SC EP:1220 The Fort Benning Incident

Tex writes "I am currently serving in the United States Army as an Airborne Infantry soldier with the 82nd Brigade, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Growing up, I had several strange experiences in the woods moments that didn't make sense at the time but, looking back now, could very well be connected to Bigfoot or Sasquatch. My most significant encounter, however, occurred in January of 2025 during a field training exercise with my basic training company at Fort Benning, Georgia. What happened wasn't a single sighting, but encounters with what I believe were three separate beings possibly a small family group of Sasquatch inhabiting the forested outer edge of the base. I'd heard plenty of stories about unusual activity on Fort Benning and other military installations, but I never imagined something like this would happen to me especially not with a witness alongside me. During one night in our patrol base, we had contact with two large entities. We fired blank rounds, and things quickly escalated into complete chaos. The following day, while conducting a patrol as a two man team, my buddy Hal and I encountered something large, upright, and covered in shaggy dark reddish-brown hair. It was partially concealed behind a tree at our 10 o'clock position, approximately 50 meters away, watching us as we slowly backed toward our patrol base. We both knew exactly what we had seen. We agreed not to say anything to the rest of the squad at least until our Drill Sergeants called us in for a serious, in-depth conversation. Some of the things they said and implied made it feel as though they already knew what was out there and wanted the incident kept quiet. I would be more than willing to speak with you further about this experience, and it would be an honor to be on the show."

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Speaker 00

  It looked like somebody was bent over and had their head in the window of the deer blind and it either heard me or smelt me and he pulled his head out of the tent and stood straight up and that, that shocked me.

• 0:24Speaker 00

  They don't make people that, that big.

• 0:31Speaker 01

  The way it moved, almost as if it was gliding across the beach. I've never seen anything move like that in my life.

• 0:45Speaker 01

  They were screaming at each other in gibberish.

• 0:49Speaker 01

  It sounded like a language and they were chuntering away, back and forwards, back and forwards, back and forwards.

• 0:56Speaker 01

  I know what a bear looks like and there is no way on this planet that what I saw bears.

• 1:14Speaker 02

  911, what are you reporting?

• 1:16Speaker 03

  Jesus Christ, you better... Karen, see ya!

• 1:19Speaker 02

  Hello?

• 1:20Speaker 03

  Get somebody out here!

• 1:22Speaker 02

  What's going on now, sir?

• 1:23Speaker 03

  That son of a bitch is about six foot nine, I don't know.

• 1:26Speaker 02

  Do you see him now, sir?

• 1:27Speaker 03

  Yes, I'm looking right at him. Uh-oh.

• 1:33Speaker 04

  Hey, Squatchers, this is Ian from the sunny southern US and you are listening to the best show in the world, Dassquatch Chronicles.

• 2:11Wes Germer?

  Welcome to the show. Tonight, we'll be speaking with Tex. And about a year ago, he was training on Fort Benning out there in Georgia and had a run-in with this creature. And again, this was during a military training exercise. And I'll kind of let Tex go into it. It's fascinating how the base reacted to their encounter. If you've had an encounter, and you'd like to be on the show, shoot me an email. My email address is [email protected]. And if you get a chance, check out sasquatchchronicles.com. You can become a member and get additional

• 2:51Wes Germer?

  shows. Let's jump into it tonight. I want to welcome Tex to the show. Tex, thanks for coming on.

• 2:58Speaker 06

  Thanks for having me, Wes.

• 3:00Wes Germer?

  Yeah. And before we get into your encounter, you know, thank you so much for your service to our country. I really wish, one of my biggest regrets, I wish I could go back in time. I'd have been right there with you guys. But thank you so much for your service.

• 3:15Speaker 06

  Yes, sir. Well, I appreciate it. It's a family heirloom for me. It runs in the family. I have military all throughout my family. So when I turned 18, I heard my call and I said, you know, I gotta go do this. And I'm glad to do it so that, you know, those that I love and that I hold truly don't have to.

• 3:34Wes Germer?

  Absolutely. If you would, Tex, just kind of start from the beginning. You're out there in Fort Benning, Georgia. We're going back about a year ago. What were you doing and what happened?

• 3:47Speaker 06

  Yes, sir. I joined into Fort Benning in the autumn, fall of two thousand twenty four. During this time, uh, it was kind of the winter season and we were taking a field event. I think we rucked about sixteen miles or so and uh, we rucked out. We're down in the uh, we're on the uh, outer parcel, outer edge of the base, so heavily wooded hills, you know, country, it's out, away from civilization. So when we got in there and our, all our teams, we had, uh, we had five different companies. And every company, they wanted to set up in a different spot.

• 4:24Speaker 06

  That way, if we were to get blown out by um, the enemy, which would be the drill sergeants at the time, uh, that way, if one team gets blown out, they can't find, um, they can't find our spot. So most of the other platoons, they put their uh, patrol bases or PBs in close proximity to the main area. We took about a mile ruck farther back off um, and uh, back in the woods. Um, it, it was a little bit farther for us if, if we had to go get chow or if we had to go up to the uh, ammo point or control point for any reason, but it was well worth it. Um, and because uh, two reasons, one, I don't think this would have happened to us if, if uh, we hadn't been that deep.

• 5:05Speaker 06

  And two, um, our uh, our, our position was not, not known until almost the last day there, so it was um, it was definitely very good to, to get back in there. So uh, taking into what happened, it was roughly uh, twelve o'clock. We had our patrol base, which is the shape of a triangle. That way, on each point, we have our high casually producing weapons, which are our uh, our saw two, four, nine, shooting a five, five, six millimeter. And our two forties uh, shooting at seven, six, two. All the, all the ammo we had was blank, it was no, no live, um, but it's still, it's still substantial, um, still has a substantial kind of uh, noise, if you would.

• 5:45Speaker 06

  Um, the two forty, it's, it's loud, you, you can hear it for well quite a ways when it, when it goes off. And so we had those at each of the corners. We had six squads in our patrol base and we had roughly six to eight troops in each squad. In our platoon, I think it, it added up to close to about sixty people. We're pulling security. We, when we do security, we don't do, um, you know, one person here. It's, we, we take sleep schedules so that some people can sleep. We do a rotation so that equal amount of people are pulling security. And, um, at this time on our line, we were, uh, my line was, um, so, so let me tell you where we were stationed. We were, there was a draw, kind of a, a draw on these two hills.

• 6:30Speaker 06

  And at the bottom of the draw was a creek. It wasn't super deep. Um, it was, it was kind of muggy and stuff, but we were on this hillside. And my line was facing parallel with the creek going along the, um, along the mountainside. And so we had, uh, we had every other man on security at that point. And so, um, my buddy to my right, he was, he was out, buddy to my left, he was sleeping. But the guy on the opposite side or right after him, he was awake. Uh, in this situation, actually what had happened was, uh, my buddy Hal was, uh, the first one to, um, have seen, um, this, this, this movement at first.

• 7:12Speaker 06

  So we were sitting there, uh, woke up at roughly 12 o'clock. That was the start of my fire guard shift, uh, or security shift. And I, when we're sitting there, we, you know, you're trying to stay awake. You're just, you're looking out in the tree line. You're looking for movement. We're all thinking the same thing. Like, you know, no one's going to come in. We're way back here. You know, this is, this is dumb. Why, you know, why am I here? Why are we doing this? Um, and so we have, we use, uh, we use night vision. We call them nods. It's, uh, night optical devices. They mount on our helmets. And so they flip down, they flip up. And so I could see better without them. Uh, I was having trouble seeing with them because looking at them, yeah, it lights up a little bit.

• 7:56Speaker 06

  And there's a little bit of moonlight that night. It was also partially cloudy too. So the, the moonlight, um, wasn't coming through bright, you know, as, as it would be. Um, but you could still see probably for about to 10 to 15 yards, uh, in the tree line. And so at first, I, I want to say it was probably around 12:45. Um, we had.

• 8:20Speaker 06

  There were some kinds of movement out in our twelve o'clock and our ten o'clock from where I was sitting. Uh, where we're sitting at, we had to dig these up. We had to dig foxholes, which those people that don't know that it's just a hole that we dig out. Uh, that way you can lay your body in it, but you can still lean up over the burn. That way, if you're getting shot at, you can get down in the hole, but still shoot. Um, and so on the burn in front of me, it's just, it's just dirt that I dug up. And then it's a little open, it's leaves, and then it goes to the tree line about ten, ten yards away. I had heard movement, uh, it sounded, sounded like someone walking, but it wasn't like walking, uh, like a person walking.

• 9:02Speaker 06

  Usually if you have a guy walking, they'll take two steps, they'll stop, or they'll walk through, you know, oh, I'm making noise, you know, you know, I'm here. And so it was more of like, like slow, one step, kind of slow, deliberate. And, um, and I looked over at my buddy Hal and I'm like, hey, are you hearing this? And he's like, yeah, I'm hearing it. And then he's like, I'm like, do you see anything? He goes, no, I can't see anything. We're looking out, we, he had his, had his nods down. I had my nods down up. We were looking out. We couldn't see a thing. It was. Uh, and I'll tell you, I'll tell you what, it was, it was pretty bright that night. Honestly, it was, uh, like the moonlight was coming down. Partly cloudy, but you could still see, you know, you could see really good without the, the nods and with the nods, maybe a little bit better. Um.

