Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
Bear Lake Beast
Jack Osbourne, son of the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne has decided to satisfy his curiosity for the paranormal, by traveling the Americas searching the nature of Urban Legends. If this sounds a little familiar, it is. This is by and large the same premise as Destination Truth. However, for right now, Jack is focusing his attention on America and his team is much smaller. It’s two teams of two (with Jael of past Destination Truth and Fact or Faked fame) heading up the other camp. So how does the show compare and what do they come away with?
Well, first off, it really feels like the intro Blair Witch. There’s lots of talking to the camera and explaining what they’re doing. It’s not bad, it’s just makes me laugh a little.
And they don’t visit any markets. A convenience store looking for supplies just doesn’t have the same local color as the markets Josh finds himself in.
But on with the investigation. First up is the Bear Lake Beast, a creature, like Loch Ness that’s supposed to inhabit a lake. There are multiple sighting and even one guy who says he was up close and personal with it. Unfortunately, his description is a little vague and he doesn’t have too many details. But Jack and Dana head out onto the lake to see what they can find. Using Sonar they scan the water and Jack sets himself up with a late night underwater dive. The tension mounts as he disappears for a little while, but he does resurface with a large bone in his hand. Now there’s something.
Dana also captures footage of something in the water. The Flir shows it to be much warmer than the surrounding area. Even though it looks big, it only lasts for a second and then it’s gone. It’s not evidence, but it’s something.
After some analysis, Jack finds out there are thermal springs under the lake. They’re pockets of warm water that push up to the surface. Was that what Dana caught on the Flir? And what about the bone? Well, it’s an animal bone, more than likely a cow bone. What was it doing in that cave? Was it drug down there? Did the animal try to swim and it drown? It was a food source to something…
Vergas Hairy Man
This is basically derivative of Bigfoot that lives in Minnesota. The story is similar to the Skunk Ape and others. It’s a big hairy creature that lives in the woods, is tall, is covered in hair and gives of a pungent odor. Jael and Devin are heading out into the middle of nowhere to try and locate it.
They meet with some local residence who claim to have seen it. A woman they meet says she had encounter out in the woods during a snowmobile trip. The creature chased them after the sound of the engines distressed it.
Jael and Devin head into the woods and play engine sounds to see if they can "rouse the beast". Jael does capture something on the Flir that appears to be walking. There is definitely something there, but it’s such a blob there’s no way to tell. It didn’t come across as aggressive none-the-less. The also discover a lot of broken branches and bent over trees as though something was making a path. There is also the discovery of human-like hair. Are they in the lair of the Hairy Man?
When the evidence get analyzed the team begins to have doubt. Jael begins to feel the whole thing is a hoax. Since the town knew they were out there, did someone or a group go out into the woods to keep the legend alive? Is there something really living out there or were they duped?
Other Articles of Interest:
- Haunted Highway – Lake Murray Beast and The Donner Party – S02E04
- Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
- Haunted Highway – Louisiana Swamp Woman and Pioneer Cemetery – S01E05
- Haunted Highway – Darkman of Standing Rock and Blackstar Shadow Man – S01E02
- Haunted Highway – Manchac Swamp and Moonville Tunnel – S02E02
- Haunted Highway – Beast of Bray Road and Tonopah Mine – S02E03
- Haunted Highway – Utah Skinwalker and Ozark Howler – S01E03
- Haunted Highway – Bridge of Doom and Shades of Death Road S02E05
- Haunted Highway – El Dorado Hell Hounds and Georgia Skinstealer – S01E04
- Haunted Highway – Black Angel and Arizona Domes – S02E06
Destination Truth – Spirits of Tikal and Creature From the Black Lagoon – S05E05
Spirits of Tikal
For this episode of Destination Truth, Josh and team head out to the supposedly haunted Mayan city of Tikal where the locals tell tales of encounters with the spirits of sacrificial victims. Mayan blood rituals were the norm, and sacrifices were made to appease the gods. Let’s not forget that the Mayan calendar says the world ends in 2012 and many feel the paranormal activity is heating up at this site.
So the teams sets out for Belize, backtracks back down the river, retraces their steps back up the river and over the border, zigs and zags for a variety of unknown reasons so that they can make their way into a cave where they find the mystical Tata Pedro. With his blessing they repeat the process again and finally make it to the city. Phew.
With dozens of cameras set up they head out into the jungle to see what they can find. There is an usual light that reflects off one of the buildings. Since there is no electricity and doubtful there is a random car passing by, just what was that?
As you may expect, there are a lot of noises out there in the jungle and Ryder and her team comes just feet away from heaven knows what. It makes some ghostly sounds even though it doesn’t make an appearance.
