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I used to joke that the visitor center was the safest building in the entire park.

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Steel doors, floodlights, motion sensors, radios, cameras, it had it all.

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But one night, just after 9pm as I was locking up alone after a late evening nature workshop,

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something stepped into the lights right outside the glass entry, and it stood there waiting

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for me.

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It was too tall for a man, too human for a bear, and it knew the building as well as I

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did, and it knew my routine.

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I'm writing this because I've heard you say that you tell the stories for people who

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don't want to tell their own stories for whatever reason.

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Well, this is my story.

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I'm not guessing here.

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I'm not just filling in blanks with my imagination.

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I saw a big foot up close in the bright light, and I am sure of what I saw.

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I've worked various positions for the parks here in Ohio, but for a time about 9 years,

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I worked as a facilities tech at a State Park Visitor Center in southeastern Ohio.

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At that time, my job was kind of a jack of all trades.

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I would fix the broke stuff or call people to get them fixed.

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I did whatever needed doing when the public left, and I would help set up and close down

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different events.

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Then I would do the lock-up and do the last walk around.

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Visitor centers usually aren't staffed overnight, and ours isn't either.

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But late programs do happen there.

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There will be different AL talks.

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We have astronomy nights, winter workshops, and you know, someone has to stay for the cleanup

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and the final lock-up.

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That means I'm up to bat on those nights.

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Now for some context of what was going on that evening, that night's workshop, as I recall,

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was called something like "night sounds of the forest."

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There were about 30 people in attendance.

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Our naturalists played different AL calls, coyote-halves, fox-barks, things like that.

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Then gave a talk and took a lot of questions.

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By 8.30 it was over, and by 8.45 the naturalists and the volunteers had packed up, and they were

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out the door.

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I watched their tear lights disappear, and I figured I'd be in my truck by no later than

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9.15.

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The building is modern, but plain.

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Big front glass, steel-frame doors, a concrete apron and three motion-light zones across the

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entry plaza.

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There's a side-service door on the east wall, loading door and back near maintenance.

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My lock-up is a routine of muscle memory.

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The doors closed, gift-shop alarmed, theater-wing checked, empty and dark.

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Restrooms checked.

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Back hall doors latched.

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The exterior looped.

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Then I returned to the lobby, do a final bar check on the front doors, then do an east-service

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handle tug, make sure that's closed and locked.

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I close out the reports, then I'm out the door.

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Now a week before this all happened, little things had been going wrong.

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On the first night, the metal trash can behind the amphitheater was tipped and rolled some

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30 feet down slope.

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But we do get wind up there, so I just picked it up, put it back, and I moved on.

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The second night, motion lights on the west path fired in sequence from the tree line to

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the building, like something big had moved straight in.

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But the lights were out before I got there to check.

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The third night, I got a smell near the rear deck.

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This wasn't like flesh-rock from a dead animal.

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It wasn't a skunk or something like a bare den.

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This was a different smell.

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It was a hard smell.

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Sour, wet, and sharp.

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I went looking for it, but I didn't find it.

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But the thing was, if I walked 20 feet in any direction away from the deck, the smell

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was gone.

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But I walked back, there it was again.

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So the smell was on the deck.

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I checked under the deck.

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There was nothing there.

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I soaked down the deck, but the smell was still there.

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It took powerwashing with hard detergent to get rid of it.

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And let me tell you, powerwashing in November and Ohio is not fun, even on an unusually mild

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day.

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Now the other thing was the side gate.

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I don't remember which nights, but it was that same week.

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I found it unlatched twice.

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Now yes, it could have been me forgetting the first time.

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But after that, I was double checking the next couple nights.

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And you know, I found it unlatched again one morning.

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There was no explanation, so I just logged it and moved on.

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But I knew I had latched it the night before.

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Then came the night of November 14th.

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The weather was cold and still.

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Rain had passed around dinner and left everything out there wet.

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The temperature was dropping fast.

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There was no moon through the clouds, and there was no wind.

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By 8.45 I was alone in the building, as predicted.

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At 902 I finished stacking the chairs and wheeling the audio visual carts back to storage.

