BWBS Ep:85 Bigfoot And The Moonshiner

Tonight I share  five extraordinary encounters with unexplained forest beings across five decades and thousands of miles of American wilderness, told by witnesses who never met yet describe remarkably similar experiences.Olympic Peninsula, Washington - 1968 & 1973 A fire lookout witnesses a massive bipedal creature investigating a log in the remote Olympics. The witness describes intelligence in the being's eyes and the sensation of being observed. Years later, while hunting, he encounters multiple creatures communicating through wood knocks and territory marking with strategically broken trees.Adirondack Mountains, New York - 1976 & 1988 A biology graduate student conducting acid rain research experiences terrifying vocalizations and heavy bipedal footsteps circling her camp. Twelve years later, while camping with her husband, they both witness the same wood-knocking communication and glimpse a large, hair-covered figure—validating her earlier encounter and challenging her scientific understanding.Ozark Mountains, Arkansas - 1985 & 1997 An experienced hunter describes a creature methodically untying a rope supporting their game—showing dexterity and problem-solving unlike any known wildlife. Despite having a clear shot, he chooses not to fire after recognizing intelligence in the creature's eyes. His second encounter while hunting with his teenage son reveals territorial behavior through wood knocks and stone throwing.Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina - 2002 & 2005 A pastor on a solitary retreat encounters unusual branch arrangements and "offerings." He describes the creatures' apparent response to prayer, adding a spiritual dimension to the encounter. Years later, with his young nephew, they witness coordinated movement around their camp and discover a precisely arranged pile of pinecones topped with a wild strawberry.Humboldt County, California - 2019 & 2022 A wildlife biologist in California's redwood forests provides our most technical account, describing coordinated group behavior, tool use, and possible communication attempts. Her scientific training allows detailed analysis of vocalizations with infrasonic components and footprints suggesting creatures weighing 600-700 pounds moving with bipedal locomotion unlike any known mammal. What makes these accounts compelling is the consistent behavioral patterns described by witnesses separated by thousands of miles and decades: the same wood knocking communication, branch breaking patterns, gift exchanges, and sense of being observed by something intelligent yet non-human.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsVisit Untold Radio AM

9 Maj 44min

Tonight week on Backwoods Bigfoot Stories, I share five compelling firsthand accounts from professionals who encountered something unexplained in America's remote wilderness areas.From a National Park ranger in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains to a hunter in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a search and rescue coordinator in Oregon's Cascades to a wildlife photographer in California's redwoods, and finally an environmental scientist in New Hampshire's White Mountains - each witness describes encounters with intelligent, bipedal beings that demonstrated complex communication patterns, territorial awareness, and deliberate avoidance of documentation.Most striking are the consistent elements across these independent accounts: rhythmic wood knocks in three-two-one patterns, gift exchanges, manipulation of human equipment, and apparent concern for lost humans - suggesting something unknown but intelligent shares our most isolated forests.Listen to discover what happens when trained observers with professional reputations at stake encounter something that defies conventional explanation.

7 Maj 44min

Vanished in the Sierra - The Mysterious Disappearances of Sandra Johnsen Hughes and Joel ThomazinIn this haunting eighth installment of National Park Nightmares, we delve into two perplexing disappearances that occurred just fourteen months apart in the rugged wilderness of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Join your host as we explore the baffling circumstances surrounding Sandra Johnsen Hughes and Joel Thomazin, two experienced outdoor enthusiasts who entered the wilderness and seemingly vanished without a trace.Our journey begins in the summer of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when 54-year-old Sandra Johnsen Hughes sought solace in the pristine wilderness of Sierra National Forest. A former Hawaii resident with college training as a park ranger, Sandra was no novice to the outdoors. We trace her final known movements from her last contact with family on June 26th through the mysterious discovery of her abandoned campsite on July 2nd—found in complete disarray, a state that contradicted her meticulously organized nature. The mystery deepens as we examine the puzzling sequence of events: her silver Saab crashed at suspiciously low speed, a barefoot sighting with an unexplained bruise on her face, her sleeping bag discovered miles away just inside Yosemite National Park's boundary, and the most baffling element—a reported sighting by hunters over a month after her disappearance. Could Sandra have survived alone in the wilderness for weeks without supplies? And what are we to make of the eerie account from a three-year-old boy who, a year later, claimed to see a woman matching Sandra's description lying face down in a meadow, insisting she was "already dead"?Our episode continues with 31-year-old Joel Thomazin, a U.S. Army reservist and father to a two-year-old son, who set out on what should have been a routine solo hiking and fishing trip in September 2021. With his distinctive bright red inflatable kayak and vintage 1918 Army steel cup, Joel planned a straightforward route from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to Lake Eleanor—a journey of approximately nine miles each way.Last seen by a park ranger on the afternoon of September 6th crossing above O'Shaughnessy Dam, Joel never returned on his scheduled date of September 9th. Despite extensive searches involving teams from multiple agencies, not a single trace of Joel or his distinctive equipment was ever found. We share the heartbreaking words of his wife Amanda, who asked for prayers that Joel would know "he is not alone out there," and examine the painful reality of how families cope with ambiguous loss when no closure is possible.As we conclude this episode, we reflect on the cruel paradox of these cases—how the very wilderness that draws us with its beauty and promise of solitude can also swallow us without witness or explanation. The disappearances of Sandra Johnsen Hughes and Joel Thomazin remain unsolved, joining over thirty cold cases in Yosemite's troubling history. Whether their fates were sealed by tragic accidents, deliberate choices, foul play, or something more mysterious, their stories remind us of the wilderness's power and our ultimate vulnerability within it.If you have any information about either of these cases, please contact the Madera County Sheriff's Office at (559) 675-7770 regarding Sandra Johnsen Hughes or Yosemite Search and Rescue at (209) 238-7046 regarding Joel Thomazin.

