Oct 1

Tonight’s Show: I Returned And My Porch Was Destroyed

A listener writes “In 2009 I was sixteen years old and had just bought my first truck. I was working as a barback in a local town so when I got out of work it was close to 2am.

As a newly licensed driver I didn’t want to go home I wanted to drive around with the window down blaring country music while smoking the cigs I took from my mom when she wasn’t looking. The normal route home would take me about 20min but I decided to take a very roundabout way so my commute home was gunna take an hour and a half. As I got within 15min of my house I turned onto the last backroad before hitting the main road that would take me home. The road I turned onto went down a steep incline for about 60 yards and then there was a bridge across the river after that the oaks, pines, and maples faded suddenly into farmland. I was half way down the incline when I saw something start to move on the right side of the road. Having grown up in New England I knew to slam the brakes because the deer in that area would wreck a full sized pickup.

I came to stop right before the bridge maybe about 50 ft away. I saw was a large creature walk across the road in front of me. The angle of my headlights only illuminated the lower body of the creature which was walking on two feet. It was covered in dark brown or black hair and as its hands swung back and forth they would swing well below the hip line. It cleared the two lane road in maybe four steps never breaking stride. The creature stepped into the wood line and then turned heading down the embankment toward the river. I sat there stunned until a foul smell hanging in the air snapped me back to reality. I hit the gas and must have drove double the speed limit the whole way home. When I got home I went into my room closed all the blinds and stayed awake until the sun rose.

I had a strong feeling I knew what it was I saw but I chose not to discuss it with anyone. I didn’t want anyone to think my cheese was slipping off my cracker. This is a common theme with all my encounters I have very rarely shared them.

In 2011 I had just graduated high school and decided to go on a three day camping and fishing trip in Peoples State Forrest which has some of the best trout fishing in the country. I woke up the first morning put on my waders and walked about two miles to one of my favorite spots. As I entered the water the sun was rising and the birds were singing. I fished for maybe an hour or two when I became very uneasy. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up and I began to trace the wood line surrounding the river with my eyes. As I stood in the middle of the river, no longer fishing, I realized that it was quiet. No birds, no squirrels running through the leaves, not even the wind was blowing. As I stood there desperately trying to see any sort of movement or anything unusual in the wood line there was a loud splash in the water about ten feet to my right.

I started backing up out of the water I didn’t know what was going on but I knew I wanted to get out of there. As my heel hit the dry sand of the bank I saw the rock come flying out of the wood line and hit the water in front of me but I didn’t see what had thrown it. Once both my feet were on dry land I turned around and started to walk as calmly as I could back up the trail to wear I had parked my jeep. There was a good growth of trees between the trail and the river so I quickly lost sight of the water as I walked. I made it about fifty feet down the trail when I heard a loud splashing sound it sounded like something very big had crossed the river very quickly. I must admit at this point I started moving much quicker than just a walk. The entire trip back to the jeep I felt stalked. When I would move I would hear double footsteps and when I stopped it stopped and the air was filled with a pungent smell similar to what I had smelled in my truck two years before. I made it back to my jeep and hopped in still wearing my waders. As I started the engine a large rock bounced off the hood, it hit so hard that it left a dent. I peeled out of that parking lot leaving my tent and gear were I left them. Later in the day I came back to that spot with a friend of mine. This friend is one of the only people I’ve spoken to about these encounters so when I asked him to accompany me to get my gear I told him what had happened. He in turn shared that he had a very similar experience at a lake a few miles front the State Forrest. Grabbing my gear went without incident.

In 2017 I was turkey hunting in the early morning. Spring in New England is a mix up between bitterly cold and wildly warm. This morning was a cold one snow still on the ground. I was sitting at the base of a large tree completely covered in camo with my 12 Ga resting on my knee. In front of me was a snow covered corn field with only a few dried stalks still standing. I had never been to this area before and thought it was kinda cool because this field was on the top of a mountain and very difficult to get to. I watched the sun rise and saw a few turkey hens poke through the snow.

I was waiting for the big Tom’s to show up when all the hens suddenly froze and started looking around. At first I thought I had been spotted but the hens all started running in my direction. I sat there motionless as they ran into the woods around me. I was very confused for a few seconds and began thinking that maybe a bear was in the woods on the other side of the field which didn’t worry me to much since black bears tend to avoid people. I sat there still listening to the wind blow and hoping the turkeys would come back when I started to smell that same pungent smell. Within an instant my heart was racing so fast that it felt like it was gunna explode out of my chest. I started to stand up when I heard a noise I can only describe as a mix of a woods howl and a tigers roar.

