Interstate 5, approx 25 miles north of Redding, California
It has been years since I have even really thought about my confrontation with the Sasquatch...and I guess
that I just feel that I need to tell someone about it finally. I am thirty now but at the time I was about
24. It was in December of '94 just north of Redding, Ca by about 15 miles. I was living in the San Francisco
area at the time and had not seen my father for a few years. He lived in Silverdale, Washington.
I decided that I would go see him for Christmas.
I drove a little Nissan Sentra the whole way there, but something happened on the way back. It was about 1 am
in the morning as I was driving South on I-5. I was about 25 north of Redding, Ca when my headlights started
to dim slowly and I was losing my radio station. I guessed that it was probably the battery. I didn't want to stop
the car for fear of really being stranded out in the woods on I-5 — which was deserted at that time of night in that
remote area. I managed to make it to a really small rest stop, which was also deserted at that time of night, but
its one saving grace was it had a phone. I think the day was Tuesday and believe me, at that time of night it was
freezing outside, it must have been at best about 10 degrees outside. I didn't have a coat with me so I decided
to call the state patrol for a ride into town for a battery. They said that I was only getting a ride because it
was so cold out and that they would send a car and to just wait.
What happened next I would never have thought would ever happen to me...maybe that's why I have never told
anyone — I didn't want anyone to think that I was being stupid or just weird. As I sat in the cold on the
hood of the car watching my own breath something came over me. You know how the hair on the back of your neck
stands on end and you get a feeling in your stomach that makes you feel sick? Yeah, that's the feeling... well... I was
feeling it. There was only one street light in the small parking lot and that was just above the phone... and I was
parked about 30 feet away so everything around me had a weird glow to it — or at least it did to me at the time. There
was no wind at the time but it sounded like there was something in the woods... as the whole parking lot was surrounded
by woods. The parking lot was just a small road with about 8 parking spots... it was small for a rest-stop. Over the
next 20 minutes my life was turned upside down. I would hear grunts from the trees that were right besides my
car. I don't know why I didn't get in my car... I was just kind of frozen there. I made no sounds at all... I knew it
was just some kind of animal and not really worried... or so I made myself believe at the time. After about 20 minutes
of this happening on and off, it finally happened. Never in my like will I forget the sight or the feelings that
I felt at that one moment in time. My body froze, it was like my heart stopped beating and all the heat from my
body was sucked away somehow and my mind locked on the only thing around...and then it was there.
As I was looking at the phone, time stopped for me... I heard it next to me and I remember it just like this. As I
turned my head from the phone to the woods just to my right... its like it was in slow motion... and just as my vision
saw the woods, that were no more that 10 feet from me... it walked out of the woods towards me and stopped about
5 feet from me. He or she was about 7 to 8 foot tall and thick around the chest and hips with equally thick
arms and legs. The thing about it that I remember the most was the hair. The hair was very dark brown or so
it looked in the light... but it was shiny... not like oily shiny but super clean shiny. It just stood there
looking at me for at least 5 minutes without moving at all. I was frozen in place completely! I can't remember
any feeling that I might have had at the time except for the fear... but it was weird... it was like it was staring
at me as if to try to figure out what it was looking at.
Then it was startled and looked toward the interstate. I thought I could have had a heart attack at that moment...
for something so large, when it was startled it changed its stance in an flash then froze again.
Then after 5 seconds or so turned and ran back into the woods exactly where it had come out from.
Not 5 seconds later the California State Patrol car rolled up... that's what must have startled the creature for
sure. The patrolman honked for me and finally had to get out and come to get me. I never told him
what happened... he probably thought he had to get out and get me for some stupid reason. I hardly spoke a
word the whole ride. Later the next day when I had gotten a new battery and found a ride back to my car
nothing had changed except the fact that there was now other people there... just resting. My fear came
back... and the hair on the back of my next stood up... even though it was about noon and sunny. I couldn't
keep my eyes off the spot where the creature had come out of the woods. For some strange reason I kept
expecting it to come running out again. But after I had finished my repairs I found myself doing the strangest
thing of all. I actually walked into the woods about 20 feet or so in the same spot that he had come out of
and retreated into the night before. And just to let you know... I didn't turn around and walk back to me car... I just
walked backwards the whole way... all the time scanning the woods for him... praying that I would not see him again.
I have not driven through that area since... I know that it's stupid but it did something to me. It made me
afraid like nothing else. I believe. I believe in something that 99% of the world says does not exist and
that's what scares me the most because I know that it does... and if he can, what else can? I don't know
that you believe me or not and to be honest, I don't' care. I know that it happened and I wish that it
would not happen to anyone. I have never told anyone... and in writing this brought back all the fear of
that night. If you have any questions about this or anything else... you may contact me but please do not
tell anyone my name or email address. Thank you.
Name and email withheld by request. From the files of Bobbie Short, logged Tue, 27 Jun 2000 11:59:53 -0700
