WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:12.400 I'm not going to disclose our names because it's not important, 2 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:15.320 but I have a story to tell from nineteen seventy eight. 3 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.320 I was fourteen years old at the time, and I 4 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:21.160 grew up in the deep woods of the Catskill Mountains. 5 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:26.760 My grandfather's five hundred acre farm bordered many square miles 6 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:30.879 of state forest. It was very dense wilderness, and it 7 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:34.719 was dotted with old farms that were abandoned years ago. 8 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:38.000 These details are important to give you an idea of 9 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:41.920 how remote and desolate these woods are. I've spent my 10 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:46.759 whole life hunting, trapping, and fishing those woods. This encounter 11 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:51.799 happened in late October on a clear, moonlit night. I 12 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:55.719 was coon hunting with my uncle, who had well trained coonhounds, 13 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:58.600 and it was quite cold out that night, and so 14 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:03.079 far the dogs were unusually unsuccessful. After two hours of hunting, 15 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.439 finally they started barking and they were hot on a trail. 16 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.760 We were a mile from my grandfather's farm. When we 17 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.799 started in the direction of the dog's barking. They were 18 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:18.519 across the gully in up on the next ridge. My 19 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:20.719 uncle and I were walking up a dirt road that 20 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:24.879 would take us to an old abandoned farmhouse. It was 21 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.280 a straight walk down across the gully and up to 22 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:30.480 the ridge where the dogs got that raccoon in a tree, 23 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:34.000 judging by their barks, and they were steady and in 24 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:38.680 one location. By now it was two am and we 25 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:42.840 were two hundred yards from the farmhouse. I noticed loud 26 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:45.879 footsteps one hundred yards to my right in the woods. 27 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.560 I didn't think much of it at first, because I 28 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.879 figured it was a big deer or a bear, But 29 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:54.560 as we continued up the road, I noticed it getting 30 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:59.680 closer and I could tell that it was on two feet. 31 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.599 I thought it was another hunter, but that made no 32 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:05.079 sense because no one hunts late at night in the 33 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:09.719 woods unless they're both raccoon hunting like us. There were 34 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:11.840 no other dogs in the woods, and that's when I 35 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.560 noticed the steps were heavy with the crunch of branches. 36 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.360 Now I asked my uncle if he heard what I did, 37 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.159 and he said no, he didn't. Keep in mind, my 38 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:26.000 uncle spent two tours in Vietnam. His hearing was bad 39 00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:29.800 from all the concussion blasts during the combat. He was 40 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:34.319 a real badass, with many confirmed kills and multiple gun wounds, 41 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:38.520 including hand to hand combat, knife wounds, so he wasn't 42 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:42.759 afraid of anything. He grew up in these mountains, as 43 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:46.919 did three generations of my family. He had a hard 44 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:51.120 time hearing the low frequency noises like footsteps in the leaves, 45 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:54.199 and he told me it was my imagination getting away 46 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:58.120 from me. I was getting nervous because all we had 47 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:01.840 were twenty two rifles and two pistol, which were not 48 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.280 powerful enough to put down whatever it was coming toward us. 49 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:09.360 And then I noticed it started to parallel our direction 50 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:14.560 and continued to edge closer to the road. Obviously, it 51 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.879 was very close, maybe thirty feet off to our right, 52 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:21.319 when suddenly my uncle put his hand on my chest 53 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:25.520 and he whispered to stop. The steps to our right 54 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:29.479 continued for two more steps, and then they stopped. My 55 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.840 uncle now knew something was definitely there. We took a 56 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:37.479 few more steps and it started following again, and again 57 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:39.520 my uncle put his arm out to stop us, and 58 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.360 it took a few more steps before it stopped. I 59 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:47.199 could feel the apprehension from my uncle. It was reasonably 60 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:49.840 lit on the dirt road because of the full moon, 61 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:54.000 but you couldn't see into the woods. My uncle took 62 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:56.560 out his flashlight and shined into the woods, but they 63 00:03:56.599 --> 00:03:59.439 were too dest to see anything. He told me to 64 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:04.319 keep moving, and the thing continued to follow us. By 65 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.000 now I knew my uncle was nervous because it was 66 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:11.319 obvious this thing was by petal and large. It was 67 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:13.879 now only a few yards away at this point when 68 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:17.160 we reached the old farmhouse and we quickly got up 69 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.720 on the broken down porch, turned around and confront our stalker. 