Speaker 1: Today, I want to tell you about a journey that
Speaker 1: I've been on for most of my life. Ever since
Speaker 1: I was a kid, I've heard tales of bigfoot and
Speaker 1: wild men while spending time with my friends and family.
Speaker 1: As I grew older and read more about the paranormal,
Speaker 1: my interest in encryptids and other things strange only deepened.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm so excited to share with you what
Speaker 1: I've personally become involved with the Untold Radio Network. The
Speaker 1: Untold Radio Network is a live streaming podcast network that
Speaker 1: airs a new show every day across all podcast platforms, YouTube,
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Speaker 1: than just a podcast network. It's a community that allows
Speaker 1: me to meet so many amazing people who share their
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Speaker 2: Now, what are your reporting? I got a screen going
Speaker 2: on here. Something just kid with my dog, something to
Speaker 2: kill your dog? My dog. We're flying through there, over
Speaker 2: the tree. I don't know how it did it? Okay, Damn,
Speaker 2: I'm really confused. All I saw was my dog coming
Speaker 2: over the fence and name was dead once you hit
Speaker 2: the ground. I didn't see any cars. All I saw
Speaker 2: was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what are
Speaker 2: you reporting? We got some wonder or something crawling around
Speaker 2: out here? Did you see what it was? It was
Speaker 2: enough out here. Look, I'm new to window now and
Speaker 2: I don't need anything. I don't want to go outside.
Speaker 2: It's right, Hello, hit the boddy out here? What quin?
Speaker 2: I'm out there? It's thought of amnures about text nine.
Speaker 2: I don't know. Easy him out there. Yeah, I'm walking
Speaker 2: right head uh.
Speaker 1: Hi, Brian. I've got a story to share that's been
Speaker 1: passed down in my family for generations. It's from my
Speaker 1: great great grandfather, Jedediah Turner, who was a fur trapper
Speaker 1: in the Pacific Northwest in the late eighteen hundreds. He
Speaker 1: wrote about this in his journal, and it's as clear
Speaker 1: as day to anyone who's read it that something happened
Speaker 1: to him out there. Whether you believe it or not,
Speaker 1: it's up to you. But here's what he wrote. He
Speaker 1: was trapping in Oregon, deep in the wilderness where a
Speaker 1: few people dared to go back. Then he'd been out
Speaker 1: there for weeks alone, setting traps and collecting furs. In
Speaker 1: early October, he made camp near a creek that looked promising.
Speaker 1: The first thing he noticed was how quiet it was.
Speaker 1: Normally there'd be the sounds of birds, insects, or small animals,
Speaker 1: but this place was dead silent. He wrote that it
Speaker 1: gave him an uneasy feeling, but he brushed it off
Speaker 1: and set his traps. The next morning, two of his
Speaker 1: traps were gone, not just empty, gone like they'd never
Speaker 1: been there in the first place. The third trap was destroyed,
Speaker 1: snapped in half like a twig. He thought it might
Speaker 1: have been a bear at first, but then he found
Speaker 1: the tracks. They were huge, bigger than any bear he'd
Speaker 1: ever seen, and they weren't shaped like bear tracks. They
Speaker 1: looked like human footprints, only twice the size of a
Speaker 1: normal man's foot. He stayed another night, but he couldn't
Speaker 1: shake the feeling that something was watching him. That night
Speaker 1: he saw it. He wrote that it came into the
Speaker 1: clearing where he'd set up camp. It was huge, taller
Speaker 1: than any man he'd ever seen, and covered in dark hair.
Speaker 1: Its eyes reflected the light of his fire, and for
Speaker 1: a moment it just stood there, staring at him. He
Speaker 1: didn't know if it was going to attack or leave
Speaker 1: him alone, but eventually it turned and disappeared back into
Speaker 1: the trees. He stayed awake all night after that, listening
Speaker 1: to every little sound. The next morning he packed up
Speaker 1: and left. He abandoned the rest of his traps and
Speaker 1: the furs. He'd already collected, things that meant money and
Speaker 1: survival to him, but he didn't care. He never went
Speaker 1: back to that part of Oregon again. That's the story
Speaker 1: straight from his journal. My family has always believed him
Speaker 1: because Jedediah wasn't the kind of man to make up
Speaker 1: tall tales. He was practical, no nonsense, and the idea
Speaker 1: of him being scared enough to leave his work behind
Speaker 1: speaks volumes. Anyway, I thought you'd appreciate it. Thanks for
Speaker 1: doing what you do best. Mark t Hi Brian, I've
Speaker 1: been listening to your podcast for a while now, and
Speaker 1: I finally decided to share my story. When I was
Speaker 1: sixteen back in nineteen fifty five in a small mining
Speaker 1: town in West Virginia, it was a summer night and
Speaker 1: my best friend Brad and I decided to go camping
Speaker 1: in the woods. We'd heard stories from an old drunken
Speaker 1: town about a wild man living out there, and we
Speaker 1: thought it would be fun to go see if we
Speaker 1: could find it. We told our parents we were going
Speaker 1: to camp by the creek, packed up some snacks in
Speaker 1: a flashlight, and set out in the late afternoon. The
Speaker 1: woods were our playground back then. We knew every trail,
Speaker 1: every clearing, every hidden spot where we could fish or
Speaker 1: just hang out. But this time we went farther than
Speaker 1: usual into a part of the forest. We didn't visit much.
Speaker 1: It was quiet that night, too quiet. Usually you'd hear crickets, frogs,
Speaker 1: or the occasional owl, but there was nothing, just this heavy,
Speaker 1: suffocating silence. We built a small fire and sat around it,
Speaker 1: trying to laugh and tell jokes, but we were both
Speaker 1: on edge. Sometime after midnight we heard it. It started
Speaker 1: as a low growl coming from somewhere in the trees.
Speaker 1: Then we heard movement, heavy footsteps, slow and deliberate, like
Speaker 1: something big was circling our camp. We grabbed the flashlight
Speaker 1: and shined it into the darkness. That's when we saw it.
Speaker 1: It was huge, taller than any man I'd ever seen,
Speaker 1: and covered in dark hair. It stood on two legs
Speaker 1: like a person, but it wasn't human. Its face was
Speaker 1: broad and flat, with glowing eyes that caught the light
Speaker 1: from our fire. It stood there for what felt like
Speaker 1: an eternity, just staring at us. We didn't say a word.
Speaker 1: We just grabbed our stuff and ran. I don't think
Speaker 1: I've ever run so fast in my life. I could
Speaker 1: hear it crashing through the trees behind us, but it
Speaker 1: didn't follow us all the way out. When we finally
Speaker 1: made it back to town, we didn't tell anyone what
Speaker 1: had happened. I never went back to those woods. Brad
Speaker 1: and I drifted apart after that summer, but I'll always
Speaker 1: remember what we saw. Thanks for letting me share. Keep
Speaker 1: up the great work, tom ar Hi Brian, I've been
Speaker 1: an avid listener of your podcast for a couple of
Speaker 1: years now, and I've heard countless stories that made me think, Wow,
Speaker 1: that's incredible, but I never imagined i'd have one of
Speaker 1: my own to share. My name is Jake, and I've
Speaker 1: been living and hunting in Alaska for most of my life.
