Speaker 1: Greetings, fellow seekers of the unknown. It's Brian and I'm
Speaker 1: here today to share something truly extraordinary with all of you.
Speaker 1: As you know, my journey to uncover the truth of
Speaker 1: all things strange has taken me on a wild ride
Speaker 1: filled with incredible experiences and encounters with the unseen, and
Speaker 1: today I want to share that journey with all of
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Speaker 3: I want to hear reporting. I got a screen going
Speaker 3: on here. Something just kidding my dog? Something killed your dog?
Speaker 3: My dog. We're applying through the or over the tree.
Speaker 3: I don't know how it did it? Okay, damn, I'm
Speaker 3: really confused. All I thought was my dog coming over
Speaker 3: to pen. The name would it dead? When you hit
Speaker 3: the ground that entertaining cars? All I thought was my
Speaker 3: dog coming over to pen. Are you reporting?
Speaker 4: We got some one or something rolling around out here?
Speaker 3: Out here? Look them near the one now now and
Speaker 3: I don't need anything. I don't want to go outside right, Hello,
Speaker 3: get the Boddy out here? What went on out there?
Speaker 4: I've thought of at about.
Speaker 3: Nine I don't know you see ann out there?
Speaker 1: I'm walking right in the remote valleys and rugged peaks
Speaker 1: across our planet. Stories persist of creatures that walk upright
Speaker 1: like humans, but exist beyond the boundaries of our scientific understanding.
Speaker 1: These accounts come not just from folklore or superstition, but
Speaker 1: sometimes from military personnel, researchers with advanced degrees, and witnesses
Speaker 1: with nothing to gain but ridicule for sharing their experiences. Tonight,
Speaker 1: we journey across continents and decades to explore the four
Speaker 1: extraordinary narratives that challenge our understanding of what might still
Speaker 1: exist in the shadows of our civilization. From the mountains
Speaker 1: of Pakistan, where a Spanish zoologist gave his life pursuing
Speaker 1: the elusive Barmanu, to the war torn landscapes of Afghanistan,
Speaker 1: where American soldiers allegedly encountered a red haired giant of
Speaker 1: biblical proportions. Will traverse the ancient steps of Central Asia,
Speaker 1: where the almas may represent surviving relics from our own
Speaker 1: evolutionary past, and finally to the ash covered slopes of
Speaker 1: Mount Saint Helens, where military operations may have recovered bodies
Speaker 1: of creatures caught in one of America's most devastating natural disasters.
Speaker 1: These stories exist at the intersection of cryptozoology, anthropology, evolutionary biology,
Speaker 1: and government secrecy. They raise profound questions could unknown hominid
Speaker 1: species still inhabit the remote corners of our planet? What
Speaker 1: might their existence tell us about our own evilae lutionary history, And,
Speaker 1: perhaps most disturbing, if evidence of such beings has been recovered,
Speaker 1: why would this information be concealed from the public. Some
Speaker 1: will dismiss these accounts as mere folklore or conspiracy theories.
Speaker 1: Others will find in them compelling evidence that Homo sapiens
Speaker 1: may not be the only intelligent bipedal primates walking the
Speaker 1: earth today. As we explore these cases, I invite you
Speaker 1: to approach them with both critical thinking and an open mind,
Speaker 1: for in the space between skepticism and belief, we may
Speaker 1: find truths more remarkable than fiction. Our journey begins in
Speaker 1: the mist shrouded mountains of Pakistan, where the story of
Speaker 1: one researcher's ultimate sacrifice reveals the dangerous lengths some will
Speaker 1: go to document what science tells us cannot exist. In
Speaker 1: the shadow of the Hindu Kush Mountains, where ancient civilizations
Speaker 1: have thrived for millennia, something else may lurk in the
Speaker 1: mist shrouded valleys, something that walks upright like a man,
Speaker 1: but carries the primal ferocity of a beast. The locals
Speaker 1: call it Barmenu, the big hairy one. For century, shepherds
Speaker 1: have whispered tales of encounters with this creature, said to
Speaker 1: stalk the remote mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. But
Speaker 1: for one man, the quest to document this elusive being
Speaker 1: would end not with scientific acclaim, but with his throat
Speaker 1: cut in a blood soaked room, his life's work scattered
Speaker 1: to the winds. This is the story of Jordi mcgranor,
Speaker 1: the zoologist who dedicated his life to tracking Pakistan's Bigfoot
Speaker 1: and paid the ultimate price. Welcome to the dark and
Speaker 1: mysterious world of the Barmenu, where science, folklore, and murder
Speaker 1: create a potent cocktail of intrigue that remains unsolved to
Speaker 1: this day. The Barmanu is Pakistan's version of Bigfoot, a
Speaker 1: bipedal humanoid primate said to inhabit the remote mountainous regions
Speaker 1: along the Pakistan Afghanistan border. Local witnesses describe a hair
Speaker 1: covered creature standing six to seven feet tall, possessing both
Speaker 1: human and apelike characteristics. According to numerous accounts, the Barmanu
Speaker 1: emits a foul stench, often compared to rotting garbage and
Speaker 1: makes distinctive guttural sounds, unlike any known animal in the region.
