1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,000 An intelligence analyst faces a supernatural enemy while on a secret mission. 2 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,400 I can see the soldiers marching. 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:19,680 They're coming out of the woods. 4 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,400 I don't know what is going on. 5 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,240 Nothing in this makes sense. 6 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:28,240 An Army Sergeant is tormented by a mysterious presence. 7 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,840 I'm really starting to get the feeling that I'm not alone. 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:34,480 Something was watching me. 9 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:36,920 I felt just straight fear. 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:46,560 A combat engineer has a close encounter with a legendary monster. 11 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,480 It never crossed my mind that anything like this ever existed. 12 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:55,960 The odds of me ever seeing them again were one in a million. 13 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:19,040 The moment I walked up to that place, I didn't want to go in it. 14 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,880 When I arrived, nobody really talked about it being haunted. 15 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:30,560 My name's Nicole Rlandos. 16 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,440 I'm a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. 17 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,840 I currently serve at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah. 18 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,760 I was 27 when I enlisted. 19 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,800 My family was very surprised that I joined the Army. 20 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,480 I'm the first person in my family to join the military. 21 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,240 I grew up hunting and fishing with my dad. 22 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:55,800 I was attracted to the Army for the outdoor lifestyle and then the stability. 23 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,520 In July 2020, form on the center of the COVID pandemic, 24 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,120 Nicole is deployed to Fort Douglas. 25 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:11,160 I was very excited to be stationed at Fort Douglas because that's the mecca of hunting and fishing and hiking. 26 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:12,680 I thought it was beautiful. 27 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,680 There was still snow in the mountains, even in the summertime. 28 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,160 It was 100 degrees out, so that kind of blew my mind. 29 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:25,160 Fort Douglas in Utah was established during the Civil War. 30 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:33,160 Generations of soldiers have been garrisoned in this once remote outpost on America's western frontier. 31 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:40,160 By far the most famous unit that would have rotated in and out of Fort Douglas is the 9th Cavalry, 32 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:46,160 which is famous because it's one of only two all-black regiments that serve in the U.S. Army. 33 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:51,160 Throughout the Civil War era, the post-Civil War era, the native plains Indians that fought them 34 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:57,160 called them collectively the Buffalo Soldiers because they were notorious for their very fierce fighting style. 35 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,160 My job was to be a supply sergeant. 36 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:09,160 My main responsibilities are just making sure my soldiers are fed in clothes and that they have the right equipment for training. 37 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:17,160 Part of my job is to go down to the decommissioned cavalry stable where they store the horses and I do my inventories. 38 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:22,160 While on a routine inventory check, Nicole has an uncanny feeling that she's not alone. 39 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,160 It was during COVID, so it was very quiet in the barn. 40 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,160 I was in the car, and I was in the car. 41 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,160 I was alone. 42 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,160 It was during COVID, so it was very quiet in the barn. 43 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,160 Suddenly it felt off. 44 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,160 I felt very uneasy. 45 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,160 It was a weird feeling. 46 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,160 As I'm doing my inventory, I could hear somebody walking. 47 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:06,160 It sounded like the clacking of riding boots because it has a distinct sound. 48 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:13,160 I was confused because I can't see any reason why anybody would be wearing riding boots. 49 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:19,160 We're supposed to be in uniform and nobody wears riding boots anymore in the army. 50 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,160 The footsteps started to get closer. 51 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:29,160 I could hear the sound of the boots coming down the aisle. 52 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,160 I called out and said hello and nobody responded. 53 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:44,160 I looked both directions down to each end of the stable, and I didn't see anybody. 54 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:55,160 As Nicole tries to shake off the disturbing event and get back to work, 55 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,160 she hears something even more bizarre. 56 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:08,160 I went back to conducting my inventory, and all of a sudden I heard a snort and a whinny. 57 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,160 Then I heard the sound of like horseshoes walking down the aisle. 58 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:24,160 I was thinking to myself, the last time Fort Douglas had a cavalry unit was in the early 1900s. 59 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:32,160 I walked around for a little bit, didn't see anybody, didn't hear anybody. 