Saving the Horses

creatures

There are many horses that are used to smuggle drugs across our borders.  The sad story is they are usually left out in the desert afterwards to die.  There are wonderful people saving these innocent creatures.  Here is a story I found about those such people:

"The rehabilitation of drug smugglers can be a monumental task, especially when the offenders are biting, kicking beasts.  But volunteers are undeterred.  They take on the mares, stallions and thoroughbreds that once carried multimillion-dollar loads of illicit drugs through rugged canyons on down to parched desert.

These are horses that were at the mercy of drug runners - enslaved and worked nearly to death before being captured and taken to animal rescue organizations."

Read the rest of the story: share

Season Premieres: Destination Truth & Beast Legends

creatures

Mark your calendars for the season premiere of Destination Truth and Beast Legends.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

(check your local listings for times.)

(From syfy.com)

"Beast Legends is a new six-part series that journeys around the world using scientific data to reconstruct what mythological monsters, from Krakens and Griffins to Fire Dragons, would have looked like. In each of the hour-long episodes, Beast Legends uncovers historical and eyewitness accounts by zeroing in on archaeological and other physical evidence to assemble the most accurate picture possible of these monsters, from where they might have lived to how they would have behaved.

Beast Legends then moves to the 'Beast Lab' to build the creature, first as initial sculpts and wire-frame forms, before finally bringing it to life in stunning 3D CGI. The investigations are conducted by the "Beast Seekers," an expert team of specialists that includes anthropologists, biology professors, archaeologists and adventure seekers.

From the high seas to the wilds of Vietnam to the deserts of New Mexico, Beast Legends takes viewers to the boundary where myth and reality collide, and beyond."

My Poor Booger's Butt

creatures

It has been a rough two days for my 7 ½ year old Chihuahua, Booger. He tore his anal gland for the third time in two years. The vet told us when it first happened that he will be susceptible to it happening again, and it did. Apparently this is common with little dogs when they try and shit a turd bigger than themselves.

Yesterday, I got a text from my husband saying that he was sitting with his back leg up like he was in pain and walking cockeyed. He soaked him in the tub for ten minutes in warm salt water, which is what the vet told us to do when he displayed this behavior. When I got home, I soaked him again. He was running around whining and trying to get comfortable. He finally fell asleep in his bed around 10:00 pm but was pretty restless all night.

This morning it was apparent to me that he was still in pain. I called the vet and got an 11:00 am appointment. The drive was only 10 minutes to the vet’s clinic, but during the short drive he ran from the front seat to the back seat, the entire time, like a crazy dog. When I parked the car he started shaking and whined like a little baby. This was a different clinic yet he knew where his was and that no good would come from going inside this building. I pick up his little butt, and brought him inside.

We were ushered into a room where Booger was put on a table to be examined. At this point, he is shaking, hacking, and shedding like crazy. By the time they were done, the tan table top was covered with black hair. It looked like a furry animal lying flat on the table. He needed to get his butt cleaned out and I was to leave him there while they did the procedure. They had to knock the poor thing out because apparently it is painful to have someone clean your ass. (Really?)

After an hour, I went to pick him up. The lady opened the door, and out staggered my very groggy little guy. He slowly looked up at me and his eyes were glazed over. (Zombie dog!) I picked him up to carry him out to the car and he just slumped over. This time on the ride home, he just laid there and enjoyed the buzz. I was given two different types of meds to give him. Oh joy, he is the worst dog to give pills to. I have tried to sneak the pills in food but he caught on to that trick. Our cocker, Lucy, will still fall for it but she still a youngin’. Taking my life in my hands, I pry open his mouth, and then shoot that baby to the back of his throat. He snarls the entire time, but I win out in the end. At least he is feeling better and his ass doesn’t hurt anymore.

Bigfoot Encounter in Arizona

creatures

Ken Hulsey of http://www.cryptomundo.com/ posted his encounter with Bigfoot in Arizona’s high country. He and an ex-girlfriend decided to detour to the Grand Canyon on a trip home to New Mexico from California. When they took a shortcut on an obscure highway through the mountains that lead to Flagstaff, they encountered a creature that can only be described as a Bigfoot. Here is just a small excerpt from his article:

“I remember my ex exclaiming, “Is that a bear?”


As we came closer to the animal, it became apparent quickly that what we were looking at was not a bear. There was a very large, hairy, mass walking away from us on two legs. I can still remember the arms swaying as it strolled naturally down the side of the road away from us.


As we got closer, about 50 yards or more as I remember it, the cars headlights shown past the creature. It was at that time that our companion on the highway became aware of our presence. It stopped, and I stopped…..

For his entire story, click here.

Creature Found in Phoenix Zoo Pond

creatures

During the latest cleanup of the Phoenix Zoo pond, they found a 62 pound “alligator-snapping turtle". This creature has been described as “straight out of prehistoric times” and found living in the deepest part of the pond located in front of the Zoo. The jaws are so strong that they are able to snap off a child’s arm or leg.

According to Wikipedia: “The alligator snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in North America, the alligator snapper keeps to primarily southern U.S. waters, while the smaller, more aggressive common snapper inhabits lakes and streams from South America to Canada. These turtles can remain submerged for three hours. Typically only nesting females will venture onto open land. The Alligator Snapping Turtle is characterized by a large, heavy head, and a long, thick shell with three dorsal ridges of large scales giving it a primitive appearance reminiscent of some of the plated dinosaurs.”

The Phoenix Herpetological Society says that this creature does not belong in Arizona. They feel that it was an exotic pet for someone. More than likely they didn’t want the responsibility of taking care of it and dump it in the zoo’s pond. No one knows how long it has been in there but have the feeling it made meals of ducks, fish and other turtles leaving in the pond.

Apparently the zoo’s pond seems to be a dumping ground for unwanted exotic creatures. The workers have found approximately 600 non-native turtles living in the pond over the past four years alone. This particular creature is not only dangerous for the beings living in the pond but those visiting the zoo.

Bigfoot in Arizona?

creatures

That is the question a local TV station in Phoenix is asking.  A local enthusiast says that recent tracks proves Bigfoot does exist and is living in the White Mountains.



I want to thank my good friend Sharon (Autumnforest) for bringing this video to my attention.  We need to take a trip up there and check it out for ourselves.

Elves

creatures

 

According to wikipedia an elf (plural elves) is defined as “a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine or semi-divine beings (wights, vættir) endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind. In pre-Christian mythology, they appear to have been divided into light elves and dark elves, difficult to delineate from the Æsir (gods) on one hand and the dvergar (dwarves) on the other.


In early modern and modern folklore, they become associated with the fairies of Romance folklore and assume a diminutive size, often living underground in hills or rocks, or in wells and springs. 19th-century Romanticism attempted to restore them to full stature, often depicting them as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty. From their depiction in Romanticism, elves entered the 20th-century high fantasy genre in the wake of the publications of J.R.R. Tolkien, especially the posthumous publication of his Silmarillion where Tolkien's treatment of the relation of light elves, dark elves, black elves and dwarves in Norse mythology is made explicit. Popular culture in the Anglosphere at the same time with Santa Claus and his helpers preserves a direct continuation of early modern folklore.”

For some wonderful post about elves check out our friend Devin’s blog:
http://myfavoritemonsters.blogspot.com/search/label/elves  

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MIKE AND JULIE.

Gremlins: Those Pesty Littly Creatures

creatures

 In the 1984 movie “Gremlins”, a young man named Billy was given a unusual gift from his father for Christmas. This very cute creature was a Mogwai which Billy named Gizmo. Most Mogwai are mean spirited and mischievous but not Gizmo. The father was told by the creepy old man that sold him Gizmo, there were three very important things he must follow when owning a Mogwai. 1. Never expose a Mogwai to bright light, especially sunlight. Bright lights will hurt it and the sunlight will kill it.