Speaker 1: I'm forty five now, and the experience I'm about to
Speaker 1: share happened just a few winters ago, in December twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two. I've hesitated to tell anyone about this, partly
Speaker 1: because I wasn't sure anyone would believe me, and partly
Speaker 1: because I'm still trying to wrap my head around it myself.
Speaker 1: But after much thought, I decided it's time to share
Speaker 1: my story. Maybe it'll help me make sense of it,
Speaker 1: or at least let others know that some legends might
Speaker 1: just be real. Every year, I take a solo hunting
Speaker 1: trip into the Alaskan back country. It's a tradition I
Speaker 1: started in my twenties, a way to disconnect from the
Speaker 1: hustle and bustle of life and reconnect with nature. I
Speaker 1: usually go for about a week tracking game, camping under
Speaker 1: the stars, and enjoying the solitude. My friends and family
Speaker 1: think I'm a bit crazy for doing it alone, but
Speaker 1: I've always felt comfortable out there. In December twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: I planned my trip a bit later than usual. Work
Speaker 1: had been hectic, and I was looking forward to some
Speaker 1: peace and quiet before the holidays. I packed my gear,
Speaker 1: my reliable Winchester rifle, a sturdy tent, enough provisions for
Speaker 1: ten days. I always pack extra just in case, and
Speaker 1: all the essentials for surviving in the harsh Alaskan winter.
Speaker 1: I chose a new area to explore, this time, a
Speaker 1: remote region near the foothills of the Brooks Range. It's
Speaker 1: a place not many people venture to, especially that time
Speaker 1: of year. The weather can be unpredictable and the terrain
Speaker 1: is rugged, but that's part of the allure for me.
Speaker 1: I set out early on a crisp Monday morning. The
Speaker 1: sky was clear and the forecast promised stable weather for
Speaker 1: the next week. I drove as far as the old
Speaker 1: logging roads would take me, then parked my truck at
Speaker 1: a makeshift campsite known to a few locals. From there,
Speaker 1: it was all on foot. The first couple of days
Speaker 1: were uneventful in a good way. I hiked through snow
Speaker 1: covered forests, crossed frozen streams, and marveled at the untouched
Speaker 1: beauty around me. I spotted tracks of moose and caribou,
Speaker 1: and even glimpsed a pack of wolves in the distance.
Speaker 1: The nights were cold, but manageable with a good fire
Speaker 1: and a warm sleeping bag. On the third day, I
Speaker 1: decided to push further north toward a valley i'd seen
Speaker 1: on the map. It was supposed to be a prime
Speaker 1: spot for game, and I was eager to see it
Speaker 1: for myself. As I made my way into the valley,
Speaker 1: I started noticing odd things. The first was the silence. Now,
Speaker 1: the wilderness can be quiet, but there's usually some sound,
Speaker 1: the wind in the tree, trees, distant animal calls, the
Speaker 1: creaking of ice. But here it was as if the
Speaker 1: whole area was holding its breath. Then I found the tracks.
Speaker 1: At first glance, I thought they might be bear tracks,
Speaker 1: but they were different, larger and with a different shape.
Speaker 1: They were elongated with what looked like five toes and
Speaker 1: sunk deep into the snow, indicating significant weight. I crouched
Speaker 1: down to get a better look, measuring them against my hand,
Speaker 1: they were nearly twice the size of my bootprint. I
Speaker 1: felt a chill that had nothing to do with the
Speaker 1: cold air. Maybe it's just an old bear with deformed paws,
Speaker 1: I told myself, trying to shake off the unease. I
Speaker 1: pressed on, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I
Speaker 1: was being watched. Every so often, i'd stop and listen,
Speaker 1: scanning the trees for any sign of movement, but there
Speaker 1: was nothing, just that eerie silence. By late afternoon, the
Speaker 1: sky started to change. Dark clouds were rolling in from
Speaker 1: the west, and I knew a storm was coming. I
Speaker 1: found a suitable spot to set up camp, a small
Speaker 1: clearing surrounded by dense spruce trees that would offer some
Speaker 1: protection from the wind. As I was pitching my tent,
Speaker 1: I heard a sound that made me stop in my tracks.
Speaker 1: It was a distant, low howl, not like a wolf
Speaker 1: or any other animal I'd heard before. It echoed through
Speaker 1: the valley, sending a shiver down my spine. Must be
Speaker 1: the wind, I muttered, though deep down I didn't believe it.
Speaker 1: I finished setting up camp and got a fire going.
Speaker 1: As the night fell, the wind picked up and snow
Speaker 1: began to fall lightly. I cooked some beans over the
Speaker 1: fire and tried to relax, but that uneasy feeling lingered.
Speaker 1: Around nine PM, I decided to turn in. I secured
Speaker 1: my food supplies can't be too careful with bears around,
Speaker 1: and crawled into my tent. The sound of the wind
Speaker 1: and the gently falling snow usually lulled me to sleep,
Speaker 1: but that night sleep wouldn't come. Sometime later, I can't
Speaker 1: be sure how long I heard something outside. It was
Speaker 1: a soft crunching sound, like footsteps in the snow. I
Speaker 1: held my breath, straining to listen. Crunch, crunch, crunch. They
Speaker 1: were slow, deliberate steps getting closer to my tent. I
Speaker 1: reached for my rifle, keeping as quiet as possible. My
Speaker 1: heart was pounding so hard I was sure whatever was
Speaker 1: out there could hear it. Then everything went silent again.
Speaker 1: I waited every muscle tense. Minutes passed, but there was nothing.
Speaker 1: I finally convinced myself it was just an animal passing by,
Speaker 1: a moose or maybe a caribou. I must have drifted
Speaker 1: off eventually, because the next thing I knew it was morning.
Speaker 1: I stepped out of my tent to a fresh layer
Speaker 1: of snow about two inches. The storm had passed and
Speaker 1: the sky was clear again. But as I looked around,
Speaker 1: I noticed something that made my blood run cold. There
Speaker 1: were tracks circling my campsite, the same large human like
Speaker 1: footprints i'd seen the day before, only this time they
Speaker 1: were fresh and unmistakable. They came from the trees, circled
Speaker 1: my tent twice, and then headed back into the forest.