60 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,160 I'm starting to think that something is off and it's not normal. 61 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,160 I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm not alone. 62 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:58,160 I didn't see anyone, but I had this uneasy feeling that something was watching me. 63 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:08,160 I know there was nobody in there, but I felt this presence, like somebody was breathing over my shoulder. 64 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,160 I felt like I was being watched. 65 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,160 I had this really bad feeling in my stomach. 66 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,160 I felt frozen with fear. 67 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:20,160 Like I couldn't move. 68 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:27,160 I was scared. 69 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,160 I had to just get out of there. I felt the need to leave, and I did. 70 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:46,160 Nicole works alone mostly on this base. She's pretty isolated. It's during COVID, which meant that she probably had been isolated for quite some time. 71 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:58,160 And what the brain does is when it's deprived of social interactions, it starts to create its own stimulation, and people can start to hallucinate. 72 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:05,160 A few days after her strange encounter in the barn, Nicole is working in her office. 73 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:10,160 When I got back to the office, I didn't say anything to anybody. I didn't think they'd believe me. 74 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,160 As a woman in the military, I feel like people are more likely to judge me. 75 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,160 They think I'm not thinking straight, that I'm being overdramatic. 76 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,160 But really, it just felt real. 77 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,160 During COVID protocol, we could only have two people in the office at a time. 78 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:37,160 It was me and my other coworker, and we were both sitting at our desk. 79 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:47,160 And then all of a sudden, we both hear somebody running up the stairs as fast as possible. 80 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:54,160 I heard writing boots. There shouldn't have been anybody running up the stairs at that time. 81 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,160 We were the only two people in the building. 82 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,160 The sound of the person running up the steps got louder and louder. 83 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,160 And then all of a sudden, the footsteps stopped, and it got really quiet. 84 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,160 My coworker got up from his chair and opened the door to the stairwell. 85 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,160 There was nobody there. 86 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,160 I was like, what's happening? 87 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,160 All of a sudden, the desk is rumbling. 88 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:44,160 It was really loud. I could feel the vibration of the floor. 89 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,160 And then I could see the chair moving. 90 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:03,160 And then it stopped abruptly, and I felt very confused. 91 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,160 There was nobody there to cause this. 92 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,160 How does something move when nobody's there? 93 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:17,160 One possible explanation for what Nicole witnessed is a localized earthquake aftershock. 94 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:22,160 In March of 2020, Salt Lake City experienced a massive earthquake, 95 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,160 the epicenter of which was only 12 miles from Fort Douglas, 96 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,160 and produced almost 600 recorded aftershocks. 97 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:35,160 Aftershocks can occur for a period of months or even years after an earthquake event. 98 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,160 The next day, I go back to work. I feel nervous. 99 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,160 I don't feel like I really want to be there. 100 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,160 I'm working at my desk, and all of a sudden, 101 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:54,160 I start to hear the door knob jiggle and wiggle. 102 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:05,160 I walk up to go look at it, and then all of a sudden, 103 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:12,160 the door knob just fell out of the door. 104 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,160 And then the door creaked open, and then it slammed shut. 105 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,160 There was no draft from the air conditioning. 106 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,160 There was no breeze at the time. All the window panes are sealed shut. 107 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,160 So as I'm staring at the door in total disbelief, 108 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:38,160 all of a sudden, papers start coming off one of my co-workers' desks, 109 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,160 and a book fell off the shelf. 110 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,160 I'm terrified at that point. 111 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,160 I looked at the window, and I see a man staring at me. 112 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:04,160 I looked back at the window, and I see a man staring at me. 113 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,160 And then I look back at my desk, and then I looked again, 114 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,160 and then he had disappeared. 115 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,160 I felt just straight fear. 116 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,160 After an alarming encounter in her office, 117 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,160 Army Sergeant Nicole Orlando's makes a quick decision. 118 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:30,160 I felt like I had to just get out of there. I felt petrified. 