2. Never feed it after midnight. (I have often wondered, from midnight to when in the morning can you feed it?) It creates a cocoon and what comes out is a fierce little monster called a Gremlin.
3. Never get it wet. If they get wet it will reproduces another which pops from its back.

The father didn’t question these three details that the old man stressed to him, but he did let Billy know what the rules were.

So wouldn’t you know it, Billy’s little friend spilled water on Gizmo and it spawned more Mogwais. However, these creatures appeared to be more deveaous and less sweet than Gizmo. They chewed through Billy’s clock/radio cord so he wasn’t aware that they were given food after midnight. This transformed these Mogwaias into little, evil, destructive monsters known as Gremlins. The Gremilins set out to destroy the town after the leader, Stripes, jump into a pool and spawned hundreds more of them. Basically, Billy saves the day by killing off all the Gremlins but it was not an easy task.

This wasn’t the end. In 1990, “Gremlins 2: the New Batch”, Billy and Gizmo are reunited in NY and it starts all over again…..

Are gremlins real? Wikipedi calls a “Gremlin as an English folkloric creature, commonly depicted as mishcievous and mechannically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Although their origin is found in myths among airmen, claiming that the gremlins were responsible for sabotaging aircraft. Since World War II, different fantastical creatures have been referred to a gremlins, bearing varing degrees of resemblance to the originals.”

Deep in the jungles of Peru sightings have been reported of a creature, Chullachaqui, is demonic and looks like a gremlin. There have been many recent sightings in the rainforest near the Madre De Dios River, with many local tribesmen in fear of coming face to face with the Chullachaqui. This creature seems to be different from any other creature that lives in the forest. Usually there is a strange whistling sound right before it is seen in the thick Peruvian jungles. It is very fast, between 3 and 4 feet tall, has sharp fang teeth, pointy ears, and fur, with a three-toed footprint and is a night-dweller.

Josh Gates and the Destination Truth team recently went looking for this gremlin-like creature. Check out my recap.  The evidence they collected did not find proof that this creature was real, but for the people of Peru, they believe that gremlins exist.

~Julie~

What Happened to the Gomphotheres?

creatures

I found this article on an Arizona website and thought it to be interesting. For those of you that are interested in the mysteries surrounding the extension of various types of dinosaurs, you may like this one.

Here is just a portion of the article:
MEXICO CITY - Scientists have found evidence that cavemen near the Arizona-Mexico border were butchering gomphotheres, an elephant-like beast with a crocodilelike snout that was believed to be nearly extinct in North America by the time humans appeared there. Click here for the entire article.

~Julie~

Bigfoot Sighting in Northern Arizona

creatures

This article was posted by Jared Dillingham / 3TV @ azfamily.com

"SELIGMAN, ARIZONA -- Seligman is the birthplace of historic Route 66, but could it also be the home of Bigfoot? "Java" Bob Smallsback of Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. is in town researching two reported Bigfoot sightings by a Phoenix man who is building a cabin in the area. The sightings reportedly happened on two different occasions over the past two years. Smallsback says he was called in after the most recent sighting and claims he was able to track the creature, finding what he says is a fingernail where the Sasquatch had stubbed his toe on a rock.

Smallsback says a team from Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. will be in Seligman for the next few months in hopes of making contact with the elusive creature."

DT: Chullachaqui; Bermuda Triangle

creatures

FIRST INVESTIGATION: "Chullachaqui"
The Destination Truth team will met Robb Demarest and Dustin Pari, from Ghost Hunters International, in Peru to join them in this investigation. Josh joined them on a ghost hunt inside Frankenstein's castle. It will be interesting to see them hunting for an elusive creature in the creepy forest instead of ghosts in old castles and inns. This creature, Chullachaqui, is demonic and looks like a gremlin and is found deep in the jungles of Peru. There have been many recent sightings in the rainforest near the Madre De Dios River, with many local tribesmen in fear of coming face to face with the Chullachaqui. This creature seems to be different from any other creature that lives in the forest. Usually there is a strange whistling sound right before it is seen in the thick Peruvian jungles. It is very fast, between 3 and 4 feet tall, has sharp fang teeth, pointy ears, and fur, with a three-toed footprint and is a night-dweller.

They headed south from Los Angeles on a 10 hour flight to Lima, Peru and hopped a flight to the ancient city of Cuzco, Peru. Then they flew down to the mountains to the town of Puerto Maldonado, Peru where it was very hot and humid. They met up with Robb and Dustin from GHI where they pack inside and on top of a special DT limo to the town market for some special Peruvian delicacies. After drinking a warm fruit juice and stocking up on toilet paper, they headed out of the market and on to meet a local expert. They met up with Julio Gomes, a professor at the University of Cuzco, who has been tracking the current reports of the Chullachaqui. He tells them that just last week the creature attacked an Indian tribe deep in the jungle. To find these tribes, they would have to take a long boat ride up the Madre De Dios River. It was important for the DT team to find the tribe and explain why there are there. They head off to a nearby port and hop on a small boat to take them up river. They would travel about 60 miles up the river to find the Indigenous Tribes who have had run ins with the tiny beast. They finally arrive at the village having to cross some long narrow wood bridges to find the tribesman they needed talk to. They met with the village elder Enrique, who tells them that many in the tribe have encountered the creature and he had a friend that died from his encounter by being hit hard. You have to hit it first or it will kill you. Robb asked if someone wanted to find one of these, what they would have to do. He showed them where they had to travel in order to find a village where just the previous week a Chullachaqui was spotted. After getting a quick lesson on how to defend themselves from the creature, they traveled another 20 miles to get to the next remote village. They met up with the Ese-jas Tribe village shaman, Honorato, who shows them where the creature was seen and points out about how tall it was. He also tells them that if they go far into the jungle, they will run into a Chullachaqui. They made their way deep into the jungle in the direction the shaman pointed. For Robb and Dustin it is a very different situation than they are used to but looking forward to the investigation.

INVESTIGATION: After setting up base camp and the perimeter cameras and video equipment, Rex tells them of the dangers and what animals to watch out for. Robb, Dustin and Josh head out to survey the perimeter and hear something moving around in the dark. Back a base camp; they are also hearing loud noises. Robb, Dustin and Josh are hearing a sound like something was walking up the path behind them. They head back to base camp where they explain what they heard. They felt like whatever it was a trying to lure them deep into the jungle. Then they all heard loud crackling noises and a growl in the jungle near base camp. Josh, Dustin and Mike chase after it using the parabolic dish in hopes of capturing the noise again. Robb and Jael head off in another direction. Robb sees eyes watching them like it were trying to get them to follow. They hear a whistling sound, while Mike picks up the same sound in the dish. Robb and Jael head back to base camp and hear a loud noise as well as everyone else from the team. Robb felt this thing, whatever it was, showed some intelligence and was keeping pace with them instead of running from them. This isn’t like anything he has experienced in ghost hunting. Josh wants to keep things going so he sent Jael and Dustin out to check on the trap cameras where Robb saw the eyes watching them. Robb, Josh and Mike followed the unexplained whistling which leads them to the water. They took a boat further downstream to see if the whistling could be heard there as well. Meanwhile, Jael and Dustin arrive at the trap camera where she noticed that seven pictures where snapped off since they left the area. After not hearing any noises on the water, the boys decided to head back to shore. Before getting there, they noticed a pair of eyes and Josh goes over to investigate. He finds himself in quicksand where Robb and Mike pull him out. After that close encounter with quicksand, Josh noticed strange footprints on the shore and they take castings of them. As they got closer to base camp, they noticed what appeared to be teeth lying in the path. After a long night and little sleep, they headed back to Los Angeles where Josh brings his evidence to Mike Dee for analysis. The images on the trapped camera were blurred by whatever raced by them; the casting looked like they could be from a member of the wild hog family; and the teeth looked like they came from a wild bore. Is the Chullachaqui nothing more than a wild pig or some other creature yet to be identified?

