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00:00Tonight on MonsterQuest, sometimes one wrong decision can change everything.
00:11I was totally challenging this thing.
00:15The thing was breathing, it wasn't leaving.
00:18My heart was pounding.
00:19These terrifying encounters aren't accidents.
00:22With the calls that I made, I feel like I'm the one that caused the camper attack.
00:26Within a month of moving into the house, they're seeing objects flying across the room.
00:31They're mistakes that turn the unknown into a nightmare.
00:35It felt like it was hunting us.
00:40For many centuries, people have reported strange and sometimes terrifying encounters with what they describe as monsters.
00:48Its eyes just lit up in the moon and we're like, that is nothing I've ever seen.
00:55If I try to run, I'd be dead.
00:58Now, for the first time, some are sharing their experiences.
01:03Is there a pattern to their encounters?
01:06It was just terrifying.
01:09And if so, what could it mean?
01:12Michigan City, Indiana, founded in 1830 near Lake Michigan, it's one of many Midwestern towns shaped by the 19th century railroad boom.
01:26But the rails bring both prosperity and tragedy.
01:31Rail accidents are a major part of the town's history.
01:35Records show around 145 deaths related to accidents from trains.
01:39And that doesn't even count the injuries.
01:40One tragic accident happens on June 11th, 1966.
01:47Four kids and their dog are playing near a trestle when they suddenly hear a train bearing down on them.
01:54The children, they try to outrun the train, but unfortunately, they don't make it.
01:58The town's long history of fatal rail incidents leads residents to fear these tracks could be cursed, perhaps even haunted by a malevolent presence.
02:13Michigan City is hardly alone.
02:15Across the country, sites marked by sudden violent deaths often give rise to local legends.
02:20Like Kentucky's Pope Lick Trestle, the scene of repeated rail fatalities that is said to be haunted by a shadowy figure seen just before tragedy strikes.
02:31And North Carolina's Bostion Bridge, where a late 19th century locomotive disaster killing 22 people still inspires reports of ghostly lights and the sound of a phantom train.
02:45In the wake of such tragedies, many believe that something unexplainable can linger.
02:51That dark belief informs the story of two local teens who attend a party near the Michigan City tracks in 1997.
03:00So I was 17 at the time.
03:02I was a musician in a high school band, and we were the grunge scene of Michigan City, Indiana.
03:09I met Lance, who was totally kind of darker goth musician.
03:14I remember Jason and I both, we were into the same things, same bands.
03:19I remember inviting him to a party.
03:22The party was in the woods, kind of down these tracks.
03:24He said, meet him there, and so I head down the tracks.
03:29At the time, Lance and Jason are unaware of the area's past.
03:33A lot of musicians were there, and they were all kind of jamming out.
03:42Somebody handed me a guitar, and I'm like, oh, cool, I'll play.
03:45But as I started to play this song, I had this really ominous feeling, like something was watching me.
03:54And then this train comes, and when that train went by, and I started to look, that's when I saw it.
04:06I see this seven-foot shadow person.
04:12It's like a black hole, but in the shape of a person.
04:16It's probably 10 feet from me, walking from one tree, turns and looks from me, and goes behind the other tree.
04:23All my, just anxiety, just, it was like flooded into me at that moment, when I saw it.
04:31I wanted to leave.
04:34As I was walking out, I ended up running into Lance and his girlfriend at the time.
04:39I said, hey, I don't know, I'm getting a weird vibe from this place.
04:42I don't want to stay.
04:44Lance said, yeah, we had something weird happen.
04:47I remember we parked my car and headed down these tracks, and the sense that someone was creeping up on us,
04:56like I almost hear like footsteps behind us on the train tracks, like click, click, click, click,
05:00and then I'd stop, and I wouldn't hear him anymore.
05:03I remember seeing Jason there, and I was just like, man, it's kind of creepy out here.
05:09Jason and Lance leave the party, but feel as though something leaves with them.
05:14I went home that night, and I had a weird dream.
05:18In the dream, I was back at the tracks.
05:21There's something, and it looks like the shadow figure I saw.
05:26I wasn't scared in the dream.
05:27I felt like something was calling me to it, like something powerful that wanted me, and it was almost exciting.
05:35The summer passes, but Jason's dreams continue, now joined by a growing curiosity.
05:40So we hit the next school year, and eventually, some point at school, I told Lance,
05:49hey, you know those train tracks where I saw the weather?
