- Hello, I'm Mickey, - And I'm Ryan.

- And this.

- [Both] Is "Hiseerie."

(eerie music) - All throughout history, different cultures have believed in the paranormal, divine gods, spirits, aliens, shaman, witchcraft, and divination, just to name a few.

Supernatural occurrences are reported all around the world, and have become ingrained into pop culture.

Since the beginning of humanity, people have been questioning the bigger picture of existence.

What is really out there?

Where do we go when we die?

Are there aliens, ghosts?

Bigfoot?

(ominous music) Bigfoot is one of, if not the most infamous cryptids.

Tales of the creature and its sister species have been around for hundreds of years across the world.

In North America, we have similar creatures reported across many different states.

We have the Bigfoot on the west coast and northern woodlands.

The Skunk Ape in the Everglades.

Grass Man in the northeastern region of Ohio, Fouke monster in Arkansas' swamps.

Honey Island Swamp Monster in Louisiana.

Momo, the Missouri monster, the Chatawa monster in Mississip the Yucca man in Joshua Tree Forest, the Mogollon monster in Arizona.

And the hollering thing in the Appalachian north Alabama area.

No region in the world is without some variation of a creature covered in hair that is reported in the wooded areas, most of the time, protecting the natural landscape.

The Amazon rainforest has the Mapinguari, the Ucumar or the Ucumar-Zupai in Northern Argentina, and the Sismite in Belize.

Over in Europe, there's the woodwose, traced back to the medieval period.

The Am Fear Liath Mor, or the Big Grey Man on Ben Macdui, the highest peak of the Cairngorns mountain range in Scotland.

And the Leshy from Slavic folktales.

Africa has the Nandi bear that's reported in the Highlands of western Kenya.

The Australian Outback hosts the Yowie.

Over in the Middle East, there's the Enkidu in Iraq.

The Barmanou can be found around Northern Pakistan.

Russia and Asia have many of the other more recognizable versions of Bigfoot.

The Yeti, locally known as the migoi, is said to call the Himalayan mountains home and the Siberian snowman or the chuchunaa in Siberia.

The Shennongjia Forestry District in the mountainous region of China has the yeren.

and Almas is in the Riphean mountains.

The Orang Pendek is around the mountainous forest of the island of Sumatra and Indonesia.

Mount Hiba in the Shikoku mountains in central Japan have Hibagon The Visayan region in the Philippines has a figure from folklore called the Amomongo.

And lastly, the Bukit Timah Monkey Man in Singapore, chiefly in the forested Bukit Timah region.

The modern American perception of Bigfoot gained popularity in the mid 19th century.

A contributing factor to this increase in fame was the release of the Patterson-Gimlin film.

This film has become a classic in the cryptid community.

This 59.5 second video was captured by Robert Patterson and Robert "Bob" Gimlin in Northern California while they were filming a Bigfoot docudrama.

There's been many debates inside and out of the Bigfoot community about the credibility and authenticity of the video, but it still remains a huge piece of evidence in the cryptozoology world.

Bigfoots as a species are known to roam around multiple wooded areas within America.

Bigfoot's have not only become a celebrity, but have also won over the hearts of the government.

In Skamania County, Washington, there is an ordinance in place protecting Bigfoots from hunting and poaching.

It would lead to jail time and fines.

The ordinance was put in place in 1969 and remains active today.

Now, I will be putting on my teacher hat for this episode, and we're going to go over four main categories of Bigfoot evidence.

Firstly, tree anomalies.

Second, tracks and hair.

Third, wood knocks and calls.

And lastly, eyes shine.

All of these can be explained away by wind or humans, or even other animals.

And that's why it's important to think of these as a starting point.

They should only be noted when they're in connection with other evidence and not just standalone.

The more phenomena found in a localized area, the more likely that it's evidence of a Bigfoot or other cryptid in your region.

So number one, tree anomalies.

When out searching for Bigfoot, trees can lend a helping hand in finding some evidence.

There's four main categories of tree alterations that you're gonna wanna look for when in the woods.

The first of these is tree breaks.

When talking to Zach, he pointed out some ways that we can decipher, whether it's evidence or just from another animal or nature.

One of the signs is the height of the break.

