Bigfoot Society - A Lifetime of Bigfoot Encounters Across New England

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

In this episode, we explore the lifelong experiences of Gary, a witness whose encounters span decades and stretch across some of the most forested and overlooked regions of the Northeast. From early childhood experiences in the wooded neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to later encounters in western Massachusetts, Vermont’s remote Harriman Reservoir, and the backwoods of Rhode Island, Gary shares a journey shaped by place as much as experience.Growing up near dense forests, rivers, reservoirs, and mountain terrain, Gary describes moments that occurred near familiar landmarks like Mount Tom, Savoy State Forest, and deep rural woodlands seldom visited after dark. These locations form the backdrop for encounters that unfolded quietly over time, often far from roads, towns, or witnesses.Gary reflects on how geography, generational knowledge, and time spent in the woods intersected throughout his life, offering insight into why these areas continue to surface in Bigfoot reports across New England. This episode focuses on environment, history, and firsthand memory, allowing the locations themselves to play a central role in the story.Join us as we trace Gary’s experiences through Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island, and explore how the landscapes of the Northeast continue to hold stories that remain largely untold.🗣️ Share Your StoryHad a Bigfoot encounter or strange experience?Send it to [e-mail] – your story might be featured on the show!🎥 Watch & Subscribe on YouTube🔴 Subscribe here → Bigfoot Society YouTube💬 Leave a comment & let us know your thoughts!📞 Leave a voicemail with your story → Speakpipe (Use multiple voicemails if needed)👥 Share this episode → Watch & Share🎧 More episodes → Podcast Playlist🌲 Recommended: New Jersey Bigfoot Encounters💥 Support the Show & Get Perks✅ Join the community on Supercast – Become a Member✅ Listen ad-free & early on YouTube – Join Here📱 Let’s ConnectInstagram: @bigfootsocietyTwitter: @bigfoot_societyTikTok: @bigfoot.society🧰 Tools & Partners I Use (Affiliate Links)These help support the show at no extra cost to you:Beam (Better Sleep): Try BeamWildgrain (Better Bread): Join HereSeed (Probiotics): Get SeedMedi-Share (Healthcare): Learn MoreLMNT (Electrolytes) Free Sample Pack with your first purchase! : Get LMNTOrganic and non-GMO groceries delivered for lesshttp://thrv.me/uarEhS🎙️ Podcasting Tools:Repurpose.io: Try ItDescript: Sign UpStreamyard: Start RecordingRiverside.fm: Try Riverside🎧 My Audio Interface: View on Amazon☕ Buy Me a Coffee – Support Here🛍️ Grab Some Merch – Shop on Etsy📬 Mailing Address:Bigfoot Society125 E 1st St. #233Earlham, IA 50072

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Loz, we help, you save. Valid through 527, while supplies last. Selection varies by location. See Lowe's.com for details. Visit your nearby Lowe's on West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. You'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. So stay with us. All right, Bigfoot Society. I've got the privilege of talking to Gary. Gary is a listener of the show from the great state of Massachusetts, and he has some really interesting things. he's going to be sharing today.

I know a little bit about them because of the email that was sent. But one of these places I'm really excited about, and I haven't told Gary why we'll get there, but it is really cool. So, Gary, welcome to the show. How are you doing today, sir? I'm doing great. Thank you for having me. Absolutely.

We were talking a little bit beforehand, and I'm sure, Gary, you remember that I grew up in Western Mass. I grew up in specifically a small town called Northfield. So, you know, really familiar with the places that we're going to be hopping around to today.

And it's just, it is a really big privilege to be able to talk to someone who has stories and accounts from places like Massachusetts, Vermont, as sometimes you don't really get to hear those until you know the person really well. So I'm,

glad that we were able to get connected. But Gary, is there anything else that the listeners would need to know about yourself before we get going? Well, like I live in Western Mass now. I've been in Massachusetts on an off since 1978. I was born in Pittsburgh and grew up for the first 18 years of my life there. I have coworkers that live in Northfield, Massachusetts. Oh, really? Yeah.

I didn't even know the town existed until I heard you talking about it. Because, I mean, there's a lot of little towns up that way. I can't keep a whole... Oh, yeah. But, yeah, I live in Western Massachusetts. I'm 60 years old. And I've had multiple experiences. And really, when I listen to a podcast and I hear people talking about multiple sightings, multiple experiences,

you know, my BS meter goes off sometimes. So I even have a hard time believing my sightings at times. but I mean I know what I saw you couldn't tell me otherwise even the the like not so clear sightings I know what it wasn't

you know wasn't a bear wasn't a person but yeah and that's pretty much me I mean I'm not I'm not very good at public speaking.

