Inside Area X, Oklahoma: What’s Happened in the Last 5 Years

0:00You're listening to Bigfoot Society and I'm Jeremiah Byron. In this show, we go beyond the campfire stories to bring you first-hand encounters from people who say they've seen something impossible, from backwoods trails and remote mountain haulers to quiet farms and crowded highways. The stories come from everywhere and each one leaves us with more questions than answers. These are the voices of the people who've lived it. So settle in because today you'll hear another account that just might change the way you see the woods forever to stay with us. I've got Rick with me. Rick is on the Board of Directors for the NAW. Rick is on the Board of Directors for the NAWAC for about two years and of course we're talking about the organization based down there in Southeast Oklahoma as we'll hear more about Rick and then in the mental health profession for 18 years with a doctorate in forensic psychology. So a little bit of information about him but welcome to the show Rick. How are you doing today, sir?

1:00I'm doing really well. Thank you. How are you? I'm doing great. A little information about how this this all came about. I had an individual from your organization reach out to me about a previous episode and this individual who was like, hey, we would love to kind of touch base with this person you talked to and I was like, I would love to touch base with you guys. So and thankfully we were able to work something out. As we were talking about beforehand, his been about five years since there's, I guess you could say maybe a public update about what's been going on with the NAWAC. So we will see about where our conversation will lead today and what kind of information we'll get through updates but again it's a pleasure to have you on. Is there anything else that listeners would need to know about your Rick before we get started? Well, I don't think I would put myself in the typical

2:02bigfoot hunter category if that's what you want to say. I was never too much into outdoor activity. I enjoyed it just to get to do it very much. I've always loved the topic. But wasn't really sure what I'd be able to participate or what I would be able to bring to the group. You know, I'm not a hunter. I'm not an outdoorsman. But I can observe and I'm willing to make the drive from Arizona to Oklahoma multiple times a year. Boots on the ground and I can keep field modes and take pictures and do other things that need to be done. So I think sometimes people feel they have to have a certain set of skills or attributes to be successful in a group like this. I think it's more just your willingness to participate and learn. That's fantastic. How about this? Can you think of a situation where you experience something

3:07at the beginning of your time in area X where things got extremely real for you? And you're like, oh, this place is not just a story. This is actually happening right here. Yes. I'm fortunate in the sense that my first venture in there. It rained a lot. We had a lot of rain that week, which is notorious for rain in that area. I don't remember if it was the second or third night, but we sit around what we call a dark camp. So we don't have lights. We don't have a fire. We just kind of spread out in front of where we're camping with thermal images and just listen, watch, see what we can detect. And I remember Kathy strain had said on leaves of one of the documentaries out there. Anyway, she had said they're always watching you. Just assume they're always watching you. I told the gang I want to try something and I'm, you know, being the new guy. I know everything's been tried before, but I just picked it up a big rock from next to me and I chucked into the woods

4:11in front of us. And about 30 seconds later, we hear that indistincted sound of something coming through the treetops and we hear a thud on the ground. And like, all right, let's, they're here. So we got out a three man slingshot. So with two guys holding the giant rubber band going to be able to lean back and we fired rocks into the woods and we get, I think we had three or four come back at us and then it just stopped. But I, yeah, I remember thinking that's, okay, well, this doesn't happen normally. So and just getting down there, I mean, you do realize, I mean, you've been told over and over and over hearing about area X, how remote it is. But once you get out there and see it and try to walk it, you realize this, there's nobody out there is in that situation. So that got my attention pretty quick. That had several things out there. We're like,

5:13okay, this is, this is the real deal out here. Absolutely. For listeners that I just had a thought, I was like, there's going to be some listeners that have, they probably won't know the area that we're talking about. Do you have an elevator pitch of what area X is? I mean, that's a tricky one. That's a great, great question. So I would just say, yeah, down in the in the southeast corner of Oklahoma and the Washington mountains, it's a secluded area. I mean, there's been cabins, I think throughout throughout the years, but it's very difficult to get down in there. There's a lot of private land down in there. But yeah, it's the terrain is I've never, I've never experienced anything like that. Living in Arizona, I've done a lot of hiking. This, you have to keep your eyes on

6:14the ground a lot to survive out there. It's it's pretty rough. I actually missed a sighting watching where I was walking. And so it gets a lot of rain. I know it's, I think the color of moderate rate for us. It gets a lot of rain every year. And I've been in there a couple times where there's just, you can't do much of anything. You just have to wait out the rain. It's so heavy and so solid. Not because of that. There's also a lot of resources, a lot of food, a lot of animals, a lot of wildlife. It's it's a beautiful area. And it's a little bit scary at the same time. I want to clarify something with you because you said you were watching the ground. And I was like, well, so because I'm aware you've got a lot of snakes and things in there. I mean, it's a dangerous area, right? Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. If you don't like spiders, you might want to skip out. Or don't be the first guy walking in line through paths. But a lot of spiders, a lot of snakes,

7:18rattlesnakes, and copperheads out there. So not only watching where we're going there, but just the uneven ground and the rocky terrain. It's yeah. I have fallen several times. I don't know how, I've made it out there fine. I know some people have hurt themselves out there, but it's not hard to do. And another interesting fact, it's a treacherous drive even to get into that area. Correct. Right. That's correct. You have to have certain type of be able to get in there. Some people have been a little brave for the others. So what they've attempted to get in there. But I'm going in for my seventh week of research this summer. And I'll be white knuckling it just like the first six. It's yeah, it's a ride. How many years are those seven weeks spread out over that you've been in there? I think I first went in in 2022. It was my first summer

