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bkiel
Moderator
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 21
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 Posted: September 25th, 2009 08:15 PM |
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My name is Brandon Kiel, I am the BFRO member who scouted and put this expedition together. Here are my notes from this trip:
Let me begin by setting up a ledger of the locations for the expedition as there were eight areas that were worked during the three nights. Most locations was visited every night by a different group of attendees. Here is a list of the locations:
Location (A): A 4 mile one way hike that travels east/west under a dense canopy of trees and runs alongside a swamp. It runs parallel to the base of a ridge-line that is to its south and is overlooked by another ridge to its north.
Location (B): A 3 mile hike up to the northern ridge that overlooks Location A then descends to the swamp that parallels A.
Location (C): Exact same trail as Location B but traveled clockwise beginning in the swamp and moving up to the ridge.
Location (D): This trail is 3 miles east of Locations A, B, and C. The area is densely forested and fairly remote.
Location (E): 2 miles north and east of A,B,C this 3 mile trail is flat and runs along several creeks and natural springs.
Location (F): Two miles north of basecamp, this location is a 6 mile hike that ascends to a ridge-line running parallel to the coast then descends to a flat trail that runs along a creek.
Location (G): This location is a dirt road that lies approximately 5 miles east of base camp and runs along a ridge-line that overlooks two deforested hills.
Location (H): This location is roughly 1.5 miles east of Location A.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
People began arriving this morning and one group of three requested to be sent on a hike. They were sent to Location B where the spend the next 3 hours hiking the area. They had been instructed to talk at a normal level, sing, whistle, etc. As they began the descent in the area of the swamp they collectively heard something crashing through the brush behind and just below them. They stopped and one member of the group turned in the direction of the noise and had a two-second, very quick sighting of something in a shaded area just off the trail stand up and move off into the swampy area down hill. He described it as dark in color, upright, bipedal, and very fast. They all heard it as it moved away from them.
Later that night we broke up into groups and fanned out to the locations listed above.
Location A: The group here had hiked about a mile into the trail when they stopped to listen for anything in the area. one of the members with a first generation nightscope noticed a “human-like” shape standing off trail just up the ridge from them. He watched it for a minute, thinking it was possibly a stump or burned out tree before then turning to his hiking partners to see if they could corroborate what he was seeing. When he went back to locate the figure he couldn’t find it despite seeing the trees that it was standing near. Chris M, a BFRO investigator who is 6’2”, made his way over to the area where that shape was seen and the witness noted that he was several feet shorter than the figure. As Chris began to make his way back to the group, another member noticed two orange “glowing eyes” just to the left of him swaying back and forth. She assumed it was his headlamp. It was later determined that it was not his headlamp. As the group was leaving the area a wood knock was heard west of the group and shortly thereafter another second knock was heard coming from the easterly direction.
Location B: The group at Location B and C were working the same loop trail but going opposite directions. Group C began 30 minutes before Group B with the hopes of flushing any animals towards Group B. The first half of their trip uneventful but as they approached the area where the trio had heard movement and saw a figure earlier in the day, they heard more movement paralleling them.
Location C: Began their hike and after about 30 minutes heard a loud whoop/scream coming from the swamp area. Everyone in the group heard it and after some discussion it was decided that it was not an elk. There were no other noises heard by them during the hike. It was decided that the groups for Location B and C would meet at a bridge that ends both of their hikes. The group for Location C arrived first and settled in to wait for the second group. About 15 minutes after their arrival two members began to hear what they described as something ‘tapping on the bridge or eating noisily” underneath the bridge. Immediately after this all members of the group heard a rock the size of a large grapefruit being thrown into the water. It was a cleanly defined sound: it was not an animal entering or exiting the water. Then over the course of the next 10 minutes the members of the party listened as something slowly and quietly walking along the waters edge away from them.
Location D: Six members of the expedition were 10 minutes into their hike of this location when they sat down to make some calls hoping to draw something in or elicit a response. Shortly after their call one of the members noticed a humanoid shaped figure enter a clearing 65 yards from them down a steep hill. Only the figure’s upper chest and head were visible due to shrubs and plants. Over the course of an hour all members of the party watched the animal as it moved through the clearing watching them and seeming as if it was trying to get a better look at them. One of the observers, a BFRO investigator, relays the following: “I personally observed the profile of a large round head with no noticeable ears, on top of a massive shoulder and arm. I could see down to what I guessed to be the elbow area. The figure was never still, it swayed most of the time and several times I could see the head rotating as it looked around and in our direction. Twice as it rotated its head I could clearly see the head was cone shaped. The heat signature from the head was brighter than the shoulders and the outline of the head was still distinguishable from the shoulders.” After an hour, members of the party became unnerved and they left the area.
The investigators returned to the area two days later and reported the following: “We returned to the area to measure distance, make comparative observations through the thermal imager and look for physical evidence. A BFRO member climbed down through the thick underbrush and guided by myself and another person he located the area where the animal had been standing. He found the area to be groomed with a cleared forest floor, two observation mounds that had been compacted, hardened and cleared of debris, and a track line in the pine needles.” He also noted that people standing on the trail could clearly be seen when standing in one of several openings in the bushes and that the area appeared to have been used more than once as a possible observation area. The BFRO member who hiked down into the area is 6’2” tall and looked very small in comparison to what was observed. They note it was very difficult to follow his movement or find where he was standing with the thermal imager. Without the thermal imager he was impossible to detect unless he shook the tall bushes over his head.
