We Were Attacked on the Lake: A Daylight Bigfoot Encounter in Michigan

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In this show, we go beyond the campfire stories to bring you first-hand encounters from people who say they've seen something impossible. From backwoods trails and remote mountain haulers to quiet farms and crowded highways. The stories come from everywhere and each one leaves us with more questions than answers. These are the voices of the people who've lived it. So settle in because today you'll hear another account that just might change the way you see the woods forever. So stay with us. All right, Bigfoot Society. We've got the privilege of talking to Bigfoot Michigan. Rob, today, as we were just talking off air, it's an interview that probably should have happened a few years ago. Both of us are so busy and we had just crazy stuff going on. But I'm glad to have you on the show right now. Rob, how are you doing, sir? I'm doing pretty good. I'm trying to stay warm. You know, as we said backstage, plumbing, boom, went out, unexpected bill. And I must tell you, I sold my snowblower five years ago. Because believe it or not, where I live in Michigan, I'm in the southeastern part of Michigan. And the last five years, Jeremiah, we haven't even had white Christmases. It snows maybe five inches in the last five years. And so I said, you know, I'm going to sell my snowblower. this year is the year where I regretted it because I'm breaking my back every third day. It seems because we got snow all over the place. Oh my goodness. Uh, yeah. Iowa was very fortunate. We were just like right above that, that line kind of, and the rest of the U S just got demolished. But yeah, um, yeah, this year, Iowa kind of squeaked by, but listeners, you might also know Rob from his YouTube channel. If you just search for Bigfoot Michigan Rob, he's got all sorts of great, great shows out there. And then of course, he's got a great book series, which is Bigfoot Michigan Rob Presents True Cryptids Encounters, book one and two. And I've been, I'm reading through the first one right now. It's a great read. There's a great collection of not just Bigfoot stuff, but I mean, you got Dogman stuff, you got stuff from Michigan, you got stuff from Oregon. And it's from all over the place. It's a great read. Thank you so much for that. Yeah, it took a while to compulate it once I started my channel. And, yeah, I started getting these emails, and I started calling these people and interviewing them. Some have been on my show, but most had not. So I said, you know, what am I going to do with all these stories? Sure, I put a lot of them on YouTube, and I'm like, I think I'm going to put it into a book. So I contacted the folks to make sure it was cool, this, that, and the other. and uh and yeah and it's kind of i'm pretty happy with it because you know i know we're going to get into it a little bit later and the only reason i did that is because people that have these experiences no matter what you know they don't want to come forward and like me which you'll find out a little bit later i was lost and alone ridiculed, judged. And I'm like, I felt, yeah, you know, I didn't like that feeling. And a lot of people want things to share in anonymity, right? But they, it's like therapy. It was for me when I first came forward and said, this is what happened to me. And I said, you know, I don't want other people to feel that way. So I have a safe place to come to whether it's on the channel or in the book or whatever so that's kind of my way of giving back to i never had the opportunity because something was taken from me as you'll find out throughout today's show the only reason i started doing my channel was because to give an opportunity for individuals to get it off their chest to feel that they weren't alone in fact on the back of of the back cover of my books in an introduction, there's a snippet in there that says, this is for those that no longer have to walk alone and you don't have to feel judged because so many people out there, no matter how the encounter plays out, whether it's believable, not believable, it's something that happened to them and we did not walk in their shoes. so that was my giving back to what i never had so that always stuck with me my channel is more about helping sure it's entertaining and i love doing it but i there's a purpose and a mission behind it and that's to let people know that you're not alone i love that that that is is very very cool and it's it's very close to to uh what i've laid out for for uh my channel the difference I believe is is you're not so would you say because I'm curious about this because I'm more 100% focused on Bigfoot and I get like just Bigfoot stuff but you're getting more than just Bigfoot stuff in your emails I will tell you this I am and here's the thing about this and even guests on the shows it's like when I first started okay it's Bigfoot Michigan Rob is the name of the channel because when I first decided to make a YouTube not even a channel I told my story many years ago in 2018 on YouTube it was suggested to me that it's good therapy so Rob you don't have a channel but hey set up a YouTube and just put it out there and so I had no idea what I was doing I did not even know Jeremiah that YouTube had shows chat rooms i used youtube man to watch music that's all i did i didn't go on youtube how to bake a cake how to fix a flat i had no idea that there was shows and and in these downloads and documentations right and so okay my very first video i did i had no clue what i was doing I mean, it was very grainy and very, uh, I did that. And in three days, man, I had 3,500 views and I got a lot of positive feedback. And I said, wow, this is something else. So I said, maybe I can turn this into something, right? Because people just reached out. And a lot of people that lived in Cadillac, Michigan, which is where my encounter took place, said, Rob, yes, I believe you because we've heard similar things. So back to your original question, Bigfoot, Michigan, Rob evolved because, well, my name is Rob. I live in Michigan. I saw Bigfoot. Bigfoot, Michigan, Rob evolved. But unknowingly to me, it went down a whole different rabbit hole. The dog man, the paranormal, the alien, the UFO. And I started getting flooded with all sorts of phenomena, which blew my mind. I'm like, I know nothing about ufology. I know nothing about this, that, and the other, the paranormal. And so it kind of evolved. and then i said man i gotta change my channel name because now i just don't do bigfoot anymore i do everything and then all my audience so i put out a poll should i change my channel name no rob keep it at that then after a while it's like i'm not gonna bother because most people know now that it's just not bigfoot eccentric because to me i don't know what your thought is all this phenomenon all of it cryptids and otherwise, to me, it's related. There's a commonality between all of this stuff. 