8:25in there. I did first couple summers. I did two weeks split up. And then I've gone in for last just one time a week. You know, life and other obligations obviously step in, but I wanted to get as much as I could those first first couple of years. Absolutely. So let's get into it then. What are maybe some interesting events or potential discoveries that you've had as an organization in the last five years in this area? We've had one of the most amazing trackways I've seen. I didn't get to see it until months and months and months after it was discovered, but it was still pretty pristine when we saw it. It was pretty clearly of two individuals that just wandered around this one area and we had a tree twist. On there we collected some hair samples and I think later in that

9:34same week they found another trackway down where Elton Higgins had the famous mudhole track that he found that's where he kind of realized he's in a good area and it was in that same spot and it was just trailed off into the woods. And so we've had that. We did a lot of there was some really good field work done on that. We're still looking at getting some information out of that. And we did start what we call, well we call it the asset team, but it's a team at camp made up strictly of females, female researchers, and they don't go in there acting like our normal research teams. They're just camping. They're just having fun. They're cooking by the fire. They go for day hikes, whatever they're doing, but then we have another team that's about a mile or so away, camped and they will sneak in over time at night and monitor camp, monitor the hills, monitor the area. And we've had some pretty interesting things

10:37that happen with those teams. So we're continuing with that. I think this will be our third year doing that. So I had a pretty decent bluff charge from one of our members and we got some thermal imaging that we can't quite determine what it is. It looks big, but with thermal imaging it can be really hard to discover what that is. So we've been doing that as well for the last few years. That is all incredible. How long would you say that track trackway went for that you were able to you were able to follow it? So it went around an old building. So it looks like they came up from one area. I'd say walked in may be 50 feet, each circled this building and then they walked off into a field or whatever you want to call it with clearing. And even in there you see

11:39divots and pushed down of old tracks that have been there for a long time. These were these were really good, really good tracks. So yeah, I had one of our other former board members that was on that and he's going to hopefully get on and tell us a little bit more of the real specific details on that. But yeah, it was it was something else. Okay, so it sounds like that any trackway questions might be better left for this other individual then. Yeah, more likely. Got it. Okay, very good. The acid team is very interesting and those two teams have been going on for for three years. It's such an interesting idea to have an all female team like that. Has that led to any interesting interactions with that team and bigfoot coming into the camp?

12:43Well, so nothing that's been, I would say out of the ordinary, everything out of their coming out of theirs out of the ordinary. But yeah, I think there were there were sounds heard, you know, whoops and other vocalizations throughout the week. But it was the evening time, the night time, when the the other team was in there kind of monitoring the area and seeing if they could get something coming in and that's when they got the bluff charge and it got a heat signature. They could actually hear the thing breathing. I don't remember how far away they thought it was, but they could hear real heavy, heavy, almost like an asthmatic breathing. And then they got something from a thermal image. I'm sure that thermal image has been analyzed over and over again in the group. How are you able to get a feel of how tall that individual was that

13:46that was on the thermal footage? No, really not. I mean, it could have been hunched down. It just depends on how close it was to sometimes with thermal imaging. You think you're looking at a black bear until a raccoon comes out or vice versa. But it looks like it was any time you you have different people looking at thermal imaging, they might pick out different things. So, and I've seen that with pictures we've taken down there too, or something, so I don't see anything in that photo. And I can clearly see what I think is a leg or shoulder, but it's hard to tell. Gotcha. Have you had any, let's say, any class A or visual sightings over the last five years from team members? Yes, absolutely. So the one that I was discussing with my second trip, August of 22, and it was three of us. We'd been out kind of hiking the whole valley, just being in

14:51different areas. We had settled out in an area a couple days prior and had rocks coming out of the tree line at us. We were all kind of spread out and hidden out and kind of decided it was time to get out of there. And then a couple of days later we went to a different area, not too far. And as we went to go look at a certain spot, and instead of backtracking and just turning right around we decided to go on a bigger loop and go around. And we almost feel like we caught this animal off guard. So as we're kind of coming up a little trail, there's three of us. I'm in the back, another gentleman is in between us, and we're both at this time that's happened. We're looking at our feet because we're kind of going down this little steep rocky area. So we want to make sure we've got a good foothold. And right as we were doing that, the guy in the front saw an upright creature kind of hunched over like when the way he described it makes me think of somebody in a movie theater when they're kind of cut in front of everybody to make sure they don't get in your

15:54way so they hunch over and he just darted in front of the path. I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan. Hey, how's it going today? It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm. That's pretty awesome. I think I saw Billboard at yours recently that said 20 billion one. 20 million is an insane number. Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think, somewhere north probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and better and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. It's pound 529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call 24, 7365. Wow, Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

16:59Kind of a reddish brown. He said like an Irish setter color. But it ran in a patch of sunlight. So he could really see it, greening off. And of course, he's upset that he didn't, you know, he can't get a shot off in that amount of time. And we didn't see anything. And so we were upset at that. But that was that was a wild afternoon, just kind of decompressing after that. Even though I didn't get to see it, just talking with someone immediately afterwards. That was very interesting. I can't imagine having an encounter like that. So when you say take a shot, that could obviously mean one or two things. And so it leads into an interesting question. What would you, I know at times in the past, the NAWC has been really focused on trying to get an actual like physical specimen. But then there was a kind of a focus on maybe getting using a camera to get an actual like photograph of one instead. And