• 9:46Speaker 06

  And so as we're sitting there, I started hearing like thuds in front of me. And I was, I wasn't really sure of it, so I leaned up out of my foxhole and there's these pebbles about probably about the size of my thumb. And they're laying in front of me on top of the dirt. And I'm, I'm thinking to myself, I was like, did I dig these up? Like, I, I don't remember digging these up. And I look over at Hal to tell him about it and another one lands right there again. And I watched it roll as it hit the first hip and then rolled up on the burn. And I'm looking out in the woods and I'm like, who's, who's out here throwing rocks at us?

• 10:25Speaker 06

  And so I look over to Hal and I tell him, hey, man, someone's throwing rocks at me. And he goes, dude, I have a freaking stick laying in my foxhole. And I'm like, what are you talking about? He goes, I'm telling you, dude, a stick just hit the top of my burn and rolled in my foxhole. And I'm like, all right. I said, just, just call in security, tell me if you see anything. And, uh, so we're sitting there. And then um Hal says, hey, I got some contact. And I'm like, what do you, what do you see? What do you see? And we have to call it the um, the three L's, which are three D's, distance, direction, and um, description. And so he calls out, it's basically right at his 12 o'clock,

• 11:06Speaker 06

  just about, maybe, maybe 10 yards, maybe 15 yards. And there's a, there's a big pine tree and in, of course, in the woods, you know, you have small pine trees, big pine trees. Well, there's this one big pine tree, uh, probably about a three to four foot diameter. And on his angle, he's looking straight at it, but for me, I'm looking, I'm over to the right of it. So whatever's behind it or next to it, I, I can only see partial, you know, I can't really see what the angle is. He's looking dead on it. And he goes, dude, I'm looking at a boulder. And I said, a boulder? So there's no boulders out here on the edge of a hillside. There's no rocks anywhere out here.

• 11:47Speaker 06

  He goes, dude, I'm telling you, there is about an eight foot tall boulder sitting here right in front of me. I'm like, was it there earlier? And he goes, no, there, there wasn't anything here. And I'm like, okay, just watch it. And then he calls out to it. Um, so basically, we have a, uh, when you're in a patrol base, uh, if, if anybody in the patrol base wants to leave, go to the bathroom, stuff, they'll tell somebody. But when they come back, we have something called a challenge code and a challenge password. And it's a, it's basically um, consists of two word, one or two words that uh, whoever's in the, on the security line, they shout out to the person coming in. And the person coming in will know it. They'll answer with that code and we'll, we'll know, hey, that's a friendly, bring them in.

• 12:32Speaker 06

  If not, if they don't answer with it, it'll be an enemy and that's when we, we take fire on them. And so he caught, he uh, he, he threw out the challenge password and there was nothing, no movement, no, no words, nothing. And he threw it out again. And after the sec, we don't have to do it two times, but usually we do it two times just to make sure. After that second time, I put my gun on fire because I knew, I knew we were about to light up. And there was no response and then he started popping off rounds. I started popping off rounds. About that time, when, when you hear one or two M4s going off, whoever's on the, on the corner of the triangle, the two 40s or two 49s.

• 13:13Speaker 06

  It's a, it's a belt. They're, they're both belt fed. Uh, they're like machine guns. And so they start firing off. They, they're just firing out in the direction. They're not firing in our direction. They're just firing out. So we're all, we're all, all shooting. As in our, in our line of, our line of fire where we're at. And at that point, everyone starts waking up. There's a bunch of shouting, a bunch of this. You know, everyone's shooting. Everyone's contact, contact 12 o'clock. And, um, you know, everyone's, you know, kind of distressed and stuff. And how, how stopped shooting? And, uh, and he's not out of ammo. He shot, I think he shot up on, uh, on semi-auto, but it was, you know, it was repeatedly.

• 13:52Speaker 06

  Um, he shot maybe 10, 15 rounds out of his mag and he stopped shooting. And I'm like, how, pick your gun up. And he goes, it's running. And I'm, I'm just, I'm shooting, I'm shooting. And they're like, all right, stop shooting, cease fire, cease fire, cease fire. So we all yell cease fire. We do the, the motion for cease fire. And it sounds like a locomotive barreling down this valley. Down into the ridge, um, or down in the draw, moving up towards the ridge. I mean, it was, it was breaking branches. It was thuds. And when it hit that water, we thought, we thought a tree had fallen over and landed in the creek of how, how big the splash sounded. It was.

• 14:34Speaker 06

  It was, it was, it was ridiculous how big this thing was. And, um, so at that point, we're still sitting there. I asked, Hal asked me, did you see that? Did you see that? I'm like, no, man, I, I didn't see anything. I'm, I'm sitting on this tree. And I can only see so much. And he goes, dude, it was like an eight foot tall boulder and it was just sitting there. And he said, when I started firing, it got up. Like it, it, he goes, it didn't like stand up like with his knees. It just turned and took off. And I'm like, I'm like. I'm like, that's, that's not possible. I'm like, you're seeing stuff now. Your your sleep deprived. He goes, dude, I'm telling you that boulder got up and took four steps and it was gone.

• 15:14Speaker 06

  And I said, I said, dude, I I don't know what's going on here. And and so our PG, which is our platoon guy, he come over. And he asked us, hey, you know, what happened? All this? So we told him like, hey, we had some contact. We don't know what it was. It was a boulder. And my my PG is like, are you guys high right now? Like, like, what what are you talking about? There's no boulders out here. And how's telling them like, dude, I'm telling you, it was it was an eight foot tall boulder and it turned and ran. And and and my PG goes, oh, you must have saw Bigfoot. And and everyone starts laughing and stuff. And yeah, we we I kind of giggled about it too and stuff. Um, but it was it was just ironic because, you know, that's that's how this guy is gonna. In in that situation, um, a a lot of people would understand. But uh, for military guys, we

• 15:58Speaker 06

  we we want to get through a situation, whether it's like stressful or sad or something, we would joke about it. And then, uh, you know, because laughter brings up the spirits and stuff. And so he said that and we all kind of started giggling and stuff. And then our senior drill sergeant comes barreling down uh, down the draw. And uh, we yelled out the challenge password and and uh, he didn't know it either, but he told us, he's like, hey, yeah, yeah, you know, you know, shut the hell up, shut the hell up. It's me, it's me. And he's like, I'll I'll start smoking all you. You start shooting at me. And uh, and we didn't want to get smoked. So all right, let's not shoot. Now we're good. PG said, don't shoot, don't shoot. So um, he comes in and asks us, we our PG goes and tells him, you know, talking about what it what happened.

• 16:40Speaker 06

  How told him what happened. I told him, you know, hey, you know, I saw, I didn't really see anything, but I heard it. And how was the only one that really, you know, had the situation, you know, he was actually able to see it. And he was, he was shook up. He was like, when we were all laughing, he did not think it was it was funny. He was sitting there. He was, he didn't know what to think. He just, he was sitting there staring at the dirt pretty much. I'm just not, not like if he saw a ghost, but like. I think he was just contemplating his life decisions at that point. It was it was kind of like he just he didn't know he didn't know what had happened. I think he was in a state of shock. And um, and so I I jumped out of my hole because we're all up. We're moving around, you know, our position's been sold. We know they know where we are now. So.

• 17:24Speaker 06

  I jump out of my hole. I go to him. I I tap him and he kind of jumps and jolts at me. I'm like, dude, like, calm down, calm down, you know, just breathe. It's me, you know, drink some water to calm down, calm down. I took his M four away from him because even though it's blank, I don't want him firing off around and then all us all getting smoked and stuff. So. Took his his weapon off him and that's when I pulled his mag out um because I I thought he ran out of ammo. That's why it stopped shooting. And um, I look in there and there's still rounds in it. And I'm like, I'm like, dude, like you have rounds in here. And he goes, dude, I had to stop shooting this thing. The I mean, he goes, it's it's not real bullets, but. It's it's still like, I I had to stop shooting like I I I couldn't shoot. My body would not let me shoot anymore.

• 18:07Speaker 06

  My buddy Hal, he's he's a Texas boy. He um, he's he good old strong boy. I mean, he he come up hunting, you know, he they're out there. He ain't afraid of just about na- you know, damn near nothing. And um, I could tell this really like really shook him up. And he was not about it. And so um, we ended up, everyone was up for the next two hours pulling um, pulling security. And then we went back into rotation and stuff. I I ended up going to sleep. I think I I wasn't on any more security detail that night or that morning and um. And then I don't know when I went to bed, I looked over at uh. I looked over at Hal and he had wrapped himself in his blanket, but he was still sitting up. And I'm like, Hal, just lay down, go to sleep, dude.

