It Wasn’t a Cougar - Oregon’s Most Terrifying Sasquatch Encounter

0:00 You're listening to a Bigfoot Society, and I'm Jeremiah Byron. Tonight's account doesn't come from a Bigfoot researcher or a hunter. It comes from a father of three, a man who thought he was just headed out for a quiet night of camping with a buddy. But in the darkness of Oregon's mount Hood National Forest, something watched from the creek, a glowing red glow stick, a thousand lumin flashlight, and something crouched low like a cougar with one glowing yellow eye. But when it stood up, everything changed. So this is the story of John. In the night he met something that defied logic, faith, and gravity. So stay with us, all right, Bigfoot Society. You've got the privilege of talking to John today. John is an individual I got connected to that was wanting to come onto the show to share a really interesting encounter that he had in the mount Hood National Forest. John's also from Portland, Oregon. So welcome to the show. John. How are you doing today?

0:53 Man? Hey, I'm good, honestly, really good, glad to be here. I appreciate you having me on the show and being able to explained my story. I'm actually really excited to get my story out although a little nervous, but I'm happy to be. Here absolutely, and thank you so much for you know, working past that nervousness and you know, getting your story out there so others can learn from it and also that you know, you can kind of work through it yourself. But you know, John, I'm going to go ahead and give the floor over to you so that you have the time to share what you need to and then we'll chat a little bit. After that sounds good, all right. So this actually happened a few years back now. It was like back in the fall of twenty seventeen in the Mounta Hood National Forest.

1:42 I can kind of give you an example of like exactly where this is at. You're like heading up on that main road on the Highway twenty six through the Hoodland Fire District kind of like in Welches, and then off to the left there's a road called I Lolo Pass Road And basically if you would take a left on that road and head out there a few miles, it goes out to some like you know, forested area lands and stuff, and there's a what was it called like some campgrounds and area areas in there, and that's kind of like exactly where we were where this took place. But just to jump back, so like I work for a paint manufacturing company up in north Portland, and I have a buddy who used to work with me, doesn't work there anymore, but for his privacy persons, I'm gonna use his name is Brian. Brian was working with me and just one random day it was like I think a Thursday, He's like, hey, man, h you got you want to go out camping with me? Not really doing anything this weekend and maybe we can go camping. And I was like, well, yeah, I got I got kids, so I'm usually pretty busy on the weekends, but that weekend happened to be uh just available. So I was like, oh yeah, sure, let's let's go out and do a little camp sash. But for me, I was like, I can only be out for one night because you know, I have I have priorities with weekend and got to do grocery shopping and but I decided to go out and we went out for a camp sash. So, like I said, I drove up, We drove up that highway twenty six, went down that I lolo pass road, went

3:13 out there to this campground area and kind of got set up. It was after work, so it had probably taken place anywhere from around like five to six o'clock, still light outside, got everything set up for camp and then I remember specifically like I had brought this thermis with me that I had made a soup in, and I decided to eat that when I got out there, because it was like after I was done from work, you know, I went home, grabbed all my stuff, got it ready, and then headed straight out there. So I was like, you know, I wanted to get something to eat for dinner, so made a hot soup and a thermos and brought it out there with me, and then I decided to eat my soup. And then as after I ate my soup, unfortunately I didn't sit right in my stomach. So I was having like a really pretty upset stomach that night. And we were just kind of out.

4:00 We didn't really have too much to do, but I told Brian and I was like, hey, man, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna lay down for a second kind of maybe like, you know, hold my hand over my stomach. Is like when I was a kid, my Grammy used to explain to me, like, you know, if you hold your hand over your stomach or whatever and you got like stomach ache, it would feel better. So like, but I mean my my stomache was pretty bad that night. So I was like, hey, I'm gonna lay down, try to feel better, and then you know, maybe we can we can do something. He brought a couple of things with us to like, you know, like like a piano, kind of like one of those electric keyboards to do, and you know, just just like random stuff that we can kind of hang out and have a good time, just two guys hanging out in the woods. But basically, like I laid down for a little bit, take a nap, and I woke up maybe about an hour hour and a half later. It was probably like eight o'clock is starting to get dark or it. Actually, if this was in the fall, this it would have been kind of already dark at that time. But after I took it, after I took a nap, I actually felt a lot better.

5:01 So when I got up, he was like, hey, man, did you want to you want to hang out or you want to do anything? And I was like, well, I don't really know there's not much to do right now. He's like, well, there's there's this creek running down down like this. It's not a ravine, but it kind of it's like a gradient that goes down a hill. And then you could hear the creek running and I was like, yeah, sure, let's find let's go check it out. So I had like a little headlamp on me, and then I brought a it's a it's a there's a flashlight that I own. It's called a shurfire. I'm sure a lot of people understand what a shurfire flashlight is in the gun world or for you know, certain type of flashlights that are like, you know, a little bit on the higher higher end.

5:44 But this was like a thousand women flashlight and it was really bright. So I brought that with me as well. But we walked down to this little creek. It was probably about maybe maybe a quarter of a mile from when we're camping, maybe a little bit shorter quarter to an eighth of a mile. It wasn't too far down the hill. But we got to the creek and he was like, hey, I brought a glow stick. I'm gonna crack it and like throw it in the water. And why, I don't know. We were just hanging out and we're kind of bored. We didn't really have too much to do. But he decided to bring this little glow stick. So, you know, I turned my head lamp off and we were staying there in the dark for a second, and he proceeded to crack this glow stick. It was like a red glow stick and he and he chucks it in the water. I turned my surefire flashlight on and I I was just trying to see like in the direction that he threw the glow stick, to make sure that it was like in the land in the water.

6:41 And so I saw, I sat there and I turned it on, and then you could see the glow stick kind of flying and it flew down into the creek. And then this is when I had this is like the this is where it gets really really crazy. And it was kind of really like shocking to me, and it was like eye opening for me. But I'll explain. So he cracks a glow stick, he throws it out in the water. I turn on my light, I flash it into the water, and then just up the creek about maybe thirty yards and it was on the other side of the creek from where we were standing. I'm like looking down, it's like maybe I want to say thirty to forty yards. It wasn't too far. I saw a glowing eye and it was like close by the water.