18:08what would you say the focus is in this time and period the last five years? What is organizations focus on getting? Well, I don't think we ever got away from trying to collect this specimen. So I think that was always out there for a lot of these members. There were like members like myself. And I think other members, it's a lot of pressure to to have a firearm. You know, hunting a deer, you know, hunting a bear, you're hunting something that is, until you see it, apparently, it's really, it's hard to pull the trigger, I think. And so I think that's a lot of pressure for some folks. So some people just don't want to do it. So we did try to reinvigorate the camera group. And we're still trying to do that. We're still trying to figure out that's ways of doing that and whether it be camera traps or that's what I carry out there besides the sight arm for safety. I carry a camera. And just again, same thing

19:09as I guess with a shot, you're just hoping you're in the right spot of the right time. But yeah, I'm trying to collect a specimen that's that's never really gone away. But I mean, popular opinion with everybody. But when I still when I say take a shot, I think I'm trying to think of where we were at the time. I don't think we were carrying long guns into where we were, but get a camera with them. And you know, cameras out there, it's you charge them up. And sometimes you go for 20 minutes and they're dead. Like, well, now we're going to see something, you know, or just didn't have it on for whatever reason. It's, you know, but at least snap a shot had it in his hand and did get a chance to do it. Why do you think that is that you have, so it sounds like at least in some instances, you have batteries that will go dead. And do you have any thoughts about why that might occur in that area? You know, I think a lot of it has to do with the weather. Honestly, it's it's

20:10very, very you went out there in the summer or time. I'm not an expert at that type of technology, but you know, they some of the some of the items you use would get really hot. So I just think they're just getting overheated with the humidity there. I think that that plays a big part into it. And, you know, we've heard about the big foot curse before, you know, equipment just suddenly not working, but I think there's a some luck to that, I think, but yeah, I think part of it's weather. We've got some guys that kind of figured some stuff out too. Hey, if I use this type of an external battery pack, it tends to last longer. So it's just a matter of getting all the right equipment and and. And as you got to remember, it has turned all on. Make sure it's all charged. You get it into these long hot hikes and you're tired. And sometimes people just, I will put this on today or whenever it ends up being mistaken. That's that that's the time that you would need it. Yeah. Do you feel in the last few years that there has been an actual photograph taken of

21:17in this situation, we would be definitely, man, there's so much background information. Guys, if the NAWAC stands for North American wood ape conservancy, correct? Yes, correct. Okay. So that's our that's our foundation, guys. So do you feel that there has been a time where there's been a photograph taken of a wood ape in this area in the last five years that's then pretty good? Not that I'm aware of. Like I said, there's there's been a couple of shots where we, you know, we if you're out sitting around for a couple of hours and you might keep hearing something from one area, you know, we've learned just zoom in whenever you can to start snapping a bunch of pictures because we've gone back and looked at someone like there's a shape of something there. I can't you can't say it's an ape, but I think one of these times you keep doing that might might very well capture something, but nothing I'm aware of, nothing that

22:20that I believe, but you know, we probably still have, who knows how many hundreds or thousands of photos to still try to produce or with some of the camera traps that we'd had set up for years. I can't imagine that. That's just that I mean, I totally get it though. I mean, it's not just you guys. There's other organizations that have so much data they've taken in and they just don't have the time or the manpower to analyze it. I totally get it. It's like, yeah, no, there's other examples out there. I know in the past and I'm talking longer than five years back, there has been times in this area where individuals have had a wood ape in their sites and they weren't able to pull the trigger because of what they saw. Do you has anything like that happen since or has there not really been a situation that's gotten close like that did back in the day? I'm trying to think if there's been anything since then.

23:26And I know, yeah, there's been a couple, I think. I can't think of anything since then, where you've had something in your sites. And I don't know if that's, you know, it's interesting. It's time goes on and we learn about the apes, you know, they're learning about us too. So when you first read about or hear about area X, it's just this other world, you know, just like stuff's happening all the time. And it wasn't, but it does how it appeared. But I think, you know, they haven't left and we haven't left. So they've just learned to kind of get around this as much as possible. And literally, that last summer, we found a trackway that almost just starts the entire camp. We found a good trackway. They're like, well, let's follow it. Well, this goes from almost a perimeter of our camp all the way. It just takes them so they don't ever have to be afraid that we're going to see them. So I don't know if it's there being more careful or we just haven't been lucky enough.

24:27Sure. Have you experienced any situations where there's been evidence of toolmaking or or structure building or anything that you might see present in other apes species as well? No, I personally have not. Other than we know we found some some net crushing stations up there. There was one gentleman that was, well, he was on one of our teams. He was, I don't want to say bum rush, but he was above charged by an animal. It was clearly, it was an ape. So they went back to see where this thing was, where it was hiding, and where it was watching him from. And they found a stick that was perfectly balanced on this other stick. So if he moved it one way or the other,

25:27it was going to fall. But this thing was just sitting there perfectly balanced. I don't know how that happens. Naturally, but right where the ape had been. So I mean, that's probably the closest we've seen. I have never seen really any stick structures. I did talk about the track way and we found a tree. It was probably, I'm trying to think how big the tree was around maybe four or five inch diameter. And it was it was grabbed and just you could just see it was twisted all the way around and then pushed over. So it kind of pointed in the direction. Whether that meant anything or not, I don't know. I think the tree was just in its way. It was just just doing it to do it. Like we've messed with sticks and trees and stuff too. I don't know. But nothing we've seen. Absolutely. And so I've been out to Oregon in the Mount Hood National Forest. And I've seen some some tree twists as well. And I don't know if you've ever seen pictures of things like that from the PNW

