1
00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:12,080
Speaker 1: My father owned a green Ford Aerostar van. It was

2
00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:16,359
a piece of jump. The power steering wined when he

3
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,719
made turns, the engine ticked and it was slow, but

4
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,920
he was able to keep it running. And this was

5
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,719
our main mode of transportation in Manitoba, and in Manitoba

6
00:00:27,879 --> 00:00:32,439
it takes hours to get anywhere. I was a kid then,

7
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,119
and I remember that we did a lot of traveling

8
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,600
in that van. I don't know where we went or

9
00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,439
while we traveled that much. I guess it was my

10
00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,119
father's business. I just remember driving down long highways for

11
00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,840
hours during the day and late at night. It had

12
00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,159
to have been two or three in the morning on

13
00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:55,840
one of these trips, while we went as fast as

14
00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,880
the van would take us down a dark highway lined

15
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:03,640
with dead pines on both sides. The area is referred

16
00:01:03,679 --> 00:01:07,799
to as the Sticks here in Manitoba. It's a spooky

17
00:01:07,879 --> 00:01:11,200
place to be in the daylight, much less in the dark.

18
00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:15,120
My head rested on the passenger door as we listened

19
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,159
to loud music. My father always had the volume loud.

20
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,400
He loved good music. I was used to it. So

21
00:01:22,439 --> 00:01:25,319
I sat there in a numb state, watching the dead

22
00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,359
pines fly by in the glow of the headlights. My

23
00:01:29,439 --> 00:01:31,799
ear was close to the window, and I could faintly

24
00:01:31,879 --> 00:01:35,959
hear footsteps crunching in the gravel. I figured it was

25
00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,719
part of the music, but the noise continued between the songs.

26
00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,799
Whatever this noise was, it was running and keeping pace

27
00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,200
with the car. We were about to enter and drive

28
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,480
through Riding Mountain State Park, where the speed limit was reduced.

29
00:01:51,519 --> 00:01:54,480
So my father, who obviously had not heard the noise

30
00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,439
I was hearing, slowed to the speed limit. I reached

31
00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,319
to the radio and I switched it off. Do you

32
00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,480
hear that, Dad, I asked, I do what is that?

33
00:02:04,599 --> 00:02:09,599
He said, looking over his right shoulder through the back windshield. Abruptly,

34
00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,400
he pulled the car over on the gravel median, and

35
00:02:12,439 --> 00:02:16,199
he opened the door. With one leg still in the car,

36
00:02:16,319 --> 00:02:19,840
he stood up and he looked over the roof. He

37
00:02:19,879 --> 00:02:23,039
immediately dropped back into the driver's seat, through the car

38
00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:28,520
in gear and floored it. Gravel sprayed behind us. I

39
00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,280
got real worried, but I don't know what he saw.

40
00:02:32,879 --> 00:02:36,319
The dead pines blew past us, now faster than before,

41
00:02:36,479 --> 00:02:39,120
and with his high beams on. Now the road was

42
00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,840
lit well enough for me to see far ahead. We

43
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,000
traveled a short distance and the footfalls were back on

44
00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,240
my side of the car again. My father pushed the

45
00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,479
gas pedal harder and that clunky old van picked up

46
00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,639
not much speed, but whatever was running beside the car

47
00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,039
was having no trouble keeping up. Turned in my seat

48
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,879
to look, and what I saw is hard to describe

49
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,680
because it was so big that I could only see

50
00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,000
the legs in my field of view. I leaned over

51
00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,759
in this seat to tilt my head up, and although

52
00:03:12,759 --> 00:03:16,319
I could not make out any details, I did see

53
00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,280
how big this very fast thing was. At my age

54
00:03:21,319 --> 00:03:24,680
then I would have said it was two stories tall.

55
00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,319
I think that's about seven meters or twenty feet. I

56
00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,400
don't know, but it was enormous and it was powerful.

