from the unexplained to the mundane join us on
our journey to the fringe hello and welcome to
journey to the fringe where we shine lights on
fringe topics and chelsea one thing we really
need to address yeah we either need to acknowledge
that ghost hunters are out there trying to kill
ghosts or They need a better name. It's just,
it's simple. Do you think that's why they never
appear to ghost hunters? I'm just worried they've
been killing them this whole time. Wow, my mind
is blown. I think you're right. Yeah, ghost finders.
Yeah, ghost finders, ghost spotters. I mean,
we have bird watchers. You can have ghost watchers,
but like ghost hunters, it's very clear what
you're trying to do. And we need a better name
if that's not what you're trying to do. Holy
shit. Wow. We are your podcast host, Taylor and
Josie, who cannot stew on this. You need to move
on because we have a different episode to move
on to. Here today, doing another Halloween episode,
and that means a creature feature. And I think
- It's Halloween month. Yeah. I got my spooky
Halloween skull right here to remind me of what
I'm doing right now. To keep you humble. Exactly.
Keep me on task. Let me go to your head. Yeah.
Right, I'm recording a Halloween episode. I only
have one cryptid today. This story is the story
of the Deer Man, specifically of central Alberta.
We're going back to our roots here. I did not
know about this guy. Yeah, well you're about
to learn something more. I was just wearing a
jacket growing up. Yeah, this might be him. Throughout
2019, an anonymous cryptozoologist from central
Alberta documented a string of alleged Deer Man
encounters on his blog AlbertaDeerman .com .blog,
all of which are supposed to have taken place
in rural communities across the Canadian prairies
throughout 2018. Why you would do research like
this and remain anonymous? No idea. But this
guy is from Alberta, so you know, intentions
could be blurry. All this guy has on his website
is blog entries of encounters. Not sure where
he got them because all the eyewitnesses are
unnamed, claiming that all of them requested
that their names be withheld for fear of ridicule.
And he doesn't seem to do much more than a handful
of those blog entries. I did a quick search and
there have been Deer Man sightings also in Ohio,
Oklahoma, and Delaware. So if we have another
episode, let's do that. This one's gonna be a
little bit of a funner episode. So without further
ado, here's the first sighting of the Alberta
Deer Man. Now, this report isn't based on the
experience of a single person, but instead a
husband and wife. a church -going couple who
were retired and who both worked for the county
of Lacombe and both couldn't believe what they
had seen. As they always did on that day, they
ate together, had coffee, and decided to drive
through the country, a tradition they kept for
the latter part of 20 years. On that fateful
morning, the two drove through the fog and turned
off the main highway 50 and decided it would
be a nice change if they drove down Range Road
225. A decision that would soon lead to a sighting
that would never be forgotten. While they drove
slowly through the fog, they both claimed they
saw something moving in and out of the fog with
such great speed that it couldn't have been a
map. While they continued to drive, they could
swear it looked like a deer, but it was too large
to be a deer. Not wanting to scare the unknown
skittish animal, the husband slowed to a stop
and waited for a moment or two. in the hopes
of having it run away, in the hopes of not hitting
it. Slowly, the husband began driving again and
was forced to slam on the brakes as standing
just a few feet in front of them was the dear
man. It stood perfectly still and slowly stood
up on its hind legs and is said to have towered
over their car. Without a second thought, the
husband slammed on the horn and stepped on the
gas. The fear took hold of him just before his
car was to make contact with the deer man and
it bolted into the fields covered by the thick
fog. The couple had no idea what they saw and
didn't stop until they reached their home and
ran inside. Encounter number two. This encounter
is shared by a retired librarian whose name has
been held back for fear of ridicule. It was early
in the morning and she was making coffee and
breakfast. She glanced out her window as the
coffee was brewing. Standing just a few yards
away was the Deer Man. She recalled that it stood
perfectly still like a statue and their eyes
locked and neither one of them blinked. And before
she knew it, the creature, why didn't she blink?
She is also a deer man. She will not identify
herself. I assume when they say something doesn't
blink it's because it's a paranormal virgin.
Like I don't understand when she's not blinking.
Just take her like staring contest very seriously.
Yeah, maybe she's entranced and before she yeah,
maybe she's a trained staring artist. Staring
contest enthusiast. Staring contest. Why is that
suddenly a tongue twister? Before she knew it,
the creature slowly made its way to the window.
