← Sasquatch Chronicles
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- [00:03]
Gabriel
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. They don't make people that. That big.
- [00:31]
Caller/Listener
The way moved almost as if it was gliding across the beach. I've never seen anything move like that in my life. They were screaming at each other in gibberish. It sounded like a language. And they were chuntering away, back and forwards, back and forwards, back and forwards. I know what a bear looks like. And there is no way on this planet that what I saw were bears.
- [01:15]
Gabriel
Nine, one, one. What are you reporting? Jesus Christ. You better, sir. See ya.
- [01:20]
Musician/Outro Singer
Hello.
- [01:21]
Wes
Get somebody out here.
- [01:22]
Gabriel
What's going on now, sir? That son of a is about 6 foot 9.
- [01:26]
Wes
I don't know.
- [01:26]
Gabriel
Do you see him now, sir?
- [01:27]
Wes
Yes, I'm looking right at him.
- [01:29]
Gabriel
O. This is Tyler from Woodstock, Georgia, and you're listening to the best podcast on.
- [01:40]
Wes
The planet, Sasquatch Chronicles. Welcome to the show, everyone. Thanks for being here tonight. Got a great show planned for you. We'll be chatting with Gabriel and Gabriel comes to us from Massachusetts and he had this encounter about a year and a half ago. He was on a construction site sitting in the van when one of these creatures approached. I'll kind of let him go into it. If you've had an encounter and you'd like to be on the show, shoot me an email. My email address is wesasquatchchronicles.com and if you get a chance, check out sasquatch chronicles.com you can become a member and get additional shows. Let's jump into it tonight. I want to welcome Gabriel. Gabriel, thanks for coming on.
- [03:08]
Gabriel
Yeah, no problem. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm a big fan. I'm a new fan, but definitely a big one, so.
- [03:15]
Wes
Oh, thanks, man, and thanks for listening. I really appreciate it. Now, you had this encounter about a year and a half ago out there in Massachusetts, didn't you?
- [03:26]
Gabriel
Yeah, about. About a year and a half ago. It was, I think January, February, somewhere around there in western Massachusetts.
- [03:37]
Musician/Outro Singer
Yeah.
- [03:38]
Wes
Well, if you would, would you start from the very beginning? What were you doing and what happened?
- [03:45]
Gabriel
Okay, so I work in H Vac, Heating, ventilation, ac, all that stuff. I started out three years ago at a company in Amherst. I think at this point in time, I was still learning the ropes. I haven't been on call yet. So we have this program pretty much where you could. For people who are learning you could Ride along with a senior technician to get the hang of things and just, you know, learn. Learn more than just during regular work hours. So I had my co worker, Ron. Ron has passed away since, unfortunately, but we. He lived about 10 minutes away from me and so it worked out really well. So one night he called me up, it was around 9pm ish. And he asked if I wanted to tag along with him. There was a house that had continuous problems. We've been going back and forth there for a while. So he, you know, every time they get something that's, you know, not an average technician could do, they would. They would send him and luckily for me, I was right next to him. So a lot of the time I would go on call with him and we would. We would figure things out. So this one night, I think it was a Thursday, we had driven up to. Sorry. This is also the first time I've been able to talk about it since the encounter or since whatever happened. Happened. So we. We drive up to. I think it was. It was Laden. I think Coleraine. The Laden Coleraine area. I forget the address, but it was. It's borderline Vermont, near like Mount Snow, I think. I think that's. That's kind of the area where I think we're like maybe an hour even less from. From. From there. And you know, we're out in the sticks. I'm. I'm not. I'm not. I've never really lived in a. In a secluded area like, you know, where there's miles and miles of woods. I've always been not a city boy, but, you know, whatever it is for someone who just hasn't lived in the city or, or middle of nowhere. But we drive up maybe an hour, an hour up together and it kind of. Honestly things. I feel like things kind of take off pretty quickly. So on our ride there, we finally get. It's an hour ride. We finally get to the. To the house. And there's probably about. Honestly, I would say maybe a quarter mile of driveway before you get to the house. And as you drive into the. As you go onto the driveway, there's fruit trees on either side of them. I think there were pear trees, some. Some type of. Some type of pear, which I. Which I later in the story. I guess it'll. It'll make more sense as I. As I talk about it. But we. We get to the, to the house and the. The lady comes out. It's a nice old lady. She's probably in her 80s. Maybe her husband had passed. She wasn't used to having people to talk to. So she was with us for a while once we started to get the hang of things. Once we were in the basement. And I'll say while we were, when we drove up to the house, the way the setup was for the van, we were in a work van. Right before you park, there's a house on the left. That's where the house is, honestly. Looks more like the back of the house, to be honest with you. And then there's the hatchway, some grass and then gravel on the, on the, on the ground. And then across from, across from the hatchway, there's, like heavily wooded area. So when we pulled in, I, I, I've never, again, I'm not, I never grew up in the woods or, you know, I've listened to, you know, some of, some of your, some of your episodes and, you know, so many people, they grow up in the woods and hunting and they, they, you know, they know the woods like the back of their hand, but it was pretty new to me. So, you know, there was a, just a weird feeling I got just being in the area, just in general, you know, and I'd say maybe about an hour, an hour passes as we're working on the unit. The lady, I won't say her name for privacy reasons, I guess, but she goes upstairs, she's tired. At some point, we think we have