Friday, October 14, 2005

On the afternoon of Friday October 14th, an eight-person NESRA expedition group made its way to the pre-planned base camp located north of Albany, New York. The base camp was located several miles from any human inhabitants on the west edge of a quarter-mile diameter pond just west of Lake George. The entire expedition region consisted of miles of thickly wooded mountains, hills, valleys, lakes, ponds and swamps.

NESRA Colors	BigDaddy & T Lancaster	Billy Willard

During late afternoon and night hours of the 14th, it rained quite steadily. At approximately 7 p.m., Billy, Josh, Tim, and T, Lancaster braved the rainy weather and walked around a portion of the pond to the south edge of the pond. Within 200 feet of their destination (their chosen observation post) one thud was heard. The thud sounded like a large boulder or thick tree trunk hitting the ground in an area located approximately 100 feet to the east of their location. The thud sound was not accompanied with noises typically made by a tree trunk splitting as a tree falls and other noises associated with the breaking of tree branches as a tree hits the ground. A faint odor was observed at the time of the thump. The odor smelled like a mixture of chicken excrement and a partial decomposed dead animal. Within five minutes of the thump, three animal “whoop” sounds were heard within approximately 100 to 200 feet to the east and south of their location. This all occurred at a 20- to 50-foot wide flat pond terrace located immediately next to the pond and approximately 3 to 10 feet above the pond. Extending from the terrace is a fairly steep hill with approximately 40 to 50 feet of local relief. Within 15 minutes of this encounter, an investigation of the thump area was initiated by Tom S., Billy, T. Lancaster, Josh, Tim, and DTK. Results of this investigation did not reveal any Bigfoot trace evidence or the cause of the thump.

DTK	Tom S.	Tim & Josh

From approximately 8 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Billy and T. Lancaster sat in chairs on top of the hill located next to the pond and within 100 feet of the thumping encounter (this observation post initially included Tim and Josh). They endured the harsh rainy weather with wet weather gear and umbrellas. Billy and T. Lancaster faced in opposite directions from one another. [They had night vision equipment that was inoperable due to the fogging of the lenses.] During their approximately two-hour observation period, Billy and T. Lancaster heard occasional rustling in the underbrush within 20 to 50 feet of their location. These rustling noises and limb breaks were distinctly heard amongst the noise of the raindrops hitting their umbrellas. Additionally, Billy observed eye shine of two eyes close to the ground within 30 feet of himself as well as eye shine higher off the ground (approx 5-6 feet) within 50-60 feet.

Rock Climbing	Michael Killen	Puddle Jumping

Saturday, October 15, 2005

During the evening hours of this day, A NESRA team strategy was enacted, which included the implementation of call blasting and tree knocks at set times by Tom S. and DTK from the south side of the pond. A full moon was present and the sky was relative clear with a few fast moving clouds. As a part of a team effort by NESRA, Billy and T. Lancaster set up an observation post at approximately 8 p.m. on the east edge of the pond (on the opposite side of the pond from the base camp). Billy and T Lancaster faced in different directions away from the pond (i.e., Billy faced northeast and T. Lancaster faced southeast). Their observation area was a relatively flat area with some ground surface undulations (5 to 10 feet of relief). At approximately 8 p.m., Billy heard two animal grunt sounds approximately 30 to 50 feet to the northeast of his location. Within the next hour, movement (rustling of underbrush and limb breaks) was heard several times at approximately 30 to 70 feet from Billy and T. Lancaster’s location.

A Shadowy Figure Spotted

At approximately 9 p.m., a man-like figure was sighted by T. Lancaster approximately 70 to 100 feet southeast of his location. This sighting was observed during a moment when the moon was shining on the forest without the obstruction of clouds. The moon was located in the east sky and thus, lit up the forest such that tree trunks were dark against the moon-brightened forest background. The man-like figure was observed moving through a fifty-foot stretch of forest from the north to south within one to two seconds (away from the location where Billy heard the two grunts). Due to the man-like figure’s fast movement through the forest and the limited light (i.e., relative to daylight), T. Lancaster could only see the figure’s man-like head and body as it passed through the trees and some underbrush. The figure was observed to be potentially taller and wider than an average human (approximately seven to eight feet tall when compared to nearby tree limbs). Surprisingly, no sounds were heard as the figure moved through the forest (e.g., footsteps, rustling and braking of tree limbs).