100%. I agree with you 100%. And once you get opened up, so most witnesses I talk to, I would say more than 100% probably, once they have this interaction with a Bigfoot, then you can almost bet on it they're going to have other stuff happen. And it's like every time you can almost like put a, have a bingo chart in front of you and be like, oh, yep, there's now the weird stuff starts happening at home. Or it's just, it's very weird how it all relates together. And, but, but Rob, you know, I think, do you mind sharing what you experienced, that Bigfoot encounter that kind of, you know, made all this occur for you and what happened to you back in that day. No, I'd love to. And I'll preface everything by saying for your audience, when I was growing up, my dad brought me and my brother up on two things that he was passionate about. One was sports and the other was monster movies. So at a very young age, I was introduced to the black and whites, Bela Lugosi, Dracula, Lon Chaney, The Wolfman, or it's Karloff Frankenstein. And then, of course, the sports world. And so I fell in love with monsters. And then later on in life, I saw the Patterson-Gimlin film, and then I saw Leonard Nimoy in search of about Bigfoot. I'm like, wow, I think this, yeah. And I'm open-minded. I'm like, yeah, it's a possibility. I think maybe this exists. but prior to my Biffoot experience I kind of I realize this today and I did not realize this when I was a young man young little boy young man I had seen ghosts in my lifetime growing up that now I know for a fact were ghosts and I can say that I seen a UFO my mom pointed out I saw a with my mother. When I was married, you know, I saw shadow people with my wife, very freaky and strange things, but what pulled it all together and made me realize that, yes, there's something to all of this is when I did have my Bigfoot encounter. And of course, I had this after I was married. I got married in my early twenties, ended up getting divorced. And so I had this girlfriend of mine, her name was Cindy, and I wanted to surprise her and take her to Cadillac, Michigan. Now, Cadillac, Michigan sits in the Manistee National Forest. It's in Wexford County. And as I found out later on after investigating all this, after this experience, Wexford County is, number one, the alleged capital of Dogman. And there's been numerous Bigfoot encounters in Wexford, particularly the Manistee National Forest, which is I've really dived into this forest. I found out later on there's a lot of sections of the forest. And the forest is huge. It encompasses Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, about three hours north of me. And it's just a vast forest. there's suggested curses put on the land by first nations when the europeans the white man took over the land and pillaged the indian folks it was just all these things right and all this weird phenomena which i found out later so any anyway going back to the story my encounter this is where it takes place mansy national forest wexford michigan lake cadillac so i call up my girlfriend Cindy did not live with me at the time. We were boyfriend, girlfriend. I said, look, I want to take you to Cadillac, Michigan. Here's what we're going to do. Yes, I want to do some fishing because I want to introduce you to the outdoors because I am an outdoorsman. I used to hike a lot and just enjoy Mother Nature. She's like, really fishing? I said, yes, but Cadillac is very quaint. There's a lot of little small, it's a smaller town, things for us both to do, antique shops yes you'll have fun but you know let's do something so as it turned out i had a friend that was involved in real estate and he had this house he had up for sale and he said and i was talking he says hey man i'll let you i'll let you use the house for the weekend i'm like oh cool and then he said i know a place where you can rent a small little skiff type boat and go out fishing and explore the lake. I'm like, cool. So I get there, and I remember these days distinctly. This was June 15th of 2018, not on the weekend. So when I get there, it's kind of everyone's at work, this, that, and the other. And I always like to paint the picture of this story. So Cindy and I get there. We get the little skiff. We got the nice little cabin. We had a nice place to stay. and this day was a beautiful day. It was blue skies, sun was out, and the forest, emerald green. It was just a beautiful day. It's always important that I tell people the description of how vibrant the day was. Cindy and I, we get out about 10 o'clock in the morning, and we're on Lake Cadillac. Now Lake Cadillac is pretty nicely built up back during this time. There's a variety of homes, million-dollar homes, $200,000 homes, very diverse, a lot of small mom-and-pop businesses and small industries along the lake. So you can see this. And so we're out fishing. After about an hour, Cindy's getting bored. Frankly, we're not catching anything. So I said, well, let's do some exploring. Let's reel the lines in. Let's just take this little skiff and drive around the lake. We're checking out the scenery. Then I come across this canal or a channel, which led to an adjacent lake called Lake Mitchell. Now, Lake Mitchell is not as built up around the shoreline as much as Lake Cadillac, but there were homes there, yes, but it backed up. The backdrop was the Manistee National Forest. It's there. And the forest drops right into the shoreline. And Cindy and I noticed it might be a little bit bigger than Lake Cadillac, to be honest with you. And so we're like, wow, this is beautiful. So we're taking in the scenery. And then I found a spot in a cove, which is called Mitchell Cove. And this is the spot. We're going to catch some fish. So I slowed down the trolling motor very slowly. I'm drifting 90 feet from shore, perhaps, and I get to change the bait on the fishing rod and reels. So Cindy's kind of gazing out into the scenery, and I'm down there not paying any attention. And she says, hey, Rob, I think somebody's throwing rocks at the boat. I'm like, what, really? I don't hear anything. And I look to the shoreline. There's nothing. I said, it's probably just some fish jumping around. We got a great area. She goes, yeah, maybe. Okay. 