03x06 - Return to Lake Fear

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] Previously on
Expedition Bigfoot...

The 3D imaging experts
just finished his scan.

To me, that looks like
an upright bipedal creature.

Looks like a person.

[Russell] This last week, I've
been stalked by something.

Keep moving. Keep moving.

I feel like we've been getting
closer to its home.

Oh, [bleep].

Would you be willing to have
a professional sketch artist
draw what you saw?

Sure.

That's incredible.

Do you see this
right here on the ground?

There's multiple skeletons
up there.

Holy [bleep].

I'm literally standing right
on the top of the lake
where I was last year.

[Russell]
That's not a natural mound.

[narrator]
In the steep mountain forests
of the Olympic Peninsula,

survivalist Russel Acord
has made a gruesome discovery.

[Russel] I'm working my way
up the side of this hill,

and I found
this side-hill trail,

but on the way,
I started smelling something.

This smelled like rotten meat,
like something dead.

All this time I thought
something was stalking me,

but it's much more than that.

We are in this creature's
hunting grounds.

And when I looked
over the mountainside,
it all made sense.

We're back at the same lake
that we had all that
Bigfoot activity last year.

[Mireya] There are multiple
huge heat signatures
directly across from me.

Lake Fear.

[insects buzzing]

Russ to Mireya and Ronny.

[Ronny] Go ahead, Russ.

[Russell] Hey, guys.

Do you know of any species
of animals that would
literally make a k*ll,

and bring it to the same spot
over and over again,

different kills
it could consume

in that same exact area
time and time again?

That's not animal behavior.

Mireya, I actually feel like
I'm standing in a k*ll zone
right here.

And not only that,
but it's right above the lake
from last year.

-[Ronny] You're talking
about Lake Fear?
-Yes.

[Ronny] No way.

This is unreal.

We've had so much activity
last year around that lake,

and now Russ
finds a k*ll site.

It's not a coincidence.

We are close,
and I can feel it.

If I give you some coordinates
could you guys make your way
up here,

and sift through
this thing with me?

Absolutely. Send them over.

Give me a second,
I'm sending them right now.

Okay, I have them.

Sounds good.
I'll see you guys shortly.

But I want to tell you guys
right now, be careful
on your approach,

'cause what I'm looking at
is, um...

it's not...
It's just unnatural.

[Bryce] It's been a day or so
since I heard from the team
out in the field.

But in the meantime,
I'm following up
on a lead of my own.

I'm about to speak
with Dr. Todd Baker.

Now, Todd is an archaeologist
and an osteologist,
a bone specialist,

and he believes
the Bigfoot is out there.

I'm just hoping maybe he can
be the guy to answer
what so many people ask.

How come we never find
the bones of Bigfoot?

That is a big question.

What I like to relay to people
is you know there
are bear out there, okay,

but you very rarely see them.

And bear bones
are incredibly hard to find.

I mean, how hard to find
are we talking about?

Oh, I've never
found bear bones.

I mean, walking
through the woods,
how often do you see bones?

It's so hit or miss,
your chances
of finding something,

especially with thick
vegetation...

-Needle in the haystack.
-Exactly.

So, when you're dealing with
something like a Bigfoot,
or Sasquatch,

they're obviously more
intelligent, I believe so
anyway, than a bear.

So, if they don't want you
to find their remains,
you're not gonna find them.

And I think they possibly
bury their dead.

What makes you think that?

Well, first of all, um,
if you hear some of the sounds
that people play sometimes...

[indistinct voices]

You can tell they're
putting together syllables,

so they're speaking
to each other with
some type of language.

If you have a language,
chances are you're
also using tools,

you're obviously intelligent,

so, I think that's
very possible that they're
actually burying their dead,

and that's why
we're not finding any.

[Bryce] I find Todd's theory

that Bigfoot could possibly
be burying their dead
totally plausible.

Considering the amount
of evidence

of just how intelligent
these creatures are,

and not only that,

but even Dr. Jane Goodall
suggested the same thing.

Imagine a creature

who understands that humans,
modern humans,
are very dangerous.

And so in order
to remain hidden, they decide,
well, if anybody dies,

we'll hide them so that
no bones can be found.

So, Todd, what
made you a believer?

Well, the Forest Service
was doing a land exchange
with the tribe.

