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Friday, June 25, 2021

Ed and Lorraine Warren vs Bigfoot

by Cole Herrold

Before I begin to tell this account, just let the title sink in. This is not some fan fiction born from the growing increase of interest and love of the pair of demonologists but an actual event that had occurred. The event known as Casefile: Bigfoot first was first written in the 1989 book Ghost Hunters by Robert David Chase. The book, which covered some of their most infamous cases, such as the Amityville Horror case, is not the kind of book one would expect a cryptozoological excursion to be included, but it is indeed to be the case. This case, however, is just as weird and just as strange as almost all of their other cases.

The account in their book begins with an introduction to the case by Lorraine Warren; she says, "We had never paid much attention to the stories about Bigfoot. I wouldn't say that we dismissed them as fictitious, but Bigfoot didn't hold much interest for psychic investigators. That changed one spring when we were lecturing in Tennessee, and a reporter from the Elk-Valley Times contacted us and told us about some hill people who kept insisting that something was threatening their children…”.

When Ed and Lorraine Warren arrived in the community, Lorraine's first thoughts about the area was "How could anyone live like this?". Never in their seasoned career have they ever entered an area so raw with poverty. The community from descriptions was even less developed than most camps. This shantytown had no running or freshwater, and when it came to dealing with bodily functions, they were ultimately dealt with through an outhouse which released noxious smells when the days heat increased. The community did have electricity, but this electricity was dispensed via a large pole in the ground, and each shack was hooked up with a long wire which snaked along the ground, and when darkness fell, the area glowed from the energy. The people themselves were of a rough shape while Lorraine and Ed were familiar with those who had easy access to medical treatment were unprepared for this community as almost every individual whom they called the hill folk desperately needed physicals and dental care and were described as dirty needing more hygienic aid.

The demonologist duo were then introduced to several parents and other members of the community. While difficult to understand due to the dialect they thought was rather poor as well as their education, the locals would go on to tell them that their town was being besieged by a bizarre ape-man who would come out of the caves and woods and come near town. The creature, which never did anything particularly heinous, did seem to have a particular interest with children and the families being protective were thinking the worst that this creature was a predator, and it was hungry. The most harrowing of these accounts occurred literally the day before the Warren's arrived in the area. The account revolved around a mother who, while watching her child play in the outskirts of the community, watched in horror as a creature peered from around a nearby tree. The two-year-old was very near the creature, and the mother's horror, while already high, watched as the creature reached out with its large hairy arm to touch the child. The woman, in panic, ran back to the settlement rounding up any who would listen to come with her to help stop the strange beast. An armed group arrived near where the child was playing, and there they found nothing but the child still oblivious of any potential danger.

Ed and Lorraine were not believers of the phenomena by any means but seeing the voracity of the witnesses, they felt that the least they could do was to investigate to put the people at ease or, at best, show that the creature was nothing more heinous than a bear that stumbled to close to the town. So, after recording the various locals and attempting to conjure some path to investigate, the group proceeded to venture off into the Tennessee woodlands. The Warrens took several paranormal college enthusiasts with them, one of whom Lorraine was particularly irritated by. This college student considered himself as quite the jokester and had a penchant of using a very obnoxious bullhorn as a gag. This individual was along on this outing and, unfortunately, would cause a problem that would affect their expedition.

