BFRO #21674: Man describes incident in teen years: Daylight encounter by two young men in the Green Valley area

📍 Location

📝 Description

First, as a matter of background, I want to tell a little about myself. It will help explain the delay in ever having reposted this incident. The sighting occurred about three months prior to my entering the United States Army. I served for three years as a Paratrooper with a Top Secret Clearance. After my time in the service, I became a Los Angeles Police officer. I did that for thirteen years and am now a Federal Agent, working for an O.I.G. out of Washington DC. With that background, you can probably understand my reluctance to discuss this sighting with too many people. It really boils down to a potential career killer. That being said� the incident DID occur and I remember it vividly. Many many years after the event, I reconnected with my friend (the witness) and asked him to tell ME the story as he recalled it. I wanted to check my memory and see if his matched mine. It did�. To a T! Only a few months ago, I spoke with my brother in law, a witness after the fact. I asked him if he remembered the event�. He did. It should be known that he is not the kind of person that would "buy into" such a story, had he not been semi involved. Anyway, this is what happened: My friend Craig and I were both 17 years old and waiting to leave for Army Basic Training. He was due to leave in June and I would go in August of 1980. We were staying with my Sister and Brother in Law at the time. They lived in a cabin in Green Valley California. Craig and I enjoyed our last months as civilians in that area, and used it to train for the difficult training ahead of us. We ran every day along the mountain roads and hiked the hills, trying to get into prime shape. In May, we decided to test ourselves and camp out for a full seven days. We knew the perfect place for this would be what we called "The old campground" because of its isolated surroundings and terrain that would be perfect for climbing and hiking. So, we packed up a weeks worth of supplies and, though my sister Cindy and her husband Tom offered to drive us, we decided to act like soldiers and walk to the location. We did this with full packs. My sister and Tom advised us that they would check on us at least every other day and that they would bring us food and lemonade and such. Tom also, offered to provide us with two weapons to be used for protection against any strangers that may try to harm us. After all� this was before cell phones and we would be on our own big-time. There was also a heavy rattlesnake threat in that area, so we happily took him up on the offer. Tom met us at an area near the mine shafts later that day and gave us an M-1 rifle and a 12 gauge shotgun, with ammo for both.The dirt trail that leads off of the main highway goes very far back into the mountains. In fact, were you to traverse it to its end, you would end up on top of what is known as Grass Mountain. Craig and I decided to get about three miles in and away from the highway, which was about a mile past what once was an old 1920s campground, and live deep in the bush like soldiers would. We found a great spot, next to a clear running creek and set up our tent in the clearing that was there. This clearing was completely surrounded by thick woods. Then�� night fell.As we lay in our tent talking by the light of flashlights, we both heard the very loud snap of deadfall in the woods behind the tent. We sat up, frozen and listening. We heard what sounded like a very large and heavy person, slowly walking around our site, making no effort to conceal his presence, judging from the loud sound of breaking sticks and brush. We were both scared believing that someone was out there. We exited the tent, Craig with a shotgun and me with the M-1. I started yelling very loud. "Hey! We know you are there. We have guns and will shoot!" Again, we heard the sound of someone walking slowly but methodically around from our left to right. We shinned our lights in the direction but could not see anything but the trees and brush. We talked amongst ourselves, wondering if it could be a bear or something, but we decided that it was a person and not an animal. After much yelling and warning that we would shoot, I decided to fire a few rounds in the direction of the noise (how crazy that sounds now) and I did just that. I fired about three rounds into the trees and the sound was unbelievable. The weapon blasted and the sound echoed into the night, roaring into the canyons and fading off into the night air. We stood in silence. To our utter disbelief and eventual horror whatever it was, began to move again, still left to right, in a circle around us. What we both thought and discussed later, was that NO animal would have stuck around after the horrific noise of the M-1. Most normal people would not have stuck around either! Whoever or whatever was out there not only stuck around, but appeared, from the casual sound of the slow walking, to be less than concerned about our weapons. We made a decision to vacate the area post

🔍 Circumstances

One other witness, and he was with me at the time.

🌤️ Weather Conditions

Dusk. Approx. 7:00PM Weather: clear, dry, no breeze.Lighting:Not quite dark yet. No man made lighting.

ℹ️ Additional Details

Dusk. Approx. 7:00PM Weather: clear, dry, no breeze.Lighting:Not quite dark yet. No man made lighting.

🔗 Sources (1)

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