05:51I want to go back out there.
05:53He was excited to go out there.
05:55He's like, let's go check it out.
05:57And so it's Friday night.
05:59It was me and him and my girlfriend at the time.
06:02So we start walking down the tracks.
06:04We get down to where the bridge is, and we see a train's coming.
06:08We step off the tracks.
06:11Train comes by, just like it did months before.
06:16And after the train goes, we notice the atmosphere changes.
06:21The bugs that we could hear before were gone.
06:24It was quiet.
06:26There was really no sound.
06:29It felt like something is really wrong here.
06:32And it was at that moment, I saw that Jason was kind of getting away from us.
06:36He was further down the track.
06:38I feel this presence that's been in my dreams.
06:40I can feel it.
06:41It's like there's something with me.
06:44He just started walking out on that bridge.
06:46And I remember just being like, Jason, like, what are you doing?
06:50You know, what's going on with you?
06:52But he seemed to be drawn out there.
06:55He wasn't responding.
06:56He wasn't reacting to my screams, my calls.
07:00In my head, I keep thinking, you brought me out here.
07:03This is your time.
07:04Show yourself.
07:05Jason believes that demand proves to be a grave mistake.
07:10And then it was pitch black behind him.
07:13Just darkness.
07:14It's almost like a shadow formed.
07:16And I just hear Lance scream, no.
07:19He runs up, grabs my arm, and just starts dragging me down the tracks.
07:22I remember running over to him and kind of grabbing him, turning him around.
07:31And it just, it freaked me out.
07:35Lance and her, they just start going, oh, my God, oh, my God, what the hell was that?
07:39And they both, at the same time, are basically describing what they both saw.
07:42This big shadowy mass appear up behind me.
07:48Corey and Lance say they're done for the night.
07:50They just want to go home.
07:51So we left.
07:53I watched Corey's lights of her car disappear out of the driveway.
07:56And I stood there thinking, I still feel this.
07:58I didn't understand what was going on.
08:00And I couldn't shake the feeling of that presence.
08:03Afterwards, Jason's encounters with the shadow figure intensify.
08:08Almost every night, I'd go to sleep.
08:10And in my dreams, I could feel its presence.
08:13By January, it got really dark.
08:16I was very sleep deprived, very not myself.
08:19I had comments all the time, like, what's wrong?
08:22I was looking pretty haggard.
08:23But I didn't know what to do or who to turn to.
08:25So I had broken down to Lance.
08:28He's the only person I figured I could tell.
08:29I do remember him one day, it just was just like, I just feel like it's still with me.
08:35Like, I can't shake this darkness.
08:38At that point, he was losing weight, bags under his eyes.
08:41He's chain smoking.
08:43The relentless encounters pushed Jason to his breaking point.
08:47So it's not too long after that, I finally had enough.
08:51I wanted to sleep.
08:53And before I went to bed, I decided I'm going to talk out loud.
08:57I'm going to tell this thing.
08:58I said, come for me.
08:59Do it tonight.
09:01I dare you.
09:01Do it.
09:02I'm going to fight you.
09:03When I was laying in bed, and I see this thing, it's there, hovering over me.
09:13And this time, I can't move.
09:16It jumps on top of my chest.
09:18And I'm choking.
09:19I'm challenging.
09:20I challenged it before I laid down, and now I'm challenging it here.
09:22I'm going to fight you.
09:23You're not taking me.
09:24I was resisting it.
09:26I started to feel myself rise up.
09:28I feel the tips of my feet touch the ceiling fan.
09:31And then I get thrown back down.
09:34I feel myself shaking on the bed.
09:38I don't think I've ever been more frightened in my life.
09:42I can't fight it.
09:44I can't stop this thing.
09:46What can you do when you're being attacked by evil?
09:49You turn to the only other thing.
09:50If evil exists, God has to exist.
09:53The next time this thing lifts me up, I feel my nose touch.
09:57Like there's a stucco on my ceiling.
09:58I just full on, I'm like panicking inside.
10:02I can't move.
10:02But I can just make my mouth move.
10:05And I just remember going, God help me.
10:07Like that.
10:09As soon as I was able to vocalize it, this bright light swept.
10:14It's like somebody took a spotlight and put it in front of my window and shined it in.
10:19The moment that happened, I felt this warmth, this beautiful warmth around me, a new presence.
10:30The shadow, I heard it scream like it was in pain and then just gone.
10:38It just disappears in that light.
