Latest / Journey to the Fringe / Campfire Cryptids: A tale of four creatures

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Campfire Cryptids: A tale of four creatures · Journey to the Fringe

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from the unexplained to the mundane. Come join
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us on a Journey to the Fringe. Hello and welcome
0:14
to Journey to the Fringe, which Chelsea, unfortunately,
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we share an acronym now with the Joint Terrorism
0:21
Task Force in the US, for which we might actually
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be on that list. So I don't know, that's kind
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of awkward. That is awkward. But here we are
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in this world that we inhabit. We are your podcasso's,
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Taylor and Chelsea. Here today, yes, those are
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the exact people I was thinking of. I got Chelsea.
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They just have a flamboyance to them. It's the
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Unbuttoned shirt. It's fabulous. We are here
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today to follow up and bring us into the spooky
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season and of course as we get closer to the
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spooky season we are going to be talking about
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the spooky encounters. Now Chelsea and I have
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picked only the ripest cryptid encounters to
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go over. I'm not actually sure. Chelsea tried
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to text me about how we're going to split this
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up and I refused to answer as that would restrict
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the creativity. It's true. He didn't answer me.
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That's of course our normal interactions, but
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it's true. It's how it works here. Anyhow, I
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got a couple cryptids to go over with you guys.
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Chelsea's got a couple cryptids to go over with
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you guys with these freaky encounters. And Chelsea,
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I'm going to start us off with the Tuttlebottom
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Monster. Oh, that sounds adorable. I know. I
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love that name. Yeah, it sounds nice. Someone
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ought to make a children's book about it. Somebody
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ought to ask an AI to do that for them. Anyhow,
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I just need to say this. If you're out there
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listening to us and you're a cryptid looking
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to make bang with society, you got to pick the
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place that you're getting your encounters because
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nine times out of ten you're going to be named
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after where your encounter happens and Chelsea,
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this encounter happens in Tuttle Bottom, Illinois.
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Oh, okay. I was just gonna ask if it was in bottom
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somewhere. Guess that'll bottom make sense. You
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also gotta market it right so it's not a place
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where there's another more popular cryptid. You
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want to be super famous so it's probably somewhere
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you need Point Pleasant for instance. You want
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famous. But you don't want too famous of a place
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because there's no way you're ever gonna get
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a New York monster. No, exactly. Exactly. You
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don't need a famous place. You want a no -name
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place. where you explode them to popularity and
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therefore everyone comes to see you. That's what
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you want. Yeah, and you basically are gonna get
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a festival no matter what. You're gonna get a
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festival, you're gonna get a bunch of, all the
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restaurants are gonna be named after you. They're
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gonna make pizzas in your likeness. There's gonna
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be festivals. There's gonna be all sorts of crazy
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shit just with like statues. That list goes on
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and on. Now, our story of the Tuttlebottom Monster
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starts on August 6th, 1963. a hot summer night
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where a young man armed with a rifle was out
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near Tuttle Bottoms, a swampy stretch of the
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land just north of Harrisburg, Illinois. It was
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around 11 p .m. when he saw what he described
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as an eight foot long, four foot high creature
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covered in coarse hair and most notably sporting
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a long anteater -like snout. Oh, he sounds adorable.
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Wasn't a bear, wasn't a dog, and it's the Tuttle
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Bottom. Love it. I am already a big fan. Is it
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an anteater? We'll finish the story off. okay
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the young man put the sighting to saline county
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sheriff james l thompson according to the harrisburg
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daily register thompson found the youth and later
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dispersed a group of about a dozen armed boys
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who had gathered to hunt the creature this is
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not a campfire story it was serious enough for
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law enforcement to intervene and it wouldn't
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be the last time there is a surge of sightings
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of this thing in the 60s throughout this decade
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sightings of the tuttle bottom monster surged
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teenagers parked near the bottoms reported seeing
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a hairy creature approach their cars. Hunters
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claimed to hear strange growls and catch glimpses
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of something large moving through the brush.
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Descriptions varied slightly. Some said it walked
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on two legs, others on four, but one detail remained
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consistent. Long, narrow, and a natural snout.
