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Speaker 1: I was watching one of your YouTube episodes last night.

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A coach told of his encounter on the Tom Bigbie

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when he was younger. I had an encounter on the

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ten Tom as well. He's talking about Coach Keller, who

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lives down in Florida, who is a really good guy.

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He's a good guy. He and I have kept in

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touch since our interview and really enjoyed talking to him. Anyway,

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Ricky says, my encounter was ten miles south of Columbus. Now.

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I'm an avid croppie fisherman, and I liked to solo

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fish a lot. During this period. We had a permanent

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camper set up at one of the campgrounds. I worked

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two weeks on and then two weeks off, so I

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spent at least seven days at camp to fish. It

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was mid February and I was fishing alone. It was

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ten am, the temperatures were mild and it was a

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bit overcast. There's an old cutoff five miles from camp.

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I decided to go there. It's cut off where they

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just straightened the river for barge traffic. The cutoff is

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five miles long. The north end is filled in, but

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the south end is open. Where I was planning to

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start fishing was on the north end. Like Oxpos, the

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lakes are typically shaped like a U. I arrived and

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I shut the motor down and I started using the

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trolling motor, kind of easing up to where I wanted

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to be. That part is where the lake takes a

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sharp turn to the right. I had pulled up to

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turn and start fishing, and I heard a whoop to

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my left out in the swamp. I didn't pay attention

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to the noise, but after a while I realized what

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it was. I fished the curb and was going straight

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up the bank fishing, and then I heard another whoop.

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As I moved along the bank fishing, I heard four

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more whoops, and as I moved, it moved with me.

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I started to a little more attention to it. Then

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I fished the bank for another two hundred yards, and

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whatever it was kept up with me the whole time.

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I could never see anything, and I wasn't overly concerned.

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At this time in my life, Bigfoot was not something

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I thought about. I had seen the shows like Monster Quests,

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but to me it was just something to watch. It

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was entertainment. After I'd fished up the bank, a little more.

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This thing kept up with me, and I decided to

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move further, not because of the whoop, but I wasn't

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getting any bites. I knew where a good top was

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further on up, and I decided to start the big

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motor and move, and I went a quarter of mile.

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I stopped and got back on the trolling motor. As

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I was trolling there, it was again another whoop that

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was in line with me on the bank. I stopped

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and I listened real close. I sat looking and listening

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for ten minutes, and then it whooped a couple of

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more times. I was getting real concerned now, and I sided, well,

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I'll move all the way around to a spot closer

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to the main channel. The main reason that I was

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in the curve where I had started fishing, it was narrow,

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and I was thinking that was my way out. I

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headed to that area, which was two miles away. There's

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an old lake back there that we call the prehistoric Lake.

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I got around there and I got back on the

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trolling motor, and it took five minutes to troll in

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because the cut is so shallow that you can't use

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your big motor. As I was getting my pole straight

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out in front of me. I heard the same whoop

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and I sat there listening, and seventy five yards to

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the right, further down, there was another whoop. Apparently there

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were more than one. This area is a mile as

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the crow flies from where I was Originally, it's basically

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a swampy island. Needless to say, I got out of

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there quick. When I got back to the camper, some

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people had arrived and I was telling them what happened,

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and they laughed at me. I went online searching for

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animal sounds to determine what it was, and I never

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found anything that sounded like it until I came across

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the Sierra Sounds video on YouTube. And if you play it,

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it's a fast sounding whoop, but if you slow it

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down into one whoop, that's exactly what I heard. There's

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no doubt in my mind what it was. Now. At

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the time, I was unsure, but after years of research,

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I'm fully convinced and I know what it was, and

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I believe. I am fifty one years old and I've

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spent twenty years in the United States Army as a

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military police officer. I retired in twenty twelve from the

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Army and transitioned into a Department of Defense save law

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enforcement job. I'm trained and observing my surroundings and noting

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details at a glimpse. I live in Kansas, south of

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a military post, in a rural agriculture area with rolling

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limestone hills and lots of trees and native grasslands. When

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I say small, I mean if you counted all the

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stray cats and dogs together with the human population, you

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might count one hundred and fifty in total. My friend

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and I were heading back on this rural county two

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lane road which was skirted on both sides by trees

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limestone hills upward of thirty feet straight up. My friend

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was looking down at her cell phone and I was

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listening to music, thinking about the possibility of having a

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deer or a black angus calf jump out onto the road.

