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Laura Krantz is a journalist, editor and producer, in both radio and print, and co-founder of Foxtopus Ink. Her podcast, Wild Thing has received critical acclaim from Scientific American, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic, which named it one of the best 50 podcasts in 2018 and 2020. Wild Thing is also the inspiration for a series of non-fiction, middle-grade books from ABRAMS Kids, including The Search for Sasquatch, Is There Anybody Out There?, and Do You Believe In Magic? In addition to Wild Thing, her recent work includes reporting, editing and production work on Master Plan (The Lever), The Syndicate (Imperative Entertainment/Foxtopus), Side Door (Smithsonian), Air/Space (Smithsonian), and others. Laura's prior experience includes a decade of editing and producing at NPR in Washington, DC, and at KPCC in Los Angeles.

Spoke to the witness and he has agreed to come on the show. A listener writes "I recently attended a meeting of my local Purple Heart chapter for combat wounded veterans. There were six of us in total three from the Global War on Terror and three Vietnam veterans. What stood out was that every Vietnam veteran who had been wounded shared that they had seen what they called a "rock ape." As they told their stories, the rest of us those from GWOT, myself included remained quiet.  After the meeting, I spoke privately with another GWOT veteran, who admitted he had also witnessed unusual things while serving as an Army instructor on a base. My own experience happened on the eastern shore of Cougar Reservoir in Oregon. I was camping with my family when, close to midnight, something began approaching our campsite. I first heard heavy footsteps about 100 meters away. As it drew closer, I realized I had to stand my ground. It was moving toward us steadily not sprinting, but deliberately giving my ex-wife time to turn on the SUV's lights and get our two toddlers out of the tent and into the vehicle, about 40 feet away. I positioned myself between the approaching figure and my family. It came down from a hill toward our campsite by the water, a distance I later confirmed to be about 100 meters. When it got within roughly 40 meters, I fired a couple of warning shots with my 9mm, though it felt completely inadequate. My plan, if it came closer, was to aim for the eye shine to buy my family more time. At around 20 30 meters, I could feel the vibration of its footsteps through the ground beneath my bare feet. Strangely, it kept its eyes covered as it approached. The SUV's headlights were shining directly at it on high beams, yet I couldn't see any eye reflection. I've never been able to shake the feeling that it understood what I was trying to do. It stopped about 12 feet in front of me and remained there while we finished loading the car. Once everyone was inside, I slowly backed away, got into the SUV, and drove us out along the narrow road leading from the campsite. For most of the encounter, I actually thought I was dealing with an elephant something large that could move quietly despite its size. I heard no brush breaking, despite the dense vegetation only the sound of its footsteps. I didn't smell anything, even when it was close. When I finally saw it clearly, my first thought was that it looked almost artificial, like something constructed. It took a while to come to terms with what I saw. I have no doubt that these creatures exist as living, physical beings. What unsettles me most is the pattern described by the Vietnam veterans each of them had seen one shortly before being wounded in separate incidents. My own encounter came much later, as did the other GWOT veteran's. Over the years, I've spoken with hundreds of veterans, often asking those with extensive time in the wilderness if they've ever experienced anything unusual. Most say no, or mention only distant, unexplained sounds. But in that room of Purple Heart recipients, only one of the six had not directly described seeing something. The rest of us had encountered what appeared to be a large, upright walking ape. Half of those sightings reportedly occurred just days before being wounded. To be fair, the one individual who didn't share may simply have chosen to remain silent."

Tonight we'll be talking with Jake from Minnesota. Back in the early 1980s, he witnessed something he described as a chimpanzee playing on his tree stand. Then, 30 years later, in the same area, he encountered another creature this time displaying behavior unlike anything he had ever heard or seen before.

John writes "Hey Wes, I'm writing from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I've been a regular listener for several years. When I was 14, back in July or August of 1994, I took my small scooter down a rough dirt road used by the local power commission to access power lines. About half a kilometer in, the terrain got too difficult to keep going, steep dips and uneven ground, so I shut the bike off to take a break. It was a warm, sunny day around midday. Out of nowhere, everything went completely silent. The best way I can describe it is like someone put ear protection over me. I had never experienced anything like that before. As I looked back down the path I had just come from, I saw something I'll never forget. About 500 feet away was a creature that looked somewhat like an African lion, but… not right. Its eyes were solid black, and it had a full mane around its head. I couldn't see its hindquarters clearly because they were partially obscured by trees and brush. It was on all fours. The closest comparison I can make is that it resembled what some people describe as a Dogman." At that point in my life, I was a paperboy with excellent eyesight, and I saw all kinds of dogs on my route regularly. This was not a dog. I was absolutely terrified. There was something about it that felt wrong, almost like it didn't belong in this world. I can still remember its mane moving slightly in the breeze and the intense, predatory stare it had locked on me. After about 10–12 seconds of just staring at each other, I tried revving my little 70cc bike, hoping to scare it off. It didn't react at all. After another several seconds, it slowly backed into the woods without ever breaking eye contact. That's when it hit me, I had to go back the same way I came. There was no other way out. I was genuinely afraid it might circle around or ambush me if I stayed any longer, so I made the decision to go. I sped past the spot as fast as that little bike would take me, pretty much expecting it to come crashing out of the woods at any moment. About seven years later, I told a friend who lived in that area about what I saw. He told me his father had reported seeing something very similar around that same time. For context, I later spent 10 years working as a police officer and have seen a number of unusual things during that time, some of which might be worth sharing as well. One other detail that's always stuck with me: around that same period in my life, I had also experimented with a Ouija board, and that led to an experience that still bothers me to this day. I'm 45 now, and it's something I've never fully shaken. If this is something you'd be interested in, I'd be happy to talk more. Best regards,"

