WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>Now one of your pudding. I got a string going

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<v Speaker 1>on here, something just because my dog. Something killed your dog?

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<v Speaker 1>My dog. We're flying through the air over the tree.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know.

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<v Speaker 2>How it did it, Okay, Damn, I'm really confused.

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<v Speaker 1>All I saw was my dog coming over the fence

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<v Speaker 1>and he was dead.

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<v Speaker 2>And once you hit the ground like, I didn't see

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<v Speaker 2>any cars.

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<v Speaker 1>All I saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat,

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<v Speaker 1>what are you putting? We got some wonder or something

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<v Speaker 1>crawling around out here? Did you see what it was?

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<v Speaker 1>Or was it was? Standing enough?

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<v Speaker 2>I'm out here looking through the window now and I

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<v Speaker 2>don't see anything. I don't want to go outside, Jesus quice.

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<v Speaker 1>You bick Hello, get the Boddy out here?

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<v Speaker 2>What quent on out there? I thought of a bench

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<v Speaker 2>about tech forty nine?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know. Easy ann out there? Yeah, I'm walking

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<v Speaker 1>right head.

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<v Speaker 2>You're about to hear something different. These aren't your typical

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<v Speaker 2>campfire tales. These are first hand accounts from law enforcement

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<v Speaker 2>officers across America, men and women who took an oath

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<v Speaker 2>to serve and protect. Officers trained to observe, document, and

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<v Speaker 2>report facts. What you'll hear in these accounts challenges everything

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<v Speaker 2>these officers thought they knew about the world. Each story

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<v Speaker 2>comes from a different corner of our country, from the

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<v Speaker 2>rain soaked forests of the Pacific Northwest to the frozen

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<v Speaker 2>tundra of Alaska, from the ancient mountains of Appalachia to

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<v Speaker 2>the deep swamps of Texas. These officers didn't seek out

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<v Speaker 2>these encounters. They were just doing their jobs, responding to calls,

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<v Speaker 2>investigating complaints, searching for missing persons. But what they found

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<v Speaker 2>in the darkness beyond their headlights and flashlight beams changed

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<v Speaker 2>them forever. They filed their reports, they documented the evidence,

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<v Speaker 2>but the official records tell a different story. Bear sightings,

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<v Speaker 2>equipment malfunctions, wandering hikers suffering from exposure. The truth got

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<v Speaker 2>buried in bureaucracy and disbelief. Tonight they're breaking their silence.

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<v Speaker 2>No last names, no badge numbers, just the truth about

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<v Speaker 2>what lurks in the forgotten corners of America, About what

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<v Speaker 2>watches from the tree line, About why some officers refuse

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<v Speaker 2>to patrol certain areas after dark. Our first account takes

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<v Speaker 2>us to the Pacific Northwest October twenty nineteen. Deputy Sheriff

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<v Speaker 2>Marcus tells his story from Clallam County, Washington. I'd been

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<v Speaker 2>with the Clallam County Sheriff's Department for twelve years when

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<v Speaker 2>the call came in about the property on the logging

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<v Speaker 2>road October twenty nineteen. The dispatcher said it was another

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<v Speaker 2>wildlife complaint, third one in that week from the same family.

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<v Speaker 2>Tom and Beth lived forty minutes outside Port Angelus, down

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<v Speaker 2>a logging road that hadn't seen commercial traffic in two decades.

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<v Speaker 2>Their nearest neighbor was eight miles away. The previous complaints

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<v Speaker 2>had been vague, something large moving through their property at night,

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<v Speaker 2>dogs going crazy, their chicken coop destroyed, not just damaged,

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<v Speaker 2>but torn apart. The two by fours snapped like matchsticks.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd written it up as a bear, told them to

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<v Speaker 2>secure their garbage, and figured that would be the end

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<v Speaker 2>of it. This time was different. Tom met me at

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<v Speaker 2>the end of their driveway, and I'd never seen him

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<v Speaker 2>like that. The man was a logger for thirty years,

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<v Speaker 2>built like a refrigerator, and his hands were shaking, not trembling,

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<v Speaker 2>actually shaking. He walked me around to the back of

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<v Speaker 2>their property without saying much, just pointing at things. The

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<v Speaker 2>smell hit me first, like a wet dog rolled in

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<v Speaker 2>something dead but stronger. Made my eyes water. Their shed

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<v Speaker 2>door was ripped off, not pride open or broken, ripped

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<v Speaker 2>clean off and thrown twenty feet into the woods. The

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<v Speaker 2>metal hinges were twisted like someone had used pliers on them,

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<v Speaker 2>except the force required would have been enormous. Inside the shed,

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<v Speaker 2>Tom's ATV was flipped upside down. That's a seven hundred

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<v Speaker 2>pound machine. I started taking photos measurements, standard procedure, even

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<v Speaker 2>though I had no idea what I was documenting. That's

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<v Speaker 2>when Beth came out of the house and asked if

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<v Speaker 2>I wanted to see the handprints. I thought she meant

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<v Speaker 2>fingerprints evidence of human vandalism. She led me to their

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<v Speaker 2>back porch, where they had a chest freezer. On the

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<v Speaker 2>white metal lid were two handprints and what looked like

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<v Speaker 2>mud and grease. The span from thumb to pinky was

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<v Speaker 2>sixteen inches, the palm was twice the width of mine.

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<v Speaker 2>But what shocked me were the dermal ridges, clear as day,

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<v Speaker 2>like any print I'd ever lifted, but the proportions were

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<v Speaker 2>all off. I called it in, requested someone from Fishing Wildlife.

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<v Speaker 2>All waiting, Tom finally started talking two weeks ago, their daughter, Sarah,

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<v Speaker 2>home from college, had been sitting on the back deck

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<v Speaker 2>around sunset.

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<v Speaker 1>She saw what she thought.

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<v Speaker 2>Was a person at the tree line, about one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>yards out, tall, covered in dark hair, just standing there

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<v Speaker 2>watching the house. When she called out, it turned and

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<v Speaker 2>walked into the forest, walked, not ran upright on two

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<v Speaker 2>legs with arms swinging at its sides. Since then, they'd

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<v Speaker 2>been finding tracks. Tom showed me three sets he'd preserved

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<v Speaker 2>by putting buckets over them. Eighteen inches long, five toes clear,

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<v Speaker 2>mid tarsl break. The stride length was almost six feet.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd investigated hundreds of wildlife incidents, tracked bears, cougars, even

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<v Speaker 2>a few escaped exotic animals from private collections. These prints

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<v Speaker 2>didn't match anything I knew. My backup arrived around seven

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<v Speaker 2>that evening. Deputy Jim took one look at the prince

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<v Speaker 2>and the shed and radioed for additional units. We decided

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<v Speaker 2>to do a perimeter search before dark. Jim took the

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<v Speaker 2>north side of the property. I took the south, standard

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<v Speaker 2>search pattern, staying within side of the house. About three

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<v Speaker 2>hundred yards into the woods, I found a deer carcass,

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<v Speaker 2>fresh kill maybe two days old.

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<v Speaker 1>What struck me was.

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<v Speaker 2>How it was positioned, laid out neat, almost respectful, with

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<v Speaker 2>the choice portions removed, with what looked like clean tears,

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<v Speaker 2>not the ragged marks of claws or teeth. The bones

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<v Speaker 2>weren't gnawed, they were cracked open for marrow. Something with

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<v Speaker 2>hands had done this. I marked the location and continued.

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<v Speaker 2>The forest was too quiet. Anyone who spends time in

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<v Speaker 2>the woods knows that silence when all the birds and

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<v Speaker 2>insects stop at once. I'd felt it before when predators

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<v Speaker 2>were near, but this was heavier. Somehow I found myself

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<v Speaker 2>checking over my shoulder every few steps. Near a creek bed,

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<v Speaker 2>I discovered what looked like a shelter. Branches woven together

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<v Speaker 2>against a massive cedar, creating a lean to about eight

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<v Speaker 2>feet tall and twelve feet wide. Inside were matted ferns

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<v Speaker 2>like bedding. The smell was overwhelming, that same wet dog

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<v Speaker 2>and death stench. I photographed everything, my hands steady now

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<v Speaker 2>from pure adrenaline. That's when I heard it. A whistle,

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<v Speaker 2>long and low, coming from uphill. Not a bird. I've

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<v Speaker 2>hunted these woods since I was a kid, and I

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<v Speaker 2>know every bird call in the Pacific Northwest. This was different,

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<v Speaker 2>had a quality to it, almost like language. Then another

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<v Speaker 2>whistle answered from the opposite ridge. They were communicating. I

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<v Speaker 2>backed out of the shelter and started toward the house,

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<v Speaker 2>not running, but moving with purpose. The whistles continued, at

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<v Speaker 2>least three distinct sources, now triangulating around my position. About

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<v Speaker 2>halfway back, a rock landed ten feet in front of me,

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<v Speaker 2>baseball sized, thrown from somewhere uphill. Then another closer, not random, deliberate.

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<v Speaker 1>They were hurting me.

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<v Speaker 2>I made it back to the house as darkness fell.

