04x03 - Tunnel of Terror

[bunniefuu]

Previously on
Expedition Bigfoot...

There is a tree stuck in
the ground upside down.

This could be
what we're looking for.

To find proof that Bigfoot
does indeed exist.

Get that drone up in the air

and see if we can establish
some kind of a pattern.

What's that right there?

What?

Hey, Mireya. This
could be a pattern. Holy.

Look, look, look!

I'm following something,
I know that I'm close.

If what I've been chasing
is back here,

we're gonna have a meeting.

Holy cow!

Wow!

I don't know if this thing is
volatile, if it's stable, or any of that.

We need to back outta here.

Be careful.

After trekking a creature toward
the peak of Gray Mountain,

Russell has discovered a mysterious
abandoned mine beside a raging waterfall.

I wanna go inside there,
but we have to get some tech,

there's no way
I'm gonna go in there

without knowing
what we're breathing.

Prince of Wales Island

has an extensive history
of mining.

Including precious metals
such as gold, silver, and uranium.

But while the mining industry
has slowed since the 1970s,

the extraction process can leave behind
long-lasting hazardous contamination.

Now, I know better than to
go into an old mine like this.

The dangers inside here
are numerous.

Everything gets approached
with caution out here,

especially with a confined
space like this.

I'll tell ya what,
let me get hold of Bryce.

Hey, Russ. What's going on?

Hey, Bryce. I've been
tracking something all day long.

This thing's been moving
out in the brush in front of me,

and it's definitely
taken me on a run.

I found a waterfall,

right beside the waterfall
is an old mining claim.

Are you able to get inside?

Without knowing
what I'm breathing

and if the integrity of these
walls and ceiling are okay.

Um

I have a contact,

he might have just the thing
that we need.

Excellent. Look, I'm gonna.

Yeah, please do.

And stay safe, I'll talk
to you soon, man. Bye.

I think he's got
a solution for us.

But for tonight, let's put
a couple trail cams up.

If I get a couple trail cams

and anything moves here
tonight, we're gonna capture it.

Let's go to work.

I can actually see your light
from here, I'll head right there.

All right, sounds good.

Outside the target zone,

while investigating the areas surrounding
two mysterious upside down trees,

Ronny has discovered an additional
tree 2 miles from the originals.

- Hey.
- Hey, man.

Check it out.

Wow!

Smaller that one.

Height is similar,
but a smaller version of it.

So strange.

But same terrain.

- Yeah, no obvious cut marks.
- No.

This has also been here a
long time, it's got moss on it too.

Exactly.

And they're in close proximity
to each other.

So, to me

this is significant.

This is a major
breakthrough for us,

to find an additional tree.

There seems to be a pattern.

And the fact that there's
all this Bigfoot activity

I believe
that there is some connection.

These upside down
trees are unusual.

Because it's not easy to see

how they could have possible
been placed there.

What we need to do is figure out
what did this, what placed them there?

What is its purpose?

I just think
we have to be really careful

in assigning any sort of meaning to
something that we're finding like this.

Because at the end of the day
we don't have the connect.

We're missing the piece of
knowing what made it, or why.

Well, let's keep
searching this area.

Then we can send our findings to Bryce and
head back to base camp tomorrow morning.

Sounds good.

I'm just plotting that
additional upside down tree,

that Ronny and Mireya found,
on our map.

I just can't stop thinking about
it. I feel like it has meaning.

You know, a lot of researchers
think that tree structures

or tree manipulations
serve as guideposts or signs.

It could be marking Bigfoot
territory. Nesting sites. Food caches.

Who knows?

So right now, I'm seeing
if a pattern emerges.

So this is the lake, where we first
started our investigation, right here.

Here's the mountain, where
we're been operating out of,

where our witness thinks
these Bigfoot are hiding out.

It's also where we got
unusual readings

with our gas detecting drone
on our very first night.

It doesn't have
an official name,

we've been calling it
Gray Mountain.

And then, over here is where
we found those upside down trees.

Hang on a second here.

Weird.

Okay. So I'm just drawing a
line from the peak of the mountain

to that additional tree that
we just found, right there.

And then, I'm gonna draw it
to the work site.

Where those loggers
left in a hurry

because something
was driving them out.

And then, I draw a line from the
peak of the mountain to the work site.

That's an equilateral triangle.

Look at that.

All sides are pretty much equal.

That's insane.

You know, that sticks out to me

because there are places
on this planet, hot zones,

like the Bermuda Triangle,

these spaces known
for anomalous activity

that happens to be in the
shape of an equilateral triangle.

