BWBS Ep:186 Bigfoot Country: Part Eight

Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. I know that you want to listen to your podcast, so I'll keep it short. Because if you think it's important to make a durore choices, can ASR maybe help? Well, I think, how then? Well, for example, when you're doing a lot of things that you love, you're doing. Will you know more about the instructions where a durore schade can be? Go to asr.nl slash durore choices. This does ASR for you and a more and more. ASR does it. So, then can you now listen to your podcast. Some make it out. Others aren't so lucky. Are you ready? Because once you hear these stories, you'll never walk in the woods alone again. So grab your flashlight, stay close, and remember, some things in the woods don't want to be found. Hit that follow or subscribe button, turn on auto downloads, and let's head off into the woods if you dare. Chapter 37 Strange Encounters Not all encounters fit neatly into categories. Some of the most compelling stories I documented were also the strangest. Accounts that went beyond simple sightings, that suggested these creatures had abilities and behaviors we couldn't begin to explain. From the mountains of North Carolina, my own backyard, I interviewed a man named Walter Price who'd had an experience that still gave me chills. I was camping alone in the Nantahala, Walter said. His voice was steady, but I could hear the tension underneath. October of 2016. I'd been out for three days. Hadn't seen another person the whole time. That was the point. I wanted solitude. Wanted to get away from everything. What happened? The third night, I woke up around two in the morning. Don't know what woke me. No sound. No movement. Just this feeling. Like something had changed. I lay there in my tent, listening. And that's when I realized the forest had gone completely silent. No insects. No owls. Nothing. What did you do? I unzipped the tent flap and looked out. The moon was up, almost full, so I could see pretty well. and standing about 30 feet from my tent, right at the edge of the trees, was a creature. Huge. Seven feet tall. Maybe more. Just standing there. Watching me. What did it do? Nothing. At first, we just stared at each other. I was too scared to move. Too scared to breathe. And then, Walter stopped. Started again. Then something happened that I can't explain. I started seeing things. Images in my head. Like someone was showing me a movie except it was playing behind my eyes. What kind of images? The forest. But not the way it is now. The way it was before. Before the roads. Before the logging. Before any of it. I saw trees that were hundreds of feet tall. I saw animals I didn't recognize. Huge things. Like nothing that exists today. And I saw them. The creatures. Dozens of them. Living in those ancient woods. Part of an ecosystem we've destroyed. You're saying the creature showed you this? I'm saying I saw it. Whether it showed me or I imagined it, I don't know. But it felt real. More real than the tent I was sitting in. More real than anything I'd experienced before. It was like I was there. In that ancient forest. Seeing through eyes that weren't my own. How long did it last? I don't know. Seconds, maybe. Or hours. Time didn't work right while it was happening. When it stopped, the creature was gone. The forest sounds were back, and I was sitting in my tent, shaking, trying to understand what had just happened to me. Have you had any experiences since? No. But I think about it every day. I see those images when I close my eyes. The ancient forest. The creatures. The world that used to be. Walter's voice grew quiet. I think it was trying to tell me something. Show me what we've lost. What we're still losing. Like a warning. Or a plea. Like it wanted me to understand. From Oregon I interviewed a woman named Jennifer Blackwood, who'd had an encounter that challenged everything I thought I knew about these creatures. I was hiking in the Cascades with my daughter, Jennifer said. She was eight at the time. We were on a popular trail. Nothing remote, nothing dangerous. Families everywhere. What happened? Emma, my daughter, wandered off, just for a minute, while I was checking my phone. When I looked up, she was gone. I panicked, started calling her name, running down the trail. Other hikers helped me search. We couldn't find her anywhere. How long was she missing? About 45 minutes. The longest 45 minutes of my life. I was convinced something terrible had happened. We were about to call search and rescue when she walked out of the trees. Calm as could be. Like nothing was wrong. Where had she been? That's what I asked her. And what she told me. Jennifer's voice caught. She said she'd been playing with a big furry man. She said he'd found her crying in the woods and stayed with her. Keeping her company. Showing her animals and plants. When she was ready to come back, he'd brought her to the edge of the trees and pointed her toward the trail. Did she describe this creature? She said he was tall, taller than daddy, and my husband is six foot two. She said he was covered in brown fur and had kind eyes. She said he smelled bad, but was very gentle, and that he made sounds she didn't understand, but somehow knew, meant don't be afraid. Did you believe her? I wanted to think she'd imagined it. a child's fantasy, a way of coping with being lost. But there were things she couldn't have known. She described the smell, that specific, unmistakable smell that everyone reports. She described the way he walked, the length of his arms, details that match accounts from witnesses around the world. And she had hair on her jacket, long reddish-brown hair that didn't match any animal we could identify. What happened to the hair? I kept it. had it analyzed by a friend who works in a lab. The results were inconclusive. They couldn't identify what species it came from. Not bear, not human, not any known primate. Just unknown. How has this affected your daughter? She's not afraid of the woods. Most kids who get lost, they develop a fear of being alone in nature. Not Emma. She loves hiking, loves camping, talks about her friends sometimes when she thinks I'm not listening. She's