SECOND INVESTIGATION: Bermuda Triangle, Atlantic OceanThe DT team plan to chart a direct course through the Bermuda Triangle (a three hour tour).
“The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels are alleged to have mysteriously disappeared and cannot be explained as human error, piracy, equipment failure, or natural disasters. Popular culture has attributed some of these disappearances to the paranormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrial beings.”

For several years the Bermuda Triangle was quiet until just recently. A twin engine plane carrying twelve passengers to the Bahamas just vanished in mid-flight north of the region. With no communication from the pilot and no wreckage found so far means that the Bermuda Triangle mystery is back. Believers in its phenomena say that the whole area is paranormally charged, a vortex of energy beyond any scientific explanation. However skeptics point out that there is very little data on that area proving this to be an allegation of the truth and makes it hard to be proven because most of the witnesses that have been through the triangle, have disappeared.

They flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida then hopped on a flight to Andros Island in the Bahamas. The triangle covers over half a million square miles of ocean. The flight to the island was a bit rocky at best. After tasting some Bahamian viagra they headed off to talk to a local who has a tragic experience of the triangles furry. Rene Smith Robins' brother went out on a plane and never came home. They found the plane about 7 miles north of her home and it looked like someone landed it safely. It looked untouched, with the doors opened and no life vest were found. No signs of any of the passengers to this day. This is a familiar story heard over and over in that area. Josh and a couple of the DT team take a plane over the region where many other planes and vessel have disappeared. He would take a direct course and the ground team would map out his progress from base camp. He would use an EMF device and a Magnetometer and keep a close eye on the planes navigational equipment to tag an anomies events on to a GPS locator so they can track them once back on the ground. As they were approaching the Bahamas from the south they got huge spikes on the devices and the plane's equipment was going haywire. Base camp lost contact for a time while Josh was experiences weird weather and the instruments in the planes malfunctioning during that time. They land in the Island of South Bimini where the others meet up with them. This island is where many vessels have disappeared off its coast and where there are high magnetic readings all around it. Josh tagged three distinct locations around the island where he and his team will investigate. After meeting up with the other team members, they headed out to North Bimini where Josh has a chat with a 51 year resident, Bone Fish Ebbie. He tells Josh that one time while out on his boat, he got lost and his compass was just spinning around. Josh asked him about the first area he tagged on his flight and Ebbie told him that on Spook Hill there is lots of crazy energy there. They check out Spook Hill using different EMF meters and didn't register anything. Mike did get a weird feeling there. After not getting anything there, they headed out to the second location which was under water. Before heading out to that location Josh talked with local boat captain who had his own scary experience with the triangle. He tells him that one time while out all of his instruments and engines just shut off for about two and a half hours, and then everything came back on. Then they hired a boat to take them to the location with a captain who sounded a lot like Louis Armstrong. They came upon the wreckage of an old plane which was near the area of the second location. They dive into the waters and came upon the wreckage of the USS Cyclops where in 1945 the squadron of flight 19 was using the wrecked ship for bombing practice and all five of the planes disappeared over that very area. They were never heard from again. With no good readings they headed out to the third location in south Bimini. Josh talks with local, Ashley Saunders about his experience where he and his crew got lost for several hours on the ocean. South Bimini is virtually uninhabited and where many locals and tourist try to avoid. With the sun setting, they drive to the area and set up base camp. After setting up all the cameras and other equipment; Josh and a couple of his team head out in a boat. Sitting on top of the area he tagged, he started experiencing all of their gear crapping out. Back at base camp they experience a strange light anomaly moving across the screen on camera 4. Bicha and Gabe leave base to check out camera 4 to see if they can figure out what the strange light was. Meanwhile, Josh and gang were trapped on the boat having problems getting the engine started and started drifting away from the island. Bicha reaches the camera and moves it to see if the crazy lights disappear and it does. He puts the camera back where it was and the lights returns. He and Gabe head back to base camp and get lost in the thick jungle foliage. Finally Josh gets the motor going and they head back to base camp. After getting back to base camp, Josh along with others, set out to look for Bicha and Gabe. After looking for them for some time, Bicha sees Josh's light and they are finally found. Josh did try to recreate the light in the camera by using his flashlight but got no results. The evidence they had was not conclusive but their experience they had was far from normal. Bimini Island and its surrounding area have definitely some sort of mysterious anomaly happening there.

~Julie~

Mysterious Ape Island

creatures

The picture is by artist Peter Oberdorf

For centuries a terrifying beast has been haunting the Pacific Northwest, more specifically Sasquatch sightings on Vancouver Island. This island has over 12 thousand miles of fast moving rivers, rugged beaches and sits about 15 miles southwest of Vancouver, Canada. Many hikers and hunters are attracted to this beautiful island but there appears to be something else lurking there as well. This rain soaked island has many stories told by the Native Americans that a large hairy beast is known to inhabit the area. Many witnesses have seen an ape-like creature and said that it walks on two feet, stands about 9 feet tall and has an estimated weight of 800 pounds. This hairy man-like creature has a long stride and likes to stay along the coastline and rivers edge. The native legends stretch back many centuries giving the beast several different names and say it is a beast to be respected and feared. The stories also are told that if you harm one of this creatures that within 7 years you will die. More than a century ago, as westerners explored the island, and came face to face with the big hairy beast. The earliest sightings were around 1900 where a trader was exploring the area known as "the forbidden plateau" which is located in the central part of the island. The two guides with him refused to go further in the area because it was the place where the so called "monkey man" has been seen. The trader was not afraid and headed out on his own. The next day by a waterfall, he saw the beast for himself. It was washing food in the water. He moved closer, raised his rifle and before he could pull the trigger, the beast stood up and yelled out a bone chilling scream, and then ran off into the forest.

There have been so many stories told of eyewitnesses having encounters with the “Ape Monster”. One man tells the story of a cold night while sleeping in his motor home, it started shaking violently. He jumped to his feet and ran outside where he was met with a very foul odor. In the darkness he could hear the heavy footsteps walking nearby, and then walk away. He thought afterwards how crazy he was to go outside with no means of defense.

The great northwest has been known for a long time for its Sasquatch sightings. With its vast wilderness it makes for an excellent place for a creature to hide. Vancouver Island's population is less than 800,000, which is small in comparison to the size of the island. Because of the many rivers and salmon swimming around in them, this makes for an excellent food source for the mighty beast.

Of course scientists say there is no way these creatures could find its way to Vancouver Island. They feel that there is no proof of its existence nor is there any fossils left by the creature. If it is an ape, there is no proof of how it got to the island because the only way to reach the island is by water. The salt water canals separating the island from the mainland are about a half mile wide. There are videos of bears and primal apes swimming across rivers, so why couldn’t a Sasquatch?

Some stories are told that of people who visited the island as well as some locals, gone out in the woods and just disappeared. Another man tells of his encounter with the beast. He was driving on the highway near the river and noticed a large hairy creature lying on a log with its hand in the water fishing for salmon. He sat there watching this creature crouching on a log for a short time, surprised by what he was watching. Another witness tells his story of seeing the creature while on his fishing boat with his crew, traveling on the east isolated part of the island. They notice that there was no wildlife in the area where they was the days before and thought it to be a bit strange. All of a sudden, they smelt an awful smell and then a creature appeared on the shoreline coming out of the brush. It looked nine or ten feet tall, probably weighed about 400 pounds with red piercing eyes and was crouching down hiding from the spotlight. They watched this massive creature for almost an hour from the safety of the boat feasting on claims until after three long strides; it disappeared in the heavy woods.