Its non -blinking eyes were almost hypnotic.
maybe it was her eyes could it not have this
been a regular deer could have been but no this
is deer man if you didn't listen to the title
of the episode as this bond was made i don't
know why it's being described it was quickly
cut off as the deer blinked just kidding And
it turned around and began to make its way back
to where it came from. But not before taking
a few of the crab apples from her tree. Ever
since then, she has continued to wake up at the
same time every single day in the hopes of catching
a glimpse of what she said was the most majestic
animal she's ever seen. What the fuck is the
story? I can't tell if you're active or not at
this point. This is a serious story. Okay. She
never felt fear like the others who've reported
their encounters with the Deer Man. Oh, she wasn't
scared of the Deer Man. It could have been a
regular deer, don't you think? If it was stealing
crab apples. And she wasn't scared. There's nothing
in the story that would say a deer couldn't do
that. Yeah, no. I'm not gonna lie. The writing
on this blog was absolutely atrocious. It was
just so bad. And the stories that I'm telling
you, I had to make many changes to them to make
them at least readable. However, I'm only one
person and it was so, so bad. I can't even...
I just need to ask you, the changes you made,
were they to make it readable or more deer -like?
The crabapple was mine. Just kidding. Do you
like it? If you liked it, I put it in there.
No, it was to make it more readable. There were
words in there that made it completely illegible.
Like she was a librarian. I'll get to my thoughts
at the end of this, but I just usually think
of librarians as people who have a good handle
on the language. Yeah, I don't know necessarily
that it was actual people's encounters more than
someone just they were all written in the same
style. To be honest with you, they are all horrible.
They all had redundant sentences all over the
place. It was pretty bad. And I'd like to point
out at this point. We still have no description
of the actual Dear Man. I'm not sure if that's...
But I never know whether or not I should or if
I just missed it because I wasn't paying attention
for like a two minute window. Yeah, I'd prefer
not to take any blame for that. I'd like to put
it squarely on the blog poster's shoulders. Is
it the blog person's shoulders or is it just
the fact that we assume we know what a Dear Man
looks like? Yeah, here's the thing. I thought
this would be a fun one to share because I don't
know that I would take this one too serious,
but I felt like I should still cover it and it's
this Deer Man of Central Alberta. So I couldn't
not cover this and it deserves a Halloweeny episode,
I thought. Yeah. So story number three is the
farmer and the Deer Man. This report takes place
smack dab right in Highway 53. west of Donalda,
and it deals with a farmer and his livestock.
If you are the faint of heart, I suggest you
understand that in the world of the living, life
is born and taken away. With that being said,
a farmer was awoken one night to the sound of
his pig screaming with fear. This woke him up
and caused him to run outside in his underwear.
Brandishing a rifle, he scanned the area and
found that all his pigs were accounted for. And
this checks out because it is Alberta. I can't
tell you how many times I saw someone running
with a remote in their underwear. And it's just
habit, you gotta go check your pigs. Yeah, exactly.
My pigs, they yell. Is there a chance that someone
wears underwear? I don't see why not. I mean,
we don't have a description of them, so your
guess is as good as mine here. Not knowing just
what spooked the pigs, he fired two rounds into
the air in the hopes of scaring what he only
assumed was a coyote or perhaps another vastly
larger predator. But on that night, he was called
yet again. Vastly larger predator in central
Alberta. Yeah, dear man. Yeah. It's either coyote
or dear man. Yeah. You never heard that? Either
Coyote or Deer Man or One -Eyed Jack. Which was
Deer Man more or less. Yeah, he's pretty much
Deer Man now that I think of it. So that one
night he was called yet again to check on his
cows this time who were crying out in the night.
The farmer didn't know what to make of it and
quickly got his son and ran towards the barn.
The cows were clearly spooked and were stomping
their hooves and shrieking. Sorry, I don't know
why they're shrieking. Like, someone was there
or something. As people who farmed cows, that's
not how cows act. Even if someone was there or
something, they don't shriek or something. They
have slightly different moods depending on the
circumstances, but not ever considered a shriek.
I would say that a pig would shriek before a
cow would, but even then a pig would squeal.
Yeah, and a cow would squeal even before it would
shriek. It's true, it's true. He already crossed
off a coyote as it would have ran away by now
and everything looked clear. Coyotes don't wear
underwear. Nope. He was about to leave the barn.
