WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.679 Back in the late seventies, I had just graduated from 2 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.599 college and was getting ready to move from Sioux Falls, 3 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:20.039 South Dakota to Houston, Texas. Back then, there was a 4 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:22.600 large group of us that hung around together all the 5 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:26.480 time since we got out of high school. One weekend, 6 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:29.000 we decided to go to a park just east of 7 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.960 the city called Beaver Creek. It was a wild prairie 8 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:38.560 park with natural restored prairie grasslands. These days, it's pretty 9 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.320 much in the city limits. A creek flanked this grassland 10 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:47.759 on three sides, with a couple of pedestrian bridges. Thick 11 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:51.399 old oak trees covered the steep bluff and a horseshoe 12 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.560 shape around this flat picnic area where there were a 13 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:58.679 few pavilions and a parking lot. I think that day 14 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:01.039 was a holiday because there were a lot of people 15 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:05.560 there throwing frisbees and playing at the playground. My group 16 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:08.959 had settled into a pavilion just across the creek from 17 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:12.760 the dense woods. There were bushes and trees so thick 18 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:16.560 you couldn't see into it at all. We were just 19 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:19.439 enjoying the day, grilling on the barbecue and having some 20 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:24.799 beers out of nowhere the bushes violently rustled, and a 21 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:28.799 flock of birds flew wildly up into the sky. It 22 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.159 sounded like Niagara Falls. It was really loud. It was 23 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:37.840 so startling almost everyone in the small park stopped and looked. 24 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:43.159 Then there was a monstrous, chest rattling growl that lasted 25 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:47.079 for probably fifteen seconds. It was like the rumble coming 26 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:51.439 out of an old steam engine. We were in absolute shock, 27 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:55.239 and then there were these earth shaking stomps that we 28 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:59.799 all felt through the concrete floor of the pavilion. Without 29 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:03.120 even thinking, we dropped everything and ran to the parking lot, 30 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:07.319 along with a dozen other people. I have no experience 31 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.639 with hunting, and I'm not familiar with wildlife, so I 32 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.400 asked one of my friends, who does hunt. Do you 33 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:16.560 think that was a deer or a cow? That was 34 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:20.319 no deer or cow, he replied. We stood there for 35 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:23.759 about ten minutes and didn't hear anything else. So we 36 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:27.039 eventually went back to the pavilion and got our stuff, 37 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:30.800 and everybody went home. Some of us were pretty certain 38 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:34.479 that we knew what this thing was. Just as a 39 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.199 side note, back in the seventies there were all sorts 40 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:42.240 of UFO sightings and strange lights in this area that 41 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:45.919 even made it into the newspaper. A friend of mine 42 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.360 was a park ranger who lived in the ranger house 43 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:51.360 at Beaver Creek, and he said he woke up one 44 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:53.759 night when there was a full moon and he saw 45 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:59.039 three massive black figures moving through the prairie grass. He 46 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.840 thought they might be cult members because they looked like 47 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:05.960 they were wearing robes with pointed heads. He never felt 48 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:10.520 comfortable there. I moved to Houston in nineteen eighty. I 49 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.719 have come back to retire. Compared to Houston, Sioux Falls 50 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:18.039 as a safe and convenient place, and I haven't read 51 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:22.000 or heard anything of such activity in the past twenty years. 52 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:26.080 There are other strange activities that took place at that time. 53 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:29.120 If you'd like, I'll send more of these events. I 54 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:35.479 just don't want to bore you. So I'm thirty nine 55 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:39.599 years old and I live in DeSoto County, Mississippi. My 56 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:43.680 family owns land near Jackson, Tennessee, and that's what turned 57 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:47.800 me onto your program. I always had a minor interest 58 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:51.280 in Bigfoot from a kid, but I remained quite skeptic 59 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.000 on the subject, and I thought if it was real, 60 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.759 that it would only exist in the Big mountain terrain. 61 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:01.400 My YouTube suggested a video of yours one day about 62 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:05.120 Bigfoot in the Hatchie Wildlife Refuge, an area that I 63 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:08.240 was familiar with that wasn't far from our family land 64 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.439 on the Forkadeer River. I have been in the woods 65 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:14.879 since my grandpa started dragging me around at two years old. 66 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.600 I've hunted and spent time in our isolated hunting cabin 67 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:22.800 my whole life. I'm still an avid hunter and river rat. 68 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:26.600 I hunt everything from gators to deer. I have spent 69 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:28.639 a lot of time, both day and night in the 70 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:32.879 woods of North Mississippi and West Tennessee. I have seen 71 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.759 many things in almost every animal that lives in these areas. 