• 18:51Speaker 06

  And he's like, I'm not, I'm not closing my eyes. I'm I'm I'm there's something out there. I'm I'm not doing that. And I'm like, all right, dude, you snooze, you lose. And I kind of joked with him, I you know, I went to sleep and. And then um, we woke up, we went to chow and all that, you know, day went on, we did training and stuff. That day, he he kind of, he kind of got better, you know, it was daylight, he felt good. Um, you could tell when we were on movements, we um, so wh- when we move, we move in different formations. We have the wedge. Where it's kind of like a triangle and then we have a file where it's just a line of us. We're all spaced out and then we have staggered where it's two lines on the on either side of of the road if we're on a road, but it'll be every like it'll be offset. Um, so we're not so that

• 19:32Speaker 06

  way of, you know, someone gets shot or there's an explosion uh from a grenade or three twenty. Uh, not everyone is injured. It's more so just that guy, whoever's there. That way the other guys can have more more space to run or take cover. And so, um, we were moving a file because we were moving through the woods. There wasn't a lot of trail and we're moving down this game trail and Hal Hal's about two guys behind me. Um, cause you know, we're on the line. We as we walk up, when we walk up to a patrol base, um, and we set our our uh position, where we set our position, that's where we're at to lay down. So that's, that's where our foxhole is going to be at. And so, uh, when we pulled up, you know, we covered our holes back in and we all

• 20:15Speaker 06

  moved out and said, uh, we don't meet up at one point and then just take off. We pick up, grab our gear. We all take one step back. We kick some leaves and stuff over our holes and then as a line and we move out. The same as we came in, we just move out. And so we moved out and um, and so he was about two guys behind me and I looked behind me and asked the guy. I was like, hey, man. Hey, check on Hal. You know, is he all right? And he goes, dude, he's he's not talking to nobody. He hasn't said a word all morning. And um, and so I talked to him a little bit, dude. Hey, we got training today. Okay. You got to clear your head. Cause you know, there's there's guys here. Um, we had, we had a guy, um, we called him Charlie and uh, and he was, he wasn't, he wasn't a bad guy. He just, he wasn't really, he wasn't all there in the head. He was,

• 21:00Speaker 06

  he wasn't mentally strong. And I was like, you remember what happened to Charlie? And he's like, yeah, I remember what happened to Charlie. I'm like, all right. Don't be like Charlie today. Today's going to be a good day. Last night's over. We're going to get this done. We're going to train and then we're going to go home. I said, when we get home, you're going to love how good that hot shower feels. You're going to have some good food. We're going to be hanging out. You're going to love it. And he's like, all right, you know, and he kind of shook it off. Anyway, so um, our, my second, second part of that is. Uh, it was probably about a day. I think it was about two days later. Me, it was me and Hal again. We were on patrol. We were doing a, a nighttime patrol, but it wa- it was a, it was a security patrol. It was a two man security patrol. And so

• 21:42Speaker 06

  we had, we'd moved out from our, our main patrol base, which we actually had a moved patrol base because after we, we fired all the shots, we fired out. That, that spot was burnt out. So we have to end up moving. Um, and so we ended up moving. Uh, we moved probably about, I think it was, I think we moved closer back towards camp. Uh, just, just farther up on like the ridge line of where we were. And, um, we, we did the same thing. We were on the other side of a draw. Uh, but a little bit higher up on, on elevation. That way if something happened, we could get more elevation on, uh, on where we are. Me and Hal had to take security. Uh, we took patrol and how our patrol worked at the time is uh, we could wanna do it one of two ways. We could do clover leaf or we kind of do a circle, come back in and then again.

• 22:26Speaker 06

  And then just make a big clover leaf. Um, but you know, how's like, hey man, I want to clear my head. You know, let's just, let's get some space, get some air. So we just kind of did a big circle, kind of ran our, our perimeter. Wes, I've been, I've been in the woods almost all my life. I know about hunting. I know about tracking. You put me on a trail. Or you drop me in the middle of the woods, in the middle of the nowhere, and I'll find my way to civilization one way or another. And there was a time when we were walking in the woods and I'm like, I do not know where we are. And Hal, Hal's a good old country boy. He's a good old Texas boy, but he's not, you know, he's not really inclined when it comes to navigation wise in the woods. And not just that, it's nighttime. You know, he, you can tell he's jittery, he's, he's nervous.

• 23:08Speaker 06

  And I have keep having to like, I keep having to grab him, kind of shake him out of like, hey man, you know, I'm here, we're walking, we're fine, we're good. And, um, he, he's just, he's on edge and, and I, I, I can see why. And after, after he had then encountered that, that shock. Um, I would not blame him at all. And, um, and so we, uh, we were walking out. And I can't remember how far from base, uh, from the patrol base we were, but we were, we were off a good, you know, we were off uh, at least, at least a couple of meters. Um, maybe a little bit more. And, um, we were, we were walking off. And so. We're heading down this game trail and we're at the top of this ridge.

• 23:50Speaker 06

  I said, hey, let's take this valley. Let's go down the mountain into this draw and then we'll walk the creek. Back up, we'll go up to the, up to where the patrol base is and then we're done. So we'll call it there. He goes, all right. So we got off the ridge line and started walking down and um. As soon as we dropped down, probably about, I don't know, ten yards off the ridge line. The air turned colder and everything was dead quiet. I kinda noticed at first, I, I noticed when, when the sound of my boots hitting the leaves were a lot louder. And I put my hand back to tell him to stop. He stopped and he's like, what, what, what do you see?

• 24:30Speaker 06

  I'm like, be quiet. I'm like, you hear that? And he goes, no. I said, exactly. There was, there was not a, not a word. There was not a bird. Usually at that, you know, at that hour, you'll have birds, you know, a couple of birds or an owl flying around. You'll hear the. Um, you'll hear the bugs and such and the water was just down to the bottom. And there, there was no wind. There was nothing and it was just dead quiet. And I looked at him. I said, dude, this, this is eerie. This, this isn't right. And he goes, he goes, we need to get out of here. I'm like, all right, just calm down. I said, we're almost there. Let's go down here and then we'll take a laugh. We'll, we'll go, head back up the creek. And um, and sure enough, so we're walking and. I stopped. He stopped.

• 25:15Speaker 06

  And something else. Did one step and stopped and we both snapped our heads to the right and it was right at our three o'clock. And I said, dude, there's something over there. And he goes, yeah, I've been hearing it, but I didn't want to say anything. I'm like, why didn't you say something? He goes, dude, I'm just, I, I don't want to say anything about it. I didn't want to think you're, you know, you think I'm hallucinating. And I'm like, all right. And um, and about that time, we heard a tree snap. At our six o'clock. So totally behind us, probably about 10 yards back. About where that ridge line was. So it was up on the ridge line. So whatever it was, there was something on the ridge line behind us. And there was something on our three o'clock, um, probably about 10 yards off. And 10, 15 yard.

• 25:57Speaker 06

  But at the time, we couldn't use white lights. We couldn't use flashlights. We had red lights that we could use. Uh, that way it's very low visibility, uh, not only for us, but more so for the enemy. It's a lot harder for your eyes to adjust to them. And so I'm trying to my red light out, but I can only see like maybe a foot in front of me and it's just woods right here. I'm like, okay, I can't see anything. I said, I just follow me and I watch my hands. I'll, I'll throw up a hand signal, you know, for, for halt and then for freeze. And so, um, so we're moving. I took three, four steps and I can hear it off to my right side. It's about, I mean, it's, it's, it's substantially large. Um, whatever it was at, at, at that point, I was not sure, but

• 26:40Speaker 06

  I was like, all right, you know, and, and this entire time I'm thinking in my head, I'm like, what's going quiet? Air change. I'm like, this, this sounds like a bad story, you know, I've, I've, I've listened to your show for, for, for, ever since it started coming out. I've always been super intrigued with Bigfoot with Sasquatch. Um, I've always watched the, you know, history channels on and all. And I'm like, you know, I've heard about this stuff where I, I, you know, this, this doesn't seem like coincidence. And we're headed down. Well, we get down to halfway down this draw and I stop and he, and he's like, he starts coughing. And I'm like, do you smell that? And he goes, dude, there's something dead around us. I'm like, yeah. And then we kind of start, we, we, we do a little circle. So we trying to see if it's like a dead, dead deer, you know, something dead or whatever.

• 27:26Speaker 06

  And there's nothing, not a trace or nothing. And he goes, dude, it's really, really strong. Like it's stronger than when we were up there, you know, coming down. And I'm like, well, here's the thing though, if it was a dead animal and it's down in this draw, the wind's gonna move down this draw and up over this mountain. So we would have smelled it on the ridge, but we're not smelling it till we're getting just down here. And he goes, yeah, he goes, I don't know, dude. And I'm like, all right. So, um, I'm like, you, you still hearing that? He goes, whatever it is, it's paralleling us and there's something behind us. He goes, dude, we need to get out of here. And I said, all right, let's, let's get out of here. Well, um, we got down, we kept going down. As we were getting down, the smell was getting stronger and whatever was behind us until our right.

• 28:07Speaker 06

  Was closing in close. I mean, it was getting real close. Um, we couldn't see anything. You look behind you. That night it was a lot darker. It was, it was really, really cloudy. Uh, there was almost no moon. It was, it was almost pitch black. And whatever it was, it sounded like I could have reached out and touched it with how, how close these steps sounded. But we turned around and there's, there's nothing there. It's just, there's just a trail. Um, and so, well, all right, let's keep moving. I told Hal, I said, hey, you get in front of me. That way I can keep an eye on you. So you don't run off or do anything stupid. And Hal gets in front of me. And I said, don't, don't take big strides. And I said, whatever you do, do not run. And, and I'm like, you know about how praise are, how prey and predator are, and you run.