I'll tell my story the best I can. So I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1965. My first few years, I lived in an area called Beck's Run. The locals called it that. It was actually on the border of North Baldwin in Pittsburgh, PA. But there's a creek that ran through there, Bex Run Crick, and that's what people called the area.

When I was in 1969 and I remember this vividly, my mother had went into labor with my sister. It was April, 2nd or 3rd. And my grandmother, when I was growing up, used to tell us all the time, if we don't behave, the booger man's going to

get you in. That was her. She never described it, and you know, back then we didn't question parents or grandparents, so we never asked her what it looked like. And I used used to end up having nightmares about a guy with a giant. nose. You know, bugger man. So, the night of my first sighting, I was three going on four. And there's two things I remember about that week was my sighting and my sister being brought home.

So my father was down to the hospital and I was over my grandmother's house and I asked her, can I get some cookies? And she goes, yeah, go ahead, go into the kitchen to the bread drawer and get them. Now, their house was on a side street. Both neighbor's houses were elevated above their house. You could see their first floor from our second floor. Nothing but woods behind us. The locals used to call it 40-acre woods. So I go out into the kitchen and the window shades were still open.

It was dark out. and I seen this giant figure looking at me through the window and it took a few seconds to process and like and I looked and I went turn around running in the living room telling my grandmother there's a giant monkey looking at me through the window you know yeah it's three that's what I described as my grandmother said you fool was he smiling at you

and I'm like yeah she goes you must have been doing something bad I'm like no I wasn't but yeah that was my first siding and it was a few seconds through the back window and the thing is is my grandparents would a lot of times they'd leave the window shades open because there's nothing but woods behind them you know nobody to look in the window nothing like that so when I walked out into the kitchen and I saw this yeah the window sill is about four five feet up off the ground and this thing's head was at the top of the window and it was giant I mean, I'm three years old, so, you know, six-foot-tall person would be giant to you, but it was big.

And it was just looking at me and, you know, I say smiling, but it wasn't one of those, oh, look, it's a very inviting look. It was more, to me, menacing. It was hairy, dark hair, seetof facial features. It looked kind of like one of the primitive human... that they illustrate on its eyes were a yellowish color, not glowing yellow, just like the whites of the eyes were yellowish. And it was just looking at me with this. It almost looked like an orangutan smiling at me.

But, I mean, I've never seen any seven-foot orangutang tang, so. And I know wildlife, because from the time I could read, I've read all kinds of wildlife books. I was interested in the outdoors. I used to watch Mutual of Omaha's United Kingdom every week religiously. And so I know I wasn't looking at a bear. There were no bears in that area at the time. And a person would have had to be standing on a step ladder to be where the head was.

It was a quick sighting, though. It was, you know, boom, saw it, ran into the other room. So, you know, and I kicked myself for never asking my grandmother, because she obviously knew more about it. than what she was telling. But you didn't question adults back then. Whatever they told you, it took it as a gospel. Don't swallow gum,

it'll stay on your stomach for the rest of your life, stuff like that. So, fast forward, it was like a couple months later, my aunt took me to see a Disney movie. And at the end of Disney movie, it was in nature short. It was like, oh, there's Mr. Deere,

frolicing through the woods and stuff. And all of a sudden, the music got real animus, and they showed the, the Patty film, the Patterson Gimlin. And some people believe that there's a, I can't remember the words exactly, and I went ballistic.

I'm like, yell at my honest, that's what I saw in the back window, and she's like, shh, everybody's looking at me, and kind of like, yeah, so, and my grandmother used to tell us all the time that the booger man,

oboes, which is a, an old term for, like, homeless people, and a pack of wild dogs lived up, woods. And I've seen the bile dogs. I've seen the oboes walking in out of the woods. And I've seen the bugger man. So, okay. You know, I was really... You mentioned that the whites of its eyes were kind of yellowed. Do you remember what the

center of the eyes, what the color of those were? No. See, really, I was in the lit kitchen, and it was looking through the window, so it was kind of backdrop the darkness, and you could see features, but you couldn't see them too vividly. All I know is this is a giant, hairy person, ape, whatever you want to call it, standing there looking at me through the window.

And then my grandmother confirmed that that was what she called the bugger man. And it's funny. Okay. Years later, I remember her argument my grandfather. She wanted a floodlight put in the backyard. And my grandfathers like, what do we need a floodlight for? There's nobody back there. And she's like, that SOB keeps banging on the walls and looking in the windows, I want to deter him from coming.

So they knew. And I wish, I kicked myself. I wish I'd like ask them about, you know, what they know. And here's the thing. I read a book about Bigfoot in Pennsylvania and write up the road. road from where we're at, there's like historical sightings on sawmill run Boulevard, which is around the corner up the road away is from that area in those same woods. Gotcha.