7:26 But like this was like, if I could explain a little bit better, the light that was flashing directly at the water. You know, there's like a little bit of an overextent like or the I forget what they call it, like the way that it shrouds out you can kind of see around like a little bit. And I noticed, you know, just kind of like with the light shining. Oh, there's like a glowing eye there. So you know, for me, I'm like thinking, oh, it's it's some kind of an animal, right, But of course my curiosity sparked me, so like I took the light off of the glow stick in the water and I aimed it directly at this. You know, what I thought in the moment was an animal, and I was clearly wrong. But let me explain. So this this moment that took place probably happened with I would say maybe twenty to thirty seconds total time, very very very fast, but also very for me at least, it was very scary. And I have to be honest with you, like I've had kind of like trauma over the years, but not like like horrible trauma or anything, but just like it was just like a blowing my mind kind of a circumstance. So as I'm pointing my light at this thing, for what i've like face value from what I'm seeing is like this what looks to me like almost like a cougar shape of a body, and it's really low to the ground and it's like it looks like from what I'm what I'm just looking at it,

8:58 it looks like it's like down by the water, amost like it's drinking out of the water, right, And So got the light on this thing, and I'm like, oh, is that a cougar? You know? And I'm asking the question like what is this? And then in that moment I started to realize that this thing wasn't a cougar because this thou was of them in flashlight, like it's bright and like when you're directly beaming this light at something like it lights it up. Well, this thing was like really black, like blacker than black. It was so black that it was what, at least in my perception, it looked like it was absorbing my flashlight light, Like my light couldn't light this thing up. I didn't see any detail on it. There was no hair from what I could see. It was just like a really dark black mass with this glowing eye. And because of the direction of like where I was facing it, I was looking at it maybe like at a forty five degree angle.

9:55 That kind of makes sense. So this thing's like down by the water. And of course, like when I first see it, I'm not you know, like in that moment, I'm like thinking like, oh, it's an animal. But then I start to realize in those that twenty to thirty seconds, like, oh, this is not an animal, this is something, this is something else. And then from that point it proceeded to stand up on like two legs, and when it stood up, it was about eight feet tall. And I was like, so, like you know when you go on a roller coaster and you and you you feel like like your stomach sink when you like drop down. That's what it felt like. But it was like in my heart when I see this thing, It's like my heart sank when this thing stood up because I was like, this is not this is not what I thought it was at all. This is not a cougar. And from what you could see, because it wasn't that far like, I could definitely tell this wasn't a bear either. This thing was standing up on two legs. It had huge four arms like when people explain like they seem like this is to me, I'm thinking, like, oh my am I looking at a sasquatch.

11:05 Because I could still see the glowing yellow eye. Looks like it's sitting on like a head. That didn't seem to me like there was a neck. It was like a head on giant broad shoulders and like a man's body, if that's the best way I can explain it. But what was blowing my mind was this thing was so black that you could not see anything on it, Like there was no detail, There was no fur there. It was so black like my light couldn't light it up, but it was sticking out like a sore thumb, like a sore thumb. Like everything else around it was lit up that you could see the trees in the background, you could see the creek, you could see, you know, the bushes around, But this thing was like black isn't like blacker than black, and my light was hitting it, but it was just like just showing it, if that makes sense. So in that moment, as I'm looking at this thing, I'm I'm like telling my friend Brian, I'm like, Brian, are you seeing this? Are you seeing this? Because to me, like that's that's the only thing I could say in that moment, because I was like, I was like starstruck, like staring at this thing, like what am I looking at?

12:14 What is going on? Kind of thing? And in my prefer I didn't even look at Brian. My peripheral vision, I see his head turn and he looks in the same direction that I'm looking at, and I got this thing like lit up with my light and he literally just turns around and runs as fast as he can because I could, I mean, I could feel like that fear, and I was I was, I was in fear, a fear that I've never felt in my entire life. The best way I could explain it was just like sudden dread or like, yeah, I just felt like whatever this thing was was like defying physics that if if I could explain that, the best way is like it looked originally like it was a cougar, and then it stood up like a man. And then that's when I was like, what am I seeing here? And then it and in that moment and when I had told Brian and he starts to run, I'm like, I'm I'm thinking to myself, I'm not stam not staying here alone. So I'm I'm proceeding to turn and run. But as I'm doing that, I can see this thing like get back down on the ground, almost like a cougar again, But it wasn't a cougar. Is like it was just it was like changing its form. If that's the best way I can explain It's why, Like you know, at this point, I don't even know what I'm I'm dealing with. I don't know if this is like an alien. I don't know if this is sasquatch. I don't know if this is, you know, a skin walker. Because like, after this whole experience that I've had, like I tried looking things up and I've tried finding answers, and you know, to be honest,

13:46 I've never really found like the full answer. But this is like the best way I can explain kind of what I saw this thing. Like the scene gets back towards the ground and it like, Okay, you've seen Harry Potter and in the movie. In Harry Potter, there's a the dementors and they like fly around. They're like with that black smoke in the you know, you can kind of see like the smoke like flying off of them and stuff like that. That's this is what happened. It went got down on the ground and then it went up over the creek like like a dementor. That's the best way I can explain it. It was like there's like like smoke coming off of it, almost like a cloud. And then I'm I'm like, but I'm like turning as this is happening right because I'm like, I'm not staying here.

14:32 And there was no splashing in the water, like this thing wasn't in the water. It's like over the water, like it was hovering over the water. And I could this whole time though, like when it's changing into shape, I see this glowing eye, this glowing yellow eye. And because of the angle that I was at, I don't know if it had two eyes, but I could I could see the one and it was glowing the whole time that my light was lit up on it. Big for society. Who will be right back after these messages? Is I didn't I didn't explain earlier in the story though, Like I'm religious. I was, I was born or as a Christian. But when I've seen this thing, like dude, the amount of like fear that it put into me was just unlike, I mean, I'm not really scared of anything, to be honest, Like I've had experiences in my life where you know, I've had fear and stuff like that, but that was that was like on another level, like it really messed with me. But anyways, I turn, I see the thing kind of get up over the creek, and I'm like thinking, like the thing's coming for me or me and my my friend. So like I turned and I ran as fast as I could. I mean, my friend already had taken off, you know, so I'm like a couple of seconds behind. But by the time that we got back to the little campsite and to our tent, I met up with him there. So like

16:02 I was running as fast as I could, my friend like full fledged dove into the tent and like gets in the tent and like starts like getting his sleeping bag or whatever. He's like wrestling around in that really loud, and I run up to the tent. I don't know why, it's just my reaction, but I grabbed the top of the tent. I put my bright flashlight on the back of my wrist, and I faced it towards the tree line that we came out of, where that creek was, and I was just peering back and forth, back and forth, left and right, left and right, and I'm like, at this moment, I'm thinking, like, dude, I'm gonna die because it was that intense for me from what I saw. And I'm like, I just start yelling out to God. Man, Honestly, I start screaming out there in the middle of the forest at night. I'm like, God, I need you right now.