not traumatized. If anything, she's grateful. Like she understands something the rest of us don't. These strange encounters suggested something profound. The creatures weren't simply animals hiding in the wilderness. They had intelligence, perhaps even compassion. They could communicate in ways we didn't understand. They had a history, a culture, a perspective on the world that we were only beginning to glimpse. And they were watching us. Not as predators watch prey, but as neighbors watch neighbors. Keeping track, staying aware, waiting for something. What that something was, I still didn't know. But I was getting closer to understanding. Chapter 38. The Hoaxers and the True Believers. Running the podcast meant dealing with people who wanted to deceive me. Some were obvious. The attention seekers, the compulsive liars, the people who'd fabricated encounters for reasons I couldn't fathom. But others were more sophisticated, more dangerous. People who'd created elaborate hoaxes, complete with fake evidence and rehearsed stories, hoping to discredit the entire field by getting exposed. I learned to spot them. The details that were too perfect. The willingness to show evidence before being asked. The stories that hit every expected beat without any of the messiness that characterized real encounters. But sometimes, even I was fooled. The Thompson case nearly destroyed my credibility. Gerald Thompson was a retired biology professor from California who reached out with what seemed like the most compelling evidence I'd ever encountered. He had photographs, clear, detailed photographs of a creature in the forest. He had hair samples, footprint casts, audio recordings of vocalizations. He had documentation going back years, carefully compiled with scientific rigor. I interviewed him twice before the episode aired. His story was consistent, his credentials were real, and his evidence was extraordinary. I was convinced I'd found the smoking gun, proof so solid that even the skeptics would have to pay attention. The episode went live on a Friday. By Monday, it had all fallen apart. A group of researchers in California had been tracking Thompson for years, documenting his increasingly elaborate hoaxes. The photographs were clever fakes, a suit he'd designed himself, worn by a friend. The hair samples were from a black bear, treated with chemicals to alter their appearance. The footprint casts were made from wooden molds he'd carved in his workshop. It was all fake, every piece of it. I pulled the episode immediately and recorded a retraction. But the damage was done. Skeptics pointed to the Thompson case as proof that I was credulous. That the entire podcast was built on wishful thinking and poor judgment. Downloads dropped. Sponsors pulled out. The community fractured with some members defending me and others accusing me of betraying their trust. It was the lowest point of my podcasting career. Daniel found me in the studio at 3 in the morning, staring at my computer screen, reading the comments that tore apart everything I'd built. Come to bed, he said. I can't. I ruined everything. You made a mistake. That's not the same as ruining everything. I gave a platform to a hoaxer. I validated his lies. Every genuine witness who's ever trusted me. I made them look like fools by association. Daniel sat down beside me. You know what I see when I look at those comments? I see people who care. People who are angry because this matters to them. That's not a sign of failure. That's a sign that you've built something worth caring about. But you caught the mistake. You admitted it publicly. You took responsibility. That's more than most people would do. And the genuine witnesses, the hundreds of people whose stories you've shared, they're still real. Thompson's lies don't change their truth. I wanted to argue. Wanted to wallow in the failure. But Daniel was right. He usually was. What do I do now? You keep going. You improve your vetting process. You learn from the mistake. And you remember why you started this in the first place. I looked at him. This man who'd stood beside me through everything. Who'd never wavered in his support. Who believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. I love you, I said. I know. Now come to bed. Tomorrow, you rebuild. The rebuilding took months. I implemented new verification procedures. multiple interviews, background checks, independent analysis of any physical evidence. I brought in consultants to review claims before they went on air. I created a system of peer review within the community, allowing experienced researchers to flag potential problems. Slowly, the trust returned. The downloads recovered. The sponsors came back. And the podcast emerged stronger than before, with a reputation for rigor that it hadn't had previously. The Thompson case had nearly destroyed me. Instead, it made me better. And when the next hoaxer came along, and they did, regularly, I was ready for them. Not everyone who reached out was a hoaxer, of course. Most were genuine, people with real experiences, seeking validation and connection. Some became regulars in the community, contributing their knowledge and supporting others who came after them. One such person was Benjamin Crowfeather, a Lakota elder from South Dakota, who'd spent his life documenting encounters among the Sioux people. We call them the big man, Benjamin said, during an interview that lasted nearly three hours. They've been part of our story since before memory. The elders say they're guardians of the wild places, protectors of the land and the animals that live there. Have you had personal encounters? Many times. The first when I was seven years old. The most recent just last month. They know me. I think they know anyone who pays attention. Who respects the old ways. Who understands that we share this world with beings we don't fully understand. What have these encounters taught you? Humility, mostly. We think we're the masters of this world. But we're not. We're just one species among many. Trying to survive. The big man have survived for thousands of years by staying hidden, by adapting, by understanding things we've forgotten. If we were wise, we'd