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BCwPA TRAINING TAPE 1717 DETERMINING WHAT'S COMING OUT OF THE FOREST, PART 7
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Agents, this story was recorded during an investigation of strange activity in West Virginia. A wave of creature sightings, property damage, and fear had briefly overtaken the south. Following up on these reports from earlier decades, the field agent came into contact with a man, who, upon hearing about the local phenomenon, was reminded of two similar, personal events; these happened much more recently. He shrugged off his first encounter as being simply weird, until it happened again several years later, making it all much more memorable. He was especially interested after learning about the 1970s' Marlinton Flap.
Listen to the details, tell fact from fiction, and determine what may be responsible for this encounter, and those before it. You will have 20 minutes after the tape plays to respond with an explanation and provide safety measures, if necessary, when dealing with the subject. Your activity and response will be monitored.
Location: Hillsboro, WV, USA
Approx. Date: circa 1990
Late one night, a loud crash woke him up. He was too groggy to recall the sound's specifics—all he remembered was that it was very loud and it came from outside. He jumped out of bed and grabbed a handgun off the nightstand, then a flashlight off the windowsill, heart pounding. Running to the back door, he flung it open and poked his head out, yelling obscenities and whatever else came to mind.
Lately, he had been having trouble at home. Someone kept trespassing on his property, either late at night or while he was gone, making him feel on edge and paranoid. Several times, they had siphoned gas from his vehicles, and three times, stolen tools from his shed. He assumed it was them again, and was hopeful he'd catch them in the act this time. But, when he pointed the flashlight towards the driveway, he didn't see anyone. He did, however, hear something.
To his right, he heard rustling in the bushes that grew against his trailer. The ones right under his bedroom window. Whatever it was sounded slow and big. Shining the light in its direction, he was stunned by what he saw, nearly dropping his flashlight. At the corner of the house was a creature; it was hunched over and hiding. It was about the size of a black bear, but had dirty, matted red hair covered in leaves and debris. It jerked as the light came over it, turning and facing him. Its face was dark and obscured by shadow, but he could tell it wasn't hairy there, sort of like a gorilla. He could see the glint of two wide eyes staring back at him for a second, as stunned as he was. Grunting, it flung upward, hopping backward while giving a small yell, stumbling briefly on all fours. It ran surprisingly quickly away with its squat, waddling body. Even more unbelievable, it ran away on two legs.
He tried to chase after it, but it seemed to vanish into thin air. Confused and, he admitted, scared, he walked back to the end of the house. There was a long, sturdy stick and part of an apple. Looking around with the flashlight, he returned inside and waited for something to happen. He laid down, waiting for something to attack, make noise. Eventually, he tried to get some sleep. He expected the thing to immediately return, but it didn't. Regardless, he didn't sleep well.
In the morning, he looked around the property before leaving for work. There were scattered, half-eaten apples and pieces of cores everywhere. His apple tree had been attacked once more. Large limbs and branches littered his front yard. Part of his garden had been dug up, and it looked like something had tried to pry the door of his truck open.
He hasn't seen it again since then, but it is something he hasn't been able to stop thinking about. For a while, he set fruit out on his porch, and later, in the far back of his property, hoping to catch the creature on an outdoor camera. But it has decidedly not stopped by for a visit.
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