16:49 I rebuke whatever this is in the niemajus and blodget. I start praying and yelling because I'm like, and I have kids, Like at this time, I had three kids. I have four kids now, but at this time kids, and I'm I'm just thinking to myself, like, if this scene comes after me, dude, and you know, this might be the last time I'm going to see my kids. Or you know, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what was going to actually happen, but I just knew that whatever this was, it was like defying physics and the laws of gravity, and it blew my mind. Like it just it's insane, like having me having you explain the story. It sounds insane. I know it does. But this is exactly what I saw. And I know that the guy that I was with saw it as well, because once he saw it, he was immediately scared, like he ran, I mean he ran. And so from that point, I'm like, I'm sitting there for like fifteen I probably a good fifteen minutes, man, just peering this light back and forth, back and forth, and I'm praying. I you know, maybe after five or six minutes, I stopped yelling. I was yelling, dude, cause I'm thinking, like I'm going to die.

18:01 That's the best way I can explain it. Like I was, I had so much like adrenaline and fear pumping into my body because of what I just experienced and seen that I just thought, you know, hey, this might be the end, and like I'm going to make sure that I'm you know, as a religious guy that like, I'm trying to make it right with God or whatever, you know, because I'm just waiting for this thing to come out of that tree line and come up to us and whatever is going to happen. Thankfully, nothing came out of that tree line. And uh, probably about after fifteen minutes of just sitting there and praying, I jumped into the tent and I zipped up the tent, and uh. The for the people that I've told this story too, like my closest like relatives and you know, a couple of my close friends, you know, they've always asked me, like, why don't you guys just go to the car and get out of there. And I'm like, yeah, it's a good point. But like the car was like an eighth of a mile up the road and parked on the side of a you know, on a little like dirt road, and like, you know, we're basically out in the middle of the forest, and like in that moment, I didn't want to be out, you know, in the middle of the forest and the darkness, even even with that light, like I felt like I was, I felt pretty powerless to that thing, whatever that was, to be honest, and so I just got in that tent man and I lay down and I I just started praying some more.

19:20 That's all. That's all I could really do with. I'll just praying, praying and praying, praying to God and you know, repenting and you know, asking for forgiveness. And I'm just thinking, like, dude, because like this could be this could be it for me. And then uh, probably, I don't know, maybe twenty minutes of laying in the tent is just quiet. But I'm you know, I'm praying to myself and my friend goes, hey, John, and I'm like yeah, and he's like, do we see a demon? And I didn't mention this earlier in the story too, sorry, But this guy doesn't believe in God. I don't think he's ever really had any like, you know, crazy experience in his life or that must have been like the crazy experience he ever had or seen. But he asked me if we've seen a deman? And for somebody who doesn't like believe in God, for him to ask me that, I thought that was pretty pretty eye opening.

20:05 But I go, I go, yeah, Brian, something along those lines. Yeah, But I don't I don't really know what that was and then I I don't even realize that I fell asleep, but I fell asleep. At some point. I woke up in the morning and I just like, oh, man, I can't even tell you how it was like drained I felt when I woke up. I just felt like I didn't really get a good sleep at all. And then, you know, my first impression was like, Okay, it's light outside, so like, let me get out of the tent and like, you know, check the surrounding area, and I seen people out there, like hiking and stuff, and I was like, oh, thank god, there's other people out here, you know, because I just felt like, I don't know, I felt like even though I was there with my friend Brian, I felt like I was pretty alone still because when you when you experience something like that, it's just kind of like, man, it was just really intense, if I if I could say, it was like really intense for me, and I didn't really know like what I was I still to this day don't really know what I was dealing with there, but I definitely know what I saw, and I definitely like with that flashlight that I had, like I do I stand behind that flashlight because I think it's so bright and it's and it works so good. But I saw this thing so like clearly but without without like all like you know, like the fur and all that.

21:26 I couldn't see any of that. I just seen how how how clearly this thing popped out in that light, like it was so bright, but yet it was because it stuck out like a sore thumb with how dark it was, but yet it was like absorbing the light because you couldn't like you couldn't see anything on it that if that makes sense. And so that's pretty much my story. So from that moment, like I went home that day after you know, camping, and I uh called pretty much all my family, like my closest relative like my dad, my mom, my brother, and sister, and I told him my, hey, I love you guys. You know, I'm like, you know, because I honestly like I thought that I that in that in that moment that I had experienced that night, I thought I was going to die.

22:07 I really did. I thought like that this was probably going to be the end because whatever that was was like like I said, it's defying like gravity and the laws of physics and stuff, and it was just like dude. It was huge. It was It was like eight foot tall. When it stood up, it was like it looked like a giant man but with you know, but it was so black. It was like a black mass. But you could see the you could see it was like in the shape of a man's body, you know. And I'm like, what the is this a sasquatch? You know, is this was a sasquatch supposed to be? I have no idea because a lot of people out there like stories I hear, you know, they say it's a physical being and stuff like that. But this, to me, in that moment, it didn't really seem like super physical. It seemed almost like, I don't know, like I like spiritual, I guess in a way, but I could be wrong. I mean, there there could be some physical aspects to it, but it just, you know, the way that I had seen it, in the way that it stood up and everything, like, you know, it's weird, and I didn't It didn't make any noise.