the issue fixed, and so we don't want to bother. And so we head outside. As we're heading outside, we're still in the basement. The hatchway, by the way, it's almost like a dirt floor kind of basement. Those houses are just so old. Most of them have dirt floors. So the hatchway is open the whole time as we're working in the basement, about an hour and a half. And as we're going out, my, my coworker Ron, he says he's going to go take a smoke and a leak. He's going to go use the restroom pretty much. So we don't bother this old lady asking to use the restroom. So he goes out. When you step out of the hatchway, if you look like maybe, maybe 45 degrees to the left, there's the workman. It's at the end of the, like the farther end, like towards the woods is where, closer where he, where he parked. Not on the gravel or grass, but, or not on the grass, I mean, on the gravel. And he goes to the left and he goes out. Maybe. I, I think I, I think I mentioned about 30, 40 yards. I'm not really that good with measurements, but he was far enough. He had a headlamp on. He was far enough to where like you could see the little, little dot, a little light on his headlamp still. So he goes out quite a distance to the homeowner just in case she comes out. She doesn't, you know, see him being in her backyard and brings his cigarettes with him. And as he's doing that. And I don't, I grew up in a, in a smoker's home. I don't, I don't like the smell of cigarettes. So I decided to stay back and I didn't want to be in the basement because there's a bunch of bugs and spiderwebs, spider central in there. So I was waiting in the van, I'd say for about 10 minutes. Oh, before actually, I want, I want to say that at this point in time, before he went out to use the restroom, we had thought we fixed the issue. And then. So there's this. There's called. What's called a. It's basically a timer on the unit for the thermostat. When you turn the system, if you turn the breaker off, you turn it back on. There's about a 10 to 15 minute time period where the system is just testing itself before the unit turns on. So, okay, so. And then we're out at the van and. Or I'm out at the van, I'm by myself. I have one AirPod in and I'm just, I'm sitting on a bucket and just on my phone, I think about 10 minutes passed by and you know, I wasn't paying too much attention to the time. And I here what I, what I. I'm watching, I'm watching Reels on YouTube or Instagram and I hear the very slightest and most faint, like breathing, I guess. And it's like it was very, very subtle. And you know, at this point I thought that Ron had come back from using the restroom and his little smoke break. And then I hear it again. And then at this point, I'm on my phone and I paused the video I'm watching and I look up, I'm sitting directly in the middle of the van. I'm not as far away from the door as you can be, but one of the two back doors are closed completely. And then the other door is open. I'd say maybe about three inches. And I said, and it's dark outside. The only light, if any, was coming from the hatchway. And that's only because there were no lights in the basement originally. And so we had some job lights in there, just two lights, enough to light the basement and the stairs out the basement. And I. I'm here. On top of the breathing. I hear what sounds like a tap. Not. Not like a knock, but almost as if it was. It's. The back door is metal, so it was almost as if someone put their hand on, like, the outside of the open door. And at that moment is when I heard the second. The second breath is what I think. And I look up and I'm. I'm maybe a little over halfway looking straight out into the van. I'm looking. I'm looking down at my phone, and I start going up and I. And I see this. Just black. Sorry, just one second. I just get so nervous talking about it, man. I see this black figure, very, very dark figure there. And I kind of freeze for a second or for what feels like forever, but I'm sure it was only just a couple seconds. And I can. I'm not sure what I'm looking at at this point, but I just know that what I am looking at is dark. Very, very dark, very tall. And it looks almost like it's hunched over when I say that. It's almost as if. So the doors. So the doors that were in the back of the van, they're not. They're not sleep. They're not clear. The glass isn't clear. It's almost like, you know, if you have a shower curtain, a clear shower curtain that's like blurred. That's kind of what it is, except it's. It's like exaggerated, is exaggeratingly blurred. And you can kind of see this figure there, hunched over and almost like. Like, you know, like, similar to. You know, the stories where people are. Are saying something's looking behind it, behind a tree. And I'm. As I'm looking up, I don't notice anything else besides obviously the huge shape that's there. And it wasn't. It wasn't gigantic like a. Like a refrigerator, but it was just big. And so I'm looking up about halfway. Halfway up the door, and I don't. I don't. I still see just like a black mass and then about 3/4 of the way up there. So if you're standing outside of the van, you would have to be about seven, maybe seven and a half feet tall in order to kind of be where exactly I was looking at that point, and I saw this very dark black eye. And in that second, I wasn't sure exactly what I was Looking at, you know, I, I, when I, I didn't, I knew it wasn't like a crazy animal because I would have, I feel like I would have heard it. You know, it was January slash February. So, you know, there's, there's leaves on the ground. I don't, I don't. It wasn't snowing at this point in time, but there were leaves all over the ground. And, you know, I would have, I, I really feel that I would have heard something. And I'm staring at this thing and my, my screen is on as I'm looking up, almost. Hands are shaking, almost as if, you know, like you're telling a scary story around the campfire. You have that flashlight that's underneath, like, your face to give you that dramatic look. And I know that this thing can, whatever it is, can see me so clearly. And, you know, it's as if it's. I, man, I. And I'm frozen. I feel. I. It feels like minutes pass by. And I