This tells me
we're on to something.

And the fact that that mountain,

and those upside down trees,
and this work site

make an equilateral triangle.

Strange things happen, but I
don't believe in coincidences.

This is significant!

It's quite in here.

Not really seeing anything
unusual here.

Unable to determine the origin or
the purpose of the upside down trees,

Ronny and Mireya have returned
to their base camp

near the foot of Gray Mountain.

- A lot of tree fall here.
- Yeah.

- Big ones too.
- Yeah.

They're picking up their
investigation near the location

where a gas detecting drone
found compounds

that give off smells commonly
associated with Bigfoot.

I mean, one thing I don't
understand is, you know,

just recently this was all covered
in snow a couple months ago.

And those upside down trees would
actually be hidden from the snow.

So I'm curious, they would probably
only go there certain times of the year.

- I don't know.
- I mean, animals will leave an area

once they've depleted resources.

But they're also known
to return to areas

that they know they have
a very reliable food source.

So you would imagine
that then the predators

would also start moving
into this area.

The Native American tribes
out here do believe

that Bigfoot's more human
than animal.

And that they're maybe coming back
to that same spot to bury their dead.

So maybe it's almost like
burial mounds?

When you're
talking about mourning

there is actually
quite a few examples

of animals that will mourn
their dead.

Very much like humans do,
in that same emotional way.

Elephants will, generation to generation,
return to where one of theirs had passed away.

Chimpanzees, same thing, it's always
really social, highly intelligent animals.

If it was just
one of these things,

the upside down trees,

these stories from
the Indigenous communities,

or that triangle,
I wouldn't be so sure.

But the fact that we have
all three of these things,

tells me that we're on the right
track and we need to keep looking.

What are you seeing?

It looks like a

upside down tree.

- This here?
- Yeah.

Definitely resembles it.

I cannot believe
what I'm seeing.

Last night, we found
upside down trees

and now, there's another right
in the middle of our target zone.

To me, this has to be a pattern.

Doesn't that look like it?
In the middle?

I'm not really sure, Ronny.

This is definitely just...

- Natural?
- Yeah.

I don't know, Mireya.

Maybe it's not exactly
an upside down tree,

but this looks like some kind
of tree manipulation.

And when it comes to Bigfoot,
where there's smoke there's fire.

I just don't wanna
leap to big conclusions,

based on upside down trees

and assign
all this significance.

- But...
- I just wanna keep an open mind.

- 'Cause a lot of things are possible.
- It's an interesting theory.

I'm just saying, be careful
with that. Like, the big leaps.

I know Ronny puts a lot of stock in these
upside down trees and tree manipulations.

But just because we find
these anomalies in the forest

doesn't mean that they
are markers for anything.

So I'm willing
to keep and open mind,

but this, to me, is not definitive
evidence of what we're looking for.

Well, let's just
keep going on this path.

If there's anything to this we're
bound to run into something else.

All right.

Six and half miles
from Ronny and Mireya,

Russell has made his way
from the mine entrance

to the only access road
near the mountain.

- You John?
- Yes, sir.

Awesome, I'm Russ.

- Nice to meet ya.
- Nice to meet you.

It's his rendezvous point

for the hazardous site expert
Bryce has sent.

Take a look at this.

Wow!

- This is a robotic dog.
- My God!

I'm excited
to see this thing work.

The piece of technology
that Bryce had sent up

is something that you only see
in sci-fi movies.

It has four legs and stands up

and walks like a dog.

This highly agile, mobile
robot is equipped with sensors

to detect dangerous gases,

and can move autonomously
with the help of lidar.

It's used in mining
operations, space exploration,

and by the US Military
to sweep for landmines.

If the robotic dog tells me
that it's safe for me to go inside,

I'm hoping I'm gonna
find answers inside this mine.

That's incredible.

Let's do this.

You see that opening over there?

Wow!

That looks pretty travelled?

Yeah, looks like something
big could get up and down there.

Four and a half miles
from the abandoned mine,

Ronny and Mireya continue their
search in the area where, two days ago,

possible Bigfoot scent
was detected.

Wow!

There's a bunch
of trails over here.

Yeah.

There's a river just down here.

This is sorta new for us.

- Yeah.
- A swampy area.

Usually these areas tend
to attract a lot of wildlife.

There's nutrients that
animals get from these swamps

that they can't get from
anywhere else in the forest.

I see it with gorillas
in Africa all the time.