About 12 thousand black bears live on Vancouver Island. Some wildlife scientists are convinced that the sightings are probably misidentification between the bear and the beast. The problem with that is Sasquatch does not have pointed ears on top, and a defined snout. It has a long stride and walks like a human. This is not typical for the black bear. Many are convinced that what people are seeing is a great ape so the experts continue to constantly investigate all the reports. They keep track of the areas where the sightings have been reported, which is in the more isolated areas of the island. Forensic pediatrics looks at the castings that were made by witnesses of the hairy beast. They come to the conclusion that they are human-like but not made by a human. They also conclude that the tracks were made by an unknown mammal or species.

The Monster Quest team has gone to the island to investigate the stories of the Bigfoot sightings. Monster Quest focuses their investigation on Meares Island, a place that has more reported sightings than any other place. The team follows the man back to the area where he saw a large hairy creature lying on a log with its hand in the water fishing for salmon. They check out the log and surrounding area to see if there was any evidence that a Sasquatch was there. It was now nightfall, and as they were walking upstream, they caught a heat signature on the camera, lurking in the distance. As they got to the place where the figure was seen, they noticed that on a tree near that area was a heat signature, almost like something big touched it. They also noticed the shell fish all over the area and feel that this is one of the creature’s favorite foods and could be why it stays around the island. The next day the team puts cameras in various places along with some fish to entice the beast. The also set up two base camps with equipment and wait until nightfall to do some investigating. While on the boat they use call blasting to try to lure the beast out or perhaps get an answer. They use night vision cameras and other equipment but the dense fog makes the investigation difficult. They did get a response to the call blasting and will have to analyze it later. Next they move off the boat and back to base camp to check the cameras and bait and found them untouched. They check out the river bank where a creature was seen lying on a log fishing, the next day to see if they can find any tracks from the creature. They find a very sandy spot but find no physical evidence of the creature. Next they check out the trap cameras and find a dark shape in one of the photos. They didn’t find any tangible evidence but they know that with all the eyewitness’ sightings, many more will continue to be in search of the beast on Vancouver Island.

~Julie~

DT: Alien Mummies; Van Lake Monster

creatures

FIRST INVESTIGATION: ALIEN SIGHTINGS IN CHILEAbout 67% believe in aliens and one in four believe that they have visited our planet. For all that believe, there a skeptics saying, "Why haven't we found any alien corpses?" According to recent reports in Chile, they have. Not long ago an alien mummy was exhumed deep from within the Chilean desert. Even though the remains looked a bit suspicious to Josh, there have been numerous reports by local Indians that claim to have had close encounters of the third kind. They have claimed to have seen tiny living creatures living in the mine shafts along with mysterious lights and UFO's. Looking for aliens is a first for Josh and his team, but with all the sightings, they just couldn't resist investigating. They flew 12 hours to Lima Peru, where in the remote desert in Northern Chile is where the most recent sightings have been. After getting their rental car, they made plans to travel thousands of miles south of Lima to some old abandoned mines where the sightings took place. From Lima they drove 26 hours south to Chile along the remote Pan American highway. After going through several tolls, they pulled over in a small town where Josh decided to get a haircut. In the morning they stopped in De Nasca, which is famous in alien culture. Josh and some of the crew took a plane for an aerial view of the land. From above they could see complex shapes and patterns carved in the desert's face. They were etched a few thousand years before human aviation and meant to be seen from above by those of another world. After witnessing these remarkable symbols, Josh still wasn't convinced he was in the presence of alien beings. Then they drove another 2,000 miles and finally reached Chile. Their first stop was at a place called Stargate, a stone monument erected in the middle of the desert which some claim is a portal to another dimension. Daniel Mamani's family helped build the Stargate monument and has personally seen these aliens. He claims that they are built some what like people but are very small. He tells Josh that the lots of paranormal activity were near the mines and the locals believe that the aliens were causing it. They next head off to a small town to have someone help them to locate the mines. They met up with Alejandro, a UFO researcher, who tracked the recent sightings near the abandoned mine. He tells Josh to talk to the Aymara Indians because they can guide him to the mines. After several miles in the baking sun they met up with Montano Biza, an Aymara tribal leader. He has personally witnessed the strange occurrences such as a strange light, larger than a star, hovering over the landscape, and then disappearing. He believes they are extra terrestrials and was able to outline the exact location of the mines for Josh and his team.

INVESTIGATION: Getting to the mine just before the setting sun they noticed that to climb down into a large hole. Josh and Evan got on their climbing gear and headed down first. Once everyone got down safely, they set up base camp on the landing they descended on. While some of the team stayed at base camp, Josh and the rest checked out the tunnels. The smell below started to become unusual and then Evan's foot fell into a soft spot causing a hole. Josh notices a burlap material and inside the hole they saw bones. A very foul odor was coming from the hole where more bones had been found. The skeletal remains looked humanoid but the feet looked like hooves. It looked like it was buried there on purpose and had its head removed. They bag the bones so Jael and Rex can take them back to base camp. On the way back to base camp with the evidence, Jael and Rex see something. After asking is anybody with us, a rock was thrown at them. Josh continues on with Evan and Mike where they cross a small wooden manmade bridge. Josh feels a breeze coming and sees a light and chases it down. They follow the breeze to an opening, left the tunnels and headed over to a ridge line. They see a bright light across the canyon just above the rim. They try to focus on it while it was moving around and appeared to be pulsating. Mike picks up a weird noise coming out of the parabolic dish even without it being plugged in. It sounded mechanical; maybe even an alien type sound. They spent 12 hours underground for this investigation and had lots of activity. Unable to take the remains they found back to Los Angeles for research, Josh had to photograph them.

RESULTS: He took the photos first to the Natural History Museum of LA to Dr. Jim Dines a mammologist. Josh shows him the pictures and asked what he thought it was. He says that the feet are proportioned wrong for any kind of human or primate and was completely stumped on what it could be. Josh decides to take his findings to another expert, Mike Dee, retired curator from the Los Angeles zoo. He notices that the two feet are hoof like and definitely doesn't think it is a bird. He also saw no evidence of any type of feathers and was also puzzled by the remains. Josh was amazed that he could not get any positive identification of the remains from either of the two experts. The species that Josh and his team uncovered deep in the Chilean mines is still a mystery. Also, after replaying their recordings of the strange lights that they saw, they remain a mystery too.

SECOND INVESTIGATION: VAN LAKE, TURKEY, MASSIVE SCALY MONSTERWhen both CNN and the associated press made headlines of a large lake monster, Josh and his team had to investigate these reports. For centuries many have talked about the Van Lake monster but it wasn't until recently that a man’s video taped a large creature swimming around in the lake. Since then, hundreds of people have also reported seeing this mysterious animal. Van Lake is found in far Eastern Turkey in a remote region near the border of Iran. It is nearly 1,500 square miles and is nearly the size of Rhode Island. Most of the sightings are reported just off the lake's southern coast. Eyewitness say that this creature measures about 40 feet long, with dark scaly skin, long spiny back, and a muscular tail has a devastating whip against any person or vessels that goes near it. It also has a horse like head with razor sharp teeth and a massive jaw. The team flies nearly 17,000 miles to Istanbul, Turkey which took 17 hours. After such a long flight they emerge into the city of Istanbul which is an exotic mix of East and West and is the dividing line between Europe and Asia. After haggling over the price of a carpet, Josh left the market and met up with a local journalist, Gerguim Cuench. He was the one that obtained the original footage of the creature that later became international news. He tells Josh that it has been a part of Turkish history that this monster exists. He goes on to tell him that many believe that the monster exists but there was never any proof. Next the team heads out from Istanbul on a flight to the city of Van which borders the lake. The team was beyond tired and acting a bit goofy at this point so they hop in another DT special rag-tag vehicle to the Pearls of the East or the shores of Van. People have been inhabiting these shores for over 7,000 years where places of it's ancient ruins can still be seen. Because the story of the monster was so huge in this town, the local government formed its own team to search for it and even erect a statue of the monster. He talks with the Mayor, Nazmi Sezer, who tells him that there is definitely a creature in the lake and divers have seen eggs that the creature had laid. He also tells Josh that the creature can be found near the fresh water of Akhtamar Island. After getting Mike to shave off his beard and keeping his mustache, they got back on the trail of searching for the monster. Before investigating they spoke with a couple of local boat captains who shared their stories about the creature. Afterwards the team splits up to survey the area. Josh and Mike headed up in a helicopter, Jael and Rex kept watch on the Southern bank and Bicha and Sharra stayed north.

