WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.000 Now one of your pudding. I got a string going 2 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.120 on here, something just because my dog. Something killed your dog, 3 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:08.960 my dog. We're flying through the air over the tree. 4 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:13.640 I don't know how it did it, Okay, Damn, I'm 5 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.120 really confused. All I saw was my dog coming over 6 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:17.800 the fence and he was dead. And once you hit 7 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:19.679 the ground like, I didn't see any cars. All I 8 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:38.320 saw was my dog coming over the fence. Sat what 9 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:42.960 are you putting? We got some wonder or something crawling 10 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:51.759 around out here? Did you see what it was? Or 11 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.159 was it was? Standing enough? I'm out here looking through 12 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.920 the window now and I don't see anything. I don't 13 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:03.880 want to go outside. Jesus Quice, you better hello, get 14 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:06.439 the Boddy out here. Quin On out there? I thought 15 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:09.519 of Avena about tex forty nine. I don't know easy 16 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:11.480 out there, Yeah, I'm walking right head. 17 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:15.319 The crackling of the campfire couldn't mask the sound that 18 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:17.840 made every hair on the back of my neck stand up. 19 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.280 It was a howl, no more like a scream, but 20 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:26.840 not quite human, not quite animal either, something in between, 21 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.719 something that shouldn't exist in the cornfields of Iowa, the 22 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:34.319 forests of Michigan, or anywhere in what we call civilization. 23 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:38.079 Last week, I took you deep into the southern United States, 24 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:41.760 where we explored the humid swamps of Louisiana, the pine 25 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:46.239 forests of Arkansas, and the mysterious hollows of Tennessee. We 26 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:50.480 heard countless encounters that have terrified and fascinated generations of Southerners. 27 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:56.000 The feedback from that episode was incredible, your stories, your experiences, 28 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:59.359 your own close encounters that you've kept secret for years. 29 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:04.439 But tonight we're heading north. Tonight, We're venturing into the 30 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.240 heartland of America, where amber waves of grain meet ancient forests, 31 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:13.000 where great lakes harbor secrets as deep as their waters, 32 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.479 and where something walks on two legs through the shadows 33 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:22.360 of the Midwest. You might think that states like Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, 34 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:26.360 and Missouri would be too civilized, too agricultural, too normal 35 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:30.719 for creatures of legend. You'd be wrong, dead wrong, because 36 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:34.000 what I've discovered in my research, what witnesses have reported 37 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.039 for over a century, will challenge everything you thought you 38 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.919 knew about what lurks in America's mid section. The Midwest 39 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.000 might not have the vast wilderness of the Pacific northwest, 40 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.400 or the impenetrable swamps of the south. But it has 41 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:52.800 something else. A patchwork of forests, river valleys, abandoned quarries, 42 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:56.159 and vast stretches of farmland where a creature could move 43 00:02:56.280 --> 00:03:01.039 unseen for miles, where the edge of civilization meets the wild, 44 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:06.439 where ordinary people have extraordinary encounters that change their lives forever. 45 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:11.319 So dim the lights, settle in, and prepare yourself. These 46 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:16.199 are documented encounters, police reports, and testimonies from credible witnesses 47 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.560 who saw something they can't explain, something that shouldn't exist, 48 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:23.680 something that might be watching you right now from the 49 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:27.479 tree line at the edge of your property. Long before 50 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:31.199 European settlers carved farms from the forests, before the first 51 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.840 railroad track was laid across the prairie, the indigenous peoples 52 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.919 of the Midwest knew that something else shared their lands. 53 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:42.719 The Ojibwe called them wind to Go, describing cannibalistic giants 54 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:46.759 that haunted the northern forests. The Pottawatamie also spoke of 55 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:49.639 the wind to Go as well, but their stories differed. 56 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.840 These were hairy wild men who lived in the deepest 57 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:57.439 parts of the forest, avoiding human contact unless provoked. The 58 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:00.479 Dakota and Lakota had their own names for these beings. 