Location E: Possible knocks heard at this location but nothing definitive.
Location F: Five members of the expedition visited this location. After the initial ascent they stopped to catch their breath and one member utilizing a thermal unit looked behind them and saw a large upright humanoid figure standing just to the left of a tree off of the trail. As he watched the figure it moved across the trail and behind another tree. During the figure’s move across the trail the thermal unit reset itself, something that occurs once every minute or so where the unit’s visual feed “clicks” for one second freezing the feed before returning to normal working order. This occurred just as the animal crossed the trail so when the feed resumed all he could see was the back half of the figure and the arm trailing behind. He noted that there were no clothes visible on the figure but that it looked like a person: bipedal, upright, and humanoid in form.
Location G: This area was not visited Thursday night.
Location H: This area was not visited Thursday night.
Friday, September 11, 2009
In the morning Ranger Robert Leiterman led a class on tracking. It was attended by about 20 people and was extremely informative.
Later in the afternoon, BFRO Investigator Bill Brewer taught a class on misidentifying sounds in the wild. It was about 2 hrs and included over 40 different animal sounds focusing on ones that are not expected (odd elk bugles, strange fox screams, rabbit scream, odd owl noises, gibbons, etc).
At the group meal we took a moment to reflect on the fact that it was the 8th anniversary of September 11th and to remember those who were affected by this national tragedy and our troops who continue to face combat overseas.
Location A: Two groups visited this location at two different times with one group staying only at the trailhead while the second group hiked in. Possible wood knocks and whistles were heard but nothing definitive.
Location B: Six members of the expedition, including a exceptionally brave 9 year old, hiked this trail with very little to speak of outside of a beautiful night hike.
Location C: A group of seven hiked into this area Saturday morning around 4:30am. They decided that along the hike they would one at a time leave members of the group behind as the rest of the group continued in a sort of “embedding” to see if anything would occur once the group as a whole had moved on. As the morning progressed many members of the group reported hearing low voices “talking” along the trail in a language that was undefinable. They all suspected that the main group was call blasting “samurai chatter” from the bottom of the trail. It wasn’t until they were all back together and began to compare notes that it was learned no call blasting was done in the area that night.
Location D, E, and H were visited with not much happening outside of possible wood knocks.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
In the afternoon, Utah BFRO Investigator John Salmond led a class on proper track casting techniques attended by about 20 members. It was very informative and everyone left knowing more than when they started.
Location A: Two groups entered the area two hours apart, with the first group hiking in much further than the second. Just before trailhead members of the second group saw two sets of eye shine (one red/one orange). Shortly thereafter, several members heard what was described as “two distinct hand claps coming from the left of the trail-- probably no more than 50 feet away”. Nothing was seen in the area with the night vision.
Location: H at 4am with 6 people did some whoops and howls. Something threw a rock at the group which hit a tree really hard. One of the group members noted, “Whatever or whoever threw that rock not only had good aim (as I was the one doing the howling), but also thew it with unbelievable velocity, it was like it was fired out of a cannon or something. Based on the sound I heard when it hit the tree, I would have to say the rock was the size of my fist or maybe slightly smaller, it was very loud.” Chris walked up trail 100+ ft and whistled with a life vest whistle then whoops, group begins to walk out towards the trailhead. Looks behind him 25yds and sees something that appears to be kneeling down, definite heat signature, seeming to shimmer, says “hey come back here” to guys with him, it slowly grows in height, humanoid shaped, looking at the side of it, it moved and he was able to see the right arm coming out of the body, muscular torso, definitely not wearing clothing, arm pit, it stands there, he trades therms with another investigator then can no longer see the heat signature.
Location D:
This area was covered in a dense, thick layer of fog making visibility very poor. Six members of a group began a hike in. One of the members, a law enforcement officer for 28 yrs, began hearing very subtle movement off to their side. After making it in about 3/4 of a mile he says, “it was like someone threw an "oh ****" switch. Very, very bad vibes similar to when I was trying to flush an armed suspect. We backed up and it went away, and then proceeded forward again and walked right back in to it again. Through the fog I caught some very dark amber, almost orange eye shine that appeared to be about 2 feet off the ground, next to the trail.” Suspecting a big cat they left the area.
The next morning at 5am the law enforcement officer and his brother returned to the area to look around a bit more. It was daylight and fairly well lighted at this point. They found that the eye shine had actually originated from a drop off next to the trail. Compensating for this the eyes would have been somewhere in the 6’ - 6’6” range. Also found were broken and cleared branches about 8-9 feet up and evidence of grooming in the area that would have allowed silent movement paralleling the hiking trail.
On this return trip to this location, they also decided to hiked in quite a ways, place a video camera on the trail facing back towards the trailhead and then hiked back out to the trailhead. It should be noted here that the brothers are 6’2 “and 6’4” respectively.
