A young Utah man recalls his experience with a pale crawler humanoid while hunting with others in the remote Uinta Mountains. It was surely an encounter that he will never forget.
The following account was forwarded to me:
"This incident occurred about 7 years ago when I was in my late teens on a muzzleloader mule deer hunt in the far northeastern part of Utah. This area contains some of the most remote places in the state. I’ve been frequently out in this area spreading in Summit County that cuts in and out of lower Wyoming since before I can remember, including lots of hiking, backpacking, camping, hunting, and being involved in some of my grandfather’s work. I am skeptical of things not proven by methods of science, but I don’t deny all of those things. I find that it’s impossible for science to know all that is out there in our vast world.
My grandfather was a recently retired biologist and former conservation officer for the state. and was a regional specialist and was over wildlife and habitat management for many years. He did everything from habitat management programs to quite literally wrangling moose to be transplanted and darting black bears. He has seen mountain lions, bears, birds of all kinds, small mammals, ruminants, plants, and natural phenomena for the majority of his life, and he understands so much that many people, including myself, will never be able to even imagine. He’s scientific, honest straight forward, level headed. He’s agnostic and is not superstitious and often used to tease a certain CO who thinks Bigfoot, skinwalkers and other beings exist. Other than this experience, he has never encountered an animal that he could not at least partially identify, and other than the natural, innate fear of being in close quarters with a bear, drunken and belligerent hunter, or incredibly potent tranquilizer medication, he’s told me over and over he’s never been terrified of an animal or experience like this, only curious or surprised.
It was late September and we were in a small camp by a lake in the high Uinta mountains, hunting both grouse and mule deer with muzzleloaders. The camp was a small collection of men and women my grandfather had worked with over the years as a supervisor/biologist/CO and these were people I grew up with. One of the women (a new wife to one of the guys) had shot a buck deer, injuring but not killing it immediately and they had lost track of it. Devastated by the thought of wasting the animal, she returned to camp in the afternoon upset and concerned that the deer had run into an even more secluded area of the mountain which was hard to reach from the trail that she had shot from. It was a place my grandfather was familiar with because it was such a pain to get to, with lots of deadfalls and steep terrain. We volunteered to go in the late afternoon to search for the deer, following a scant blood trail that she had tracked for a while before getting fatigued and intimated by the terrain. Because both my grandfather and I were in good shape and he was so familiar, it didn’t seem like a big deal. Before we left she mentioned hearing what she assumed were coyotes, which made her even more so concerned that if the deer died, they would ruin the meat and hide before she could harvest it.
We took off in the early evening, expecting to be back within an hour or two after searching and having our guns with us, in case we found the animal still alive or came across another buck worth trying to harvest. It was steep in places, with lots and lots of deadfalls of varying heights making the hike slower and more tedious than we had hoped, making us understand the other hunter’s fatigue. She had marked the blood trail with bright orange pieces on the trees which we followed for maybe 20 minutes and then it got hard to track. The sun was getting close to setting at this point and we knew getting out would be just as long as getting in. We had just about decided to stop when we found a spot near a fallen tree that looked like it had been recently bedded down in, followed by spatters of fairly fresh blood and we continued for longer.
When the sun had just about set and the light had faded from the trees, we removed the firing caps from our guns to make them now completely safe as it was now illegal and irresponsible to hunt in such absence of decent light. My grandfather pulled out his large mag lite flashlight from his pack and I put in my headlamp to begin the hike back, using our GPS to find the trailhead. About 10 minutes on the way back, we started to hear more movement among the trees, it was normal for animals to start moving now that the sun had gone down, as animals would likely be starting to head towards clearings for water or to graze in the safety of lower light. Small and distant sounds of crunching leaves, pattering of hooves of animals, or small bits of movement in the trees from squirrels or birds were common and expected. We did not expect the deafening, disturbing sound we heard next, which vaguely and initially reminded me of a coyote howl, but by a few seconds in it was unidentifiable, frightening, and human-like.
It started with what sounded like a person screaming, but then got louder and more intense, with a screech to it. So unlike any coyote or any animal we had ever heard. Then was the almost chittering that came in between the shrieks, and the movement of the trees becoming almost calculated, almost threatening. We stopped dead in our tracks, frozen as my grandfather started using the light to look around, I was far more freaked out than him at this point. He just seemed perplexed, curious, and a little baffled at what could make that sound. It sounded human, but with no words, with no urge of the tone of “help” or “I’m just screaming to mess with you.” We continued on after it mostly stopped, and it seemed like the other, natural, and distant sounds had gone almost silent. I listened intently to the sound of my boots crunching with the dry aspen leaves underfoot, trying to tell myself that it was just some weird coyote with a horribly deformed larynx or something.