They were getting
these trace elements

that they couldn't get
from food anywhere else.

That's interesting, 'cause
there's been a ton of.

Bigfoot sightings
in and around swamps.

So the fact that this is here,
we got all these trails.

I think the chances
of us seeing something

moving around here
is pretty good.

Yeah, I like this a lot.

Gonna go over here where there's
some mud, see if there's any tracks.

Anything?

You know, something's been
feeding down this area there.

Yeah.

We know there's something
in the swamp with us.

But we've lost all signs of it.

The muddy terrain coupled
with these multiple trails,

makes it really difficult
for us to follow anything.

But whatever is out here, it's
clear that we need to get eyes on it.

All right, so this is a really
good area.

So I think we should
set camp here for tonight.

And also,
let's set up some trail cams

we've got this swampy area,

and we just
had something moving...

- Yeah.
- Almost directly across from us.

- So I'd really like to set up the trail cams here.
- Okay.

One thing we noticed, all this skunk
cabbage which is starting to come out

a lot of it along the trail, you
can see it's been bitten off.

So I wanna put a trail cam
facing over here.

This place has all of the earmarks
of these hot spot locations.

And the added benefit of having
our base of operations here

is we know
that Bigfoot is curious,

and so this is something that is
gonna draw something like a Bigfoot in.

I'm gonna
put the trail cam here.

Because we've got a trail

that heads right over the hill to
where animals would come down.

Yeah, let's set up
the motion detectors too.

Setting up this perimeter

with a motion detector
is incredible useful,

because it's at an
intersection where anything

that wants to get in and out of
that swamp would have to cross.

So this is a great position

to capture anything that's
coming in or out of here.

Wow!

Near the mouth
of the abandoned mine,

the robotic dog is prepped
for its mission

to determine if it's safe
for Russell to enter.

So, are we ready to go?

- Yeah.
- Let's do it.

Wow, that is fast.

We're gonna understand
the geometry of this mine.

It's sensing the oxygen levels
as it moves forward.

On the front if it,
it has this lidar mapping

it will actually see
everything in front of it.

What is it doing?
Why did it stop?

Well, it looks like
we hit an intersection here.

Yeah, let's start with the right
and see how far we can go.

- Okay.
- And then, we'll circle back to the rest.

Is that a hole?
Or is that a pit?

Okay.

Yeah, so, I'll turn it around,
bring it back.

Let's check out
the next chamber.

- Yeah, it's another dead-end for us.
- Yeah.

Doesn't continue very far.

Can we see if there's anything
off to the left there maybe?

Absolutely.

Here's the third tunnel and
this one looks significant.

Wow.

- Boy, that goes way out there.
- Yeah.

- I mean, I can see timber on the left it looks like.
- Yeah.

Those are logs,
supports for the mine there.

- Yeah, looks like they're quite old too.
- Yeah.

We may wanna
turn it around at this point,

I'm not confident enough
to let it go much beyond this.

Seems like the air quality
is pretty good.

Yeah, air quality looks great.

So it stands to reason that
something could live back here.

We have a water source,
we have vegetation,

we have good oxygen levels
all the way back here.

You talk about seclusion, if something
wanted to stay out of the human eye.

Yeah, that's right.

Wow.

I've been cleared
to go inside this space.

It looks like it goes back

quite a ways from what
we're seeing on the mapping.

And there's a couple different
shafts that go off to the side.

We were only able to go so far
with this robotic dog.

What's beyond those boundaries.

I need to see it for myself.

It's time to go in.

I'm glad we were able
to link up tonight, man.

Yeah, happy to.

Tonight, I'm meeting
with Jeffrey Sheakley,

who's a member
of the Tlingit tribe.

Tlingit have a long
and robust history

regarding creatures
like Bigfoot and the Kushtaka.

So, Jeffrey's information could
be invaluable to our investigation,

because what he has to say
is so personal and sensitive,

he asked to speak with me
in the privacy of my car.

Jeffrey, I know this is
difficult to talk about in public.

I'm sure there's a lot
of superstition and secrecy

around this subject.

It's not talked about
really very much.

Well, like I said, I really
appreciate you talking to me.

Our team's been investigating
these upside-down trees.

Do you think we should be
going into those places

where we see these types
of structures or indicators?

That's a good question.
I don't know.

- You definitely want to be cautious.
- Yeah.

Because when I saw
you talking to my dad about.

Bigfoot and the Kushtaka,

he had sat me down
and told me his story

about his father

and his father's brother.

This is back in the 1950s.