Please welcome my special guest tonight. Twelve-year-old Bentley St John says he's 'pretty mad' about getting hit while crossing at a crosswalk. His family wants the driver to turn themselves in to police.

Mike writes "Wes, I spoke with you a while back about a sighting my buddy had while hunting, and about a non-visual encounter I experienced. My buddy has finally agreed to talk with you about it, and we'd both like to speak with you at the same time. What would be the best way for us to set that up?" Spoke to both Mike and Joe. Joe's encounter takes place in Colorado back in 2018. Joe describes seeing this creature while hunting. Mike also had a strange encounter in Texas.

Tonight we will be speaking to Seth and Seth writes "I grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, and went to college there too. That's where this story took place. It's not a Bigfoot encounter at least I don't think it is. Honestly, I'm not sure what kind of encounter it was. All I know is that it happened to me. I've often wished someone could explain it, tell me what it was or what it meant. It happened on October 31, 2001, under a full blue moon, along one of the quietest stretches of the Blue Ridge Parkway. At the time, I was driving a 1970 Chevy Bel Air an old steel boat of a car and I had pulled into the James River overlook near Goff Mountain Road. It was close to midnight. The moon was so bright it almost felt like daytime. *]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:42ff6ed2-a3bd-4a8a-8c35-2553e0dc54fb-0" data-testid= "conversation-turn-2" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant"> I shut the engine off and decided to stretch my legs. There's a small trail there that leads down toward a bench maybe a hundred yards from the parking area. I'd spent a lot of time in the woods so being out in the forest at night didn't bother me. I knew what normal nighttime woods felt like. And I also knew when something felt off. As I walked down the trail, the stillness felt unnatural. No breeze. No insects. No rustling. Nothing. I sat on the bench and looked through the bare branches while the moonlight spilled across the slope below. It was beautiful, but something about it felt wrong. Like I was being watched. Then I heard a Snap. A single limb breaking somewhere downslope, maybe fifty to a hundred yards away toward the Bellamy Creek drainage. At first I didn't think much of it deer snap branches all the time. Then it happened again. And again. What caught my attention wasn't just the sound it was the pattern. The breaks started coming from different directions. Not like one animal moving through the woods. I counted five, maybe ten distinct snaps, each spaced about four or five seconds apart. Then the timing changed. The snaps started coming faster… one every second or two… and they seemed to be moving in a circle around me. That was enough. Instinct kicked in, and I stood up and headed back to the car. When I got inside the car, I didn't start the engine right away. I just sat there with the keys in the ignition, ready to leave if I needed to. At first, nothing happened. Then something hit the hood. It sounded exactly like a Douglas fir cone hitting steel hard, solid, unmistakable. The problem was that there were no pine or fir trees there. Only deciduous trees, and by that time of year all their leaves had already fallen. There was nothing up there that could drop. Then another hit. Then they started falling faster like something was throwing them. They weren't rocks or dirt. Every impact sounded the same weight, the same size, the same hollow thunk of a heavy cone hitting metal. The hood, the roof, the trunk maybe even the sides of the car. But I couldn't see anything falling. Nothing bouncing off. Nothing rolling away. Just the sound. I looked up toward the treeline in front of me, expecting to see bare trunks and branches in the moonlight. Instead, I saw figures. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. The shapes looked like people standing among the trees. They weren't trees. They were tall figures six to seven feet high wearing what looked like long hoods or cloaks. Completely black. No faces. No hands. Just darkness beneath the hoods. Some stood still. Others seemed angled toward me. It was like they absorbed the moonlight instead of reflecting it. I turned to my left, toward the grassy median beside the car, and saw more shapes there. Maybe three to eight of them, lying flat on the ground like bodies. Each time I looked away and then looked back, they were closer. But they never moved while I was watching. No sound. No crawling. Just different positions every time my eyes shifted. Then I noticed something near the driver's side of the car. Three smaller figures, only five to ten feet away. These weren't tall like the ones near the trees. They were crouched or hunched close to the ground, almost like children playing. Under each hood there was a faint flicker like someone trying to light a cigarette lighter that never quite caught. Meanwhile the impacts on the car were coming faster and faster. At that point, instinct completely took over. I turned the key, threw the car into Drive, and sped out of the overlook as fast as I could. As I pulled away, those smaller figures were right beside my door. If the window had been open, I'm certain I could have reached out and touched them. They just watched. I drove for about five miles before finally pulling over. Nothing had followed me. When I got out and inspected the car, there wasn't a single dent. No scratches. No debris. Nothing at all that explained what I had heard hitting the car. I've looked at that location on maps many times since then. But I've never gone back in person. Not once. I haven't even driven that stretch of the Parkway again. There's one detail that still bothers me, though. When I later looked at the spot on Google Maps, the overlook where I had parked appeared to be on the wrong side of the road. I clearly remember pulling into it on the right side from the direction I was traveling. But according to the map, it should have been on the left. I've tried to make sense of that for years, and I still can't. For a long time, I never told anyone about this." Now, I'm telling you."