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We weren't talking, we were just cruising home down this

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dark county road. And then it happened. I was coming

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around a curved to the right, and then in my

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headlights I saw it. Now. I say it because for

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the first time in years, I was at a total

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loss for recognizing what I was approaching. I could see

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this was not a deer or a bovine. I didn't

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know what it was. My mind was racing through the

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rolodex of images I had seen in my life, and

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I was coming up with a big fat zero. Without

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even realizing that I had said anything out loud, my

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friend said, without looking up, holy crap. As she is

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saying this, we were passing by a huge, reddish brown

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thing standing in the middle of the road. This thing

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was perfectly still, almost as if it was starting to

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cross the road and realize I was closer than it thought,

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so it waited for me to pass. As I passed,

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I was so close to it that I could have

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slapped it. It wasn't a cow or a horse. This

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is what was racing through my mind. Apparently my brain

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overload trying to get a hold of what my eyes

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were looking at. I had said, holy crap out loud.

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This entire process was twenty seconds from first sighting to passing.

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Beyond seeing it in my rear view mirror. Now, let

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me be clear, twenty seconds terrified me beyond anything I've

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ever experienced in my life. Remember, I had served twenty years,

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of which I was deployed six times in the combat zones.

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I've had my share of being scared, but this terrified me.

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I could see the eyes as I approached it. They

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were blood red and glowing and the evilest things I've

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ever seen. And again, my friend said, why are you saying,

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holy crap, did you see a deer? Well? I finally

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stuttered out, no, No, it wasn't a deer. She looked

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over at me and she said, you're not making any sense.

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What did you see? I don't know. I said it

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was standing on two legs. I just don't know what

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it was. He told me to turn around and let's

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go get a look, and I immediately answered, heck no.

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After getting home, I started digging on the internet and

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I came across your podcast and I listened to some

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of your stories. After getting a little time to process

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all of this, I feel that I can share this. Finally,

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I never did fully discuss what happened with my friend

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who was in the truck that night. I know now

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what I saw that night, and I know I'm not crazy.

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Thank you for being a great sounding board. I grew

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up in western North Carolina, two miles from the Blue

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Ridge Parkway. I love camping and being as far away

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from people as possible, so In the late fall of

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nineteen ninety two, I talked a friend of mine into

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going camping with me to a place called Graveyard Fields.

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My car was in the shop at the time, so

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he would have to drive. He said he had to work,

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so he could only stay one night. Well. I ranged

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to be picked up four days from the start of

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our trip. This was in the days before cell phones,

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and that meant when my friend left I would be

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truly on my own, which was fine with me. The

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day was cool and it was nice. The skies were

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blue overhead. As we parked in the parking area and

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prepared for the two to three mile hike in. With

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all of our supplies, I had convinced my friend to

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help me carry in a cooler full of drink that

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we called PJ. This was corn liquor, fruit punch, citrus soda,

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and whatever kind of fresh fruit was available. It was heavy,

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but I kept telling my buddy that it would be

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worth it. We didn't see but a couple of people

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on our way in, and I knew the perfect well

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secluded place to camp off the trail. We made it

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to the Laurel Thicket and then had to find a

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way to get through them without ripping ourselves to pieces.

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And when we did, it opened up into a small

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grassy area with a small feeder creek fifteen feet from

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where the tent would be. We got the camp set

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up and a fire started, and then we made ourselves

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a cup of PJ. And when we started getting hungry,

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I made us some tinfoil dinners, and I seasoned some

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ground beef and cut up some potatoes and onions and carrots,

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and I wrapped them tight and put them in the

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coals to cook, and it was great. Around dark, we

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were talking and wondering if anyone else was crazy enough

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to camp in the temperatures dropping below freezing. When we

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heard a woo hoo. I was pretty sure that it

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was other campers aways off, so I answered back, woo hoo.

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We did this several times until it got late. Then

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we decided to turn in. It was an uneventful night.