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At 906 I locked the gift shop and armed the sensor.

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At 909 I stepped outside for the exterior loop with a flashlight and the radio was clipped

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to my vest.

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That's when I noticed how dead it sounded out there.

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There was no highway hum.

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No frogs from the low pond behind the lot.

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There were no owl calls.

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Just one steady drip from a roof corner and the sound of my boots on the wet concrete.

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I walked the west side first.

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There was nothing there.

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At the rear loading area there was nothing but wet pallets and some hinge metal.

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On the east wall, which I did last, there was that sour odor again, and it was stronger

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than ever.

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It hit me so hard I stopped breathing for a second.

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The thing was it smelled warm in the cold air and very fresh.

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I swept the light across the swale, shrubs, sign-base.

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Nothing reflected, nothing moved.

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At 9.13 I came back through the lobby and checked the monitors in the office.

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Camera 2 had faint static lines.

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Camera 4 facing the entry looked clean.

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I rebooted the splitter anyway.

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All feeds returned to normal.

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At 9.15 I started final lock sequence at the front vestibule.

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The keys were in my left hand, clipboard under my arm.

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I pulled the left doorbar, then the right, and I heard that familiar metal clack, closed

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and locked.

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Then suddenly the flood lights outside fired, left bank, center bank, right bank, one,

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two, three.

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I looked up expecting to see deer.

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What stepped into the center light was no deer, no bear, and no man.

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It stood upright almost to the door header.

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I know that header height because we replaced the frame two years ago after some storm damage.

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It set seven feet, eight inches to the lower beam.

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The top of its head sat inches below that line while it stood with a slight bend in the

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knees.

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Its shoulders were wider than a single door panel.

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Chest deep and thick, like a power lifter's torso, and stretched taller than human proportions.

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Arms, they were long enough that the hands hung below mid-thigh, but not quite to the

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knees.

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Those hands were open, they had thick, long fingers.

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The hair was dark brown to black, wet and matted on the forearms and shoulders.

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It took one step forward, smooth, balanced, quiet.

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It wasn't the bobbing weight of a bear on hind legs, and this certainly was no costume.

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Then it lifted its head and it looked straight at me through the glass.

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I mean, at me.

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I saw the face clearly.

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There was a prominent heavy brow bone.

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There was a set of forward-facing eyes deep set under it.

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The nose was broad and flat.

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There was no muzzle, no snout, and no round ears like a bear would have on the head.

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There was a wide mouth with tight lips, massive jaws.

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It was thinner hair around the eye sockets where dark skin showed.

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It was looking right at me.

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I took two steps left without thinking, and it tracked me with its head at the exact same

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speed.

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It was smooth and deliberate and focused.

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Then it raised its right hand and it laid it flat against the glass.

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The sound was soft, a damp thump on the glass.

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I saw the full spread of the fingers, all five of them.

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There was a thumb low and thick.

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The hand covered more area than my whole face.

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I froze for maybe one second, maybe upwards of five.

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I couldn't guess.

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My body went cold at first, then went hot.

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I could only hear my own breathing and the fluorescent buzz of lights overhead.

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Then it lowered its hand, turned its torso slightly, but it kept its eyes on me.

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Then it stepped sideways along the facade toward the east entrance.

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That was the door that I always checked last.

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It knew where to go.

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It knew where I was going to go.

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I backed up, hit the interlatch, and moved fast toward the office.

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My legs felt numb but worked.

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I keyed the office door, shoved my way in, killed the hall light, and I grabbed the desk

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radio.

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Dispatch.

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This is visitor center.

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I need a Ranger unit here now.

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There was no answer, just hissing on the radio.

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I switched channels, tried again.

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Unit check, unit check.

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I have a large, aggressive subject at the main entry at the visitor center.

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Nothing but static.

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Then suddenly a clipped response broken by interference.

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Copy, partial, repeat, location.

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I repeated everything again louder.

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I gave the building code, said I was alone, said it was upright, and it was at the doors.

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Dispatch came back clear.

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Closest unit was handling a disabled vehicle near the south trailhead, ETA 12 to 15 minutes.

