Something Closed In on Two Boys in the Western Massachusetts Woods

0:00 And if it would have came any further, we would have seen it at that point. But it stopped. And all of a sudden, the next thing I knew, I heard this low, guttural growl. In July 2011, Antonio and his best friend were walking home after midnight through familiar woods along the Southwick-Westfield border in western Massachusetts. Something large pushed through dense brush toward them, then stopped just outside the light. Antonio has carried the question of what stood there since he was 11 years old. feel free to, to take us back to, uh, what was going on that day, uh, what year it was and, uh, and where this, uh, happened.

0:43 Yeah, of course, man. Um, so this was July, 2011. I was 11 years old. Um, it was in around, uh, Westfield Southwick, like Granville mass area, um, where it happened was probably about like 18 to 20 minutes from Granville and like pretty much right in South Westfield border. Um, and if anybody on the show hears this, they're going to know that there's a lot of wilderness, um, a lot of wilderness around there. So, uh, yeah, so it was, you know, mid July, I can't remember exactly what day it was. It was so many years ago, but, um, it was in mid July and me and my, uh, best friend were, uh, well, I'll give a little bit where we lived. There was, uh, woods that connected us, um, to each of my buddy's houses. So we could, I could walk a good 15 to 20 minutes and get to my friend's house, um, right through my backyard. And then I'd walk another 10 minutes to get to my other friend's house and other friends' house. We were all connected by, um, wilderness. And there was this place that, uh, we would always go to on the right side of the land bridge, uh, where this happened. Um, we'd play, you know, airsoft manhunt. I mean, we, we lived in the woods. Like this was, uh, We'd have fires. We'd go fishing all the time. Like we were kids that just played outside, like in wilderness all the time. So that night we were walking home from one of my

2:14 friend's houses and we're going back to my buddy's house who was with me to have a sleepover. It's probably 11, 12 at night, 1230, around midnight time, late, late. And so we're walking and And all of a sudden we get to the left side of the land bridge where if you went down that way, you could get to my house if you walked about 10, 15 minutes through that forest area. But that area, a certain area, it was very heavily like thick with plants and thorns and pricker bushes. And we would never walk through there because we were little kids and we'd get torn up. So all of a sudden, right in that area, we start hearing these massive bipedal footsteps super loud. The best way I describe it is like if you've ever seen Jurassic Park, the first movie, when the T-Rex is walking and when it's walking, like the ground is vibrating and And it wasn't, like, that much of an exaggeration. Like, that's kind of what it felt like. Like, we were just hearing brush getting destroyed. Like, something was very big walking through the woods coming right directly towards us. And at first, my buddy was like, man, that's got to be a bear. And I'm like, no, there's no way that's a bear. A bear can walk on two feet, but this thing sounds way heavier than any bear I've heard. And bears can only do it

3:45 for a certain amount of time. this kept happening for minutes. And it got closer and closer, and it started walking through where we would never go through because of how thick that brush was. And then this thing was just clearing brush, clearing it like it was its job. The footsteps were so heavy. I mean, it sounded like somebody was taking 100-pound weights and just throwing them on the ground. And I remember... we were getting so scared because it was coming closer and closer and you'd hear one footstep. And this is how I knew whatever it was, was very tall because you'd hear one footstep and then it'd be another second or two seconds, two, three seconds before second foot would fall. So I knew whatever it was, was very tall. And it got to probably about, I would say 10 to 15 feet away from me and my friend. And there was one light post on the left side of us, And it knew the light post was there. And if it would have came any further, we would have seen it at that point. But it stopped.

4:53 And all of a sudden, the next thing I knew, I heard this low, guttural growl. I can't describe it. It was like... So deep, like the best way I think I could describe it is like if Shaquille O'Neal did like a massive grunt. I can't even try to make that same noise, but it petrified us. It terrified us. And after it did that, next thing I knew, I couldn't move. I was frozen. I tried moving my arms. I tried to walk. I tried to run. I could not move. I was paralyzed. And I could still move my eyes left and right. My peripherals to my left, my friend is stuck too. He can't move. We were still able to talk to each other. What's going on?