59 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:04.520 They spoke of giants that walked like men, covered in hair, 60 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:08.360 with eyes that glowed in the darkness. These weren't just 61 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:12.199 stories to frighten children. They were warnings passed down through 62 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:17.959 generations about real encounters with real creatures. According to Ojibwe tradition, 63 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.879 particularly strong around the Great Lakes region, these beings were 64 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.360 once human but had been transformed through dark magic or 65 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:30.399 cursed for committing the ultimate taboo, cannibalism. They became something 66 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:35.600 between human and beast, Forever hungry, forever searching. The elders 67 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.040 warned that even speaking of them too often could draw 68 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.920 their attention. The Algonquin nations that stretched across what is 69 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:46.120 now Michigan, Wisconsin, and into Canada had perhaps the most 70 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:51.079 detailed accounts. They described creatures they called with tiko, massive 71 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.240 hair covered beings that could move through the forest without 72 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:58.319 making a sound despite their enormous size. They left tracks 73 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:00.600 in the snow during winter that were three times the 74 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.800 size of a man's foot, and their howls could freeze 75 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:08.319 the blood of the bravest warrior. In southern Illinois and Missouri, 76 00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:13.360 the indigenous peoples told of similar creatures. The Illinois Confederation 77 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.920 spoke of wild men who lived along the Mississippi River bluffs, 78 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:21.079 emerging at night to fish with their bare hands. They 79 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.959 were said to be incredibly strong, able to uproot trees 80 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.120 and throw boulders with ease. The tribes generally avoided certain 81 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:33.079 areas known to be the territory of these beings, understanding 82 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:38.160 that coexistence meant respecting boundaries. What's fascinating about these indigenous 83 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:43.079 accounts is their consistency. Despite the geographic spread from Minnesota 84 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:48.000 to Missouri, from Michigan to Iowa, the descriptions remained remarkably similar. 85 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:54.399 Bipedal covered in hair, enormously strong, usually solitary, and possessed 86 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:58.360 of an intelligence that was almost human, but not quite. 87 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:00.759 They were part of the natural world, but existed on 88 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:05.040 its margins in the places where humans rarely ventured. The 89 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.079 Monominy of Wisconsin had particularly detailed protocols for dealing with 90 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:12.800 these creatures. They believed that leaving offerings of food at 91 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:16.279 the edge of the forest could keep the peace. Tobacco 92 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.720 was especially valued as an offering, and there are accounts 93 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:23.519 from the eighteen hundreds of European traders, noting how indigenous 94 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:27.600 guides would leave tobacco bundles in certain locations, refusing to 95 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:30.759 explain why, beyond saying it was for the old ones 96 00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:33.639 of the forest. These weren't myths in the way we 97 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:38.120 understand mythology today. For the indigenous peoples of the Midwest, 98 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.079 these beings were as real as bears or wolves, dangerous 99 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:46.199 if provoked, but generally avoidable if one knew the proper precautions. 100 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:50.519 They were part of the ecosystem, another species sharing the land, 101 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:54.160 albeit one that blurred the line between human and animal 102 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:58.680 in disturbing ways. When European settlers began arriving in larger 103 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:02.439 numbers in the early eighteen hundreds, they initially dismissed these 104 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:06.519 stories as primitive superstitions, but it didn't take long before 105 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.279 they started having their own encounters. Farmers clearing land for 106 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:14.720 fields would find enormous footprints. Hunters would report seeing hairy 107 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:18.720 figures walking upright through the forest. Children would go missing 108 00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:22.600 near certain woods, and when they returned, if they returned, 109 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:25.959 they spoke of hairy giants who watched them from the shadows. 