WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:07.040 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