57
00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,879
Watching the black, hairy, muscular legs run beside the car

58
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,120
scared me to death. My father was freaking out as well,

59
00:03:41,159 --> 00:03:44,639
but he held it together and he kept driving. There

60
00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:49,000
was no place to go but straight ahead, and then

61
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,240
the footstomps began to fade in the distance. I began

62
00:03:53,319 --> 00:03:57,080
to breathe again, and Dad slowed down some. We never

63
00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,639
said a word. I wanted to get back to the

64
00:03:59,639 --> 00:04:03,439
city lights, and I think he did too. We were

65
00:04:03,439 --> 00:04:07,080
coming off riding Mountain Pass and a large green sign

66
00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,360
was in the distance ahead. Our headlights made that sign

67
00:04:11,479 --> 00:04:14,280
reflect like a ship coming to save us on a

68
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,639
stormy sea. I watched the sign get closer and I

69
00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,759
saw a huge, shadowy figure cross in front of it.

70
00:04:22,759 --> 00:04:25,480
It had run fast enough to get ahead of us,

71
00:04:26,319 --> 00:04:29,040
maybe through the pines, maybe on the other side of

72
00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,439
the road, and we had just missed it. Dad pointed

73
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,839
ahead and he said something that I never heard. He

74
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,120
pressed me back into the seat. This night was not

75
00:04:39,319 --> 00:04:43,199
over yet. The sign was coming up fast, and I

76
00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,800
guess my father decided turning around was an exercise in futility.

77
00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,439
So while we were going downhill, he gave that tin

78
00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,120
can as much gas as it would take. I felt

79
00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,680
like we were driving one hundred miles per hour, and

80
00:04:57,759 --> 00:05:01,439
my eyes were fixed on that sign. I saw the

81
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,920
creature move behind the sign and lower itself as if

82
00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,199
it were hiding. Huge dark hands were visible where he

83
00:05:09,199 --> 00:05:11,560
held on to the top of the sign, blocking the

84
00:05:11,639 --> 00:05:15,240
reflective glow. If this is it, then this is it,

85
00:05:15,319 --> 00:05:17,959
I heard my dad say under his breath, and I

86
00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:22,920
knew something bad was about to happen. We were almost

87
00:05:22,959 --> 00:05:26,680
even with that sign. I pushed my feet against the

88
00:05:26,759 --> 00:05:30,279
floorboard and I gripped the arm rest. But at that moment,

89
00:05:30,519 --> 00:05:34,319
a calm peace came over me. I was just a kid,

90
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,759
but somehow I was able to prepare myself for whatever

91
00:05:37,959 --> 00:05:42,120
was about to happen. In some strange way, I was ready.

92
00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,600
We blew past that sign, and this creature did something

93
00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,000
I never expected. Just as we were even with the beast,

94
00:05:51,319 --> 00:05:54,759
it poked its head out from behind the sign. In

95
00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,079
the headlights, I could see its face, orange eyes reflected

96
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,360
back at us. At the last minute, it extended its head,

97
00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:08,279
almost touching the passenger side window. For a split second,

98
00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,199
we were face to face, with a thin sheet of

99
00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,560
glass between us. At that moment, I saw eyes as

100
00:06:15,639 --> 00:06:19,199
big as golf balls, two slits in its face for

101
00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,000
a nose, and two rows of white teeth. As it

102
00:06:23,199 --> 00:06:27,160
smiled at me. It was more of a sinister grin,

103
00:06:27,519 --> 00:06:32,040
but it was a smile all the same. Suddenly I

104
00:06:32,079 --> 00:06:35,839
got the feeling that it was messing with us. After

105
00:06:35,879 --> 00:06:39,720
seeing its speed and obvious strength, I think it could

106
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,600
have swiped our car right off into those spooky dead

107
00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,480
pines at any minute if it had wanted to. We

108
00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,879
were now a good distance down the pass, and the

109
00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,959
car filled with an odor that I cannot describe. We

110
00:06:53,079 --> 00:06:55,519
didn't want to roll the windows down for fear of

111
00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,079
this thing still being close. But the further we drove,

112
00:06:59,199 --> 00:07:03,240
the less offensive of the oder became. I am an

113
00:07:03,319 --> 00:07:06,879
adult now. All the years since I assumed that this

114
00:07:07,079 --> 00:07:09,720
was a sisquatch, but now I don't think it was.

