My interest in these creatures happened by chance. I had purchased a Whites Eagle Spectrum metal detector to search the hills of Northern Virginia for Civil War relics. It was a new hobby for me, it got me outdoors and I found it enjoyable. I learned many things about the life and times during the Civil War. The manual for the detector stated its best to learn proper use of a detector on your own land Make a fool of yourself in your own backyard before you start digging up other peoples property. I took that saying to heart. Before long, I had potholes all over the place. I did find some Civil War coat buttons, some bullets and even a Confederate stirrup. Later I found out that my backyard was actually on land that the Confederate Calvary occupied for a short time.

It was a short time later I was invited to spend a day metal detecting around some abandoned gold mines located in Culpeper County Virginia. It was mid March and the trees were still barren of leaves. After a fun day of stomping around the woods we headed back to my friends house. It was about 3:30 PM. The three of us were walking down a hard packed logging trail when all of a sudden my friend stopped and stretched out his arms and said stop! I need to add that my friend served three tours of Vietnam as a point man and at that time worked as Special Agent in the US Government. He has sense retired. After stopping he pointed towards the woods and said, follow from my shoulder to the tip of my finger, 75 feet behind that tree is a man! At that point he drew his 9mm pistol that he carried and pointed it at the tree.

I later found out that he had seen this person out of his peripheral vision just before it saw him. Right after eye contact, the person hid beh.nd some trees. Being a special agent, he knew that woods were sometimes used by people to grow drugs and they sometimes stood guard over their area. That was the reason why he raised his pistol. It was soon apparent that this person was not a person at all. Within a few seconds, a large head looked right at us from the side of the tree. It pulled back and a split second later this thingtarted running right in front of us. It ran, and I mean ran from our left to right, arms swinging legs outstretched! Its speed and lack of noise while running contributed to the experience. It continued running and then it used its foot to pivot off a six-inch pine tree. At that point it continued to run away from us, down a hill and then out of sight. As the creature ran away from us, you could see its huge shoulders moving back and forth until it went out of sight.

I have never seen such massive shoulder muscles, the whole body was built for speed and agility. That sighting will always be etched in my mind. We went back the next day to look for anything that could help us understand what this creature was. We did locate a great footprint where the creature placed its foot before it jumped over a small creek. We also found the pine tree where the bark was pushed to the ground. The damage to the tree confirmed the creature did use it to pivot off of when it made the turn. In most other Bigfoot sightings the creature will just turn and walk away from the people. This sighting was different. I think the creature deliberately ran in front of us to draw our attention from what was following behind it. What it was we will never know. It could have been family unit or its mate. But this creature took a big chance by running directly in front of us.

I have spent many long hours hiking and studying the land, we have found several other Bigfoot type footprints, all of them different in size. I have even deployed a video surveillance system that would be activated only when an animal or person passed in front of it. I have gotten lots of deer, birds, and all types of other animals, tut no Bigfoot. There were a few times when something would approach the camera, which was supported seven feet high in a tree. Most of the activations occurred around 1:00 to 2:00 am. I also had a microphone recording as well. You could here something approach the camera and tap the housing that the camera was located. Then a few seconds later you could hear it walk back into the dense woods.

But what really bugged me was that some of the video showed deer looking directly into the camera lens from about twenty feet away. The deer ears would twitch around but would always point towards the camera. I theorized that the deer could hear the camera operating so I purchased an ultrasonic leak detector from the online auction house Ebay.

Ultrasonic leak detectors are used to locate extremely small leaks in pressure vessels.

It was then I found out that the camera I was using did produce ultrasonic sound, it is generated by the horizontal sync on the CCD chip within the camera. Not only the camera I had deployed in the woods, but also most surveillance cameras did the same. Even handheld video cameras produce ultrasonic sound. After experimenting with the detector outdoors, I realized that even walking on grass or walking through the woods produces large amounts of ultrasonic sound. In my opinion, I think animals like deer can hear the ultrasonic sound our electronic cameras produce, even hear us as we carefully walk through the woods. Does this mean Bigfoot can hear into the ultrasonic range, I dont know for sure. But I have a hunch they can.

After a few years of hiking around the countryside I decided that I was really no closer to finding an answer to my mounting questions. So I placed an ad in the Northern Virginia Electric Co-Op. Its a magazine that is mailed to all its members throughout Virginia. I thought an ad might generate a few calls about possible Bigfoot sightings here in Virginia. I was wrong, the first ad produced 26 calls and the second produced 20 calls. Most of the calls were from hunters that had seen these creatures while hunting. I could tell by their voices they had seen the same type of animal that I saw. Many of them would not even tell their spouses or friends out of ridicule. I would spend hours on the phone gathering information about the sightings. Many people had heard of the Sasquatch or Bigfoot in the Pacific Northwest, but could not believe that these creatures could possibly reside alongside us here in Virginia. There were even hunters that stopped hunting after their sighting, they are too scared to travel into the wood again. Other calls included homeowners that had seen the creatures while taking out the trash at night or just driving down country roads in the evening.

I did travel to several of the sighting areas to deploy video surveillance equipment. But many problems arose, such as power outages and equipment breakdown. I would have the cab of my truck loaded with cameras, enclosures, cables and infrared detectors.

This is when I decided to purchase and outfit a vehicle just for my Bigfoot studies. I needed a vehicle that would hold all my electronic surveillance equipment and the batteries to power it all. Sense most of the sightings happen during the nighttime hours I decided the vehicle should be equipped with a shower, bathroom and sleeping quarters.

A motor home would work out just right. But as I was looking for a motor home, I stumbled across a 1989 mobile veterinarian clinic. It was for sale at a local car repair shop because the owner did not want to put anymore money into it. The owner had purchased a new mobile unit and was trying to sell the old one. SOLD!

With a little time and money, I knew I could convert this vehicle into a great research platform. Well, the little time dragged into a year and the money kept adding up.

Its amazing what a 10-second Bigfoot sighting can do. I finally have it finished and have been to sighting areas in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Fellow researchers and I even entertained a French film crew for a long weekend. They produced a made for TV documentary called Hunters of Unknown Animals Most of the filming was shot here in Virginia, with other shots in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was hard work but everyone had fun. I hope it turns out well, filmmakers are well known to turn boring documentaries into spectacular events.

I will place new ads in hopes that even more people will come forth and let me know of their sightings. I will also travel throughout Virginia documenting sighting and talking to lots of great people. Its very difficult for people to explain what they saw, but they know it was some type of unknown creature. I know that these creatures exist and I would like to see one up close, I really want to look into the eyes of one of these animals. Maybe then I can get on with my life. This has been a time consuming and costly hobby for me but I wouldnt trade it for the world!

Also, I would never want any harm to come to these creatures. I think they have been around this planet a lot longer than we have and would hate to see them disappear because of mans ever increasing need for development. I hope they will remain with us for generations to come. Maybe they can teach us a thing or two!