My Research

Illinois Gets No Respect

The great Rodney Dangerfield made a career out of the phrase “”I get no respect, I tell ya”.

In many ways I feel that the state of Illinois is the “Rodney Dangerfield” of the bigfoot / sasquatch world.

From novices to certain college professors there has always been a bias that if they even accept the existence of  sasquatch that it only lives in the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest and most certainly not Illinois.  In fact, when I first started researching in Central Illinois I received an email from a famous researcher in Michigan who’s advice was “Stan, you need to be quiet about bigfoot activity in Illinois, everyone knows that Illinois has only cows, and you will hurt your reputation.”

But what about the history of sightings in Illinois. The first known newspaper article concerning sasquatch in Illinois was dated 1883 concerning a “monster in St.Clair County, Illinois.” Since that time there have been close to a hundred articles about Illinois sightings. Certain names for the “Monsters of Illinois” have become famous such as Bachelors Grove Monster, Cohomo (Cole Hollow Monster), Dutch Henry Monster, Du Pont Monster, Enfield (Wabash Monster), Farmer City (Salt Creek) Monster, Kickapoo Monster, Murphysboro Big Muddy Monster, Piasa Monster (Piasa Bird), Sangamon River Bottoms Monster, Tuttle Bottoms Monster and Weed Monster. Even the New York Times carried an article about the Big Muddy Monster.

But perhaps all these monster names never translated into the term bigfoot or sasquatch.

If one looks at the various groups that post sightings for Illinois the number is close to 200 reports. The BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization) lists over 160 sightings and Illinois is ranked 7th in the nation, and only 3rd place for states east of the Mississippi.

So then, Illinois does have the reports, but what about the land? Is it not known that Illinois, if not being mostly urban sprawl, is a land of corn and soybeans.  On first glance that may appear true. To the casual traveler on one of the states interstate highways massive agricultural landscapes appear to predominate.

If one looks past first impressions and looks at the statistics things appear somewhat different.

According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Illinois has  4.9 million acres of forest. Although these forests tend to be of smaller acreage and not like vast areas in the West they do harbor a massive amount of game. Illinois has an estimated 800,000 white-tail deer, 

Illinois also has 87,990 miles of rivers and streams.

So it would appear that Illinois, although not a wilderness does have a very large network of forested rivers and streams. Even Cook County, Illinois (the third most populated county in the U.S.) has 67,880 acres in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. And unlike in many states, sightings in Illinois are not concentrated in any one section but stretch from Jo Daviess County in the extreme northern part of the state to Alexander County, the southernmost county.

Presently are there are reports from over 70 of the 102 counties of the state

One of the most interesting witnesses I ever spoke with had a sighting in Kankakee County, Illinois just 50 miles south of Chicago. You can read his report here. When we talked on the phone he said that he could give me a dozen reasons that bigfoot could not exist in Illinois but there was one problem, and that was that he had seen one. No amount of arguments or rationale could move him past what he had seen with his own eyes and he knew was true.

http://www.fpdcc.com/
By |2011-02-27T16:00:02-06:00February 27th, 2011|Media, My Research|3 Comments
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That Weird Sound, Pt. 2

Last year I posted about a strange sound that I had recorded using a remote recorder. That post can be found here:

That Weird Sound, Pt. 1

Someone mentioned that the sound clip could be possibly related to an earlier sound that I had shared on Facebook.

This earlier sound was recorded on the 19 of September 2009.  The location was also here in Central Illinois in an oak-hickory forest. The one remote access road was several hundred yards from the location. I had hidden the recorder close to a log with the microphone draped over the top.

Sound clip of the 19th of September 2009 –  Weird Sound 2009

Both sounds were recorded using a Samson H-2 recorder and a small remote microphone.  The locations were about a mile apart. The internet is a wonderful resource and I posted it both on naturerecordists, which is a Yahoo Group made up hundreds of folks interested in recording the sounds of nature, and also on Facebook.

I received many responses ranging from cicadas to frogs to tiger salamander.