72 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:41.040 In twenty and sixteen, late in the hunting season, we 73 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:45.600 were hunting rabbits in Holly Springs National Forest. We had 74 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:48.720 called it today and we were headed home, my brother, 75 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.879 my stepdad, and me. It was late afternoon and still 76 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:56.600 light out. We just turned off Highway seven headed west 77 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.800 towards home when we passed a narrow side road just 78 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.639 off the highway. Crouching down in the middle of that 79 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:06.800 side road was something that I can only describe as 80 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.959 looking like a chimpanzee. With its back to us. It 81 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:14.079 appeared to be eating or rummaging through a trash bag 82 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:17.720 lying in the road. Its hair was black and matted 83 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:21.120 like a chimps and dirty looking. I say it was 84 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:25.240 crouching because it was on two feet, not four. We 85 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:28.639 immediately asked each other what we thought we had just seen. 86 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:31.959 We all agreed that it wasn't a dog, and it 87 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.879 sure wasn't a hog, and that it was in fact 88 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.759 some type of a monkey. We know chimps don't live 89 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:42.279 wild in Mississippi, although when we were kids there was 90 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.360 a man who lived in our subdivision that in fact 91 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:48.800 had a monkey living on a chain link cage that 92 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.160 took up his entire backyard, and we would oftentimes ride 93 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:54.720 our bikes over to look at it. So it didn't 94 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.319 seem impossible that someone may have had a monkey that 95 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:02.279 got loose, though it's highly unlikely. My brother did make 96 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:05.639 a comment that people have mentioned an ape man around 97 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:09.279 Holly Springs. We laughed a little and left it at 98 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:13.800 that and continued home. After coming across your program and 99 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.000 another that I listened to, I now think that what 100 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:20.759 we saw was possibly a juvenile bigfoot. If it would 101 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:23.519 have been standing, I would put it around six feet 102 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.360 in height. I enjoy your program, and when I started 103 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.759 hearing the stories from around this area and areas that 104 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:35.079 I hunt on your show, I was hooked. The President's 105 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:38.959 Island story got me too. We have a small plot 106 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.720 of hunting land near there in the Ensley Bottoms. I 107 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:45.240 once heard a scream that was very close to my 108 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:49.519 ladder stand, right before daylight one morning that really messed 109 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:53.519 with me, and that I could not identify. I spent 110 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:57.160 the rest of that day listening to Bobcat, Panther, Fox 111 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:02.120 and code sounds on the Internet trying to identify it. 112 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:05.879 It reminded me of a wild woman screaming in agony. 113 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.480 It was burned into my mind and only recently did 114 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.399 I hear it again. It was on a recording from 115 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.959 a YouTube of a bigfoot screaming. Thanks for your stories 116 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.160 and making my trips home go by so quickly. We 117 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:23.639 don't know everything God created, but I was always told 118 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.040 to keep an eye open and carry a gun and 119 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.680 a lighter in the woods because you never know what 120 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:31.920 situation you'll find yourself in, and you never know what's 121 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:38.560 out there. Thanks again. I'm not quite sure how to 122 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.759 start this series of encounters with what I now believe 123 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:45.639 to be bigfoot in Connecticut. It could be what is 124 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.920 termed repressed memories that I think must have been triggered 125 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.480 by something recently. But when I started writing down the 126 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:57.360 memories I had about this, more thoughts came back on 127 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:03.160 this subject. Specific My area, Seymour, where these encounters occurred 128 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:07.199 was a combination of medium sized farms which were slowly 129 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:10.079 giving way to the building of homes, so the area 130 00:08:10.279 --> 00:08:13.800 was a mix, and that area was only a short 131 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.439 ride of way to the neighboring city of an Sonia. 132 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:22.199 We lived on old an Sonia Road, which backed right 133 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:25.800 up to a two thousand acre tract of watershed property 134 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:30.199 which now is a part of the Naugatok State Forest. 