• 28:52Speaker 06

  Whatever that predator is, it thinks you're prey running and it has a natural instinct. That takes over and it's going to chase you and then maul you. And then you're, you know, you're screwed. I said, whatever you do, do not run. And I said, not just that. But if you leave me here, I'm going to kill you when I get back to base. And he goes, yeah, yeah, you know, you know, we, and you know, I'm not doing that. And, uh, not just that, but when we move out, we, uh, in, in basic, you have to do a, a battle buddy system. So wherever you go, you have to have at least one person with you. And this is a precautionary thing that makes sure, you know, something that. Something doesn't happen to one of the other guys. And so if he would have showed up without me, he would have really been, you know, screwed over. We both would have got screwed over. And, um.

• 29:32Speaker 06

  And so I'm like, hey, you know, just don't run, don't leave me here. And, you know, don't take up whatever you do, don't run. I said, if it's a bear, you know, whatever this is, if you take off running. One, it's going to catch you because we're going up the hill and two. You know, it's, it's not going to turn out great for us, man. He was like, all right, I won't run. I said, just stay close with me. And so we started moving up and whatever was at our three o'clock. And then whatever it was at behind us, uh, when we turned left, that would put. The, our six o'clock at our nine o'clock and our three o'clock at our six o'clock. So it kind of moved. It kind of moved in a rotation when we took a left and we started walking and whatever it was now was at our nine o'clock,

• 30:16Speaker 06

  at our six o'clock and out of the three o'clock. So we had three of something stalking us. And I'm like, dude, this, this is not good. And I said, all right, here's what you're gonna do. I'm gonna stand right here. And I'm gonna be day quiet, lights out, turn your light on, and I want you to take about ten to fifteen steps up there, up the trail, you know, not, not too, too far. Just keep your light on. And I'm gonna sit here and listen and see if it follows. And he goes, all right. And I said, all right, go ahead. So he, he walks off. And I'm standing there, nothing, not a movement. No, there's no sound. There's, there's just nothing.

• 30:55Speaker 06

  And that sense now is, is about the same as, as when we got to the bottom, the, the draw, where it's still really, really strong. It's, it's more of a smell of, um, it's like wet dog, um, musky rot odor. And kind of if you take roadkill and, um, you just let it, um, you let it bake out in the sun on the hot pavement all day, and then you poke it with a stick and it bursts open. It's just, it, it smell absolutely putrid. Um, but at that point, I smelled pretty bad too. So I, you know, I, I couldn't really, I couldn't really blame, um, blame smelling on it. So I, uh, we're, we're moving up and, or, or he, Hal took off. And he stopped up there and he gave me a whistle and it was just like, um,

• 31:42Speaker 06

  and right then and there, before I whistled back, whatever was behind me at my six, let out a whistle. And it was the exact whistle that he just did to me, but it was not me. And so when that whistle went out, I just, I froze and I, I'm looking, I'm looking towards Hal and whatever this whistle is came from directly behind me. I freeze my tracks. I don't want to turn around. I'm, I'm standing here and I'm just, just frozen in fear. I don't know whatever's behind me. I'm like, it's gonna grab me. You know, I'm dead. This is it. It's gonna come up behind me, snap my neck and, and you know, I'm gonna never see my family again. And, um, and so.

• 32:29Speaker 06

  Oh, man, it's just bringing, bringing back, bringing back memories is, it's hard, it's hard to relive. Um, so when it, that, when that whistle came along, I didn't know, I can't remember what I told Hal. I don't know if I told him to stay there or I'm coming up. I think I was going to do a leapfrog thing where he'd walk up and then he'd whistle at me. I'd move up and then I'd walk up, uh, but he didn't understand what I was doing. So, you know, it wouldn't really work the way I wanted. So I slowly started walking, kind of up to where he was. And, um, and whatever was behind me started walking up too. It was, it was just steady, just kind of thud, thud, thud, thud.

• 33:11Speaker 06

  And it was, it was, I mean, it was, you could hear the leaves crunching. You could hear, it was, it was substantially large. You could tell whatever it was had some size. Um, we had a, we had a senior drill sergeant and he was, he was a super jacked dude. He was big, he was bulky. I think he wears about a size 12 shoe, uh, boot. And, I mean, compared to this thing, he walks like, he walks like on feathers. It's, it, this thing is, is covering a lot of ground in one footstep. And, um, I, I move up, I get to him and he goes, he goes, what? I said, dude, you hear that whistle, right? I said, do that whistle at me? And I said, don't do it loud, just do it right here. And so he goes, he's like, and I said, I didn't do that. And he goes, no, I, he goes, I did.

• 33:56Speaker 06

  I said, I know that respond, that wasn't me. And he goes, what are you talking about? I said, I'm not the one that responded to your whistle. It was at my six o'clock. I said, whatever that thing is that's behind us is intelligent enough that it knows to do a respond whistle to your whistle. And he's, he's, he goes, that's, that's, that's not right. He's like, you're scaring me now. I'm like, listen. I'm not gonna freak you out right now, cuz I I already thought, you know, I I thought, alright, there's there's there's some bigfoot out here, you know, this this is this is exactly, you know, I'm I'm putting all the key pieces together in my head. I'm like, you know, I've heard about this, the smell, the um, the the ambush, you know, parallel on you, just to push you out of an area, the whistle.

• 34:39Speaker 06

  And so he he starts freaking out. I'm like, look, dude, I'm I'm not gonna tell you. I said, wait till we get back to, you know, patrol base. And I'll let you know. So we're we're, I'm like, let's head out. We'll move, we're moving up this draw. I said, just keep an eye, you know, all around you. So he's, and we're looking around. And whatever it is, it's still moving, and it sounds like it's getting closer. But every time you stop and turn, like, I'll stop and and do a quick swivel, and there's nothing there. There's, I mean, it's absolutely nothing there. And so we ended up, uh, we were, we we moved up, and I think we walked probably like, it felt that night felt like we walked like three miles. But when we, when we, from the bottom of that draw and moving up it, it was probably about point five miles, um, headed up that draw. And I'm like, dude, we must have passed

• 35:24Speaker 06

  the patrol base. They must have all their lights off or something. I'm like, I don't hear anybody. I don't see anything. And he goes, he goes, I'm like, dude, I don't know where we are. He goes, no, man, I'm telling you, whatever that thing is that's on our left at our nine o'clock must have been between us. And, or, yeah, it was between the patrol base and us. And I said, so for us to go to patrol base, we'd have to go through whatever that thing is. And I said, dude, I mean, that's our only option right now. Let's just, let's let's circle around. And so we're we're we're halfway up this uh, this ravine. And it was, you know, the hills and and Fort Benning, they're they're substantially large. They're they're uh, the valleys, they go on for a little bit. And so

• 36:07Speaker 06

  we're walking up and, you know, I'm telling, hey, let's let's go, let's just turn around and uh, let's head up, let's head up halfway up this mountain to where we know we put the patrol base. We'll take a ninety degree turn to the left, and we'll walk in a straight line. And if we do that, we know we're bound to hit the patrol base. And he's like, yeah, that's a good idea. Let's do that. So we did that. We went up, took a ninety degree turn. And we started walking back straight down. So we basically just did like a giant, like, um, like, you're like a rectangle from from where we started. Um, almost, almost to a rectangle. Um, and so.

• 36:45Speaker 06

  We're moving down and I'm not hearing any stomping. There's nothing behind me. I'm not really hearing anything. And we're walking and then I hear and then I hear. And it's more of it was like a knocking sound and I I I reached my hand out and I yanked him and I I said, don't effing move. And I'm like, he's like, did you hear that? I'm like, yes. Did you hear that? And he goes, dude, he said, someone's playing games with us. I'm like, no, they're not playing games with us. And he goes, well, what is it? I said, we need to get out of here right now. And and so I'm like, hey, we're gonna, we're gonna pick it up, but we're not gonna run. I said, whatever you do, don't run.

• 37:28Speaker 06

  We are gonna airborne shuffle, which airborne shuffle is, uh, it's, it's, you know, it's common for for those that are in the airborne, uh, in the airborne, uh, division. It's, uh, it's, it's a mix from a, like a speed walk to a run. Uh, you're not doing a full run, but it's more like you're running, but you're dragging your feet. Um, it's just, it's a, it's a slower run because when you have all your gear on with you, uh, your parachute and stuff, you're, you're carrying a lot of weight and you don't want to run with all that gear. It's gonna tire you out real soon. So if you do a shuffle, we call it the airborne shuffle or the airborne run. And so I'm like, hey, let's just airborne run out of here. Okay. We're gonna keep going down. We'll hit the PB eventually. We'll throw out the, you know, we'll throw out the challenge code and we'll be back home.

• 38:09Speaker 06

  And he's like, all right. And I said, I'm, I'm follow you. I said, I'm gonna have my hand here on your tap system, which is, it's like a, it's like a chest rig that we had that we were wearing, has our canteen on it, has mag pouches, has our compass, has our map on it. And on the back, it has a clip where you clip it on the back of your back. I said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna hold your, your strap right here. That way we don't get separated. And we started running or we kind of shuffle. We were shuffling, but it was hard to shuffle because we're still on this kind of incline. And we're not on a trail. We're just kind of running through the leaves, slipping, just kind of, kind of just trying to make it stay level with this, this side of the mountain of where we think the patrol base is.