learn from them. What do you think they want? To be left alone, mostly. But also to be acknowledged. To be respected. They've watched us destroy so much of the world they love. I think they're waiting to see if we'll come to our senses before it's too late. And if we don't? Benjamin was quiet for a long moment. Then they'll outlast us. They've survived ice ages and extinctions and the rise and fall of civilizations. They'll survive whatever we do to ourselves. The question is whether we'll survive with them, or whether we'll just be another species that couldn't adapt. His words stayed with me long after the interview ended. A reminder of what was at stake. A reminder of why this work mattered. The hoaxers could try to discredit us. The skeptics could deny the evidence. But the truth remained, patient and persistent, waiting to be heard. And I would keep listening. Chapter 39, Encounters Across the World The international expansion of the podcast brought stories I never could have anticipated. While the North American encounters were the most numerous, reports from other continents added depth and complexity to my understanding. These creatures, or beings like them, existed everywhere. On every continent except Antarctica, in environments ranging from tropical rainforests to frozen tundra, people were reporting encounters with large, bipedal, hair-covered beings that defied easy explanation. Stay tuned for more Backwoods Bigfoot stories. We'll be back after these messages. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. I know that you want to listen to your podcast, so I'll keep it short. Because if you think it's important to make a successful choices, can ASR help? Well, I think, how then? Well, for example, when you're doing a successful choices of things that you love, you're going to be able to do more. Will you know more about the insurance where a successful choices can be? Go to asr.nl. This is for you and a successful society. ASR does it. So, we can now listen to your podcast. From the mountains of Tibet, I interviewed a monk named Tenzin Wong Chuk who'd lived his entire life in a monastery near the Himalayan snow line. The Yeti is not a beast, Tenzin said, his English careful and precise. It is a being a sentient creature with a soul capable of enlightenment like any human Our scriptures speak of them as guardians of the high places watchers who observe humanity progress and report to forces beyond our understanding. Have you encountered them? I have seen them many times. They visit the monastery sometimes, in the depths of winter when the snow makes the paths impassable. They watch from the ridges, ensuring we are safe. Once when I was a young novice, one came close enough that I could see its eyes. There was wisdom in those eyes. Compassion. An understanding of suffering that surpassed even the oldest llamas. Do the other monks speak of these encounters? We do not need to speak. We all know. The Yeti are part of our world. Have always been part of our world. To deny their existence would be like denying the mountains themselves. From the Congo Basin, I spoke with a conservation biologist named Dr. Marie Lukamba, who'd been researching reports of the Nguma Monin, a creature described in local traditions as a massive, hair-covered being that lived in the deepest parts of the rainforest. Western science dismisses these reports, Dr. Lukamba said. They assume the indigenous peoples are superstitious, that they're confusing known animals with mythological beings. but I've interviewed hundreds of witnesses over the past 15 years. Their descriptions are consistent. Their details are specific. They're not making this up. What have you found? Tracks primarily. Footprints that don't match any known primate. Too large for gorillas. Shaped wrong for chimps. Hair samples that can't be identified. Audio recordings of vocalizations that don't match any documented species. The evidence is there. It's just that no one in the scientific establishment wants to look at it. Why do you think that is? Fear, mostly. Fear of ridicule. Fear of career damage. Fear of having to admit that the world is stranger than our models allow. Scientists are supposed to be open-minded, but in practice, we're as dogmatic as anyone. If something doesn't fit our paradigm, we ignore it. But you haven't ignored it. I can't. I've seen too much. I know what's out there, even if I can't prove it to the satisfaction of peer reviewers. And I'll keep looking, keep documenting, keep gathering evidence. Someday, the truth will be undeniable. I just hope I'm still around to see it. From the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea, I interviewed a missionary named Father Patrick O'Brien, who'd served in the country for over 40 years. The local people call them the Moomoo, Father Patrick said. They're part of the spiritual landscape here. beings that exist at the boundary between the natural and the supernatural. I was skeptical at first, as any rational Westerner would be, but I've lived here long enough to know that my skepticism was misplaced. What convinced you? I saw one, in 1987, while traveling between villages on foot. It was standing on a ridge above the trail, watching me. Massive, easily seven feet tall, covered in dark hair. It made no threatening moves, just observed. When I reached for my camera, it disappeared into the bush. I've never seen anything move that fast. How did the local people react when you told them? They weren't surprised. They told me I'd been blessed, that the Moo Moo had chosen to reveal itself to me. They said it meant I was meant to stay, to be part of their community. And I have. Forty years now. I'll die here, among people who understand things about the world that my seminary training never prepared me for. From the vast forests of Siberia, I connected with a researcher named Dr. Igor Ivanov, who'd been studying the Almasty, Russia's version of Bigfoot, for over 50 years. The Soviet government suppressed our research, Dr. Ivanov said, his voice crackling through the poor connection. They didn't want evidence of unknown primates. It contradicted the materialist ideology. But we continued in secret. We documented