So basically, we had to go in,

make sure there weren't
any archaeological sites that
were gonna be disturbed

as the result of this work.

So, when we drove up,
one area's, like, straight up,
steep this way,

covered with trees so thick
you can't see into the trees.

And on the other side, was
kind of a straight drop down.

So, we got out.
We heard, pow, pow.

The best way to describe it,

it sounded like
somebody hitting a tree
with a baseball bat.

I had another worker with me,
and I joked to her, I said,
"Maybe it's Bigfoot."

And her reaction was,
"That's not funny."

Then, just a matter
of seconds later,

the trees out there just
started shaking violently.

You couldn't see what
was doing the shaking,

but you could see
the trees shaking.

And then, it would
move over here.

Knocks, shaking.

Then over here,
for an hour, it just went
back and forth around us.

It was incredibly unnerving,

because whatever that was,
it was incredibly strong,

incredibly big
to be able to do that.

Something like that can
just snap you like a twig
if it wanted to.

You wouldn't have a chance.

What would it take, bone wise,

to be able to prove
the existence
of these creatures?

I'd say if you could find
bones that had teeth marks
on them, for instance.

I mean, rodents gnaw on bones
and other animals eat on bones

but when you're talking about
some type of a primate,

you're gonna have
certain things that they do
to break bone

that's gonna stand out
that's not gonna be the same
as other animals.

You know, like if somebody
snaps your arm,

you'll get what's called
a spiral fracture.

That doesn't happen naturally.
That's from a snapping motion.

Yeah.

What would it mean
to the scientific community
for the confirmation of this?

What would it mean to us
as a society if we confirmed
the existence of a Bigfoot?

It would rewrite
evolutionary history,
is what it would do.

[Ronny] Ah, you got
my curiosity piqued, man.

I'm telling you, this is
probably one of the weirdest
places I've been.

[narrator]
Fifteen miles east of Bryce,

Ronny and Mireya have
rendezvoused at the location

that Russell believes may
be a Bigfoot k*ll zone.

-Look at this.
-What the...

Look at that big,
giant pelvis up there.

That doesn't belong to this.

There's some fresh ribs
up on top there.

But some of the stuff is old.
It's been here
for quite a while.

So, that tells me
this is a pattern.

-[Ronny] That seems odd,
you know, like...
-Yeah.

It's rare enough
to find one or two bones,

but to see this pit full
of bones was just really
kind of shocking.

All right, well, let's go in
and take a look.

Glove up, watch your feet,
try not to contaminate
anything.

-Kind of treat it
like a crime scene.
-Okay.

Oh, it smells up here.

Oh, my God.

As I walked up to the scene
which was, like, really gory,

all these animal parts
scattered everywhere,

my first thought is,
were there hunters out here?

Were they just skinning
the game that they'd hunted?

Generally, a trophy hunter
or a poacher is gonna take
something for the antlers,

and put those on the wall
and discard the rest
of the carcass.

But the skulls are still here.

[Russell speaking]

-But also, I've been looking
for cut marks, like a butcher.
-[Ronny] Mmm-hmm.

There's not a single
clean slice on any of this.

This looks like it's
been chewed through.

Look at the way this one's
been almost gnawed off.

[Mireya]
Seeing those bite marks
rather than cut marks,

that sent this
in a whole other direction.

It also looks like the ribs
have been all torn apart.

Look at the skull right here.
This has been shattered.

[Ronny] Oh, wow.

When you see
the different-sized skulls
crushed in,

the realization hits
that something big
took them out.

So, how many different animals
you think we're
looking at here?

I would say
seven different animals.

It could be just
a dumping ground, right,

where these were k*lled
elsewhere, and then
everything's brought here.

Maybe it took multiple animals
to k*ll multiple animals.

-Like a pack?
-That's what I'm thinking.

Some of the bones here
look old, and some
of them look fresh.

The main point here is
something is bringing these
back to this site.

To me, this is evidence
of a family or a pod
feeding in this area.

I've been hunting
for 40-some years.

I've never seen
anything like this.

Ever.

Look around, you guys,
look at this.

Where's the fur?

Even when you see a deer
that's been spread out
in the forest,

there's always those tufts
of fur all over the place.

The only hair that I see
are on these couple of legs.