After setting up the camera, they hike back down the trail and out. Approximately 90 seconds after they leave the frame and are now longer visible, an upright humanoid figure emerges from the right hand side of the trail from out of the trees and scrub. Only the head and left shoulder are visible as it peers out from the brush, glances toward the camera, and then watches the men walk away. The figure is easily 6”-8” taller that the tallest brother making it between 6’10 and 7’ tall. It is dark in color and the daylight reflects off of it’s body. It remains still for 34 seconds then fluidly retreats back into the tree line. It was not until they returned home and analyzed the footage that the figure was seen. They note that there were no other vehicles in the parking lot, they saw no one else on the trail, and have no reason to believe that it was a person. The figure does not move in any way, shape, or form like an upright bear.
Location E: A group of about 6 visited this area quite late in the night/early in the morning. Many of the members were women and they decided to sing some songs and see what might happen. One of the female members using a thermal imager reported the following: “I saw what appeared to be something on 2 legs creeping up towards us from behind a bush. Unfortunately I cannot be absolutely sure of what I saw, the therm does play tricks with you sometimes.” Nothing else was reported from this location that night.
Location G: This location was worked for quite some time using call blasting. Return calls may have been heard but nothing could definitively be reported.
Location B, C were visited with not much occurring.
All in all this was a very successful trip. I’d like to thank everyone who participated and especially those who donated so much of their time and effort to this expedition.
Brandon Kiel
BFRO Field Investigator/Administrator
(Edited by Bossburg)
(Edited by bkiel) |
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RealNewby
Approved
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 139
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| Posted: September 25th, 2009 08:45 PM |
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Brandon-
Fantastic notes and very well presented. Thank you for taking the time in putting the notes on the public forum.
It sounds as though you had several very good sightings. Would you consider any or all of them to reach a class A category? It sure sounds like some may qualify but I realize it must meet a standard.
Once again, thanks and well done.
To squatch, or not to squatch? That is the question. |
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djy100
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 80
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| Posted: September 26th, 2009 04:08 PM |
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| Were the thermals recording??? |
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Steve Moon
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 220
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| Posted: September 26th, 2009 07:13 PM |
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Nice report, and congratulations on a productive expedition! You report 'eye glow' and 'eye shine'. Was the eye glow seen without the aid of artificial light and the eye shine seen with artificial light? Is that a distinction that you are making? If not, could you expand a little more on that?
Steve
When the small craft warnings come out, then you go sailing. |
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Tyler H
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1069
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| Posted: September 27th, 2009 01:28 AM |
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are you saying we have new footage??!?!
"After setting up the camera, they hike back down the trail and out. Approximately 90 seconds after they leave the frame and are now longer visible, an upright humanoid figure emerges from the right hand side of the trail from out of the trees and scrub. Only the head and left shoulder are visible as it peers out from the brush, glances toward the camera, and then watches the men walk away. The figure is easily 6”-8” taller that the tallest brother making it between 6’10 and 7’ tall. It is dark in color and the daylight reflects off of it’s body. It remains still for 34 seconds then fluidly retreats back into the tree line. It was not until they returned home and analyzed the footage that the figure was seen"
(Edited by Tyler H)
Tyler Huggins
BFRO Investigator, Alberta |
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Tyler H
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1069
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| Posted: September 27th, 2009 01:30 AM |
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was this therm, or regular video, since it is mentioned that "daylight reflects off its body"?
Was this at 5 AM?
Or were they at that location for wuite some time, as that sounds like a lot of light for that time of day, this time of year.
Tyler Huggins
BFRO Investigator, Alberta |
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ladyliza
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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| Posted: September 27th, 2009 05:50 PM |
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Sounds like it was an all around productive expedition..glad you all made it back safe and sound, will be glued to my seat hoping for more reports from others on the exp..
Northwestern Pa, McKean County |
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T.Taber
Approved
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 141
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| Posted: September 27th, 2009 11:31 PM |
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Quote:
Steve Moon wrote:
... You report 'eye glow' and 'eye shine'. Was the eye glow seen without the aid of artificial light and the eye shine seen with artificial light?...
Steve
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I'm The witness in location"A" the Eye "Glow" was seen by my wife with out the aid of night vision or Thermal. |
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minnie-ear
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 241
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| Posted: September 28th, 2009 04:02 PM |
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Tyler H
I've seen the video and it was taken with a camcorder early daylight. The figure in the video is mostly hidden (of course) and you can only just make out it's head as it peaks at the camera. The version I watched is zoomed in and a bit fuzzy. I'm sure skeptics would tear it apart. For those of us who were on this trip, it is just another piece of the puzzle to support our experiences over that weekend. I will have to say I disagree with Brandon's height estimate. It appears taller to me. It's overall larger, bulkier, than the two large men who caught it on film. Won't know unless someone does some measurements at the location.
None of the thermal imagers were connected to recorders. As nice as that would be the units the BFRO uses become challenging to use when attached to a camcorder. Good news, technology is getting better bad news they aren't the silver bullet solution. You still need to get close and have a prolonged encounter. A few short seconds won't do.