When daybreak came, the pair and their group proceeded to climb and descend the hills and deep crags of the nearby wilderness. The inescapable denseness of the forest was just another layer for the Warrens as this was something totally different from what they were used to investigate. The group spent most of their day hiking the area looking for anything mysterious. Yet, it was around 4:30 pm when the group stopped that Lorraine became aware of a strange presence in the area. The group had stopped in a clearing and decided to take a break. They had found an area where the tall grass was flattened much in a similar way to something bedding down or rolling around. They decided to take their break 2 hours after this finding, and Lorraine decided to rest near a nearby tree. It was in that period that her clairvoyant abilities started to react to something nearby. Her mind's eye began to receive images from some alternative source. The initial image was that of the entity that seemed to of been sending the image came from. The figure was human-like but had ape-like characteristics. It had long arms covered in shaggy hair, and its face was flat like a human's but had an extended brow like an ape's or caveman's.  Yet, There were two things about this creature that Lorraine felt was the most disturbing. The first of which was the creature's eyes. The eyes of this creature were not like an animal's but instead shone intelligence, compassion, and perhaps most importantly, fear. The second feature is that this creature's ability to project images was something other animals are not supposed to do. It was from this that Lorraine knew this creature was not what most researchers and people thought this creature was.

Lorraine's mind swirled with images, each image painting a video of how this creature lived. Lorraine saw a rocky cave above a wide black tumultuous river. Lorraine felt that this was the creature's lair, but as the cave was honed in on, she could tell it was not a solitary creature, for this creature in the cave not only lived there but so too a mate and offspring. The ape-man at the front of the cave looked at the water, and Lorraine felt that the creature had a sense of sadness about it. The creature seemed to give off a feeling of isolation and being trapped. Lorraine, in this psychic communication, proceeded to see the creature in its current state. The creature was just a mere 40-50 yards away and was squatted down almost in a sitting position. The creature was injured and, while during one of its outings, managed to hurt its foot. The foot was soaked with blood and was still bleeding out onto the dirt and foliage. Lorraine sensed great fear from the creature and projected that it would not be able to return to its family and home in its state and that the other humans with Lorraine would capture and kill him. Lorraine reaching into a motherly concern and care for the creature, proceeded to reach out and explain that the creature had terrified by the small community, especially with its attempt to grab the child. The creature, in an air of innocence, proceeded in turn to explain its actions stating that adults have a kind of prejudice when it comes to appearances whereas children do not, and it was trying to communicate with the child.

Lorraine's heart ached as she heard the creature's tale and, in turn, proceeded to walk into the woods. As she had just begun to venture into the woods, however, Ed and the rest of the group came close and began to talk to her. Lorraine, without a minute to explain what was going on, told the group to please be quiet. She began to make herself psychically sensitive to the area and soon began to shake, and her heart began to beat louder and more frequently. The maternal sense for the creature grew even more as she proceeded to enter the woods alone and follow the creature's psychic trail. She went through branches and plants as tall as her, and as she approached, she began to smell an acrid scent. The smell was so bad that she knew it just had to be not only what witnesses described but that it had to of been from the creature.

In what can be interpreted as a protective action to her approaching the creature, she began to psychically project positive images to the creature, such as her healing the creature's foot. The creature, in turn, began to show more peaceful images of what its life entailed as it showed an image of it standing in front of its cave on top of the cliff. The sun was just rising, and a hawk proceeded to land on its wrist. It raised its arm up towards the rising sun, and the hawk flew off, becoming a mere black form in the red auburn sun. Lorraine proceeded in sending psychic messages to the wounded wood booger. "I am coming for you," she said psychically. "I will help you. I will be your friend.". The creatures fear slowly began to melt away, but this would be short-lived. For soon, out in the distance, a loud sound emanated from the nearby hill. The creature put its hands to its ears, and several messages seemed to emanate from the creature. The creature felt betrayed. Lorraine was not his friend, and this sound was evidence of it. The creature began to project violent images, and all Lorraine could feel was pain, great pain, not just from the creature's hurt foot but also from the bullhorn's intense sound. She could understand how the creature felt both physically and mentally. She could see the creature in a psychic connection and see that the creature proceeded to run away, its foot bleeding even more than it had beforehand. She had watched it flee with its hands on its ears as the sound reverberated to the creature, the sound ultimately being as painful as its foot. Lorraine continued to have projections as this creature attempted to return to its cave. The creature, due to its wound, however, kept falling down and getting up and falling down until Lorraine lost the connection seemingly out of nowhere.