Speaker 1: I followed them a short distance until they disappeared into
Speaker 1: a thicker part of the woods. I didn't dare go
Speaker 1: any further. Someone's messing with me, I thought, But who
Speaker 1: I was miles from any town and I hadn't seen
Speaker 1: another soul since I left my truck. I tried to
Speaker 1: shake it off, but the sense of being watched was
Speaker 1: stronger now. I decided to move on, maybe head back
Speaker 1: toward the truck and cut the trip short. As I
Speaker 1: packed up camp, I couldn't shake the feeling that I
Speaker 1: was making the right decision. The wilderness has a way
Speaker 1: of telling you when you're not welcome, and I wasn't
Speaker 1: about to ignore it. I started hiking back the way
Speaker 1: I came, keeping a steady pace. The sun was out,
Speaker 1: but it did little to warm the frigid air. Every
Speaker 1: so often i'd catch movement out of the corner of
Speaker 1: my eye, a flash of dark against the white snow,
Speaker 1: but whenever I turned to look, there was nothing there.
Speaker 1: Around midday, I stopped to rest and have a quick lunch.
Speaker 1: That's when I heard the howl again, only this time
Speaker 1: it was closer and there was more than one. It
Speaker 1: sounded like two, maybe three voices echoing through the trees.
Speaker 1: My instincts were screaming at me. Now I decided to
Speaker 1: forego any more stops and make a beeline for my truck.
Speaker 1: The daylight was fading as I entered a section of
Speaker 1: the forest that was denser than the rest. The trees
Speaker 1: here were older, their branches heavy with snow, creating an
Speaker 1: almost tunnel like effect over the narrow path. That's when
Speaker 1: I saw it. About fifty yards ahead, standing in the
Speaker 1: middle of the path was a figure. It was massive,
Speaker 1: easily eight feet tall maybe more. It was covered in dark,
Speaker 1: matted hair, and its arms hung low, almost to its knees.
Speaker 1: I stopped dead in my tracks, gripping my rifle tightly.
Speaker 1: My mind raised. Was it a bear standing on its
Speaker 1: hind legs? But no bear is that tall and the
Speaker 1: shape was all wrong. Then it turned to look at me.
Speaker 1: Its face was a mix between human and ape, with
Speaker 1: deep set eyes that seemed to pierce right through me
Speaker 1: and stay tuned for more sasquatch ot to see We'll
Speaker 1: be right back after these messages. We stood there staring
Speaker 1: at each other, neither of us moving easy now, I whispered,
Speaker 1: not sure if I was talking to it or myself. Slowly,
Speaker 1: I began to back away, keeping my eyes on the creature.
Speaker 1: It tilted its head slightly as if curious, then let
Speaker 1: out a low guttural sound, not quite a growl, but
Speaker 1: not friendly either. I took another step back, and that's
Speaker 1: when I heard movement behind me. A quick glance over
Speaker 1: my shoulder revealed two more figures emerging from the trees.
Speaker 1: I was surrounded. Panic surged through me. I knew I
Speaker 1: couldn't outrun them, especially in this terrain. My only option
Speaker 1: was to stand my ground. I raised my rifle, not
Speaker 1: aiming directly at them, but ready to defend myself if necessary.
Speaker 1: Stay back, I shouted, my voice, echoing in the silent forest.
Speaker 1: The three creatures didn't advance, but they didn't retreat either.
Speaker 1: They just stood there, watching me with those intense eyes.
Speaker 1: After what felt like an eternity, the one in front
Speaker 1: made a soft sound, almost like a huff, and turned
Speaker 1: to walk into the woods. The other two followed suit.
Speaker 1: Disappearing silently among the trees. I didn't waste a second.
Speaker 1: As soon as they were out of sight, I started
Speaker 1: moving again, faster this time, but careful not to make
Speaker 1: too much noise. With daylight fading, I knew I had
Speaker 1: to make it back to my truck before nightfall. The
Speaker 1: idea of being out here in the dark with those
Speaker 1: things around was terrifying. I pushed myself hard, my legs burning,
Speaker 1: lungs aching from the cold air. I kept looking over
Speaker 1: my shoulder, expecting to see them following me, but the
Speaker 1: path remained clear. Just when I thought I was making progress,
Speaker 1: I came across something that stopped me cold, A makeshift
Speaker 1: barrier of broken branches and logs piled across the path.
Speaker 1: It hadn't been there on my way in. Are they
Speaker 1: trying to block me?
Speaker 2: I thought?
Speaker 1: The hair's on the back of my neck. Standing up,
Speaker 1: I scrambled over the obstacle, cutting my hand on a
Speaker 1: jagged piece of wood in the process. The sting of
Speaker 1: the cold air on the fresh cut snapped me back
Speaker 1: into focus. Keep moving, I told myself. As I continued,
Speaker 1: I began noticing strange markings on the trees, deep scratches,
Speaker 1: arranged in patterns, small structures made of sticks and bones
Speaker 1: hanging from branches. It was as if I was moving
Speaker 1: through some kind of territory marks by these creatures. I
Speaker 1: tried not to think about what the symbols meant, but
Speaker 1: the sense of urgency intensified. The sun was now a
Speaker 1: mere glow on the horizon, and shadows stretched long across
Speaker 1: the snow. I heard the howls again, this time from
Speaker 1: multiple directions. They were communicating, signaling to each other. The
Speaker 1: realization sent a jolt of fear through me. I broke
Speaker 1: into a run, my heavy backpack weighing me down. My
Speaker 1: breath came in gasps. At last, I saw the glint
Speaker 1: of metal through the trees. My truck was just ahead.
Speaker 1: Relief washed over me, but it was short lived. Between
Speaker 1: me and the truck stood one of the creatures. It
Speaker 1: was the same one I'd seen earlier. I was sure
Speaker 1: of it. It stood there, almost as if waiting for me.
Speaker 1: I slowed my pace, not wanting to provoke it. My
Speaker 1: truck was only about one hundred feet away. Listen, I
Speaker 1: said aloud, I don't want any trouble. I'm leaving. The
Speaker 1: creature remained still watching me. I decided to take a
Speaker 1: wide berth, moving slowly to the side. As I did,
Speaker 1: the creature mirrored my movement, keeping the distance constant. My
Speaker 1: heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst. Then,
Speaker 1: in a sudden motion, it let out a loud whoop,
Speaker 1: a sound that echoed off the trees. From behind me,
Speaker 1: I heard responses. The others were closing in. Desperate I
Speaker 1: made a split second decision. I swung my rifle around
Speaker 1: and fired a shot into the air. The sound was deafening,
Speaker 1: ringing in my ears. The creature flinched, its eyes widening.
Speaker 1: Taking advantage of its momentary hesitation, I sprinted toward the truck.
Speaker 1: The adrenaline overrode any exhaustion I felt. I reached the truck,
Speaker 1: yanked the door open, and slammed it shut behind me.