10:41Jason never encounters the shadow figure again.
10:44His sleep and mental health immediately improve.
10:47When you challenge something like this, I definitely invited this thing in.
10:52It was the biggest mistake I ever made.
10:59Harrisville, Rhode Island.
11:01Nestled in the northwest corner of America's smallest state, this rural town offers its 2,000 residents a simple and peaceful place to live.
11:10But that serenity is shattered when Roger and Carolyn Perrone, along with their five daughters, move into a 200-year-old farmhouse, gravely unaware of its dark history.
11:24It all began when the Perrone family starts experiencing strange and frightening disturbances in their home.
11:31Eventually, the story sparks national interest and inspires the film that would bring the case to the world, The Conjuring.
11:40Years later, their eldest daughter, Andrea, writes a series of books about what happened.
11:44According to Andrea Perrone, the trouble begins almost immediately after the family moves into their new home in 1971.
11:55Carolyn says that she notices small but strange things happening inside the house.
12:01She says that her broom keeps disappearing, and someone sweeps up small piles of dirt, and it isn't her or her daughters.
12:11Then, one night when Roger is away, Carolyn recounts being in the living room and feeling this sharp pang in her leg.
12:19It's like a jab.
12:20And she looks down, and there is blood trickling down her leg and a small wound.
12:24She later describes this as feeling as though she had been stabbed by something like a large needle, but there was no such implement anywhere nearby.
12:34But as scary as that is, it's about to get a whole lot worse.
12:41Carolyn's unexplainable injury sets off a period of true terror.
12:46Within a month of moving into the house, the family claims that they're seeing objects flying across the room,
12:51and occasionally also hearing strange snarling sounds from the shadows.
12:56In her book, Andrea Perrone writes that her mother Carolyn becomes convinced their house is haunted.
13:04Desperate for answers, she begins researching the property's history.
13:08She learns that a family called the Arnolds once lived there.
13:13According to her research, one of the Arnold children drowned in a nearby creek.
13:17Another family member hanged themselves in the attic, while another was murdered.
13:25The family discusses moving out around the same time, but it's reported that they had already spent all their money when they purchased the property.
13:32It's at this point, Carolyn reaches out to various paranormal investigators for help.
13:37In 1973, she finds a couple willing to offer their services.
13:43Ed and Lorraine Warren are American paranormal investigators and authors.
13:48They run the New England Society for Psychic Research.
13:51Edward is a self-taught, self-professed demonologist, author, and lecturer.
13:57Lorraine, his wife, professes to be a clairvoyant or a medium, someone who can connect and communicate with spirits.
14:04Together, the Warrens have been associated with many prominent cases of alleged hauntings.
14:10After visiting the house, the Warrens propose holding a seance at the property to help draw out the spirits.
14:19Carolyn agrees, but Roger is dead set against it.
14:24He fears that whatever happens at the seance could make things worse rather than better.
14:29According to family interviews, Carolyn convinces him that it's her last resort and tells him that she can't live like this anymore.
14:37So he reluctantly allows the Warrens to hold the seance.
14:44The Perrons send their children from the home, unsure of what might happen.
14:49But oldest daughter, Andrea, later reveals that she stayed behind, hiding in another room to see what unfolds.
14:56As the seance begins, Andrea describes seeing her mom fall into what appears to be a deep trance.
15:06She says her mother begins to speak in a language that is not her own and she doesn't know.
15:13Carolyn's body contorts and Andrea claims her chair begins to levitate and she's thrown across the room where she lands unconscious.
15:23Andrea recalls seeing her father rushing to her mom's side, terrified.
15:31After checking on Carolyn, Roger then directs his fury at the Warrens, throwing them out of the house.
15:37But things only get worse from there.
15:40After the seance, Carolyn says that she's exhausted and she climbs into bed.
15:44She's just about to doze off when she says she feels a tightness in her throat and pressure around her neck, as if an invisible hand is gripping her.
15:54She says she tries to cry out, but no sound comes.
15:57She can't speak or scream.
16:01Carolyn says the grip continues to tighten as she feels her airway constricting.
16:04She says that she panics and thrashes her legs, but the squeezing continues.
16:10And after several moments of sheer terror, the pressure around her neck eases.
16:20She gasps for air and says she can finally breathe again, but is convinced that the entity is trying to kill her.
16:27The dark episode marks a turning point.
16:32After the seance, the activity in the house spikes and becomes increasingly violent.
