TRIP TO THE NEW JERSEY PINE BARRENS OCTOBER 2006

TRIP TO THE NEW JERSEY PINE BARRENS OCTOBER 2006

(Written by Tom Lancaster)

Prior to the outing, a U.S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangle map (dated 1981) and Google Earth aerial photographs (dated 2006) were obtained for the region of the expedition. Based on these documents, areas of interest for Bf reconnaissance included cranberry bog areas, potential sandy areas, and wide sections of creeks located in the wilderness of Wharton State Park. These areas of interest are seen in the following links to the topographic map and two aerial photographs (TOPOGRAPHIC MAP, AERIAL PHOTO #1, and AERIAL PHOTO #2). Referring to the topographic map, the cranberry bogs are located northwest and southeast of the NESRA base camp (i.e., Hawkins Bridge Campground). Looking at the aerial photo #2, the potential sandy areas (apparent cleared areas) are located near Mt. Sandy Ridge Road. These potential sandy areas were anticipated to be good potential locations to do "Bf footprint reconnaissance" during the daytime.Since deer may visit the cranberry bogs, these cranberry bogs were thought to be good potential locations for night surveillance for Bf hunting deer and/or possibly picking cranberries. Based on information about the CRANBERRY HARVEST season, the harvest period extends from mid-September to a few weeks before Thanksgiving, which includes the dates of the NESRA expedition. These relatively open cranberry bog orchards were anticipated to be good for extending a person's line of sight with night vision equipment and during the anticipated QUARTER-MOON PHASE, which rose during the a.m. hours. Additionally, the perimeters of these orchards were anticipated to be good potential locations to do "Bf footprint reconnaissance" during the daytime.DAYLIGHT INVESTIGATION ON FRIDAY 10/13/06 Friday afternoon, Billy and Tom got into their vehicle and headed west from the base camp on some dirt roads or jeep trails. Sections of these roads were partially obstructed by an overgrowth of bushes on the edges of the roads. Additionally, other sections of these roads had some pools of relatively deep standing water (some of these pools could be considered small ponds). Approximately three quarters of a mile west of the base camp, Billy and Tom arrived at a wide section of the creek that runs through the region. The daytime investigation of this creek area did not reveal any trace evidence of Bf. The location of this of daytime investigation area is labeled in the above-referenced links to the topographic map and the aerial photo #1. A PICTURE OF THE CREEK area is provides some hints why this area is commonly called the Pine Barrens. Later in the afternoon, Billy and Tom went to investigate the cranberry bogs located northwest of the base camp. They found that the roads leading to the cranberry bogs were partially obstructed by an overgrowth of bushes. As they drove further into the bog areas they discovered that most of the roads around the cranberry bogs were not accessible to vehicles and all of the cranberry bogs had been abandoned for many years. The daytime investigation location of one of these abandoned cranberry bogs is shown in the above-linked topographic map and aerial photo #2. A PICTURE OF ABANDONED CRANBERRY BOG shows an area of good visibility for night surveillance. The bog picture was taken from a “vehicle sand bridge” that extends across the cranberry bog. DEER PRINTS were found along this vehicle sand bridge. NIGHT SURVEILLANCE ON FRIDAY 10/13/06A couple hours before dusk, Billy and Tom walked about a quarter mile from their vehicle to the night surveillance location shown in above-linked topographic map and aerial photo #2. A SMALLER SCALED TOPOGRAPHIC MAP and SMALLER SCALED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH of the night surveillance area shows the abandoned cranberry bog and lake on either side of a “vehicle sand bridge.” Pictures taken at the night surveillance location included the adjacent ABANDONED CRANBERRY BOG, the LAKE, and a NORTH VIEW and SOUTH VIEW of the sand bridge from the surveillance post. Billy and Tom’s night surveillance equipment included third generation night vision with headgear, digital video equipment, an eight-hour digital recorder linked to an omni-directional microphone capsule, two Garmin Rhino 530 GPS radios, and a 15-million candlelight powered light. An hour before nightfall, Billy and Tom were set up for stationary night surveillance. During this time, fog was not observed over the lake or surrounding land. It was a clear evening sky with a slight air movement (=< href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KNJHAMMO1&month=10&amp;amp;amp;amp;day=13&year=2006" target="_blank">HERE) were as follows:_______________5:05 p.m.