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Thoughts on Troll Under The Bridge

The following guest blog is from one of our regular readers who uses the name “T”.

Stan connected one of the aspects of bigfoot or a hairy man creature that has resonated in literature and history that, while not being scientifically evident, presents a strong historical and philosophical case for a bigfoot creature. And that is a similar figure in “myth”- the troll.

Ogre. Boogeyman. Monster.

Let me stray with an example- a very real “myth” that as young kids we grew up with when we were young.

At Halloween time, in scary movies or recordings of old, what sounds did a ghost make?

Darn right, those sounds made years ago on 45 or 78 rpm vinyl sound like the Ohio Howler, Columbiana 1994.

Are all the boogeyman stories traced to the single premise of parents trying to scare their kids so they would not go out at night? Some will try to convince you of that. Solutions so simplistic rarely provide the truth.

Let’s be practical, and logical. Pre-1900, all the world lived in the dark once the sun went down- especially in northern hemisphere winter. Doesn’t mean work outside stopped… just meant the people were outside still in mainly an agrarian world whose populace dwelt close to nature.

What sounds might they have heard in the woods? Was Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Puritans in “Young Goodman Brown”spooked of devils in the woods?

Here’s where biological science cannot reach- where the literature of old agrarian or plain old savage nature culture reached with its writings, where Grendel in the Beowulf epic still holds modern society’s fascination.

These accounts are not proof; they are not hard evidence; but circumstantial evidence back then was good enough to give a few persons a suspended sentence— gallows style, where there was no video or photos of the crime and no DNA to trace the crime back to the culprit. Maybe, the judgments of jurors got it wrong sometimes. But, they probably got it right often enough.

Point is that in this technologicallty advanced age, I am unwilling to say we are any smarter, or anymore knowledgeable than those who preceded us in history. Take all the people on Facebook and see how many could track the stars, the seasons, the earth, and nature as the ancients used to do.

And by ancient peoples, I do not mean time. I mean those who still recognize that in their genes, the DNA of all humanity is still as alive as it was in their progenitors hundreds, and thousands, of years ago.

There still are trolls underneath bridges.

By |2021-04-18T06:48:06-05:00December 4th, 2010|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Sangamon River Bottom Monster

Stan – I received the following letter from a friend in Springfield, Illinois. Consequently I spoke with the author by phone. The first names of the individuals have been edited so as protect everyone’s privacy.

The Sangamon River Bottom Monster

Preface:

This information is based on witnessed facts, and is as close to the events as I can recall.  I am blessed with a near photographic memory.  First is some background that seems to perhaps relate to the main focus, and as I think it is relevant, I will start thus.

1976 – 1st Encounter – Vocals Heard

The year as close as I can recall was 1976, the year before graduation from Rochester High.  It was the fall, shortly after return to classes, but before the autumn chill had set in.   On a date that goes forgotten, myself, Tom, and John, (both grew up in houses outside of Rochester in the unincorporated “Buckhart”, Illinois), decided we were going to fish some ponds that were formed by overflow from the Sangamon river in the Buckhart area.  I cannot say exactly were they were now, other than from memory, I recalled that if you were to drive to Buckhart and then turn immediately left onto a blacktop, it would come to a river bridge over the river, and a large sandbar there, then continue on north to eventually meet the Mechanicsburg blacktop.   The ponds were found by taking a very narrow unpaved dirt track to the left before the bridge, and then off again through fields until it came to a dead end along the river and ponds fringed with large stands of tall trees. It was perhaps a mile distant from the bridge.   We knew the farmer, who farmed most of the bottoms in the area from our associations at church, and who had given us permission to fish and access the area.

On the day of interest, we needed fresh bait, and decided to follow some other less used field perimeter tracks to a place where we could get near the river in the shade to look for earthworms.   We started out walking through the very dense weeds and underbrush, until finally we opened into that area where the overhead tree canopy makes less light available to the denser weeds, and lots of open flood plain is available to dig for fresh worms.  From this place, you can traverse the river bank fairly well, and the trees and weeds you have passed through make a green wall that hides you from view of the parked vehicle and fields beyond.

We went about digging in various places finding good bait.  At some point, perhaps a half hour into our self occupied digging, Tom decided to go exploring farther down by himself, leaving John and myself more or less digging together.  Another half hour or so, and I had a pretty good bucket of worms when I felt a strange sensation that I was being watched.  I remember having the feeling, and dismissing it, and not saying a word about it when John and I came across a large pile of earth on the river bank.  It was out of the ordinary, and actually, looked exactly the size and shape of earth if you were to lay down and cover over a body with soil.  We both saw it and both decided no way were we going to dig into it!   We joked about how silly to even think about it, and bent to the digging.   I got the feeling again of being watched and remember carefully looking around out of the corner of my eyes, to see any movement in the weeds or trees.  It was approximately 4:30 in the afternoon when we started, so the daylight was beginning to cast longer shadows as the sun got lower.   I didn’t see anything but the feeling kept nagging at me, and I more or less lost interest in the worm hunt.   At some point shortly there after, an interesting thing occurred.   It has never happened to me the same way since.

