[narrator] Previously on Expedition Bigfoot...
We are here to explore this idea
that these creatures are coming down from the north
and raising their young right here.
That lidar has given us such an advantage.
-That's interesting. -[Bryce] Oh, wow.
-[Mireya] Oh. -[man] This looks like those could be little nesting areas.
And this place looks absolutely ideal.
It's exciting to know that we suddenly have a target.
[Russell whispering] I definitely get the feeling
that something is watching me.
Holy [bleep].
Whatever made that howl was huge.
I said, "Well, I think I just heard Bigfoot."
[Mireya speaking]
[animal howling]
[Mireya speaking]
[animal howling]
[Mireya] What the [bleep] was that?
And it sounded like a howl.
Just that long, drawn out howl.
[narrator] While exploring a river
near the location of the large footprint,
primatologist Dr. Mireya Mayer and researcher Bryce Johnson
have been trying to locate the source
of a series of strange noises,
culminating in a large howl from an unknown animal.
This sounded like howl with force and with volume
and just like, super animalistic.
[Bryce] I felt like that was something communicating with us.
It almost felt like a recognition
that hey, I see you in my area.
I just wanna let you know that I know you're here.
Why don't I play a call back on the FOXPRO?
[Mireya] Sure.
[narrator] In past expeditions,
the team has elicited activity
by playing recorded Bigfoot calls
using outdoor audio equipment hunters use
that projects different forms of game calls.
[Bryce] Okay, this is a howl that was recorded in Oregon.
[animal howling]
[howl stops]
[animal howl]
[howl stops]
All right, well, I'm not seeing anything.
-[Bryce] Nothing, right? -[Mireya] No.
[Bryce sighs]
God, so frustrating.
There definitely is a trickster element
to this Bigfoot phenomenon.
Somehow, some way,
these creatures always seem to stay one step ahead of us.
It's really become a game of cat and mouse.
[Mireya whispers] All right, let's keep going then.
Definitely something out here.
[narrator] While Bryce and Mireya continue to search
for the source of the howl,
10 miles northeast,
survivalist Russell Acord is tracking something he heard
moving through the forest earlier in the night.
[Russell whispering] I wish I knew what we were following.
Earlier tonight, something was moving down here.
I heard it moving.
[Russell speaking]
There's gotta be prints.
There's gotta be some kind of a trail left behind.
That is gonna give me the answers
that I'm looking for.
[Russell whispering] Be quiet.
It sounds like something's moving.
[Russell] Look at this.
I can't reach this.
I have to pull the branch down to break it off.
Same with this one.
I'm not sure what could've caused this.
But I'm seeing branches that are broken off
and torn off at an eight and nine foot level.
There's no other animals in the forest that does that.
[whispers] Something big has been through here.
And it wants to go through here quietly.
That's a big impression.
The detail has been just washed away.
I think this soil holds way more secrets
than it's given me right now.
Tomorrow morning, I wanna see if I can find any tracks up here.
Let's keep going.
[narrator] Back at base camp, Bryce and Mireya regroup
after hearing a loud howl 12 hours earlier.
[Bryce] I can't really sleep.
And I just can't stop thinking about that howl.
And, uh, just how powerful it was.
-[animal howls] -[Mireya] Bryce, Bryce. Oh, my God.
We searched all night,
and we couldn't find a trace
of what made that sound or where it went.
[sighs] Which is so frustrating,
because if these Bigfoot are using this area as a breeding ground,
then all we would need to do
is just find one of these creatures
that will lead us back to its family group.
It just gets me thinking
if we can actually elicit more vocalizations,
then we can use those
to pinpoint exactly where they're coming from.
And I think I have an idea on how we can do that.
I feel like we're getting a ton of activity,
yet we're just not seeing anything.
-I have a bioacoustic expert I'm gonna send your way. -Great.
He's an expert at eliciting Bigfoot calls.
And with our acoustic surveillance system,
we'll be able to pinpoint exactly where they're coming from.
Okay.
While Mireya and the bio acoustics expert work on locating Bigfoot,
I'm gonna head back to the command center
and comb through all of this surveillance camera footage.