hundreds of encounters. We collected evidence that would have revolutionized our understanding of evolution. What happened to that evidence? Some was destroyed. Some was buried in archives that no one can access. Some I've preserved myself, at great personal risk. When the Soviet Union collapsed, I thought the truth would finally come out. But the new Russia has its own reasons for suppression. The powerful don't want people asking questions they can't answer. What do you believe these creatures are? I believe they're a relict population of hominids. Perhaps Neanderthals. Perhaps something older. They've survived in the remote places of the world, avoiding detection through intelligence and caution. They are our cousins, in a sense. Branches of the same evolutionary tree that diverged long ago. Do you think they'll ever be officially recognized? In my lifetime? Probably not. But the evidence is mounting. The witnesses are speaking. Someday, the scientific establishment will have no choice but to acknowledge what people like us have known for decades. The Almastia are real. They've always been real. And no amount of denial can change that. The international interviews painted a picture of a global phenomenon. These creatures, whatever they were, wherever they lived, were part of the human experience. Every culture had stories about them. Every remote region had witnesses. The details varied, but the core remained the same. Large, bipedal, intelligent beings that had shared this planet with humanity for millennia. We weren't alone. We'd never been alone. And perhaps, if we were wise, we could learn to coexist with these ancient neighbors before it was too late. Chapter 40 Daniel's quiet strength, through all of it, the growth, the setbacks, the triumphs and failures, Daniel remained my anchor. He'd found his rhythm at Mountain Pies, rising through the ranks from assistant manager to general manager within two years. The Hartley family had come to rely on him, trusting him to run the restaurant while they focused on expansion plans for a second location. I never thought I'd be passionate about pizza, he told me one evening, as we sat on the porch watching the sunset. But there's something satisfying about it. Making something with your hands that brings people joy. No existential threats, no government conspiracies. Just dough and sauce and cheese. You don't miss the excitement? I miss some things. The sense of purpose. The feeling that what we were doing mattered. But I don't miss the fear. I don't miss wondering if tonight was the night someone would come for us. He took my hand. I get to come home to you every day. I get to sleep without nightmares. That's worth more than excitement. I'm sorry for putting you through all that. Don't be. I chose this. I chose you. And I'd make the same choice again. Every time. He squeezed my hand. Besides, the podcast is doing important work. Changing lives. Changing the world. I'm proud to be part of it. Even from the sidelines. You're not on the sidelines. You're what keeps me going. Well then, I guess we're both doing important work. Daniel's steadiness manifested in a thousand small ways. He was the one who reminded me to eat when I got lost in research. The one who insisted I take breaks, go for walks, remember that there was a world beyond the studio and the screen. The one who held me when the weight of what I'd learned became too heavy to carry alone. He was also the one who kept me honest. You're getting too close to this interview, he'd say sometimes, reading over my notes. You want to believe them, but the story doesn't add up. Or, this one's real. I can feel it. Don't let your skepticism get in the way. He had good instincts, better than mine sometimes. He could sense authenticity in ways that my analytical mind missed. He understood people in a way that I, with my law enforcement background, often didn't. You see criminals and victims, he explained once. I see humans, flawed, complicated, trying to make sense of experiences that don't fit the world they thought they knew. It's the same whether they're telling the truth or lying. They're all just people, doing the best they can. One evening, Daniel came home with news that surprised me. The Hartleys want to open a second location, he said, and they want me to run it. That's great. Congratulations. There's a catch. The location they're considering is in Asheville, about an hour away. I felt a chill. You'd be commuting? That's what I told them I'd need to think about. An hour each way is a lot. but the opportunity. He shook his head. It's a chance to build something from the ground up, to have real ownership, even without the title. What do you want to do? I don't know. Part of me wants to stay here, close to you, close to what we've built. Part of me wants to take the leap, see what I'm capable of. He looked at me. What do you think? I thought about it, about the hours we'd lose to driving, about the evenings he'd come home exhausted, about the strain it might put on our relationship. But I also thought about his face when he talked about the restaurant, the pride, the purpose, the joy of creating something meaningful. I think you should do it, I said. I think you'd regret it if you didn't. Even if it means seeing less of each other, we've survived worse. We'll figure it out. Daniel's eyes glistened. I love you. You know that? I know. Now go call the Hartleys before you talk yourself out of it. He kissed me and reached for his phone. And I watched him. This man who'd given up so much to stand beside me, finally getting something that was just his. The Asheville location opened six months later. Daniel threw himself into the work. Designing the menu, hiring staff, building relationships with local suppliers. The commute was brutal, but he came home energized rather than drained, full of stories about the challenges he'd faced and the victories he'd won. We had a line out the door tonight, he'd tell me. A line. For pizza. I've never seen anything like it. Or, one of the cooks quit without notice, so I had to run the kitchen myself for eight hours. My feet are killing me, but we didn't miss a single order. Or, a food blogger came in