And the only things that
collect fur are humans.

You know what else
collects fur?

Remember the witness
that was local around here

that saw a Bigfoot wearing
some kind of animal fur?

[narrator] Last year,
while under hypnosis,

an eyewitness revealed
surprising details about
his encounter.

It was wearing, like,
a deer carcass
or something around it,

like a cape or a shawl.

Maybe these creatures are
camouflaging themselves

using parts
of their environment.

Oh, wow.

So, what if they are,
like the Native Americans,

using every piece
of the carcass, the meat,

but they're maybe using
the hide as clothing.

With all that should be
last year, on the lake,

and the path it took us,

we're still on that same path.

I don't know if we're being
ushered out of here,
or pushed some way or another,

but right now, we're literally
sitting at a dinner table.

This is crazy.

[Ronny]
This is a pivotal moment
in our investigation.

Last year, we had so much
activity around that lake,

and now, Russ finds
this k*ll site right next
to the lake.

This is the first piece
of physical evidence
on this expedition.

Well, here's what
I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna just throw
the entire kitchen sink at it.

I'm going to scan that bone

to see if we can actually
send something to Bryce

-and someone can analyze it
for teeth marks. Yeah.
-This one?

[Mireya] And I'm gonna collect
some eDNA from this area,

and just basically leave
no stone unturned.

[narrator] eDNA refers
to environmental DNA,

genetic material naturally
left behind by animals
in the soil.

Once analyzed,
the eDNA specimen
can provide a snapshot

of any living creature
that came in contact
with the animal remains.

Last year, we got some
really interesting findings

from the eDNA sample
that I collected in Kentucky.

We have detected primate DNA.

If I could replicate
those results here,

then they become
even more significant.

[narrator] While Mireya
finishes gathering evidence
from the soil...

-Getting a lot of detail.
-Yeah.

...Russell and Ronny
are running digital scans

of each bone
they have collected,
to be sent out and analyzed.

These bones could give us
a lot of information.

They could tell us
what actually was chewing
on these bones

and what type of species
these bones belong to.

I think we documented this
pretty well.

[Mireya]
So what I like is that
there's actually a fresh k*ll.

And I think that really
increases our chances

of finding any,
sort of, physical evidence
or tracks, or something.

This is the first time
where we actually have

a shot of still being
in the vicinity
of whatever caused this.

The lake is just below us.

After everything
we encountered there
last year...

What the hell is that?

...and everything that led
us back here,

this area should be our target
for our research.

It looks like this ledge goes
all the way round the outside
of that hill.

[Mireya] So what I think
we need to do,

is find out what lies
between the lake
and this upper ridge line.

Is there something
truly habitating in this area?

[bird screeching]

[narrator] As the sun sets,
the team begins to investigate
the areas above the lake.

[Mireya] This lake sits
in a giant bowl.

And last year, we explored
the eastern side of it.

This year, we're
on the opposite side.

[narrator] The team
will explore the ridge

along the western side
of the bowl,

with Ronny and Mireya
taking the north section,
and Russell taking the south.

This is brand new territory
for us

because we've never
investigated this side
of the ring,

let alone at this altitude.

It is a scary thought
because we have no idea
what's out here.

[Ronny] You know,
the design of this, Mireya,
definitely seems...

pretty interesting
for a predator, right?

-[Mireya] Yeah, it's
like a choke point.
-[Ronny] Yeah.

[Mireya] If you're a predator,
and you have that
high ground above us,

-this is a perfect trail
to come down and ambush on...
-[Ronny] Oh, yeah.

...'cause there's
no escaping it.

[Ronny] You know deer
are coming through here.

Their bones are
all over the place.

[twigs crackling]

[Mireya] Ronny?

-Ronny?
-[Ronny] Yeah.

[Mireya] Come over here.

[Ronny] Yeah,
that's interesting.

[twigs crackling]

Definitely placed,
it looks like.

Like, if this fell this way,
if this was tree fall,

we should see
system around here,
more of that broken off.

And I don't see that.

Looks like a marker to me.

-[Mireya] Does it?
-[Ronny] Yeah.

What's really interesting,
is that the X

is something that reoccurs
over and over again
in Bigfoot research.

There are these
different markers,
almost like street signs.