119 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:46,160 Part of the light is transmitted through, and part of the light is reflected off. 120 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,160 What your brain perceives is based on which signal is stronger. 121 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:56,160 So in the daytime, under the right illuminated conditions, you can see both. 122 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,160 This is sometimes called the strange face-in-the-mirror effect. 123 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,160 And in this case, Nicole claims to see the face of a man. 124 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,160 It could be her own reflection. 125 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,160 I've never had a paranormal experience before, 126 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,160 but when somebody's not there and you see something moving, 127 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,160 something unexplained was happening. 128 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,160 It almost felt like a warning. 129 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,160 I felt like it almost could have been that presence that was there in the stable. 130 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,160 I'm terrified it would follow me. 131 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,160 So I tried to tell the battalion commander when I experienced. 132 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,160 He looked at me like I was crazy. 133 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,160 Being a woman, it's very frustrating to get looked down upon by men. 134 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,160 After the unfavorable response from her supervisor, 135 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:54,160 Nicole looks for answers by researching information about the base itself. 136 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,160 I've learned a lot about the history of Fort Douglas, 137 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:02,160 and I've learned about a first sergeant, John Jackson, 138 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:09,160 and how he was brutally murdered in the stable by a private in his company. 139 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,160 I felt like I needed to tell people. 140 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:15,160 So after talking to other people, 141 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,160 at least three or four of my other coworkers have experienced the same thing I have. 142 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,160 It's not just me. 143 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,160 I think with the way that Sergeant John Jackson died, 144 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:28,160 he wants to make sure that he's still in charge and his presence is still known. 145 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,160 It's been three years, 146 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:34,160 and every now and again, 147 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,160 that perishing likes to make his presence known. 148 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,160 Walking down the hall, 149 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,160 breathing over your shoulder, 150 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,160 moving objects on the desks, like pencils, paper. 151 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:56,160 I started dealing with it by saying, 152 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,160 leave me alone, I have work to do. 153 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,160 Don't come around here and cause problems, 154 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,160 and I'll just start yelling. 155 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:11,160 For the most part, I've had pretty good days. 156 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,160 I am active duty. 157 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,160 I know I'm risking a lot, 158 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:18,160 but I'm still telling my story because I want others to know 159 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,160 that they're not alone, if they experience the same thing I have. 160 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:28,160 All my senses are telling me this is real. 161 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:32,160 My hearing, my sight, everything's telling me this is real. 162 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:41,160 In 1944, as World War II raged on, 163 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:47,160 Allied air forces dropped a million tons of bombs over Nazi-occupied Europe, 164 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,160 reigning death on German soldiers below. 165 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,160 Although the Nazi government surrendered one year later, 166 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,160 some say the souls of those lost still remain. 167 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,160 I saw something unexplained. 168 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:09,160 It was like two worlds were trying to live at the same place at the same time. 169 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,160 My name is Bill Hancock. 170 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,160 I served in the U.S. Army for nine years. 171 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,160 I'm a 7th generation military man. 172 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,160 I don't remember thinking about anything else I ever wanted to do 173 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,160 other than to join the Army. 174 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,160 I had been in for three years when I became an intelligence analyst. 175 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:30,160 Intelligence analysts are the ones who gather information on the ground, 176 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,160 and more importantly, they make sense of the world. 177 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,160 I've been in the military for nine years. 178 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,160 And more importantly, they make sense of the intelligence, 179 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,160 and they relay it to people that make decisions. 180 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,160 It's very high stakes, because if you get intel from the field, 181 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,160 and it's incorrect, you're going to cost people their lives. 182 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:58,160 By 1989, the Cold War had reached a boiling point. 