03x12 - Man Down

[bunniefuu]

I just got an alert.

[narrator] Previously on
Expedition Bigfoot.

[Russell] I set up
these trackers in the trail.

Anything with fur passes it,
I'll grab it.

There's hair on that.

And the chase is on.

I pulled up my scope
and got a real
good look at it.

And what did you see?

It had hair all over,
everywhere.

But it looked like a man.

Whoa! It moved.

[Mireya] What the [bleep]
is that?

[Bruce] If you see lights
at night time in the woods...

[Mireya] Is that a light?

...don't go follow 'em.

[Mireya] What happens if I
flash my light on it?

They're luring you farther out
into the woods.

[Ronny whispering] Something
just landed right over here.

I passed this imaginary line,

and something was thrown.

What the [bleep]?

[Ronny] Now we're not dealing
with a coincidence.

You can see the hair.

Goosebumps.

[exhales]

[narrator] While pushing
deeper into the tree line,

Bigfoot investigator,
Ronny Leblanc

believes that he's had rocks
thrown in his direction.

[Ronny] There is an invisible
boundary right here,

where, every time
we've crossed it,

something gets thrown.

[whispering] I have to see
what this is.

Follow me.

I can't see anything.

I can't see
any footprints either.

I think it was
sending me a message...

to stay away from here.

They are right
in the woodline.
They can see us,

we can't see them, but we
sure as hell can feel them

'cause I... my...
the energy is insane.

[exhales] Like
I'm shaking here.

All right,
let's go find Mireya.

-[Ronny] Hey.
-[Mireya] Hey, man.

-[exhales]
-You okay?

Freaking... so much activity.

Like, what happened?

[Ronny] So I started
meditating.

Ten, fifteen minutes,
started getting a sensation

coming from the right side
of the forest.

Got up, started heading
in that direction, and then...

-[loud thump]
-...something just
hit the ground.

Second one, lands right next
to my feet into the grass.

It was intense.

And it wasn't
something falling
from the trees, like...

-No, no.
-...branches or anything?

It was just, like, something
landing right here

from the woodline

right smack-dab next to me.

-But man, what happened
to you over there?
-So...

It was so completely
insane out there.

-I start seeing these lights.
-[helicopter hovering]

Is that a [bleeping]
helicopter?

[helicopter hovering]

That's a helicopter.

[Mireya] There it is.

Suddenly a black,
military-like helicopter

appears in the sky.

And this isn't the first time

that these mysterious,
black helicopters

have appeared during
one of our expeditions.

We came here
to Northern California

because the government
purchased this land nearby

which is rife
with Bigfoot activity.

What in the hell?

Hmm, that's the first
helicopter we've seen
out here all this time?

But we're talking
about moments after

you were seeing strange
lights in the forest.

[whispering] I don't know
what's going on.

So I just got a message
from Mireya and Ronny

and apparently, not only
are they experiencing more

strange helicopters flying
directly overhead of them,

but they're also
experiencing some pretty
strange things as well.

And Mireya, get this...

saw a strange
light in the woods.

She says, "it was
approximately 250 yards away,

a broad horizontal light,
like a spotlight."

Man, that's crazy.

Reminds me a little bit about
what Bruce Star had to say.

I've heard from some elders
that if you see lights

-at night time in the woods...
-Mm-hmm.

...don't go follow 'em.

They said
they're luring you away.

They're using that light to...

-lure you farther out
into the woods.
-Really?

That's a pretty stark
warning that's been

passed down for generations.

We're all out here
to do a job and there's
no one on this team

that's not gonna investigate
any type of phenomena

that we encounter, but...

I don't know, when I hear
something like that,

it's just something
that kind of stays with you

at least until we know
whatever the source of this
phenomenon--

[bleep]

[speaking indistinctly]

[Bryce] Hey, hold on a sec.
Do you guys hear that?

-[man] Hear what?
-Outside.

