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Encounter in Culpeper prompts Virginia man's high-tech search for mysterious creature. Date published: 9/21/2003
There are moments in a man's life that can change him forever, transform his perspective on the world, send him down paths he never dreamed existed. Often these life-altering experiences come and go in the twinkling of an eye, leaving one to wonder whether they were real or imaginary, resulting in questions without answers. Bizarre and unexpected incidents can, in rare instances, cause men to reorganize their priorities and send them on lifetime quests where the odds of success are almost nonexistent. William Dranginis experienced just such a moment in the early spring of 1995. While walking through a remote section of Culpeper County with two friends, the Manassas security technologist had a chance encounter that turned his life in a new direction. There, on a leaf-littered trail in the chill of a March afternoon, he says he came face to face with the creature that has both fascinated and eluded man for untold centuries--Bigfoot. Driven by the events of that March afternoon eight years ago, the 44-year-old Connecticut native has now become Virginia's foremost Bigfoot researcher. He founded Virginia Bigfoot Research (wdranginis@VirginiaBig footResearch.org) and spends an average of one weekend a month using a high-tech mobile laboratory to track his elusive quarry. Between expeditions, he works to design and perfect surveillance cameras and listening devices that will aid him in his search. Most weeks, Dranginis says he devotes about 20 hours to his new quest in life: to conclusively document a Bigfoot sighting and prove to the world that the mythical creature really exists. 'Something different'Dranginis' first brush with Bigfoot came as he and two friends were visiting old gold mines in Culpeper County. They were returning to their vehicle when one of the men said he spotted something about 75 feet behind a tree. At first, Dranginis didn't see anything, but then a large black head emerged from behind the tree and the creature took off in a "full-blown run." "At that point I knew this was something different from a man," Dranginis says. "It was about 7 feet tall, covered with hair and had broad, muscular shoulders, arms and legs.
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