They went hunting,

and they were at the bottom
of this mountain

and they both blacked out
at the same time.

What?

And when they came to, they
were on top of the mountain.

No recollection
of what happened.

- What the hell happened?
- Their clothes were tore up.

They had blood on 'em.

- Their blood?
- No.

- Whose blood was it?
- They don't know.

Three days had gone by,

and it felt like
a minute to them.

That is so wild.

Yeah, and my grandma
talked about the Kushtaka

and how it could have
taken over their bodies

and used them for something.

- Really?
- What, we don't know.

So, your grandma said
that the Kushtaka

could take over their bodies
and do who knows what.

- I think it took over their bodies for three days.
- Wow.

That's really scary
and horrifying.

Jeffrey's story takes the possible
dangers of these encounters

up to a whole other level.

I've heard of Bigfoot trying
to lure people into the forest.

But if the Alaskan version,
called the Kushtaka,

is taking over somebody's body,

that's something
entirely different.

You get that gut instinct,

and you hear something out
in the middle of the woods

- that don't seem right.
- Yeah.

Don't keep pulling towards it.

Whatever it is
out there that did that,

is still out there.

There's things out there in this
world that we just don't understand.

With trail cameras
and motion detectors

set up in the swampy terrain
near their base camp,

Ronny and Mireya are
exploring the surrounding area

to see if they can pick up evidence
of anything moving through it.

It's really strange, the
record button's not working

because I think I got
a heat signature.

- It's a heat signature.
- Really?

You know what,
I'll just take a picture.

It looks good.
It definitely looks good.

No, I think it's just
a little bit higher.

All right, let's just go
towards it and see what it is.

Anytime you pick up on a lead

like a thermal heat signature,
you have a choice.

You can either stand back,
or you can go towards it

and I'm always gonna
push to going towards it,

because I'm out here for a
reason, and I want to find it.

Ronny?

Whatever it is,
it's still there.

It's straight that way.

Gone?

- I didn't even hear anything move.
- -Me neither.

- I mean, it really looked like it was just up here.
- Yeah.

I mean, it could be below,
like these root systems.

I feel like I could tap down.

Just too many places
to hide, really.

Animals don't just disappear,

but they are very comfortable
in these surroundings,

and they know how to, very
stealthily, move and hide.

We know that
something was there.

As soon as we get there,
it's gone.

And as we're looking
around, we realize

it could have hidden
just about anywhere.

- There's also all these trails...
- -Yeah.

That just sh**t off.

For us, this terrain
is really challenging.

But for them, it's their home

and they know
exactly where to go.

All right, I'm not picking
it up anymore.

Let's start walking that way,

and see if we pick it back up.

I think I might
be a little lost.

And I feel like I'm just
walking around in circles.

Just a quarter mile
outside their target zone,

Bryce has returned to where
Jeffery's grandfather had an encounter

with a possible Bigfoot
more than 60 years ago.

Man.

Jeffrey told me that there's
still something mysterious

in these woods.

Whatever is out there that
did that, is still out there.

So I'm at the same location

where his grandfather
had his experience

to see if there's any evidence

that points to Bigfoot
being present in this area.

Everything feels
very disorienting here.

Can you hear that?
It sounded big.

Check this out.

I mean, these look like
they were placed here.

Let me just get my
camera out. Hold on here.

Wow.

So, I'm just documenting this,

what it looks like...

East.

Look at this right here.

That is so weird.

Here we go.

I've never seen these sort
of balancing branches before.

I almost don't even
want to touch it.

And then, right here,

I mean, this just catches my eye

like it was placed here.

What does it mean?

Do you see that?

Seeing these balanced branches
woven together in the middle of the woods,

to me, that just
screams Sasquatch.

What the hell is that?

This is definitely constructed.

Something made this.

We are definitely
in some sacred space,

because this territory
feels marked out.

All right. Let's see if we can
find anything else.

Watch your step.

Seven miles away,

Russell has been cleared
to explore the abandoned mine

he believes could be
a Bigfoot shelter.

Okay, let's see where
this place goes.

We've got the go-ahead
to go in this space.

And it's... It's spooky.

What I'm looking for is anything
that might have scraped these walls.

If you have something that's
nothing but hair on its shoulders,

it's gonna leave hair behind.

Anything on the ground

that might look like
a footprint.

Anything that is DNA

that I can get my hands on
in this cave

will be really valuable to me.

Look how something's
stepped right here.

Shh, listen.

It sounds like they were...

Did you hear that?

Geez.

