Military Personnel Share Chilling Bigfoot Encounters at Washington Base

There's something about military encounters with Sasquatch that always hits differently. When trained infantrymen, Rangers, and Marines—the kind of folks who don't scare easily—come forward with stories about massive, hairy figures in the deep woods, it makes you sit up and pay attention. A recent video making the rounds on YouTube dives headfirst into exactly that kind of territory, and it's well worth your time if you're fascinated by the intersection of military service and Sasquatch sightings. The video focuses on Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington State, one of the largest military installations in the country. Situated just south of Tacoma, JBLM encompasses hundreds of square miles of dense forest, swamps, rugged terrain, and live-fire ranges. It's the kind of place where soldiers can spend days in the field without seeing another soul outside their own platoon. And here's the kicker—JBLM sits smack in the middle of prime Sasquatch country. Mount St. Helens and the infamous Ape Canyon incident are only about 60 miles away, and Washington has long been considered one of the top hotspots for Bigfoot activity in North America. The video shares two firsthand accounts pulled from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization's archives, both written by veterans who served at Fort Lewis (the former name for JBLM). The first comes from a U.S. Army NCO instructor who was running a nighttime field exercise back in the fall of 1977. While setting up an observation post deep in the back country—an area full of fallen timber, creeks, ridges, thickets, swamps, and caves—he stepped away from his group for a better vantage point. That's when the smell hit him. He describes it as something far worse than a typical dead animal carcass—rotten eggs in a hot dumpster, if you can imagine that. Then came the rustling brush, the snapping branches, and finally, the eyes. Dull orange, moving side to side, level with his own despite him being on slightly elevated ground. Whatever this thing was, it stood at least 8 to 10 feet tall. He froze, ducked into the brush, and listened as it walked past him and disappeared into the forest. The smell went with it. The next day, he went back looking for tracks but found nothing—the forest floor was too wet and marshy. When he mentioned it to other NCOs, at least three of them admitted to seeing or hearing something strange in those woods over the years. The second account comes from a U.S. Marine who was stationed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard before being sent to Fort Lewis for daylight patrols and land navigation training. This one takes place on June 24, 1997—a date he remembers because the troops had been listening to the Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield fight on the radio that afternoon (the infamous ear-biting match). Night fell, the exercise began, and his unit quickly got lost in the notoriously thick brush around Fort Lewis. He was on point with his SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), busting through vegetation in near-total darkness, when something massive stepped out directly in front of him. In the faint moonlight, he could make out a shape that looked exactly like what you'd expect—something tall, broad, with barely any neck, standing at least 7 feet tall and no more than 10 feet away. He reacted on instinct, raising his weapon and firing an entire belt of ammunition. The rounds were blanks, but at that moment, he didn't care. The noise was enough to send the figure sprinting down the hill on two legs, taking enormous strides and crashing through the brush as it disappeared into the night. What makes these accounts so compelling is the credibility factor. These aren't casual hikers or weekend campers stumbling upon something strange in the woods. These are military professionals—people trained to operate in high-stress environments, to stay calm under pressure, to assess threats quickly and accurately. When folks like that describe being frozen in fear, firing reflexively, or being overwhelmed by a stench they can't forget decades later, it carries weight. The Pacific Northwest's dense, old-growth forests have always been considered ideal habitat for Sasquatch, with their thick canopy cover, abundant water sources, and remote, hard-to-access terrain. JBLM's vast training areas check every one of those boxes. The video does a solid job laying out the geography, the military context, and the firsthand testimonies without overhyping anything. It's the kind of content that lets the stories speak for themselves. If you're into Sasquatch reports from credible witnesses, especially those with military backgrounds, this one deserves a spot on your watchlist. The accounts are detailed, the locations are well-established hotspots, and the witnesses had zero reason to fabricate what they experienced. Go check it out and see what you think.