The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 96: He found Giants then the Government Found Him | What really happened to Andrew Dawson?

Episode Date: January 26, 2023

Andrew started his TikTok account in July of 2021, and he posted all the typical things. Videos of friends, of work, his girlfriend, his dog, and just him goofing around. But starting in April, 2022, his posts would take a strange turn; and Andrew Dawson would become the center of one the biggest internet mysteries in years. Every story I cover on this channel is a suggestion from you and almost every one of them falls into one of a few categories. UFOs, Government cover-ups, men in black, missing persons, and giants. Well, today's episode has all of these. This is the bizarre story of Andrew Dawson. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Hey, it's your buddy AJ from the Y-Files. And Hecklefish.

Right, and Hecklefish. We just wanted to tell you that if you want to start a podcast, Spotify makes it easy. It'd have to be easy for humans to understand it. Will you stop that? I'm just saying. Spotify for Podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts from your computer. I don't have a computer.

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payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you, my wife's lawyer now? Never mind. And I don't know if you noticed, but all Y-Files episodes are video, too. And there's a ton of other features, but you... But we can't be here all day. Will you settle down?

I need you to hurry up with this stupid commercial. I got a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for Podcasters. It's free, no catch, and a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for podcasters. It's free, no catch, and you could start today. Are we done? We're done, but you need to check your attitude. Excuse me, but I don't have all day to sit here and talk about Spotify. This would go a lot faster if you would just let me get through it. Andrew started his TikTok account in July of 2021, and he posted all the typical things.

Videos of friends, of work, his girlfriend, his dog, and just goofing around. But starting in April 2022, his posts would take a strange turn, and Andrew Dawson would become the center of one of the biggest internet mysteries in years. Every story I cover on this channel is a suggestion from you, and almost every one of them falls into one of a few categories. UFOs, government cover-ups, men in black, missing persons, and giants. Well, today's episode has all of these. This is the strange story of Andrew Dawson. Andrew Dawson going by the handle handicapped was just another guy on TikTok.

Although TikTok is full of people posting conspiracy videos, Andrew wasn't one of them. His videos reflected the life of a nice, normal guy, 34 years old, living in British Columbia. Good job, nice friends, close relationship with his girlfriend and her kids. That's probably why he wasn't prepared

for the rabbit hole he was about to go down. On April 9th, 2022, Andrew was driving with a friend when he spotted something on the ridge of Whistler's Peak in Alberta, Canada. What is it? It's a person, dude. No, seriously, pull over, pull over. Although his friend wasn't convinced, Andrew said it was a person. But at that zoom, from that distance, whatever this is, it was way too big to be a person.

Well, too big to be a normal-sized person. There's a person standing there. No, it's not. Dude, have you seen what I've seen right now? That video got millions of views. They keep telling you that videos about giants are a good idea. Yeah, they do keep saying that, but you know I don't like... You don't like cryptids. I know, you've said. Right. Well, which

is more important? What you like or views? Views. Well, better learn to love stories about Bigfoot, Chupacabra, and the crab cat. There's no such thing as a... See you, the crab cat! Thousands of people in Andrew's comments wanted him to get closer to the mountain

and try to find out exactly what the object was. We are on our way. We're going to go find somewhere closer, and I'm going to set my camera on something so you guys aren't complaining how shaky it is in the truck. Because, yeah, the internet has no chill. I have to agree with Andrew on that one. The internet definitely has no chill.

Just look at all the comments on YouTube Shorts. Andrew's friend didn't think it was a giant. He just thought it was a tower or some large structure on the ridge. But it couldn't have been a tower. Because when Andrew went back to look for it, it was gone. Okay, I'm going to use this as a tripod to try to keep it steady for you guys. And it's not even there anymore, too. That's where it was yesterday.

Andrew spoke to a few locals about what he thought was a giant. Residents told him that something lives in the mountains, but it's not always visible. I spoke to some locals and it comes and goes apparently. I don't know. See, that's me trying to keep it super steady with something. Do you know how hard it is to keep it steady with zoomed in all the way? This area of Canada has had over 200 Bigfoot or Sasquatch sightings going back to the 1800s, and native tribes in this area have a legend about Sasquatch that goes back a thousand years. In fact, the word Sasquatch comes from the Salish word for wild man or hairy man. The last Sasquatch sighting was in 2014, when the news reported a Bigfoot-like creature walking through the snow near Whistler.

Pretty sure it was a Sasquatch down there. I can't really see it very well. There's this little black dot walking in the middle of the snow. In the middle of nowhere. That is pretty big. I can't zoom in anymore. This guy's just scampering up snow lines. He's no big deal.