know this whole thing happened within maybe about five to 10 seconds. And then, you know, I'm just hearing. I hear just that slight breathing noise again. And we were just locked eyes. And I want to turn my phone off, but I'm nervous that if I do, I'm not going to be able to see a single thing. And this thing will. So I'm not sure what exactly happened, but at some point, right before, at some point it just leaves and right before it left at the very same time. I don't know if it was maybe my. The headlight on my coworker's head, like if he once he turned his head this way. I don't know if that's what made it happen. But the eye, the pitch black eye I was staring at, it was almost as if it just started glowing just immediately. And I think that really freaked me out almost, you know, in a way, I want to say, in a way, it almost made me feel a little better because it, you know, for like a half of a second, it. I didn't feel like I was staring into emptiness or into just something that was pitch, like an eye that was pitch black. And, you know. You know, it almost gave like, a sense of, you know, humanity or something. I was like, okay, this, whatever I'm looking at, it's like, it's not. Honestly, my first thought went to, like, some sort of demon, demon or something, to be completely honest with you. And, and as it, when it, when it did that, the light, the glare went away. And as the glare went away, The, The. The. The timer for the basement, it was a boiler specifically. It had turned on and there was a really, really big loud boom coming from it. And in that half second that all three of those things happened, you know, the glare or the light, the light shining. Honestly, I think. I really do think it was the light from his headlamp that reached that far. It just took off. And right before it took off, it looked like to the left, almost as if it was. Honestly, the direction it looked, it was like where Ron had went to have a smoke break and use the restroom. And in that half. In a half second, I saw like, it looked like all the way to like as far left as you can look. And then I could see like, white on the outside. Like on the very, very outside. Kind of how, you know, we have that white around our. Around our pupils. And I think at that point I was. I think that if I was right back to thinking, like, what. What am. I was just. Wasn't sure what I was looking at. And in that, in that moment, everything happened. It just took off. And when I say it took off, took off, like I. You could. In this, like, it's like in that you're in Jurassic park when, you know, you. You can feel the stomping or even. Actually, I can. So if you were to grab a wrench, like a really big heavy wrench or pipe wrench or something and drop it on the ground, I heard it was. It was like a really loud thump, but it was on. It was on the gravel. And then it was one. One step on the gravel, one in the grass, one more in the. In the leaves. And I heard. I heard three boom, boom, boom, like that. And, And. And when Ron came back, he. He heard. He. He said he heard and he felt it. He felt something. And he thought that the boiler in the basement was continuously making these booming noise. It wasn't like, loud, but like you could feel it in the ground is what I'm trying to say. And you know, he. He come. He comes over and I'm still in the van. I think at this point I turned my light off because I'm. I. I turn my phone off and I am just. He comes up to the van. He opens it or he calls my name first and. And I don't. I don't really say anything. And then he calls it again. And then I'm like. And I, I just say hello. And then he comes opening the door. He's like, what are you doing? What are you doing in here? And then. And I asked him if. If. If he. If I asked him if he saw an animal. You know, I'm not going to say what I'm really thinking, but I asked him if. If he saw an animal that was out here. He said. He said. And I. Word for word, he said, what, like a raccoon? And I said, no. I said, I think there was. And honestly, this is. I never come face to face with a bear before, but I just knew that's not what this thing was. Um, especially with how quiet and how. How intense. Honestly, his. The. The. I say his. I don't know if this thing is a boy or girl or male or female, but I get the vibe that it was male. I don't know what makes me think that or feel that, but I expl. I tell him, I said, I think. I think there was a bear here. You look out. And so he. He's looking to the right now, like, where the woods are. Like, he's. He's facing the back of the van, so his right would be my left. And he. He's like, I don't. I don't see anything. He's like. He's like. And he asked me, are you messing around with me? And I was like, no. He's like, yeah, there's nothing. There's nothing out here. And he made it. He made a joke of, you know, me just. It was a bad joke, you know, just the kind of joke he made is not really my taste, but he was. He just made a joke suggesting I was, like, schizophrenic or something, you know, very, very. Not a lot of thought it went into the joke, you know, but in that moment, he's like, well, there's no animals here now. So we went down into the basement. He turned the switch off to the. To the boiler. And then. And then the homeowner comes out. She comes out in her robe, and she asked what. What had happened. And we explained to her what. What had happened with the boiler and, you know, was. And it's a lot to explain, but pretty much. And I thank God. Honestly, I thank God for that noise, because I feel like if I didn't. If. If that noise didn't happen, I. I don't know. I don't know if that noise scared it off. I don't know. I. I just don't know. But what happened was, in the boiler was. There was oil spewing into the. Into the unit, and when it. When it finally lit off, there was just a really big loud boom. Like, there's Some part on the piping that kind of flaps open. So it also adds to the boom noise. It was just really, really loud, really unexpected, Almost as if. Almost as if there was a stick of dynamite exploded. To be honest with you, it was very loud. Very. You could feel it. And so she comes out and she asks what happened. We tell her everything's okay, or