70 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:24.759 The beast kept coming, and just when it was about 71 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:26.759 to break into the clearing in front of the house, 72 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.240 it stopped. We stood there, not knowing what was going 73 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.439 to happen. Next, my uncle shined the flashlight and could 74 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:38.199 vaguely see a large figure just inside the tree line, 75 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:41.120 but we couldn't see any real detail other than it 76 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:44.079 was very dark in color and it was at least 77 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:48.040 nine feet tall. It was massive, and there was a 78 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.480 musky stench in the air I could feel for the 79 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:55.839 first time my uncle was actually scared. Then suddenly it 80 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:58.519 started to walk right down through the woods away from 81 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:02.000 the house. We could hear it leaving as it stomped 82 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:05.240 down the hill until we couldn't hear it anymore, and 83 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.160 we waited ten minutes to listen for any other movement, 84 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:11.839 but it remained silent, so we started down the gully 85 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:15.600 to where the dogs were still barking. We made it 86 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:18.680 there with no further sign of that thing that stalked us. 87 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:23.519 We harvested that raccoon and we bagged it and decided 88 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.560 to call it a night. I remember those woods were 89 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.920 so quiet, like it was devoid of wildlife. The dogs 90 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:34.319 were also acting strange and kept sniffing the air and 91 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:37.560 whining the entire way back to the truck, and I 92 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:41.879 never seen the mac like that before that night. My 93 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.839 uncle sold all of his raccoon dogs shortly after that 94 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:50.879 and didn't hunt at night anymore. When friends and family 95 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:54.680 would ask why, he wouldn't say, only that he wasn't 96 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.040 making enough money on the pelts to make it worth 97 00:05:57.079 --> 00:06:01.399 his wild which was blowney because pelts back then on 98 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.000 a big raccoon so for forty five dollars each more 99 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.920 than enough to pursue that hobby. If I asked my 100 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.480 uncle what he thought that was that night, he won't 101 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.240 talk about it, not even to me, and he rarely 102 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:18.439 hunts even during the daytime now neither do I for 103 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:23.199 that matter. I've seen large footprints in the snow when 104 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:26.639 I was trapping for muskrat a few years earlier, twice 105 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:29.800 the length of my snowboot. So I'm pretty sure what 106 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:33.120 it was that stalked us that night. If that wasn't 107 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.040 a bigfoot, then what else could it be. I've had 108 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:40.839 other encounters, I've smelled him and since this presence, but 109 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:45.879 I've never actually seen one. Clearly, my account of these 110 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:51.160 events are exactly as they happen, and they are completely true. 111 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:53.959 I really appreciate your channel to allow folks to tell 112 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.319 their experiences such as mine. I'm glad to know there 113 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.600 are many others who have had similar experience, so that 114 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:04.439 I don't fill alone on this subject anymore. And the 115 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:09.120 writer signs off, And that's another raccoon hunting story. You know, 116 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.360 you hunt raccoons at night. You can hunt them during 117 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.680 the day, and you can probably kill them during the day, 118 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.920 but raccoons are primarily nocturnal. They get out and look 119 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:20.680 for food at night. All you got to do is 120 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:23.160 put out a trail cam on a corn feeder, and 121 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:25.920 the raccoons are all over it all night. But I 122 00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:30.879 think this story is quite typical for people who are 123 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:35.199 out at night, especially with dogs. Dogs seem to stir 124 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:39.600 these creatures up, and I thought it was interesting. It's 125 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.639 not much different than a lot of the raccoon hunting 126 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:45.680 episodes that I've read. However, this thing tracked them back 127 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.240 to the old farmhouse and they could actually see the 128 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:50.519 outline of it in the woods. That couldn't make out 129 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:53.360 any details, but there it was, standing right at the 130 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:55.240 edge of the woods, and they could see it nine 131 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.720 feet tall. Imagine looking out off an old porch and 132 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:02.639 seeing a creature on two legs standing upright like a 133 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:12.680 man that's nine frickin feet tall. Holy Moley. These are 134 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:15.319 true stories that actually happened to me as a child 135 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:20.720 and a teenager in Las Casas, Tennessee, fifteen miles outside 136 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:25.120 of Murphersburg in the nineteen eighties. Some of my earliest 137 00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:28.079 memories are of sitting out on my grandfather's yard under 138 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.040 the trees around dusk and hearing wood knocks. Back in 139 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:35.519 the nineteen seventies, my grandfather would say that someone was 140 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:38.480 building a barn and hammering nails over in the woods. 