And this one was directly
in the middle of the trail.

That X is saying to stay out.

[Russell] Look, you can see
all the way out.

Holy smokes.

[Russell] Wow, that just goes
straight down.

Watch out for these
little crevices, right here.

It's pretty unsure footing.

You'll lose an ankle
on that, quick.

Fresh deer tracks
come off this hill.

But this right here,
is what interested me.

Something much larger.

[whispering] Whoa.

Let's keep going.

[Mireya] Look at this
wide open trail.

Almost like a hidden
part of the woods.

Looks like a cathedral
from here.

[Ronny] Feels like
a different forest,
doesn't it?

-[Mireya] It really does.
-[twigs crackling]

This one feels
almost too welcoming.

What?

Holy [bleep].

[Ronny] Whoa.

All of a sudden,
we come across something
that stops us in our tracks.

This doesn't look
like tree fall.

[Mireya] It's like X's
from top to bottom.

[Ronny] It was exactly
what we had seen
previously on the trail,

but now,
on a much larger scale.

I think it's 30 feet up.

It's like a stop sign to me.

[twigs crackling]

[Russell] We can get into it.

Be careful.

I just got a sense,
like, the energy shifted.

[Ronny] Kinda feeling
that sensation
of being watched.

[Russell] Look at this.
Do you see this?

[cameraman whispering] No.

[Russell] Yep, something's
been sleeping there.

So, now I'm feeling,
like, if we weren't
trespassing before,

it sure as hell feels
like we are now.

-[Mireya] I'm gonna try
for Russ.
-[Ronny] Yeah.

-[radio static]
-Hey, Russ. Come in for Ronny.
Russ, come in for Ronny.

[radio static]

-Russ, come in for Ronny.
Russ, come in.
-[radio static]

[Mireya] Why isn't
he answering?

[Russell] Yeah, be careful.

You see that?
That's a bear den,
right there.

[cameraman] Dude.

We need to stay out of that.

[Ronny distorted
over radio]

[Russell] Hey, Ronny.
Go ahead.

[Ronny distorted over radio]

Say again, Ronny.
I didn't catch that.

Hey, Russ. Come in for Ronny.
Russ, come in for Ronny.

[radio static]

I don't know
if his battery's dead
on his walkie, or...

[Mireya] We can try again.

[Ronny] I mean,
this is pretty obvious,
like, something put this here.

But this is really intricate.

And you don't
see 'em this high.

It's really odd.

[Russell on radio] Are you
guys trying to contact me?

[Ronny] Oop. I got him.
Hold on.

Yeah, we just, uh,
haven't been able
to get in touch with you.

[Russell] No, I got
down into a low area

and I think there was
enough hillside
between the two of us.

We didn't really have
a good signal.

We just found
a couple of very
interesting structures.

The first one was an X
in the middle of the trail.

And then another,
really elaborate structure,
but high up.

That hillside sure seems
to be offering

a lot of really strange,
strange things.

You guys wanna link
up sometime tomorrow?

Yeah, I think this
is a good spot.

We're seeing
some strange stuff.

And, once we hit first light,

I'd love to have you, kinda,
check out that, uh,
structure with us.

[Russell] Roger that.
I haven't found much
down here.

So I'll come to your discovery
first thing tomorrow morning.

[Mireya] Yep. Be careful.

[Mireya] We're coming
up on it now.

Yeah, I want you to see this.
I wanna get your reaction.

Russ has been very hesitant
to call something
a tree structure,

or to call something,
uh, a sign post.

[Russell] Oh, wow.

[twigs crackling]

So when he got closer
to that big structure,

and I can see his eyes widen,

I got really excited.

Ronny, I'm not gonna
lie to you.

Generally when I see
tree structures,

I've always been
pretty underwhelmed.

But this is impressive.

[Ronny] You know, it looks
like scaffolding to me.

-[Russell] Yeah, it does.
-[Ronny chuckles] Right?

I've always maintained that
I have a very difficult time
with stick structures

because they could
be placed by man.

And I don't put
a whole lot of emphasis
on these.

But, walking up to this
tree structure,
it got my mind processing.

All these lower branches
on this tree that are fragile,

doesn't take much
to break these things off.

This stuff was 20 feet
off the ground.