I mean, if you walk through those woods, you get right to that spot. But yeah. Okay. So, yeah, then I saw the PG film and my aunt who, like, my aunt and uncle used to take me out the movies. took me out to see Boggy Creek. And 74, 75, when I was about nine years old, this time in Pittsburgh, there was always newspaper articles about sightings, Bigfoot UFOs. You'd see snippets on the news.

And back then it wasn't like it is now where they laugh were, you know, Pittsburgh man saw Bigfoot. They were just told the news, no emotion, no. So me and the local kids in that neighborhood, because I'd go visit my grandparents on the weekend, were talking about it, and I told them what I saw. They decided, well, we're going to go look for it. So we would go walk up into the woods. There'd be like a group of four or five of us,

and slowly people would drop off and go back down to the bottom of the hill. Because my grandparents lived on Somerset in Susquehanna, and Susquehanna ended, and there was a path going up into those woods. So one time we're walking up there, kids are dropping off, dropping off. Finally, I got one kid left with me, and he finally. he's like, eh, I'm leaving.

And I'm like, no, I'm going to keep going to see if I see anything. I didn't think I was going to

see anything. And I come up over a clearing and it's a flat area and it's a big wide open area and I'm looking

and I see something about four foot tall standing across the clearing from me with its back to me looking

into the creek. I'm thinking, well, what is that? Because it's only like four foot tall. It's not like some lumbering

giant. And, and, And I guess it noticed that I was there, it turned around, and it was a small, bigfoot-type creature. And I looked at it, and I'm like, this can't be happening. And then I thought about it, and I'm like, okay, if this thing's only four feet tall, it's got to be a child or something of that nature. So there's got to be a mother nearby. And I remember from, like, reading books and stuff that you don't want to get between a bear cub and it's mother. So I turned around, I bolted down the hill.

I mean, I ran so fast, I ended up, like, knocking a couple of kids out of the ways, screaming about Bigfoot, and everybody in the neighborhood went in the door, went indoors and stayed in the rest of the day. But I know what I saw. You know, it sounds, might sound far-fetched to some people, but this was a four-foot-tall, hairy, upright, human-type creature. It was like a dark brown, black color. I really didn't get a good look at the facial features because it was just turned around and looked at me.

I was like freaked out. I mean, I'm standing out in the woods with something that shouldn't exist, not known if it's a child and there's a mother nearby. And I know what a barrel duty if you get between her and her cubs. But yeah, that's my second sighting, and that's pretty much the end of Pennsylvania. So we moved, my mother and father got separated and divorced, and we moved back home to her home in Massachusetts, and we were living in Aguam. And when I moved up here, we ended up moving to West Springfield. I went to West Springfield High School. And I'm thinking, okay, I'm here in Massachusetts now.

I'm never going to see nothing like a Bigfoot again. Because at that time, you didn't hear about sightings, you didn't know. You know, there were a whole bunch of people seeing stuff, but. nobody was telling anybody. So one day it was like, 1981, I believe. We were celebrating my friend's 17th birthday, so it had to be around June.

And it was a bunch of us together at his house in West Springfield. And we're like, hey, let's go up to Mount Tom and chase the girls around. That was in a, I don't know if you know remember Mount Tom, amusement park. I do, yeah, yeah. So we powered into a pickup truck

because there was a different time back then. And there were three guys in the cab, and there were four or five of us in the bed of the truck. So he heads up Route 5, but then he turns towards South Hadley. He's like, where's he going? So he goes up to, it's Mount Holyoke in the Skinner State Forest.

I don't know if you know. We called it Skinner. I remember for the longest time, I thought it was called Skinnett. inner mountain. So he pulls up new mountain road and then he turns down the wrong way down old mountain road down to the bottom of the hill before you walk up to the and he parks the truck and we're like, what are you doing? I said, we're going to go for a hike and the guys in the back of the truck are like, nah, we'll stay here. You know, we don't want to go hike in. We just want to go to the

Mount Tom. So they go up into the woods and we're all sitting the back of a pickup truck talking, talking about what we're going to do. And all of a sudden we start hearing like this Russell in the woods. We're hearing like grunting. And we're like, oh, it's these guys. They're trying to scare us. They're like, hey, we know it's you.

Come on out. Let's go do what we're going to do. And then whatever it was was getting more agitated. Making noise. Started shaking his tree. It was like two foot around. Okay. These guys were all big guys.

So it would not be beyond their. physical capability of rocking a tree back and forth. We're like, yeah, we kept yelling at him thinking it was them. And next thing, rocks start flying out of the woods. You're like, you idiot, you just hit your truck. He had an old Dodge Power wagon that was like his pride and joy. I'm like, you just hit your truck, you're going to chip the paint. And we're yelling and rocks are flying out.