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The next morning we woke up with frost on our

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sleeping bags, so we were in a hurry to stoke

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the fire and get warm. Shortly after breakfast, my buddy

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told me, man, I gotta go. Are you sure you're

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gonna be okay? For three days? Way up here by yourself. Yeah,

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I'll be fine. I told him my ride would be

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there before noon. On the third day, he took off,

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and I spent the day getting wood and then relaxing

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at camp. Around dusk, I decided to make a small

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pot of stew, not that can stuff, but some real

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beef tips and vegetables cooked over the fire and some

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good beef stock. It takes a while to cook, so

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it wasn't ready until after dark, and by then I'd

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had a few drinks, and I made a bowl and

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sat back, looked up at the stars. There was a

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clear night and the sky was beautiful. And then I

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heard that call again. Woo hoo. It was still a

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good ways off, and I sat for a minute, and

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I wondered if I should answer back, before finally responding

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with my own whoop. All went silent a few minutes,

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and then came an answering whoop, and it still sounded

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like it was at least several football feels away. I

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sat and thought about what kind of idiot I really am.

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If this is others with bad intentions, I'm giving my

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location away each time I answer back, and I decided

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to turn in for the night. Sometime in the morning,

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before daylight, I could have sworn I heard someone or

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something walking near the laurel bushes that surrounded my campsite.

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And I chose this campsite because it is almost impossible

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in the daylight to find a way through the laurels.

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At night, I imagine you tear yourself to pieces trying

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to get through it. I was very tuned in, but

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after a while of not hearing anything else, I drifted

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back to sleep once again. I woke with frost on

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my sleeping bag, and after warming up by the fire,

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I decided to see if I could find where and

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what was walking by the laurels. I looked, and I looked,

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but I didn't see any tracks or anything else that

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would indicate anyone had been there. And I spent the

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rest of the day gathering wood for the night to come.

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I had a huge fire going before dark, and I

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decided to cook dinner the last night of camping. I

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always liked to eat good. I was going to have

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a tea bone in potatoes and onions. The smell of

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that cooking was heavenly. I still had some PJ left,

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and I was not about to carry it out alone.

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So I started in on making sure the cooler was

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empty when I left. After I ate, I was sitting there,

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enjoying the night and looking at the stars when here

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came another whoop. This time it sounded like it was

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closer than the night before. It came from my one o'clock.

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I was quiet and didn't answer this time, and then

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suddenly another woop came from my six o'clock and it

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was only a couple one hundred yards away. Now, I

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guess this kind of freaked me out. I hadn't seen

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any other campers the whole time I'd been there. I

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was sitting there thinking about what this might be when

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another whoop came from my one o'clock, and it was

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much closer this time. Right after that, a loud woop

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came for my six o'clock, and I decided to stoke

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the fire and I stacked plenty of wood on it

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before getting into my tent. I laid there in my

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sleeping bag, intently listening, and another whoop came from my

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one o'clock and it sounded closer still, followed by a

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whoop again for my six o'clock that was very loud

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and yes, even closer. I was getting nervous. At this point.

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I pulled my case double X hunting knife out of

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its sheath and I laid still. And then I heard

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footsteps at my six not like footsteps, but heavy. I

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swear I could feel them in the ground. And then

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I heard more footsteps at my one o'clock. Oh man,

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I thought, what am I supposed to do now? I

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decided it was best to lie as still as possible,

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because whatever was walking out there was big enough to

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shake the ground. It had to be huge, and there

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seemed to be two of them. I heard branches breaking,

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and then, because the fire was still blazing, I saw

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a huge shadow on my tent. I heard my pots

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and pans being moved, and the lid of my cooler

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that still had fruit from the PJA in it, being opened.

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Another shadow from my one o'clock crossed my tent, enjoying

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the other one. At the cooler. There was quite a

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bit of fruit left in there. The thing about that

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fruit is the longer it sits in the PJ, the

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more alcohol it absorbs. This fruit had been soaking up

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alcohol for four days, and it had to be strong.

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I was a nervous wreck, but I managed to stay

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still as I heard my stuff being thrown around, and

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eventually the two shadows disappeared in the direction of my

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one o'clock. Needless to say, I did not sleep at all.

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At daylight, I unzipped my tent and I saw all

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my stuff all over the place, and I decided to

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pack up and head to the parking area asap. The

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hike out was uneventful, and I got to the parking

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area two hours before my ride was due to arrive.

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That was okay with me, at least, I was okay.

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I'm not really sure what was in my camp that night,

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but I have a pretty good idea. I still camp,

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but I'm always armed with a long rifle and a

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forty four mag handgun. I don't want to wind up missing.

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I still wonder about my strange encounter to this day.