115
00:07:10,759 --> 00:07:13,120
I don't know what it was. Maybe it was a

116
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,600
demon or a troll, but I'm pretty sure it was

117
00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:21,439
not a sisquatch. It was something worse. I still deal

118
00:07:21,519 --> 00:07:24,959
with bad dreams over that night. Now they are less

119
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,439
frequent as the years go by. I doubt I will

120
00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,160
ever forget that night. And my father has never said

121
00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:37,800
a word about it since. My niece came home and

122
00:07:37,839 --> 00:07:40,000
told my sister that she thought she had seen a

123
00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:44,000
bigfoot in the sam Houston National Forest. They live in

124
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,240
a small town called cut and Shoot on Highway one

125
00:07:47,279 --> 00:07:51,399
oh five between Cleveland and Conroe, which borders the sam

126
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,519
Houston National Forest and the Big Thicket. The Big Thicket

127
00:07:55,519 --> 00:07:58,199
has called that because it's a merger of the southern

128
00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:03,000
pine forests to go coastal plains and the Louisiana Swamps.

129
00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,879
They come together to create a jungle type environment. It

130
00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,399
was said in my youth that you couldn't go into

131
00:08:10,399 --> 00:08:13,000
the thicket for more than one hundred yards before you

132
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,720
would step on a water moccasin. With the expansion of

133
00:08:16,759 --> 00:08:21,439
civilization and the encroachment of urban style neighborhoods, I would

134
00:08:21,519 --> 00:08:23,959
dare say that now you can venture as far as

135
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:28,519
two hundred yards before stepping on a water moccasin. Oh,

136
00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,879
that's a great improvement. Running wolf at any rate. My

137
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,039
sister told my niece that she probably saw a deer.

138
00:08:35,759 --> 00:08:38,159
My niece replied that it was big and brown, and

139
00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,440
it was walking on two legs. My sister has always

140
00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,639
had a crush on Bobo Fay from the TV show

141
00:08:45,759 --> 00:08:50,399
Finding Bigfoot, so she immediately started thinking that if they

142
00:08:50,399 --> 00:08:53,320
found some tracks, they might be on the Bigfoot Show

143
00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,559
with Bobo Fay. My sister grabbed her small gun, a

144
00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,879
double barrel twelve gage shotgun loaded with double lot buckshot,

145
00:09:01,879 --> 00:09:05,159
and said let's go. My niece said, Mama, don't you

146
00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,600
think it's going to be dangerous for the two of us?

147
00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,399
And my sister replied, yes, but maybe the sasquatch will

148
00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,759
survive anyway. They returned to the area where my niece

149
00:09:15,799 --> 00:09:19,320
saw the bigfoot. No tracks were found because the thick

150
00:09:19,399 --> 00:09:23,120
layer of pine straw covering the ground, but they did

151
00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,720
find fresh limbs broken off about eight feet high, and

152
00:09:26,759 --> 00:09:30,320
they were all pointing in the same direction. My sister

153
00:09:30,399 --> 00:09:33,600
made this observation and said, you know, I think that

154
00:09:33,639 --> 00:09:36,559
this creature is pointing out a direction for others of

155
00:09:36,639 --> 00:09:40,440
his kind to follow him. It was late in November

156
00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:44,080
of twenty twenty. And here's the interesting part of the story.

157
00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,960
The following day, on the very front page of the

158
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,840
Cold Springs Gazette was the story titled Bigfoot spotted on

159
00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:57,960
San Juacento and Liberty County Lines. My sister told my

160
00:09:58,039 --> 00:10:00,840
niece he must have traveled fast, because when we were

161
00:10:00,879 --> 00:10:03,720
looking for him in the Sam Houston Forest, he was

162
00:10:03,759 --> 00:10:07,360
already east of us. All hopes of being on the

163
00:10:07,399 --> 00:10:10,879
Bobo fet show were diminishing rapidly, but my sister was

164
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,080
convinced that my niece saw a bigfoot. And this is

165
00:10:15,159 --> 00:10:19,240
my story submitted by Running Wolf. Well. I would say

166
00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,720
Running Wolf, your knees had great aspirations. She was really

167
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,279
really ready to get on that show and talk about

168
00:10:27,279 --> 00:10:29,440
the bigfoot that she saw. And I'm sad that that

169
00:10:29,519 --> 00:10:32,279
didn't work out, but I'm sure they had fun anyway.

170
00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,279
It sounds like both of the women have a great

171
00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,480
sense of humor. In her high spirited and really aren't

172
00:10:37,519 --> 00:10:40,600
afraid of anything. But I thought it was an interesting

173
00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:42,559
story and I wanted to share it with you, guys.