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Police received multiple calls, officers always
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responded. While no physical evidence was ever
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recovered, the consistency of the reports kept
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the legend alive, and then came the rumors. Some
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locals whispered that murderers had occurred
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in the area. Grizzly unsolved and possibly linked
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to the creature. No official connection was ever
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made, but the fear was real. By the 1980s, the
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Tuttlebottom Monster had become a fixture of
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Harrisburg folklore. But it wasn't just stories
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passed around a dinner table or campfires. Former
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Harrisburg police chief, Gary Crabtree, later
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stated that his department received approximately
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50 reports. over 28 years. That's 50 reports.
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That's not a myth. That's a pattern. Witnesses
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concluded couples parked near the bottoms, hunters
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deep in the woods, residents walking dogs or
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driving home at late at night. Each described
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a large hairy creature with a snout. Some said
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it watched them. Others said it fled, but none
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forgot what they saw. Police often responded
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to these calls. Sometimes they found disturbed
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brush, strange tracks or shaken witnesses. Other
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times, nothing, but the reports kept coming.
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One of the most provocative claims came from
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the local resident Virgil Smith. Smith believed
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the creature was real and that it had been released
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by the federal government. He claimed a former
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USDA employee told him the department had conducted
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a private investigation into the monster. No
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documentation has ever surfaced to support this,
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but encrypted lore, government secrecy is part
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of the mystique. So was it an experiment gone
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wrong or just a story that grew with the telling?
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Sightings continue even into the 21st century
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with locals still reporting strange encounters
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near the bottoms. One man claimed he saw the
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creature cross the road in front of his truck,
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walking upright with a snout and glowing eyes.
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Another described hearing guttural growls while
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fishing, followed by a splash and a glimpse of
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fur. Police still respond to these calls and
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while no formal investigations were launched,
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the reports were logged and legends endured.
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And the most recent sightings even happened in
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the 2020s, Chelsea. A Harrisburg resident walking
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his dog near the bottoms reported seeing a large
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hairy figure watching him from the treeline.
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He described it as about seven feet tall with
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a long snout and dark fur. The creature didn't
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move, it just stared. The man called the police
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who arrived in search area. They found broken
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branches and disturbed But no creature and the
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report was filed in the mystery deepened. What
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is the total bottoms monster? There are theories
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out there, such as a misidentified bear or boar,
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an undiscovered species, cryptid unique to the
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south of Illinois, or some believe a supernatural
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entity tied to the land itself. The anteater,
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like Snow, sets it apart from other North American
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cryptids. Not a Bigfoot, not a Dogman, something
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else. And despite decades of sightings, no clear
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photos, video or physical evidence has surfaced.
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Now, the Tuttlebottom Monster may not have the
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fame of Mothman or Bigfoot. Actually, pretty
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much anything that we've covered so far. But
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in Harrisburg, it's part of the landscape, a
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story passed down through generations, a warning
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whispered to teens heading out to the bottoms
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at night. And for those who've seen it, it's
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not a joke, it's not a myth, it's very real.
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Yeah, I believe that about anteaters. I mean,
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to be fair, there are no seven foot tall anteaters
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out there. Are they not? They're pretty big.
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They can be big, but they don't live for 60 years.
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Yeah, but they could have families. And families
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generally just keep living. That's the thing
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about ant eaters, they don't generally reside
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in South Illinois. Hold on, no. Wild ant eaters
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do not live in Illinois. Have ant eaters escaped
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from toots in Illinois? Apparently the giant
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ant eater can be up to seven feet long, so if
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he stands up he could, um... They're pretty big!
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And I... Yeah, and if they probably got caught
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in the headlights, I bet their eyes would glow.
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Yeah. Yeah. Anyhow, that's... The Halloween episodes
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are not for disproving. They're for telling the
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stories of creepy things. I'm sorry. I just...
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I googled the renditions of what they look like
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and they don't look exactly like anteaters. Sorry,
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I had to. Okay. I have two episodes ready to
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go. And I was waiting to see what you were leading
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with to see what one I was going to cover in
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this episode. So I'm going with the conversation
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that we had at the beginning of the episode on
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if you're a cryptid paranormal creature, you
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got to pick where you pop up. It determines your
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future as a paranormal cryptid. With that being
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said, my cryptid that I chose to do is the Nane
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Rouge. Have you heard of the Nane Rouge? I've
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heard of Mulan Rouge. Really? Okay, so this is
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the Red Devil of Detroit. I thought you might
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have heard of him being that you've been to Detroit.