183 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,160 Bill is sent overseas to gather intelligence along the border 184 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,160 between Communist Czechoslovakia and Democratic West Germany. 185 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:10,160 I was on a long-range reconnaissance mission. 186 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:16,160 You're moving at night, well, 15 kilometers through the forest in treacherous areas. 187 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,160 You're tired, it's cold, you're tearing your equipment, your gear, 188 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,160 and the whole thing has to be secret, because you don't want to get detected, 189 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,160 and then cause an international incident. 190 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:34,160 Bill's unit receives orders to observe a Czechoslovakian army base 191 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,160 located on the edge of the border. 192 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:41,160 We were watching the Czech base to gather as much intel as possible. 193 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,160 There were supposed to be some Soviet generals arriving, 194 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,160 and we want to know what these Soviet generals are doing at all times. 195 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,160 Under the cover of darkness, 196 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,160 Bill and his team locate a secluded area 197 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,160 where they can unload their equipment and monitor the base. 198 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,160 The usual shift was two soldiers, 199 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,160 and one would be back monitoring the radio. 200 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,160 The other guy is on a starlight scope, 201 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,160 watching the Czech base to gather intelligence. 202 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,160 A starlight scope is designed for tactical surveillance, 203 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:20,160 allowing soldiers to identify objects and targets at night. 204 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,160 The entire history of the Cold War is really about espionage, 205 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,160 it's about intelligence operations, 206 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,160 trying to uncover what the other guy is doing, 207 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,160 east versus west, the Americans versus the Soviet Union, 208 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,160 and to capitalize on that. 209 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,160 Gathering information in the Cold War meant that you had an advantage, 210 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,160 that you could either anticipate an attack, 211 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,160 or that you can outmaneuver them. 212 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,160 You can gain advantage through other than military means. 213 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:47,160 That's what we call a Cold War. 214 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:49,160 They're not actually fighting each other directly, 215 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,160 they're fighting each other indirectly. 216 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,160 In this case, gathering as much information as possible 217 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:57,160 to use it against enemy. 218 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,160 There were two Germans on team Helmut and Eric. 219 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:06,160 When we got there, Helmut and I took the first shift. 220 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,160 As Bill monitors the base, 221 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,160 an unusual noise draws his attention. 222 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,160 I'm sitting here looking at this base for about 45 minutes or an hour. 223 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,160 It's almost four in the morning now, 224 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,160 and suddenly I hear this drumbeat. 225 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,160 It sounds like the kind in a marching band. 226 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,160 And I'm looking through the starlight scope 227 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,160 and I'm trying to understand why I'm hearing a drumbeat. 228 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,160 In the middle of the night, in a military post, 229 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,160 there are different phenomena that you might not expect 230 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,160 that can create a drum-like sound. 231 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,160 Now, one thing about sounds is that they do reflect. 232 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,160 They reflect off of solid surfaces. 233 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,160 Bill is in the mountainous area, 234 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,160 so there's a lot of surfaces for sound to bounce off of. 235 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,160 Typically, we call that an echo. 236 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,160 So there could be some natural phenomenon, 237 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,160 like, say, a woodpecker pecking at a log, 238 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,160 but after the sound bounces off all the mountain sides, 239 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,160 it could sound like a drum. 240 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,160 Did you hear that? 241 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:27,160 What? 242 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:28,160 The drums. 243 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:31,160 Hi. 244 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:38,160 I don't know if it's some sort of way to maybe wake up soldiers. 245 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,160 And then I start hearing steps. 246 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,160 It suddenly sounds like soldiers marching. 247 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,160 I'm thinking maybe it's a parade. 248 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,160 Sitting out there, I don't see a drummer. 