SC EP:1151 The Bigfoot Paradox

I will be speaking to Author Justin McNeal about his new book The Bigfoot Paradox: Everything is a Lie, and Everything is True. Summary of the book https://sasquatchchronicles.com/the-bigfoot-paradox-everything-is-a-lie-and-everything-is-true/tbp/ Are you ready to question everything you thought you knew? For centuries, legends of towering, elusive giants lurking in the wilderness have haunted our imagination and defied explanation. But what if the stories were true...and false at the same time? This isn't just a book about Bigfoot—it's an invitation to step into a twisted reality where myth and fact blur, and where truth hides in the shadows, waiting to ambush you. Inside these pages, you'll uncover shocking accounts, cryptic clues, and hidden histories that have remained buried for decades. You'll journey through hoaxes, government cover-ups, scientific anomalies, and eerie encounters that will make you question every "fact" you've ever heard about the legend of Bigfoot. But this story doesn't end with distant folklore. The author himself has ventured deep into the unknown, surviving a harrowing encounter with beasts as legendary as Bigfoot himself—a near-fatal experience that left him forever changed. Step into his world, where personal brushes with terror, close calls, and whispered secrets reveal a side of cryptids you've never seen before. This book doesn't ask if Bigfoot exists. It dares you to decide for yourself. Delve into the unknown, the mysterious, and the truth that will leave you speechless. Prepare to question everything you thought you knew: Are the hunters actually the hunted?" Discover the real reason no bodies are ever found… or is that just another lie?" From ancient legends to modern cover-ups, has the truth about Bigfoot been hiding in plain sight?" Science or folklore? This book blurs the line until there's no going back." A shocking experiment proves: People see what they want to see. But what if you're wrong?" An eerie blend of fact and fiction—so twisted even we aren't sure what's real anymore." Is Bigfoot just a myth… or an unearthly being defying everything we understand?" The exercises in this book will awaken your spirit, break you free from the constraints of modern life, and transform you into a primal force of nature—drawing Bigfoot to you like a magnet. The Bigfoot Paradox: Everything is a Lie, and Everything is True https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNWGC3X2?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_R95PWC22QSBEV2TN0W1Y&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_R95PWC22QSBEV2TN0W1Y&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_R95PWC22QSBEV2TN0W1Y&bestFormat=true&previewDoh=1

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Speaker 00

  It looked like somebody was bent over and had their head in the window of the deer blind and it either heard me or smelt me and he pulled his head out of the tent and stood straight up and that shocked me. They don't make people that big.

• 0:26Speaker 01

  The way it moved, almost as if it was gliding across the beach. I've never seen anything move like that in my life. They were screaming at each other in gibberish. It sounded like a language and they were chuntering away, back and forwards, back and forwards, back and forwards. I know what a bear looks like and there is no way on this planet that what I saw bears.

• 1:14Speaker 02

  911, what are you reporting?

• 1:16Speaker 03

  Jesus Christ, you better... Karen, see ya!

• 1:19Speaker 02

  Hello?

• 1:20Speaker 03

  Get somebody out of here.

• 1:22Speaker 02

  What's going on now, sir?

• 1:23Speaker 03

  That son of a bitch is about six foot nine, I don't know.

• 1:26Speaker 02

  Do you see him now, sir?

• 1:27Speaker 03

  Yes, I'm looking right at him. Uh-oh.

• 1:36Wes Germer?

  This is John from Ontario, Canada, and you're listening to Sasquatch Chronicles. Welcome to the show, everyone. Thanks for being here tonight. Got a great show planned for you.

• 2:14Wes Germer?

  We'll be speaking with author Justin McNeal about his new book, The Bigfoot Paradox: Everything is a Lie and Everything is True, available now on Amazon, and I'll include a link below.

• 2:29Wes Germer?

  And Justin's had a few incidences throughout his life. We'll also chat about if you've had an encounter and you'd like to be on the show, shoot me an email. My email address is [email protected]. And if you get a chance to check out sasquatchchronicles.com, you can become a member and not only support the show, but get additional shows. Let's jump into it tonight. I want to welcome Justin McNeal to the show. Justin, thanks for coming on.

• 3:02Speaker 05

  Hey, thank you. It's an honor and privilege to be on your show. I appreciate it.

• 3:06Wes Germer?

  The honor is mine having you on the show. The book, The Bigfoot Paradox, Everything is a Lie and Everything is True. For the audience, if they go to Amazon, they get a copy of this book. What can they kind of expect when they read this book?

