Files From the Edge (16 page)

Today, this Bigfoot footage is called “The Patterson Film” and in the late sixties, the film appeared on all major television networks in the United States and then on TV stations around the world. Just like a controversial UFO sighting with great photographs, there are those who believe it is real, while others insist that it’s a hoax. In my opinion, it is the best image of Bigfoot I have ever seen.

Searching For the Hairy Bogeyman of Thailand

The only thing I found beneficial about my enlistment with the U.S. military was the travel. I was stationed in countries I most likely would never have seen, especially those in the eastern part of the world. From 1969 to 1971, I was stationed at a number of different military bases in southeast Asia, but the country I found the most interesting and beautiful was Thailand. Thailand is called the “land of the smiling faces” and for good reason: when people come up to you and say hello, they have big smiles on their faces and really mean it. During my stay, I was able to travel through the backcountry of the north, explore many of the old ruins, and track down some local legends. I found the scenery extraordinary and the people a refreshing change from Westerners. My Italian heritage and the hot Asian summer sun made my skin very dark so I didn’t look like a typical American. Thai people occasionally mistook me as a visitor from India and although my Thai was choppy, I could get by in most conversations. Also, because of the American military presence at the time, many of the more educated Thai people spoke perfect English, so communicating my needs and getting information was not a problem.

While exploring old temple ruins near the village of Phimai, I was invited to join the local residents at a community lunch and dinner. People there are mostly Buddhist and are taught to always welcome you into their home, even if you are a stranger. At the time, the village had a population of perhaps two hundred people and was located down a dirt path about a mile or so from the Phimai ruins. Over dinner one night, the elders of the town told me of a “hairy wild man” that lived in the jungle and would occasionally come into the old temple to sleep at night and collect food the villagers would leave for him. The creature was described as being 8 feet tall with long red and black hair all over his body. I was told that it stood straight up like a man but could not talk and had the face and eyes of a human. Although the beast stayed out of the village, the people would bring food to the center of the old ruins hoping that this would satisfy it and it would leave them alone. I asked if the creature ever harmed anyone. One of the elders replied that as long as they left it food, the beast (which they thought was some type of nature spirit) would not harm them. One of the villagers who spoke English told me that fifty years ago (1920) the creature came into the village at night. He took food, broke into a hut, and stole two young sisters aged fourteen and sixteen. The beast picked up both of the girls with one arm and with the other arm, threw a sack of rice over its shoulder and ran back into the woods.

The girls were never seen again, and local legend says that the “Wildman” took them for mates. The villagers believed that the ridge above the temple is where the creature lives with his family. According to the story, several children were born that are a hybrid between a human and the Wildman. The stories of this beast are very similar to the Western tales of the bogeyman. Children in this village were told that unless they behaved, the Wildman from the hills would come down at night, take them away, and they would disappear forever, never to see friends and family again.

My Day in the Temple

After my conversation with the village elders, I asked permission to look through the ruins just to see what I could find. Although the legend of the Wildman was on my mind, my main purpose for visiting this location was to study and photograph the old temple. I still had at least six hours of daylight and decided to make the most of it. I was alone at this time and, as I was young, I often took foolish risks and traveled into the backcountry alone with only a concealed 45-caliber hand gun for protection (which, by the way, I never had to use).

I walked through the halls of the eight-hundred-year-old temple and marveled at the sculptures and carvings. Some of the inner sanctums and chambers were quite dark and—I must admit—a little scary. I walked down a dark corridor and shined my light ahead, almost expecting to see the creature’s face. I spent the next four hours taking notes and photographs; but as the sun started setting, I remembered what the elder said about the beast coming down from the hills to gather food the townspeople left for it in the temple. As I began walking toward the main entrance, I heard a very loud sound in the jungle as if something very large was coming down the hill. It was twilight and at least a half hour’s walk to the village so yes, I admit it, I chickened out because it was getting closer and sounded very big!

I quickly exited the temple and was greeted by a number of the villagers carrying prepared food and flowers to place in the ruins. I told them about the sounds I heard and they seemed quite frightened, but one brave lad took the food and ran into the main part of the temple, dropped it on the stone floor, and ran back out yelling that he had seen the creature walking down the corridor that joined with the main hall. I shined my light in the hall and saw nothing, but the young man then grabbed my light and said, “You will make it angry!” I grabbed the flashlight back from him and told them that I was going to walk inside to see if I could see this thing. One of the older boys said I was
ba ba bow
, Thai slang translating to “very, very crazy.” He held on to my arm and said “Don’t go! You will make the beast angry, it will come and steal our animals and take the children!” At that point I acquiesced; I needed a place to spend the night and if the elders thought I was breaking their laws or putting them in danger, they probably wouldn’t have let me stay in the village for the night—I would have been on my own. The thought of traveling back through the jungle at night was not a pleasing one; the nearest town with transportation was a 10-mile hike away!

After returning from the temple, I had dinner with a family that was kind enough to let me sleep in one of their rooms. At about two in the morning, I woke and heard the cries of some type of animal in the direction of the ruins. The best description I can offer was a yelping, growling, and screaming noise unlike any animal’s I had ever heard. Whatever it was sounded almost human, but then its vocalization would shift and become more animal-like. It seemed to be coming from at least three creatures, and I heard it most of the night. As I listened, my thoughts went back to my younger days in New York watching
Half Human
. Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that someday I would be in an Asian jungle possibly encountering a Sasquatch-like creature.

