Garry R. Kennedy

Every year for about the last fifteen years our Sunday school class in the summer goes camping together in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  We stay at a private campground owned by Camp Edison at Shaver Lake, which is at an elevation of 5,627 feet.    The area is known to have some Black Bears around so it is strongly suggested that you don’t leave any food out at night.  Once when I was a child camping in that area a Black Bear did come near our campground but my father chased it away by banging some metal trashcan lids together.

Camp Edison is only about an hour drive from our cities of Fresno and Clovis, which are located in the San Joaquin Valley of California.  We take mobile homes, tent trailers, and regular tents to sleep in.  We arrive on a Friday night and leave on Sunday afternoon.  We have had up to a hundred people join us on these trips, but there are also hundreds of other campers surrounding us.  This particular year I think we only had around 40 people in our group.  The men join together to cook breakfast and dinner, plus wash all the dishes.  Naturally the women love this idea.  The trips are a nice get away from the city for some good fellowship, worship, and to be close to God’s creation.  In addition, I took along some notes and other material to work on my first novel “The Jesus Tree Ornaments” which I was in the process of writing at that time.  However, something happened one night to two of us, which brought us close to some kind of creature or entity we couldn’t explain away, even to this day.

My wife and I were sharing our campsite with two single women, Kelley and Mary.  Kelley works for the local community college and Mary is a school teacher.  The campsite was large and it was easy to pitch two tents on it.  We had a large single room tent and the women had a smaller tent.  A picnic table and the campfire separated our tent from theirs with a distance of about 40 feet.  Our campsite was down a slope with other campsites slightly above us about 100 feet away and none further down the slope.  If you have ever stayed in the mountains at night you know how dark and quiet it can get.  Noises carry very long distances and in the dark you can’t be certain where they are coming from.

Nothing was out of the ordinary when we went to bed that night.  Inside our tent my wife and I slept in our own sleeping bags.  I was above the ground on a cot and my wife was sleeping on a mattress.  We both went to sleep and I remember waking up in the middle of the night.  I think it was somewhere around 3 am.  It was cold, very still, and quiet.  Then in the distance I heard what sounded like wolves or coyotes barking.  It made me think that perhaps they were chasing something.  It didn’t really bother me as I have heard them before in the mountains.  What happened next however did bother me, a lot!

The loudest blood-curdling scream that I have ever heard shattered the still night air.  It was very high-pitched and only changed its tone one time.  I think it lasted at least 30 seconds and sounded like it was just outside of our tent.  In shock, I just laid still hoping that whatever it was wasn’t going to attack us.  I was determined not to move but at the same time I couldn’t believe that my wife had not been woken up by the noise.  She was breathing normally and was obviously not affected by the noise.  Then it happened again, a scream just as loud and long as the first one, and still my wife kept sleeping.  I thought about waking her up but was afraid that she might be afraid and make noise attracting whatever was outside our tent to our presence.  But, what was it?  It didn’t sound human at all nor did it sound like a bear, mountain loin or any animal that I have heard before.  And what about the other campers in the area, surely everyone else had to have heard it, yet I heard no people outside our tent talking.  Then it screamed again just as loud, long, and terrifying as the other two times, and still my wife slept soundly.  These weren’t just average screams, they were all extremely loud, frightening, and sounded like they were meant to create panic to anyone near.  They were like nothing I have ever heard before or since.  I couldn’t understand how anyone within a mile could not hear them.  I spent the rest of the night praying and trying to remain still and quiet in our tent.  I only came out cautiously when daylight first started to brighten up the campsite area.

When I came out of the tent I noticed a friend of ours was already up at his campsite.  I walked up and asked him if he had heard the screaming last night and he said no.  I then proceeded over to the main campsite to start the morning coffee for breakfast and to ask some of our people if they had heard the screams last night.  No one had heard anything.  I went back to the tent and my wife was now awake so I asked her if she had heard anything at all last night.  She also had heard nothing. I was dumbfounded…how could this be?

I went back up to the main campsite to help with breakfast and to ask if any new arrivals for breakfast had heard anything last night.  None of them had heard anything either.  It was shortly after I had questioned just about everyone when Mary came walking up to us.

“Did anyone hear the screaming sound last night?” she asked.  My ears perked up and my heart quickened when I heard her question.  I quickly asked her exactly what she had heard.  The following words are from Mary to me based upon the event, which happened to us several years ago.

“I was sleeping when all of a sudden in the middle of the night this terrifying loud screaming noise woke me up.  Whatever it was it sounded very near to our tents.  It was a long high-pitched scream like nothing I have ever heard before.  It didn’t sound human nor like a wild animal.  My tent-mate Kelley seemed to be sleeping normally and it was weird to me that the screaming did not instantly wake her up.  Then it happened again two more times which really freaked me out.  Kelley was still sleeping soundly through it all.  I was now totally awake when I heard whatever it was taking quick intake of breaths as it started clawing and scratching on the bottom outside of our tent.  From the sounds it made from around the tent it sounded like a two-legged entity and not a four-legged animal.  Then it stopped, and next I heard what sounded like a person walking around the tent three times.  I assumed it was Garry and was very glad that he was out there in the dark checking on whatever it was, however I said nothing to him.  I was most concerned about a family just up to the hill from us where a lot of children were sleeping outside.  Soon no more sounds were coming from outside our tent and I remained awake in the tent until daylight.  I was too excited and shook up to go back to sleep.  When I did get up Kelley and I checked around the tent for foot or animal prints and found nothing.  I asked Garry if he had come to our tent in the night and he informed me that he hadn’t.  He was the only other person who heard the same screams that I heard.  To this day I have no explanation as to why the others did not hear what we heard. ”   Mary Whent

My wife and I have returned several more times to Camp Edison and spent the night there at other campsites and nothing out of the ordinary has happened to us.  I still ask myself what did happen that night and what was it?  It could have been an animal that I am unfamiliar with, but why did no one else but Mary and I hear it?  I cannot tell you how loud it was, but pretend you’re sound asleep in your bedroom at night and someone was to walk in and scream at the top of their lungs.  It was that loud.  Don’t you think that would wake you up?   I will never be certain in this life as to what it was, but personally I believe it was an entity from Hell sent to scare me.  It did, but it did not stop me from writing my book “The Jesus Tree Ornaments”.

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“Yes, Thomas.  You see, God has always had a purpose.  He sent His only son to earth to redeem mankind.”

“Then Christmas truly is about peace on earth and goodwill toward all men,” answered Thomas.

“No, Thomas…Jesus is about peace on earth and goodwill toward all men.  Christmas, if you choose to celebrate it, should be about Jesus, God’s gift to all of mankind.”

“If I choose to celebrate it?  Isn’t there a command or something requiring a celebration?” asked Thomas.

“No, it is a choice.  You have free will to do as you choose.  Complete freedom.”

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Offering, Chapter 12, page 197.