he tells her everything's okay. I'm quiet at this point. I'm not saying a word. I'm. I'm. I'm. Honestly, I think at this point, I step. I'm stepping up onto the stairs to stand next to her because I don't want. Until I can watch the woods, because I'm. I'm freaking out. And at some point, I'm. I'm genuinely thinking if I went crazy because he. Ron didn't see anything. And I think that's honestly the biggest. The weirdest. I think the weirdest thing to me is that he didn't see anything. And I feel like if his light was able to reach the Gl. The eyes of whatever I was looking at, he should have seen something. And I don't know, maybe it was just pitch black, dark that. And he was so far. He couldn't see anything from that distance. So Ron explained everything to the homeowner. He. He starts going back down to the. To the basement. He's like, all right, let's go. Let's go. Let's go see what. What happened or. Or make sure everything was fine. Something along the lines of that. And I asked her. I was. I asked her, I said, do you have. Do you have bears that come out here? And she looked at me, and I don't know if I had a white face or if I looked visibly scared. I. I honest. To be honest with you, I. I agree. I think I. I think I did. I think I did look very scared. I was very jumpy. I think is a good word. And she looked at me, and I think this is kind of what verified that I wasn't going crazy. And, you know, I guess this. I hope I'm not. Maybe I'm just taking what she said and, you know, differently than how she meant. But she looked at me. It was almost, you know, a little bit of a comforting face she made. And she said, don't worry. All the animals. All the animals up here are friendly. And then. And I don't know. I don't know what exactly she meant by that. You know, obviously, if I run into a bear, that thing could do whatever it wants, but she said that to me and I, and I. And it bring, it brought me some comfort because I think looking back at it, you know, just looking back at it, I was like, maybe she meant that maybe she's had some experiences with whatever that was and it wasn't harmful to her. I think at that point, everything. I was just talking with her, she was just asking questions about, about me working and because I'm, I look very young from. I'm 25, I think I was 23 at the time. I look very young for my age. And she was just asking me questions about that. And we, and then after that, Ron came up and I grabbed our tools and we just, we left. I actually waited for him to, to turn the van, like five, six point, turn the van around so I didn't have to walk on the wood side where the passenger door was. And that's kind of where, you know, things left off. And on our way on our right back home. It was about another hour back down and Ron is, Ron's asking me, he's like, are you, are you sure it was a bear? And I was like, honestly, I, I'm not anymore. I really don't know what I was looking at. And you know, he was, I think at the time he was maybe in his late 50s, early 60s or something. And he told him, I don't know how to. He pretty much told me to, you know, don't going, you know, don't go around. People are going to think I'm crazy if I go around saying I, I saw something that was not normal, pretty much. And, but in more of. More, not in a. Was less in a serious way, more in like just so, you know, kind of way.
- [28:17]
Wes
And yeah, it's intense, you know, being that close to one of these creatures and it's terrifying. And I don't care how big and bad someone claims to be. And oh, I would do this and I would do that. You get a real attitude adjustment real quick when you're close to one of these things. And you know, you were talking about the eye shine before or the eye glow, and it didn't click with me until you were saying Ron had a headlamp on. Do you think the eyes were actually glowing or do you think it was the eyeshine reflecting back? That's kind of what you were seeing?
- [28:56]
Gabriel
Yeah, it was, it was eyeshine. But you know, it. The way, the way it was, it wasn't. The glow was. I'd say it was white, slash gray, but a little more white. Like it definitely what it was definitely coming from that headlight is what. Is what I think. And it was. It was. Honestly, if it really. It looked like a mix of, like, glowing eyes and eye shine. Like, if, Like, I've seen, you know, memes and stuff on social media, and it's like. Like raccoons who have eyes and they're in their. And they're like, almost. They look like stars, almost like twinkles. There was a mix of that, and you could almost see like. But more full, like a, like, orb almost, which is kind of what makes me feel like it was glowing rather than shiny.
- [29:42]
Wes
Yeah, I know. Kind of looking back in that moment, it's hard to say. You know, you can pick up Eyeshine from a deer a mile down the road as you're heading towards it. That is interesting, though. I could see how you would snap out of being frozen in that moment. The back door, how wide open was.
- [30:03]
Gabriel
Was about maybe 3, 4 inches. So the. If you're. If you're standing, if you're in the van, the door that was on the right was closed. That's usually the door that you can't close the other door without closing that one. So that door was closed. And then the one that you would close after was the door that was open, which is the door that was on my left. Um, and it was. It was cracked open maybe about four inches. Three or four inches. So I. I kind of. I. And you know, as you're. As you. You know, you asked me that question, and I. I feel like I'm kind of. Kind of remembering, like, a lot. Like, just not, Not. Not skin, but it was like a layer of something after the skin. It was really dark, but I could kind of. I can kind of tell, like, two different shades of. Of. Of. Of. I'd want to say black, but I guess black and like towards. I guess maybe towards the. I'm trying. I'm trying to recall exactly. Exactly where I was looking when I was looking at this thing, but I don't. I. To be honest with you, I don't think I was looking anywhere else besides looking at it in the eye. Like, I think. I think I was just too focused that if I look away from whatever I'm looking at, it's going to do something.