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<v Speaker 2>Jim was already there with two State patrol officers who'd

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<v Speaker 2>responded to our call for assistance. We compared notes. Jim

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<v Speaker 2>had found similar tracks, another shelter and what appeared to

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<v Speaker 2>be a cache of salmon heads near the creek fresh

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<v Speaker 2>Salmon in October, fifteen miles from the nearest run. We

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<v Speaker 2>stationed ourselves around the house that night, four officers each

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<v Speaker 2>taking a corner. The family stayed inside, lights on. Around midnight,

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<v Speaker 2>the activity started knocking sounds, wood on wood, rhythmic from

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<v Speaker 2>multiple directions. Then the screams, I've heard mountain lions, foxes, owls,

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<v Speaker 2>all the animals that make sounds that can raise the

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<v Speaker 2>hair on your neck. This wasn't any of them. It

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<v Speaker 2>was primate like, but deeper, longer, with a volume that

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<v Speaker 2>seemed impossible for lungs to produce. At two in the morning,

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<v Speaker 2>Jim's thermal scope picked up movement three heat signatures at

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<v Speaker 2>the tree line, standing upright at least seven feet tall.

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<v Speaker 2>They stayed there for twenty minutes, just outside the range

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<v Speaker 2>of the house lights, swaying slightly. Then they turned and

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<v Speaker 2>walked back into the forest. Walked like Tom had said, upright, deliberate, unhurried.

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<v Speaker 2>We filed our reports. Fish and Wildlife sent a biologist

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<v Speaker 2>who took plaster casts.

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<v Speaker 1>And hair samples.

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<v Speaker 2>The hair came back as unknown primate. The investigation was

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<v Speaker 2>quietly closed, labeled as bear activity. The family moved two

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<v Speaker 2>months later. I still patrol that area. The logging road

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<v Speaker 2>is overgrown now and the house stands empty. Sometimes I

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<v Speaker 2>stop at the old driveway, engine idling and listen. Once,

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<v Speaker 2>just once, I heard that whistle again, distant but unmistakable.

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<v Speaker 2>I drove away and didn't look back. I know what

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<v Speaker 2>I saw, what we all saw. The evidence was clear, documented, photographed.

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<v Speaker 2>But some things don't fit into incident reports. Some things

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<v Speaker 2>challenge everything you thought you knew.

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<v Speaker 1>About the world.

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<v Speaker 2>So you file it away, mark it as resolved, and

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<v Speaker 2>try not to think about those heat signatures swaying at

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<v Speaker 2>the tree line, or wonder what was watching us watch them?

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<v Speaker 2>That was Deputy Marcus from Washington State. Our next account

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<v Speaker 2>takes us three thousand miles across the country to the

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<v Speaker 2>mountains of eastern Kentucky. State Trooper Daniel shares what happened

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<v Speaker 2>on a foggy November night in twenty eighteen on Highway

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<v Speaker 2>twenty three. Three years on highway patrol in eastern Kentucky

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<v Speaker 2>teaches you to expect certain things. Drunk drivers, meth labs,

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<v Speaker 2>the occasional marijuana grow hidden in the hollers. You don't

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<v Speaker 2>expect to question your sanity. At two forty seven am

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<v Speaker 2>on a Tuesday in November, I was running radar on

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<v Speaker 2>Highway twenty three near the Virginia border, parked in a

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<v Speaker 2>cutout overlooking a long straightaway. The road wind through the

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<v Speaker 2>mountains there, following the old coal seams, mostly empty at

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<v Speaker 2>night except for long haul truckers. Light fog was settling

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<v Speaker 2>in the valleys, but visibility was still decent. The first

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<v Speaker 2>odd thing was the smell. My window was cracked, and

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<v Speaker 2>suddenly this stench rolled in, like a barn that hadn't

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<v Speaker 2>been mucked in months, mixed with rotting meat. I rolled

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<v Speaker 2>the window up, figuring a trucker had hit a deer

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<v Speaker 2>somewhere upwind, but the smell got stronger even with the

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<v Speaker 2>windows sealed. Then my radar went haywire. The display started

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<v Speaker 2>jumping forty five miles per hour, one hundred, twenty miles

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<v Speaker 2>per hour, eight miles.

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<v Speaker 1>Per hour all over the place.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd seen interference before from power lines or weather, but

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<v Speaker 2>nothing like this. The unit was less than a year old,

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<v Speaker 2>state of the art equipment. I turned it off and

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<v Speaker 2>back on, same problem. My radio started crackling with static,

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<v Speaker 2>not normal static, rhythmic, almost pulsing. I tried calling dispatch

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<v Speaker 2>to report the equipment malfunction, but couldn't get through. The

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<v Speaker 2>static had a pattern to it, like breathing, deep, slow breathing.

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<v Speaker 2>That's when I saw the eye shine in my side mirror.

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<v Speaker 2>Two amber points of light about eight feet off the

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<v Speaker 2>ground at the woodline behind my cruiser. Too high for

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<v Speaker 2>a deer, wrong color for a bear. They didn't move,

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<v Speaker 2>just stayed fixed on my vehicle. I turned on my

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<v Speaker 2>spotlight and swiveled it toward the trees. Nothing there but

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<v Speaker 2>the underbrush was moving, branches swaying like something large had

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<v Speaker 2>just passed through. I stepped out of the cruiser, hand

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<v Speaker 2>on my duty weapon and walked toward the tree line

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<v Speaker 2>with my flashlight. The smell was overwhelming, now making my

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<v Speaker 2>eyes water. About ten feet into the woods, I found

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<v Speaker 2>a footprint massive. My size thirteen boot looked small next

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<v Speaker 2>to it, five toes, clear as day, with what looked

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<v Speaker 2>like a mid tarsl break. The woods around me were

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<v Speaker 2>dead island, no insects, no birds, nothing, just my breathing

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<v Speaker 2>and heartbeat. A branch snapped somewhere to my left, then

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00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:12.720
<v Speaker 2>another to my right. I was being flanked. Twenty years

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<v Speaker 2>of tactical training kicked in and I backed toward my cruiser,

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00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:19.679
<v Speaker 2>flashlight sweeping side to side. That's when I saw it

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<v Speaker 2>clearly for the first time. It stepped out from behind

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<v Speaker 2>a massive oak, maybe thirty yards away, at least eight

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<v Speaker 2>feet tall, covered in reddish brown hair, walking on two

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00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:32.480
<v Speaker 2>legs like a man, but with a gait that was

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00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:37.480
<v Speaker 2>somehow different, longer arms, broader shoulders, head that seemed to

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<v Speaker 2>sit directly on its shoulders without much of a neck.

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00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.919
<v Speaker 2>It looked at me, not past me or through me,

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00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:48.600
<v Speaker 2>but directly at me, with intelligence in its eyes. We

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00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:51.279
<v Speaker 2>stood there for maybe five seconds, though it felt like

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<v Speaker 2>an hour. Then it turned its head slightly, like it

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<v Speaker 2>was listening to something, and took three enormous strides across

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<v Speaker 2>the clearing and disappeared into the darkness. The way it

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00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:07.360
<v Speaker 2>moved was fluid, powerful, completely silent despite its size. I

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00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:09.919
<v Speaker 2>got back to my cruiser and locked the doors. My

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00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.200
<v Speaker 2>hands were shaking so bad I could barely hold the

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00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:15.960
<v Speaker 2>radio mic. The static had cleared and I called dispatch,

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00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:20.519
<v Speaker 2>reported a large animal crossing near my position. They acknowledged,

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<v Speaker 2>asked if I needed animal control.

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<v Speaker 1>I said no.

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<v Speaker 2>For the next hour, I sat there, engine running, every

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00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:32.879
<v Speaker 2>light on my vehicle activated. Around four am, rock started

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00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:36.279
<v Speaker 2>hitting my cruiser, not thrown hard enough to damage anything,

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00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:41.480
<v Speaker 2>but deliberate pebbles at first, then larger stones. They came

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00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:45.120
<v Speaker 2>from different directions. Whoever or whatever was throwing them was

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00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:49.320
<v Speaker 2>moving around my position. Then came the howl started low,

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00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.279
<v Speaker 2>rose to a pitch that made my teeth ache. Held

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00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.919
<v Speaker 2>for maybe twenty seconds before trailing off. It was answered

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00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.279
<v Speaker 2>by another howl from across the highway, then another from

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00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:03.960
<v Speaker 2>up the mountain, at least three of them communicating, and

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<v Speaker 2>stay tuned for more sasquatch Ota see, We'll be right back.