And all of a sudden the kid grabs my shoulder and points up the hill coming down from the top of the mountain. There's those three guys. walking down the hill. The ruckus is still going on in the woods. So we're like, guys, guys, come on, we got to go. There's something in the wood. And I'm still not registering Bigfoot because I'm thinking, Massachusetts, there's no such thing.

You know, like a lot of people on the East Coast, they're like, well, that doesn't happen outside of the West Coast. I'm up in Massachusetts going, yeah, no B-T's. So they're coming, walking down, and my friend's smiling because he's like, yeah, whatever. you're just trying to get us to leave. So he gets in the truck and he backs it to turn it around to go the right way up

Old Mountain Road. So it's backing it towards the woods. And there's a silhouette. And this is all I saw was a silhouette, a large upright, whatever it was. Eyes were red, but I'm thinking it was because it was a reflection from the brake lights. And we're screaming. We're banging. One of the kids rips the sliding windows open

in his truck and climbs through the truck. into the cab and he looks back and he's got the biggest crap eating grim on his face and as soon as his face turned around to where he could see what was going on his face just dropped he turned pale white he threw it in the gear and he laid rubber all the way out of there so I asked him later on and I mean you know I don't know if it happened didn't see it but he says that when he looked around he saw a big hand coming out of the woods like reaching towards

the people in the back of the truck If that happened, I don't know. I can't verify it. But something spooked him when he looked around. Because he went from smiling and joking and thinking there's the funniest thing in the world to just turn and pill. And this is a big guy. It's a guy that just never get scared of anything. And he just lost all the color in his face.

But I mean, you know, as far as what it looked like, it was a silhouette. I don't know. It could have been, you know, there's only one thing it could have been from the silhouette. It was standing upright and it was that rather tall. But could I verify that 100%? No. I can't say what I saw, but I have a good idea of what I saw. But yeah, that's...

Wow. So I met my stepfather when I was 16 and he started taking me hunting. So one day I finally asked him, I said, have you ever seen anything? weird in the woods. You know, you don't go right into Bigfoot. You try to pussyfoot around it.

And he looked at him, he goes, what do you mean like Bigfoot? I'm like, yeah. He goes, well, I've never seen nothing like that, but, you know, I'm not going to dismiss its existence. But, you know, because I asked him

because he spent most of his life in the woods, fishing, hunting. He's been all over New England, northern north state northern new york state ohio other places out hunting so

so 1986 he goes on an ice fishing derby in the haramon reservoir in vermont i don't know if you know where that's at and oh yeah we'll talk about it a minute he's he comes home and he's like

dude i got to tell you truth i thought you were crazy i really thought you were crazy I really thought you were crazy, but I saw one. And I'm like, okay, well, what happened? So he says, it gets up to the reservoir on Friday afternoon. They're in an ice fishing derby. They go to go out in the lake, and it's full. There's no real good fishing spots.

So he tells my cousin, he's like, yeah, we'll go over to the hotel, we'll stay for the night, we'll get up real early in the morning and get on the reservoir and sink holes before anybody else gets there. So about 2 o'clock they wake up. They pack, I don't know if you know anything about ice fishing, but they pack up their ice fishing sled. They got a, the old three-wheeled the killer ATVs back in the day. They had one of those and they pull it out and they're getting setting up and it's just starting to get light and there.

They got the stove going making bacon and eggs and, you know, my cousin looks over and goes, hey, Unk, look at that guy over there. He's on the other side of the New York, like New York area side of the reservoir. It's not really New York, but that's, and he's like, he's. There's a guy walking up that side of the reservoir and he's, looks like he's wearing all black. And my stepfather looks at him, he goes, and his hands are down by his knees. His arms were so long that he's walking and you can see the hands swaying past the knees according to him. So they're like curious, what is this?

So they hop on the ATV and they head towards them. and as he get closer my cousin who was driving the ATV just hit the brake spun around and came back and he's like unc that was no man so my father was telling me that he the thing was like eight feet tall he said when they got up close it looked like a giant ape and he said and it was just as startles as they were when they came over it took turned and went into the woods as they come flying back that way but i mean ever since then he was uh He was hooked. He knew that I wasn't, well, for this I wasn't crazy. And he knew something out there existed that he never knew existed.

But, you know, I went up with him the following year for the derby just because I wanted to see the area and get a... And it's like, that's really in the middle of nowhere, especially that side of the reservoir. But, yeah, that was my stepfather and my cousin. They both since passed, but that was what they saw. He was telling me, it's like, it's big. It had semi-long hair.