174
00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:46,440
Running Wolf. Thanks for writing it, man, it was really nice. Thanks.

175
00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,840
I had no idea it was a bigfoot at the time.

176
00:10:53,279 --> 00:10:56,120
I believe it was one. Now I live in the

177
00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,200
most populated state of the United States, and you would

178
00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,120
think that there's no place for a bigfoot to roam

179
00:11:02,159 --> 00:11:06,720
freely in New Jersey, but evidently they do. We lived

180
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,559
in South Jersey, not far from the pine barrens the

181
00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,240
summer of the bi centennial. I was seventeen years old.

182
00:11:14,919 --> 00:11:18,200
The two hundred year celebration of our wonderful nation was

183
00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:22,240
just around the corner. Many towns were planning big parades

184
00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,240
and even bigger fireworks. I was looking forward to partaking

185
00:11:26,279 --> 00:11:30,440
in these celebrations. I had a reputation as a goody

186
00:11:30,519 --> 00:11:33,679
two shoes and actually had been called this name by

187
00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,879
many of my friends. I had a problem, though, that

188
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,120
could change all of that. I was smitten with a

189
00:11:40,159 --> 00:11:43,759
guy who was known as a bad boy. Although we

190
00:11:43,759 --> 00:11:46,440
were the same age. He had street smarts and I

191
00:11:46,519 --> 00:11:49,720
had none. He rode dirt bikes and was a rough

192
00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:54,159
and tumble type of fellow. He already sported a few tattoos,

193
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,799
and in those days, tattoos were not as popular as

194
00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,440
they are today. One of us tattoos was a skull

195
00:12:01,519 --> 00:12:05,399
with a knife through it, with blood dripping from the knife.

196
00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,279
This tattoo kind of frightened me, but he was nice

197
00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,240
to me and that intrigued me. He would ride his

198
00:12:12,279 --> 00:12:15,080
dirt bike to my house on occasion to visit and

199
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,159
to hang out. My mom would say, don't you ever

200
00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,080
get on that motorbike with him. You'll be in big

201
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,519
trouble if I catch you doing that. I knew this

202
00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:27,759
tattoo would not go over well with my parents, so

203
00:12:27,799 --> 00:12:29,960
he did what I asked, and he would wear long

204
00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,679
sleeves when he came to visit me. I was the

205
00:12:33,799 --> 00:12:37,279
fifth of seven children, raised with the rules that were

206
00:12:37,279 --> 00:12:41,080
set forth by the bad behavior of my older siblings.

207
00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,159
I had to behave or else. Plus I really didn't

208
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,200
want to upset my dad, as I had already witnessed

209
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,120
the punishment my older brothers had received from him. I

210
00:12:52,159 --> 00:12:56,759
wanted to remain the good girl. The Pine Bearings is

211
00:12:56,799 --> 00:13:00,919
a very large forested area over one million acres that

212
00:13:01,039 --> 00:13:05,279
stretches across more than seven counties in New Jersey. The

213
00:13:05,399 --> 00:13:10,000
name Pine Barrens refers to the area's sandy, acidic nutrient

214
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:14,919
poor soul. This area was also known as the Pinelands.

215
00:13:15,919 --> 00:13:20,519
This vast area supports rare plant life, including orchids and

216
00:13:20,639 --> 00:13:24,440
carnivorous plants, as well as the pygmy pitch pines that

217
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,360
depend on the frequent fires of the Pine Barrens to reproduce.

218
00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:34,600
This area was largely undisturbed despite its proximity to Philadelphia

219
00:13:34,639 --> 00:13:39,120
and New York City. My bad boy guy friend wanted

220
00:13:39,159 --> 00:13:41,440
to take me on the Fourth of July to one

221
00:13:41,519 --> 00:13:45,240
of the fire towers located in the pine Lands. We

222
00:13:45,279 --> 00:13:48,039
would climb up to the top and watch the small

223
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,519
town's fireworks from eighty feet above the ground, and it

224
00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,120
is off limits to the public. I knew my parents

225
00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,200
would never give me permission to go, and this meant

226
00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,279
that I would have to lie. I told my mother

227
00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:06,120
that we would be attending a friend's barbecue. Lying to

228
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,799
them made me uncomfortable. These were the days before cell

229
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,039
phones and tracking, so I said yes to this crazy,

230
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,600
exciting idea. We actually did go to the barbecue, but

231
00:14:18,639 --> 00:14:21,080
we left around eight pm to head out to the

232
00:14:21,159 --> 00:14:24,879
location of the fire tower. We both jumped in his

233
00:14:24,919 --> 00:14:27,799
truck with dirt bike in the back. The events that

234
00:14:27,879 --> 00:14:31,759
were about to happen are seared into my memory forever.