- [31:20]
Wes
And I might have missed it in the beginning, but. And I know in this moment it probably feels like forever, but. How long do you think you guys were looking at each other?
- [31:30]
Gabriel
I'd say maybe like five to. Five to ten seconds. And I say that, and it just. It Feels longer than that. So I don't want to say it was 20, 30 seconds, but it. I think. I think it was around five to 10 seconds. Yeah.
- [31:47]
Wes
You know those work fans, I mean, when they're open 3 to 4 inches. If I'm standing back there, you're probably going to see most of my face. That kind of shows you how big this thing was where you're only seeing. I know you said you saw some of the skin of the face, but you're mainly focused on that eye looking at you. What do you think its intention was? Do you think it even knew you were in there at first?
- [32:14]
Gabriel
I. So I kind of. I kind of. I think I have an idea of kind of what was. What was like, what happened exactly. I think with the hatchway open, I think, you know, we're loud, we're talking. Normally, it's. It's pretty quiet. It's not dead silent, you know, like time stopped kind of silent. But it was, it was. We were loud enough to where, like, if you're standing outside the house, you could hear us talking. You could hear the metal, the metal, like the pipe wrenches grabbing onto the metal and you could hear us saying, all right, 1, 2, 3, push, or 1, 2, 3, pull, or. And stuff like that. So I think. I think a lot of it was that it was curious and I think it was. I think it was curious. You know, I did have an idea that, you know, at some point while Ron went to the. Like out the hatchway to the left and down into the woods that. With his. With his cigarettes. I think that it didn't. It. 1. I don't like the smell and I. I don't. I don't think this thing like the smell of those either. And I. And I think. I don't know, maybe if it was in his area initially and, you know, maybe it moved to my side and just to, like, investigate or just to be curious. And then, you know, once it got up to the door, Salah was in there and then. And then just like, oh, shit, I didn't know you were here. But, you know, there's no way for me to know that.
- [33:43]
Wes
And this thing didn't vocalize at all. It didn't growl at you? You were just kind of hearing the breathing?
- [33:50]
Gabriel
Yeah, I didn't really hear any growling or, you know, grunt. I just. I've heard from other episodes people mention that they hear some sort of growling or grunting or whoops or something. The only thing I heard was just this heavy but short breathing and you know, and actually that reminds me to say that when I made eye contact with this thing, I didn't hear a single breath. It was almost as if, like, I don't know if he, like I was, I think at the time I wasn't breathing either. I think it was almost as if I held my breath too, but I noticed that that noise, I didn't hear it breathing anymore. So I, with that being said, I don't, I don't think it knew, it really knew that I was in there. Especially if the lights, the lights in the van are off and the only light coming off was just from my, from my phone. And I have an air, I'm watching videos and I have an AirPod in. So there's not really, there's no sound really coming from, from the inside of the van.
- [34:51]
Wes
What was your gut feeling at the time? What, what do you think would have happened if your co worker wouldn't have walked up on the van?
- [35:01]
Gabriel
I think it was, I think it was surprised that I was there. And I think, you know, honestly, I think, I think that if, if, if he had come out earlier or had seen it earlier or maybe if he had his headlight off instead of walking closer to it, I think that it maybe would have been a little more, A little less. I think. I think it would have. Wouldn't have been as, as quiet as it was because it knew, like, it, it's. I, I'm trying to. I, I don't, I don't know. I really don't. And something that I thought about is I, I think about that a lot and I think that if it wasn't there, I don't think it would have hurt me exactly. But I think if I, I think if I had tried to, to like scare it or something, I think it would not run away. You know, whether that's, you know, it making a noise back or in trying to intimidate me, I was there. It was much, much, much smaller than this thing. And I could tell that from the inside of the, of the van. And I don't think that the presence of my co worker being there would have scared off, would have skidded off. I think, you know, these things, it seems like they have a history of not wanting to be seen at all, but I think the, the initial thing that kind of made this thing dash away is the boom coming from the basement.
- [36:36]
Wes
Oh, I gotcha. So you think it ran off because of the boiler firing up and making that noise as opposed to your co worker walking up, you know, the thing with Sasquatch, that always amazes me. For something as big as they are and as intimidating as they are, they're easily startled, whether that means someone else walking up or a noise, or you'll hear where people are in tents and they'll turn on their car alarm when this thing's around their tent and it runs off. When this thing actually ran off, and I realized it's the back of the van. But were you able to see it as it ran off, or was it kind of in the direction where you couldn't see?
- [37:20]
Gabriel
Just. I think, you know, I didn't. I didn't. The three thumps that I heard, they were almost as if, you know, from just. It went to one direction, and that direction was just left, like, complete. Just like straight shot left. And I think that would have been the best way it could have gone because I think if it. If it ran towards the front of the van, my coworker would have seen it, and if it ran to the, like, far end, like towards the driveway area, my coworker would have seen it. So I think it just ran straight. But the weird thing is that, like, I wouldn't. I wouldn't have seen it run away because I was stuck in the same spot. I didn't want to leave the van, to be honest with you. I didn't want to go investigate. I didn't want to. Whatever this thing was, I didn't. I didn't want to be a part of it, to be honest with you. And I was just kind of hoping that it was, you know, it was. It would leave. Whatever it was, it would leave.