I feel like I hear
something outside.

The lights just went out.

And I feel like I...

heard something.

That's weird.

I'm gonna go check the, uh--

There's trail camera
back here.

All right.

That's weird.
It says "File Error!"

All right, well,
that's strange. I've never
seen that before.

It's telling me, "File Error!"
but... I--

[whispering] I've used
this trail camera a bunch

and I've never seen,
"File Error".

There should video
and images on here.

Something's going on.

I'm gonna leave
this trail camera here

and set up my other
one that's protected
with a Faraday

and cover this trail camera,

so anything coming around
here, messing with this,

I'm gonna have eyes on it.

This is perfect.

Okay.

Okay, so we're all
set up here.

I've got my trail camera

that's insulated
by a Faraday box.

If these creatures can detect

anything giving off
an EMF frequency,

this Faraday box
will stop that from happening.

[narrator] Invented by famed
scientist, Michael Faraday
in 1836,

the Faraday Cage creates
an insulated interior

that's immune to the effect
of electromagnetism.

This invention protects cars
and planes from lightning,

while also shielding
sensitive electronics

from interference.

So something has been messing
with my trail camera.

Whatever it is, I'm gonna
capture it with this one.

[Ronny] Okay, the spot where
you had your sightings

was closer,
so let's start there.

So is this where you were?

-[Mireya] Yup, last night,
I was standing right here.
-Yeah?

I saw-- It was
like a wall of light.

[narrator] Back
in the Target Zone,

Ronny Leblanc
and Dr. Mireya Mayor

have returned to the area
where they spotted the strange
lights the night before

and had a helicopter
mysteriously fly
over their position.

I'm trying to get
an idea of, visually,
what it looked like.

You're saying,
"one big light"?

Like a street light
hitting the top of a building.

It had a straight edge
all the way across.

That's strange to be
out here in the middle
of the forest that big.

-It was pretty bizarre.
-Dang.

[Mireya] And then, I would
turn my light back on

and all I could see were
this wall of trees
right in front of me.

I turned it off again
and the light was still there.

And it was just flooding,

horizontally
across the forest.

Could it have been
from, I don't know,
some kind of vehicle?

There was no sound.

I mean,
I couldn't hear anything.

The forest was really
quiet, really still.
There was no wind.

I mean, it sounds like
you had a UFO sighting.

Why is that?
Why do you say that?

It could be hovering right
here, behind the trees

and not necessarily
in the forest, but above

this little valley here.

Huh.

[Mireya] Ronny's quick to jump
to conclusions

and that's not the way
that science works.

We have to explore
the more logical explanations

and not just jump
to the illogical ones.

Well, let me show you
this other spot.

So just down here,

I saw a light
coming from above.

So what I'm thinking
is that now in the daytime,

we might be able to find some
kind of physical evidence

-like trail camps
someone's left behind...
-Okay.

...or something that was
emitting that orange light.

[Ronny] I don't see any signs
of something moving through.

[Mireya] Keep looking up.

In the light of day,
I'm standing there

and I can see just how
steep this drop-off is.

What I thought, at the time,
I was looking at

at eye level,
must have actually been

been 75 to 100 feet
in the air.

Basically, all we found
was a clearing

and I really still
don't have an answer.

So what I'm thinking is
is if we set up

that 24-hour
surveillance camera,

Bryce could monitor it
if we set it up

-in an area like,
maybe here, this tree...
-Okay.

...where it looks down
and through the trees.

[Ronny] Okay.

[narrator] These surveillance
cameras are solar powered,

weather protected
and will stream a live picture

directly
to the command center

and notify Bryce of any
significant movement...

Great.

[narrator] ...allowing him
to monitor the areas

in real time.

I'm trying to figure out what
the source of that light was.

So if those lights return,

not only will we
be able to see them,

we'll be able to record it.

All right, let's keep
looking down the path.

Lokk how all this has been
pushed down,

down this bank right here.