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 duroze choices, can ASR maybe help? Well, I think, how then? Well, for example, when you're doing something to do with the things you love to do with Schade. Will you know more about the instructions where a duroze schade can be? Go to asr.nl slash duurzamekeuzes. This does ASR for you and a duroze. ASR does it. So we can now listen to your podcast up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify that shopify it time to see what you can accomplish with shopify by your side 60 seconds later rob someone's throwing rocks at the boat i just seen a rock fly from the tree line i'm like cindy okay i looked at the shoreline i'm like i'm like there's no way i said honey there's nobody there so she's getting a little perturbed i said look honey i'm not saying no one is but let me finish what i'm doing get the bait and tackle together and you and i can both together observe fine fine rob so i i'm i'm doing i'm looking down into the boat and then for whatever the reason i stop and i look up and i see something coming out the beautiful blue sky and it's it's like a rock about the size of a baseball and sure enough jeremiah it lands maybe four feet in front of our boat and i go look to cindy to kind of apologize because yes this was launched from the tree line i turned to look at cindy cindy is standing up at this point on the boat and at this time i must mention cindy was a sun worshiper a goddess she already on june 15th had a ripping tan head to toe. I'm looking at her. She's asphyxiated at shoreline. I must tell you that all the color in her skin was drained. That tan was dull. And I'm thinking, what was she looking at? And I looked to the shoreline in a little clearing. There is this, I always say nine foot figure standing upright, arms on the side, covered in beautiful reddish brown hair from head to toe with the exception of the face. And I also have to include that this body was robust. It had to have been four feet wide. This was the biggest thing, and yes, thing, I'd ever seen in my life. And people ask, how did you see the face so well? I said it was humongous. It was easy to see. The head was humongous because I noticed the face is gray. It kind of looked wrinkled. And I noticed that it looked like an odd human being. It had like an offset. The eyes were offset, big bulbous eyes, opaque, and gray skin and a gray chest. And again, his arms were on the side. And I'm like, holy cow. I'm trying to process this. I didn't have enough time because all of a sudden, then the arms that were on its side, it kind of raises like an airplane, like wings, and all this hair is draping down. But then it rolls back its head, and that gray, grizzled, human-looking face got very taut, very tight, almost turned like a purple color. The eyes roll back black, and the jaw distends, literally, almost like Pac-Man, right? Remember back in the day? Down a little bit. This mouth is open. I see two teeth up top and two on the bottom and darkness inside the mouth. Huge. You could fit a softball in there. And as it leans back, it lets out this god-awful roar, scream, and yell all in unison without moving the lips. And it reminded me at this time of a demon. It looked like something out of a Marvel comic book. It was scary. When it let out that roar across the water from the shoreline, I felt the reverberation hit me. I felt it hit me. Shockwave, whatever. And I kind of take a stumble back. Cindy, all 5'1", 110 pounds is standing up, and she gets flipped into the water off of the boat. Now, mind you, everybody, the boat's a skiff. It's maybe six and a half, eight inches out of the water, no more than eight foot long. It's two people, a two-person vessel. She falls into the water. Yes, she can swim, but of course, I go to help her. Now, at this instance, all of a sudden, That's why I like to say earlier in this show, in this podcast, I'd like to describe the day because here's what happens. All of a sudden, the beautiful blue sky, the emerald green forest, this reddish-prown creature, everything. And I'm looking through a filter, a grainy filter. The colors dissipated into like a black and white granular film. now i try to move to my right to get cindy into the boat i'm paralyzed i cannot move i cannot see correctly cognizance gone and i'm just in my head shaking in my head trying to shake my head rob rob snap out of this i have no idea what's happening to me all of a sudden i snap out of it the color comes back and i gained my cognizance back cindy's already almost halfway back into the skiff i get her in then i'm i tell you what might have been even more terrifying is this i look to the shoreline this creature's gone don't know where it is does it swim is it coming after us. I don't know. So I turn that skiff around and I beeline across Lake Mitchell. I hit that canal. I hit Lake Cadillac and I beeline all the way to shore. Get out. Dock the skiff somewhere. Grab Cindy. At this point it's maybe 1220 in the afternoon. Cindy's freezing. I try to warm her up. Go up this little hill. In about half block up we see this bar or restaurant. We walk, excuse me, we walk into it. Again, it's like the middle of the week, not very crowded. I remember distinctly looking to the right. There's a couple at the end of the bar sitting there. I look to the left. Nobody on the left and there's booths along the back wall and I beeline to the very back far corner with Cindy. we both sit down across from each other Cindy's not a drinker I owned a bar Cindy came and visited me all the time never seen a drink anything in her life the waitress comes up goes to Cindy hi what you having? Cindy says I want a bottle of Bud Light and a shot of Jack Daniels I'm like wow okay waitress looks to me what you have. And I said, you know what? I'll have the same. Make mine a double. She leaves. Cindy and I are looking at each other. We are not communicating. We're not even talking. Shock, processing, whatever's going on at this point. Barmaid comes back, puts a bottle of Bud Light in front of Cindy, a shot of Jack. I get two bottles of Bud Light and two shots of Jack. Cindy takes that shot of Jack, and she puts it back like she'd been drinking for 50 years. Bottle of Bud Light guzzles half the bottle. I do the same. Cindy says to me, Robbie, what do you think that was? I said, honey. I'd throw the question back at her. I had kind of an idea from my earlier childhood. what do you think that was and she says i think it was that bigfoot creature mind you cindy and i during our relationship never spoke about bigfoot cryptids paranormal nothing i'm like you know what i think maybe it was she says to me should we call the sheriff the DNI report what we saw and I says to her and tell her exactly what that not tell her tell them exactly what I don't think so I'm already thinking yeah ain't gonna believe this right so she goes yeah you're probably right so we could not concentrate and unfortunately the trip was wrecked. We tried to go into town, but this experience we had was just weighing on us. Unfortunately, we leave a couple days early, man. I think the next morning we just went home. Soon as we get home, we immerse ourselves on the internet, typing in Bigfoot, typing in demons. then I go on YouTube and never really use it. I started typing Bigfoot and watching videos that were pulling up. And we did this for a long time. And, you know, nothing really satisfied what I was looking for. The creature I saw kind of didn't look like what I was seeing in images. And I discovered some YouTube shows, podcasts, but nothing. It just didn't seem right. so I'm trying to reach out to people, and I'm a novice. I don't know any connections in this field. So, again, Cindy didn't live with me. She lived with her mother. Now, her mother, I have to tell you, did not like me, did not like me at all. The mother thought