• 3:22Speaker 05

  Yeah, so The Bigfoot Paradox isn't really your typical cryptid book. I wrote it to be provocative. I wanted it to blend details and data from both skeptics and believers. You know, that's, I don't tell a whole lot of my personal stories in the book because I don't want to sway their opinion. I just want to open their eyes, right? So it, it's a provocative blend of eyewitness accounts, folklore, research, and then, you know, something more unsettling regarding Bigfoot. And, and I try to walk the line between fact and fiction, truth and mythology. And my goal isn't to tell, you know, readers what to believe. I

• 4:06Speaker 05

  just want to present those layers of reality, force them to question what's real and what isn't. So there's accounts in the book. There's eyewitness testimonies and stories from other people. Like I said, I left most of my personal stories out because I don't want to sway anyone. And just ask them to really, you know, question what's real. And that's, that's the whole point, right? You, you want to taste the unknown, wrestle with that unexplained and embrace that tension between belief and doubt. So, you know, I think skeptics will find information in the book. I think believers will find good information in the book. And I just wanted to get that dialogue started.

• 4:52Wes Germer?

  Yeah, I know that you've written several books on several different topics. And one of the things I want to ask you about is the Aswang or Ashwang in the Philippines. But with regard to Sasquatch, did you, I knew you grew up in Missouri. Did you have an encounter? Is that what kind of led you to want to write this book?

• 5:16Speaker 05

  I did. So I, like I said, I grew up in a small town, very rural. You know, and I, we, my family hunted and fished and we collected cans and, you know, very poor growing up. And so we hunted and fished, not because, you know, we enjoyed it as much as it was supplemental food for our table. Right? So I was always involved in that and always outside and I, you know, I'm a, I was a classic latchkey kid. Right? You know, leave the house, go out and play, don't come back until it's dark. And I spent a lot of my time in the woods and everything and my family is primarily military and law enforcement.

• 6:00Speaker 05

  So they were kind of, you know, no nonsensees as well. And I just enjoyed that stuff. So my first incident, because I was a skeptic and I had had other strange things happen to me. We can talk about those if you want, with paranormal things. But my first real incident was in 2001, when I was on a hog hunt in the Washtas of Arkansas. So again, I, when I was growing up, you know, I would go and I would convince my mom, you know, 12, 13, 14. I would say, Hey, I'm going to go out here and I'm going to take some supplies and I'm going to live and fish.

• 6:45Speaker 05

  And, you know, just do like, A survival experience because I've always loved that stuff. I've always loved reading Native American books and and trying those things and making fire with fire drills and you know, all the different primitive stuff. So I had done that since I was pretty young and my mom, my dad wasn't around that much, but my mom kind of got more and more comfortable with it as, you know, she saw, I would say, you dropped me off here for a few days typically during the summer. And then you picked me up here and uh, you know, she was fine with it. And again, I'm from a small town. I would go into the forest. Usually would just, I might have like a 22 long rifle pistol.

• 7:29Speaker 05

  Um, I'd have my knife, fishing uh, equipment and stuff like that. But anyway, so I was very comfortable with doing that, you know, and sleeping in the uh, on the ground and and all of that. I'm, I'm extremely comfortable in the woods. Um, so in 2001, I was on a hog hunt. It was uh, and I've never told anyone except my closest friends the story, but I was about two days into a solo boar hunt. And I was off grid and off trail, right off the map. Um, I had set up a little lean to using some cordage, some pine and a tarp, basically just, just enough to keep the dew off of me

• 8:12Speaker 05

  and the bugs out of my, you know, face and nose. So this was kind of primitive camping, you know, I, I like to do that, build little temporary shelters and everything and just, it's peaceful and relaxing to me. So I didn't have any tent, right? I didn't have anybody with me. It was just me in the wild. And whatever showed up, you know, when the sun went down. Uh, now on this time I did have, I usually have a sidearm and a rifle. I had um, I, I carry a six hour P229 usually. I know I was carrying it at that point because I didn't have uh, many firearms at that time.

• 8:53Speaker 05

  And I had it, you know, loaded. It's a 40 Smith and Wesson. I had it loaded with the solid copper. Lehigh Defense Rounds. And the reason why I do that is I was doing that on the boar hunt is because, you know, if my rifle gets tangled up or gets jammed, or I just hurt the boar and it charges me, I want something that is strong enough to penetrate, you know, deeply into the tissue of the wild pig and bring it down. And so I hadn't seen any boar. I had seen some sign. I had seen, I saw one boar, but it was like at the periphery of a person's property in the

• 9:38Speaker 05

  backstop. It wasn't, you know, a good place that I could have taken a shot and be safe. So I'd had a little luck with seeing things, but I hadn't killed anything. It hadn't harvested anything. And so I'm in my shelter and I have my, also my PTR 91. I don't, and Wes, I don't know. I think it said in your profile, you like to hunt, but PTR 91 is a, it's a basically an HKG3 clone. So it's a 7.61 by, you know, 52 millimeter NATO or a 308 round. And there were 20 rounds in