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<v Speaker 2>After these messages, a semi truck came around the bend,

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00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:18.559
<v Speaker 2>air horn blaring. The driver later reported to dispatch that

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00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.879
<v Speaker 2>he'd nearly hit something crossing the road. Said it looked

249
00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:24.519
<v Speaker 2>like a huge man in a gilly suit, but moving

250
00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:29.279
<v Speaker 2>too fast, taking strides that were impossible. Dawn came slowly

251
00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:33.960
<v Speaker 2>as the sky lightened, the activity stopped. No more rocks,

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00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:38.519
<v Speaker 2>no more howls, the smell faded. I finally worked up

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00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.639
<v Speaker 2>the courage to get out and look around. Found dozens

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00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:45.440
<v Speaker 2>of prints, some clear enough to cast. Found where something

255
00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:49.279
<v Speaker 2>had been watching me from various positions. The grass matted down,

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00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:53.120
<v Speaker 2>branches broken at the eight foot level. I took photos

257
00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:57.039
<v Speaker 2>of everything, wrote a detailed report. My sergeant read it,

258
00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.440
<v Speaker 2>looked at the photos, and told me to file it

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00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.159
<v Speaker 2>as a bear. When I protested, he took me aside

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00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:06.159
<v Speaker 2>and said three other troopers had reported similar encounters in

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00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:10.480
<v Speaker 2>the past five years, all filed as bears. He said

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00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:13.360
<v Speaker 2>some things were better left alone, and if I wanted

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00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.200
<v Speaker 2>to keep working these mountains. I'd learn when to look

264
00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.559
<v Speaker 2>the other way, but I couldn't.

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00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:18.720
<v Speaker 1>Let it go.

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00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:24.480
<v Speaker 2>I researched old reports, newspaper archives, found dozens of sightings

267
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:28.039
<v Speaker 2>going back to the eighteen hundreds, coal miners refusing to

268
00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:30.720
<v Speaker 2>work certain shafts because of the wild men in the tunnels,

269
00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:35.000
<v Speaker 2>Cherokee stories about the nun Yanui, the giant hairy beings

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00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:38.360
<v Speaker 2>that lived in the mountains before humans came. I still

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00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:43.200
<v Speaker 2>work Highway twenty three, still see things sometimes, shadows crossing

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00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:45.960
<v Speaker 2>the road, too fast to be human, too upright to

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00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.080
<v Speaker 2>be bear eye shine at the wrong height, prince after

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00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:54.320
<v Speaker 2>rain that I don't investigate anymore. Other troopers know too,

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00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:58.200
<v Speaker 2>we just don't talk about it. There's an unspoken understanding

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00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:01.320
<v Speaker 2>that some things in these mountains are beyond our jurisdiction.

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00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.200
<v Speaker 2>Last month, a rookie reported a suspicious person near the

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00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:08.279
<v Speaker 2>same spot where I'd had my encounter. I was first

279
00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:11.880
<v Speaker 2>to respond. Found him, white faced, sitting in his cruiser

280
00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.200
<v Speaker 2>with the doors locked. He'd seen it too. I told

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00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:17.440
<v Speaker 2>him it was a bear, helped him write the report

282
00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:21.240
<v Speaker 2>that way. He transferred to Lexington three weeks later. The

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00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:25.799
<v Speaker 2>mountains keep their secrets. We keep ours too. From State

284
00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:29.960
<v Speaker 2>Trooper Daniel's encounter in Kentucky, we move west to northern California.

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00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:34.319
<v Speaker 2>August twenty twenty one, Park Ranger Deputy Sarah tells us

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00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:37.480
<v Speaker 2>about a search and rescue operation in the Shasta Trinity

287
00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:42.480
<v Speaker 2>National Forest that revealed more than just missing hikers. Search

288
00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:46.440
<v Speaker 2>and rescue operations in the Shasta Trinity Wilderness are never routine,

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00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:49.920
<v Speaker 2>but the one in August twenty twenty one changed how

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00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:53.400
<v Speaker 2>I view these forests forever. A family of four had

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00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.079
<v Speaker 2>gone missing near Lost River Trail. Parents and two teenage

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00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:01.559
<v Speaker 2>kids experienced hikers. According to their permit APPT application, they

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00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:05.319
<v Speaker 2>were three days overdue. I'd been a law enforcement ranger

294
00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:09.920
<v Speaker 2>for six years, worked dozens of SAAR operations. This one

295
00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:14.480
<v Speaker 2>felt different from the start. Their car was at the trailhead, undisturbed,

296
00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:19.559
<v Speaker 2>no signs of struggle, equipment failure, or medical emergency. They

297
00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:22.759
<v Speaker 2>just vanished somewhere along twelve miles of well marked trail.

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00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:27.079
<v Speaker 2>We deployed two ground teams and a helicopter. I led

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00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:30.039
<v Speaker 2>Alpha team along the main trail while Bravo team searched

300
00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:33.680
<v Speaker 2>the connecting spurs. The first day, we found their camp

301
00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:38.119
<v Speaker 2>about four miles in tents still standing, sleeping bags, laid

302
00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.720
<v Speaker 2>out food in the bear canister. Their packs were there,

303
00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:45.279
<v Speaker 2>water bottles full. It looked like they'd stepped away for

304
00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:48.559
<v Speaker 2>a moment and never came back. The strange part was

305
00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.880
<v Speaker 2>the condition of the camp. No animal disturbance at all.

306
00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:55.960
<v Speaker 2>In thirty years of wilderness work, I'd never seen predators

307
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:59.799
<v Speaker 2>ignore an abandoned camp with food. Even the granola bars

308
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:03.119
<v Speaker 2>and the tent pockets were untouched. But around the perimeter

309
00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.799
<v Speaker 2>we found odd impressions in the pine duff, huge barefoot prints,

310
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.839
<v Speaker 2>some overlapping, like something had circled the camp repeatedly. Radio

311
00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:17.160
<v Speaker 2>communication was spotty, which isn't unusual in these canyons, but

312
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:21.279
<v Speaker 2>the static had a quality i'd never heard, almost vocalized

313
00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:25.920
<v Speaker 2>like whispers, just below the range of understanding. Our GPS

314
00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:30.559
<v Speaker 2>units kept losing satellite lock, spinning uselessly. On day two,

315
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:33.599
<v Speaker 2>we found the father's cell phone near a creek, screen

316
00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.519
<v Speaker 2>shattered but still functional. The last video on it was ominous,

317
00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:40.960
<v Speaker 2>to say the least, shaky footage of the forest at dusk,

318
00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:45.079
<v Speaker 2>the kid's voice saying, Mom, there's something out there, then

319
00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:47.079
<v Speaker 2>a dark shape passing between trees.

320
00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:47.920
<v Speaker 1>In the background.

321
00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:53.400
<v Speaker 2>The shape was upright, massive, moving with purpose. The video

322
00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:57.440
<v Speaker 2>cut off abruptly. We expanded the search zone. I took

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00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.240
<v Speaker 2>two volunteers and pushed deeper into the drainage system where

324
00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.440
<v Speaker 2>the phone was found. The forest changed there, old growth,

325
00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:07.519
<v Speaker 2>trees so large that three people couldn't wrap their arms

326
00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:10.480
<v Speaker 2>around them. The canopy was so thick it felt like

327
00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:15.160
<v Speaker 2>twilight at noon, and quiet, that oppressive quiet that makes

328
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:18.839
<v Speaker 2>you whisper without knowing why. We found the first sign

329
00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.559
<v Speaker 2>of the family near a rock out cropping. The mother's

330
00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:25.359
<v Speaker 2>jacket neatly folded and placed on a boulder, no tears,

331
00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:28.799
<v Speaker 2>no blood, just carefully set down, like she decided she

332
00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:32.119
<v Speaker 2>didn't need it anymore. Fifty yards away, we found one

333
00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:35.720
<v Speaker 2>of the teenager's boots, just one, standing upright in the

334
00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:39.079
<v Speaker 2>middle of the trail. That's when we started finding the structures.

335
00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:44.359
<v Speaker 2>Branches woven together in complex patterns, forming corridors and shelters,

336
00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:49.200
<v Speaker 2>not random deadfall, deliberate construction that would have taken tremendous

337
00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:53.440
<v Speaker 2>strength to bend and weave those thick limbs. Inside one shelter,

338
00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.880
<v Speaker 2>we found the family's water bottles arranged in a perfect circle.

339
00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:01.640
<v Speaker 2>The volunteers were getting spooked hell. I was spooked, but

340
00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:04.319
<v Speaker 2>we had a job to do. We followed what looked

341
00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:07.359
<v Speaker 2>like a game trail deeper into the canyon. The smell

342
00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:12.839
<v Speaker 2>started there, musky, overwhelming, like a zoo exhibit, but wilder.

343
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:17.079
<v Speaker 2>Fresh scat along the trail, massive piles that didn't match

344
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:20.599
<v Speaker 2>any animal. I knew the lab would later classify it

345
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.240
<v Speaker 2>as unknown primate. We heard them before we saw them,

346
00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:29.640
<v Speaker 2>not the family, something else. Wood knocks echoing through the canyon,

347
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:34.279
<v Speaker 2>clear patterns like Morse code. Then movement in our peripheral vision,

348
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:38.440
<v Speaker 2>always just out of clear sight, something paralleling us through

349
00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:42.559
<v Speaker 2>the trees, staying about fifty yards out, matching our pace perfectly.

350
00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:46.119
<v Speaker 2>I made the call to return to base camp. As

351
00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:49.279
<v Speaker 2>we turned back, we heard a child crying somewhere uphill.

352
00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:54.039
<v Speaker 2>We called out, identified ourselves, but the crying stopped immediately.