[narrator] One mile north,
Russell is searching for clues

that reveal what animal
his tracking device
was latched on to.

[Russell] Look at that.

I know this thing
wasn't a bear.

Bears and mountain lions
only need

maybe three or four feet
of clearance at best.

We're talking six, seven,
eight feet high

the branches were
broken off in this path.

See where
it's broken off of?

And its moving this way,
and it drug it to this point.

I wanna see if whatever
this thing is...

was leading me away
from its well-traveled area.

[rustling]

[Russell] Just a feet away

and you wouldn't know if
it was looking back at you.

Check this out.

[Russell] Wow!

I see this giant
down tree and beneath it,
there's this gap

almost, like,
creating a little cave.

This thing is massive in size.

If this is what I think it is,

I have to check this out.

Holy cow!

There's room for four
or five people in here.

I see a space like this,
I can't help but think,

this is definitely
the ideal place

for something that wants
to remain undetected,

which kinda puts me on alert.

Because typically, when
you do stumble across a den

whatever's living in there,
probably isn't too far away.

You wouldn't know this space
was here, until--

Listen, listen... Shh.

[whispering] Where is that?

[Russell] Okay. Shh, shh.

[branch snaps]

Did your mic pick up that?
That was something.

Right down there.

[Russell] There is something
100-yards away.

I need to get closer
to that point, right now.

Holy crap!

Walking through this stuff
is like a crap sh**t.

It's like you put your foot
down and it feels solid.

Then it rolls right out
underneath of you.

When you actually step forward
and put your...
your body weight in an area,

and it drops out
underneath of you, you're
gonna hyperextend your knee.

But the only way I'm gonna
catch what I'm pursuing
is to press forward.

[whispers] What is it?

[exhales]

You didn't hear that?

Something just went up
that hillside. [pants]

[cameraman pants]

Remember when I told you
how... [pants] ...I hate being
boxed in?

It's like that perfect ambush.
Ambush situation,
and we're at the low point.

And we are having a hard time
just getting ten feet
in front of us.

This is frustrating.

[clock ticking sound]

We've made so much noise here.

Whatever we heard earlier,
I'm sure is miles away.

I know I would be.

Here's some

trees, it's deadfall,
laying on top of each other.

So we've a lot
of that everywhere.

[narrator] With daylight
waning, Ronny and Mireya

have split up to cover
as much ground as possible.

Mireya is making her way
down the ridge
to investigate the terrain

directly below
where the lights she spotted
were hovering.

Meanwhile, Ronny is searching
in the vicinity
where he believes

rocks were thrown at him.

[Ronny] Now this just looks
like tree-fall. But something
has just caught my eye.

This little bend here.

And then you can see
there's another one
at top that's bent.

And they're going
in the same direction.

And this could be natural,
but what's interesting
is they're side-by-side.

And they're pointing
in the same direction.

I'm telling you,
it looks very weird to see.

Because I'm not seeing
any other spots
where it's bent like that.

Here's a third...
that I'm noticing now.

You have these seemingly
pushed through.

They're all overlapping
and interwoven here.

And they're right next
to each other.

Right smack-dab in this
little... circle, this valley,

which is very weird.

This is precisely
the sort of habitat
that Bigfoot researchers

have reported finding
these alleged Bigfoot nests.

All of this stuff
is pretty sharp.

Nests are incredibly important
when you're trying to find
an elusive primate.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I'm stuck.
And that's why

I'm so interested

in going into this area.

These thickets offer
protection, basically creating
like a natural barrier

from things entering
and passing through easily.

This thick vegetation
is somewhat
of an alarm system.

You could see that if you're
just going for a hike,

this isn't where
you're gonna be headed.

Well, this looks completely
inhospitable. This is why
an animal would choose

to build a nest
in an area like this,

because nothing else
is gonna wanna get in there.

And it's gonna be really hard
if they do.

