1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:27,160 Hey everybody! Welcome back to another episode of Cryptic Cocktail Party, a show where we 2 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,960 have a few drinks, share a few laughs, take a dive into the unknown. I'm your host Dave. Today I am 3 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:39,440 joined as always by Sarge. What's going on, man? Ahoy! What's up? Oh, you know, just recuperating 4 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:45,960 from the weekend. How are you? Happy Pride, everybody! Happy Pride, happy Father's Day to 5 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:51,360 all. Thank you. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Yeah, I saw you went to Pride this year. 6 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:56,120 Yeah. You got all gussied up. Is that the word? Gussied up? You had like a nice shirt on. Close 7 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:02,760 enough. Close enough. Well, so my company is very cool. They're very progressive for a biotech 8 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:08,440 especially. So we have a drag brunch every year. Hell yeah. Two things I love, drag queens and 9 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,680 brunch, dude. I know, right? Put those two together, it's fucking phenomenal. There is nothing better 10 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:18,880 than drag queens and some quiche. Oh yeah. Fucking bottomless mimosas. Yeah. Well, we couldn't do 11 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,960 the mimosas. It was a very sober, it was probably the most sober that drag queen had ever seen an 12 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:33,880 audience. But we had fun. She was amazing. But I also drag in Providence, Rhode Island was this 13 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:40,120 weekend and they do it better than Boston. Really? The only problem is, yeah, so it's all enclosed 14 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:47,000 in this one area. And so there's like a lot of security. It's nice and safe for everybody. And 15 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:54,520 you know, you still get your weirdos. You know who you are? Guys with the dog masks scared my kids, 16 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:59,560 but that's okay. I'm sorry, what? It's their event. Yeah, no, they're wearing leather dog masks. 17 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,880 Real, real creepy looking. But that's their thing. And you know, who am I to yuck their yum? 18 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:13,640 But there's this one guy who's always there. And last year I went, I brought my daughter and a 19 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:19,640 bunch of her friends. And I didn't think that there was anyone more gay than my daughter until 20 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:28,760 I met this gentleman. And he came up to me in adult male with these children around me. They're not, 21 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:34,280 you know, they're not, they're teenagers, but they're still children. Yeah. And looked at my 22 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:40,760 daughter of all people and was like, I don't want to offend you. But this is the most handsome man 23 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,880 I have ever seen in my life. And I was like, oh, that's nice. Yeah. I thought it was just being 24 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:51,080 nice. Like I didn't think, I think he probably like, originally I thought, okay, obviously that's 25 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:57,880 not a fact. So he clearly just saw a dad with his kid and was trying to build me up. But then it 26 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:05,480 escalated and he, he tried to touch me, not general wise, but just me in general. And I was like, no, 27 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:14,600 thanks. And then every time we would run into him in the area, he would start the whole spiel all 28 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:21,880 over again. And my poor daughter by this point is horrified because I'm not even, I'm not even like 29 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:29,800 a human, you know, I'm just essentially a wallet with legs. Yeah. As most dads are. So yeah. So this 30 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:37,720 year I brought my service dog, Lucy. She's not a ferocious animal by any stretch, but it created 31 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:43,880 enough of a barrier for me. Yeah. Yet this gentleman, he was there and he made eye contact. 32 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:51,640 Oh yeah. Yeah. Cause he started to come towards me and Lucy and I, I don't think I have ever made 33 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:58,280 this poor dog run this much in her life, but we immediately turned tail and I went to go find my 34 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:06,360 child because I was like, someone needs to protect me from this weird cause he's not physically 35 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:13,400 intimidating, but he has the kind of look like, like I could be in a basement and just wake up, 36 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:19,640 you know, and not know what happened. And that was my concern. He's got like a blow dart hitting 37 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:24,360 in his back pocket. He's going to put me out. He's got a, he's got like a Buffalo Bill vibe about him. 38 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:34,040 Oh, look at him. He's a big old fat person. Yeah. So I was a little scared. But other than that, 39 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:39,240 it was a wonderful time. Had a great time. I wore my free dad hug shirt. Yeah. And so I got to give 40 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:44,600 a lot of, a lot of older guys hugs, you know, and they, and they would tell me these like sad 41 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,480 stories about how their dad's like, you know, wouldn't, wouldn't accept who they were. And you 42 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:54,520 know, they never talked to him and stuff like that. It broke my heart. But, you know, I got to one kid 43 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,520 was like, Oh, my dad told me to fuck off. And I was like, yeah, well, fuck him. Yeah. Me and my dog 44 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:05,720 like you give me a hug, buddy. I'd be like, fuck right, fuck off right back. Yeah. Oh, well, 45 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:10,920 I'm glad you had a good time and also a haunting time simultaneously. Yeah. I guess. 46 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:17,240 Sir, if you're out there, don't touch me. Yeah. At least not without consent. I feel like we're 47 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:23,240 friends, but don't touch. Yeah. Speaking of pride, we, we got a couple of shirts up now for, 48 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,880 for order. If anyone's interested, just real quick before I bought one, I bought one immediately. 49 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:33,240 Everyone buy this shirt. It's so cool. It's on the front. It's got a little, a little circle with 50 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:38,040 the, the pride flag in it with brass knuckles. And on the back, it says, save a squash, hunt a bigot. 