That was until he heard the floor creak above
him in the hayloft. That's when he realized that
whatever it was was hiding up above. He said
he initially thought it could be kids, perhaps
wanting to tip a cow or try to rob him before
he could say a single word. We had two options.
This is rural Alberta. Yeah, lots of kids robbing
people out there. Or tipping cows. And those
are like two things they're doing. Before he
could say a single word, a noise that filled
him with fear echoed through the barn, driving
his animals into a frenzy. Before he could do
anything, the mysterious figure jumped down and
bolted through the night. This wasn't the end
as he fired another shot and this time almost
hit the deer man. It's a deer man now. It was
too late and the creature vanished into the night.
The animals were all unharmed and were on edge
for the rest of the night. After a few days,
the dust settled down and life returned to normal
for the most part. But now he sleeps with one
eye open and his rifle loaded next to his bed.
I wonder if he sleeps with actual clothes on
so he doesn't have to run outside his underwear
anymore. I got another one. Citing four. This
is in William Canyon Trail in Denalda. Again,
founded in 1911, Denalda is a village located
in central Alberta. I don't know why I didn't
start with this one and is known for having the
largest lamp in the world. That's totally an
Alberta thing. Yep. They got a lot of large things.
While an elderly woman whose name she didn't
want to reveal out of fear of public scrutiny.
recalled her sighting of the elusive deer man
as she was committed to doing her daily hike
routine in order to stay fit and active. She
was alone and just thought that day would be
like any other. She recalled that she heard nothing
but silence, a common trait when about to witness
the deer man. She was taken aback by this as
she usually heard birds or other hikers in the
area, but not today. Yeah. Yeah, she stopped
and was feeling a sense of dread. Soon she heard
the sound of a twig snapping. As she turned around,
she came face to face with the dear man who stood
before her like that of a statue. Is this her?
citing, or is this her romantic novel rendition
of it? Yeah, I'm gonna go back again. It's probably
the blog writers romantic Dear Man novel. Because
I am now picturing this as like a seven part
series Dear Man, the untameable, the romantic
novels. Yeah Amazon if you will notice the writing
style is much the same for every single sighting
Yeah, and it there's not much eyewitness about
it. I would say don't all that is in the middle
of nowhere, Alberta It is I didn't look at that
actually look home. Yeah, just above Stettler.
Yeah, you didn't mention the big lamp though
No, I did not mention the big lamp for I've not
seen the big lamp not middle of nowhere. There's
a big lamp Yeah, biggest city is either Red deer,
which is pretty big or cameras. Yes. Oh, it's
over there. Equal parts between. OK, so let's
remember that she just turned around. She heard
a twig snap. Could have been her stepping on
a twig. That was not clarified for us at this
point. Turns around. Deer man's there. The feeling
of terror washed over her and she didn't move
an inch. The deer man took a step towards her
and towards a clear few feet taller than her.
That sentence didn't even make sense. It attempted
to communicate, she recalled, as if it was trying
to talk, but all it could mutter was that of
what a deer makes while warning others. What?
Have you ever heard a deer warn you of something?
What does it say? He's saying it like we should
know. I don't know. I really don't know. Yeah,
I don't know. the day was cool and damp though
this was completely naked like a wild man okay
yeah this is the romantic novel version she just
alludes to that there's dick flopping out like
everywhere it didn't show any effects of said
weather not a shiver or a tremble It reached
out with his hand in an attempt to touch it.
Before it could, in the distance, a conversation
could be heard between two other hikers and a
dog that was barking like it was rabbit. The
next thing she knew, the dear man bolted from
the scene. Just what it was about to do is up
for debate. But one thing for sure is, if this
creature was attempting to communicate with a
person, where was it about to prey on its next
victim? No one can say for sure, but its fear
of being spotted by people wasn't an issue before,
until the sound of a dog. Is this creature afraid
of our four -legged companions? Or did it fear
retaliation if it decided to be hostile in search
of food? After the event took place, she decided
to run towards the others and warn them of what
she had witnessed. Not knowing exactly what she
was talking about, they believed she saw something
truly terrifying. As they left her, they had
to restrain their dog as it began going crazy,
attempting to break itself free from its owners
and run to the unknown. Okay, I have one last
one. This sighting comes in from a 17 year old
kid traveling to see his friends on a Friday
night on a May long weekend. usually these details.
