WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:02.160 Today, I want to tell you about a journey that I've been on for 2 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:05.120 most of my life. Ever since I was a kid, I've heard tales 3 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:09.199 of bigfoot and wild men while spending time with my friends and family. As 4 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:12.759 I grew older and read more about the paranormal, my interest in encryptids and 5 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:17.039 other things strange only deepened. That's why I'm so excited to share with you 6 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:22.960 what I've personally become involved with the Untold Radio Network. The Untold Radio Network 7 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.480 is a live streaming podcast network that airs a new show every day across all 8 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:31.839 podcast platforms, YouTube, and more. They have eight different shows on all 9 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:36.119 sorts of exciting topics such as bigfoot, cryptids, UFOs, aliens, and 10 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:39.759 much more. I even have my own show called Weird Encounters, where I 11 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:43.920 talk about all things strange. This is more than just a podcast network. 12 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.759 It's a community that allows me to meet so many amazing people who share their 13 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:52.280 stories and experiences with strange. If you're interested in hearing more of these stories 14 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:55.880 and learning more about the paranormal and encryptids, make sure you check out the 15 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:00.640 Untold Radio Network for all kinds of exciting shows. It's free to subscribe. 16 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:06.599 So what are you waiting for visit www dot untold radionetwork dot com today. 17 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:10.640 Hey everybody, this is left Strive. Yes, yes, I know aka 18 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:36.920 Surviving Man and you're listening to Brian on sasquatch Us. Hey guys, and 19 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:41.040 welcome back to sasquatch Us. Thank you so much for cooking play. It 20 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.879 is Friday. I hope you guys have had a great week. We have 21 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:46.640 an amazing guest lined up for you. But as always, I want to 22 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:49.079 start by inviting you. If you've had an encounter and you'd like to be 23 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.959 on the show, shoot me an email you get me a Brian at Paranamal 24 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:56.079 World Productions dot com and head over to the website, check it out, 25 00:01:56.120 --> 00:02:00.280 become a member there, and I hope support the show. I got to 26 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:01.959 sit down, gosh, there's been a couple of months back and talk to 27 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:07.319 Craig wool Heater. Craig is the founder of the TBRC that is now known 28 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:12.199 as the North American Wood Ape Conservancy and he's also the organizer of the Texas 29 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:15.599 Bigfoot Conference out there in Jefferson, Texas. He's here to share his personal 30 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:19.240 experiences. We get into all kinds of things, including our love for classic 31 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.879 cars. In the beginning of the episode, I think you guys are really 32 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.000 going to enjoy the conversation. So the time has come for me to let 33 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:29.199 the music play and you guys to sit back, relax and enjoy the show. 34 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:47.439 All right, folks, want to welcome our guest to the show. 35 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:52.280 It is Craig Woolheater. Welcome to the show. Man. Hey, looking 36 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:54.199 good there. I appreciate it, man. I am so glad that we 37 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:58.199 were able to reschedule this. I appreciate you working with us on the schedule. 38 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:00.159 I know we had this on the calendar and we had some crazy things 39 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:04.199 going on here on the property. So I really appreciate you rescheduling and I'm 40 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:06.560 glad to have you. Let's get right into it. Before we get into 41 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:10.599 Bigfoot, I know that you and I have another interest in common. You 42 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:14.439 love cars as much as I do. What kind of cars are you into? 43 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:16.759 I know I'm in my specific genre of cars, but I'm gonna let 44 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:20.560 you go first. You need to tell me what your genre of cars. 45 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:24.360 I am a vintage of Volkswagen Guy. One of my best friends has a 46 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:29.319 Badass GEA. I've never owned it. Yea, I had a seventy eight 47 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.759 Volkswagen camper bus was follow you, and we had a sixty seven Beetle. 48 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.879 Now I have since offloaded both of those. The bus actually paid for twenty 49 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:42.000 acres of my property once sold it. The Volkswagen Beetle I sold it up 50 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:44.639 to but I haven't had one in a while. A buddy of mine that 51 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:46.560 just moved in full time up the street. He's about a mile away. 52 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:51.120 He's been building his house and he's got a I think it's a seventy four 53 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:53.960 Beetle that he's restoring. I get to go turn wrenches on that. That's 54 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:55.960 one of my favorite things. I love to work on the things. What 55 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:00.919 kind of cars are you into? Man? My very first car when I 56 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:04.199 was a sophomore in high school was a sixty seven Firebird four hundred, so 57 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:12.800 I got that, and then I actually built a seventy three Vega and put 58 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.400 a three point fifty in it. Of course, I think I've got a 59 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.319 few years on you, but this was back in my high school years, 60 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:25.839 and then I got tired of that thing. It seemed like every other weekend 61 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.480 I knocked the bottom of the oil pan out of that thing. So I 62 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:33.639 got pretty proficient with the wirebrush and the drill motor and the JB weld to 63 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:40.240 make oil pan repairs. Then I got a seventy four four fifty five Transam 64 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:44.720 my senior year of high school and had several other Transams after that. The 65 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:46.639 last vintage car I had that we sold a couple of years ago. I 66 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:51.519 had a seventy three Grimlin that's were cool. I liked those. It purple, 67 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.079 No, it was red, man. I think it had been repainted, 68 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:57.920 but the exterior was red and it was a blue Jeans car. It 69 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:01.040 was one of those Levi's Blue Jeans car. I really enjoyed it. We 70 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.720 drove it and had a really good time. It was my daily driver back 71 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.519 and forth to work when I was working off the property for about a year. 72 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:10.439 I drove that thing everywhere. We loved it, but it just wasn't 73 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:12.680 practical here. We live out in the middle of the woods. We don't 74 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.680 have a garage, so it's not really practical for us to have something like 75 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:18.240 