Man Finds Tape

If you're watching this,

I want everyone within the sound of my voice,

if what you're looking for is a blessing,

I'm gonna pray with you.

I'm gonna pray with you right now.

What I want you to do is

I want you to place your hand there on the TV screen.

Just place it right up on the screen.

And it's gonna be like I'm in the room with you

and we're gonna say a prayer today.

Heavenly Father,

we come to you today,

your humble servants,

and we ask you to pour out a blessing.

Pour out a blessing among us, O Lord.

Keep us.

Keep us near your heart.

Keep us close, God,

and protect us through all that should trouble us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Hmm.

Did you feel it?

Did you feel it?

That's the blessing.

That's the blessing.

In October of 1967,

Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin were riding horses

when they spotted a bipedal figure

on the opposite side of a river in Northern California.

Patterson recorded a strip of film

that became so world renowned,

anyone can identify the grainy, sepia toned footage of Bigfoot

turning to glance at the humans filming across the divide.

Or consider the so-called surgeon's photograph.

In it, a silhouetted creature's neck emerges

out of the shimmering, rippling waters of Loch Ness.

Did Patterson film a real Bigfoot,

or did he film Bob Gimlin in a hairy costume?

Did the London gynecologist snap a picture

of a prehistoric beast in a Scottish lake?

Or did he take a blurry picture of a toy submarine?

Half a century later,

why aren't we capturing endless footage

of the Loch Ness Monster?

Or Bigfoot?

Have we entered an age where people look at images

and are incapable of seeing the monsters within?

Are all monsters a hoax...

or is it possible

the monsters that haunt the 21st century

hide in plain sight?

Now consider Larkin, Texas,

and the question of how it's possible

an entire town was preyed upon for years in broad daylight,

and yet, even when presented with proof,

some survivors of the horrors of Larkin

did not believe what happened to them.

And at the center of all of it was my family.

My parents,

my brother...

even myself.

Show the residents of Larkin the Patterson-Gimlin film,

and they can point to Bigfoot.

Show them the surgeon's photograph,

and they can identify Nessie with no hesitation.

But show them video taken before,

during, and after the Larkin incidents,

and they cannot see the monster in front of their faces.

But just because some can't see the monster...

doesn't mean he was never there.

Uh...

Hey, can you come home?

I need your help.

Hey, I'm not doing the thing coming home and helping you

every time you need something fixed.

I know you're not gonna believe me,

but this isn't about that.

Okay, then what is it?

Uh, look, if you're not gonna come home,

I just, um...

I need you to do one thing

and just record this call.

I'm gonna show you a video,

and I need you to tell me what you see,

and if you don't record it,

no one's gonna believe you either.

Um, no.

I'm not doing this Man Finds Tape stuff with you.

- I'm not participating in it. - This is not about that.

Something is happening here in Larkin.

Someone died, for real,

and I just...

Every time I watch this video...

...it's like when you're driving a car late at night

and you don't remember making half the turns,

but you make it home anyways.

Well, don't drive when you're tired.

- I don't mean literally. - Or messed up.

- Okay. - You and Wendy could've died.

We were not fucked up, okay? That was the fucking car.

How am I supposed to believe anything that you say?

I swear on Mom and Dad's graves.

I'm not lying, okay? I just...

I need you to please give me a shot.

- I swear to you. - Fine.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay.

I'm thinking that this is gonna be different for you

because you are not in Larkin.

- Are you recording? - Yes

Lucas, why are you showing me this?

Lucas, what is this video?

Lucas, what... what is this?

Why am I watching this?

I'm gonna hang up.

Hey, I'm sorry that I hung up.

I just...

Okay.

I don't... I don't like this at all.

I don't like being on this side.

My brother Lucas is a complicated person.

He shot to viral fame due to creepy videos he released

that went on to be known as the Man Finds Tape series.

So, my parents have this...

creepy, old barn

on their property...

Oh, whoa.

But, um...

...whenever it storms,

I have to come back here

and...

flip the breaker.

And I did.

But this time...

out of the corner of my eye...

I see...

this.

That is me. Why... Why is this here?

What is this doing up here?

Am I supposed to find this? Was this put there for me, or...

is this hidden intentionally?

Did they think I was never gonna find it? I...

Why is there...

a tape... with my name on it?

My parents, they got a bunch of old camera stuff,

and, um...

I think they might have something

that I can watch this on.

I don't know if I even wanna watch this.

That's me, you know, that kid... that kid is me.

And that house, that is this house, uh-huh,

but I have no... no fucking memory

of any of this shit ever happening, okay?

I... I...

Who the fuck is filming that? Because it certainly isn't me.

While some assumed Lucas hired an actor

or some friend's kid to help him go viral,

I knew the truth.

The boy in the video was Lucas,

and it was filmed over a decade earlier

when we were children.

Okay, so I heard those noises again last night.

Um... so I'm out here... investigating.

Over the course of several months,

the Man Finds Tape series

became an unlikely social media sensation,

gaining over a million followers,

all obsessed with what was happening to Lucas.

So, some of y'all still think

that this is just some elaborate prank.

Trust me, I am not that smart.

These tapes are capable

of recording for about 63 minutes.

Now the intruder footage is, like, a minute,

maybe two minutes long.

The bookends of the tape, that is the hour after it stops,

the minute before it starts, has all been erased.

I'm gonna make a copy,

I'm gonna send this to an expert,

see what else I can find out.

As Lucas' story evolved,

he drew more followers and more skeptics,

which led him to search for proof,

debate his own fans, and spiral deeper into darkness.

"You don't look scared. That's just a doctor."

You think a doctor is gonna film

him walking through your house at night

without your parents present, asleep in bed?

I really wish there were more tapes.

That would actually shed so much light on this

because then I could figure out exactly like...

There's a pattern. There's more people in this.

Is it just me? Am I alone,

or is this guy doing it to everyone?

Who is this? What's the motive?

While this engaged his audience,

I'd seen this obsessive behavior before

when we were growing up.

"Have you ever considered that you're a little, uh,

effing B?"