John and I were hunkered down on one knee, turning over small spades of earth, when he stopped, and I stopped, and without any communication between us he looked me straight in the eye, and we both turned and looked into the trees and weeds at the exact same time.  We never heard a thing.   At that instant, we both realized that we had both sensed something, and our minds were reaching that primitive level when you should decide quickly fight or flight.   He said to me, “We need to get out of here now”.  I agreed, and before I could say anything about finding Tom, the need for his search was over as he almost ran into us as he came looking pale and said, “I don’t know what that was, but we are out of here right now!”  We didn’t run, but we made haste following our path back out through the weeds and trees, to the waiting pickup truck!   When we got to the truck we all kind of laughed and joked the tension away and all talked quietly about the heebee jeebee way we had felt.   Then we heard something I had never heard before that hastened our departure.    We all heard it.  The sound as close as I could come to describing would be a woman screaming in undulating pain and terror, but it really didn’t have a human quality to the sound.   We did not stay to investigate, as it was either very very loud, or the proximity was very very close.   We loaded up and spun tires on dirt and cornstalks as we got out of that place.

We talked about arming ourselves with rifles etc and returning, but soon school and the fall and winter set in , and we passed on that and never went back to that place again.    This set up the next segment of the history of the area.

1977 – 2nd Encounter – Vocals Heard

You may recall that I had gotten a rust orange Jeep CJ 5 between my junior and senior year at Rochester, and along with Sarah and Mary, who had her dads old CJ2A, we did a lot of exploring the various wooded trails all around the area.  (The tales of creepy river bottoms made for some memorable make out sessions with Mary, LOL)

I had never forgotten about the river drama of the year before, but decided that we were all just acting childish, and that the scream was probably a Lynx cat, who do cry like women, even though I don’t really know what the possibilities of such species was along the river if any!  That goes unproven to this day.

One fall evening, myself and Steve were out four wheeling about, and went down the blacktop to the Buckhart river bridge.  For now apparent reason, we met and passed a Sangamon Sheriff’s car going the other way.  He went down about a quarter mile and I saw his brake lights and he did a u-turn, so I knew he was going to do a stop on me.  We had no reason to fear anything, but for kicks we decided to cross the bridge and continue as he sped to catch up.  It was just getting true dark outside.

Just down about a quarter mile I knew of a dirt cut, now a very muddy rutted path through the fields along an oil well tank right of way, and turned into it just as the patrol car crossed the bridge in time to see me heading down the path.  He never turned on his overhead lights, so we decided to continue.  It was four wheel drive needed, muddy wet and rutted.   He would not have made it fifty feet.

Passing the oil storage tanks, the path got overgrown, and continued until it came to a fairly steep hill.  You don’t really see these bluffs above the river from the blacktop but it is probably at least a hundred feet higher than the fields below, and took the Jeeps transmission into low range to climb it with the mud.   At the top of the hill, the path continued on into a dark stand of timber but as we had not explored that before, I backed the Jeep around and parked it so we could see back to the blacktop, about a mile away.  I had turned the lights off before climbing the hill, so I don’t think the patrol car even knew how far in we were.  We could see him sitting there on the road, parked, and probably waiting for us to come back out.   We shut off the engine and sat there watching him in the dark while a very light misty rain started.  We made small talk about how long he would wait when after a few minutes, he must have gotten a call for real police work and we watched him drive off.   Thinking perhaps he was trying a ruse to get us to come back out, we decided to wait at least a half hour, and barring another squad showing up, we would just hangout and shoot the bull until then.  That’s when Steve heard it.

I was talking about chicks, and remember Steve very seriously saying to me, “Dan, turn off the radio a sec.”  I shrugged my shoulders and did so, asking him what?   He looked in the rear view mirror, and said to me, “Did you hear that?”  I hadn’t heard anything but the radio.  He kept looking in the side rear view mirror, and it was totally dark behind us, so I told him that he wasn’t going to see anything back there.  Keep in mind my Jeep was a soft top.   Steve looked at me, and said, “I know I heard something back there, and I don’t like it.”  About that time, in the quiet and the misty rain, with small cooling clinking sounds from the engine as it sat, I heard it too.  It was on the edge of my hearing.  That kind of sound where you turn your head a little, not sure of what but definitely hearing and trying to fathom the sound for identification.  “Now you hear it don’t you” I remember him saying as He held onto the door handle like he wanted to make sure somehow it couldn’t be opened.   It sounded very low frequency, almost a wet guttural rolling sound.  Perhaps like a deeper wet rolling purr.  Although not like any house cat I have heard, but that is as close as I could get to describing it.  We could feel the vibration of the sound as it got distinctly louder as it seemed to get slowly closer.  I remember saying that I had enough of this, and Steve agreed and I fired up the Jeep and turned on the lights and hauled ass down the hill.  We didn’t see a thing but mud, corn, and weeds until we got to the blacktop.   We got to the river bridge and I pulled over.  Steve and I discussed what the hell, and decided that we would come back in the daylight and reconnoiter the area.