- [38:15]
Wes
How big do you think it actually was? Because, you know, those H vac, the guys that work in H Vac, those vans are generally pretty big.
- [38:24]
Gabriel
Yeah, there were. It was a Ford, it was a Transit. Forget what size, but it was one of the high, high top vans. I'd say, man, I don't. I'd say it was. Maybe it wasn't. It was hunched over, but not that hunched over, like it was picking something up or anything. I think it was just kind of more like looking down to. To kind of like see almost, you know, like, if you're turning a corner to kind of see, like, around. If you're trying to peek around a corner, I think that's kind of what it was trying to do. And in the process of doing that and maybe bent over, I'd say maybe a foot. So maybe this thing was, I don't know, eight, eight and a half feet tall and Something else is that it wasn't refrigerator kind of build. Based on the shadow that I've seen outside the glass. And again, the glass wasn't completely clear. It was. It was, you know, it was blurry, like blurry glass pretty much. And. And that's just so, you know, if you park in a van in the city or something, people don't see all the expensive tools we have in the van. And I could see that this thing wasn't super big, but it wasn't. It really definitely was not skinny. And I. And I. I don't know what would have scared me more if this thing was skinny and tall or big and tall. I don't know, but I'd say maybe eight. Eight to eight and a half feet tall.
- [39:49]
Wes
What do you make of how the homeowner responded to you? It's almost like she probably saw that you were scared. I mean, it's not something you can hide.
- [40:01]
Gabriel
Yeah, I think. Because. I think because of her response and that. I think that's a really, really weird response. And I think. I think she knew that there was something, you know, what it was? I'm not sure I did. I did try to see if she had, like, cameras outside or something after, just to see maybe, like, I don't know, maybe if she's experienced this before and has, like. Maybe she had cameras installed or something. But she had, you know, there were no cameras outside. There were no lights. And I think that's because she was so old. There's no really need for her to. To have lights around her house. She. She did mention that she had a caretaker that would come to the house every. Every day or every other day or something at the beginning of the. At the beginning. Towards the beginning of when we were there. So there's not really a lot of reason for her to leave the house at nighttime. But I do think that she knew something. I'm not sure what, but I think she knew there was something not normal there. But with the fact that she said all the animals up here are friendly, it was something along the lines of that. I think she kind of knew why I was asking. And I think because she was so fast to switch up the conversation after that. I don't know if. I don't know if she wanted to. And when I say that, I mean, she started asking me questions about my career. She. I think she wanted to switch up topics. I don't know if it made her nervous or she saw how uncomfortable I was feeling and maybe try to distract me from it. I'M not sure.
- [41:35]
Wes
Have you ever considered going back to the property to where this happened?
- [41:40]
Gabriel
No, not at all. Actually, the property, I'd say a big. About half the reason why I am, I'm so, I live in Boston now. And about half the reason why I moved over here was to get away from the woods. I've had a lot of dreams about this and, and like if I, you know, I, I barely want to go to a park, you know, let alone, let alone live in an area with, you know, a small patch of woods. Just every, just, you know, looking at it, just woods kind of just, it just brings me back and that's just not something I want to think about. And you know, maybe, maybe it would be different if I knew exactly what it was or maybe it would make it worse if I knew exactly what it was. But just the overall, just the overall experience, it made it like, apart with wanting to live with my girlfriend. That was, this, that was the second thing that came, you know, it was just to get away from this area. And in the time, I didn't even live in a, in a heavily in a wooded city. I lived in. The city I lived in at the time was Holyoke, and it's very, very far from woodsy area. Again, not something I'm not something I'm used to. Yeah.
- [42:53]
Wes
What was kind of your feelings about Sasquatch before this ever happened to you?
- [42:59]
Gabriel
I'm definitely, I think before I was, I think I was a believer, but I think I was a believer. And you know, there are two, there's too many stories. I think I was listening to an episode yesterday or the day before and, and someone, and someone said the same thing of like they're just. There are thousands and thousands of reports of, of, of things like this happening. And you know, statistically, some of them can't be lies at all. And, and it really makes you think of like, you know, if this, if, if this is kind of going. If so many people are having the same, the same experience or very similar experience and not only in, in this state or that state or in the US but all over the world. It kind of, it really makes you think and question kind of what, you know about, about, you know, everyday things. But I, you know, I did believe I'm, I'm a very, I, I don't want to say I'm a super spiritual person, but I, I, I, I, I believe, I believe in a lot of things. You know, as far if, you know, I don't know if I believe in vampires exactly. Per se, you know what I mean? But you know, I think, I do think there are a lot of things on this planet that can't be explained and shouldn't be explained, shouldn't be known. And I think that this is, as of right now, kind of something that, you know, the genre of Sasquatch or Bigfoot or Yeti. I think it's, it's, it's been, I think the, I don't want to say the truth has been hidden for so long, but I, I guess you can kind of go along that path for words and kind of say that it's for a reason and what that reason is, I wouldn't know.
- [44:48]
Wes
Yeah, I could understand how you feel when you were looking at this thing. You guys are sitting there eye to eye. Did you get the feeling that you were looking at an animal?