235
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,159
We drove for twenty five minutes while the sun set

236
00:14:36,279 --> 00:14:39,720
slowly and the sound of firecrackers and pops could be

237
00:14:39,759 --> 00:14:43,159
heard in the distance. Once we left the paved road,

238
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,240
the woods grew thicker and darker. This dirt road was

239
00:14:47,279 --> 00:14:50,480
a firebreak that the Forest Service made to slow the

240
00:14:50,559 --> 00:14:54,759
spread of wildfires. We drove on this road for a

241
00:14:54,759 --> 00:14:57,480
few miles and then bad Boy pulled off the road

242
00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,799
and grabbed a small flashlight from the glo love compartment

243
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,919
of the truck and said, let's go. It's getting dark fast.

244
00:15:04,919 --> 00:15:08,879
I was gitterally and nervous for disobeying my mother. I

245
00:15:08,879 --> 00:15:11,639
could hear her saying, you'll be in big trouble if

246
00:15:11,679 --> 00:15:15,480
I catch you riding that motorbike. As I walked to

247
00:15:15,559 --> 00:15:17,720
the rear of the truck to help get the dirt

248
00:15:17,759 --> 00:15:22,240
bike out, I was rethinking my attire. I had on

249
00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,480
my new four inch high cork heeled sandals and my

250
00:15:26,639 --> 00:15:30,600
fraid cut off jeans. I think I was more concerned

251
00:15:30,639 --> 00:15:34,759
about looking cute than practical. And then bad boy ask,

252
00:15:34,879 --> 00:15:37,759
are those the only shoes you have with you? Yes?

253
00:15:37,879 --> 00:15:41,039
I said. He told me he would go slow and

254
00:15:41,159 --> 00:15:43,519
showed me where to place my feet on the bike.

255
00:15:44,399 --> 00:15:47,000
We would have to ride about fifteen minutes through the

256
00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,480
forest before getting to the fire tower. I held on

257
00:15:50,679 --> 00:15:53,799
with my arms around his waist. He kick started his

258
00:15:53,879 --> 00:15:57,720
bike and we were off. He was evidently familiar with

259
00:15:57,799 --> 00:16:02,039
these trails. As we went deeper into the woods, I

260
00:16:02,159 --> 00:16:04,720
was thinking, if this is slow, I don't want to

261
00:16:04,759 --> 00:16:07,679
know what it feels like to go fast. But I

262
00:16:07,759 --> 00:16:11,000
was actually starting to enjoy the ride. When we arrived

263
00:16:11,039 --> 00:16:14,679
at our destination, he shut off the dirt bike and

264
00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,200
we both climbed off. He shined the flashlight on the

265
00:16:18,279 --> 00:16:22,600
menacing fire tower. It was taller than I imagined. He

266
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,480
said he thought it was eighty feet tall and couldn't

267
00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,399
wait for me to see the view. The fireworks were

268
00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,039
going to start soon and we needed to get up there.

269
00:16:32,279 --> 00:16:36,720
I cautiously proceeded in my four inch high courk hill sandals.

270
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,240
The open stairs were in a zigzag format and they

271
00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,440
were steep. He put the flashlight on me so I

272
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,799
could see where I was going. As we climbed. I

273
00:16:46,919 --> 00:16:49,399
asked if we were all allowed to be here. He

274
00:16:49,519 --> 00:16:52,200
said no, but not to worry, because he and his

275
00:16:52,279 --> 00:16:55,000
dirt bike friends had been there many times and no

276
00:16:55,039 --> 00:16:58,360
one had ever said a word. A little more than

277
00:16:58,399 --> 00:17:01,679
halfway up, we heard it, this terrible scream come from

278
00:17:01,679 --> 00:17:05,440
the forest below. My first thought was that someone was

279
00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:09,119
being murdered down there. We stopped at the sounds, and

280
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,799
bad Boy seemed concerned. He shined his flashlight below us.