26:35if you have, are they similar to what you're seeing then in the area X area? And like I said, well, I've only seen the one out in X. It was pretty low to the ground too. It wasn't real high up 24 feet. So it wasn't a big tree. And that's a good, you know, that's always been a good question of mine. Are they doing different things in different areas? Maybe it's similar, as far as a lot of forested areas, a lot of trees. But it does seem like there's a lot more of these structures and things like that coming out of the northwest than we would see down there. The goal is ultimately to be able to get this species identified. And then that's the comparison. The conservation piece comes in. And I've never been a, not that I discount, you know, some of these things to our environment that it had been happening. But just in the, in the few years I've seen it, just the drive-in,

27:36it's sad. Some of the cutting of the trees and they're not being replanted with what's being cut down. So we're really doing it the service to all the animals out there. But the goal is to identify the species so it can be protected, not just from hunting, but from environmental encroachment, things like that. So in some of the sub-goals, that's our main goal. And I know we've talked about photography and actually collecting. But you remember the tag seven where we had one of Wood-Apes tagged. We're hoping to replicate that. So one of our goals is to, with newer technology, maybe redo that. But we need boots on the ground to do that too. So if I could plug, if anybody out there feels like that is something they can devote some time to get out there and do that, we have a membership tab on our website to submit an application. But that was, I wasn't there for

28:37that, but the stories I heard made me tired. And that was a lot of running around and chasing for 10, 11 months, something like that. It was crazy. So we're hoping with some newer technology and some more boots on the ground. Maybe we can help do this again. Oh, absolutely. The tag seven account is just a really interesting thing for listeners to look into. And the monograph is still up. I would imagine on your website, right? Absolutely. Do you feel like there have been any particular events within the last five years that have gotten you closer to your goal that you have as an organization? You know, I think, I mean, I definitely think the asset team has been something totally unique. And there's been activity each time that they've been out. You know, it's interesting, I think, just the different techniques that people have. You know, I could gilly up and go hide for six

29:39hours in one spot or I could wear my normal clothes and go sit in the middle of the field. And I might have the same chance. And we've had people do both of those and have success. They're still coming around. They're still making themselves known to us. So we just want to be able to take advantage of that. Absolutely. What do you think the closest that someone from the team has gotten to an ape in the last five years? I'd say that bluff charge we had been a year now behind where we can't. That was pretty intense. We got pretty close from from what we could tell. We've had, well, it's hard to tell when the power knocks come in how close it feels like that they're 50 yards from your cabin. They could be a lot further than that. But we've had some power knocks. We've had some cabin slaps. So technically, you guys pretty close. But you know, the second you

30:44rush outside, there's nothing there. So I was on a team. We had two of those at two 30 in the morning on two different nights. And it was heard by the same people. So just different, different areas of the cabin. So they're still approaching even in the camp. But I think that bluff charge, which was actually a pretty close story of latrine, good spot. That's about where that happened. So really close. Gotcha. Have you figured out any interesting ways to initiate? Nothing. I'm aware of nothing that I've come across. I think, like I said, they've really gotten used to us. Sometimes we'll sit silent for two nights in a row and I'll make it sound. I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan. Hey, how's it going today? It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm. That's pretty

31:46awesome. I think I saw Billboard years recently that said 20 billion one. 20 million is an insane number. Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually I think somewhere north probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and better and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Awesome. So how does someone do in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's pound 529 from your cell phone. We are always open or call centers always waiting to take your call. 24-7-365. Wow, Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you. And then the third night we might try a wood knocker. And we might get a response. We might get absolutely nothing. We have found this magic formula that's going to make them do it. So yeah, we keep looking for it and we keep trying. I mean, it's we just we keep

32:47trying things. Sometimes we'll try it in a different way if we have a way of doing that. But I've looked over the list of things before I got on there. The things they've tried and I've been pretty surprised. Just some of the things they've tried to do a list of responses and some of it works. Some of it doesn't. Yeah, it's some really interesting things. People are trying out there. I know that a long time ago there were things put in place of what to do if there was a specimen that was actually taken. Is that the same case with the organization or is that changed? We still have yeah, we still have a protocol in place. So if if something were to happen, we've kind of get everything all all laid out what we're going to do. Who's doing what everything? Yeah. Gotcha. Which I'm trying to think and this is this is public. You can find it in different interviews. Was it Artemis protocol? Yeah, it was called that. Yeah, yeah.