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I've heard of Ninruj, yes. Yeah, maybe I'm saying
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him wrong. Yes, I definitely have heard of it.
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Yeah, so we're gonna talk about him because he
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represents Detroit. Whether or not you heard
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of him, another thing and that goes to where
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you pick the city you're gonna hunt. Maybe Detroit
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was too big. There's a brewery named after it
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in Detroit. There is, yeah. Super big in Detroit,
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apparently. The legend of the Nain Rouge weaves
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a tale from the early days when Detroit was founded
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by Antoine de la Mouthe Cadillac in the 1700s.
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While attending a party in Quebec, a fortune
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teller warned Cadillac of a future encounter
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with the Nain on his next adventure. She stated
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Cadillac needed to appease the monster with flattery
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and his reward would be discovering a city that
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would rival ones in France. If he respected the
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fiend, misfortune would darken his life. Cadillac
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sailed out on his mission the next day and eventually
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established Fort Pontchartain due Detroit in
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the western bank of Detroit River. The fort prospered
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for years until one night someone spotted the
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Nain Rouge. When Cadillac ran into the Scarlet
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Imp. Instead of paying him respect, he smacked
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the monster with his cane and told them to leave
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the city. The Nain Rouge's cackling laughter
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pierced the air as the demon slipped away into
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the inky darkness, and doom shrouded the arrogant
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Cadillac. His superiors removed the founder from
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his illustrious post and shipped him to Louisiana.
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as they did with the French back then, which
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he considered a wretched place to live with his
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family. I guess that explains a lot about what
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happened to Detroit. Was it a wretched place
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to live or was it a wretched place to live with
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his family? Yes. The place or the family? Why
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not both? The Nain Rouge was included in Charles
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M. Skinner's 1896 book, Miss and Legends of Our
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Land, described as, quote, a shambling red -faced
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creature with a cold, glittering eye and teeth
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protruding from a grinning mouth. Legend holds
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the Nain Rouge's appearance would precede terrible
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events for the white people of the city and foretell
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success for the indigenous people. The feature
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is said to have appeared on July 30th, 1963,
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before the Battle of Bloody Run, where 58 British
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soldiers were killed by Native Americans from
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Chief Pontiac's Ottawa tribe. Supposedly, the
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Nane Rouge danced among the corpses on the banks
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of the Detroit River after the battle, and the
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river turned red with blood for days after. According
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to the tale, all the misfortunes of Governor
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and General William Hull, leading to the surrender
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of Detroit in the war 1812 are blamed on the
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Nain Rouge. We then have the 1805 fire and several
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sightings were later reported during the 20th
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century. Two utility workers claim to have seen
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the creature just before the 1967 Detroit riots
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and supposedly it was also seen before an ice
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storm in 1976. This has led to a supposedly 300
12:19
year annual tradition on the Sunday after the
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Vernal Equinox where Detroiters gather for a
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march to meet the Nain Rouge. There are no records
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to indicate that the legend of the name Rouge
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existed in the 18th century when Antoine de la
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Mauve Cadillac was the authority in Detroit.
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The earliest record Hamlin's legends of Les Detroit
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is probably not how you say that in French, but
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there's an accent on it. Detroit? It wasn't published
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until 1883, 180 years after Cadillac was said
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to have been cursed by the Nain Rouge. However,
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some claim that it originates in the early 1700s
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French settlement of Detroit, supposedly deriving
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from Norman French tales of the Luton, a type
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of hobgoblin. Some also claim that the Nain Rouge
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originated with supposed Native American legends
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of an impish offspring of the stone god. And
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that is the Nain Rouge. And that is why you should
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always trust the devil. I actually learned about
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this on a ghost tour I did in Detroit. I always
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loved this portion of the story so like whenever
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you're learning about history in Detroit a lot
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of car names come up so obviously Cadillac ends
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up getting his name dropped into a car as Pontiac,
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hilariously enough, with the tribe that destroyed
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them. Cadillac, his family crest, ends up being
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the logo for the Cadillac. What? Yeah, that's
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like when you look at a Cadillac, the logo for
13:44
Cadillac, that's that's his family crest. Also,
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he lied. That's not a real family crest. He made
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it up to say that he had like a familial ancestry
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that didn't exist. That's the good thing about
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ghost tours. They always give you a really great
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history of the goings on of wherever you're visiting
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as well, unless you're doing a ghost tour in
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Barcelona, in which case don't do a ghost tour
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in Barcelona. because you won't learn anything,
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but it'll be run by a guy from San Francisco.
