What Got You Interested In Bf ?

[Guest]

The Marble Mountain footage is what got me interested and that was in 2007. We were working up on the N. CA coast. If you draw an east/west line from Bluff Creek to the Pacific, we were working about half way along that line. We were staying in Arcata and they have everything from the Bigfoot Medical Clinic to the Bigfoot Grocery Store there. We were working 24 hours a day and when you're out in the middle of nowhere at night all by yourself you have plenty of time to think. I've spent my whole life out in the woods and there's a lot of nothing and no one out there. I started thinking about BF one night and figured that it was easily possible.

A few months later my wife, her sister and husband and I were out to dinner and I mentioned BF while talking about working on the coast. My brother in law asked if I'd seen his brothers BF video from 2001 and I said that I hadn't. So I went over to his house and watched it and my jaw about dropped.

I'd never thought about BF but that would explain some eye shine that I'd seen in high school. It also explained some old black and white pics that we found in a miners cabin of some big guy dressed up in a monkey suit standing on some boulders in a creek bed out in the wilderness.

I started asking around and other forestry professionals had had experiences too.

And now I'm hooked. Never have seen Boogy Creek.

[Guest gerrykleier]

I guess I had a somewhat more circuitous route than most.

I wasn't much interested in Bigfoot as a kid, preferring Flying Saucers which tied in to my love of Science Fiction and 50's Sci Fi Monster Movies. I was aware of Bigfoot, but didn't give the subject much thought. I saw the PGF at some point, though I don't remember whether it was in a Movie Theater or on TV. I wasn't much impressed by it. I had a sighting (or more accurately, I THINK I saw a Bigfoot) in the mid 1970's along the Kern River in the Central Sierras. Whatever it was, it was QUITE LARGE, covered in black fur and sitting with it's arms resting on it's knees, bent forward. It had a face like a 'gorilla'. That was my internal monologue when I saw, literally "what is a giant gorilla doing sitting on the banks of the Kern River?". I then realized it must be a Bigfoot and was perplexed "but Bigfoot doesn't look like a gorilla" (I don't know WHY I thought that...). Then cognitive dissonance set in and I realized that no one KNEW what BF looked like...

It got up and walked away on what looked like 2 legs, hunched forward a bit and rapidly disappeared into the rocks and trees in the canyon. The whole 'sighting' lasted about 10 seconds, maybe more. Why I feel some ambiguity about it was the fact that the creature was 100-150 yards away on the opposite side of the river. The Kern River Highway was very windy and treacherous then-only two lines RIGHT NEXT to a steep drop off. Also my vision was obscured here and there by clumps of cottonwoods, so I was peering through vegetation and trying to steer along a windy, loopy road at the same time I was trying to take "BF" in. I did get a clear look at it at the beginning, and at several points in the process though.

But there was not much you can DO with such a sighting then. I only remember talking about it to one other person at the time. Through the years I would think about it now and then-mostly lying awake in bed at night. I'd run the events through my minds eye and wonder what it was I saw.

Fast forward 'til a few years ago. Like the BF Bookman, I sell used and Rare Books online. In a collection of Books was WALKING WITH BIGFOOT by Robert Pyle. I read it the googled Bigfoot. Boy Howdy! was I surprised with what was out there. I read the BFRO reports mostly (I think I've read every one and the California reports 2 or more times). I was startled to read over and over again about wood knocking and tree shaking and rock throwing as the descriptions of both 'behaviors' (especially wood knocking) tied in very well with a series of events which had mystified me as a kid. Simply put, I camped a lot in the Sierras when younger and heard wood knocking a number of times while fishing. In 2 different locations in likely the same year and at one of those locations a number of times during different years. I was quite mystified by the phenomena as a kid and had talked to my father about it back then and tried to get to the bottom of what was going on. At least some of the times we were alone in the campground and there was no human habitation nearer than a mile away so who would be making that noise? I thought it sounded like someone was chopping wood, only there was always only a small number of knocks when it happened and they always came from somewhere high up a forested hillside-not anywhere near camp nor the easiest place to look for firewood. And why chop only a piece or two then stop? My dad dismissed it at the time, but I always remembered these events and wondered what could have been going on. I never ever associated them with BF until I read the books and online sighting databases. They were just mysterious recurring events that I had puzzled over. I also experienced rock throwing and tree shaking later, but that was on the San Joaquin valley floor (though once again right at the banks of the Kern River, not far from the hills) and could have been human caused. The rocks seemed QUITE LARGE and the tree shaking seemed beyond the power of a human being, but in either case not impossible. I remembered that event too quite distinctly, but once again BF didn't enter the mix.