135 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:34.840 Divided by only one road, Connecticut State Route three point thirteen. 136 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:40.799 This tract of land includes two large reservoirs, numerous ponds, swamps, 137 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:47.039 and streams. This is where the encounters started. My earliest 138 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:50.639 recollection of something unusual was steering a family ride and 139 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.120 a car through this reservoir area with my mom and dad. 140 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:57.720 I was at best around six or seven years old 141 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:02.000 in the back seat as we passed one of these reservoirs, 142 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:05.279 back then, my mom and dad spotted something crouching down 143 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:10.240 to the reservoir looking down into the water. My mom exclaimed, John, 144 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:13.840 look at that, what is that? My father slowed the 145 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:15.759 car and said, I don't know. It looks like someone 146 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.960 in a monkey suit. Now, why would anybody be dressed 147 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.960 up like that? I was able to get to the 148 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.039 car window in time and remember seeing a dark figure 149 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.799 next to the waterline looking down into it. We had 150 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:32.559 no knowledge, experience, or any thinking at all that there 151 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:36.080 were such things as bigfoot. By the time I reached 152 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:39.519 ten years old, us and neighborhood kids were fully into 153 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:44.000 that forest, exploring, camping and hiking, and never ever leaving 154 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.879 trash or a mess. We were almost like stewards of 155 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:52.159 the forest. We were literally in that woodland area every 156 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.519 day that we could go, sometimes even on school nights, 157 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:59.399 and in the rain, no problem there either. We simply 158 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.960 put on our raincoats and we went out. Over time, 159 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.200 we camped deeper and deeper into the woods, and one 160 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:10.799 area became our favorite, nestled right into a grove of 161 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.759 tall evergreens, we pitched camp, made our camp fire, and 162 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.039 enjoyed ourselves for sometimes a week at a time. During 163 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:21.399 the summer. What we didn't realize was the way we 164 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.919 broke the branches and small logs for our fire was 165 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.919 to strike the branches against trees in order to break 166 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:31.559 them into smaller pieces. Again, we did not even have 167 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:35.399 thought as to what bigfoot was. But looking back now, 168 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:38.600 we broke sometimes a full quart of branches in just 169 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:42.240 one day, sometimes on and off for hours, and in 170 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:47.080 the nighttime two for our fire. It was fun. From 171 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:49.240 what I know now, this is one of the ways 172 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:53.440 that Bigfoot communicate. It was during the night during one 173 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.039 of these summer camping trips one of the younger boys 174 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:59.960 in our neighborhood group, called a Little Billy, started shouting 175 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:04.440 and then he was crying. He was visibly shaking. This 176 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:08.240 was no joking on his part. We had absolutely no 177 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:11.559 idea what had just happened to him. When his brother 178 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.519 and the rest of us got him calmed down, he 179 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.679 explained that he saw a monster in the woods let 180 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:21.919 by our campfire. Now, I've only seen one other time 181 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:24.840 in my life someone shake like that, and that was 182 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:27.840 years later when someone at work was having a seizure. 183 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.440 We convinced little Billy there was no such thing as 184 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:35.559 monsters and we got him calmed down. His reply was 185 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:40.480 very sincere. Then what did I just see? A minute later, 186 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:43.519 a rock came flying into the camp near the fire. 187 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:46.919 We thought it may have been a vagrant or someone 188 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.720 throwing things, so we grabbed our BB guns and opened 189 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:54.679 fire in that direction where the rock came from. Oh, 190 00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:58.759 you guys were cowboys. Soon another rock came and we 191 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:02.240 again shot in the dark. At that point, little Billy 192 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:05.000 wanted to leave, so his bigger brother had to walk 193 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.399 him all the way home at night because he didn't 194 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.279 want to stay there. The rest of that evening was quiet. 195 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:15.559 During another camping trip in this same area, at night, 196 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.879 I smelled a very strong skunk oder come into the 197 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.159 camp when we were all sleeping in our six man tent. 198 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:26.559 I didn't hear any footsteps, but then someone started urinating 199 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.639 on the side of our tent. I sat up, did 200 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:31.799 a head count, and all of us guys were in 201 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:36.080 the tent. This lasted a good sixty or ninety seconds. 