INVESTIGATION: Sharra spots some dark shadowy figures along the surface. Shortly afterwards Jael and Rex see it as well. They tell Josh that is black and coming out of the water, and then going back down. Josh flies over the area but whatever it was had already disappeared. After returning from the flight, Josh and the team head out to Akhtamar Island in a boat. They land on the rocky coast and set up base camp. Evan and Josh head out first into the extremely cold water of Lake Van to get a look at the underwater area. The visibility was about 3 feet tops and the water was very cold and salty. They decided to search topside where the creature is known to surface at night. Josh and Jael head up to the highest point on the island to get a better look of the lake. They come across some ruins of an ancient church where they see drawings of a large monster eating people and found graves as well. They head back to base camp where Josh and Rex head out to do a sweep of the lake in a boat. Jael and Bisha do a sweep of the coastline. While out in the boat, it starts to rain and snow while the temperature drops to freezing. Base camp was experiencing lots of rain and their tarp filling up with water. It collapses spilling water on some of the equipment. The equipment was fine and they were able to fix the tarp. Meanwhile back on the shore, Jael hears noises and a very loud splashing and a moaning sound. They see something moving in the water so Josh submerges the underwater camera. Something hit the zodiac boat Josh was in and they saw something swimming by the camera. Then they see something big surface which makes a loud splash. They kept pursuing whatever was making the sounds and kept surfacing, but didn't find anything. After fixing the base camp's tarps, Josh went out in the zodiac boat again with Jael. Quickly they see ripples in the water, and then get a long shape on the thermal imaging camera. Then they hear a noise and then see a large shadow near their boat. Daylight was coming so they headed back to shore. They investigated from the coast the rest of the time then headed back to LA to analyze their findings. The thermal did show something about 20 feet in the water and on the underwater cameras there wasn't a clear enough image to tell what it was. Because the lake if fairly sparse, logic would dictate that something large would not be able to survive in that lake. Because they did experience something, Josh took the original footage to a marine biologist, Dr. Scott Cooper to get his opinion of what it was. Because you couldn't see in front of the object, he was skeptical that something could have been towed. In the clip of the object still in the water, he commented on the breathing being continuous bubbles as if there was an air hose or something causing it. Josh asked if they were looking at something biological and he told him that the skin looks leathery but the rest doesn't look credible to him. He felt that they were looking at a hoax. Josh then show him the footage of theirs from the helicopter showing the dark black objects bobbing at the surface. He tells Josh that it is unlikely for a huge creature to exist in this very salty lake and there is only one species of fish in the whole lake. His conclusion is that it was either a school of fish or methane sediments that bubble to the surface and appear to be a very large object. Because of the hundreds of sightings, there is the possibility that something could be hiding deep in the murky waters of Van Lake.

~Julie~

DT: Ghosts of Chernobyl; Sal'awa

creatures

FIRST INVESTIGATION: Chernobyl, Pripyat, Ukraine (11 miles from Chernobyl)The Chernobyl Disaster was a nuclear reactor accident that happened on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. It is considered to be the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history and the only level 7 instance on the International Nuclear Event Scale. It resulted in a severe release of radioactivity following a massive power excursion which destroyed the reactor. Two people died in the initial steam explosion, but most deaths from the accident were attributed to radiation.

Many people have experienced seeing ghostly figures, with some resembling those who died in the accident. These reports have begun surfacing more frequently lately. No group has ever stayed there from dusk to dawn. After securing permission from the Ukrainian government, Josh and his team will set up the world’s first investigation of the ruins of Chernobyl. They needed special gear, like fallout radiation suits to protect them from any exposure to radiation. They headed out to investigate the plant where the most deadly nuclear accident occurred.

They were told to expect military scrutiny at all the checkpoints in route to the abandoned city. When they picked up their luggage at baggage claim, one was open with all the stuff spilling out all over. After Josh gathered everything up, they got into the rented vehicle which resembled Scooby Doo and companies' Mystery Van. They headed off to their journey and started in Kiev where there are many military armories. Then from Kiev to what the government calls the Zone of Exclusion checkpoint. In the center lies Prypiat, this suffered the direct fallout and remains radioactive still to this day. In order to get to the city, they have to go through three separate security perimeters which increases in restrictions and radioactivity. Traveling in these zones are strictly prohibited adding to that, the guards at the remote posts are acting on their own authority. They are faced with being denied at any of the checkpoints and being deported from the area all together. After having all the passports checked at the first point, they were assigned a soldier to escort them to the town of Prypiat. He loans them equipment that detects if the activity is too high that they need to leave immediately. Before they stop at the next checkpoint, they had to pass through a screen to check and see if they were not personally contaminated before they could eat. There was a cafeteria set up and they were somewhat reluctant to eat there, but did. They had to take an additional blueberry flavored liquid antidote as a persuasion. While they were leaving they met a military officer that had a ghostly encounter the night before just inside the restricted zone. As Josh asked the questions of his encounter, their translator and guide refuse to let Josh know what the man said. One of the local drivers steps in and translated for him. He tells them that he saw a round spear in a room just floating there. Another woman tells Josh that she visits the place from time to time and has witnessed seeing the ghosts of some of friends and family that died during and after the accident. She told them to focus on the areas that the children would play. They reached the second checkpoint and with all the paperwork in order they were allowed to pass through. As they headed closer into town, they noticed rotting buildings, freighters, and canals that stood exactly how there were on April 26, 1986. They hit the last gate and getting passed they arrived at the city that was evacuated nearly 25 years earlier. Their drivers and guide left them to conduct the investigation.

INVESTIGATION: They all put on the radiation suits then Jael, Gabe and Josh checked the hospital first where the man had seen an apparition. They experience their equipment power off and on. They enter what used to be the surgerical room and find a patient register with dates. As they move into the pediatric room, Josh captures a human figure on the flir in the window outside. They move around to another room where Josh sees a shape of a person peering from around a pole right behind Evan. The Geiger counter started to go off so they had to leave while the equipment kept malfunctioning. Back at base camp they form another plan and Josh takes Rex, Mike and Jael with him. They come across the remains of an amusement park where Jael thought she saw someone sitting in an empty bumper car. The radiation was high in the area so they decided to leave. Then they see a light coming from the building and chase it down. They check out the rooms and find an old piano. After leaving the room they hear a sound like the piano started to play. They run back but find nothing. They continue to walk around, find a creepy doll, and then the meter spikes to its highest. The meter continues to spike when Jael screams because they saw a huge black shadow behind her. Then they hear a bottle or something flying off a shelf. Josh does an EVP session to see if a spirit is with them. Jael jumps and runs because something pulled her hand then she heard someone running out of the room. The meter went off because the radiation was high so they left.

They turn to Jason and Grant to look at the evidence they captured. The strange dot of light could have been a small animal; the window that Josh caught the figure on the outside could have been a reflection; the other human figure caught on the flir which looked like someone stepping out from behind the pole, they couldn’t say what it was. That was an expressive piece of evidence according to Jason and Grant.

