WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:09.359 I live on a short one mile long road in 2 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:14.640 the Drry Township of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. My house sits 3 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:16.640 at the halfway point of the road, with a few 4 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:20.440 other neighbors dotted here and there along the way. My 5 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.679 backyard butts up to a large pond in an open field, 6 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:27.399 and to my chagrin, I have recently discovered that this 7 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:32.280 part of Pennsylvania is pretty much Sisquat Central. I might 8 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:35.240 never have bothered to learn this small bit of trivia 9 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:38.240 if not for what had happened to me on Sunday, 10 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.520 May the ninth, twenty twenty two. At one pm that day, 11 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.719 I took my dogs for a walk. I opted to 12 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.119 walk down the end of the road where a retired 13 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:54.280 federal government employee lives. That he values his privacy is 14 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:58.079 evident in the no trespassing signs posted and the fact 15 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:01.640 that his property is gated. I usually stopped at the 16 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:03.759 gate and turned around when I choose to walk the 17 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:07.920 dogs in that direction. I had walked past another home 18 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:10.280 on the opposite side of the road when I saw 19 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:13.319 what I thought was my neighbor. Walked from the corner 20 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:17.400 of his yard and on to the driveway at the 21 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:20.519 same time, both of my dogs began to react strangely. 22 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:23.840 They dropped their tails and began to whine and whimper 23 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:28.239 as they backed away. I stared in amazement as what 24 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:30.959 I had first taken for a human being crossing the 25 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:36.560 driveway in two strides. Realization began to set in. This 26 00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:39.519 was not my neighbor. This was not a human being. 27 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:43.319 This was something seven and a half to eight feet tall, 28 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:46.439 and it was covered in long, matted, dark brown and 29 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.799 black hair, and it was only fifteen feet away from me. 30 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.400 It never looked at me or in my direction. There 31 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:57.200 was no accurate smell that so many have talked about, 32 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:01.599 nor did it make any sounds. It simply crossed the driveway, 33 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.920 which was about two feet wider than a car, and 34 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.199 then it went up a slight embankment and disappeared into 35 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:12.080 the woods. At this point I still didn't realize, or 36 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:15.520 perhaps I hadn't accepted the reality that I had seen 37 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:19.800 a bigfoot. I was surprised and rattled and in denial, 38 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.960 but I couldn't tell you what I was thinking at 39 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:26.280 that moment, and I wish I could. I was still 40 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:28.599 holding on to the thought that it was my neighbor, 41 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:32.719 as I began walking back toward my house. When I 42 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:35.120 reached the spot where it had stepped into the woods, 43 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.080 I realized there was no earthly reason why anyone would 44 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:41.879 venture into that heavy thicket. It would be dangerous to 45 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:45.599 do so, A healthy man would struggle with it, and 46 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:49.479 someone like my neighbor, who smokes heavily and enjoys his drinks, 47 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.919 would never be able to make it through there. Well, 48 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.879 this is when I began to get nervous. The dogs 49 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:58.639 had stopped whimpering and whining, but they were in as 50 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:00.639 much of a hurry to get home as I was. 51 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.080 I kept checking back over my shoulder, but I didn't 52 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:07.759 see the creature, nor did I hear anything. And when 53 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:10.120 I realized I didn't hear anything, it occurred to me 54 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.560 that even the birds had gone silent. There were no 55 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.800 normal woodland noises at all. A few days later, I 56 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:21.080 was able to have a conversation with the man who 57 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:24.439 owns the property, and I began by saying, so, I 58 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.960 saw something while I was on a walk the other day. 59 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.719 There was a nervous pause while I collected my thoughts. 