My Encounter with Bigfoot...

No, I'm not off my rocker - at least not completely.

Please bear with me as I relate the facts of my case:

It was the winter of 1983 and I was stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard in Owensboro, Kentucky. Yes, there are "Coasties" in Kentucky - the Coast Guard is responsible for the Ohio River that runs along the northern border of the state.

Anyway, like I was saying. It was winter and we had been having some very heavy snowfalls that year. I was manning the radio room at the Coast Guard station and since it was night time, I was there all by myself. The rest of the station was manned during normal working hours only but the radio room had to be operated 24 hours a day.

Lucky me.

It was around 2 a.m., I was real tired and so had gotten up to walk around the room and to do some stretches. Falling asleep on watch was not an option for me, that is - unless I wanted to get carted off to a military prison!

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement outside one of the windows and so I quickly turned my head to see what it was - but nothing was there. Whatever it was though, it stuck in my brain as being very, very large.

A few seconds later I heard the sound of someone or some thing beating on the door at the back of the building. I looked outside into the parking lot and could not see any other vehicles there but mine. The station was at the very end of a road, sat near the banks of the river, and the only other thing close by was a fuel depot across the street, but a quick glance in that direction told me that nothing was going on over there.

I left the radio room and headed for the back of the building. Just as I entered the break room (where the back door was located), I caught a glimpse of a very, very large figure moving away from the door. There was a window in the door and so it allowed me to see what was on the other side. Besides being quite large, I noticed quite nervously that it was covered with hair!

I remember just standing there in shock. Thoughts of Bigfoot immediately entered my mind - although up until that time, I had always thought Bigfoot was just a figment of crazy people's imaginations.

I turned and slowly headed back toward the radio room at the front of the building. As I made my way back, I'd stop and carefully peak out some of the windows but I could not detect any movement.

Then the thought crossed my mind as to whether or not I had remembered to lock the front door when I came in for duty. I figured right then that I'd better check that door. The front door also had a big glass window in it, so I cautiously peered through it to see if anyone or anything was around it before I got any closer to it. I saw no people and no monsters. I quickly moved for the door and out of instinct, instead of just making sure the deadbolt was engaged, I grabbed the doorknob, twisted it and gave a slight push to the front door.

What happened next was terrifying. In what seemed like instant, the big hairy creature came running for the door, grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door wide open. I backed up so fast that I almost fell over a desk that was just inside the front room. No scream left my mouth though - I was proud of myself for that.

Suddenly the hairy beast was apologizing to me profusely.

My mind was reeling, but slowly it dawned on me what was going on. The "beast" was in fact a very large man wearing a hooded parka - you know, the kind the Eskimos wear up in Alaska. He then explained to me that he was a fuel truck driver who's rig had gotten stuck in a snow bank a few blocks away. He had walked down to the fuel depot but nobody was there, and after seeing the lights on at the Coast Station, had decided to seek assistance there.

The man could tell that he had scared the crap out of me. He kept apologizing. I thanked him though. And for what you might ask? I thanked him for getting my adrenaline pumping to the point that I would not have to worry about trying to stay awake anymore that night.

He understood completely.