• 38:49Speaker 06

  And we're, we're just kind of running along or we keep on shuffling whatever's behind us. I can hear whatever's behind us now. It's back behind us. It starts shuffling up with not really shuffling. Just it's just like, I mean, it sounded like someone not beating the ground. But I don't know if you've ever seen like a kid, like when they run, they kind of like, uh, they'll look kind of like hit the, hit the ground really hard with their foot. Like if they're running, they try to stop or whatever. It was like that, but over and over. It was just like, it was a big thud, thud, thud right after another. And it wasn't running, but it was substantial enough that it, it was, it was moving about, it was matching our speed. And I said, just keep going, keep going, don't worry about it, keep going.

• 39:30Speaker 06

  And so we were, we were moving and he stops and I'm like, what are you stopping for? And he goes, look. And we looked to the right and there's a trail. We looked to the left and there's a trail. And I said, so wait a minute, this is a trail we were just on like 10 minutes ago. He goes, yeah, this is the trail we took down from the ridge. And I'm like, this, this can't be right. I know I, I, cause I, I had a, um, I had a pace counter on my, on my rig. And so I took a pace counter when we hit the draw and we set up the patrol base. And I, I measured it out enough. And even, even if that, I mean, this draw, you know, this, this mountainside is not really that big. So if we would have been moving, someone would have yelled out, you know, contact and we would have heard them. He goes, dude, this something's not right.

• 40:14Speaker 06

  I'm like, I'm like, all right, we, we gotta find out where we are. We need some, some major, you know, land feature. So let's get back on this ridge. And we started heading up this ridge and we're not, we're not, we're, we're halfway on, on the mountainside now. We're moving up towards the ridge and we're probably about 10 to 15, about, about 10 yards from the ridge. And, and he stops, he's in front of me. And I'm like, what are you stopping at? Not a word, not saying a word. He's just looking dead ahead and I'm like, I know, what are you looking at? And I shake him, I start shaking him and he grabs me by my shirt collar. And he said, don't move. He goes, there's a boulder right there. I said,

• 40:54Speaker 06

  The boulder and and he goes the boulder and we're looking at the trail and because of where the ridgeline is, there's almost no trees on it. So there's a lot, there's a little bit more light coming through. Um, you know, it's dark right there. And sure enough, this boulder that was not there before is standing directly in our trail, in our path, right at the turn for us to take a right to go on the ridge or take a left. It's standing right there and it's just standing there. And we're, we're, we're both looking at it. We don't know what to do. We're frozen. We, we can't move. We're, we're, we're in shock. We're just, we're petrified out of fear. And, um, and at that time,

• 41:37Speaker 06

  a, that same whistle that Hal sent to me that

• 41:43Speaker 06

  that whistle came from my left. And this boulder, which was not a boulder, the boulder from, from the ground to the, to the top of it was probably about, about five, five feet tall. Uh, it was probably about, I'd say about four feet in diameter. And the, the big thing is there was no, there's no like, you couldn't tell, the reason it looked like a border is because, you know, border rock as you, as you go up the side of it, it rounds up to the top. On a human, their shoulders go up and then it rounds to the neck and then to the head. This thing had like no neck. It was, it was just the shoulders straight to the head and it was like a dome pretty much. And so that's why we thought it was, it was a boulder.

• 42:27Speaker 06

  And when that whistle came across, this boulder stood up, slowly stood up. And I can see it's, it's on two legs because the light of the, of the trail behind it is going between its legs. You can see the light. And you know, you know, if you look at a background image, you can see, you know, through someone's legs, even if it's dark out, you can see behind them. And, um, and so it's, it's, it's the same, uh, same mode of like deer hunters when they're, if they're in a ground blind, a lot of deer hunters, they have a black canvas or the backing is really black. Um, and then they'll wear black gear and they'll cover their body in black. That way If a deer is looking in and even if you're wearing like cam or whatever, if you have light coming through the other side,

• 43:11Speaker 06

  they'll see your silhouette because your silhouette will will show on that over that canvas of where that light is. If it's all black and you're wearing black, there's no light coming through, they can't see through it. So it was kind of that situation where there was light on the other side and we could see that this thing was in the way of the light. And it was, I couldn't tell, I couldn't really tell, you know, features of of how it looked. Um, I know for a fact that it was shaggy. You could see, you know, rumbles of the the halo. It was kind of like a shaggy, like old, like, like an old eighties carpet, pretty much. Um, just kind of like that shaggy dog fur.

• 43:51Speaker 06

  Um, but you could kind of see it. There was enough, there was enough light behind it that you could see the the the shape and outline. And the shoulders, I mean, Wes, the shoulders were massive. Um, I mean, like this thing looked like it could tear me in half, no problem, like, like tearing down trees. Uh, the, um, there's, so in Alaska, there's these, uh, they're called upside down trees. And there are a lot of people believe they're a symbol that, uh, the Nantucket or the the Bigfoot of Alaska had taken them, pulled them out of the ground and stuck them back in the ground because there's, there's no signs of

• 44:30Speaker 06

  of, uh, of, uh, of machinery. There's no chainsaws, nothing. It's just, it's all natural. There's moss going on there. They've been there forever. And when I looked at this thing, like, I'm telling you, this thing looked like it could do that with one arm. It was, it was crazy how big this thing was. And and it wasn't fat either. You can tell like when you look at someone's physique, even if it's dark out, you know, you can tell like, you know, they'll have like a big torso and then their arms will be kind of, kind of, kind of fatty, but not skinny. This thing looked like it was all muscle, like it was just two toned, all muscle, fully stocked out. And, um, and so.

• 45:08Speaker 06

  We're looking at this thing and this whistle that Hal did earlier comes from our left side. When that whistle comes through, that thing stands up, it just turns to the right quarters. So it's, it's pretty much quartered to us. It turns around and goes right and takes a left on that ridge line and it walks, it just walks that way. And me and him, we're just standing there. And next thing I know, someone grabbed us behind, guys behind me. I turn around and I, I start fighting because I think, I think this thing's behind me and I, I need to fight for, you know, fight or flight. And I can't run anywhere, my body can't move. And I pull, I feel something grab me and turn me around.

• 45:52Speaker 06

  And when it turns me around, I throw my arm out and I just start punching and slugging. And come to find out, it was actually my drill sergeant, um, turned me around and I didn't know it was him. And I, so I just punched the crap out of my drill sergeant. And, and then I realized it was him and I was like, oh, I'm dead. So I just kind of like laid on the ground. I don't know what to do. And I was like, I was like, I was like, I'm sorry. I can't do, I can't do, I can't do. And then Hal, Hal was just standing there and, and so he got, he got us up. We were both in shock. He couldn't get anything out of us. I was just running and saying like, we've been looking for you guys for like hours. Where you guys been? And, um, and we're like, we're, we're, you know, we're, we're pulling security. We, we thought the patrol base was here.

• 46:35Speaker 06

  He goes, you boys are a mile from the radius of the patrol base. I'm like, and I'm thinking to myself, a mile, like, there's no way we walked a mile. Like there's, I, I know for a fact, I know we, we wouldn't have walked a mile because the, um, we saw, we scoped this trail in the daytime. And, and so now we're, we're both in shock. We're both freaked out and they're, you know, just, he's yelling, trying to move us and stuff. And Hal's just, he's out of it. He's white as a ghost. I'm, I don't remember what I, I, I really don't remember how I looked. I don't really a lot, remember a lot of, of that initial, that initial reaction. Other than I know that, that drill sergeant smoked the, the dawns out of me.

• 47:18Speaker 06

  For punching them and and and he goes, you know, why'd you do it? You know, why, why'd you do it? And I just, I, I didn't want to come up and, and say, um, you know, I, I saw Bigfoot and it scared me and I was in shock, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to sound like crazy. Cause then he'd be like, you know, you're talking more, you know, you want to, you want to make jokes. All right. Well, you know, let's, let's go, you know, let's make some jokes and then, you know, end up getting smoked more. But come to find out a little bit later as, you know, apparently they did know. And if I would have said something, I think I could have got it a little bit, a little bit nicer, you know, a little bit, a little, a little bit like, hey, you know, they're in shock. Just, you know, y'all come talk with us, you know, you're with the boys now, just kind of calm down.

• 47:58Speaker 06

  So, so yeah, that's, that's, uh, that's how that happened. And, um, I hope I never have to go back.

• 48:05Wes Germer?

  Yeah, I hear you. And for Benning, you know, out there in Georgia is just as notorious, I would say, as for Lewis, when it comes to encounters. And it's scary. I mean, this thing's standing right in your path or sitting in your path. I realize you guys thought it was a boulder. Uh, would you kind of describe what you guys saw?

• 48:28Speaker 06

  Um, yes, sir. So we're headed up and we're headed up this draw. There was, um, there was the woods here and then the woods get thicker and then it just opens up. At first we thought it was, you know, there's this boulder that there's just, it was, it was bulky. I want to say, um, it, it looked like a boulder would look at night, you know, it's just dark, it's just, it's sitting there. At this time, it was probably about five, six feet tall, sitting down and about, about four feet wide. And when it stood up, it was just, it was massive. It looked, it looked eight, nine feet tall. Uh, I'm six foot five and even at my, my height, I was, I was looking up even at our, our angle from how far away, about 10, 15 yards. We were looking, I was looking up at this thing.