110 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:30.079 The collision of European settlement with these ancient inhabitants of 111 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.800 the Midwest would lead to some of the most compelling 112 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:38.199 and terrifying encounters in American cryptozoological history. Because while the 113 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.920 indigenous peoples had learned to coexist with these creatures over millennia, 114 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:46.399 the new settlers were entering territory they didn't understand, breaking 115 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:50.680 rules they didn't know existed. Illinois might seem an unlikely 116 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:55.519 hotspot for sasquatch activity. It's a state known for corn, Chicago, 117 00:07:55.639 --> 00:08:00.000 and Lincoln, not mysterious cryptids, but Illinois holds a dark, 118 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:03.160 dark's secret. It ranks fourth in the nation for bigfoot 119 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:08.120 sidings according to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. The earliest 120 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.360 documented sighting dates back to eighteen eighty two in Decatur, 121 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:15.160 but the real wave of encounters began in the nineteen seventies, 122 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:19.160 a decade that would forever change how Illinoisans viewed their 123 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:24.439 forests and farmlands. June twenty fifth, nineteen seventy three, started 124 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:28.439 like any other summer night in Murphysboro, Illinois. The small 125 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.800 town of eight thousand souls nestled along the Big Muddy River, 126 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:37.879 was quiet, peaceful, But just after midnight everything changed. Randy 127 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:40.399 Needham and Judy Johnson were parked in Needham's car at 128 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.279 Riverside Park on the southwest edge of town. They were 129 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.679 enjoying a quiet moment together when a horrific smell invaded 130 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:51.320 the vehicle, a stench like rotting flesh mixed with sulfur 131 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:54.879 and wet dog. Then they heard it, a shriek that 132 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:58.159 was neither human nor animal, something that came from the 133 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:01.879 very depths of Nightmare. In the dim light, they saw 134 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:06.360 it approaching the car, seven feet tall, maybe eight covered 135 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:08.879 in matted white hair caked with mud from the big 136 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:12.919 muddy River. Its eyes glowed red in the darkness, and 137 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.440 when it opened its mouth they could see yellow teeth 138 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:19.000 that looked far too human for comfort. The creature moved 139 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:22.919 with a strange, loping gait, covering ground faster than seemed 140 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.639 possible for something so large. Needham didn't wait to see 141 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:29.320 what it wanted. He started the car and floored it, 142 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:32.720 kicking up gravel as they fled. But here's where the 143 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:36.000 story takes an interesting turn. They didn't just run home 144 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:41.799 and hide, despite the personal complications see Johnson was married, 145 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.679 but not to need him. They went straight to the 146 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:49.120 Murphysboro Police Department to file a report. Officer James Nash 147 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:51.919 was skeptical at first, but he knew Needham and Johnson 148 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:54.879 weren't the types to make up stories. He drove out 149 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:58.399 to Riverside Park to investigate. What he found changed his 150 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:01.559 mind about a lot of things. There in the mud 151 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:06.039 along the river bank were footprints, massive footprints, easily twelve 152 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:09.799 inches long and five inches wide, with only three toes visible. 153 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.879 The stride between prints suggested something with legs much longer 154 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:16.879 than a human's, But it was what happened next that 155 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:20.919 made Nash a believer. As he examined the tracks, following 156 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:24.000 them along the muddy bank, he heard it, the most 157 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.600 incredible shriek he'd ever encountered. It came from the bushes 158 00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:31.679 no more than fifty feet away. Nash, a trained police officer, 159 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:35.440 did what any sensible person would do. He high tailed 160 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.320 it out of there and called for back up. The 161 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.879 next night, June twenty sixth, the creature made another appearance. 162 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:46.039 This time it was spotted by Sheryl Ray and Randy Creith, 163 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:49.639 who were sitting on her back porch. The creature emerged 164 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:52.960 from the bushes about fifteen feet away. Ray would later 165 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:57.039 describe it in chilling detail. It was real tall, hairy. 166 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:00.799 I think it was white, but it was dirty matted. 167 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:04.440 It had a real bad odor. It was really rank. 168 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:08.600 I never smelled anything like it. It seemed like an eternity. 