281
00:17:14,279 --> 00:17:17,319
It was a small flashlight and we couldn't see the ground.

282
00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:21,400
We were really high up. We kept climbing, thinking that

283
00:17:21,519 --> 00:17:23,839
we might be able to see better from the top.

284
00:17:24,799 --> 00:17:27,839
A sound that came thundering through the woods below us.

285
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,519
I can't describe it any better than to say that

286
00:17:31,599 --> 00:17:36,039
it sounded like something maybe a bulldozer, was crashing through

287
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:40,000
and running over trees, but there was no engine noise.

288
00:17:41,279 --> 00:17:44,200
At first it was far off, but it was getting

289
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:49,039
closer to the tower. We froze in place. Bad Boy

290
00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,359
yelled up to me, turn around and let's start climbing down.

291
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,720
We need to leave now. He was trying to hold

292
00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,960
the flashlight on my feet so I could see, but

293
00:17:59,079 --> 00:18:02,799
this process was causing us to go slower. I yelled

294
00:18:02,799 --> 00:18:06,200
down at him, just go. The sound of the trees

295
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,920
cracking was like gunfire, and at one point I believed

296
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,000
it could have been gunfire. I was so horrified and shaking,

297
00:18:14,079 --> 00:18:16,960
trying to clench my toes tight to keep my shoes

298
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,240
from falling off my feet that I almost fell twice.

299
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,160
Losing one shoe by accident and then kicking the other

300
00:18:24,319 --> 00:18:28,559
off on purpose helped me to go faster. We were

301
00:18:28,559 --> 00:18:32,440
close to the bottom and the noise stopped, complete silence.

302
00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,400
This scared me as much as the noise. What was

303
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,759
making the noise and where was it now? Not knowing

304
00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,960
where it was was worse to me than the noise itself.

305
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,279
It was so close, and then all of a sudden

306
00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:49,680
it had stopped. I was so scared that I had

307
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,640
trouble standing up. We made it to the dirt bike.

308
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,279
I climbed on behind him while he was kickstarting the bike.

309
00:18:58,079 --> 00:19:00,640
That scream came out of the woods again, in close

310
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,240
to us. It was louder, and whatever made the screen

311
00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:07,559
was right on us. I don't know if that was

312
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,039
because we were at ground level or that it was

313
00:19:10,079 --> 00:19:13,359
really closer to us, but it vibrated through my body.

314
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,000
I was about to pass out, and then the bike started.

315
00:19:18,279 --> 00:19:20,960
I found out what fast was really like on a

316
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,279
dirt bike, and I didn't care. I was happy to

317
00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:28,079
be going fast. I closed my eyes tight and held

318
00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:32,000
on for dear life. We came to an abrupt stop.

319
00:19:32,559 --> 00:19:36,000
I opened my eyes. Bad boy jumped off and hollered

320
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,640
to me to hold up the bike, so I grabbed

321
00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,720
the handlebars and hurried to hold the bike up. He

322
00:19:41,839 --> 00:19:44,119
ran up ahead of us and began to drag a

323
00:19:44,279 --> 00:19:47,240
large branch out of the middle of the dirt trail.

324
00:19:48,039 --> 00:19:50,480
He cleared it just enough for us to skirt by

325
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,880
racing all the way back to his truck. We both

326
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,599
jumped off the bike. He threw me the keys and

327
00:19:56,599 --> 00:20:00,559
said start the truck. I jumped in and, without ha hesitation,

328
00:20:00,839 --> 00:20:03,799
started the truck as he quickly got the dirt bike

329
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,000
in the truck bed. Within a few seconds, he was

330
00:20:07,079 --> 00:20:11,319
driving us back to the paved road. I was trembling.

331
00:20:11,519 --> 00:20:15,000
My legs would not stop shaking, my bare feet were

332
00:20:15,039 --> 00:20:19,319
scratched and hurting. I kept looking back, half expecting something

333
00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:23,039
or someone to be following us. But we got closer

334
00:20:23,079 --> 00:20:26,359
to the paved road and bad Boys said, that has

335
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,240
never happened here before. What was going on back there?

336
00:20:31,039 --> 00:20:34,160
Of course I had no answer. I asked him if

337
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,839
we had taken another route back to the truck from

338
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,000
the fire tower, because I didn't remember a tree branch

339
00:20:40,039 --> 00:20:43,240
across the trail. He said that he had taken the

340
00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,240
exact trail back to the truck and the limb had

341
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,160
not been there, and that it was not a dead limb.

