Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “I’m 55, married with a teenage daughter and I live in the Mid-Hudson Valley about 65 miles north of NYC. I work in the city and my commute affords me the time to listen to the catalog of SC. I have been listening for about 3 years now and have heard about 2/3 of the back episodes.

I’m pretty sure that I’ve had more than a couple of encounters in my lifetime, I’m an avid outdoorsman. As a kid I did tons of camping and weekends under the stars. In my life I have had 2 very profound experiences that solidify my knowledge in the existence of Sasquatch. The first took place in Southwest Pennsylvania. My Father’s family is from coal mining country, tough bunch, generations of black lungs. We would visit from NY often enough, and this was a typical early spring visit, 1979. My Father was an engineer for a very large 3 letter corporation that did very quiet work for a different kind of 3 letter company….honestly my Dad never told me what he actually did, it took me years to put it all together. He was extremely smart, very well educated, but had a very rough upbringing.

He would bring us back to his hometown to instill a sense of family and history in us. My grandparents were not particularly warm people. They didn’t see my Dad like we did. He was too smart, too good for them. Anyway, he wanted to show me the coal mine he worked at in High School, so he and I drove out of this little town about 5 miles up into the hills and off the State Route. We drove up a rocky dirt driveway wide enough for a dump truck to fit for about 10 minutes and approached a very rusty, closed fence. The panels of the fence were about 8 feet tall and the overhead track that rolled on was about 17 feet (trucks had to fit under it).

It was locked with huge chain at the center, and looked like it hadn’t been open in quite some time. We pulled up about 10 feet from the fence, there was lots of brush and small trees growing up into the fence on both sides of the gate. He was pointing out the small building that was the main shaftway into the mine when my attention was suddenly taken to my right just inside the fence. Something was moving about 20 feet to my right inside the locked yard. I looked back at where he pointing at another structure when again I looked to right.

This time i was just shocked. I was looking directly at IT. The creature had gotten to our side of the fence (I’m guessing there was a hole) and was now standing about 15 feet from my car door. Keep in mind I was 12 at the time, so I recall most of what happened vividly, but I was petrified during the encounter…..I looked at its face. I was locked on its brown eyes, very human eyes. And its ragged face, really sun cooked. The creature walked towards the car and turned to walk around the front. It had no emotion as it looked at me, and kept its eyes on me until it got to the front corner of the car. Then it pointed its gaze at my dad. This is where the REALLY weird part comes in. If you are familiar with Duane The Rock Johnson from his heyday in wrestling then you know what the People’s Eyebrow is. That almost comical eyebrow lift he would do at the TV camera. This thing did exactly that to my father. He also broke a very strange smile. Even crazier was my Dad’s reaction.

He just gave that monster a nod, like he was running into an buddy of his in a bar. Just a nod. At this point I was almost in convulsions with fear. Pretty sure I pissed a little on the car seat. I began to cry and hide my face. I wanted to be NOT THERE. My heart was racing and I needed to throw up. The smell that now permeated the car was overwhelming. It was truly disgusting. My Dad the entire time was telling me to calm down. Everything was alright. The creature is gone. I looked up and it was nowhere in sight. Dad was as calm as could be. He put the car in reverse and turned us around a few yards behind us. He began to drive us back to the highway and I really started screaming. “What was that!! What the hell did I just see?”

He was very calm in his speech, very monotone, and he said it lives in the woods. It will not hurt you, it just wants to look at you. A few minutes later we were back in the town. He pulled over in a parking lot and began to tell me I should just keep calm. Do not tell anyone here (namely my Mother, siblings and grandparents) what I just saw. It unnerved me that I saw this, and now I have to keep it a total secret. It just made no sense. It took me awhile to get it together, but I managed to compose myself. We had dinner later with Dad’s brother and his family, after dinner my uncle made the comment that someone 3 towns away saw Bigfoot and now his dog is running around with its tail between its legs. I looked at my Dad when he said that and my Dad just gave me that look of “don’t say anything” This part of PA is known for these sightings but there are just too many denier’s and too many skeptics.

I put this episode away for a few years and tried to talk to Dad about this. He was very tight lipped but he did acknowledge that it happened and there are stranger things in our world than I will ever know. That was about as much as he would say. He died in 1992. He was too young, and I had the worst time trying to get past his death. He smoked and drank, didn’t do illicit drugs, and never exercised as much as he could. His lifestyle brought an early death.

During his funeral there were several people that attended that I had never heard of, not unusual at all, but none of his friends or coworkers or family knew them either. No guest book entries, all of these men were his age, and all had different accents to their voice. One was Indian or Pakistani, one was Asian, one was African, two were European, and I think one was Arabic or South American. They only introduced themselves with their first names and they were in and gone in a matter of minutes. They also used my father’s nickname from his younger days. Most people except Mom and direct family knew the name. At the time it was meaningless. As time wore on I began to think a lot about it. I began to think these men knew my Dad in a way no one of else would have. It was too strange. For years this question has lingered with me. Who were these people? I have a few theories, but we can talk about those at another time.

I had a second very real encounter in 2005. It happened near Warrensburg NY. If you aren’t familiar it right next to Lake George and not terribly far from Whitehall NY. This time I didn’t come unglued, but it was an exciting experience. We were camping at a very large campground near town.

It was early fall, pretty chilly in the early morning. I had to leave the campground early because I needed to go home and get ready for work that afternoon. I left my wife in the trailer with her folks and was headed out. 3 hr drive to home so I wanted to be on my way before 6am. It was still somewhat dark when I walked out to my car. As I opened the trunk I heard this loud rustling off in front of the car about 10 yards or so. I threw my bag in and then stuff my wife wanted me to take and I heard it again. My first thought is always racoons. They are very easily stirred and they linger around the campground looking for free meals. My second is always bear cub. I’ve had too many encounters with them and I’m always cautious. Mama bears are very dangerous. So I finished loading the car, closed the trunk, and got in the front seat. I was about to close the door wen I heard a grunt.

I wasn’t super loud but enough to get my attention. I slowly closed my door and heard the grunt again, just as the door closed. I knew if I started my car whatever was in the brush was going to either run away or charge me. I turned on my parking lights (Amber) and looked all around in front of me. There was a very strange looking bush behind the first row of thicket in front if me. I kept staring at it and then turned my key. As the car started this bush stood up and turned around. It was easily 7ft tall. Male. It stood up profile to me but its face was hidden under hair. It didn’t run away but did walk back toward the deepest part of the forest bordering the campground.

It wasn’t angry or aggressive but probably wasn’t happy that I messed up it’s potential breakfast gathering. I sat back in my car for a few minutes and waited. I wanted to be sure that it was alone and not returning. I began my drive out if there and kept scanning both sides of the road. It was gone, and no others in sight. I decided then and there I was not going to tell my wife or in-laws until we were home. Those 2 encounters are with me for life. I’m sure you have plenty of questions to ask me about this.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for this podcast. It is a wonderful forum to talk freely about the subject of Sasquatch, and not feel ashamed or ridiculed. Look forward to hearing from you.”