• 49:13Speaker 06

  I mean, the muscle mass on this is just, it was, I don't know if you've ever seen the images of those like Olympic horses or the, um, I don't know the species, but it's a, it's a, it's a species of equine. It's the ones they use for farming equipment. It's the big stirbreads. And they're just like, you look at their chest and their legs and it's just like giant muscle. You just see the veins, the muscles protrude now. I couldn't see veins. I couldn't see a lot of, a lot of features on this. But I could tell this thing was massive and it, it looked like it, you know, it could literally take me and rip me in half, like no problem.

• 49:47Speaker 06

  Um, the, the arms hung down past the hips though, like almost to the knees. Uh, it's like the arms were longer than, than the torso, which doesn't, you know, on a person, usually they're, if they're standing, their, their, their hands will stop about their side. Uh, but this thing, the, the arms went down the torso and almost not, not to the knees, but about to the mid, mid area of the calf.

• 50:13Wes Germer?

  And I realized that it's dark, but were you able to see the face?

• 50:18Speaker 06

  No, the, the face, I mean, it was whatever it was was looking right at us. I do, I do know that I was so keyed in on, on looking, cause I mean, it's, it's, it's huge. It's, it's right there. I noticed that when it turned, you know, if, if someone turns and there's a light behind them, you can then, you know, it's darker. Maybe if you ever look at like, uh, you ever watch like King Kong? And you know, when he turns away, you can tell like on his quarter, if you look at his face, his lips kind of come out a little bit and then his, his nose, you know, dips down. Uh, or, or someone turns, you can tell that they have a nose. When this thing turned, whatever the light was behind it, it, it, the lips, there were, the lips weren't like chimp limbs. Like they don't bubble out or anything.

• 51:00Speaker 06

  They were just, it was just, it was, it was flat. There was no, the nose didn't pop out like a human nose. And the, the, the hair, it's like, I couldn't really tell because it moved so fast when it turned around it, it, it quartered, stopped, and then it, and then it quartered again. So it did a full like, uh, one eighty, um, with a, with a small pause in the middle. And so the, I could tell that the hair though. Growing down like not really from the beard. It it looked like everything was connected. It looked like all the hair on it was was connected on it. Um, and when it moved out, when it stepped out into the into the light, which is a little bit lighter because the moonlight was coming down. It was like, it was like reddish brown and it was, it was, it was shaggy kind of rich brown.

• 51:43Speaker 06

  Uh, I didn't tell, I didn't get a lot of look at it. It it went around the corner right there. And I'm like, I, you know, I, I don't, I don't want to go after it, you know, that thing, that thing's going to rip me in half. Like no problem. It could just, it could flick me with a finger and I'm dead. You know, I, I don't, I don't want to mess with that thing. I don't want to follow it. And like to this day, I wish, I really wish I would have, Wes, I'm telling you with all the accounts that I hear, that people tell, all the stories, like, you know, I, I wanted to get out of there. I didn't want anything to do. I wish I would have followed it or, or got, you know, maybe, you know, waved at it or something. But then again, I was, I'm thinking like, no, I think, I think it's better, better that I didn't. Uh, cause if I, if I had done that, I don't know if I'd be standing here today.

• 52:27Wes Germer?

  Yeah, I'm not so sure it would have, uh, it was looking to hurt you guys. But if you push your luck, you can definitely get hurt by these things. And I think it's best that you didn't follow it. And I feel for guys on military bases because you're basically unarmed. I mean, I realize you guys have guns, but they're full of blanks and about the best you can do is make a lot of noise. Tell me about what your drill sergeant told you. You guys go back to base and what happens?

• 52:56Speaker 06

  So basically, when we got back from the, uh, the field event, we're, everyone was tired. We just did the, the 12 for, I think it was a maybe a 14 mile ruck. We did it back to the, our C, our, our C area, our C Q area where we sleep at. And so downstairs, we have all the platoons and then they just go upstairs on different levels. And so we're downstairs, we did, uh, our counts for S I, made sure we have everybody. And then we're like, hey, you know, you guys did it, you know, pat yourself on the back and said, all right, you know, tomorrow's the rest day. We're going to stretch and do all this stuff. And we're like, okay. And he goes, all right, uh, the P G send them out. And then I remember the drill sergeant was standing next to our P G.

• 53:36Speaker 06

  And he's, our P G didn't say anything. Um, so everyone else went upstairs and my platoon just stood there. And he said, He called out, he said, um, the Tex and then, um, which that's because that we all had nicknames and basing and stuff. So he called Tex and then Hall and, uh, when we went to PG and said, drill sergeant needs on the office. So we followed drill sergeant in there. Everyone else went upstairs. They said, you know, go upstairs, rest, everything. And at that point, everyone, the, no, no one's thinking like, oh, they're in trouble or, you know, or they did something. They're all like, hey, we're upstairs. We're, I'm taking a shower. I'm going to sleep, you know, I'm, I'm resting. This is, this is nice. And so we, um, me and, me and Hal got into the office and we, we walked in.

• 54:21Speaker 06

  We walked to the front. We went to, we went to, um, uh, parade vest, drill sergeant. And, uh, and he got up from the desk. He said, follow us in, in the office. And when, when we, we go to the office every now and then, um, through the hallway, but we've never been in the office and like in, in the office. And so we went to the conference room in the back, closed the door, sat us down. And I was like, I looked at him like, dude, we're, we're screwed. Like we, we screwed the pooch on this one. Like I, I don't know what we did, but we are fried. And guard drill sergeant said, look, he, he looks at us. He takes his hat off. First of all, which is, uh, you know, inside, that's what they do. But when they're around us, uh, as trainees, you know, they don't want to like, you know, they don't want you to think, you know, you're bros.

• 55:06Speaker 06

  And that way you can disrespect them or anything. Takes his hat off. He sits down next to us. And he goes, I, I know you guys have been through a wild, a wild week. And I'm like, yes, yes, drill sergeant. He goes, no, don't talk. He goes, just listen. And I'm like, all right. And so he goes, whatever happened, I don't want to hear about it. I don't want you telling your buddies about it and it's not to leave this room ever. And I, I, I said, uh, I was like, yes, drill sergeant. But I kind of looked over and I'm like, I'm like, like, what are you talking about? And he goes, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And he said, don't ever speak of it. He said, there's things out here that we can't explain.

• 55:52Speaker 06

  So if you end up saying some stuff about it, there's going to be some problems. And that was, that was enough. That was enough to pretty shut me up. Um, but the weird thing is about it, Wes, is usually if someone does something, you know, in basic training, we do, we break a rule, we do something that's, you know, we're not supposed to. There's a piece of paper, uh, it's called a council and it's documentation. It says exactly what happened. Who did it? You know, who said what? We'll write a statement on it and then we sign it and date it at the bottom. That way there's documentation on it. Uh, so if, if it happens again, we can look back and be like, oh yeah, this happened or we corrected it. This and this and that. There was no council. There was no documentation whatsoever. It was just a conversation of a Joe Sargent on versus two.

• 56:36Speaker 06

  You know, hey, this is, you know, don't even talk about this again. And when we left, we left and before we went upstairs, I, I, that's when me and, that's when me and Hal made a promise. So I was like, listen. I know you're, you're going to want to tell people, I'm never saying anything about it again. He goes, I don't want to think about it. I don't even want to talk about it. I said, look, if you do, it's only people you trust. And I said, don't ever say it to anybody else other than that, other than people that you trust. I said, make sure you're careful with it. Don't be stupid about it either. Don't be bragging. No, don't go nagging about anything. And he goes, he goes, you know what was weird? And I said, what? He goes, why didn't we sign a council?

• 57:16Speaker 06

  And I'm like, I'm thinking the same thing. And, and that's, that's what we were contemplating. He goes, if we did something wrong or he doesn't want us talking about it. We would sign a council saying, hey, this is what we said. This is what they're not going to do. This is a corrective action, sign it and date it and give a statement. We didn't do any of that. I said, dude, I, I don't know. And he goes, dude, they know something. And then we went upstairs and, and that was that. We, we didn't tell anybody ever again. Uh, and we, we talked about it. And, um, actually just the other day, he called me a little while ago and, uh, he goes, hey, you remember that, you remember that incident in basic? And I'm like, yeah. He goes, well, I'm, I'm finally out in the woods because it, it scared him so much. He didn't want to go out in the woods. I'm like, oh heck yeah, man. I'm glad to see you're in the woods.

• 58:01Speaker 06

  He goes, yeah, I won't go alone. I won't go out again, but I got it here in the daytime, you know, we're out here doing some walking around hiking and stuff. And I was like, awesome, dude. And he's like, how about you, man? How you doing? I'm like, hey, you're gonna take me out of the woods. You can't take the woods out of me. And he goes, yeah, well, I'm I'm I wouldn't feel the same way if, you know, I ever saw one of those things again. And then he mentioned, he mentioned your show and I'm like, dude, I've been listening to his show for a while, you know, this has worked. You got to get on that on Spotify. And and he's like, yeah, he goes, he's joking, he's like, pretty, pretty cool. He brought a song. I was like, yeah, I am pretty, pretty cool. And I was like, you know, good to hear from you, man. And then hollered at him later and stuff, but.