I was hooked at that point!

Since I've become interested in the phenomenon, I've heard other stories, and I urge others to be open with your interest. On a recent Book Call there was number of Fishing Books, Nature Guides and I noticed camping gear so I asked the owners what they thought of Bigfoot. They had no personal stories, but told me about a woman they had met in the past year who claimed to have seen a family of three (Mom, Dad, Baby) 'bathing' in a stream in the Sierras. A relative of a relative told me a story that happened last year in/on the Mogollon Rim. He was hunting on one of the reservations and he and his partners where spread out in a line moving toward a rocky mountainside when a VERY LOUD shouting came from somewhere in the cliffs. It seemed angry and 'shouted' gibberish at them. He said he thought it was angry because they were hunting 'its' deer. He's not a BF believer, but he felt the voice was way too loud and did not sound quite human.

Last year I went on a packing trip in the middle Sierras. 4 hours on horseback in past the pack camp so some distance in. I asked the packers about BF and they did not think they existed, though they were very interested in my stories as the locations were in the same general 'Southern Sierra' area. I looked around for BF evidence in a mild way (we were mostly fishing) and found none. Lo and behold! though we did get wood knocking AND rock clacking! One person heard wood knocking while scouting around alone the first day we were there and one night there was a number of very LOUD wood knocks (my brother described them like a baseball bat slammed against a tree) coming up the creek towards our camp. He was the only one awake, though the last one or several woke me up and I was aware that some noise had roused me without quite being sure what it was. One other night I heard 'rock clacking' that moved about 120 degrees around the camp over 5 minutes or more. Volume-wise somewhat quiet, but very clear and distinct. A 'clack clack' then some time later and a further distance along another 'clack clack'. I couldn't wake anyone up so I was the only one to hear 'em! It sure sounded like something was circumventing our camp. Also at least one time someone went out of the tent at night to relieve themselves they were greeted by a quite loud 'whistle bird'. The whistle bird was also heard in the daytime (it could be quite manic!) so that was not the first time he heard it. (I must say that the bird sounds are the weakest 'evidence'. After all, it's most likely that they were...BIRDS!)

So talk about it and go out to the sticks and keep your eyes and ears open. Something might happen!

As Rod Serling would say 'submitted for your approval".

GK

[Guest gerrykleier]

The Marble Mountain footage is what got me interested and that was in 2007. We were working up on the N. CA coast. If you draw an east/west line from Bluff Creek to the Pacific, we were working about half way along that line. We were staying in Arcata and they have everything from the Bigfoot Medical Clinic to the Bigfoot Grocery Store there. We were working 24 hours a day and when you're out in the middle of nowhere at night all by yourself you have plenty of time to think. I've spent my whole life out in the woods and there's a lot of nothing and no one out there. I started thinking about BF one night and figured that it was easily possible.

A few months later my wife, her sister and husband and I were out to dinner and I mentioned BF while talking about working on the coast. My brother in law asked if I'd seen his brothers BF video from 2001 and I said that I hadn't. So I went over to his house and watched it and my jaw about dropped.

I'd never thought about BF but that would explain some eye shine that I'd seen in high school. It also explained some old black and white pics that we found in a miners cabin of some big guy dressed up in a monkey suit standing on some boulders in a creek bed out in the wilderness.

I started asking around and other forestry professionals had had experiences too.

And now I'm hooked. Never have seen Boogy Creek.

I think you've answered this before, but what happened to the 2001 BF Video? Why isn't it public?

Mind describing what you saw?

GK

[Guest Spazmo]

For me, it was something that happened in 2007 that I was having a hard time explaining. When I started looking into it, I discovered the whole BF scene and was able to listen to some recordings. Those recordings made me think that something else that happened way back in 1983 may have been BF activity.

I never saw Boggy Creek, but my brother did. He said it was really scary, and I wasn't into scary movies at the time. Funny, because he is a hardcore skeptic on the matter.

I've never been into things like ghosts, crop circles, cryptids or the paranormal in general. I've often scoffed at the folks that think crop circles are of alien origin. I don't buy into conspiracy theories, either. I'm fully convinced we landed on the moon.

Some details:

In 2007 I was camped alone waiting for others to show up in a few days. I was sitting in camp reading a magazine when something made a heck of a commotion. This animal had been hiding, or had snuck up, to a spot behind a small lean-to shed on the property. I was sitting facing this shed, it was less than 30 feet away from me. Whatever the animal was, it was very large. I could not understand how any large animal could have gotten into that position (right in front of me) without me knowing. It could have been a bear, but the idea that a bear had snuck into that spot was odd, and somewhat disconcerting. It made me feel as if I was being stalked.