249 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,160 And in my mind, if you're hearing soldiers marching 250 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,160 and you're hearing a drumbeat, you should see troops. 251 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,160 I'm trying to reconcile sound and images 252 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,160 and connect those dots into something that's logical. 253 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,160 I'm sitting here looking at this base. 254 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,160 And suddenly I hear this drumbeat. 255 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,160 It sounds like the kind in a marching band. 256 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,160 It suddenly sounds like soldiers marching. 257 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,160 The fact that Bill was seeing the world through the years 258 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,160 and the fact that he was seeing the world through the years 259 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,160 and seeing the world through these night goggles 260 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,160 meant that the information that was getting into his brain 261 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,160 was degraded. 262 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,160 And what the brain does is it fills in the gaps, 263 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,160 it fills in the blanks, and it's more likely to get it wrong. 264 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,160 What might be going on is similar to this thing 265 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,160 called Charles-Benet syndrome, 266 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,160 where people who are starting to have their vision to grade 267 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,160 and deteriorate start to hallucinate visually. 268 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,160 Sitting at night with your eye on a scope 269 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,160 almost the entire time can be really tiring 270 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,160 and it can affect your eyesight, it can affect a lot. 271 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,160 So I'm thinking, okay, you're just tired, you're fatigued. 272 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,160 Just go get some rest. 273 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,160 The second night I'm back out there, 274 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,160 the moon is a little bit brighter, it's a little bit easier to see, 275 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,160 and I'm rested. 276 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,160 I'm on watch for a few minutes. 277 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,160 And I hear the drum beats again and it startled me. 278 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,160 They were louder this time. 279 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,160 I was looking all around the base, 280 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,160 didn't see anything really. 281 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,160 And then I start seeing movement. 282 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:23,160 Troops like in large formations coming out of the forest. 283 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,160 It looks like latunes of soldiers or companies of soldiers 284 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,160 are moving in blocks, like they're marching in a parade. 285 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,160 Now my mind is telling me, 286 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,160 you've got these soldiers out there marching. 287 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,160 That's why you're here in the drum beats. 288 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:47,160 Now I'm wondering why they're marching in the middle of the night. 289 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,160 And it was five or six companies of soldiers out there marching. 290 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,160 A company of soldiers about 140, 150 soldiers. 291 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,160 I don't think that there were 750 or 1,000 soldiers at this outpost. 292 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,160 You're everywhere. 293 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:07,160 I told Helmut about this. 294 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,160 And he didn't comment about any of it. 295 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,160 When he doesn't say anything about troops moving or marching, 296 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,160 I'm thinking to myself that I can't be the only one seeing this. 297 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,160 But when Bill scans the field again, 298 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,160 the company of soldiers has disappeared. 299 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,160 Something is not right. 300 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,160 All my senses are telling me what I saw is real. 301 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,160 My hearing, my sight, everything's telling me this is real. 302 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,160 Once his shift ends, Bill goes in search of answers. 303 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,160 I decide I'm going to find out what's going on. 304 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,160 I'm going to look and scrutinize every inch of that ground. 305 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,160 I look out and I see crosses. 306 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,160 Before, I wasn't looking for them. 307 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,160 But now I'm looking at these crosses. 308 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,160 They're everywhere. 309 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,160 It's obviously a military cemetery. 310 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,160 It's obviously a military cemetery. 311 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,160 Their uniforms were World War II-era uniforms. 312 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,160 The rifles are older-style Mauser rifles. 313 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:40,160 It didn't add up to be in those uniforms with those weapons in 1989. 314 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,160 It's twisted. 315 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,160 I'm starting to get worried about myself, questioning my own sanity, 316 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,160 what the hell is going on. 317 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:17,160 I don't put much stock in anything like paranormal. 