I was very young so my story was never taken as anything more than a child's tall tale. I lived in a small house in an area of mostly chicken farms and large groves of citrus trees. It was in the county of San Diego California.
There was nothing but open land and rocky foot hills. The hills were rugged with thick brush and scrub oaks. The town was called Flynn Springs and the town consisted of one small country store in 1951. Where this happen was a chicken ranch. The few houses around were all on at least an acre.
The chicken ranch was right across from our house a dirt road separating the two. Beyond the chicken ranch was a sage covered field and then next came a large citrus grove, mainly lemons. There were pomegranate trees planted on the edge of the lemon grove.
Beehives were placed in the grove and in the sage field next to it. Beyond the grove were rocky hills that stretched to the Cuyamaca Mountains and then Mt. Laguna.
There were no houses that I knew of between the grove and the mountains with exception of the Viejas Indian Reservation outside the community Alpine on the south side of what's known now as old Highway 80. It runs parallel to Interstate hwy 8 that runs east-west.
It was 1951 and I spent the day watching George the egg rancher guy butcher a cow. There was a lot of blood and they buried the hide, head, hoofs, and intestines in a shallow hole they had dug under a large oak. That night we were playing hide and go seek and I hid in a brush pile just south, a few feet, from where they had dug the pit.
I laid there and I heard foot steps and it sounded like a person wearing flip flops. I'll never forget that sound. I lay very still thinking it was one of the hide & go see players looking for me.
I heard a low groan and some sniffing like sounds and the steps came closer to the brush pile. I was starting to get scared but afraid to try and run. Now I didn't smell anything like reported at other sightings but I was lying in a pile of decaying brush, weeds and grass and it was a smelly chicken ranch anyway.
I pushed myself deeper into the brush pile trying to get away from whatever seemed to be stalking me. This wasn't the brightest move because it gave my position away. A kind of leap and then I saw the face, I'll never forget, 3 feet in front of me in the opening of the cave I had made in the brush pile, a face appeared.
It was large with dark brown reddish hair a broad flat nose. It had light brown skintone and jet black eyes but looked gold when the moonlight hit them. There was little or no hair on the upper part of face and more human looking than ape.
Its mouth was open a bit and I could see his yellow teeth. Two of the front ones were larger than the others and two were larger than human eye-teeth but smaller than a dog's or bear's canine teeth and not as pointed.
His expression was almost one of confusion. I wanted to scream but couldn't as it look at me. He lifted some of the brush, with one massive hand, to get a better look. It seemed like forever and I remember being petrified. I heard my brother calling and my dog Rayona barking, it gently set the brush back into place and stood up.
I could see its body now. He was massive covered with long strands of dark reddish brown hair and it had huge long arms. I have no idea of its height, but he was much taller than my six foot father. After a minute it bends back down and stares at me again but makes no move to hurt me or try to pull me out of my hiding place. He simple takes a deep sighing groan and left. I heard three or four loud thumps heading off toward the grove of citrus.
I crawled out of my hiding place as soon as I thought it was safe and ran screaming home. Neither my brother nor none of his friends could calm me down. My mom came running and I blurted out my story but no one would believe me. My mother accused my brother and the neighbor boys of telling me scary stories. I was hysterical and it took days for me to calm down and to this day I see that face.
It was a full moon night and a star lit I saw the beast plainly and he walked on two feet. I don't know if he was there because of the buried cow parts or he was just curious of this little guy (me) playing. He made no attempt to dig up the butchered remains nor made any attempt to harm me.
There were several fruit trees spread out on the ranch and the homes near by. Apricot, plum, and pomegranate trees were everywhere and I think that's what he came out of the hills for. I stopped playing Hide and Go Seek at night and never went over to the brush pile again.
I thought I saw him two other times in between the chicken coops. It was a large form looking in the cages and eating the grain or looking for eggs. I never mentioned it again to anyone but I thought you might want to decide if I dreamed it or not.
If it was a dream it stayed with for 57 years and just as real today as it was in the summer of 1951.
Sincerely
"Vanderpool, Ray CIV (ACTR WING4/CNATRA)"
<xxxxxxxxx@navy.mil>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 06:41:39 -0700
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