He said, the face looked like an ape. He said, like the arms were down swinging past the knees. And it just, it, you know, every once in a while, we'd be sitting around me like, yeah. Remember the time when a hair in one resident? Like, yeah, yeah, I didn't remember. But for the longest time, he thought I was crazy, but he really didn't, like, he never poo-pooed anything that I said,

never told me like you're nuts he just keep that to himself then he saw it wow so i'll share with you for a few minutes so this place is is really special with my family history growing up we would visit the herman dam multiple times through childhood but i knew it as or sorry harriman reservoir I knew it as Gramps Dam because my, let's say, my grandmother's brother, I believe, was the caretaker of the dam there. So there are all sorts of stories about how he would go take these old wooden sleds and go sliding down the grass side of the dam. if you've been to the part where you can watch the water go in. Now it's a thing where now you can't really go on the dam. You can get in a lot of trouble and it's posted.

So I would not recommend people go mess around. But I remember going to that area and we just went last year and I've always thought, I'm like, it is so remote out here and the woods are so dark. There's nothing out. There's got to be something out here. So when I got your email and I was like, oh, my goodness, Harriman Reservoir, that's, that's Graham Stam. There's something out there. I was just like blown away.

I was like, I knew this email was coming eventually. And I was like, that's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. So I was, I was just pumped to see that there is at least one reported encounter of Bigfoot around the Harriman Reservoir, which is actually right up against, the green mountain I want the green mountain that big forest in a southwest Vermont in a Bennington Triangle area as well

if people know about that but such a cool story Gary I am so glad to hear that one that area is extremely remote for New England for sure when my dad told me that story he's never you know you got guys to be like they caught a

12 inch fish and it'd become 24 inches or they saw a 20 point buck and he'd never went he just told stuff like it was he was a very serious um non-joking type person so if he said he saw jesus walking down the street jesus walking down the street he was that type of person so i knew he wasn't pulling my leg like my buddy's got a my buddy's father used to tell us all kinds of crazy stories that you knew were BS. But my dad if he said it, it was the gospel. And when I went up there to fall in here,

like you said, I'm there in broad daylight. It's sunny out. You couldn't see a foot into them woods. It is so dark than wood. I mean, that was some thick growth. So that'd be a perfect place for something to hide. But yeah, that's, you know,

I always like to add my dad's sighting because his sighting is what makes me realize that maybe I'm not crazy and delusional and I wasn't seeing things if somebody that level-headed did. You know, somebody has no, you know, there's no, he's not gaining any clout or anything by telling that story. In fact, you know, some sportsman's clubs, so they would look at him like he was nuts. But, yeah, that was my dad's sighting. That's awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that.

Yeah, he since passed away, but I remember every. time Bigfoot would come up or it would be a cabaret, like start talking about that site again. We were painting, we were doing a house, we were house painters. And Baxon O'Brien came on and Rock 102

and they were making a, making fun of some Bigfoot sighting. And he turned and I goes, you remember that time? I saw that big foot. Like, yeah, Dad, I do. I remember. That excited him. He always wanted to I mean, we always went deer hunting and stuff like that, but he always wanted to get out

in the woods and look around for what he saw. Yeah. And it's funny because he spent years in the woods. He hunted, he camped. He went off the, before he went off to Vietnam, he spent time in the Seneca Indian Reservation hunting with the folks up that way. So, I mean, he was not a stranger to the woods.

And, I mean, he was, it was always, I always joked. He taught me how to hunt and track. And I'm like, it's really funny that a white man taught an Indian how to hunt and try. track because I'm part Native American and we'd laugh about it and like um but yeah that was his sighting you know after that I really didn't see anything for a while there and I remember moving back to my grandparents house in Pittsburgh and one night I'm like yeah I'm going camping

up in them woods that I saw and set up my tent get ready get everything set up but three in a morning, I just could not sleep. Those woods made me so nervous and see anything, but it just felt like the whole time that I was not supposed to be out there. Three o'clock in the morning, I pulled my tent down, packed everything up, and hiked out of the dark-ass woods just to get away from that area. About a year later, my cousin, who's younger than me, wanted to go camping up there. And he's like, well, you've been up there.

Why don't you show us a good place to camp? So I took his friends up there And we're sitting up there Got the campfire going And About two in the morning We're seeing spotlights and hearing hounds Some coon hunters come up

On us and they're like What are Ian's doing up here? Said you know there are things up in his woods And they didn't allude to what They were talking about and it wasn't like Bear Country or Grizzlies At the time I don't think we had coyotes down there You know

Since we you know, but they're like, there's stuff up here you don't want to mess with. Do you guys armed? And we're like, no. They're like, yeah, I'd get out of here if I were you. And like I said, they never alluded to why or what, but we knew what they were talking about.

Well, I did. But yeah, that's pretty much all my experience in Pennsylvania. So my buddy and I, the guy who was driving the pickup truck, we've been friends forever, he's got a house in Missouamese, Beech, that area, Westerly, Rhode Island.

And he's the type of guy that goes out and makes friends all over the place. So he had made friends with some of the Narragansits down there. It's the Native American tribe. And he got access to a pond in the middle of nowhere in Rhode Island.