51 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,720 Got them black and white. You can go to cryptic cocktail dot threadless.com to order them. I wish 52 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,400 we could have got them made and then sold so we could sell them for cheaper. But I mean, this is 53 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,720 the easiest way to do it. So, yeah, it's stuck because you got to deal with mailing and stuff 54 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,840 like that. That's, that's a pain in the butt. Yeah. So, but it proceeds from the shirt. There's also 55 00:05:56,840 --> 00:06:01,320 the sticker of the circle on the front you can get in the sticker of the thing on the back. 56 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:06,440 You can get as well. All the proceeds go to support the Trevor project. So definitely go check it out. 57 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,520 Again, it's cryptic cocktail dot threadless.com. I'll also put a link in the episode description 58 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:17,080 with that out of the way, Sarge. Yeah. I do believe we have a bit of 59 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:26,920 HULSOME CONTENT that we need to cover. I think every time it makes me happy every single time. 60 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,840 Yeah. You got one this week and I also have one this week. So I'll let you go first with your 61 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:37,240 wholesome content. I just wanted to give a shout out to Maggie. Apparently listened to the show 62 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,880 before I started, but had very nice things to say about me. And I appreciate that, Maggie. So 63 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:50,600 thank you for being so kind. And we hope you keep listening, even though I just said your name on 64 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,920 the air, but I didn't use your last name. No one is going to know what your last name is, mostly 65 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:59,640 because I cannot pronounce it. Yeah. But if you want to know, I will put it in the episode description. 66 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:07,000 Check the episode description for Maggie's home address, along with the link to the word 67 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:14,760 to get t-shirts with their home address on it. But anyway, Maggie, thanks for listening. Very cool. 68 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:22,680 And I hope you have a great summer. Oh, that's very nice of you. I have one. This is actually an 69 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:28,200 old, this is an old review we got on December 28th, 2023. December 28th is also my mom's birthday. So 70 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:33,560 happy early birthday, mom. This comes from a website that I don't normally check, like that 71 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:39,800 you can even leave reviews for podcasts. So this is why it's so old. It comes from AM Pearson. I 72 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:45,720 believe you know them from Twitter or something like that. Yeah. He's my boy. So they said in 73 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:52,360 their review of the show, I have long suffered from spastic diarrhea and erectile dysfunction 74 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:57,480 for many years. However, these are facts. These are facts. This podcast has cured me of both 75 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:03,480 hilarious, insightful and always interesting. My poop shoot, schlong and brain are grateful. 76 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:09,560 Thanks fellas. Love the son of pootie tang. So I fucking love that guy. He's the best. He really 77 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:15,880 is. He's he's I've known him for a couple of years now. He's a great guy. Really funny. He's 78 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:21,720 been through a lot. So I have a ton of respect for him. He's he's really overcome a great deal. So 79 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:27,560 oh yeah I'm glad he's listening. And you know thanks for being there, man. And if you want to 80 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,880 leave if you want to leave a comment, you want to tell us we're doing great. Or if you want to, you 81 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:37,720 know, tell tell me to shut the fuck up because they do talk a lot. We would appreciate the the 82 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:43,560 comment and the constructive feedback. Yeah. Just shoot any one of us a DM or leave a review on 83 00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:48,360 Apple or wherever this was from. I can't remember or just, you know, whatever. If you want to be 84 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:53,720 part of the wholesome content crew, which is going to be the new t shirt design, just, you know, 85 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,840 say whatever you want. I don't know. All right, Sarge, are you ready to dive into this week's 86 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:05,560 topic? I am ready. OK, I am ready today. Sarge, we are heading to Jersey, everyone's favorite 87 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:09,880 state and definitely not a real life version of the song Hotel California that lets you come in 88 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:15,240 all willy nilly but then forces you to give it money if you want to leave. Yeah, it's it's the 89 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:20,840 setting for the Sopranos, home of the famous Jersey Shore, both the actual beach and the blight on 90 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:28,760 society that was the MTV reality show. It's also home to the small town of Hackett's Town, which 91 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,320 is where our story today takes place. Now, the town of Hackett'sville, for being a small town, 92 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,400 is home home to the headquarters of one of the biggest candy makers in the world. Mars, 93 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:43,160 they make the Mars bars, Snickers, Twix, Skittles and a bunch of other shit. Really? Yes. Fun fact, 94 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:49,320 but that's like the only fun fact about this town. It's also like a lot of shit go down for 95 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:56,840 only being a town since 1853. So like that's less than 200 years. Like in 1886, there was the murder 96 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:01,880 of Tilly Smith, a 19 year old girl who was essayed, murdered and left in a field by the school that 97 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:07,400 she worked at, which is bad enough. But the man that they got for the crime, a janitor at the 98 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:13,080 school named James Titus, was tried and convicted of the crime. But his conviction came from like 99 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:18,040 wildly circumstantial evidence, basically just like he worked at the school and was probably like a 100 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:22,680 lower income person kind of thing. You kind of get where I'm going with it. Jesus Christ. And he was 101 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:28,440 sentenced to hang, but eventually signed a confession and was just sentenced to hard labor for 19 years. 102 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:36,200 Wait, so their decision was we're either going to murder you. Yeah. Or just 19 years. No big deal. 103 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:41,080 Yeah. I don't know what hard labor is in Jersey. I'm assuming he was just like hocking t-shirts 104 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:46,760 down by the shore. I have no idea what hard labor is applying, applying spray tan to ungrateful 105 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:52,520 debutantes pretty much. And his conviction is still like contested to this day. Like no one believes 106 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:57,160 he did it. It was just like a wrong place, wrong time kind of thing. So her murder was never found 107 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:02,520 in 1925, a train wreck on the outskirts of town killed 50 people and injured another 50 people. 