| ID | #1617727285 |
| Added | Tue, 06/04/2021 |
| Author | July N. |
| Sources | Youtube video “Interview with retired forest ranger” posted on 15 September 2013
“Retired forest ranger interview part 2” posted on 9 October 2013 Transcribed by JLB
|
| Phenomena | |
| Status | Research
|
Initial data
It was 1998. I was 37 years old. I worked in the forest department for 12 years. That summer, there was a fire in the Apalachicola National Forest. When all this happened, the Bradwell Bay area was on fire. At this moment, the fire was raging quite strongly. We didn't know if we'd ever get it.
That morning, I went to the command center on Helen Guards Station Road to find out what I was going to do that day. So I and another guy were assigned to drive down a road in the Bradwell Bay area looking for animals. The animals ran out onto the road and usually fell out if they were injured or inhaled smoke heavily. Our job was to pick them up and take them to the vets at the command center. Veterinarians treated them and in some cases euthanized those who did not.
So we were driving south through the area at about 45 miles an hour. Faster than I should have been going. I was talking to my partner and didn't realize how fast I was going. Suddenly we saw a black figure run out of the forest on all fours. It hit right under the tire on my driver's side.
I hit the beast with both the front and rear wheels. I was driving a 95 Dodge Ram 4X4. So I knew I'd killed him at that speed. They immediately thought it was a bear.
We went out to pick up the bear and put it in the truck. After further investigation, we realized that what I hit wasn't a bear at all. It was a creature that none of us had ever seen. It was about six feet (1.8 m) high. He had legs, knee pads, and feet, just like you and me. His arms hung down to about his knees. In fact, one hand was lowered to the knee. The other was taller than his head. I ran the creature under my right armpit, along my shoulder blade, and along the back of my neck. The creature was covered in hair. They were 3 to 5 inches (7.62-12.7 m) long on the arms, legs, and head. The hair on his back, ribs, and chest was much shorter.
The animal's musculature was phenomenal. He looked like a prizefighter or one of the guys you saw in the UFC. We turned the animal over. Her jaw was broken where I'd hit her with the truck.
I could see though it had a prominent muzzle, very similar to a baboon's or what you might think a werewolf would look like. He had the same eyes as us. The creature looked very much like a chimpanzee.
We quickly radioed the command center, and they sent two FWC employees to us. About 15 minutes later, FWC representatives arrived and told us they had never seen anything like it. So we all picked up the animal and loaded it into the back of the truck.
The animal weighed between three and four hundred pounds, which is a lot of dead weight. They told us they would find out what it was and let us know. At this point, we were contacted by the command center and they told us to go back and report what we had seen. So we showed up at the command center and were immediately taken to a room where we had to fill out an incident report.
We were about 10 minutes after the incident was reported when we were asked to stop and wait and that several people had come to us. About 30-45 minutes later, two government officials appeared. They walked us to our car. They were asking where we came across... this thing. We told them where it was, and they looked around the area. The truck was left without damage. There was a black steel bumper on the front. The animal hit the bottom, and the tires took care of everything else. There was really nothing on the truck but the undercarriage. There was blood and hair.
Officials collected blood and hair samples and removed them. They then asked us if we would get in the car they came in and take them to the place where we hit the animal. So we obeyed, got in the car, and drove off with the gentlemen. The return to the place was quite quiet. They didn't say much, except for a couple of exchanges with each other. We showed up on the spot and told them what had happened.
Then suddenly one of the guys, I think the one in charge, turned around, looked at us and said congratulations, guys, that you hit a bear. I said sir, but that's not the bear we hit. He quickly interrupted me: you don't understand, you ran over a bear. Then he said that every time I told anyone about it, I ran into a bear.
I should have never said a word about what we actually got into. That I might be charged. My entire pension could have gone. They said I might lose my job, that they would slander me and make a fool of me. I looked at my partner, and we had no choice but to comply.
On the way back, it seemed strange to me that this was a real cover-up on the part of the government. They knew what kind of thing we were in. They had seen them before, and now they had a body. For some reason, they didn't want anyone to know about it, and they did their best to hide it.
The main reason I'm telling my story is because I hope that one of the other three people my partner and two FWC representatives will come forward. I find that silencing four people is much more difficult than silencing one. People need to know that these things exist and that they are real.