The team does make a discovery that quite possibly debunks many of the sounds people are hearing. As they climb one of the buildings, there is a "vent" that seems to exhale and makes the building sound like it’s breathing. It gives of a whistle and some other unusual sounds. When you’re all alone out there, who knows what that would sound like.
There are some cold spots and the equipment goes haywire as soon as the investigation starts. It’s odd to feel something cold in the middle of the jungle and the equipment has glitches in unison. Not only do the cameras go out together, but they begin working again at the same time. An unusual coincidence indeed.
So what’s going on out there? Is there paranormal activity related to the human sacrifices? Are these just odd coincidences? The Mayans have an interesting culture and their belief system is something we’re still thinking about today. Are the spirits stirring because the end is near?
Creature From the Black Lagoon
The team heads off to Fiji where there are reports of something lurking in the water and scaring the natives half to death. They feel it’s a sea creature out to do them harm. So the team sets out to scour the waterways by air, sea and land to discover what it is.
Josh decides the best way to check things out is to go for a dive. Within a few minutes (or at least that’s the way it comes across on TV) he’s sharing the water with multiple Bull Sharks. And they’re big. A couple of tense moments to be sure.
The investigation continues on in the night where the teams sees something swimming around in the water. We don’t get a sense of scale, but there is something out there. Josh uses the fortuitously place bamboo raft to get a better look and of course falls into the water making us all think his meager life is over. But our intrepid adventurer is out of the water and back on board the boat in no time.
With some evidence in hand they head back to see what they have. And we come to find out that in this part of the world there is a new specific of massive iguana that can be 6 feet long. It features fit the description from the natives and quite frankly, if you saw that coming up on you in the middle of the night (or even the day) it would scare the $hit out of you! And let’s not forget the Bull Sharks can live in both fresh and saltwater habitats and they are known to be found in rivers. I think what we have here is a case of mistaken identity.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Beast Hunter – Swamp Monster of the Congo – S01E03
- Destination Truth – Ghosts of Menengai Crater / Kalanoro S04E06
- Destination Truth – Vietnam’s Bigfoot – S05E01
- Destination Truth – Jungle Temple Ghosts & Namibian Night Stalker – S04E12
- Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
- Expedition Unknown – City of Gold – S01E05
- Destination Truth – Ghosts of Cannibal Village and Kapre – S05E03
- Destination Truth – Ghost Fleet/Japanese River Monster S04E04
- Destination Truth
- Destination Truth – Haunted Island Ruins / Moroccan Succubus S04E07
Destination Truth – Alien Invaders and Swedish Lake Monster – S05E04
Well this isn’t something I was expecting to see, the team has gone X-Files and is chasing down little green men. Well, not green, rather a milky white complexion according to eyewitnesses. The team is headed to Kazakhstan investigate unidentified flying objects.
This area of the world gets plenty of UFO sightings, complete with dozens of amateur photos of the events and even things falling from the sky. Josh meetings with some government officials who took possession of some metallic spheres after it crashed in a farmer’s field. It’s a big rusty orb that’s tougher than nails apparently. Josh is allowed to take some photos and even grabs a sample of metal.
Then it’s out into the field in the dead of night to see what the sky has to offer. While there are no little green men running around there is some wild activity above their heads. As Josh puts it, "Holy ****! What the **** am I looking at!!"
Right above them are two bright lights moving in strange patterns. One is clearly brighter than the other. They move in an odd formation, don’t appear to be commercial aircraft and then mysteriously disappear. Just like in the X-Files, they are there one minute and then gone the next.
Ok, I’ll say it, what the hell were those? When they take the evidence back to be analyzed, the amateur photographs turn out to be pictures of actual missile launches. You can see the cone in the front and with the early morning sun, they are quite dramatic. They are flying objects for sure, but man-made and sent up from earth. That large sphere they found turns out to be high grade titanium, man-made, and more than likely part of the same rocket launch. That would also explain the hot metal Josh found out in the field. It’s most likely a cast off from one of the launches.
But Ok, what about the orbs in the sky. There isn’t really an answer for that. Those more than likely were real unidentified flying objects. Does that mean they were spacecraft from another world? I won’t go that far, but something sure as hell was up there. Did they misidentify a regular aircraft? Is it some other part of the Kazakhstan space program? Was is unusual reflection of a perfectly normal object?
Swedish Lake Monster
For the second part of the episode the team heads over to Sweden to investigate a lake monster. Reports go back for hundreds of years of something large and snake-like lurking in the lake and even the government has set up a facility to gather data on it.
But first, there is the obligatory trip to the market and an incident involving liquorice that none of us will soon forget.
As with UFOs, there are plenty of eyewitness photos showing something large, albeit blurry in the water. So the team grabs some boats, put on some dive gear and heads into the frigid water.