Tonight, we'll be talking with Arkey from Kansas, who experienced several encounters with these creatures during the 1980s. He'll also share details about a much more recent incident, when he was fishing and found himself roughly 70 feet away from one of these beings, describing a very unusual interaction. We'll also hear from Will, also from Kansas, who witnessed one of these creatures cross directly in front of his vehicle. Just before that sighting, he recalls noticing something strange moving in the sky.

Tonight I will be speaking with Tex. He had an encounter when he was a teenager with something he could not explain. Tex said "I didn't know what to call it except a werewolf. Many years later he started looking into Sasquatch along with the paranormal. Check out his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TEXAFTERDARK Join me for Part one.

Red writes "On August 17th, 2023, I was camping with a close friend In Stephen's state forest in south central Iowa, not far from the Missouri border. It is very remote for the Midwest in that area. There are no electrical lines in this particular forest, so no lights. My friend and I got into the forest at dusk and set up camp. We saw no vehicles as we drove through the forest and the campsite we stayed at was completely empty. Twenty minutes or so after setting up camp, we heard an incredibly loud sound from the northwest corner of the camp. It was so loud it made us both jump and all of my hair immediately stood on end. The sound was like a howler monkey whooping, but it sounded like it was the size of a minivan. Immediately after this, about 150 feet south of us in the tree line, another noise happened. It sounded like Babe Ruth was in the forest slamming a bat against a tree. There were 6 whacks or knocks. They came in 3 successions of twos. Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock knock. That night we got chased out of the campsite by 3 or 4 of these creatures. It kept me out of the woods for a long time. I would love to tell you the whole experience."

Brayden who is from Washington State writes "I recently moved to a new property with my girlfriend to help care for my grandfather as he gets older, and I've started noticing some strange activity around the property. I'm mainly looking for insight into what this could be. It began with an odd sixth sense feeling like I was being watched. I work a swing shift, so I get home late, and I'd often feel uneasy when pulling into the driveway. At first, I brushed it off as nerves from being in a new place. Then the noises started. The first incident happened while I was at work. My girlfriend called me, shaken, saying that something was walking outside the house and breathing heavily. I told her it was probably a buck looking for a doe since it was mating season, which seemed reasonable at the time. Not long after, one weekend night, we were both woken up by chattering sounds coming from two different directions. We just lay there frozen in bed, listening. Another incident involved tapping on the side of the house, which I was able to record."   Curtis writes "My twin brother and I had an intense encounter with a group of three Sasquatches back in the summer of 1983." After speaking with the eyewitness, he explained that in 1983, he and five other kids were playing in the woods, pretending to be in a war game. He recalled that three large creatures emerged from behind the school, stepping out from the tree line. The creatures walked right past him, his twin brother, and their friends. At first, he mistook the creatures for his brother and friends, but upon a closer look, It wasn't his brother. He said they weren't as big as he had initially imagined they were nothing like the giant figures typically described or even like Patty."

I will be welcoming Pete Breidahl to the show. In 2008 Pete was a soldier serving as a "Peacekeeper" on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Island chain, when on a long-range patrol deep into its impenetrable jungles, Pete met a terrified young man that had never met a white man before. But he wasn't scared by the soldiers, he feared the creature he had encountered that morning while hunting. He described a classic "Bigfoot" type creature, and after a quick google search back at base Pete soon realized that Bigfoot and "Giant" sightings on Guadalcanal were very common indeed. Pete never forgot this encounter and returned in search of the creatures as soon as he had left the military.

I will be speaking to Terry Weaver, filmmaker and the Executive Producer of The Beast of Trinity Texas. Terry told me he did not believe in Bigfoot before the film. While making the film he interviewed eyewitnesses who had seen the creature. It was during those interviews Terry said "These people are not lying, they saw something." The Beast of Trinity Texas – As a small town in East Texas unravels, murders point to evidence of a mythical beast. A war veteran turned sheriff and his team must navigate a web of deception spun by money, power, and greed in hopes of saving the people of Trinity. It is available now on Prime.   I will also be speaking to Nadelle, who had an encounter in Washington State. She was staying at an Air B&B when a large create hit the side of the home waking her up. She said I just got a quick glance at it but it moved so quickly. Nadelle describes this low growl that shook her.

We will be speaking to Adam. Adam had two encounters  in WA state, one when he was with his father and many years later while he was stationed on Fort Lewis. Adam describes being on Fort Lewis and during a training exercise catching glimpses of two creatures. Prior to seeing them they were screamed at from two different directions. Adam said everyone climbed into their Stryker (Eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles). Something came up to the vehicle.