This is Jasper National Park, the same area. Locals gave Andrew directions to the location where he saw whatever it was that he saw. But even though he was driving on a public road in a national park, he was stopped by some type of government agent. I just got stopped by some CIA of government agent. right now because he stopped the vehicle his truck was blocking it said some big environmental issue was going on i don't know he told me to go back and said i was trespassing i don't get it it was awkward but i'm going back again tomorrow to see if he's not there but if he is there i will keep camera i will film because the only angle i could get that that I found today is the one I just posted earlier. And it wasn't even anything there. But I don't understand why the roads blocked off. I don't know. Now, I've read some debunkers on Reddit that challenge this CIA idea.

Reddit, huh? What do those geniuses have to say? Well, they say that the CIA doesn't operate in Canada. Oh, it hurts. It hurts me. Oh, I gave myself a stitch. Oh, hey, Reddit, the CIA operates everywhere. They operate everywhere. And even if you think the CIA doesn't operate in Canada, which is adorable if you believe that, Canada's intelligence agency, the CSIS, operates everywhere.

And that suit could have stopped him. Did he go back the next day? Yep. Did he record it? Yep. Hachalula! You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest.

While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid

of a long-lost treasure chest while you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You searched for your informant who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat.

There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest while you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Andrew left the house early to head back to the mountain to try to find the creature. All right, I woke up actually early today. We're actually going to go on an adventure. It's currently 5.30 in the morning. I'm going to see if he's there

early in the morning and see if I can get up a little bit. Look at all these mountains I got. They are everywhere around here too. That's the one. All right. Let's go. On Andrew's trip back to the mountain,

he recorded a couple of more strange events. Eww! What the... is that? That looks like many other UFO sightings in the area, but things get even stranger. Andrew then spotted this over the mountain. So they're extracting something out of here. There's two helicopters. What the fuck? Black helicopters, UFOs, big feet.

What the hell is going on in this mountain? All this is happening on Andrew's drive to the mountain within the same hour or two. Now, he looked all over, but he couldn't find the giant in the mountains. But later that evening, he does find the road where he was stopped previously. And just like he said, there is an agent there in an unmarked car. The agent once again tells Andrew the road's closed. The guy's here again. Yeah, this is him. What's going on?

Road's closed. Turn around. Really? Yeah, man. Just turn around, please. Okay. Have a good night, man. Andrew doesn't argue. He turns his car around and heads home. So that was f***ed up. I don't know why I'm driving past them again. Just turned around.

I don't understand why it's closed off, though. It's a public park or a public road or whatever. But whoever that agent was, it wouldn't be the last time we see him. Andrew didn't post any videos for a few days, but soon we would learn why. On April 16th, he uploaded a video titled, Being Stalked. I think that's the same vehicle from... Hey! Ah, things just got real. They did.

And that looks like the same unmarked Dodge Charger from the last video. The mountain is pretty far from Andrew's house, so whoever stopped him on that dark road somehow found out where he lived and was watching him from the street. He does. But like I said, Andrew isn't a conspiracy black helicopter men and black believer. He probably doesn't understand how dangerous this move was. His fans tried to explain this to him after he posted that video. People in his comments told him that this was a stupid idea and he needs to be really careful. Then people got really nervous when Andrew didn't post a follow-up. He'd been uploading videos pretty consistently. Everything that's happened so far took place in a single

week, but then nothing. Rumors on TikTok began running wild. People speculated that he was abducted or maybe something worse. Finally, after three weeks, Andrew returns with another video. But this one is very different than the others. It's called Official Update. Hey guys, I just want to give you an update. I'm not dead. I have not disappeared.

I have just been busy with life. I couldn't get around to posting and updating you guys. So now I'm going to give you an official update of what's been going on. Sorry to disappoint you guys, but all the videos that I post, all the videos that I posted were scripted. They're just fake. They were just strictly for entertainment. Sorry to disappoint you guys. I just need to give you a quick update.

Not suspicious at all. Andrew is leaning up against a plain wall with his hands in his pockets. He never posts like this. And in every other video he's posted, he records himself. But in this video, the phone or camera is on a tripod. Also, this video has a slightly different aspect ratio than his other videos. Which means? Different phone.

Oh no. And look at his eyes. Doesn't it seem like he's looking at someone else in the room? Many people pointed out that it looked like Andrew was forced into making this video. People continued to speculate about whether or not Andrew was coerced. But ten days later,

we would learn the truth from Andrew himself. You might not see me post ever again. My videos, they weren't fake. For the caption of that video, Andrew wrote, too much has happened and I can't be forced to be silent. Andrew was finally ready to tell the world what happened to him. The following day, he would upload another video. Andrew's life had become complicated.