1977 – 3rd Encounter – Sighting

Several weeks later on a clear sunny Saturday, we followed that path in the Jeep back to the top of the hill.  There was a very old path through the trees, perhaps from some early hardwood logging, or maybe a shortcut for farm purposes at one time, but it was easy to tell that my Jeep was the first vehicle to travel up there in a long time.     The path meandered around and more or less dead ended in two places, forming as it were a large Y in configuration.

We got out and walked and searched and could find no signs of anything out of the ordinary.  Eventually we discussed the incident of the sounds with Tom, and Mike, who really wanted to tag along, and so a return nighttime trip was planned.

This is where it gets to the thick of it.   On that night, I was driving my Jeep, with Steve up front, and Mike and Tom in the back of the CJ5.  We went back down that muddy rutted path to the top of the hill, and then drove way back to the dead end of the path that forked to the left.  We had to cross a smaller fallen log, in low range to get back to that point, but it had a wide open area about a hundred feet in diameter that made a good place to turn the Jeep around so it was pointing in the right direction.

We got up into place and shut off the engine and sat quietly taking in the sounds of the night, and letting ourselves adjust.  An hour or so and Mike more or less thought we were yanking his chain and began to make jokes etc, as we passed the time.  It was a typical fall night, with light misty rain and humidity.   Steve got everyone very quiet and we listened close.  That’s when we decided that someone or thing was circling our position very quietly.  A twig would crunch.  Then slowly another, some distance away.  This went on in total darkness for an hour.  Finally, the circling of our position seemed to return to its starting point behind the Jeep at an undetermined distance.  Tom had a large six volt lantern flashlight in the rear seat.

If you remember Jeep soft tops, you will note that the back window area is huge, and is basically a top to bottom, and side to side clear acrylic sheet.  Mine was a little scratched up from scraping winter frost, but you could still see out of it fairly well.  While Steve and I sat and pondered if our ears had played tricks and we were hearing what we wanted to hear, Tom got very quietly terrified in the back seat.   I ignored his first request to start the Jeep and leave because it was not normal for him to be so quiet, but then I remembered how he was pale and reacted the year before at the river bottom when we were looking for bait.  He got our attention.  Steve asked him, “What is going on?” and Tom said very somberly, “There is something behind us, watching, and we need to leave now.”  I looked at Steve, and Mike kind of snickered while Tom had the light more or less shining through the window lighting up the area behind us.  I was whispering to Steve, about if he had heard the same sounds as before, when Mike, said, “Oh no” and got absolutely scared.  Real scared, I am making a joke of it scared.  Tom began to whimper some and pulled on my shoulder and made it clear he wanted to leave RIGHT NOW!   I and Steve were still not sure if they were pulling our leg, when I asked Tom why, and he said “LOOK” and just pointed the light over his shoulder without looking.  I and Steve saw it.  I know that Mike and Tom had already seen it.

My memory is this.   As I looked over Tom’s shoulder into the trees directly behind the Jeep, a large, tall, (figure of a man standing is about as high as the Jeep top when a normal suspended Jeep, and this was a foot or more taller) seemingly dark matted brown colored species of something bipedal ducked slowly behind a tree.  I had a very fleeting glimpse of red reflected eyes, meaning man or predator.  The fact it ducked slowly behind the tree is what suggested other than animal intelligence, and is what spurred me to start the ignition and high tail it out of there! Tom would claim it followed us in the trees at a distance as we left, but I can not confirm that.  We never went back there again.   It is important to note, that whatever it was, person or not a person, it could have done us harm easily, and chose not too.  Perhaps it was curious as well.

Your Friend,
Dan

By |2010-11-09T17:00:51-06:00November 9th, 2010|Uncategorized|8 Comments
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Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 3

Bachelors Grove Cemetery (Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area.)

Recently I was asked to speak at the Illinois MUFON State Meeting at Starved Rock State Park. After giving my presentation I was introduced to John Stephenson who stated that my talk had made him think about some of the activity and things he was finding at Bachelors Grove Cemetery, which is part of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Illinois.  John’s website is found at Bachelors Grove.com.