____________11:05 p.m.___________HUMIDITY-----------40% ---------------------91% TEMPERATURE------54.9 degrees F.-----------37.7 degrees F.DUE POINT TEMPERATURE------31.00 degrees F.---------35.30 degrees F.During the night of October 13, 2006, the localized humidity conditions over the swamp lands/water bodies surrounding the night surveillance post is anticipated to be higher than the humidity recorded in Hammonton, NJ. As referenced previously, the quarter moon was not anticipated to come out until a.m. hours.At 8:00 p.m., Billy and Tom heard what sounded like a log being rolled back and forth against other logs. This sound lasted about 10 seconds and re-occurred several minutes later. This sound appeared to be coming from the wooded area located approximately 200 to 300 yards from their surveillance location, which is just beyond the northwest corner of the subject abandoned cranberry bog. At 8:30 p.m., Billy and Tom heard a low frequency moan from the same location of the log noises. The moan lasted about 10 seconds. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Billy, heard several bipedal footsteps in the wooded area immediately outside of the southern bog perimeter. Billy, felt these footstep sounds were within 200 feet of him. At approximately 10:30 p.m., Billy heard a water disturbance approximately 50 feet south of him along the edge of the lake where a PATH TO THE LAKE was observed at the water’s edge. Billy said the water disturbance sounded similar to what you would hear when a man takes several quiet steps while entering relatively shallow water. As later measured, the water depth at one and three feet from the edge of the lake was one and three feet deep, respectively. Between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., both Billy and Tom were dosing off occasionally. At 11:00 p.m., a crashing, thunderous splash occurred directly behind Billy and Tom. This extremely loud splash occurred within 10 feet of the edge of the lake, which is within 20 feet of Billy and Tom. Tom said the splash sounded like a 300-pound man doing a belly flop. Tom said it didn’t make a “Cur-Plunk” sound that a boulder would make when thrown in the water. When this splash occurred, Billy said he initially froze in his chair from the shock of the incident. Tom, on the other hand, reacted by jumping up and trying to get out of his chair only to fall with his chair still around him. When he tried to get up again, he said that he fell again. In an instinctual mode of self-defense, the 15-million candlelight powered light was immediately shined in the direction of the splash. Unexpectedly, an eight-feet high fog bank was observed in the direction of the splash at the water’s edge. This fog bank or steam was slowly moving toward Billy and Tom from the Lake (west-southwest) as it dissipated. Billy and Tom’s visibility over the lake extended no more than 10 feet with the 15-million candlelight powered light. However, approximately 20 feet north of their surveillance post, Tom saw that there wasn’t any fog or steam over the rest of the lake. Immediately before the the splash incident, there had not been any fog observed over the lake. Tom, said the steam or fog bank that occurred all of a sudden reminded him of a hot tub party in the middle of winter when everyone got out at once.Approximately 20 seconds after the first splash, a second thunderous splash (again, not a “Cur-Plunk” sound) occurred near the edge of the lake at approximately 50 feet south of the surveillance post, which is just south of the above-referenced path to the lake at the water’s edge. Immediately after the splash, Billy got a glimpse of something reddish brown standing in the water approximately 70 feet south of the surveillance post. Billy said it was close to the waters edge and partially covered by a tree limb that was hanging out over the lake. Most importantly, Billy said it was “moving” toward the water’s edge, which was interpreted to mean that he saw some sort of a creature or living animal. After this observation, no stationary or moving reddish brown object(s) or creature(s) was seen in that direction. Assuming the water is approximately two to three feet deep where the creature was seen, the height of the reddish brown creature was conservatively estimated to be 9 to 10 feet tall. After the second splash, both Billy and Tom were scared that whatever was out there was stalking them. They immediately packed up and quickly hiked the quarter mile back to their truck while being in a constant state of fear they are being stalked. After some discussions about the event with other NESRA officials, both Billy and Tom indicated that they did not see any logs that may have been thrown into water in the vicinity of the splash areas.