The last Lorraine had seen of the creature, it was limping with its body shaking due to fear and exhaustion. While she was trying to reach out even more to this creature, the bullhorn sounded once more. The college student came down the hill calling Lorraine's name, for he knew the sound drove her nuts. Yet Lorraine was infuriated no more images came from the sasquatch, and she knew that it was all because this would be comedian broke the connection. The group reaching up with Lorraine, proceeded to follow through the woodland. They followed Lorraine through the underbrush when they came across what to them seemed to be blood. The blood, however, was bright red; it was redder in color than a typical human's and more viscous as well. They followed the trail and came to the edge of a cliff, where they lost the trail. This did not sit well with the group, for possibly the creature might not have made it away in a safe sense but might have lost its life over the edge. After the search, the bullhorn owner hid from Lorraine, avoiding her during the rest of their hike and never once used it the rest of the trip. Thus ending their search for the legendary sasquatch.

Ed Warren, at the end of the case, offered this explanation to the events Lorraine would experience in the woodlands of Tennessee. “They are called Tulpas, physical manifestations that are in fact projections of the mind. They are the creatures of the black magic as practiced throughout the world but most notably by the monks in Tibet. It is my belief that Bigfoot is a tulpa, a mind projection. So is the Loch Ness Monster, and many other now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t creatures that get reported to the press. Someone who is practicing black magic projects such creatures and we ‘see’ them…. Not until Lorraine’s experience with Bigfoot did I realize its true origins. Many other psychic investigators now share my opinion.”

With most accounts involving a cryptid, it is first best to break down the possibilities of what the strange creature could be with this case; however that is secondary because the entire interaction with the unknown occurred via psychic transmission. Psychic sasquatch accounts have occurred over the years, but the problem with these accounts is that there is never any evidence to support the interaction. Psychic phenomena itself is one that is still being debated about, and when you throw that kind of phenomena with Bigfoot, it makes the account more difficult to believe and more difficult to wrap one's head around. Assuming the account is real, let's break this account down from one point to the next. The biggest point is that Lorraine Warren is a light clairvoyant medium; in other words, she can pick up and have visions while still being aware of her surroundings. With this ability, there is some debate as to the extent and full capacity of it, but genuinely, it is believed that they can communicate with other psychics and spirits. The second point is that this creature which communicated with Lorraine, is believed to be more than a "dumb" animal because of its ability to do so. Thirdly the creature behaves very animalistic in its behavior as it has an issue with loud sounds implying extremely sensitive ears as well as it being a flesh and blood kind of creature when they find blood assumed to be from the creature.

So with the three big points of this case highlighted, we can break down the possibilities of why this case came about. Firstly, let's examine the psychic angle. Psychic phenomena is by far not officially considered science. That is not to say that it does not exist and does not occur, but we do not have a guide detailing every facet and, in doing so, explaining the limits of a psychic's abilities. So, to claim that Lorraine knows the extent of her abilities to me is unlikely, especially if you're dealing with something entirely different from what your use to. The same goes for their claims that "dumb" animals cannot project psychically. There are actually several accounts that have occurred of psychic animals and spectral animals, and some cases of these paranormal pets do seem to have granted very minor variations of this phenomena.

 While I have always been a supporter of the Paranthropus camp for the ancestral origin of Bigfoot as opposed to Gigantopithecus, this case adds a new patina on that possibility. Paranthropus was a hominid that existed around the same time as Australopithecus. While Australopithecus started to develop more features we would associate with humans, Paranthropus would redevelop features more akin to apes, such as the development of a pronounced sagittal crest which is a skull extension that is used to connect jaw muscles. This feature is something that has been reported on Bigfoot, and also Paranthropus was a biped which is the same if not the defining characteristic of Bigfoot.