that, so I sold it. But I think Bigfoot and cars are just 76 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.600 those things that get into your blood. We're talking about that before you get 77 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.720 obsessed with a little bit of both. Let's get into bigfoot people are tuning 78 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.399 in to hear about that. What guy, you interested in the subject of 79 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:30.240 bigfoot. Was it something that was on your radar as a kid or was 80 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:34.360 it an experience that you had. It's both. It was actually something on 81 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:39.519 my radar as it as I was talking to you off the air about a 82 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:44.759 creature here in the Dallas fourth area in the late sixties, the Late Worth 83 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:49.920 Monster. This was something that was seen not more than a half hour from 84 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:56.399 downtown for work, but the summer of sixty nine, this thing was seen 85 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:02.079 by actually hundreds of people, which is pretty unheard of because most bigfoot encounters 86 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:06.680 and sightings are very few people, if more than a single person. But 87 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:12.480 this thing was seen out of this lake that at the time was just like 88 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:15.639 a lover's lane area where the teenagers would go out and drink and park and 89 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:19.040 stuff like that. But that summer it was seen, like I said, 90 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:25.120 by hundreds of people, including law enforcement personnel, which is pretty incredible because 91 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:30.519 there's a lot of small towns and such that have their localized monster generally named 92 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:36.319 after whatever water, whether it be a creek or a river or lake. 93 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:43.160 I know here in Texas there's all kinds of localized Chambers Creek Monster, Turkey 94 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.279 Creek Monster where I live in Jefferson now where I host my events as the 95 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:51.519 Big Cypress Swamp Monster. But this thing was out there at Lakeword, which 96 00:06:51.560 --> 00:07:00.199 is now a city owned nature reserve refuge out there, and they now I'll 97 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.160 host the Lakeworth Monster Bash out there. The city of Fort Worth puts it 98 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:08.680 on and I helped them organize that since two thousand and nine. But the 99 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:12.079 next one's coming up. It's supposed to be in October of twenty twenty four 100 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:16.879 that they celebrate this legend here. But that's what got my interest started. 101 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:23.160 It was on July tenth and July eleventh of nineteen sixty nine. It was 102 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:27.839 on the front page of the foot Worth Star Telegram. We're talking a little 103 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:31.519 over a week from when man first landed on the Moon. The front page 104 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:35.480 story was about this creature that was seen out of the lake that was described 105 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:42.319 as a hairy, seven foot tallish creature that walked on two legs. So 106 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:46.920 that fascinated me as a kid. My grandparents lived in Fort Worth and they 107 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:50.120 actually had a cabin cruiser boat at the marina on the next lake over that 108 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:55.399 was just separated by a dam from a lake worth which was Eagle Mountain Lay. 109 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:00.040 I was fascinated with that story. They saved the newspaper clippings for me 110 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:05.959 and found a book by a local woman that she self published a month later. 111 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.600 That was I found it. My grandparents were having a house built and 112 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:15.519 they lived in some apartments while the house was finished. Went to the convenience 113 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.120 store to go look for, as we call them back then, funny books, 114 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:22.600 the comic books, and there on the rack was this book with a 115 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:26.959 creature on the cover. So I bought a copy of it for two dollars 116 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.600 and read it from cover to cover. That was in sixty nine. So 117 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.799 what's pretty funny is that thirty years later I actually got to meet the woman 118 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:41.320 that wrote the book and got a couple of cases of the books from her 119 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:45.080 that she still had up in her attic. That's what got me started. 120 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.639 Then a year or so later, I got a book by John Keel, 121 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:54.519 the man who wrote the book Mothman Prophecies that came out in nineteen seventy five. 122 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:58.799 But in nineteen seventy he had a book that came out called Strange Creatures 123 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:01.919 from Time and Space, and it had chapters on all kinds of different weird 124 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:07.399 creatures and monsters from all over the world. And I got that and read 125 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:13.279 it had really cool cover artwork by Frank who also did the cover for his 126 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:18.720 seventy five book Mofman Prophecies. I believe that edition though that had that art 127 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:22.120 work, came out later in the nineties, and then a couple of years 128 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:28.759 later I saw the famed movie The Legend of Boggie Creek in theaters when it 129 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:35.039 went nationwide distribution in nineteen seventy three. Those things cemented my interest and love 130 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:41.480 of cryptozoology. I know you had a sighting and experience a pretty early on. 131 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:45.200 Can you talk a little bit about how that happened and what happened during 132 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:52.200 your experience? Sure. For a Memorial Day nineteen ninety four, myself and 133 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:56.440 some friends, including the friend who has the cartman Ghia. There was twelve 134 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:01.759 of us, including my youngest brother, my girlfriend of time, we decided 135 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:05.480 to take a road trip to New Orleans. Like I said, this is 136 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:11.080 nineteen ninety four, pre Google Maps, map quest, GPS, any of 137 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:16.159 that. So we just got a roadmap and plaid it out and plotted what 138 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:22.519 looked like was the shortest quickest route to get there and back. And so 139 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:28.519 we set out from Dallas about five o'clock on Friday morning before Memorial Day. 140 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:31.000 Like I said, there was twelve of us. We were in five different 141 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.039 cars. On the way there, we all caravan together, and by the 142 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.679 time we were driving through Central Louisiana, it was mid morning. At that 143 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:43.879 time, it wasn't very spooky or anything. At that point. We stayed 144 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:48.960 all weekend and Monday was Memorial Day, and like I said, in five 145 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:54.039 cars, people left at different times to get back to town, depending on 146 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:58.279 when they needed to be back. Myself, my girlfriend, and a girl 147 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.879 