108 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:09,000 In 1977, a mass shooting occurred where a 20 year old former Marine in Hackett's Town high school 109 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:14,920 graduate named Emil Pierre took shots at passing cars over the course of four hours, killing six 110 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:22,760 and then himself. Then in 1994, a charity barbecue picnic organized by the Tri County Motorcycle Club 111 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:28,440 was crashed by rival members of the Pagan's Motorcycle Club and an altercation broke out 112 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:33,640 with guns and knives resulting in the death of two Pagans and three other bikers being injured. 113 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:44,360 Oddly violent behavior for historically peaceful people. The Pagans aren't exactly known for like 114 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,840 just through history. And then, and then a motorcycle gang was like, you know what? 115 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,600 We're sick of your peace shit. We're going to worship nature and kill some people. 116 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,480 Well, it did make sure when I was reading about this, it did make sure to say that they were an 117 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:07,160 outlaw biker gang, which I think we already kind of knew. Yeah, given the outlaw activities they 118 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:13,800 were engaged in. Yeah. And then it was reported in 2011 that there were a couple of instances 119 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:19,480 where people may or may not have seen a six to seven foot tall black and gray praying mantis 120 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:24,280 man while fishing on the Mekong River. And that's what we're going to be covering today. Your face 121 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:29,400 lit up like a Christmas tree. You really buried the lead here. You really buried the lead. 122 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:37,320 A praying mantis man. I couldn't give it away too soon. Yes, please. So I'm so excited. This all 123 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:44,280 began on July 26, 2000. My favorite insect. It's really, it's a good insect. Yeah, it is. 124 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,360 Praying mantis are my favorite insect. Oh, you're going to learn because they can turn their head 125 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:57,000 and look at you. And that's so fucking weird. Well, that might, we'll get there. But so, 126 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:07,400 so this all began on July 26, 2011 when paranormal investigator Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters 127 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:13,560 published on his website, a wild story sent into him by a man named Paul Jax, who wrote to Strickler 128 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:17,640 about something strange he had seen while out fishing on the Mekong River. And I'm just going 129 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:25,240 to read you the email in full because it's bonkers. Are you, are you ready? Leave nothing out. 130 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:31,880 All right. So the email goes as such. Lon, I have been, I've recently been doing research 131 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:37,320 regarding an encounter I had five years ago. Fly fishing on the Mekong River in New Jersey 132 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:42,760 with my boss. I saw briefly what I could only describe as a quote unquote praying mantis man. 133 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,720 Although the water was clear, there had been heavy rains the past couple of days. 134 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:53,320 We should not have been out there. The river was smooth, but the current was exceptionally strong. 135 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,320 I was leaning backward and digging my heel into the gravel, but the river was still kicking me 136 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:03,080 along pretty well. Sketchy navigating. Please know I am quote unquote privy to the paranormal 137 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:08,120 and always have been shadow people, ghosts, whatever. But what I encountered that day was, 138 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:13,320 was not a spirit. It was a biological living creature, but it disappeared into thin air 139 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:21,640 almost as soon as I saw it. He goes on to say, for whatever reason, my searches at the time turned 140 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:28,200 up nothing, but then by chance I came across an alien race type video on YouTube and there in the 141 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:37,240 net artwork, I saw, I saw what I saw quote unquote ancient mantis leaders. So when I began, so when 142 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:43,080 I began searching mantis alien, instead of praying mantis man, I found a lot more. They say they are 143 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:48,200 interdimensional, whatever that means, but I did not get that impression. No, this creature was 144 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:53,960 cloaked and because of both my innate sensory perception skills and the particular physical 145 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:59,880 circumstances at the time, and then in parentheses important, I can add details if you are interested. 146 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:07,080 I just caught it movement out of the corner of my eye to my left. And there it was humanoid tall, 147 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:13,400 six foot at least no reference points, but I sent six, six to seven foot tall moving away from me 148 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:19,880 back to the bank in parentheses. It says I am chest high in the river. The first thing I see was 149 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:25,480 the grasshopper thigh, but bending forward like a human, then the whole form. He's looking at me 150 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:31,080 over his shoulder, moving up the bank, astonished, amazed what that I am in the water and a strong 151 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:36,360 current that I can see him. But yes, we lock eyes and this creature is astonished. I get the sense 152 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:41,240 that he can't believe I am in the water that that he can't believe I have seen him. This is starting 153 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:47,480 to read like a penthouse letter. Yeah, it's getting kind of dear penthouse. I never write these, but 154 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:54,600 he then goes on to say, I am not perturbed at all. Something of I don't, I don't know, dude. 155 00:15:55,800 --> 00:16:00,360 I still don't know. Just astonishment. And he is actually trying to get away from me in the water. 156 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:08,120 Triangular head, huge slanted black eyes, just like a praying mantis. Whoa, racist. It's whole 157 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:15,160 it's whole body was gangly, knobby, but you can still sense it was powerful. And no, I would. Oh, 158 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:27,000 my God. It's I know it did just turn into a letter to penthouse. He was ribbed for my pleasure. 