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It's what sparked my interest in the unexplained. My story

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is not a big story, but an encounter from either

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some sort of unknown military technology or beyond. Here's the

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story from that strange summer evening when I was twelve

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years old in the late nineteen nineties, before cell phones

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were a thing with the kids. My mom and I

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went to our local department store on a clear, warm

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summer evening. We were browsing around the store and I

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had this overwhelming feeling to ask if I could pick

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up some disposable cameras. I like to take random pictures

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of my pets in my backyard when I was a kid.

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She reminded me that I already had an extra camera

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that she had bought last week. I agreed to use

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that pack first before getting another, and then we picked

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up our items and we checked out, and we went

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out on our way. The parking lot was full of

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people walking in and out of the stores, and something

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caught my attention in the air, and I glanced up

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and saw two slow flying black triangle objects in the distance.

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My mother and I stopped at the end of the

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curb and began trying to discern what the objects could be. Well,

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I was an enthusiastic kid, and I started jumping up

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and down, saying it's a UFO, it's a UFO, mom,

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hoping to draw the attention to what was in the

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sky from others. And my mom laughed and said something like, well,

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maybe you're right this time. And then something happened we

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didn't expect one of the black triangle objects took a slow,

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almost ninety degree turn and started to slowly move in

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our direction. We were dumbfounded, so caught up in the

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moment of what was happening, along with a strange feeling

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of calmness. Keep in mind that it was still daylight,

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even though the sun was starting to set, and it

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was a summer evening where everything had that pretty golden

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glow to it. There were no shadows that obstructed our view.

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The object continued toward us, making no sound, and soon

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it was at the same height of the one story

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department store building, and it made its way over us.

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It aligned itself with the road going between the department

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store and another building. There were no defining features, no

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windows or people waving back at us. I would have

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seen those details, because now it was at its closest point.

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It was as if the object floated by the metal

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was a flat black, like a carbon texture. There were

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no markings or landing gear or painted numbers that I

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could see from my perspective. While the object moved slowly,

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My Mam and I stared up in silence and amazement,

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as if time stood still. Even though this was all

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over in a few minutes finally I turned around and

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I shouted, is anyone else seeing this? And I remember

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turning around to see a man that had joined us

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on the curb, and I saw an elderly couple holding

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each other tight, and a few people in their cars

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were looking up. But what was bizarre was that some

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people were walking in the store without taking notice of

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this big object floating in plain sight. Some wont by

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giving us weird looks. While all this was going on,

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there were people pointing up at the UFO. It still

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gives me goosebumps to this day when I think back

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to that moment. It felt more like a dream played

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out in reality. Why did only a few of us

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see it and others didn't even notice? The object passed

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us and then began to gain altitude. Those of us

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who were watching observed it float away over the tops

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of the buildings. There was no fast exit, like shooting

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out of sight. It just floated away and got back

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on the same course it had been on when we

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first saw it. The second craft had vanished. We never

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saw it again. Remember, all this time, people were walking

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in and out of the stores and never noticed the

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strange object that was clearly visible. It was so close

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and they never even noticed it. I don't remember how

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the conversations went with a few standing by us, but

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we all had big grins on our faces. After a

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few minutes of discussing in jokes about how this is

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not your average trip to the store, we went our

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separate ways. On the drive home, my mother said that

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maybe it was a military plane. We knew the stealth bomber,

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but why would they fly over citizens so randomly like

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that if it was. Also, I've watched videos of stealth

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bombers and seen them at air shows, and I'm well

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aware of the noise they make and how fast they

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can move. This thing just floated over us. Could it

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have been from space? If so, why fly early, quiet

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over some random people in a populated parking lot. The

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questions still swirl in my head to why I have

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witnessed something so unique. In hindsight, I think calling the

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local air force would have been a good idea. Neither

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of us thought to do so back then. Maybe we

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were too wonderstruck. I let my imagination take hold that day.

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It's something that we should all carry with us as adults.

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But it doesn't hurt to think of a logical explanation.

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The event might can be debunked, but until then again

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it is left to my imagination. I am blessed to

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have a photographic memory, and I can still recall all

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00:22:46,599 --> 00:22:50,759
these details, even though it was nineteen years ago. Now,

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I still wonder though, what I might have captured on

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a small disposable camera. My mom said she should have

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let me get the darned thing. Schol