5:38 You can't move. You can't move. And then the footsteps started getting closer and closer. And I started thinking in my head, I'm going to die. This thing's going to grab me. It's going to take my friend or me. It's going to kill us. No one's ever going to see us again. I'm too young for this. I'm only 11. I'm going to die. These are my final moments. And the next thing I knew, I don't remember if I started praying to the Lord or if the Lord sent an angel or he himself came. But there had to be some divine intervention because out of nowhere, I was able to move. And I snapped out of it and I run over to my friend and I start shaking him violently like, dude, we got to go. We got to go. We got to go. It's going to get us.

6:32 And he can't move. It got to the point where I wasn't going to leave him, but I didn't know what else to do. So I winded myself back as hard as I could, and I slapped him across the face as hard as I could. I didn't know what else to do. I wasn't strong enough to carry him and run up the hill by myself. I couldn't do it. And when I slapped him across the face... He fell backwards and hit his head on the ground. And he... I helped him up and I said, Dude, we need to leave now. And I sprinted up that hill as fast as I possibly could. So I get a little emotional when I talk about this because I was so terrified.

7:24 And I run up the hill and I get about... I would say... almost entirely up the hill, and I turn around, and before I tell this part, I was so scared as a kid that my memory literally locked this memory away from me for years, for probably 13 years. The end of this memory was just totally put into a bank and closed. Until about four or five years ago, I started having dreams again. And the full memory started coming back. And that's when the next part happened. That's how scared I was. So I turn around and I look at my friend. And he's a good probably 10, 15 yards behind me. And I ran so fast, dude.

8:17 I felt bad. I left him in the dust. But I wasn't going to leave him there. So I had to do something to help him. But once I did my part, I freaking bolted, man. I ran as fast as I could. And when I turned around and looked and I saw he was 10 to 15 yards behind me, I saw coming out of the woods a massive. I mean, at first I thought it was a man. I thought it was a black guy wearing a hoodie. This thing was huge. I mean, ginormous proportions. I went back. a couple of years ago and remeasured to what I thought, um, where the top of his head was and right by the light pole. Cause it was standing right by the light post. And I, uh, mesh probably, I mean, I was 11. So maybe my height proportions were off, but when I got a good look at it and it, this thing was at least 10 feet tall, no, no shorter than nine and a half, 10 feet tall. And when I seen it, it looked at me. I looked at it, was looking at my friend, And it just stared.

9:26 And I got so scared again, I just took off. And my friend never turned around. He never saw it. He never saw it. He never turned around. He just kept running. Or maybe if he did, I don't remember. Maybe he was so scared, too, that his memory locked it up. But we got back to his house, and we were talking. I'm like, man, that wasn't a bear. And he's like, you seen him? like yeah that wasn't a bear that there was no bear and he was like man i can't believe that that that just happened i'm like yeah we didn't sleep at all that night we were so scared we there was no i don't even think i slept for half a minute we were up the entire night and it was a quiet night we didn't talk about it much after we got to his house and the rest of that summer We did not go in the woods. And I remember my friends all like, why don't you guys want to play Airsoft?

10:25 Why don't you guys want to do this? Why don't you guys want to play Manhunt? I wanted nothing to do with the woods the rest of that summer. And this creature, man, I could feel it. I just felt like this thing hated me, man. Like it, it like he wanted to, I know it wanted to kill me. I, that is what I felt. I felt that it was there to harm me and my friend. It was not there to be a friend. It was there for bad, bad intentions. And I was so scared. So, so, so scared, terrified, um, that this thing was going to get me. I'm honestly surprised I didn't wet my pants. I'm going to be honest with you. I know that might sound funny to some people, but, um, That was probably the most scared I've ever been in my life. And there's also been other instances, other things that have happened to me as well.

11:19 But the description I'll give of this thing was it was all black and it was jacked. Very muscular. It looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but bigger. All black and black. It was just it's just massive. I mean, a behemoth of a creature. I don't know how else to describe it. When you say Arnold Schwarzenegger, are you saying 1980s or current day? 1980s, 1980s, like freaking so muscular. And but it would make him look. it would make him look like he was skinny. You know what I mean? I don't know. It's just, this thing was so muscular. You could see the muscles popping out as one thing I'll never forget now is you could see the muscle definition. Like it looked like a bodybuilder. I don't know how else to describe it.