• 58:41Speaker 06

  But, um, yeah, that was, that was all that. That was just the weird thing is, is the two things is one, they told us, don't talk about it like they know. But there was no counseling. There's no paperwork, which is unheard of in the army. Army is almost all paperwork. Everything you do. There's a piece of paper for everything. You have to date it. You have to sign it. You have to go through a catalog. And then you have to sign a piece of paper that says you sign that piece of paper or sign the other piece of paper. And there was no paper whatsoever. It was, it was, it was just, it was just something like, hey, sweeping out on the rug. We're never going to talk about this again. And, and of course, we said, you know, yes, Joe Sardine. Because, you know, it was a respect thing. They tell us what to do. We have to do it. We signed the contract, you know, we can't, we can't go against what they say.

• 59:26Speaker 06

  And we didn't want to disrespect them, you know, we didn't want to get in trouble for it. And we were, we were tired. We were exhausted. We did, we didn't want to be doing burpees and pushups and running around the track for with water cans, you know, and we were just like, you know, and we just submitted, you know, yes, Joe Sardine, understand. And, uh, and then that was that, you know, and then we graduated and I went to, I went to airborne school together and then I came to Bragg and he went to Italy. So that's, that's where we're at now.

• 59:54Wes Germer?

  Well, I'm honored you would share the account here. And you know, I've interviewed many veterans and current military that have had encounters on these bases. And like I was saying earlier, Fort Benning is very much like Fort Lewis, and I could probably name five others where accounts like this happen over and over and over again, and over the years. And I've always wondered why, when, when guys have these experiences, what you described there with your drill sergeant is very similar to what I've heard in the past, when leadership gets involved. It's kind of like, don't talk about this. If you want any sort of career in the

• 1:00:36Wes Germer?

  military, shut your mouth, it didn't happen. And that's the end of that. Why do you think it's like that on these bases where it seems like there's no interest in these accounts? Especially coming from the government, you think the government would be very interested in these accounts?

• 1:00:57Speaker 06

  Um, I don't know. I honestly, I'll tell you how I'd say I answer most things around here. That's above my pay grade. But honestly, I just think that, I think that the people, if you're working there, you're working on that base for long enough, or you're working in an installation, you spend enough time in the woods, you've heard some stuff, you've seen some stuff, and you can have your own beliefs and stuff. But when it comes down to you have a job to do, and you can't have anything that, you know, makes you unperform your job. And not just that, you're training, you know, if you're a drill sergeant, or you're a teacher, you're training students, you're training people, and you, you know, you have this, this title that, you know, I'm a big kill the badass, you know, don't, you know, don't mess with me. And then you're like, hey, you know, I'm scared of the woods, you

• 1:01:40Speaker 06

  know, don't go out there and stuff. I think more so, it's more of the situation of, it's a, it's a, it's a hiding more so. I want to say, you know, a lot of people say, you know, you know, what do you think Bigfoot is, or you ask a lot of people, what do you think Bigfoot is? And I can't say I know what it is, but I think it's definitely wrapped around the government. I think the government knows about it. And, you know, the government likes to keep it a secret. I I think the government knows that there's our Bigfoot out there on Fort Benning. And there's people that know it out there. And I think there's people that have their higher ups. And they've they've talked to them like, hey, we don't talk about it. Don't say nothing about it. If you hear anybody. You know, shut it down. I don't want to hear about this, you know, in my unit or in my installation.

• 1:02:22Speaker 06

  And of course, you know, higher ups tell you to do something like, okay, I understand. I mean, that's just, that's what comes up from it, honestly. And so. Usually, I just think, you know, everyone's just following orders, you know, you got to follow orders from your higher ups if they're telling you. You know, don't speak of this, don't speak of it, you know, don't, no, don't talk about it, you know, if it's if it's if being talked about, shut it down. Before I hear about it, but there's going to be, you know, there's going to be problems, going to be consequences. But I think I think it's just like, it's something to be hid. They don't want the rest of the world. Um, I know a lot of, a lot of things that, uh, the government, the government controls the world, uh, not, not really controls the world, but.

• 1:03:02Speaker 06

  Um, the world runs around, uh, there's a control kind of situation where as long as the government has leverage. Uh, like taxes or, um, inflation, they can control. How people are, how people react. And I think that if this news got out. Or, um, or, you know, this secret was, you know, unleashed about, you know, there's these things out there. And they're dangerous and all that, then, you know, a lot of things, a lot of things will change, that skepticism, science would change, you know. The whole, the way that we look at everything might just be completely gone out the window. I just think we're so far down in the rabbit hole. That, you know, there's no getting back out of it. And if, if, if something like this comes up, then.

• 1:03:45Speaker 06

  You know, I'm not saying it's going to be a, a World War Three, but. You know, there's just, there's, there's so much that we don't know about. And I think we don't know about it for a reason. And the government knows about it, but they don't want us to know about it. Because, you know, people will overtake and there'll be political arguments and fights and wars. And I think, I think it's just one of those things where it's like, hey, you know, this is one of the things that. We have to make sure we control, or else things are going to get out of hand. And I think, I think it's just that situation where like, hey, you know, they know about it, they know it's there, but. You keep these guys quiet about it and we won't have any problems, you know.

• 1:04:22Wes Germer?

  Yeah, I think you're right. It probably is control. And I do think the government knows about it because of so many encounters on these bases. When these guys like yourself are out there doing training, I've heard it so many times. And I know if I've heard it, they've heard it, and they know what's going on. And it makes me wonder, too, if the government even thinks that they're dangerous, the fact that they would send our young men and women out on these bases to do these training, knowing they're unarmed, that all they really have is blanks. It really makes me wonder. And I really appreciate you guys listening. I didn't realize how much of the military was actually listening to the show. And one

• 1:05:06Wes Germer?

  day I was looking at the stats, and I was like, there's all these Middle East countries. And I'm like, who's listening in all these Middle East countries? And it kind of hit me that it's the military that are listening on the bases. So, thank you, guys, those out there who are listening. Thank you for your service. And thanks so much for your support.

• 1:05:26Speaker 06

  No, like, you're so, man, it it helps so many, so many people that may feel lost, or like, you know, they don't have anywhere to go. It makes a safe haven for a lot of people, you know, you'll tell you'll have a lot of people come on the show like, you know, I don't want to talk about it because I want people to think I'm crazy. You know, people will criticize me for it. Or, you know, people like cast and chastise me. And I just don't want to I don't want any problems. But this, this, you know, this that you have creates a safe place that no matter what happened, you know, no matter how crazy, or whatever, you know, whatever it was, that, you know, you had this situation, and you can talk and tell somebody about it. Because a lot of times when someone goes through

• 1:06:08Speaker 06

  a hardship, if you talk about it, or you talk about what you saw, you talk about your experience, it helps bring the burdens out. And, you know, it helps bring it out in the air. And then that person can feel more easy about it. I know a guy, he's in our unit. And he ended up trying to take his life. And his buddy was sitting there and watched him do it. And he didn't stop him. He just watched it and do it. My buddy ended up, he survived, he's, he's fine now, but my other buddy that watched him, he was scarred for a while and he, he wouldn't work, he wouldn't, he, he, he couldn't, he couldn't function properly. And he, he ended up seeing a therapist and, and he got, he ended up talking about it. And sure enough, it just, it just kind of slipped away, you know, he just, just kind of forgot about it.

• 1:06:53Speaker 06

  Um, but I think it's just one of those things like, you know, if you have a, um, an impacting experience and you hold that down on the inside, it's just, it's, it's like putting a snake in a, in a, in a, in a box. You just hold it down in there and you keep shaking and shaking and shaking. The more you shake it, the more it gets wild up. You let it out, you know, let it air out, let it calm down, you know, snake will be fine and go on about doing snake business, you know? It's more of the, not just, not just it helps people, but it's also, you know, you have, I think soon enough, there's going to be a day when people are going to be like, well, yeah, science says it's not real and people say it's not real or the government says it's not real, but this, this, this, this, this happened here.

• 1:07:34Speaker 06

  This guy, this guy, this guy, this woman, this guy, they all said this and everything matches up. So, the, the biggest thing about me, and then I, the one of the, the greatest things that I argue with people, is, you know, they're like, oh, big, you know, Bigfoot's not real. I'm like, let me tell you something. I said Indians, all in, almost, almost all tribes of Indians have words for animals and it's in their own language. And I said, they have a word for every animal on the earth that we know of. I said, why do you think, or why would they have a word for an animal that doesn't exist? My, you know, they, they don't have a word for the unicorn. They're not making, they're not making words up for, you know, that some, some, you know, meth, you know,

• 1:08:18Speaker 06

  mammoth or, or saber tooth tiger. I mean, like this is like, this is like a real time thing that they're having words for. And, and it's, it's on hieroglyphics, you know, it's on paintings on the walls and, and there's, um, there's the Aztec fields that, that show, um, uh, this Aztec signs or what it is. It's, it's only, it's only, um, you can only see it from, from, from aerial surveillance, aerial vision. But when you look down, it has all these hieroglyphics that have been carved into the earth. And it's it's it's it's shapes and fixtures and and images. And I think that, you know, if if Indians, you know, everyone, everyone believes in Indians, everyone knows, you know, Indians were on this earth at one point or another.