318 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,160 I've always felt like if it's paranormal, somebody's playing a joke on you. 319 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,160 I have never seen a ghost. I've never seen any of that stuff. 320 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:29,160 My mind rationalizing this and something just maybe projecting this. 321 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,160 So I decide to ignore it. 322 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,160 I tell myself I'm not going to think about that. 323 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,160 But later that night, back on watch, 324 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,160 I'm hearing the drums again. 325 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,160 I'm hearing the sounds of marching feet. 326 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,160 Now I'm hearing voices. 327 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,160 I can see the soldiers marching in their formations. 328 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,160 They're coming out of the woods. 329 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:06,160 I am 100% certain, help knows what's going on. 330 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:11,160 He comes up and I tell him, this is ridiculous. 331 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,160 I know you can hear it now. I know you can see it. 332 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,160 And Helmut puts his hand on my shoulder and he says, 333 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,160 This is a Martian, nor a Knox. 334 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:24,160 Seeing Martians nor a Knox, which is they only march at night. 335 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,160 Seems somewhat cryptic. 336 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:35,160 And that's when he starts telling me that there were German soldiers killed out there 337 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,160 by some Allied bombers during World War II. 338 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:43,160 Helmut knew people that had served in German Army in World War II. 339 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:47,160 From what he had heard, the soldiers were on their way to the Eastern Front. 340 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:52,160 They had got caught in this valley and these bombers just having to be looking for targets. 341 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:56,160 He said that the bombers dropped several tons of TNT. 342 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,160 And killed over a thousand soldiers. 343 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,160 I think the ghosts don't march. It's impossible. 344 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:19,160 Helmut just says, they march at night. They only march at night. 345 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:26,160 This repeated phrase could be a sign that the story of the marching soldiers is a German myth. 346 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:31,160 But Bill doesn't know the myth, so it couldn't be driving what he's seen. 347 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:38,160 There is no question in my mind that this is real. 348 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,160 I just saw a thousand ghosts out there. 349 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:46,160 I know to this day I know that Helmut saw that. 350 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,160 I know that Helmut saw that. 351 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,160 I know that Helmut saw that. 352 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,160 I know that Helmut saw that. 353 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,160 I know that Helmut saw that. 354 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:09,160 Text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links, text, links. 355 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:17,160 As Bill tries to process what he's witnessing, he spots some activity on the Czechoslovakian base. 356 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,160 They're here. Call it in. 357 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:24,160 Finally, these Soviet generals arrive. 358 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,160 Helmut and I do our report. 359 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,160 We moved to another location. 360 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:35,160 I was on guard everywhere we went. 361 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:40,160 I never saw anything like it again. 362 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:46,160 The thing with veterans, they tend to be more trustworthy in their accounts than, say, the average person. 363 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:53,160 Because for someone in the military to come out and say, hey, you know, I saw this strange thing, they're taking risks. 364 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:58,160 They would get thrown in a category of, oh, you have mental health issues. 365 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:06,160 And so they're more cautious about saying something that could be, you know, seen as being on the fringes. 366 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:13,160 If I had been adamant about what I saw and I had gone around telling everybody what I saw, I would not have been on another mission. 367 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:17,160 I would never have handled another page of intelligence in my career. 368 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:24,160 I was a soldier. I was a police officer. I testified in every level of court from local court to federal court. 369 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:32,160 Everything that I investigated had a firm explanation behind what had happened, except for that. 370 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:38,160 You can't have stuff following you around like that because you lose credibility. You don't get that back. 371 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,160 But that doesn't help me because I still saw it. 372 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,160 I waited 37 years to tell this story. 373 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:57,160 Fire! 374 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:00,160 I can never unsee what I saw that day. 375 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:08,160 In the early 1990s, the Iraqi military invaded Kuwait. 376 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:16,160 Coming to Kuwait's defense was a joint military coalition of 39 countries led by the United States. 