12:13 So when you were able to have a good look at it, were you able to see any defining facial features besides you've mentioned that it was incredibly muscular about 10 feet tall. I it was such a quick look because I was so scared that I maybe saw it for like half a minute but I would say that I couldn't get a good enough look at its face but what I would notice is it didn't really seem like it had a neck like it The best way I could describe it was like if somebody had a massive sweatshirt over their head. But it looked like... I know I've heard people call them no-necks before. And that's probably my best description.

12:59 I didn't see a neck on it. It just looked like it was shoulders and head. And just super hairy. I didn't see any teeth. It did look like it had a nose like us. But it was so dark inside. I'm assuming its eyes were black. I'm assuming because I didn't see anything other than that. Okay. The term no neck, I haven't heard that before. I've, of course, alluded to it multiple times in the show and other witnesses have, but is that a term that's used regionally in your area? I would say I heard a story in. It was in Ohio. I know, obviously, you've probably heard of the Ohio Grassman.

13:42 Oh, sure. But I heard this guy's story a couple years ago, and he said that his family had had these creatures on their property deep in the woods in Ohio for years, and they would call them no-necks. So that's where I heard that from. But I don't know if that's how it's described in our area in Western Mass, but all I know is that when I saw it, it didn't really look like it had a neck. For this particular area, the only regional name I've heard is actually over in Granville would be the Cobble Mountain Critter. Yes, I've heard of that, the Cobble Mountain Critter. You've heard of that? Okay. Yes, I have. It's actually crazy you bring that up because one of my good friends, I'll see if his brother would be willing to go on the show, but one of my good friend's brother's best friend lives on Cobble Mountain, and he had a crazy encounter one night with one of these creatures.

14:39 I'd love to talk to him. Yeah. If you could reach out for sure. Yeah. I'll, I'll ask him. So, but the area you had your encounter in is not, not close to Cobble Mountain. I mean, it's, it's a bit of a ways. Away, right? Okay. Gotcha. Interesting. How, how long was it before you, either of you shared what happened with anyone else? My friend and I will talk about it here and there. I don't think he's told anybody, if I'm going to be honest with you. When I bring it up to him, I can tell there's that chill that goes down his spine, if that makes sense. But it took me a long time to tell anybody anything. I've told my parents. They don't believe me. They laugh when I say it. My wife believes me, though. My wife believes me. And I think I've really only told maybe five. four to six people.

15:37 And out of those people, only two or three, um, besides my best friend actually believe what happened to me. I know what happened to me. There's no reason for me to lie. There's no reason for me to come on a show and make up a story. I'm too grown for that. Like this happened to me and I thought I was going to die. I thought me and my friend were going to become dinner for this thing. How long did you wait until you had that, that, uh, conversation with your parents? So I actually just told my mom the other day because I was telling her that I was going to be on a show. And she was like, oh, what happened? And I told her and she just chuckled and laughed.

16:18 I didn't tell her, my dad, up until probably a week ago, a week or two ago. So that's 15 years, right? Yes, about 15 years. Oh, my goodness. I just thought they were going to not believe me and throw it off. And they don't, so. It is what it is. And I believe if they have something similar, you know, if they had some, and it's hard for people, man, because I love it now that so many people who are having encounters are coming forward and going on channels like yours and giving their experience because that gives me comfort knowing that I'm not alone and that I'm not crazy.

16:58 Why do you think it is that your wife believes you? Well, we have a son together and we're married and we go to church and she knows that I wouldn't just make that up. I've taken her to the exact spot it's happened and I showed her the area and it's very heavily wooded. So she thinks these things are real. She believes me. And I don't know why, but I think it's just because we're married and we trust each other with our lives and I told her, I said, whenever we go in the woods for you and my son's safety, we're going to be armed and we're not going to go where we don't know because I know these things are out there and I know they're mean and they are not our friends, at least from my experience.