The trail leading into the abandoned Bachelors Cemetery, Chicago metro area.

According to John’s excellent website – Bachelor Grove.com.

“Bachelors Grove Cemetery is well known as one of the most haunted places in all of Chicagoland. This small desecrated graveyard has more unexplained paranormal activities than any other cemetery worldwide.”

Some of the activity John mentioned was –

Bent over trees

Feelings of being watched

Growls

Large nuts or acorns being thrown at witnesses.

Large pyramid structures

Logs being thrown at witnesses.

Logs blocking trails

Tree Twists

Unknown footfalls

Voices

Weird, freaky smells

John Stephenson standing underneith a very large pyramid structure.

Another picture of the pyramid structure showing its large size.

One of many arched-over trees.

On-site interview with John Stephenson.

Click here to listen to the interview: Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 3

Possible Howl Recorded

While we were in the middle of the cemetery John was explaining its history to me when several sirens went off. A few seconds later this loud siren type howl started across the four lane road and in the woods up a hill on the other side. Time 10:00 a.m. I wish I would have had my parabolic microphone on it.

I only had my little Sony M-10 (monitoring recorder) running at the time. Not a very good recording, I had to crank up the gain on the first part. But it is the best I could do. Excited was not enough to express how I felt when I realized what it was. It howled three times and then was quiet.

Click here to listen to the sound clip: Bachelors Grove Possible Howl

Waveform View

Spectral View

I have already written about the many sasquatch sightings close to cemeteries.  See:

Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 1

Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 2

By |2010-11-02T18:04:36-05:00November 2nd, 2010|Uncategorized|4 Comments
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The Mumbler

After posting The Whisperer on the 22nd of October 2010 I have been going back through some of my sound files and blogposts and looking for any similarities.

The first part of March 2010 I recorded a lot of coyotes that were particularly vocal, I assume because of the mating season.  I posted on Facebook what I thought were some odd coyote vocalizations. I was contacted by five or six researchers who thought that I should take a closer look at this sound file as there was one segment that was very un-coyote like. I dubbed the sound clip the Lake Howl and included it a March 28th, 2010 article entitled That Strange Anomoly.  I was very reluctant to say much about it because of the many coyotes also vocalizing within the sound file.

A view of the hill behind our home where I recorded the “mumble” in March of  2010.

For a recorder I used the Sound Devices 722 with a Sennheiser MKH20 Omni-directional microphone. The microphone was placed on our patio where it was protected from the weather.

After the recording last week I am now wondering if it is not a somewhat similar scenario, in that you have a common animal (whether coyote howling as in March of 2010 or dogs barking as in October of 2010) mixed in with an unknown sound. If you look both at the sound clip using a sound editor and listen to the clip there is one very short sound segment that is highly unusual. I have recorded many coyotes and not ever seen or heard this particular sound.

The following sound file was recorded the 2nd of March 2010.  The coyotes were very close to my house and at first you hear a lone male calling, and then what sounds like a mumble (at the 24 sec mark and lasting for one second) and then the rest of the coyote pack howling.

A 2 minute segment with the mumble at the 24 second mark.

Click here to listen to sound clip:  Mumble 1   35 second  sound clip

Waveform View

Spectral View

A 5 second segment of just the mumble.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Mumble  5 second sound clip

Waveform View

Spectral View

I do not know what the source for the “mumble” is but my suspicion is that I may have recorded the same unknown intruder that I later recorded and labelled The Whisperer in October of 2010.

By |2010-10-26T11:26:34-05:00October 26th, 2010|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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The Whisperer

Since moving into our new home in April of 2009 I have heard and recorded several unusual vocalizations. To the south of me about one half mile using a remote recorder I recorded what sounds like a growl followed by the dogs barking.

And one half mile to the north of our home I have a neighbor who also has a home in the woods.  He has commented that some animal is coming in close to his pond, makes strange noises and his dog starts barking. Both of these neighbors are having the same type of  occurrence.  I have also noticed lately while standing out in my yard that my neighbors cattle get upset as well as his dogs. This is not every night but about once a week.

So I set up my parabolic microphone and recorder in the woods close to the farm in the hopes of getting a recording of the unknown intruder.

The Telinga parabolic microphone near the edge of the woods.

I allowed the recorder to record for four days continuously until I discontinued it because of the threat of rain. Sounds recorded were the typical, both Barred and Great Horned Owls, squirrels, Blue Jay, a donkey from 1 1/4 miles to the north-east and several lively deer who found my recording gear quite interesting.

The following sound file was recorded the final night, the 22nd of October 2010.  Although the sounds are not close what I hear is the dogs barking, what sounds like a whisper (at the 60 sec mark) and then the dogs whining.

A 2 minute segment with the whisper at the 60 second mark.