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A hard hit landed on glass out front.

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Not shattering it.

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Just a heavy impact that made the window frames buzz.

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And another farther right.

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It was moving, panel to panel across the front.

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Not striking hard enough to break the glass, but letting me know where it was and where it

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was going.

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I killed the hallway light and crouched at the corner just outside the office so I could

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see the lobby without silhouetteing myself.

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Through the glass panels I caught pieces of it passing.

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I pulled her upper arm side of the head and it was too high, just too broad.

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I knew what I was seeing.

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A second later I heard the east service handle click.

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One pull.

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Then a pause.

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In a second pull harder jiggling the door.

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This wasn't some random powing.

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It had gone straight to the one door less visible from the lot, yet closest to the brochure

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window line that I use when I close.

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I whispered into the radio.

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It's trying the east service entrance.

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Stay inside, unit in route was the reply I received.

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Its silhouette crossed the front glass again, close enough to fill most of the pain.

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It stopped at the narrow side window by the brochure rack and looked in.

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I could see one eye catch interior light, an amber brown reflection, not glowing, just

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light catching wet surface.

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It leaned forward slightly and fog bloomed on the glass from its breath.

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Bears don't stand like that and peer through windows to find you inside.

203
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Then it moved out of view.

204
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For the next several minutes I tracked it by motion chimes and the light triggers.

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Westside lights popped, then rear deck lights, then at a whole went dark.

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Then the east side lights would go.

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00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:26,840
It was circling the building, slowly controlled.

208
00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,240
It wasn't crashing around the building frantically.

209
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It wasn't making any stumbling sounds.

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It knew how to move quietly, even at that size.

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If it hadn't been for the motion chimes and the lights, I never would have known it was

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circling the building.

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At one point something heavy stepped onto the rear wooden deck.

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I felt the vibration through the floor under my boots.

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Three steps, then a pause.

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One more step.

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Then nothing.

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I expected the rear door handle to rattle, but it didn't.

219
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Instead the side hallway sensor pinged and then the east lights came on again.

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It had somehow doubled back without me knowing.

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I called dispatch every two minutes.

222
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Sometimes I got through.

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Sometimes just static swallowed me up.

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My speech got clipped.

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I kept repeating the same details, so they wouldn't think this was some weird panic,

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prank call from the shadows.

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A bright subject.

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Over seven feet, at glass, moving around perimeter, testing doors.

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Tell unit to be careful.

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At that point I made a decision that I kind of still hate.

231
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I had to get to the maintenance closet to pull the lock bar for the rolled down steel

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grill that secures the lobby from the office wing.

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We usually only use it in storm events, or if we're closing for extra long holidays.

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The pull handle is halfway down the public hall, exposed to that side window.

235
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If I got that grilled down, even if a door failed, at least there would be one more barrier.

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I waited for silence.

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I counted to ten.

238
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Then I moved.

239
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Halfway down the hall I heard a low vocal sound outside the side window.

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Not a growl, not a roar.

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It was a deep, chesty, two note sound that rose up sharply at the end.

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Sort of like a question.

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It stopped me dead.

244
00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:47,720
The sound came again.

245
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:49,800
This time much closer to the glass.

246
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,880
I could feel it in my ribs.

247
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,480
I forced myself three more steps.

248
00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,560
I grabbed the pull handle and yanked.

249
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:04,560
The grill dropped with a screaming metal rattle that echoed throughout the building.

250
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:10,560
The second it hit the floor, something slammed the side window, hard.

251
00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,240
Glass boom, the frame shuddered and rattled.

252
00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:18,280
But incredibly, it didn't break.

253
00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:23,720
I turned and looked because instinct overrode fear for just a half a second.

254
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:29,240
And it was right there, less than five feet beyond the glass from me.

255
00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,600
Its face was angled directly at me.

256
00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,320
The mouth was slightly open.

257
00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,480
Teeth were visible at the front.

258
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,000
Broad, worn and block-shaped.

259
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:47,000
With that were noticeable canines, but not prominent enough to call them things.

260
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:52,440
I would say they were moderate canines, much like ours.