353
00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:58.279
<v Speaker 2>Then it started again from a completely different direction. The

354
00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:02.119
<v Speaker 2>sound was off. It was almost too perfect, like a recording,

355
00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:06.839
<v Speaker 2>like something mimicking a child's cry. That night at base camp,

356
00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:10.720
<v Speaker 2>things got worse. Rocks pelted our tents from the darkness,

357
00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:17.039
<v Speaker 2>not violently, but consistently methodically. Our motion sensors kept triggering,

358
00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:21.480
<v Speaker 2>but the thermal imaging showed nothing. At three am, something

359
00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:25.279
<v Speaker 2>walked through camp, bipedal, heavy enough to shake the ground

360
00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.839
<v Speaker 2>slightly with each step. It stopped at each tent, and

361
00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:32.799
<v Speaker 2>I could hear breathing, deep, measured breathing just outside the

362
00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:38.279
<v Speaker 2>nylon wall. Nobody moved, nobody spoke. It circled the camp

363
00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:43.119
<v Speaker 2>three times before disappearing. Day three, the helicopter pilot reported

364
00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:46.519
<v Speaker 2>seeing the family. They were walking single file along a

365
00:22:46.599 --> 00:22:50.480
<v Speaker 2>ridge two valleys over, moving steadily, but when we reached

366
00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.839
<v Speaker 2>the coordinates nothing. The pilot swore he'd seen them clearly,

367
00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:58.599
<v Speaker 2>said they looked dazed but uninjured, following something large and

368
00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:02.119
<v Speaker 2>dark that stayed just inside the tree line. We finally

369
00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:04.519
<v Speaker 2>found them on day four. They were sitting in a

370
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:08.359
<v Speaker 2>clearing five miles from their original camp, arranged in a circle,

371
00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:15.000
<v Speaker 2>holding hands, alive, unharmed but completely unresponsive. Their eyes were

372
00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:19.119
<v Speaker 2>open but unfocused. They didn't react to their names, to touch,

373
00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:23.839
<v Speaker 2>to light in their eyes. They were completely catatonic. The

374
00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:28.319
<v Speaker 2>medical evacuation was surreal. As we loaded them into the helicopter,

375
00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:31.920
<v Speaker 2>the forest erupted with wood knocks and howls from every direction.

376
00:23:32.839 --> 00:23:35.559
<v Speaker 2>The pilot later said he saw dozens of heat signatures.

377
00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:38.680
<v Speaker 2>On thermal standing at the tree line watching us leave.

378
00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:42.640
<v Speaker 2>The family recovered physically within days, but they had no

379
00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:46.440
<v Speaker 2>memory of the missing four days. The youngest, a fourteen

380
00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:50.839
<v Speaker 2>year old boy, eventually started having dreams. He'd wake screaming

381
00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:52.799
<v Speaker 2>about the tall people who took them to show them

382
00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:57.759
<v Speaker 2>something important, something about the forest, dying, about humans not listening.

383
00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.680
<v Speaker 2>His parents insisted it was alma induced hallucination. I went

384
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:08.359
<v Speaker 2>back once alone, against regulations, left my radio, my GPS,

385
00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:12.039
<v Speaker 2>my weapon, just walked into that same drainage with a

386
00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:16.359
<v Speaker 2>digital recorder and an open mind. They were there watching,

387
00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:20.160
<v Speaker 2>I could feel them. I sat on a log and waited.

388
00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.960
<v Speaker 2>After an hour, one emerged from the trees about forty

389
00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:27.920
<v Speaker 2>yards away. Female, I think based on the body shape,

390
00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:31.960
<v Speaker 2>seven feet tall, covered in auburn hair, with eyes that

391
00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:35.880
<v Speaker 2>held more intelligence than any animal I've ever encountered. She

392
00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.279
<v Speaker 2>looked at me for a long moment, then turned and

393
00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:43.000
<v Speaker 2>walked away. I filed my report Search and rescue, successful

394
00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:48.440
<v Speaker 2>recovery victims suffering from exposure induced delirium. Case closed. But

395
00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:51.680
<v Speaker 2>I know what I saw, what we all saw. They're

396
00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:54.599
<v Speaker 2>out there, have been out there longer than us, and

397
00:24:54.680 --> 00:24:58.680
<v Speaker 2>sometimes for reasons we don't understand they interact with our world.

398
00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:01.160
<v Speaker 1>I still work the the forests.

399
00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:03.759
<v Speaker 2>But now I know we're not alone out here, and

400
00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:08.039
<v Speaker 2>I know they're watching, always watching, keeping their own council

401
00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:11.559
<v Speaker 2>in the deep places where humans rarely go. I leave

402
00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:16.200
<v Speaker 2>them alone, They leave me alone. It's an understanding. Some

403
00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:22.359
<v Speaker 2>mysteries are meant to stay mysterious. That was Ranger Sarah

404
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:25.440
<v Speaker 2>from California. Our next encounter takes us to the frozen

405
00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:30.680
<v Speaker 2>north Michigan's Upper Peninsula. November twenty twenty. Deputy Marcus shares

406
00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:33.960
<v Speaker 2>his experience with abandoned copper minds and what still lives

407
00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:38.920
<v Speaker 2>in the darkness below. November in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is brutal,

408
00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:41.440
<v Speaker 2>the kind of cold that makes your lungs hurt, Snow

409
00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:44.559
<v Speaker 2>that comes sideways off Lake Superior. I've been dealing with

410
00:25:44.599 --> 00:25:47.279
<v Speaker 2>a string of vandalism reports near the old copper mining

411
00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:54.240
<v Speaker 2>sites outside Calumet. Abandoned buildings, damaged, heavy equipment, moved, trail cameras, destroyed.

412
00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:58.319
<v Speaker 2>The mining company wanted answers. It was my seventh year

413
00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:01.599
<v Speaker 2>as a deputy in Houghton County. Thought I'd seen everything

414
00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:05.079
<v Speaker 2>the up could throw at me. Meth labs and hunting camps,

415
00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:08.599
<v Speaker 2>copper thieves and the old mines, even a few sovereign

416
00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:10.240
<v Speaker 2>citizens holding up in the woods.

417
00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:11.599
<v Speaker 1>This was different.

418
00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.519
<v Speaker 2>The first scene was at the Quincy Mines abandoned shaft house.

419
00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:19.119
<v Speaker 2>The steel door, thick as my fist and secured with

420
00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.799
<v Speaker 2>industrial padlocks, was bent outward like something had pushed from

421
00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:28.359
<v Speaker 2>the inside. The padlocks were snapped, not cut inside. Hundred

422
00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:32.400
<v Speaker 2>pounds ore carts were stacked like toys. The mind company's

423
00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:35.160
<v Speaker 2>security estimated it would take a crew with heavy equipment

424
00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:39.640
<v Speaker 2>hours to move those carts. This was done overnight in silence.

425
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:43.599
<v Speaker 2>Trail cameras in the area were destroyed, but one partially

426
00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:47.480
<v Speaker 2>damaged unit still had a memory card. The footage showed

427
00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:51.440
<v Speaker 2>a dark mass approaching at two fifteen am. The figure

428
00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:55.720
<v Speaker 2>was enormous, walking upright. The camera was mounted eight feet

429
00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:58.640
<v Speaker 2>high and this thing looked directly into it at eye

430
00:26:58.759 --> 00:27:01.880
<v Speaker 2>level before the feed cut out out. The last frame

431
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:05.559
<v Speaker 2>showed a hand reaching for the camera, massive covered in

432
00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:10.680
<v Speaker 2>dark hair with opposable thumbs. Local Jibue elders weren't surprised

433
00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:13.559
<v Speaker 2>when I asked around. They had stories about the wind

434
00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:17.079
<v Speaker 2>to go, but also about something else. The old people

435
00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:20.039
<v Speaker 2>of the woods who were here before anyone. They said

436
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:23.759
<v Speaker 2>the abandoned mines had disturbed things better left alone, opened

437
00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:27.640
<v Speaker 2>passages that should have stayed closed. I started patrolling the

438
00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:30.960
<v Speaker 2>mining sites at night. The company had pulled their security

439
00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:34.680
<v Speaker 2>after two guards quit without explanation, just me and my

440
00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:38.720
<v Speaker 2>cruiser driving the forest roads between shaft houses and processing

441
00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:42.319
<v Speaker 2>plants that had been dead for fifty years. Two weeks

442
00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:45.440
<v Speaker 2>into the investigation, I got a call about someone inside

443
00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.839
<v Speaker 2>the Champion mine buildings. Arrived to find the chain link

444
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:52.920
<v Speaker 2>fence peeled back like aluminum foil. Inside the main building,

445
00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:56.880
<v Speaker 2>I found tracks in the dust, barefoot human like, but

446
00:27:57.000 --> 00:28:00.400
<v Speaker 2>much larger than any foot I'd ever seen, with thee

447
00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:03.720
<v Speaker 2>that covered eight feet. I followed the tracks through the building,

448
00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:08.039
<v Speaker 2>passed rusted machinery and collapsed conveyors. They led to an

449
00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:11.799
<v Speaker 2>old ventilation shaft that connected to the mine proper. The

450
00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:15.359
<v Speaker 2>grate covering it was torn away. Fresh scratches on the

451
00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:18.759
<v Speaker 2>walls showed something large had gone down. I called for

452
00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:24.440
<v Speaker 2>backup and waited an hour. No response. Radio dead, cell

453
00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:27.319
<v Speaker 2>phone showed no signal, though I'd had three bars when

454
00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:32.119
<v Speaker 2>I arrived. The temperature was dropping fast, maybe ten below already,

455
00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.839
<v Speaker 2>but I kept sweating feeling. Watched a sound from the shaft,

456
00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:42.720
<v Speaker 2>rocks falling, echoing up from deep underground, then breathing, deep

457
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:45.680
<v Speaker 2>rhythmic breathing that seemed to come from the earth itself.