342
00:20:49,319 --> 00:20:52,000
It was green and had been placed in our way.

343
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,079
We both kept silent for the thirty minute ride home,

344
00:20:56,279 --> 00:20:59,599
listening to the distant cracking pops of the various towns

345
00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:04,319
fire works with glimpses of sparkles in the night sky.

346
00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:07,440
This was the fourth of July that I would never forget.

347
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,079
And as an epilogue, here's what she writes, and I

348
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,559
love this. My bad boy turned out to be a

349
00:21:14,599 --> 00:21:18,680
good guy. I guess my goody two shoes ways rubbed

350
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:23,079
off on him. Forty years married and two daughters later,

351
00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:27,720
we are very happy that skull and knife tattoo is

352
00:21:27,799 --> 00:21:31,559
now covered with a heart tattoo and our daughter's names

353
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,759
are in the heart. We have talked about this event

354
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,079
in our lives, but my good guy is not sure

355
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,640
it was a bigfoot. He really doesn't have an explanation

356
00:21:41,799 --> 00:21:48,319
for what happened, but I think I do. My name

357
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:50,759
is Elle, and I live out in the country, about

358
00:21:50,759 --> 00:21:55,960
ten miles from Atlanta, Texas, Northeast Texas. I live in

359
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,920
a wooded area, but my little house is just off

360
00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,400
of a farm to mark road. Not much traffic, not

361
00:22:02,519 --> 00:22:07,200
many people, not much of anything but trees. My husband's

362
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,319
family has had the land here since before the Civil War.

363
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,599
When the time came, he and I moved here from

364
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,799
the Texas Coast, planning to live here until well the end.

365
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,440
When we first moved up here, my husband was still

366
00:22:21,519 --> 00:22:25,680
chasing turnarounds in the refineries. I'd often be alone for

367
00:22:25,799 --> 00:22:28,839
weeks at a time. It was during one of those

368
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,319
times that I began to feel as though I was

369
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:35,400
being watched. At first, it scared me, so I'd get

370
00:22:35,519 --> 00:22:39,039
my three fifty seven and march outside as bravely as

371
00:22:39,039 --> 00:22:41,960
I could and pop off a few rounds in the air.

372
00:22:42,759 --> 00:22:45,680
I'd go back in the house relieved, but never quite

373
00:22:45,759 --> 00:22:50,680
sure I'd scared whatever it was away. The strange feeling

374
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,160
of being watched changed after a while. I began to

375
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,319
feel more like I was being observed. I could feel

376
00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,559
that something was out there in the dark. Dogs knew

377
00:23:00,559 --> 00:23:03,920
it too. One night, I was sitting on the couch

378
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,200
watching TV. My hubby was up north on another turnaround,

379
00:23:08,519 --> 00:23:11,880
and it was just me and the dogs. Suddenly there

380
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,359
was a sound coming from the woods to the right

381
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,079
of the house. This time the dog started barking. I

382
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,279
muted the TV, grabbed my gun, and ran to the door.

383
00:23:22,039 --> 00:23:25,839
I cracked it just a bit. The sound was incredibly loud,

384
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,559
and it sounded like a scream on top of a roar,

385
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,119
if that makes sense. It went on for at least

386
00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,920
a minute, and then silence. I slammed the door and

387
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,720
got the dogs settled down. That night, I stayed up

388
00:23:39,799 --> 00:23:42,920
sitting on the couch watching the door, my gun in hand.

389
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:46,720
I told my husband about it on the phone the

390
00:23:46,759 --> 00:23:49,759
next day. He laughed it off, just like he did

391
00:23:49,799 --> 00:23:52,079
when I tell him I thought something in the woods

392
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,000
was watching me. My husband died not long after that.