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That is neither here nor there. Do you have anything
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to add to the Nain Rouge then? Perhaps how you
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really say the name? The Nain Rouge, which also
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does have a brewery, which we are unable to attend,
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unfortunately, because it's closed when we walked
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by. We did still get points on the Detroit Brewery
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Trail because they had a discount code, which
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I could use. An important part of the story.
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Do you have another creature for us? I do, Chelsea.
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And this is somewhat keeping with the region
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that we're in, but not really. For Chelsea, we
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are going to look at the Hubei flying entity.
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Oh. Which yes, Hubei is nowhere near where we're
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talking about. Never heard of it. Hubei province,
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China. Close. What are you talking about? But
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I got an Illinois theme going on. And what do
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we know Illinois for, Chelsea? Pizza. Chicago.
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Mothman. There we go. Hubei flying entity. Oh
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my god. And also the place that he picked was
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Hubei and he is named after it, the second less
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scary theme of the episode. This is a weighted
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humanoid reported in remote regions of Hubei
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province, also where the Yaren comes from, often
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appearing before disasters or in moments of high
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strangeness. The first sighting on record is
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in Badong County, July of 1998. In this first
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documented account, which Badon County is in
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western Hubei province, it happens in early July
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of 1998. Multiple villagers reported seeing a
15:56
large winged figure flying over a valley near
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their homes. They described it as 2 .5 meters
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tall or about 8 feet, covered in dark leathery
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skin or fur, possessed a wingspan of roughly
16:08
3 to 4 meters, eyes reportedly glowed red in
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low light, and flight was silent with no flapping
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or sound, just a gliding motion. Now, witnesses
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claimed the creature hovered over the valley
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for several minutes before vanishing into the
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mist. Three days later, a landslide struck the
16:25
area, killing several residents and damaging
16:28
infrastructure. While no formal investigation
16:30
was launched, the timing of the sighting led
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locals to associate the entity with the disaster.
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The next notable sighting is in Shenanjia Forest
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Reserve on August of 2002. This particular forest
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reserve is known for the Yaran. A group of university
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students from Wuhan were hiking deep in the reserve
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when they witnessed a humanoid figure gliding
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between treetops at dusk. They estimated it to
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be 7 -8 feet tall. Wings described as bat -like,
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extending from shoulders to ankles. No visible
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feathers. They noted a membranous texture, like
17:03
a bat. Eyes or chest emitted a faint glow, and
17:06
movement was smooth and deliberate, not bird
17:08
-like. The group reported the incident to park
17:10
rangers, who dismissed it as a large bird or
17:13
misidentification. However, the students maintained
17:15
their account and later published a brief summary
17:18
in a university newsletter which was picked up
17:20
by fringe cryptid blogs. Now the third and final
17:23
major account comes from Yichong City near the
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Three Gorges Dam. In October of 2009 a bridge
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maintenance crew working at night shift reported
17:32
seeing a humanoid figure perched on a support
17:35
beam. Witnesses described the figure as man -sized
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hunched with elongated limbs. Wings folded tightly
17:41
against his body resembling a cloak. When it
17:43
approached the Now across all these sightings,
18:02
we get a few things that are fairly consistent.
18:13
and well, no formal police reports exists that
18:17
I could find because let's face it, I'm not gonna
18:19
pull up some Chinese police reports. These accounts
18:22
have circulated regional folklore and online
18:25
cryptic communities. The Hubei Flying Entity
18:27
remains one of China's most mysterious wing apparitions,
18:31
part omen, part enigma. So is it a cryptic, a
18:34
spirit, a warning we may never know, but the
18:36
consistency of these sightings suggests something
18:39
is out there watching from the skies above Hubei.
18:42
Oh, that was a good one. I really like that.
18:46
I think we do need to do an episode on Mothman
18:49
of the World because that was not the only one
18:51
I could find. I've actually never heard of this
18:54
guy, but I do know there are spots that it has
18:59
popped up as well. I would be all over that.