Maybe 20 minutes from the main trail that would lead us to the truck, we heard the chittering sound again and the sounds of thumping against dead trees. Looking around with our lights, in between dead fall maybe 12-15 feet in front of us was a large human-looking thing. It was almost hunched down with a long, slender arm around the front of a standing aspen. The aspen of course was pale white with the knots being dark brown, and whatever it was had skin almost as pale. I caught a very brief glimpse of its face. It seemed round and the eyes seemed sunken and I could not tell you eye color other than a flash of reflection on the eye from my light, and that its face seemed sunken and emaciated. I didn’t see any fur or hair. I never felt like it looked right at me, more my grandfather and just in our direction almost confused and curious, like he was before with the sound. For a mere couple of seconds, I caught a glimpse of it, but that was it. I looked down at the ground holding my eyes shut tight trying to imagine being safe and secure in the truck, and my grandfather took a few stumbling steps backward toward me. I heard the thing go off to our side, moving quickly and with purpose through the trees, to the side, and then dropped down behind us I would assume according to the sound. but I hope it went in the opposite direction.
My grandfather turned to where it had veered off, as to follow it, but he soon stopped and looked at me. I had never before and never since seen him so confused, baffled, horrified, curious and in awe. I was crying at this point, ugly crying trying to muffle my shaking breath and voice, and I asked him, “what was that?” Over and over I asked, and he had no answer for me. He pulled his gun off his shoulder and put a cap back on the nipple of the igniter, making the gun “live” and he then carried it in front of his body in his arm. He pulled out another headlight to put on himself.
We started walking again towards the trail, as he listed off as like talking to himself as to what it WASNT, things like “couldn’t have been a deer or elk or moose, it hard arms, it was hunched, it stood upright” or “a bear? A very sick bear? It could’ve been a bear, was it the light?” We heard the sound, the screeching human howl distantly once more before reaching the trail, which was dirt and gravel but fairly flat, and with no deadfall, we practically jogged to the truck. I locked the doors immediately and sobbed, and my grandfather turned on music as loud as possible to try to distract me on the way back to camp.
I was a mess when we arrived back, and he went to talk with the others by the fire when he got me settled in my sleeping bag in my bunk. He explained some to his friends but I don’t know what all was said. The next day everyone was extra sweet to me, trying to comfort me and saying it was probably a sick animal that looked scary in the dark. The deer the hunter shot was found the next day in the daylight, scavenged quite harshly by what I assume were coyotes.
To this day, he has no clue what it was, nor what that sound was, and before and since I’ve heard both coyote and many other animal sounds that never even compared to that sound. The scientist in me, and in him, the hopeful and blissfully ignorant people in us hope and speculate it was just a deformed, sick animal in scant light but I still have no clue of what that thing was, and I hope I never ever experience it again." IS
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Phantoms & Monsters Radio presents a Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research Roundtable discussion. We will be discussing current investigations and other cryptid / unexplained incidents & sightings. Joining Lon will be James West, Chad Redding, Kit Taylor, & Bernadette McDaniel.
James West is a 2-time Dogman experiencer, has had multiple encounters with the paranormal including shadow people/creatures, suspected demons, and ghosts, and has been physically possessed on one occasion by an unknown dark entity. James is also currently in the process of writing a nonfiction book about cryptid beings in the United States, entitled "50 Cryptids in 50 States." In addition to this, James is a member of Phantoms and Monsters Fortean Research.
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Chad M. Redding grew up in the Pigeon Hills region of western York County, Pennsylvania. A lifetime of roaming the woods, hills, and hollows led Chad to develop his passions and skills as a woodsman. Very much an avid lover of old traditional ways and old things. His love of the forests and mountains know no bounds. For he has camped, rambled, gathered, canoed, and fished. In all 4 seasons.
As a lover of local history and folklore, wanderer of forgotten places, and life-long experiencer of the strange. Chad also contributes to and works with Timothy Renner of Strange Familiars Podcast.
Chad has also given back to the community, woodsman or otherwise. For as a traditionalist, he believes that knowledge should be passed on. From demos at various festivals, his foraging walks he gives regularly, on the various charity campouts he has organized. He has sought to help others and educate them.
Chad became the proprietor of Ruck Rabbit Outdoors a company that supplies old-style crafted, curated, refurbished, and surplus gear to the woods folk community.
Chad is a member of Phantoms and Monsters Fortean Research.
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Kit Taylor is a film and Television actor, writer, producer, and documentarian. His latest work includes a short documentary on the Fayetteville Incident (the Bledsoe Family story) titled "Burden of Truth."
Kit was an investigator for MUFON and has recently become a member of the Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research team. Having first-hand, life-altering experiences, Kit's approach to investigating is from an empathetic point of view and hopes to contribute positively, to the world of high strangeness.
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Bernadette McDaniel, Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research member will co-host this episode. Bernadette will soon be hosting 'A Paranormal Life' on Phantoms & Monsters Radio.
Join us on Friday, September 2nd at 9PM ET / 6PM PT
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, & SHARE - THANKS!
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Have you had a sighting of a winged humanoid or huge bat-like creature in the Chicago, Illinois metro area / Lake Michigan region? The entity has also been referred to as the 'Chicago Mothman', 'Chicago Owlman' & 'O'Hare Mothman.' - Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map - Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com - your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.
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