He was cruising around and exploring the countryside,
but on this day he got lost driving down Rage
Road 174. It's such vague details with all of
a sudden a very specific detail. Yeah. And decided
to pull off the road and turned off to the Crop
Production Services Road. As he was driving way
below the speed limit in an attempt to find his
way back, he coasted until he came to a complete
stop at the site that befell him. was one of
monstrous. The very thought of a half man half
deer on all fours standing perfectly still. Well
there's one thing we found out about Deer Man
so far and that is that he stands perfectly still.
That's about the only thing that we can put together
from all of these. His dick is swaying. We can't
get that from one story. Especially from the
last one. He was definitely naked. The strange
creature was attempting to cross the rope but
stood perfectly still like a statue. What? It
was attempting to cross the rope but it stood
perfectly still. Perfectly deer like. Oh my god.
That is perfectly deer like actually. They freeze.
Oh, someone is here. I must freeze. yeah right
in front of the fast moving object not knowing
what to do he just sat there his mouth wide open
i don't know if this is the deer or the boy the
stench of musk filled the air and soon seconds
turned into minutes he was afraid to move even
an inch as he thought at any moment that beast
could attack him and do god knows what thoughts
were racing through his head and his parents
not knowing where he was of him not graduating
not going to prom and not being able to follow
his dreams the deer man slowly stood up revealing
its true height and slowly it began to walk towards
the car moving just like that of a deer very
quickly in skittish movements but very slowly.
While the temperature dropped, steam can be seen
shooting out of its nose. It silently towards
him and began letting out snorts that cut through
the air and filled him with fear. Just as the
dear man stood a few feet from the driver's side
window, the young man began to cry and without
a spare second, he threw the vehicle into drive
and sped off. The last of the dear man occupying
the same distance as the nameless individual
was that he slowly began to run towards the vehicle
until it gave up. Through his rear -view mirror,
he saw it get back on all fours and return into
the darkness. I didn't give you all the stories.
I'm going to be honest with you. I thought the
Dear Man was a fun thing and it was the Dear
Man of Central Alberta. And I just, once I started
reading this and editing this, I was like, there's
no way I can't do this in all of its glory. It
hasn't happened. It does need to be a romantic
novel series. It does. So to me, just my feel
of it, and I hate to do this on a Halloween episode,
but I also love to do this on a Halloween episode.
I feel like Taylor will regain what I lost on
this, but I honestly feel like it's a 17, 18
year old who was like, I'm gonna start a blog.
It's like someone who doesn't really have a working
idea of cryptids. I could slap something together
much better. And there is an actual dear man
out there, like I listed. There's a bunch in
Ohio, Delaware, Oklahoma. it's actually out there.
This guy could have given it much more details
to make it a little bit more substantial, but
he clearly just made it all up. I was really
hoping for more. Or he just accepted stories
too. No, because these are all written in the
same exact narrative. They are all written in
the same person. That doesn't mean... that he
didn't have other people give him stories and
he wrote them. That's true. He could have got
some ideas, but you can tell he made up the details.
He wrote the stories. There's no eyewitness.
There's no quotes. There's no consensus. There's
not even a description of the creature. We all
have to just assume that we're all seeing the
same thing and that is a deer head on a human
body. Is that what you get from it? That's what
I'm seeing in my mind. It's a human body with
a deer head. Yeah, no, that's got to be what
it is. Deer man. Maybe it's a human with deer
horns. Fully deer to the bottom of the neck and
then human all the way down from there. Yeah.
All of its genitalia glory. Yeah, yeah, no, I
definitely picture it with human genitals. But
I like it's not even like this guy was taking
encounters and just did a shitty job Relaying
them like these are not encounters. They are
not at all He didn't give descriptions or anything
and the funny thing that I found about this is
blogs actually linked back to this citing it
as a source When they say dear man is a cryptid
because he came up in my research and I was like,
oh he sounds good and people give vague descriptions
and then say that it links back to this guy here's
the blog and then these are stories directly
from the blog there's literally last it was updated
with years ago this guy says stay tuned i'm gonna
give you more stories he never comes back with
and yeah so i was hoping for more i got too much
into the research before these are highly edited
by me and you listen to them they're not great
No, Chelsea, it's trying to give us the best
representation of the stories. I really did.
And I read them so nicely for you. And so when
it's not a Halloween episode, because it's a
scary time of year, you got to like I don't want
to put too much stress on you being too scared.
