Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

Allen returns tonight with an update from episode 520. When you hear what happened, episode 520 makes way more sense. Allen writes “I was on episode 520, had the sighting with my father in 76 in Gatlinburg TN, he was a game warden. We had too the company with law officers and other personnel after the sighting. There have been several odd things happen in the years since I was on the episode.

After listening to the episode, I was left with a ton of questions. I returned to the house and grounds and started searching for all of the things he had kept copies of that was evidence when he was a warden. The pictures, the file, the casts. I couldn’t locate any of the things in their past location, where they’d always been stored. I called and asked my sister who said she didn’t know what I was talking about. (She lives at the upper end of this rather large property and oversees the stuff in storage and filing, etc). Feeling a bit dejected, I reached out to Bill, my dad’s law enforcement partner, who was with us on the trip.

I knew he was still living. I discovered he was in assisted living and called and made an appointment to see him. I made the hour and a half journey and found him quite lucid and in a good mood. I spoke to him and told him that I had questions about the 76 Gatlinburg trip, and asked if it was ok if I recorded our conversation. He agreed. So I sat my phone on the stand and we began. The information that poured out of him was quite amazing and caught me off guard. Ill get into it and the subsequent goings on. He answered every question I had and expounded on most of them. The first calls that Dad made was to police dispatch to get word to the closest wildlife officer on call and they were successful in reaching him. He recounted the events that had just taken place. So, the wildlife officers were first on scene followed closely by Tennessee State police and Sevier County Sheriff’s Dept. The federal men that showed up were from the Dept of Agriculture and Dept of the interior, with a specific team from an organization literally called Animal Damage Control. They interviewed dad, then went up to the tree line, did measurements, cast what Bill described as partial casts and collected some hairs unidentified that were on the tree and right in that general spot. They performed size guestimates and measurements.

Then they covered the open field area where the power lines crossed and the creature went into the forest on the other side, where they collected other biological materials and more casts. It evident not difficult to find where the creature had chased through and gone. One of this team and a couple of deputies, all armed with high powered rifles, and with a tracking dog and spotlights, headed up into the forest, evidently to track the creature. During the conversations, it was discussed that 6 or 7 years before, a young child named Dennis Martin had mysteriously came up missing from the opposite side of the mountain, basically disappearing into thin air. (You can review the Martin disappearance Army Rangers I believe it was and other special forces were brought in to search, also reports that a bear-like creature was seen over at Cades Cove just hours after the disappearance, some people said there was a child with a red shirt with the bear, depending on what you believe but this isn’t really part of our story) conversation was again, that Dennis had disappeared into thin air, and he was never found. It was disclosed privately to my dad and Bill that there were creature prints around that general area, and subsequently there were 3 other children in this stretch of like 6 or 7 years in the Sevier County Area, and bordering county, and each time there was evidence that one of these “creatures” had been in the general area in these cases, as well as attacks on campers in the general area as well. As dad and Bill talked with them further, kind of in the direction of “wouldn’t have thought many of these beings were around, it was disclosed to them there were more than 5000 reports handled nationwide by this agency since the “monkey movie” had brought so much attention to the subject. (Patterson Gimlin ’67) There had been over 200 reports in this general area of the Smokies during this time as well. There had been injuries, there had been deaths. The region, I believe that these things were disclosed to dad and Bill is that the officer from the Government kinda overseeing this thing, was also a world war 2 veteran, also in the Army Air Corps, and in the same area in the Pacific Theatre of the war. I believe that’s the only reason. They told them both to not let the kids be outside unsupervised, at any mour of the day, and they may wanna keep their sidearms on them. They were also asked not to say anything about this encounter and emphasize to me to do the same. Most all the money this area was able to generate was obviously tourism. This type thing doesn’t need to get out. (That blows my mind, Wes, here is 3 to 4 cases of missing children, other attacks on people, one more, me possibly about to be abducted, and we can’t tell this because surely it would hurt tourism if a creature such as Bigfoot was confirmed and confirmed to be dangerous. In the West we hear the logging industry and in the south, it’s that and tourism as well.) This conversation connected so many dots for me. I started to understand things that you and I had questioned.