202 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:39.600 It was a very strong stream at one spot on 203 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.799 the tent. I didn't know what to think, attributing it 204 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.960 to maybe rain or something pouring out of a tree overhead. 205 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.120 I just didn't know, so I laid back down and 206 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:52.799 I went to sleep. During other times, while we would 207 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:55.600 go hiking, we would come across a number of branches 208 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.200 shaped like a blind that a hunter would set up, 209 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:03.519 and also sometimes shape very purposely into an X. We 210 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:06.679 wondered who would be doing this. There was absolutely no 211 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:10.600 hunting on this track of land. People were not even 212 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:14.320 allowed into this entire watershed area, and there were plenty 213 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:19.200 of no trespassing signs along the state highway. We also 214 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.679 would come across younger trees, perhaps ten or eight feet 215 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:26.159 high and maybe one to two inches in diameter, broken 216 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:30.240 in half and pointing in a certain direction. We would 217 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:32.600 stop and look at these trees and wonder why in 218 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:36.320 the world would someone do this. Some of those broken 219 00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:39.879 trees were freshly broken, as sap would still be oozing 220 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:43.600 out of the broken limb. Other times we would find 221 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.919 broken branches and trees formed into some type of barrier. 222 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:50.360 This was not a random falling of trees because the 223 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:55.519 limbs were interwoven, definitely showing some type of intelligence, but 224 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:58.720 we had absolutely no idea what or who would do 225 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:01.919 this In the middle of these woods. A number of 226 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:06.440 times we would also find smaller, completely uprooted evergreen trees 227 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.679 pulled out of the ground with the root showing and 228 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:13.200 push back into the ground upside down. We would look 229 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:17.840 also at these and again could not understand why this occurred. 230 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.279 Through my later research, I learned possibly this is some 231 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.559 type of food signal. During more than a few of 232 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:29.320 our hikes, both in the summer and in the winter, 233 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:31.840 we would be walking in the woods and hear someone 234 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:35.360 trailing us off to the side. We would stop and 235 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:38.679 the noise would stop. A few times we caught it 236 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.360 as we would all stop walking at the same time 237 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:45.320 and the noise would travel another two or three more steps. 238 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:48.440 We would yell, hey, we caught you, but no one 239 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.919 answered back. At other times, we would be on a 240 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.200 hike to go play in the brook or one of 241 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.279 the swamps, and some of us got hit by acorns 242 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.399 as we walked. Of course, we blamed it each other 243 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:04.240 for this, and everyone would honestly deny it one hundred 244 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:08.240 percent of the time. If someone was fooling around, they 245 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.360 would fess up and the issue would be over. Not 246 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.799 when this happened, though, no one took credit for the acorns. 247 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:18.879 Other times I would go for a hike by myself 248 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:21.159 during the day and I would hear a very distinct 249 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:25.159 and clear whistle right near me. I stopped and would 250 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:28.159 look around, and I could swear someone was looking at me, 251 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.440 and I got a strange feeling that I wasn't alone, 252 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.720 but I couldn't see anyone. I turned around and I 253 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:39.519 went home. One warm, clear summer night, I decided to 254 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:43.639 go on a night hike all by myself, no flashlight, nothing, 255 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:47.639 just by moonlight. I got about a half mile into 256 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:50.559 the woods and peered into the darkness near our favorite 257 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:55.399 camping spot, and I froze. I could swear someone was there, 258 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:59.440 and among the evergreen trees, the literal hair on the 259 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:02.519 back of my next stood up and it stayed like that. 260 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:06.440 I didn't see any glowing eyes or anything like that, 261 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.279 but I could swear there were what I feel like 262 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:14.399 separate individuals present in the trees. I turned around and 263 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:16.960 ran back down the path as fast as I could. 