Because those howls and those sounds
were so close last night,
that I just feel we must've captured something on camera.
-All right, well, good luck, and, uh... -[Mireya] All right.
-You too. -[Bryce] ...I'll be in touch.
[speaking softly] Look up above me.
It's like a dang highway.
[narrator] Nine miles northeast from base camp,
Russell returns to the site
where he heard activity the night before.
It's like a bear.
Something's been digging through here.
Maybe a coyote.
I think these things are creatures of habit.
They're gonna walk the same trails,
they're gonna go to the same places
where they know that they have a food source.
This could be either a mating ground...
These bones are much older, but...
...or an area where they feel safe,
secluded and comfortable enough
to bring their young and raise them in this environment.
Okay, let's keep going down this way,
see if we find anything else.
Whatever was moving here last night,
searching this area in the daylight,
I haven't been able to find anything substantial
that explains what that was.
[cell phone ringing]
Hey, Ben. What's going on, man?
[Ben speaking over phone] Hey, Bryce.
I actually had a really interesting conversation,
uh, with an eye witness named Debbie.
She was awakened at around 3:30 in the morning
by a long, hair-raising howl.
Oh, you're kidding.
She pin-pointed what she thought
was the source of that vocalization
to a ridge right beside her house.
And she thought the source came up
about a half mile or so up the ridge from her house.
If you look at the map,
that ridge actually extends right into your hot zone.
Holy [bleep]. Are you serious?
Given its location, really useful information.
I love this, man,
and this is definitely something we wanna flag.
This could be exactly what we're looking for.
[narrator] Based on the recent witness testimony Ben Smith received,
the howl activity came from a ridgeline
just three miles away from Russell's current location.
[line ringing]
[Russell speaking over phone] Hey, Bryce, how's it going?
Hey, Russ, I just heard from Ben Smith.
He said he talked to this witness
who said she heard a Bigfoot howl
coming from the top of the mountain
that you're headed to right now.
[Ben] What happened?
What did you see or experience?
This sound started getting louder and louder.
The howl was so deep, that I could hear vibrating.
Which direction did you hear it from?
[Debbie] The sound carried from this area.
It was that close.
Out here? Where I'm... On the Northeast?
-Yeah. -Oh, nice.
Not only that,
she was hearing all kinds of activity there.
So, if you're making your way to that direction now,
why don't you check out this location as well?
Awesome.
Just see if you can see any recent activity
moving through the area.
And if these are the new nesting sites,
and she heard something recently,
this could be exactly what we're looking for.
All right. You bet, man. I'm all for it.
All right, man.
Well, I will send you coordinates
and, uh, appreciate it.
All right, Bryce. Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
I wanna get to that location.
This might be exactly what we need
to break this investigation open.
Oh, man, this is exciting.
[Bryce] So, now we're just going through
a lot of this surveillance footage
from our base camp.
And I wanna look at that body camera footage,
uh, from the other night.
Okay, so there's Mireya.
Mireya and I were equipped with our body cameras front and back,
covering every direction.
We just set up base camp,
and I wanted to see
if these creatures are observing us
from the time we move into a zone.
With the whole idea
of being able to turn the tables on these creatures
and watch the watchers.
So, I just wanna go through these cameras
and see if I was able to pick anything up.
[whispering] I feel like I'm being watched.
I'm just gonna start scrubbing past here.
Oh, God, right there.
Holy [bleep], what is that?
Oh, what the hell was that?
[Bryce] Oh, God, right there.
Holy [bleep], what is that?
Oh, what the hell was that?
It's right there, right there. Look at this.
You see that?
It looks like something is peeking out
from behind this tree right here.
Watch this. Look at this right here.
Right here there's nothing.
And then, you see this thing,
just start peering out.
There it is.
I mean, look at these ferns too right here.
I'm trying to just figure out how tall this thing might be.
I mean, these ferns sit up to about my chest.
I'm six foot.
Man, this thing could be around seven feet tall.
It's incredible.
Unfortunately, this thing was just far enough outside of our camera's range
that it was barely able to pick up on the details of this thing.
It's almost as if it knows
that I have that body camera on my back
because it just goes right back in.
