Skinwalker (Maybe?) Sighting

This is by far the scariest thing that has EVER happened to me, and what solidified in my mind that there are other things out there that aren't supposed to be there.

It was 2009, first week of January, and I was driving back to Los Angeles from spending time with my family in Tennessee/Kentucky over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. It's an easy drive, no map needed, I-40 all the way from Memphis to L.A. I made it to north Texas the first night and slept, got up the next morning and continued on. The drive the next day was uneventful and around 9 pm or so I started to get tired so I took the next exit to find a hotel for the night. The place I stopped at was Holbrook, AZ, maybe about 40 minutes east of Flagstaff. I drive down to the last hotel on the road off the exit, which was a Motel 6, pull up, go inside, pay for my room and get a room key. I drive around the motel and park on the north side of the building, which backs up to an unpaved dirt lot.

So I'm standing there with the drivers side doors open on my SUV, going through my bags getting everything I need for the night out and I hear this scream. Scream is maybe the wrong word, it was more like a roar, mixed with a high-pitched wailing, kind of like a baby wailing and a bear roaring at the same time. I glance to my left, and there's this HUGE shadow in the shape of a really tall man (or something) standing on the embankment about 10 feet away from me. I freeze up and I stare at it for maybe 10-15 seconds, then it roars again, jumps over the ENTIRE dirt lot it was standing on (I could see the shape of it landing on the other side of the lot from the streetlights) and vanishes into the night. I freak out completely, bolt for my motel door, leaving my SUV wide open in the middle of the night, lock the door, and barricade myself in the bathroom. That night I took the sheets off the bed and slept in the bathtub with the door locked (just so I had an extra locked door between me and the outside) I was so freaked out. I woke up early the next morning and got the hell out of there.

I will never forget the sound that whatever this was made, it was so loud that I felt it through me, if that makes any sense. After I locked myself in the bathroom that night I started searching on my phone for any sightings resembling anything like that around that area, and that's when I learned about all the sightings of skinwalkers around the 4 corners area (which isn't that far away). It's probably also worth mentioning that there are Navajo reservations all around the area. What amazes me (almost) as much as seeing that thing was that it scared me so badly I bolted to my room and left the two drivers side doors and the back cargo door on my SUV wide open all night, filled with Christmas presents and expensive music equipment, and no one touched any of it. All night I couldn't help but to think how I was sure to be robbed, but there was NO way I was going back out there. Surprisingly, no one touched a thing in my car, my laptop was sitting right on the seat where I left it, even though the doors had been open all night. I lucked out in that respect.

I know this probably sounds bat#### crazy but it actually happened. I'd love to hear anyone's stories about similar things they've seen.

Could it have been that someone was standing close to a distant light and the shadow was cast on the embankment, and the jump, while no larger than a human could jump was multiplied by virtue of the distance relative to your position ? The howl/scream/noise just an echo ?
Being tired with road vision might also have provided the hallucinatory affect along with auditory hallucinations.

In 06 I drove nonstop from Redlands California to Wadesboro North Carolina, about 2400 miles. And I was driving through the last part talking to the shadow people riding along with me, or rather chastising them to be quiet.......

As you stated......
" I glance to my left, and there's this HUGE shadow in the shape of a really tall man (or something) standing on the embankment about 10 feet away from me. I freeze up and I stare at it for maybe 10-15 seconds, then it roars again, jumps over the ENTIRE dirt lot it was standing on (I could see the shape of it landing on the other side of the lot from the streetlights) and vanishes into the night."

a reply to: underwerks
How bizarre. That would have scared anyone.

I can't help but wonder if you've recently been losing faith in your fellow humans? Perhaps this was a method that would help allow more light into your reality, by reminding you that there are still decent people in the world.... Just a thought..

Thanks.

a reply to: Plotus
I don't think so, but I guess anything is possible. I distinctly saw it come down from the jump on the other side of the dirt lot and this thing was solid, whatever it was. I wasn't really tired to the point I was seeing things, I think I had only drove from like 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. that day. But then again who really knows.

a reply to: donktheclown
If so what a way to teach me that lesson lol. A note on my windshield would have been better and less pants-filling scary

a reply to: underwerks

Interesting, and frightening. Really reminded me of a story my best friends father told me this summer when I went to visit home. I'm not very good at telling stories, much less re-telling them but he said a few years ago he was busy outside (he used to build log homes for a living) and he lives on an Indian reservation (he is First Nation) up in Northern BC, and for most city dwellers really out in the middle of nowhere The nearest town of 5,000 people is around 10 miles away for reference. So he was busy cutting logs and he had his lab with him who was not in the habit of showing fear of anything. He said there was suddenly this giant rush/roar of wind across the tops of the trees. He said he never saw fear in his dog like that before. Then he heard what sounded like pounding feet in the forest and giant wings and the most horrifying screech/inhuman sound you can imagine. He said he grabbed his dog and got in his truck and didn't look back. He's a Christian so he assigns the christian interpretation of demons etc. to what he encountered. He also said once he was with his buddy and they were driving somewhere near Calgary (but not in the city) and they both saw what he describes as a black as night type of something that looked like a panther, but a very long version, almost slithered down the ditch and out of view like a snake. They both saw this thing.