33:50Yeah. These last five years, I think the the asset team was a really good addition. You know, seeing unity in in purpose with two different teams operating at the same time, which is kind of interesting, but the home team basically they way team sneaking in at night. But I just you know, in my vision, I almost see is we're just we're just keeping keep doing what we've been doing. Try to do new things, but we don't want to give up on some of the old stuff too because stuff has worked in the past. So I like I said, I don't think it's as active as it was back in 2006, 2007, 2008 all that because I think we were new to the apes. But now they're used to us. But you know, you still get these moments of I think you catch them off guard or a younger one besides he's going to act up and talk. We've had we've had a couple instances of of

34:51post-beach being heard in camp early morning. So we've had a couple of instances like that. We've had a couple of other side just quick sightings of a gray something big and gray going through the brush. We've had some thermal sightings from camp that looked very interesting. And you got one guy saying it's on two feet. That's on two legs. The other guy when he gets up close to it. Not looking for most of it. I think it was a bear. I mean, you just never know. When you say post-beach, are you actually I'm just going to, can you explain what you mean by that exactly? So post-beach, I mean, obviously it's our guess. We believe it sounds like communication. It's a garbled jumbled. I've heard it called samurai chatter. Just a low guttural string of vowels and consonants put together. It just sounds like grumbling. But you can hear

35:52intonation. You can almost go to that. That one was bad if that one, you know, or we've had it where they were two of them are kind of chattering back and forth and a much louder voice kind of did one big loud. And then everyone just everything stopped. But yeah, we had one of our guys wake up in early morning pre-dawn and he heard what it sounded like a conversation going on behind him. Not too far from the cabin. But you can't decipher words. It's just these guttural voices and sounds. If you... Sierra sounds from Ron Moorehead, you'll see exactly what that sounds like. It's very interesting. Okay, and I was just going to ask that actually. So you're saying it's very similar to this year. Sounds, son. That's what they've been saying. They're hearing. Okay. Have you guys been able to get your own recordings of that speech? No, we've had... We'll have cameras, earth cameras. We'll have audio recorders out all night.

36:59And we have recorded certain things. We have recorded some of that faux speech. I think it's on our website from years ago, but nothing on the recent... any of the recent trips in the last five years. Yeah, we've had things that we thought should get caught on recording and we wouldn't hear it. Same thing with camera. But yeah, no, we haven't had the faux speech recorded. I think in the last or at least five years. Even though folks have heard it. Gotcha. Going off of the data you guys have gotten, do you have any idea of how big the group of apes is in that area? If there's males, females, and juveniles, or maybe multiple groups, do you have any information about that that you've gathered?

37:59So, I don't know. I'm sure at some point, somebody's made a guess on that as far as the number, back in our earlier days we definitely saw. There were visuals of little ones. So, I mean, there's definitely a breeding population out here. That was last summer, the summer before. We were walking through an area. Yeah. Not too close to camp, but it was too far from where we used to do some research and I saw some really small, what looked like, human footprints in the dirt. So, if they're still breeding, yeah, it's hard to tell. I don't know how large they get if there's one alpha male and some juvenile. So, I mean, we could be looking at five to ten. It's hard to tell. Gotcha. And you mentioned the gray individual, which that was something where they were your organization was seeing the gray individual, I mean, years before 2022 as well, right? Correct. That's correct. So, I don't know if it's the same gray individual.

39:02We don't know if that's a color phase that they get to when they're older, like we do, but yeah, there were two people that saw this. It looked like the hind end of a very large gray hairy animal bust into the woods, bust into the brush. That was probably a couple of years ago, two, three years ago. But yeah, we've got a lot of sightings of different gray, which was, I think, all the nine feet from what some people are saying, but we've seen other gray individuals apparently out there. I think we had a sighting of two gray individuals at the same time one year. Was that pre five years or after the five-year mark? Preve. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Got you. Has there been a time when, let's say, you have someone that's new to the organization, they come down for their first time to area X and they are just, they are, they're shook up and

40:06and it's like, I don't know if this guy is going to even return after what he experienced. Has there been anything like that that's happened in the last five years or not? Not in the last five years where it's been like that. We have had some people suddenly just decided not to go in anymore and they just, they don't want to talk about it or say why and we're not going to push it. So I don't know if it's something that was seen down there. We've had people go down there and it wasn't like, Mike made his book, it's fantastic. And they're like, whoa, this wasn't like the book at all. I didn't see anything as we can and so they were, they didn't want to come back either. So kind of opposite, kind of interesting. But I've been in there with a couple folks that there was their first time and they were, you know, rightfully, I'm going to say scared but just cautious. And I think those first couple of nights you have to let them know what certain sounds are. So I had to be told that as well, I'm like, what was that? That's a frog. We don't have frogs like that

41:10where I'm from. So you have to learn the land a little bit and after two, three days they kind of settle down and and they they'd fall in love with it. It's as scary as some of the nights were, they they fell in love with it. So I haven't had anybody refuse to come back because they were too scared in the last five years. Gotcha. Have there been any individuals that have experienced anything like infrasound? Is that a thing that ever comes up down there? And we've we've talked about it. I don't know if any incident that where we pinpoint that as a possible explanation is what we had. It's hard to tell. Yeah, I've heard about it and we we have discussed it but nothing that we've nothing that we've been able to pinpoint. That's possibly what that was. Gotcha. One thing I'm a fan of and I've seen you guys have come out with with a few episodes.