But that's not bear behavior
or any other type of wildlife behavior.
This is typical Bigfoot behavior.
Peeking out from behind a tree,
observing someone as they walk by, especially at night.
This creature that was observing us,
it was doing so right outside of base camp,
which means it's probably still in this area.
[narrator] With a massive storm approaching,
Russell heads in the direction of where the howl was heard by the witness.
While back at base camp,
Mireya prepares to meet the audio engineer Bryce sent to help.
-[Mireya] Hey, there. -Hey, there.
Dr. Mireya Mayor.
[Mireya] Thanks for meeting us out here.
-Sorry about the weather. -[Tobe] Yeah.
You never know what you're gonna wander into,
-and we got a little bit of rain. -[Mireya] Yeah.
So, put your bag down.
Okay, absolutely.
[narrator] In an attempt to record the location of a possible Sasquatch,
Bryce has recruited the expertise
of bioacoustics expert Tobe Johnson
to join Mireya for 72 hours.
Tobe has spent over two decades
capturing and investigating Bigfoot vocalizations
by isolating sounds
and identifying peculiar hertz patterns
and waveforms in his studio, Owl Moon Lab.
[animal grunting]
Holy [bleep].
Tobe Johnson has spent over a decade
investigating the subject of Bigfoot.
His extensive audio experience makes him the perfect person
to help me record some of the strange sounds
that have come from the target zone.
[animal howling]
Oh, my God.
[animal grunting]
And that is actually, like, very gorilla like that...
-[grunting] -[Tobe] I don't know. You tell me.
That's amazing.
[Tobe] I believe we can get closest to the phenomenon
if we stick a microphone out instead of a camera.
Audio seems to be the key
in understanding a little bit more about
not only Sasquatch vocalizations,
but the most controversial Sasquatch language.
The Holy Grail in Bigfoot stuff.
Wow.
Last night we heard this really long howl
coming from across the river.
Loud enough that we both stopped and went, like, what?
-And... -And it's been recorded?
-And it's been recorded. -[Tobe] Okay.
I think when they communicate,
especially when it involves language,
there's more than one.
And that makes sense, right?
-'Cause you're having a conversation... -Sure.
[Tobe] ...like you and I are.
And so, I put them in a different classification 'cause,
Mireya, if we have language, then we have a culture.
Because there are no cultures that don't have this type of language, right?
-And if we have a culture, it's game on. -[Mireya] Mmm-hmm.
And so that's what we're gonna be pushing for.
So, typically at night,
how do you conduct the investigation?
[Tobe] We're gonna use audio equipment.
Cameras seem to scare them.
So, I brought my small recorder.
Just hang it in a tree
and we're just gonna announce our presence
and leave out a simple recorder.
[Mireya] Okay, cool. That sounds perfect.
You wanna grab your stuff and we'll start making our way out?
[Tobe] Yeah.
[narrator] Just outside the perimeter of base camp,
Mireya and Tobe prepare to deploy the acoustic surveillance array
near the location where they heard strange sounds
the night before.
So, what we've got here are these little sensors
that we can easily attach to a tree or a limb.
-Okay? -And they send out a transmission signal.
[narrator] Supplied by Bryce,
these long range, high powered microphones
were originally developed by law enforcement for covert surveillance.
These microphones record continuously
and can transmit their data files
to a receiver up to 100 yards away.
By placing them in a strategic array,
Tobe and Mireya will be able to pinpoint
the precise location of any sound.
[Tobe] Let's come up with a plan.
I'll go this way
and I'll just walk in a semicircle
and meet you at 12 o'clock.
-[Mireya] Okay, sure. Yep. -[Tobe] Makes sense?
-Perfect. -[Mireya] All right.
Tobe suggested that we place these acoustic monitoring devices
in a pattern based off the general vicinity
of where we heard that howl.
This looks like a good spot right here.
Use this as a little table,
and set up the computer where we can actually monitor.
[Tobe] Oh, yeah, I feel the bass in that one.
-Yeah? -Yeah.
That's really, really powerful.
That's, that's great.
[Mireya] Now, we wait for nightfall.