I listened to it echo across the snow for a second and dropped to one knee. I took the choke out of my shotgun and dropped the three rounds of turkey shot that were In the tube. I loaded three slugs into the tube and another in the chamber, I clicked the safety off and stood up. I started looking for the trailhead I come up when I heard the noise again this time much louder and much closer. I’ve been shooting all my life and I’ve never seen my hands shake around a weapon like my hands were shaking in that moment. It very quickly dawned on me that I was five miles from my truck over very rough terrain. So I started down the trail turning in circles every few seconds to check behind me and never dropping the barrel of my shotgun. Every ten minutes or so I would hear the noise again sometimes close sometimes far, I was also hearing footsteps in the snow and tree knocks. It took almost an hour to get back to my truck. About a quarter mile before the parking lot was the big wooden sign for trail, once I passed that sign everything stopped. The birds started chirping again, I saw a few squirrels but I never dropped the barrel of my gun. I got in my truck and peeled out of there. Of all my experiences this one is the only that gave me nightmares. The sound of that howl/roar is engraved in my mind and I don’t think I will ever forget it.

My last experience happened in Florida in January of 2023. I had moved to the Florida panhandle to take a job as a sheriffs deputy. For the first 8 months I lived in a single wide trailer alone deep in the woods there was one other trailer near me but the woman who lived there was rarely home as she worked for rideshare/food delivery company. When I say this place was in the middle of no-where I’m not exaggerating my only other neighbor was my landlord who lived almost 3 miles down the road from me. The first month I lived there it was peaceful and quiet I would come home from work and watch tv or play guitar and didn’t have any problems. Then things started happening. At first it was just things left on my porch would be moved or knocked over. One morning I came out to find that the front end of my car appeared to have been picked up and moved to the right so it was no at an angle. To be honest I was so busy with the police academy that I didn’t really give any of this much thought. I figured I must have just parked at weird angle and that my stuff was being gone through my raccoons or stray dogs. Then one night I was laying in my bed which was at the front of the trailer and I heard a loud bang on the side of the house. I grabbed my pistol and went outside to investigate. I went around the entire trailer and didn’t see anything that would of explained the noise so I went back inside now fully awake. This became a routine almost every night. The best way I can relate it is a terrifying game of ding dong ditch. This continued for a month or two before I decided I wasn’t going outside anymore to check the sounds. The banging continued for a week before it escalated.

It was multiple bangs on the siding and now I was hearing grunts outside my bedroom window. I honestly didn’t know what to do so when these event happened I would load my rifle and place it next to my bed. I figured as long as what ever it was never tried to enter the trailer I could ignore it until I had the money to move. About four months into these events I was bringing in grocery’s and the bag containing apples broke before I brought them inside. I looked at the apples on the ground and thought screw it I would just go get more. I admit it was a lazy moment. That night was a quiet one so I was able to get some good sleep. The next morning as I walked out to the car I noticed all the apples were gone which I thought was weird since raccoons would of left the scraps behind and I couldn’t see stray dogs eating apples. As I drove to work that morning I thought maybe what ever was banging had taken the apples.

At first I thought the idea was laughable but on my way home I bought more apples and as I walked into the house I left three on the porch honestly just to see if it would work. It was a quiet night again and again the apples where gone when I woke up the next morning. So that began what I refer to as the deal, I would leave apples and whatever it was would leave me alone. This was further enforced when I flew home for a week to see my family and when I returned my porch was destroyed. Everything was thrown all over the lawn and the mud was coved in large footprints. I went inside and grabbed some apples and left them on the porch. As expected they were gone the next morning but unfortunately it was a torrential downpour and the footprints were all but gone. I continued the “deal” until the end of June when I moved and never had another noisy night.”

6 Responses to “Tonight’s Show: I Returned And My Porch Was Destroyed”

  1. Shelly B

    Do you really read all of our comments too? I don’t know how you pull it off but you do a great service. Maybe one day I’ll muster up the courage to participate. Get well, its already fall and raining here in Southern Oregon.

  2. Daren c

    “My cheese slid off my crafker” LOL , this is gona be a fun one for sure. Love when witnesses have such a great sense of humor even though having went through something serious.

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