SECOND INVESTIGATION: "Sal'awa" Cairo, EgyptThe Sal’awa is a monstrous wolf like creature, with a bushy tail, large pointy ears, large hind legs with immense claws to aide in speed and jumping. It also has a course coat of fur, is stronger and faster than an ordinary dog, and hides in the dense sugar cane fields. Sal'awa is Arabic for scary wolf.

They flew into Cairo, Egypt after a 17 hour flight. They hopped into a jeep and headed out for their 200 mile drive along the Nile crossing the river in the ancient city of Luxor. From there they went on to the city of Armant where the recent sightings of the Sal'awa have been reported. They met up with Ramy to help them by utilizing his translation skills. They next went to Egypt's leading bounty hunter, Mamdouh, who the government had investigating the resent attacks. He said this was a new animal and very dangerous. He tells Josh that it will attack him and his team and rip them to pieces. He warns Josh that the Sal'awa is elusive and very deadly. Before sending Josh on his way, he showed him the deadly cobra he had. He appeared to hypnotize it and told Josh that he had to kiss the cobra. If it bits you, you die, so you have to bit the cobra instead. Makes sense to me but is very crazy! Josh thinking that Mamdouh is nuts, bends down and kisses the cobra and says that he also peed his pants. Then Mamdouh proceeds to bit the cobra, putting its head in his mouth. Can you say nut case? After that they headed south to the village of Armant cruising over sand domes to get there. After a game of soccer with the locals they finally arrived to the destination. They had one more stop before heading to the sugarcanes with a Mother of a seven year old boy who was recently attacked. She told them that if she did not fight off the animal her son would be dead. She also told them that she was certain it was not a dog or a wolf, it was a Sal'awa and that hunters have chased it further East into the sugarcane fields behind her house and lost it in the high brush.

INVESTIGATION: They set out to the sugar cane fields talking to workers along the way. They each had a story of the elusive beast. They set base camp right on the edge of the sugar cane field and placed cameras all around. Josh and Jael set off to check out the perimeter through the sugar cane field. He finds some excrement and bags it for evidence. They use the flir through the dense field and spot some animal prints that Josh cast for evidence. Jael sets out to investigate on her own, hears growling and freaks out. They are also hearing lots of noises back at base camp too. They move out to investigate some more and hear more growling and see something moving around. On the camera they caught something grabbing the bait and running out. It looked huge and furry. They also see some eyes watching them from inside the field. They hear howling and movement from the small field to the sugar cane. They chase after it then head back to camp. They head out on parallel course in the field to see if they can flush out whatever is there. Josh and Mike hear something moving and follow it. Evan meets up with them and they hear a creepy growling near him. They all can hear it too so they end up crossing over the field to see if whatever that was can be found. After safely getting out of the sugar cane they all meet up and head back to base camp.

After that scary investigation, they head back to Los Angeles to analyze the evidence. The footprint casting proved to be canine. Josh played the sounds for Mike Dee, formerly from the LA Zoo, to see what his impression of it was. The loud growling, he said sounded like a very large dog. They did catch a fox on the camera stealing the food and could be what the Sal'awa really was and the locals fears are making it more than it appeared.

~Julie~

DT: Island of the Dolls; Lusca

creatures

"Island of the Dolls"1. Doll's Island (Isla de las Munecas), Mexico, are where these creepy little dolls are said to be possessed. The island caretaker put them up to rid off the spirit of a little girl that was visiting there and drowned. Those that have past by the dolls at night have seen them moving and whispering, enticing people to come on shore. Recently the island's caretaker, Don Julian, was found dead in the same canal that the visiting girl was found. Locals claim that his spirit now haunts the island as well. Josh Gates and his DT team flew 1500 miles south of the border to Mexico City, Mexico. After letting their hair down in the evening, they took off for the island in the morning to try and make it there before nightfall. At first Josh seeks out Hector Mendez, a local paranormal expert that has been tracking the story about the island and caretaker’s death. Some believe that voices enticed Don Julian to get out of the water, while others believe that the dolls killed him. He told them that they had to get permission to set foot on the island because it is private property. It is now owned by the caretaker's nephew Anastasio, who manages the property from the safety of a distant countryside. Like always, they have car problems, and while the others wait for the vehicle to get fixed, Josh and Jael continued on horseback. Josh and Jael meet up with Anastasio Velazquez on his farm at the edge of town. He tells them that he has seen the dolls heads move up and then move down. He told them to bring a doll to appease the spirits and put it near where the girl drowned. They ate, shopped and played then picked up the supplies they needed. They found a woman who knew exactly what they needed to bring to the island. The island is located 18 miles outside of Mexico City, so they used a boat to get to the Doll's Island. They were greeted by dolls hanging everywhere which was very creepy. They set up base camp and plotted where all the cameras will be placed, then set out to do their investigation. Josh and Jael placed the doll, candy and candles they bought near the area where the little girl drowned as an offering for her spirit. Right afterwards, they heard a splash in the water and seen it moving. They experience high EMF spikes around one of the dolls in the shed, whose eyes shut and then one eye opens after Josh got near it. They walked around where there are creepy dolls hanging everywhere. One at a time, they sat in the shed for 30 minutes at a time to see if anything would happen. While Josh was in there he heard a loud bang. Mike appeared to get most of the action. While he was sitting there he sees a dark shape outside the shed. On the base camp camera they see a white light at the same time he experiences many sounds all around the shed. He asked the spirits to speak, making themselves known, and right away he hears a noise like something was dragging across the roof. After Mike quickly leaves the shed, Josh makes a thorough sweep of the area. Behind Mike on the thermal, Josh sees what looks like a figure and then three orb type figures on the other side of the canal. They head home to LA where Mike, their audio guy, checks out the EVP's. On one he captured a voice that sounded like it said "leave". This was right before Mike heard that dragging across the roof of the shed. During Josh's EVP session in the shed, he caught a voice that also may have said "leave". He turns to Steve and Tango to look at the thermal and video evidence captured. They feel that some type of energy could be attached to the doll whose eye opened. The thermal images they caught, they felt that something with energy was there and felt that if the figure but it was free floating, then it could be considered paranormal. As for the three round heat signatures, Steve felt it could have been some sort of paranormal energy. Also, on the video camera, after Mike runs out, they captured a noise like something was trying to get in the shed like a door knob rattling. This creepy little island with massive amount of dolls all over it definitely has some paranormal and strange activity going on there.

2. Lusca is a giant octopus found in the Caribbean near the remote island of Andros and lives in caves under the island in the large watery tunnels. Boat captions have told of it attacking their vessels and pull swimmer to their death. It is described as a huge monster, bigger than any known octopus, with 85 foot tentacles with enormous suction cups and a large mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth. The DT crew flew into Andros Island, Bahamas, picked up they new shirts and drove to where they can charter a boat in the tiny town of Small Hope to find a boat captain that will take them out. They had troubles finding one that wanted to aide them in their expedition and ended up chartering their own boat. They headed out to the Blue Holes to find the tunnels where the Lusca is said to live. Josh and Jael suited up to get a lay of the land and encounter many sharks that surround them. After they get back to the boat Josh goes alone in the blue hole and can see that it is massive in there. They get something on the sonar about 120 feet down the blue hole and right afterwards Josh sees something huge go pass. He heads back to the boat and they form another plan to enter through another hole entrance. The dive would require Josh to go deeper than he has ever gone. They closely monitor Josh's status as he descends further in the cave. On the sonar they are seeing strange objects while Josh notices that something large pushed its way through the tunnel. Suddenly he sees something large pass in front of him and they lose contact with him. As the team panics from losing contact with Josh, they see something moving in the water. Finally Josh surfaces then has Jael dive while the rest keep vigil on the land. On camera and on thermal they caught something huge on the surface moving very fast. He said down with marine biologist, Dr. Scott Cooper to get his opinion. He says that something that large must have plenty of food and a sufficient habitat to live in and this area does provide that. He could not conclusively say what was captured by the evidence Josh provided.