141 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:41.960 It was almost dark and there was no electricity in 142 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.200 the thousands of acres across the little gravel road from us. 143 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.039 Besides that the banging sound came in twos and from 144 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:54.720 different areas. My grandfather would then warn us that if 145 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:57.799 we ever heard anything that sounded like a woman screaming 146 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.360 in the woods, to get out of the world woods, 147 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.840 because it was probably a bobcat. I think he made 148 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:06.960 the connection between the banging sound and the sound like 149 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:11.799 a woman screaming. My grandfather was my favorite person in 150 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:15.679 the world and my best friend. He didn't officially raise me, 151 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:19.320 but I spent each summer, school break and holiday break, 152 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:23.159 as well as every third weekend at his house. When 153 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.240 I was twelve, I knew every inch of his one 154 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:28.679 hundred acres, as well as much of the surrounding land. 155 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:33.639 His land was split up into two different parcels. One 156 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:36.039 was thirty nine acres, which he lived on, and the 157 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.600 other was sixty one acres at the end of the road, 158 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.120 and it was a mile from where his house was. 159 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:45.559 All of his land creeped me out for some reason, 160 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:48.600 but I normally chose to hunt the thirty nine acres 161 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:51.559 that he lived on because it was close to the house. 162 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:57.399 This experience took place in nineteen eighty one. I followed 163 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.559 a trail from the bottom of our yard through a 164 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:02.879 large open field and passed an old log barn and 165 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:06.639 into some thick woods with a logging trail as access. 166 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:10.440 The trail was two hundred yards long and it ended 167 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:13.919 at a field. The trail took me to the end 168 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:16.159 of the field, and then I would walk the entire 169 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:19.399 length of the field to my deer stand. In the 170 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.279 field was a pond my grandfather built because he liked 171 00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:27.440 a fish. It was a quiet and surreal day. I 172 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.039 walked to the far end of the pond, closest to 173 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:33.320 my deer stand, and I noticed movement coming out of 174 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.039 the thick woods on the right side, and I thought 175 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:38.759 at first that it was a big man dressed in brown. 176 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:43.480 There was a shimmering appearance to this thing, so that 177 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:47.559 it looked like the figure was clouded in a heat mirage. 178 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:50.720 This guy was big, and he walked slow and methodical, 179 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:54.600 as if he wanted to be seen. His arms swung 180 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:58.519 in an exaggerated motion, and they seemed to be longer 181 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:03.399 than normal for its height. It had an unusual arch 182 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:06.759 in its back and the way it leaned forward, Although 183 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:08.679 he did not appear to have much of a neck. 184 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.759 His head arched forward from a couple of vertebras lower 185 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:17.240 than a man. He also never locked his rear legs straight, 186 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:21.720 like he was skating or scooting. He took three steps 187 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:24.120 out of the woods and then tilted his shoulders, and 188 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.240 he looked directly at me. When he looked at me, 189 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:31.600 I realized that this was not a man. I could 190 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.120 make out the broad nose, and although his face did 191 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:37.360 not appear to be completely covered in hair, there was 192 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.360 a circle from right over the eyebrows to the bottom 193 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:43.799 lip that appeared to be more exposed skin, but the 194 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:48.159 rest was hair. I could see his hair glistening in 195 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:51.519 the sun. He stared at me, looking in my direction, 196 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.120 but continued to walk straight ahead, and I felt an 197 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.799 overwhelming impression that said, don't mess with me, and I 198 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:01.720 won't mess with you. If you mess with me, you 199 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:06.440 will regret it. Whether it was my mind or common sense, 200 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:10.159 I don't know. I just know it was clear. At 201 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:13.159 twelve years old, I knew my gun was not enough 202 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:16.639 if this thing came at me. I watched the creature 203 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.919 slowly walk across the field, and at the point that 204 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.720 he went out of sight, I immediately broke free from 205 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:25.720 my frozen position and I ran as fast as I 206 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:30.399 could the half mile back to my grandfather's house. When 207 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.240 I told my grandfather what I had seen, he immediately 208 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:37.399 believed me. And when I told my grandmother, she said, Junior, 209 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:42.279 you just saw slew foot. That same year, I went 210 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:46.240 back in that field during deer season. My first encounter 211 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:50.440 happened in September, but this one was close to Thanksgiving. 