If anyone has a suggestion please leave a comment.

By |2011-02-26T08:00:24-06:00February 26th, 2011|My Research|1 Comment
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Sasquatch Along the Lower Rio Grande

This is our first year to spend the colder winter months away from the Midwest. Our criteria was to both be out of the snow and to have interesting places to visit. So our first pick was South Texas and specifically the Lower Rio Grande, known to folks in these parts as the LRG. Every year 144,000 retirees, known as Winter Texans, take up residence in this part of the state. Being an avid birder I was very interested in checking out the dozens of great birding parks and nature preserves.

The Rio Grande River forms a long band of green for 1254 miles along the Mexico – United States border.

But what about squatches? Looking at several databases available on-line I was unable to find any activity in the lower 25 counties of Texas. Was this an indication of an absence of squatches or just an absence of sightings or witnesses reporting such?

We arrived on the 3rd of January and on the 6th of January I had my first unusual occurrence. I was walking alone on a paved road that meanders through one of the local parks. It was 8 a.m. and I was absorbed in listening to the dozens of unusual bird calls and songs that make this valley so unique and  special to many birders. I started to get that “watched feeling”. It was not intense but was strong enough that I turned around and looked behind me, nothing. It  could have been a collared peccary, a bobcat or even a coyote watching me. I walked about another 30 seconds when a small rock came sailing in and hit close to my feet. At the same time I heard the brush start breaking about 80 feet inside the tree line.  Those three thing happening at the same time made me stop wondering if it were just my imagination. I  know what I would have thought if I were back home in Central Illinois.

The small road where the rock throwing took place.

I slowly made my way from the park and returned the next day with my remote recording equipment. It was my intention to continuously record and see if any sounds of interest would be picked up.

I recorded for several weeks, picked up my equipment and slowly made my way through the sound files.

The small trail leading to where I dropped off my long-term continuous recorder.

On the 22nd of Jan 2011 I picked up the following sounds.

22 Jan 2011 – Possible wood knocks.

And then the next day, the 23rd  of Jan 2011 I picked up an unusual vocalization.

22 Jan 2011 – Possible vocalization.

Both the wood knocks and the vocalization were recorded at around 2 a.m. As always with any possible sasquatch sounds consideration must be given to human activity in the area and past known sasquatch activity, if any.

By |2011-02-01T09:54:10-06:00February 1st, 2011|My Research|2 Comments
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Cry Baby Bridge

One common phenomena that has been talked and written about throughout many parts of the country is the “Cry Baby Bridge”. People have visited some out of the way bridge and heard unusual sounds that resemble a baby crying. If you do a web-search you will find many, many references and most of them have a paranormal explanation along the lines of some tragic story of a young mother taking her own life and her baby’s or something similar.

I have heard what I would describe as a young child crying near a rural cemetery here in Central Illinois. It was nearing dark but still light enough to see well enough to walk around unassisted by a flash light. The sound to me did not sound like a newborn but perhaps a child of four or five months. I did not have my recorder with me.

The old country cemetery close to my home in Central Illinois where I heard the Cry Baby sounds.

What are we to make of these sounds? I have already written three times about my thoughts concerning cemeteries and squatches.

Cemeteries & Ghosts & Squatches
Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 2
Cemeteries and Squatches, Pt. 3

I also have a post about bridges and a guest post about bridges.

Troll Under The Bridge
Thoughts on “Troll Under The Bridge”

The following is a recording made by John Callender of Washington State and also found on my Guest Sounds Page.

Recording # 12 – Recorded on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula on Jan 27, 2007 submitted by John Callender.

This unknown sound was recorded Jan 27, 2007 on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula at approximately 8:15 PM P.S.T.using a “Bionic Ear” (Silver Creek Industries) coupled with an Olympus VN-960PC digital recorder. I was with a group of researchers which you’ll hear conversing in the background as they were unaware this was being recorded. At the present time, the only theories we have on this sound is that it’s possibly from a bobcat. If anyone has any better ideas or could help us identify this sound please let us know.