60 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:33.560 You're probably going to think I lost my mind. I 61 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:38.479 began again, did you see bigfoot, he cut in. His 62 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.759 question caught me off guard, and I wasn't expecting that answer, 63 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.439 But I can't say I wasn't hoping for it either, 64 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.319 I believe, so I managed to get out, Have you 65 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:53.759 seen bigfoot? No? He answered again, not what I was 66 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:58.400 hoping for, but not entirely unexpected. There isn't much to 67 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.199 tell beyond that it isn't the most exciting story. It 68 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.639 certainly isn't how I imagine things would play out if I 69 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.960 ever saw a bigfoot. But it is what it is, 70 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:15.840 and I know what I saw. So I started hunting 71 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.160 and fishing when I was ten years old with an 72 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:20.959 uncle here in the UK, and I've hunted and fished 73 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:26.079 worldwide ever since. Being in the outdoors is me at 74 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:29.920 my happiest, even if I don't get anything. I enjoy 75 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:33.199 stalking deer, working the land, and being selective as to 76 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:37.240 what I harvest. Everything I harvest is for the pot, 77 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:40.759 except for the foxes and the rats. As a hunter, 78 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:44.040 I believe in selective and ethical hunting, and when I 79 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.519 do take a life, I always give the best I 80 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:51.079 can for a quick, clean kill. I live in England, 81 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.279 but most of my hunting was in Scotland on syndicate 82 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:59.079 land least from a tree plantation company. The plantation consisted 83 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:02.839 of mature tree with fire breaks, clear fell and new 84 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.920 plantation with gravel tracks. We were allowed to have a 85 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:12.959 static caravan on site. Americans call these camping trailers. The 86 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:16.040 least area was fifteen hundred acres, but next to this 87 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:19.560 was a further twelve hundred acres of woodland and farmland 88 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:22.399 that was run by a local and they shot for 89 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:26.639 driven pheasant. The agreement with the gamekeeper was if we 90 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:30.240 helped keep the foxes down on the chute by lamping 91 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.439 at night, we would get an invite on the chute 92 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:37.000 for the end of the season. On keepers Day one 93 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:40.519 weekend in early October two thousand and four, I arranged 94 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:43.680 for myself and a friend to go deer stalking. I 95 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:45.839 was all packed up and ready to go when my 96 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:48.360 friend called me and said he couldn't come due to 97 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:52.079 a family emergency, so it was just me and the dog, 98 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:55.519 which was fine. I set off later than I was 99 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:58.120 hoping for and on the way up to Scotland, I 100 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.839 got held up even further with road works. The five 101 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.399 hour drive turned into six hours, and when I got 102 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:06.920 to the trailer in the woodland. It was getting on 103 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:10.199 for about nine thirty PM and I was losing light. 104 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:13.720 There was not enough light left to start an evening stalk, 105 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:15.720 so I made a meal and I thought I would 106 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:19.279 drive the plantation next door after midnight and see if 107 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:23.839 I could nail some foxes whilst lamping. For all you 108 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:28.720 rednecks out there, lamping is what we call shining or spotlight, 109 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.959 but he's doing it legally for foxes and predators, which 110 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.639 is cool. We can't even do that. We can't even 111 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:38.199 shine a light in a field at night, and the 112 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.480 game war will be on us like white on rice. 113 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:44.920 But anyway, I digress. It's shining for all the Rednecks. 114 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:48.199 Just after midnight, I put the dog in the back 115 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.040 of the land rover, set the spotting lamp up, and 116 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:54.560 headed off with my two forty three. I arrived at 117 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:57.079 the gate of the plantation and unlocked the gate and 118 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.759 I drove in. It was strange because I've remember a 119 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:03.959 funny feeling when I opened the gate. I wasn't sure 120 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.639 what it was, but something didn't feel right. I drove 121 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.720 along the mature woodland and I looked down a firebreak 122 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:13.480 and noticed a bright light in the sky. It was 123 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.720 very bright. I thought it was a satellite off in 124 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:19.879 the sky. This was looking out the right side of 125 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:23.560 my car at my three o'clock. I carried on past 126 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:26.160 the mature trees and I turned right down a track 127 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.879 that opened on some clear fell I expected to see 128 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:32.279 the light in front of me, but it was still 129 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:36.040 at ninety degrees to my right, which was strange. I 130 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.480 carried down the track for about three to four hundred 131 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.160 yards and I stopped. I looked at the light and 132 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:45.000 it was still there, just hanging in the sky. I 133 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:47.560 put my zeice binoculars on it, and it was hard 134 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:50.079 to look at due to the brightness. The thing was 135 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:53.560 a bright silver. It looked like a cylinder on its end, 136 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:55.720 like you would put a coke can on a table. 