I was a demon. She was very religious, Italian background. I owned a bar, therefore I was a demon, yeah it was bad she despised me she did so as i mentioned earlier june 15th of 2018 we had this encounter together i get a call the morning of august 15th 2018 from her mom and i'm like her Maz calling me. This is weird. Hello? Oh, this is Cindy's mom. I'm like, yeah. I just want to let you know, Cindy died of a heart attack this morning. And she goes, I blame you. She wasn't quite right when she came back from that little trip. I'm like, what are you talking about? Cindy, heart attack? I don't believe that. Is this a silly prank? no you're not invited to the funeral if you show up i'm gonna have you thrown out sure enough she passed away jeremiah i go i find out where the funeral is i go there and yeah i was escorted out of there never had the closure never said goodbye dude oh man I gotta tell you so I went to deep dark place man I had no closure with my girlfriend I don't know what happened anyway I immerse myself deeper in this subject, right? But I'm not getting answers, right? I went in a dark place. People didn't believe me. They were calling me, making things up. It was terrible. It got so bad that I went to my bar and I told my manager I have to take a leave of absence because I don't know what's going on. boss what's up what's up i can't explain it to you man just hear the keys put the money in the bank i trust you i'll be back when i get back i left work man i didn't go back to work for six months because i locked myself in my house investigating and trying to find people didn't find anybody that would help me. Anybody, man. I was lost. I was alone. So I'm watching a YouTube video of this guy, Carrie Arnold, Bigfoot Odyssey. Puts his phone number and he told his encounter story, which was terrifying. It kind of reminded me of mine. Like I said, he leaves his number. I call him. Best phone call I made in my life. He's such a great man and he's passed on now, as you might know. Rob, you're not going crazy. And we spoke. A total stranger, I happened to catch his very first video about his encounter. We talked, my friend, we talked to a stranger. Man, I remember I called him about 8 o'clock at night. We got off the phone at midnight. And then later on, it was suggested, you got to get this out. that I did that dumb video. And then, you know, then I said, you know what? I'm starting a channel because I want to help people. Because I says, you know, I can't help Cindy any longer. And that's the mystery in itself. So I started doing this simply to share other people's experiences because I walked forever alone, man, in darkness. I got my bar together, got my senses together, continued out with the bar business. I got somewhat back to normal. I ended up selling the bar in 2020, ironically, on Thanksgiving when we had the big pandemic hit, which was fortunate. And so I've kind of, this is what I've been doing, sharing people's stories, telling mine, having guests on, researchers, witnesses. Because for me, I'm giving back to the people. I'm not doing for fame or fortune, man. I am in the spot today where I just want to help others go through what I went through. and that's what happened to me, bro. Rob, I've actually never heard your story before and I am just, it's just heartbreaking to hear. I'm so sorry that you lost Cindy and that you weren't able to have that closure. I had no idea. I had absolutely no idea. My goodness. It's so good to see you in a good place now though and helping people. You know, because I tell you, there's a point in my life where I didn't care about the business. I didn't care about me. I just wanted to figure out what to happen. And I tell you what, this would have been a very cool encounter, frankly, because if Cindy didn't pass away. Because when this happened, certainly I was furious with her mom. 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 choice, can ASR maybe help? Well, I think, how then? Well, for example, when it's a lot of money that you love to do. Will you know more about the regulations where a lot of money can be? Go to asr.nl slash duurzamekeuzes. This is for you and a lot of money. ASR does it. So, we can now listen to your podcast. but i was furious with myself i wanted to go back i almost called a bunch of my hunting buddies and i wanted to go back and hunt this thing and kill it see you know and i that's what i wanted to do my first encounter with bigfoot was crazy and even to this day when you have all these people out there and people get mad at me but it doesn't matter to me because a lot of people jeremiah you know this bigfoot's the friendly forest giant this that and the other and i will tell you this i thought the bigfoot because of the what happened with that people say infrasound it was bigger than that i don't know i still don't know what that was i thought it killed her i thought it messed up her body i did today i don't really believe that way per se i don't believe it was a demon either after I've been doing this stuff since 2018 really I I've talked to hundreds and hundreds of people as you have so I I have a better understanding but I just I just thought it was nasty creature today I don really think so I get it but I not going to let my kids play alone in the forest if there a family of Bigfoot at my tree line I not Some people do I don I wouldn my goodness um yeah i i would not do that either um maybe a few questions about yeah your actual encounter how long do you think that from when you first had the first part of the sighting to then you're okay let's get out of here let's let we're gonna take the boat out of here how long was that the funny thing about that and i forgot to mention this i don't know why it slipped my mind when this all happened when that you that roar and that transformation and then everything's grainy i can't move it seemed like it lasted an eternity but i will tell you this it was probably no longer than 20 seconds if i'm just guessing but as soon as i looked to that short what i got my cognizance back and Cindy was secured. When I seen there was nothing there, it freaked me out. And so I whipped it around. The question that's odd is I can't give you a time frame how long this all took. Sure, my encounter was, I think it was 20 minutes worth of stuff, but the actual physical seeing it and everything that happened, 30 seconds or less, I'm guessing to this day, It's almost like memory. It's almost like time loss in a sense. You know? Absolutely. Did you notice if it, oh, before I ask that, how far away from it were you guys in the boat? I always say, I guess to make 90 feet, because I remember it was kind of like, because I attend a lot of baseball games. It was kind of like from first to second base. And people say, man, that was kind of a distance, but not really. That's why I always have to tell people something nine foot tall, approximately four foot wide. That's humongous. And that head was humongous. I can see it very distinctly. I have pretty good