I've known him all my life and he's not an exaggerator or a liar. I think some strange things happen the further you get away from civilization.

I've personally never seen anything strange like that, I think I'm OK with this.

EDIT to add. This man is an avid hunter, he is used to the wildlife in the area, and it was definitely not anything he had ever encountered before.

a reply to: seeker11
Wow those stories are crazy. I definitely don't doubt it. After I saw this thing the line of thinking that opened up in my mind was that if this thing is real, what else is out there that isn't supposed to exist? I listen a little closer when people tell me of strange sightings now, that's for sure. (ETA: I also used to build log cabins!)

a reply to: seeker11
The part at the end about being a hunter made me think of a crazy story my step-father told me. He was bow hunting in the woods on the farm I grew up on in Kentucky back around 1996 and it was almost daylight, and as he's sitting there in his tree stand he hears this "growling" sound. A few minutes later he see's this creature he described as a mix between a wolverine and a bear come walking through the woods growling the entire time.

He said he waited for it to go by and then he got down out of the tree stand and left as quickly as possible lol. He's an ex-Green Beret that has done multiple tours of duty and he said this thing scared the #### out of him. He hasn't hunted there since. I can't imagine for the life of me what it was, as there's no bears or wolverines around that area and it's weird this thing would walk through the woods constantly growling. Who knows what's really out there. Again, great post

I've nothing to add, except that I am so glad that this didn't take place in TN! When you said you were visiting, I thought "please don't say it happened here!".

The skinwalker phenomenon creeps me the flip out. I started doing some research into it, until I read somewhere (have no idea where, or if there is any validity) that is a way to attract them. And I have no desire to see anything like them.

a reply to: chelsdh
Actually there were a few times back in TN........ j/k
I read that about them as well. I'm not all the way sure what I saw was a skinwalker though. It makes sense because of the area but in the end who really knows.

Well then, that's quite a remarkable story, and I don't doubt it. Have you read of or explored any similar stories or occurrences by chance? Frankly, where would you start ......actually that answer is obvious, right here...

Everything about your encounter points to you having experienced a Bigfoot. The scream penetrating you, the agility it displayed, and the size are all examples of what is experienced by people who have ran into a Sasquatch.

a reply to: TheLieWeLive

The rare arid species known as Sasclay.


Have nothing to really add OP, other than that the story makes for a wonderful late night read, especially living on a few acres of land on the outside of the city limits. I think I hear something going through my garbage bins right now...

Wow scary and really interesting! Maybe the long drive and time of night meant you were weary and were perhaps more likely to interpret the shadow as being more of a threat?

originally posted by: underwerks
a reply to: seeker11
The part at the end about being a hunter made me think of a crazy story my step-father told me. He was bow hunting in the woods on the farm I grew up on in Kentucky back around 1996 and it was almost daylight, and as he's sitting there in his tree stand he hears this "growling" sound. A few minutes later he see's this creature he described as a mix between a wolverine and a bear come walking through the woods growling the entire time.

He said he waited for it to go by and then he got down out of the tree stand and left as quickly as possible lol. He's an ex-Green Beret that has done multiple tours of duty and he said this thing scared the #### out of him. He hasn't hunted there since. I can't imagine for the life of me what it was, as there's no bears or wolverines around that area and it's weird this thing would walk through the woods constantly growling. Who knows what's really out there. Again, great post

Would you consider that being a hunter is the reason? Perhaps there is a protective spirit that defends the wildlife & the forests. . have any vegans had this sort of negative experience in the woods? If you hunt, you can also expect to be prey. . . ?

a reply to: TheLieWeLive
May have been. The only thing is I didn't notice any type of smell from it and Bigfoot is known for it's smell. But that could have depended on which way the wind was blowing I guess. At the end of the day all I can do is speculate because I didn't get a detailed look at it at the time. Great posts everyone

a reply to: Kalixi
Maybe. But I don't see how I couldn't interpret it as a threat. If it was friendly why the body jarring scream lol. That aside, I completely understand if people don't believe me or whatever. When you really see things like this, it isn't like on TV where it sends you down some rabbit hole and your life is changed afterward. You see it, and you move on. Life, bills, all that is still waiting on you and you just continue on but now with the knowledge that "other" things are out there. I believe everyone see's something crazy at least a couple times in their life, most just don't talk about it.

a reply to: kiro8lak
Could be. Another thing is that on that farmland there are openings to caves that have never been explored and the entire area is filled with underground caves and caverns that connect all the way to mammoth cave in Bowling Green, KY which is only a half hour away. So it's not entirely impossible to me that something could live down there and come up every once in a while to look for food.

In Fredericksburg TX in the middle of the night i heard a loud cry/scream/roar on a large hill behind our cabin. Then large trees being rustled and the loud thuds of footsteps cadenced about 1 per second.

There is a huge granite dome nearby that was important to natives.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Enchanted Rock?

If so, I've been there but never heard any rumors about Skinwalkers.

That's freaky!

Glad you're ok!