137 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:58.959 I put the rangefinder on it, and it was six 138 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.560 hundred and fifty yards from me. It must have been 139 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:05.399 twenty five feet long and maybe ten feet in diameter, 140 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:08.639 and hanging about two hundred feet off the ground. I 141 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:13.079 could see the trees illuminated by its brightness below. I 142 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:15.600 carried on down the track and I turned right again. 143 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.120 I was now driving behind it. I stopped and put 144 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:21.839 the rangefinder on it again, and it was now at 145 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:26.000 five hundred yards. This thing just hung there. I don't 146 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:28.120 know what it was, but it made no noise and 147 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.759 it didn't seem to move. I was mesmerized by it. 148 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:35.480 Fear took over, and I thought it best to move along. 149 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:39.480 I floored it down the track. The road curved at 150 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:42.039 the end and joined the original track that I came 151 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:44.840 in on. I looked out the window and it was 152 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.200 still hanging there. I had driven all the way around it, 153 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:50.879 and it was always on the right side of the vehicle. 154 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.080 I drove back to my syndicate area and I went 155 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:57.519 to bed in the caravan. In the morning, I drove 156 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.720 to the next door plantation again about NW and I 157 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:03.720 looked at the area again and saw no sign of it. 158 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:07.559 I drove the same route and stopped in the same places, 159 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:11.720 and I never saw anything strange. A few months later 160 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:14.279 I told a friend about it, and after he finished 161 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:16.799 laughing at me and saying it was the moon or 162 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:19.679 a planet, he asked me why I didn't go closer 163 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:21.679 to it, or why I didn't take a shot at 164 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.080 it with my rifle. At the time, that never occurred 165 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:28.480 to me to even think of doing that. And in hindsight, 166 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.720 I wouldn't have done so anyway. It's kind of drummed 167 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:34.200 into me always to know what I'm shooting at and 168 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:38.200 never to aim or discharge a rifle above a backstop. 169 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:42.320 To this day, I don't know what it was. Primeval 170 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:45.320 fear kept me from getting closer and told me to leave, 171 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:48.879 and I think a deep, unknown sixth sense told me 172 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:52.600 something wasn't right when I arrived. I don't know if 173 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:55.120 it was my eyes playing tricks, but I did get 174 00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:58.000 hits with the rangefinder, so this thing must have been 175 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:02.039 solid and reflective. It seemed to emit a light, but 176 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:05.879 it didn't have any lights. I've never seen anything like 177 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.080 it again, nor do I really want to. It would 178 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:12.480 be interesting if any of your followers have encountered anything 179 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:17.480 that fits this description. Paul's got another thing he wanted 180 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:20.480 to share, and I thought this was really good, just 181 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:22.519 as good as his story. And here's what he writes. 182 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:24.639 I wanted to give you one more short story that 183 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:29.480 isn't a Bigfoot story, and it's not really a UFO story. 184 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.679 This is about people who tell about what they have seen. 185 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:37.279 I've noticed the amount of decent people who are ridiculed 186 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:40.559 for telling the truth about what they saw, regardless of 187 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:43.960 whether it can be explained or not. A lot of 188 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.759 these people are well respected professional people who have their 189 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:51.799 lives really affected by simply telling the truth. And that's 190 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:55.799 what this story is about. Many years ago, I used 191 00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:59.320 to shoot wildfile and game with a really nice guy. 192 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.240 He had a great sense of humor and the banter 193 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:05.360 that he gave and was able to take was legendary. 