Speaker 1: What separates the Barmanu from other cryptids is one particularly
Speaker 1: unusual trait. It reportedly wears animal skins on its back
Speaker 1: and head, suggesting a primitive intelligence and tool usage. This
Speaker 1: behavior has led some researchers to speculate that the Barmanu
Speaker 1: might represent a relic population of early hominids, possibly even Neanderthals,
Speaker 1: that somehow survived into the modern era. The creature's range
Speaker 1: spans the Chitral and Caricorum mountain ranges, placing it geographically
Speaker 1: between two other famous cryptids, the Almas of Central Asia
Speaker 1: and the Yetti of the Himalayas. In Pakistani folklore, it
Speaker 1: has earned a sinister reputation for allegedly abducting women and
Speaker 1: attempting to mate with them, making it both feared and
Speaker 1: reviled among local populations. The name Barmanu originates from the
Speaker 1: Kowar language, where it translates roughly to big hairy one,
Speaker 1: though variants of the name appear in several regional languages,
Speaker 1: including Urdu, Shina, Pashto, and Kashmiri. Regardless of what it's
Speaker 1: called shepherds and villagers throughout northern Pakistan's remote valleys speak
Speaker 1: of it with a mixture of dread and fascination. Enter
Speaker 1: Jordie mcgrainer, a Spanish zoologist who would become the Barmanu's
Speaker 1: most dedicated investigator and possibly its most famous victim. Born
Speaker 1: in Catalonia, Spain in nineteen sixty seven, mcgrainer lived in
Speaker 1: France before embarking on what would become his life's passion
Speaker 1: searching for evidence of unknown hominids in the remote mountains
Speaker 1: of Pakistan. Inspired by the work of Bernard Hovelman's often
Speaker 1: considered the father of cryptozoology, mcgrainer conducted the first formal
Speaker 1: search for the Barmeknew between nineteen eighty seven and nineteen ninety.
Speaker 1: During this initial expedition, he methodically collected eyewitness testimonies and
Speaker 1: documented potential evidence, writing a scientific paper titled less Omini
Speaker 1: de relique Dazi Sanrial Relict Hominids of Central Asia. Unlike
Speaker 1: many cryptid hunters, mcgrainer approached his work with scientific rigor.
Speaker 1: He developed a structured questionnaire about the creature's anatomy, based
Speaker 1: in part on descriptions of the controversial Minnesota Iceman specimen
Speaker 1: that cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans had examined in nineteen sixty eight.
Speaker 1: The Minnesota Iceman was a purported missing link displayed in
Speaker 1: a block of ice at carnivals and fairs across America
Speaker 1: in the late nineteen sixties, which Heuvelmans had classified as
Speaker 1: homopongoids ape like man, mcgrainer's dedication to the search was remarkable.
Speaker 1: He immersed himself in local culture, learning the language, adopting
Speaker 1: traditional dress, and living like the natives in the Shittre region.
Speaker 1: With his seven dogs and two horses as companions, he
Speaker 1: would venture alone into the wilderness for weeks at a time,
Speaker 1: tracking the elusive creature through some of the most inhospitable
Speaker 1: terrain on Earth. Between nineteen ninety two and nineteen ninety four,
Speaker 1: mcgrainor intensified his research, joined by doctor Anne Malasey and
Speaker 1: other associates. During this period, they compiled an impressive body
Speaker 1: of evidence. Mcgrainor meticulously gathered over fifty first hand eyewitness
Speaker 1: accounts from local shepherds and villagers who claimed to have
Speaker 1: encountered the creature. The team documented large humanoid footprints discovered
Speaker 1: in remote areas where human traffic was minimal. Perhaps most
Speaker 1: compelling were the recordings of strange guttural vocalizations heard in
Speaker 1: the shishi Ku valley that researchers believed could only have
Speaker 1: been produced by what they described as a primitive primate
Speaker 1: voice box, sounds unlike any known wildlife in the region.
Speaker 1: Perhaps most intriguingly, when mcgrainer's showed locals his identification kit
Speaker 1: containing images of various primates, fossil hominids, and other creatures,
Speaker 1: they consistently identified Huelman's homopondoids the Minnesota iceman as most
Speaker 1: closely resembling the Barmanu. They had encountered. The geographical positioning
Speaker 1: of the Barmanu between the territories of other reported relic hominids,
Speaker 1: the Almas of Central Asia and the Yeti of the Himalayas,
Speaker 1: suggested to mcgrainer the possibility of surviving populations of ancient
Speaker 1: human relatives. The Hindu, Kush and Karakorum Mountains, with their
Speaker 1: isolated valleys and difficult terrain, could theoretically have provided refuge
Speaker 1: for such creatures, allowing them to escape detection by modern science.
Speaker 1: Despite his methodical approach and growing body of evidence, mcgrainer's
Speaker 1: work would come to a premature and violent end. The
Speaker 1: political landscape of the region had become increasingly volatile following
Speaker 1: the Soviet Afghan War and the rise of the Taliban.
Speaker 1: After nine e l eleven, the situation deteriorated further as
Speaker 1: militants and warlords fought for control of the porous border regions.
Speaker 1: In this dangerous environment, mcgrainer continued his research, often crossing
Speaker 1: illegally into Afghanistan's Neurostan province. According to local accounts, he
Speaker 1: had once been held hostage by militants for three months,
Speaker 1: only gaining his release by pretending to convert to Islam
Speaker 1: and growing a beard. Upon his release, however, he reportedly
Speaker 1: denounced his supposed conversion and resumed his criticism of the
Speaker 1: extremists who had held him a dangerous stance in an
Speaker 1: increasingly radicalized region. On August second, two thousand and two,
Speaker 1: Jordie mcgrainor and a twelve year old boy who worked
Speaker 1: for him were found murdered in their home in the
Speaker 1: Boombret Valley.
