By Tim Binnall
A former Marine has come forward with a remarkable account of encountering a suspected Sasquatch in a restricted military base. The compelling incident, revealed in a recent report to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, occurred in the summer of 2005 in Quantico, Virginia, as witness Andrew Bird participated in "field training exercises" at a mock urban environment closed to the public. One evening, he and two other Marines were ordered to exit the location and travel through the woods to a pickup vehicle "approximately 500 to 700 meters away." While making the normally routine trek, Bird recalled, the trio stumbled upon something that still mystifies him to this day.
As the group was walking through the woods, they heard a loud cracking sound and turned their flashlights towards the area to see what caused the commotion. To their consternation, the Marines observed "two trees next to each other bending toward one another." Looking up to see what was responsible for the weird display, they spotted "a large, hairy creature with its back facing us," seemingly "pulling the two trees together." Marveling that the mysterious interloper must have had significant strength to pull off such a feat, Bird described the figure as being around eight feet tall with a large body covered in "brown or reddish-brown" hair. Chillingly, the witness noted that "its proportions and movement did not resemble a human."
The presence of the monstrous figure sent the three Marines running towards the location of their pickup vehicle, sparking something of a pursuit by the creature as they heard a loud thud and the sound of something large coming after them in the woods. The group eventually made it back to safety with a story that, Bird mused, "has stayed with me for 20 years. I have never encountered anything before or since that explains what we saw that night." One peculiar aspect of the case that will likely be of interest to those who believe Bigfoot may be paranormal is that the witness noted the group experienced weird compass readings earlier in the evening, a few minutes before their possible run-in with the famed cryptid.