16:39Carolyn claims she gets the worst of it and says that she's frequently physically attacked.
16:43She says that she is slapped, pushed, and even stabbed by these unseen spirits.
16:50The attacks become too much for the family to endure.
16:54Under these conditions, Andrea writes that their family begins to crack, with Carolyn and Roger arguing incessantly.
17:05Finally, in 1980, nearly a decade after they first moved in, Carolyn says she tells Roger that she won't survive another winter there.
17:15The family puts the farmhouse up for sale.
17:18They scrape together whatever money they can and move to Georgia to start over.
17:22But they all agree that their time in the house leaves a lasting emotional and psychological impact, especially on Carolyn and Andrea.
17:31Roger Perrone believes the decision to communicate with the unknown was a fatal one.
17:37According to Andrea, Roger goes to his grave regretting ever letting the Warrens into his house and agreeing to the seance.
17:43In Wyoming is the Wind River Mountains, a rugged range that form part of the Rockies and may also be home to the mysterious creature known far and wide as Bigfoot.
17:59The Wind River Mountains are extremely isolated, with peaks rising over 13,000 feet.
18:07It's really this untouched wilderness that is a perfect habitat for big game like elk, bear, moose.
18:15It's in these mountains, in the summer of 1972, that 25 people report seeing this large, hairy primate with giant hands and feet lurking around their properties.
18:29Despite so many similar reports, skeptics continue to doubt the creature's existence.
18:34And the official scientific agencies, which could investigate the claims, refuse to do so.
18:42That is, until wildlife biologist John Mianchinski takes a job with the U.S. Forest Service there and claims he makes a mistake that puts him in direct contact with a creature that defies everything he studied about the natural world.
18:56I first came to Wyoming in 64, when I graduated high school, and then moved here in 67.
19:05My job with the Forest Service was to live with a band of bighorn sheep and study them.
19:12I had been intensively trained by specialists, and my specialty was food habits.
19:18Part of my job was to document where they were, but also why they were there.
19:22In the summer of 1972, John is in the town of Lander, Wyoming, preparing for another study in the mountains, when he says he heads to the Forest Service and gets an unfortunate surprise.
19:34The tent I wanted wasn't there, but I had to take the only tent that was left.
19:38But the assistant ranger said I shouldn't take.
19:42He'd spilled a bunch of hot bacon grease on the side of it accidentally, and it smelled like bacon.
19:48He said, don't take that tent, you'll be bear bait up there.
19:53Bears are all over the Wind River Mountains.
19:56But I had no choice, it was the only tent left, so I took that tent.
20:01It's dark when John arrives at camp.
20:04He decides to wait until morning to wash the bacon grease off of his tent, a decision he will come to regret.
20:11So I set my bacon-stained tent up in a little flat spot that had a lot of pine duff on the ground.
20:18There was a thicket of dog hair pine trees where I'd have some protection from the weather.
20:25So I set my tent up, and then I went to bed.
20:29John says he's asleep until around 11.30, when suddenly he's awoken to a strange sound outside his tent.
20:38I heard the breathing very distinctly, and it was inhaling and exhaling, and sounding like somebody snoring.
20:48It kind of threw me off because I wasn't used to hearing that with animals.
20:53And it went straight to the bacon stain on the side of the tent and started licking it.
20:59This was right by my right shoulder, so I was absolutely sure it was a bear because it went right to the bacon stain,
21:06and that's typical bear behavior.
21:09That got my adrenaline going.
21:12I had a .357 Magnum with me, a pretty powerful handgun.
21:17So that's what I carried for bear protection.
21:22But my intent was to scare it off, so I hit it.
21:27In the nose, I assume it was the nose,
21:30and it ran behind that thicket of dog-haired pints.
21:36This was about 25 feet behind my tent.
21:39So now my eyes were looking at escape routes, but then it came back.
21:46John hits the animal a second time, forcing it to back off once again.
21:51But he can hear that it doesn't go far.
21:53So this was now concerning because it meant it was probably going to try to come back a third time,
22:01and then you're in deep trouble.
22:06When a bear keeps returning to where humans are,
22:09it can mean that that bear is no longer afraid of them,
22:12and this can lead to unpredictable and even deadly conflict.
22:17I know all of these stories, but I had never had a bad encounter with a bear,
22:21and I've always managed to scare them off with not much effort.
22:26So I unzipped my sleeping bag.