The next morning I went back to the temple to see if there was any trace of what was there the night before, but I found nothing. The creature had left no evidence of its existence, like it was some type of phantom not from our world. I thoroughly searched the ruins and afterward, returned to the village to say goodbye. I asked the elders for permission to return with two or three of my friends to spend the night in the ruins. At first they were reluctant, but agreed if we left behind our weapons and anything that could be used to harm the beast. I agreed, thanked them, and journeyed back to the city I was staying in which at that time was called Korat. Korat was the location of an American military base and was 70 kilometers southeast of Phimai village.

Stakeout

Due to military obligations (and the fact that the Vietnam War was in full swing), I didn’t get back to the village and the ruins for another two months. Meanwhile, I had another problem: trying to talk a couple of my buddies into coming along with me. At that time I was something of a platoon leader and had to promise them several days R & R (rest and relaxation) in Bangkok after the trip. Finally, two guys agreed, Charlie and Bill whose home states were West Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. I want to remind my readers that this adventure took place forty years ago and we were all at the time a part of Special Forces and attached to the 173rd Airborne; despite our young age, all three of us had seen a considerable amount of combat action. As it turned out, however, not even that would prepare us for what was about to take place.

We arrived at the village in the late morning and were greeted by the locals. By then, the villagers had come to know me and welcomed my companions with open arms. I had brought a number of gifts for the children, the elders, and of course the family that was kind enough to let me stay in their home during my last visit. We were due back at the base in four days so I had only planned to spend one night in the ruins and leave the following morning. Now, I must make it perfectly clear that we were not part of a research team and had a very limited budget; we were soldiers so the extent of our equipment was two flashlights with extra batteries and one camera. If we did find anything, documenting it was of little concern. I didn’t really care who believed me; all I wanted to do was to get a glimpse of this creature, most likely due to my fascination with
Half Human
.

As the afternoon drew to an end, we dropped off our weapons with the elders and proceeded to the temple ruins. I wanted to camp in the courtyard next to the side entrance that led to the main hall—this doorway was in close proximity to the jungle and the hill where I heard the noise during my last visit. The area was quite overgrown but we were able to make ourselves comfortable. As evening approached, I told my companions we would take two-hour shifts during the night. Darkness fell and the sounds of various animals could be heard in the distance, mostly birds and monkeys, but every now and then there would be a cry or shriek from something unidentifiable that brought all three of us to our feet looking out to the dark jungle.

At midnight all was quiet, and if it weren’t for the bats buzzing around our heads, it would have been peaceful. The temperature was 85 degrees or so with high humidity; the sky was partly cloudy with no moon. We began our watch as two lay down on the stone floor using our sleeping bags as beds while one person stayed awake with a flashlight. I took the first shift and for those two hours all was quiet. I then woke up Bill for his shift. I went to lie down and drifted into a very light sleep. About an hour later, I saw flashes of light and heard thunder in the distance—a storm was approaching. I lay back down and thought to myself that once it started raining, I would move everyone into the main chamber and stay close to the entrance.

Fifteen minutes passed when Bill got my attention and gave me hand signals that something was in the woods coming our way. I sat up and looked where he was pointing but saw nothing. Charlie had woken up by then, so the three of us stood motionless with our eyes transfixed on the dark jungle as we heard the sound of something big slowly approaching. The foliage was so thick that nothing could be seen, but the creature sounded like it was walking on two legs. We had spent quite a bit of time in the bush on ambush at night, and after awhile we learned to tell the difference between the movements of an animal and a human. Whatever this was, it was bipedal, very large, and headed in our direction. Charlie ran over to Bill and said, “Give me the light.” As he shined the beam into the heavy foliage, the noise stopped. When he turned the light off, the creature resumed moving toward us.

The storm was intensifying and rain started to come down heavily. Bill was still the closest to the jungle barrier while Charlie and I started pulling sleeping bags and supplies into the temple. While my back was turned, I heard Bill scream, “What the hell?! What are you?!” I looked around and saw a tall dark humanoid figure about 10 feet from where Bill was standing. As I watched, it turned its head toward me and its eyes flashed a deep yellow. It was very dark and all I could make out was a shape, but it dwarfed Bill who was 6’2”; this creature had to be at least 8 feet tall! As I raised up the camera to take a photo, the creature turned and jumped into the jungle as if it bounced off a trampoline. Strangely, we didn’t hear any plants or branches rustling or snapping, it seemed to have floated right through the thick brush. All this action happened so fast I didn’t even get a chance to take a snapshot. Our flashlights were fading quickly; the only real light we had was the occasional flash of lightning. This was also strange since we just changed batteries before the creature was spotted. In those days, there were no long-lasting lithium or alkaline batteries—just plain old dry cells—but the ones we were using should have lasted much longer. After countless investigations many years later, I would discover (like many others) that portable DC power sources seem to drain very quickly in areas active with paranormal events.

Although we could no longer see the creature, Bill stayed outside in the pouring rain. He was jumping around excitedly yelling “Whoop—whoop!” I called out to him asking what the hell he was doing. When he yelled back at me his voice was barely audible through the rain that was coming down so hard and the nearly deafening thunder. Bill said that he was trying to “entice the thing” to come back out so we could all get a better look. From my location inside the temple, I shined the beam of the flashlight into the jungle and was quite startled when my light illuminated three pairs of glowing yellow eyes—no bodies could be seen—only eyes. All six eyes seemed to be staring at Bill imitating an ape; they must have been amused because they didn’t move. Charlie started to panic, saying “Why did we leave our guns at the village?!” I replied, “Because the villagers knew you would shoot the creature if it showed up.” Charlie then picked up a good-sized rock and threw it in the direction of the center pair of eyes. There was a loud thumping sound as if the rock hit a very dense animal body. Then all the eyes blinked out at once and nothing more was seen or heard. We all stood by the entrance to the temple looking out into the torrential storm for the rest of the night.