who lived in the same building I did. We stayed until about nine o'clock 148 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:07.519 on Monday night. May thirtieth, ninety four, set out about nine o'clock 149 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:15.080 from New Orleans. So when we got to the State Highway, basically at 150 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:20.320 a two lane, unlit road from through central Louisiana, we didn't get there 151 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:24.320 until it's a ten thirty eleven o'clock. And that was a different story than 152 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:28.720 when we came down mid morning. Now it was a desolate, two lane, 153 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:33.279 unlit road out in the middle of nowhere. As we're traveling, heading 154 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:39.720 towards Alexandria, Louisiana, or on this two lane road, there is no 155 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:46.360 traffic, We see nobody. It's ten thirty eleven o'clock at night. It's 156 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:50.919 a swampy area to our left and on the right is just a tree line 157 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:56.240 that we can't see past. As we're driving, in my headlights we see 158 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:00.159 a figure off to the right of the road. We're probably driving and I 159 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:03.279 don't know seventy seventy five miles an hour, so in my headlights we see 160 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:07.440 this figure. My friends asleep in the back seat, but my girlfriend in 161 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:13.799 the passenger seat was awake. So as we approach this thing, I'll say, 162 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:18.559 whatever it was was walking parallel to the road, no more than twenty 163 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:24.279 feet from the edge of the road. On the passenger side, I'm concentrating 164 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:30.799 on driving while also watching this, but my girlfriend has their eyes locked on 165 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:35.559 it. We see it for probably no more than seven or eight seconds at 166 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:41.519 speed, I'm guessing in the headlights, but in the illumination of the headlights 167 00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:46.080 it appears to be about seven foot tall. It's covered with hair that, 168 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:52.879 at least in the illumination my headlights, looks grayish color. It is actually 169 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:58.879 walking on two legs and it's slumped over a little bit. That's not strange 170 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:03.159 enough that the strangest thing is that it doesn't even notices us as we pass 171 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:07.799 it. We pass it at speed. As we passed it, she and 172 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.600 I both looked at each other and simultaneously said, did you just see what 173 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:16.440 I just saw? We agreed that we had, and I said, what 174 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:20.039 did you see? And she says, I think I saw a bigfoot and 175 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:24.480 I said, yeah, that's what I saw too. I said we need 176 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:30.200 to pull over and check this out, and she uttered a few choice phrases 177 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:35.399 that I probably shouldn't repeat here on the podcast, but she evhemently disagreed with 178 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:41.159 stopping. We did not stop. Shortly that after, we pulled through a 179 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:48.240 small town called Bunkie bu n Kie Bunky, Louisiana. That's about eleven thirty 180 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:52.519 at night on a Monday night now a holiday, a very small town. 181 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:56.480 The sidewalks are rolled up, there is nobody out, nothing open. It's 182 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:01.960 a little more built up now, but back then there was hardly anything. 183 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:05.919 So we just continued through town, slowed down for the speed limit, and 184 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:11.159 on the way out of town there was a small church, a Methodist church 185 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:16.519 that we pulled into the parking lot of off of the road that we were 186 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.799 on, Highway seventy one, Like I said, through central Louisiana. Interesting 187 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:28.240 fact, Highway seventy one, after it merges with Interstate twenty in the Shreeport 188 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:33.120 area, then turns north to Texas, Cana and Highway seventy one is the 189 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:39.600 same highway that Bisex Falk, Arkansas, the home of the legendary Fout Monster, 190 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:43.120 the legend of Buggy Creek. So it was that same highway. We 191 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:46.559 pulled into that parking lot and talked about it for about ten or fifteen minutes 192 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:52.679 while my friend that was in the back seat was still asleep. She had 193 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.360 to be at work that next morning, so she was asleep. We got 194 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:00.120 back on the road. At that point, we're still probably five and a 195 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:03.639 half hours from Dallas. The funny thing about it is I don't really remember 196 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:09.159 talking about it once we got on the road. It was just something really 197 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.639 strange that happened to us. Didn't talk about it when I got home. 198 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.960 Didn't really know that much other than what I was interested in as a kid. 199 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:24.120 But the thing that especially your young listeners, I'm going to believe is 200 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.759 that the time this happened, I was still over three years away from getting 201 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:31.919 internet access. I didn't even have that as a reference. The summer of 202 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:39.000 nineteen ninety seven, when I got internet access AOL dial up, I went 203 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:43.759 and started looking for information and found Back then, I guess the BFRO had 204 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.519 not much of a web presence. I don't even know if they actually had 205 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:52.200 a website at that time, but there was message boards and forums and such 206 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:58.279 that were out there, so I logged into those and bonded with people there. 207 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:03.159 I actually finally first told my story there to people that were interested, 208 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:08.919 and met another gentleman that was wanting to start a research organization. So he 209 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:15.639 and I formed the Texas Bigfoot Research Center online and a few in person meetings, 210 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:22.240 and the organization was born on June twenty sixth, nineteen ninety nine, 211 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:26.519 where we put up a free chenc angel fire website with all kinds of stupid 212 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:33.279 blinking animations and such, put up a report submission form, and people started 213 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:37.399 contacting us, reporting their experiences, encounters and such, and also wanting to 214 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:42.000 get involved with what we're doing. So that's how the organization was born and 215 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:48.200 grew. That's how my interest in Bigfoot started an outdoorsman. I wasn't a 216 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:52.600 hunter, like I said, I was a boy scout as a teenager. 