And I thought, "Okay, well
maybe a good tree climber
would've done this."

-If I tried to do this,
-[Ronny] Mmm.

I would have to have
a lift truck and get up there

and settle those things
into place

and not disturb
all these branches
on the way down.

A tree climber would've
taken that moss
and torn it off.

And the branches
would've been broken off.

This was absolutely untouched.

Won't it-- Would have
to be something
actually quite tall.

[Russell] There's only one way
in and one way
out on this trail.

From either side,
you have to come this way
to get around it.

Right.

[Russell] This literally feels
like it's pushing
to a different direction.

Why would something
push you to this edge?

You think this is set
up to almost...

have game pause
and stop and then,

be a sitting duck
for a few seconds
for something to pounce?

You choke the traffic
to one spot that
you can make your attack.

[Ronny] Yep.

What better place
to corner your prey.

So, chimpanzees are,
in fact, known to have
really organized hunts.

-[hoots]
-[Mireya] They'll have
a driver to run them through.

And then they'll have
somebody waiting to ambush.

[screaming]

This is starting
to make sense to me.

Where the bone pit is...

that's where the food
is consumed.

This tree structure
is where the k*ll
would actually take place.

And when Mireya explains
that chimpanzees are known
for organized hunts,

that makes it
much more plausible.

[Mireya] We have all of this
suggestive evidence.

We have physical evidence.

Let's just throw
everything we have at it.

-[Russell] I think we should
get hold of Bryce.
-Agreed.

[cell phone ringing]

-[Bryce] Hello.
-[Mireya] Hey, Bryce.

Hey, guys. What's going on?

[Mireya] Uh, we started
getting a lot of activity
in this one area.

And you wouldn't believe it,

it's as if something
pushed us towards

the very spot where we
were having all
of the activity last year.

-Are you talking
about the lake?
-[Russell and Ronny] Yes.

-[Mireya] We are.
-Right on top of it, again.

When Mireya tells me
that that trail
leads them back

to the same lake
we were at last year,

I got goosebumps.

None of us have been able
to shake

just how close we were
to finding Bigfoot
in this area

before we had to evacuate
from the wildfires.

And if we're back
at the same lake this year,

then that means that we could
be on the cusp

of uncovering
definitive proof.

So what are you guys
finding, then?

There were seven or eight
different skeletons

all compiled on this one spot.

-Really?
-And I'll tell you
something else, Bryce.

We found an X formation
in the middle of the trail.

It used three different trees.

Some of these branches
were 15 to 20 feet long.

That's pretty odd.

So what's the plan?
What do you guys wanna do?

[Mireya] I think it's time
to take the next step.

It's time to surveil
the lake itself,

using everything
at our disposal.

[Bryce] Yeah, I love that.

As a matter of fact,
do you guys
remember the team

that brought out the, uh,
tethered drone last year?

[all] Yeah.

[narrator] Last year,
in Washington,

the team deployed
state-of-the-art
tethered drone technology.

[Ronny] That's
an incredible piece
of equipment, right there.

[narrator] Normal drones
of this size

have a flight time limit
of around 45 minutes.

But the tether provides
a constant power source,

allowing these drones
to stay aloft indefinitely.

[Bryce] They've been doing
some R and D,

and they've upgraded
their drone equipment.

I think we should
give them a ring.

-Excellent.
-[Mireya] Oh, great.

Uh, why don't you guys
send me your coordinates

and I'll get to work
on something.

Up until now,
we've been exploring
above the lake,

but based on what
we found here,

and what we know
from last year,

it makes sense
that we go down
to the lake.

All right, awesome.
Thanks Bryce.

Last year, whatever was
down by the lake,
just managed to escape us.

This year's strategy,
will help prevent that.

-[Russell] Sounds good.
-[Mireya] All right.

[Ronny] Oh, yeah.

[Russell] Hey, guys.

[narrator] The advanced
drone team has arrived,

and positioned their base
of operations

on a logging road
above the lake.

-Nice to meet you.
-[Ronny] You too.

-Mireya.
-[David] Nice to meet you.

Russ.

[narrator] They've
brought with them,

a selection of military grade
surveillance technology.

[David] So what we have here
is a drone

that is designed to patrol
military bases.

[whirring]

The goal is to cover
large amounts of ground
and detect any intrusions.