Devil Worm, Worm Monsters and Graboids

creatures

Something slimy to start off the week, lol.

Is there such a thing as an underground, huge, man eating worm? Underneath our desert floors and in the most remote areas on Earth, there have been reports of such worms. Hollywood even made a movie focusing on these subterranean creatures terrorizing the folks of a small Nevada town. The movie “Tremors” is one of my favorites and gave the creature its name, Graboids, with them getting different names, Shriekers and Assblasters in the not as good sequels.

In the 1990 dark comedy, TREMORS, these subterranean worm-like creatures decided to make meals of the citizens of Perfection, Nevada. The town is made up of a few trailers, a couple of houses, and a general store owned by Walter Chang. It makes you wonder why anyone would want to live in this desolate dust bowl of a town, but 14 people called Perfection home. As I previously mentioned, there is Walter Chang, who spends half the movie naming the creatures and the other half in the belly of one of them. He should have fixed that noisy Coke machine instead of spending so much time coming up with the name, "Graboid". Then there is the potter Donna, her pogo jumping young daughter Mindy; the smart ass teenager, Melvin, whose parents are unknown; Nester, who you have no idea who he is and are pretty sure he is going to be dessert later in the movie; and Miguel, the farmer whose animals are mysteriously disappearing. Then we have Burt and Heather Gummer who state that the geographical isolation is why they chose this location. Their house is a fortress and their rec room has every weapon known to mankind. A Graboid found out the hard way not to mess with the Gummers and bust into their precious rec room. Then there are the heroes, Val and Earl, the resident handymen. After having a bad bout with a septic tank’s waste spraying all over them, they decide to finally leave Perfection. On their way out of town they come across Edgar Deems on a top of an electrical tower. Edgar died of dehydration and even though the worms didn't get Edgar, they did manage to make meals of Fred, his flock of sheep, the doctor, his wife, their station wagon, a couple of construction workers and telephone repairmen. They almost got Rhonda the college student who was conducting seismology test around the area but unbeknown to her, she escaped being a snack. After another failed attempt of leaving town, Val and Earl found one of the tentacles of the beasts attached to their truck. The next day they took Walter’s horse to get help and warn the doc, his wife and Rhonda. After coming across the doctor's car buried, they haul ass on the horses only to be chased by a Graboid. After jumping into a concrete ditch, the Graboid smashes into the side and ends up committing suicide. They run into Rhoda who after checking her paperwork realizes that there are three more of them out there. Back in town, they warn the people who are now huddled in the general store except for the Gummers who are out looking for Rhonda. After the town's folks did battle with the monsters, and the Gummers defeated one at their house, they came up with a plan and were able to get the survivors out of town. The Graboids had one more trick up their sleeves, they set a trap. Now we see the ragtag gang sitting on some boulders out in the middle of nowhere where they use Burt's homemade bombs to defeat the last two Graboids. They were able to trick one into eating the bomb and blowing it into many pieces but the other one wasn't falling for it. Val came up with a plan knowing that this gigantic worm was not smarter than them. The worm chased Val, Earl and Rhonda towards the end of the cliff. Using the bomb, Val throws it behind the Graboid causing it to pick up speed, crashing through the cliff-face and plummeting to its death. They all hugged and kissed and went back to their dreary little town and made a boat load of money off the Graboids.

The movie was science fiction but are subterranean worms real? The people in Mongolia's Gobi Desert will tell you that they are in deed real. They claim that they are terrorized by a bright red worm, with a wide body and measures about 5 feet long. They refer to this worm as the Mongolia Devil Worm or Death Worm. The stories are anywhere from the worm shooting sulfuric acid at its victims, or killing from a distance by means of an electric charge. This kind of story is exactly what Josh Gates and the Destination Truth crew like to check out for themselves. The fact that so many have reported seeing the devil worm, and hearing that an entire village was abandoned because of this worm, sparked Josh’s interest. The area surrounding the village is where they decided to do their investigation. To get to the destination, they had to go off-road, using only GPS coordinates, stopping in the town of Dalanzadgad to eat some of the local cuisine and talk to more eyewitnesses. They were told that the worm is attracted to the color yellow, something Josh took note of. After a long dreary drive in the Gobi Desert, they finally reach the abandoned village and Osman, the only inhabitant still living there. He tells them that he hasn't seen anything but hearing eerie sounds that caused the other villagers to leave.

Josh and his team head out to the outskirts of town and find many tunnels. Are these made by the devil worm or large creepy rodents? Hoping it was the devil worm itself that made the tunnels; they attach a yellow cloth to their camera and put it in one of the holes. The elements were hard to deal with like the ever dropping temperature. Using the thermal camera, Josh happens upon a fresh hole and some sort of residual heat signature. They take samples and hear a scratching sound but find nothing. Then one of the team spots an orange flash off in the distance but found nothing upon investigating it. They had to quit investigation because the frigid air was draining the batteries and making it hard to tolerate and finish the investigation. They took all the evidence and samples back to Los Angeles for testing but nothing identical or organic was found. Josh had to conclude that they didn't have enough evidence to support the existence of the Mongolian Devil Worm.

Even in one of the coldest places on Earth, Iceland have reports of a giant Worm Monster. Reports are that is it longer than a football field and has been seen near Lake Lagarfljot. This monster has been reported by witnesses since 1345 and is one of the oldest lake monsters ever recorded. It has been spotted either in the lake or on land in a coiled position. It is brown in color, slimy skin with huge set of sharp teeth that remind me of the gaping maw of the Sarlacc from the movie “Return of the Jedi”. Others have reported seeing it slither into the forest and have the locals frightened by its existence. Josh Gates and the Destination Truth team went to investigate this worm and had lots of mishaps because of the frigid weather and thick fog surrounding the lake. Josh and the two others with him in their boat were lost for over 6 hours on the lake trying to find base camp. The temperature got down to 10 degrees and they were afraid of hypothermia. While trying to get back to base camp, they did spot something enormous, about 20 or 30 feet, black shadow moving in the water. This thing created huge waves that rock their boat. After making it back home to Los Angeles, they had the video footage analyzed. They expert could not ID what they caught but ruled out a school of fish and large eels that are known to be in that area.

Whatever the truths behind these incredible enormous worms are, all the witnesses will tell you that they are real. Anyone want to go fishing?

Destination Truth Recap: Haunted Forest; Alux

creatures

On this 3rd season, Josh Gates has a bigger role besides host and that is of producer. Having more control, he can run the show his way. Along with the first-hand duties, he has a new team going with him on all the new destinations. They are Bicha Gholam, case manager; Evan Stone, cameraman; Gabriel "Gabe" Copeland, cameraman; Jael DePardo, researcher; Mike Morrell, audio; Rex Williams, medic; and Sharra Jenkins, tech manager. With his new team they set out for their first investigation of the paranormal activity in the Hoia Baciu woods in Romania.