Eye shine vs. eye glow? Who knows. Light levels were very low at location A and seems unlikely that there was any light to reflect, but who can say. We all had our headlamps off at the time. I feel that is why it was comfortable enough to get as close as it did. It was within 30 feet of the group and we did not hear it move away. That continues to amaze me. It was an awesome first night for the group I was in, from a large figure, eye shine and two wood knocks!
What a great time.
Chris
"In order to conquer the animal, I have to learn to think like an animal. And, whenever possible, to look like one."
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Leatherneck
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 669
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| Posted: September 28th, 2009 05:43 PM |
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I really enjoyed reading the report. Thank you for posting in such a clear manner.
Mark
Be especially watchful at night. |
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Tyler H
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1069
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| Posted: September 28th, 2009 06:21 PM |
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thanks minnie-ear
Tyler Huggins
BFRO Investigator, Alberta |
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gwolsleben
Approved
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 8
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| Posted: September 28th, 2009 06:50 PM |
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The video being discussed was a mini DV set on a stationary tripod in the middle of the trail, approximately 75-80 feet from where we go out of frame, following the trail. The video is nearly an hour long and what has been seen by everyone is an edited version. Bill has the time line of events but roughly its around 13 minutes after we leave the frame that the subject enters from the right and looks towards the camera, I think he is looking at the light on the camera. I suspect he is not aware of us being behind him, and after he catches either a flash from a camera, or noise from our less than stealthy movement, he at first freezes, and then ducks and moves. He ducks down and quickly leaves in the same direction he came from, and several minutes later we come back into frame. We are estimating his height at nearly 8', and he is obviously more massive than either of us. Bill is 6'4" and I am 6'2" and are both in the 300# neighborhood. We are quite confident we were the only ones (human) in the area, having gone in there around 4:30 - 5:00 a.m., and returning to camp around 10:00 a.m.. There were no other vehicles when we arrived, and none when we left. The trail is relatively short, and we would have surely run into hikers on the trail, or had our camera stolen while we explored. We would love a video expert to analyze the tape and maybe enhance it better than we have done.
As far as the eye shine I observed it was on the same trail, a short distance from where the video was shot that morning. When we got there it was extremely foggy, but we were fairly comfortable as far as "vibes" go. As we got farther into the trail we got into an area that was like running into a brick wall of negative vibes. Infrasound? Maybe.... I call it a "cops 6th sense", a survival tool.... but definately an attention getter. I was using green LEDs that I have used before while hunting. Im not convinced the eye shine was a result of the LEDs, and the heavy fog may have played on the situation, but the shine was a dark amber/orange color, very large, but appeared to be only about 2 feet off the ground. They did not blink quickly out, but seemed to fade away as if the eyes either closed slowly or the critter slowly ducked out of sight. My first thought was a large cat, so we backed off and returned to our vehicles. When we returned later to retreive some game cams we found that the owner of the eyes may have been standing below the trail on a steep drop off and peering over the edge of the trail at us. Take it or leave it folks, I am convinced of what we caught as far personal experiences, and video. Its all the evidence I need to convince me that what we seek is out there.
George
gwolsleben |
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ladyliza
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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| Posted: September 28th, 2009 10:09 PM |
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great reports.thank you for sharing
Northwestern Pa, McKean County |
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RalphTDog
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 236
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| Posted: September 28th, 2009 11:14 PM |
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Just a qucik comment othe thermal cameras and recording: most theremal camras are not camcorders. This means that they can not record. I haver seen that several models of thermal cameras now include a recording mechanism. this makes these models more like a camcorder.
for those cameras that don't have a recording device, there is a portable mini dv recorder sometimes called a clam shell that can record from a thermal or even night vision devices. there is one problem. it doesn't carry well.
Picture this: you have a camcorder (thermal camera) in one hand and the clamshell in the other. Or you have to have someone who is within 6 feet of you at all times carrying either the recorder or the camera becaue you are connected by a wire.
If you look through the tech area here you can find a picture of how some of the people who have captured thermal video. It involves a lot of pieces and knowledge to make it all work.
To keep this on topic, I cannot wait to see this footage.
Rick
Tech Manager
S.P.R.I. Paranormal
Certified Cat Trainer <M.E.O.W.> |
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Shewter
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6
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| Posted: September 29th, 2009 06:50 PM |
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Ok, my turn to share...let me start by saying this trip was an experience I will never forget. Going on an expedition to search for Bigfoot has been a lifelong dream of mine, and to do it with an organization that has so much experience doing this kind of stuff, all I can say is, we got results.
First my thoughts on the equipment that is made available to us in the field. I think the most important piece of equipment we had was the thermal imagers. I think most everyone that has read these reports have seen the type of thermal cameras that the TAPS Ghost Hunters have used on the History Channel, those units are very expensive, and although the units we had were cool, they are nowhere near the quality that you see on TV. When you look into these imagers (you can only use one eye, as they are monocular), you can definitely see trees and rocks and such because they hold there heat from the day, what you don't see very well is all the vegetation. When you pick up heat signatures that are behind this vegetation, it blocks out a lot of the heat, which makes it very hard to figure out what you are looking at, and at times very confusing, as I witnessed multiple times on the trail with other people. You also have a problem when you stop using the imager, you become "blind" in that eye and it takes quite a while for it to adjust back to normal. That is one of the reasons why I did not like using them very much.