17:52 Did you notice anything else about the area when you returned there with your wife through adult eyes as opposed to what you remember from from when you were younger and had the encounter happen? One thing that I would say is I know these from stories I've heard, I know these things are super fast. So I'm, I was wondering if it was using where I was as like a highway to get to somewhere else, if that makes sense, because where I was, it's like connected to Southwick and Granville. So I'm wondering if it was, If, if this thing was like traveling, if that makes sense or going.

18:35 From one spot to the other, it's a really, it's a really smart thing to bring up because, uh, and that's part of what I do when I research an area, just using maps and you look for the areas. the green spaces that they can use to even travel through major cities. Like Omaha or St. Louis. Yeah, I believe they can. They're fast. I think these things can run at high speeds. And I've heard stories of them keeping up with somebody's car and the guy was going like 65 and it was right behind the back of his car for a good like 30 seconds. So if they can run that fast, they have no problem going from town to town. area to area especially using the woods as like a.

19:17 Highway absolutely um so you're very young when this happened uh how did this affect you in the years afterwards. It uh it it uh caused me to have a lot of uh anxiety and uh depression and um i never really understood why Why that was the case, but I know, obviously, because of trauma. I was a little kid. I was only 11 years old. Every time I went into the woods, after that, I made sure that I was checking my surroundings and listening very well. Now as an adult, I won't go in the woods without being armed.

20:01 I won't. They've never seen me out in the woods without carrying a firearm because I know they're out there. If the thing is that tall that fast that strong it has no problem no problem taking me out no. Problem absolutely and it's a thing where you know and and people that are maybe new to this might scoff about oh really southwick and westfield but if you look at like the history i mean i've taken reports from even in agawam Wow. Which is wild. And, and so I've got a map where I put things all together on bigfootsocietypodcast.com, but then you take that info and you combine it with like Northwestern Connecticut and all that.

20:49 There's a lot of activity in Connecticut as well, from what I've heard. Absolutely. Um, over, let's get into, uh, you said that there's other things that you've made connections. That has happened? Yeah, of course. So probably a year or two after that, I think it was my freshman year of high school, 2014. And, you know, I was, was about the same time or of not the same time of the year. It was in the fall, but the same time at night, I had my window open. It was about 1130 and I got woken up to, uh, I mean, just blood curdling screams.

21:36 Like at first I woke up, my parents were like, you guys hear that? Like, oh, it's gotta be a cougar. I'm like, I know what, I know what a cougar sounds like. That does not sound like a cougar. And it would just happen over and over and over again. It happened for a couple of weeks. Back to back late at night, just massive. I mean, it sounded like a woman getting murdered. I don't know how else to, how else to describe it. Just, screams upon screams and then uh i would say later that year i was in the woods with uh my friends again and and even when we were younger now that i think about it when we were younger too sometimes the woods would just go quiet they would just out of nowhere the birds would stop chirping you know, you wouldn't hear the frogs croak no more. The squirrels wouldn't, it's just the wilderness would go dead silent. And I remember one time we were playing airsoft and that happened. And I'm like, we're all like, what's going on? Like everything just, it's like you could hear a pin drop. I don't know how else to describe it, but just super quiet. And I had, I think now that there was one of those things watching us and there, from what I've heard, they have crazy ways of blending in, I believe there was one, you know, spying on us without us knowing it was there.

23:05 Very interesting. And you said that was in a, was that in a close by area to the original? It was right next to where I had my first encounter. Okay. Right there, literally 15 feet from where it happened. Wow. Super close. Um, And that happened multiple times, not just one, like that happened multiple times to the point where when I got older and I realized, wait a minute, I started watching more, you know, cryptic content because of my own experience. And I realized, wait, that's, that's a thing. These things do when they enter a territory, wilderness becomes quiet things, you know, and I've also heard wood knocks before. Um, that same night I heard that screaming that sounded like a woman. I started hearing what sounded like a bat or, or a tree just getting like, like hit very hard over and over again. But at the time I'm 2014, I didn't know what that was. I had no idea.

