WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.240 I'm bad to actually rock through new well one in 2 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:05.120 particularly it was about a football sized stone. But I 3 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:07.080 was walking down this very down trail that went deep 4 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:08.880 into the woods. The girl I was dating at the time, 5 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:10.759 she was with me, you know. And then we're walking 6 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.599 up for this now trail. We get to this one 7 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.440 spot where it kind of slightly opened up a little bit, 8 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:19.000 and we're looking off the side of the trail. Something 9 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.719 caught our attention looking over there, like is that? So 10 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.239 I pulled my phone out and I start recording. Now 11 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:27.839 we can see something dark moving into bushes, looking at 12 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:29.359 like it looked like it was kind of going up 13 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:32.880 and down, maybe side the side. And it's funny because 14 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:35.439 she says something. She said, Oh, it's a juvenile sasquatch. 15 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:38.880 So we continued up the trail and when you get 16 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:40.880 up to a certain point, there's a creek right there. 17 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:42.920 As soon as we get to the outside and we 18 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:45.520 start working our way up on the trail and out 19 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.679 of nowhere, right between me and her, she was righting 20 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.439 directly right behind me, and this big stone comes flying boom, 21 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:54.079 Like what the heck was that? And I'm looking across 22 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:56.280 from where we just came from and as we're standing 23 00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:58.320 over there, somewhere in the background, you hear. 24 00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:04.680 Woody and having that rock throwing and hearing that makes 25 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.439 me think that, like I got to the point where, okay, 26 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:09.200 maybe that wasn't a bear. 27 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:22.760 I'm not gonna lie if I felt a little on edge. 28 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.519 I'd like to welcome Daniel Benoa to the show. Daniel 29 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:51.920 is at this point an og in the bigfoot world, 30 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:54.439 I would say, and uh. He is the founder of 31 00:01:54.480 --> 00:02:00.400 the East Coast Bigfoot Researchers Organization and he has man 32 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:03.840 been around for a long time and doing the damn thing. 33 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:05.200 Daniel, thanks for joining me. 34 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.319 Man, Hey, thank you for having me. This is a pleasure. 35 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:08.840 Then. 36 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:11.120 Yeah, I feel ordered to be on your show. 37 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:16.039 The honor is all mine, sir, h long overdue. You 38 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.240 know we've at least been aware of one another for 39 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:21.319 a lot of years now. 40 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.120 Yeah, absolutely, So. 41 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.960 What got you started in all of this bigfoot stuff? 42 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:31.719 Well, you know, to take you guys back, I mean, 43 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:35.960 you know, as I tell people, I believe this has 44 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:39.240 done it for a lot of people, and we are 45 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.800 most of them. I mean, anyone involved, even if you're 46 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:43.960 just getting involved, everyone at one point in time has 47 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:48.400 heard of the Roger Patterson, Bob GINGLM footage. That was 48 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:50.479 a big part of what got me into this and 49 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:53.479 the sea that footage, you know, I know it's been 50 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:56.159 debated even to this day. There's a lot of people 51 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.400 that believe in it, a lot of people that don't, however, 52 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:02.120 are of the way I viewed it was very fascinating. 53 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.560 It was like it was like boom, it was like 54 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:07.759 a slap in the face, like look, there's actually footage 55 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:11.280 that took place that came about back in nineteen sixty seven, 56 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.960 and till this day, that video footage has been dissected 57 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:17.039 left and right, and of course there's been all kinds 58 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:22.080 of speculation over the years and some somewhat recent, but 59 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:26.280 you know, saying, you know, there's naysayers and a lot 60 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:30.400 of positive you know, presentation brought up on that film. 61 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:33.400 But you know, I will say that was a big 62 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:35.520 part of what got me into it. It opened up 63 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:40.800 a very strong curiosity, a spark of curiosity that actually 64 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:44.599 drawn me in. It drew me in real, real deep, 65 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.800 you know, and what started off as a curiosity turned 66 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.439 to a spark of you know, passion, you know, and 67 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.400 that passion grew and it's still growing to this day. 68 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:56.840 I mean I've been involved with a Bigfoot