377 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,160 Kickstarting what would become known as the Gulf War. 378 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:27,160 After six months, the coalition was ultimately successful in liberating Kuwait. 379 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:40,160 But two years after the Gulf War ends, American soldiers continue to maintain a state of readiness in case of further attacks from the Iraqi military. 380 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:46,160 Part of their preparation includes conducting secret training missions on home soil. 381 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:53,160 And in remote locations, danger can come from anywhere. 382 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:58,160 I can tell you, I have never been more scared in my life. 383 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:07,160 My name is Todd Neese. I am a retired staff sergeant with the Oregon Army National Guard. 384 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:13,160 And a combat veteran having served in Iraq in 2010 and 11. 385 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:24,160 I decided to join the military because I wanted to serve the country, but more of the fact my father served in Korea in the army. 386 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:31,160 My uncle was in World War II. My grandfather was in World War I. So it's really been a family thing for me. 387 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:47,160 I decided to join as a traditional guardsman where you have a normal nine to five job throughout the week, but one week into months you get out and get together with your unit and train on various scenarios. 388 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:55,160 In 1993, I had attained the rank of sergeant in the 1249th Combat Engineer Unit. 389 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:06,160 Being a combat engineer, our job was to deal with a lot of very high risk scenarios using explosives and different weapons systems. 390 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:16,160 Combat engineers are extremely important. In combat scenarios, they are the people that follow frontline soldiers into action and they're responsible for solving problems. 391 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:24,160 For paving the way of the advance, they have to do things like road repair. They have to build bridges if you need to for the river. 392 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:32,160 They have to get rid of obstacles that are in their way. They have to blow things up. And that is super high pressure. 393 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:40,160 No two explosions are quite the same. Depending on the particular explosive that we're using. 394 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,160 Fire at all! 395 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:49,160 C-4, Modium Nitrate or TNT, they each have different properties. 396 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:56,160 There's a very high risk of injury or death even working with these explosives. 397 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:10,160 For this month's assignment, Todd is leading his unit through explosives training exercises in a private quarry in the northwest corner of Oregon. 398 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:22,160 When we got to that first site, our mission was to place C-4 plastic explosives next to anti-tank mines that were laid out in this gravel pit. 399 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,160 This was to simulate reaching a minefield. 400 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:34,160 I can't emphasize enough how dangerous the work we do is. 401 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:41,160 Attention to detail is critical. One mistake could cost a lot of people their lives. 402 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:47,160 Right in the middle of placing these charges, I heard... 403 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:54,160 It sounded really unlike any animal I'd ever heard. 404 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:58,160 I didn't see anybody else react to the sound that I heard. 405 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,160 It was not a normal sound. 406 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:08,160 I didn't see anybody else react to the sound that I heard. 407 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:15,160 I didn't see anybody else react to the sound that I heard. 408 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,160 It was not a normal sound that you would hear in the woods. 409 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,160 Kill it in, kill it in. 410 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:35,160 Okay, wrap it up. Let's go. 411 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:42,160 We set a timing fuse for 11 minutes and once we ignited that fuse... 412 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,160 Fire it up! 413 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:51,160 We quickly evacuated the area, heading back to our safety staging area. 414 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:56,160 We got into our vehicle. 415 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,160 The blast site came into full view. 416 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:17,160 And I see these three dark figures standing right out in the open where we had just set the charges. 417 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:24,160 Even from a distance, I knew what I was looking at couldn't have been people. 418 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,160 They didn't have the same silhouette as a human. 419 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:34,160 The arms reached all the way down below their knees. 420 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:40,160 The largest of the three stood in the middle and I estimate its height at about nine feet. 421 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:45,160 Hair covered from head to foot so there were no clothes visible. 422 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:50,160 I couldn't take my eyes off them. 423 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:59,160 I had no doubt in my mind that these things must be Bigfoot. 424 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,160 While conducting a routine explosives test, 425 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:12,160 Sergeant Todd Neese catches a glimpse of what he believes are three Bigfoot creatures. 426 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:18,160 It never crossed my mind that anything like this ever existed. 