159 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:37,240 I would not say it was a quote unquote big bug. It was definitely humanoid, despite the mantis 160 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:42,920 insect qualities. No, I did not tell my boss about this, who was in the water to about 50 yards behind 161 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:48,680 me at the time. And being privy to being privy to the paranormal, you just see these things and 162 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:56,920 sort of go, OK, no, no fear, no nothing. But I do get the sense that my quote unquote whatever 163 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,560 attitude contributed to this creature's astonishment. Frankly, I didn't give the 164 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:06,600 encounter much thought until recently. I can forward to more details. I just believe now that 165 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:11,480 this encounter was somehow very important. And that's the end of the first. Oh, you saw a six 166 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:17,960 foot mantis and you're like, no big deal. I'm going to think about this again. Just so nonchalant 167 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:25,560 about it. Like, what the fuck? So. Long rights back asking for more details, and this is this 168 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:31,720 is the follow up email, I guess this took place in Hackettstown, New Jersey, the stretch of the 169 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:38,040 Mekong River here is unusual in that it's West Bank Borders Route 46, but the East Bank, where 170 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:42,920 we were fishing borders, fields and farmlands, no bank to speak of on the developed side. But 171 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:48,520 the sloping bank on the rural side was high, maybe 10 feet, a strip of trees about 10 to 20 172 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:53,560 yards thick separated the river from the fields beyond. But there was the occasional gap slash 173 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:59,640 path, each about 20 yards wide that allowed clear access to the river. As I mentioned, the weather 174 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:05,080 had been bad the previous several days and the sky was white and heavy. It was mid afternoon. When I 175 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:10,200 saw the mantis man, it was in one of these gaps, moving back up the bank towards the field, looking 176 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:15,880 back at me over its shoulder about 15 to 20 yards away. That is so close to be so nonchalant about 177 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:21,880 it. You know what I mean? Like that is also I know this isn't the point, but I heard white and heavy 178 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:30,360 and I feel attacked. Well, I mean, that guy at Pride would have begged to differ. I you know, 179 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:38,200 I do I do have a certain fan base and they like bears apparently. So the email continues. So I 180 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:43,720 understand that it was several feet above me. He was looking up at it and framed clearly against 181 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:50,040 the blank white sky like a full ghost apparition. It was indeed clear, but nevertheless nearly 182 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:54,360 transparent and fading fast. Oh yeah, he's saying that this thing was like cloaked. I don't know if 183 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:59,720 you got that from these emails. No, I know I did. I did pick up that part. OK, basically he was 184 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:06,120 seeing like a predator glimmer. I feel like is what he's like. No, I think he's talking about like 185 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:13,960 a cape, like a fucking like invisibility cloak from like Harry Potter. Yeah, like Zorak from Space 186 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:19,800 Ghost Coast to Coast, the large cartoon praying mantis on that show. No, I think he say I think 187 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:25,800 it's cloaked. I think he's saying that it has a cloaking. I mean, he could see the legs and the 188 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:30,120 arms and shit. You wouldn't be able to see that. Based on this guy's email, he seems like someone who 189 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:35,960 owns a lot of cloaks and probably attends more than a few renfares. Do you think the do you think 190 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:40,280 you think the renfair community and the fly fishing community, like the Venn diagram, do you think 191 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:46,520 that's I don't think it really fits. I mean, I've been fly fishing and I've been to a renfair, so I 192 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:54,200 can't really. But I'm not like a regular at either. But the thing he said, something that really struck 193 00:19:54,200 --> 00:20:02,600 that really piqued my interest when he said he was chest deep. So I've been fly fishing and you 194 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:09,160 wear you wear waders. Right. Yeah. And you don't want to get that deep because like if there's 195 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,800 like a little bit of surge of water or whatever, it's going to fill up your fucking waders. 196 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:21,000 So it's already like, what are you talking about? I've never gone deeper than waist deep in the water 197 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:27,080 because if you fall in, that thing fills up and you're fucked. Yeah. Well, you know, 198 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:35,160 this could all could be not real. So I. Yeah. All right. I don't know where I think this guy was 199 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:41,480 typing that with one hand. I don't remember where I left off. I'm just going to start from where I 200 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:50,120 am. So I derailed you. I apologize. You left off with him. We were talking about the bank and then 201 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:55,560 you had mentioned the cloak. And that's where I took it in another direction. So, oh yeah. So 202 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:01,080 he said that he would. So understand that it was several feet above me. I looked up at it and 203 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:05,880 framed clearly against the blank white sky, like a full ghost apparition. That's why I don't think 204 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:10,200 it was a cloak. I think it was like a ghost. Like it was like a full body thing. Yeah. Maybe it was 205 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:16,200 just it was indeed clear, but nevertheless, nearly transparent, fading fast. Then it, quote unquote, 206 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:22,920 evaporated mid stride. Again, I stress the strong impression impression that the mantis man was 207 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:29,000 cloaked and I, quote unquote, caught it just right. It abruptly found itself against a new blank 208 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:34,920 background. It was adjusting quickly. No, I do not believe it slipped into another dimension slash 209 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:41,880 plane. I detected movement and first saw that strong left, strong left thigh and strong right 210 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:48,840 calf. Oh, come on. Then the whole thing. And immediately those eyes slash face, the whole 211 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:53,720 encounter was only a couple of seconds. I could not tell you with any strong certainty what its 212 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:59,080 feet or hands looked like. I wasn't looking there just at those strong fucking calves, apparently, 213 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:04,840 but I can tell you that its arms were normal. It's fair. And not the literal mantis face. 214 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:09,320 And not the literal mantis four legs. I have recently seen in drawings of these, quote unquote, 215 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:14,600 aliens. That's really about it. If you have any questions, please contact me. All right. So that's 216 