42:12Is there are there any plans to come out with more episodes of the the podcast that is put out by the NAWAC? Definitely. So myself and Dusty kind of decided we needed to we had to live it more time. I didn't well. I can't speak for Dusty but we're going to least try to get this back on the on the ground. You know when you've got a full-time job that's a tough gig to sometimes wrangle together but we have we have a whole lineup of different shows we're going to do where you start getting those put out here whether we do one a month, one every other month. I just you know sometimes it got backed up to where it was a couple of years and it's it's a lot of work. But yes absolutely we are bringing the podcast back and so that is awesome. That's really good to hear. Always a nice surprise when you see something come out from from that feed. There's been some really good interviews that you guys have have put out. Can you talk a little bit about

43:16let's say there's someone listening and they have you know they've listened to this. They've listened to other interviews. They've read the book from Michael and they're like man I would want to try to to get involved. Can you talk a little bit about what kind of individuals the organization is currently looking for and in the process of of how one would apply for that? Sure so I mean definitely it can be difficult to do in just an application setting but we want someone that comes on board that that knows as much as much about our organization as possible. So you know information out there in print and in podcasts for whatever we want to know that you know people have read or listened or you know they're participating somewhere to get some knowledge because we want them to know what in a way what they're getting into what we're all about and whenever you join a group

44:18there's some assimilation process and and we have like what works for us and so we do have times to meet beat up but that first step is the application and it's you know I know there are questions on there about law enforcement or military background and things like that and that certainly doesn't disqualify somebody if they don't have that I don't have that but we're just one of the big things is are you are you willing to come out and that can be a difficult thing for people based on location it's you know we're not all over the country we're in one little spot in Oklahoma but can you do it once a year you know if you're willing to put boots on the ground and and to willing to learn and willing to take feedback maybe criticism we've had a lot of top-notch folks in the organization but you know we it's important especially out in the middle of nowhere for a week that you're a team player you know how to get along with others and follow direction things like that so and then after you know after the application process we have an associate member

45:25level ships so they have access to you know certain things on the on the website on the discussion boards and we have a training camp in the spring and then we have a retreat for members and family in the fall it's a great time to only get to know each other but to ask questions and you know pick people's brain and and just a chance for them to get to know you and and then that's that's how you would make that is the the research level where we say okay so now you're able to get in and come down to area x with us and help us figure this out yeah that I mean that's definitely a good way to make sure that the right people are in that area and not sneaking in as it as it were I mean that's that's quite the it's really a pretty intense vetting process but but a good one so yeah and it could be difficult to do at times because I mean it not everyone's going to be a fit even you can

46:25be passionate about the subject but you know it's um we have our our our ideas and how we want to do things and some people get in there and and even after a year so they're like it's not exactly what I thought and they they just go their own way you know and we're still friends and whatever but it's yeah it's amazing how many people like oh that sounds cool I'm just gonna submit my name and they're just gonna bring me right on board it's like so what do you what do you know about us nothing I heard you on such and such podcasts well do a little research read up on us make sure you're aligned with what we're doing and and uh yeah submit your application the initial time of being a camp and having a rock thrown at you it's interesting but it was that next two months later when that deciding occurred that was one of the busiest weeks um I always say busy just it was so much was happening I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod say hi Dan hey how's it going today it's going good man tell

47:31us who you are and what you do I'm Dan Morgan I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan Morgan which is America's largest injury law firm that's pretty awesome um I think I saw billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion one 20 million is an insane number yeah 20 billion recovered it's actually I think somewhere north probably closer to 22 23 after this year and each year we get bigger and better and our army grows so the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on awesome so how does someone get in contact with Morgan Morgan what what would I do if I got into an accident probably the easiest way is dialing pound law that's pound five two nine from your cell phone we are always open our call centers always waiting to take your call 24 seven 365 wow Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan America's largest injury law firm thanks for coming by the show thanks for having me visit for the people dot com for an office near you take that to the point we'd be sitting in camp and rocks just be landing in camp and it just you didn't even look anymore it was to the point where like I mean I don't know who's doing it

48:34back there but these rocks are just the key coming in we're laughing about it um but a valuable lesson that I learned was and I've been told this from other group members you know not everything out there's big foot right so you still have to look with a you know an objective lens after everything and everything and we had just gotten back from the outing where we had the sighting and right after that we had two bears come in the camp which I'm not fond of bears either so that was a great afternoon for me got rid of the bears and then we started hearing this little knock like a little uh almost like a rock on rock which is a light tapping and so one of the guys decided to mimic it and it kept going and it's back and we do one they do one we do two they do two and our eyes about popped out of our head so I took over the tapping while our friend decided to get the scope out and look up and up on the little hill behind the cabin and finally he he

49:35motions to me to to follow my look and just look up into that tree and there's a woodpecker I'm making the noises so I wanted him dead because I was thinking I was communicating with you know some eight but I realized perfect example perfect humbling experience of you know not anything out here that you can you know sounds weird or odd as bigfoot um it's the you know the rocks coming in the camp I'm like I'm trying to figure that out because we are near a hill but no these things are landing they're not rolling they're they're landing and I don't know what's doing that and we have that metal hooch you've probably heard about too where it's kind of a pull-through cardboard and when you know the stuff hits that we just have to check it because you can sit there and go that was a rock and then you look up there and then unless it bounced off that's why we keep the whole area clean around it we sweep the roof it's it's pickery nuts but every once in a while you get rocks that are coming out there um so the cabin slapped though for me I think was probably the

50:37weirdest uh two thirty in the morning uh laying on the bottom bunk and just something right behind me right where my backside was just smack the the cabin and I looked at my you know the the guy on the other bottom cabin and I don't know what that was we just we sat and we'd listen we didn't hear any other noises and two nights later the exact same time uh on the other wall the opposite wall smack happened so I've never experienced anything like that that was that was interesting after that when we kind of busted out see what what could we see who grabbed the thermals grabbed the white lights considering but that was definitely an interesting night and that was right after we'd had a power or knock I think uh earlier that day um so what started as a pretty quiet weekend at pretty busy that was July of 23 I've heard about the cabin slaps and I've heard of other uh you know other