-Isn't that great? -[Tobe] Yeah.
[narrator] As Mireya and Tobe begin to monitor their surveillance array,
Bryce heads to the north edge of the target zone
to the site of a 10,000 year old sweat lodge
to meet with a local hupa tribal council member.
[Bryce] So, I've heard lore
of Bigfoot observing people from local tribes.
And after seeing footage of what looked like
an upright creature inspecting me near base camp,
I wanna speak to someone who's gonna help me understand
what might've been watching me.
And more importantly, why.
So, I'm headed to meet a man named Isaac,
and he's agreed to discuss some of the known behaviors in this area.
And hopefully, that's gonna help me make better sense
of what I was experiencing out in the field.
Isaac, what do you think the link is
between Bigfoot and the hupa people?
Well, this is the village
where we have some of our most sacred gatherings.
This is the center of the hupa world.
And a long time ago,
Big foot shared in our ceremonial dances.
[Bryce] Mmm.
We called him... [speaks in native language]
...which is the boss of the woods.
-And he was the best singer. -Wow.
During that time, there was a man that came forward
and he sang a song that was so beautiful,
he made the elders cry.
[Bryce] Hmm.
And from then Bigfoot had become somewhat jealous I heard,
and he had shoved the man.
The man fell and died.
And the rest of the Bigfoot clan
had gotten ashamed of what he had done.
So, they all stood up and they walked off to the mountain.
And so the story is that when you dance,
you look at the top of the ridge lines in the trees,
because that's where you'll see Bigfoot.
'Cause he watches the dances, 'cause he misses it.
-But that's where he watches from. -Hmm.
What really interests me in this legend
is that the hupa have stories going back thousands of years
that outline and document
this voyeuristic behavior exhibited by Bigfoot.
Not only is that fascinating,
but it also affirms the experience that I recently had.
Have you ever had any personal encounters
or heard stories...
Yeah, my sister had an experience at my gram's ranch.
She saw a man standing in the edge of the tree line,
and he had made his hand motions to come here.
And the man was covered in hair.
He had red hair between his arms
and between his legs and under his neck.
And he was attempting to get her to go with him.
[Bryce] Did she say where this thing wanted to take her?
No, she didn't say where it wanted to take her,
but she did describe the hillside
that he had run down the hill,
and she could see what he was seeing.
Hmm.
And he jumped across the creek
and went around the hill into...
a small cave system there,
which she described as one of his homes.
Oh, really? So they're using these cave systems
as shelters and places to live.
Yeah.
[Bryce] I'm always interested in hearing about another cavern system
because I can't tell you how many times
these creatures are spotted in and around these caves
that give them great shelter
and access to other parts of the wilderness.
You were saying that she was able to describe it
almost perfectly,
and yet she had never been there.
She described it so perfectly.
She was seven or eight years old.
There's no way she would have been down there
to know what the terrain looked like.
And I know the landscape.
So I knew automatically
that we were dealing with something.
Bigfoot is a magic man.
And one of his things he's known to have
is telepathic abilities.
Bigfoot's on another level.
-He's a spiritual being. -Mmm.
He comes in and out of our reality.
He's known to make portals, and travel to other places.
[Bryce] What should we do if we encounter one of these creatures?
Walk away.
[Russell] So I'm still headed north.
The temperature's dropping.
Gotten up here quite a ways.
[narrator] On the northeast side of the target zone,
Russell hopes to reach the location
of a recent witness report
before the incoming storm hits.
Oh, we're coming out here at the top.
Right now, we're just a little over a mile away
from where the eyewitness heard what sounded like a Bigfoot howl.
That thing's just leaning, just waiting to drop.
But the further north we're traveling,
the more treacherous this area is getting.
But I'll tell you what, this wind is getting worse.
We're almost right on top of the coordinates that Bryce gave me
for a witness testimony of somebody
who actually heard some crazy audio.
Keep an eye on these trees.
Those things swaying back and forth.
There's a storm coming.
We've been kind of trying to stay ahead of it.
It's bringing rain, snow, snow load.
And these big trees are dropping branches like this
all over the place.
Listen to that wind.