When humans break trees, it tends to be low at human level, but when wind breaks trees, it tends to be high, where the tree is weaker.

When it's in between these, it can be a sign of Bigfoot.

Next are tree arches and Xs.

Tree arches are a phenomena linked to lots of different creatures across cultures.

Arches can be a sign of Bigfoot, however, I grew up hearing about how they're an entrance to another realm, such as fae or spirits.

In the Bigfoot community, tree arches and Xs are seen as a marker left behind by Bigfoots to label a path or territory.

And lastly, tipis built from trees can be shelters for Bigfoots.

These are significantly less common to be found from natural causes, and either are left by humans or cryptids.

The further from trails and in the wilderness you can find one, the higher probability of it being left by a Bigfoot.

Number two, tracks and hair.

Hair is definitely easier to discredit than most other types of evidence.

Lots of animals have hair similar to what we believe Bigfoots to be.

Deer, bears and wolves all have fur that could be mistaken for Bigfoot hair in the Minnesota woods.

In theory, like men and other animals, Bigfoots would use a tree trunk to itch and scratch their back.

This would leave hair behind.

Investigators look for hair at levels that are higher than what would be for animals like deer and wolves.

However, because bears tend to stand on their hind legs while itching their backs, it's more difficult to rule out.

When Bigfoot hair has been brought in for DNA testing, most of the time it's found to be brown bear fur.

However, it should be noted that there's not too much trust between the US government and the cryptid community.

Tracks are the Bigfoot evidence that, in my opinion, is one of the hardest to discredit.

Bigfoot tracks are distinct by being barefooted tracks found deep in the woods.

It's hard to find someone who wears a size 20 shoe and even harder to find one that walks barefoot through the woods at night.

One of the first things we learned from the Itasca County Bigfoot Research Center was how to cast these footprints.

(ominous music) We are now going to learn how to cast a footprint.

So we have these two bins of sand and we're gonna make footprints in them.

And then use casting, or plaster cast that you can order off the internet.

Very affordable, very cheap, very easy to transport.

This one did explode in shipping, so pardon how we're holding it.

And all that you need is this.

Some water, and then the footprint itself.

All right, Ryan, let's make some footprints.

Oh my God, I can't breathe this plaster or anything.

Okay, which one do you want?

Do you want the nice clean one?

- [Ryan] Sure.

- [Mickey] Okay.

Okay, what is it?

Okay.

- [Ryan] We're just making our own.

- [Mickey] Yeah, make a footprint.

(Mickey laughing) - [Ryan] Got a big toe.

- [Mickey] Are we?

Oh, I should make.

Wait, yeah.

Actually, I'm gonna restart and make a juvenile footprint.

- [Ryan] There are no restarts.

How's that?

- That's good - Because it's got a big toe, right?

- I don't know what the heck that is.

- [Ryan] I don't know.

I'm not so sold on mine either, but we'll go for it.

- [Mickey] Well, make sure that the whole thing is lower.

- [Ryan] Gotta get those little toesies in there.

- [Mickey] See, obviously we're being really lenient with how ours are looking.

You know what?

I don't even care.

- [Ryan] You can do it.

- [Mickey] Guys, this is hard.

- Just more of a sign that these people aren't probably, you know, making these prints.

They are finding them more than likely, because they are not easy to make.

Let's be honest.

- [Mickey] Yeah, I actually don't even know how to fake this.

- Yeah, and you saw the way I did it.

I have nothing.

I couldn't tell you 300 pound Sasquatch.

- [Mickey] I'm going for a baby, so I'm thinking more 150.

- [Ryan] Soft one.

- [Mickey] Look at how cute that is.

You see?

Do you see the idea?

Honestly guys, I feel like this is gonna prove that you can't fake it easily, because this is not gonna look like a foot.

This is gonna look like nothing.

- All right, I'm done.

I'm not gonna touch mine anymore.

- Okay, I'm done.

I'm done.

Now we're gonna take some of our casting material and we're gonna have Ryan open it for us.

- I have to open it?

- For this type of casting material, it's gonna be three parts of the cast and one part of water.

And we're gonna eyeball that, 'cause if we're out on the trail, I won't have a measuring cup with me.

So now we're going with about this much full of the casting material.

And then we're gonna fill a little tiny bit of water.