194 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.440 He worked for a local farmer and also was a 195 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:11.679 part time truck driver, and he worked for various hall 196 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:16.279 firms in the southeast of the United Kingdom. He was 197 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:20.000 ex army and served with his original regiment in Germany 198 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:23.600 and Northern Ireland. Then needed more of a challenge and 199 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:26.120 went for the parachute Regiment. You have to be a 200 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:29.240 tough bastard to get in that also, and you also 201 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:32.039 have to be a bit mad. This was in the 202 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:37.159 early nineteen eighties. In nineteen eighty two, he found himself 203 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:39.480 on the way to the South Atlantic on a troop 204 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:43.159 ship with his regiment in May of nineteen eighty two 205 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:47.000 and found himself in full combat at Goose Green during 206 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:51.120 the Falklands War. After he left the army, he returned 207 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:54.480 back to rural life, settled down and married, and they 208 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:57.600 had a child. He was well known in the community 209 00:11:57.639 --> 00:11:59.919 and very well liked, and was a kind of guy 210 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:03.360 who would help anyone out. Over a couple of beers. 211 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:05.759 One evening he told me this story and how it 212 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:09.440 affected his life, his work, and his marriage. In the 213 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:13.200 summertime in the late nineteen eighties, he was trucking freshly 214 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:17.600 harvested peas with another guy in another truck. It was 215 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.440 early morning and they were driving through a rural area 216 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.720 in Suffolk and heading for a pea processing factory. As 217 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:28.240 they drove down the quiet country roads, the sun started 218 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.039 to rise and in the pink and blue sky they 219 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:36.200 saw two black triangles. They seemed to just hang silhouetted 220 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:40.759 in the sky. He drew them and they were Isaceles triangles. 221 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.080 He said, you could even see the heat haze coming 222 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.639 off of them. He got on his sebee to the 223 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:49.000 other driver and said, do you see them? What the 224 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:52.320 hell are they? The other driver said, screw this, and 225 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:55.159 they both floored the trucks and didn't stop until they 226 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:59.080 reached the truck stop twenty miles away. He said they 227 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:02.080 both felt shook up and told other truckers what they 228 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:06.320 had seen. This was a big mistake. At no point 229 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:10.840 did they ever say UFO or spaceship or aliens. They 230 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.919 just described what they had seen in the sky that morning, 231 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:17.720 and they received a fair amount of ridicule. And it 232 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:23.000 didn't stop there. It spread like wildfire and it never ended. 233 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:26.639 They both were accused of drinking on the job and 234 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:31.360 being mentally unbalanced. They lost a work through the ordeal. 235 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:35.039 They just weren't hired by any of the haulage companies. 236 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:38.480 Every time he went into town, someone would draw an 237 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:41.960 alien face on his car in the dust, or whistle 238 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.759 the close encounters theme. It was the same in the 239 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:49.120 local pub. You would think that a tough guy like 240 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:51.720 him could take it, and that it could only go 241 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.679 on for so long. But it stopped being banter or 242 00:13:55.720 --> 00:14:00.279 a joke, and it simply turned into harassment. One day 243 00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:04.519 he had had enough and he punched one of his hecklers. Unfortunately, 244 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:08.399 that got him his shotgun certificate revoked over it. I 245 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:12.120 can't stress how constant it was. The other driver moved 246 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:16.720 away because of the bullying. Also in nineteen ninety one, 247 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:19.919 when the First Gulf War started, it suddenly became clear 248 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:23.919 to him what he had actually seen on television the 249 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.240 United States Air Force rolled out the F one seventeen 250 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:32.120 stealth Fighter. What he and the other driver had seen 251 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.480 was these aircraft coming into land at an air base 252 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.519 in Suffolk. Even when he explained to people that's what 253 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:43.799 he had seen, it never mattered and the harassment never stopped. 254 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:47.320 I last saw him in the mid nineteen nineties when 255 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:50.440 he was running aid out for the United Nations to 256 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.039 the Balklands War. I heard he met a Bosnian woman 257 00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:57.320 who was from Germany and moved out there after the war. 258 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:00.919 He was a good friend and a great and really 259 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.840 didn't deserve what he got for simply telling the truth. 260 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.679 My name is Kelly and I'm from England and I'm 261 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:14.600 a regular listener to your show. I have a true story, 262 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.519 but I'm not sure if it will interest you. It 263 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.240 isn't about Bigfoot nor dog Man, to be honest, it 264 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.840 does not even involve a cryptid, and I'm not sure 265 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.639 you could class it as paranormal or supernatural, but I 266 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:31.360 will let you decide on that yourself. First, let me 267 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.639 tell you a little about myself. I am a forty 268 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.639 seven year old woman and I live in Lincoln with 269 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:41.240 my husband. The story did not happen in Lincoln, but 270 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:44.480 in Manchester, where I used to live before I'm married. 