217 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:59.000 But I wanted to try and find answers to what my experience was that my 218 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:03.799 girlfriend and I had both seen later my wife of twenty years, we had 219 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.079 seen this. I don't know what else it could have been. It wasn't 220 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:11.559 a burned out tree stop. It wasn't a horse or a cow or any 221 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:18.160 kind of known animal. I doubt that it was a hunter in a gilly 222 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:23.000 suit or a prankster in a gorilla suit that was standing nearly seven feet tall 223 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:27.680 or so out on the side of the road when there's not even any traffic 224 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:32.480 out there to pray somebody. And over the years, I've talked to probably 225 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:38.680 hundreds of people that describe having all different kinds of encounters or sightings or experiences 226 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:45.519 or whatever with these creatures. Even if I discount every one of those other 227 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:49.119 stories that I've been told, I still have my own experience that I can't 228 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:53.319 explain away as anything else other than and encounter with one of these creatures. 229 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:59.880 When somebody tells me or tells you, you interview people that they've had an 230 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.960 experience to me, there's only a couple of options that could have happened. 231 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:07.960 They could be aligning and making it up, which I've encountered people that have 232 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:12.519 done that. They could have been hoaxed by someone else, and I've encountered 233 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:18.440 experiences of that as well. They could be under the influence of drugs or 234 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:27.039 alcohol hallucinations. They could be misidentifying known wildlife or a person. The only 235 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:33.400 other option that I know of is that they could be explaining exactly what they 236 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:37.519 saw and what they experienced. I feel at least a portion of them, 237 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:44.000 of the signing reports fall under that category, which means that there's something out 238 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:48.319 there. Like I said, even if I just ditch all of those people 239 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:51.759 that I've talked to, I've still got my own experience and I can't explain 240 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:55.920 away. I definitely want to get into the TBRC stuff. But before we 241 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:57.680 get into that, one of the things that has stuck out to me out 242 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:03.400 of the hundreds of people that I've interviewed is these roadside sidings. It's the 243 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:07.960 weirdest thing in the world to me, that these things are probably the most 244 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:12.079 elusive creature. People make millions of dollars a year on the hide and Seek 245 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.599 t shirts with these things, because it's just become a joke. It's the 246 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:22.200 hide and Seek champion of the world. Yet so many people have experiences very 247 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.079 much like you did. You're driving along a highway, albeit there's not a 248 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:29.119 lot of traffic out there, it's still a fricking highway, and this thing's 249 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:33.079 walking along like it has no cares in the world, and you guys see 250 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:36.680 it. And then you have the roadside crossings. It's like these things are 251 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:41.119 waiting on cars to come by and they cross literally in front of them. 252 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.759 And I'm with you, man, I don't think that every single one of 253 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.839 those if you threw out ninety percent of those or maybe ninety nine percent of 254 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:53.799 them, and only one percent of the roadside crossings or roadside sidings of these 255 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:59.000 things are true and accurate, And it's not a misidentification. It's not somebody 256 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:03.480 that's just crazy. Are they making up the story? That just has baffled 257 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:06.920 me over the years of looking into Bigfoot, that these things can be the 258 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:11.160 most elusive thing ever and then somebody can almost hit one once a month. 259 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.720 It's just the weirdest thing. Have you thought about that over the years after 260 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:17.720 you had your sighting. Have you talked to other people and considered why the 261 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:21.559 hell that is? I don't get it. Stay tuned for more sasquatch out 262 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:27.319 to see. We'll be right back after these messages. Certainly. I mean, 263 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:33.920 we did statistics with all the reports that we had gathered and the categories 264 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:40.400 of witnesses that you know. By far, the two largest were roadside crossings 265 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:47.839 as well as hunters and other outdoorsman fishermen, where the vast majority of sightings 266 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:52.759 of these creatures. I feel that these things are very elusive. But one 267 00:20:52.799 --> 00:21:00.960 thing that I've found in talking to people and investigating rapports of sightings and such, 268 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:06.519 while they seemed to be very elusive, they also seemed to be very 269 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:12.720 curious about humans. I've interviewed people, I've gotten interviews from credible people. 270 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:17.400 One guy was a good friend of mine who just passed away. Came to 271 00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:22.519 the conference in the early years. But he was on an outdoor outing with 272 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:27.359 a college professor at the time out in East Texas, and without looking at 273 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.680 it, I don't remember, I'm pretty sure it was a national forest, 274 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:37.640 but they were camping with his college professor, and one of these things came 275 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:41.359 into the middle of their camp while some were still away, and they saw 276 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:49.160 it. They left footprints near their camp and they reported it to a forest 277 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:55.599 ranger. Park ranger who came out and investigated, looked around and talked to 278 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.799 them and interviewed them. I've just met a lady that lives not far from 279 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:02.480 him. I haven't gone out there yet, but I may go out there 280 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:07.680 tomorrow that saw something the same kind of deal that crossed the road in front 281 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:12.799 of their car. They weren't right on top of it, but it galed 282 00:22:14.680 --> 00:22:18.319 an embankment that by the time they got to where it crossed, it was 283 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:23.920 gone. There's no way a human could have galed this embatement. I haven't 284 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:27.559 seen it yet. She said that it was a very steep embatement going up 285 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:32.240 from the side of the road. When they got there, it was gone. 286 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:37.000 And she was with her son, a caregiver for an elderly gentleman that 287 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:41.680 she lives in an RV on his property out here in a very rural area, 288 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:45.359 out very near Blake of the Pines, which is twenty minutes from me. 289 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.200 But the same thing, saw one across the road. I haven't interviewed. 