tonight. She's going to write a review. I'm trying not to panic. The review was glowing. The restaurant became a local sensation. And Daniel, who'd spent years in my shadow, finally had something that was entirely his own. I couldn't have been prouder. We should get a place in Asheville, Daniel said one evening. Just a small apartment. Somewhere I can crash on the late nights instead of driving home in the dark. Makes sense. Want me to help look? Actually, he hesitated. I was thinking maybe we could look together. Make it our place. Somewhere we can be when I'm working. Somewhere you can record when you need to be closer to the city. A second home? A different kind of home. Not instead of here, just in addition. Expanding our life instead of shrinking it. I thought about the house we'd built on the mountain. The studio where I'd recorded hundreds of episodes. the land where the creatures still sometimes watched from the tree line. Okay, I said. Let's do it. A month later, we signed the lease on a small apartment in West Asheville. Two bedrooms, one for sleeping, one for a portable studio setup, a kitchen where Daniel could experiment with recipes, a balcony with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It wasn't what I'd imagined when we'd moved to North Carolina, but life rarely was. And as I stood on that balcony, watching the sun set over the mountains, I realized that this, all of this, was exactly where I was supposed to be. Chapter 41. The Community Grows By the fourth year, the Sasquatch Odyssey community had become something larger than I'd ever imagined. What had started as a forum for podcast listeners had evolved into a global network of researchers, witnesses, and enthusiasts. There were local chapters in every state, discussion groups in a dozen languages, annual gatherings that brought together hundreds of people who'd never met in person, but who'd been supporting each other for years. The community had developed its own culture. Inside jokes, shared references, a collective memory of the stories that had shaped us. People talked about the Lucille episode or the Bobby Dean laugh or that time Brian almost quit. They remembered the Thompson hoax and how we'd recovered from it. They celebrated the genuine encounters that had moved us all to tears. And they helped each other. When a witness needed support, the community was there. When someone was struggling with the aftermath of an encounter, the fear, the doubt, the isolation, there were people ready to listen, to validate, to remind them that they weren't alone. It was everything I'd hoped for when I'd started the podcast. and it had grown far beyond anything I could have achieved on my own. The annual gathering became the highlight of the community's calendar. We held it in different locations each year, the first in North Carolina, the second in Washington State, the third in the Arkansas Ozarks. Each gathering brought together a few hundred people for a long weekend of presentations, discussions, field expeditions, and connection. I remember the fourth gathering particularly well. It was held in Northern California in a campground near the Klamath River. We'd rented the entire facility, cabins, meeting halls, everything. By the time the weekend started, nearly 500 people had registered. Stay tuned for more Backwoods Bigfoot stories. We'll be back after these messages. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. I understand that you want to listen to your podcast, so I will keep it short. Because if you think it's important to make a lot of choices, can ASR help? Now I hear you think, how then? Well, for example, when you're selling the expensive things you love to be a bad person. Want to know more about the insurance where expensive expensive expensive is? Go to asr.nl slash duurzamekeuzes. This is ASR for you and a more expensive society. ASR does it. So, now you can listen to your podcast. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles. Designer, marketer, logistics manager. All while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. This is incredible, Daniel said, as we watched people arriving from all over the world. Look at them. Professors, construction workers, retirees, teenagers. Every background you can imagine. United by a shared experience, I said. By a truth that most of the world still doesn't accept. Do you think the world will ever accept it? I think it's getting closer. Every year, more evidence. More witnesses. More attention. The tide is turning. And when it finally turns, then our work will really begin. The gathering's keynote speaker that year was a woman named Dr. Sarah Henley, a primatologist from Stanford who'd risked her career to study Sasquatch evidence. I was taught that these creatures don't exist, Dr. Henley told the PACT auditorium. My professors, my colleagues, everyone in my field insisted that the evidence was faked. The witnesses deluded. I believed them for a long time. What changed? I saw the data, not the tabloid stories or the blurry photographs. The actual scientific data. Hair samples that can't be identified. Footprint casts that show dermal ridges impossible to fake. Audio recordings of vocalizations that don't match any known animal. The evidence is there. It's always been there. We've just been too afraid to look at it. What do you think these creatures are? I don't know for certain. The evidence suggests a relic population of hominids, possibly a descendant of Gigantopithecus, possibly something else entirely. But whatever they are, they're real. They exist. And science's refusal to acknowledge them is one of the greatest failures of our age. The audience gave her a standing ovation. Here was a mainstream scientist, risking everything to speak the truth. A sign that the walls were beginning to crack. The field expeditions were always the highlight of the gatherings. We organize groups to hike into areas with high concentrations of reported encounters equipped with cameras audio recorders and thermal imaging equipment Most expeditions found nothing The creatures were too smart too cautious to reveal themselves to groups of noisy humans. But sometimes, we got lucky. At the California