- [Ryan] Ready for the water?

- Yeah.

I feel like, okay, that's there.

So I'm gonna say like, okay, I think.

- One part.

- Yeah.

- Now.

Go a little bit less.

- Okay.

I think that's good.

- Like that.

- Okay.

Now I'm gonna do, I'm gonna squeeze this really tight and I'm gonna shake it to mix it.

- It's leaking.

- It's leaking.

All right.

And now we're gonna take this.

I feel like, is that too watery, or do you think that's right?

- It looks a little watery.

- Wait, we're gonna add some more plaster to it.

Okay, I think that's good.

- Okay.

- Wait, we're gonna pour it in mine first because I don't even think it's gonna look like a foot.

So we're just gonna take this and we're just gonna pour this in.

- [Ryan] Just enough to fill over the print.

- [Mickey] Yeah.

- [Ryan] And let it dry.

- Oh, there's a clump.

- A little clumpy, We're learning here.

- Yeah, we'll probably, yeah, we'll mix the second batch.

you can also do the more correct way of doing this, which, oh, it needs a lot more water.

Which we can just take a stick off the ground.

- It's probably so much easier with the stick.

- If you're doing this to actually reserve real evidence and not just feet that you made with your hands.

You'll wanna stir it for, well, depending on the instructions of whatever cast you pick, ours is two minutes, so it would be much more smooth.

- I have to do the honors?

- Yeah, it's your foot.

Well, it's not.

- It's not my foot.

- [Mickey] All right.

Ryan's gonna pour.

- [Ryan] A little clumpy.

- Okay.

Oh, really?

Getting those toes, nice.

- [Ryan] Oh yeah, we gotta show it everything it's got.

It's not perfectly filled, but it's a filled footprint.

- If you see that in the woods, run the other direction.

I don't think that's, I don't know what that is.

- Thanks.

- Yeah.

- And there you have your cast.

- That's it.

- All right, so here we are back at the studio.

Our casts have fully set up and hardened.

and I think they're ready to check out - Who's excited?

We're gonna dig some feet out.

All right.

- Do we have to be gentle with this stuff?

- Probably.

I would just because look at how tiny the toes are on yours.

- Yeah.

- Like, mine is a blob.

So, oh wait, let's see the heart.

- [Ryan] He hurt his toes.

- I made a little heart as a little treat.

And then they can judge on this.

Whoa, wait.

Oh, we don't have to be careful with this.

It's hard as a rock, 'cause it's cast.

- All right.

- It's plaster.

- Well, I just didn't know.

I don't want to break mine in half.

- Look at that little heart.

- [Ryan] I'm digging in.

- Okay.

Oh my God.

- [Ryan] This actually set up really nice.

- [Mickey] Whoa.

- Even for being so thin, it does hold up really well.

- [Mickey] Look at this.

Even this is hard.

- That's what I mean, like, I've got a few of them.

- Whoa.

- No broken toe, well, they might have broken the toe before the cast, but no broken toes on the cast.

- Yeah, I have to snap this off.

There we go.

So I can lay it down.

- Not so sharp.

- Wow, look at that.

We got feet.

- It's hard to see.

I feel like we need a black background.

- [Mickey] But look at that.

And then like, honestly, it's not even that disturbed.

- Yep, my print is still there.

You can see where I dug out the outsides, but the print is still there.

- Wow.

Look at that, guys.

We got feet.

And honestly like, this is pretty impressive.

Like that it held this well.

And granted, we used really rocky sand, but even then you can still see a lot of the like, details in it.

Oh my gosh.

I think that does kind of look like a juvenile foot.

I think I actually kind of did well.

- [Ryan] Oh yeah.

And if you look down here, like you can actually see the deep cast.

- [Mickey] Yeah, the ridges.

- [Ryan] Yep.

Where I just made my toes.

- Wow.

Yay.

But yeah, so that's how you cast a footprint.

Sweet.

Okay.

- Go cast your own.

- [Mickey] Oh my gosh, my hands are.

- Dusty.

- And now back in the class, we are on number three.

Wood knocks and calls.

Wood knocks are considered a possible way in which primates communicate.

Bigfoot is often equated to other large primates.