Let's keep moving.
The trees have just blown over.
It's just fresh right here.
We don't want to be anywhere near this stuff.
Right now, we're right on top of the coordinates
that Bryce gave me for that witness for that audio.
But this storm is coming in, temperature's dropping,
and it's starting to cover up any kind of evidence
I'd be able to find on the ground.
We've got to get out of the open right now.
And get into some cover.
That storm's coming.
It's gonna bring all this stuff down on top of our heads.
We need to find a place where we can set up,
get into some shelter.
We've got some rock outcroppings here.
Hey, check this out.
We've got some space here we could probably use.
All right. Watch your step.
You good?
All right, I'm gonna cut across.
Let me get over there.
Look at this.
This is exactly what we needed.
Get this stuff cleared out.
It's not gonna be warm,
and it's certainly not gonna be comfortable. But...
This is where we're spending the night, buddy.
Even though this weather has derailed my plans,
I'm going to take advantage of this night.
We're here underneath the shelter.
I'm gonna use my parabolic mic, my thermals,
and see if I can find any clues
as to what that witness heard.
Perfect.
[narrator] The storm that has forced Russell to find shelter
has now fully engulfed the entire region.
[Mireya speaking]
[Tobe speaking]
[narrator] With the storm gaining strength,
Mireya and Tobe decide to call off the investigation.
[Mireya] Our mission tonight is to record some audio,
but the weather is not cooperating with us.
The rain is falling so hard
that any sound that we could potentially record
is being completely masked by the sound of the rain.
We're gonna leave the audio surveillance up and running,
but I think we should head back to basecamp
and wait out the storm.
Everything just dropped straight down.
Nothing with any heat.
And I'm not surprised.
[narrator] Back at the northeast sector of the target zone,
Russell begins to surveil the vast valley below
after needing to take shelter from the storm.
[Russell] I'm getting nothing.
I can see maybe 50 feet away with this undergrowth.
It's gonna be hard to see past most of that stuff.
The forest trees, the underbrush
is obstructing my view from my thermal imaging.
So that means I have to break out
every tool I have.
I think I need to spend time with this parabolic mic.
We're in the perfect overhang for this parabolic mic.
[narrator] Designed with the same principles as a satellite dish,
a parabolic microphone is a microphone mounted
inside a parabolic dish
that collects sound energy from a large area
and focuses it onto a single point,
providing natural amplification
and can pick up distant sounds from up to 600 feet away.
[Russell] You're sitting in the back end of a cone,
all that sound you'll be able to hear
as it bounces off the walls around you.
It couldn't be a better situation.
[whispering] I'll wake her up.
I can hear something moving down there.
It's moving to the side.
I sure wish I knew what that was.
That's right below us.
[shushing]
[unknown animal call]
That sounded like a-- It sounded like a gorilla.
[unknown animal noises]
[Russell whispering] Holy.
[unknown animal call]
[whispering] That sounded like a gorilla.
I've never heard anything like that before.
That was wild.
It sounded like a couple of grunts.
Like... [imitating grunting]
That's weird.
I heard what sounded like multiple sustained grunts.
That was big lung capacity.
A big sound.
That was not a bear sound. That was not an elk sound.
The sounds that came up from that valley
was unnatural and didn't belong there.
I can hear something on the rocks.
There's something walking down there.
It's moving.
[Mireya] So it's been raining absolutely nonstop today.
It's kind of like with so many expeditions,
where you plan and you plan and then, um,
nature happens.
So I was getting actually really excited
about heading out with Tobe
because he has had so much success in recording sounds
that you don't seem to fit in-- in this world,
meaning they're not known sounds,
sounds that we can attribute to animals
that we know of out here.
I was actually really excited and hopeful.
But, uh, yeah, nature had other plans.
[Tobe] Mireya is still asleep.
The stars are finally out.
The weather's let up.
So we're going to take a peek around here.
Mireya and the team said they had some activity around here,
so I'm hopin', now that the the rain has let up,
we can finally get something on audio recorder.
Man, the rain did a number on this place.
If there was evidence here, it's all washed away now.
I want to see if I can make contact.