vision. And it was, yeah, I caught every detail. Oh, absolutely. I mean, being that close, you definitely would. Did you notice if its eyes were just all one color or did they seem to have whites on the sides of them? In the very beginning, as I probably described earlier, the eyes seem opaque, you know, off-colored. But then when it kind of did that, when amorphous, I guess you could call it, the eyes roll back dark black. Okay. And that face turned from that grungy-looking human, because it looked very human, but just a person not like Neanderthal looking, right? but then it looked like something totally different right? It turned purple it just looked horribly terrifying That's actually something I wanted to ask you about so that's really interesting when you say it looked purple like the skin turned a shade of purple or what do you mean exactly by that? Well what happened, the grayish in the beginning as I said it was a grayish crusty it seemed like it was this older person just again but when it did that move whatever it did that skin got very taut it was almost reminding me like blood was just rushing to its head okay yeah you know it was ready to explode and with the yell and the scream it was considerably loud and in fact here's the interesting thing when i first put that out and when I started years later, well, later on telling the story, I've gotten so many emails about people hearing that roar out in that area, not seeing one, but they believe something's out there. No doubt about it. I ask about the purple thing because I have heard another individual, actually this was at Sasquatch Summerfest in Oak Ridge last year a mother shared with me about how one of her sons they had a RV type setup out in the woods and he's like I just saw a purple a Bigfoot that looked purple at the time I was like that's really weird because I've never heard that I've talked to hundreds of people and I've heard someone else say it I need to look that up to get the details on that again. And now you kind of have this detail. It's very, very interesting. Now, you kind of alluded to it already, but I've talked to a few individuals about this area in Michigan, and there's so much interesting Bigfoot things going on. I mean, just in Miesick, Michigan, which is a little bit Northwest, I talked to these guys and they actually call Bigfoot in that area the Marilla Gorilla, which is really interesting. I mean, there's so much, so many things. And then the Dogman encounter on Tony Merkel's show. Oh, yeah, I love that. You know the one I'm talking about. That happened in the same forest, I think. But, you know, after, you know, let's say maybe a few years after this, it sounds like you're starting to get emails from people that are experiencing the same sounds. But did you also do a deep dive into, okay, you know, what else is going on? How, how much, how, how many other Bigfoot reports have been seen in this forest around the area that I had this encounter? Oh, there's reported. I've seen probably like last time I checked, and it's been a while ago, I think in the, in the, in the Wexford County, which is part of the county. which is in the Madison National Forest there's like 109 Bigfoot encounters allegedly reported and you know they're not all reported and then it's funny or interesting that as I mentioned backstage it opened up this can of worms or this rabbit hole from folks that would say about Dogman about the enchanted forest the cursed land because in 1987 there was a you know it got a lot of steam was brought upon you know linda godfrey came out with the beast of prairie road as we all know god rest her soul right yeah so i started looking into that but then it was told to me by several people that are in the dogman field i guess you could call it that wexford county is quote unquote the capital of dogman sightings and also a lot of Bigfoot encounters. There's also a lot of paranormal experiences outside of these things. And I just happen to think that this is somewhat related because I know, and I study the Manistee National Forest, let me tell you, and the first dogman account, and a lot of this goes back to dogman, Paris, Michigan, 1937, was the first actual creature that they coined a dogman. Before 87, when they saw kind of in Michigan, it broke loose in 87. There was a radio guy that made a jingle about the dog man. You know, I think we've all heard that story before, which was started out as a joke. But when people heard that, they said, no, no, no, no. That is no joke. There are things out there. I got my show, Jody Cook. uh he's a dog man guy but he found he came across and seen a bigfoot in wexford county he had seen the dog man in wexford county and i will tell you the state of michigan you know we always hear about the pacific northwest which is you know we always hear those stories but where i live about 300 miles north of me 200 that's a prime area if you're a researcher i don't just call myself a researcher i do go out in the woods and investigate things by more of this i'm more about the guy that tells everyone else's story you know that's what i do yeah but in my state of michigan and i'm not even including the upper peninsula there's a lot of cryptid activity i like to say cryptid because It's just both. You know what I'm saying? And it's very fascinating. And then, of course, we're surrounded by these haunted lighthouses and all these other mysteries of the woods that, to me, it all kind of blends together. I'm learning this the more I do this. But, yes, back to your original question. Yeah, there's a hundred. You know, I think there is probably in my state alone, maybe three or 400 of them throughout the years from, and again, reports, you can't rely on the reports as much, but from people that have told me I've had probably 50 people in the last four years. Yes. They've seen Bigfoot in these areas. They've seen dog man in these areas. Rob, you are not crazy. You, you, you're onto it. There is something out there. And. And so, yes. So it's opened up that rabbit hole, that proverbial rabbit hole, which is why I love doing what I do today, because it's such a mystery that I just find it fascinating. And in retrospect, I never thought I'd be a back of a mic, man. You know, it's just weird how your path in life changes because the path in my life has changed because of this. Oh, same. A hundred percent. It's crazy to think about. Man, it really is. Yeah, that just, that took, that took me back for a bit to think about. It really, it, it changed, it changed so much. The entire family tree from here on out. Rob, you've talked to so many people over the years on your show and through email. And is there maybe one or two accounts that people have told you that were shared with you that really stick out? that were, you're like, wow, I feel really privileged to be a part of this person's story by them telling me. Yeah, there's several. Two always hit me right off the bat. And again, one is in Michigan. And I found this story. I was talking to this man. I