Woman recalls her night time sighting while fishing behind her home near Columbia witnessed in St. Clair County, Illinois

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I'm 51 yrs old. My sighting happened twenty odd years ago but I need to tell someone about it. I've finally come to grips with it and now it's time just to tell someone...who won't think I'm a nut-case. Here goes. At one time, I lived in a house surrounding a small pond in the woods in Columbia. I fished all the time. The pond was down a small hill right in my back yard. I thought I was in heaven. I usually fished at night when my kids (at that time) were asleep. I used lighted bobbers. Often I felt I was not alone but thought it was my imagination. One evening, I thought I heard a huff-growl and glanced around behind me. There it was. Just standing there looking at me. I squinted my eyes and rubbed them in case my eyes weren't seeing correctly. I still saw it. I didn't feel panicked til it moved. The thought that it wasn't a human scared me so much I dropped my pole, and high-tailed it all the way up the hill til I was safe in the house. I never went fishing at night o...