Original news
Date: 1998
Location: Apalachicola National Forest, The Bradwell Bay area
Time:
Summary: “It was 1998. I was 37 years old. I had been working with the forest department for 12 years. There was a fire in the Apalachicola National Forest that summer. The Bradwell Bay area was on fire when all this happened. The fire was raging pretty bad at this point. We didn’t know if we would ever get it out. That morning I had reported to the command center on Helen Guard Station Road to get briefed on what I would be doing that day. So me and another guy were given the task of driving around looking for animals along the road of the Bradwell Bay area. Animals would make it to the road and usually fall out if they were injured or had real bad smoke inhalation. Our job was to pick them up and take them to the vets at the command center. The vets would treat them and on some occasions euthanize the ones that wouldn’t make it. So we were driving around the area heading south doing about 45 mph. Faster than I should have been driving. I was talking to my partner and didn’t realize how fast I was going. All of a sudden we saw a black figure run out of the woods on all fours. It ran right up under my driver’s side tire. I hit the animal with both the front and back tires. I was driving a 95 Dodge Ram 4X4. So I knew at that speed I had killed it. Immediately we thought it was a bear. We got out to pick the bear up and put it in the truck. Upon further investigation, we realized what I had hit was not a bear at all. It was a creature that neither one of us had ever seen. It was about 6 feet tall. It had legs, knee caps and feet just like me and you. The arms hung to about the knee. One arm a matter of fact was down by its knee. The other one was up over its head. I had run the creature over under its right underarm, across the shoulder blade and over the back of its neck. The creature was covered in hair. About 3 to 5 inches long on the arms, legs and head. The hair on the back, ribs and chest was much shorter. The muscle definition on the animal was phenomenal. It looked like a prize fighter or one of the guys you would see in the UFC. We flipped the animal over. The jaw was broken from where I had hit it with the truck. I could see though it had a protruding snout much like that of a baboon or what you would think a werewolf looks like. It had eyes just like us. The thing looked a lot like a chimpanzee. We quickly radioed into the command center and they sent two FWC officials out to our location. Within about 15 minutes, the FWC officials arrived and they told us they had never seen anything like it. So we all picked the animal up and loaded it into the back of their truck. The animal weighed about three to four hundred pounds which dead weight is a lot. They told us they would figure out what it was and let us know. So we had been contacted by the command center at this point and they told us to come on back and make a statement about what we saw. So we showed up at the command center and immediately we were brought back to a room where we were to fill out an incident report. We were about 10 minutes into the incident report when we were asked to stop and wait and that there were some people coming to see us. Within about 30 to 45 minutes two government officials showed up. They walked us out to the vehicle. They were asking where we ran over the… the thing. We told them where it was and so they examined the area. The truck had no damage. There was a black steel bumper on the front. The animal hit the bottom of that and the tires took care of the rest. There was really nothing on the truck except for on the undercarriage. There was seem blood and hair. The officials collected the blood and hair samples and put them away. Next they asked us if we would get into the vehicle they came in and take them to the location where we had ran the animal over at. So we complied and got into the vehicle and left with the gentlemen. It was a rather quiet ride back out to the spot. They didn’t say much at all except for a couple of exchanges with each other. We showed up at the spot and walked them through what happened. Then all of a sudden one of the guys, I guess the guy in charge turned and looked at us and said congratulations fellas you ran over a bear. I said sir, but this is no bear that we hit. He quickly interrupted me with, you don’t understand, you ran over a bear. He then said that every time I tell anybody about this I ran over a bear. I was to never speak a word about what we actually hit. That I could face charges. My whole retirement could go away. They said I could lose my job and that they would slander me and make me look like a fool. So I looked at my partner and we had no other choice but to comply. On the ride back it kind of struck me as odd that this was an actual government cover-up. They knew what this thing was that we had hit. They had seen them before and now they were in possession of a body. For some reason they didn’t want anyone to know and they were going to great lengths to keep this under wraps. The main reason I’m telling my story is, I’m hoping one of the other three people, my partner and the two FWC officials will come forward. I figure it’s a lot harder to silence four people than it is just one. People need to know that these things are out there and that they are real.”
Source: Youtube video “Interview with retired forest ranger” posted on 15 September 2013 and “Retired forest ranger interview part 2” posted on 9 October 2013 Transcribed by JLB
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