Cry Baby_Olympic Peninsula 01-27-07

Perhaps these Cry Baby Bridge sounds are sasquatch sounds.  I know of no other animal that sounds so human but lives in the woods and along our streams and rivers near bridges.

By |2011-01-04T19:00:51-06:00January 4th, 2011|My Research|Comments Off on Cry Baby Bridge
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Troll Under The Bridge, Pt. 1

A troll was a giant  in ancient Norse mythology.  But, as with many myths, inspired by a real life animal, perhaps they were nothing more than the European form of Sasquatch.

Recently I was contacted by a friend of mine about a couple of sightings not too far from me. I have not been able to speak with the witness yet but the story goes “that he stopped his ATV on a rural bridge, at which time he heard chattering coming from underneath”. He then saw a large hair-covered bipedal animal scamper from it’s hiding place under the bridge and run into the woods.

Painting (1915) by John Bauer   - Wikimedia Commons

The first part of November my friend and I ventured to the bridge at 2 a.m. After doing a couple of yells we heard several distant calls which seemed to be in response to our calls.  The next week I returned and set up a long-term remote recorder. I was in hopes of obtaining chattering underneath the bridge similar to what the witness had heard. I returned two weeks later and picked up my recorder.

The two weeks of recording did not reveal much, a few distant calls. However the last night’s (23rd November 2010) recording was unusual.

I prefer not to post sound files unless they are of fairly good quality. However, the following clip is so different than I have ever heard before I thought I should share it.

At about the 4 second mark there is a sound that I would best describe as a quadruped running quickly across the bridge. Soon after crossing the bridge the neighbors Labrador Retriever dog starts barking. I measured the bridge, it is 195 feet long and 26 feet wide.  If my estimation is correct the animal traveled that 195 feet in 4 seconds which calculates out as 35 miles per hour. I recorded both myself and my dog running over the concrete bridge and the recorder did not pick up our sounds.

Now, I do not know what this animal is, all I know is that from the recording it sounds big, very big and very fast.

The sound clip shows (my opinion only) where the animal approaches the bridge (the red x) and then leaves the bridge (the 2nd red x). Best listened to with a good pair of headphones.

Click here to listen:  Running Across Bridge 1  

Waveform View

Spectral View

 

By |2010-11-29T20:30:46-06:00November 29th, 2010|My Research|26 Comments
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Three Voices

I started recording 24/7 on the 23rd of May 2005 where I lived along Horse Creek in Central Illinois. I did not record anything suspicious for the first six weeks. Then on the night of the 9th of July 2005 I recorded about an hour of unusual sounds that were so far away and so weak that they were barely audible. When sounds are down in the noise level of the sound file it is very difficult to filter and clean up the sounds. Within that hour of strange sounds were three segments that came through a little clearer. I am assuming it was by the same individual. I found the voices odd and “the speech” unintelligible.

Click here to listen to sound clip: Voice 1

Waveform View

Spectral View

___________________________________________________________________________

Click here to listen to sound clip: Voice 2

Waveform View

Spectral View

___________________________________________________________________________

Click here to listen to sound clip: Voice 3

Waveform View

Spectral View

By |2010-10-28T15:33:08-05:00October 28th, 2010|My Research|2 Comments
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Media Article – Cook County, Illinois – # 2

Wednesday, December 31, 1890

MAYWOOD’S WHAT-IS-IT.