Speaker 1: Fumbling with trembling hands, I started the engine. As I
Speaker 1: pulled away, I looked back to see the creature standing
Speaker 1: at the edge of the clearing, watching me. The drive
Speaker 1: back to town was a blur. My mind raced with
Speaker 1: what I'd just experienced. Part of me wondered if I'd
Speaker 1: imagined it, but the cut on my hand and the
Speaker 1: lingering fear told me. It was all too real. When
Speaker 1: I reached town, I went straight home. I didn't tell
Speaker 1: anyone about what happened, not that night anyway. Over the
Speaker 1: next few days, I tried to make sense of it.
Speaker 1: I considered reporting it to the authorities. But what would
Speaker 1: I say that I'd seen Bigfoot? They'd think I was crazy.
Speaker 1: I did some research, reading up on local legends and stories.
Speaker 1: Turns out there have been sightings of similar creatures in
Speaker 1: Alaska for decades. Some call them the Hairy Man or
Speaker 1: the ur a Yulie. I spoke to a friend of mine, Bill,
Speaker 1: who's part Nate of Alaskan. I trusted him not to
Speaker 1: dismiss me outright after I recounted my experience, he nodded thoughtfully.
Speaker 1: My grandfather used to tell stories about them, he said,
Speaker 1: spirits of the Four Guardians. They don't like intruders. Do
Speaker 1: you believe it, I asked. He shrugged. I've never seen one,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean they're not out there. It's been
Speaker 1: several months now and I still think about that encounter
Speaker 1: every day. I haven't been back to the wilderness since.
Speaker 1: The idea of going out there alone again fills me
Speaker 1: with a mix of fear, and sadness. I always considered
Speaker 1: the wilderness my second home, a place where I felt
Speaker 1: at peace. Now it's tainted by uncertainty. I'm sharing this
Speaker 1: story not to convince anyone of anything, but to get
Speaker 1: it off my chest. Maybe someone else has had a
Speaker 1: similar experience and will feel less alone knowing they're not
Speaker 1: the only one. Thanks for listening, Brian. Keep doing what
Speaker 1: you're doing. Your podcast gives people like me a place
Speaker 1: to share without judgment. Best regards, Jake M. I've been
Speaker 1: a listener of your podcast for a while, and I
Speaker 1: always enjoy hearing other people's encounters with sasquat. I've never
Speaker 1: shared this story with anyone outside of my family, but
Speaker 1: I feel like your audience might appreciate it. To be honest,
Speaker 1: I've kept this to myself for years because I didn't
Speaker 1: want people thinking I was crazy. But this happened, and
Speaker 1: it's something I still think about almost every day. It
Speaker 1: was in the summer of two thousand and three and
Speaker 1: I was twenty five at the time. My friends and
Speaker 1: I used to go camping a lot back then, but
Speaker 1: after this trip, I haven't spent another night in the woods,
Speaker 1: and I probably never will. There were four of us, me,
Speaker 1: my best friend Eric, and two of his coworkers, Matt
Speaker 1: and Josh. We all lived in Seattle, and that summer
Speaker 1: we decided to take a long weekend to camp in
Speaker 1: the Cascade Mountains. Eric had picked the spot, a remote
Speaker 1: area about twenty miles outside of Leavenworth, far from any
Speaker 1: marked trails. We left early on a Friday morning, loaded
Speaker 1: up with all the usual gear, tents, sleeping bags, a
Speaker 1: couple of coolers, and enough food and beer to last
Speaker 1: us the weekend. Drive out. There was beautiful mountains on
Speaker 1: one side, dense forest on the other. The plan was
Speaker 1: to hike about six miles into the woods to this
Speaker 1: secluded spot Eric had heard about from a coworker. By
Speaker 1: the time we got there and parked the car, it
Speaker 1: was mid afternoon. The hike in was tough, mostly uphill,
Speaker 1: with a couple of spots where we had to climb
Speaker 1: over fallen trees or cross streams on slippery rocks, But
Speaker 1: the spot Eric picked was worth it. It was this
Speaker 1: small clearing surrounded by trees, with a little creek running nearby.
Speaker 1: You couldn't hear anything but the water and the wind
Speaker 1: and the trees. We set up camp, got a fire,
Speaker 1: going and spent the rest of the evening hanging out,
Speaker 1: telling stories and laughing. It was one of those perfect
Speaker 1: summer nights where everything feels calm and peaceful. I woke
Speaker 1: up sometime after midnight to the sound of movement outside
Speaker 1: my tent. At first I thought it was just one
Speaker 1: of the guys getting up to pee, but then I
Speaker 1: realized the footsteps were too heavy. They had this deliberate,
Speaker 1: weighty sound, like someone big was walking around. I lay
Speaker 1: there for a minute, trying to convince myself it was
Speaker 1: just a deer or maybe a black bear. But then
Speaker 1: I heard a strange noise, this low guttural grunt, almost
Speaker 1: like a growl. It didn't sound like anything I'd ever
Speaker 1: heard before. I peeked out of my tent, but it
Speaker 1: was too dark to see anything. I could hear the
Speaker 1: sound of branches snapping, like whatever it was had moved
Speaker 1: back into the trees. The next morning, I asked if
Speaker 1: anyone else had heard it, but they all shrugged it off.
Speaker 1: Probably just a bear, Eric said, and I tried to
Speaker 1: let it go. The second day was hot and sunny,
Speaker 1: and we spent most of it exploring the area. We
Speaker 1: followed the creek up stream for a while looking for
Speaker 1: good fishing spots. It was quiet, too quiet, actually. I
Speaker 1: kept expecting to hear birds or squirrels or something, but
Speaker 1: there was nothing. At one point, Matt found what he
Speaker 1: thought were bear tracks in the mud near the creek,
Speaker 1: but when I looked closer, they did looked like bear
Speaker 1: prints at all. They were too long, with what looked
Speaker 1: like toes. Maybe it's a big guy walking around barefoot,
Speaker 1: Josh joked, but even he didn't look convinced. We headed
Speaker 1: back to camp in the late afternoon and spent the
Speaker 1: rest of the evening cooking over the fire and playing cards.
Speaker 1: The weirdness from earlier was already starting to fade from
Speaker 1: my mind until night came. That second night was when
Speaker 1: things got really creepy. I woke up again sometime in
Speaker 1: the middle of the night. At first I thought it
Speaker 1: was the same thing as the night before, just some
Speaker 1: animal walking around, But this time the sounds were louder
Speaker 1: and closer, like whatever it was had come right into
Speaker 1: the camp. Then I heard the breathing. It was deep
Speaker 1: and heavy, like something massive was standing just outside my tent.
Speaker 1: My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would
Speaker 1: burst out of my chest. I didn't dare move or
Speaker 1: make a sound. After what felt like an eternity, I
Speaker 1: heard it move away, heading toward the creek. I thought
Speaker 1: about waking the other but I didn't want to scare
Speaker 1: them or embarrass myself if it turned out to be nothing.