Click here to listen to sound clip:  Whisper 1

A 5 second segment of just the whisper.

Click here to listen to sound clip:  Whisper 1  5 second sound clip

Waveform View

Spectral View

I do not know what the source for the “whisper” is but my suspicion is that I recorded the unknown intruder that has been upsetting the neighbor’s dog.

By |2010-10-23T22:12:46-05:00October 23rd, 2010|Uncategorized|27 Comments
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Oh Deer

I have a location close to my home that I have a suspicion about. Seems that something is coming in close to one of the farmer’s homes, makes strange noises and gets the dogs to barking. So I set up my parabolic microphone and recorder in the woods close to the farm in the hopes of getting a recording of the unknown intruder.

Because of the threat of rain I placed a trash bag over the top of the parabolic which is attached to a tripod. My recorder is inside a water proof backpack. To be extra sure I also placed it into a trash bag. I was in hopes that the parabolic would still function if not in the best of conditions.

Several trash bags covering my parabolic microphone and audio recorder.

I was surprised to record the following segment. Knowing that there is no video we can only surmise what the sequence of events is by the audio alone. It appears that a White-tailed Deer is alarmed by this strange contraption that is in his territory. He stomps around and then gives out a series of buck snorts.

To listen to the sound file click here:  White-tailed Deer

By |2010-10-20T22:11:06-05:00October 20th, 2010|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Oh Deer
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Everyone Has An Explanation

Recently I had a chance meeting with one of the landowners whose property abuts my research box here in Central Illinois. As the gentleman was in his eighties and had lived here his whole lifetime I thought it would be a good time to see what he knew. We discussed the wildlife in the area and I inquired if he had ever seen Bobcat or Cougar, as I have seen both at this location.  His answer was yes, he had seen Bobcat but not any Cougar.

Picture of a Bobcat I took at this location in 2005.

He did toss out two interesting comments.

When he was younger he used to use coonhounds and had been active hunting coons. He said that on several occasions the dogs would return prematurely and hide behind him and refuse to hunt. He said to me “You know what that means, wolves. The dogs always act like that when wolves are around.”

He also said that his 25 year old granddaughter was afraid to go outside at night because of the wildlife.

Several years ago I spoke with a retired gentleman while hiking in the same area. We got to talking about animal sounds so I asked him if he had ever heard anything unusual, like whoops. He said yes, he had heard whoops and knew that was the sound of foxes.

The following is a recording of what appears to be a whoop that I recorded at this location in 2005.

Possible whoop – 2005

Each of the men had their own explanations for what wildlife is in the area, although neither had seen what was making the sounds. Everyone has an explanation to deal with the unknown.

By |2010-10-17T13:22:41-05:00October 17th, 2010|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Everyone Has An Explanation
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Night Sounds, Pt 1 – Barred Owls

Barred Owls (Strix varia) have a very wide-spread distribution throughout the Eastern United States, Eastern Canada and many areas in the West.

I have always held the belief that serious bigfoot researchers should become acquainted with not only the animals in their research areas but also birds and especially owls. Barred Owls make many vocalizations. Other than the familiar “who cooks for you” they also do screams, cackles and monkey like sounds. From the following recording you also notice how active and vocal they can be in the daylight hours.

While on expedition I have been surprised how many researchers are not acquainted with the sounds that Barred Owls most commonly use. Screams are one such vocalization that people confuse with other animals.

(Hopefully I will be able to add a picture to this page.)

The typical Barred Owl scream can be heard in the following sound clips:

File # 47 – 2010.04.15 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 26 – 2009.05.22 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 24 – 2009.05.07 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 01 – 2007.01.04 – Barred Owl # 1

Single or double calls can be heard in the following sound clips:

File # 46 – 2010.03.16 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 38 – 2009.05.29 – Barred Owl # 3
File # 37 – 2009.05.29 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 25 – 2009.05.10 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 18 – 2009.04.30 – Barred Owl # 4
File # 14 – 2009.04.27 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 13 – 2009.04.23 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 11 – 2009.04.22 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 09 – 2009.04.18 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 07 – 2009.04.11 – Barred Owl # 1

Below is a listing of Barred Owls that I have recorded here in Central Illinois.