393
00:23:56,599 --> 00:24:00,160
I was alone here full time. I frequently felt that

394
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,200
I was being observed. It wasn't a constant feeling, but

395
00:24:04,279 --> 00:24:06,559
when it came on, it felt like there was a

396
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,880
heaviness in the air. I learned to live with it,

397
00:24:10,039 --> 00:24:13,920
and that was that. A few months after my husband passed,

398
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,039
my youngest son, Jay and his fiance moved up. His

399
00:24:18,079 --> 00:24:20,279
father had asked him to take care of me, and

400
00:24:20,319 --> 00:24:23,759
that's what he did. One day, not long after he

401
00:24:23,799 --> 00:24:26,440
got here, Jay went out to the back forty to

402
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,440
have some time alone, walking around in the woods he

403
00:24:29,559 --> 00:24:33,640
used to hunt with his dad. Jay started walking the creek.

404
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,559
After a little bit, he came to a place in

405
00:24:36,599 --> 00:24:40,200
the creek bottom and stopped dead in his tracks. He

406
00:24:40,319 --> 00:24:43,200
told me something was there, but he didn't know what

407
00:24:43,279 --> 00:24:46,759
it was. He was so overcome by fear that he

408
00:24:46,839 --> 00:24:49,240
ran as fast as he could back to his truck

409
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,799
and got the hell out of there. He's been here

410
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,559
two years and has never gone back to that spot.

411
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,720
Fast forward about two months. It was a beautiful black

412
00:24:59,799 --> 00:25:02,839
nw night. I went outside to soak up the peace

413
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:07,319
that permeates the air here. It just engulfs you. I

414
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,559
love that about this place. But suddenly, as I stood there,

415
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,759
I heard that scream coming from the same place I'd

416
00:25:14,799 --> 00:25:18,759
heard it two years before. It wasn't as loud. It

417
00:25:18,799 --> 00:25:22,119
didn't even wake my son in his fiance, but it

418
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,000
was the same. I ran back inside and locked the doors.

419
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,079
Two weeks passed. It was just after sunset, the kids

420
00:25:31,079 --> 00:25:33,680
were gone, and I was getting something out of my car.

421
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,240
I hadn't been out there for more than a minute

422
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,319
when I heard the first scream. It had come from

423
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,440
the same place as before. I got my stuff out

424
00:25:42,519 --> 00:25:44,680
of the car and headed to the house. When I

425
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,720
heard another scream coming from the woods behind the house,

426
00:25:48,519 --> 00:25:52,599
I froze. A few seconds later, another scream came from

427
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,519
the first place I waited, but I didn't hear anything else.

428
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,680
A week or two later, my brother came up to

429
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:04,480
go hunting. The first morning he was there, he geared

430
00:26:04,599 --> 00:26:07,960
up and headed to the back forty. He came back

431
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,079
a few hours later. He looked disturbed. He asked Jay

432
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,039
what the deal was with the creek bottom. He said

433
00:26:15,079 --> 00:26:18,000
he could feel something there. Jay asked him where he

434
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,200
was specifically, and my brother told him it was the

435
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,480
same place Jay was when he took off running in

436
00:26:25,599 --> 00:26:29,839
Terror two years ago. My brother is a survivalist and

437
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,119
a very experienced hunter who has spent half his life

438
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,519
in the woods. He said he'd never felt that presence

439
00:26:36,839 --> 00:26:40,720
or that kind of fear ever before, and she writes,

440
00:26:40,799 --> 00:26:43,960
I'm sorry for rambling on. You're not rambling on, ill.

441
00:26:44,799 --> 00:26:48,519
This is great. I know none of us have seen anything,

442
00:26:48,759 --> 00:26:51,119
but I am certain the Big Man is living here.

443
00:26:51,559 --> 00:26:54,039
I've told a couple of people about the screams and

444
00:26:54,079 --> 00:26:57,880
feeling something watching me and about the creek, and they

445
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,920
just laugh. But I bet that if they heard some

446
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,720
of the screams and felt some of the presents, it

447
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:09,480
would wipe the smirks right off their faces. I love

448
00:27:09,519 --> 00:27:12,119
it when somebody says, you ought to hear what I hear.

449
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,240
That was really good. And I assume you're still out there.

450
00:27:16,559 --> 00:27:21,119
Ell girl, be safe, stay alert. I'm sure you're fine,

451
00:27:21,519 --> 00:27:24,279
and I hope Jay and his girlfriend are still there

452
00:27:24,319 --> 00:27:28,519
with you and enjoy those peaceful nights. You're gonna be okay.

453
00:27:28,839 --> 00:27:31,839
I'm just almost sure of it. And I just love

454
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:38,440
you for sending this in. Thank you