24:08 I'm like, what's going on. You know what I mean? It's just weird stuff. What happened in the woods, man. It's really, really interesting. Have you ever looked into, well, you know, sometimes when, when individuals, uh, like us get into, uh, you know, we start watching the shows and listening to the podcast and it becomes interesting to us. Sometimes you start looking into, sometimes you start looking into a certain area, uh, and seeing if there's other, uh, trends or things. Have you ever looked into the area where your encounter happened to see if there's other things that have been reported? You know, I actually haven't for the exact spot that I have, but I haven't heard. I haven't heard of one that where I had mine, but I have heard about 20 minutes north in Granville. My geography is probably horrible, but I have heard of plenty of encounters in Granville and Granville from where it happened to me is about a 15 minute drive, 15, 20 minute drive to get to the Granville State Forest. So I think they're connected somehow.

25:21 Or maybe it was one that's from Granville and it came over here. I don't know. It totally could be a possibility. I'm going to see how to word a question. Have you ever had conversations... Sometimes in... I'm trying to think of how to refer to what you do without giving it away. I know a lot of what you do that have conversations while they're doing their profession. Has this subject ever come up in while you're doing your profession with people that you don't really know?

26:07 I would say not with people I don't really know, but with the people that I have that keep that I see often with my job. and that have had things happen to them as well around this area of Western Mass, it's gotten brought up, and it's been talked about actually quite a bit. But when I talk to them about it, we talk very quietly, so nobody else in the room can hear. Does that make sense? No, I totally get that. Is this a thing where you would ever want to have a sighting or an experience like this.

26:49 Again, or is it, it's very traumatic. You're good. Okay. You're good with the medicine. All set, man. No, thanks. Okay. Nope. So you're interested in the subject, but you have drawn the line where it's like, no, we're not going to go on expeditions. And go out there. Nope. Not going to go squatching in the woods. I'm all set. And if I do, I'm going to have at least seven, six, two or five, five, six on my waist. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. No lower caliber than that. I'm all set. So trying to remember, you know, or, or imagining, uh, in your mind, what you had seen there for very short, very quick time, you know, some people describe Bigfoot in different ways when they try to categorize it. Uh, everything from there's some weird gorilla thing out in the woods to, uh, There's some cousin to humans that's way smarter to us.

27:50 Based on what you experienced, would you be able to categorize that in any certain way? Or is it maybe something completely different in your mind? I would not categorize it as some species of human or some species like a Neanderthal. I am a believer in the good book, the Holy Bible. And I view this through a Christ-centered lens. And I know what the Nephilim are and the Raphaim and the giants of old that were the sons and daughters of the fallen angels that slept with daughters of man and created giants. And I'm wondering if these things are fallen angel human hybrids or Nephilim human hybrids. That's kind of where I would go towards. That actually, that's just what makes sense to me.

28:40 I could be totally wrong. I have no idea, but that's my opinion. It's an interesting theory that does get brought up on the show, and it gets. Brought up in the comments a whole ton. Were there any things that led you to maybe some study that you did that led you to that theory of perhaps we're dealing with a Nephilim type thing? I would, my opinion, yes, I would just say, because I think, man, you hear a lot of these stories and it's like my story where it didn't grab me.

29:21 Or you hear a Doc Man story and it goes, it was staring at me and this thing could have easily killed me if it wanted to. I'm wondering if these things are being held back for a reason. And this might sound crazy, but I think that these beings, these creatures, are being held back because once the seven-year tribulation happens they're going to be let loose on the earth to cause havoc yeah um that is my opinion and if that's any true uh that's very scary. It is it's extremely scary uh in I totally get what you're saying, Antonio. It reminds me of a good friend. His name is Josh.

30:05 He has the channel Mysteries Unknown, and he has this account, which is is a fantastic account. I actually was on his channel. Oh, you were OK. I'm referring to his episode where it's a dog man and pretty much a dog man says to the witness, hey, when I'm able to, you're the first one I'm going to take out. And when I heard that, I was just like, yeah, he was texting. We were talking, um, after my interview, cause I had an interview with him last week and he was like, Hey man, if you want to, he hasn't put it on his channel yet, but I reached out to you and him because I really like your guys' podcasts and I just feel comfortable going on your guys' shows. And, um, so I had, that's crazy. I didn't know you're friends with him, but, um, He was talking to me, and he's like, man, you're never going to believe. Because he asked me, what do you think this is? And I was like, I think these things are being held back for the seven-year tribulation. And he's like, no, no way.