458
00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:48.839
<v Speaker 2>I backed away from the shaft, and that's when I

459
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.039
<v Speaker 2>saw it standing in the doorway i'd entered through. Nine

460
00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:56.000
<v Speaker 2>feet tall, easy, covered in dark brown hair except for

461
00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:00.400
<v Speaker 2>its face, which was almost human but not quite. The

462
00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:05.319
<v Speaker 2>brow ridge was pronounced, the jaw massive. Its eyes reflected

463
00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:09.000
<v Speaker 2>my flashlight beam like a nocturnal animal's. We stared at

464
00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:11.960
<v Speaker 2>each other for a few short seconds. It made a sound,

465
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:16.599
<v Speaker 2>not quite speech, not quite animal, a low rumble that

466
00:29:16.680 --> 00:29:19.920
<v Speaker 2>I felt in my chest. Then it turned sideways to

467
00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:23.440
<v Speaker 2>fit through the doorway and disappeared into the night. The

468
00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:26.960
<v Speaker 2>ease with which it moved, the casual display of size

469
00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:31.079
<v Speaker 2>and power, made me realize how vulnerable I was. I

470
00:29:31.160 --> 00:29:34.440
<v Speaker 2>ran to my cruiser. As I started the engine, something

471
00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:37.079
<v Speaker 2>hit the roof hard enough to dent it a rock

472
00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:38.440
<v Speaker 2>the size of a bowling ball.

473
00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:40.119
<v Speaker 1>Then another hit the hood.

474
00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:43.680
<v Speaker 2>I drove out of there without looking back, rocks pelting

475
00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:47.200
<v Speaker 2>the vehicle until I reached the main road. The next morning,

476
00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:50.440
<v Speaker 2>I returned with another unit. We found my tire tracks,

477
00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:54.720
<v Speaker 2>the damage fence, the footprints in the building. We expanded

478
00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:58.960
<v Speaker 2>the investigation found seventeen different sites with similar damage over

479
00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:03.880
<v Speaker 2>a forty mile rati always the same pattern. Incredible displays

480
00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:07.640
<v Speaker 2>of strength, intelligence in how things were moved or manipulated,

481
00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:12.880
<v Speaker 2>and those massive footprints. Stay tuned for more sasquatch ott

482
00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:20.079
<v Speaker 2>to see, We'll be right back. After these messages, hair

483
00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:24.640
<v Speaker 2>samples came back as contaminated or inconclusive. Plaster casts of

484
00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:27.279
<v Speaker 2>the prints were lost in transit to the state lab.

485
00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:31.680
<v Speaker 2>I started researching on my own time. Found reports going

486
00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:35.480
<v Speaker 2>back to the eighteen hundreds, miners refusing to work certain

487
00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:39.640
<v Speaker 2>shafts because of the wild men underground. A nineteen thirteen

488
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:42.599
<v Speaker 2>newspaper article about a giant hairy man seen near the

489
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:46.799
<v Speaker 2>Calumet and Hecla mines, a nineteen sixty seven state police

490
00:30:46.839 --> 00:30:50.640
<v Speaker 2>report about unknown individuals living in the abandoned mine systems.

491
00:30:51.240 --> 00:30:54.160
<v Speaker 2>Then I met Tom, a retired miner in his eighties.

492
00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:56.920
<v Speaker 2>After a few beers, he told me about the summer

493
00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:00.359
<v Speaker 2>of nineteen seventy one. He and five other minds were

494
00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:02.720
<v Speaker 2>working a deep shaft when they broke through into a

495
00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:07.839
<v Speaker 2>natural cavern. Inside they found things tools made from copper

496
00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:13.000
<v Speaker 2>and stone, pictographs on the walls, and fresh footprints. Management

497
00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:16.319
<v Speaker 2>sealed the cavern immediately threatened the miners with their jobs

498
00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:19.519
<v Speaker 2>if they talked. Tom believed there was a whole network

499
00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:22.680
<v Speaker 2>of natural caves connected to the mines, and something had

500
00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:26.119
<v Speaker 2>been living in them long before humans started digging. He

501
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:28.839
<v Speaker 2>thought the mining operations had forced them to the surface,

502
00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:34.680
<v Speaker 2>into our world. The vandalism stopped that winter abruptly, no explanation.

503
00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:39.319
<v Speaker 2>The mining company quietly increased security and installed motion activated

504
00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:40.240
<v Speaker 2>lights everywhere.

505
00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:42.119
<v Speaker 1>They also sealed.

506
00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:45.400
<v Speaker 2>Every shaft entrance with reinforced concrete way beyond what was

507
00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:49.119
<v Speaker 2>needed for safety. But I still get calls hunters seeing

508
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:53.640
<v Speaker 2>something walking upright through the deep woods, snowmobilers finding tracks

509
00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:58.200
<v Speaker 2>crossing trails where no human could walk without snowshoes, strange

510
00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:02.160
<v Speaker 2>howls echoing off the cliffs along Superior. Last spring, I

511
00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:05.400
<v Speaker 2>was fishing a remote stream near the old cliff mine.

512
00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:09.440
<v Speaker 2>Found a shelter built from trees woven together with incredible skill.

513
00:32:10.200 --> 00:32:16.720
<v Speaker 2>Inside were bones, deer, rabbit fish, arranged almost ceremonially, and

514
00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:19.880
<v Speaker 2>on a flat rock, a piece of native copper hammered

515
00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:23.559
<v Speaker 2>into a rough tool shape, fresh work, the hammer marks

516
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:27.680
<v Speaker 2>still bright. I left it there, didn't report it. Some

517
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:30.839
<v Speaker 2>things the modern world doesn't need to know. The forest

518
00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:34.200
<v Speaker 2>keeps its secrets, the mines hold their mysteries, and we

519
00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:37.400
<v Speaker 2>pretend we're alone out here in the north Woods. But

520
00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:40.519
<v Speaker 2>on cold nights, when the aurora dances and the wolves

521
00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:44.680
<v Speaker 2>are silent, I know better. They're out there, have always

522
00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:47.839
<v Speaker 2>been out there, living in the spaces between our world

523
00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:51.960
<v Speaker 2>and something older. For our next story, we traveled to

524
00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.319
<v Speaker 2>one of the most remote places in North America, the

525
00:32:55.400 --> 00:33:01.039
<v Speaker 2>Dalton Highway in northern Alaska. February twenty nineteen. State Trooper

526
00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:03.799
<v Speaker 2>Robert shares his encounter in a place where the Arctic

527
00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:07.880
<v Speaker 2>holds ancient secrets. The Dalton Highway in February is about

528
00:33:07.880 --> 00:33:10.079
<v Speaker 2>as remote as you can get and still be in America,

529
00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:13.160
<v Speaker 2>five hundred miles of ice and wind between Fairbanks and

530
00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:16.039
<v Speaker 2>dead Horse. Mostly truckers hauling equipment.

531
00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:16.839
<v Speaker 1>To the oil fields.

532
00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:20.119
<v Speaker 2>I'd been stationed in Coldfoot for three years, one of

533
00:33:20.119 --> 00:33:22.519
<v Speaker 2>a handful of troopers covering an area of the size

534
00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:25.960
<v Speaker 2>of several states. The call came in at one am

535
00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:28.920
<v Speaker 2>from a trucker named Carl. He was pulled over at

536
00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:31.920
<v Speaker 2>mile two thirty five. Said he'd hit something but couldn't

537
00:33:31.960 --> 00:33:35.039
<v Speaker 2>find a body. Said it was large, walked on two

538
00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:39.319
<v Speaker 2>legs and disappeared into the storm. Temperature was forty below,

539
00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:43.680
<v Speaker 2>winds gusting to fifty. Nothing could survive exposed out there

540
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:48.119
<v Speaker 2>for long. I found Karl's rig two hours later, hazards

541
00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:53.039
<v Speaker 2>still flashing. The front bumper was damaged, headlights shattered. Blood

542
00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:56.559
<v Speaker 2>on the grill, but not much. Carl was shaken, kept

543
00:33:56.559 --> 00:33:58.880
<v Speaker 2>saying it stood up after he hit it and walked away.

544
00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:01.720
<v Speaker 2>I figured he'd clipped a cariboo and the weather was

545
00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:04.799
<v Speaker 2>playing tricks on him. Then I saw the handprint on

546
00:34:04.839 --> 00:34:10.840
<v Speaker 2>his hood, blood partially frozen, but clearly a hand, five fingers,

547
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:16.400
<v Speaker 2>a posable thumb, but massive. The span was incredible, and

548
00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:21.440
<v Speaker 2>in the blood visible dermal ridges. Fingerprints essentially, but from

549
00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:25.159
<v Speaker 2>something that wasn't quite human. I followed the blood trail

550
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:28.119
<v Speaker 2>off the road. The wind was brutal, but I could

551
00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:32.840
<v Speaker 2>see impressions in the snow, bipedal long stride heading into

552
00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:37.400
<v Speaker 2>the tundra. After fifty yards, the trail disappeared, not covered

553
00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:41.920
<v Speaker 2>by snow, just stopped, like whatever was bleeding had simply vanished.