23:05 That's another thing. I noticed that it was very quiet, didn't make any noise. Even when it came up over the water like it did. There was no like splashing in the water or anything. I didn't hear like any real noise coming from it, but insane, insane to see something like that, And that was like the last thing that I would ever expect to see in the Mountahad National Forest. And like, I've heard stories and I've seen things and like, but this only like sparked now my curiosity more to where like, you know, I'm sure you know about David Politis, you know, the guy who you know does like the missing fore and wands and all that, and you know, like that I got I got kind of like heavily into that because I'm like, dude, if there's things like that out there, that that that's a good reason why people will probably go missing, you know, because whatever that thing was, dude, it was it was not human. If you know it was not it didn't.

23:53 It wasn't an animal either, because like I would have known if it was a black bear. I've seen black bear in the wild, I would have known. You know, I hunt, I've you know, fish, and I've seen cougar, I've seen coyotes. You know this is this was not any of those things, man, And it was just really insane to see. But that's my story, So John, that. Is wild that is, that is some wild stuff. That area is pretty intense too. Yeah. I have some questions for you, for sure. Some of them might be about your religious background. If that's all right, Yeah, that's problem. What denomination would you say you best associate with.

24:41 I would just say I'm just more of like a Christian, but I don't. I wouldn't. I wouldn't really put like a denomination on my Christianity, if that makes sense, Like I'm not like Presbyterian or you know, I'm not. I'm just more like, I believe in God. We follow the Bible, you know, for the most for the most, Like the best way I can explain is like I'm not I'm not like a hardcore you know, like got to go to you know, church every Sunday, and but you know, I would like to go to church. It's hard to find really decent churches here. I know that there are some, but it's hard in the you know, o'reg and I feel like just because it's based on views and stuff, and you know how people kind of like you know, might might change some of the ways that you perceive things and stuff, and you know, what's accepted and what's not accepted. But like I believe in God. You know, I read the Bible, I have attended churches, talk to my family about God. We get together and do prayer groups here and there, or you know, we'll talk just just things about the Bible and you know questions. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

25:48 Yeah, absolutely, you know I believe in the the the stuff that really matters. You know, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, rose again after three days, all that good stuff. Absolutely. Absolutely. The next question, we'll see if it applies. Do you did you have a pastor at all or anyone you talked to at that time? No, because at that time, at that time, I was going through I wouldn't say, like a really rough patch. I had gone through a divorce and I was still kind of dealing with like custody with my kids and stuff. So like that was kind of like a rougher time.

26:29 I wasn't really going to church, but I was praying a lot, and you know, with my family a lot. But no, I didn't. I wasn't really attending church at that time, so I didn't have a pastor to go and talk to you about my experience. Gotcha. My next question was actually going to be what was the traumatic event that was happening right before or during that time? And you just answered it You're you're dealing with a divorce at that time. Well, yeah, I mean, sorry, I shouldn't say. No, I got divorced a few years prior to that. It was mostly a custody of my kids. I was going through a pretty heavy, like custody deal. But like you know that only I mean, I still got to see my kids and you know, got to be with them, and it's not it wasn't like anything super heavy, but that that's kind of like the I wouldn't say anything traumatic outside of that, but that I mean for some people, Like I wouldn't say that that was a traumatic event for me, but it was a hard a hard thing to deal with. It's hard not to you know, see your kids, you know, maybe once a week at a time, and you know it's like the just the workings in and out of the court system and having to kind of you know, be there every court you know, date and dealing with lawyers and the different judges and you know it's just a I guess it's more stress than anything.

27:50 But yeah, absolutely, I mean that one was more for me because just something I've been really realizing over the years is that there seems to be common threads in these sightings, and one of them is that usually individuals that have a sighting in the same timeframe or just before, they're going through a situation where it's usually you know, they've lost a loved one, something like a divorce, is something that that kind of throws them for loop, right, And I don't know if it either, you know, maybe maybe the creature is drawn to the signals that the person is throwing off. You know, a human I believe can throw off what's called chemo signals when there's a traumatic event, things like that, And you know, I think there's a lot we might not know there, but it is something I'm kind of looking into. On the side.

28:46 That's pretty fascinating. Fascinating that you mentioned that, yeah, because I'm curious to know if, like, yeah, that might be like traumatic events in people's lives which maybe would open the door to some of those things. I would say that is interesting. Yeah, it's It's something I've been trying to look because my wife brought it up. We talked about bigfoot every once in a while and she's like, well, maybe it's chemo signals. And I was like, what are you talking about? And she's like, well, it's kind of like usually talked about in the dog world, you know. And I was like, oh, maybe there's something there, So I'm going to start looking more into that. But some questions about you know, the what you actually saw that night.

29:27 Yeah, did you. Notice anything about the length of the arms at all? Yeah? They were long. Like I would say, like if I was to stand up, you're like, yeah, straight up right, I'm gonna do it right now if I just stand straight up right, like my my hands reached about you know, maybe a little bit past my hips. This thing was probably down lower the lower than its knees, like they're huge. But the four I know, it's the forearms. Like the the shape of the forms, they were massive, like like this thing had like super grip strength or something, you know, like just like a like somebody hit a gym, you know, and like was working on forums all the time kind of like do this thing was just it looks really strong, like I could just see that. But what's funny is like I know, and now it sounds like count counter intuitive, but like I couldn't see the detail on the but I could tell, like by the shape, you know, You're like, dude, that thing's jacked, you know, Like I could I could tell that thing was. It looked very strong, if that makes sense.

30:25 No, absolutely, So it's kind of like how Popeye had like huge forearms like that kind of. Yeah exactly, Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Big for society who will be right back after these messages. Yeah, that's that's kind of like what I thought when I saw that. I was like, oh crap, I think is whatever that thing is? I mean, it's still there just even talking to like me talking about it. I don't know, just I feel a certain way, you know.

31:06 I'm like, I'm thinking in the back of my mind, like you know, people are gonna chastise me or they're like, what a what a a bunch of belogny, But dude, I know what I saw. I would take that to my grave, Like, I mean, I had enough time to look at that thing, even though it was like the twenty to thirty seconds, like I had enough time to realize what was going on, and even though it didn't make a lot of sense to me because I've never experienced that before, Like I could see exactly what was happening, you know, because that light, the light lit it up so well. But but it was so black it like stuck out like a sore thumb, you know. And I know if like I've mentioned that already, but it's like that you could see it so well because of how black it was. It was like, oh wow, like what is this thing? You know, what was this sound like in the forest or that area when you were actually in the same area or right before you saw that whatever it was.