- [45:00]
Gabriel
No, not at all. I got, I, especially with how, with how quiet and almost, I want to say these eyes looked human, but they were just so black and they definitely were not human. The eyes were, I'd say they were maybe like a mix like half and half oval and more circular, but I don't think they were exactly humanized either, you know, but you know, I, I, I, I've seen, I've seen pictures of bears and all these documentaries of bears and I know for a fact it wasn't without quiet. Again, with how quiet it was and just the placement of where the eye was from, where the inside of, you know, like the inside of the nose was. So like, if you wipe like, I don't know, like an eye booger or something that very tips or top of the nose, like you can see kind of where it started and which made me think that it wasn't what I was looking at wasn't really an animal. It again, like I was kind of, I was with, especially with how dark it was. I was, I was thinking I was looking at something that was, you know, demonic, you know, like a, like a real monster.
- [46:13]
Wes
I've heard demonic many times. What, what kind of made you feel that way?
- [46:18]
Gabriel
I don't know. I, I, maybe it was a mix of me not just not experiencing, you know, I've never been camping. I don't know what it's like to go camping and I never will go camping. So, you know, just, and I guess, I guess to an extent I've always had this fear of, of the dark. Like I'm not like scared of the dark, but it's the fear of it. And I, it's just maybe it's the Idea of the unknown. And because it was so unknown to me, I wasn't, I'm not familiar with what it was, what it could do. Yeah, yeah.
- [46:56]
Wes
A lot of people say demonic and I was just kind of curious on what made you feel that way. You know, I ask everyone on the show, what do you think Sasquatch is? And there's no wrong answer. I'm curious on what you think it is. And I know you were into the topic before. Did your opinion change when you were kind of looking into the topic? And now being in this position of.
- [47:19]
Gabriel
Actually seeing it, I'm not too sure. Obviously. I think it's definitely something that is alive, like flesh and blood. I'm not, I don't, I don't, I don't know if I exactly believe in the more spiritual path for it. And you know, I, I, I, and I'll never know if it, on another, I'll never know. But I, I do think that this is, it's something that is flesh and blood and I think it's been around for a very, very, very long time. You know, whether it's maybe, you know, there's actually. My girlfriend mentioned this thing. I forget what. It's uncanny. Uncanny valley. Uncanny valley. I think it is. And it'. I'm not sure if you probably are familiar with what the concept or the idea of it, but it's pretty much this primal fear of something that looks human but isn't. And I don't know if it goes as far back as that. And I forget the second half of your question, Wes. I'm sorry.
- [48:32]
Wes
Yeah, no, that's okay. I was curious if your opinion changed before and after the encounter.
- [48:38]
Gabriel
I don't think it's changed at all. The fact that you know it. I heard three thumps and then just none at all. I was thinking that maybe what if it did just disappear? And I've heard stories of, you know, things like that happening. But another, another fear that I had was that what if it just took three thumps, three steps and it was just out of sight? And that's all it was, was just out of sight. It was still there, just hidden. Which is why I had, I had Ron turn the van around, do like a seven point turn before I got into the van. And he was a little annoyed about that. But I think he, I think he understood to an extent. But it hasn't, My, my opinion really hasn't changed. I still, I still think it's, I guess for the most part, live flesh and blood. I've and, you know, I've always been fascinated with the idea of something that could be supernatural. And I don't know if you would call Sasquatch supernatural or not, but if I, if I could go back in time and not go and not experience that, I think I would, you know, for the sake of my, you know, for the, for my own sake, I, I think I, I'd rather not have experienced that. And I, I, I think that if I, if I, I, I wish I, I had some sort of proof because I, you know, just talking around in that hour, that hour drive back, I felt like I was in. I was going crazy. And I wish that had some sort of evidence to show that I wasn't to them or to him specifically. I haven't really told anyone about it. I can't really talk to my girlfriend about it. She is definitely afraid of anything supernatural. She's had a spooky experience once at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston for work. And to the point where I went. I actually went over there the next day. This is before we moved in together, to the point where I went over there the next day to stay with her for that second night. And I did get some pretty, pretty creepy vibes from that place too. But that's.
- [50:46]
Wes
Yeah. You know, Gabriel, I can relate a lot to what you just said. And to this day, if I could go back, I wouldn't have had my encounter. I would have never gone out that night. And I think, you know, when you have an encounter, there's such a range of emotions. There's fear, there's. I mean, you name it, you're experiencing it in that moment. And it's one of those things to. Where it affects people so much. And I think that's why it hurts so much when we try and explain what we saw to people, and then they, they goof on us because there is that emotion attached to what happened to you. A year and a half later. How has this still affected you?