22:30I had my hand on the gun, and that's when it came back a third time.
22:40Wildlife biologist John Mianschinski has just scared off
22:43what he believes to be a bear outside his tent,
22:46when suddenly the animal returns.
22:51I had my 357 Magnum on my belly, and my hand on it,
22:58and I actually cocked it.
23:01It was in my hand and ready,
23:03and all of a sudden I could see that it was standing up on two legs.
23:09I could see the hair on the legs move as it walked by.
23:13I could see that its shadow was over the top of the tent.
23:17That meant it was taller than my tent.
23:20It had to be over six feet tall.
23:23John once again hits the bulge on the side of his tent.
23:27But this time, the creature doesn't run.
23:31This animal spun around.
23:33I could see the arm come over the top of the tent,
23:36and it put its hand down on top of the tent.
23:40And I say that because it was not a paw of a bear.
23:44It had an opposed thumb.
23:48It looked exactly like a human hand,
23:51but about twice the size of my hand.
23:54At that point, I knew I was dealing with something
23:56I didn't know anything about.
23:59I couldn't react because I didn't know where to go.
24:02So that's when we collapsed the top of the tent,
24:07and it fell down on top of me.
24:12It was big.
24:14I felt it on my legs.
24:16It was heavy.
24:17My heart was pounding.
24:22I was anticipating it attacking me.
24:27It got up and ran off behind the trees again.
24:30As soon as it got off my legs,
24:33I knew I needed to get out of that tent
24:35and be in a position where I could defend myself.
24:38So I crawled out of the tent
24:40and just looked in the direction
24:42of where I heard the breathing.
24:46Just kind of waited.
24:49John says he stands his ground, frozen in place,
24:53unsure if at any moment the animal
24:55might come charging back out of the woods.
24:58It was middle of the night,
24:59probably 1 o'clock, 1.30 in the morning.
25:02I decided I would just build the fire back up.
25:06I sat there with my sleeping bag
25:08and my gun in my lap.
25:11I'd been on a high adrenaline surge
25:13for almost two hours,
25:15but the adrenaline was wearing down,
25:18and I just dozed off.
25:19So I fell asleep with my gun in my hand.
25:25By the time daylight came,
25:27I didn't feel afraid anymore.
25:29I walked all around looking for evidence of it.
25:33Didn't see anything.
25:34There were no tracks
25:35because the pine duff was eight inches deep,
25:38and animals don't leave tracks
25:40in that kind of surface.
25:41I just couldn't find any physical evidence.
25:45John returns from the mountains
25:47and is met with news he never expected.
25:50I wanted to tell my boss about the encounter,
25:54but when I started to tell the story,
25:56he got up and closed the door.
25:59And what he had to say changed everything for me.
26:04He said,
26:05Well, we have to have a discussion
26:07because while you were gone,
26:09there have been people coming into this office
26:12reporting a large hairy primate
26:15running around your part of the mountain.
26:18And some of them had made the local newspapers.
26:21People are talking about Bigfoot.
26:24And he said,
26:24We've had 25 people report sightings
26:27and nobody's checking on it.
26:30How would you like to take this on as a study?
26:36And that became my job for the rest of that winter.
26:39I was starting to believe that it was a primate
26:41and worthy of a biological exploration in a big way.
26:46I talked to people who I believed were very credible.
26:49John says that during his study,
26:51he collects multiple pieces of physical evidence,
26:54including hair samples he has analyzed
26:56by a forensic anthropologist.
26:58He took the sample and called back
27:00and said,
27:01I've looked at the sample
27:02and here's what I could tell you.
27:04It is definitely a primate hair
27:06and it does not match with any known primate.
27:09End of conversation.
27:12That's the reason I'm still interested in this subject.
27:16John's near fatal mistake
27:18has not deterred his investigation
27:20into the creature he encountered
27:22in the Wind River Mountains that night.
27:24I mean, I'm a wildlife biologist.
27:26I love my work.
27:27I think this is the most interesting wildlife research project
27:31that could possibly happen.
27:34We've got too many stories that are similar
27:36for it not to be a primate running around in the wild.
27:40It just doesn't have to be known yet.
27:42Florida's Ocala National Forest.
27:49600 square miles of swamps,
27:51woods, caves, and waterways
27:53where gators, bears, and birds of prey thrive.
27:58But some locals believe something else lives here too.
28:01A legendary creature they call the skunk ape.