research for 69 00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:00.479 going on sixteen years. Now here we are in twenty 70 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:05.680 twenty six, and yeah, yeah, so I mean, like I said, 71 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:07.439 you know what, I will tell you when I first 72 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:11.159 got involved with all this as well, as I started 73 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.240 doing some research and what you know, what little research 74 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:18.319 I started off doing, and then getting on to social media, 75 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.120 I was actually blown away because I didn't realize there 76 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:24.879 was so many people involved with big research. I started 77 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:27.480 learning about the different forums and the Facebook groups and 78 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:30.800 you know, and I started to come across all these 79 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:34.199 different uh sayings or theories that people were sharing and 80 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:37.639 throwing out there. Now, for the record, I didn't jump 81 00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:40.040 on I didn't jump on board with all these theories. 82 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:41.920 But I was I was like the kid in the 83 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.680 class of just taking notes, right, you know, I was 84 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.040 I just wanted to see what people were having to say. 85 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:50.439 You know. I started you know, hearing people out and 86 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:54.680 you know, and you know, and as I got more involved, 87 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:58.120 I started reading up on things and you know, whatever 88 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:01.959 literature that was available, and you know, I watched a 89 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:04.879 lot of different films and I started, you know, getting 90 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:06.839 involved with some of the podcasts. 91 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.839 And you know, and uh, you know, and then here 92 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:10.120 I am. 93 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.000 You know, as far as reading and learning what I 94 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:14.160 came outside of the field, I was like, you know, 95 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.360 it had to me more and more alerted when I 96 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.680 was out in the field. You know, I guess my 97 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:24.399 senses were more heightened. You know, they're really pay attention 98 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.000 to things out out there in nature. And you know, 99 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:30.560 I'm not gonna say right away things were starting, you know, 100 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:34.279 starting to really stand out. But things did start to 101 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:40.639 stand out eventually when I was really more you know, uh, 102 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:42.920 like my senses were more keen. I was more keen 103 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.839 to be alerted and looking at things I wasn't normally 104 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.639 looking for, you know, like, for example, some of the 105 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.480 first things I started to notice, I did start finding 106 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:57.920 some tracks you know that were like, Okay, whoa what 107 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:01.199 is this? You know, I mean, could just be you know, 108 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:05.720 I don't know, baby, you know, I mean yeah, So 109 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.519 I mean, like I said, you know, starting to you 110 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:10.680 start to pay attention to things that you never did before. 111 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.079 I remember, correct me if I'm wrong. I think it 112 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:19.079 was you though, And it's been some years. It seems 113 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.600 like I remember you posting a video on the internet 114 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:29.160 where you were driving somewhere and you had stopped the 115 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:33.680 car and taken video of these tracks that were going 116 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.879 across the road where something had like come out of 117 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.439 a creek and left wet footprints on the pavement going 118 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:41.759 across the road and into the woods. 119 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.600 Yes, that was actually in one of my main research areas. 120 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:48.480 I was actually camping in the area and I was 121 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:51.879 coming back into the location. I was coming down the 122 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.720 forest road and then in the George Washington National Forest, 123 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:58.920 and I'm riding along you know courtin you don't ride 124 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.000 that pass down the road, so you know it's it's 125 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.639 gravel and it's got potholes. So I was driving down 126 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:06.720 on my blazer that I had at the time, and 127 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:10.480 come across. I take notice of that. I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, 128 00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:12.079 What the heck was that. I stopped the vehicle right 129 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:14.279 away in the middle of the road. I get out, 130 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.079 walked behind the vehicle and what I just drove over 131 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.920 and what I'm looking at is now some people say 132 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.199 they may have been bears, which that is very possible, sure, 133 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:28.600 but I mean you could see what looks like humanoid tracks. 