- [51:36]
Gabriel
Man? You know, there are times where I've. I've kind of waken up just having dreams of, of me just honestly just staring at this thing. And not even, you know, in these dreams, it's been the same. I've had the same dream. Not every time, but when I do dream about this thing, sometimes it's, it's. It's me. I'm sitting down, it's pitch black everywhere. And then all I see is just like that, that almost like tunnel vision that, like maybe three inches away from the eye on both sides Straight up, down. And it's just like the edges of the door pitch black. And I'm sitting there and I'm staring at this thing. Even to this day, I'll have dreams where I'm, I'm, I'm sleeping in my, in my apartment. I live in an apartment building. There are no woods anywhere near me. Three story apartment building. And I'm, I have these dreams where, you know, things are knocking on my window and it's, you know, I, I just recently started getting back into, into, you know, listening to podcasts just like yours, where people are sharing experiences and it would, it would, you know, it's kind of, you know, pushed me a little bit to kind of at least express it. Maybe I can get a little bit of closure to kind of what I, what I've seen. And, you know, I've had dreams like that. I've, I've, you know, I can't, I can't even look. I can't. You know, there are times even now when I'm on call, I'll get the call in and I'll GPS to see where it is and if it's, if it's secluded, you know, like a. Similar, like, similar to what I was, where I, where I was during the experience. I, I won't, I won't go and I'll ask, and I'll ask another co worker to, you know, if they can take it for me. I'll pretend I'm sick or something. And it's, it's affected me pretty, pretty bad. You know, I do feel like it's getting better, you know, and I don't know, maybe that's just because I am living in the city and not, and not in. And not over there anymore.
- [53:34]
Wes
Yeah, I think the two things that have helped me the most is time. And time's a funny thing, you know, time can heal and time can punish, you know, when, when people mess up in society, we lock them up and there's time associated with it as punishment. But time can also heal. And the farther you get away in time, away from your encounter, I think that that helps. And it also helps too to hear other people's encounters. You know, I've learned so much that if I were to encounter one again and not be frozen with fear, and I'm a big enough man to say that would be my biggest concern, is my own fear taking over. But you learn so much from people's encounters that I can almost tell you what I think the creature is going to do. And I think my Odds are pretty high as far as what it's going to do. And that's not because of anything on my end. It's just from hearing so many encounters, you, you tend to learn about their behavior. And I think stuff like that really helps. And realizing you're not the only one that has encountered it and, you know, in your situation. I kind of think the creature was just as shocked to see you in the van as you were to see it.
- [54:55]
Gabriel
And I think the fact that it touched the van because like I said, there was a light tap, like, as if it put his hand on it, like, not so gentle to where, like, it wouldn't make a sound. But, you know, if you're just like resting your arm on something, that's kind of, that's kind of how hard it did it. And I don't think it would have done that. And I also think especially it would have controlled its breathing more if it had known that I was in there. It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't as if, like, it was, it was running a lot and then it just stopped to catch its breath. It was more like it was just breathing how it would normally breathe. And something else that I actually, I had failed to mention was that I, I, after, after the experience, like, I, I, I had come out the van and I. There was this, this not, not dog, not wet dog smell, but more like wet, like wet towel like you, you, you use, you soak up like dirty water and let it dry and do that a couple more times. That's kind, a little bit. It was, it wasn't too windy, but which is, I think, why I could, I could still smell it while I was smell, still smell that, that scent while I was, while I was out there. Not something that, you know, was super strong, you know, like, like it would, like I lived in a swamp or something. But I, I think that whatever it was, it just wasn't the cleanest.
- [56:14]
Wes
Yeah, I get what you're saying. Kind of that sour smell from a wet towel. And there is the, the smell does come up a lot. People will describe it. I've heard it described many different ways, and it's an amazing account and I'm honored that you would come on and share it because I know you haven't shared it with, with a lot of people. And yeah, my cell phone, if you ever want to chat, feel free to hit me up, man. But I really appreciate you taking the time to come on.
- [56:44]
Gabriel
Very welcome, Wes. I appreciate it. You know, I do. I do appreciate Talking about it, I think. I think talking about it kind of helped me. And I think, you know, maybe. Maybe you're just comforting me or just to comfort me, but, you know, it's. I think. I think talking with you helped me a lot. And, you know, I'm still not. I'm still not going to be accepting any. Any on call. Any on. Any. Any. Any calls, you know, in wooded areas anytime soon still. But, you know, it definitely helped. I'm really glad I was able to get this off my chest a little bit and talk about it with someone who. Who could understand. And I think that's. I think that's probably why I was so willing to talk to you. You know, there's. There are a couple. There's another podcast I've listened to, and you know, those people call their. They. They leave like a message for the. For the person, and the person kind of listens to it and then says something after. And I. I wanted more than that. You were. You were able to help me out. So thank you.
- [57:40]
Wes
Yeah, brother. Well, it was a real honor having you on. Thank you again. And that's it for tonight, everyone. Remember, if you've had an encounter, shoot me an email. My email address is wesasquatchchronicles.com and if you get a chance to check out Sasquatch Chronicles.com you can become a member and get additional shows. Until next time, everyone.
- [58:21]
Musician/Outro Singer
Know that you gone the lights on this is my place around Memories of you dear until your eyes closer the sky I miss my bride Memories of you dear I sound as a human inviter the lights on and make power grow wide brighter the lights on but must be a little wiser the light. On this is mine closer Memories of you dear until you're right Close up the sky I miss my memories of you. Put the lights on this is my home place without memories of you dear under your eyes Close up the skies I'll miss my eyes Memories of unity Sam.
- [60:36]
Wes
Sa.
- [61:53]
Musician/Outro Singer
Sam.