And, you know, they're like, go ahead. Don't leave any mess. If anybody ask you, tell them such and such. I told you you could come out here. So we're sitting there one night in his house in Rhode Island and it's hot. It's like two in the morning and it's just hotter than Hades. He's like, hey, let's go up to the pond and go swimming. I'm like this time of night? Because it's a, it was like a 20 minute drive on a dirt road. Now another 15

minute walk through the woods into this. So yeah, okay, whatever, let's do it. It's hot. I'm not going to argue. So we go up there. I say it was it like 2011? believe it was and we're swimming up you know everything's you know normal same as we ever did but as we came out of the woods and got into the car so we're driving I happen to look over to my side of the car and there's two large silhouettes pacing the car so I tell my buddy I'm like look at that and he goes what and he speeds up and he's doing about 30 on this dirt road and it's not like the safest and they're keeping up. I can't tell you

what they were. I'm not going to sit there and say yeah definitely they were big foot. They were tall dark and they were right inside the tree line like escorting us out of the woods. And as soon as we got the pavement we went our way and they went their way. That's you know what was it? I don't know.

I have an idea but I'm not going to sit there and say 100% because I didn't have have a clear visual sighting, whatever it was. But I don't think it was a couple of NBA players running down the path. But, yeah, you know, and it's like I can't give a description because I really didn't see nothing but shadows, you know, silhouettes in the woods. But yeah, it's like, okay, Rhode Island, too.

But, I mean, my buddy one time hopped on his dirt bike in Westerly and rode all the way through Connecticut, and this is all trails, into Massachusetts and to my parents' house in Springfield, on a dirt bike, in the woods without really ever traveling paved roads except for the cross-um. So there's a lot of woods up here.

Wow. A lot more than you think. Yeah, absolutely. Because, like, you know, you live in Springfield or Holyoke or even Agam, you know, like, yeah it's really not that woodsie up here but then you get up into like Brandby and you know that you look at the map and there's like

woods all the way up into Canada that are maybe um you know might be a few small towns here and there but nothing that big you know so it's like there's enough

there's enough of wooded area up here here that anything could stay undetected if they didn't make the mistake of doing the occasional road crossing or throwing rocks at people you know oh yeah i mean i don't think people also realize that you can take a snowmobile from the massachusetts new hampshire border all the way up to canada oh yeah on snowmobile trails it's crazy yeah so I studied read books, watched every documentary, but I never

really did any field research. So finally, after my dad passed, I'm like, you know what? I'm going to start going out in the woods and looking around. So I slowly accumulated like night vision binoculars, infrared, you know, all that stuff. So one weekend, last year, I was like, yeah, I'm going to reserve a campsite up the Savoy State Forest campground.

And I doubt I'm going to see anything. But just spending time in the woods would be nice. So I get up there and I get a campsite near the entrance to the camp. And I got one neighbor next to me. And it was going to pour the next night so a lot of people didn't reserve anything. So I'm sitting there and I'm looking through my binoculars and all of a sudden I see a face. And I get all excited when I'm like, no, let me. focus in on this and as I brought the power up I'm like okay that's a bunch of leaves you know

it was it was it called peridolia um so I'm like oh okay so the next night it poured I mean buckets it felt like it sounded like people were pouring buckets of water on my tent and my tent got soaked and I ended up sleeping in the car I was going home the next day anyways so I'm sleeping there and I'm looking through the the binoculars and I see another face and I focus in and it's a bunch of leaves again but it's like wild how at a certain angle at a certain distance stuff actually looks like something it's not so finally I'm like yeah whatever I'm just going to catch a nap before I leave I packed all my gear up and I'm sitting in the front of the car and I got the windows open because it's you know not raining anymore

it's getting fresh air. And I hear an owl, you know, who-hoo? Like, okay, owls, owls are in the woods. Then I hear a response to like, hoot-h-h-h-h. I'm like, is that owlaryngitis? So then I hear the owl again, you know, who-h-h-h-h-h-h. And I hear response, hoot-ho. And I'm like, what the heck is that?

So finally I hear the crows, I guess they were upset because they got woke up and they're just squawking away at the owl sound. and the owl takes off and you can hear him as he's getting further further away. So I was sitting there

I'm like that was weird what was it? I don't know. I started hearing movement in the woods. I'm like okay that could be a bear

that could be a person you know it's a campsite there are people out here but I'm hearing it and it's like trying to be quiet as possible

whatever it was you know some look and I see in a little clearing, I just see just a glimpse of something. I have no idea. It was hairy or what? It was just a glimpse.