So I needed to lighten it up a little. We'll
have another scary episode of the other Dear
Man sightings and we'll we'll do an actual Dear
Man episode for you. But. Without further ado,
I think Taylor needs to redeem this episode now.
You're welcome. I think I can, Chelsea, because
the next story I knew it comes most strictly
from police reports. OK, that's much better.
Almost the opposite of what I just did. Yeah,
I think this is going to be good because Chelsea,
we're going to be taking a look at the big muddy
monster, which I almost see. I think he almost
sounds like a blues guitarist. but he is not
he is a cryptid in murphysboro illinois wow illinois
again eh yeah i told you i had a theme what's
going on in illinois a quiet town nestled along
the big muddy river what unfolded over the course
of two weeks will become one of the most thoroughly
documented cryptic cases of American history.
What? Complete with official police reports,
terrified witnesses, and a mystery that still
lingers to this day. So, Chelsea? Yeah? We're
going back to June 25th, 1973. OK, quick question.
Is this him bowling? Oh, yeah. That's that big
muddy boy. OK, he's bowling, I think. Yeah. I
mean, he's got the thick thighs that I'm looking
for. Yeah. Just brace yourself. This might be
a Bigfoot episode. Okay, but Dear Man was in
it, so it's not fully... We can't commit it to
a full episode. Big Muddy Monster might be a
Bigfoot. I'm just warning everybody at the start.
He does look like a Bigfoot, yep. But I welcome
him with open arms. I do. I'll accept him as
he is. We're gonna start on June 25th, 1973.
A humid Monday night in Murfreesboro, Illinois.
Around 11 pm, Randy Needham and Judy Johnson,
two young locals, were parked near the Riverside
Park boat dock, a secluded area along the Big
Muddy River popular with couples looking for
privacy. I'm sure they were just taking in the
views, hoping to see some Deer Man dong or something
like that. Suddenly, the quiet evening was shattered
by a loud rustling in the nearby woods. At first,
they thought it might be a raccoon or a deer,
but then something enormous emerged from the
trees. According to their statements in the police
report, the creature was at least seven feet
tall, possibly taller. was covered in long, shavy,
matted hair or off -white hair, soaked and streaked
with mud. Its eyes glowed red in the darkness
and it emitted a stench so overpowering that
both witnesses described it as sickening, a mix
of rotting garbage and sulfur. The creature didn't
make any vocal sounds, but it moved with purpose.
Stepping toward the car, Needham and Johnson
panicked. They sped away and drove straight to
the Murfreesboro Police Department, visibly shaken
and nearly incoherent with fear. Officer Nash
and Officer Manwaring were dispatched to the
scene. When they arrived, they found large, fresh
footprints in the mud, approximately 10 to 12
inches long and deeply pressing to the ground,
suggesting a creature of considerable height.
The officers also noted a lingering odor in the
air describing it in the reports as strong and
offensive. They reached the area with flashlights
but found no sign of the creature however the
physical evidence footprints broken branches
and the pungent smell was enough to convince
them that something unusual had occurred. Chief
Toby Berger was notified and took the report
seriously. He later stated that the witnesses
appeared genuinely terrified and that their story
remained consistent under questioning. The police
report from that night is one of the most detailed
in the entire Big Muddy Monster case and it set
the tone for the investigation that followed.
The siting wasn't just the beginning, it was
the catalyst. It turned a quiet river town in
the epicenter of one of the most documented cryptic
investigations in US history. And it's still
one of the most compelling accounts not just
because of what was seen but because of how seriously
it was taken by law enforcement. The next day,
Chief Toby Berger launched a full -scale investigation.
Officers returned to the scene with tracking
dogs. According to the report, dogs picked up
a scent but refused to follow it. Something about
the trail terrified them. The detail was noted
explicitly in the police documentation, adding
credibility to the fear surrounding the creature.
Now, around 10 .30pm that evening, June 26th,
A call came in from Cheryl Ray, a resident near
the park. She and her daughter had seen a large
hairy creature moving through their backyard.
Officer Nash and Manwaring were dispatched immediately.