31:08 And then you just told me what you told me from what he had. And the fact that that dogman said, when I am able to. Not if, not now, when. That should tell you that they're being held back now. for a specific reason and i think the reason is is clear as day i think they're going to create havoc once um the tribulation starts. It's a fascinating it's a fascinating theory and especially if you look into and i'm not saying this is my my theory because i'm trying to figure this out as a going of course what i do know antonio which has come up on the show multiple times and uh it's that when when people when witnesses in encounters or terrible situations, use the name of Jesus Christ, it shuts stuff down because it is powerful.

32:03 Every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall confess that Christ is Lord. And if these things, man, I didn't think we were going to go down this path in the interview, but I'm glad we are because so many stories I've heard, like you just said, uh people will decree the blood of christ they will decree you know jesus save me or or lord please and when they say these things these creatures they they they can't attack them like they leave them or they're able to escape like it's it's crazy like it's it's as it's like it's written in the word of god because it is you know what i mean. A hundred percent and the other thing is like i don't get a lot into like ufo and alien stuff but i have a little bit And there's an overlap there, too, where witnesses or people that are in contact with aliens, they also use the name of Jesus, and it shuts it down.

33:03 It shuts it down. You say, oh, I've been captured or abducted, and then I decree the blood of Christ, and I'm back in my bed, or I'm not in the spacecraft anymore, or I'm safe. And it makes me think, like, are aliens really just demons in disguise or fallen angels in disguise to mess with humanity? And, and, you know, they, I don't, I haven't, I don't have an answer to that. It makes you wonder, um, it's, I take things very seriously now. Um, and this has started to come out in the most recent shows where if I'm in the middle of the interview and I start getting a weird Holy spirit, Spidey sense where it's like, Hey, Be careful, dude.

33:50 I immediately, hey, we need to pray real quick. Amen. And bind the devil, bind any negative spirit, you know, demonic stuff going on in the interview with the name of Jesus. And like after that, it's totally like good times. I take it very seriously. Very, very seriously. You have to, man. You have to. Yeah, absolutely. Man, what a fascinating story. story that you have and really testimony as well. And I'll be definitely checking it out once Josh puts his episode out as well. I love his stuff. But dude, I want to make sure that you were able to share all the thoughts you had about your encounter and make sure that that is all out there on the table.

34:43 Yeah. I would tell people they're listening to this, that just because you haven't seen one of these things in your state or your area of the world doesn't mean they're not there. I mean, I've heard people's encounters from Russia or, you know, Asia where these, I think these things are everywhere. I really do. I would say if you're going to go in the woods, please be armed. Do not go unarmed because these things are fast, they're strong. And I've heard a story of one tank in tanking a 308 blackout, two shots to the lower abdomen, and it fell, but it got back up and then ran away.

35:24 I don't know if it died after, from the story I heard, the guy didn't have the specifics, he said he shot it, it got up, and then it ran away, and he never saw it again. So these things are powerful, they have no problem taking out a human being. There's nothing, I don't even care if you're seven feet tall, there's There's nothing you can do to stop these things unless you have firearms. So just, if you're going to be in the woods, make sure you check your surroundings, especially if you have little ones with you because they're fast and they could steal a kid and you wouldn't even notice. So that would probably be my advice to people. Yeah. Be prepared.

36:04 You know, and some, it's not even, if you're going out in the woods looking for a Sasquatch, pretty much you're, Be ready for other things like cougars or crazy people out there. You just don't go into it with like a sheep, you know? And I'm not saying like go out there and take out a Sasquatch, but I'm like saying, hey, protection is okay for things that might happen when you're out there. But Antonio, what a fascinating conversation. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing what happened to you and what's on your heart. And it's been just a really uplifting conversation today. Thank you. Thank you, man. God bless you. I appreciate you.

36:45 A special thank you to Antonio for coming on the show today. If you've had a Bigfoot encounter of your own, I would love to hear from you. You can send me an email with your encounter at bigfootsociety at gmail.com. I've come out with a free report about the top 10 Bigfoot hotspots. You can go over to bit.ly forward slash BFS report. I'm Jeremiah Byron. Thanks for listening to Bigfoot Society, and I'll see you in the woods.