32:02 I would say, right outside of like the sounds of the water running in the creek, it was a very quiet night. Didn't really hear much going on outside of that water running in the creek. It was pretty quiet, very pretty quiet. Like I felt like I was making a lot of noise walking through there. But I mean outside of the water in the creek, you know, like it was pretty quiet that night. Did you notice any weird smells at all around that area? I don't from what I remember, I didn't catch a weird smell. I know, I've like from what I've seen in other you know, people's experiences and videos, Yeah, they say that you can smell. I didn't catch a smell.

32:44 To be honest with you, I didn't smell anything like out of the ordinary. It was. It was weird to me because, oh, I will mention this when I did originally like hit it with my light, though I startled it. I could tell because when I when I shine my light directly on it, I mean, it's a bright light. Man, if you're standing out in the dark and you gave with that thing like, it's gonna blind your eyes. But when I hit when I hit my light on it, I could see that it like I startled it, if that makes sense. Like it it looked like it did like a little shake and then it and then that's when it stood up. Okay, that's very Yeah, that's strange. So it's on the ground, does a little kind of shake thing and then stands up to eight feet tall.

33:28 Yeah, and it and it. The best way I can explain is, like, you know, I couldn't see the amount of detail for like, you know, it's like laying on the ground like a man. It looked for me like when I was looking at it, it looked like a cougar. I was like, oh, there's a cougar here. But then I started to realize like within seconds, like, oh, this is not a cougar. This is like completely this thing looks like a like a like a panther because it's so black, and I didn't see like a tail or anything, but it looked like in a shape of like like almost like a cat would be laying down like or a sphinx kind of like you know, it's laying down, it's got his paws and like the head is like down by the water. That's what it kind of looked like. And that's why I immediately my brain thought like, oh, it's it's probably a cougar. But I'm like and then I start to realize, like, you know, my light is directly shining on this thing, and there's no, it's not brown.

34:16 You know, I don't see like whiskers or I don't see a tail. I just see like the shape of its like body. And then and then that's when it went to like a it went from the ground and like it moved up like but it like, God, how can I explain it? Is it? Like you could just it didn't like you know, it didn't get up like it was like a person getting up off the ground or anything. It like just went straight up like it was like it formed up straight, like like it was standing straight up from a from a laying down position. I can't if that's the best way I can explain it. And then as my heart just sank when I saw that, I was like whoa, you know, cause like out of anything to see something like that, like you would not expect to ever see something like that, you know. And then like that was the first time that I'd ever really seeing something like that in person. Like I've seen things, I've experienced things, but that was on another level. You know.

35:09 I've like heard things in my life, heard weird noises and sounds. I've had a couple of experiences, but that that was like mind blowing for me because it was like I was looking directly at this thing. I had this light directly on it. It was lit up. I mean, this thing stood up like a man and it was big, and I was like, well, I was more like I wasn't like what I was almost like cursing in my mind because I was I couldn't believe what I was witnessing at that moment. And then I almost felt like am I losing my mind? You know? I felt like you kind of feel crazy, you know, you're seeing something like that. And that's why I had to like ask my friend, like, dude, are you seeing this? Or I either said, Brian, are you seeing this? Or you seeing this? That's all I could say because I was so like stuck on, like just staring at this thing, like what am I seeing? Yeah? Dude, it was. It was intense, really intense for me because it was like it was so close. It was close it was it wasn't far, it was close enough to like really see what was happening, and that light really lit it up, you know, like there was no denying what I was seeing. But I can't really also explain exactly what I was seeing because I've never seen something like that. So I'm just giving you the best explanation of what I can what I saw, you know.

36:24 Yeah, so just to clarify you, definitely were not able to see any details of the face because of like how just how black it was. Right besides that, besides that that eyeball. I could see the eyeball very clearly, like it was like it was like almost like a neon yellow glowing eye. I mean it that that is the first thing that I saw, and it was like off of just like the uh, the flood of the light. I could see a glowing eye. And that's why I originally thought like, oh, it's an animal, and let me see what kind of animal this is. And then I'm like pointing my light directly at it. And then I was just like, oh, crap, this is not an animal. What's this? And it stood up and then that's when I was just like mind blown right in that moment, like this is I've never this, I've never seen something like this before that flashlight that I have.

37:16 I still have this flashlight. It is a bright flashlight, especially when you're in the darkness. Like you know, you turn a light on in the day, you know, you can tell it's a it's a bright light. But you're standing out in the forest at night and you turn that thing on, Oh you can see it's great, like you know, and I'm not talking about like far far away, you know, good like fifty fifty yards in front of you. You can see no problems like it lights it up like you know, almost like daylight. And so when I lit that thing up like I could, I could see I could see it so well. But it was like sticking out like a sore thumb, so well, if that makes sense. But yeah, I could never see any real detail on it. I didn't see fur. I didn't see you know, like skin or I didn't I didn't see anything on it. But I was looking really hard, like I was very because of because of what I was witnessing.

38:07 I was like very like on like my eyes were on this thing, and I was like staring at it, you know, for that good twenty thirty seconds, trying to figure out what I was, you know, witnessing it was. It was wild man, just seeing that just and that that kind of like opened up my whole because I'm like, I'm I'm thirty four, about to be thirty five now in that kind of like now that I'm at this age, I'm like, wow, you know, like anything is technically possible in my eyes, like not anything, but you know what I'm saying, Like it's like the older I get and like having experience like that, you start to realize, like, you know, there's a lot that we probably really don't know about this world and like what's going on, and you know, experiences that are happening.

38:49 So yeah, the the yellow of the eye that you saw have you ever seen anything else that is that same shade of yellow. I would say not quite that it was. It was like a bright neon yellow, like almost like it was lit up, you know, like it was like, I mean, i've i've i've I've been in the wild and like at night, I've lit up deer, you know, with lights and you can see the glowing in their eyes. I've I've lit up cats and you can see the glowing in their eyes. But that it was a different type of glow in that eye. It was very bright and it was like I'm pretty sure it was the light shining in the eye. You know. That's at least that's from what I could tell, you know, but I mean it was bright like it you could see that eyeball and when it stood up, like you could see that eyeball go up like when it was standing up, but you could see it move up on the on what looked like the head. You know, if I can be explain that this was, dude is wild. Oh my goodness.