Speaker 2: Their throats had been cut.
Speaker 1: Mcgrainer was just forty four years old and was reportedly
Speaker 1: planning to return to France the following month, bringing with
Speaker 1: him fifteen years of research data on the Barmanu. The
Speaker 1: circumstances surrounding his death remain murky. Some reports suggested that
Speaker 1: his guide might have been involved, while others pointed to
Speaker 1: Taliban extremists. False rumors circulated that he was a spy.
Speaker 1: The Pakistani authorities never identified a killer, and the case
Speaker 1: remains unsolved to this day. With mcgrainer's death, his extensive research,
Speaker 1: including recordings, photographs, and detailed field notes, was scattered and lost.
Speaker 1: His meticulous documentation of the Barmenu, which might have provided
Speaker 1: the scientific community with valuable insights into this cryptid disappeared
Speaker 1: into the fog of war and political instability that has
Speaker 1: long plagued the region. Today, the Barmanu remains an enigma,
Speaker 1: a creature of folklore that might represent something more. Jordi
Speaker 1: mcgrainer's work brought international attention to these reports, suggesting the
Speaker 1: possibility that an unknown hominid species might still exist in
Speaker 1: the remote mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The regions were
Speaker 1: the Barmanu is said to dwell, the Chitral Valley, the
Speaker 1: Shishiku Valley, and the Ally valleys of the Battagram District
Speaker 1: remain largely unexplored by science. These areas are characterized by
Speaker 1: rugged terrain, sparse human population, and continuing political instability, making
Speaker 1: them perfect hiding places for a creature wishing to avoid
Speaker 1: human contact. Local testimonies continue to emerge from these regions.
Speaker 1: Some villagers and nomadic Gujar shepherds taking herds to remote
Speaker 1: pastures in the high mountains consider encounters with the wild
Speaker 1: ape man a matter of routine. Yet without a dedicated
Speaker 1: researcher to document these accounts with mcgrainer's level of scientific rigor,
Speaker 1: they remain anecdotal. In the years since mcgrainer's death, no
Speaker 1: one has taken up his mantle to conduct systematic research
Speaker 1: on the Barmenu.
Speaker 2: The mystery of what.
Speaker 1: Happened to his research materials compounds the tragedy of his murder.
Speaker 1: Had he lived to return to France with his findings.
Speaker 1: With the scientific unity now recognize the existence of a
Speaker 1: relict hominid in the mountains of Pakistan, we may never
Speaker 1: know the story of the Barmanu and Jordi. Mcgrainer reminds
Speaker 1: us that the quest for knowledge sometimes comes at a
Speaker 1: terrible price. In the misty valleys of northern Pakistan, where
Speaker 1: ancient traditions blend with modern geopolitical realities. The truth about
Speaker 1: this mysterious creature remains as elusive as the Barmanu itself.
Speaker 1: For now, the creature remains in the shadow of myth
Speaker 1: and legend, something glimpsed fleetingly by shepherds, something that makes
Speaker 1: inhuman sounds in the darkness, something that moves between the
Speaker 1: worlds of man and beast. And somewhere in those same
Speaker 1: mountains lies the answer to not one but two mysteries.
Speaker 1: Does the Barmanu truly exist? And who silenced the man
Speaker 1: who came closest to proving it? The hunt for Pakistan's
Speaker 1: big Foot continues, but without its most dedicated tracker. In
Speaker 1: the end, the most haunting aspect of this story may
Speaker 1: not be the potential existence of an unknown hominid, but
Speaker 1: rather the silencing of a scientist whose work might have
Speaker 1: changed our understanding of human evolution and survival. Perhaps someday
Speaker 1: another researcher will brave the dangers of this volatile region
Speaker 1: to continue Magrainer's work. Until then, the Barmanu remains free
Speaker 1: to roam its mountain kingdom, its guttural cries echoing unanswered
Speaker 1: through the valleys of the Hindu Kush, from the misty
Speaker 1: mountains of Pakistan to the rugged terrain of Afghanistan. Tales
Speaker 1: of strange humanoid creatures have persisted throughout the regions for centuries,
Speaker 1: while the Barmanu continues to remain a mysterious figure in
Speaker 1: Pakistani folklore. Another extraordinary encounter allegedly occurred just across the
Speaker 1: border in Afghanistan, one that, if true, would provide far
Speaker 1: more concrete evidence than Jordi mcgrainer could ever have hoped
Speaker 1: to document.
Speaker 2: The year was.
Speaker 1: Two thousand and two, during the early phases of the
Speaker 1: US military operations in Afghanistan. According to several anonymous testimonies,
Speaker 1: a US patrol had gone missing in a remote mountainous area.
Speaker 1: Following standard protocol, a second patrol was dispatched on a
Speaker 1: search and rescue mission. As they rounded the side of
Speaker 1: a mountain, what they discovered would forever change their understanding
Speaker 1: of what lurks in these ancient lands. As we bent
Speaker 1: around this corner, you could see the opening of the cave,
Speaker 1: recounted one soldier who wished to remain anonymous. And then
Speaker 1: I see a lot of rocks, which is another oddity.