File # 47 – 2010.04.15 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 46 – 2010.03.16 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 45 – 2009.06.05 – Barred Owl # 4
File # 44 – 2009.06.05 – Barred Owl # 3
File # 43 – 2009.06.05 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 42 – 2009.06.05 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 41 – 2009.05.30 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 40 – 2009.05.29 – Barred Owl # 5
File # 39 – 2009.05.29 – Barred Owl # 4
File # 38 – 2009.05.29 – Barred Owl # 3
File # 37 – 2009.05.29 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 36 – 2009.05.29 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 35 – 2009.05.28 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 34 – 2009.05.28 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 33 – 2009.05.27 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 32 – 2009.05.25 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 31 – 2009.05.25 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 30 – 2009.05.24 – Barred Owl # 4
File # 29 – 2009.05.24 – Barred Owl # 3
File # 28 – 2009.05.24 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 27 – 2009.05.24 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 26 – 2009.05.22 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 25 – 2009.05.10 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 24 – 2009.05.07 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 23 – 2009.05.04 – Barred Owl # 3
File # 22 – 2009.05.04 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 21 – 2009.05.04 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 20 – 2009.05.03 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 19 – 2009.05.03 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 18 – 2009.04.30 – Barred Owl # 4
File # 17 – 2009.04.30 – Barred Owl # 3
File # 16 – 2009.04.30 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 15 – 2009.04.30 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 14 – 2009.04.27 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 13 – 2009.04.23 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 12 – 2009.04.23 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 11 – 2009.04.22 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 10 – 2009.04.18 – Barred Owl # 3
File # 09 – 2009.04.18 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 08 – 2009.04.18 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 07 – 2009.04.11 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 06 – 2009.04.09 – Barred Owl # 2
File # 05 – 2009.04.09 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 04 – 2008.05.18 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 03 – 2007.03.22 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 02 – 2007.03.20 – Barred Owl # 1
File # 01 – 2007.01.04 – Barred Owl # 1

Copyright 2004-2010 by Stan Courtney. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

By |2010-08-25T12:24:53-05:00August 25th, 2010|Uncategorized|9 Comments
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Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 2

Sighting reports continue to come in involving possible sasquatch activity in and around cemeteries. It has always been my opinion that there is nothing special about cemeteries other than the fact that squatches can come in close and observe humans and still be able to stay hidden in the dense undergrowth. In Illinois there are thousands of small rural cemeteries located in the woods.

[photo by Stan Courtney]

A remote cemetery in rural Shelby County, Illinois

I wrote previously on this subject last summer. Please see: Cemeteries & Ghosts & Squatches.

Chris Mason recently contacted me and related the many things he and other paranormal investigators have been hearing at a small rural cemetery in Sheby County, Illinois.  So on the 7th of August, 2010 I spent the night listening and recording with Chris and several of his friends in a wonderful wooded setting. I have been unable to find any previous references to sasquatch sightings in this Central Illinois county.

[photo by Larry Wilson]

The following is a short on-site interview with Chris Mason and Larry Wilson, both members of Ghost Magnet. They tell of some of the unusual sounds heard over the last several years at this location. Larry relates that interviews with cemetery caretakers reveal strange events, such as equipment being moved around. The authorities also have problems keeping caretakers, the common complaint being “the feeling of being watched”.

Click here to listen to the interview: Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 2

In summary some of the unusual sounds and events have been:

Woodknocks

Logs being thrown

Screams

Loud whistles

Yells

Voices

Drumming

Walnuts being thrown at investigators.

Bluff charges

While walking near the cemetery Chris found what appears to be a large barefoot footprint, 14 inches long and 6 inches wide. I could see all the imprints from the toes. The print, which was in mud alongside the road appeared to be several weeks old.

[photo by Chris Mason]

The “barefoot” print was 14 inches by 6 inches.

In conclusion: A big thank to Chris Mason and Larry Wilson for their hospitality. Although I was not personally able to hear anything unusual the finding of the lone footprint was a great find. I left two remote recorders running in the woods and picked them up a week later. I recorded lots of singing birds.  The only thing unusual was the container that I keep my recorder in had the lid pulled up on it. This was during the daytime.

Click here to listen to the sound clip:  Lid Slammed 1

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By |2010-08-08T20:35:06-05:00August 8th, 2010|Uncategorized|6 Comments
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Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet

One of the most important developments in the last couple of years is the research of R.Scott Nelson, retired Navy linguist.

Scott has spoken at several conferences and  has been the guest on at least two bigfoot internet radio shows. These can be listened to here:

Bigfoot Quest

Nitecallers

Scott recently sent out documents for other researchers to post.

================================================================================

Fm: R. Scott Nelson

To: Sasquatch Research Community

Re: Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet (SPA) (attached)

Since I became involved in Sasquatch research a little over two years ago, I have received dozens of e-mails from around the country involving first-hand witness accounts, many containing recorded audio files, of perceived Sasquatch Language. Virtually all of these have included an attempt to spell out Sasquatch “words” using Standard English. This is of little value to the language researcher, since English is notoriously non-phonetic and is subject to widely-varied local dialects.

Since our ultimate goal is the recovery of Sasquatch Language, I have found it necessary to establish a phonetic alphabet and transcription standard (based on the transcription of the Berry/Morehead tapes), by which the contrast and comparison of all future suspected language can be facilitated.