290 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:55.200 Over the years, several people in the area here in Jefferson and surrounding 291 00:22:55.240 --> 00:23:00.880 areas that late at night driving saw something in the culvert next to the road. 292 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:04.799 One woman said that she thought it was just a bunch of trash bags, 293 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:11.559 black trash bags that were piled up. She saw that and was very 294 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:17.480 curious. After she drove a little farther and she came back and it wasn't 295 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:22.200 there. There was a peach orchard right on the other side of the road 296 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:27.200 from where she passed this thing. Another woman just north of town here saw 297 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:32.079 something that was on the side of the road, a large dark figure, 298 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:36.480 and as she slowed down and passed it, she looked in her rear view 299 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:40.720 mirror and she saw it actually stand up and crossed the road in just a 300 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:45.640 couple of steps. Personally, I think that for the most part, when 301 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:49.960 people see these things that it's probably an accident on the part of the pick 302 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:55.720 pots, that it just happened to be at the right place at the wrong 303 00:23:55.799 --> 00:24:02.039 time, just like any other wildlife crosses the road. These habitats have roads 304 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:07.599 up and down and across, so to get from one area, maybe a 305 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:12.240 food source, to a water source, they have to cross a road just 306 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:18.680 by the luck of the draw happened to do it when a car tops the 307 00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:22.839 horizon and they're already going across or think that they can make it. I 308 00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:29.039 know that mile. My friend Lyle Blackburn's investigated reports same thing happening in the 309 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:34.079 Foul area with the Foul Monster. He had a case where this thing crossed 310 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:41.200 the road was actually caught in the headlight between vehicles coming from opposite directions. 311 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:45.920 One of them was a semi truck and one was a car. Mode of 312 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:48.920 guys that were just out at night driving in the area that lived in the 313 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.920 area. So they stopped. The truck driver stopped. He didn't know anything 314 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:56.640 about it. They stopped, got out of their cars that had gone off 315 00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:00.440 the road and into the woods. The guy was wondering what the heck that 316 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:03.839 was, and so they told him he didn't know anything about the movie or 317 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:08.000 the Foug Monster, and he promptly got back in his truck and hauled ass. 318 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:12.160 That's apparently all he wanted to do with the Foug Monster. Like I 319 00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:17.400 said, I've talked to people that have had these come into their campsites and 320 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:22.680 rummage through their food, their cooler, their backpacks, whatever. I've had 321 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:26.920 people that lived in rural households. I had one woman that was a housewife 322 00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:32.079 that was doing the dishes at night, had the window right above the seint 323 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:38.000 no curtain, just happened to look up and saw a large hairy face looking 324 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:42.759 back in at her. I've heard of people that watching TV at night the 325 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:47.680 same kind of circumstances in their living room, no curtains in their window. 326 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:51.599 There's not any neighbors. They didn't feel the need to have curtains in the 327 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:56.160 windows and look out in the yard and see something standing out in the yard 328 00:25:56.680 --> 00:26:02.079 looking in at them. I don't know they are coined the world champion hide 329 00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:06.519 and seek player, but they are seen. And the thing is that if 330 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:11.240 somebody sees one of these things, that's just a very tiny sliver of that 331 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:15.759 creature's twenty four hours of that day for people to say, oh, this 332 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:19.440 is what they do, or this is how they are, or whatever you 333 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:25.759 might see. The average sighting is in the few seconds range, five to 334 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:29.720 ten seconds. Maybe there are some longer ones where people have witnessed them for 335 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:34.920 a couple of minutes. Just such a small sliver of that day of what 336 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:38.480 goes on in the day of the life of a bigfoot. Even more so 337 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:42.960 for there to be a bigfoot sighting. It takes two things. It takes 338 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:47.920 a bigfoot to be somewhere, and it takes a person to be there to 339 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:52.400 also witness it. So the other twenty three hours, fifty nine minutes and 340 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:59.000 fifty five seconds of the day, it's out there encountering nobody and just happens 341 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:03.960 to buy accident, come across a person. Very good point. I say 342 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:07.599 that often you have to have those two things. There has to be a 343 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:10.680 sasquatch and there has to be a person there to see it. Let's talk 344 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:14.920 a little bit about the TBRC that has morphed and changed quite a bit over 345 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:18.400 the decades. Talk about some of that early research that you guys did. 346 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.920 I know you had some camera projects going on. Talk a little bit about 347 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:26.680 that research that eventually moved into today the North American Wood Ape Conservancy. We've 348 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:30.000 had quite a few of those guys on. I've had Darryl Collier, I've 349 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:33.559 had Brian Brown, Matt Preu, it's been on the show. We've talked 350 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:36.279 about that and what's going on out of Area X. But talk about those 351 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:40.799 early days of the Texas Bigfoot Research Center and what you guys were into back 352 00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:48.559 then. Back then we were a no kill organization. We operated under the 353 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:53.519 guys that through discussion with the guy that was in charge of the Rare and 354 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:59.640 Endangered Species for Texas Parks and Wildlife, he was going to come speak at 355 00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:03.240 our ofference I believe it was in two thousand and seven, but had a 356 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:07.880 conflict and didn't get to come out. But he was interviewed in a story 357 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:15.480 that we were involved in that was a TV station or newspaper that claimed that 358 00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:22.160 it wouldn't necessarily take a body that if they were able to verify the chain 359 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:29.319 of custody of photographic or video evidence that it wasn't photoshopped, hoaxed, whatever, 360 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:33.799 that it would go a long ways towards them declaring that as a species 361 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:38.920 here in Texas. Now, this was many years ago and certainly before the 362 00:28:40.119 --> 00:28:44.720 just recent proliferation of AI. Our work, which at this point, I 363 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:48.000 don't know if you can trust any image that you would come across or be 364 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:55.440 presented to you, because there's so much that can be done technology wise with 365 00:28:55.759 --> 00:29:02.480 imagery. But that's what we were operating out in the early two thousands. 