Speaker 1: And then bone matter. I'm not close enough to identify
Speaker 1: what kind of bones, but I did see what I
Speaker 1: knew to be a piece of our communications equipment. The
Speaker 1: patrol immediately went on alert, forming a defensive dispersal formation
Speaker 1: in case of ambush. What emerged from the cave, however,
Speaker 1: was something none of their military training had prepared them for,
Speaker 1: a humanoid figure of impossible proportions. According to the soldier's testimony,
Speaker 1: they encountered a being standing between twelve to fifteen feet tall,
Speaker 1: with long, reddish hair flowing past its shoulders and a
Speaker 1: scarlet beard. This wasn't just an unusually tall human, this was,
Speaker 1: in the soldier's own words, a monster. The encounter quickly
Speaker 1: escalated to violence. One of the soldiers, identified only as Dan,
Speaker 1: charged toward the giant and opened fire. The rest of
Speaker 1: the patrol followed suit, but the giant reportedly managed to
Speaker 1: impale Dan on what was described as a pikelike weapon.
Speaker 1: Despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, the enormous being continued its
Speaker 1: attack until the concentrated firepower of the entire patrol finally
Speaker 1: brought it down. What makes this account particularly intriguing are
Speaker 1: the anatomical details described the soldiers reported that the giant
Speaker 1: had six fingers on each hand and six toes on
Speaker 1: each foot, a condition known as polydactyle that appears in
Speaker 1: various giant legends throughout human history. The being also had
Speaker 1: fair skin, unlike the local population, contributing to the otherworldly
Speaker 1: nature of their encounter. The aftermath of this incident is
Speaker 1: where the story takes an even stranger turn. According to
Speaker 1: the soldiers, they were instructed to bundle the giant's body
Speaker 1: in cargo netting. Soon after, a helicopter arrived, collected the remains,
Speaker 1: and departed. Perhaps most tellingly, the patrol members claimed they
Speaker 1: were ordered to rewrite their after action reports, presumably to
Speaker 1: remove any mention of the giant, corroborating this extraordinary account.
Speaker 1: Another Special Operation soldier stationed in Afghanistan during the same
Speaker 1: period shared his experience. Though not a direct witness to
Speaker 1: the encounter, he described how rumors began circulating throughout the
Speaker 1: base about a unit that had killed what they called
Speaker 1: a really tall person. Initially dismissive, his interest was piqued
Speaker 1: when details emerged, claiming the being was three times the
Speaker 1: size of a man, with extra digits on both hands
Speaker 1: and feet, and the distinctive red hair. When you first
Speaker 1: hear your thinking like, this has got to be a joke,
Speaker 1: the soldier explained, this has got to be a hoax.
Speaker 1: Then after things go down a certain way and you
Speaker 1: keep hearing it, you start to realize it's not a joke,
Speaker 1: and stay tuned for more Sasquatchy goat to see, We'll
Speaker 1: be right back after these messages. Perhaps the most compelling
Speaker 1: testimony comes from a pilot who claims to have transported
Speaker 1: the Giant's remains. Interviewed on Coast to Coast AM with
Speaker 1: host George Nori, the pilot described landing at a base
Speaker 1: in Afghanistan where he was instructed to pick up special
Speaker 1: cargo with absolutely no cameras allowed. What he saw defies
Speaker 1: conventional explanation. It was basically a dead guy, the pilot recounted.
Speaker 1: And this guy was extremely large. And when I say large,
Speaker 1: our pallets are basically, if I remember correctly, about nine
Speaker 1: by twelve feet or so. And this guy was laying
Speaker 1: in a fetal position on the pallette and he filled
Speaker 1: the palette. He was around an eleven hund undred pound guy.
Speaker 1: The pilot's description matched the soldier's accounts in remarkable detail,
Speaker 1: noting the fair skin, red hair, and extra digits on
Speaker 1: both hands and feet. This level of consistency across independent
Speaker 1: testimonies has led some researchers to refer to this being
Speaker 1: as the Kandahar Giant. The Department of Defense, when questioned
Speaker 1: about this incident in twenty sixteen, stated they had no
Speaker 1: record or information about a Special Forces member killed by
Speaker 1: a giant in Kandahar. This denial has only fueled speculation
Speaker 1: among those who believe the government might have reasons to
Speaker 1: conceal evidence of such beings. The story gained wider attention
Speaker 1: when researcher and author La Marzouli featured interviews with these
Speaker 1: witnesses in his video series. Marzuli, who has extensively investigated
Speaker 1: claims of giants throughout history, connects these modern sightings to
Speaker 1: ancient accounts found in various religious texts, particularly the Nephelum
Speaker 1: mentioned in the Book of Genesis, described as offspring of
Speaker 1: divine beings and humans who were said to be of
Speaker 1: great size and strength. Could there be a connection between
Speaker 1: the Barmanu of Pakistan and the alleged giant of Afghanistan.
Speaker 1: Both share the remote, mountainous territory of the Hindu Kush Range.