To this end, as an invaluable tool in the future of Sasquatch Language research, I am requesting that the attached standard be published on research web-sites and that it be copied and distributed freely. With this, I am also requesting that local investigators begin using this alphabet as soon as possible to accurately document any perceived Sasquatch Language.

This standard should not be limited to first-hand witness accounts or recordings from North America, but should be used by investigators world-wide, since most languages have many of the same non-phonetic characteristics as English. The work is written in the style of a military SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).

It is my belief that there is nothing more important, at this early stage of Sasquatch Language study, than to standardize the documentation of evidence.

With highest regard for all those engaged in the work of Sasquatch recognition;

R. Scott Nelson

20 June 2010

================================================================================

Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet . and Transcription Standard

Submitted by R. Scott Nelson

The Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet (SPA) will alternately be known by the more formal denomination, Unclassified Hominid Phonetic Alphabet (UHPA), until such time as the subject Being is scientifically classified, or documented linguistic contact has been established. “Sasquatch” is used here as a generally accepted term for the subject Being. A variation of the English Reformed Phonetic Alphabet is used, as transcribed from the Berry/Morehead Tapes (BMT).

The existence of the Sasquatch Being is hereby assumed, since any creature must exist before his language. Any argument for the existence of Sasquatch or his language should be given outside of this standard and outside any transcription endeavor that uses this standard. Transcripts should stand alone as tools for the language researcher; whereas SPA transcripts and excerpts should be freely used in other works to support linguistic arguments.

The purpose of this is to standardize all future transcription of suspected Sasquatch Language and to facilitate comparison of language articulations by future researchers; the ultimate goal being the recovery of Sasquatch Language.

Sasquatch Language is spoken approximately twice as fast as any known language in most analyzed recordings, therefore it must be slowed down to be transcribed accurately. 50% of real-time will be the standard; transcription at any other speed will be noted, e.g. (75%). Real-time will be noted as (rt). Tape-time hacks will be given as minute:second.1/100thsecond, e.g. 17:23.54.

Since this is an unknown language, transcribed for the first time, the grammar and syntax of it, likewise, cannot be known. Therefore, to differentiate between small and capital letters is useless and misleading. Sasquatch articulations will be transcribed using capital letters, human voices are to be transcribed by the standards of the language that is spoken (proper English, Russian, etc.). This eases reading of the transcripts when human and Sasquatch voices are mixed or alternating. Since words cannot be known, and only suspected in cognates, Sasquatch utterances will be given as individual morphemes (or syllables). An umlaut (Ä) is used rather than a macron (-) to avoid confusion with the English use of the same symbol.

Small letters within parenthesis will be used, in accordance with military transcription standards, to abbreviate specific notes, e.g. (2-3m) to mean (two or three words or morphemes are missing or inaudible here). Untranscribable vocalizations such as grunts or screams will be noted with capital letters within parenthesis, e.g. (G) or (SC). An abbreviation key follows the phonetics key.

Any document using this alphabet should be labeled (SPA) or (UHPA).

Use in first-hand witness accounts:

This alphabet is not intended to be used solely for the transcription of recorded language, but will be highly useful in first-hand witness accounts of Sasquatch phenomena where the witness perceived spoken language. Researchers, when documenting witness accounts, should endeavor to transcribe each Sasquatch utterance as accurately as possible using this alphabet. As an invaluable aid to the language researcher, several questions should be asked of the witness to correlate with the utterances of the Sasquatch Being:

What was occurring at the moment of each specific utterance?

How many Sasquatch Beings do you believe were present; how many were speaking?

Did you feel that the Sasquatch Beings were speaking to each other or to you (the witness)?

What do you think the Being was trying to communicate?

What do you feel was the emotional state of the Being (for each specific utterance)?

Was there interrogative inflection in the utterance (did it sound like a question)?

Was there imperative or command inflection in the utterance (did it sound like the Being was telling you or another Sasquatch to do or not do something)?

___

This alphabet is expected to grow as additional verified recordings of Sasquatch Language are collected and analyzed, and new extra-human articulations are documented. For example; the well-documented howls, whoops, growls, screams and whistles of Sasquatch may someday be found to have linguistic meaning; wood- and rock-knocking or tooth-popping may be found to be encoded. It should not be discounted that manipulated tree, limb and stick formations could be graphic expressions of Sasquatch Language, much like runic or pictographic human writing systems.

Since auditory perception is subject to the same limitations of all human perception, review and revision of any transcript by other qualified Crypto-Linguists or voice- transcription experts should be welcomed. With the recovery of Sasquatch Language being the anticipated outcome, cooperation and consensus between language researchers should be the first rule of this study.

The first two pages of Berry Tape I transcription are attached as an example of the prescribed usage of this alphabet.