261
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,520
That hair clumped around on its cheeks.

262
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,440
One hand rose and spread against the pain.

263
00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,560
Its fingers sprayed wide.

264
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,320
It looked right at me.

265
00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:08,680
And tapped the glass with a finger, slow and rhythmic.

266
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:15,920
Tap, pause, tap, pause, tap.

267
00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:21,280
It didn't have the feel of a friendly tapping like, "Hey, come here!"

268
00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,880
It was more like, "I'm watching you.

269
00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:27,120
I'm looking at you."

270
00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:29,520
It was something more like that.

271
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,080
A chill went up and down me.

272
00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:33,760
I ran.

273
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:39,760
I ran back to the office and slammed the door shut, dropped the bar, and shoved a file cabinet

274
00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:41,760
up against the door.

275
00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,440
Then I keed the radio with both hands shaking.

276
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:46,440
Dispatch.

277
00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,240
It's at the east window.

278
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,120
People is confirmed.

279
00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:56,160
This is a massive upright, primate-like subject.

280
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,520
Seven plus feet.

281
00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:02,560
It took everything I had to use that term, primate-like.

282
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:09,040
It was as close as I could get to saying what I knew it was, but I felt I needed to warn

283
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:13,520
whatever unit-ranger was responding.

284
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:14,520
Outside.

285
00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,080
Motion chime started firing all around the building.

286
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,960
Not in TREEPING, West Hall PING.

287
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:22,360
Rear deck lights went on.

288
00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:23,360
Then it went dark.

289
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,400
East side lights again.

290
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,680
It went on and on.

291
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:34,560
It was circling, staying just out of my sightline, testing where I watched it from.

292
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,800
At one point I felt vibration through the floor again under my boots.

293
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,520
There were very heavy steps on the rear deck boards.

294
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:47,640
Three more steps than another pause than one step than nothing.

295
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:53,400
Twice, I heard that low two note vocalization again.

296
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,200
It was very close.

297
00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,120
At 9.25, Dispatch said that units were two minutes out.

298
00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:05,760
I'll tell you, those two minutes were the longest part of the whole night.

299
00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,680
The building went absolutely still.

300
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,240
Quiet.

301
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:11,480
No chimes.

302
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:12,840
No impacts.

303
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:14,960
No footsteps.

304
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:19,080
I watched the office monitor showing the front vestibule.

305
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,280
For several seconds nothing moved.

306
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:28,520
In a dark mass lit across the frame so close that it blocked most of the image.

307
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,840
Auto exposure blew up white and then corrected itself.

308
00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:38,960
I got one clear look at an upper torso and arm length before it passed.

309
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,760
It was far beyond any human proportion.

310
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:47,120
And the feed fluttered was static and froze.

311
00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:52,000
At 9.28 headlights washed through the office blinds.

312
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,640
Engine noise.

313
00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:55,160
Doors opening.

314
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,320
A ranger shouted my name from the front hall.

315
00:20:58,320 --> 00:20:59,960
Two rangers came in.

316
00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:02,600
They came in hot and armed.

317
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:07,840
I answered and I stayed put until they gave code confirmation.

318
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:14,000
When I did unbar the office door my knees were shaking hard enough I had to brace myself

319
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,560
against the frame.

320
00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,840
The two rangers swept the interior and the exterior.

321
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,360
There was no subject on immediate perimeter.

322
00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,240
But I saw it one last time.

323
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:33,640
Through the rear office window beyond the employee lot at the edge of the amphitheater clearing

324
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:35,800
there was movement.

325
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:42,680
The ranger beside me swung his light over there just a fraction too late to see it.

326
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:48,680
But before that in the beam spill I saw the figure break from the shadows.

327
00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:49,840
It was upright.

328
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,560
Its arms pumping low with long strides.

329
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,400
It crossed open ground fast.

330
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,880
Faster than a man could run that wet slope.

331
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:04,680
And it stepped over the drainage ditch without breaking its pace and disappeared into timber

332
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,680
near the interpretive trail.

333
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,680
It was gone in seconds.

334
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,560
And it was upright on two feet the whole time.