Speaker 1: The next morning, though, there was no denying that something
Speaker 1: had been there. When we got up, we found that
Speaker 1: the firewood we'd stacked up near the fire pit had
Speaker 1: been scattered all over the place. Some of the logs
Speaker 1: were tossed so far I couldn't imagine a person doing it,
Speaker 1: let alone an animal. Then we found the footprints. They
Speaker 1: were massive and they had toes, just like the ones
Speaker 1: we'd seen by the creek. They led from the edge
Speaker 1: of the woods, through the camp and down to the water.
Speaker 1: Eric tried to play it off. Probably just some guy
Speaker 1: messing with us, he said, but he didn't sound convinced.
Speaker 1: I could tell Matt and Josh were freaked out, too,
Speaker 1: but none of us wanted to admit it. We just
Speaker 1: kept telling ourselves it was nothing and tried to enjoy
Speaker 1: the rest of the day. By the time the sun
Speaker 1: started to set that night, the mood had changed. None
Speaker 1: of us were laughing or joking anymore. We all stayed
Speaker 1: close to the fire, and every little sound in the
Speaker 1: woods made us jump. It wasn't long before we started
Speaker 1: hearing the footsteps again. This time they were louder, heavier,
Speaker 1: and there was no doubt they were circling the camp.
Speaker 1: Then came the growl. It was low and guttural, like
Speaker 1: a deep rumble that you could feel in your chest.
Speaker 1: It was coming from the trees, but we couldn't see anything.
Speaker 1: Eric grabbed a flashlight and shined it into the woods.
Speaker 1: For a second, I thought I saw something, two glowing
Speaker 1: eyes reflecting the light, but then it was gone. That's
Speaker 1: when the screaming started. It was the most terrifying sound
Speaker 1: I've ever heard. It was high pitched and primal, like
Speaker 1: a mix between a woman's scream and an animal's roar.
Speaker 1: It was so loud it echoed off the trees, and
Speaker 1: I felt like my whole body was vibrating. We all froze,
Speaker 1: too scared to move. Then Matt whispered, what the hell
Speaker 1: is that? No one answered. We didn't sleep at all
Speaker 1: that night. Whatever it was stayed just out of sight,
Speaker 1: pacing around the edge of the camp and occasionally let
Speaker 1: it out. Those awful screams. By the time the sun
Speaker 1: came up, we'd had enough. We packed up our gear
Speaker 1: in record time and started hiking back to the car.
Speaker 1: None of us said much, we just wanted to get
Speaker 1: the hell out of there. About halfway back we found
Speaker 1: more tracks, fresh ones heading in the same direction we
Speaker 1: were going. It was following us. That last mile was
Speaker 1: the longest of my life. Every time a branch snapped
Speaker 1: or a bird took off, I felt like my heart
Speaker 1: would stop. When we finally reached the car, I don't
Speaker 1: think I've ever felt so relieved. It's been twenty years
Speaker 1: since that trip, and I still don't know what we
Speaker 1: encountered out there. I've read up on sasquatch and other cryptids,
Speaker 1: and I think that's the closest thing to what we
Speaker 1: saw or heard. Anyway, whatever it was, it was big, intelligent,
Speaker 1: and terrifying. I haven't been camping since, and I don't
Speaker 1: think I ever will. Thanks for letting me share this, Brian.
Speaker 1: It feels good to finally get it off my chest.
Speaker 1: Up the great work on the podcast. I think you're
Speaker 1: doing something really important by giving people like me a
Speaker 1: place to share their stories. Sincerely, Kevin em Nunavik hunters
Speaker 1: run into rock throwing bigfoot creature. Harry Crookshank and his
Speaker 1: friends say they are the third Northern Quebec group within
Speaker 1: the last two years to spot a bigfoot creature. There
Speaker 1: was the nighttime sighting last month of a red eyed
Speaker 1: bigfoot mama and cub by cree hunters near Wamenji, and
Speaker 1: there was the sighting in Olivic last September by Harry
Speaker 1: Crookshank's sister Maggie Crookshank, who was picking berries when she
Speaker 1: spotted a tall, hairy beast without any clothes. But unlike
Speaker 1: previous sightings, Harry Crookshank's bigfoot actually may have tried to
Speaker 1: convey a message to him and his friends. The message
Speaker 1: was stay away. The group of four men and one
Speaker 1: woman say they saw the creature October nineteenth. The weather
Speaker 1: was nice and everyone was hungry for country food, so
Speaker 1: they decided to go hunting for seal. The group traveled
Speaker 1: by motorized canoe to an area forty five minutes south
Speaker 1: of Akulovic on Nunavik's Hudson Bay coast. After a short
Speaker 1: coffee break, they continued to a remote bay known to
Speaker 1: be a good spot for seal. Stay tuned for more
Speaker 1: sasquatch ott to see. We'll be right back after these messages.
Speaker 1: We all saw the unexpected something on a small hill.
Speaker 1: It was dark and we started staring at it, Crookshank said.
Speaker 1: We knew there was nobody up there because there were
Speaker 1: no other canoes and you can only reach that hunting
Speaker 1: area by canoe. The group decided to go after the creature.
Speaker 1: They approached the area and climbed the small hill, but
Speaker 1: they found nothing. Then they spotted a caribou trail. We
Speaker 1: heard a strange noise up in the land, said Kruskshank,
Speaker 1: like the sound of something throwing rocks. Maybe the creature
Speaker 1: was trying to communicate with us, added Crookshank, But I
Speaker 1: don't know how to talk to the bigfoot. Still, the
Speaker 1: hunting party tried to interpret the creature's movements. Speaking amongst themselves,
Speaker 1: they determined the animal was indeed a bigfoot, and that
Speaker 1: it was throwing rocks at them because it was angry.
Speaker 1: The bigfoot had been hunting the cariboo, Crookshank speculated, and
Speaker 1: his hunting party had interrupted the beast on its quest
Speaker 1: for food. Crookshank and his friends were hungry too, but
Speaker 1: they weren't about to try and shoot the bigfoot. They
Speaker 1: were also craving caribou meat. The bigfoot is not food
Speaker 1: for us because it walks like a human with long,
Speaker 1: long arms, said Crookshank. We forgot about that beast because
Speaker 1: we really needed to have the country food. And so
Speaker 1: the bigfoot escaped into the wilderness, and Crookshank and his
Speaker 1: friends bagged the two caribou that they suspected the beast
Speaker 1: had been out hunting. This is actually not the first
Speaker 1: time Crookshank has seen a bigfoot. He first sighted the
Speaker 1: creature back in July of nineteen ninety seven. Crookshank and
Speaker 1: his wife were traveling by canoe when she spotted something
Speaker 1: on the land. Harry, what is that, his wife cried,
Speaker 1: pointing to a dark, hairy creature. He stood up and
Speaker 1: started running, said Crookshank, very fast running. But when he
Speaker 1: told his story, the people of Akulovic didn't believe him.