Phoneme Key

Ä = a in father

A = a in can

B = b in bib

D = d in did

Ë = a in make

E = e in set

F = f in fife

G = g in gag

H = h in ham

Ï = i in machine, ee in meet

I = i in sit

J = y in yes, i in union

K = k in kite, c in cut

L = l in lull

M = m in mom

N = n in nine

Ö = o in lone

O = o in log

P = p in pipe

R = r in roar

Rr = rolled r, as in Spanish or in Scottish Brogue

S = s in sister

T = t in tight

Ü = u in plume, oo in boot

U = u in run, o in union

V = v in verve

W = w in way

Y = oo in book

Z = z in zebra, s in is

′ = glottal stop

c = tongue click, not evident in BMT

> = phoneme drawn out

Compound Phonemes

ÄÏ = i in like, y in my

JÜ = as in you, u in fume

KH = ch in Scottish loch, x in Spanish Quixote, x in Russian (khah)

SJ = sh in shirt

TSJ = ch in church

ZJ = z in azure, s in treasure

DZJ = j in jail, g in age

NG = ng in sing

Δ (Greek Delta) = th in then

Θ (Greek Theta) = th in thin

Abbreviation Key

(rt) = transcribed at real-time

(75%) = transcribed at a speed other than 50%

(h) = human vocalization

(1-2m) = one or two words or syllables are missing or inaudible here

(int) = interrogative inflection

(dr) = Inflected as a direct response

(imp) = imperative inflection

(w) = whispered

(q) = very low audibility, quiet, almost imperceptible at normal speeds

(im) = human imitating a creature

(ma) = possible male Sasquatch Being

(fe) = possible female Sasquatch Being

(ju) = possible juvenile Sasquatch Being

(G) = grunt, growl or grumble, possible language

(W) = whistle or squeak, possible language

(SN) = snarl, possible language

(SC) = scream, possible language

(TP5) = tooth pop, number in sequence, possible language, not evident in BMT

(WK3) = wood knock, number in sequence, possible language

(RK4) = rock knock, number in sequences, possible language

BERRY TAPE I

Transcribed by R. Scott Nelson

Time Utterance

0:4.5 (W) (W)

0:8.62 (W) (W) (W)

0:15.11 RAM HO BÄ RÜ KHÄ HÜ

0:16.70 WAM VO HÜ KHÖ KHU′

0:17.52 NÖ U PLÄ MEN TI KHU

0:18.82 NÄR LÄ

0:20.21 NA GÖ KÜ STEP GÄ KÜ BLEM

0:21.25 Ü KÜ DZJÄ

0:21.76 FRrÄP E KHÜK LE

0:22.65 ÜN Ï KÜ O GÜ AKH (int)

0:23.85 DÖ WÄÏ NÖ (dr)

0:24.52 MÜ Ï FWI KÖ PÏ KHU′ SJ΄

0:31.43 (ma) HU Ö NÖ> KHÄ HÜ

0:32.95 PLEN DÃœTSJ TISJ

0:33.61 SÏ DZJAÖ GLÖ PÜ MËKH

0:34.90 PÄ KHÏ KÖ DÜ TÜ SEKSÏ

0:35.88 WA HEP DÜ TSJE DÜ FU HEP

0:36.95 (ma) FI KÜ ÄÏ> KHÜ′

0:44.80 FÄ LIP ÄBÄSJ KHU′

0:45.03 NE VER GÖ ΄ ÖM KHU′

0:47.03 FÖ WÄ Ï>

0:48.08 WA KHU΄ KVÄM

0:49.16 ITS KÄÏM VÄR US FO RI ZIS TENS

0:51.27 MÖ> FER BÏ KEN JÄ Ä VÄÖN SÏ RYK MI RO GHAP –

GÏ GO WYP

0:53.66 MÏ WÄTSJ FYD PLËN FYD NÜ AÖ> KHE KHU′

0:55.34 NÖ ÄÏ ÄKHSJ HÜ

0:57.13 (h) Come on, boy.

0:58.04 (h) Come on, let’s eat.

1:00.93 BÏ KAER FYL NAÖ PRÖS GYD

    1. NÖÄ Ö JA LET KHE
    1. MÖÏ PISJ FE KHE KHU′

(h) Come on.

1:11.58 KHU BEK

1:12.63 KHËÄ KHU′

1:13.77 Ä LÄF

1:14.46 MÖ VE KHÜ

1:14.86 LAF KHU′

1:15.35 NÖ KHÏÄ

1:16.01 KHÖ VË ÄER ZÏ RÄ KIL WÄ KÜ ′ÜSJ

1:17.49 BÜ GÄ TÄÏSJ KHU′

By |2010-07-07T18:33:00-05:00July 7th, 2010|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet
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This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.
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