We also had some night vision equipment. I had my own personal unit which was monocular as well. I was actually surprised at how well it worked, as long as what you were looking at was within 20' of you that is, past that and it was difficult to determine specifics. We did have a 3rd gen. night vision unit that was amazing, but, it being a very expensive unit, wasn't handed out to just anyone to use.
All in all, I think thermal imagers with recording capabilities are what's going to produce good results from night time excursions, but the high end technology isn't affordable yet.
One interesting thing that I came away with, based on what I experienced, was these creatures know when you are looking at them, or at least in there general direction, or if you point something at them, your finger, a thermal imager, IR night vision, cameras etc. On one occasion, (during the rock throwing incident that you will read about below), we were sitting down on the trail trying to listen, I was facing forward on the trail, I heard something walking on the trail itself. I could clearly hear the little rocks crunching, but what ever was walking was trying to be very quite, I heard cruuuuunch, cruuuuunch, with each crunch sound about 5 seconds apart, and it definitely sounded bipedal, I actually thought someone was on the trail trying to sneak up behind me, but it sounded like it was a soft foot, someone not wearing shoes. I listened for about a minute to make sure of what I was hearing and where. Based on what I heard, it had to have been no more than 20'-30' behind me. I asked one of the guys in front of me if he could use his thermal to look behind me, he slowly looked behind me but he didn't see anything, and it immediately got quite again and I didn't hear it after that, at least not on the trail, I did hear some slight movement now to my right in the undergrowth though.
Well, that's my take on the equipment we presently have, it's useful, but not going to produce conclusive evidence that I know everyone wants. Until you go out into the woods in the middle of the night carrying everything that we already carry (I had two handheld radios, an IR imager, camera, water and other essentials that I carry in my backpack), you can't comprehend the task at hand. Me personally, I don't care about proving their existence to anyone, I just wanted proof for myself. Ok, on to what I experienced.
Thursday night: I was with the group that went to Location A. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about going into the woods late at night with only a red headlight on. I am an avid outdoorsman, hunting, camping, backpacking and what not, and I am very comfortable being in the woods, just not at night, even though I am not afraid of any animals in the woods. But going with a small group of people, I felt right at home. We hiked in on the trail for about a 1/2 mile, we decided to stop and turn all our lights off and listen for a while. I stepped off the path and found a big deadfall to sit on and use my IR imager to scan the area. I had my back to the others that were standing on the trail. Chris said he was seeing some very weird things in his thermal unit on the side of the hill and he couldn't figure it out so he had someone else come over with an IR unit, who then said he saw something there also. I was kind of ignoring the whole thing, but after a couple of minutes of them still witnessing something, I thought I had better get up and see what was going on. By then whatever they were seeing had moved up the hillside to where they could no longer see it. One thing that amazed me was how quiet the woods were, no crickets, no birds, no squirrels or mice, not even a frog, and there were lots of little streams flowing across the trail. So when they said it moved up the hill, it must have done it by floating up it, because there was no sound at all. Then Chris walked over to the tree they saw this "thing" next to up on the hillside, not only did he make a lot of noise going up the hill, but when he got there they said they could not see him, the only way they saw him was when he raised his hands in the air and he is 6'2". At that time one of the ladies was trying to find him with her unaided eye and she said oh I see his headlamp, that struck me odd because none of us had our headlamps on or any light for that matter. It also turns out where she saw the light was not were Chris was. I personally did not see or hear anything, I was just there for the whole event, and I believe there was something there, and it definitely wasn't a deer, elk or bear, they would have made too much noise, but that is as far as I can go with it.
After that we met up with another group and they did some wood knocks about 75-100 yards down the trail, and although it sounded awesome, it sounded as though the knocks came from a long way away, the sound just doesn't carry well in those woods. We listened for about 5-10 minutes with no response.
We decided to head back out to the trailhead and we got about 3/4 of the way back and decided to stop, turn off our lights and listen. After about 5 minutes I distinctly heard a very clear wood knock that came from a ridge across from us that parallels the ridge we were on. Not only did everyone hear it in our group, but the other group that was about 75 yards behind us heard it, and they said there was a response knock 20 seconds later that came from the trailhead area. I did not hear that knock. It turned out to be a pretty exciting first night out.
Friday night: Not much to talk about this night, for our group anyway. We hiked all the way around a mountain with absolutely nothing happening. It was a bitchin' hike though and I hiked it again with a couple guys the next morning, it is completely different in the daylight. This trail is like being in Jurassic park on steroids!
As we came to the trailhead, we ran into the guys that started on the trail at about 4:30 in the morning, they were just leaving (it was about 10:00am if I remember right) and told us about what happened to them that morning (they were the ones that heard the chatter on the trail), they split into two groups that started on each end of the trail and met in the middle, and both groups heard the chatter at different places on the trail. We hiked the entire trail without incident.