366 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:07.160 We had a camera project, Operation Forest Vigil that We had at that time 367 00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:14.359 approximately forty game cameras, and majority of them big raconic game cameras, which 368 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:19.480 back then those game cameras were six hundred dollars apiece. We had those in 369 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:26.200 several different areas over the years, up in southeast Oklahoma and what is called 370 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:32.039 Area X. We were down in the Big Thicket of Southeast Texas. We 371 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:37.720 had cameras up in sam Houston National Forest, sometimes overlapping, so we had 372 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:42.559 members who would go out and service those cameras, cool memory cards, change 373 00:29:42.599 --> 00:29:49.319 out the batteries, and very remote areas and rugged terrain, mountainous up in 374 00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:57.640 Oklahoma, very swampy down in Southeast Texas, and wooded in all the places 375 00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:04.319 we actually worked with government agencies. Area ACTS was governed by the Nature Conservancy. 376 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:11.599 We had their permission, their knowledge that we were there conducting research in 377 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:18.359 the ticket that is governed by the National Park Service. And I know Darrell 378 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:22.160 headed this part up, so I don't know if it came up when you 379 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:27.039 interviewed him, but that camera project was permitted by the National Park Service. 380 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:33.799 We had to apply and be approved for a permit for camera study of bigfoot. 381 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:40.759 I'm not lying. They approved our permit for a camera study for Bigfoot 382 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:44.400 in the Big Ticket the National Park Service, and at the end of the 383 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:48.440 year we would have to submit a report of our findings and a copy of 384 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:55.039 every photo that our cameras took. But that was an annual deal that we 385 00:30:55.119 --> 00:31:00.880 had to submit to them for them to go over for them to issue us 386 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:06.160 another permit to permit the study to continue in those areas and as well as 387 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:11.759 in the Sam Houston National Forest. We had a project there for a short 388 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:17.839 time and that was under the permission of the US Forest Service, and at 389 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:22.640 one time up in southeast Oklahoma, we had along with the cameras we ended 390 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:29.000 up because there's so many bears up there. We had to protect our cameras 391 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:33.720 because one of our earliest video camera that we had was my personal video camera 392 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:38.119 that we got on another game camera that was trained at it of a bear 393 00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:44.279 ripping that video camera out of the housing that it was in. But we 394 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:51.200 ended up having investing in plate steel bear boxes to put our cameras in there 395 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:56.480 to protect them from the bears because they were attracted to I guess the petroleum 396 00:31:56.759 --> 00:32:01.839 byproduct that bodies of the cameras were made with. We actually put up hair 397 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:09.440 snares near these cameras up in Oklahoma to try to get hair samples from sasquatch 398 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:15.519 bigfoot. We got a couple of anomalist photographs, but nothing that was definitely 399 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:20.799 a bipedal primate. But we did have a lot of bears that were reaching 400 00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:25.599 into these hair snares and were snaring their hair in these things. Actually, 401 00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:32.079 in conjunction with Texas Parks and Wildlife, we were supplying them with hair samples 402 00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:37.640 that we collected, and they were using DNA on these hair samples to compare 403 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:44.319 to hair samples that they were getting of bears coming into East Texas, where 404 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:50.880 they were trying to elaborate where these bears were crossing over into Texas, whether 405 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:55.440 it was from the north in Oklahoma or from the east of Louisiana or the 406 00:32:55.480 --> 00:33:02.759 northeast in Arkansas. So we worked with governmental agencies that didn't ridicule what we 407 00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:06.920 were doing, that were very interested in what we were doing, which I 408 00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:09.680 thought was pretty incredible. As a matter of fact, the first time in 409 00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:15.200 the Big Thicket they had a research laboratory. It was barracks, bunks, 410 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:21.279 kitchen, laundry, and a laboratory. They're in the Big Thicket when we 411 00:33:21.319 --> 00:33:24.519 went to go reserve that for a week long research mission. I believe it 412 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:29.440 was Darryl that went in there to go reserve this place, and it had 413 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:35.240 a drop down list of scientific research organizations if you were in their database to 414 00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:39.000 reserve this place. And when he went down the drop down list, our 415 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:44.240 organization, the Texas Bigfoot Research Center, was already in the drop down list 416 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:50.200 for this reserving this research facility. You know, we didn't have to go 417 00:33:50.279 --> 00:33:55.279 in and enter ourselves and apply to do this. We were already an approved 418 00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:00.720 research organization that could use this, and so we did and base there for 419 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:06.680 a week to put cameras out or to go service cameras or whatever they're in 420 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:10.280 the Big Ticket. That's the kind of stuff we were doing when investigating taking 421 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:16.679 in reports. We investigated on site reports that came in from the four state 422 00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:22.079 region of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana. Most often would go and 423 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:29.119 interview the witness on site where it happened and interview them. So that was 424 00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:35.480 what we did. I resigned from the organization in twenty ten to focus on 425 00:34:35.960 --> 00:34:42.800 other things, including my personal life and my business. The organization reorganized in 426 00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:46.199 two thousand and seven as the Texas Booklet Research Conservancy, still the TBRC, 427 00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:52.440 but as a five oh one C three nonprofit where people could make tax deductible 428 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:57.840 donations. In twenty thirteen, they reorganized as the North American Woodock Conservancy, 429 00:34:58.599 --> 00:35:02.119 and at the end of twenty three, Team I decided to reorganize the RC 430 00:35:02.199 --> 00:35:07.440 the Texas Big Book Research Center and start hosting the annual conference again. I'm 431 00:35:07.480 --> 00:35:12.880 sure that's another question you have coming up to ask about the Texas Big Book 432 00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:16.199 Conference. I definitely want to get into that. That's something that not everybody 433 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:20.840 does. Not everybody organizes a Bigfoot conference. Is that something that was in 434 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:23.599 your wheelhouse already? Talk a little bit about how that first conference came about. 