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Steve Moon
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 220
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 Posted: November 3rd, 2009 08:48 PM |
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In mid-September a mini-expedition was conducted in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, not far from Lake Superior. There have been BFRO expeditions at this location for the past three years. I have attended two expeditions and two follow-up mini-expeditions here in 2008 and 2009. These have been well conducted, and have provided me with a wealth of experience and knowledge. As a newbie I have 'cut my eye teeth' on these Michigan expeditions. The expedition in May of '08 was my first, and although it was a great experience, I just wasn't in the right place at the right time, and basically wasn't in tune with what was going on. A mini-expedition in September of '08 was loaded with amazing experiences. An expedition in May of '09 was very eventful, and the mini-expedition in mid-September of this year was truly amazing. The following is my account of some particularly memorable events from the recent '09 mini-expedition.
Fellow investigator Rick Noffke and I camped in a fairly remote location on Friday night. Rick drove his 'tank' down a logging road that had not been traveled in several years, taking us beyond where anyone had ventured on previous expeditions. Our goal was to get as close as possible to a large and relatively unexplored swamp. We parked and then backpacked another mile or so, doing a loop through the swamp and ending up about a quarter mile from where we were parked. We camped on a point of high ground that Rick spotted on the topo map, that is bordered on two sides by creek and swamp. Not long after our arrival and just before sunset, we clearly heard what sounded to me like bipedal walking in the swamp, within a hundred feet of our campsite. Something approached from the swamp, stopped, and then remained silent. Rick recorded thermal video over night, with no cameo appearances by sasquatch. We also recorded audio, my portion of which has yet to be reviewed. (I will update this report with audio clips as soon as possible.) We heard a faint howl, the source of which could not be determined. The next morning we packed up and hiked back to the vehicle. The weather was fantastic during the entire expedition, with very few pesky flying insects.
It was about 10 am. on Saturday morning when we arrived back at the vehicle. I scouted around the area and found three large foot prints near the road. One print was back in the woods away from the road, parallel to the road and pointed in the direction of our travel toward the swamp. Another was pointing toward the road, and a third print was within ten feet of the road. There appeared to be a fourth print, but it was very indistinct. The stride between prints was about four feet. The prints were obviously the track of a single individual. There was also what I interpreted to be a possible hand print about four feet in front of the print closest to the road, and three feet to the left of that there was what I interpreted to be a print from two finger tips, as though the left hand had been used for balance. My impression at the time was that a sasquatch had paralleled the road in the direction of our travel, and seeing our vehicle, had come closer to the road and gotten down as low as possible for a better look. I cast the print nearest the road, which was a surprisingly good impression for being in the duff of the forest floor. The finger tip print was obscured by our movement and was not cast. The foot prints were 17 inches long and seven inches wide.
While waiting for the cast of the foot print to dry we heard a spectacular array of wood knocks which seemed to come from deep within the nearly impenetrable swamp. The knocks were unsolicited by us and came from two locations to our east, separated by about 30 degrees. We estimated that the knocks came from about a half mile away. The knocks were in series. We heard single knocks, double knocks, five knocks and seven knocks, not necessarily in that order. The knocks sounded like wood on wood. We made some return knocks. We used wood, Rick's modified blue LP Jam Block, and my red medium pitch LP Jam Block. We ended up doing most of our knocks with my jam block. Because we were packing up to leave neither of us had our audio recorders going. We received one or two replies to our knocks, but I'm not sure of the sequence. I turned on my recorder, and Rick recounted as best he could the sequence of knocks that we had just heard. No knocks were recorded. We headed back to the main road and met up with the rest of the group in time for a late breakfast.
On Saturday night expedition members maneuvered in small groups, going in different directions at different times. At one point what looked like a white pen-light was noted some distance down a dirt road. Four of us headed in that direction, and after walking for a few minutes spotted small white flecks of white light from what I interpreted to be eyeglow, about twenty feet from the road into the woods. The eyes didn't seem to be very far off the ground, and were below my eye level. We walked back to the rest of the group, and then I and another investigator walked back to the location where the eyeglow had been observed. Remarkably, we both saw the white eyeglow again in roughly the same location as before. No lights were used by us nor were there any present in the area.
On Sunday everyone headed home, but I had taken Monday off from work, and was really looking forward to one more day and night of squatching. I returned to the location where Rick and I had parked by the swamp to make a cast of the hand print. While I was waiting for the cast to set I made a knock or two with my jam block. About fifteen minutes later I made another single knock. About fifteen minutes after that I heard reply knocks which seemed to come from the area of the swamp that most of the knocks had come from on Saturday morning, roughly twenty-four hours earlier. Four knocks were followed by three more knocks, over a period of a couple of minutes. The sound and cadence of the knocks sounded just like me knocking on my jam block! I was completely flabbergasted. From the sound of these knocks you would have thought that I was standing out there in the swamp knocking. It was as though the sasquatch, having heard my jam block, found a way to reproduce my sound. On Saturday morning I had knocked in series, very loudly and with my usual distinctive cadence, and this was what I heard coming from the swamp. I did manage to record the Sunday morning knocks, and will post them here as soon as I edit that file.
After collecting the 'hand cast' I hiked back to my vehicle and drove to the main road. I stopped at the place where the white eyeglow had been observed the night before and found a single foot print. It was about twenty feet into the woods, and heading away from the road. It could not be cast but I did photograph it, although you can't really see much of the print in the photos. There were a lot of deer prints nearby. This location is on the edge of a small grassy meadow. The print was about five or six inches wide and 15 inches long.