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:23,960 that's that one sighting. OK, now the next report of a mantis man sighting came on December 19th, 217 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:31,320 2012 when Lon Strickler posted on posted an update on his website talking about how he had come across 218 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:37,800 a post on the forum Hackettstownlife.com, which is basically like a it's a full website, but it's 219 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:42,840 basically just one big version of those Facebook neighborhood groups like the ones where like, OK, 220 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,320 you know, like with that fire, those fireworks or gunshots like that, that kind of shit gets 221 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:53,800 posted there. Anyways, he posted a link to the post. And luckily for us, that post is still up. 222 00:22:53,800 --> 00:23:02,600 And I was able to find I just want to I just want to I want like an unabashed, non-biased 223 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:09,800 detail of this event written by someone who wasn't buffing their musket the entire time. 224 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:17,800 Well, luckily for you. So this this post is from someone. How do I word this is a third hand 225 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:24,440 account, I guess, like someone told him this story and now he's secondhand account. You know, I mean, 226 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,400 it's probably the same guy. He's just like, hey, man, I don't think so. 227 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:36,120 So this is how the post on the Hackettstownlife.com forum goes. It goes, I like a good story like 228 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:41,000 anyone else. But my friend told me a story today that was so profound that I felt the need to share 229 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,960 it with the rest of the town. This friend of mine who told me this story is a very successful 230 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:51,560 businessman. Deep into our conversation today, he started tearing up uncontrollably and told me he 231 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:56,200 had something to get off his chest that had been eating him at him for some time. I hope you're 232 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:01,640 ready for this because I wasn't. Apparently about a year ago, my friend and his brother were down at 233 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:07,640 Stephen State Park fishing right around dusk. During this time, while his brother was roughly 234 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:13,160 50 yards downstream fishing, he said he felt this strange vibration in his right ear. And from that, 235 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:18,600 he turned and looked to the right. When he turned and looked to the right, he said he saw the six to 236 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:24,680 seven foot tall praying mantis looking man just standing there and unable to believe that he could 237 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,960 see him. He said the creature was black and gray. And to be quite honest, the way my buddy was telling 238 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:34,760 me the story, I was having a tough time. I know he saw this thing because I could see it in his face. 239 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:41,800 Anyhow, we Googled praying mantis man on, uh, McCong right after that. And it turns out my friend 240 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:49,560 is not alone. And then he posts a link to the first sighting. Now, the thing about this forum 241 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:56,040 is that they allow you to leave comments on here. So people are responding to this. Um, 242 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:05,400 this one says, looks more alien than mantis. And then this one says maybe moth man. This one just 243 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:13,720 straight up says LMFAO. And then there's a response from the original poster and it says, 244 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:22,040 coincidentally, I just happened to run into the teller of the story as I, as I speak while out. 245 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:27,880 Oh my God. Coincidentally, I just, this is obviously poor grammar and whatever, because yeah, 246 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:32,600 coincidentally, I just happened to run in, run into the teller of this story as I speak while out to 247 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:37,960 dinner with my wife. I told them that I posted his tail on the local forum. And then after freaking 248 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:42,840 out, he saw how some people actually believe him. Now, when it comes to something like this, I would 249 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:48,680 never denigrate, denigrate, denigrate either one of our credibility. But I just had him tell me the 250 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:54,120 story again. And if he's not telling the truth, then he certainly believes he is needless to say. 251 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:59,000 And incidentally, he's freaked. He's freaked me out all over again. He actually just admitted 252 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:04,040 that he wet himself during these brief seconds and he sat down in the water. So his brother didn't 253 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:10,440 think he pissed his pants. I'm happy. I'm happy. Some of you take this to heart because on the 254 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:15,320 karma, which I live by, whether this guy saw this thing or not, he is telling the truth, 255 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:24,200 a truth he believes wholeheartedly. That is, that is, I, I don't know if you have ever peed your 256 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:31,960 pants out of fear, but I have never peed my pants out of fear as an adult, as a child I did once. 257 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:39,400 But I had good reason to be scared as an adult. I have been some hairy situations and I have never 258 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:44,600 once peed myself. Now, I'm not saying that because I'm super tough. What I'm saying is, holy shit, 259 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:51,000 this guy must have been either terrified or he just had to pee really bad. And this was his 260 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,240 excuse. Yeah. Cause his brother definitely noticed, Oh, there was a fucking mantis, man. 261 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:03,640 I better sit in the water for a second. It's January. So when this started and he was like, 262 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,440 my friend had something to tell me and there were tears in his eyes. 263 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:12,200 Me personally, I would have gone on the emotional journey of, Oh, Tim killed a guy. 264 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:18,200 You know what I mean? And he's like, I saw a mantis. That's not a reason to cry. I don't think. 265 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:23,720 I mean, if it was scary enough for him to piss his pants, it might be traumatizing. 