gathering, a group of 12 researchers had a collective experience that none of them would ever forget. We were about three miles into the forest, reported Marcus Smith, a software engineer from Seattle, who'd become one of the community's most dedicated investigators. It was getting dark, and we'd stopped to set up camp for the night. That's when we heard it. Heard what? Wood knocking. Two distinct knocks coming from maybe a hundred yards away. We knocked back and immediately got a response. Three knocks this time. We did this back and forth for about 20 minutes. Did you see anything? Not clearly, but several of us saw movement in the trees. Something large watching from the shadows. And when the sun went down completely, we heard vocalizations. Howls, whoops, sounds I've never heard before. They went on for hours circling the camp, moving through the forest around us. Were you afraid? Terrified and exhilarated. We were surrounded by creatures that the world says don't exist, and they were communicating with us. They were curious, maybe even welcoming. How did the night end? Around three in the morning, the sound stopped. We heard something heavy moving away through the brush, and then silence. When the sun came up, we found tracks around the camp, multiple sets, different sizes, a family group, maybe, watching over us while we slept. The expedition report became one of the most viewed documents in the community's history. Twelve credible witnesses, multiple forms of evidence, a collective experience that couldn't be dismissed as individual delusion. The proof was mounting, and someday, it would be undeniable. The community also did important work beyond the gatherings. Teams of volunteers compiled databases of encounters, mapping patterns, and identifying hotspots. Researchers analyzed evidence using the latest scientific techniques. Writers documented everything, creating a permanent record that would survive whatever came next. And perhaps most importantly, the community provided a space for witnesses to heal. Before I found you all, I thought I was going crazy, one member wrote in a forum post that was shared thousands of times. I'd had this experience that I couldn't explain, and everyone I told thought I was lying or delusional. I carried that burden for years. Then I found the podcast, found the community, and realized I wasn't alone. There are thousands of us, maybe millions, and we're not crazy. We're just people who've seen something the world isn't ready to believe yet. That message captured everything we were trying to do. Not just documenting encounters, but helping people come to terms with experiences that didn't fit the world they thought they knew. The creatures were real. The witnesses were valid. and together we were building something that would change the world. One story at a time. Chapter 42 Shadows Return The men in black had been quiet for too long. In the years since their last visit, I'd almost convinced myself they'd given up. The documentary had aired. The podcast had grown. The truth was spreading faster than they could contain it. Maybe I thought they'd decided I wasn't worth the effort. Maybe they'd moved on to other targets. I should have known better. The first sign was subtle. A podcast listener in Oregon reported being visited by government officials, asking questions about how she'd found the show and what she thought of my claims. She'd refused to answer, and they'd left without incident. But she was shaken enough to report it through the forum. Then came another report, from Texas, and another from Florida, and another from New York. Over the course of six weeks, nearly 30 community members reported similar visits. Always polite, always vague about their affiliation, always asking the same questions. They were mapping our community, identifying our most active members, building a picture of the network I'd created. What do you think they want? Zach asked, when I called to discuss the pattern. I don't know. They could have shut us down years ago if that's what they wanted. They could have... I stopped. They could have done worse than burn down a house. Then why the surveillance? Maybe they're watching for something specific. Some trigger they're afraid will cross. I thought about the documents they'd given me. The Mount St. Helens files. The evidence of decades of cover-ups. Maybe they're waiting to see how far we'll push. The what? I hadn't shared all my theories with Zach. I'd held some things back, uncertain how to explain my suspicions about the scope of the cover-up. But maybe it was time to share more. There's something I need to tell you, I said. Something about what the documents suggest. I told Zach everything. The Mount St. Helens files. The evidence of recovered specimens. The suggestion that these creatures had been studied, catalogued, perhaps even communicated with by government programs going back decades. He listened without interrupting, His silence heavy through the phone line. So they're not just animals hiding in the woods, he said finally. The government has been actively studying them. For generations. I think so. Whatever they are, they've been here a long time. And the cover-up has been going on just as long. But it's crumbling now. The truth is getting out. And when it does, everything changes. And the men in black. They know it's happening. They've been trying to manage it for decades. controlling the narrative, suppressing evidence, keeping the public ignorant. But they can't hold back the tide forever. The truth is getting out. And when it does, their entire operation becomes irrelevant. So they're watching us because we're part of that change. We're helping it happen. Every episode, every interview, every story we share, we're preparing people for the truth, making the revelation less of a shock, less likely to cause panic. The men in black might hate what we're doing, but part of me thinks they need us too. Need us? To manage the transition. To help people understand. If the truth comes out all at once without any preparation, it could be catastrophic. Mass hysteria. Violence. The collapse of institutions that depend on denying what's been hidden. But if