134 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:32.319 They were wet tracks, you know, and they were coming 135 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:34.360 out of the woodline. Now there is a small marshy 136 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:37.240 area where they came from out of them, but there 137 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:38.879 was a you know, there was a small little cump 138 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:41.319 of grass on the hillside that comes down the uh 139 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.839 to the dishline and where it comes out to the road, 140 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.439 and they were going across an angle over onto the 141 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:51.519 other side of the road. And yeah, I did, I 142 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:53.319 did do a short video on this. Yeah, there was 143 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:56.560 a short video on this. And uh, like I said, 144 00:07:56.920 --> 00:07:58.759 the way I looked at them, and like I said, 145 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:01.439 what I had a back then was a cheap camera 146 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:05.920 prom so I mean, I mean, the quality was whatever. 147 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.920 I mean it was. It showed what I was seeing, right, and. 148 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:12.480 You know, so it kind of had me pumped and 149 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:15.240 had me excited. I mean, of course, when I shared it, 150 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:18.199 I had some people like, yeah that, yeah, you had 151 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:21.279 a sasquatch crossing there or blah blah blah. Then you know, 152 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:24.240 it's like people were saying bear, which I didn't rule 153 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:26.519 that out because there is a lot of bears in 154 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:27.000 this area. 155 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:29.399 I've had a lot of encounters with bears. I'm close, 156 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:30.199 I'm distant. 157 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:32.120 I just brought that up because it kind of plays 158 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.639 into what you were talking about. About whenever you get 159 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.440 into the subject of bigfoot, you start noticing things that 160 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.799 you probably wouldn't have noticed previously. I would assume beforehand 161 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.519 you would have just driven right down that road and 162 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:48.600 not even cared about the wet spots in it or 163 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:53.039 anything else. But how did the whole research thing come about? 164 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:55.799 You had an interest because of the Paris and Gimlin film. 165 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.919 When did you decide to like start going out in 166 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:00.759 the woods and actually looking for Bigfoot? 167 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.840 Well, you know, here here's the thing. I mean, I 168 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.519 was always like to go out on hips, you know. 169 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:11.240 You know, I grew up in the woods even since 170 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.320 I was a young kid. I mean Dad had me 171 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.000 out either, you know, I used to tack along with 172 00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:18.720 dad hunting, you know. But most of the time growing 173 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:20.679 up when I was younger, I was always either playing 174 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:22.320 in the woods. And you know, I love being on 175 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:25.960 the woods, the woods, the forest whatever. It was like 176 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.360 a I don't know, it was like a a natural 177 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:32.519 recreation for me, just to be out there. But you know, 178 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:35.919 and our camping. The camping is another big thing to me. 179 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.919 I do a lot of camping. I do some even 180 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:42.320 cold well camping of course, right now, that's kind of 181 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.200 limited right now because we got snow and a lot 182 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:46.320 of ice on the ground out here in Virginia. Yeah 183 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.600 uh but you know, so yeah that was a big thing. 184 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:55.320 But it gave me motivation the go. 185 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.080 Out there to do this, you know, I mean I 186 00:09:58.120 --> 00:09:59.000 wanted to be out there. 187 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:03.279 You know. I started researching areas that had reported bigfoot 188 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:07.240 sightings or and also like my main research area right 189 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:09.879 now now, I started going out there before I learned 190 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:15.039 about activity up there. You know, I just like I 191 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:18.279 just looked at areas while you know, watching stuff on 192 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:22.720 TV or YouTube. You know, I looked at the areas like, okay, 193 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:24.759 well these are where bigfoots. Some people having big Foot 194 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:28.639 sightings in these areas, and the National Force here in Virginia. 