266 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,160 I feel like I would still be laughing while telling this story to somebody. But then again, 267 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:35,560 as a former member of the United States military, we take great pride in embarrassing stories about 268 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,960 ourselves. No, no, embarrassing stories about ourselves. If I peed myself in Iraq, I promise 269 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:45,640 you, I would tell you about it because it would be hilarious to me. The best part about all this is 270 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:50,600 that, like I said, it's not even the witness who posted this or the follow up comment. Like his, 271 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:55,160 like whoever this dude is, like his buddy told him this in pretty much like confidence. And then he 272 00:27:55,160 --> 00:28:01,720 just decided to blast that shit on the town forum for the whole town to see. Now, the best part about 273 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:08,200 these two stories is that both of these men were anonymous, so no one knew who they were. 274 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:14,360 Right. But eventually this was covered by a show called Monsters and Mysteries in America on the 275 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:19,480 Travel Channel. And now thanks to that show, we know the name of the first person, but also 276 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,600 the whole town knows the name of the second person who pissed himself after seeing the Mantis Man. 277 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:25,480 Oh, yes. 278 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:26,280 And his name is- 279 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:27,160 Do we have a photo? 280 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:27,480 His name is- 281 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:28,120 I need to see him. 282 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:30,760 Is Joe Parenti. I don't have a photo of him, but I'm sure I can find one. 283 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:35,560 Joe Parenti. So Joe Parenti will never tell that guy anything ever again. 284 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,360 No. And Joe, this is a message for you. I'm sure you're not listening, 285 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,600 but you need better friends, man, because- 286 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:41,640 Yeah, that's fucked up, dude. 287 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,640 My friends told me that in confidence, and then they were just like, fuck you. 288 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,320 Joe, I'm telling you right now, bro, I would never tell anyone that you peed yourself. 289 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:50,520 That is your story. 290 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,960 Yeah. Own it if you're going to tell it, but like- 291 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,040 That's so messed up, man. 292 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,320 Yeah. So basically the show docks both these people. 293 00:28:59,320 --> 00:28:59,960 And the first one- 294 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:00,840 That's so messed up. 295 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:07,720 The first one's fine, but to have Joe's name out there after his buddy in a town 296 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:12,760 forum admitted to him pissing his pants because he saw a mantis man, and he says he's a successful 297 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,000 businessman, like they probably fucked up his whole shit. 298 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:15,320 Like- 299 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:16,040 Of course. 300 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:16,920 His whole stock on a blast. 301 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:21,800 Like the first guy, he's just a town sex pest, and I guarantee you, everyone knows who he is. 302 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,920 Because I'm sure he describes everyone by their caps. 303 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:26,920 Yeah. They're strong mantis legs. 304 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:27,480 But the second guy- 305 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:39,640 Yeah. Oh, just rippling muscles with knobs. Oh man, it was amazing and scary. I didn't come at all. 306 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,640 I hope he wasn't borrowing those waiters. I hope he didn't do a dry clean afterwards. 307 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,600 No. After the episode of Monsters and Mysteries in America aired, 308 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:53,640 Lon Strickler would continue to get emails and messages from people claiming to see this thing. 309 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:58,040 Like this one he posted about where a witness claimed that they had a childhood memory that they 310 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:02,760 passed off as a dream in where they were on a sidewalk near where the original sightings took 311 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:07,880 place, and they were surrounded by three of these human-sized praying mantises when suddenly they 312 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:13,160 disappeared, and the witness claimed they, quote, felt a warm assurance of friendship, end quote. 313 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:14,680 Fucking sure you did, bud. 314 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:17,320 Yeah. Maybe they just peed in the water. 315 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,400 Yeah. That's what that warm feeling was. 316 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:20,520 They were in a cloud of warmth. 317 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:27,400 A cloud of warmth. Now, there are some other sightings, but the only other one that I think 318 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:32,440 is pretty cool is a person contacted Strickler claiming that he had actually made contact with 319 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:39,000 these beings all the way back in the year of our Lord 1987, but this time with some wild new details 320 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:47,480 that could only come from what I would describe as a crazy person. He said, quote, they communicated 321 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:53,400 through some manner whereby they connected to the inside of my head through the brain behind both 322 00:30:53,400 --> 00:31:00,280 ears, whatever the fuck that means. He then said, quote, I got the distinct impression that they 323 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:05,000 were cold and insect-like. Logical- 324 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,760 What gave it away, the mantis faces? 325 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,720 I didn't want to say. I was about to say. 326 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:10,840 I'm sorry. 327 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:16,200 Logical with very little in the way of emotion or compassion, which frightened me the most. 328 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,760 The other impression I got from this was that they believe themselves to be our superiors. 329 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:27,960 Like we believe about animals in our world, to be our superiors. Is that what I said? I don't 330 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:32,040 remember. I'm not even drinking this episode and I can't even fucking get this shit straight. 331 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:35,560 Whatever they were- 332 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:41,240 Let's see, cold, logical, tall, skinny. So literally just the skinny guy from Big Bang Theory. 333 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:47,080 Yeah. And he goes on to say whatever they were deciding, it was based on this belief. In other 334 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:52,840 words, for our own good or the greater picture, end quote. So like I said, that could be either 335 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:58,440 the ramblings of a madman or this is actually like one of the few times where like it sounds 336 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:06,040 kind of legit. Yeah, they're either nuts or this was like a life-changing experience. 