427 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:25,160 Suddenly after 25 seconds they're gone. 428 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,160 When the driver took a right hand turn, I just lost sight of them. 429 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:36,160 My head was swimming with a hundred different things, trying to make sense of it. 430 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:48,160 So many questions flooded my mind to see something like that, to be so close and to know in your heart that that's probably a once in a lifetime thing. 431 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:54,160 I mean it's like winning the lottery and in a second it's over. 432 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:07,160 When we got down to the staging area, there was something inside me that just wanted so bad to get that second look at them. 433 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:11,160 But they're gone. 434 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:12,160 I was at the wrong arm. 435 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,160 And it was at that time I heard footsteps coming my direction. 436 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:19,160 Hey Sergeant, what's going on? 437 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:21,160 You okay? 438 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:24,160 Uh, yeah, yeah. 439 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:33,160 He looked left and right to make sure nobody else was in the ear shot and looked me right in the eyes and he goes, 440 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:37,160 I swear at that blast site, I saw Bigfoot. 441 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:39,160 Bigfoot? 442 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:40,160 Yeah. 443 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:49,160 He said, I saw three huge hair covered for lack of a better word, Bigfoot. 444 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:52,160 I thought I was going crazy. 445 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:59,160 And at that, of course, I was relieved and I just said, I saw him too. 446 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:03,160 I can never unsee what I saw that day. 447 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:07,160 I can see it as clearly now closing my eyes as I did back then. 448 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:14,160 But it was kind of cool to know that somebody else shared that experience that I wasn't alone after all. 449 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:20,160 Todd and his sergeants are both convinced that they saw these three Bigfoot's. 450 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:26,160 And what it might have been is they saw some creatures in the air. 451 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:30,160 What it might have been is they saw some creatures in the woods. 452 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:32,160 It's difficult to interpret. 453 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,160 And now the brain starts to find where am I going to land? 454 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:37,160 How do I interpret this? 455 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:43,160 And that interpretation is influenced by social, cultural factors. 456 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:48,160 So for example, they're in Oregon where the myth of Bigfoot is very prominent. 457 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:56,160 That would push them in the direction of interpreting these ambiguous animals that they saw as being Bigfoot. 458 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:03,160 Initially, I was rather reluctant to talk about it because of the ridicule factor. 459 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:09,160 To go public with what I saw was to take a great risk. 460 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:14,160 My reputation, even my sanity might be called into question. 461 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:21,160 And after thinking hard about it, I decided that this is far bigger than I am, no pun intended. 462 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:33,160 If we discount what Todd saw, we're also discounting the thousands of other documented encounters that people said they've had with Bigfoot type creatures. 463 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:36,160 And their collective voices do matter. 464 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:41,160 Unlike other scientists, I don't necessarily need physical proof because I'm a data scientist. 465 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:45,160 The data tells us what we're seeing, but it also can tell us what we're not seeing. 466 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:55,160 In pretty much every culture, there are documented encounters that other people have had with some form of a two-legged, man-like creature that's hairy. 467 00:39:56,160 --> 00:40:03,160 When you have more observer data, more eyewitness accounts, what else are you supposed to use that as scientifically except more evidence? 468 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:14,160 After that encounter I had in 1993, I started focusing more on researching, trying to find answers. 469 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:27,160 I have had numerous encounters, but the most recent visual sighting I had took place about a year and a half ago when I was invited by the Omaha Reservation. 470 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:32,160 They have had a lot of activity there. 471 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:46,160 And by activity, I'm talking not only vocalizations, but this phenomena known as eye shine, which I had kind of written off as improbable, if not impossible. 472 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:53,160 With this phenomena, what we're seeing is ambient light that they're actually able to reflect. 473 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:08,160 And on the first night we got out there pitch black, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and I'll be darned if all of a sudden maybe 150 feet away. 474 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:19,160 I'm looking at what appears to be a set of eyes and the vocalizations that went along with it. 475 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:27,160 I believe I was in the presence of Bigfoot again. 476 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:37,160 Prior to my encounter in 1993, I had no reason to believe that these things existed. 477 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:41,160 Those 25 seconds changed my life forever. 478 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:49,160 I went from a skeptic to a believer in an incident. 479 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:58,160 My reason for sharing my story is because it is time that we find out the truth. Time to solve this mystery.