Chicago Inter Ocean

A Strange Creature Has Been Prowling Around the Desplaines River.
Those Who Have Run Across the Thing Like It to the Traditional Wild Man.
All Efforts to Hunt It to Its Haunts Have So Far Proved in Vain.
IS IT THE WILD MAN OF BORNEO?
Maywood has a mystery, and through it that usually peaceful little suburb bids fair to
become quite notorious.
Something over a week ago a rumor was started in Maywood that a bear or some
animal very much resembling one, had been seen on the Desplaines River bank, just
below the village. Several times this story was repeated, and at last it was
determined to organize a hunting party to search for the animal. In a day or two,
as the party had not materialized, those who intended to go made up their minds
that they had been hoaxed, and so the entire matter was dropped.
Christmas day the Des Plaines River was crowded with skaters. They covered the ice
from Harlem to Turner Park, and were happy as they were numerous. In the crowd
that kept close to the Northwestern railroad bridge, between River Forest and
UNDER FIRST AVENUE BRIDGE
Maywood, was a party of young people from North Clark street. Charles Gardner, a
clerk on the Board of  Trade, was one of the number, and as he was anxious not to
miss the next train he went ashore below the railroad bridge, removed his skates
and commenced to pick his way a small path which led
TOWARD THE MAYWOOD PARK
This was through a very thick undergrowth, and led directly to a small bridge on
First avenue, spanning a ravine which runs the entire length of the park, running
into the river about two hundred feet from the small bridge.
As Gardner approached the bridge he was startled by hearing what sounded to
him like a moan or a growl. Looking up he saw at the foot of one of the piers of
the bride (sp) something which he first took to be a man. The figure was seated
on a projecting rock and was partially concealed behind the thick weed that
surround the spot. It was peering through the tops of the weeds, and the face,
as the startled man saw it, was that of a monster. It had a low heavy brow, over
which hung hair that was coarse and matted. Its eyebrows were heavy and long,
and the head seemed to be set low down on the chest, so high and massive were
the huge shoulders. The entire face was covered with bushy hair, and as Gardiner
looked in fright and wonder, a huge arm was lifted to grasp the wall as the
creature rose.  That was all the young man wanted to see.  He tore his way up the
steep bank, rushed to the depot nearly half a mile away, and boarded his train
just as it was about to leave.
Then he laughed at himself. He imagined that he had probably seen some
FOOTPRINTS NEAR HARLEM:
unfortunate  tramp taking a rest under the bridge and had, in the excitement of
the unexpected vision, drawn for himself the vivid picture his mind so well
retained. He said nothing at all about the matter until Sunday, when he was again
at Maywood for a day’s skating. With a few friends he met on the ice he landed
near the spot, picked his way to the bridge, and related what he had seen.  Of
course he was laughed at until some in the party ventured under the bridge
where they saw, lying among the some small rocks, two pieces of ragged
clothing. Other traces were also visible of the place having been recently
visited by something, and Gardner’s story was at once believed.
IN THE MEANTIME
the mysterious creature had been seen and heard by other people. John
Haberlein, Hans Monns, and Sam Hamburg, three Germans living near Turner
Park, had heard from some boys that some wolves or bears were prowling
up and down the river. Friday they started out with guns and dogs and
carefully scoured both banks of the river from Turner Park almost to Harlem,
but they saw nothing alive, although in the sand on the river bank, near
Harlem, they ran across some strange looking footprints, which led from the ice
to the bank of the river. These tracks resembled somewhat those of a bear, but
the peculiar imprints of the toes at once proved that they were not made by any
Bruin in existence. The hunters followed these footprints until they were lost in
the weeds, and a thorough search of every nook and ravine in the vicinity failed
to bring to light the object which made the marks. The hunters told their story
in Maywood, and the people who had before heard of the mysterious prowling
ON THE ICE NEAR WALLER’S
thing were now thoroughly alarmed, and in many instances parents forbade
children skating on the river, so afraid were they that the animal, or man, or
whatever it was, might do some injury to the little folks.
Late last Saturday night Henry Phillips and R.A. Lewis, two young me who
board in River Forest, went over to Maywood to call on some young ladies.
They were walking home after their visit and when on the West Lake street
wagon bridge, stopped to look at a passenger train that was crossing the
railroad bridge just below. They saw the train pass, and then looked up and
down the river. The moon was shining brightly, and the reflected glitter
from the ice made the picture a pretty one,
AS THE TWO YOUNG MEN
leaned over the railing of the bridge and discussed the possibilities of the ice
losing its charm for skaters, one of them happened to look up the river.
Above the bridge about a half mile is a bend in the river. It is where
Mr. E.C. Waller’s beautiful home rests on the bank of the Desplaines River.
The action of the current here in this bend is gradually wearing away the
bank, and Mr. Waller is constructing a huge wall to protect his property.
Dams are erected there, but the work on the wall has ceased for the winter
months. Around these dams on the ice lie boards and barrels and pieces
of stone, mixed up in the confusion in which they were left when the
workmen stopped.   The moonlight, shining on the ice, was broken at these
dams, the shadows of the trees and rocks and boards at the bend giving
a pretty contrast to the glimmer of the rest of river’s frozen surface.
As the two young men watched the ice they saw a movement on the icy
surface at the bend. Without being aware that the other was looking at the
moving object each watched the figure until they broke out at the same
