If you ask John Bruner if Bigfoot exists, he’ll tell you about an encounter he had in August 2017 near Lake James in McDowell County, North Carolina.
Apparently Bigfoot creatures are fascinated by glow sticks—the kind children like to wave around or snap around their wrists. John’s team went on expedition and put out a variety of glow sticks. When the glow sticks went dark, they could tell that something was walking in front of them. John and his son ran closer and came within 25 yards of a creature that John describes as between 8 ½ and 9 feet tall. “It had long, stringy, matted hair like a wet dog,” he says. “There wasn’t any hair on its face and its nose was completely flat. You could almost see up its nostrils. It never opened its mouth and it was not the least bit intimidated. It casually turned and walked off the side of the hill.”
The search for Bigfoot is a big topic of conversation near Marion, North Carolina, and this year Bruner is spearheading the first WNC Bigfoot Festival on Saturday, September 8, from noon to 6 p.m.
The festival, held in downtown Marion, features a Bigfoot calling contest, Bigfoot knocking contest (they apparently communicate through tree knocks), food, kids’ activities, arts and crafts and expedition evidence including cast prints and audio/video of sightings. Bruner says the best experts in N.C. will be on hand to answer questions about Bigfoot. There’s even a raffle drawing for two people to go out on expedition with John’s crew as they continue the hunt.
Bruner runs the Bigfoot 911 group on Facebook and says he gets messages constantly from those who believe they’ve spotted a Bigfoot. “The Native Americans lived with them for thousands of years and documented it,” he says. “A lot of people think it’s a hoax, but if it’s a hoax it’s been passed on by people who don’t know each other for thousands of years.”
For additional details on the festival: facebook.com/wncbigfootfestival/