• 1:08:59Speaker 06

  As as you know, writing as tribal and they're um, they have a word for this thing. That doesn't exist. Well, why do they have a word for everything that does exist, you know? It it doesn't, you can't, you can't have it, you know, why, why could you argue that point? And, uh, you know, it's in books, it's in it's in catalogs, it's in news reports. I mean, people are seeing stuff. And, you know, at the end of the day, it's just like, you know, I can't tell you what is or isn't, I can tell you what I know. And you can believe me, or you don't have to, you know, I'm I'm like, I can't force anyone to believe anything. But I can tell them what I know, what I've seen, you know, what I've heard. And they can take the information how they want to. But if I tell them that and they're like, no, no, I still don't believe.

• 1:09:43Speaker 06

  And then someone else tells them that, and then another person like, you know what, you know? I'm hearing so much things about this, there's gotta be something out there. And then they start digging in, they start looking into it, and you know, there might be something out there. And then they go out there and they see something, and like, dude, there's something out there. And then there's another person that's like, hey, you know, Bigfoot's real, you know, but he's out there. And it's just, it's it's a matter of time. A lot of people like, oh, you know, it's a matter, you know, they they use the um, the um, argument like, you know, well, why haven't we found a body? You know, why aren't there bones, why aren't there skeletons, you know? We're digging up like old fossils of fish and dinosaurs. And um, uh, the gigantic pit, the gigantic picus, or whatever the word is. Um, big words.

• 1:10:25Speaker 06

  And so people are digging them up and like, oh yeah, this was like thirty million years ago, you know, lived on this earth. Why are there no bones of Bigfoot? And I'm like, well, have you ever, you know, I'm like, you know how we bury our dead in the cemetery? You know, we don't dig them up, you know, you bury in the cemetery and we have that place for cemetery. And I'm like, there are places found out in the woods, in caves, in nature, where there are bones of mammals, of monkeys, that have been. Buried and I'm like, maybe, maybe they don't want to be found. Maybe they bury them. Maybe there's a certain place for them. And they bury them or they put them in a cave or they put them in a ravine that no one will ever find them.

• 1:11:05Speaker 06

  That way, there's, you know, they don't want to be found, you know, they, they say that Bigfoot's the, the hiding go seek champions. Cause he doesn't want to be found. He doesn't, he doesn't want, you know, like, yeah, they're, they are curious. I hear that they're curious. They'll follow people. They'll watch you in the woods. Um, and people have, you know, some people have, you know, situational, situational encounters that are scary. But at the end of the day, I think it's that. They don't want to be seen. They don't want to be found. They, they want to be seclusive. They want to be deep, deep, deep where no one else is going to be. Uh, you know, you're, you're not their kind, then they don't want anything to do with you. Um, because that, you know, man, man is different than ape.

• 1:11:45Speaker 06

  Ape, they're similar as in two, but man thinks differently, acts differently. Ape thinks differently, act differently. We eat different. We socialize different. Uh, you know, we, we live our lives differently than those of. You know, the mammal world or the animal kingdom. And I think it's just that thing where like they recognize like, hey, you know. That, that man, you know, that guy, you know, he's not me. Like, yes, we look alike, but he's not me. He's not one of me. Now, um, this is my domain. This is my territory. He's in my territory. He needs to leave. And then there's, there's situations where people talk about, um, uh, like they'll have a gun and they'll raise the gun up to look at it.

• 1:12:25Speaker 06

  And it knows what a gun is like. It's, it's seen enough hunters. It's seen its own kind die. And, and then that's when they get all angry and such. Um, I listened to, to your, uh, your story or a story just the other day on your podcast. Of a gentleman, he's on, he, uh, you said he was a, uh, law enforcement officer or ex-law enforcement. And he was going down the stairs, going fishing and there was what he believes is juvenile Bigfoot. At the bottom of the stairs and he dropped his, he dropped his fishing pole. And when he went down to pick it up, he, you know, he looked down for two seconds, looked back and all he saw was the back of the thing going into the bank. And. He said, when he had that fishing pole and he dropped it, this thing looked at the fishing pole.

• 1:13:07Speaker 06

  And when he went down to pick it up, this thing kind of flared its lips up and showed its teeth at him. And, you know, I, I think that maybe it thought that maybe it was, he was going to hit him with it, or maybe it was a gun, or, you know, maybe they will be used as a weapon, you know, these, these, these creatures, they're, they're intelligent enough that they know to elude people. Yeah, there are situations where people see them and like, you know, this situation, but my situation is we're in the middle of the woods, we're in a military base. Very few people get in the military installations, not just that, the location of where we were was so much deeper, so much farther than the main area of where all the companies or whatever you go to, I actually, I, I mapped it out, I ended up looking up.

• 1:13:49Speaker 06

  Just on the other side of that ridgeline, there is a like super classified access center, where it has like, uh, has like the prison, prison wa- uh, wire gates around it. And it's just, it's just like a small couple of buildings. And all around it, if you look on the maps, it says closed to all classifications, meaning no one can go in there, no military, non-military contractors, like you have to have very, very special clearance to get in there. It's kind of like an area fifty-one thing. And, and, and I looked at it, I was like, why is this here? And then I mapped it out. I said, this happened right next to that. I said, I don't believe in, you know, I believe in coincidence, but this was not a coincidence.

• 1:14:29Speaker 06

  This is something, you know, this, this has a tie in with this, there's something around, you know, this ridgeline, there's something around this area. And, and, you know, there's, there's something with this, this is, has a tie in some way. And it's just one of those things where I'm like, you know, they know that they need to elude, or they, they need to not be around people. So here, let's go, let's go deep, deep in the mountains where we, you know, we can be left alone, where we can hunt and fish and live alone. You know, raise our young and just not have to worry about people because people just won't understand, you know, you know what I mean?

• 1:15:03Wes Germer?

  Yeah, I definitely understand what you're saying, Tex. Do you, do you think Sasquatch is more of an animal? Do you think it's more of a man?

• 1:15:10Speaker 06

  I think, I think it's more of a man. Um, honestly, I think a lot of people say it's like the missing link. Uh, you know, you have, you have apes and then you have man. Where's the guy in the middle, you know? Um, I think it's, I think, I mean, I think it's animal. I, I think, you know, it's, it's been living, you know, it lives in the, in the woods. But the thing is, is man, we, when, you know, to survive, man hunts and men fish. We, you know, we make fire and stuff. We build these, these huts or we build roofs to, to cover us. Deer don't build that. Beer laid, deer don't care. Like they'll go in a cave and then they'll, they'll lay down. It's raining. They'll lay down on the snow. You see elk there on the snow all the time.

• 1:15:49Speaker 06

  There are these Bigfoot nests and there's these covers. There's A-frames and there's, there's these markings. It takes two hands to do and it takes muscle and it takes intelligence. You know, you have to, you have to know how things are put together to put this together and it's put together that way. And then there's, there's, you know, it's matted down or it's a giant area. Or you look up in a tree and there's like, it's matted down. You look there, it looks like a bed's laying up there. Like these things know, you know, not just like animal, you know, animals don't do that. Like yeah, birds make the bird's nest. So it's, it's kind of like a bird's nest. But a bird's nest does that for security, for comfort, so it can raise its young safely, can lay on top of them and keep them safe.

• 1:16:30Speaker 06

  The same thing I think goes for, you know, Bigfoot. They, they, they put it up there or they, they put it to get off the ground or, or that way they have a security point. They can look out of this point. They can see their whole 360 surroundings. And they can see something coming before it seeds, you know, they see it coming. And, um, I think it's just, it's that thing where like, yes, it's still, I think it's an animal. But I think it's a lot more man. It's, you know, it's, it's muscle mass and it's, it's all this, this, um, the same anatomy of a man. Um, and it's, it's, I can't explain face, you know, I can't explain the shoulder and all that. I think it's just the evolution, over evolution, over time, things change. And I think.

• 1:17:11Speaker 06

  Over the many, many, you know, hundred years that I back in time when the land bridge was at, there was a land bridge, I think everything crossed over. I think these things crossed over on the land bridge and now they're all over and you know, they're, they're, they're in certain places. They're all over the place, but they're all, they're all similar in a way is, is where some are more animal-like, some are more man-like. Um, but I honestly, I honestly think it's more manly of a, of a creature than you know, than an animal.

• 1:17:43Wes Germer?

  Yeah, I could definitely understand the way you feel, Tex. I've often said even their, you know, appearances aside, their behavior alone, a lot of times makes me think more human than animal. Uh, it's definitely a mystery and I, I really appreciate you taking the time to come on and share it. I'm honored you'd come on and share this account and thank you again for your service.

• 1:18:06Speaker 06

  Yes, sir. I appreciate, man, I, I really appreciate having me on. I, uh, I, you know, I, I don't, I don't think my story is as great as other people's, but you know, I wouldn't have it count and it's, it's such an honor to be here. I'm a, I'm happy, you know, be fighting for the country. I appreciate, uh, you know, your support and, uh, as everyone, uh, you know, we, we can't do what we can't, what we do without, you know, the love from the, the, um, the country and, and for everyone else that they have for us. So, uh, I, I really appreciate you, Wes. Uh, uh, thanks for having me on.

• 1:18:38Wes Germer?

  Absolutely. Thanks again, Tex. And that's it for tonight, everyone. Remember, if you've had an encounter, shoot me an email. My email address is [email protected]. And if you get a chance, check out sasquatchchronicles.com. You can become a member and get additional shows. Until next time, everyone.