instant with a remark that some fellow must like skating very well to be
out alone at that time of night.
COMING OUT OF HIS LAIR
They both laughed, and as they did the figure drew away from the bend
and made its way down the river toward the two watchers. It came very
slowly and appeared to be carrying something. As it approached the
bridge the young men could see very distinctly that it was not a skater.
It took long, regular, but very slow strides, and at each step a clacking
sound could be heard as is some loose shoe sole was coming in contact
with the smooth ice at every step. On the shoulder of the queer looking
figure was a piece of board, and as it slouched along the young men
carefully watched. The moonlight was brilliant, and as the object drew
nearer and nearer the bridge the general outline became more and
more distinct.
The reflection from the ice threw its ray on the features of the strange
looking midnight marauder, and as it came nearer and nearer to the
young men they were almost horror-stricken at its appearance. The
figure was that of a man, big, brawny and muscular, but whether
covered with hair or clothes was hard to discern. It wore no hat, and
its white hands, as one hung by its side and the other grasped the
burden on its shoulder, were in great contrast to the dark face, black
hair and peculiar looking body. The head seemed scarcely higher
than the shoulders, and as the creature moved along, a peculiar
hissing sound came from it, as if it were breathing through its teeth.
BOTH SPECTATORS WERE BADLY FRIGHTENED
as the fearful looking creature drew nearer. When it halted under the
bridge, or a little to one side of it, and directly in full view of  the
ONE OF HIS HAUNTS
watchers, it dropped its burden. It seemed to be fearful of
something, and looked around in every direction. The young men
crouched on the floor of the bridge and peered cautiously over
the edge of rail. The Thing hissed and mumbled as it stood there,
and Lewis became so badly frightened that he almost yelled
outright, and was only stopped by the strong hand-clasp of
his friend.
In a few moments a movement was heard on the ice. The figure
had stooped down and was replacing its load on its shoulder.
After having done this it remained motionless for a few
seconds, and then moved under the bridge. It was lost to the
sight of the two men for an instant, and then it emerged from
the shadow and moved on down the river, the peculiar
clacking sound being kept up. They saw it pass under the
railroad bridge and watched it move on down toward Harlem
until it was lost to view around the bend of the river just
below.
Just as Lewis and Phillips had reached the end of the bridge
on their homeward way, and were discussing the strange sight
they had seen, they were again startled by hearing a loud cry.
They concluded they had seen enough for one night, and agreed
that the sound they had just heard  had been made by some
night bird or animal. They were quite nervous, anyhow, and as
Lewis was especially anxious to go to his home, it was with
difficulty that his friend could persuade him to wait a few
moments to see if anything would appear.
They did not wait long. From under the railroad bridge shot
the same figure they had just lost sight of. It was moving
rapidly, and was without the burden it had carried when last
seen. It rushed to the center of the space between the two
bridges and sat or crouched on a small rock that showed
above the surface of the ice, where it remained for a few
seconds, hissing through its teeth and waving its long arms
around as if to ward off some pursuer or enemy. Only for a few
seconds did the mysterious creature remain in this position.
Then it rose and slowly moved toward the west bank of the
river.
IT PAUSED AGAIN
when it reached the edge of the ice, and seemed to be looking
in the direction of the two watchers, who had cautiously moved
nearer the center of the bridge. It seemed to shade its eyes
with a big white hand, and then, after a long pause, turned and
commenced to climb up the bank. This part of the shore was
in shadow, being covered with weeds and trees, and for some
time the creature was lost to the view of the watching and
anxious men, but when it reached the top it was again
easily seen, the figure being silhouetted in bold relief against
the white barn which stands near the top.
Close to the bank of the river at this are two straw stacks owned
by Farmer Nicholson. They had been cut into, and both are
propped up by means of long poles and beams.  Going to the
nearest of these the figure cautiously crawled under one of the
props, arranged some straw for a pillow, and lay down. From
where the two men were watching, just a dark outline of the
figure could be discerned, but it was indistinct and blurred.
The young men at once started for their homes, and the next
morning told their story to Howard Davis, a young book agent,
who lives in River Forest, who it turn recited it to a reporter
for THE INNER OCEAN. Young Gardner was found by the
reporter, and a visit to Maywood disclosed the fact than many
prominent persons had heard of the mysterious figure, but
were inclined not to place much credence in the theory that
there is much of a mystery to the matter. They are inclined
to think that these people have seen a big dog or some other
animal, and have allowed their imagination to get away with
them amid the mysterious surroundings.
Mr. William Rausch, of the Maywood pharmacy, has heard some
talk about the mystery, but is inclined to think that there is
nothing very dreadful about it. He does not know Lewis or
Phillips, nor is acquainted with Davis, who is a reliable young
businessman. Others think that there is some mystery
surrounding this strange creature, and if traces of him are
seen again an effort will be made to capture him.
Is he one of the men who have so strangely disappeared from
Chicago during the past year, or merely some able-bodied
tramp fantastically arrayed is the question asked by those
who have come in contact with him, directly or indirectly.
By |2010-08-04T15:37:10-05:00August 4th, 2010|My Research|2 Comments
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Infra-sound in the Blues