And so it isn't a huge leap of logic to assume that if Bigfoot is like a primate, and primates use wood knocking, that Bigfoots would use wood knocking.

Some Bigfoot researchers believe that we can use wood knocks to locate Bigfoot, or open a line of communication.

According to multiple sources, there's a baseline meeting for more simplistic patterns.

Like one knock is hello.

Or are you there?

Well, two knocks is a response or making sure that it's another Bigfoot or another primate of the same species.

Investigators will take thick branches and either knock it against a wood or another branch.

The hope is to get a response from a Bigfoot and then either open that line of communication or locate it.

And if you don't wanna scour the woods at night to find the right type of wood, you can actually order them online.

Now calls are very similar in theory to knocks.

They're just a little more detailed and varied.

I've mostly seen them described as animal calls that just don't fit an animal.

However, there are a lot of cryptids that are known to be able to mimic different sounds and voices to trick people.

And so I have a hard time believing that it could be example of just Bigfoot versus other cryptids.

And lastly, our fourth type of evidence we're looking at is eyeshine.

Eyeshine is pretty self-explanatory.

When you look into the woods at night, you see reflective eyes looking back at you.

Some animals, especially those of nocturnal species, have a structure in their eye called the tapetum lucidum.

The layer is behind the retina and is kind of like a mirror for light.

When light shines into the eye, it hits the tapetum lucidum and bounces back through, helping the animals see in low light conditions.

Depending on the species, the color presents differently.

It can be white, orange, yellow, red, green or blue.

Now the thing is lots of animals have eyeshine, so you have to be looking for specifics.

According to the Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Group, you have four main conditions you need to look out for.

Color, shape, pupil, slit, orientation, and eyelid shape.

Most settings of Bigfoot describe the eyeshine as red.

Eyeshine is incredibly easy to discredit as there's various animals with red eyeshine that could look like they would be at the correct height.

Bears, owls, and possums just to name a few.

If you're hunting in the woods at night, learning the differences in eye shine can actually be helpful for your safety.

The main thing you wanna look out for is predatory animals have a vertical pupil orientation versus non predatory animals have a horizontal one.

Thank you for joining us to learn how to research Bigfoot.

And I hope you enjoy the rest of our Bigfoot research experience.

(ominous music) A few months ago we had the opportunity to join the Itasca County Bigfoot Research Center on their retreat to Cottonwood Park just north of Grand Rapids.

The group was kind enough to bring us in and introduce us to some of the Bigfoot research community and show us some tricks of the trade.

(upbeat music) ♪ Blue sky smiling at me ♪ Nothing but blue skies do I see ♪ ♪ Blue birds singing a song ♪ Nothing but blue birds all day long ♪ - After a quick touch base, our group wet further into the woods and separated to do a walk.

(upbeat music) - This is a snowmobile trail and they only, they usually don't let people ATV back down, it's gonna wreck the trail.

(upbeat music) - We split up and went off the path into the thick wooded area, looking at evidence along with Zach and his crew.

They've been exploring this area for years and have found a lot of evidence throughout their time.

- I saw three different branches that were just whooping around on their own with hardly even a breeze.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Well, that's curious.

- Yeah, I noticed that.

I knew we were probably gonna be pausing here pretty quick, but do you wanna.

You gonna take one, you're gonna head back this way into that spot?

- Yeah, yeah.

That's where the tipis are.

- [Researcher] Yeah.

- What's your thoughts?

- Maybe if anybody that doesn't wanna go, maybe we'll just kind of hang out in this area where those branches and stuff are acting up.

- Try to get something.

- Yep.

Yep.

How far are you going in?

- I think it's less than a quarter mile to the lake from here.

So.

- Okay.

- And the tipis are before that, so it shouldn't be too far.

- And that's where you had the marbles and stuff back in there.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- So this is another old trail right here and they're down here.

That's where we left them, anyways.

(leaves crunching) Yeah, here's one right here.

And it's hard to tell.

You know, that could be, that could have been there standing there for 50 years.

It's really hard to tell.

The curious thing about it all.

So you have to ask yourself, could wind have done that?

Could have knocked things together.

And I don't think the answer to that is, I don't think it could have.

So one of the other structures that they've been seen to make is X structures.

That might just be falling trees, but it is something that built.