The following day, the 4th, I do so vividly remember the distant screams and roars that was heard just after fireworks. I don’t know if these creatures were upset at the noise and explosions, but I’ll say, they were well aware. Those were the only vocalizations I have heard to this day. I avoid the outdoors at night to this very day. I even tape garbage bags over the window blinds at night so nothing can look in at me. I keep a handgun nearby. I’m 56, and Ive done these things all of my adult life. I also learned from Bill, that when my father was a young warden down in Washington county Alabama, there had been an attack on a landowner that mamed the man and left him for dead. The only thing the man ever said about it is that he was attacked “by a big blonde booger” BFRO confirms that there are modern reports as well with creatures of that same description in the same area. Though this attack happened, I believe, in 1951. He didn’t go into super detail as to other attacks and evidence my father had collected but he well knew about all of it. My dad was a kind and gentle soul, Wes. His proudest achievement in law enforcement was that he never drew his service weapon in the line of duty. But that day, July 3, 1976, once he recognized what we were looking at, he brought his weapon up into fire position faster than I can even describe. That would have been very out of character for him generally speaking. But now I’m thinking that he, being the responding officer, at least the closest one, responding to the call where the man was mamed in 1951, he knew what the creatures, at least some, are capable of. And evidently the creature sensed that my father recognized the potential danger and possibly read the look on Dad’s face as, well, what it was and that’s why the creature bolted out into the open as he did, heading back into the forest I’m guessing from which he came, in such an abrupt manner. So, my journey to see Bill, and discuss these events, really gave me a lot of peace. I couldn’t wait to get back with you and update things. And I wish it was that simple. I received a phone call from Bills oldest son, who point blank informed me that anything that I had recorded or talked about in the assisted living home had better be destroyed immediately. That his father had been declared incompetent and couldn’t make his own decisions, and I didn’t need to be there talking to him and upsetting him, and that I don’t need to go back. (The staff had walked in a time or two, to serve dinner and he just kept talking and my phone was obviously out and recording, and they put me on blast with the family.) He further informed me that I needed to stop “telling” and “trying to publish” this incident and other things from my father’s career “for personal gain” (WTF??) and if I spoke to my family I would find out that they are very upset as well.

That I needed to stop telling private information about two wonderful men, who’d had distinguished careers and making them sound crazy and aloof, like they went through the woods chasing things that don’t exist and indulging in the investigation of such things. In that moment, I knew what happened to the file, the pictures, the casts. They’ve been moved or destroyed by members of my family. And I know who. I NEVER mentioned to anyone in my family about the show. Never mentioned to anyone in my community either. So I don’t know exactly how they found out, but they did. I have never done anything to desperate the reputation of either man, haven’t given names (other than “Bill”, and I’ve done nothing wrong. I CERTAINLY have never profited a penny from ANY of this. It’s a story that needs to be told. It instilled a fear in me that has changed the way I live life in regards to the environment. I WILL NOT CAMP, won’t go in a forest day or night, I put garbage bags over windows at night because I don’t want a creature seeing me or me seeing it when there probably isn’t one anywhere around me. But I don’t take the chance. I still have the interview with Dad’s partner, who has since passed away.

I was given a simple nod and a cold shoulder at the viewing and funeral. I have consulted 2 attorneys and both tell me it’s a very gray area. The son had been legally made his father’s power of attorney and some form of guardian as well. Both told me if I used it, I’d probably lose the lawsuit, though it would be nothing criminal. So, I sit on it, and do listen to it at times. Just to feel close to those men who I respect and admire so very much to this very day.

So, there’s the update. I have no problem setting down and recanting this for the show as it connects some dots we wondered about. I still listen to every episode,, and love the show to this day. Those things are up to you, I just wanted to send a note to tell you all that’s gone on.”