271 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.159 I lived on a rather large estate back in two 272 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:51.759 thousand and two when this strange incident occurred, and I 273 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:56.519 had lived in that area since nineteen seventy two. It 274 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:59.279 was the beginning of July and we had just had 275 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:01.919 the hottest day of the year. It had been around 276 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.840 ninety four, and the night was so humid it was 277 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:08.399 still in the eighties. I knew I would not be 278 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:11.080 able to sleep, although I was doing for work at 279 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:14.240 nine am the next morning, and I stayed up watching 280 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.639 television until two AM. When I retired to bed, it 281 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:21.200 was boiling hot in the room, and I opened the 282 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:24.279 window as wide as I could to let some air inside, 283 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:28.600 but there wasn't any. Sadly, we don't have air conditioners here, 284 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:32.039 and the air outside was as warm as that within 285 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:36.000 the room. I dressed lightly and I chose to sleep 286 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:38.600 on top of the covers, but as hard as I tried, 287 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.480 I couldn't sleep, and I did not even feel tired. 288 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:44.000 But I knew without any sleep, I would pay for it. 289 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:48.240 The next day at work, I clock watched instead as 290 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:51.840 I tossed and turned, and then two am changed into 291 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:56.679 three AM, and then four am. It was just far 292 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:58.919 too warm to sleep, so I took a book from 293 00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:01.279 my bookshelf and I began to read, hoping that I 294 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.640 would eventually drift off to sleep. There was not a 295 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:07.680 sound from anywhere coming through the window as I read, 296 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.759 and then about four thirty am I heard the clopping sound, 297 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.680 clip clop, clip clop. My first thought was who was 298 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.680 riding a horse at this time of the morning. The 299 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.720 clip clopping noise continued, so I put my book down 300 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.119 and I leaned out to look through my window. It 301 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:28.000 was daylight and from my home I could see either 302 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.440 end of the street that I lived on and the 303 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:34.440 main road that it attached to. The clip clop sound 304 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:37.160 grew louder, and then in the distance on the main 305 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.480 road came a figure. I could not see them clearly, 306 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.519 only the top of their head over the distant hedges, 307 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.200 but it was a woman, I was sure of it, 308 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.440 and she was wearing heels, and that is what was 309 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:54.480 making the clip clop noise. There was no traffic at 310 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:56.640 the time in the morning, and it was a Tuesday, 311 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.160 so I wondered why someone was out so early, I 312 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:02.400 popped my head back into the room so she would 313 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:05.359 not see me spying on her, and as she turned 314 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:07.519 the corner, I was amazed to see that she was 315 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:10.799 wearing a winter jacket with a hood pulled up in 316 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:14.759 all that heat. She was also wearing trousers in what 317 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:19.440 looked like old fashioned hobnailed boots, which still made the 318 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:23.519 loud clip clop sound. The jacket had the old style 319 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:26.440 wooden toggles on the front to tie it up, and 320 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:29.640 I stood back in the shadows watching her, thinking that 321 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:32.319 she must be slightly mad to be dressed for winter 322 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:36.079 after the hottest day of the year. I observed her 323 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:39.359 and she drew level with my house, clip clopping along. 324 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:42.480 She was side on to me, with her head down, 325 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.640 looking at the ground, so all I could see was 326 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.920 her hood, and then she suddenly stopped abruptly, she turned 327 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:54.119 and looked directly up at me. This caused me to 328 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.720 take a sharp intake of breath and step backwards. How 329 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:00.279 did she know that I was there? I thought? I 330 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.000 remember her face well from what I could see of 331 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.039 it under her hood. It was pale like alabaster, and 332 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.200 she had dark eyes and a thin mouth that remained closed. 333 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.920 Everything about her was off kilter to me, and the 334 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.480 hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end. 335 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.640 I thought, what am I doing stepping away from the window. 