Saturday night: Since this was the last night, I wanted to go on a trail I had not been on yet, so I found 6 people who wanted to go with me, there was no BFRO investigator with us so I kind of took lead of the group because I had a lot of experience in the woods. We went in about 1/4 mile and stopped while Bill call blasted the area with some of his sound recordings, it sounded pretty cool. No responses though. While we were standing there, Mike asked me to bring my IR imager and look up on the hill because he was seeing a definite heat signature, something behind a tree (later at breakfast the next day he drew what he saw, it looked like an elbow sticking out on one side and a hand on the tree on the other side), I could not see anything. He watched it for about another minute then he said it moved away. I decided to have everyone sit down on the trail and not look into the trees, look down at the ground. I then asked the women with us (there were 3) to sing. They obliged and sang Michael Row Your Boat Ashore. It was beautiful, almost angelic. I then had a feeling whatever was up on the ridge had moved ahead of us and was going to cross the trail and come over to the other side, so I turned around several times (my back was to the front of the trail at that time) and used my IR imager to see if I could see anything, which I didn't, but I felt whatever was on the left of the trail was now on the right. One of the ladies was sitting next to me looking back over to my left with a thermal imager, she suddenly stopped singing and said she was seeing two legs walking directly toward us, then they went behind some bushes where the heat signature was lessened greatly and it no longer looked like what she was seeing, so she started to question what she saw. Where she saw the image come from was exactly where I thought whatever crossed over to the other side of the trail would be at, at that moment.
After a short time nothing else was witnessed, so we decided to hike back out. We were just about out to the trailhead when we get a call from Tom over the radio. He wanted to do a call blast. So we stood completely silent while he played the Ohio Howl recording. It was impressive and it made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Again there was no response.
After that trail the night was still young so we decided to go to another trail. We were there for about 45 minutes with nothing happening so we hiked back out and met up with Chris and a few other guys after they made a long hike on another trail. We all decided to go to a trail nobody had been on the entire expedition a short distance down the road. When we got there it was about 2am. Chris and his group and Mike from our group were tired so they stayed in the cars while 5 of us went in on the trail.
I had been on practically every trail in our research area, both day and night, and I felt completely comfortable on all the hikes. But, on this trail it was different. When George related his story above about "hitting a brick wall of negative vibes", that explains exactly what I felt the minute my foot hit a small foot bridge that was the start of the trail. I didn't feel threatened, just that something didn't want us there. Basically what I felt was my entire body covered in goose bumps and tingling throughout my body. I have felt this way before, but it is usually short in duration. After about 5 minutes of this, I mentioned to Tim, who was walking in front of me with a parabolic microphone and recorder, that I was feeling very uncomfortable about being there and he asked if I would be OK, I said yes and that it was probably good that I felt this way, I truly felt something was there with us. Interestingly, I found out that one of our group, Alan, had briefly seen the silhouette of something large moving on the ridge just above us as we entered the trail. I did not know this until we got back to the cars. We walked in about 1/4 mile and came to a foot bridge. I asked everyone to spread out on the bridge, turn our lights off and listen. Again, dead silence. I then decided to a couple of whoops, so I called to Chris on the radio to let him know what I had planned. I did the whoops and Chris said he really couldn't hear them. So I did a variation of the Ohio Howl...that he heard. After a minute again of dead silence I decided to a full Ohio Howl as loud and as long as I could. Everything was silent for about 20 seconds when all of a sudden a swiiish followed immediately by a loud WHACK happened...I couldn't understand what I heard, all I could say was whoooa. I wasn't expecting something like that, it sounded to me like a tree limb was coming down. Then leaves started falling over me and in front of me. Alan turned to me and said, "that was a rock!". It took me a few seconds to comprehend that, then I realized he was right. This rock was thrown through some tree leaves before hitting another tree, almost directly over my head. What really astonished me was how hard the rock hit the tree as it was loud! Had that hit one of us, we would have had serious injuries. The swish sound was the rock going through some leaves in a tree 20'-30' over me and then hit a another tree beyond that.
I called Chris on the radio and told him what happened, so they all hiked in to us. While we waited for them, we searched in vain trying to see what or who threw that rock. All I know is, it is 2:30am, on a trail that nobody from the BFRO knew we were going to be at, in an area that was pitch black and heavily forested. You could not walk on the trail safely without a light, let alone try that in the woods, on a hillside from where that rock was thrown. What I found interesting was when I returned to the area the next day with Mike and Tom. What I thought was a somewhat open hillside just 20' off the side of the trail (based on what I saw in both thermal and IR imagers after the rock was thrown), was actually a severely forested hillside with really only one possible area that the rock thrower could have thrown the rock through. It was 30 yards away! To be able to throw a rock, with that much force, from 30 yards away and, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a dense forest, with no lights (not even ours were on), takes incredible power and skill. Remember, we were spread out over the bridge and I was the one that did the whoops and the howls, and the rock came over MY head. The cool thing is that it was all recorded with Tim's parabolic system. Once I get a copy of the recordings, I will post a link to them here. I also took pictures of the area that this happened.
When Chris and the other guys got to us we tried some more howls and whistles to elicit another response, but to no avail. But, the forest had a lot of rustling in it now. We decided to head back out and Chris and his team would follow 15 minutes later. The entire way out I heard movement on both sides of the trail, something I hadn't heard on any other trail, not even coming in on this trail. Remember the goose bumps I had all over my body? I still had them, the only time they went away was when I stepped foot off of the trail and into the parking lot. That was a total time of about 2 hrs.!
