Paul Freeman’s famous Bigfoot footage. Pic credit: via History/YouTube
Michael Freeman shared the story of his late father’s Bigfoot encounters in an episode of The Proof Is Out There on History Channel.
He recalled that his father, Paul, captured footage of a Bigfoot near the Deduct Spring, Blue Mountains, Oregon.
Bigfoot researchers consider Paul Freeman’s footage (see below), captured in August 1992, one of the most compelling evidence of Sasquatch ever.
Michal recalled that his father returned home looking very frightened.
Paul Freeman was a forest ranger
Paul worked for the Forest Service. He was a forest ranger stationed near Walla Walla, WA.
Working as a ranger was Paul’s idea of a dream job because he was an outdoor man. He liked nothing better than exploring Washignton’s rugged mountainous terrain.
He was also an expert in the local fauna and an expert tracker.
Michael recalled that his father was not a Bigfoot believer. He used to laugh at people who believed in Sasquatch.
But a close encounter with a Sasquatch in June 1982 changed everything.
Paul’s first Sasquatch encounter
Paul was tracking a herd of elk when he noticed them behaving strangely. He sensed something was amiss. He got out of his truck and began following them on foot.
He detected a strange odor while following the deer on a logging spur.
It was unusual, and he knew it came from a creature he wasn’t familiar with.
He ran into the creature as he turned a corner on the road.
Bigfoot looked like prehistoric cavemen
Paul’s first sighting of the cryptid occurred as it stepped off a 10-foot bank on the side of the road.
Paul had no idea what sort of creature it was. He’d never seen anything like it before. But although he had no idea what he was looking at, the veteran ranger knew what it wasn’t.
He knew it wasn’t a bear. His first impression was that it resembled prehistoric cavemen in science book illustrations.
The Bigfoot stopped midstride and turned its gaze on the ranger. For a tense moment, man and beast exchanged stares.
They were standing so close to each other that Paul could hear it breathing heavily from exertion. He could see the creature’s belly and chest muscles heaving.
Then, it started walking away from him, looking warily over its shoulders multiple times as it disappeared into the forest.
Paul became obsessed with tracking Sasquatch
The fateful encounter sparked an obsessive 15-year search for Sasquatch evidence.
Paul’s Sasquatch obsession was partly due to people dismissing his testimony. Some even thought he was crazy. But he wanted to prove to his detractors that he wasn’t crazy by providing irrefutable evidence.
The Deduct Spring encounter
His second encounter with Bigfoot occurred near Deduct Spring in Oregon. Because the spring was one of the few reliable water sources in the area, Paul believed it was an ideal spot to search for Sasquatch evidence.
His hunch proved true. The ranger found multiple Sasquatch footprints in the area during early morning explorations.
While driving home on August 20, 1992, he stopped there to search for prints by the water. He was filming the prints when he ran smack into a Sasquatch.
The encounter produced his famous Deduct Spring Bigfoot footage. Michael saw his dad when he came home after the encounter.
“I always tell people that was the only time in my entire life when I ever saw my dad scared of anything,” Michael said.
He added that the only evidence of Bigfoot he ever needed to see was the expression of fear on his father’s face when he returned home that night.