554
00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:46.400
<v Speaker 2>Back at Carl's truck, I took photos, scraped blood samples.

555
00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:50.800
<v Speaker 2>The trucker's dash cam had caught something through the blowing snow,

556
00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:54.800
<v Speaker 2>A dark figure crossing the road upright, at least seven

557
00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:58.760
<v Speaker 2>feet tall, moving with purpose. The impact was at maybe

558
00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:01.920
<v Speaker 2>fifteen miles per hour, enough to knock it down but

559
00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:05.599
<v Speaker 2>not kill anything that size. The figure got up immediately

560
00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:08.480
<v Speaker 2>and strode off. I called it in as a vehicle

561
00:35:08.519 --> 00:35:13.000
<v Speaker 2>wildlife collision, but kept investigating. The blood samples went to

562
00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:16.199
<v Speaker 2>a friend at the University of Alaska. Came back as

563
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:21.519
<v Speaker 2>unknown primate, closest match to human, but with significant genetic variations.

564
00:35:22.280 --> 00:35:26.599
<v Speaker 2>Two weeks later, pipeline workers reported someone vandalizing equipment near

565
00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:30.920
<v Speaker 2>pump Station five. Security footage showed a figure approaching at night,

566
00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:35.039
<v Speaker 2>examining the machinery, then bending a steel maintenance ladder like

567
00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:39.039
<v Speaker 2>it was aluminum. The company wanted answers. I drove out

568
00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:42.519
<v Speaker 2>during a break in the weather. Found tracks everywhere in

569
00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:45.599
<v Speaker 2>the snow, around the buildings on the frozen river nearby.

570
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:50.480
<v Speaker 2>Cast one in dental stone eighteen inches long. Clear tow

571
00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:54.119
<v Speaker 2>impressions found where something had been watching the station from

572
00:35:54.119 --> 00:35:57.719
<v Speaker 2>a hill overlooking the complex. The snow was compressed in

573
00:35:57.800 --> 00:36:01.159
<v Speaker 2>a body shape, like it had been lying pro observing.

574
00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:05.039
<v Speaker 2>The workers were nervous. They'd been hearing things at night,

575
00:36:05.639 --> 00:36:08.599
<v Speaker 2>wood knocks, which shouldn't exist because there are no trees

576
00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:12.840
<v Speaker 2>for miles, rocks hitting the buildings. One welder swore he

577
00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:15.000
<v Speaker 2>saw a face at his window on the second floor.

578
00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:19.639
<v Speaker 2>Another found the station's emergency generator, weighing eight hundred pounds,

579
00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:23.960
<v Speaker 2>moved ten feet from its pad. I started interviewing indigenous

580
00:36:23.960 --> 00:36:28.159
<v Speaker 2>elders in the area. The Inupiate had stories about the Tornarsuk,

581
00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:32.000
<v Speaker 2>powerful beings that lived in the mountains in tundra. They

582
00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:37.159
<v Speaker 2>weren't quite spirits, weren't quite flesh, but something between. The

583
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:40.639
<v Speaker 2>elders weren't surprised by my questions. One said, these beings

584
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:44.039
<v Speaker 2>had always been here, were the true inhabitants.

585
00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:46.679
<v Speaker 1>Of the Arctic. We were just visitors they tolerated.

586
00:36:47.719 --> 00:36:50.880
<v Speaker 2>In March, I had my own encounter, responding to a

587
00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:55.960
<v Speaker 2>jackknifed semi middle of the night blizzard conditions. As I

588
00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:59.679
<v Speaker 2>set up flares, I felt watched that primitive feeling that

589
00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:03.039
<v Speaker 2>makes your hair stand up. I turned and saw eyes

590
00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:05.960
<v Speaker 2>shine about thirty yards away. Too high to be a

591
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:09.440
<v Speaker 2>wolf or bear. I hit it with my spotlight. The

592
00:37:09.480 --> 00:37:13.800
<v Speaker 2>figure didn't run. It stood there, massive, covered in what

593
00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:17.239
<v Speaker 2>looked like white or light gray hair. The face was

594
00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:20.920
<v Speaker 2>almost human, but elongated, with deep set eyes that didn't

595
00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:23.880
<v Speaker 2>flinch from the light. We looked at each other across

596
00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:27.519
<v Speaker 2>that frozen distance for maybe ten seconds. Then it turned

597
00:37:27.800 --> 00:37:32.400
<v Speaker 2>and walked into the storm. The way it moved was fluid, powerful,

598
00:37:32.840 --> 00:37:35.400
<v Speaker 2>completely at home in conditions that would kill a human

599
00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:38.559
<v Speaker 2>in minutes. The tracks it left were clear until the

600
00:37:38.599 --> 00:37:42.079
<v Speaker 2>wind took them. I followed for one hundred yards before

601
00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:45.880
<v Speaker 2>common sense kicked in. Whatever this thing was, it was

602
00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:50.119
<v Speaker 2>adapted to this environment in ways humans weren't. Following it

603
00:37:50.159 --> 00:37:53.880
<v Speaker 2>into a blizzard would be suicide. More reports came in

604
00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:58.480
<v Speaker 2>that spring, truckers seeing figures crossing the road, pipeline workers

605
00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:03.119
<v Speaker 2>finding massive footprints, hunters reporting strange howls echoing off the

606
00:38:03.119 --> 00:38:07.320
<v Speaker 2>Brooks Range. A National Geographic photographer claimed he got within

607
00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:10.199
<v Speaker 2>fifty yards of one before it noticed him and disappeared

608
00:38:10.280 --> 00:38:15.880
<v Speaker 2>up a cliff face no human could climb. I compiled everything, photos, videos,

609
00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:19.719
<v Speaker 2>blood samples, hair samples, plaster casts, sent it to a

610
00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:23.639
<v Speaker 2>contact at the FBI who dealt with unusual cases, got

611
00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:26.840
<v Speaker 2>a call two days later. They had similar reports from

612
00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:30.440
<v Speaker 2>all along the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic. Had been tracking

613
00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:35.760
<v Speaker 2>these things for decades. Officially they didn't exist. Unofficially, field

614
00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:39.639
<v Speaker 2>agents were told to document but not engage. The most

615
00:38:39.639 --> 00:38:43.800
<v Speaker 2>interesting case was from nineteen seventy nine. An oil exploration

616
00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:46.639
<v Speaker 2>team found a body in the permafrost near prude Hoe Bay,

617
00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:51.400
<v Speaker 2>seven and a half feet tall, covered in hair, partially mummified.

618
00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:55.280
<v Speaker 2>The company flew it out immediately. Officially it was a

619
00:38:55.320 --> 00:38:59.719
<v Speaker 2>prehistoric bear. The workers who found it said otherwise. One

620
00:38:59.719 --> 00:39:03.440
<v Speaker 2>took photos before the body was removed. The skeletal structure

621
00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:06.559
<v Speaker 2>was humanoid. The skull was all wrong for a bear.

622
00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:11.119
<v Speaker 2>I'm still stationed on the Dalton, still get reports, but

623
00:39:11.239 --> 00:39:13.679
<v Speaker 2>now I know what to look for. They avoid the

624
00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:17.760
<v Speaker 2>pipeline and the Hall Road mostly, but sometimes our worlds intersect.

625
00:39:18.599 --> 00:39:21.480
<v Speaker 2>In the long Arctic twilight, you might see them moving

626
00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:26.000
<v Speaker 2>across the tundra, dark shapes against the snow, walking upright,

627
00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:31.360
<v Speaker 2>impossibly large. The truckers know, the pipeline workers know. The

628
00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:35.480
<v Speaker 2>indigenous peoples have always known. There's something else out here

629
00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:38.800
<v Speaker 2>in the Arctic wilderness, something that was here first, and

630
00:39:38.840 --> 00:39:41.320
<v Speaker 2>we'll be here long after the oil stops flowing and

631
00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:44.960
<v Speaker 2>the road crumbles back to tundra. Our final account brings

632
00:39:45.039 --> 00:39:48.559
<v Speaker 2>us to the swamps and forests of East Texas. October

633
00:39:48.599 --> 00:39:53.320
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty. The Big Thicket National Preserve Sheriff's Deputy James

634
00:39:53.320 --> 00:39:55.840
<v Speaker 2>tells us about a missing person case that became something

635
00:39:55.880 --> 00:40:00.559
<v Speaker 2>else entirely October twenty twenty, we had a miss person

636
00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:04.159
<v Speaker 2>case that evolved into something that I'll never forget. Robert

637
00:40:04.280 --> 00:40:07.239
<v Speaker 2>sixty seven years old, disappeared while hiking in the Big

638
00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:12.599
<v Speaker 2>Thicket National Preserve. Experienced outdoorsmen knew the area like his backyard.