More Wood-Knocking Heard

Between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., two wood knocking events were heard approximately a quarter- to a half-mile away from the location of Billy and T. Lancaster (immediately confirmed not to be created by other NESRA team members via radio communication). These wood knock events were each composed of two knocks in a five to 10 second period. The knocks sounded as if a huge tree truck or boulder was struck against a tree. No other significant observations were made before leaving the observation post at approximately 12 mid-night.

THE 2005 NESRA FALL EXPEDITION, OCTOBER, 14 – 16,
ADIRONDACK PARK, WARREN COUNTY, NY

Report Submitted By: Michael Killen

Friday, October 14, 2005

7:00pm – NESRA members Thomas Lancaster, Billy Willard, Josh Willard and Tim Willard left base camp and moved to their listening post on the south side of the pond. Shortly after this first group left camp, Thomas S. and David Thomas King also left camp headed for their initial listening post location at the south east end of the pond.

7:46pm – Thomas Lancaster heard a loud single heavy thud. Immediately after the thud, a strong foul odor was detected at his location and three loud “whoops” were heard.

7:58pm – Thomas S. and David Thomas King moved to a new location at the water’s edge at the south east end of the pond. David Thomas King immediately reported smelling a strong foul odor. Thomas S. made three wood knocks at this time in an attempt to evoke some type of response. Seconds after the wood knocking David Thomas King called Chuck Adinolfi to ask if he had heard the wood knocks back at base camp on the west side of the pond.

8:01pm – As Chuck Adinolfi reached for his radio to answer David Thomas King, he heard a high pitched “howl” which came from the east side of the pond and only lasted for approximately 2 ½ seconds. This was a single “howl” and the sound was not repeated.

8:06pm – Thomas S. left his listening post on the south east edge of the pond and headed back to base camp.

8:17pm – David Thomas King left his listening post on the south east side of the pond and headed back towards the base camp. On his way back he stopped by the listening post of Thomas Lancaster, Billy Willard, Josh Willard and Tim Willard. He talked with the group briefly before heading back to the base camp bringing Josh and Tim Willard with him. Billy Willard and Thomas Lancaster decided to stay out at their listening post for a few more hours.

9:04pm – Billy Willard saw eye shine approximately 5 feet above the ground up on a ridge line approximately 60 feet above his location on the south side of the pond. The eye shine appeared to be yellow/green in color.
 

9:36pm – Billy Willard again saw the same yellow/green eye shine further south down the same ridge line above him. This time the eye shine only appeared to be approximately 2-3 feet above the ground. In each instance, the eye shine lasted approximately 2-3 seconds.

10:07pm – Billy Willard and Thomas Lancaster left their listening posts and headed back to base camp. Billy Willard, Thomas Lancaster, Josh Willard and Tim Willard went to sleep for the night at approximately 10:30pm.

10:52pm – While tending the fire Michael Killen and Thomas S. heard two “hoots” which came from the swamp at the north end of the pond. The “hoots” were of a moderate volume. They weren’t overly loud and each “hoot” was approximately 3 seconds in duration. The “hoots” sounded fairly close to the base camp and didn’t seem to be a distant vocalization.

10:53pm – Michael Killen and Thomas S. investigated the area where the sound originated from but could not find the source of the “hoots”. Nothing was found and no other noises were heard from this location again. Michael Killen and Chuck Adinolfi decided to stay awake and remain alert to listen for any other sounds which might be heard during the night. Nothing unusual was heard for the rest of the night.