To assist us in that,
is ground sensors.

If anything comes
within a hundred foot radius,
detects a vibration,

It'll give us a notification.

And then the drone
gets deployed
to that specific site?

-Correct.
-[Ronny] And how many
drones do we have?

-Just this one?
-Six.

[Russell] Oh, wow.
We can cover a lot of ground
with this then.

Last year, whatever
was out there,
managed to get away.

But this year,
with this many drones
available to us,

nothing is going
to slip by us.

And I'm just curious,
because this forest
is so dense,

how much visibility
will we have with the drone
with the ground cover?

[David] We do have
an IR camera.

It's good for night vision
and it picks
up heat signatures.

And we do have a lot
of open spots
in between the tree lines.

So we could pick up something,

but if we can't see too close,
we need to have
boots on the ground.

-[Mireya] Okay.
-[Russell] That's what
we're here for.

'Cause we'll have thermal
imaging on the ground too.

-So that'll be nice.
-Okay.

All right, so,
while you guys set up,

we'll go ahead and set
up the ground sensors.

-Sure.
-[Russell] Yeah, let's do it.

[narrator] In preparation
for tonight,
the team will split up.

Each member will bury
seismic sensors
across the target area.

[device beeps]

This area is really
conducive to containing
whatever's in it.

If you could imagine it
being, sort of like, a bowl,

where you can establish
a perimeter,

you should, potentially,
be able to see
whatever's moving through it.

Okay, guys.
Zone one sensor deployed.

Zone two set up as well.

Zone three is deployed.

I'm gonna head back to base
and I'll be the eyes up there.

We're set.

We're in a small
concentrated area.

And we are sharing
the space with this thing.

Tonight is the night,

where it all
comes together.

[drone buzzing]

[Bryce] The field team
is gearing up

for tonight's investigation
of the lake.

But I'm about
to speak with
Dr. Robert Michael Pyle.

He's the author
of Where Bigfoot Walks.

He's a scientist,
a naturalist,

and somebody
I really respect.

This guy was actually
given a Guggenheim grant

to study certain aspects
of Bigfoot

and has focused
a lot of his research

in the western
Washington state region
known as the Dark Divide.

I can't wait to hear
what he has to say
about Bigfoot.

[Robert] Every north west
Indian group,

all have a Bigfoot figure,

and they all share
similar characteristics.

And none of them,
not a one,

don't believe literally
in this animal's existence.

And that's why
I actually looked
into Bigfoot.

Culturally, biologically
and in every other way
I could think of.

What made the Dark Divide
your particular area
of interest?

It's really the epicenter
of Bigfoot lore.

Mount Saint Helens
is on the western
edge of it,

Mount Adams is on
the eastern edge,

and then this ridge
of black, shaggy rocks

running between
the two volcanoes
is the Dark Divide itself.

And in the middle of it,
is a lake called Cultus Lake.

And cultus means forbidden
or bad or unsavory.

Something you don't
want to mess with.

Right.

And so, the Klickitats
and the Yakamas,

uh, gave that name
to this lake

because of the frequency
with which Bigfoot
was encountered there.

And that's why
it's been abandoned.

Mmm.

Well, you know,
it's funny you mention
a lake.

Because we're actually
investigating a remote
lake up here right now.

[Robert] That's interesting.

[Bryce] And it's yielded
some pretty compelling
physical evidence.

In fact, not that far
from the lake,

we discovered
a huge pile of bones
belonging to

what appears to be
several different animals
indigenous to the area.

Oh, my God.
There's something
that could represent

the animal's activity.

Things in the forest
that could illustrate

things that could
have something
to do with Bigfoot.

[Bryce] Between
the recent evidence
that we've come across,

and now Dr. Pyle
telling me about
this abandoned Cultus Lake,

this is just further proof,

that these isolated
bodies of water

are hot spots
for Bigfoot activity.

Can you talk about
some of those experiences
you had in the Dark Divide?

I surely will.

The end of my trek came
after a month,

a solid month
in the wilderness,

and I was driving back,
across the edge
of the Dark Divide.

And I stopped at, uh,
Elk Pass.

And all of a sudden
I started hearing whistles.

Just these...

[imitates animal whistle]

[imitates animal whistle]

But not elk bugling.