195 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:30.679 There's a lot of the woods out there. It's like, man, 196 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:32.879 this looks very squawky, is what I did come to 197 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:36.879 call it, because we're these like people out in the 198 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.799 Pacific Northwest, you know, are looking at their forests and 199 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:43.399 the trees and on these videos the atmosphere where I 200 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:45.679 camp at and where I would spend time. I said, man, 201 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.480 this just looks like where Bigfoot would be. You know, 202 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.600 it's very heavily wooded, it's thick in a lot of 203 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:55.720 areas up there. Yeah, there's a few you know, hiker 204 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.399 trails here and there. People hunt there during the hunting season, 205 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:03.000 and you know it's primitive camping where you know, people 206 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.320 do camp there during the nice warm weather and everything. Uh. 207 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.480 But then again I started spending time out there. You know, 208 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.080 it's like this would be a good habitat for if 209 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.840 there's a sasquatch or you know in the area. I 210 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:18.799 think this is where I need to be. And what 211 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.080 actually kept me there even more was one of the 212 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:27.080 places I worked at. You know, one of the one 213 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:28.840 of the guys there that I worked with, you know, 214 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:33.200 they're big time hunters, and he he you know, he 215 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:34.600 heard me. I guess he found out. 216 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:36.320 You know, I've been talking to people where I've been 217 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:37.399 camping at and this and that. 218 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:39.960 Well this one guy came out of come out of 219 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:42.200 the woodwork, you know, just started sharing, you know, he 220 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:44.559 said he's up there hunting all the time. He bear 221 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:46.799 hunts and he did your hunts to but he's marly 222 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:52.240 a bear hunter. And he told me it was the 223 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.919 same location where I camp at. He said he was 224 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.679 riding up the forest road one He then he said 225 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:00.399 it would probably I don't know. I think he was 226 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:02.519 probably close to six o'clock or so in the evening 227 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:04.679 where it was still daylight, but it was just before 228 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:05.279 it got dark. 229 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:09.679 And he told me exact spot from where. 230 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.240 He was and which I was pretty familiar with that area, 231 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.639 and he told me a story where he had what 232 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:20.440 described he described as around probably six feet tall, dark 233 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:24.039 brown uh, you know, covered in hair, around six feet tall, 234 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.679 comes out in the middle of the fourth road. It 235 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.159 has a brief hesitation as it kind of slightly glanced 236 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:33.240 at him, but it continues moving going across through the 237 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:38.080 woods over towards the direction where the river was. And uh, 238 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.840 he shared that with me, and he shared, you know 239 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.080 again he shared in the area where's at? And I 240 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:49.519 was like, whoa, I questioned, Russell. You're like, why is 241 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:52.039 he telling me this? I never said nothing. Nobody I 242 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:54.799 knew that. Nobody I worked in new about me looking 243 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.240 for a big I never talked about anything like that 244 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:01.919 my coworkers. But uh, I said. I looked at him, 245 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.799 I said, who told you about me? So I was like, 246 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.159 he's very little. People at that time knew what I 247 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.960 was doing. And he said, what are you talking abou him. 248 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:14.159 I said, well, oh, by the way, here's this guy. 249 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.279 He's a hunter and his name is Hunter. 250 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:20.120 By the way, yeah, yeah, he was an older gentleman, 251 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:24.039 I said Hunter. I said, yeah, who told you about me? 252 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.320 How do you Why would you tell me that? Because 253 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.240 I said, that's what I do. I said, I am, 254 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.399 I'm looking for vic I researched big work. And he 255 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.879 was kind of like, what you know, I said, I 256 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:36.159 just found it odd that he came out and told 257 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:39.240 me that, yeah, you know, not knowing anything about me 258 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.360 that I'm involved with this, but I would Nonetheless, I 259 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.080 was excited that he told me this. I was like, 260 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.200 this is awesome. It kind of made me more excited, 261 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.480 you know, like kind of like a kid getting you know, 262 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:53.440 being presented a new. 263 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:55.240 Gift or something that you know, it was kind of like, 264 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:55.799 I don't know. 265 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.159 It's hard to explain, but it was exciting that he 266 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:04.279 shared that with me. So now my supervisor once I, 267 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.639 once I started learning more about me, you know, I'm 268 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.000 the word got around and I you know, I talked 269 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.559 about it here and there, and then my one of 270 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:17.200 my main supervisor who's still working at this time, his wife, 271 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.720 which is she's much older than him. She retired, and 272 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.840 he said, he told me my wife, Sue said she 273 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:29.519 started a big foot, and uh, she ended up coming 274 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:31.519 on and she ended up coming to work one day 275 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.519 and met up with me on my lunch. 