Date: 1977-1980
Location: Northern Wisconsin
In the summer of 1977, an elderly woman sat quietly reading a book on the porch of her cottage in a densely wooded area in northern Wisconsin. Suddenly, an invisible force sent the book out of her hands onto the porch floor. Bewildered, the woman looked about for the source of this mysterious happening. She heard someone laughing. At the edge of the forest stood the form of a huge apelike creature with dark auburn hair all over its body.
"I have been standing here for some time. I did not mean to frighten you; just wanted to get your attention," the creature politely said, as it pleasantly laughed again.
In three separate interviews, this elderly woman explained to me that for four consecutive summers she had telepathic conversations with a giant man-creature she came to know as Bigfoot-Sasquatch! The woman also spoke of seeing UFOs hovering above the trees, as well as hearing an eerie generator noise in the night!
Mrs. Jones' New Friend
Overview
An elderly, gray-haired woman, whom I shall call Mrs. Jones, spent her summers in the northernmost region of Wisconsin in the family cottage. Mr. Jones was not an outdoors person, but he would make the seven-hour drive from Milwaukee each summer, leave his wife at their summer place, and return in five or six weeks. Mrs. Jones enjoyed the quietude of the country and eagerly looked forward to being alone. The cottage was located at the end of an old dirt road at the edge of a wild, forested region. The following story was related to me by Mrs. Jones after much reluctance on her part to discuss the matter. She was fearful of being ridiculed or becoming a public spectacle. She swears her story is absolutely true.
Episode
"It all started in 1977 and was something that I did not understand, that was very confusing, something that I have to keep very secret, even from my husband. He's afraid of stuff like that. This has been difficult for me, as I have not been able to share the details with my husband. I hid it from everyone except my best friend.
"As I told you, the first incident occurred while I was reading a book on the front porch of the cottage. Evidently these Bigfoot creatures have the power to levitate objects, as they did with my book, which flew out of my hands. It was scary, very startling at first, but a kind, warm voice spoke to me in my head. You say it is telepathy, but I don't understand these things. I only have a fifth-grade education. But I do know that he talked to me inside of my head and that was a great revelation. He apologized for startling me and laughed frequently. This relaxed me and I came to realize that he meant me no harm. He became my friend.
"He stood at a distance of about 50 feet, so that I could only see his head and down to about his waist. From what I could judge, he was at least ten feet tall, maybe nine. He was huge. I could see that his hair covered his entire body except the face. His head and shoulders were a dark auburn color with the hair becoming a darker shade of brown on the lower part of his body. His face was similar to that of a man, not quite an ape, more like a man. The things he spoke of were inquisitive and very intelligent, so I knew there was no question that he was a man. His lips of course did not move, as he spoke to me in my mind, and he kept reminding me to think at him. I would think within myself and he would start to answer. Then I knew that, with each thought, he knew what I was thinking. And, in such a way then, we began to communicate. It was a whole new experience for me. The creature smiled frequently but I was not sure who or what he was, so it took some time for me to put into perspective that I was actually speaking to a creature that many would call Sasquatch or Bigfoot.
"I know that the average person would not understand this, and I'm sure our government would want to know of these things. But I'm more afraid of them than I am of this man you call Bigfoot. In fact, he was a friend. He told me that he watched me many times over the previous summers and that he enjoyed listening to my thoughts. Thus I came to trust him and know him some, though there were many things that he would not tell me and hid from me.
"At our very first meeting, out on the porch, I had my pet cat in a small cage on the table beside me. The previous summers I had let my cat loose, but there are many wild animals in the area. Last summer I turned her loose and she did not return for several days. It worried me sick. She kept me company during the time I lived there alone. My cat had the run of the house inside, but when she was outside with me I would place her in this small cage. She understood because she purred and seemed content. The cage was used to transport her up from Milwaukee. So there she was in the cage beside me, keeping me company on the porch, when my friend, the Bigfoot man, began to speak about my cat."
BIGFOOT (BF): What is the animal that you have in that cage?