337 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:12,600 Yeah. So this leaves us with one question, Sarge. Just what is or are or were these mantis men? 338 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:17,640 A couple of theories include alien, which if you know the different races of alien, 339 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:21,880 insectoid is one of them. It does kind of sound like the description of that. 340 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,240 I played XCOM. I know all the different races of aliens. 341 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:25,640 Do you? 342 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,840 Yeah. The grays, insectoids, the ethereals. I'm all about it. 343 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:30,920 All right. 344 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:36,200 Chrysalids. What is it? The other one, what's that one that everyone? 345 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,000 Palladiums. I know that's one. I know I heard that on some. 346 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,160 And then the blobs and the mutons. 347 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,120 I think some of these might've been made up for the game. Sorry. 348 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:48,600 No, you had like the pink one, the pink one that would float and shoot acid at you. 349 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,400 Again, I think that one might be made up for the game. I don't know. 350 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:54,360 No, I don't believe you. 351 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:54,840 Okay. 352 00:32:54,840 --> 00:33:00,280 No, it looked like a tonsil. It looked like an extracted tonsil that had mutated and it was 353 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,360 squirting green stuff. 354 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:09,160 Yeah. Are they terrestrial? Like are they of this world? 355 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,920 Only popping up in this one small town in Jersey every few years, like a cicada. 356 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:19,480 Maybe they are some sort of like fucked up experiment gone wrong or possibly even 357 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,840 interdimensional, which I mean, to me that just puts them right up there with alien. 358 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:27,160 I feel like alien, interdimensional, that is kind of like an alien thing to me. 359 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:32,120 But whatever it is, it's a fucking nightmare and I don't ever want to see one. So there you have it. 360 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:39,720 I kind of do. I kind of do. I love mantis. I just think they're the coolest looking insects. 361 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:47,720 So I had never seen one up until I was like maybe 10 or 11 years old. My dad would tell me stories 362 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,600 about when he was a kid, they would find praying mantis and they would tie like little strings 363 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:59,080 around their around their necks and then tie them to their bedpost. And they would keep the mantis 364 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:05,560 around to eat like mosquitoes. OK, I'm not familiar with exactly how it worked. My dad did a lot of 365 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:12,360 weird shit when I was a kid, when he was a kid. So I don't know. But when I was a little boy, I went 366 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:16,840 to I don't know if you guys had this chain up in New Hampshire. We had the Hilltop Steakhouse. 367 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:22,840 And so we found one. They had like a little they had a restaurant and then a grocery store. 368 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:27,720 And it was like a great it was like a butcher shop. So it was like a great place to get like good cuts 369 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:34,360 of meat. So we're in Hilltop and there's a praying mantis, a green mantis sitting on 370 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:41,800 the fruit. OK. And so people are freaking out because, you know, like they're big. 371 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:46,120 I know they are big and they're kind of creepy looking. They're bigger than what you expect. 372 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:51,240 What you expect them to be. If you've never seen one in real life, they are much larger than what 373 00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:55,480 you would ever think they were. They're terrifying. Yeah. So I think this little guy up, 374 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,360 I think they're endangered. I don't think you're allowed to pick them up. I think you kind of just 375 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:02,920 let them. It's like when you hit a golf ball and like you have to let it lay where it play it where 376 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:07,960 it lands. Well, the way I was looking at it was he's either going to get murdered by someone who's 377 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:13,960 terrified of it in this grocery store or I can just let him go outside. So I picked a little guy up 378 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:19,960 and I brought him outside and the whole time I'm like scared because I don't I've never seen one 379 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:24,040 before. I didn't know it was going to be that big or that it was going to do anything. But I put it 380 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:29,480 down and it was totally fine. And it just kind of like it like walked away. And I was. But now I see 381 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,720 them every once in a while. I see them. I probably see like one or two a summer. Yeah, that sounds 382 00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:38,360 that sounds about right. Because I live near some woods. There's like a little swampy area in the 383 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:44,600 woods. So I see like one or two a summer and they're just the coolest fucking insects on Earth. I 384 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:50,360 don't I know people scare them, but I just think that especially when they turn their head, it just 385 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:55,000 I don't know why I get so fascinated by it. Now, it just looks you in the eye and it's amazing. 386 00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:01,640 Now, what if that was six foot six to seven feet tall and had just the strongest legs you've ever 387 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:08,200 seen? I'd hire him for my basketball team. I would start a pickup league, you know, because if you 388 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:15,480 lose, he'll he could just prey on the winning team. That's fair. Yeah. All right. He's like 389 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:22,200 they're basically an Eastern European draft pick, you know. Yeah, they're just there to play 390 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:28,600 basketball and nothing else. They don't speak because no one understands what they say anyway. 