people are already open to the possibility, if they've heard the stories and seen the evidence, Then the transition is smoother. Exactly. We're doing the work they're too afraid to do themselves. And they're watching because they need to know it's working. Zach was quiet for a long moment. That's a hell of a theory. It's the only one that makes sense. They could have destroyed us. They chose not to. There has to be a reason. So what do we do? We keep going. We prepare for what's coming. And we hope that when the truth finally comes out, we've done enough to make it manageable. The surveillance continued, but no direct action was taken. I warned the community to be cautious, to report any unusual contacts, to avoid sharing sensitive personal information, to remember that we were being watched. The reports of visits tapered off after a few months, but I knew the watching hadn't stopped. It had just become more subtle. And through it all, I kept working. The interviews continued. The episodes aired. The community grew. Whatever the men in black were planning, whatever they were waiting for, I couldn't let their presence paralyze me. The work was too important. The truth was coming out. And I needed to be ready. Chapter 43. Voices in the Darkness. The 500th episode of Sasquatch Odyssey aired on a Thursday evening in April. 500 episodes. 500 stories of encounters, of wonder, of fear, of connection with something beyond our everyday understanding. I'd started the podcast sitting alone in a spare bedroom with a cheap microphone. Now it reached millions of people around the world. For the anniversary episode, I decided to do something different. Instead of a single interview, I compiled clips from 50 of the most impactful stories we'd shared over the years. Lucille Marsh with her Riverstone Bobby Dean Carver and his coon hunting dogs Margaret Lindkvist in the frozen silence of the Boundary Waters Gloria Reyes and the young Navajo man in the hospital Mary Catherine O'Brien in the creature at her dying husband's window 50 voices speaking across decades across continents across the vast gulf that separated their experiences from the world's disbelief and at the end I added something new My own story, told in full for the first time. My name is Brian Patterson, I recorded, sitting in the studio I'd rebuilt after the fire. And I've been chasing the truth about Sasquatch since I was 12 years old. It started in Lyarly, Georgia, in 1986. My family had just moved to a new property, 80 acres of woods and fields, at the end of a long dirt road. I thought it was paradise. I didn't know what was waiting for me in those trees. The encounter happened in October. I was exploring the back corner of our property, a place where the woods grew thick and the feeling of wrongness was strongest. I heard it before I saw anything. Huffing. Growling. Something breathing in the underbrush. And then came the sounds of movement. Heavy footsteps. Bipedal footsteps. Moving toward me through the trees. I never saw the creature. It stayed hidden, invisible in the dense undergrowth. But I felt it. I heard it. I knew with a certainty that has never wavered that something was there. Something large. Something intelligent. Something that chose to let me go when it could easily have done otherwise. That encounter changed my life. It set me on a path that led through decades of searching, through a career in law enforcement, through the investigation that made national news and finally to this podcast. 500 episodes of other people's stories trying to understand my own. I still don't have all the answers. I don't know what these creatures are, where they came from, or what they want from us. But I know they're real. I know they're watching. And I know that someday, maybe soon, maybe not, the world will finally have to face the truth that witnesses like me have been carrying for generations. Until that day, I'll keep recording, keep listening, keep sharing the stories that deserve to be heard. Because that's what this is really about. Not proof, not vindication, but connection. Human beings reaching out to each other across the darkness, saying, I saw something. I experienced something. I need someone to believe me. I believe you, all of you. And I'm honored to have shared your stories with the world. Thank you for 500 episodes. Here's to 500 more. The coverage was mostly respectful, a far cry from the mockery we'd faced in the early years. The world was changing. The stigma was fading. The truth was becoming harder to ignore. And in the community forum, someone posted a message that captured everything I felt. 500 episodes. 500 stories of people who saw something impossible and had the courage to speak up. 500 pieces of evidence that the world is stranger than we've been taught to believe. Brian, you've built something incredible here. A community. A movement. A lighthouse for everyone who's been lost in the darkness of disbelief. Whatever comes next, know that you've changed lives. You've changed the world. And we're all grateful. Stay tuned for more Backwoods Bigfoot stories. We'll be back after these messages. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles. Designer, marketer, logistics manager. all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. I know you want to listen to your podcast, so I'll keep it short. Because if you think it's important to make a valuable choice, can Acer maybe help? Well, I hear you think, how then? For example, when you're selling the products that you love are, you want to know more about the insurance where a valuable choice is? Go to acer.nl slash duurzamekeuzes. This is Acer for you and a valuable community. Acer does it. So, now you can listen to your podcast. starting a business can be overwhelming you're juggling multiple roles designer marketer logistics manager all while bringing your vision to life shopify helps millions of business sell online build fast with templates and ai descriptions and photos inventory and shipping sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify.nl that's shopify.nl it's time to see what you can accomplish with shopify by your side I read the message three times, tears streaming down my