4 Maj 52min

Step into the ancient forests of the Olympic Mountains as we present a riveting first-person account that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the natural world. In this episode, we follow Mike Calloway, an experienced hunter whose annual elk hunting trip with his father transforms into something extraordinary—an encounter with an intelligence not recognized by science.Mike's journey begins with the familiar ritual of preparation—checking gear, studying maps, and making the long drive into increasingly remote territory.Having hunted these woods for fifteen years alongside his father Jack, a former Forest Service ranger, Mike knows the Olympic Peninsula intimately. Or at least, he thought he did.Their hunt starts routinely enough, with father and son separating at first light to cover more ground. It's during Mike's solitary trek along a promising ridge that the familiar rhythms of the forest are broken by something unexpected—three distinct knocks against wood, delivered with unmistakable purpose. What follows draws Mike deeper into the wilderness, the knocking seemingly tracking his movements, responding to his presence in ways that defy natural explanation.The culmination of this strange pursuit is a moment that will forever divide Mike's life into before and after: face-to-face with a creature standing eight feet tall, covered in reddish-brown hair, with hands—not paws—and eyes conveying an intelligence that stops his breath. Most astonishing is the deliberate communication, as the creature demonstrates it has been the source of the knocking, even responding to Mike's own tentative attempt at reply.That night brings even greater wonders and terrors when multiple creatures surround their camp, communicating through complex knocking patterns and haunting vocalizations that echo through the mountains.Objects are tossed into their campsite—not as threats, but seemingly as attempts at interaction. By morning, both Mike and his father have glimpsed something that shouldn't exist, something that challenges their understanding of reality itself. The aftermath of this encounter plunges Mike into a crisis of understanding. He tries drinking it away at first, then turns to obsessive research, finding reports of similar experiences spanning decades. A conversation with his father brings partial comfort—at least they share the burden of knowing—but no real answers. The world is bigger, stranger, more mysterious than they've been taught, and perhaps that's not such a terrible thing to discover.Months later, drawn by an irresistible need for understanding, Mike returns to the forest alone. This time, he brings not weapons but tools for communication—recording equipment, and small gifts that might interest creatures possessing obvious intelligence but no exposure to human technology. Over three days, he establishes increasingly complex communication through knocking patterns and receives an extraordinary response—his offered mirror is taken, replaced with a piece of bark polished to create a reflective surface, evidence of tool use and symbolic thinking that transcends mere animal behavior.he story culminates in a deeply personal decision. After witnessing his son's transformation and unable to fully rationalize their shared experience, Mike's father joins him on subsequent trips to the forest. Together over three years, they forge a fragile connection with these beings, learning enough of their percussive language to announce their presence and convey peaceful intentions. They choose to keep their discovery private, protecting these creatures from a world that would inevitably seek to study, categorize, and perhaps destroy what it cannot understand. This profound narrative invites us to consider what other intelligences might share our planet, moving silently at the edges of our awareness, and what responsibilities come with such knowledge. As Mike and his father continue their twice-yearly pilgrimages into the ancient woods, they carry a secret that has fundamentally changed them—a glimpse behind the veil of what we think we know about the world, and the humbling recognition that we are not alone.

2 Maj 1h 29min

In this week's bone-chilling episode, we explore a multi-generational encounter with the unknown deep in the backwoods of Limestone County, Alabama. Our story follows young James Earl Wilkins, who at age 12 in the summer of 1976, experienced a series of terrifying encounters with what locals referred to as "the forest folk" or "wild men" on his family's 80-acre farm.The saga unfolds through James' now 62-year-old perspective as he recounts how his peaceful rural childhood was forever changed when strange howls began echoing from the nearby Cypress Bottom—a foreboding stretch of swampland that locals had long avoided. What began with missing livestock escalated to face-to-face encounters with towering, fur-covered creatures that seemed to possess an uncanny intelligence. His story continues as the family's increasing terror as these beings grew bolder—stealing chickens, appearing at windows in the night, and eventually prompting a community hunting expedition that ended in unexpected confrontation. Most disturbing are the implications that these weren't random encounters, but part of a long-standing and complex relationship between the creatures and the Wilkins family dating back generations.He also explains that historical connections revealed through family stories and county records—including a shocking encounter his grandfather had in the 1930s, and a mysterious clause in the original 1868 property deed requiring seasonal offerings to "previous inhabitants of the land." These revelations suggest an ancient pact that was broken and later unconsciously renewed through his father's annual ritual of leaving deer carcasses at the forest's edge. If you've had an experince and would like to share it on the show email brian@paranormalworldproductions.com