391 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:32,200 And if they do, you can tell they're they're just there for the job. They do not give a fuck about 392 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:40,040 basketball. Yeah, no, they're just there to make money for their their 18 siblings. Yeah. Well, 393 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:46,120 so their father doesn't lose the pig farm that they have in Estonia. Jesus Christ. All right, 394 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:52,280 so that's the whole backstory. That's the end of the Mantis Man episode. I can tell you're psyched 395 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:57,640 on it. I definitely I love it. I do not want to see this thing, but I'll become friends with them. 396 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:02,920 I'm sure you probably fucking would. I don't doubt that for a second immediately. I mean, 397 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:08,760 I want this to be so real. It could be. I mean, as far as I know, everyone who says they've seen it 398 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:14,600 hasn't like they don't know each other. You know what I mean? Like it's not like they're all 399 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:21,080 talking to each other. But on the other hand, all of these sightings and reports seem to be 400 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:27,000 funneled through this one dude on his website, which kind of makes it a little. That just means 401 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:32,200 we need to interview this man. Vaughn, we need to gauge his. Yeah, we need to interview him. We need 402 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:36,680 to gauge his credibility. I'm sure he'd be. I'm sure he would be down to come on, maybe. I don't 403 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:40,680 if he's a lot. I don't know if he's even a lot. I know nothing about this man. I just know that he's 404 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:47,320 going to reach out to him. We're going to talk to his family. Would you say he's a credible man? 405 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:52,280 Yeah, well, we'll do that. If you want to find a link to all of his family's email addresses, 406 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:56,440 it'll be in the description below. We're also going to put their faces on a T-shirt as well. 407 00:37:56,440 --> 00:38:00,920 So you're not alone, Maggie. Yeah. All right. Well, with that out of the way, Sarge, 408 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:06,040 do you got anything you want to plug real quick before we? Yeah, I have a comic book coming out. 409 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:10,440 I mean, I'm sorry, not a comic book. Pardon my language. A coloring book coming out. 410 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:15,080 There's going to be a word search. There's going to be word searches in there and mazes 411 00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:21,080 and you can color pictures of me and this swears in it. So don't give it to your kids. Yeah. 412 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:30,680 Yeah. That'll come out July 5th. July 5th. There'll be a link in my Instagram bio. 413 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:39,240 Very excited. The goal is for everyone to buy it on July 5th so that I can get a bestseller 414 00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:46,040 sticker on it and then fucking take that. High school guidance counselor. I got a bestselling 415 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:51,000 author who I mean, it's mostly pictures, but I did it. You know, you did it. You did it. 416 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:57,640 Yeah. Very excited. I'm doing it through Belmont city publishing. They're a local group out of 417 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:01,880 Braintree mass. So I'm very, very excited. I cannot wait for this thing to come out. 418 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:06,040 Awesome. And we'll, I'm sure we'll post links to it everywhere. Not just in your bio. 419 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:13,480 Yeah. As soon as I get a link, there should be a link ready by, by next episode. So buy my weird 420 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:18,440 comic book. There's going to be, there's a whole word search for cryptids in there. Can they, 421 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:22,760 is it like pre-orders too, or do they have to buy it? I wish it were pre-orders, but unfortunately 422 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:28,200 got to buy it on the day. Because we're going to go through Amazon for distribution. Gotcha. 423 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:32,120 We could do it the other way, but it would just take so much longer to get it out and take so 424 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:38,200 much longer for us to produce it. And it would cost a lot more. Right now we're really selling it 425 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:43,320 just a dollar over cost. And that's just so the publisher can get their money back. 426 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:50,120 But yeah, please buy it. It's, it's literally just for fun. It's kind of like, I'm really not 427 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:54,200 looking to make any, I'm not expecting to make a dime off of this. If I do, it'll be a miracle. 428 00:39:55,240 --> 00:40:00,920 But the idea behind it was just, it's scary right now. Yeah. Especially if you're in the, 429 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:07,720 you know, LGBTQ community or another mine, a historically marginalized community in this 430 00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:13,160 country. And so I thought it might be nice to just have a little bit of a, a little bit of a 431 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:17,960 distraction. I would be nuts to think that this is going to, you know, make your life better, 432 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:23,320 but it might give you an hour or two of fun. So you don't think this will solve all the problems? 433 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:28,840 I'm pretty confident it won't. You know, here's hoping I'm typically an optimist, 434 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:35,240 but in this instance, I feel like there's a lot more to be fixed than some crayons in some, 435 00:40:35,240 --> 00:40:41,160 use a pencil so you can erase. But other than that, yeah, please, please get it. It would be 436 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:46,680 so much fun for all of us to color together. I thought maybe doing a TikTok live, we can all 437 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:51,000 color it together before TikTok goes down the shitter, but that's what I got coming out. And 438 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:56,760 there is a new episode of citizens guide coming out. Things have been a little crazy, finalizing 439 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:02,360 the coloring book and Maynard's been busy in his professional life. But we already recorded the 440 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:06,360 episode. We just got to get it out. Gotcha. Well, I'm looking forward to both of those things. 441 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:09,640 What do we got? We got the T-shirts, which I plug at the beginning of the episode. 442 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:12,920 Oh, the T-shirts are awesome. Get a T-shirt, support the Trevor Project, 443 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:19,320 save a Sasquatch, hunt a bigot. Yeah, I love that. Well, save a big foot, right? 444 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,640 Save a big foot. Hunt a bigot. Save a squash. 445 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,920 Save a squash. Yeah, that's right. Save a squash, hunt a bigot. 446 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:27,320 We also got the Patreon. I bought one immediately. 447 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:32,360 Got the Patreon, it's five dollars a month. And then we got, I think that's it. Follow us 448 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:37,640 on Cryptic Cocktail. If you want to follow Sarge on his, all of his platforms, you can go to the 449 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:41,960 Instagram Cryptic Cocktail. There's a link to all those in our link tree. And I think with that, 450 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:45,480 I think that's everything, Sarge. Would you like to say goodbye to the audience? 451 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:50,360 Yeah. Happy Father's Day. Happy Pride. And if the pride thing bothers you, 452 00:41:50,360 --> 00:42:05,240 if the pride thing bothers you, I apologize for your stupidity.