FIRST INVESTIGATION: "Haunted Forest", Hoia Baciu, Romania

The Hoia Baciu woods are also known by the locals as the haunted gateway to the other side. This dark forest is very disorientating and feed on our darkest fears. Deep in the back woods of Transylvania, stories of bright lights tower skyward from the forest at night are seen by many of the locals. A couple of research teams that went into the forest were spooked with some of their pictures that had ghost-like human figures in them. They saw nothing with the naked eye while walking around in there. Now the locals are afraid of traveling to the Hoia Baciu forest and call it the most haunted spot in Europe. With over 45 ghost sightings in the past 6 months, Josh and his team were hoping for an incredible investigation with great evidence. They flew 6,000 miles from Los Angeles to Cluj, Romania and Josh called ahead to rent an SUV using what little Russian he could muster up. What they ended up with was a tiny two-door, filthy 4X4 which Josh said, "must mean that it is only 4 feet by feet and can only fit 4 comfortably. The entire crew squeezes in and off they go having some car problems at the beginning. They head off to the center of Cluj to find a professor that is an expert in the study of strange phenomena. Adrian Patrut, professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Cluj University is who they met up with and is an expert on the forest. He has several pictures of the bright lights and human like apparitions on nine different trips in the past three years that he took. He tells Josh that most of the sightings are concentrated around a perfectly circular clearing in the woods. The circular area is a natural vegetated dead zone where nothing grows. All the strange pictures are what started all the interests and investigations. Since he could not give them an exact location of where the circle was located, he pointed them to a small village outside of town near the forest where many of the residents have seen strange lights hovering over the forest. Their Romanian road trip was adventurous needless to say. It was bumpy and they came across some oxen pulling carts and felt like they were back in the 1800's. It didn't take them long to find a local that was willing to talk about the haunted forest. This man tells them that there is definitely a strong energy there while another local tells Josh not to go to the forest. Josh asked “why not go” and he tells them that you will remain there and never come back. They decide to chart a plane to get the best visual location of the mysterious circle and chart it on his GPS so they can find the place on foot. They rent a plane that Josh said looked like it escaped from the Air and Space Museum and was quite the antique. He tells everyone to get in the coffin or rather plane and off they go. Right away the roof of the plane flew off and panic sets in. They had to go back and were glad when they landed safely and hugged the ground. Needing to find another mode of transportation, they rent some ATV's and follow the map that professor Patrut made for them. They wanted to find the circle before it got dark and had to stop somewhere near it to set up base camp. They set up four infrared camera around base camp about 300 yard radius and four wireless trap cameras about a mile beyond that. These cameras have GPS tracking on them so they can locate there whereabouts and will shot anything that comes in front of their lens.

They spend the first night looking for the clearing or mysterious circle. In this area is where most of the activity was reported. Josh, Rex and Evan set off to the south where Josh spots a small light through the trees. Josh has everyone turn their headlamps off to see if it is one of his crew. After realizing that it wasn’t any of the team, they run towards the light and Rex falls down and hurts himself. He is fine but goes back to base camp to rest. Jael and Gabe hear noises so Jael takes several pictures of the surrounding area. She captures weird lights and orbs in the photos. Mike joins Evan and Josh and not having to walk very long, they found the elusive circle which was close by base camp. Right away they get a high EMF reading and take soil samples to see if they could explain why vegetation won't grow. Through the trees they see a light moving and run towards it. They experience the thermal imaging camera all of the sudden shutting off. Then Josh decides that each will sit in isolation in the circle with him going first. Josh keeps hearing noises all around in the woods. In the base camera they see a light behind Josh near his left shoulder. It looked like someone was walking behind him. As he turns to glimpse at the lights, it disappears off the camera. Now it’s Evan's turn to be alone in the circle where he kept hearing female voices behind him. On the camera they see him all of a sudden disappear like an unseen hand grabbed him and pulled him back. This happened right after hearing a big wind sound. They quickly ran to see what happened and found Evan lying on the ground. He had a burning feeling on his arm, lifted the sleeve and noticed deep scratches that were bleeding. He said that it felt like a big wind blew him backwards which freaked him out. Back at base camp, Rex fell sick. Not wanting to endanger anymore of his team, they took the evidence they collected back to Los Angeles for analysis. He took the soil samples to Wallace Laboratories to see if there was something biological or natural in why nothing would grow in the circle. They checked samples taken inside and outside the circle for analysis and concluded that there was very little differences in both samples. There was no explanation for why nothing grew in the circle. He took the photos, video and audio evidence to Jason and Grant to get their opinion of what they captured. On one EVP they caught a voice that sounded female moaning or yelling and another sounded like a female laughing. Because of the elements of the area the female sounds could be an animal or bird native to the area. To me it sounded like females voices. In the pictures they concluded that the orbs could be dust, but could not explain the weird lights and shadows. Then he showed them footage of Evan being blown away like something grabbed his arm and showed them the scratches. They couldn't explain what happened because he had a heavy jacket on and he only scratched his arm. They felt like Evan had a paranormal experience and that something unexplainable is going on in those woods. How did a full grown man in a sitting position get picked up and thrown around like a rag doll? How indeed?

SECOND INVESTIGATION: "Alux Creature", Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

The Alux is a mythical pygmy like creature that has been seen deep in the jungles of Mexico in the Mayan ruins. These stories of a "Mini Me" called the Alux, which are child size beasts, have been reported for centuries. About 90% of the indigenous residence believes the creature to be real. There have been a spike in sightings in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in just the past month. It is described at a small human like creature with dark fur and an aggressive disposition. This creature, which is less than 4 foot tall, lives primarily in caves and the ruins that are deep in the jungle. After a 5 1/2 hour flight from LA to Cancun Mexico, they had to stay focused even though the margaritas were calling. They rented a jeep, headed due west, and noticed all the Alux houses along the highway built to appease the creature. They meet up with professor Carlos Cervantes and expert in Mayan history who has been tracking the recent run-ins with the Alux. He tells them than 95% of the people living there believe it is real and they are very afraid of the creature. He tells Josh that the creature lives in caves in the jungle. While in the jungle, he met up with a Shaman whose people came face to face with the creature. He directed Josh and his team to where the Shaman is located and they immediately headed off to seek him out. Along the way they ran into a bunch of male belly dancers that seem to take a shine to the team. Back on the road they ended up in the town of Merida by nightfall and decided to relax and let loose. They had some fun at the towns Carnival and ran into "Santa", the potato head float and did some dancing. The announcer told the crowd that Josh was in the Batman movie and he became an instant celebrity. He woke up in the morning with a female officer's phone number written on his hand and clearly it was time to leave. Just kidding of course, or was he, lol. On their way to see the Shaman, they stopped in a remote town where they heard that a young boy was taken by the Alux. Luis and Betty Kuilton, the boy's parents, felt that their son Jesus, is in the jungle with the Alux, alive and still there. They mapped out the jungle and figured that they needed to cover an area with the radius of 20-25km in diameter. They drove as far as they could but since the deep jungle terrain was so thick, they had to reach their destination on foot. They first set their sites on the remote caves that used to be dry and are now filled with water. Jael and Josh descend into one of the caves where they find human remains deep inside of the belly of the cave. He says he saw a part of a human skull and other bones that could have been there for thousands of years. They finally got to the Shaman village by nightfall and the locals did a ceremony to make contact with the Alux. They had to drink a special beverage that the Mayan used to protect them from the Alux and blessed them with leaves. Josh and Jael did a preliminary sweep of the area and saw lots of spiders, many of which are poisonous. They come across some ruins where the Alux is known to live. They use the parabolic dish to pick up any unusual sounds because they heard that the Alux makes a high pitch sound almost like a giggle. Mike picked up a sound and said it was like a kid screaming, a high pitched sound off in the distance. Was this the Alux letting them know it was there? Josh spots a huge snake and quickly moves everybody out of the way. They head out deeper in the forest and come across an enormous cave and step inside to investigate. They light their torches to investigate the cave which has long tunnels and experience their lights going out. They see a hive for some critters along with other poisonous creatures and find bones but can't describe the nature of origin of the bones. They gather some evidence and leave the cave. After the sun came up they took the evidence back to LA and the natural history museum. Some of bones could be from a goat and the others from chickens, but they still didn't know what may have killed them.

Great season premiere and from what I read, the shows highest ratings to date.

~Julie~