We all got back to the cars and sat and talked about what we all had experienced while we waited for Chris and his group to come out. They showed up about a half an hour later. When I walked over to him he looked dumbfounded and confused, and I asked him what had happened and he said he couldn't believe what he just saw. He described to me, and physically demonstrated, what he saw. He said he heard something behind him, so he looked back on the trail with a thermal unit and saw a strong heat signature crouched down on the trail where they just had walked. He then said it slowly got up, turned and walked off the trail, and that he could clearly see its arms, torso, head and shoulders. The funny thing was, he then tried to talk himself out of what he had just seen, very similar to the lady sitting next to me on the trail we were on earlier in the evening.
Well that was what I experienced on this trip. There was a lot of activity that we discussed in camp, but after reading the report Brandon put together, there was even more we didn't know about. Very exciting. Great people, even if we had no activity, this expedition would have been spectacular due to the wonderful people that attended. The trip went way beyond my expectations. And I think I proved to myself, beyond a shadow of a doubt, these creatures exist!
I can't wait to do this again with everybody.
Kevin
(Edited by Bossburg)
Northern California 2009
How young can you die of old age? - Steven Wright |
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Bossburg
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Posts: 1970
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| Posted: September 29th, 2009 08:40 PM |
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Everyone - these are fantastic expedition reports but please proof read before you post and do not use last names.
Thanks,
Bossburg |
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JohnSal
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13
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| Posted: September 29th, 2009 11:29 PM |
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I would like to add some additional information about the area that the subject was viewed for sixty five minutes. I was not there but I was the person who did go down and check the area out. I was also used as a reference for the witnesses. I went there with my friend from Utah who led the group that night. We also had one other witness with us. I was the logical choice to venture down the slope to where the subject was. The slope was fairly steep and was littered with dead fall, branches of every size, under growth, shrubs, ferns and small trees. Needless to say it sucked getting down there and I got torn up doing so. One thing that was noticed right away is that my friend and M could not hear me after about twenty yards. The sound seamed to be absorbed by the forest. I was not being quite because it was next to impossible plus I didn't have the time because I had a casting class I had to teach. My friend and M directed me to the location using the thermal. A short distance from the location I noticed that everything I had been moving through to reach the area was no longer a problem and became thinner as I closed in on the target area. In other words the area became very easy to manage and appeared to have been cleared out. Mind you I was still under the same canopy of trees which would result in the same terrain as I had previously been through. After examining the area I noticed several impression in the needles and duff. They were large flat impressions. I could definitively see that something large had been walking around the area. (Note: I could not find any tracks from a hoofed animal in this particular area) After they navigated me to the area it was obvious that the foliage was taller than me in the area and that if they were not looking through the thermal or if I did not move the branches they could not see me. The subject they were viewing that night had to much taller to be seen above the foliage. My friend and M also mentioned that the subject had about three times the mass I had. I’m about 280 pounds and six foot one. After they were satisfied with the location I told them I wanted to look around in greater detail. To make a long story short I found to small knolls that appeared to be viewing areas. They were more compact than everywhere else and I could see the dirt through the needles and duff. Leading up to one knoll I found a good track line. It appeared the subject approached up the small incline to the first knoll. The prints dug into the duff exposing the dirt underneath. It pushed off with the front of the foot. The print was around seven inches across. From print to print was just over six feet leaving the stride length from toe to heel at just over five feet going up hill. Extremely large stride for going up hill (the average human stride is about three feet). All other tracks were compression in the duff. The area appeared to be groomed and large branches and undergrowth had been removed or trampled through time. I also noticed that from these two knolls I could see an extremely large section of the trail. This was a perfect viewing area. I would dare say something could be there in broad day light viewing people moving along the trail. It would be interesting to be there during the day with a thermal looking for anything down in this area I was now standing in. On the way out I wanted to test something. I called up to my friend and wanted them to listen as I broke various sizes of branches. They did not hear me until I broke a branch that was about an inch and half in diameter. I wish I would have known that the night before when I was there. We heard branches breaking from the same area. In order for us to hear that the branches logically would have to be the same size or larger and that being said would lead me to believe a large animal was down there. Anyway there is my two cents. Here are some pictures of the area. Click on the links to see the pictures.
This is the upper divit closest to the first knoll. Notice the twig in the track. You will see it in other pictures.
My measuring tape is on the uphill side of the tracks leading to the knoll. I have arrows pointing to both prints.
My back pack is by the north knoll. The upper track is in the bottom of the picture. I am facing in the direction of where my friend is up on the path above me.
To the right is the north knoll and though it may not look like it the south knoll is to the left.
This is to the left of the track line. You will notice that past the tree it becomes thick again.
John...
(Edited by JohnSal)
(Edited by JohnSal)
Squatching in Northern Utah... |
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PBYodeler
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1868
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| Posted: September 30th, 2009 12:25 AM |
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John,
You're going to have to create a Photo Bucket or FLIKR account and place your pics there with a link to them here on the forum. They take up way too much space here and they will get reposted if anyone happens to quote you. It just keeps things tidier here on the forum.