A story that began as simple curiosity about a tall figure on a mountain descended into a saga where Andrew's being followed and watched by a mysterious agent working for an unnamed agency. Then he's forced to record a confession retracting everything he said in his videos and then retracts that retraction 10 days later, saying the videos were real. Now, clearly whoever forced his confession was following his TikTok account. But the big question was who? Well, Andrew

might have given us a clue when he posted a video the following day, titled Military. What is that? That was not there yesterday. So, we've got a sighting of a humanoid figure or some kind of structure on a local mountain that disappears the following day. Strange objects in the sky over the mountain. Helicopters circling and carrying large equipment either in or out of the area,

and government agents closing public roads, then surveilling and possibly abducting people. And now an ominous black structure that was literally built overnight. In only a month, Andrew went from a happy, fun, regular guy to anxious and paranoid. It's not paranoia if people really are following you. That's true. On May 13th, Tony Merkle, host of the Confessionals podcast, reached out to Andrew on Instagram about a possible interview. Tony didn't hear back. But a little over a month later, on June 23rd, Andrew responded. Tony asked Andrew if the videos were real or a prank.

Andrew said, all fake. Everything's fake. Everything's fake. It's fake. Then Andrew asked, why? What did you see? Tony posted a link to Andrew's confession. Andrew wrote back that he can't say anything about it and that it didn't happen. Andrew then tells Tony he shouldn't be talking to him and to be safe.

The video of the structure on the mountain was Andrew's last TikTok video, but he kept posting on Facebook. Andrew's Facebook posts were mostly pictures of kept posting on Facebook. Andrew's Facebook posts were mostly pictures of family and friends, jokes and random positive thoughts. He was excited about a trip to Mexico that he just booked. It seemed like Andrew Dawson was ready to put the entire mountain mystery behind him and get on with his life. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be possible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms.

Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Andrew's followers fell into one of two camps. One, the people who wanted him to keep digging for more answers, to keep posting videos of what he found. And the other camp. People telling Andrew that he stumbled into a very dangerous situation. And by posting these videos which were being seen by millions of people, he could be putting his life in danger. His fans urged him

stop posting videos about whatever this was. They told him to hire a lawyer and go to the media. They felt the only way Andrew could protect himself was to get his story into the news. But even though Andrew said he wouldn't remain silent, that's exactly what he did. He didn't post any more videos. He declined interview requests.

He didn't say another word about this. But he did show up in the local newspaper about a week later. Oh, he went to the media, huh? Good idea. Nope, he didn't go to the media. Then what was in the paper? Andrew's obituary. Oh, no. On July 1st, about six weeks after Andrew's final TikTok video,

his obituary appeared in the Campbell River Mirror. Speculation online went wild. Was his death a coincidence? Or is this yet another example of a whistleblower suddenly disappearing? And what was it that Andrew saw on the mountain? If anyone was looking for closure on these mysteries, they weren't going to get it. Andrew Dawson passed away on July 1st, 2022. He was only 34 years old. The Andrew Dawson story was one of the biggest internet mysteries of the year. But is it true? Well, let's take it step by step. The video that started all this was the giant on

the ridge. Now, I've seen this mountain reported as Whistler Peak, but it's not. That ridge is actually Canoe Mountain. Andrew took this video while driving south on BC5, or Yellowhead Highway. We know this because at the very beginning of his video, we see the sign for Cedarside Regional Park. Now, if we follow Andrew's route and grab images that aren't overcast, you can see this is the right mountain. And if we zoom into that peak, we can see the object. What Andrew thought looked like a giant was just the top of a cell phone tower. Now, the reason the tower disappeared in a later video is because he was recording a little further down the highway where the road veers to the west. That puts the tower out of view.

The UFO video was taken over a different mountain. Now, while this could be a UFO, it's probably just contrails. The reason it looks bright orange is because the video was taken while the sun was coming up. Now, the helicopter video is fun. Lots of stories we cover seem to have black helicopters circling around,

but that's not what's happening here. What Andrew saw is called helilogging. This is when helicopters are brought in to remove trees from inaccessible areas. And that building that Andrew saw, that was actually the Jasper Sky Tram. Yeah, but how did they build that overnight? They didn't. It was built in 1964. Oh. So was Andrew hoaxing?

Or did he really not know about the Sky Tram? He's from the area, so it's safe to say that he knew about it. And I'm sure that wasn't the first time he saw a helicopter carrying logs. So far, Andrew's story isn't panning out. But things do get a little more complicated when it comes to the CIA agent, or whoever that was. It was definitely the same car that was on the mountain road and that tore away from his house. But was this guy a government agent? It's hard to tell from the footage. There are a few frames where we see him fairly close up. But if he's a man in black, he's the first one I've seen to wear stretchy pants tucked into Timberlands.