264 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.480 As I was running, a rock came crashing through the 265 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.879 trees next to me on my right. I continued to 266 00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:26.639 run got to the last part of the path, which 267 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:29.320 I needed to climb up a steep hill. All the 268 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:33.120 while doing this by moonlight, I kept saying to myself 269 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:36.679 don't turn around, don't turn around. I kept repeating this 270 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.039 to myself until I got to the top of the hill, 271 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.080 ran to my house, and I got inside. My mother 272 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:45.320 was there in the kitchen and said, what's the matter 273 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.600 with you? You look scared. Of course, I said nothing 274 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:50.679 at all, and I just sat down and I had 275 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:54.600 a cold drink of water. I believe this evening, heike 276 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:57.840 is what started a number of incidents that happened at 277 00:16:57.879 --> 00:17:00.960 our house in the next years to follow. It could 278 00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:04.799 very well be that these animals or bigfoot followed me home, 279 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:09.359 possibly by scent. Here is where things become more distinct. 280 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:14.519 One evening, my sister Carolyn, about eighteen years old, was 281 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:18.400 washing dishes by the kitchen window, and she started screaming 282 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:21.519 her head off. All of us ran into the kitchen 283 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:24.640 to see what the matter was. She was crying and 284 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:28.599 was almost disgusted that there was a gorilla face staring 285 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:32.839 back at her in the window. She said. She looked closer, 286 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:37.640 and it moved its lips and showed its teeth. My father, 287 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:43.359 combat promoted Bronze Star eighty second airborne paratrooper, had already 288 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.079 ran outside past us and said he saw something run 289 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:51.000 away from the house. Within a month, this happened again 290 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.119 to Carolyn. This time, my father was quicker to run 291 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:58.079 outside and apparently came face to face with something and 292 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:00.880 came shooting right back into the house and a fluster. 293 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.200 He said, I don't know what that thing was, but 294 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.920 it's pretty big. From that point on, we kept a 295 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:10.519 pot of water on the counter near the door, and 296 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.759 the garden hose was kept turned on and left on 297 00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:17.799 the porch outside at night. There was one more time 298 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:20.599 I can remember. My father had waited in the kitchen 299 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:24.160 with my sister for another appearance of whatever this thing was, 300 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:28.359 and ran outside to meet it. When it indeed visited again, 301 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:31.519 he threw the pot of water at it and then 302 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:35.279 turned the garden hose on it. This time I distinctly 303 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.359 remember him dropping the pot because it clanged when he 304 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.359 dropped it, and he also dropped the hose when it 305 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.240 was still on when he jumped back into the house. 306 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:47.680 He only described it as something big and that he 307 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:51.839 didn't know what it was. About this time, two things 308 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:54.400 happened on our side of the fence, so to speak, 309 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:57.799 And I cannot honestly say for sure if these next 310 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:02.240 events are connected to these siding at our house. First, 311 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:05.400 my father bought a seven point sixty two millimeters rifle 312 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.599 for the house, which we never had guns in the 313 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:11.599 house before the second thing, we cut down a number 314 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.440 of trees in the backyard to make room for a pool. 315 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.799 We left a few tree stumps in the back. My 316 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:21.680 mom began leaving bread on them for the birds, and 317 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:26.720 then started leaving older fruit and vegetables there. I followed suit, 318 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:31.039 and always within a few days the food would be gone. 319 00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:33.839 I took over this job and kept it up on 320 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:37.680 and off for a long while. Mom never told me 321 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:41.200 why she did this, except to feed the birds. On 322 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.720 at least three occasions, I remember finding a neat pile 323 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.160 of stones in our backyard near the stump, and once 324 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.640 on our back porch, very very close to the back door. 325 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:55.319 I remember thinking that it was my friends playing a 326 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.559 joke because the piles were very neatly done, very deliberately 327 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:02.559 put in place. Yet my friends were not the type 328 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:07.000 to do this or repeat doing this. One evening, when 329 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.240 I was still in my early teens, I was home 330 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:11.960 alone watching TV and I had the feeling I was 331 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.640 being watched through the window. I tried to shake it off, 332 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:19.480 but I couldn't. Just then, my normally protective dog came 333 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.759 whimpering into the room and hid behind the furniture, which 334 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.880 he had never done before. I decided to close the curtains, 335 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:29.279 and within a few minutes I heard a very loud 336 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:32.680 slap on the side of the house. I didn't know 337 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.519 what it was, so I went outside and I couldn't 338 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:40.039 see anything, but I did smell a strong musky skunk odor, 339 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:47.079 but not the usual sharp skunk smell. This was more doglike. Again, 340 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:50.240 I never made any connection to all these events until 341 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:55.079 only recently. This actually happened a second time again in 342 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:59.480 the same pattern. Home alone watching TV. Got another feeling 343 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.200 that I was being watched, so I closed the curtains again. 