I had some gear stacked over there, and the animal knocked some of it over and made a hasty retreat up the embankment, but didn't go more than 20 feet. I shined a flashlight in that direction, but all I could see was the brush, but I did see the trees shaking. It sounded like a big, bushy tree was being dragged in between other trees, like it took three tries to make it through there. But there was no other tree being drug through, and the trees only shook those three times. Really hard, too. As soon as the shaking stopped, I heard four heavy footfalls. They sounded like "stomping", but didn't sound like hooves or any hard type of foot.

My initial impression was that a horse was moving through there, but there are no horses in this canyon, and they are not allowed in most areas here. Then I thought it must be a deer, but it sounded much larger. If it was a deer, it was some sort of trophy. It sounded almost horse-sized. It's also possible that it was an elk, but the behavior still doesn't seem to fit. Nor does the sound of those footfalls.

The footfalls didn't sound like they were going anywhere, either. Just stomping in one general spot. When I realized that the animal had stopped right where it was, I began to freak out a little and started looking for the dogs. They were cowering at the trailer door. This also tells me that it was not a deer or elk, because the dogs would have been barking and chasing it. Still could have been a bear, though. I've seen my dogs act very strange when bears are about, and instead of barking they get quiet.

The next day I couldn't find signs of anything, but I'm far from an experienced tracker.

So, I started looking into what types of large animals could be in the area. After a day or two of looking online, I happened onto an account of a Bigfoot nearby (class A). This was the first time since my teens that I had even thought about Bigfoot. And I have to admit, there was one time in my late teens when someone brought up the subject and I ridiculed them.

Anyway, as I read more I discovered that there was a LOT of info available, and I happened onto a short list of recordings on the BFRO site. The third one I listened to made my hair stand up, because I had heard something almost identical back in '83. That's when it hit me that, even if my 2007 encounter was just a bear, this thing that happened to me in '83 had all the hallmarks of a BF encounter. I've been involved ever since (2007).

More details:

Back in '83, me and 4 other guys were drinking beer (yes, we were underage) way out in the boonies near a friend's place. There was a spot we used to go to that was extremely far from town, well outside the city limits. It took some getting to. There was a small pond there that we would occasionally fish in. Anyway, we had "acquired" a case of beer and we all piled into my Rambler and headed out of town up to the pond. We parked nearby and were standing around my car with the stereo blaring, drinking beer. It was around 11pm.

Suddenly, from across the pond, we all heard (above the stereo) this very loud howl-growl. It was long and drawn out, and sounded like an African lion's roar but higher in pitch, and it trailed off to a very low growl. It seemed to be directed at us. No one said anything as we all climbed into the car. As soon as we were in with the doors closed, we all said two things: "What the ____ was that?" and, "Let's get the ____ out of here!"

Now for the strange part: two weeks before this, and less than 2 miles from this spot, one of my buddies (who was also with us that night) woke up to find all 5 of his sheep dead in their pen, and each one had been gutted. None of them had been eaten in any way that he could detect, just killed and left there. The heavy wooden gate to the pen had been ripped from its hinges. Animal control and the Sheriff were called, and there was a lot of head-scratching as to what would have done this to the sheep. To my knowledge, nobody checked to see if there was anything missing from the sheep internally. After some time, the animal control guy said it must have been a cougar. The Sheriff started arguing with him (according to my buddy) and said that there was no way a cougar would kill them and leave them. He then insisted that a cougar couldn't rip the gate off, either, and that it must have been a bear. The animal control guy argued right back saying that bears don't "thrill-kill" and would certainly have eaten or tried to eat at least one of the sheep instead of just killing them and leaving them. This went on for a while until they both just shrugged and said it was either a bear or a cougar.

Even though it was my 2007 encounter that got me looking into BF in the first place, it was this 1983 event that had me thinking that I might have been near one of these animals, if they do exist.

[Guest Xskeptic]

Now for the strange part: two weeks before this, and less than 2 miles from this spot, one of my buddies (who was also with us that night) woke up to find all 5 of his sheep dead in their pen, and each one had been gutted. None of them had been eaten in any way that he could detect, just killed and left there. The heavy wooden gate to the pen had been ripped from its hinges. Animal control and the Sheriff were called, and there was a lot of head-scratching as to what would have done this to the sheep. To my knowledge, nobody checked to see if there was anything missing from the sheep internally. After some time, the animal control guy said it must have been a cougar. The Sheriff started arguing with him (according to my buddy) and said that there was no way a cougar would kill them and leave them. He then insisted that a cougar couldn't rip the gate off, either, and that it must have been a bear. The animal control guy argued right back saying that bears don't "thrill-kill" and would certainly have eaten or tried to eat at least one of the sheep instead of just killing them and leaving them. This went on for a while until they both just shrugged and said it was either a bear or a cougar.