28:06The skunk ape is a creature
28:07that's basically said to be Florida's version of Sasquatch.
28:11It's large, hairy, it's bipedal,
28:14and it's also said to stink like a skunk or like rotten meat.
28:18Although there have been hundreds of alleged sightings
28:20in Florida over the years,
28:22the animal is still not recognized by science.
28:26As far back as the early 1800s,
28:30Florida's Seminole tribe make mention
28:32in their oral traditions of Esty Copchaki,
28:36the furry tall man.
28:37Modern sightings of the monster begin spiking in the state
28:42in the 1970s
28:43after increased media awareness
28:45and even mentions from local politicians.
28:50Law enforcement is inundated with phone calls
28:53and the story even gets coverage
28:55in major papers like the Orlando Sentinel.
28:58A nearby county sheriff is quoted as saying,
29:00there's definitely a problem here
29:02and people are scared to death.
29:04In the summer of 1976,
29:07Leigh Triana Brown knows nothing of this.
29:10She's eight years old,
29:11a girl who loves exploring the outdoors.
29:14As a child, I spent a lot of time outside.
29:17I really liked wild animals.
29:19My dad was a herpetologist
29:21and every summer he worked with
29:23Ross Allen Silver Spring Institute
29:25in Silver Springs, Florida.
29:26This was an animal research facility.
29:30When dad would go out for field studies,
29:31we would all go together.
29:33But this particular situation
29:35was a lot more than I could have ever bartered for.
29:39That summer, Leigh Triana's father
29:41has the family camp out on the Institute's grounds
29:44in a clearing next to thick patches
29:47of forested swampland.
29:49My dad took one of the walkie-talkies
29:52that we kept at the camper
29:53and he went to the compound
29:56while my mom and I were setting up the camper.
29:59Our camper in Station Michael
30:01was parked near a swamp area
30:03at the compound
30:05that was known to have wild animals.
30:08After my mom and I had dinner,
30:10I went out on the dock
30:12that went over into the swamp
30:14and I was just standing there.
30:15I wanted to practice animal calls.
30:17My dad lectured about the languages
30:22that animals have,
30:24specifically alligators,
30:25and that was what we were studying this summer.
30:29An alligator,
30:30they use their throat to make a call.
30:32The baby in distress call is,
30:34ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
30:38Because I'm female and I was youth,
30:41I could make the sound of the baby alligators,
30:44and I believe that's what got me in trouble.
30:46My mom called me back to the camper,
30:50took a shower,
30:50put on my nightgown,
30:52and I rolled the windows out
30:53so I would have the breeze to go through,
30:55and I was laying in my bed,
30:56just scratching the screen.
30:58Oh!
31:00Oh!
31:02And then when the breeze came through
31:04and the smell hit me,
31:05it was almost unbearable.
31:09All of a sudden,
31:09this little hand popped up.
31:11The fingernails were so dirty.
31:20I could see hair on the back of the hand
31:23that was pretty long,
31:24and it was black,
31:25as black as my hair.
31:27My mom came in,
31:29and she saw that hand,
31:31and she flipped out.
31:34She started rolling in all the windows.
31:39She had me by the back of the hair,
31:41pulling me away from the screen
31:43and was holding me,
31:44and the hand started scratching on the glass,
31:48and then it got violent.
31:53He moved from the window
31:54to the outside of the camper,
31:56and he was shoving it.
31:58So he would bump the whole camper,
32:01and we would scream,
32:03go away, go away.
32:06I was terrified.
32:08I honestly thought we were going to die.
32:11Then we hear another creature approach.
32:16It sounded bigger,
32:18and we heard this horrible scream.
32:22The little creature
32:27was screaming back and forth
32:29with the bigger one.
32:30The little one
32:31was hitting up against the camper.
32:33I could hear that he was being hit,
32:35and then I'd feel the jolt.
32:38Then the doorknob started to turn,
32:41and Mom said,
32:43oh, my God, Lee,
32:44we're going to die.
32:49We were sitting in the floor
32:50holding each other,
32:51and I heard the bigger one
32:53scream at the little one,
32:54and I heard this horrible slap,
32:57and then I heard him cry.
33:00We felt something dragging
33:02along the side of the camper,
33:04and then it was quiet,
33:07and they were gone.
33:16And my mom grabbed the walkie-talkie
33:18and called for my dad,
33:19and I went out.
33:21It smelled like swamp water,
33:25and that's when I saw the blood
33:26and the hair on the license plate.