Or maybe Canadian men in black are outdoorsy and fashionable. Could be, but I'll leave that up to you to decide. But the agent doesn't sound like law enforcement. Road's closed. Turn around. Really? Yeah, man. Just turn around, please. Yeah, man. Just turn around, please. Yeah, man. Just turn around, please. Kind of casual.

Ever been pulled over and initially the officer is standoffish and kind of robotic? That's not them being a jerk. Police are trained to establish authority at the beginning of an encounter.

This guy doesn't sound like a cop to me and definitely not like a fed. Yeah, man. Just turn around, please. Now, the quote-unquote agent was driving a 2015 Dodge Charger. We know that some Canadian law enforcement agencies use that vehicle. But if it's a government vehicle, why does it have an aftermarket exhaust system?

And that was not professional surveillance. You don't park right in front of the target's house with the motor running and the lights on. As far as tradecraft goes, that's a huge fail and highly suspicious. Now, Andrew's forced confession was definitely odd, but it doesn't feel right to me. When Andrew looks off camera, it looks forced, like he's overacting. Andrew was an aspiring musician and was excited about all the views he was getting on TikTok. We know he liked performing for the camera. We could be watching a performance here.

But I could be wrong. Maybe he's being sincere. But if he really was forced into making this video, I think it's strange that the image he used for the thumbnail was of him looking away, like he's calling attention to it. You'd think whoever forced him to make the video would have prevented him from using that frame and calling attention to it. You'd think whoever forced him to make the video would have prevented him from using that frame and calling attention to it. Or maybe he was giving us a signal that someone was in the room with him. Maybe.

But if a government would go to the trouble and take the risk of abducting a person and forcing them to post a TikTok video, that government could just as easily force him to remove all the videos about the mountain or force him to delete his account. Or just delete the person who owns the account, which they did. Right. Andrew's death is the strangest part of this whole story. And still, there are a few details that don't add up.

We've been able to explain just about every one of Andrew's videos. I think we've solved everything he saw on or around the mountains, or at least we've made pretty strong cases for a hoax. But Andrew's death is not so easy to solve. There are aspects of it that feel like a hoax, but there are aspects that make me think he might actually be gone. Andrew's obituary did show up in the local paper on July 1st, but anyone can post on that newspaper's website without a death certificate. Looking at the source code of the page, we can see that his obituary was first published on July 1st at 7 a.m. But he died on July 1st. So did he pass away very early in the morning? And then someone submitted an obituary to the paper just a few hours later?

That's odd to me. Now, there have been at least two people who have confirmed Andrew's death. They allegedly said he was depressed and took his own life. Now, could they be part of the hoax and covering? Sure. But faking your own death isn't easy. His Facebook page has been changed to a remembering page. That attracts a lot of attention.

Andrew's girlfriend created a couple of videos after his passing that look pretty sincere. Well, most of them do. Now, I don't love the idea of posting TikToks about your partner's death. that look pretty sincere. Well, most of them do. Now, I don't love the idea of posting TikToks about your partner's death. That seems weird to me. Why put something so painful and personal online? You're such a boomer. Yeah, I know.

I've been told that this is not that unusual for TikTokers. To me, it feels a little unseemly, but everyone processes grief in their own way. By the way, I'm not going to link to her social media. If you really want to find her, it's easy enough to do, but please don't comment on her posts or reach out to her. Just leave her alone. Every comment she gets is what happened to Andrew. And if he really is gone, then all those comments have to be torture. Now, some other things are strange. There's very little information about Andrew online. I couldn't find birth records, death records, residences, phone numbers, what schools he went to, employment history, arrest records, or really records of any kind. The only background information I could find comes from

his Facebook page, but I could find members of his family. I found his grandfather, who Andrew's named after. I found his mother. I found his siblings. I thought it was strange that his sister posted nothing about the passing of her brother on her social media, and she posts every day. Now, if he really is gone, his family has my condolences. But if he's alive, then he has my congratulations. If this is a hoax, it's a good one.

If it's not a hoax, it's really, really sad. Yeah, I really hope this is a hoax. And at some point, Andrew reappears. Maybe he posts a TikTok video explaining everything and how difficult it was to keep this secret for so many months. Then he could live his life, raise his kids, and when they grow up, tell them the story about how daddy fooled everyone on the internet. Something tells me he's never going to get that chance. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. My name's AJ.

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