Disclaimer – many researchers have experienced and discussed what they assume to be infra-sound associated with sasquatch encounters.  I am not knowledgeable enough on the subject of infra-sound nor do I have scientific evidence to prove what I experienced on the evening of the 18th of July, 2010 in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington State. With that in mind I will attempt to relate what I experienced.

——————————————————————————————————————

While on an expedition in the Washington Cascades I mentioned to Kevin Jones that I was going to camp in the Blue Mountains near where Paul Freeman had procured a possible sasquatch video. Vance Orchard wrote two volumes about bigfoot in this area, ” Bigfoot of the Blues” in 1993 and  “Walla Walla Bigfoot” in 2001. Kevin reminded me that the Blues was where he had experienced several infra-sound episodes.  I asked if he would mind sharing with me his campsite location as I would like to camp there.  He showed me on a map the exact location and I entered it into my GPS.

I would guess that I was a little nervous as I drove up to the campsite. Part of the dirt road was so steep that I slipped my Jeep Rubicon into low 4-wheel drive to finish the climp. My ancestors had traveled to Oregon on the Oregon Trail in 1880 and eventually settled in the Blues on the Oregon side. I have often wondered if there were stories of the original pioneers that had been whispered but never written down.

General location of one section of the Blue Mountains that straddles the Washington-Oregon line. On the map one can see the little settlement of Promise that my great-great-grandfather helped found in pioneer days.

At the campsite overlooking the Mill Creek Watershed Area that is “off-limits” to protect the water supply for Walla Walla, Washington.

Several different types of signs that warn the public to stay out! The watershed is the area Paul Freeman had been hired to patrol by the Forest Service when he had his first bigfoot sighting.

The opposite side of the road looking into much denser stands of pines.

(photo taken back home showing the external loud speakers)

I would be spending the night in my Jeep Rubicon specially outfitted with outdoor speakers and an extra stereo and amplifier system. When I arrived around 4 p.m. I was excited that the site afforded both an open expanse into the watershed as well as a heavier wooded area on the opposite of the road. If anything was going to approach during the night it had plenty of cover to do so.