212 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:53.600 I was thoroughly frightened every time I went back there, 213 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:55.639 and I would not go deer hunting in the dark. 214 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:58.320 I preferred the middle of the day. Even though I 215 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:02.120 never saw any deer at that time, I didn't want 216 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:04.200 to be in those woods in the dark. As I 217 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:08.559 approached that same field, I heard two men talking. I 218 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:11.080 could hear at one hundred yards before I made it 219 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:13.919 to the field, and as I got closer to the field, 220 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:16.919 I began to wonder why I couldn't understand what these 221 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:22.399 men were saying. It was obviously two large, loud males talking, 222 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:25.080 and I could tell by their booming voices that they 223 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:28.960 were just inside the tree line. I finally got to 224 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:32.120 where I could clearly hear them, but it wasn't English 225 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.559 they were speaking, or even a known language. It was 226 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:40.159 only grunts and gibberish. I walked further and three deer 227 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.159 took off from where the noise was, and I shot 228 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:46.240 one of the deer. When things were quiet again, the 229 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:50.399 voices had stopped. I never knew who or what was 230 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:53.879 making these sounds, and I never saw them. I feel 231 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:56.519 dressed the deer and I hauled it out without incident. 232 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:02.279 My last encounter have years later, when I was sixteen. 233 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.440 It happened on the banks of the East Fork of 234 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:09.720 the Stones River, three miles away from that field. This 235 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:13.919 one is crazy. I had sold my next door neighbor 236 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.919 my fourteen foot v bottom boat because I was now 237 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:19.919 more interested in cars and girls than I was fishing. 238 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:23.480 His name was Benny and he was thirty years old, 239 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:27.039 and he was a rugged Outdorseman. He was not afraid 240 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.720 of anything and would sometimes sneak up on my friends 241 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:32.360 and me when we were out frog gigging without using 242 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:37.240 a light. We put the boat in slightly below Guy 243 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:41.360 James Bridge in Las Casas, Tennessee. On a mid April 244 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:45.559 night in nineteen eighty five, it was still chilly at night. 245 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:49.720 We drifted down toward Brown's Mill Dam fishing for small 246 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:54.080 mouth bass. That night we camped on a gravel bar 247 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.240 two miles away from the road. I was familiar with 248 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:01.919 that area. That night, at ten o'clock we were catfishing 249 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.840 from the bank with no success. Benny mentioned how quiet 250 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:10.039 it was. I agreed with him, and as if on cue, 251 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.200 the biggest splash that I had ever heard in my 252 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:16.039 entire life hit the water just outside our view. It 253 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.080 was on the upstream end of the gravel bar. The 254 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.919 fire we had going wasn't enough to see what made 255 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.399 the splash, and we sprang up immediately and landed on 256 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:31.279 our feet, shaking in fear. Benny grabbed the flashlight and 257 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.679 now I followed him, and as we got to that 258 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.759 end of the gravel bar, we could see splash marks 259 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:41.360 on the gravel. His flashlight battery was weak, but it 260 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:44.840 was all we had. Benny leaned out as far as 261 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:47.159 he could over the water, pointing his light at a 262 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:51.720 massive object a short distance away. At first we could 263 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:56.039 see glowing red eyes. Benny turned back and began to 264 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:59.600 whisper to me, it's a monster, it's a monster. Well, 265 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.200 I was in denial, and I continued to tell Benny 266 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:04.240 that it was just a cow that had fallen in 267 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:08.240 the water, because cows milled around in that area a lot. 268 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:12.639 As our eyes focused better, it became obvious that this 269 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.000 was not a cow because of the size of its 270 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:20.600 head above the eyes was fourteen inches of head sticking up. 271 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.639 It was big in cone shaped, and it tilted its 272 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:27.159 head to the left and then straightened it back up, 273 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:29.799 as if it were trying to figure out what we were. 274 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:35.120 I remember seeing its eyes blink. Then it did the 275 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.600 same thing once again, but it tilted its head to 276 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:40.919 the right. Benny just kept saying, it's a monster, It's 277 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:45.080 a monster. This thing pushed out toward the middle of 278 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:49.519 the river and went downstream in a zigzag pattern, much 279 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:53.360 faster than the current