Spazmo, do you happen to have wolves in your state. In spite of what some think or say, wolves will kill for the sake of killing and they'll do anything to get to animals.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/aug/28/wolves-kill-120-sheep-near-dillon-mont/

[Guest Spazmo]

Spazmo, do you happen to have wolves in your state. In spite of what some think or say, wolves will kill for the sake of killing and they'll do anything to get to animals.

http://www.spokesman...ar-dillon-mont/

As far as I know, there are no wolves or coyotes in this area. It's a place where I never would have thought BF to roam, either.

It's Central California, near the coast. Lots of rolling hills and oak trees. There was a very large deer herd running around there for years, though.

This was San Luis Obispo county. Bigfoot Encounters used to list 4 sightings in this area too, in the nearby mountain range between here and the coast.

[Guest]

I think you've answered this before, but what happened to the 2001 BF Video? Why isn't it public?

Mind describing what you saw?

GK

The original footage and camera were given to the guy who did the Memorial Day Footage research in exchange for all the proceeds generated by it going to the videographers youth organization, Youth for Christ. The researcher decided that the original film had been played too many times for him to be able to get any more out of it so the original footage and the camera have been returned to the videographer. He is on his death bed right now. Lots of us have been to the hospital and his home lately to spend as much time with him as we can before he passes. The last few weeks have been very emotional, but mostly in a good way. Lots of old stories and memories. Good people, good times.

The videographer is not "into" BF at all. He just accepts that they're out there. The researcher guy did go public about his findings at the Eagle Point library in Oregon last year. His results are on the BFRO chat forum available for all. I'm going from memory here but height was 6'8", chest 56", waist 54", 40" inseem, 43" arms and 863 pounds. Keep in mind that this guy is the worlds foremost expert on doing unusual measurements and has his crews working all over the world for National Geographic, the Smithsonian and other prominent organizations. He paid entirely out of his own pocket for one of his crews to be flown via helicopter up into the Marble Mountains to do this research.

The creature was filmed for 3 minutes walking down a rocky barren ridge top from about half a mile away so there's no details in the film. When I first watched it there were no claims being made. I was told to just watch it and decide for myself. This was before any in my family or our friends knew anything about any research. I didn't know anything about BF either. It didn't look human. It didn't walk like a human, move like a human or act like a human. I was just shocked.

I don't think I've ever mentioned this before but when the videographer and his group returned to Yreka after their week long backpack trip they found out that a doctor and his son had returned from the Marbles on the same day that they had left for the Marbles. The doctor and his son were very open in telling anyone that would listen that they had seen a BF will packing up there. No one has been able to find out who this doctor was.

I'm hoping to get the videographers sons to post the original footage on the internet sometime after their dad passes. I don't think that there are any legalities preventing them from doing this and I'm hoping that their uncle (my brother in law) and I can convince them to do this.

Hope that answers your questions.

Edited December 7, 2010 by norcallogger

[Guest vilnoori]

Now for the strange part: two weeks before this, and less than 2 miles from this spot, one of my buddies (who was also with us that night) woke up to find all 5 of his sheep dead in their pen, and each one had been gutted. None of them had been eaten in any way that he could detect, just killed and left there. The heavy wooden gate to the pen had been ripped from its hinges. Animal control and the Sheriff were called, and there was a lot of head-scratching as to what would have done this to the sheep. To my knowledge, nobody checked to see if there was anything missing from the sheep internally. After some time, the animal control guy said it must have been a cougar. The Sheriff started arguing with him (according to my buddy) and said that there was no way a cougar would kill them and leave them.

Yes indeed cougars do thrill kill like that. We just had a case this last month in the local paper of 12 sheep being killed in a semirural mountaneous area near here, all in one night. The conservation guys tracked and killed a big male they figured was responsible. As it happens that is the area I love to hike in, and I have been seeing big cougar tracks near hiking trails in this area for a while. It makes me wonder if this particular big cat was the one responsible. A bit chilling that he was so near houses and farms. But cougars are like that. On Vancouver Island there are reports of them being found in urban settings all the time. I remember one case in the news of one that got trapped in an apartment parkade (underground). Imagine finding that when you go out to get in your car.

Not saying that your experience was due to a cougar, because I think they are just way too quiet to account for your particular experience.