Speaker 1: I become quiet after that, said Crookshank. For more than
Speaker 1: fifteen years, no one in Akulovic saw Bigfoot, or at
Speaker 1: least no one in Akulovic spoke very loudly about seeing
Speaker 1: a Bigfoot. Then, late in the afternoon on a rainy,
Speaker 1: windy Saturday in September twenty twelve, Harry Crookshank's sister, Maggie Crookshank,
Speaker 1: spotted a big foot while out picking berries with her cousin.
Speaker 1: The creature was taller and larger than a man, Maggie
Speaker 1: Crookshank said at the time. It walks like us, but
Speaker 1: not standing straight like us. It can jump and crawl,
Speaker 1: and its footprint measured some forty centimeters. Maggie Crookshank posted
Speaker 1: photos of the footprints on her Facebook page, which instantly
Speaker 1: drew numerous comments, but she still has not released a
Speaker 1: video she claims to have of the creature, which has
Speaker 1: drawn her some criticism. Unfortunately, her brother was not able
Speaker 1: to gather any hard evidence of the Bigfoot that he saw.
Speaker 1: All of us forgot our cameras, said Crookshank. Clear and
Speaker 1: compelling documentation of Bigfoot has long been a goal of
Speaker 1: Bigfoot enthusiasts and researchers in the Western United States, where
Speaker 1: stories of the creature abound from the forests of Oregon
Speaker 1: and Washington to the canyons of Utah. In the US,
Speaker 1: people have set up motion sensor cameras and trekked deep
Speaker 1: into the woods searching for Bigfoot. But one Utah based
Speaker 1: group called the Falcon Project has an ambitious new plan
Speaker 1: construct a remote controlled, helium filled airship, complete with high
Speaker 1: tech cameras and thermal imaging equipment, and take the search
Speaker 1: for Bigfoot to the skies. We spent forty years on
Speaker 1: the ground trying to film this creature, said project manager
Speaker 1: William Barnes. I decided the only way we can actually
Speaker 1: study these creatures is from the air. Barnes, who had
Speaker 1: a life altering bigfoot sighting while prospecting for gold in
Speaker 1: California in the late nightnineteen nineties, where the creature came
Speaker 1: within just three feet of his tent, says the craft
Speaker 1: will cost approximately three hundred ten thousand dollars. We're still
Speaker 1: raising money, said Barnes, but once we get our money,
Speaker 1: we're going to be out there twenty four hours a day,
Speaker 1: seven days a week. The group, which includes an Idaho
Speaker 1: State University anthropologist, world renowned tropical biologist and conservationist Ian Redmond,
Speaker 1: and an experienced wolf and mountain lion tracker named Jim Halfpenny,
Speaker 1: plans to search in Idaho Texas, West Virginia and British Columbia,
Speaker 1: but as of now, the Falcon Project has no plans
Speaker 1: to come to Nunavik. Back in Olivich, Harry Crookshank believes
Speaker 1: the creatures are here to stay, though he doesn't plan
Speaker 1: to go out looking for one again anytime soon. I'm
Speaker 1: just going to leave it alone, said Crookshank, and only
Speaker 1: hunt for the real animals and not that kind of beast.
Speaker 1: There have been sightings before, added Eculivic mayor Henry Aleko,
Speaker 1: and he seemed to think there would be sightings again.
Speaker 1: It is some sort of mystery, said Alaiko. Nunavik woman
Speaker 1: follows cree man's big foot sighting with interest. On a
Speaker 1: recent night in Wamanje, a Cree community on James Bay,
Speaker 1: Melvin George Kish spotted bigfoot. I was heading out for
Speaker 1: a little cruise and at kilometer six of the Wamanjee Road,
Speaker 1: I looked to the left and saw two sets of
Speaker 1: red eyes, said thirty six year old George Kish, who
Speaker 1: works with the Cree Nation of Wamanji. The following day,
Speaker 1: I went back there to check up on what I saw,
Speaker 1: continued George Kish. That's when I saw the footprints. I
Speaker 1: think it was a mother and her baby. The length
Speaker 1: of the mother's footprint was about fourteen inches, he said. Later,
Speaker 1: in a different spot, George Kish found a footprint that
Speaker 1: was nineteen inches long, the father he suspected. George Kish
Speaker 1: posted photos of the footprints to his Facebook page. They
Speaker 1: show an area of stamp down moss in the shape
Speaker 1: of a gigantic foot. Comments from friends and family members
Speaker 1: poured in. Some reported possible sightings of their own. Others
Speaker 1: remarked on just what the siding might mean for George Kish.
Speaker 1: You will be on TV, Melvin wrote Bradley, George Kish,
Speaker 1: you will be famous. One of the people who got
Speaker 1: wind of Melvin George Kish's story was Maggie Crookshank in
Speaker 1: the Nunavik community of a Kulovic, which lies about eight
Speaker 1: hundred kilometers north of Wamenji on Hudson Bay. It was
Speaker 1: just about a year ago that Crookshank saw her own
Speaker 1: bigfoot on a rainy afternoon while picking berries with her cousin.
Speaker 1: She described the creature as a very large, black, hairy
Speaker 1: animal without any clothes. Even though almost a year has
Speaker 1: passed since her siding, Crookshank has been unable to stop
Speaker 1: thinking about the event. The same is true for other
Speaker 1: people in a Kulovic. Bigfoot has been sighted a few
Speaker 1: more times since we saw it, said Crookshank. There was
Speaker 1: a grandfather and grandson going to their camp and they
Speaker 1: saw Bigfoot there. I think they are living here, she added.
Speaker 1: As for the million dollar question whether or not there
Speaker 1: was a connection between the recent sighting and the sightings
Speaker 1: in a Koulovic, Crookshank had a theory. There have been
Speaker 1: forest fires in Ontario. She said, that is what I blame.
Speaker 1: I think they are running from the fire. George Kish agreed.
Speaker 1: We had a huge forest fire just south of Womenji
Speaker 1: this year, he pointed out. In fact, this fire season
Speaker 1: in Quebec was the most active since recording began back
Speaker 1: in the nineteen forties, said doctor Martin Girardin, a researcher
Speaker 1: with the Canadian Forest Service. Fires exploded across the province,
Speaker 1: including the six hundred thousand hectare East Main Fire, which
Speaker 1: was one of the top five largest fires in Canadian history.
Speaker 1: The community was evacuated and the one road into town
Speaker 1: was shut down because of the fire, leading to food shortages.
Speaker 1: Birds and insects are indeed affected by fire, said Girardin,
Speaker 1: who pointed out that it's very difficult to study exactly
Speaker 1: how different species are affected by fire, but for very
Speaker 1: large animals like moose, I don't recall any research, he said.