And I'm like, okay, that's weird. But, you know, I don't know if you know the Savoy State Forest Campground at all. But you have the road. I know of the area. The road that goes down, I can't remember the name of the road, and you go into the entrance, and the first left there's like three campsites. There's the road to those campsites,

a small patch of woods, the road going in, and then nothing but woods. So I saw something. I don't have no idea what it was. I can't say definitively. Could have been a person. I don't know what they're doing at 3 o'clock in the morning

walking through the woods, but, you know, that was pretty much the gist of that. Oh, and that was just last year? Yeah. I've had people tell me that bears will make a noise that sounds like an owl only deeper. Yeah, but did they talk to the owls when, did they respond to owls? You know, and I'm like, I'm not claiming what it was. I don't know, but it was just odd.

You know, and it's like, I'd like to be able to see one one more time before I pass away. I don't care if I prove anything. I don't care if I, like, have, like, Patterson Gimlin style, whatever. I don't care. I just want to see one. Once more. I had this theory for the longest time that, you know, because I saw most of this in the 60s, 70s and 80s, that it was a dwindling species that probably went extinct since then until the 2011 sighting,

and I realized, yeah, no. I personally think it's a, I'm flesh and blood. I'm not dismissing any of the woo, any of the, you know, because I've seen, I've had paranormal experiences. I know there's more out there than what, but I truly do believe that the, the, the, the, Bigfoot creature is a flush and blood animal. And, you know, I remember getting into a discussion with somebody because I said, it's an ape.

And somebody was like, it's human. And I'm like, you do realize apes, humans are partly great ape family. And it got in this whole big argument about calling people apes. And they're like, no, the great apes are humans, gorillas, the different chimpanzees, orangutans, those are great apes. We're part of that group. humans are highly advanced animals. So when somebody claims that it's human,

that doesn't mean that it's like me and you putting a suit on and going to the city type, but it doesn't mean that it's not an animal either. It's obviously something more than an ape like a chimpanzee or something like that, but what it is, none of us know. We don't have any refutable proof of what, it is. And I'm willing to

listen to anybody's ideas even if I think they're bat crap crazy. Because I could be wrong. You know, all that woo stuff could be real. I doubt it, but

and it's like when people like, well, it disappeared. And like, have you ever spent a lot of time in the woods? Like, I used to go deer hunting. I'd see deer disappear all the time. It didn't mean it disappeared. They knew the woods better than me. They would take a sharp left or right,

and the next one you wouldn't see them. And it looked like they just, boom, dropped off the face of the earth, but that's an animal that knows those wood way better than I do, and it knows how to evade people. And, you know, there's certain colors, like browns and blacks that blend into the forest,

especially when you're in like a thick forest. And people can disappear. after so many feet into the woods, you can hear them, you don't see them. But like I said, I don't dismiss anybody's ideas because none of us really know what we're dealing with. But I'm in the flesh.

Oh, I agree. Yeah. And wild accounts of, I mean, yeah, the Savoy area, the Savoy State Forest, there's some really interesting accounts. I took one once where they had a sighting of something by Balanced Rock in Savoy State Forest.

That was pretty cool. Also, have you ever heard of anything happening over by the Coabin? I've heard. In fact, I think it was on your show that I've heard it, but I wouldn't doubt it. I used to go fishing at the Quabin all the time, and you've got to walk miles. If you're not getting a boat,

if you're fishing off the shore, it would be a half-hour, 40-minute walk from the road to the, bank in thick woods and I always found it fascinating you know here in New England you have middle of woods you have old stone walls and you know from when they were farms because you know after the revolution this whole state was pretty much stripped in farm fields it was after the manifest destiny when a lot of people went west to claim land they abandoned their farms and the forest

started growing back up around those farms. So you'd be out in the middle of woods and you'd see a foundation for a house, stone walls. And I always thought it was kind of odd that I'd be walking out into the woods and quabin. Here's a stone wall in the middle of nowhere. You know, later on I found out why. But I was looking around him thinking, this would definitely be an area where something could stay undetected. Yeah, because they don't have open hunting season. There's restrictions not being there after dark.

they do do a special hunt when the deer population gets too thick, but pretty much that area is untouched, you know, other than people going fishing on the quab and people going nature hiking, but it's not like, it's not like downtown Springfield. There's not a lot of people around there. Right, yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, a little different. It is a really cool area. I've had reports from all, man, really all sides. of it, public and private reports. I mean, Gary, thank you so much for coming on this show. I really hope that you are able to have your another citing as you're desiring to have so. Hopefully that happens to you.

I mean, you've had so many experiences already. And also, another thing you mentioned that you have your background, too, like your Native American heritage, I think that does play deep into things sometimes. My mother was native. She's passed away since, but my dad was a hillbilly.