169 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.279 We stood there, and then it just turned around and 170 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:15.240 walked off into the woods. The Murphy's Borough Police Department 171 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:17.759 was flooded with over two hundred calls over the next 172 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:21.559 few days. Officers Jerry Nellis brought in a German shepherd 173 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:25.000 trained in tracking. The dog picked up the scent immediately 174 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.639 and followed it eagerly through the underbrush. The trail led 175 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:32.120 to an abandoned barn on the outskirts of town. But 176 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:36.559 when they reached the barn, something extraordinary happened. This dog, 177 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:40.200 trained to face dangerous criminals, a dog that had never 178 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:44.799 backed down from anything, refused to enter. When officers tried 179 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:48.399 to push it inside, it turned and ran tail between 180 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:52.840 its legs, whimpering in terror. The officers, showing more courage 181 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:56.039 or perhaps less sense, than the dog, entered the barn 182 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:00.120 with weapons drawn. They found nothing but the smell lingered, 183 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:03.960 that horrible mixture of decay and sulfur that witnesses would 184 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:09.200 describe again and again. The encounters continued through July. On 185 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:12.679 July fourth, carnival workers setting up for the Independence Day 186 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:16.399 celebration at Riverside Park reported seeing the creature near the 187 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:20.759 tree line. On July seventh, two Murphy's Borough men spotted 188 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:23.559 what they believed was the big Muddy Monster near a 189 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.840 pond in the Harrison community north of Murphy's Borough. Perhaps 190 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:31.240 the most harrowing encounter came from four year old Christian Barrel, 191 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.559 who was playing in his backyard when something grabbed him. 192 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:38.120 His parents found him sobbing with scratches on his body, 193 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.960 babbling about a big, hairy monster that had tried to 194 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:44.799 take him into the woods. The scratches were real, three 195 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:48.000 parallel marks that looked like claw marks, but were spaced 196 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:51.399 too far apart to be from any known animal. The 197 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:55.639 scientific community took notice. Lauren Coleman, one of the world's 198 00:12:55.639 --> 00:13:01.039 foremost cryptozoologists, traveled to Murphy's Borough to investigate. He interviewed 199 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:05.120 dozens of witnesses and examined the physical evidence. His conclusion 200 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.919 was startling. There's something very unique about this Eastern Midwestern bigfoot. 201 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:12.840 From the reports of the mud Monster, it seemed to 202 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:15.200 frighten people in a way. It didn't in the West, 203 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.840 but Murphy's Borough wasn't the only Illinois town to experience 204 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:23.080 a cryptid invasion in the nineteen seventies. In May nineteen 205 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.360 seventy two, just a year before the mud Monster appearances, 206 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.360 the towns of Pekin and Peoria were dealing with their 207 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:34.000 own mysterious visitor. Randy Emmer, just eighteen years old, and 208 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.639 his friends were driving along Coal Hollow Road on the 209 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.320 evening of May twenty fourth when they saw something that 210 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:44.080 would spark one of the largest monster hunts in Illinois history. There, 211 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:47.840 illuminated in their headlights stood a creature unlike anything they'd 212 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:52.159 ever seen. It was massive. Witnesses would later estimate it 213 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:55.279 at eight to nine feet tall, covered in whitish gray 214 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.679 hair that looked like it hadn't been groomed in centuries. 215 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:01.440 Its face was a disturbing mix of human and ape features, 216 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:05.399 with long, round ears and bright red lips that stood 217 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:09.039 out against its pale fur. What struck emmert most were 218 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.440 its hands. They were human like, but the thumbs were 219 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.399 double jointed and set lower than they should be, and 220 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:19.240 each finger ended in a long curved claw. When the 221 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.000 creature turned to look at them, its eyes reflected the 222 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:25.879 headlight beams with an eerie yellow glow. The creature didn't 223 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:29.000 run when it saw them. Instead, it stood there for 224 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:32.799 a moment, studying them with an intelligence that was deeply unsettling, 225 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:37.399 then moving with surprising grace for something so large. It 226 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:42.840 turned and walked, not ran, walked into the nearby woods, 227 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:47.320 disappearing into the shadows. Emmert and his friends didn't immediately 228 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:52.039 report what they'd seen. They were teenagers who would believe them, 229 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.639 But word got out, as word always does in small towns. 