[whistles]
What was that?
That didn't sound like anything that should be out here.
Is that a bird?
That sounded almost like a goose.
Geese wouldn't be here at this time of year.
I wanna figure out what that was.
[narrator] After hearing a witness account
detailing the extrasensory abilities of Bigfoot,
Bryce heads to the northern boundary of the target zone
to set up an experiment
near where the team recently heard howls.
After talking with Isaac and how he told me
that these creatures observe members of his tribe.
And not only that, but they also have
these special powers.
It really got me thinking back to when I was wearing that body camera.
Because when I was reviewing the footage,
it's as if this creature knew when to hide,
even when I had the camera on my back.
It's like it sensed the camera's electromagnetic frequencies.
So it got me thinking,
perhaps, as some of our research has suggested,
these creatures have the ability
to detect electromagnetic frequencies
given off by some of our state of the art equipment.
Which can explain how they're so able
to avoid not only our trail cameras,
but even some of our special tech,
like these body cameras.
Now I want to run an experiment
with that in mind,
and perhaps, with what I've got planned,
I'll be able to retain some of my...
well, let's just say "cloaked ability."
[narrator] Electronics like cell phones,
digital cameras and audio equipment
all transmit electromagnetic frequencies,
also known as EMF,
to transmit large amounts of data wirelessly
through long distances.
An EMF blanket or shield
is a fabric specifically designed
to block these waves from being transmitted.
[Bryce] This EMF tent will basically make us invisible in the night.
We can observe these creatures undetected ourselves
with eyes in all directions.
So I've set up a suite
of electronic surveillance equipment.
All of this equipment is housed inside this tent,
which basically serves as a giant cage.
What this tent does is this blocks all this EMF frequency,
keeping it sheltered right in this area,
making us invisible.
I've got a thermal setup.
I've got infrared.
I've got north, south, east and west covered.
And not only that,
but I've also set up a parabolic microphone
faced in that direction.
So anything making noise, walking through the brush,
we're going to be able to hear it.
[leaves rustling]
[whispering] Something is definitely moving outside of our camp.
[Mireya] In order to prove the existence of a species,
you have to collect DNA to have irrefutable evidence.
So I always carry a tranquilizer gun with me
on my expeditions, because a tranquilizer gun
enables you to capture an animal
without harming it,
and then being able to release it back into the wild.
Historically, explorers would go out and shoot an animal,
kill it and then bring it back to have it as evidence.
We know what that does to the balance of nature,
and we know better than to do that now.
So a tranquilizer gun is a way for me
to be able to collect a blood sample,
tissue sample, measurements, weights,
all of the documentation and evidence that we need
in order to prove the existence of a new species.
And most importantly, do so without harming the animal.
[whispering] Something is definitely moving oustide of our camp.
That could be a deer or a bear.
[branches snapping]
That sounds pretty big.
It's strange that we're unable to see
whatever was making that noise.
I mean, perhaps it's hiding behind a tree or something like that.
But...
Oh! Did you--
Guys, something just moved across. Like, guys, look.
I saw something on this camera move across like this.
Oh, my God. Look at this.
Look at this right here.
Holy [bleep].
That's what's making our noise.
That means this tent is working.
As soon as I'm inside that tent,
I start hearing sounds outside.
And then I saw a head peeking around a tree on the thermal.
Oh! Oh! Look at that. Look at that.
Holy [bleep].
[whispering] Something moved across right there.
And then as I'm trying to monitor all this equipment,
out of my periphery,
I see something swipe through my camera,
and I'm starting to get the feeling
that there's more than one of these creatures observing me.
If something came this way, it already passed that camera.
And something else just came by this.
That means there's two.
Man, I just got chills.
Even though I feel very secure in this tent,
it's an illusion.
This is just fabric, and I'm not protect--
I just heard something right here.
Something's really close to our basecamp.
Holy [bleep]!
The [bleep] was that?
What the [bleep]?
Holy [bleep].
I heard it go off this way.
Holy [bleep].
Dude, my heart is racing.
I just got a really bad vibration, and the feeling...
It feels like I'm being stalked.
-[rustling] -[bleep]!