435 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:25.800 I know it was back in two thousand and one, so there's definitely 436 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:30.039 a story there. Talk a little bit about that first conference and how it's 437 00:35:30.119 --> 00:35:37.480 progressed over the years. What happened was in two thousand, basically the first 438 00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:45.119 full year that the TBRC was in the works, was organized and investigating, 439 00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:52.760 I saw about the Ohio Bigfoot Conference that had actually been going annually since nineteen 440 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:59.079 eighty nine. So in two thousand, myself and the guy that I co 441 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:02.000 founded the T A b or C with Luke Gross. He and I and 442 00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:08.840 another member Daniel McCallister, flew up to Ohio and went to the Ohio Bigfoot 443 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:14.639 Conference at that time. It was hosted actually in the cafeteria of an elementary 444 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:20.480 school. It was in either March or April of two thousand, so it 445 00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:23.360 was quite a bit different weather from Texas in March or April. As a 446 00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:28.920 matter of fact, it was knowing that weekend went up there. That's where 447 00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:34.760 I actually met Smokey Crabtree of Falk, Arkansas. Actually met probably the most 448 00:36:34.760 --> 00:36:40.159 influential person I've ever met in Bigfoot research was where doctor John Bendernagel. He 449 00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:44.960 was a speaker there that year and I spent quite a bit of time with 450 00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:47.719 him, hiking with him. We went on a high c up there. 451 00:36:49.480 --> 00:36:54.400 Organizer Don Cheating had had earlier filmed some footage of what appears to be a 452 00:36:54.400 --> 00:37:00.840 white sasquatch up There. Also met Scott Harriet, several other Bill dring Ginnis 453 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:04.880 who passed away a couple of years ago, that was a very technical person 454 00:37:04.920 --> 00:37:10.599 building technical equipment to gather credible evidence. Met a group of people that just 455 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:15.599 felt at home with felt welcomed, had a great time. But I also 456 00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:19.400 had in my mind that there's nothing like this in Texas. I bet that 457 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:22.119 I could do something like this. I bet that I could organize something like 458 00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:28.599 this, and so the wheels started turning. My parents had the year before 459 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:31.280 that bought a bed breakfast actually here in Jefferson. And this is actually a 460 00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:36.400 story that is not told very often, but the real reason that Jefferson is 461 00:37:36.440 --> 00:37:40.119 now the Bigfoot Capital of Texas and that it is the home of the Texas 462 00:37:40.119 --> 00:37:45.039 Bigfoot Conference is that my parents owned a bed and breakfast here in town, 463 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:50.400 and my mom was on the events committee for the Bed and Breakfast Association. 464 00:37:51.360 --> 00:37:57.039 So when I started planning to host an event, I used the resources that 465 00:37:57.079 --> 00:38:01.840 I had, which was my folks here in town, and started the conference. 466 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:05.840 Went to the Ohio conference the next year in two thousand and one, 467 00:38:06.119 --> 00:38:09.639 was already working on my event, and it was the next year in two 468 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:14.119 thousand and one, And as you mentioned, the date of the very first 469 00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:19.360 Texas Big Book Conference was September fifteenth, two thousand and one. So if 470 00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:22.559 that doesn't bring bells with anybody, it's only four days after nine to eleven. 471 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:30.960 I woke up on Tuesday morning, Tuesday before the conference was set to 472 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:36.480 take place, I woke up to turning on the television and seeing the second 473 00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:43.199 plane crashing into the World Trade Center. I'm sure you remember those days, 474 00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:47.760 and it was turmoil. I had just recently actually been laid off from my 475 00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:52.039 job. My job was relocating actually to Atlanta, Georgia, and I did 476 00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:57.719 not want to relocate from Dallas, so I took the buyout or whatever to 477 00:38:58.039 --> 00:39:01.920 retire and not to go with the company. So at the time that I 478 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:07.400 was playing the conference, and that happened like the first of August two thousand 479 00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:12.480 and one. At that time, organization was very new. We didn't have 480 00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:16.079 funds to a host of events, so I was funding it myself. At 481 00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:20.760 that point I decided to go forward. We had some speakers who were not 482 00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:25.119 able to fly in. Louren Coleman was coming in was not able to fly 483 00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:32.320 out of Banger, Maine to get here because that airport was used by one 484 00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:37.079 of the terrorist groups, which some of the airports started opening back up on 485 00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:45.360 Friday for limited air travel. I had another speaker flying in from Los Angeles, 486 00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:50.920 I believe, with Linda Moulten Howe and she didn't take into account there 487 00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:55.320 was no pulling up or dropping off at the terminals, so she actually missed 488 00:39:55.320 --> 00:40:00.239 her flight. But I did have other speakers, including dot John Bendernaudel who 489 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:06.039 did not fly, who was driving in from Vancouver Island and had been on 490 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:10.519 the road for five weeks at that time. Stay tuned for more sasquatch out 491 00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:19.320 to see We'll be right back. After these messages that nine to eleven happened 492 00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:24.639 stopping in and visiting friends and Bigfoot eyewitnesses on the way from Vancouver Island to 493 00:40:24.719 --> 00:40:29.039 Texas, we still held the event. We still had about one hundred and 494 00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:34.639 thirty five people that showed up, so it was deemed a success, and 495 00:40:34.719 --> 00:40:39.599 so we just continued and it got bigger and have to move locations. In 496 00:40:39.719 --> 00:40:44.639 two thousand and five, leading up to the conference, there was a seven 497 00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:51.679 page cover article in a large publication here Texas monthly magazine. It was Bigfoot 498 00:40:51.679 --> 00:40:53.880 in Texas, Our Bigfoot in East Texas. I don't know. I've still 499 00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:58.440 got a copy question mark on the cover, of course, which featured the 500 00:40:58.519 --> 00:41:01.920 Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders didn't feature an image of big Foot on the cover, but 501 00:41:01.960 --> 00:41:07.800 it had the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and also had another large article on the world 502 00:41:07.840 --> 00:41:12.840 famous wrestling Van Eric family that was from Dallas. It was also in that 503 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:17.079 magazine, but like I said, a seven page article about the Bigfoot organization. 