335
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:17,920
We secured the building and moved to vehicles.

336
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:23,280
My statement took probably an hour because my adrenaline kept surging.

337
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:29,680
I gave the exact times off the lock sheets and the radio logs and my badge swipes.

338
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:35,240
I described the face three different ways so there'd be no confusion with a bear.

339
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:40,320
There were marks on the east door handle and there was a smear on the side window at a

340
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,040
height that was above my head.

341
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,440
That was where it had put its hand.

342
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,800
The ranger's photographed everything.

343
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:54,360
I never asked what any lab did or didn't say about the photographs or any other evidence

344
00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:55,920
they collected.

345
00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,360
I didn't care.

346
00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,080
I don't care.

347
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:05,320
I saw it in floodlight at 15 feet and at side window range of about 5 feet.

348
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,840
I don't need a report to tell me what it was I saw.

349
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,800
And what saw me?

350
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,960
I ended up taking ten days off.

351
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,480
I came back and requested day shift only.

352
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:24,880
I do still work for the parks but I don't close that building alone anymore.

353
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,360
I don't run routine by memory either.

354
00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:29,920
I vary lock order.

355
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,160
I vary my times.

356
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,120
I vary my route.

357
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:37,080
I keep my radio and phone in hand at all times.

358
00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,880
I make sure I park facing out.

359
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,040
Now maybe all of that sounds paranoid.

360
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:44,040
That's fine with me.

361
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,200
I can live with that.

362
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:54,200
What stays with me after all this time isn't the size or even what it was that I saw.

363
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,040
What stays with me?

364
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:02,000
What wakes me up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night is its behavior.

365
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,400
It didn't wander up there by accident.

366
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:11,440
It appeared in the exact window of time when everyone else had left and I alone was visible

367
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,800
behind glass.

368
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,480
It moved to the secondary access points around the building.

369
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,720
It knew where I was heading next.

370
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,920
It knew the only places I could have left the building.

371
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:30,240
It moved from point to point that had been my actual routine path.

372
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,600
It circled that building again and again without noise.

373
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,600
It tracked me through the window panes.

374
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,720
It tested the door handles.

375
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,360
I don't know what more I can say.

376
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:49,040
That was a very deliberate approach, a deliberate testing of doors.

377
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:54,400
If anyone listening has to work nights and remote buildings or areas and you think that

378
00:24:54,400 --> 00:25:01,120
some walls and some lights are enough, I tell you, don't count on that if you're the

379
00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:03,040
last one out.

380
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,920
Never run your lock-up exactly the same way night after night.

381
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:13,560
Don't ignore repeated odd triggers or strange things that happen.

382
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,360
And if you're out there in the woods go dead quiet.

383
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:23,400
Look with your gut instinct and you need to keep your coms redundant.

384
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:29,040
And if something upright meets your eyes through glass and moves with intent checking

385
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:35,080
the door handles, you need to stop worrying about how calm you might be.

386
00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:41,240
You need to lock down, call for help and survive.

387
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,880
Now people still ask me if I'm sure what I saw, including some of my coworkers, even

388
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:51,440
some who have had some strange experiences of their own, but we don't talk about them

389
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,240
very much.

390
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,000
But yes, I am sure of what I saw.

391
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,640
I know exactly what black bears look like.

392
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,160
I know what a man looks like.

393
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,400
What I saw was neither.

394
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:10,760
If you share this on your show, leave my name and my park out of it.

395
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,800
I'm not too far from retirement now.

396
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,560
I won't jeopardize my pension.

397
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,080
I don't think I have to explain further.

398
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:26,640
And whatever you're doing if you're listening to me, don't get complacent with a routine,

399
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:30,680
because a routine almost got me killed.

400
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:38,360
I survived because the locks on the building held and helped arrived in time.

401
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,080
That's the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

402
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:46,160
I'm withheld by request.

403
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,040
You've been listening to the Buckeye Bigfoot podcast.

404
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:53,480
Find more stories, hundreds more, over on our YouTube channel.

405
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,280
Just look for Buckeye Bigfoot.

406
00:26:55,280 --> 00:27:05,280
[MUSIC]