I walked several miles up and down the dusty road looking for prints and hopefully making my presence known to any of the local inhabitants. While walking a side by side ATV came speeding through. The driver, an older gentleman did not look too friendly as he drove by.  About an hour later the ATV was coming back and I positioned myself so that he might stop and talk. He slowed to a stop and I could see that it was probably one of the local ranchers. I asked if the road continued on through (as the topo map suggested). He said no, there was a gate around the corner and I was on private property. He stated that he and his wife had gone about a mile further and checked a pond where they found cougar and black bear tracks.

The wife was more friendly and inquired as to what I was doing. I explained that I was doing audio recording and she asked if it was for wolves as just across the border wolves have been taking livestock in Wallowa County, Oregon.  I answered no I was actually attempting to record sasquatch vocalizations. She laughed nervously and stated that she didn’t believe they existed. I replied that lots of tracks had been found in the Blues. At that the husband looked up and stated that several years ago he had seen an 8 feet tall hairy upright walking animal cross the road kind of slouched over.  He said the next day several dozen cars had come out and were making casts of footprints.

It turns out that I did have a recording of the conversation, however the microphones were a hundred feet away so the quality is poor.

Click here to listen to sound clip:  Blue Mt sighting

I asked him if he had reported it and he said no and that he had no desire to.

It turns out that both the road I was on and the property where I was camping belonged to the Forest Service and I had every right to be there.

The roads had a deep accumulation of dust that made looking for footprints easier.

I continued with my plan. As the sun was not quite down I picked up an electronic megaphone and pointed it towards the deep canyons of the Watershed.  The sound echoed across the vast expanse but I heard nothing.  I did this three times and leaned up against the jeep. Several minutes passed and I started to feel a slight tingling all over. I thought ‘Well if this is what infra-sound feels like they must be quite a distance away.’  I could not see or hear anything unusual, although the rancher’s wife did comment on how my dog kept starring into the woods across the road.

Several minutes later I retreated to the safety (however futile) of the Jeep. I watched as the sun went down and waited until 9:15 p.m. and it was close to dark. Then I used my iPod Touch to play three Tahoe Screams through the outdoor speakers and the extra stereo and amplifier system.  I had my audio recorder running. One microphone was placed about 40 feet from me overlooking the Watershed and another microphone was placed on the top of the jeep to hopefully record anything that approached.  Kevin Jones had told me that this area was very quiet as to vocals so I did not really expect to hear anything.

I lay there several minutes and not hearing anything I quickly fell asleep. It seemed that I had only been asleep about an hour when I felt something that is difficult for me to describe. It started on my left side and quickly spread throughout my body. It did not feel electrical but mechanical. Sort of like laying on a vibrating bed or someone placing a large hand vibrator against my side. But the vibrations were internal, it felt like it was uniform throughout my whole body. It is hard to recall but it seemed to last maybe 30 seconds and stop for about 10 seconds. It would start up again. I think this happened about four times. My only thoughts were ‘well, be careful what you wish for.” I did not feel anxious, or have any fear. After it stopped I slept very soundly and did not wake up until it started to get light around 5:00 a.m. My dog did not have any reactions.

I walked up and down the road looking for tracks but could find none. The road towards the timber was moister, there was no dust and it would have been easy for something to cross the road without leaving an imprint.

Later that day I spoke with Kevin and related to him my experience. Some of the details were not what I expected.  Kevin responded “Stan, I don’t tell people completely what the experience feels like so that when they tell me their experience is, it can be compared to my own.” That way one’s imaginations can not run rampant and come up with something that didn’t really happen.

I have listened to my recordings but need to review them again.

I did find one possible wood-knock at around 12:15 a.m.

Click here to listen to sound clip:  Wood Knocks 2

Waveform View

Spectral View

Conclusion – it is certainly a new experience for me. I don’t have any answers.  And I try not to figure out why, if this is a sasquatch, what is their purpose? Is it to intimidate? Or is it simply to immobilize so that they approach the camp, look around, investigate and not be seen?