Be quiet.

I wanna see what's down
each one of these tunnels.

According to the LiDAR
detection of this dog,

I learned there's
a cross section

where it goes to the right,

straight ahead, and to the left.

I wanna do this tactically,
methodically,

I wanna go in
and go to my right.

And I don't wanna miss anything.

We've hit a dead end, bud.

Okay, let's back outta here.

It's a bit of... Shh-shh.

Just one.

Here we go.

Shh-shh-shh.

Let me check down this way.

This mine's like a frickin'
labyrinth.

- Hey, I think we're back near our camp.
- -Yeah.

Hey, Ronny...

Look, the light was triggered.
The motion detector went off.

- Really?
- Do you see the red light?

- Holy.
- Something triggered it.

As we're searching the swamp

for any signs of what
made that heat signature,

something had triggered those
motion sensors right by our tents.

Something is at our camp.

Oop. Are you all right?

It looks like two
of them that triggered here.

I found the water on that
side, right by the tents.

We need to be on guard.

If it was just one of them
that had been triggered,

I'd question whether it
was working properly or not.

But the fact that they
were both triggered,

- seems to me, like, something came through here.
- For sure.

I don't see any prints
around this one.

There's no wind, so we know it's
not a branch or anything triggering it.

We searched all around the camp

to see if we could find
any prints or signs

of whatever it is that
came through here.

But we couldn't find anything.

There's a huge population of
bears and wolves on this island.

And while an attack
isn't likely,

the danger to ourselves
and our crew,

it's real and immediate.

Let's keep looking, though.

I don't know what triggered
our motion sensors,

but we're definitely gonna
have to be on high alert tonight.

Check this out.

What the hell was that?

Is that glass?

What the hell is this?

Holy.

Obsidian, also
known as volcanic glass,

is formed when lava
cools rapidly

after being exposed
to air or water.

It's hard yet brittle nature
causes its edges

to be sharp enough to be
used as surgical scalpels.

This does not belong here.

This is crazy.

On the ground were some
shards of obsidian

in one concentrated place.

Look at that.

That doesn't
sound like a big deal,

except that obsidian
doesn't exist on this island.

So, you're talking about
something

that is completely out of place.

What is it doing in this mine?

Now, the miners
wouldn't need obsidian,

they had metal tools to use.

Who would need obsidian
in this space?

Something brought this
material in to use

that has to have
opposable thumbs,

and I can only think
of one thing besides man

that would have used this.

I collected every
piece of that obsidian I could

because if anything
grasped that,

there should be some DNA
we can pull from that.

Man, this is another dead end.

We've explored
all these passages.

That's the end of the line.

During
an investigation like this

you don't always find
what you're looking for,

but I think I found
the next-best thing.

Let's get out of here.

This obsidian could be
a really amazing find.

Are you guys still rolling?

Check this out.
I wanna show you something.

Okay, so, do you remember
how last night

Russell was investigating
that abandoned mine,

and he felt like he heard
something coming

from right behind him,

but he didn't see
anything, right?

Well, I wanted
to go back and see

if there was possibly
something we missed.

And I think I might have
found something.

So, what you're looking at here

is the LiDAR scan
that the robot dog took.

So, as you can see, it's sort
of a cross intersection here.

This is where Russell is,

and this is where he thought
he might have heard something.

But check this out.

This is the camera
on the robot dog,

so, this is the actual cave,
right here.

So, this is that same
corridor, looking upwards.

So, this actual angle
from the robot dog

is staring at that pile
of rocks.

Do you see right here
there's nothing there?

But look at what
the LiDAR captured.

What is this?

Watch this, right there.

If I rotate this LiDAR,

do you not see a humanesque form

sitting on these rocks?

Because that's what I see.

But look at this.

If you look even closer,
watch this

as we slowly start
to peel away the LiDAR.

What is that?

What the is that?

I see a head right here.

I see a large back, arms...

Here's the question, right?

How come we don't see it
on the camera,

but yet we see it on the LiDAR?

So, I wanted to go back
through Russell's footage,

to see if there
was something I missed.

And I found something.

This is the footage that
Russell took

when he was moving
from this corridor to get out.

Here we go.

Right there! Did you see that?

I'm gonna go back,

because if you don't
slow it down, you miss it.

But watch this.

Right behind Russell's
cameraman,

right there, right there,

you sort of see this amorphous
blob move behind him.

I don't know what
the hell that is.

That could be a video
distortion or something,

but to me, I think we just
captured a cloaked Bigfoot.