,079 where the nose started at the top, but it was 359 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:46,640 very wide and didn't stick out very far. He remembered 360 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,000 thinking when it first started coming to the window. He said, 361 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,279 if he had punched it in the nose, his fist 362 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,119 would only cover one nostril. He knew that sounded funny, 363 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,960 but it was true. The nose was that white and 364 00:20:59,039 --> 00:21:03,079 had big, flared nostrils. He also admitted the nose might 365 00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:06,160 have seemed exaggerated because he was looking straight up the 366 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:10,079 thing's nose from down on his bed. He told me 367 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:12,599 it had no neck, and the muscles seemed to run 368 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,200 from his shoulders straight up to the back of his head. 369 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:17,839 The chest was so wid that he thought he could 370 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,559 have stretched his arms out wide and he wouldn't ever 371 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,720 have reached them all the way across the front. Then, 372 00:21:23,759 --> 00:21:25,960 he was quick to add that he was just a boy. 373 00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:30,559 Then it would leave rocks and things on the window ledge. 374 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,480 There was a big hickory nut tree in the backyard, 375 00:21:33,599 --> 00:21:36,400 and he thought that's why it was there. He played 376 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,359 under the tree and pile nuts in his old metal 377 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,599 Tonka dub truck. He wondered if the bigfoot thought he 378 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,799 was leaving them there for him. We talked about the 379 00:21:46,839 --> 00:21:50,720 description he gave me that night many more times after that. 380 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,920 I joined the army not long after the first night 381 00:21:54,039 --> 00:21:57,960 we talked. I think my sighting made me a better soldier. 382 00:21:58,519 --> 00:22:02,599 Dark knights on guard even during firefights. I knew the 383 00:22:02,759 --> 00:22:06,160 enemy or even our own forces were nowhere near the 384 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,240 baddest thing out walking around in the dark. When I 385 00:22:10,279 --> 00:22:12,640 got out of the army, we talked about it again 386 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:17,240 on many occasions. His description never changed over the years. 387 00:22:17,839 --> 00:22:20,480 The old house is gone now, and I drove by 388 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,759 there a few years ago. Even that old hickory tree 389 00:22:23,839 --> 00:22:27,920 is long gone. Sadly, my old Harley caught fire and 390 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,359 burned up, so it's gone too. The brothers moved away 391 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,599 and I eventually lost track of them. All that's left 392 00:22:35,759 --> 00:22:38,960 are the memories. But I will never forget my encounter 393 00:22:39,079 --> 00:22:42,599 that night over forty years ago. If you ask me 394 00:22:43,279 --> 00:22:46,680 that bigfoot in my backyard was just down south, ducing 395 00:22:46,799 --> 00:22:49,599 and digging the sounds of the Lennard skinnerd songs that 396 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,839 we were playing that night, and probably just wishing he 397 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:59,359 could come in and party with us. Bigfoot. Oh, I 398 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,599 hate free I know that has nothing to do with 399 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,559 this story, but I'd rather hear anything but Freebird by 400 00:23:06,599 --> 00:23:11,720 Leonyard Skinnyard in anything other than Let it Be by 401 00:23:11,759 --> 00:23:14,920 the Beatles, Oh my God, or no, not let it be. 402 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,240 I don't like let it be either, but hate you. 403 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,599 That Haju song drives me up the wall. And Leonard's 404 00:23:22,839 --> 00:23:25,559 Freebirdman played so much, I don't know, I just get 405 00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:28,119 tired of it. But other than that, I like all 406 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,319 of Skinner's songs. It's just that one. But what am 407 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:33,640 I talking about? I don't even know what I'm talking about. 408 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:36,799 This is a great story, and this is a memory 409 00:23:36,839 --> 00:23:43,160 this man has kept all of his life.