639
00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:15.920
<v Speaker 2>His truck was at the Kirby Nature Trail Parking Area.

640
00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:19.840
<v Speaker 2>Keys under the mat like always. The Big Thicket is

641
00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:24.519
<v Speaker 2>different from what most people imagine Texas to be. It's dense, swampy,

642
00:40:24.920 --> 00:40:30.199
<v Speaker 2>a biological crossroads where eastern hardwood forests, Gulf coastal plains

643
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:35.000
<v Speaker 2>and pine forests converge. Locals call it impenetrable for a reason.

644
00:40:35.639 --> 00:40:38.880
<v Speaker 2>It's easy to get lost in there, easier to stay lost.

645
00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:44.719
<v Speaker 2>We started the search immediately, dogs helicopters, volunteer groups. The

646
00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:48.519
<v Speaker 2>dogs acted strange from the start, refused to track, kept

647
00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:51.400
<v Speaker 2>circling back to the handlers with their tails between their legs.

648
00:40:52.159 --> 00:40:55.559
<v Speaker 2>The best tracking dog in East Texas, a bloodhound named Duke,

649
00:40:55.960 --> 00:40:59.199
<v Speaker 2>sat down at the trailhead and howled. Wouldn't budge no

650
00:40:59.239 --> 00:41:02.480
<v Speaker 2>matter what his hand did. I'd been with hardin County

651
00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:05.599
<v Speaker 2>Sheriff's office for eight years, worked plenty of searches in

652
00:41:05.639 --> 00:41:09.760
<v Speaker 2>the thicket. This felt wrong from the beginning. Robert's trail

653
00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:13.559
<v Speaker 2>went cold about a mile in, just stopped, not like

654
00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:17.239
<v Speaker 2>he doubled back or gone off trail. The scent just ended,

655
00:41:17.519 --> 00:41:21.599
<v Speaker 2>according to the dogs. Day two, we found his backpack

656
00:41:21.639 --> 00:41:24.800
<v Speaker 2>hanging from a tree branch twenty feet up, not thrown

657
00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:32.320
<v Speaker 2>or caught, deliberately placed, his water, food GPS, all still inside.

658
00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:36.039
<v Speaker 2>No way Robert, with his bad knee, climbed that tree.

659
00:41:36.119 --> 00:41:39.239
<v Speaker 2>The bark showed no scuff marks from climbing. That's when

660
00:41:39.239 --> 00:41:42.840
<v Speaker 2>we started finding the prints in the mud near Village Creek.

661
00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:46.679
<v Speaker 2>Clear as day, human like, but massive, with a mid

662
00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:50.800
<v Speaker 2>tarsl break that no human foot has sixteen inches long

663
00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:55.199
<v Speaker 2>stride length that suggested something over seven feet tall. The

664
00:41:55.239 --> 00:41:58.360
<v Speaker 2>game warden said, black bear. But I've seen bear prints.

665
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:02.719
<v Speaker 2>These had five toess clear heel strikes and that distinctive

666
00:42:02.760 --> 00:42:07.119
<v Speaker 2>push off pattern of bipedal movement. The search zone expanded.

667
00:42:07.559 --> 00:42:10.639
<v Speaker 2>I was working with two volunteers searching along the Turkey

668
00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:14.360
<v Speaker 2>Creek trail. The smell hit us first, like a wet

669
00:42:14.400 --> 00:42:17.960
<v Speaker 2>dog rolled in swamp. Gas and rotten eggs made your

670
00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:22.320
<v Speaker 2>eyes water throat close up. The volunteers wanted to turn back,

671
00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:25.880
<v Speaker 2>but we pushed through. Found a shelter built from pine

672
00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:29.000
<v Speaker 2>trees that had been bent and woven together while still alive.

673
00:42:29.960 --> 00:42:33.519
<v Speaker 2>Inside were beds of Spanish moss and pine needles. The

674
00:42:33.519 --> 00:42:37.320
<v Speaker 2>ceiling was eight feet high. On the ground, more prints

675
00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:41.320
<v Speaker 2>and what looked like a collection of objects smooth river rocks,

676
00:42:41.639 --> 00:42:45.239
<v Speaker 2>pieces of colored glass, and Robert's compass from his missing pack.

677
00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:48.280
<v Speaker 2>We called in the find, but by the time the

678
00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:54.159
<v Speaker 2>main search party arrived, the shelter was gone, not destroyed, gone.

679
00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:56.719
<v Speaker 2>The trees were standing straight like they'd never been bent.

680
00:42:57.599 --> 00:43:00.960
<v Speaker 2>Only thing left was disturbed ground and that lingering smell.

681
00:43:01.960 --> 00:43:04.079
<v Speaker 2>That night, we set up base camp at the Pitcher

682
00:43:04.119 --> 00:43:09.599
<v Speaker 2>Plant Trail parking area. Around midnight, the howls started long, mournful,

683
00:43:09.960 --> 00:43:13.159
<v Speaker 2>but with a quality that was almost human, like someone

684
00:43:13.199 --> 00:43:17.679
<v Speaker 2>screaming in grief, but deeper, more resonant than wood knocks,

685
00:43:18.239 --> 00:43:22.480
<v Speaker 2>clear patterns from multiple directions. The search and rescue coordinator,

686
00:43:22.719 --> 00:43:26.039
<v Speaker 2>a thirty year veteran, packed up and left, said he'd

687
00:43:26.039 --> 00:43:30.079
<v Speaker 2>seen enough. Day three brought the closest encounter. I was

688
00:43:30.119 --> 00:43:34.039
<v Speaker 2>searching solo along Cypress Slough when I heard footsteps paralleling

689
00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:39.280
<v Speaker 2>me through the water, heavy deliberate splashing. I stopped, they stopped.

690
00:43:39.800 --> 00:43:44.679
<v Speaker 2>I moved, they moved. Finally called out, identified myself as

691
00:43:44.760 --> 00:43:48.880
<v Speaker 2>law enforcement. The footsteps stopped. Then Robert walked out of

692
00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:55.360
<v Speaker 2>the palmetto thicket alive, uninjured but different. His clothes were intact,

693
00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:59.079
<v Speaker 2>but covered in mud. He didn't respond to questions, just

694
00:43:59.119 --> 00:44:03.440
<v Speaker 2>walked past me toward the trail. I followed, calling for backup.

695
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:06.719
<v Speaker 2>When we got him to the ambulance, his vitals normal,

696
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:11.519
<v Speaker 2>no injuries, but completely unresponsive. At the hospital they found

697
00:44:11.599 --> 00:44:16.320
<v Speaker 2>something odd his feet. The souls were clean, soft, no

698
00:44:16.440 --> 00:44:20.000
<v Speaker 2>cuts or bruises, despite supposedly walking barefoot through the thicket

699
00:44:20.039 --> 00:44:24.159
<v Speaker 2>for three days. His boots were never found. Robert came

700
00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:27.159
<v Speaker 2>around after a week, said he remembered following something that

701
00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:30.360
<v Speaker 2>walked upright but wasn't human. Said it led him to

702
00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:34.119
<v Speaker 2>a place where others like it lived, families, he insisted

703
00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:37.840
<v Speaker 2>with young ones. They didn't hurt him, just watched him,

704
00:44:38.199 --> 00:44:39.280
<v Speaker 2>brought him food.

705
00:44:39.639 --> 00:44:42.599
<v Speaker 1>Nuts, berries, fish.

706
00:44:42.840 --> 00:44:45.440
<v Speaker 2>He said they were trying to communicate something about the land,

707
00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:50.920
<v Speaker 2>about changes coming, but he couldn't understand. The psychologist diagnosed

708
00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:56.119
<v Speaker 2>it as stress induced hallucination, but Robert drew pictures, detailed

709
00:44:56.159 --> 00:45:02.800
<v Speaker 2>sketches of faces that were almost human, but not quite.

710
00:45:03.719 --> 00:45:06.199
<v Speaker 2>Stay tuned for more sasquatch otta see, We'll be right

711
00:45:06.239 --> 00:45:12.800
<v Speaker 2>back after these messages pronounced brow ridges, wide noses, hair

712
00:45:12.840 --> 00:45:17.199
<v Speaker 2>covering everything but the palms, souls and face. I went

713
00:45:17.239 --> 00:45:20.199
<v Speaker 2>back alone a month later found the spot where Robert

714
00:45:20.199 --> 00:45:24.800
<v Speaker 2>had emerged. The ground was covered in footprints, dozens of them,

715
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.760
<v Speaker 2>different sizes, including small ones that suggested juveniles. In the

716
00:45:29.800 --> 00:45:32.719
<v Speaker 2>center was a pattern made from arranged stones and sticks.

717
00:45:33.360 --> 00:45:38.760
<v Speaker 2>Took photos, then left everything undisturbed. Started researching the Alabama

718
00:45:38.840 --> 00:45:41.960
<v Speaker 2>Kushata and Cato tribes had stories about the shadow people

719
00:45:41.960 --> 00:45:46.360
<v Speaker 2>of the thicket. Early settlers reported wild men stealing from camps.