30 Apr 51min

On April 12, 1966, a family picnic in America's first national park turned into one of the most baffling missing persons cases in American history. Eight-year-old Dennis Johnson was visiting Yellowstone with his parents William and Betty and his three sisters when his seven-year-old sister Mary wandered off.Dennis and his father split up to search for her. William found Mary quickly, but when he returned to the Cascade Picnic Area, Dennis had vanished without a trace.What followed was one of the most intensive search operations in Yellowstone's history – spanning 100 square miles, employing helicopters, bloodhounds, and dozens of searchers. Despite three weeks of exhaustive efforts costing over $14,000 (equivalent to more than $100,000 today), not a single clue was found. No footprints. No clothing. No evidence whatsoever.Fifty-eight years later, Dennis Johnson remains missing, his fate unknown.In This EpisodeThe detailed timeline of April 12, 1966, and how a moment's separation led to decades of mysteryWhy the search for Dennis was particularly challenging, and the technical aspects of a 1960s-era wilderness searchThe baffling behavior of bloodhounds that couldn't pick up any scent trailFive leading theories of what might have happened to Dennis, and why none can fully explain his complete disappearanceHow the Johnson family turned to a psychic in their desperate search for answersWhat makes wilderness disappearances unique, and the concept of "ambiguous loss"The statistical context: how rare cases like Dennis's are compared to millions of safe Yellowstone visitsHow the case has informed modern search and rescue techniques and park safety protocols

27 Apr 1h 25min

Tonight, Brian shares the never-before-told story of Thomas, a fur trapper whose life was forever changed after a terrifying encounter with sasquatch in the remote Canadian wilderness during February 1987.This first-hand account challenges everything we think we know about these mysterious creatures. What Mercer experienced reveals them to be intelligent, communicative, and potentially dangerous beings with complex social structures and territorial behaviors. His haunting experience raises profound questions about what these creatures truly are and our responsibility toward them.The story begins as Thomas, a third-generation fur trapper, flies his bush plane to his remote family cabin in the Northwest Territories to begin his winter trapping season. Almost immediately upon arrival, Mercer discovers massive, human-like footprints circling his cabin—nearly 20 inches long with a stride length twice that of a human.Over the following days, Mercer encounters increasingly bizarre evidence: traps carefully disarmed with ritualistic arrangements of objects nearby, complex vocal communications between multiple creatures echoing through the forest, and deliberate attempts to test his cabin's defenses through systematic tapping and probing of the structure.Most chilling of all, the creatures attempt direct communication.First through arrangements of natural objects in geometric patterns, then through mimicked human speech—even speaking Mercer's name and referring to his deceased father. In broken English, they suggest they need an "alliance" against other humans hunting them, hinting at a government or private organization aware of their existence.When Mercer attempts to escape in his plane, he's forced to shoot one of the creatures that charges him from behind. In a moment that has haunted him for decades, the wounded sasquatch looks him in the eye and asks simply, "Why?"In the thirty years since this encounter, Mercer has dedicated his life to sasquatch research, building one of the most comprehensive private databases of encounters in North America.Through his research, he discovered another harrowing account from the Olympic Peninsula, where a logging crew's encounter ended in a gruesome death—evidence that these beings aren't always the gentle forest giants of popular imagination.We should note that this episode contains descriptions of violence and disturbing content that may not be suitable for all listeners. Discretion is advised.Thomas Mercer, whose name has been changed at his request, was 25 years old during his encounter in 1987. Now in his sixties, he's spent decades researching similar encounters while maintaining his anonymity. This marks the first time he's shared his complete story publicly.

25 Apr 1h 2min

In this episode, Brian sharesencounters with mysterious creatures and unexplained phenomena from remote wilderness areas. From Whisper Creek in Montana's Glacier National Park, Iron Ridge ghost town, and Dead Man's Hollow in Kentucky to Black Hollow and Widow's Crag, each story recounts experiences with eerie sounds, inexplicable footprints, and terrifying sightings of Bigfoot-like creatures. These tales serve as haunting reminders that some places are meant to be left alone and that not everyone who ventures into the unknown makes it back the same. Also, hear about unexpected sightings on Idaho's notorious Broken Antler Pass and forthcoming adventures in the 'National Park Nightmares' series.00:00 The Legend of Whisper Creek 04:44 A Haunting in Iron Ridge 08:29 The Mystery of Dead Man's Hollow 12:49 Terror on Broken Antler Pass 17:00 The Curse of Widow's Crag 21:22 Escape from Black Hollow 25:49 Conclusion and Podcast Promotion

23 Apr 31min