MRS. JONES (MJ): It is my pet cat.
BF: What is a pet?
MJ: It is an animal that keeps people company. It is something to love and take care of.
BF: If you love it, why is it in that cage?
MJ: I fear it will get lost in the forest or that it will be eaten by a fox or some other wild animal - I only want to protect it.
BF: But your pet must be unhappy in that cage.
MJ: No, she is on her back purring, and to me that means she is very content. She is happy because I am here beside her.
BF: Oh, that pleases me. I did not know that. It is good to be happy.
(Mrs. Jones stands up on her porch to get a better view of her new friend. She walks to the side of the porch and stares while she begins speaking again.)
MJ: Will you please step out from behind those pine trees so I can see you better?
BF: No, I won't.
MJ: Won't you step out? I won't hurt you. I merely want a better look at you so I know with whom I am speaking.
BF: No, I will not step out.
MJ: Why not? You can see me. Here I am - short, fat, and wrinkled up - you can see me in plain sight. You can see my whole body. Won't you show yourself too?
(Mrs. Jones hears a hearty laugh inside her head, not verbally.)
BF: That's a good one. (More laughter.) You said that well about yourself. That's a good one. I must go now, but I will be back another time.
MJ: You will be back?
BF: Yes, I am here frequently but you cannot see me. I am around and always will be around, especially if you need me. I have been watching you for many years. I am always around and know what you are doing. I will talk with you another time.
"It came to pass that a neighbor woman from a few miles away stopped to ask if I needed anything, because I had no car. She would stop to check on me periodically. I told her I needed some fresh milk and several other items, plus the local newspaper. Later she returned and brought me the items I had requested. In the newspaper it told of several remote houses and cottages in the area being broken into. I didn't think much of it until a few nights later. I couldn't sleep, so I got up and went out and sat down on the steps outside by the back door. I sat, smoking a cigarette and looking at the stars, when I noticed what looked like the glow of a cigarette behind the woodshed a short distance away. Then I saw the silhouette of a man, and then the silhouette of a second man pulling the first man back behind the woodshed. Now this was late at night, about 2:00 as I recall, and I was very frightened. I quickly got up, ran inside, locked the door, and shut off the lights. I went into the bedroom and lifted up a floorboard where my husband kept a loaded .22 pistol and a small baseball bat for protection. I grabbed these and walked through the darkness to the living room. By that time, the two men were already on the front porch. One was looking in the window and the other was trying to open the door. I was panicky but kept my cool. I went over and got down behind the couch in the corner and crouched there, pistol in one hand, baseball bat in the other. I just didn't know what to do, but I wasn't going to let anyone hurt me. I could hear the men talking and trying desperately to get in the front door.
"All of a sudden there was a scream. 'God, what is that? Let's get out of here!' At this time the two men fled the porch. One moved so quickly that he fell down the porch steps. I stood and walked to the front door. Through the window I could see the two men running across the field toward an old wood road, where perhaps they had hidden their vehicle.
"I unlocked the front door and poked my head out. There was a terrible stench that was a cross somewhere between rotten eggs and a skunk. The smell was overpowering. When I looked to my left, I got a glimpse of a giant figure walking into the forest.
"The next morning I was sitting on the front porch reading the Bible when Bigfoot arrived and began talking to me."
BF: I was here last night. I told you I would be here whenever you needed me. I could feel fear at a distance. I came immediately. Those men were bad. As I said, I am always here, always around. I always know your thoughts. God bless you.
MJ: Thank you, I am grateful. I was very frightened of those men.
"The following year I began hearing strange noises in the forest. Something like a generator sound. It was real strange. It was like a generator winding up and then immediately winding down again, as if it had a broken part in it. I would sit out on the porch and listen to it winding through the night. Then some nights I would see strange lights above the trees, perhaps what other people would call UFOs. It lit up the entire woods. I had seen them go back and forth over the trees and then leave.