You can never get totally away from civilization, I found this church bulletin laying half buried in the road.

By |2010-07-26T14:32:45-05:00July 26th, 2010|My Research|7 Comments
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That Weird Sound, Pt. 1

One aspect of leaving unattended recorders running continuously in the woods is recording very unusual and bizarre sounds. Two years in a row now I have recorded odd animals that no one has been able to adequately identify.

Around the 5th of May, 2010 I recorded this new sound. It was recorded using a Samson H-2 recorder and a small remote microphone.  The location was in a lightly wooded oak and hickory forest here in Central Illinois. It was several hundred yards from the nearest creek and also about 30 feet from a country road.

Here is the sound: Weird Sound

It was suggested that I contact the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, Illinois. I sent them the sound clip and got the following response.

“Dave Bohlen (ornithologist), Dr. Meredith Mahoney (herpetologist) and I [Tim Cashatt] (entomologist) listened to your recording and could not identify the sound.”

The internet is a wonderful resource and I posted it both on naturerecordists, which is a Yahoo Group made up hundreds of folks interested in recording the sounds of nature, and also on my Facebook page.

I received many responses ranging from cicadas to frogs.

If anyone has a suggestion please leave a comment.

By |2010-05-15T08:06:31-05:00May 15th, 2010|My Research|13 Comments
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Camas Prairie, Idaho

Recently I spent the night with a lifelong friend in Northern Idaho. John Webb had known about my interest in sasquatch research and invited to his home where we could do some sound blasting and reminisce about “old times”.

I was born and raised in Northern Idaho. Idaho is a state of mountains, lakes and streams.  But in the northern part of the state it also is an area that has lots of grain farming. As a child I had seen bobcat, cougar and coyotes. In recent years the elk have moved in as well as wolves.   Although the farming area has only a small amount of timber area it has very large canyons with large stands of pine that lead up into the rolling hills of the grain fields. As a kid I had hunted these canyons but we were always leery of the rattlesnakes. The summer of 1948 my dad killed thirty-five rattlers around our home.

Over the years there have been sasquatch sightings within about twenty miles and last year my wife found several (human looking) footprints three miles from my friend’s home.   Please see:  Small Footprints in Remote Areas.

John Webb standing in front of one of his old farm wagons with the grain fields of the Camas Prairie in the background.

I arrived at John’s farm in the early afternoon. John drove me around the edges of the canyons and we scouted out some good places to sound blast. You could easily see several miles across these deep narrow canyons. There are no permanent roads in these canyons with only the very rare hunter or local farmer out for a hike.  And although arid looking this time of year we could get see flowing streams in the canyon bottoms. As a special treat John asked me if I would like to go through the home where I lived during most of the 1950’s. I had not been in the house since 1957. Memories came flowing back to me of my early childhood.

A younger stand of pine tree in one of the many canyons that disect the farm country.

We set out two recorders, one on the edge of each of two large canyons near John’s farm.  John has two grandsons, Kurt and Trent who accompanied us as we sound blasted. I was in hopes that we would get some return calls as I am sure these young men would have been very excited to hear something aswer us . At 4 a.m. John and I again drove to the two recorder sites and repeated the sound blasting.

The evening was very quiet. Crickets were active. We heard several groups of coyotes but they were at such a distance that their sounds are buried in the white noise of the recording. Other than the crickets and a few coyotes I did record a Great Horned Owl.

A big thank you to John and all of his family who accepted me into their home, listened to my bigfoot storys and showed me around the country that I loved as a child. And as a special note, John’s wife Carol fixed a wonderful breakfast that included huckleberry pancakes. For folks who have never tasted these wonderful berries of the Northwest there are a real delight.

To listen to a short interview with John and his grandson’s while we are out soundblasting – please click here:  Camas Prairie

By |2009-09-02T12:50:44-05:00September 2nd, 2009|My Research|Comments Off on Camas Prairie, Idaho
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