Speaker 1: Both are humanoid yet distinctly different from modern humans in
Speaker 1: their proportions and features, and both have managed to remain
Speaker 1: largely hidden from scientific scrutiny. Unlike the Barmaneux, however, which
Speaker 1: continues to exist primarily in folklore and eyewitness accounts, the
Speaker 1: Afghanistan Giant incident allegedly left behind physical evidence a body that,
Speaker 1: if the testimonies are accurate, was recovered by military personnel
Speaker 1: and transported to an unknown location. This crucial difference transforms
Speaker 1: what might otherwise be dismissed as another cryptid tale into
Speaker 1: something potentially more significant, physical proof of beings that challenge
Speaker 1: our understanding of human evolution and history. Critics point out
Speaker 1: that no photographs, video, or other tangible evidence has ever
Speaker 1: surfaced from this alleged encounter. In an age where nearly
Speaker 1: every soldier carries some form of recording device, the complete
Speaker 1: absence of visual evidence strains credibility. Additionally, the Department of
Speaker 1: Defense has no record of a soldier named Dan being
Speaker 1: killed in the manner described during operations in that region,
Speaker 1: yet the testimonies persist, joining a growing collection of unusual
Speaker 1: accounts from military personnel deployed to Afghanistan, a land whose
Speaker 1: remote mountainous regions remain among the least explored places on Earth.
Speaker 1: Whether these stories represent genuine encounters with unknown hominids, misidentifications
Speaker 1: in the fog of war, or simply the evolution of
Speaker 1: modern military folklore, they continue to captivate those interested in
Speaker 1: the mysteries that may still lurk in the world's most
Speaker 1: inaccessible places. As with the Barmanu, the truth remains elusive,
Speaker 1: but these accounts remind us that our planets still hold secrets,
Speaker 1: and that the ancient mountains spanning Pakistan and Afghanistan may
Speaker 1: harbor more than just the conventional wildlife documented in biology textbooks.
Speaker 1: Perhaps somewhere in those peaks, beings thought to exist only
Speaker 1: in myth continue to roam, occasionally crossing paths with humans
Speaker 1: who venture into their domain. As extraordinary as the tale
Speaker 1: of the Kandahar Giant may seem, it represents just one
Speaker 1: chapter in humanity's long fascination with mysterious hominids that exist
Speaker 1: at the fringes of our understanding. From the misty mountains
Speaker 1: of Afghanistan, our journey now takes us eastward across the
Speaker 1: ancient lands of Central Asia, where another legend of humanoid
Speaker 1: creatures has persisted for centuries. In the rugged terrain where
Speaker 1: the borders of Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China converge, a landscape
Speaker 1: defined by towering peaks, remote valleys, and nomadic peoples, stories
Speaker 1: tell of creatures that walk the line between human and beast.
Speaker 1: They are known as the Almas, and their legend offers
Speaker 1: a compelling glimpse into how scientific inquiry and folklore intertwine
Speaker 1: in the search for truth about our evolutionary cousins. The
Speaker 1: wind whistles through the rocky crags of the Altai Mountains,
Speaker 1: carrying whispers of creatures that are neither fully human nor
Speaker 1: fully beast. For generations, shepherds and nomads traversing these remote
Speaker 1: regions have shared tales of encounters with the Almas, mysterious
Speaker 1: bipedal beings that have become Central Asia's answer to the
Speaker 1: Sasquatch or Yetti. Standing between five and six feet tall
Speaker 1: with bodies covered in reddish brown hair except for their
Speaker 1: faces and hands, the Almas are said to inhabit the
Speaker 1: mountain ranges spanning from the Caucasus, through the Pameres and
Speaker 1: into the Altai Mountains of Mongolia. Unlike some cryptids attributed
Speaker 1: with supernatural abilities or demonic features, the Almas are described
Speaker 1: in remarkably consistent and mundane terms. They are simply primitive
Speaker 1: human like creatures living on the margins of civilization. What
Speaker 1: makes the Almas particularly intriguing to researchers is their striking
Speaker 1: resemblance to what we might expect from surviving Neanderthals or
Speaker 1: other ancient human relatives. They are described as having prominent
Speaker 1: brow ridges, sloping foreheads, flat noses, and powerful jaws, physical
Speaker 1: characteristics that align with our understanding of archaic commonans. This
Speaker 1: has led some scientists to consider a tantalizing possibility. Could
Speaker 1: the Almas represent a relic population of early humans who
Speaker 1: somehow survived into the modern era. The scientific pursuit of
Speaker 1: these creatures has drawn researchers with impressive credentials. Myra Shackley,
Speaker 1: who held a PhD in archaeology from the University of
Speaker 1: Southampton and served as Professor of Culture Resource Management at
Speaker 1: Nottingham Trent University, was among the most prominent academic figures
Speaker 1: to take the Almas seriously in her nineteen eighty three
Speaker 1: book Wild Men. YETI Sasquatch and the Neanderthal and Nia.
Speaker 1: She meticulously documented accounts of encounters and presented the case
Speaker 1: that these beings might indeed be surviving Neanderthals. One of
Speaker 1: the most dramatic accounts Shakley recorded was that of Mikhail
Speaker 1: Stefanovitch Tapilsky, purportedly a major general in the Soviet Army.