"Later I asked a neighbor friend who hiked up to see me (she had a cottage not far from mine) if she had seen the lights over the trees. She gave me a horrified look, saying that she and her husband observed the lights and heard a frightening howl, so he decided to take a flashlight and investigate. His wife waited on the porch. Minutes later he came running back with a look of terror on his face. When I asked her what he saw, she immediately withdrew and refused to discuss it further. She did not come back to visit me for the rest of the summer.
"A few days later I was again sitting on the front porch when my big friend came to visit me. The creature stood in his usual place where I could see only his torso with his usual wide grin."
MJ: Hello, I have not seen you for a while.
BF: Yes, I know.
MJ: Where have you been?
BF: I cannot tell you.
MJ: What were the lights I saw over the trees the other night?
BF: It is none of your business. (He said this in a kindly tone.)
MJ: I won't tell anyone about the lights, but I am real curious. Was it a space ship? And what was the strange howling when it came over? Was that you?
BF: It is none of your business. It is not for you to know.
"We spoke of many things that day, but he would not tell me about the eerie generator noise, nor about the strange lights in the woods.
"We spoke several other times over the summer. He came two days before my husband was to pick me up, and I told him that I would be going back to the city soon."
MJ: I will miss you, dear friend, for I will have to go soon. My husband will be picking me up in a couple of days.
BF: What is a husband?
MJ: He is the man who brought me here. He's the one I'm married to who cares for me.
BF: Oh, you mean your mate. Yes, that man. I know of him.
MJ: I will be back again, perhaps in the spring.
BF: What is spring? I do not know that word.
MJ: Spring is the season right after winter.
BF: I do not understand your words.
MJ: It is the season right after the snow melts.
BF: What is the word snow?
MJ: It is when the ground becomes white all over and is cold.
BF: Yes, I understand. But what is spring?
MJ: Spring is when the water has the ability to flow again. When the water is free to move and the weather gets warm.
BF: Oh, now I understand spring. Now I understand (gives a hearty laugh). That is a good one. I like how you explain that. Yes, that is a good one.
"Later, when my husband picked me up, I told him I must say good-bye to my friend in the forest. I told him I was going to walk down a small trail not far from the lake. My husband understood but he did not want to discuss it. These things frightened him. He couldn't discuss it. He sat quietly in the car reading a newspaper while I walked into the woods to look for Bigfoot. I walked some distance and then sat down under a tree for a short spell. In my mind I began telling him I was leaving now and wanted to say good-bye, hoping that we would talk again next year. He answered me immediately, though I could not see him. He said he had enjoyed talking with me and would indeed see me the following year. I was so happy. There was something beautiful about his words that gave me a warm feeling about this man. There was a true sense of love. I really did not want to go back to Milwaukee, to the city, to all the people.
"I turned to walk back toward the cottage but, after only a few steps, I heard a noise behind me. When I turned around Bigfoot was just 10 or 12 feet from me, walking back into the forest. Now I don't know why, but I didn't see him there all the time I was sitting talking to him. I don't know where he came from. He was just there very suddenly. I don't understand why I didn't see him before then. He just appeared out of nowhere.
"It came to pass that these summers meant a lot to me. I always looked forward to going back to speak with my friend again. In 1980, when I returned, we arrived late at the cottage and it was dark. While getting out of the car, I saw a huge shadowy figure standing in the trees. My husband and I went in the house in order not to disturb the creature. We were busy arranging our groceries and clothing. Suddenly, we heard a heavy thump against the side of the building. I was not frightened because I knew it was my friend letting us know that he was there. However, my husband became quite upset. I told him not to worry, that Bigfoot was a friend, and, as usual, my husband said: 'I don't want to talk about it.' I spoke to Bigfoot only one time that summer and I was very disappointed. In fact, that was the last time we talked. He said they were leaving and would go to a different area now. He said there were too many people, too much activity in the area, and he had to leave, as it was no longer safe for him. My friend promised that, if he was in the area again, he would visit me.
"I have not told others of this experience because I feared people would not believe me. I don't want anyone making fun of me. This was an experience that I'll never forget and in many ways has changed my life."