PBYodeler |
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JohnSal
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13
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| Posted: September 30th, 2009 11:18 PM |
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Quote:
PBYodeler wrote:
John,
You're going to have to create a Photo Bucket or FLIKR account and place your pics there with a link to them here on the forum. They take up way too much space here and they will get reposted if anyone happens to quote you. It just keeps things tidier here on the forum.
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Thanks for the heads up. I have changed it.
John...
Squatching in Northern Utah... |
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PBYodeler
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1868
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| Posted: October 1st, 2009 12:36 AM |
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Thanks John. That is perfect. Glad to hear it went so well for you guys.
PBYodeler |
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ladyliza
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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| Posted: October 1st, 2009 01:55 AM |
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These reports are excellent, i was getting goosebumps reading them and could picture in my mind what they were doing... can't wait to hear some of the recordings( hoping), or see some more pictures.. Thank you all for sharing..
Northwestern Pa, McKean County |
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sascop31
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 40
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| Posted: October 2nd, 2009 01:07 AM |
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I gotta stop reading these posts at 1 in the morning!!! Lol...
Seriously, great posts and thanks for taking the time to share your experiences.
jeff |
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timsan
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 58
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| Posted: October 2nd, 2009 04:02 AM |
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Yea, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share with the less fortunate who couldn't attend. Very grateful to hear of your experiences ...
every ending is a new beginning |
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sharon_cline
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2
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| Posted: October 4th, 2009 10:01 PM |
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I was at the location #D on Saturday night, with four men over 6 ft tall. It was very foggy that night and as soon as we got out of the trucks and were preparing to go in I got a horrible feeling of fear and got goose bumps all over my arms..........I decided to stay at the parking lot and listen. My husband DC stayed with me. It wasn't 15 mins when the other three men came back to the parking lot and told us how one of them felt. and what they had seen. It was the same feeling that I had ............we all did some calls and got no return so we left. Later that night is when another group went in around the location and got a rock thrown at them, and the next morning is when G. got the image on his trail cam..........all in the same area. What a great time we had. Thanks Brandon......S and DC
(Edited by Bossburg)
(Edited by Bossburg)
(Edited by sharon_cline) |
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urban_la_vera
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 10
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| Posted: October 8th, 2009 09:21 AM |
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[quote]bkiel wrote:
My name is Brandon Kiel, I am the BFRO member who scouted and put this expedition together. Here are my notes from this trip:
Location A.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
People began arriving this morning and one group of three requested to be sent on a hike. They were sent to Location B where the spend the next 3 hours hiking the area. They had been instructed to talk at a normal level, sing, whistle, etc. As they began the descent in the area of the swamp they collectively heard something crashing through the brush behind and just below them. They stopped and one member of the group turned in the direction of the noise and had a two-second, very quick sighting of something in a shaded area just off the trail stand up and move off into the swampy area down hill. He described it as dark in color, upright, bipedal, and very fast. They all heard it as it moved away from them.
Response : If you look into a cloud and someone says it looks like a bunny, another will say it looks like a bunny
Geosphere |
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urban_la_vera
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 10
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| Posted: October 8th, 2009 09:26 AM |
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response to Saturday, Location H:
Is there a picture of the rock, the effect it had on the tree?
Geosphere |
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PBYodeler
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1868
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| Posted: October 8th, 2009 10:26 PM |
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Quote:
urban_la_vera wrote:
[quote]bkiel wrote:
They stopped and one member of the group turned in the direction of the noise and had a two-second, very quick sighting of something in a shaded area just off the trail stand up and move off into the swampy area down hill. He described it as dark in color, upright, bipedal, and very fast. They all heard it as it moved away from them.
Response : If you look into a cloud and someone says it looks like a bunny, another will say it looks like a bunny
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Dark in color, upright, bipedal, very fast and everyone heard it as it moved away from them.
Doesn't sound like a bunny to me. And I don't recall them saying they were looking into a cloud.
PBYodeler |
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Barb Kaz
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 117
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| Posted: October 8th, 2009 11:25 PM |
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Quote:
urban_la_vera wrote:
response to Saturday, Location H:
Is there a picture of the rock, the effect it had on the tree?
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Just out of curiosity, what kind of "proof" are you hoping to gleen from a picture of a rock and a tiny piece of bark missing from a tree?
Barb Kaz
NW PA 08
NW PA 09 |
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urban_la_vera
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 10
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| Posted: October 9th, 2009 10:24 AM |
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Barb,
it's documented evidence of the experience actually occurring. Evidence is need to prove a physical event to those who weren't there. Now I don't discount the event occurring but others may. That is why documented evidence of an event is needed
Geosphere |
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urban_la_vera
Approved
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 10
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| Posted: October 9th, 2009 10:27 AM |
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Quote:
PBYodeler wrote:
Dark in color, upright, bipedal, very fast and everyone heard it as it moved away from them.
Doesn't sound like a bunny to me. And I don't recall them saying they were looking into a cloud.
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are there audio recordings of this? Is there video of the travelled area by this 'creature' to show signs of it passing thru?
Geosphere |
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