720
00:45:47.119 --> 00:45:50.159
<v Speaker 2>In nineteen sixty nine, three hunters disappeared for a week,

721
00:45:50.559 --> 00:45:54.199
<v Speaker 2>found later with similar stories to Roberts, led away by

722
00:45:54.239 --> 00:45:57.159
<v Speaker 2>tall hair covered beings who lived in the deep Thicket.

723
00:45:57.920 --> 00:46:01.280
<v Speaker 2>The state biologist I consulted off the record wasn't surprised,

724
00:46:01.800 --> 00:46:04.159
<v Speaker 2>said the Big Thicket was one of the most biodiverse

725
00:46:04.239 --> 00:46:08.719
<v Speaker 2>areas in North America, with species found nowhere else. If

726
00:46:08.760 --> 00:46:12.239
<v Speaker 2>something like this existed anywhere in Texas, it would be there.

727
00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:16.280
<v Speaker 2>He showed me castings from tracks found in nineteen seventy six,

728
00:46:16.760 --> 00:46:19.880
<v Speaker 2>hair samples that came back as unknown primate in nineteen

729
00:46:19.920 --> 00:46:23.519
<v Speaker 2>eighty three, and a game camera photo from twenty eighteen

730
00:46:23.639 --> 00:46:26.920
<v Speaker 2>showing a tall, dark figure walking upright through the trees.

731
00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:32.280
<v Speaker 2>But nothing official. Never anything official. The reports get filed

732
00:46:32.280 --> 00:46:36.639
<v Speaker 2>as bears, feral humans, or hoaxes. The evidence disappears or

733
00:46:36.639 --> 00:46:41.440
<v Speaker 2>gets reclassified, the witnesses are discouraged from talking. I still

734
00:46:41.480 --> 00:46:44.840
<v Speaker 2>patrol the edges of the thicket, sometimes find prints after

735
00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:48.320
<v Speaker 2>heavy rains. Once found a deer carcass field dressed with

736
00:46:48.400 --> 00:46:53.480
<v Speaker 2>obvious hand manipulation, no tool marks. Another time a pyramid

737
00:46:53.519 --> 00:46:57.239
<v Speaker 2>of turtle shells stacked by a creek, each one cleaned perfectly.

738
00:46:57.960 --> 00:47:01.000
<v Speaker 2>Last spring, During another search for a missing hiker found

739
00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:05.280
<v Speaker 2>safe two days later, I saw one clearly dawn heavy

740
00:47:05.320 --> 00:47:09.760
<v Speaker 2>fog about forty yards away across a slough. Female I

741
00:47:09.800 --> 00:47:13.880
<v Speaker 2>think based on the build, maybe seven feet tall, covered

742
00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:17.280
<v Speaker 2>in reddish brown hair. She was picking something from the water,

743
00:47:17.760 --> 00:47:21.360
<v Speaker 2>crawfish maybe, and eating them. She knew I was there,

744
00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:24.639
<v Speaker 2>looked right at me, then continued what she was doing.

745
00:47:25.360 --> 00:47:30.239
<v Speaker 2>No fear, no aggression, just acknowledgment. After a few minutes,

746
00:47:30.280 --> 00:47:32.960
<v Speaker 2>she stood, made a sound like a whistle crossed with

747
00:47:33.039 --> 00:47:38.440
<v Speaker 2>a hum, and three smaller figures emerged from the palmettos juveniles.

748
00:47:38.920 --> 00:47:42.400
<v Speaker 2>They all walked deeper into the thicket, unhurried, the young ones,

749
00:47:42.440 --> 00:47:46.039
<v Speaker 2>playing as they went. I never reported it, what would

750
00:47:46.079 --> 00:47:49.880
<v Speaker 2>be the point, But I know they're there, a whole population,

751
00:47:50.039 --> 00:47:53.119
<v Speaker 2>maybe living in the most impenetrable parts of the thicket,

752
00:47:53.840 --> 00:47:58.679
<v Speaker 2>avoiding us mostly, but sometimes our worlds overlap. Sometimes someone

753
00:47:58.760 --> 00:48:02.559
<v Speaker 2>like Robert crosses that boundary and comes back changed. These

754
00:48:02.559 --> 00:48:06.159
<v Speaker 2>accounts were shared by six law enforcement officers from across America,

755
00:48:06.440 --> 00:48:09.679
<v Speaker 2>from the rainforests of Washington to the frozen tundra of Alaska,

756
00:48:09.960 --> 00:48:12.480
<v Speaker 2>from the ancient mountains of Kentucky to the deep swamps

757
00:48:12.519 --> 00:48:16.880
<v Speaker 2>of Texas. Each officer continues their work, carrying the knowledge

758
00:48:16.880 --> 00:48:20.239
<v Speaker 2>of what they've seen, maintaining the thin blue line between

759
00:48:20.239 --> 00:48:24.199
<v Speaker 2>the known world and something far older, far stranger, that

760
00:48:24.280 --> 00:48:28.719
<v Speaker 2>shares our forests and wilderness. They serve and protect, but

761
00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:32.519
<v Speaker 2>they also keep secrets because some truths the public isn't

762
00:48:32.519 --> 00:48:36.679
<v Speaker 2>ready for, and some mysteries are better left unsolved. These

763
00:48:36.719 --> 00:48:40.119
<v Speaker 2>officers didn't ask for these encounters. They were simply doing

764
00:48:40.159 --> 00:48:43.360
<v Speaker 2>their jobs when they crossed paths with something that shouldn't.

765
00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:44.400
<v Speaker 1>Exist but does.

766
00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:51.119
<v Speaker 2>The evidence is there, photographs, footprint casts, hair samples, blood analysis,

767
00:48:51.760 --> 00:48:56.960
<v Speaker 2>all carefully documented, then quietly filed away or reclassified. The

768
00:48:57.039 --> 00:49:03.880
<v Speaker 2>official reports tell one story, bare sightings, equipment malfunctions, wilderness hallucinations.

769
00:49:04.639 --> 00:49:07.480
<v Speaker 2>But the officers who live these experiences.

770
00:49:06.920 --> 00:49:07.519
<v Speaker 1>Know the truth.

771
00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:11.800
<v Speaker 2>Out there, in the forgotten corners of America, in places

772
00:49:11.840 --> 00:49:15.039
<v Speaker 2>where cell phones don't work and satellites can't see through

773
00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:19.960
<v Speaker 2>the canopy, something else lives. Something that walks upright, that

774
00:49:20.079 --> 00:49:23.079
<v Speaker 2>watches from the shadows, that has learned to avoid us

775
00:49:23.119 --> 00:49:26.400
<v Speaker 2>as we've spread across the continent. They were here first,

776
00:49:26.880 --> 00:49:29.760
<v Speaker 2>they'll be here after we're gone. The next time you're

777
00:49:29.800 --> 00:49:32.400
<v Speaker 2>driving a lonely road at night and see eyeshine at

778
00:49:32.440 --> 00:49:35.000
<v Speaker 2>the wrong height, or hiking a trail and find a

779
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:38.840
<v Speaker 2>footprint too large to explain, or camping in the wilderness

780
00:49:38.840 --> 00:49:41.559
<v Speaker 2>and hear a sound that doesn't belong to any known animal.

781
00:49:42.039 --> 00:49:45.400
<v Speaker 2>Remember these stories. Remember that there are those who wear

782
00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:48.440
<v Speaker 2>badges and carried guns, who have seen things that challenge

783
00:49:48.480 --> 00:49:49.760
<v Speaker 2>everything we think we know.

784
00:49:49.800 --> 00:49:50.599
<v Speaker 1>About the world.

785
00:49:51.400 --> 00:49:55.960
<v Speaker 2>And remember that sometimes, just sometimes, the old stories are true,

786
00:49:56.000 --> 00:49:58.840
<v Speaker 2>The legends have substance, and the things that go bump

787
00:49:58.840 --> 00:50:01.360
<v Speaker 2>in the night are more re than we ever imagined.

788
00:50:02.199 --> 00:50:05.960
<v Speaker 2>This has been Backwood's Bigfoot stories, real encounters from real

789
00:50:06.039 --> 00:50:10.239
<v Speaker 2>law enforcement officers, because the truth, as they say, is

790
00:50:10.280 --> 00:50:15.440
<v Speaker 2>stranger than fiction and infinitely more terrifying. Stay safe out there,

791
00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:18.519
<v Speaker 2>and whatever you do, stay out of the woods after dark.

792
00:50:20.119 --> 00:50:21.360
<v Speaker 1>They say, you.

793
00:50:21.239 --> 00:50:24.880
<v Speaker 2>Don't gotta go home, but you can't stay.

794
00:50:29.719 --> 00:50:31.480
<v Speaker 1>I don't want to feel.

795
00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:33.880
<v Speaker 2>We're out the.

796
00:50:56.519 --> 00:50:59.760
<v Speaker 1>Job, this job, that chid everything.

797
00:51:00.119 --> 00:51:05.440
<v Speaker 2>You call it right looking back, joy for me, joy,

798
00:51:05.599 --> 00:51:44.760
<v Speaker 2>staying right, you call it run away step still, stay, stay,

799
00:51:45.559 --> 00:52:22.920
<v Speaker 2>stay still fast stay passes states, basingst usssess