face. This was why I did this work. This was all any of it had ever been about. Chapter 44. The Expedition. The message arrived on a Sunday evening through a channel I hadn't used in years. It came from Zach, encrypted and urgent. New evidence. Major. Need to meet in person. Bring everything. I stared at the screen, my heart pounding. After all the years of searching, of documenting, of hoping for definitive proof, could this finally be it? I called Daniel first. Zach found something, I said. Something big. He wants to meet at the research site. Where? The area near where Austin disappeared. Same region we've been monitoring for years. But this time, I took a breath. This time he says he has something that could change everything. I'm coming with you. Daniel, don't argue with me. I've stood beside you through everything. I'm not staying behind for this. I wanted to protect him. Wanted to keep him safe from whatever was about to unfold. But I knew that look in his voice. That determination that had carried us through years of struggle and fear and hope. Okay, I said. But we need to bring the team. Amanda, her cameraman. This needs to be documented, whatever it is. I'll make the calls. You pack the gear. We gathered at our mountain house the next morning. Amanda had arrived overnight, red-eyed from a cross-country flight, but vibrating with anticipation. Her cameraman, Tom, was already checking equipment, making sure every battery was charged, every memory card was empty. Zach had driven up from the ranger station, his car loaded with his own documentation gear. What did you find, I asked, as we gathered around the kitchen table. Zach spread out a collection of photographs and documents. Three nights ago, motion sensors I'd placed in a remote section of the forest were triggered, multiple times, something large, moving through a specific corridor. Could be bears, Amanda said. Elk. Look at the thermal signatures. Zach pointed to a series of images. The heat distribution is wrong for any known animal. And look here. He pointed to another image. Bipedal gate. Clear as day. I studied the images. The shapes were indistinct. Captured at the edge of the camera's range. But the movement patterns, the heat signatures, the apparent size. We need to go there, I said. Set up more cameras. Get better footage. That's why I called you. This is the best activity I've documented in 20 years. If we're going to get definitive proof, this is our chance. When do we leave? Now, before they move on. These creatures don't stay in one place for long. The journey into the forest felt charged with possibility. The area Zach had identified was deep in the backcountry, hours from any road or trail. We hiked through old-growth forest, the trees towering around us like cathedral columns. Birds fell silent as we passed. The air grew heavy with anticipation. This is close to where Austin's camera was found, Zach said quietly, as we approached his monitoring site. About two miles north. Whatever's using this corridor, they've been here for a long time. We set up camp as the sun began to set, placing additional cameras and monitoring equipment in a wide perimeter. Amanda and Tom documented everything. Our preparations the equipment the forest itself and the fading light That night we waited and around midnight the sensors began to trigger The footage we captured wasn definitive It never was, with these creatures. But it was compelling. Three distinct heat signatures, moving through the forest about 200 yards from our camp. Large. Bipedal. Moving with a coordination that suggested intelligence, communication, purpose. We heard them too. The same vocalizations I'd heard throughout my years of research. Howls and wood knocks and that strange, almost linguistic chattering that defied explanation. They knew we were there. They were watching us as we watched them. And at one point, just before dawn, I saw something through my night vision scope. A shape, standing at the edge of a clearing, looking directly at me. It was only for a moment. Then it turned and disappeared into the trees. Did you get that? I whispered to Tom. He was already checking his camera. I think so. Let me... He stopped. Oh my god. The footage showed a figure. Tall, broad-shouldered, covered in dark hair. The face was obscured by distance and shadow, but the basic outline was unmistakable. Not a bear. Not an elk. Not a human in a suit. Something else. We stayed in the forest for three more days, capturing more evidence. Audio recordings of vocalizations. Additional thermal footage. Footprint casts from the muddy banks of a nearby stream. None of it was the clear, undeniable proof I'd been searching for my entire life. But taken together, it was the strongest case yet assembled. The kind of evidence that would make even skeptics pause. This is going to change things, Amanda said, as we hiked back to our vehicles. When this airs, when people see what we've captured, They'll still deny it, I said. Some of them. They always do. But others won't. Others will look at this and finally understand that something is out there. That the witnesses have been telling the truth all along. I thought about Austin. About whether he was still alive somewhere in these mountains. Living among the creatures he'd gone to find. Or whether he'd met a different fate. One that would remain a mystery forever. We'll keep searching, I said. The work isn't done. Will it ever be? I don't know. Maybe not. But that's okay. The search is the point. The truth is the point. Everything else is just details. Daniel took my hand as we emerged from the forest into the late afternoon sun. The mountains stretched out before us, vast and ancient and full of secrets. Whatever happens, he said, you've done something remarkable. You've given people hope. I've just told stories, I said. That's what hope is. Stories that show us the world is bigger than we thought. Stranger. More wonderful. He squeezed my hand. You've shown people that the mystery is still out there. That there are still things waiting to be discovered. I looked back at the forest. At the trees that held their secrets so close. 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