Be Honest...

The following happened to me years ago when I was about 20 years old. I will skip the boring explanation of why I was where I was.

It was around midnight on a moonless night in Sonoma County, Northern California. I was alone walking along a road on this moonless night. It was dark as hell and all I could see was the edge of the road at my feet. The only structure was my friend's house about 100 yards behind me which I had just left "to go for a walk" (stupid me). The road was flanked by cow pastures on both sides for miles.

I blissfully walked along, thinking I'd go a mile or so and then return and go to bed. But, I began being aware of a foul smell that seemed to be coming from ahead and just to the left of the road.

As I continued, the smell got worse and worse. It smelled like sewage. A lot of it. I thought some animal must have died alongside the road and I kept walking. But, the odor grew even worse and now I began perceiving a feeling of fear and dread come over me. There was no reason for it. The smell was terrible but why was I feeling fear? No reason to be afraid of a bad smell, I thought, But, the feeling grew more intense as I continued walking.

Then, I stopped. Whatever this was -- the stink and this feeling -- just wasn't getting any better and I decided the thing to do was turn around and go back. So, I did just that at a brisk pace. By the time I reached my friend's house the smell and feeling were gone and I went to bed thinking I'd check out what was causing that smell in the morning.

The next morning I retraced my steps from the night before but there was no dead animal and no bad smell. Nothing that would explain what I experienced the night before. Just fresh country air, trees and grass. Whatever had caused that awful smell was gone.

Now, I never saw a thing so I can't say "I saw bigfoot," but the other aspects of the experience do match BF encounters that I have read and heard about. So, I strongly suspect that is what I encountered on that night, BF sightings have been reported in that area before and since.

So, anyway, to answer the question posed on this thread, I'd say it depends a lot on the details of the situation. My impression of my experience is that both the smell and the unreasonable emotion I felt were intentionally caused for the purpose of getting me to leave the area.

And, it worked. :)
 
I'd like to think I'd back away slowly to avoid being chased, because I'm sure it would outrun me. I'd get a pic or two, look for hair or scat for DNA when BF left. In reality I think I'd stand there in disbelief before exiting, lol.
I can totally see you holding it tog. When we go on safari out back, I want to be in your group ;)
 
The following happened to me years ago when I was about 20 years old. I will skip the boring explanation of why I was where I was.

It was around midnight on a moonless night in Sonoma County, Northern California. I was alone walking along a road on this moonless night. It was dark as hell and all I could see was the edge of the road at my feet. The only structure was my friend's house about 100 yards behind me which I had just left "to go for a walk" (stupid me). The road was flanked by cow pastures on both sides for miles.

I blissfully walked along, thinking I'd go a mile or so and then return and go to bed. But, I began being aware of a foul smell that seemed to be coming from ahead and just to the left of the road.

As I continued, the smell got worse and worse. It smelled like sewage. A lot of it. I thought some animal must have died alongside the road and I kept walking. But, the odor grew even worse and now I began perceiving a feeling of fear and dread come over me. There was no reason for it. The smell was terrible but why was I feeling fear? No reason to be afraid of a bad smell, I thought, But, the feeling grew more intense as I continued walking.

Then, I stopped. Whatever this was -- the stink and this feeling -- just wasn't getting any better and I decided the thing to do was turn around and go back. So, I did just that at a brisk pace. By the time I reached my friend's house the smell and feeling were gone and I went to bed thinking I'd check out what was causing that smell in the morning.

The next morning I retraced my steps from the night before but there was no dead animal and no bad smell. Nothing that would explain what I experienced the night before. Just fresh country air, trees and grass. Whatever had caused that awful smell was gone.

Now, I never saw a thing so I can't say "I saw bigfoot," but the other aspects of the experience do match BF encounters that I have read and heard about. So, I strongly suspect that is what I encountered on that night, BF sightings have been reported in that area before and since.

So, anyway, to answer the question posed on this thread, I'd say it depends a lot on the details of the situation. My impression of my experience is that both the smell and the unreasonable emotion I felt were intentionally caused for the purpose of getting me to leave the area.

And, it worked. :)
Excellent account! You definitely saved yourself a situation by turning back.
 
I spent the first 30 years of my life living in the San Francisco Bay Area. In that time at least two people I knew told me of encounters they had with a BF. I found their accounts to be completely believable.

So, that, along with my experience has me pretty well convinced that BF exists.
 
It really is hard to say.......

The investigator inside of me would want to try and communicate. The actual human side of me would want to flee as my fear instincts kick in - LOL.

It all depends if curiosity could overwhelm the natural instinct to run away......
 
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Depends on what camera I had with me at the time. If it was a terrible, low-resolution camera, I'd probably stay and shoot pics. If it was a high-def, really good camera, I'd probably run, screaming.

SOP Bigfoot encounter protocols must be followed.
 
I know I would freeze long enough to evaluate whether it is dangerous or not. After that it would depend, but I would not run, I have been taught and had practice not running from wild animals and dangerous dogs as they can run faster and will chase you 90% of the time.
 
I spent the first 30 years of my life living in the San Francisco Bay Area. In that time at least two people I knew told me of encounters they had with a BF. I found their accounts to be completely believable.

So, that, along with my experience has me pretty well convinced that BF exists.
I too believe they exist, what or who they are is the big question. I wish we could get the answers.
 
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I know I would freeze long enough to evaluate whether it is dangerous or not. After that it would depend, but I would not run, I have been taught and had practice not running from wild animals and dangerous dogs as they can run faster and will chase you 90% of the time.
You are very right. You need to share how to over-ride the fear reflex.
 
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