interviewed him on the StreamYard thing, and he sent an email. I said, I got to call this guy. I got to hold this guy. and so he lives in the upper peninsula of michigan keeping in michigan in the porcupine the porcupine mountains and it's such a fascinating and this guy is a he told me rob i'm a bigfoot researcher reaching out to you this that and the other and very very invested into the research but never came across anything. He found some prints, the typical, the print, the X structures we all hear about, this, that, and the other. And one day he was driving down the freeway or the interstate up north and he saw, wow, this looks like a great idea, a great spot to go investigate. So he pulls his Jeep or truck off on the side of the road and he's walking down the tree line. And it was very dense and he can't get in but he sees this small opening and he goes inside this he says rob's mill day i go inside and it was almost like an above ground tunnel the way the trees were formed it was like a uh an arch and as he's proceeding in this in this above ground alleged tunnel of trees he pulls out his machete because it started getting dense he's cutting away cutting away and opening up this pathway. Then he said to me, he says, Rob, I got this feeling that I should turn around. Uhm, I'm going to say that I should turn around. I'm going to say that I should listen to your podcast. So I'm going to say that I should listen to your podcast. Because if you think it's important to make a sustainable choices, can ASR maybe help? Now I think, how then? Well, for example, when it's a waste of money that you love, when you want to know more about the insurance companies where a waste of money is available? Go to ASR.nl slash duurzamekeuzes. This is ASR for you and a sustainable community. ASR does it. So, we can now listen to your podcast. finds the spot, took him a minute to find the location because the average guy, you can't pick it out. I mean, it's just a tree line, right? Finds his area and he proceeds further in this path and he's going forward. Got his machete, he's hacking away. Bennett opens up and he says the trees kind of hovered low maybe. He had to start ducking down. It was like five foot, so he's ducking down. Then as he's walking, he notices he's getting closer and closer. Then all of a sudden, he smells something rotting. And again, even though it's a bright, sunny day, it's very dark in there. In fact, he said he forgot his flashlight. Didn't think he'd need one. Then he trips over something. He falls to the ground, and he's covered in blood. then he realizes he tripped over a dead a freshly dead carcass of a deer okay so he doesn't he doesn't want he says rob i did not want to turn around so i just proceeded further past this deer then ahead he sees an opening a light ahead where the tunnel the tree the tunnel of trees was ending then all of a sudden in the back of him hears something walking, but not walking bipedally because, again, this is only like maybe five foot in depth. And he says, I'm a five foot eight guy, so I was crouched down. But he hears something in back of him. He's like, oh, no. And he thinks that maybe he stumbled into a bear den, and that was the bear's kill. Continues on. Now he sees this tunnel of light. And he says, yeah, I got to continue on toward the light. But then he says, Rob, for whatever reason, I've got to look over my shoulder. Now, he says when he looks over and he sees this in the shadows, he doesn't see a creature standing up, but he sees something that was walking like a big spider. He thinks, what? This is in the porcupine mountains. And he thinks what he's looking at is a humongous spider. he says that the tunnel of trees the width of it was maybe six feet five and a half six feet but he can see like arms extended out crawling and they pretty much was the width of this tunnel of trees he's like what is this a spider he's thinking what i ain't no bear so this guy and i was terrified and he's just he's not running because he knows about the predatorial instinct You run, you're done. And he continues forward, getting closer to the light. Then he finally breaks out into this meadow, this pasture. It's maybe 100 yards in depth. And at the other end of the pasture is another tree line, another set of woods. So he kind of picks up his step a little bit. But all of a sudden, he says, Rob, I have to stop. I have to look over my shoulder. He goes, what I saw when I looked over my shoulder was not a gigantic spider, which is what he was envisioning. He says it was as tall, and he says he thinks it was a Bigfoot. It was tall and standing there looking at him. And he turns his head around, and he continues to walk. He's not chased. It doesn't pursue him. Does not look back over his shoulder. He's still terrified. he gets to the tree line. Now he says, man, where am I? I'm lost. I don't know how to get back. I'm not going back that way because his entire navigation system in his mind is blown. Don't know if he had a GPS or anything like that. So he gets into the wood line. He finds this natural trail, follows the trail to the freeway. He's like, man, oh, where's my vehicle? I don't know where I'm at. so a semi truck a big semi semi driver and this was in logging country it was a logging vehicle right and the guy you know pulls the thumb hey tries to flag him now so the man in the vehicle stops and he looks at this guy and this guy forgets he fell into he fell into the dead carcass of the deer and this guy doesn't even realize it but his clothes are covered in blood and this guy kind of looks at him you in trouble here should i trust you what he goes no i i i was back in in the woods I fell into a dead deer carcass This is deer blood I don't know why I'm at. I'm lost. I got scared. He doesn't really mention the other thing that what had led to his being terrified. He goes, okay, get on in. Where's your vehicle? He goes, I think he told him the highway road. Did he remember? He goes, oh, I know where that is. It's about, check this out. He goes, it's about a 25-minute ride. And this guy's like, really? That's how far off course I am? Which I found that to be bizarre. So these guys are chit-chatting. And this truck driver senses that this guy, there's more to this guy's story other than the deer. He goes, look, pal, tell me, I've been, I lived in Porcupine Mountains. I've seen it all. Tell me this, something happened. Tell me. You're with a friend. I trust you. Guys, well, you're not going to believe this. He told them a story. And this guy looks at him and he says, oh, I believe you. He goes, what do you mean? That was Sasquatch. You saw Sasquatch. They're all over here. That's what you saw. The guy kind of thought he did after a while. Because we've all heard about the Sasquatch shoot in the spider crawl. You ever get stories or reports? Oh, yeah. Oh, just wild stuff. Yeah. So the man, they finally find his vehicle. Thanks him. He goes, hey, good luck. They're there. They're Sasquatch, this, that, and the other. He goes, good