This past Sunday's episode of 'Monsters and Mysteries in America' featured cryptid investigators JC Johnson, Brenda Harris, Leonard Dan, David Ortiz and Audrey Tortez...who are friends and colleagues from Crypto Four Corners. Last Summer, JC granted me an exclusive on the 'Night Stalker' phenomena, which I posted at The 'Night Stalker': Terrible Being Torments Family. Please make an effort to watch the episode on Destination America...it was well done and demonstrated the consciousness of the supernatural by those people living in the area.
Not long after the episode aired, I started receiving inquiries and reports from the Navajo reservation / Four Corners areas in New Mexico. The following narrative was the most interesting:
I just watched an episode of Monsters and Mysteries in America. It was the 'Night Stalker, Skin Walker' episode. When I saw the pictures of the girl that was being terrorized by the Night Stalker, it reminded me of a strange encounter my brother and I had this last winter.
We were out on Navajo Dam road cutting wood. We had turned onto a dirt road on the northeast side. After cutting a few trees at the bottom of a canyon we decided to go further up the hill to see if we could find more dead trees. I also had my dog and son with me. We made our way up the hill and it flattened out. There were a few dead trees so we decided to stop and cut those as it was getting dusk and colder. My son and his dog got out and were playing fetch while my brother Chris and I prepped the trees to cut. As we were about to finish up my kiddo came running up the hill and said he had found some really neat looking tracks from an animal. So as I made my way down the hill and towards my truck with an arm full of wood, I stopped to look at the tracks. They looked like claw marks in the sand and were in the same direction as where we climbed to cut. As I was looking at the tracks I noticed I didn't hear my brothers chainsaw any more. As soon as I realized the motor sound had stopped I heard a scream, the sound of a shotgun being pumped, then a shot being fired. Before I could even react, Chris came running at break neck speed down the hill, passed me, and to the truck yelling "drop the wood, let's go"! My dog was barking, growling, and backing up with hair raised on her back and neck. I shuttled my kid and dog with wood in hand down the hill, threw wood in back seat...(I have a huge f250) with kiddo and dog. Needless to say we got the hell out of there. My brother refused to speak until we were on the main road and almost to Aztec.
While he was cutting wood, he had the feeling of being watched. Thinking that I was playing a trick on him he sat his running chainsaw down and went to catch me in the act before I could scare him. Not knowing I was further down the hill with my son, he climbed the rest of the hill and was looking around to find me. He saw us down by my truck and also saw a shadow opposite him by a sandstone cluster to his right. We always carry a gun with us while we cut (never know what kind of creatures one may encounter out there). He popped off a shot to get my attention and also took a shot at whatever it was he had seen. He told me it ran in between a rock ledge and some bushes. He didn't want to waste time to try and take another shot at "it". Before the second shot the chainsaw stopped because it had run out of gas which is how I was able to hear the gun being cocked and fired. It scared him so bad that he refuses to go back out that way to collect wood.
Always the skeptic, I thought he was bullshitting me...trying to scare me, but then I remembered the claw marks my kiddo had found and knowing that NOTHING scares my brother nor dog. He said the thing he saw was a good 7 feet high if not taller and hairy all over with a wolf face and eyes. He caught a slight glimpse before it slipped between the brush and stones. I was kinda laughing at him in my head....til I remembered those claw marks on the ground.
When I saw the story tonight, I had seen those claw marks before....where we were cutting wood. Thank you for believing, otherwise I'd think I was losing my mind! It was a weird and unforgettable experience!! Thanks for your time....SS
American Mystery! Special: Skinwalkers
The Navajo Skinwalker, Witchcraft, & Related Spiritual Phenomena: Spiritual Clues : Orientation to the Evolution of the Circle
Skinwalkers: Witches of Navajo Country [DVD]