276 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:37.519 Break and sat down and told me her story. Now, yeah, she. 277 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:40.240 Had a big presiding at that time. I mean I haven't. 278 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:43.679 I haven't worked on this location for probably about ten years, 279 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:46.120 but at the time when I worked there, when she 280 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.559 came in the story, her story was about twenty five 281 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:53.279 years old at that time. And of course this is 282 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:55.840 on the back road well, probably about five miles from 283 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:58.840 where I live now. And she told me she was 284 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:02.000 driving down to such road and she would drive along 285 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.320 and from out of nowhere along the tree line, she said, 286 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:07.919 this thing had been easily seven feet tall on two 287 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:11.799 feet covered in hair. It comes across the road, goes 288 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:15.039 across the pavement and continues on on the other side, 289 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.279 which is there's a field there and where there's no 290 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.080 tree line, but it's an open field of a creek 291 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.000 bed that runs across the field. He said, this thing 292 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:26.360 came running across the field and continued on on two feet, 293 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.159 running across and she grew up here in the valley 294 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.240 by the way. Yeah, I live in the Shanando Valley 295 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:35.120 here in Virginia, and we're surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. 296 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.200 And then we got the Alleghenies out to the west. 297 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:41.360 And she said, I grew up here. I've seen bears 298 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:44.720 all my life, growing up out here, living here. She says, 299 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.039 this was no bear. This was seven feet tall on 300 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:49.639 two feet and it was it stayed at a steady pace, 301 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:52.600 you know. She didn't describe it as being too fast, 302 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:54.440 but it was a pretty steady run, you know. And 303 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.320 it came out from the tree line going across the 304 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:00.519 road and continued on. And you know what, I really 305 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:03.720 appreciated her story, you know. Uh, And little by little 306 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.039 over the years and more and more people learn about 307 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.840 me because I told my name out there. I got 308 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:10.679 to the point where I was not ashamed of what 309 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.440 I was doing. You know, I wanted the answers. I 310 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:16.159 wanted as much as possible to learn the research and 311 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:20.519 kind of hopefully maybe putting putting some kind of pattern together, 312 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:24.480 you know. And sure enough, you know, I had I 313 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:26.799 had business cards made up, you know, I was put 314 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:29.200 I was leaving them everywhere I could. Yeah, of course, 315 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:32.960 you're going to get your typical you know, uh, you. 316 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:35.240 Know jokesters out there. I've gotten them. 317 00:16:36.279 --> 00:16:38.879 I had young girls calling up trying to leave a 318 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:40.879 message on my plane. You can hear the other ones 319 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:42.799 laughing in the background. You know, it's all a joke. 320 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:45.159 I said, Okay, yeah, it comes from the territory. You're 321 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:46.759 going to get that when you put yourself out there 322 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.919 like that. But but then again, you know, like I said, 323 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:55.519 I met up with people, eyewitnesses, and yeah, you're gonna learn. 324 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:57.320 You know, you're gonna meet a lot of people, you know, 325 00:16:57.519 --> 00:16:59.480 And at the same time, I've come to learn, you know, 326 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:02.519 you have to keep an open mind on some of 327 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:06.359 these stories. You know, you have to you know, take 328 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:08.480 everything you hear with a grain of salt, because you know, 329 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:10.759 I mean, you want to believe these people, you know, 330 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.640 But at the same time, like are they pulling your leg? 331 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.640 You know? But you know, you kind of pick up 332 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:21.440 in start developing a sense of I don't know the 333 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:23.440 right way to put this, but you can start noticing 334 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:27.039 when people are like really serious, the tone of boys, 335 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:29.680 and you know, their body, you know, movement. 