 If Bigfoot is a descendent from Paranthropus, it is very possible that it developed many of the same abilities and features of alternative hominids like Australopithecus, so assumedly if man developed psychic abilities over time, why too couldn't a human relative? Arguably a creature that existed in nature who has this ability would actually be better at utilizing this phenomenon because of the lack of distractions that are around them. This could, if Lorraine were aware of the complete extent of her abilities, explain why she was surprised at the creature's ability to communicate the way it did. However, it is also very possible that Lorraine’s ability might make other creatures capable of psychically communicating aware of their ability or that her ability alone might be the only psychic point and that she could be utilizing a similar technique that is seen in contacts with other entities such as extraterrestrials who communicate psychically to a surprised human.

While I've focused primarily on the human psychic condition as well as the psychic condition of those in animals. There's one metaphysical aspect to this case I have not covered yet, that being Lorraine and Ed's explanation of the phenomena. Ed Warren felt that the creature was, in fact, a Tulpa which is a manifestation brought on by a person's will. The Tulpa is a phenomenon that has been brought up to explain many paranormal creature sightings, and there have been some interesting experiments that have been performed to test this ability, the most famous of which was the Phillip experiment. Now the problem with this phenomena and Bigfoot is that in the Warren's case, it bled and felt pain and perhaps even died by going off the cliff. Tulpas are more akin to ghosts in their form and behavior; one such example was a monk that was manifested who would ultimately disappear and reappear as a ghost-like entity. Now some mystics claim that the more thought energy or belief you put into your Tulpa, the more real it becomes, but this would ultimately take a lot of energy. Also, the communication that Lorraine receives from the sasquatch, if true, implies that there's more than one creature; hence there would need to be more energy to make more creatures.

While all of this is certainly conjecture, this case is one of the most bizarre in the books, namely for the players involved. If it were joe schmo, there's a good chance some would find it interesting, but with the Warrens' names behind it, this case is attached to superstardom. Now there are some individuals who felt that the Warrens made up a lot of their cases for the sole purpose of spreading Christianity and, in a minor way, gaining fame, recognition, and financial gain, I personally do not feel this was the case and do respect the Warren's research and attempts to help the individuals who are dealing with some supernatural activity but I do feel that they did not know everything regarding the paranormal as they implied since there's no true blue guide book to the phenomena explaining the hows, and the whys, there are tons of hypotheses, but nothing absolute. With their account with Bigfoot, it's bizarre, weird, and easy to dismiss offhand, but it is interesting to me because they did find some physical evidence. Granted, they did not collect a sample, and so all we have is their written account, but it rings with some bizarre imagery that raises the question why would they include that in there, or if they were trying to propagate Christianity, why wouldn't they make Bigfoot a demon or some other unclean spirit as opposed to something described in Eastern mysticism? It's because of this, it does seem to smell of something authentic as opposed to something fabricated, but the truth of it we will never know, and a follow up to clear up some of these questions with Ed and Lorraine are impossible as both have passed away and with it any closure to perhaps their most bizarre case.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Primate, Anthropoid, either hominin or hominid (Biological with extrasensory abilities)/ Tulpa.
Location: Hills of Tennessee (Unspecified)
Sighted: Pre-1989

Work Cited:

Ghost Hunters By Robert David Chase based on the files of Ed and Lorraine Warren
Newkirk, Greg. "The Conjuring of Bigfoot: The Forgotten Case File Detailing the Time Lorraine Warren Met Sasquatch in Tennessee" Week in Weird. April 4, 2019. http://weekinweird.com/2019/04/19/the-conjuring-of-bigfoot-the-forgotten-tale-of-the-time-lorraine-warren-met-sasquatch-in-tennessee/. Accessed June 25, 2021.
Swancer, Brent. "Demonologists Vs. Sasquatch: The Time Ed and Lorraine Warren Met Bigfoot".  Mysterious Universe. September 9, 2019. https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/09/demonologists-vs-sasquatch-the-time-ed-and-lorraine-warren-met-bigfoot/. Accessed June 25, 2021.

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