This is lighter,
higher, smoother.

And I started
whistling back.

[imitates animal whistle]

And the sounds
came back to me.

So I was about
to set my handbrake

and get out
with my flash light.

And all of a sudden,
bam!

Something strikes
the roof of my car.

And if an old Honda
can burn rubber

on a wet, forest service
road up there, I did.

It's fascinating to me

that Dr. Pyle thinks
he might've been
communicating with a Bigfoot

via whistling.

Because I just recently
had a similar experience

up in this very
same region.

[whistling]

[faint whistling from a far]

Did you hear that?

A pattern seems
to be emerging
with these whistle calls.

That's gonna be invaluable
going forward in our
investigations in the field.

So, I think it was
two days later,

I went back up there.

And what do I find

but there was a series
of 12 impressions.

And the 12 tracks
were spaced at about
an 8-foot stride.

And they were
inch long.

And I went home
and wrote the book

and I was able to say
that I came out of it
with an open mind.

But, um, also
I, um...

I haven't shared this
with very many people,
almost no one.

But I feel I had
a sighting, very recently.

I was driving along
highway 12,

and all of a sudden
an elk jumped out
from the side.

And I very nearly
hit it.

I went slowly after that
because when you see one

-you're probably
gonna see more.
-Yeah.

And my peripheral vision,
which is good,

picked up another
animal movement
on my left.

I saw first of all
that it was erect.

Hmm.

It had two legs
that were moving
like this.

And that is had
a long arm
hanging down.

I mean, you must've
been in shock.

Well, I don't want
faith to enter my science.

But am I, um,
even more open
than before?

Yes, I certainly am.

And yet, I don't think
the quality of my sighting
was sufficient

that I would ask others
to accept the existence
based on that.

But I do feel,
that for me
to say this now,

that it will make
a lot of people think,

maybe we should
take another look.

I feel the most
dangerous idea

is that there's
some sort
of a concrete line

between humans
and the rest of nature.

And we need
not to do this anymore.

And what better way
than to find
a sister species,

alive and walking
with us.

Ronny, I've just got
settled into position.

I'm on my upper zone
where I wanted to be.

All right, guys,

I am in position.

Okay, copy that.

[narrator] The team
will now launch

the first of an entire
fleet of tethered
patrol drones

to monitor the area.

It's pretty incredible
to be able to use
some tech

that's designed
for the military

to look for Bigfoot,
I don't think this has
ever been done before.

[David] Stand clear
of the area.

We're good to launch.

Clear.

[drone whirring]

[drone beeping]

-[David]
Final confirmation.
-[man] Good.

[drone beeping]

[David] Take off.

She's up.

Get that thermal up.

We're in kite mode
right now.

Gotcha.

[narrator] Once
the tethered drones
reach a height of 300 feet

they will scan the lake
and the surrounding area

with high definition
thermal cameras.

This doesn't have to
stay tethered.

-We can release and go
wherever we need to go.
-Okay.

[narrator] Ronny
will monitor the live feeds
of the drones

from the operations base.

If a heat signature
is spotted from the sky,

or a vibration is detected
by the seismic sensors
on the ground,

the drones can then
be released
from their tethers

to fly directly
to the area of interest
for a closer view.

And if foliage
is too dense
for thermal cameras,

Mireya and Russell
will be boots
on the ground

waiting to investigate
any anomalies that arise.

[Ronny] How long
will that stay up for?

As long as that tether's
connected, we can stay up
as long as we want.

[narrator]
Once a drone
is untethered,

it will then have
45 minutes
of battery life

before having to return
to the launch site
to recharge.

Guys, just so you know,
the seismic sensors
are calibrated

to pick up anything
over 300 pounds.

So if these things
get tripped off,

it's gonna be
something large.

Ten-four, good copy,
it's good to know that if I'm
moving through here too

it won't pick up
my movement.

Exactly.

[Mireya] Yeah,
that's great to know,
I've got my thermal

all set up, so, I'm, uh,
staking out this one area.

So far,
everything is in place,
the technology is working.

Russ and Mireya
are in position.

The hardest part
is just waiting.

Not picking up
any movement, huh?
At this point.

[David]
Nothing yet.

[Ronny] Are you guys
hearing any movement?

So far I haven't
seen anything
moving out here.