33:29I couldn't believe it.
33:33Lee Triana alleges
33:35that after the attack,
33:37the Institute scientists
33:38collect and log samples
33:40to determine the creature's identity.
33:43They never share their findings,
33:44but Lee Triana says they did reveal
33:47one tantalizing detail.
33:49One of the scientists came by
33:52and told us that there had been a sighting
33:55of a skunk ape.
33:56The researchers at the Institute
33:58were torn between whether or not
34:00the skunk ape actually existed.
34:02They only had tails
34:03and where they had been,
34:05but no real evidence.
34:07So everybody was torn about
34:09the skunk ape sightings in our area,
34:11but my mom and I almost died.
34:14And I think about the pain
34:16that she went through,
34:17feeling like she let me down,
34:18putting us in a dangerous situation,
34:20when clearly I feel like
34:22I'm the one that caused it.
34:23With the calls that I made,
34:25I really feel that
34:26I shouldn't have done that.
34:27September 1st, 2002.
34:34A massive fire erupts
34:36in the San Gabriel Mountains,
34:38just north of Los Angeles,
34:40engulfing more than 20,000 acres
34:42in a matter of hours.
34:46At first, the cause is thought
34:49to be a lightning strike,
34:51but investigators uncover
34:52something far more sinister.
34:55Ritual candles,
34:56surrounding the remains
34:58of a sacrificed animal.
35:02This disaster is known
35:04as the Curve Fire,
35:05and forestry officials
35:07actually say that
35:07it's not uncommon
35:08for pagan rituals
35:09to be performed in the forest.
35:12Officers frequently find
35:13dead animals that have candles
35:16and even scraps of clothing
35:17around them throughout the area.
35:24In the weeks after
35:26the fire,
35:26belief begins to spread
35:28among area locals
35:29that the ritual evidence
35:31found at the fire's origin
35:32may have awakened
35:34a dark entity
35:35in the San Gabriels.
35:39Witnesses would describe
35:41a tall, shadowed figure
35:43with jet black skin
35:45and glowing red eyes
35:46lurking among the burnt trees,
35:49a creature they would say
35:50felt not of this world.
35:55And five years later,
35:57one teenager from nearby Wrightwood
36:00believes she would cross paths
36:02with that same entity
36:03after accidentally summoning it herself.
36:06As a kid, I don't want to brag,
36:10but I was very responsible.
36:12I, like, went to school,
36:13I got good grades,
36:14I wanted to go to college,
36:15and my dad totally trusted me
36:18implicitly, and so did my mom.
36:21That all changes
36:22when Taylor attends
36:23a friend's birthday party
36:25in October 2007.
36:27The party starts out ordinary,
36:29but then she and her friends
36:32make a fateful decision.
36:35I was about 14 or 15
36:37at that time,
36:38and we had done
36:40a Ouija board that night.
36:43Someone suggested it,
36:45and they're like,
36:45you could talk to ghosts,
36:46and I was like,
36:47oh, hell yeah,
36:48like, I want to do that.
36:49I was a Beatles fan,
36:50so I was like,
36:51I want to talk to John Lennon.
36:53I've never done them
36:54before or after,
36:55so I don't know
36:56if this is common,
36:56but it was very
36:57aggressively moving.
36:59This went on
37:02for probably
37:03like an hour and a half,
37:04and after,
37:05I felt really like,
37:06ugh, like, gross.
37:07Like, I shouldn't
37:08have done that.
37:09Three months pass.
37:11With Christmas
37:12around the corner,
37:13Taylor's mom recruits
37:14her and her friends
37:15to help deliver
37:16a secret Santa present,
37:18leaving an anonymous gift
37:19on a neighboring
37:20child's doorstep.
37:22And the whole concept
37:24was that the kid
37:25would be the one
37:25answering the door
37:26and have that magical
37:27feeling of like,
37:28what's this?
37:29And this year,
37:30I chose the kid,
37:31but he lived in like,
37:32deep in the pocket
37:33in the mountains.
37:34The friends that we did
37:35the Ouija board with
37:36had gum with me.
37:39My mom was driving.
37:42Taylor's mom parks
37:43out of sight
37:43at the bottom of a hill
37:44and waits
37:45while the kids
37:46sneak up to the house.
37:50We get out of the car.
37:51I remember the moon
37:55was, like, just massive.
37:59We kind of go around
38:01the bend.