Ah!

[Mireya] Oh, wow!
Look at this.

There is an area here
that looks like something big
has bedded down.

Take a look at this.

You can see that
something large has in fact
matted down this area.

The topography here is rugged
and covered in dense foliage.

It sounds a lot like
the description of a location
a witness told Bryce about.

This area seems very similar.

[Bryce] There is lots
of thorns, lots of brambles.

So thick that you have
to crawl under some of it.

We came out and there were
these big nests,
kind of woven together.

Well, it's clear that
an animal has in fact been
bedding down here.

This isn't what
I'm looking for.

What I'm looking for out here
is intricately made nests
that show a lot of intent.

They show dexterity.

Something's been moving
through here.

This type of habitat is really
important. I can see that
already by looking around that

there are a lot of animals
coming through here.

There are a lot more
fruiting trees up here.
So this is a good area

for resources. Much more
plentiful than we've
seen down below.

So I feel like
I'm in the right spot.

-Mireya for Ronny.
-Go, for Ronny.

Hey, Ronny, I haven't
found anything
that resembles a nest.

But it seems like
a prime location for that.
What about you?

I haven't found any evidence
of what was throwing them.
But I did find trees

with strange bends in their
limbs. And I'm not really sure
what to make of it.

Wow! That's odd.

Why don't you make your way
up here? We can continue
this area together.

Okay. I'll meet you up there.

Oh, wow!

I'm just kind of going through
some of the security footage

from that target zone
where Ronny and Mireya
were experiencing all that

activity of rocks being
thrown at them.
Mireya saw a strange light.

Anyway I get a notification
whenever there's movement.

There's a whole family of deer
moving through here.
That's pretty incredible.

I mean, where there is deer,
there's gonna be predators.

What is this?

Ah! It's just a black bear.

I thought we had something
there for a second.

Anyway, I also went through
the, uh, trail camera footage

that was protected
by a Faraday Cage.
There wasn't anything there.

I thought we're gonna get
something. But I really have
no way of explaining

what that sound was
that we heard or why the power
went out last night.

I guess it will
just remain a mystery.

Either way though we have
multiple sets of eyes
in and around our target zone.

Now we're just gonna have
to cross our fingers,
hope we get lucky.

I think what I wanna do
right now is...

find a place to set up
a camp for this evening.

[narrator] Back in the target
zone, Russell has been
tracking the sounds he heard.

But the trail is gone cold.

After being on the move
for 12 hours, he is preparing
to rest and regroup

before re-assessing
his plan for the morning.

This isn't a bad spot.

I got this whole
hillside above me.

Not much that can get
close to me without...

hearing it through
the underbrush, which is good.

But I'm off that
main trail, too.

So it gives me that privacy.

Shh, shh, shh, shh!
Stop, stop, stop!

I hear something.

Okay.

I got nothing on thermal.

I heard what I thought
something like branches
breaking in the distance.

I didn't see anything at all
on those thermals.

And Zack said that
he didn't hear anything.

And I suspect this because
I'm on high alert. I'm not
gonna let my guard down.

Because I certainly don't want
anybody coming in to
where we're resting tonight.

I think that's something
I don't need.

[exhales]

[blows]

Okay.

I keep hearing something,
just down over this
ridge right here.

Something moving around.

I wanna investigate it,
but I think I'm gonna...

-Hey! Zack. Zack.
-Um.

Zack. Hey, man!

Listen...
I'm just gonna grab my gear.

I want to run just down
over the side of this hill.

There's something back there,
moving around.

You don't have to go with me.
I just want to go
check it out, okay.

-All right..
-Right.

[sighs]

[pants]

[exhales]

I heard that sound

right out this way.

I'm just gonna sit tight here
for a second. Just see if
I hear it again.

It's been a long day.

[exhales] I think I'm gonna
head back. Get back to camp.

Get some rest.

Okay.