Speaker 1: Girardin seemed taken aback by the question of whether or
Speaker 1: not there was a chance the fires could have flushed
Speaker 1: out bigfoot. I don't know anything, he said. One of
Speaker 1: this past summer's fires was caused by a lightning strike
Speaker 1: that occurred near kilometer eighteen on the Wameni Access Road.
Speaker 1: According to a CBC story on the sighting from early July,
Speaker 1: that location is just twelve kilometers from where George Kish
Speaker 1: initially saw the bigfoot. Can there really be a connection
Speaker 1: between bigfoots and forest fires? According to the blog Bigfoot Evidence,
Speaker 1: which bills itself as the world's only twenty four to
Speaker 1: seven bigfoot news blog. On August sixth, nineteen ninety nine,
Speaker 1: a massive forest fire occurred at Battle Mountain, Nevada. Apparently
Speaker 1: a bigfoot was injured in the blaze. I observed an
Speaker 1: animal wounded by fire moving on all fours. Not like
Speaker 1: a bear, more like an ape, reads a statement on
Speaker 1: the blog from an anonymous government employee. The animal was
Speaker 1: approximately seven and a half feet tall, with human like
Speaker 1: arms and hair covering most of its body except the
Speaker 1: chest and palms. Approximately forty five percent of the creature's
Speaker 1: body was covered with burns. During the treatment of his wounds,
Speaker 1: the blog post continues, the patient communicated with moans, groans,
Speaker 1: and grumbling back in willmind you. George Kish said that
Speaker 1: unlike what earlier news stories reported, he is not scared
Speaker 1: of the bigfoot and has been able to sleep all
Speaker 1: right at night. When asked what he would do if
Speaker 1: he saw the beast again, he replied, I would just
Speaker 1: leave it alone. But there is something George Kish is
Speaker 1: concerned about naysayers. Even my best friend didn't believe me
Speaker 1: at first, said George Kish, and some people on social
Speaker 1: media sites still don't believe him. I don't care to
Speaker 1: look at Facebook anymore, he said. Dealing with the non
Speaker 1: believers is something Crookshank is familiar with. She drew a
Speaker 1: great deal of criticism from people who were mad that
Speaker 1: she didn't post a video of her bigfoot. People say
Speaker 1: mean things online, said Crookshank, but face to face they
Speaker 1: don't say those things. As for the video, she said,
Speaker 1: it is still with her friend. Some reporters have asked
Speaker 1: me to beg her for it, said Crookshank, But I
Speaker 1: don't want to beg for it. She will be ready
Speaker 1: when she is ready. Crookshank did have some advice for
Speaker 1: George Kishtaou. People will try to say it was just
Speaker 1: a rock, or it was just a polar bear, or
Speaker 1: it was just a moose, she said, But his eyes
Speaker 1: are not lying to him. He is going to have
Speaker 1: to be strong. His story will be like a fire.
Speaker 3: She added.
Speaker 1: It is going to go all the way. Sasquatch seen
Speaker 1: from a cabin two thousand and nine, At approximately two
Speaker 1: thirty nine pm in the afternoon, Missus Hibert was opening
Speaker 1: the blinds in the back bedroom of the cabin and
Speaker 1: noticed a very large, hairy, upright creature on the top
Speaker 1: of the hill about fifty to seventy yards away. She
Speaker 1: informed mister Hybert, who grabbed the digital camera and went
Speaker 1: outside to take a picture of it. While walking around
Speaker 1: the back corner of the cabin powering up his camera,
Speaker 1: out of the corner of his eye, he noticed it
Speaker 1: had seen him in froze. He had to delete several
Speaker 1: pictures from his SD card in order to be able
Speaker 1: to take any pictures. Mister Hybrid managed to take two pictures,
Speaker 1: and while looking down at the camera, it disappeared, only
Speaker 1: to reappear fifteen minutes later at the woodpile. This creature
Speaker 1: was peeking at him from the tree line beside a path.
Speaker 1: It was approximately ten plus feet tall and very massive
Speaker 1: in build The creature is roughly estimated to be twice
Speaker 1: the size of the witness. Three pictures were taken in all.
Speaker 1: The pictures were taken from the back of the cottage,
Speaker 1: looking up the hill from the top of the propane
Speaker 1: tank cabinet. This thing stood perfectly still for what seemed
Speaker 1: like five minutes. I turned my head for a split
Speaker 1: second and it was gone. In the following weeks, the
Speaker 1: screens were pushed in or torn off some windows of
Speaker 1: the cabin The encounter was reported in New List Card
Speaker 1: on April twenty eighth, two thousand and nine. Three digitally
Speaker 1: transferred pictures were left with the officer, as well as
Speaker 1: a one page written report on the incident and the
Speaker 1: witness's phone number. The officer they spoke with found it
Speaker 1: hard to believe they were reporting it and asked, are
Speaker 1: you serious about this and laughed. A game warden and
Speaker 1: several biologists attended the cabin and stayed several days, investigating
Speaker 1: and taking pictures of the area. They stayed on after
Speaker 1: the witnesses left. In twenty ten, the witnesses sold the
Speaker 1: cabin because the witness's wife was no longer comfortable and
Speaker 1: afraid to go there. They believed the cabin has since
Speaker 1: been torn down previously. In the summer of two thousand
Speaker 1: and four, on another visit to their cabin, they were
Speaker 1: awoken at two am by what seemed like really deep
Speaker 1: penetrating ground thuds, like someone was picking up a huge
Speaker 1: boulder and was pounding on the ground. It shook the
Speaker 1: entire landscape. It went on for about twenty minutes and
Speaker 1: was very random, maybe ten or fifteen hits to the ground.
Speaker 1: It was very singular and deep, like a seismic thumper truck.
Speaker 1: The last hit to the ground was followed by the
Speaker 1: sound of big trees cracking about one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: yards out. The witness made coffee and stayed up till
Speaker 1: dawn that night. In two thousand and six, after lending
Speaker 1: a local friend and three others the cabin for hunting season,
Speaker 1: they reported two black or dark blue helicopters flying low
Speaker 1: and circling for several days and nights in the area.
Speaker 1: It was definitely not game people doing rabies cube drops.
Speaker 1: This would have been fall two thousand and six. It
Speaker 1: is assumed they were looking for someone or something, and
Speaker 1: that was also the first year in many that no
Speaker 1: one received a moose tag to his knowledge. In two
Speaker 1: thousand and seven, there were three large boulders put on
Speaker 1: the road at the bottom of the hill as you
Speaker 1: come into the top of lake. It looked like they
Speaker 1: were rolled down the hill and placed there. Two of
Speaker 1: the boulders came up to the door of the truck,
Speaker 1: one was the height of the bumper, and one of
Speaker 1: them was still there in twenty ten, because people began
Speaker 1: to just drive around it. Brownville Bigfoot Road crossing way
Speaker 1: out in the woods in the New Jersey Pine barrens,
Speaker 1: and wife who didn't want to share her name, spotted
Speaker 1: something they couldn't explain. The woman claims she saw bigfoot.