19:01
Phantom Mothman. He's my favorite guy. My number
19:04
one. And do you have another one or is this where
19:08
we're going to cut it for this one? I have another
19:09
one. I, my next one is the Ozark Howler, which
19:14
I didn't take this international for my second
19:17
one. I stayed very much in the United States
19:20
in the Ozark. But you moved south. I don't know
19:23
what an Ozark is. All I know is that the dad
19:27
from Arrested Development is in it. Yeah, he's
19:29
in that show called the Ozarks. It's a group
19:31
of lakes. Yeah. Oh, sorry. Is it? It's the Ozark
19:34
Mountains or Ozark Plateau. It's a physiographic
19:37
region in central southern U .S., primarily Missouri,
19:41
Arkansas, Oklahoma, and a small part of Kansas.
19:43
I couldn't get into the show, so I wouldn't know.
19:46
So this is a phantom creature of the Arkansas's
19:50
hills. Again, my geography of the United States
19:54
is a little bit sketchy, especially when you
19:56
get to the middle parts. Ain't nobody you remember
19:58
in the middle, unless you're in the middle. Yeah,
20:01
yeah. It's tough. There's so much. When you have
20:04
50, you're gonna lose a bunch that are right
20:07
together. That's just how it's gonna work. Oh,
20:08
yeah. Okay, so the Ozark Howler or the Ozark
20:13
Black Howler or the Devil Cat legend has been
20:17
passed down for generations by locals who have
20:19
heard and seen things that they could not describe
20:22
as an animal that you would expect to find in
20:26
the heart of the Ozark wilderness. Its frightening
20:29
sound and eerie appearance have been seen in
20:32
the more remote parts of the Missourian and Arkansas.
20:36
Ozarks, and even farther west in Oklahoma and
20:40
south in Texas. Sightings have been officially
20:43
recorded since the 1950s, though many Ozark families
20:47
have stories passed down through generations
20:50
of seeing the Ozark Howler well before that time.
20:53
The origin of the Ozark Howler legend is not
20:57
clear, but some sources suggest that it may have
21:00
Native American roots. According to one story,
21:03
the Howler was a spirit animal that protected
21:06
the land from invaders. Another claims that the
21:09
Howler is a curse placed on the region by a witch
21:12
who was burned at the stake by European settlers.
21:16
Some believe that the Howler is a manifestation
21:18
of the fears and hardships that the early pioneers
21:22
faced in the wilderness. The legend gained more
21:25
popularity in the 1990s when a cryptozoologist
21:29
named Chad Armand published a book called Cryptozoology
21:33
Science and Speculation. It's quite a nice word
21:43
when it comes to science. The book included a
21:46
chapter on the Ozark Howler. Arment claimed that
21:49
he had collected dozens of eyewitness accounts
21:52
and physical evidence of the creature's existence.
21:55
He also speculated that the Howler might be a
21:58
new species of feline or cannon or hybrid or
22:02
both. Between 2005 and 2010 the howler was spotted
22:07
several times and in 2015 the legend received
22:10
more attention when a local television station
22:12
in Arkansas reported that they had received photographs
22:16
of the creature from a viewer. The station contacted
22:18
the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission who dismissed
22:21
the photos as a hoax. However, some people still
22:25
believe that the photos were genuine and that
22:27
they showed proof of the Howler's reality. I
22:29
bet you're wondering what he looks like because
22:31
I didn't start with that. Let's talk about the
22:34
description of what you would be seeing if you
22:37
spotted the Ozark Howler. Just in case, maybe
22:40
you've already seen him. Maybe you're sitting
22:41
next to him on a bus. I don't know. Anything
22:44
could happen. It's a Halloween episode. So if
22:46
you're sitting on a bus... Listen up! The Ozark
22:49
Howler is typically described as being around
22:52
the size of a bear, with thick boy stocky legs,
22:56
black shaggy hair, and having prominent horns.
22:59
Most agree that it is either black or dark in
23:01
colour. Some witnesses also report seeing glowing
23:04
red eyes, long fangs, and a long tail. The most
23:08
distinctive feature of the Howler is its sound,
23:11
which is said to be a combination of a wolf's
23:14
howl and an elk's bugle. I didn't know that's
23:17
what you would call it. Some people also compare
23:20
it to the screams of a woman or a half human
23:23
creature. The howl is said to be very loud and
23:27
terrifying and can be heard for miles. So is
23:29
that not just the sound of a cougar? Yeah, it
23:33
could be. Very humanly scream. Yeah, it's true.