So we went out there and we were looking around that area and we get back there, and all of a sudden we see it, and there's like four different Xs just sitting back there in that area, and you know, take your guess why.

- Bigfoot.

I mean, if they see humans there, that might just be like, don't go here guys.

- It could be, yeah.

it could be like a boundary marker.

(leaves crunching) Yeah, so I left three marbles here three years ago, and we checked on 'em and they were here for about a year, and then we came back out with Russ and his team, and they were gone.

And that was when he picked up the EVP where it said Roland took 'em.

So that's a mystery in its own.

Of course, the more natural response is that ravens or crows like to pick up shiny objects.

So it could have been something like that, too.

But yeah, we've been just coming out here for the last two, three years now, just kind of checking the area out to see if anything changes.

I'd heard that there was other tipi structures out here and I didn't see any out here.

We haven't seen anybody, any of them yet, so.

- When we reconnected with the larger group, we were brought down towards the lakefront and shown oddities found by others when we were on our own.

- Bit unusual in the way that it.

- It sure is usual - You know, sometimes coincidences like that can happen in the forest, but sometimes it's darn unusual when they do.

- So pick a little one like that out of.

- [Researcher] Yeah.

Yeah the way that little one is just tucked in there like that.

It is just barely in there, too.

Even that stick.

- [Producer] Yeah.

There's no reason to be over there.

- And it's tucked underneath this one little tiny tree here and that one's coming across.

You got 1, 2, 3 tucked onto there.

Well, those trees, more than likely were straight up.

So it seems kinda odd.

That thing.

Yeah, right?

It's just like somebody put it there.

- We're gonna look at something else - All right.

Well I think the biggest thing is that we don't have any intersecting trails.

I mean, there's kind of a trail here.

We got some beer bottles here, but they look pretty darn old.

They don't look like they've been, they're pretty old beer bottles.

But, so we have to kind of decide whether we think this is something that's natural.

Actually, there's a section of rope here, too.

It might be somebody that came in here.

Now look at how this branch is pinched in here like this.

I mean, this doesn't get set in there just like that.

And then like you see, you got this roof.

Come on down and tell us about this roof here.

You're the one that found her.

- So you can see here where it's like a thatched roof?

That just doesn't happen naturally.

- Yeah.

- And then you can see where it like broke balls and laid 'em down.

- This might have been a set for goose hunters.

- That's what I was thinking.

- You know, they might have come in here and kind of adapted this.

The camouflage in here a little bit shooting out over the water.

It's a possibility looking at it.

But it is the kind of stuff we're looking for when we're out here is things that just don't make sense.

And this, there ain't a natural trail here to that.

So I mean, it wasn't an easy walk however they got here.

It probably came down that same ridiculous hill we just came down.

- [Researcher] Right.

- It ain't an easy path to get to, but if you are a duck hunter or a goose hunter, I imagine you would.

A couple beer bottles maybe.

Maybe this spot's been used by deer hunters or duck hunters for years.

But it's unusual.

I mean, like I say, this was all placed in here somehow by somebody.

- [Researcher] I think the only thing I'd have to say against the ducks and deer hunter or goose hunter would be the.

- The thickness of the- - There's no for your barrel.

- Well, usually you're gonna point straight up.

- [Researcher] Straight up too.

- You know.

- [Researcher] And like none of this has been broken.

- Yeah.

So yeah, I gotta say it's unusual.

That, it fits the criteria.

Look here, we got some manure right in here.

(leaves crunching) Right in here.

I don't know what.

That don't look like, dog.

I don't know what that would be.

- [Researcher] And like none of 'em are, none of 'em are cut.

They're all broke.

- They're all broke off.

Yeah.

- [Producer] That's just weird.

- What is he doing?

Just flapping his wings, huh?

Flappy flap.

So yeah, it's unusual.

It's am unusual location.

Not easy to get to at all.

And strangely put together, - I would like to say a huge thank you to Zach, Russ, and their crew for letting us join and showing us what the Bigfoot community is really all about.

Maybe next time you go on a hike, you can look for a Bigfoot in your area.

We hope you enjoyed this episode.

And if you wanna support us and our station, you can see more behind the scenes content and full length uncut sessions on our Patreon at patreon.com/hiseerie.

(music)