Speaker 1: Tapilski claimed that in nineteen twenty five, while in Afghanistan,
Speaker 1: he was attacked by ape like beings covered with brownish
Speaker 1: hair and the belly with grayish hair. This event, if true,
Speaker 1: would represent one of the most significant military encounters with
Speaker 1: unknown hominids in modern times. Other notable accounts include that
Speaker 1: of Ivan Ivlov, a Russian pediatrician, who allegedly witnessed an
Speaker 1: entire family of Almah's while in Mongolia in nineteen sixty three. Similarly,
Speaker 1: a Lieutenant Colonel vs. Karapechan of the Soviet Army's Medical
Speaker 1: Service reportedly examined the body of an ape man that
Speaker 1: had been shot in nineteen forty one, noting that its
Speaker 1: fur was much like that of a bear. Perhaps the
Speaker 1: most compelling and controversial evidence linked to the Alma's legend
Speaker 1: involves a woman named Xana, who lived in the nineteenth
Speaker 1: century in Abkhazia in the Caucasus region. According to local account,
Speaker 1: Xana was a wild woman captured from the forests, described
Speaker 1: as being covered in thick hair, with dark skin and
Speaker 1: extraordinary physical strength. She was kept in captivity, where she
Speaker 1: bore several children with local men before her death around
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety. The Xana case took a fascinating turn in
Speaker 1: recent years when geneticists analyzed DNA from her descendants and.
Speaker 2: What is believed to be her skull.
Speaker 1: A twenty twenty one study published in the journal Advanced
Speaker 1: Genetics revealed that Xana was indeed human, but with a
Speaker 1: genetic ancestry trace to East Africa. Rather than being a
Speaker 1: relic dominant. She was likely descended from enslaved Africans brought
Speaker 1: to the region by the Ottoman Empire between the sixteenth
Speaker 1: and nineteenth centuries. Her unusual appearance and behavior, which fueled
Speaker 1: legends of her being an almasty, may have been the
Speaker 1: result of a genetic condition like hypertrichosis, which causes excessive
Speaker 1: hair growth. The Zona case illustrates a critical point about
Speaker 1: cryptid research. Often there are perfectly natural explanations for phenomena
Speaker 1: that seem extraordinary at first glance. Yet this doesn't mean
Speaker 1: we should dismiss all accounts of unknown hominids. Central Asia's
Speaker 1: vast remote landscapes remain some of the least explored territories
Speaker 1: on Earth, with new animal species still being discovered in
Speaker 1: its mountain ranges today.
Speaker 2: What continues to.
Speaker 1: Puzzle researchers is the consistent nature of Alma's descriptions across
Speaker 1: cultures and time periods, especially when compared to other cryptid accounts.
Speaker 1: The Almas are not described as possessing supernatural abilities or
Speaker 1: extreme physical characteristics. They are portrayed as simply primitive humans
Speaker 1: living on the edges of civilization, precisely what we might
Speaker 1: expect if a relic population of early hominids had somehow
Speaker 1: The lack of physical evidence, however, remains the most significant
Speaker 1: obstacle to scientific acceptance. Despite numerous expeditions and investigations, no
Speaker 1: Alma's body has ever been subjected to proper scientific analysis.
Speaker 1: This absence of tangible proof has led most mainstream scientists
Speaker 1: to regard the Almas as creatures of folklore rather than
Speaker 1: flesh and blood. Yet the questions persist if the Almas
Speaker 1: are purely mythical. Why do the descriptions match so closely
Speaker 1: with what we now know about extinct human relatives, knowledge
Speaker 1: that wasn't available to the nomadic peoples who first shared
Speaker 1: these tales, And if they did exist, where are the bones,
Speaker 1: the tools, the incontrovertible evidence of their presence. In many ways,
Speaker 1: the search for the Alma's mirrors our larger quest to
Speaker 1: understand human evolution and our relationship to other species that
Speaker 1: once shared our branch on the.
Speaker 2: Tree of life.
Speaker 1: Whether these creatures exist or not, the investigation into their
Speaker 1: possible reality has contributed to our understanding of both human
Speaker 1: psychology and the remote regions where their legends persist. As
Speaker 1: we navigate between the realm of myth and the rigors
Speaker 1: of scientific inquiry, the Almas remind us that our knowledge
Speaker 1: of human evolution is still evolving itself. The remote mountains
Speaker 1: of Central Asia may yet hold secrets about our past,
Speaker 1: whether in the form of undiscovered fossil evidence, cultural memories
Speaker 1: preserved in folklore, or just perhaps living beings that challenge
Speaker 1: our understanding of what it means to be human. While
Speaker 1: extraordinary encounters with giants and mysterious hominids in the remote
Speaker 1: mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to challenge our understanding
Speaker 1: of what might exist beyond the boundaries of recognized science.
Speaker 1: Similar mysteries lurk much closer to home. For decades, North
Speaker 1: America has been the epicenter of its own legendary bipedal humanoid,
Speaker 1: a creature whose existence, like the Barmanu and the Kandahart Giant,
Speaker 1: remains controversial despite countless eyewitness accounts. The tales of these
Speaker 1: enigmatic beings span continents and cultures, suggesting either a remarkable
Speaker 1: coincidence of human imagination or perhaps something more profound, that
Speaker 1: relict hominid species might have survived in isolated pockets around
Speaker 1: the globe, including the wilderness areas of the United States,
Speaker 1: from the swampy backwaters of Florida's Skunk Ape to the
Speaker 1: snow covered peaks of the Himalayas. These creatures appear in
Speaker 1: the folklore of indigenous peoples and the accounts of modern
Speaker 1: witnesses alike, But while most stories remain frustratingly devoid of
Speaker 1: concrete evidence, occasionally a case emerges that offers tantalizing hints
Speaker 1: of governmental awareness and possibly even intervention. Just as the
Speaker 1: alleged recovery of the Condahar giants suggests military knowledge of
Speaker 1: these beings. Another incident closer to American soil points to
Speaker 1: a similar pattern of official involvement and subsequent secrecy. To
Speaker 1: understand this remarkable chapter in cryptozoological history, we must travel
Speaker 1: back to the spring of nineteen eighty, to one of
Speaker 1: the most catastrophic natural disasters in American history and the
Speaker 1: strange reports that emerged in its aftermath. Our journey takes
Speaker 1: us from the war torn mountains of Central Asia to
Speaker 1: the volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range, where another type
Speaker 1: of giant was said to walk among the towering evergreens.