was going. It didn't look like 280 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.360 it was swimming. Rather, the movement looked like a six 281 00:16:56.399 --> 00:17:00.120 foot tall person in a waiting pool and was propelling 282 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:04.799 itself with its legs off the bottom. When it stopped, 283 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:08.960 it was directly in front of our campfire, just twenty 284 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.319 feet out in the river. The whole time that its 285 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:17.400 zigzagged downstream, both eyes were focused directly on us. It 286 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:21.480 never took its eyes off us as it swam by. 287 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.880 Now we knew it wasn't a cow, and our view 288 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.440 was vague except for those massive red eyes and the 289 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:32.880 silhouette of its big head. It tilted its head once 290 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:35.319 again to the left and then straightened its head back 291 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:37.839 up where the eyes were level in a few inches 292 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:42.160 above the water. Benny said, hand me the shotgun. Now 293 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:46.039 I grabbed it. He handed me the flashlight. Benny carried 294 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:50.519 a twelve gage with buckshot in his boat all the time. Well, 295 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:53.759 now I'm holding the flashlight and Benny puts the shotgun 296 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:57.039 up to his shoulder, and the moment he did that, 297 00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:02.119 this thing went underwater, letting out mass of bubbles. It 298 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.920 had jumped in the water earlier when we said it 299 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.079 was quiet outside, and now it was diving under seeing Bennie, 300 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:12.559 A'm a shotgun at it. This thing was smart, like 301 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.759 it understood what we were saying and doing. Five minutes 302 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.000 clicked off, and finally Benny said, it's got to come 303 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:25.200 up for air. Even though I had seen a sisquatch 304 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.880 walk across the field in broad daylight a few years earlier, 305 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.319 it never dawned on me that this could be a 306 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:35.359 bigfoot until years later when I heard stories by tim 307 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:40.119 Coonbo Baker and others about siequatch in the water. I 308 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.279 just didn't know they got in the water like that. 309 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.880 Bennie then said, we're going to take turns standing guard 310 00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:48.799 tonight because this thing could come up out of the 311 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.079 water and kill us. I told him that I was 312 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:55.519 going to sleep. I guess I was still in total denial, 313 00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:00.440 which was probably a defense mechanism. The human brain doesn't 314 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:04.920 have a file for an experience like this. When I 315 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.799 woke up the next morning, Bennie was still setting up 316 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.000 with a shotgun and cooking breakfast over the fire, which 317 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:14.960 he had kept blazing all night. Next Benny said the 318 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.279 last words about the experience that I ever heard him 319 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.160 say as far as I know. He told me that 320 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:26.279 it never came up for air. Our relationship was never 321 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:30.319 the same after that, and he soon moved away. I 322 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:34.599 saw him once more after that night. Benny was a 323 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:38.680 good man, but he was dealing with other demons. A 324 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.000 year and a half later, he took his own life. 325 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:45.359 I'm not saying that this experience contributed to it, but 326 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:48.440 I know it's hard to process these sorts of things 327 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:54.279 from personal experience, although I have had experiences since this 328 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:58.160 that could potentially be crypted related. I'm now fifty three 329 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.640 years old and I have not had the drama your 330 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:05.079 face encounters like this since my childhood, in my teenage 331 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:09.319 years in Middle Tennessee. That's the end of his story. 332 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:13.039 And that's a man. This guy's from the time he 333 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.119 was twelve to he was sixteen, he was running into 334 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:20.200 these things quite regularly. I mean that's four years and 335 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:25.559 three three experiences, one quite drastic experience when he's sixteen. 336 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:29.440 This thing swimming out in the water. It doesn't appear. 337 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:32.559 This thing does not appear this thing was ever aggressive 338 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:36.160 with them. It just wanted to get away, and when 339 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:38.880 it saw the shotgun, it went underwater and it never 340 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.519 came back up. Probably swam down the river half a mile, 341 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.640 then popped up. If they've got lungs that big, they 342 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:48.119 can hold their breath for a long time. I'm guessing 343 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:53.160 to the writer who I lost your I've got your story, 344 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:57.640 but I lost your email information and I can't remember 345 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.160 your name. But I really appreciate this story. It's really good. 346 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:03.920 I don't think I've had this too long, but I 347 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:06.039 pulled it up. It was pretty well written. I wanted 348 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:07.839 to share it with you all. I hope you enjoyed it.