230 00:14:56.440 --> 00:15:00.759 Other people started coming forward with their own sightings and 231 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:02.799 stay tuned for more sasquatch Ott to see. 232 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:03.720 We'll be right back. 233 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:11.440 After these messages, a farmer reported that something had destroyed 234 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.360 his fence, not knocked it down, but literally torn it apart, 235 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:19.440 leaving the wooden posts splintered like match sticks. A woman 236 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:22.279 called the police to report a white, hairy giant peering 237 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.440 through her bedroom window at two in the morning on 238 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:29.000 May twenty fifth, nineteen seventy two. The East Peoria Police 239 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:32.360 Department logged more than two hundred calls from witnesses claiming 240 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:35.519 to have seen the creature. The calls came from all 241 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:39.559 over the area. People seeing it walking through woods, crossing roads, 242 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:44.360 even rummaging through garbage cans behind restaurants. The descriptions were 243 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:49.759 remarkably consistent. Tall, covered in white or gray hair, walking upright, 244 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:53.799 and giving off a terrible smell. The police were overwhelmed. 245 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:57.080 They didn't know how to respond to unknown creature reports. 246 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:00.080 This wasn't covered in their training, but as the call 247 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.879 kept coming, they realized they had to do something. A 248 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:08.159 search party was organized on July tenth, nineteen seventy two. 249 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:11.679 Over one hundred volunteers gathered to search the woods around 250 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:15.240 Coal Hollow Road. They were armed with everything from hunting 251 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.200 rifles to cameras, determined to either capture or kill whatever 252 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:23.200 was terrorizing their community. The search had barely begun when 253 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:27.120 disaster struck. One of the volunteers accidentally shot himself in 254 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:30.960 the foot with his own gun. The injury wasn't life threatening, 255 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.399 but it was serious enough that the search had to 256 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.799 be called off while emergency services responded. The Coal Hollow 257 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:42.039 Road Monster, or Cohomo, as locals began calling it, continued 258 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:44.600 to be sighted throughout the summer of nineteen seventy two. 259 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.440 On July twenty fifth, a witness reported seeing the creature 260 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.440 swimming in the Illinois River. They described watching in amazement 261 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.799 as it moved through the water with powerful strokes, its 262 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:59.279 white hair plastered to its body, looking like a cross 263 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:03.440 between an abas and a caveman. The last major sighting 264 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.680 occurred on July twenty eighth, when a woman reported seeing 265 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.240 the creature near an abandoned coal mine. She was driving 266 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.240 home from work when she saw it standing at the 267 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:16.839 mine entrance, silhouetted against the evening sky. She described feeling 268 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.720 an overwhelming sense of dread, as if the creature was 269 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:23.720 warning her to stay away. Years later, Randy Emmeret would 270 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.359 make a shocking confession in an interview with a local newspaper. 271 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.839 He admitted that he and his friends had never actually 272 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:33.640 seen anything that night on Coal Hollow Road. It had 273 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:36.200 all been a prank, a joke that got out of hand. 274 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:40.599 But here's where things get interesting. Even after Emmert's confession, 275 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:44.440 the sightings continued. People who had never heard of Emmert 276 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:47.200 or his prank were still reporting encounters with a large, 277 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:51.480 white haired creature in the woods around Pekin and Peoria, Michigan, 278 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.839 with its two peninsulas surrounded by the Great Lakes, Its 279 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:58.680 vast forests and its long dark winters has produced some 280 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:02.039 of the most terrifying and bizarre cryptid encounters in North 281 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:05.400 American history. It's a state where not one but two 282 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:09.119 major cryptids are said to rome, the classic Bigfoot and 283 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:13.279 the terrifying Michigan dog Man. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan 284 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:16.119 is a world apart, separated from the rest of the 285 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:19.599 state by the Straits of Mackinac. The Up, as locals 286 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:23.319 call it, is a land of deep forests, hidden lakes, 287 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:28.240 and small towns, separated by miles of wilderness. It's here 288 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:31.759 in Schoolcraft County that Michigan has recorded its highest concentration 289 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:37.119 of Bigfoot sightings. The Sieni National Wildlife Refuge, a ninety 290 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:40.920 five thousand acre wilderness of wetlands and forests, has become 291 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:45.359 synonymous with sasquatch encounters. The area is so active that 292 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.160 locals have a saying, if you want to see a bear, 293 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:51.039 go to Sceini. If you want to see something else, 294 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:54.599 go to Seeny at Night. One of the most chilling 295 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:57.839 accounts from Sieni came from a woman named Sarah, who 296 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:01.400 was driving along the notorious Sceni Stretch, a twenty five 297 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:04.680 mile section of straight highway cutting through the wilderness in 298 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:08.599 nineteen ninety seven. It was past midnight and her infant 299 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:12.039 daughter was crying in the back seat. Exhausted from a 300 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.759 long drive, Sarah pulled over to nurse the baby and 301 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.640 maybe catch a few minutes of sleep. She had just 302 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:21.119 dozed off when something made her open her eyes. There 303 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:24.920 pressed against the driver's side window was a face, but 304 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:28.519 not a human face. It was covered in dark brown hair, 305 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:32.599 with deep set eyes that reflected the moonlight. The creature 306 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:35.440 was examining her baby with an intensity that sent ice 307 00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:40.119 through Sarah's veins. She described the look as curious, almost tender, 308 00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:44.920 but alien. Sarah did what any mother would do. She screamed. 309 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:47.720 The creature jerked back, and she got a full view 310 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:51.279 of it standing beside her car. It was massive, at 311 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.960 least seven feet tall, with shoulders broader than any humans. 312 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.519 For a moment that felt like hours, they stared at 313 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:01.920 each other. Then the creature placed one enormous hand on 314 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:04.400 the hood of her car. She could hear the metal 315 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:07.519 groan under the weight, and vaulted over the vehicle in 316 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:12.279 one smooth motion, disappearing into the forest. When Sarah reported 317 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.799 the encounter to local authorities. She was surprised by their response. 318 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:21.000 Instead of skepticism, she got knowing nods. One officer told her, 319 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:23.839 You're not the first, and you won't be the last 320 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:28.000 that stretch of road. Things happen there. But Bigfoot isn't 321 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:32.519 the only cryptid stalking Michigan's forests. In eighteen eighty seven, 322 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:36.200 two lumberjacks in Wexford County reported encountering something that would 323 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:40.119 haunt Michigan for the next century and beyond, the Michigan 324 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:43.559 dog Man. The creature was described as having the body 325 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:46.079 of a man but the head of a dog or wolf. 326 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:50.279 It stood seven feet tall, walked on two legs, and 327 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:53.039 had blue or amber eyes that seemed to glow with 328 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:56.359 an inner light. Its howl was said to sound like 329 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.960 a human scream mixed with a wolf's howl, a sound 330 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:04.359 that once heard, could never be forgotten. The dog man 331 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:08.640 legend lay relatively dormant until nineteen eighty seven, exactly one 332 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:12.799 hundred years after the first sighting. Steve Cook, a DJ 333 00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:17.200 at WTCMFM and Traverse City, created a song called the 334 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:21.400 Legend as an April fool's joke. The song detailed various 335 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:25.880 dog men encounters throughout Michigan's history, set to a haunting melody. 336 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.880 Cook expected a few laughs and then for people to 337 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:33.240 move on. Instead, the station was flooded with calls, not 338 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:36.000 from people laughing at the joke, but from people saying, 339 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.119 I've seen it too. The stories poured in, Hunters who 340 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:42.440 had encountered something that walked like a man but had 341 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:45.440 the head of a wolf, drivers who had hit something 342 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:47.880 that left fur in their grill but no body on 343 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.039 the road, Campers who had been stalked by something that 344 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:55.759 moved between two legs and four with unsettling ease. One 345 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.200 of the most terrifying accounts came from a truck driver 346 00:21:58.279 --> 00:22:02.079 named Joe Barger in twenty seventeen, fitting the supposed pattern 347 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:04.640 of the dog Man appearing in years ending in seven. 