Speaker 1: In the misty forests of the Pacific Northwest, where ancient
Speaker 1: trees shroud the landscape in perpetual twilight and jagged peaks
Speaker 1: scrape the clouds. Myths and legends have always found fertile
Speaker 1: ground among these tales. One extraordinary story stands at the
Speaker 1: intersection of natural disaster, cryptozoology, and alleged government secrecy. The
Speaker 1: Mount Saint Helen's Sasquatch rescue of nineteen eighty. On the
Speaker 1: morning of May eighteenth, nineteen eighty, at precisely eight thirty
Speaker 1: two am. Mount Saint Helen's, once considered one of America's
Speaker 1: most picturesque volcanoes, with its perfect snow capped cone, unleashed
Speaker 1: its fury. What began as a magnitude five point one
Speaker 1: earthquake triggered a catastrophic chain of events that would forever
Speaker 1: alter the surrounding landscape and claim fifty seven human lives.
Speaker 1: The earthquake destabilized the volcano's northern flank, which had been
Speaker 1: bulging outward at a rate of five to six feet
Speaker 1: per day for weeks. Within seconds, the mountain's entire north
Speaker 1: face collapsed in what would become the largest landslide recorded
Speaker 1: in modern history. This massive displacement of earth and rock
Speaker 1: triggered a lateral blast that ripped through the countryside at
Speaker 1: speeds reaching three hundred miles per hour, flattening forests and
Speaker 1: destroying everything in its path for up to nineteen miles.
Speaker 1: The eruption column soared more than fifteen miles into the
Speaker 1: atmosphere in just fifteen minutes, while pyroclastic flows of superheated gas, ash,
Speaker 1: and rock surged down the mountain side at highway speeds.
Speaker 1: Rivers of mud created by melting snow and glacial ice
Speaker 1: called lahars, choked waterways and buried valleys. By day's end,
Speaker 1: five hundred twenty million tons of volcanic ash had spread
Speaker 1: across eleven states, transforming day into night in parts of
Speaker 1: eastern Washington. The human toll was devastating, but the impact
Speaker 1: on wildlife was even more severe. Thousands of deer, elk, bears,
Speaker 1: and smaller animals perished in the blast, their bodies scattered
Speaker 1: across the newly formed wasteland of ash and mud. It's
Speaker 1: against this backdrop of genuine disaster that one of the
Speaker 1: most captivating Sasquatch legends ever told began to take shape.
Speaker 1: According to the tale, amid the chaos of rescue and
Speaker 1: recovery operations in the days and weeks following the eruption,
Speaker 1: something extraordinary was happening behind the scenes. As military personnel,
Speaker 1: including members of the National Guard and Army Corps of Engineers,
Speaker 1: worked to recover animal carcasses and assist survivors, they allegedly
Speaker 1: made a shocking discovery the bodies of two Sasquatch creatures,
Speaker 1: victims of the volcanic devastation. These purported remains were said
Speaker 1: to have been covered with tarps guarded by armed soldiers,
Speaker 1: and those who witnessed them were sworn to secrecy. But
Speaker 1: the story doesn't end there. According to some accounts, not
Speaker 1: all the Sasquatch in the area perished in the eruption.
Speaker 1: One particularly compelling narrative tales of rescue workers following a large, hairy,
Speaker 1: human like creature with an injured arm into the forest.
Speaker 1: The creature allegedly led them to caves where other sasquatch
Speaker 1: had taken shelter. Using a series of distinctive calls to communicate,
Speaker 1: this guide helped rescuers locate injured members of its kind,
Speaker 1: who were then brought to medical tents for treatment. Another
Speaker 1: version of the story comes from a purported Air Force
Speaker 1: serviceman who claims his unit was dispatched to Mount Saint
Speaker 1: Helen's to assist with recovery efforts. He states they were
Speaker 1: ordered to guard medical tents and prevent unauthorized access. Inside
Speaker 1: these tents, doctors reportedly treated unusually tall beings wrapped in coats,
Speaker 1: with their faces and hands completely covered in bandages. The
Speaker 1: soldiers were told only that these were victims of the
Speaker 1: eruption and instructed not to ask questions. What supposedly happened
Speaker 1: to these creatures after receiving medical attention. Various versions of
Speaker 1: the legend offer different conclusions. Some say the surviving Sasquatch
Speaker 1: were quietly relocated to other parts of the Cascade Range.
Speaker 1: Others claimed they were given sanctuary at Joint Base Lewis McCord,
Speaker 1: a sprawling military installation with over eighty six thousand acres
Speaker 1: of largely forested terrain south of Tacoma, Washington. The tale
Speaker 1: has persisted for decades, appearing in books, documentaries, and countless
Speaker 1: online forums. It combines elements that make for an irresistible story,
Speaker 1: a documented disaster, mysterious creatures, government secrecy, and compassion rescue,
Speaker 1: all set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, long
Speaker 1: considered prime Sasquatch territory. While the Mount Saint Helen's eruption
Speaker 1: and subsequent rescue operations are well documented historical events, no
Speaker 1: official records or credible evidence supports the Sasquatch rescue narrative.