51:37strange loud noises uh now the first that that week when we had the two of us the three of us there we had the sighting they had some pretty good hearing I had to really learn to adjust my city hearing to the woods but at one night there was besides a howl off the distance they heard a loud it said it sounded like a a bolster I could make drop from a cliff just this loud crash and we searched all the next day to kind of figure out if we could find what possibly that could have been but let me never came up with anything um the other odd thing that started that week off so the gentleman that had the sighting he had been there the week four so he was here two weeks in a row and so when we finally pulled in the camp it said hey just to let you know the last two teams that have come in here within 30 minutes there's been a tree knocked over in that field over there all right so we just sat under the hood and just relax for a little bit and 32 minutes after arriving the tree got pushed over and the uh one of the gentlemen that's with us he's really good

52:43at pinpointing where sounds are coming from so that's about 300 yards that way so we looked and we found a pushed over tree look pretty fresh um what we found also in that area is in the on the ash trees only up about seven six seven feet eight feet maybe somewhere that were marks on the tree were it'd been hit so we're wondering if maybe that's where the knocks because they do have a different sound on the ash trees than they did on some of the other ones so and it was facing our camp so you could knock the tree and look right at us and I got assuming what we were doing but that was an interesting week I learned a lot of interesting things learn not to sit back in you know anything could happen anytime I think this looked came out of that week for me oh yeah I mean are you guys do you have audio rolling right when you arrive in the area so and we yeah that's one thing we need to invest in it's just to have team you know everyone has individual recordings and some are

53:44really really good about having that out constantly um and otherwise some of us will just do it at night overnight but uh yeah I think that's something we need to have running constantly oh yeah I mean you could because you could have something like uh I mean I'm sure there's times when people aren't in area X and I mean you could have something like a wildlife acoustics type recorders for the times that you're not there but um just like long-term duration recorders yeah yeah and then we get you know I know you can look at that visually to see what what you found but then you get to find somebody that's going to sit down and do all that too so but I agree I think that's where we've gotten you know some of our audio as well just having it out there yeah absolutely uh this question might be one of them where it's better for the individuals going to talk more about the trackway but um you did mention that there has been hair found at certain times is is there any

54:51um anything going on where that hair is being analyzed or or DNA tested or anything like that? Not that I'm aware of at the moment it's being preserved until we can uh figure out there's there's different thoughts on that too but we need to find the right the right place to do that you know some places you send stuff off or it's like oh it's not uh you know I don't want to know what it isn't of course you can't really tell me what it is I guess but sometimes we're we've gotten some odd uh in the past we've got some odd responses with blood that we've had tested so at this point I think we're hanging on to it so we can determine exactly where we want to send that but I don't believe it's because that could be wrong yeah I get it um especially when you have evidence like that you just don't want to have it disappear on you and um yeah I know there's a is a pretty good uh is a gentleman I've talked to you from North Carolina he's got a pretty good DNA

55:53study going on right now his name is Darby Orkut um oh yeah that's that's that's that's very interesting um it'll be cool to hear you know maybe in the future uh if if uh you're you guys are able to analyze those some hows or or even um has anyone taken like a high powered microscope to them to see if they can uh see like the the medulla of the hair at all or I don't know if they have that's a great question yeah that would be another really good thing to look at yeah absolutely wow it is great to hear that that things are still progressing at this area in southeast Oklahoma where you know uh it's not known where the exact area is but it is somewhere down there in southeast Oklahoma in an extremely active area and it's been uh I mean the organization has been there was it 20 plus years now yeah yeah that's wild is absolutely wild to think about it's probably the longest uh that's probably the longest

56:58duration that that organization has focused on one area for for Bigfoot I would imagine I would think so you know and this is where I I tend to feel that inadequacy where you know I've been on any organization for five six years and and the the giant that have come before us you know that that did all this this leg work and it had spent the time in the field it's like you know they they've done tons that we're just so thankful for and so but you know we got to have we said boots on the ground and my boots are willing to get out there so um yeah I I've learned to I've I've learned to love going out there I actually had a great fear of traveling by myself I just I didn't like it I had a lot of anxiety and now I can't I can't count how many trips I've made to Oklahoma just between research and and uh training camps and get together so I absolutely love it it's my second home so very cool well it has been uh uh it's been a privilege to have

58:02you on the show and talking about NAWAC is are there any uh uh I want to make sure that you were able to share everything that you had come to the show to share today uh just to not cut you off uh no no no I had a little list of ongoing operations oh I guess one of the other things that we have asked um and we it's well because we haven't had a podcast really don't get a chance to advertise it but for people to have had encounters kind of like how you heard about um getting in touch with us is we've had people outreach us in the past that maybe you've asked for help or asked us to look we have a member in that area because we do have members all over the country uh that if there's anything we can do to help out um we can so we do ask that people submit uh encounter reports we do keep our own list of encounter reports that we go through um not saying it's very often that we're going to be able to respond if somebody feels like they need help or something usually they just want to let us know hey I saw this this is what happened and um but pretty much all over the country