luck to you and your future. And they parted ways. And he says, Rob, that was my experience. And I drove home. And he goes, he hasn't gone back yet because he just was frazzled. You know, because people don't understand when you see something, okay, you're a Bigfoot researcher and you believe in Bigfoot, but it doesn't matter until you physically see something like this. You cannot process this stuff. I couldn't process my experience. So I can see where you might have a change of tune and attitude. Right. Oh, my goodness. That is an intense story. And that's, uh, is that one that you can listen to on, on your channel as well? That's in the book. That's a book. I don't know if you got through the book yet, but that's in the one, one or book, one or two, it's in there. Porcupine mountain, Bigfoot or something. Okay. Yeah. I went to, um, Missouri in September. We, my, my group did, uh, the crossing rebels conference. Got some incredible stories from people. It's so funny. You know, it's cool. I mean, it's so surreal because I set up camp. I brought my books. And I got to tell you, you don't think that people follow you. It's just so amazing to meet people. I've been following your show forever. You're awesome. I got your books. People brought their book to the conference for me to sign. And I got two pretty incredible stories, you know, from people. Here on, I got to tell you this story. an amazing event and the people in this environment they're so nice a lot of them are you know we always hear about the backstabbing and all the bs i don't want to talk about but there's so many genuine people that they're just bulging to tell you their story oh you know and yeah and i picked up some stories which i haven't shared yet but amazing things. I got a story from a guy who saw a werewolf, as he said, but he says, well, it probably was a dog man picking apples off of his family's orchard tree and eating them and staring at the guy. Wow. You know, I mean, just some amazing things. I'm a believer. First of all, I'm a no or not a believer. I've seen what I've seen, but it's just so funny that people just don't believe in this stuff. And I guess I get it, but man, it goes on every day in our backyards. Literally, literally, depending where you're at. And I know like, so when you say you're Southeast Michigan, is that over north of Detroit or south of it? I am south of Detroit. I'm close to the Detroit River, which does not run too far from here. So when I say southeast, it's like Bloomfield Hills, Wyandotte, the Down River. Yeah, I'm 20 minutes from downtown Detroit on the freeway. Oh, wow. And that area was extremely, I mean, it had that big thing. That was in Monroe, I think, that happened the last year, right? There was a Bigfoot encounter in Monroe where a husband, a man and a son, seen this Bigfoot crawl out of a creek covered in mud and run up a hill. Yeah, that was in Monroe, Michigan. In fact, Monroe, Michigan, there's about four or five sightings there. There's another one in Monroe, Michigan called the River Raisin, which actually runs through a huge golf course. And there's been alleged Bigfoot reports there as well. And believe it or not, allegedly there was a Bigfoot spotted in downtown Detroit in a McDonald's going through the dumpster. I believe it. You know, I mean, crazy stuff. And I'll tell you why, because I've also talked to a gentleman about a Bigfoot encounter he had in Detroit. And that gentleman was Violent Jay from ICP. I was able to interview him a few years ago, and he has a wild Bigfoot encounter in the middle of Detroit. So, yeah, I don't think it's out of the question that stuff is even happening in that city. Yeah, it is. And I will tell you this. And the things about Detroit, I've heard, okay, here's the thing. Detroit is humongously big, the inner city, and a lot of it runs along the Detroit River. And there's wildlife and there's forests. I mean, when I say forests, not like you're thinking, that's woods, right? They're not even named a national park or state park, but it's woods. and as the more when i started really diving into researching this stuff bigfoot is travels among the waterways you know the interstate the um what you call the power lines in the woods right i mean uh railroad tracks that go on and on and on and parts of detroit you know it's lined by the detroit river and there's so many abandoned buildings that people the police don't even go into you don't even know what's back there because i can very easily see them coming out from the waterway the river the surrounding wood lines right and maybe they're there by mistake maybe they're not you know so i i don't rule out these creatures bigfoot whatever you call them i still don't even have an exact word to what they call them, right? They're all over, man. And I think there's more out there than people think. I agree. And I had reports about dogmen in Grozeal, Michigan, and all the surrounding islands that there's things out there. Oh, my goodness. I mean, it's, yeah, it's just fascinating to me. But yes, I thought that was such a story, though. Oh, and a McDonald's dumpster eating a Big Mac. I mean, I made that up, but you know what I'm saying? It's just funny. I mean, it's funny, but it's also like it fits the pattern where they're going to take the easy. If they find a place with a lot of food like that, or maybe if someone in Oklahoma is holding on to deer that are on freezers on their front porch, they're going to take that easy route. Or the casinos with the grease trap dumpsters in the back. And that's happened too. So, I mean, yeah, there's all sorts of weird, funny stories. But I think there's definitely some truth to them too. But, you know, Rob, it has been such a privilege to be able to have a conversation with you finally. But I want to make sure that you're able to take a few minutes to share how people can make sure they keep up to date with what you're doing, watch your shows, and pick up a copy of your books as well. Oh, I appreciate that. Yeah, simply YouTube. I'm on YouTube. It's very easy. It's Bigfoot Michigan, Rob, on YouTube. this is my fourth year doing it and the show i have three shows tuesday night is the live interview show where i have guests that either experiencers or researchers and we talk about all the cryptids and the paranormal i mean we kind of i've kind of made it a goal to be more diverse so you'll get the cryptids you'll get some ufo stuff so that's tuesday at nine and i'm also on Thursday afternoon at 1 and Saturday night at 11. So I'm on three live shows a week. I've also got the two books called Bigfoot Mission Rob Presents True Crypt and Encounters Book 1 and 2. All you need to do there is type Bigfoot Mission Rob in your Amazon browser. And I got links and stuff on my profile page of my YouTube channel. And I'm on Twitter, Instagram. You know, you can look me up. It's very easy to find. All you do is type Bigfoot Mr. Rob, all my stuff pulls up. I kind of set it up that way. And I'm looking to develop a website. And I'm a mutual friend of ours, Bigfoot Fidesz. I like to give her a shout out. She helps me out a lot of stuff. And we're going to be putting together a website where I can put all my stuff. Because I'm also going to be selling my gear. People want, I usually wear Bigfoot Mr. Rob bandanas. So I'm finally going to be those. And I'll be doing that. All the knickknacks, you know, stuff. like that but my biggest thing is my youtube channel i i it's my baby it's why i started i if i never had this encounter bmr would not exist he would just be some dude but i had a life-changing experience i like to share this phenomenon with everybody because everybody should be at least aware and it's a safe place to come you won't be judged you won't be ridiculed like i was that's why I really do it, to be honest. 