23:36
There's a lot of animal animals that have really
23:43
creepy voices if you were to hear them at night
23:47
like owls cougars yeah that's another creepy
23:50
one i wouldn't want to hear at night i wouldn't
23:52
want to hear a lot of noises at night if i was
23:54
to be honest with you there's that one bird that
23:57
mimics and it's like like a chainsaw yeah yeah
24:00
he's a good one i wouldn't want to hear at night
24:02
because like parrots that learn how to talk wouldn't
24:06
want to hear one of those guys at night uh depending
24:09
on what they had to say um Bigfoot wouldn't want
24:12
to hear him at night, so there's lots of stuff
24:15
that I don't know why I'm talking about the animals
24:18
I don't want to hear at night. The Ozark Howler
24:20
is said to be nocturnal and elusive, preferring
24:24
to stay in the dense forest and caves of the
24:26
Ozarks. It is also said to be territorial and
24:29
aggressive, especially during mating season or
24:32
when protecting its young. Some stories claim
24:34
that the howler can kill livestock and even humans
24:37
with its powerful jaws and claws. It's just describing
24:40
another, I hate to be this person on this episode,
24:44
but it just sounds like any other wild animal
24:47
in the woods. Maybe a dark -haired cougar. Yeah,
24:51
maybe an anteater. Others say that it could cause
24:54
bad luck or misfortune to those who see it or
24:57
hear it. Let's talk about sightings of the Ozark
25:00
Howler. There have been many of them. As I already
25:03
talked about, then I talked about what it looks
25:05
like. Now I'm back to the reportings. Mostly
25:08
from hunters, hikers, campers and residents who
25:11
live near the woods. Some of these sightings
25:13
are more credible than others, but they all share
25:16
some common elements. Here's some examples of
25:18
notable sightings. October 2014, a motorist in
25:22
Benton County, Arkansas reported that he nearly
25:26
collided with an unidentified animal on Pump
25:28
Station Road in Springdale. He described it as
25:31
a bear -sized, gray, fast -running animal with
25:34
horns. In December 2015, a viewer sent photos
25:38
to 4029 News in Arkansas, claiming that they
25:42
showed images of the Ozark Howlert near Devil's
25:45
Den State Park. The photo showed a dark animal
25:47
with horns and red eyes hiding behind some trees.
25:51
Nothing comes up if I search this. Well, maybe
25:53
we'll throw it up if we find it. Otherwise we'll
25:56
just generate an AI image of it. In June 2016,
26:00
a group of friends camping near Lake Tenkiller
26:04
in Oklahoma claimed that they heard loud howls
26:07
and saw glowing eyes in the dark. They also found
26:09
large paw prints and scratch marks on their car.
26:13
In August 2017, a couple hiking near Branson
26:16
in Missouri said that they saw a large black
26:18
animal with horns crossing a road and they said
26:21
that it looked like a cross between a bear and
26:24
a goat. In October 2018, a hunter in Texas reported
26:27
that he He shot and killed an animal that he
26:29
believed was an Ozark Howler near Big Thicket
26:32
National Preserve. He said that it had black
26:35
fur, horns, fangs, and red eyes. He took photos
26:38
of his trophy and sent them to the local newspaper.
26:41
That's the Ozark Howler. Lots of weird names
26:45
and places in that, by the way. That was a well
26:48
-rounded episode. And I'm not sure what the theme
26:51
was, actually. It was probably about cryptids
26:54
and... Where their names come from? Yeah, except
26:57
the name Rouge doesn't quite fit in there, but
26:59
that's okay. Does not where his name comes from,
27:03
but where a cryptid chooses to his origins from.
27:07
Yeah. Yeah. And I guess with that, I have been
27:11
Taylor here with Chelsea. We are a journey to
27:13
the fringe. Thank you all for listening. We'll
27:14
see you next week. Bye. Thank you for listening
27:19
to Journey to the Fringe. If you have liked what
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27:54
For now, I'll see you in the next episode.