And thanks for your service.
I was with the 9th Infantry Division (long since decommissioned) as an infantry platoon leader. Just down the road from my battalion was the 2nd Ranger Battalion. The First Special Forces Group had not yet been posted there as it is now. The S1 (personnel officer) and the HHC cdr had both been very close friends of mine in college. I knew a few more of the guys from associating with them. Enough that I was referred to as a NAP (Non Airborne Personnel) rather than a LEG (Lack of Essential Guts) which is very derogatory. I'd not been to jump school. But these guys basically adopted me and taught me some very high speed (sophisticated) tactics that I put to good use back in my own unit.
So I was invited over to the Ranger compound late one Saturday night and there were four Rangers & me. Three officers and one E-6 Staff Sergeant who was on the "Hot Seat." The officers wanted to know why an emergency extraction had been called for when no medical emergency was present.
The staff sergeant said that he had been in charge of the patrol and the mission was to set up an ambush on a firebreak while waiting for another unit (possibly Canadian I can't remember) to walk into the kill zone so the Rangers could open up with their weapons all loaded with blanks. The ambush was supposed to trip at around 0300HRS. That's 3:00 a.m. for you civilians.
The patrol was operating very close to the Canadian border and was really deeeeep in the woods. Very isolated location. No big deal these were army rangers after all. They set up along a firebreak got the security elements out and waited silently at around 1:00 am. By about 0200HRS there was quiet movement in the woods across the firebreak.
One of the junior sergeants sent word that it looked maybe like the opposition had showed up early and were in recon mode across from their position. The observation was made that for a large body of troops, they were moving really quietly. So the patrol leader switches on his night vision along with the fire team leaders. What they saw was a large "creature" standing maybe eight feet tall on two legs and weighed (estimated) about 500 pounds... staring at them from just across the open area and "it" was looking dead at them without the aid of NVD (night vision device)! The decision was made on the spot to allow the intruder that portion of the forest to itself so the rangers picked up and moved about 1000 meters along side the firebreak and higher headquarters was alerted of the location change without mentioning the reason. They moved and set up again in exactly the same manner.
About ten minutes later there was a distinct sound of quiet movement across the cleared area of the firebreak across from the patrol. This must be distinguished from the movement of an animal. Elk, bear and deer are really noisy when they move thru the woods, they don't know the meaning of the word "stealthy." This movement was definitely stealthy. On came the night vision. Sure enough there "he" sttod, STARING at the patrol. Up to this point there had not been any sort of overt signs of aggression. Now, however a deep rumbling could be heard. Menacing. That was enough for this patrol. They formed a tight 360 perimeter and broke out the tear gas grenades which were their only effective means of defense. The chopper was called and they sat there in a kind of stand off with an apelike critter staring at them and growling. As the chopper approached the growls grew more pronounced. So the patol lead pulled the pin on a trip flare and ordered his men to shield their eyes. He lobbed the illumination device at the Bigfoot and hit the deck. The light from a flare like that is so intense that it will sear thru your eyelids even when your eyes are shut tight. When the darkness turned to daytime, there was an ear shattering howl of pain and a noise of tree trunks snapping and brush being stomped down. Not stealthy that time! The bird settled to a landing and the patrol clambered inside and it lifted. Then the brouhaha started with why they'd lifted out early when nobody was injured. Immediately three of the guys on the patrol vomited and they were taken to the hospital.
That killed the official inquiry but these officers still wanted to hear what really happened. I was invited on the strength of an unseen encounter I'd had myself (no sightings but an eerie silence and a distinct feeling of being watched) & confirmed by my PLT SGT who was a 'Nam vet and not prone to being "nervous in the service."
I have to wonder how many of the special ops forces of both the American and Canadian military have had encounters like this?