39:55 Could you see anything about the hands, uh, that were out of the arms? I would say there was hands, but I couldn't see a lot of detail in the hands. Now I would say, there was like fingers, yes, but it was like because the thing was so black, dude, it just blows my mind. Like when my light is directly on this thing, you would imagine to see detail, right, you would imagine to see fur and you but it was almost like so black that like my light wasn't penetrating whatever that was. And that was so mind blowing to me because I'm like, how is this light not lighting this thing up? It's it's just insane.

40:40 Were there any footprints around the tents when you guys got up the next morning? To be honest, I didn't even try to go look. I was. I was so I was in like I was like, we need to pack up and go. I'm ready to leave. It was such an intense night. Although although I did think about it, you know, like when we were heading out out there, like if there was any signs or anything else out there, like you know, potential footprints and stuff. And I definitely thought about it, but I didn't. I didn't really have the I don't know, just I wasn't intrigued in that moment because it was such an intense night for me, and I thought, you know, I thought I was going to die that night. So in my mind when I woke up and I was like, I realize I'm still alive. I'm thankful to be alive, and like I just want to go to here. Yeah, I'm ready to go kind of thing. Absolutely, it makes makes total sense. Did were there? Was there anything that had happened to your car? Uh, damaged anyway, or any like handprints on the windows anything like that. No, to be honest, not that I noticed. I didn't. I didn't.

41:47 I mean I looked at my car when we walked. I had a truck. I had looked at my truck. I didn't see any anything major, like you know, anything that stuck out. You know, it was a little dirty, but it wasn't. I didn't see like handprints or anything. No, how could you tell that it had what you called similar to a man's body. It was definitely like in a standing upright position. There was it looked to me like there was a chest and like you know, an abdomen. I mean, but the shape of it, like I couldn't see like abs or like hair. It looked like just the shape like it looked like a man standing there, but a big man, like a really big dude. Like a jacked stripe. I mean, I would say, if I was to if I was to give you the best example, it looked like a sasquatch.

42:34 That's why you know, I wanted to come on here and tell my story because it looked to me like a sasquatch. It was huge, like broad shoulder like you know, just big, kind of wide chest and shoulders and you know, giant forearms, and you know, it looked like a giant legs too, Like the legs looked really thick, like like like little tree trunk legs. Dude, like this thing was huge. Whatever it was, it was huge. And from it from what was weird to me though, from the position that it was on the ground to the standing up it it definitely I would say, the size comparison definitely changed, Like from from what it was on the ground. Didn't didn't look as big on the ground until it stood up.

43:16 And then when it stood up, I realized, like, holy crowd, this is a lot bigger than I thought it was. You know. But dude, like the whole up up coming over to the over the water too, and it like there was like that it looked kind of like smoke. The best way I can explain it like there was like almost like smoke coming off of it, but it wasn't. I don't think it was smoke. But yeah, it's the best way I can explain it. Like you know, like the dementor things and Harry Potter they fly around the like that that stuff trailing off the the apparition or whatever. That's kind of what it looked like to me. Insane. It's very just it's a very unique account. I don't think I've gotten one that where like hover over the water smoke coming out of that's very very unique. Have you ever been back to that area.

44:09 I did go back one time in the day, but the bridge was closed to get across to the to like the campground area, and I was I was okay with that because I was actually my significant other that I'm with now. She I just kind of wanted her to, you know, go out there and kind of see where I was, and I was I wasn't gonna take her like to the direct spot, but in that same kind of vicinity. And when we went out there, the gate was like closed to go out there, and I was like, I'm totally cool with that, to be honest, because I don't really. It was pretty traumatic for me. I would say probably from the months trailing after that experience, I was I was having you know, some dreams and like just feeling very like vulnerable, Like you know, I walk out of my house to go to work in the morning and I'm just like, you know, head on a swivel kind of thing, like I don't know, just it really messed with me, man, It really messed with my like my conscience, and you know, I pray to God about it a lot, you know, and I'm like, you know, why did I have this experience? And you know, I don't really feel like God kind of gave me an answer at least, like you know, like an answer that would be like super understanding for myself. I'm just trying to like, you know, maybe there's a reason for it, or maybe you know, is to have me kind of like understand that there is more and you know, but yeah, it's I just I still to this day, I don't really know what that was. But I mean, I'm trying to give you as much, you know, of an explanation

45:39 as I can. Big for society, who will be right back after these messages. Was a gosh, it was. It was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. And like, like I told you that that feeling that it gave me, like that that heart set, I've never felt that in my life, like that, you know, that stomach drop feeling, but in your heart, Like I felt like my heart got weak after seeing that thing.

46:19 And that's the best way I can explain it. Wow. Yeah, have you used different there's a few different sites where you can look up on maps to see if there's been sightings. Have you ever looked in that tried to look in that exact area where you were and see if there's anything else that happen there. Uh No, I can't say I've specifically done that, but I have. I have like looked into like the missing forum ones and and I've heard that there's cases of missing people in the mount Hood National Forest. So and I'm like, I'm like, well, dude, I mean if if what I saw was along the lines of why those people are missing, I would totally believe that's why. Like that, I mean, that thing was defining gravity by going up over that creek water, you know, and like from it being on the ground is standing up Like I'm like, do this thing as like I don't know, shape shifting, that's the best, you know, like maybe that was a skin walker. I don't know, but it blew my mind seeing that, and still to this day, just like what did I really actually see? You know, I know what I saw, but like what really was that? And I'm curious about it, But I also don't like really want to delve into that. Like every every time I ever go out to the forest and Mark, I still go out, but like far and few between these days. But I mean I'm always caring, you know, just as an added you know, preventative. And I honestly don't think that it would have done anything to that thing anyways, because kind of what I saw, I couldn't see through that thing.