According to the police report filed that night,
the woman described the creature as very tall,
covered in white hair, and walking upright. She
said it passed through her yard, heading towards
the woods, and her daughter, who was visibly
frightened, corroborated the sighting. Both described
a terrible smell that lingered in the air after
the creature disappeared. When officers arrived,
they noted several physical signs, broken branches,
disturbed underbrush, and a trail of large footprints
leading away from the property. Prints were similar
to those found the night before. Deep impressions
left roughly 10 to 12 inches long, spaced in
a way that suggests a bipedal gait. The police
report also mentions that the officers themselves
detected the odor described by the witnesses.
It was strong, accurate, and unlike anything
they had encountered before. One officer compared
it to a mix of sewage and wet dog, while another
said it was enough to make you gag. Tracking
dogs were brought in again and once more they
picked up the scent, but just like the previous
night they refused to follow it. The report notes
that dogs whined and backed away, clearly disturbed
by whatever they sensed in the woods. Chief Berger
later commented that his second sighting, coming
from a residential area involving a child, added
a new layer of concern. The consistency in the
creature's description, its size, hair color,
smell, and speed matched the previous report
almost exactly and the physical evidence gave
weight to the claim. In the early hours of June
27th at 2am, Officer Nash was patrolling near
the Big Muddy River, close to the area of previous
sightings. The night was quiet, humid, and heavy
with tension. Murfreesboro had already seen two
unsettling reports in his many days and officers
were on edge. While scanning the brush with his
spotlight, Nash noticed movement. Something large
and fast starting through the undergrowth. He
radioed for backup immediately with the minutes
chief Toby Berger. Officer Manwaring and several
other officers arrived on the scene. According
to the police report filed that morning, the
team began a coordinated search of the wooded
area near the river. They moved slowly, flashlights
cutting through the dense foliage, weapons drawn
not out of aggression but caution. The previous
reports had described a creature that was massive,
unpredictable and foul -smelling. Then they found
a trail of fresh footprints. These prints were
similar to those documented on June 25th and
26th, approximately 10 -12 inches long. Deeply
embedded in the soft ground, spaced in a way
that suggested a bipedal gait. The officers also
noted broken branches and disturbed vegetation,
consistent with something large moving through
the area. But the most striking detail in the
report was the smell. Once again, the officers
described a strong offensive odor, lingering
in the air like a warning. One officer compared
it to rotting meat mixed with stagnant water.
Another said it was unlike anything I've ever
smelled in my career. Despite the physical evidence,
the creature itself remained elusive. The team
continued searching for over an hour, but the
trail eventually went cold. The report notes
that the terrain became too difficult to navigate
and the visibility was limited. Still, the officers
were convinced that something had passed through,
something big, fast, and very real. Later that
day, a local resident named Ray Miller contacted
the police to report a sighting near his home.
He described the creature as gorilla -like but
taller, with long white hair and glowing eyes.
Though his account wasn't filed as a formal report,
it was added to the investigation notes and matched
the previous descriptions almost perfectly. The
third encounter marked a turning point in the
investigation. It wasn't just isolated witnesses
anymore, it was trained officers working through
together, documenting physical evidence in real
time. The consistency across all three reports,
size, hair, color, odor, and behavior, suggests
a pattern, and the fear was no longer just among
civilians. It had reached the rank of law enforcement.
By now, the story had reached local newspapers,
and they ran headlines like, monster sighted
in Murfreesboro. Reporters from Chicago and St.
Louis arrived. Riverside Park became a circus
of monster hunters, skeptics, and curious families.
And on the evening of July 7th, a group of local
teenagers reported a new sighting near the Big
Muddy River. According to the police reports
filed that night, the teens had been walking
along the riverbank when they saw something massive
moving through the trees. They described it as
huge, white, and fast. A blur of fur and motion
that vanished into the woods almost as quickly
as it appeared. The teens were visibly shaken
when they contacted authorities. Officers responded
promptly arriving at the scene to investigate.
The police report states that the area was thick
with brush and difficult to navigate but police
officers did find physical signs consistent with
previous encounters. Large footprints embedded
in the soft ground, broken branches and once
again the unmistakable stench. The odor was reported
in the report as strong and offensive. similar
to the description from June, a mix of rotting
vegetation, sewage, and wet animal fur. Officers
noted that the smell lingered in the air long
after the creature had disappeared, suggesting
it had passed through recently. What made the
sighting particularly compelling was the consistency.