348 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:08.640 Barger was driving through the Manistee National Forest when something 349 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:11.680 emerged from the woods and began running alongside his truck. 350 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:14.720 At first, he thought it was a bear. Then he 351 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:17.839 realized it was running on two legs, keeping pace with 352 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.000 his truck at forty five miles per hour. When it 353 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.599 turned to look at him, he saw its face clearly 354 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:27.119 in the cab lights, elongated like a dog's with three 355 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:29.799 inch fangs and yellow eyes that seemed to bore into 356 00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:33.079 his soul. The creature reached for his open window with 357 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:37.160 hands that were almost human but ended in claws. Bargar 358 00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:40.559 grabbed his handgun and fired several shots. He claimed to 359 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:43.279 have hit the creature at least once, seeing it stumble, 360 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:47.000 but it kept coming. Only when he accelerated to nearly 361 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:50.599 seventy miles per hour did the creature fall back, disappearing 362 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:54.160 into the darkness. When he finally stopped at a rest area, 363 00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:57.039 he found claw marks on his truck door and tufts 364 00:22:57.079 --> 00:23:02.000 of gray fur caught in the window seal. Wisconsin, America's dairyland, 365 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.400 might be better known for cheese and the Green Bay 366 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:07.599 Packers than cryptids, but the state has a rich history 367 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:11.640 of mysterious encounters that rivals any location in North America. 368 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:15.599 The most famous is undoubtedly the Beast of Bray Road, 369 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:19.960 but Wisconsin's vast northern forest have produced countless Bigfoot sightings 370 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:22.559 that paint a picture of a state where the line 371 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:27.839 between civilization and the wild remains remarkably thin. Bray Road 372 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:30.960 is a rural stretch of asphalt running through Walworth County 373 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:34.200 near the town of Elcorn. It's the kind of road 374 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:36.599 you might drive down one hundred times without giving it 375 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:40.480 a second thought until you know its history. Then every 376 00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:44.880 shadow becomes suspicious, every rustle in the corn something more 377 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.519 than wind. The modern legend of the Beast of Bray 378 00:23:48.599 --> 00:23:52.160 Road began in nineteen eighty nine, though locals whisper about 379 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:56.200 encounters going back to the nineteen thirties. Lori Andreasy was 380 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:58.680 driving home from her job at a bar in Elcorn 381 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:00.759 around one point thirty in the more when she saw 382 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:04.839 what she initially thought was a person kneeling by the roadside. 383 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:07.759 As her car approached, the figure stood up and and 384 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:11.799 Dreazi realized this was no human. It stood nearly seven 385 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:15.440 feet tall, covered in brown gray fur, with a face 386 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:19.400 that was elongated like a wolf's, but with disturbing human qualities. 387 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:23.200 Its arms were muscular and ended in hands with claws, 388 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:27.400 but it was the eyes that haunted her. Yellow, intelligent, 389 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:30.759 and filled with what she could only describe as malevolence. 390 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:35.039 It was kneeling, she would later tell journalist Linda Godfrey. 391 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:38.680 Its elbows were up and its claws were facing out, 392 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:42.079 so I knew it had claws. I remember the long 393 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:47.079 claws the creature was holding something between those claws roadkill, 394 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.839 she thought, though she didn't slow down to investigate. The 395 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:55.559 encounter lasted only seconds, but it changed and Dresey's life. 396 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:59.880 She became withdrawn, afraid to drive at night, constantly checking 397 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:02.880 her rear view mirror. When she finally worked up the 398 00:25:02.920 --> 00:25:05.920 courage to report what she'd seen, she was surprised to 399 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:10.039 find she wasn't alone. Perhaps the most dramatic encounter occurred 400 00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:13.640 in nineteen ninety nine, when eighteen year old Doristein Gibson 401 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:17.440