47:49 But I mean that thing did not seem like physical like me and you. It definitely seemed like there was something else going on there. And uh, I don't really know if like a bullet would even and stop something like that, you know, but I could be wrong, I mean, but I would still I would still rather like anytime that I ever venture out into the forest like that or something, I would rather always be, you know, in a position where I could like defend myself, I guess because in that when I was there that night, I had a I brought a knife that was in my bag, but it was in the tent. I wasn't, you know, because that was the last thing I would have ever expected to happen. And then after that I could I kind of like changed my life and my whole outlook and view on going out in the forest. And you know what I'm.

48:33 Saying, Oh, yeah, I mean you have protection, maybe even some sort of beacon type thing. I mean, you you never know, especially out in that area. I mean, the day hike can turn into something else really quickly, for sure. Yeah. Absolutely. You mentioned really quick something that I was actually going to ask about eventually, just because of things that I've experience myself. After going out to Oregon. You mentioned that you start having some some dreams after this occurred. Would you be able to describe what those dreams were like that you were having.

49:15 Yeah, I mean, I'm just gonna be honest with you. I had a dream what I perceived was I think hell, that was one of the dreams that really stood out. The other dreams that I had were just more or less like just feeling very vulnerable. I guess kind of like you know, like something bad's going to happen, or like you know, like world War three is going to break out, or you know something like you know, devastating is about to have It's kind of like those kind of dreams. But like I had a specific dream after that instance, and it was probably a few months later about what I believe was hell because I like woke up in like a basically like a black cave. And I mean the detail in that dream was insane to me because I woke up like sweat. I woke up in a pool sweat. I don't know if you want me to do you want to explain the dream?

50:05 Yeah, if it's something that you feel comfortable doing, so yeah, go ahead. Yeah sure. So basically my dream, this is just a random dream. You know. It's like, you know, people have random dreams all the time, but this is I was just a random dream. So I woke up and in my dream, I felt like I was in like a very open what felt to me like was a cave, and I when I woke up, I was like laying on a rock and I'm like, I'm when you know, how you wake up and you're kind of coming to and you're like, you know, where am I at? Like what's going on? That's kind of like my situation in this dream. I was like kind of just getting up and I could feel like I was on this rock and I'm like not in a comfortable position, you know, and I'm like, oh, what the heck is? Like what's going on here? And try to breathe? And I realized that that the error wherever I was was really hot, like really hot, Like I didn't want to breathe normal.

51:00 I wanted to kind of like perch my lips or pierce my lips together kind of to breathe. And like I started like asking myself questions in my dream, like like I know, I went to bed in my bed like this is this has got to be a dream. Like I was even telling myself this in my dream. And in this dream, I'm starting to hear like what sounds to me? Like I was like scary sounds like like a demonic sound like or evil like kind of growling and you know, you know, kind of like a deep voiced like being. And I'm like in this black cave and it's pitch black at least that's that's what I can explain, and I'm like, Okay, if if I got here, you know, if if I got here somehow, then there's probably there's got to be a way for me to get out of this place. This is what I was telling myself. But I was like, I know, I went to bed in my bed and I'm telling myself in this in my dream. So I'm like already fighting the fact that I'm like in this place, and I start to hear these sounds and then you know, I start to hear the sounds behind me, and then like to the right of me, and to the left of me, and like in front of me again, and I'm like these things or whatever these things were, were kind of just letting me know that they're like all around me. And then I was like, you know, kind of like what am I gonna do here now? Because I don't know how I got in this place and I don't know How'm gonna get out of this place.

52:21 I can tell like I could feel like on the rock that I was laying on, I could feel like this, like like if you like were to glide your hand across the rock, you would have like this like soot or like you know, like it's hard for me to explain, like like almost like little pebbles, like you know, like the rock is like really like worn. You could feel that, And there's a lot of detail in this dream. And so it got to a point where I was like, you know what, I'm gonna call on God because that's pretty much all I had at that point in that dream, is I'm gonna call on God. And that's kind of how I felt out there in that forest too, So that's why I don't know if there's some resemblance there with that dream, but I called on God in that dream, and then in my dream, I just felt like there was a realization that God wasn't in that place. That's just what it felt like to me, like God wasn't there.

53:19 And then I just felt at that moment like that dread, feeling like oh no, like you're you're done for in this place, like the there is no getting out of this place. That's kind of how I felt. And then I woke up boom, And when I woke up, I was like breathing hard and I was in a pool sweat. And then I woke up my significant other and I was like I had the craziest dream, and this was a This was just like a few months after I had that experience. In the forest. Yeah, that is that is absolutely wild. Did those dreams just stop happening then eventually? Yeah, to be honest, that was like, well that dream was like the most wild dream out of the other dreams.

53:59 And then after a little bit of time, you know, I just I didn't really have any like anything crazy. I don't dream a lot, to be honest, very much at all here and there. Sometimes when I get lack of sleep because of I have a really demanding job. You know, I get some lack of sleep. I'll dream every once in a while, but I usually don't have dreams or like ones that I remember at least. But after I had that experience out in the forest, I was dreaming for a little bit. Yeah, and it was just more or less like just feeling really like vulnerable, like almost like there's something bad going to happen or you know, cause like when I the best way I can explain is like that experience that I had, it kind of just opened my whole reality to everything more, you know, like you know, it isn't like people live their day to day lives you know, like we live in like a society where you know, like you go to work every day, you do the regular stuff and you go grocery shopping, you know, you put gas in the car, you spend time with your kids. But in all reality, like we don't even really no half of like what's really going on in this world or like what's really out there in the sea. And you know, there's so much more that there's to be explained, and there's you know, science only goes so far. Uh, there's a lot that I think that you know, that maybe there's a lot people in this world that do know more than you know, the average human. But yeah, I definitely think that there's definitely more out there man. And uh I've had I've had a few experiences in my life which kind of like solidified that for me. But

55:30 the one that happened in that forest, that was that was insane to me. I I opening life changing, like and I'm actually glad that I you know, I got to actually, you know, tell my story now because I've been really wanting to come out and tell my story. But I've always you know, just worried about the the people who are going to criticize me, or you know, just be like, oh, he's a bunch of crap and he's looking for I'm not looking for I'm not looking for anything. If you know, this story stays where it's at, like, I'm just glad I'm able to kind of share it. And if other people are out there that have experienced the things that I've experienced, you know, that'll maybe I don't know, shed some light on you know, Hey, I'm not the only one out here is who's experienced this.