Speaker 1: No photographs, film footage, or physical evidence of these alleged
Speaker 1: incidents has ever been produced. Despite the story's widespread circulation,
Speaker 1: the region around Mount Saint Helens does have a long
Speaker 1: history of Sasquatch lore predating the nineteen eighty eruption. Most notably,
Speaker 1: the mountain's southeast flank is home to Ape Canyon, named
Speaker 1: after a purported nineteen twenty four encounter in which miners
Speaker 1: claim to have been attacked by ape men who hurled
Speaker 1: rocks at their cabin. This incident became one of the
Speaker 1: earliest well publicized Sasquatch reports in the Pacific Northwest and
Speaker 1: cemented the area's reputation in Bigfoot folklore. Before the nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty eruption, Esquatch stories were a staple of local tourism
Speaker 1: around Mount Saint Helens. Campfire tales about the creatures were
Speaker 1: common among visitors to Spirit Lake, and Bigfoot themed souvenirs
Speaker 1: were popular in gift shops. After the eruption, however, the
Speaker 1: volcano itself became the primary tourist attraction, and sasquatch temporarily
Speaker 1: receded into the background, at least until the rescue stories
Speaker 1: began to circulate. The scientific community has long maintained skepticism
Speaker 1: toward claims of Sasquatch's existence. Despite thousands of reported sightings
Speaker 1: and the occasional footprint cast, no conclusive physical evidence has
Speaker 1: ever been documented that would satisfy scientific standards for confirming
Speaker 1: a new species. No bodies, bones, hair samples with unique DNA,
Speaker 1: or clear photographic evidence has been forthcoming despite the proliferation
Speaker 1: of trail cameras and smartphones in recent decades, and stay
Speaker 1: tuned for more Sasquatch Odyssey will be right back after
Speaker 1: these messages. Some scientists, like doctor Jeffrey Meldrum, Associate Professor
Speaker 1: of anatomy and Anthropology at Idaho State University, have taken
Speaker 1: a more open minded approach to investigating the possibility of
Speaker 1: an undiscovered North American primate. In his book Sasquatch Legend
Speaker 1: Meets Science, Meldrum examines the evidence without dismissing it outright,
Speaker 1: though he stopped short of claiming proof of the creature's existence.
Speaker 1: Regarding the Mount Saint Helens Sasquatch rescue stories specifically, no
Speaker 1: scientific investigation has ever validated these claims.
Speaker 2: The US Forest Service.
Speaker 1: When questioned through Freedom of Information Act requests about sasquatch
Speaker 1: bodies recovered after the eruption, has stated that there were
Speaker 1: no documented reports of bigfoot or Sasquatch carcasses, and there
Speaker 1: were no projects to attempt to locate and or recover
Speaker 1: any bodies. Whether dismissed as pure fiction or embraced as
Speaker 1: evidence of a government cover up, the Mount Saint Helen's
Speaker 1: Sasquatch rescue legend remains one of the most fascinating chapters
Speaker 1: in American cryptozoology. It serves as a reminder of how
Speaker 1: extraordinary events can give rise to equally extraordinary explanations, especially
Speaker 1: in regions already rich with folklore. Today, the slopes of
Speaker 1: Mount Saint Helens have largely recovered from the nineteen eighty cataclysm,
Speaker 1: Forests have returned, wildlife has rebounded, and the mountain itself
Speaker 1: has stabilized, though scientists caution it will inevitably erupt again
Speaker 1: in someday. Taurists visit the Johnston Ridge Observatory to learn
Speaker 1: about the eruption scientific aspects, while others stop at roadside
Speaker 1: attractions like the North Fork Survivors Bigfoot and Mount Saint
Speaker 1: Helen's Interpretive Center, where a twenty eight foot tall Sasquatch
Speaker 1: statue stands as testament to the region's dual fascinations. As
Speaker 1: with all good legends, the Mount Saint Helen's Sasquatch rescue
Speaker 1: story contains elements that make it perpetually compel. It's set
Speaker 1: during a documented historical event, features multiple supposed eye witnesses,
Speaker 1: suggests government knowledge of a profound secret, and involves the
Speaker 1: humane treatment of mysterious beings. Whether one views it as
Speaker 1: an imaginative tale born from the chaos of a natural
Speaker 1: disaster or something more intriguing, it has secured its place
Speaker 1: as one of the most captivating Sasquatch legends ever told.
Speaker 1: In the end, perhaps it's fitting that this story emerged
Speaker 1: from Mount Saint Helen's, a place where the seemingly solid
Speaker 1: earth revealed itself to be far more mysterious and volatile
Speaker 1: than anyone had imagined. In a landscape so dramatically transformed
Speaker 1: by natural forces, who can say with absolute certainty what
Speaker 1: secrets might still lie hidden in those misty forests and
Speaker 1: remote valleys. The legend, like the mountain itself, reminds us
Speaker 1: that our world retains the capacity to surprise and mystify,
Speaker 1: even in this age of scientific certainty.
Speaker 4: I didn't di