I'm gonna shut this thing off,
so I can use my light and
kind of move--

[pants]

Oh! Looks like Zack's gone.

Looks like Zack's off
taking care some business.

Ouch! Um.

Hey! Zack.

Zack!

[whistles]

Zack!

Zack's not here.
He left all his gear.
Everything's here.

Yes.

His light's still here.

[pants]

Zack, where in the hell
are you?

[Zack pants]

While I was taking a pee
I heard something out there.

[pants]

Argh!

I have come back down
just over this ridge.

I got back to camp.

Zack's not there

and I am guessing
he came over here
looking for me.

[whistling]

Where in the hell are you?

I'm going to go back to camp
and check that trial cam.

I need to find out
how long ago
he has been gone.

I am literally hunting
the one man that I count on
out here.

I need to find him.

I need to make sure
that he is safe

because I am really worried.

He is not down where I was.

He is not back yet.

Let me check these trial cams
and see where he went.

Check that.

He went the other way.

What the... Are you kidding?

Okay, here we go.

[Russell] Holy crap.

[Russell whistles]

[Zack whistles]

-Zack.
-Russ.

[Russell] Hey man,
are you okay?

Okay, hold tight,
I'll be right there.

[Russell] Oh man.

Holy cow, are you okay?

Holy cow, what happened man?
Seriously.

Yes.

Yeah.

That's straight down.

Look at that.

[Zack] Then I couldn't find
a way back up.

[Russell] Man, you are lucky.

So, was it a vocal
or was it just something
moving through here?

-It was something heavy,
moving...
-Yeah.

...and then...

Just...
I don't know, man.

It was enough to

make me scared and make me
scared enough to
run away from it.

[Russell] We thought we lost
the trail today

but having him hear something

we might be exactly
where we need to be.

It's been almost an hour.

Oh, it has been
longer than that.

[Russell] Holy smokes,
let's get out of here.

[Mireya] The one thing
about this place,

-it is not easy to get to.
-[Ronny] Alright.

[narrator] One mile away,
Ronny has met up with Mireya

to further investigate
the densely thicketed area

where she discovered
evidence of large animals
bedding down.

[Mireya] It's pretty brutal
getting back here.

One thing that Mireya stressed
to me about this area
that she had investigated

was the sheer thickness
of the thicket and the bush.

[Mireya] Just gets worse.

[Ronny]
If you did want to bed down
and stay in this area

this was the place
to keep people out.

I smell something.

It's a really strong
musty smell.

-Do you smell it?
-I can smell it now.

[bleep] It smells stronger
as we go up.

[branch cracks]

I just heard something.

I'm gonna put up the thermal.

I have a heat signature.

It is straight ahead
right in front of us.
It's moving.

It is coming in and out.
Look, look, look.

-[Ronny] Right there,
right there.
-[Mireya] Yeah.

[Ronny] I got eyeshine.
Right there.

[Mireya] Look, look, look,
look, look. Right there.

[Ronny] There it is.
There it is. Right there.

[Mireya] Oh my God.
It looks like it is upright.

Do you still
have the eyeshine?

[bleep]

-[Ronny] No.
-No?

I still got it.

Alright, Ronny, follow me.

Let's get eyes on it
before we lose it.

I just lost visual.

This is where I saw it.

[Ronny] What you got?

[bleep]

[Mireya] He is gone.

Are you kidding me?

I think whatever was out here
got spooked. It's gone.

As soon as we got to the tree,
we realized that whatever
it was had disappeared

but it looked like a person
right in front of us

and none of the animals
out here move that way.

Bears can occasionally walk
on two feet

but they have a particular
movement about them.

What I saw looked like
a figure standing upright.

Tonight, like something
just really clicked.

This just seemed like
prime habitat and then getting
that visual confirmation,

got the eyeshine means
something definitely nocturnal
out here.

Mm-hmm.

The only animals
that have eyeshine
are nocturnal animals.