56:14 And you know, I've I've believed things here and there like yeah, the Sasquatch could be potentially true. I actually think that it's real at this point, or or something along those lines, you know, alien ish or you know, an actual physical being. Absolutely did you hear that? What's that? Did you hear what happened when you said alien ish? Oh? No, what man? We got so this show we get like crazy weird stuff on the interviews, And right as you were saying alien ish, the voice your voice modulated. It was bonkers. It's going to be on the recording. Oh wow, yeah, d. Oh, that's wild, that's wild. Yeah, yeah, man, I don't know.

56:58 I mean, there's definitely more out there. There's definitely more out there, and you know, like this whole thing that got with the David plaitis, yeah, shed some light on that. Like there's there's definitely more going on in the world and people going missing and very unexplained you know, circumstances for a lot of people. So oh yeah, I just want to double check real quick and thank you for for everything that you have shared so far. I mean, it's been a fascinating interview. In the months after this happened in your back home, did things start to happen, did anything start to happen around the home that were out of the ordinary or you just think anything different.

57:54 So that's the thing off the top of my head, not really to be honest, but I will I will explained this. So the coworker that I was working with, he he kind of just like he had a really I would say, not a very good spiral in his life. He was a good worker, he was a he was a great coworker to have and the person that you know, I could rely on to do stuff. And then next thing, you know, like his life kind of just went downhill. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I just mean, like he just started dealing with a bunch of crap and then all of a sudden, you know, then he next thing, you know, he wasn't working for the company Moore, he moved on. But like, very fascinating to me because I wonder sometimes, you know, if like that really had an effect on him, because I'm sure it did, because you know, like somebody who I knew didn't really believe in God and then had that experience with me, or at the least seen what I saw.

58:58 Then you know, ran only asks me like did we see a demon? You know, and like that kind of stuck with me a little bit because I'm like, for somebody who doesn't believe in God, you're gonna ask me that question. It's pretty it's pretty wild. So I don't know, I just you know, I still have you know, some certain contact with him on social media here and there, so he's still he's still he's still around, he's still living. But uh, I think it I think it definitely had an impact on his life too. Oh, I mean, it would be really interesting. It'd be interesting to hear his side of the encounter as well.

59:39 It's always I don't know if you said you you might have contact with him. Do you guys even talk about this at all anymore? We we talked about it just very briefly after we experienced it, and then it kind of never got brought up again because he did work at my company for a little bit longer before he ended up leaving. But he even asked me, though, He goes, are you going to tell some of our coworkers? And I go, yeah, well, I mean the least the guys that I'm close with. Why not? You know, like, it's not why why wouldn't I say something that actually happened. You know, it's going to sound crazy and I and I get it. It does sound crazy, like it even for me to even explain the story, he sounds crazy to me. But I'm telling you, this is exactly what I saw. This is exactly what I experienced, you know, And I'm gonna take that to my grade because I know what I saw, like you know, so it just it's just wild, Like having experience like that is definitely life changing, you know, it's definitely life changing. Oh.

1:00:44 Absolutely. One one last question, what if after this interview comes out and let's say someone's in the comments was like, I've been in that same exact situation there and the same thing happened to me. How would that make you feel? I would just it would maybe solidify more of the fact that, like, you know, what I saw was real, I guess, and I you know, I don't wish anybody to experience something like that, but I would. I would be pretty uh interested and fascinated if somebody had experienced something like that, especially in the same place. But I mean, if I saw that thing there, I wouldn't. I wouldn't put it past that it's still there or it's out in that area, you know, because it was very real.

1:01:35 It was very real, like there, I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't, you know, like I'm sitting there witnessing this thing, and like, dude, I've never had an experience like that. So like seeing that in real time and like you know, having my flashlight like like just light that thing up, and like, I mean, it was just it was mind blowing for me. It really was. It really changed me as a person. But it kind of give me a a better outlook on life too, you know, because it's like, you know, you got to really appreciate the time that you have here because you know, it could be moments like that that could have been my last, could have been right. Glad that it wasn't, but made me really kind of like appreciate my life more and make sure that you know, like the time that I spend with my kids or my you know, significant other that I'm just really don't take anything for granted because you just never know, You just never know.

1:02:30 Absolutely, John, thank you so much for coming on the show. I think this has been just an incredible chat, and thank you for being so honest and sharing what you went through that night. I just appreciate you coming on the show man. Thank you, yeah, of course, no, and then thank you for having me. Honestly, like it's almost like a weight off my shoulders a little bit to kind of get my story out. But I feel better that I'm able to, you know, kind of explain it, and hopefully for people who've been out there and I've experienced something along those lines, like you know, maybe they can find some some peace of mind, like knowing that they're not the only ones who kind of you have had these experiences and stuff.

1:03:14 But no, thank you, thank you for having me on here. It's been great to be able to come on here and talk to you about my experience and be able to share that with everybody. Just wanted to take a minute to say thank you truly for listening to this episode of the Bigfoot Society podcast. John story is one that sticks with you, not just because of what he saw at the creek that night, because of the way it changed him forever. So huge thanks to John for bravely coming forward with an experience that many would never dare to share, the fear of the transformation, and the questions that still haunt him, They're what makes stories like this so important. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure you're subscribe to us on YouTube tap the bells so you don't miss a thing, and share it with a friend who's in a Bigfoot paranormal or just a good late night mystery. If you're listening on Apple or Spotify, a quick follow or review helps the show more than you know. And Hey, have you had a Bigfoot encounter, especially in Oregon around Mount Hood or the Lolo Pass area. I want to hear from you, so shoot me an email at Bigfoot Society at gmail dot com. Your story might be the next one that we feature and don't forget. Sasquatch Summerfest is coming up July eleven through the twelfth in Oakridge, Oregon, and Bigfoot Society listeners can grab a two day pass for the price of one day with code b FS at checkout and get your tickets at Sasquatchsummerfest dot com.

1:04:27 Thanks again for being part of the Bigfoot Society. Until next time, stay curious, stay safe, and if something crouches by the water, don't blink. See you in the woods.