Or is a hillbilly. He's still alive. I really shouldn't say was. My actual father, my birth father. It's a weird combination, but yeah. And I mean, I didn't grow up in a reservation. I don't have that much

other than what my grandfather taught me that much knowledge of my heritage for all intensive persons is I grew of a white kid in the cities you know even though I was you know and I learned when a young age to just hide that part of my my um what's the word I'm trying to think of that aspect of who I was because you get a lot of crap you know you know you know when I was a kid and I lived in Pittsburgh. Well, do you live in a teepee? And I'm like, I live right down the street from you.

We haven't used teepees in a long time. Well, why isn't your hair long? And is your dad hunt buffalo? And my dad's white like you. You know, like that place I've seen Buffalo is in a buffalo farm. But, you know, you get a lot of crap and a lot of derogatory terms slung your way. And you learn to just keep your mouth shut and only tell your closest friends, you know, about your heritage, but yeah, I do believe that.

Sure. Like you were saying, there's something about native blood that just brings these things to you. You know, I mean, you know, I've had multiple sightings. If I was sitting on the outside listening to my story, I'd be like, that guy's nuts. He's seeing things.

Now, and there's going to be people that say that, you know. Yeah, you know, you know, it's not a story of habituation or anything like that I've just seen things most of the time I just happen to be in the right place at the right time

it wasn't like I was out there looking for these things all the time but they show up and it's funny because like my grandma used to tell us about the booger man all the time and she was originally from Ponsetani PA where they the groundhog

and she moved to that area and met my grandfather in that area my family had lived there for like generations they built three houses in that neighborhood but you know it was like a matter of fact to her you know it was as real to her as the wild dogs and the deer and all that other stuff but i i kicked myself absolutely i wish i'd asked her more questions about that and it's like you always think that you got forever and then somebody's gone It's like I should have said something while they're still there.

I know. That is, if anyone is going to take anything away from this, it's what you just said that literally, we all in life think we have more time with people and they can be gone extremely quick. At my age, that is a reality. I'm losing more people in my family than I'm gaining. I'm 60. Yeah. yeah that's that's my experience it wasn't until I started like talking to the guys at Squasachusetts and hearing about all the different then I'm like oh okay so it's not as

far effect as I thought it was you know and it's funny because I got a t-shirt from Squatjusit, and it's a big foot at the base of Mount Holyoke with that summit view at the top. And I'm like, oh, that's where I saw what I saw. I was, okay, okay. Not that it was, I don't know if it was based on a real

sighting, but it was just interesting that I saw that shirt, and I'm like, okay. And then you hear when you're like at a sportsman club, I used to belong to a sportsman, you'll hear stuff that you know, people aren't going to tell, you know, you're sitting there having a few beers and they're like, yeah,

I saw like multiple trail cam picks of, um, cougars here in mass where they say there aren't a cougars. Yeah. And it's like, well, what is this? And I mean, yeah, people can fake that stuff and everything, but these guys, they weren't publicizing this stuff. They weren't looking to get anybody's approval. They just be sitting there and they pop their phone out and be like,

like, yeah, I got this on my trail cam. And it's funny because when I first moved up here and I first started hunting, mass wildlife was like adamant that there are no coyotes in this area. You're not seeing coyotes. Those are coy dogs. And you can't swing a tree without any of the coy dogs. So it's like, just because you say something doesn't exist doesn't mean it don't exist. Have I seen a panther?

No, but I know enough people that they, they've spent time in the woods, they know what they're looking at. They didn't see a house cat. It was like the pictures you see of people taking pictures of cougars in their backyard, and you zoom in and it's a house cat, just a rather large house cat. Right, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

There are definitely things out in the woods of New England for sure. And I appreciate you being one of the individuals that can come forward and share about places. we really haven't heard a lot on the show. But Gary, thank you so much for coming on and for spend some time today to share what you've experienced over the years. Well, thank you. I really, I'm not into public speaking,

and after doing a couple of podcasts, I really wasn't looking to do another one. But, you know, listen to your show, you're from the area. And I figured I'd share my sightings with you since you're always looking for Massachusetts in New England. Have you ever heard all the accounts of Bigfoot activity 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 Summerfest is coming up July 10th through the 11th, 2026. it's going to be even better than the previous year's 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, well, you just got to be there. We'll leave it 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 trek 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-lifetime deal.

It's just, trust me, it's going to be a wild, wild experience. To get a ticket, head on over to Sasquatch Summerfest.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, you guys can get 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. I was able to talk to so many people 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've stumbled upon something you're not allowed to talk about, and if you're a 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 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, or 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 what the public hasn't, then I want to talk to you. Even if it's anonymous,

you can reach me at Bigfoot Society 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 in the woods. 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 helps you. more people discover the show. And remember, if you or someone you know has had a Bigfoot citing,

please, I'd love to hear from you. So email me at Bigfoot Society 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. www.bigfootsocietypodcast.com, and that's where you can hear tomorrow's episode today, early and ad-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.