336 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:34.599 So yeah, I mean, even recently I met up with eyewitnesses. 337 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:36.359 You know, some of these witnesses I've been meeting up 338 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.880 with recently, their stories are not fresh, but their stories 339 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:41.279 that I could still document, you know. 340 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.160 Uh, I've done a lot of one on one interviews. 341 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:46.440 I go out, you know, I'll meet with people. I 342 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:50.119 got scheduled meetings with people now coming up, you know, 343 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:55.119 both in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, you know, uh uh, North Carolina, 344 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.440 South Carolina. So yeah, that's just the start of it. 345 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.000 You know, I'm trying to get more involved with it. 346 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:01.359 Part of you know, of course, a lot of it 347 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:04.839 goes hand in hand with my my filming projects. Everybody 348 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:06.599 I have scheduled to meet up with has agreed to 349 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:11.720 let me film them, which is awesome. But yeah, like 350 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:15.000 I said, ever since I've been involved, it's like the 351 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:17.519 word of mouth has gotten around, you know, and people 352 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.759 learn about me. So yeah, I want to, you know, 353 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:23.839 get out there as much as possible. So you know, 354 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:26.640 I'm all about being glued from the ground, just so 355 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.559 you know, there's so much you can do outside of 356 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:31.839 the field. You know, I say that I pay attention 357 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.480 to you know, people share podcasts with me all the time, 358 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:37.279 you know, but you know, it's funny. Even though I 359 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:39.880 host the podcast myself, I'm the type of person when 360 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.880 somebody shares the podcast, I mean, so, okay, cool, I'm 361 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:44.880 glad you were on that podcast. But you know, it's like, 362 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:47.880 I'm the type of person. I know. Maybe I'm selfish, 363 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.160 but I go after podcasts where I use podcasts with 364 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.799 my research. I look up in Google search or whatever, 365 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:57.279 I do a search on YouTube. You know. I was like, well, 366 00:18:57.319 --> 00:18:59.960 I'm in Virginia. I like to know how much more 367 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.759 is out there in Virginia, you know. You know, of 368 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:06.240 course I've expanded, you know, like I said, I've I've 369 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.279 been up and down to the East Coast. So but 370 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.519 being that I live here in Virginia, I was like, 371 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:12.839 I feel like Virginia is highly understigated. 372 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:16.440 Oh for sure. For sure, you don't really hear that 373 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:20.400 many people talk about Virginia in regards to Bigfoot. But 374 00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:24.039 I mean, it's it's the prime habitat for these things. 375 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:27.200 Do you run across a lot of people that are 376 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:29.759 like aware that Bigfoot's around in that area? 377 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:35.039 Yes, and now I mean at the same time, yes, 378 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.640 you know, you know, it's funny, it's it's some of 379 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:45.000 the a lot of the older people that will come forward. Really, yeah, 380 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.920 I believe you know, you think you would hear more 381 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.759 from the younger people, but it's the older people that 382 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.119 grew up here. You know, there's people that never really 383 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:55.720 spoke to people, but it's like they develop a trust 384 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:57.799 in you. It's like that somehow they get to know 385 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:00.359 you or feel comfortable with you. Then the put up 386 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:03.599 and start sharing stuff, you know. So, I mean, I've 387 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:05.640 got a good group of people. I got a small 388 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:09.720 resource group right here based out of Virginia, and these 389 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:11.799 individuals know people that know people that know people. 390 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:18.079 Is there a certain type of encounter that people have there? 391 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.640 You know, like in the Pacific Northwest you hear a 392 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:24.799 lot of you know, the kind of the silent you know, 393 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.359 forest giant, you know, spirit of the woods type encounters 394 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:31.720 or a fleeting glimpse of something or whatever, and then 395 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:35.839 in the South you get more aggressive type encounters, it seems. 396 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.640 Are there certain Is there a certain pattern that you 397 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:41.240 you've noticed over the years where you're. 398 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:46.000 At well, yes, I would say that a lot of 399 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.160 the people I spoke to that have had sightings here 400 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:53.440 based off of what I picked up learning from these 401 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:57.640