Basically, nocturnal animals
have a very thin reflective
layering on their eye.

It's called the
tapetum lucidum

and it is only for
nocturnal animals.

Humans, for example,
are diurnal.

So, we don't have
a reflective layering
on our eyes.

We will not give off
eyeshine.

The fact that we had
this huge heat signature

and Ronny was looking
at eyeshine

told me right away
this was not a human.

There was one particular area
just somewhere down this trail

that I noticed that there were
multiple scats,
different species.

I would love
to find that spot.

[Ronny] Animal life is moving
in and out.

Bigfoot is using
the same passageways.

Right there,
the deer notices something.

Look at the way
that this thing is moving.

So, I got a notification
from one of our
security cameras

that Ronny and Mireya set

in a place where they were
experiencing a lot of
strange activity.

So, I downloaded the video
and obviously, I can see what

has triggered the alarm,
It's this deer.

I mean, the way
this deer is moving

and how it is on high alert
reminds me

of that incredible thermal
video that Russell captured in
Oregon a few years ago

when he saw this large bipedal
creature

moving through this clearing
and into the tree line.

Look, right here.
Right in the center.

It is right there.

Holy...

It is upright.

What in the heck is that?

One thing I loved
about that video was

off to the side,
a few hundred yards away,

there was an approaching deer

who seemed to sense
the immediate danger

and just perked its head up
and stopped dead
in its tracks.

I think it knew that
whatever went into that
tree line could harm it

and the next thing it does is
it just bolts off.

I have never seen
a deer move so quick

but this deer seems to be
on that same type of
high alert

that there is some type
of predator in the area.

Deers pass through here
all the time

but it is when they are
on high alert like this,
especially at night

that really gets my attention.

And you know what
as a matter of fact

I just got
another notification

from that same camera.

Maybe we can find out
what was spooking that deer.

All right, hold on here.

All right, here we go.

It's downloading.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What is that?

There were
some strange lights

back there in the tree line

and now they are gone.

Oh, whoa!
Did you see that?

Check this out.

So, it is like four or five
or six little ba*ls of light

and then boom,
they all just come together,

omit this huge
electric flash,

and then just disappear

and it's gone.

Did we just capture
an orb on camera?

Are these the type of
phenomenon that

Ronny and Mireya have been
reporting in the field?

The same type of phenomenon
I have been reading
and hearing about

when witnesses describe these

strange ba*ls of light that
accompany a bigfoot encounter?

So strange.

What's really eerie is
it almost has sentience
to it like

it's being intelligently
controlled.

I have no idea what that is.

[Mireya]
So, do you want to keep
pushing in this direction?

[Ronny] Yeah, I would like to
go just a little bit further

just to see what's
around this bend.

[Mireya] Okay.

Hey Ronny, look at this.

This area has all been
matted down.

[Ronny] This looks so fresh,
doesn't it?

[Mireya] It's very possible
that there was something
bedding down here.

When you've got an area
of fresh grass

it is very easy to spot
when an animal has
bedded down on it.

And I could see that either

one animal had bedded down
in several areas

or we had a situation where
several animals were
bedding down together.

Something big has definitely
been going through here.

And you know what?

The way it's matted down

seems to be going
in that direction.

-Hey, Ronny.
-Yeah.

What the...

We walked right in front of
this enormous structure

with a giant "X"
in the middle

and instantly, this did not
look like deadfall.

This looked like something
had put this together.

This looks just like
Washington State.

The remarkable similarities
that I was seeing from that
structure in Washington to now

was pretty amazing.

I would like to take
an eDNA from here.

So you're liking this?

-If we had only found this
for the first time...
-Hmm.

...I am not sure
how intriguing
this would be to me.

But the fact that we have now
seen it several times

makes it more interesting
to me.

[Ronny]
Because of all the things
that happened in this area

and then to find
this structure right there

this was a clear sign
that we were in
Sasquatch territory.