Something that really gets on my nerves are hoaxers. Namely ones in the paranormal area. We've all seen the footage and pictures of pie plates tossed in the air, stuffed costumes in blocks of ice, soldiers photoshopped onto former battlefields, and 'reality' shows where magicians' tricks are used to make objects move. It makes researching the paranormal a bit hard because in order to get to the paranormal, you have to weed out the normal. To put it bluntly, you have to weed through a lot of crap. And like anyone who takes the paranormal seriously, I get a little tired of the crap.
Last summer, I had something pretty strange happen here at home in the woods of East Texas that made me think, "oh crap!". I pulled into my driveway about 9:30 or so after a late evening grocery shopping trip, killed the engine, took my keys out, and sat there with the door open to finish my cigarette before unloading groceries. Probably about five minutes later, after I had sat there in the seat petting the cat who had come to greet me, I heard three knocks out in the woods to the east of me. They were distinct wood on wood knocks. They sounded like someone beating a tree with a two by four or big bat or something. Knock. Knock. Knock. The knocks were probably about a second and a half apart. Living in the woods, I've heard trees fall, I've heard branches break off and fall to the ground, I've heard animals walking, I've heard wood peckers, people working, etc. This was none of those. This was wood on wood knocking. Knocking, as most of you readers know, that many say is the signature of a Bigfoot.
My heart skipped a beat instantly. Not because I instantly thought "Bigfoot", but because it was one of those sounds that you don't hear out in the woods. And you're normally not supposed to. To hear it meant "invader" to me. That was my first instinct. There was someone or something out there near me making that noise. It didn't sound like an accident or anything else I ruled out, it sounded precise and deliberate. Knock. Knock. Knock.
If I look at it with a skeptical eye, there could have been someone in the woods knocking on a tree. There is a deer stand about a quarter of a mile down the road in that direction. But this was at night, in the summer. And it was just knocks and nothing else. No hammering. No motors running. There was nothing else that I could hear. I sat out in my car for a while and heard no other clues. The only other idea would be someone out there screwing around. But realistically? Screwing around? In the woods of deep east Texas, near houses, late at night? Most here know that it's a good way to get dogs on your tail or shot at. And speaking of, my dogs weren't barking. I don't know where they were at the time.
Looking at it positively, there's been Bigfoot sightings in all of the neighboring counties according to the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy. The witnesses have been interviewed and most of the stories sound very credible and reputable according to researchers. A group of college students and their professor even notified a park ranger after they encountered what they believed to be a Bigfoot on an overnight field trip in a nearby National Forest, so perhaps there's an official report filed somewhere. There's been no sightings in my county. Why exactly, I don't know. If there has been sightings, the lack of reports could be anything from lack of IT knowledge, to some local or cultural social conditioning that dictates people not talk about such things. I can't say for certain.
Later that evening, I went outside like I usually do to listen to the coyotes and the nocturnal birds, pet my cats, and enjoy some fresh night air before I went to bed. I didn't stay out as long as I usually do, just in case there was something or someone out there. I was genuinely leery, and I'm pretty comfortable out here. Leery is not a feeling that I feel much of out in my front yard.
But I still can't say for certain that it was Ol' Sas. I even went walking down the road the next morning, looking for footprints. I didn't see any. But of course that doesn't mean he wasn't out there. He could have gone the other direction toward the creek. If it was Ol' Sas, that very well could have been the case. But I still can't say for certain it was him. If it was someone out there messing around, they were pulling a bunch of crap. I'm not tired of it though. I'd actually love to hear it again so maybe I can see if I can weed some normal out of it and get closer to finding out what it is.
Reverend Chaos (aka Shawna Lowman), Guest Blogger and Social Malcontent.
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