Edited December 8, 2010 by vilnoori

[Guest tsul kalu]

Like nearly everyone my age and predilection, In Search Of and Mysterious Monsters sowed the seed. But in the early 90s I was one of the ones that got obsessed with documenting cougar sightings in the southeast, back when everyone that mattered stated flatly that none existed. The biggest "evidence" was aural. People always said they knew cougars were around their properties, because they heard their screams at certain times of year. The phrase was ludicrously patent: "like a woman being murdered." After collecting over forty conversations over a year and a half, I read and confirmed that... ? ... cougars don't make vocalizations in the wild, except for some light mewing around mating season. So where do you think this led me? A biologist at my alma mater told me "some people" knew what those sounds came from. He got up, closed the door to his office, and dropped a bomb on me and gave me a phone number. Within a year I was in WV with the BFRO.

[VAfooter]

It also explained some old black and white pics that we found in a miners cabin of some big guy dressed up in a monkey suit standing on some boulders in a creek bed out in the wilderness.

What happened to the pictures?

Was in Jr. High in the 70's in Arkansas (about 2 hours away) during the Fouke Monster incidents of that time. I have been hooked ever since.

[Guest]

norcal may correct me, but I think I recall him saying that the cabin later burned down.

My father always has been interested in everything and his nature infected me. From crazy conspiracies, unexplainable things, mysteries to the boring mundane facts and trivia, we just love acquiring knowledge and learning about subjects. Discovery, DiscoveryScience, and the History channel would be on 24/7 if I could afford 3 TV's and cable... In anycase, I can remember watching documentaries with him when I was little and ocassionally touched base with the subject in highschool. Although I can't tell you what set it off, I started researching the subject in depth in 2008. Reading sighting reports, books, checking out organization's websites and posting on the BFF. Got here just a few weeks ahead of the big Georgia Boys hoax.

Since then I've been able to meet a few others who research in the field and discuss their own encounters. I've found 5-toed footprints in multiple locations and seen a few oddities in the woods. I haven't seen or encountered anything that couldn't be explained any other way, IOW I'm still not 100% convinced for myself, but I'm most definitely intrigued by the phenomenon and will keep going out until I convince myself one way or the other. It's one hell of a hobby, that's for sure.

@Spazmo: There's places in the US that don't have coyotes? I though they were as ubiquitous as vultures...

[Guest Spazmo]

I'm not sure about the coyotes, I need to dig deeper. But having lived there and not heard of any doesn't necessarily mean there weren't any. There were definitely bobcats and occasional bears, and these things were known.

[Guest]

What got me interested?

Skidding to a stop so I wouldn't run into him so he wouldn't pick up the front of my truck & throw us over the cliff.

[Guest]

For me it was seeing the trailer for "Sasquatch: the legend of bigfoot" on TV in 1978 when I was six. I can still remember the scene that got me: a guy is flying a small plane over the Pacific Northwest. He looks down and sees a large dark figure walking upright across a clearing. The camera closes in on the pilot's face and the narrator says in an ominous voice: "What does this man see?" Oddly enough, that scene is not in the movie and I haven't found it on Youtube. The other t...

Manetheren, I don't want to go too far off topic here but I guess it also has to do with my beginning interest.

Ironically just months after my first encounter in Yosemite in 1977 while working there, I heard about a Native American who worked for the Park Service, who was also a pilot and supposedly had seen a sasquatch from the air. I spoke with him back then while he was on duty at the Tioga Pass Entrance, so we didn't get to talk much. He told me the story of seeing a 12 foot sasquatch, but I don't recall his name now. There are two accounts of pilots in the area who reported sightings back then and some of the information overlaps, so its a little confusing. I didn't know Sasquatch-Legend of Bigfoot had it in their trailer. Another irony is that I know Ron Olson (the producer), so I will ask him about it next time I see him, because I want to solve the same mystery. It would be cool to know who I spoke to decades ago and if its the same.

If you search for 'Pilot' on this page you will see the two different incidents. Near bottom of page. However 'Confidence Ridge' is also connected to the second account in reports on other sites. Hence the confusing overlap. http://www.bigfootencounters.com/sightings.htm

[Guest squatchrider]

I am not exactly what came first, reading about Bigfoot/sasquatch or seeing something about it on TV. I know I watched the In Search Of episode on Bigfoot any time it was on TV. I also saw the Legend Of Boggy Creek when I was a kid and it scared the pants off me at the time. I then read every book my local public library had on the topic, which wasn't a lot being a small town in the middle of South Dakota in the 1970s. It was enough though and I read most of them a second and third time. I am still terribly fascinated by this creature and look forward to the day that it is proved real to the scientific community.