38:03And then all of a sudden,
38:04I had a weird,
38:05immediate, like,
38:06the strongest feeling
38:07of dread I've ever felt
38:08in my life.
38:09And it just completely,
38:10it, like, hit me
38:11like a wall.
38:12I stopped.
38:13And then I heard
38:14what sounded like
38:16something was clawing
38:17at the side of a mountain,
38:19crawling up,
38:19but very fast.
38:22I look to my left
38:24to see if anyone else
38:25is kind of noticing
38:26what I'm noticing.
38:27And I look back up,
38:28and as I look back up,
38:30I saw a hand, arm, shoulder
38:32fly up and over
38:33and come up.
38:37I've never seen anything
38:38like this in my life.
38:39It had searing red eyes.
38:42It came up
38:43from that embankment
38:44at us.
38:45It was crawling
38:46on its hands
38:47and its feet,
38:48and then it just
38:48pushed up
38:49and just stood up
38:50right off the side
38:51of this embankment.
38:55The creature was
38:56at least eight
38:57and a half foot tall.
38:58Its fingers
38:59were incredibly long.
39:02Its shoulder blades
39:03were sticking
39:04totally out of its back.
39:07It felt pure evil.
39:09It felt demonic.
39:11And then took a step
39:12like a person.
39:14That's when the real panic
39:15started to set in
39:16of, like,
39:17I'm going to die.
39:17We all turned
39:20and ran
39:20at the same time.
39:22I remember
39:22the bottoms
39:23of my feet
39:24were hitting
39:24the ground so hard
39:25that I thought
39:25my feet were
39:26actually going to break.
39:27I felt it gaining
39:28on me the second
39:29I turned.
39:30I knew it was
39:31following me fast.
39:32I mean, like,
39:33ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.
39:43We finally got back
39:44and when I swung
39:45open the door
39:45my mom was surprised.
39:47She said that I was
39:48pure terror.
39:51The minute we got in the car
39:52I was screaming drive
39:53and my mom got mad
39:56and said,
39:56I'm not going to go
39:57unless you tell me
39:58what you saw.
39:59And that's when I said
40:00it was a demon thing.
40:01We saw a demon thing.
40:02And I was like,
40:02just go.
40:03So then she threw it
40:04into drive.
40:06The teens run
40:08into Taylor's house.
40:09The commotion
40:10wakes up her dad.
40:11My mom wouldn't
40:13believe me.
40:14She was trying to
40:15get us to go back
40:16to the kid's house.
40:17My dad comes downstairs
40:19and I tell him
40:20what happened.
40:21He goes,
40:21well, if that's
40:23what they're saying
40:24they saw,
40:25I don't want them
40:25to go out there
40:26and I'm not going
40:27to make them
40:27go out there.
40:31Taylor's family
40:32asks her to never
40:33speak about the
40:34encounter again.
40:36But years later,
40:37she posts her story
40:38on social media
40:40seeking corroboration.
40:42I went on Facebook
40:43to talk about
40:43my experience
40:44when I was young.
40:45It got bombarded
40:46with people
40:47from Brightwood.
40:49I'm so glad
40:49you finally put
40:50that thing
40:50on the map
40:51with the glowing
40:52eyes.
40:53I've seen it
40:54before.
40:54It's all black,
40:55right?
40:56Stuff like that.
40:57I was so relieved
40:59when I heard
41:00that other people
41:01had also seen it.
41:03Why would the
41:03creature attack
41:04Taylor and her
41:05friends?
41:06She believes
41:07they unwittingly
41:08conjured it
41:08with the spirit
41:09board months
41:10before.
41:11I think that
41:11it was a mistake
41:12that I did
41:12the Ouija board.
41:13It was really
41:14dangerous.
41:15I think there's
41:16a possibility
41:16that maybe
41:17we alerted it
41:19to our existence.
41:20This haunts me
41:22every day
41:22of my life.
41:24I don't know
41:24what I saw.
41:25I don't know
41:25what it was.
41:26But it will never
41:27leave my mind
41:28until the day
41:29I die.
41:31When it comes
41:32to the unknown,
41:33it's understandable
41:34to want answers.
41:36But curiosity
41:37can lead to choices
41:38with frightening
41:39consequences.
41:40For when we reach
41:42into the dark,
41:43we can't ever
41:44control what
41:45reaches back.
41:46The End
41:48of the End
41:48of the End
41:48of the End
41:50of the End
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