; Phantoms and Monsters - Real Cryptid Encounter Reports - Fortean Researcher Lon Strickler

Thursday, May 16, 2019

'THEY' Do Exist!


“29 months ago, I did not believe in "Bigfoot", despite having owned hunting property in Perry County, Ohio (alleged home of a giant "Sasquatch" known as the "Grassman") and despite living for over 3 decades in "Bigfoot Central" in the PacNW (not 60 miles from the site of the Patterson-Gimlin film). 28 months ago, however, I saw my first "Bigfoot." I've now seen them on six occasions.

There is no question but that THEY do exist! Scoff all you want, your doubts do not affect my experiential reality. BUT, here's the thing - 48 years ago (1971), in Central Michigan, I had a rather scary, if inconclusive experience with what I suspect was (what was then called) "The Michigan Monster," an animal now more commonly known as the "Dogman." I've now come across several individuals locally, whose experiences I have every reason to credit, who claim to have run across just such a creature out here (one of whom saw it at very close range for several minutes, plenty of time to get a good look at it). Much as I do not want to believe in any such thing, given the shock to my skepticism which "Bigfoot" wrought, I don't feel like I can blithely deny that there may be OTHER things out there. There are certainly enough tales out here about them (independent of the witnesses whom I personally know) to raise the real possibility that there are some such creatures in these woods. The featured story reeks of truthfulness to me. This is almost exactly what one might well expect. Nothing about it is inconsistent with what we know or inconsistent with potential reality. There's no evidence of hype or BS in the tale.

So, whether or not I wish to believe in these things, I have determined to behave in a fashion consistent with the possibility that these things are out there. I never go out unarmed or alone and have even gotten a bigger gun. It may all be a case of mistaken identity or self-inflicted fright, but, if it is real, well, I do not wish to be at its mercy. Not gonna happen. Wouldn't be prudent.” oldedude5


Bigfoot: West Coast Wild Men: A History of Wild Men, Gorillas, and Other Hairy Monsters in California, Oregon, and Washington state.

The Hoopa Project: Bigfoot Encounters in California

Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Last Neanderthal: A Geneticist's Search for Modern Apemen

Anatomy of a Beast: Obsession and Myth on the Trail of Bigfoot

Bigfoot Terror in the Woods: Sightings and Encounters, Volume 1

Lon's Suggested Reading List - Books & Films / DVDs