344 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:05.440 My dog came into the room and took up position 345 00:21:05.559 --> 00:21:09.920 behind the furniture, whimpering. This time, a very loud wap 346 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:13.440 occurred on the side of the house. The next morning, 347 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:16.119 I went outside and found some brakes in the vinyl 348 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.240 where I had heard the sound come from. I thought 349 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:21.480 I was going to get blamed for doing this damage 350 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.839 to the house. At least twice a year, it was 351 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.039 my job to clean the gutters, and I did a 352 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:30.240 pretty thorough job. When I climbed on top of the 353 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.799 shed dormer we built for the second floor. I discovered 354 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:37.880 rocks in the gutter up there. Distinctly. I remember saying 355 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:41.480 to myself, why would anyone throw rocks up here? And 356 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:44.839 I cleaned them out. This occurred more than a few 357 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:49.000 times while I lived at my home. As I got older, 358 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:52.240 and especially since I got my driver's license, I no 359 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.400 longer spent time in the woods, and I started hanging 360 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:58.400 out with my schoolmates at the local McDonald's and at 361 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:02.880 their homes. These experiences tapered off as the same time, 362 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:05.279 my neighborhood friends and I grew up and took up 363 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:08.759 different interests, which meant we didn't spend time in the 364 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.319 woods anymore, and the incidents at our home declined as well. 365 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:15.640 We would occasionally get a wet dog smell, and my 366 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:19.000 dog was still occasionally hide behind the furniture near me, 367 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:23.599 but these also tapered off. As I write this, I'm 368 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:26.200 sure there'll be a few more memories that come back 369 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:28.440 to me, but this is the lion's share of what 370 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:33.279 I can honestly and straightforwardly write down. These events all 371 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:35.799 come back to me in the last two to three years, 372 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:38.319 so I thought it best to share them with you. 373 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:45.559 I've had many experiences in some stories that I can 374 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:48.319 share with you. I hope you don't get tired of me. 375 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.480 This is a story that was shared with me. She 376 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:56.200 was the sister of a coworker, and my coworker's name 377 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:01.880 is Tina and her sister is Susie. In nineteen seventy four, 378 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.640 I lived and work in Lakeland, Florida, for the original 379 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:10.200 Red Lobster restaurant. My coworker told me that her sister 380 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:12.759 was coming in to have lunch with us and was 381 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.920 excited about something that had happened to them, and she 382 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:19.839 wanted to share it with us. Here is a little background. 383 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:24.240 My friend's brother in law was a forest ranger and 384 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:31.480 was stationed in the Hilochi hilo Cche Hellochi Wildlife Preserve 385 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:36.119 east of Lakeland and south of Highway four. They had 386 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:38.359 a little piece of land that backed up to the 387 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.960 forest proper and they put a nice, double wide manufactured 388 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:46.319 home there. It was fenced in, nice and snug with 389 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:51.000 chain link fence. Her husband, Paul, was in the tower 390 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:54.640 most every day for eight to ten hours, except when 391 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:57.640 he had to check on various issues. And came home 392 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:01.640 for lunch. This arrangement was great because he could see 393 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.359 their home from the tower and it was walking or 394 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:08.480 bicycle distance from the tower. They had a four year 395 00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:12.000 old son who was very precious, busy little guy, and 396 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:15.079 often talked of his buddy that he played with and 397 00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:19.079 talked to all the time in the backyard. His mom 398 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:23.880 assumed that it was an imaginary friend. Susie came by 399 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.480 for lunch. The three of us sat in the back 400 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:30.400 corner for a private lunch to talk and visit. After 401 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:33.519