504 00:41:17.400 --> 00:41:22.400 Here in East Texas, we had a two page spread in Texas Highways 505 00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:29.280 magazine that morn photographer that I guess sold a photo in an article to USA 506 00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:34.480 Today that was on the front page of the Live section in USA Today from 507 00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:37.760 the event, and as a matter of fact, it was a crawler on 508 00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:44.480 CNN at the bottom of the screen. That weekend Bigfoot conference in Texas draws 509 00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:49.519 hundred and two thousand and five. Was very big, and other cities started 510 00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:55.000 taking notice of it, and we started getting courted by other Texas cities to 511 00:41:55.079 --> 00:42:00.679 host the event there. At the time, Jefferson was about two thousand people 512 00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:07.559 population here in East Texas. It is almost three hours away from DFW Airport, 513 00:42:07.639 --> 00:42:12.760 forty five minutes from Shreeport, an hour away from Texas Canta. So 514 00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:19.039 we had larger cities including Athens, Texas and Tyler, Texas, which actually 515 00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:22.920 has a population of one hundred thousand came a courting us, wanting us to 516 00:42:22.039 --> 00:42:27.639 move the event. There By that time we were reorganized as a five to' 517 00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:30.840 one C three, so everything was done by committees. At that point we 518 00:42:30.920 --> 00:42:37.760 had a conference committee, and the committee felt that it was advantageous to move 519 00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:43.679 to a more populous area. I did not want to move it from Jefferson, 520 00:42:44.320 --> 00:42:46.039 but it wasn't just up to me. It was up to a committee 521 00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:51.519 of seven people, and these other two cities courted us, took us around, 522 00:42:51.639 --> 00:42:54.280 showed us venues and what they would do for us in all, and 523 00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:59.599 it was finally decided to move it to Tiger, which is home to several 524 00:42:59.719 --> 00:43:05.679 universeies and a population of one hundred thousand. While it was successful there, 525 00:43:06.360 --> 00:43:10.559 it did not grow exponentially from what it was here in Jefferson, which was 526 00:43:10.599 --> 00:43:16.679 the assumption of those on the committee. So it was hosted there in Tyler 527 00:43:16.760 --> 00:43:22.800 for three years. In the middle of that conference tenure, I resigned from 528 00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:28.159 the organization in July of twenty ten. I had already organized the conference and 529 00:43:28.239 --> 00:43:31.840 ranged the speakers and everything, so I attended that year. But in twenty 530 00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:38.039 eleven was the last year it was held in Tyler by the then Texas Bigfoot 531 00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:44.440 Conservancy. They did not host it in twenty twelve, when I was no 532 00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:49.679 longer involved with that. In twenty thirteen, they moved it to actually to 533 00:43:49.760 --> 00:43:54.039 Fort Worth, to one of the conference rooms at the Terrent County Convention Center, 534 00:43:54.960 --> 00:44:00.320 and even moving it to a much more populated area there in the DFW 535 00:44:01.239 --> 00:44:07.199 Metroplex. I forget what the population of that is several million people. The 536 00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:14.840 attendance did not grow accordingly, so as in an organization, they for whatever 537 00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:20.920 reason decided not to host the event again. After that happened, I went 538 00:44:20.960 --> 00:44:25.519 ahead and, like I said, reorganized the TBRC and brought the conference back 539 00:44:25.559 --> 00:44:31.480 here to Jefferson in twenty fourteen. The original Texas Bigfoot Conference originally in Jefferson, 540 00:44:31.559 --> 00:44:37.800 originally hosted by the Texas book Foot Research Center and originally organized by myself. 541 00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:43.719 So now coming up next month will be the tenth year that it has 542 00:44:43.800 --> 00:44:46.400 been back here in Jefferson. Yeah, it's coming up. When is the 543 00:44:46.519 --> 00:44:51.039 date in October? I think is the twentieth, Maybe is when the conference? 544 00:44:51.079 --> 00:44:54.840 Yeah, the twentieth and the twenty first of October here in Jefferson. 545 00:44:54.960 --> 00:45:00.679 As a matter of fact, both Darryl Collier and prud are speaking at the 546 00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:07.119 event. The headliner, the keynote speaker is doctor Maria Bayer from Expedition Bigfoot, 547 00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:10.400 who is a good friend of mine from before the show. Back in 548 00:45:10.519 --> 00:45:15.760 her early days, she had actually written a school paper about the Yetti. 549 00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:21.280 She has been coined the female Indiana Jones. She has explored the rainforest of 550 00:45:21.280 --> 00:45:28.000 Madagascar. She has discovered a species of lemur herself. So she is someone 551 00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:36.119 who has ventured out into the wilderness for sure, dealt with adult male silver 552 00:45:36.199 --> 00:45:43.039 back guerrillas being charged by silverback guerrilla with many wild animals. Ant Geo Explorer 553 00:45:43.480 --> 00:45:50.880 hosted several other nat GEO television shows about wildlife and the fourth season of Expedition 554 00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:58.559 Bigfoot last month on Discovery. She will be coming to Jefferson next month. 555 00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:01.880 Like I said, Darryl, call you and Matt Pruitt of the North American 556 00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:07.239 Wood Ape Conservancy will be coming to speak. Sabella Irwin of the BFRO, 557 00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:13.679 who has led many expeditions for the BFRO, but also is an eyewitness sketch 558 00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:20.159 artist that she sketches. They put witnesses descriptions just like police eyewitness sketches, 559 00:46:20.239 --> 00:46:23.039 go back and forth, draw it, send it to them, let them 560 00:46:23.079 --> 00:46:25.800 look at it and ask them. But if there's any differences, go back 561 00:46:25.840 --> 00:46:30.159 and forth and fine tune it to get what the witness saw. And then 562 00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:37.119 Shelley Covington, Montana, who is another outdoors woman that you know. She 563 00:46:37.199 --> 00:46:44.679 nearly every summer spends four months solo camping in the Pacific Northwest. She did 564 00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:47.320 not go this year, but she has the last I don't even know six 565 00:46:47.400 --> 00:46:52.599 seven, eight years that she's been doing that. Also Ashlyn Brown, who 566 00:46:52.719 --> 00:46:59.760 is a genetic scientist. She studied biology in college and as a degree biologist 567 00:47:00.239 --> 00:47:07.840 genetic scientists who also experienced in her childhood a bigfoot activity on her family's farm, 568 00:47:07.519 --> 00:47:14.639 and she's written a set of three semi fictional books about that as well 569 00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:22.320 as been involved with the scientific aspect of sasquatch bigfoot, which is pretty incredible 570 00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:28.119 I think as far as Bigfoot conferences go. That actually four of six speakers 571 00:47:28.920 --> 00:47:36.440 are females, and actually Chester Moore, local Texas outdoorsman, will be coming 572 00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:42.840 and bringing an underprivileged child and his family to the conference through his Wild Wishes 573 00:47:42.920 --> 00:47:47.440 program for underprivileged or traumatized children that have lost a sibling or a parent, 574 00:47:49.320 --> 00:47:53.119 or have been very ill. He will be bringing their family to experience the 575 00:47:53.360 --> 00:47:58.519 Texas Bigfoot Conference. So he's going to have thirty minutes speaking slot. So 576 00:47:58.599 --> 00:48:02.159 actually they're seven speakers, so four out of seven are females. Up will 577 00:48:02.199 --> 00:48:07.239 be speaking at the event at weekend. Very cool stuff. I will link 578 00:48:07.280 --> 00:48:08.760 to that in the show so you guys can go over and check it out. 579 00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:12.480 Craig Man, I really appreciate you taking time to come on the show. 580 00:48:12.480 --> 00:48:15.039 I've had a blast talking to you. I enjoyed it. Like you 581 00:48:15.119 --> 00:48:20.960 said, I've done many of these and nowadays I generally turned them down unless 582 00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:24.559 it's a friend. Considering yourself lucky hit you're a friend. Hopefully our pass 583 00:48:24.639 --> 00:48:30.719 pross sooner in the future they say you don't have to go home, but 584 00:48:30.960 --> 00:49:08.599 you can't. Stays joy this job, that char everything, calling ricket back, 585 00:49:08.880 --> 00:49:16.199 prying back, Joy for me, Joy, stay right, you come 586 00:49:16.320 --> 00:50:08.360 it right away. Steps step ste do do do do do do do do 587 00:50:08.880 --> 00:50:30.599 do dossamest stas ussst usss