The creature's size, speed, hair, color, and
smell matched every previous report. And while
the teens didn't get a close look at its face,
They were adamant about its upright posture and
the unnatural way it moved, fast, fluid, and
silent. The police report also mentions that
the officers attempted to follow the trail but
lost it as the terrain became more difficult.
No further physical evidence was recovered and
the creature was not seen again. It marks the
end of the documented encounters during the 1973
investigation. After that night, no new reports
were filed and the Big Muddy Monster seemed to
vanish as mysteriously as it had appeared. Now
there are some theories. Some believe it was
an escaped exotic animal, perhaps a bear or ape.
Others thought it was a prank or mass hysteria.
Cryptozoologists propose it could be a regional
Bigfoot variant, and skeptics point to the lack
of hard evidence. But believers held firm, citing
the consistency of sightings and the genuine
fear expressed by the witnesses. Though the sightings
taper off, the legend of Big Muddy Monster never
die. Murfreesboro embraced its mysterious visitor.
and the town now hosts an annual Big Muddy Monster
Festival, celebrating the lore with costumes,
storytelling, and community events. What makes
the Big Muddy Monster so compelling isn't just
the creature, it's the atmosphere, the humid
summer nights, the river mists, the small town
backdrop, and it's the story that blends fear,
mystery, and community. It's about a town responding
to the unknown, not with panic, but with curiosity
and folklore. And Chelsea, I find this guy super
fascinating. And yes, you can actually go to
the Murphysboro Monster or the Big Muddy Monster
Festival every year in Murphysboro, Illinois.
Like they have a statue of him too. Thank you
first off for grounding my episode and how I
started that. That's for sure. This is exactly
what this episode needed coming off of what I
did. How cool is that sighting? I've never even
heard of them, and that has to be one of the
coolest ones. First of all, he's an albino Bigfoot.
I know. Except in the first sighting, it could
be black or white. They didn't know for sure.
Well, he was so covered in fucking mud. He was
filthy. He's big in money, yeah. I'm going to
say he was probably white in that one, too. And
that would explain the glowing red eyes. He was
albino. Now. What about let's float a theory
here that okay, here's what I'm picking up on
like I think he seems like he's probably a Bigfoot
and The thing about Bigfoot is we did such a
good episode on Bigfoot like back when we first
started It's in the history books for journey
to the fringe and that one was a good one It's
paranormal Bigfoot and paranormal Bigfoot is
not a guy that is Should we call him different
than a cryptid? Because I feel like a cryptid
is something based in this reality. To the parameters
of our reality, yeah. Yeah, and I feel like paranormal
Bigfoot, which I think is what Bigfoot is at
his core. He's a paranormal dude. He is in and
out of this reality, which would explain a lot
in relation to this Bigfoot sighting, which you're
not going to ever see someone who's a Bigfoot.
person ever fess up to that he's anything but
for us on a halloween episode because there's
a lot we can talk about within that particularly
the smells that always seem to come up with these
creatures yeah but who doesn't have a smell every
once in a while and my other theory is sulfur
particularly and maybe just maybe this one i'm
gonna rank Probably like third or fourth on my
list of other possible things. Paranormal Bigfoot,
number one. I'm pretty sure that's why he would
never be seen again. He came into this reality.
He checked it out and he was like, nope. And
that was that. The fourth maybe, maybe two, maybe
two or three, he's in a freezer. Oh, he could
be in a freezer. That's fair. Yeah. And hence
why we haven't seen him a whole lot ever again.
Or by that chili. Yep. Walmart Chili. Yeah. So
those are my theories about where the albino
Bigfoot went. He's rare. He's more rare than
a regular paranormal Bigfoot. And that was a
beautiful episode. Yes. And good on the law enforcement.
Good on them. If I was a police officer, I picture
myself in all these different careers in this
podcast. If I was a police officer, I feel like
I would do that too. Yeah, yeah. Say hello. Yes,
it's three in the morning. A Bigfoot sighting.
I will stop at nothing. No other town will get
in my way to finding this. But this with the
sign over to closed on the PlayStation run out.
And I would take the most detailed, beautiful
notes you will have ever seen. And I would be
paying attention to every detail. And they would
say unknown creature. And I would be like, say
no more. That's probably Bigfoot. We're busy.
I'm all in on this. Yeah. I'm really happy about
that episode. I'm glad because I have been Taylor
here with Chelsea. We are journey to the fringe.
Thank you all for listening and we'll see you
next week. Bye. Thank you for listening to Journey
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