336 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:25.480 It was still wide open, and I thought, if anyone 337 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:28.480 is weird here, it's her. So I stepped back to 338 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:33.200 the window and she was gone. All this occurred in seconds, 339 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:35.640 and seeing as I had heard her approaching for the 340 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.880 last five minutes with her loud footwear, if she had 341 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.880 run off or walked, I would have heard it. I 342 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.079 knew all my neighbors well and she wasn't one of them, 343 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:48.359 so she had not skipped into the houses. Plus, they 344 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:51.240 all had iron gates that made a loud noise as 345 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.559 you open them. I looked out of the window the 346 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.359 entire length of the street, left and right, but she 347 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.400 was gone. I thought I had spooked her and she 348 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.400 ran into the garden to hide. I would have heard 349 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:06.720 that clip clop of heels though on the pavement. I 350 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:10.039 stood at the window until five thirty am in case 351 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:13.079 she was hiding somewhere, but I never saw her again. 352 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.319 As I stood, observing and slightly baffled at the window, 353 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:20.319 a cat came from the left of the street, walking 354 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:23.960 along and another from the right, and they met and 355 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:27.079 sat side by side where the woman had stood. When 356 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:30.720 she turned to look up at me, it was so weird. 357 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:34.640 Cats usually fight, and these two were not known to 358 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:38.200 me as any of the neighborhood cats either. I stood 359 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:40.960 watching the road with the window shut, even in the heat. 360 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:43.680 I had images of her flying through my window to 361 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:46.480 get me, so I slammed it shut and watched through 362 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:50.759 the glass. The whole episode creeped me out. I could 363 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:52.680 not sleep at all that night, and I went to 364 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:56.000 work a few hours later. I told a few family 365 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:59.319 members and they thought it strange, but they had no ideas. 366 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.880 I wondered if the lady had maybe a skin problem, 367 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.519 hence why she was covered over, But why would you 368 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:08.799 wear the heaviest clothes in that heat. Plus it still 369 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:13.119 did not answer where she suddenly disappeared to silently. I 370 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:16.680 suppose that will remain a mystery. I moved out in 371 00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:20.000 twenty twelve, and the only time I ever saw and 372 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.880 heard anything was back in two thousand and two. But 373 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:25.279 it has stuck in my mind as odd all these 374 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:28.599 years later. And if she was real or not, your 375 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.880 guess is as good as mine. I don't even know 376 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.200 if this story is scary or just perplexing, and I 377 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.000 was most definitely not dreaming. I know as I never 378 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:42.519 slept that night, and on hot evenings afterwards, I'll always 379 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:46.319 keep the window closed and endured the heat. As I 380 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.839 finished typing this, the hairs on the back of my 381 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.559 neck stood up again, and I turned around to check 382 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:59.039 that she wasn't standing there. How foolish is that? I 383 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:01.920 was raised in the desert desert area of Utah, in 384 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.519 the small town of Caneville, population fifteen On a good 385 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:09.720 day when everyone was home. This town was so remote 386 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:12.119 it was thirty miles to the west to the nearest 387 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:15.799 town in twenty miles to the east of Hanksville, which 388 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:20.240 is just north of Hyte Marina on Lake Powell. Only 389 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:23.039 a handful of cars passed through our town on Highway 390 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:26.759 twenty four on a busy day. My father was a 391 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:29.799 desert tour guide and he knew the Utah Desert like 392 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:32.680 the back of his hand. So I was raised rough 393 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:35.400 camping in the desert with my parents and their friends 394 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.759 for several years. In the spring, Dad would lead a 395 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:42.359 group called the Wonder Bunch on a three day camp 396 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:46.400 trip into the desert and canyons of Utah. They called 397 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.519 themselves the Wonder Bunch because they always wondered where they 398 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.240 were going, and wondered who would be going, and wondered 399 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:55.759 when they would make it back. I love going on 400 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:59.240 the Wonder Bunch camp trips, which usually had seventy five 401 00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:02.880