59:03we get reports so we encourage people to continue to do that as well so that's awesome yeah uh what ape dot org correct yes yeah so uh it's a great website uh if you want to hear some of the best collected bigfoot related audio uh go to that website there's also really intense papers to read about prior research and then uh it's a really good database of uh exciting reports that you can read through to so definitely worth checking out but uh and then that that's also where you would um you know look into if you're wanting to try to apply for the uh the organization that's where you could do that as well but yeah absolutely Rick thank you so much for coming on the show it's been great getting an update from the NAWAC hopefully uh I'll be able to maybe talk to some other individuals in the future but uh thank you so much for coming on the show today I appreciate it thank you so much for having it's appreciated have you ever heard all the accounts of bigfoot

1:00:07activity around Oak Ridge Oregon and you think to yourself man I would love to get out in those woods and experience it for myself well guess what this year you can if this is interesting to you stay tuned because it's pretty cool Sasquatch summary fest is coming up July 10th through the 11th 2026 it's going to be even better than the previous years reason number one I'll be one of the speakers it's going to be wild I'll probably I'll say this there may be stuff you haven't heard anywhere else because let's just say sometimes it's uh well you just gotta be there we'll leave with that more about looking for bigfoot in the Oak Ridge woods now check this out you may know Jason Kenzie from his documentary series searching for Sasquatch well this year you can not only go to the festival but you can also sign up for a

1:01:12trek deep in the wild forest outside of Oak Ridge with Jason Kenzie to the bigfoot spots to look for bigfoot there's only eight spots to sign up for this and yes this will also be filmed for the next chapter in his documentary series which is searching for Sasquatch this is a once in a lifetime deal it's just it's going to be a wild wild experience to get a ticket head on over just Sasquatchsummerfest.com and listeners can use the code BSP like bigfoot society podcast in order to get a two-day pass for the price of a one-day pass so thanks to Priscilla for giving me that code so that uh you guys can can get a little a little help with the cost there appreciate that Priscilla I hope to see you at the booth in Oak Ridge this year we can talk about your encounter was able to talk to so many

1:02:17people last year and the year before it is an incredible time you're not going to want to miss it and i'll see you there before we wrap this episode i want to say something directly to a very specific group of listeners if you're in the military any branch or forces and if you've seen something that no one can explain or if you're a national park ranger or forestry worker who's been told to stay quiet if you're a pilot who's seen something strange down on the ground or if you're with the FBI a federal agency or working intelligence and you stumbled upon something you're not allowed to talk about and if you're firefighter paramedic or search and rescue responder who's heard screams or found tracks that didn't make sense if you're in the logging industry on a remote oil field or a trucker with government contracts and you've had something happen that you've never told a soul and if you're a biologist a wildlife specialist or a field researcher under contract who has found evidence you're not allowed to report if you're a pastor a missionary

1:03:22or someone on a spiritual retreat and you saw something that shook your faith or if you work in the shadows CIA NSA or anything with clearance and you've seen with the public hasn't then i want to talk to you even if it's anonymous you can reach me at bigfootsociety at gmail.com the world needs to hear what you've been forced to carry alone and you're not alone you've got the story we've got the mic see you and what's thank you for listening to this episode of the Bigfoot Society podcast every encounter we share reminds us that the world is bigger and stranger than we think and that the truth is often hiding just beyond the tree line if you enjoyed this episode please be sure to subscribe to the channel on youtube hit the bell so you don't miss the next episode and share this with a friend who's into mysteries monsters or the unexplained and if you're listening to us on Spotify or Apple podcast please follow the show there and leave us a five star positive review because all that

1:04:27helps more people discover the show and remember if you or someone you know has had a big foot citing please i'd love to hear from you so email me at bigfootsociety at gmail.com and let's start the conversation if you haven't gotten a chance yet check out our membership community over at www.bigfootsocietypodcast.com and that's where you can hear tomorrow's episode today early and add free and members only episodes every week also it's a place to connect with other people that are into the Bigfoot subject as much as you are thanks again for following along with the Bigfoot Society until next time keep your eyes open trust your gut and never stop asking what else might be out there and see you in the woods i've got dan morgan here on the pod say hi dan hey how's it going today it's going good man tell us who you are and what you do i'm dan morgan i'm an attorney and a managing partner at morgan and morgan which is america's largest injury law firm that's pretty awesome um i think i saw billboard years recently that said uh 20 billion one 20

1:05:31millions insane number yeah 20 billion recovered it's actually i think somewhere north probably closer to 22 23 after this year and each year we get bigger and batter and our army grows so the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on awesome so how does someone get in contact with morgan and morgan what what would i do if i got into an accident probably the easiest way is dialing pound law that's pound five two nine from your cell phone we are always open our call center is always waiting to take your call 24 seven three sixty five wow dan morgan from morgan and morgan america's largest injury law firm thanks for coming by the show thanks for having me visit for the people dot com for an office near you i've got dan morgan here on the pod say hi dan hey how's it going today it's going good man tell us who you are and what you do i'm dan morgan i'm an attorney and a managing partner at morgan and morgan which is america's largest injury law firm that's pretty awesome um i think i saw bill board of years recently that said a 20 billion one 20 billion insane number yeah 20 billion recovered it's actually i think

1:06:35somewhere north probably closer to 22 23 after this year and each year we get bigger and batter and our army grows so the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on awesome so how does someone get in contact with morgan and morgan what what would i do if i got into an accident probably the easiest way is dialing pound law that's pound five two nine from your cell phone we are always open our call centers is always waiting to take your call 24 seven three sixty five wow dan morgan morgan or morgan and america's largest injury law firm thanks for coming by the show thanks for having me visit for the people dot com for an office near you you