Even though everything looks pretty clear from above, the water is quite murky and riddled with debris. Using the underwater ROV as well as going in themselves it’s almost impossible to see anything beyond your hand. There is stuff flying by the monitors on a regular basis and nothing in that mass appears to have definable shape.
That’s sort of the problem when doing investigations underwater like this. The water is horrible dirty and loaded with objects passing the camera. There is no sense of scale. Everything is blurry and out of focus. Elvis could go swimming by and you wouldn’t realize it. As we’ve seen so many times before, even a log in the distance can look creature light under these conditions.
But the team tracks several thermal images, disturbances in the water and does their best to not get lost and separated as they dive at night.
So, what is the end result? Quite possibly the photos are of debris and logs as we might expect. Some of the underwater footage could be seaweed swirling in the water. Some images might even be of a very large Pike. However, those are mostly guesses and nothing conclusive.
The heat signature the captured couldn’t easily be explained. Fish won’t give off heat signatures like that. Josh apparently captured a heat image of something that was about 15 feet long, swimming and diving in the water. Strange indeed.
I’m not sure if Josh proved or disproved the theory of the Lake Monster. If nothing else, he’s added more to the legend.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
- Destination Truth – Ghost Fleet/Japanese River Monster S04E04
- Destination Truth Spirits Of Angkor Wat/Canadian Lake Monster S04E02
- Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
- Haunted Highway – Lake Murray Beast and The Donner Party – S02E04
- Destination Truth – Haunted Mining Town/Taniwha S03E13
- Destination Truth – Great Wall/Israeli Mermaid S03E11
- Expedition Unknown – Nazi Atomic Secrets – Part 2
- Destination Truth on the Radio
- Destination Truth – Haunted Island Prison/Ucumar – S04E10
Destination Truth – Ghosts of Cannibal Village and Kapre – S05E03
For this episode the team faces down some cannibals of Fiji that have a pretty nasty history. Not only did they turn against a priest doing missionary work in the village, the practice seems to encompass dozens, perhaps even hundreds of victims. The natives turned on Reverend Baker and at him as well as several others. They didn’t just kill the Reverend, he was actually eaten. Pretty grim stuff right there.
The entire story reads like the prologue to a horror movie. Cannibals eat the Reverend, then a curse is placed on the village. Tribal Chiefs die and now the spirit seems to haunt the place. And unlike a lot of other stories they investigate, there is tons of facts supporting this one. They have relics in the museum, historians and descendents all saying the same story.
So, the team heads out into the village and finds a "cannibal oven". That’s pretty grim. Ryder finds a stone that seems to be bleeding. They locate the actual axe used to kill the Reverend, which then falls during an EVP session, as well as Katie seemingly getting her hair touched during and isolation/EVP session. Some strange things going on out there that’s for sure.
Is the village being haunted by the spirit of the Reverend who was cooked and eaten by the tribe? Are there still secretive cannibal ceremonies still going on out there that stir the spirits? Are the villagers simply guilt ridden over the past and seeing signs in everyday occurrences?
I’d very much like to see a followup episode at this location.
Kapre
The teams heads out to the Philippines looking for nasty little creature called the Kapre. If nothing else, it sounds like El Chupacabra.
It has to be said that the local village has some interesting names for their local watering holes.
But into the jungle they go to find the lair of the Kapre. They do get several thermal hits, follow them down into the riverbed, where Josh nearly gets swept away. He’s not doing to well with water hazards so far this season. I’m also terribly amused that as soon as the team thinks they see a snake in the undergrowth the drop Ryder like a bad habit and leave her for dead. Wow. Way to protect the team!
With evidence in hand they talk with Mike Dee to analyze the animal footage. There are some monkey like animals out there in jungle which might be mistaken for the Kapre. There are also some wild pigs roaming around and calling the jungle home.
No conclusive evidence, but yet again, another wide area of jungle where plenty of animals could go unnoticed. Is there something lurking out there or do we have mistaken identity again? They don’t come away with hair samples or castings, so this one will have to stay a mystery for awhile longer.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Beast Hunter – Swamp Monster of the Congo – S01E03
- Destination Truth – Sandstorm Spirits Cerro Azul – S04E11
- Destination Truth – Jungle Temple Ghosts & Namibian Night Stalker – S04E12
- Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
- Destination Truth – Haunted Island Prison/Ucumar – S04E10
- Destination Truth – Ghosts of Menengai Crater / Kalanoro S04E06
- Destination Truth – Vietnam’s Bigfoot – S05E01
- Destination Truth – Vampire Monster and Island of the Damned – S05E06
- Beast Hunter – Man Ape of Sumatra (Orang Pendek) – S01E01
- Destination Truth – Ghosts of Haboro/Mngwa – S04E03
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