It's just dead quiet
where I'm at as well.

[Mireya] Last year,

I was sitting almost
in this very spot.

And I was out there
with something.

There are multiple,
huge heat signatures
in front of me.

So as I'm sitting here,
patiently waiting,
for something to happen.

I can't help
but feel that

something is just
lurking

from around
the corner.

[Russell speaking]

[Ronny] How
about you Russell?
Zone one...

anything?

[Russell] I'm gonna
run a vocalization

from an alleged
Bigfoot from Washington.

Maybe that will
work out just great
for you guys

to actually hear
and get a response
in your area as well.

Okay, copy that.

[Russell] Tonight,
I'm gonna try broadcasting

a whistle through
this speaker system.

A lot of people say
that that's the way that
Sasquatch will communicate.

Okay, guys,
stand by.

Hitting play.

[whistle recording plays]

[whistle recording plays
faintly]

[whistle recording plays
faintly]

This audio might
stir something up.

It might actually
evoke some aggression.

So, Mireya,
Have you heard anything
since that whistle?

[Mireya] These woods

are so still.

I haven't heard
anything in here.

It's pretty creepy.

[rustling]

Did something just
get thrown at us?

Hey, guys.

It seems like something
was just

thrown at us.

Ronny, can you see
anything on the drones?

Nothing yet, dead quiet.

Nothing yet.

[Mireya] Russ,
are you hearing anything
over where you're at?

Zone one is all clear.

I got nothing
up here either.

[twigs snapping]

[bleep]

Okay, I just heard
another sound.

Mireya, we're not
picking up anything

via the seismic
sensors either.

Wait, what
am I seeing here?

[Mireya] That thing
is big.

But that's, that's
up in the tree.

We just carpeted

this entire forest floor
with seismic sensors.

But nothing
is going off.

Is it possible,

that whatever I saw

is actually using
the trees
to avoid them?

Hey, guys, I am getting
a really big heat signature
up in the trees.

Mireya's picking up
something closer
to her position.

[Mireya] Whoa.

Ronny, it looks like
multiple heat signatures.

[bleep]

[Mireya] I mean,
look at this.

What am I seeing here?

Ronny, I'm moving
straight towards them.

Okay, we're releasing
the tether, we're gonna send
one of the drones

to zone three
and your position.

[Mireya] Copy.

[David] Ready,
three, two, one.

Tether's down.

All right, inbound
to zone three.

[Mireya] So,
I started moving towards
that heat signature,

and I'm still scanning
the area as much as I can
with the thermals,

while trying to also
juggle my flashlight

so that I could
get through this terrain.

And all of a sudden,

it suddenly disappears.

[whispering]
Hey, guys, whatever
I was detecting is gone.

I'm not picking
the heat signature
up anymore.

[Russell] Copy that,
ten-four, keep me
posted.

[Mireya] Copy.

[branch snapping]

Did you hear that?

[branch snapping]

[bleep] What?
That is loud.

Ronny, something really big
just broke behind me twice

and it's getting louder.

The first one sounded
like a branch breaking.

The second sound sounded
like wood hitting wood.

Really, really loud.

Mireya, hang tight,
the drone's
coming your way.

[branches snapping]

[Mireya] Whoa,
what is that?

Ronny, it sounds like
something is hitting
a tree, super loudly.

And it's close.

Do you hear this?

Ronny, I just heard
two very loud,

what you would call
tree knocks.

Russ, we're scanning
zone three right now,
Mireya's area,

but you're hearing
wood knocks from
your position as well?

[Russell] Negative,
it's not in my position.

I hear it down below me
in zone two.

[Ronny] Copy that.

We can send one
of the other drones
over there.

Okay.

Hey Russ, hang tight.

We're gonna send
an additional
drone now.

Picking up anything
at all?

We're scanning.

[Mireya] Something's
moving here.

-Do you see it?
-[cameraman] Yeah.

Why am I not picking
anything up
on the thermal?

[Russell]
What zone are we in
right now?

[David] Zone three.

Whoa.

What do you got?

[Mireya] I'm gonna
move closer to it.

Seeing some movement.

Yep, something moving
across the screen right here.

[Russell]
What the [bleep]?

[Mireya] Something's
moving right here.

Oh, my God.