Speaker 1: Whatever this was had literally leaped across the entire road.
Speaker 1: It was about six feet tall, like a light colored
Speaker 1: hair like a deer. But I'm like it certainly wasn't
Speaker 1: a deer because it had its legs splayed and it
Speaker 1: almost looked like a ballerina leaping across the road, said
Speaker 1: the woman. It was off road near Brown's Mills. She
Speaker 1: says she saw the man beast in the rearview mirror.
Speaker 1: She was always a skeptic, but no more like even
Speaker 1: to this day, I am still trying to process exactly
Speaker 1: what it was that I saw. It's just hard for
Speaker 1: me to fathom it, I guess you could say, the
Speaker 1: woman stated. They told Eric Spinner immediately, the New Jersey
Speaker 1: representative for the National Bigfoot Field Research Organization, displayed a
Speaker 1: big Foot footprint casting he said he found in New Jersey.
Speaker 1: Fox twenty nine's Hank Flynn asked, do you consider this credible?
Speaker 1: I do for a couple of reasons. Not only is
Speaker 1: it uncommon for somebody to report seeing it in their
Speaker 1: rear view mirror, as she did, but also because they
Speaker 1: weren't out there looking for Bigfoot. They were just out
Speaker 1: enjoying a nice day out in the woods with the
Speaker 1: dog four wheeling out in the woods, and this happened.
Speaker 1: Spinner explained. The pines offer food, water, and wilderness enough
Speaker 1: to hide in the same traits as other places with
Speaker 1: reported sightings. The number of New Jersey sidings might be
Speaker 1: a surprise. Dozens of sightings over the years. There are
Speaker 1: reports that come into our website, into our database that
Speaker 1: aren't even on our actual sighting database because they're either
Speaker 1: still being investigated or deemed as being either hoaxes or unreportable.
Speaker 1: Spinner said, they call it big Red Eye in North Jersey.
Speaker 1: Some in South Jersey think they're seeing the Jersey Devil.
Speaker 1: Either way, the legend is alive and well. Dave's wife
Speaker 1: was skeptical, but seeing is believing. The Winsted wild Man,
Speaker 1: Connecticut's own unofficial Bigfoot legend, the story of a large,
Speaker 1: hairy creature that terrorized the locals on two separate occasions,
Speaker 1: almost eighty years apart. You know if you believe the stories.
Speaker 1: The tale supposedly starts in August eighteen ninety five, when
Speaker 1: the Winstead Herald reported a large man, stark, naked and
Speaker 1: covered with hair all over his body, ran out of
Speaker 1: a clump of bushes. It was witnessed by town selectman
Speaker 1: Riley Smith, who was out in the woods with his bulldog,
Speaker 1: merrily picking berries and minding his own business when the
Speaker 1: creature came along, causing Riley to be badly scared and
Speaker 1: his dog was fairly paralyzed with fear. He described it
Speaker 1: as a wild, hairy man of the woods, six feet
Speaker 1: in height, and adding that the man's hair was black
Speaker 1: and hung down long on his shoulders, and that his
Speaker 1: body was thickly covered with black hair. The man was
Speaker 1: remarkably agile, and to all appearance, was a muscular, brawny man,
Speaker 1: a man against whom any ordinary man would stand little chance.
Speaker 1: Over the next few weeks, the wild man was purportedly
Speaker 1: seen by at least two other witnesses whose descriptions matched Smith's.
Speaker 1: The Winstead Herald speculated that the wild man may have
Speaker 1: been Arthur beck With with an escaped mental patient from the
Speaker 1: nearby Litchfield Sanitarium. The sighting soon stopped as suddenly as
Speaker 1: they had started, and the Winstead wild Man disappeared back
Speaker 1: into the woods and was forgotten about for a while. Anyway.
Speaker 1: Almost eight decades later, the wild man reappeared. In late
Speaker 1: July nineteen seventy two, the Hartford Current reported that a
Speaker 1: strange manlike creature was observed by two young men on
Speaker 1: Winchester Road, near to Crystal Lake, reservoir at a long
Speaker 1: distance near a barn, they saw a figure about eight
Speaker 1: feet tall and covered with hair, that walked upright and
Speaker 1: finally disappeared into the woods. When it was suggested that
Speaker 1: what they may have seen was a black bear, they
Speaker 1: replied that it was no bear. Two years later, in
Speaker 1: September nineteen seventy four, the wild man was seen again,
Speaker 1: this time by two couples who had been parked at
Speaker 1: night by Ruggbrook Reservoir. They described to police being terrified
Speaker 1: by seeing a six foot three hundred pound creature covered
Speaker 1: with dark colored hair in the moonlight, and had fled
Speaker 1: the area immediately. The police went back to search and
Speaker 1: were unable to find any tracks or evidence. Since then,
Speaker 1: there have been no other reports or accounts of the
Speaker 1: Winsted wild Man. So what did witnesses see? If anything,
Speaker 1: A bear, a big foot, an escaped mental patient or
Speaker 1: was it all just a hoax? A nicely researched investigative
Speaker 1: peace by Brandon T. Biscalia of the Hartford Skepticism Examiner,
Speaker 1: shed a bit more light on the story. It suggested
Speaker 1: that the original report may have been fabricated or greatly
Speaker 1: embellished by Lewis Timothy Stone, the editor of the Winstead Herald,
Speaker 1: and in order to create a sensation to help sell papers,
Speaker 1: a common practice at the time, Stone was known for
Speaker 1: creating fantastic stories ramatically exaggerating actual ones, especially tales involving
Speaker 1: unusual creatures. The Winstead wild Man certainly fits the bill.
Speaker 1: The Examiner article also looks at the events from the
Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, a decade where bigfoot stories were at their apex,
Speaker 1: so to speak, and a time when the idea of
Speaker 1: a large, hairy primate like creatures hiding in the woods
Speaker 1: of North America was certainly in the national consciousness. It's
Speaker 1: easy to see how someone may have seen a black
Speaker 1: bear which were just returning to the region at night,
Speaker 1: and in their panic, might have mistaken it for the
Speaker 1: legendary sasquatch. The power of suggestion right. It's reminiscent of
Speaker 1: the glouccus, which in all likelihood was a fisher cat,
Speaker 1: but was greatly exaggerated when the locals weren't used to
Speaker 1: seeing the then odd creature in the area.
Speaker 3: Stating about the time they are thinking about the bay
Speaker 3: everything to up the time, and
Speaker 1: That t