100%. Shout out to Bigfoot Fades. Yeah, I call her Fades on purpose. I know his face, yeah. Also, one last thing. If people want to reach out to you specifically maybe about an encounter or just to ask you a question, is there a way they can contact you directly? Oh, yeah. My email is beyondbmr at gmail.com. So B-E-Y-O-N-D, blah, blah, blah, Bigfoot. Beyond BMR at gmail.com. Perfect. That's awesome. Just in case I want to make sure you're getting that Michigan stuff. Yeah, no, I tell you, I do get a lot of Michiganders. I get a lot of stuff from Michigan. And, you know, and other states have been picking up over the last couple of years. So I just can't. I'm very happy and proud of what I've been doing. And I love the audience and the people that join your show, your awesome show. I love Bigfoot Society. I listen to it when I can. Thank you. When I don't want to watch a live show, that's where I go to listen to a nice podcast. You do do a great job. Great stories, great guests, and you do a great job. So hats off to you as well. Thank you. Well, Bigfoot Michigan, Rob, thank you so much for coming on the show. We'll be watching to see what you come out with next, but thank you so much for coming on. Hey, thank you so much. Have you ever heard all the accounts of Bigfoot activity around Oak Ridge, Oregon, and you think to yourself, man, I would love to get out in those woods and experience it for myself. Well, guess what? This year, you can. If this is interesting to you, stay tuned because it's pretty cool. So Sasquatch Summerfest is coming up July 10th through the 11th, 2026. It's going to be even better than the previous year's reason. Number one, I'll be one of the speakers. It's going to be wild. I'll probably, I'll say this. There may be stuff you haven't heard anywhere else because let's just say sometimes it's, well, you just got to be there. We'll leave it at that. More about looking for Bigfoot in the Oak Ridge woods. Now check this out. You may know Jason Kenzie from his documentary series, Searching for Sasquatch. Well, this year, you can not only go to the festival, but you can also sign up for a trek deep in the wild forest outside of Oak Ridge with Jason Kenzie to the Bigfoot spots to look for Bigfoot. There's only eight spots to sign up for this. And yes, this will also be filmed for the next chapter in his documentary series, which is Searching for Sasquatch. This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. It's just, trust me, it's going to be a wild, wild experience. To get a ticket, head on over to SasquatchSummerFest.com and listeners can use the code B-S-P, like Bigfoot Society podcast in order to get a two-day pass for the price of a one-day pass. So thanks to Priscilla for giving me that code so that you guys can can get a little help with the cost there. Appreciate that, Priscilla. I hope to see you at the booth in Oak Ridge this year. We can talk about your encounter. I was able to talk to so many people last year and the year before. It is an incredible time. You're not going to want to miss it, and I'll see you there. Before we wrap this episode, I want to say something directly to a very specific group of listeners. If you're in the military, any branch or forces, and if you've seen something that no one can explain, or if you're a national park ranger or forestry worker who's been told to stay quiet, if you're a pilot who's seen something strange down on the ground, or if you're with the FBI, a federal agency, or working intelligence, and you've stumbled upon something you're not allowed to talk about, and if you're a firefighter, paramedic, or search and rescue responder who's heard screams or found tracks that didn't make sense, if you're in the logging industry on a remote oil field or a trucker with government contracts and you've had something happen that you've never told a soul, and if you're a biologist, a wildlife specialist, or a field researcher under contract who has found evidence you're not allowed to report, if you're a pastor, a missionary, or someone on a spiritual retreat and you saw something that shook your faith, or if you work in the shadows, CIA, NSA, or anything with clearance, and you've seen what the public hasn't, then I want to talk to you. Even if it's anonymous, you can reach me at bigfootsociety at gmail.com the world needs to hear what you've been forced to carry alone and you're not alone you've got the story we've got the mic see you in the woods thank you for listening to this episode of the bigfoot society podcast every encounter we share reminds us that the world is bigger and stranger than we think and that the truth is often hiding just beyond the tree line. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe to the channel on YouTube, hit the bell so you don't miss the next episode and share this with a friend who's into mysteries, monsters, or the unexplained. And if you're listening to us on Spotify or Apple Podcast, please follow the show there and leave us a five-star positive review because all that helps more people discover the show. And remember, if you or someone you know has had a Bigfoot sighting, please, I'd love to hear from you. So email me at bigfootsociety at gmail.com and let's start the conversation. If you haven't gotten a chance yet, check out our membership community over at www.bigfootsocietypodcast.com. And that's where you can hear tomorrow's episode today early and ad-free and members-only episodes every week. Also, it's a place to connect with other people that are into the Bigfoot subject as much as you are. Thanks again for following along with the Bigfoot Society. Until next time, keep your eyes open, trust your gut and never stop asking what else might be out there and see you in the woods. Aser for you and a duurzame samar. Aser does it. So, I can now listen to your podcast. 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 duurzame keuze, can Aser maybe help? I think, how then? Well, for example, when you're doing a lot of things that you love are at Schade. Will you know more about the insurance where a duurzaam schade can be? Go to aser.nl slash duurzame keuzes. This is for you and a valuable community. Azer does it. So, we can now listen to your podcast.