A listener writes “I’d like to take the time to tell you about an experience I had in ’98 in Madison WI. Before I do that though, let me mention why.
I was listening to your podcast the other night, and episode 321 came on with Tom. I’ve had this experience a long while, and I’ve never heard anyone else talking about it. The description Tom gave was exactly, to a t, the same thing that I saw.
Then I listened back to Alex’s sighting in 320, and her story reconfirmed it to me. So now I have a problem, because this thing might be real and it’s terrifying. I’m hoping you can forward my e-mail to Tom and Alex because I’d like to talk to them. I want to know what it is.
Here’s what I saw, I was living in the dorms in Madison WI, along the lakewalk. My room was on the first level but the first level started at about six feet, which put the window at about nine feet from the ground. The window overlooked the courtyard, and outside our window there was a big tree. You could only see the trunk from the inside, with just a little foliage showing at the top of the frame.
I was looking out the window, and this thing started climbing up the trunk of the tree, with it’s back to me. It had long arms and legs, its torso was about three feet. It climbed with a herky jerkiness that kind of reminded me of an insect, with the legs moving in an unnatural cadence. It had a big head, it was hairless, and it had light brown skin. “This thing is built like Gollum,” I remember thinking, “and its skin looks like tree bark, but it’s alive like an animal.” It stops climbing, it turns its head around 180 degrees like an owl. It’s looks at me with big dark eyes.
It takes it’s right hand off the tree, and puts it’s index finger in front of its mouth. It shushes me. Then it grins with razor sharp teeth across the entire width of its face. It turns its head back around 180 degrees like an owl, faces the tree, and climbs up and out of sight.
Now, I’m standing there, and my heart is hammering a mile a minute. I start kind of side shuffling toward the window with my front leg out and my head back, sort of creeping up to it trying to get a second look. My heart is beating fast, I’m thinking to myself, “stop, you’re doing exactly what they do in horror movies, this thing is going to reach down and grab you.” I made it to the edge of the window alive, but I didn’t see anything further up the tree.
I turned all the lights on and sat with my back pressed against the wall staring at the window until it was light out. I had chalked it up to a hallucination until I heard Tom and Alex’s stories. Now I know it’s real, at least real in a way. I’m creeping myself out writing this. I just had to move away from the window. So if they’re down to talk about it please send my e-mail address or e-mail along to Tom and Alex.
Thanks Much”