On Sunday night my plan was to camp at a location where several people have gotten 'zapped' during previous expeditions. In fact on Friday night of this mini-expedition two expedition members had gotten zapped in the middle of the night while they were sleeping. The zap woke them up just long enough to experience partial paralysis, after which they both returned to sleep. I wanted to experience getting zapped, as foolhardy as that may seem, so there I was. I set up my tent with a separate rain fly pitched about fifty feet away in which I placed my audio recorder. I woke up at about two o'clock and slept lightly after that. At around 4:30 on Monday morning I got zapped.
Not very long before the zap I heard knocking coming from two directions. They were single knocks back and forth, and they sounded like they were some distance away; a hundred yards or so unless they were knocking quietly. One series seemed to originate from somewhere to my left and the other series from my right. There were a few exchanges over the course of a few minutes. They sounded woody. I recorded this but have not had time to listen to the entire recording from that night. I also heard sticks snapping, and recall hearing one or two single snaps within my immediate area just before I got zapped. The stick snaps seemed to be a few minutes apart.
I was awake when the zap occurred. Oddly, I thought that the zap felt good. At least I was enjoying the fact that it was happening, and it certainly was not unpleasant for me. When it started, it ramped up quickly and I said to myself "here it is." It was debilitating. I tried to scan the top of my tent and managed to scan from right to left no more than a few inches. When it ramped down as quickly as it had come on I felt really relaxed and mellow. I immediately counted seconds so that I would know how long it lasted. I think ten seconds is about right. I felt some weight on my chest while it was occurring; some pressure, but not much. I'm certain that I heard something like electrical static while it was occurring. It's impossible to tell if the static or electrical snapping sound was coming from my chest or from inside my head, but I think it came from the area of my chest. It felt like my entire chest cavity was vibrating at an extremely high frequency. It seemed like my organs were all resonating. The sensation was in the same exact area of my body as a really light and tingly sensation that I had experienced near Dubuque, Iowa, when I was with a witness a few weeks prior. He and I had simultaneously felt that one. This zap was incredibly more intense. As I said, I could barely move.
I got up at that point because it was 4:30 and I had crashed really early, having wanted to get back to Iowa as early as possible on Monday. I methodically put away my tents and slowly drove back to the main road as soon as my windshield was clear enough to take pictures through. I was in a state of total amazement for quite a long while. After about two hours I was cruising along, watching the sun rise over Lake Michigan, the Grateful Dead prying at the recesses of my mind with a quiet, almost melancholy psychedelic jam. It seemed like the perfect way to end what had been a truly astonishing expedition.
Photos from the expedition can be viewed here:
http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/view.p...=18679&u=287130
(Edited by Steve Moon)
When the small craft warnings come out, then you go sailing. |
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djy100
Approved
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 80
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| Posted: November 3rd, 2009 09:43 PM |
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| Your zapping experience sounds similar to mine. It was about 4:40 am in my case. I had a strong buzzing sensation in my ear - I was in a sleeping bag in a tent. A sensation moved from head to toe. I had no fear and got up shortly after. Pretty cool!! |
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: November 3rd, 2009 10:21 PM |
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Steve, that was a great report, thanks for sharing. Your description of the "zapping" experience is the most elaborate I've ever read. Great observation technique! And I'm really excited by the wood knocks that mimiced your knocks.
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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IntriguedLimey
Approved
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 261
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| Posted: November 4th, 2009 02:51 PM |
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| Steve, your zapping description sounds identical the one I believe I experienced on the BFRO expedition in BC in 2008 when in my tent. It was a strange sensation but I fell straight back to sleep afterwards feeling OK. I could have imagined it but I don't think so. |
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Steve Moon
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 220
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| Posted: December 4th, 2009 08:03 PM |
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I have yet to listen to the audio files from this mini-expedition, but intend to do so soon. I have recently discovered that I can listen to audio files at work while performing the mindless tasks that my job entails. I keep a yellow pad on my desk top and write notes while listening. It's very exciting to listen to these files, and relive the incredible experiences that occur in the field. Time zooms by as apposed to the horrifically long hours of boredom that I experience looking at the gray interior of my cubicle. Look for an update with audio clips in the near future.
When the small craft warnings come out, then you go sailing. |
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CharlesL
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 348
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| Posted: December 4th, 2009 09:36 PM |
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| Thanks for that report, Steve. I bet I'm not alone in thinking, "Dang, I wish I'd been on that trip!" |
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: December 22nd, 2009 01:38 PM |
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Quote:
Steve Moon wrote:
(I will update this report with audio clips as soon as possible.)
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Hey Steve, did you ever get a chance to review your audio clips from this mini expedition? Would love to hear what you captured.
Thanks
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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Steve Moon
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 220
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| Posted: December 23rd, 2009 10:33 AM |
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Hey Monongahela,
I reviewing more recent sound files right now. I will listen to the ones from this trip as soon as possible. I'm really anxious to hear them, too. My intention is to post some clips before the new year begins.
Steve
When the small craft warnings come out, then you go sailing. |
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: December 23rd, 2009 01:24 PM |
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Recent? As in another expedition? Either way, great, looking forward to hearing them!
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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