• 10:18Speaker 05

  that. And I'm, I'm laying there, the, the fire had died down and I'm half asleep in my shelter. And everything was quiet. There weren't any animal sounds, you know, that type of night where everything gets super quiet. And I heard like a wet, low huff. And you know, it's funny because I, I had hunted boar, I've hunted deer, you know, how bucks will snort, pigs will grunt and squeal and things like that. But it was like a, a wet, low huff. And it kind of startled me because I

• 11:02Speaker 05

  hadn't heard something like that. Uh, I knew it wasn't like rooting of a bear. Or of a boar, like the, you know, grumble of a bear. I knew it wasn't a deer. Uh, it was like it was kind of deliberately done like a, I can't even imitate the sound like a. Oh, you know, like that. And uh, so I set up. And I, I slipped my boots on and I grabbed my flashlight. And I kind of stepped outside my shelter. Um, the air, you know, was heavy, wasn't much wind. There weren't any bugs. Again, no sound.

• 11:42Speaker 05

  But you know, I could feel like a, kind of like a tingle, right on the back of my neck. Like if you've. If you've ever felt something or someone really staring at you hard. And you almost can sense it, right? You feel it. You feel something looking at you. Uh, and then the, the brush basically exploded. I mean, that's the, the only way I can. It's really the only way I can describe it. So, you know, this, this thing, it didn't, it didn't really ease its way out. It kind of. Tore out of the forest like it had been coiled up, like it was waiting for me to move.

• 12:25Speaker 05

  I don't know. And, you know, so I heard this thing coming at me. Branches were cracking and. Um, you know, the undergrowth was being flattened, uh, cause I could hear it. I'm familiar with those sounds. It was like it was charging. At me. Um, and when I first saw it. I don't know, it was probably eight feet tall. If it was an inch and it, and it was wide, you know, shoulders like, I don't know, oil drums and. Arms that, you know, hung down almost to its knees. Um, and the hair, you know, was, was matted.

• 13:06Speaker 05

  And thick, soiled in places, uh, clumped with dirt, God knows what else. Um, and its face really wasn't, it wasn't an ape face, uh, but it wasn't a man. And I, you know, at this time, right? I'm, I'm skeptical, right? I, I wasn't a believer. I was. Just like shocked and I was.

• 13:33Speaker 05

  I remember it had like a kind of a flat, broad nose and a heavy brow. Um, and I just like froze for a split second. And then, you know, my body kind of reacted um before my brain could and I I dove kind of into the bush. And I'm scrambling, you know, and thorns and everything, the the brush and everything was clawing at me, but. I was like, you know, I need to get away from this thing. Uh, and so I just kind of laid there um in the brush and I I watched it. And then it it kind of steps out more clear, kind of by the fire pit.

• 14:19Speaker 05

  And I remember it was like breathing like a bull, like it had, it was like, it was like it was angry. Like it had done a charge and then it was angry. Um, and then I remember it sniffed the air, like, you know, deep, long breath through its nose. Almost like it could, you know, separate every molecule in the air. I could, I could hear it, you know, breathing. Um, and and see that. And and then it kind of turned, it it turned its upper body, you know, towards me.

• 14:58Speaker 05

  And and looked at me and I I saw its eyes and, you know, I know people report that their eyes glow. I didn't really see that. There wasn't a whole lot of light. But it didn't have, it wasn't like a typical animal's eyes. I mean, it was, the eyes were like cold and focused and. Uh, they looked intelligent to me, you know, not the really the eyes of an animal, like I said, but something more aware. Something thinking and, and you know, I had my rifle in my tent or my lean to, but there was no way that I was gonna try to make a scramble for that, especially when I,

• 15:44Speaker 05

  when I had heard how quickly this thing had moved and how big it was. And I was thinking, you know, if it does, if it does grab me or come to me and, and hurt me, I will, I'll shoot it. But I was thinking, you know, my forty caliber pistol is probably just gonna make it mad. It's gonna, it's gonna kill me anyway. And, and then I just, I took off and I ran. I, I, you know, I'm not really a guy that gets scared really easily and I'll, I'll go into that, but I, I ran. Um, it was like pure erupting fear, not only just because I had seen,

• 16:29Speaker 05

  I had seen and experienced that something that wasn't supposed to exist, but it was that close to me and, and I'm trying to rationalize and trying to think through things and it's just, you know, you come to the realization that that isn't a man that, you know, that, that isn't supposed to be here. And, and I remember as I started running, you know, it kind of screamed and it wasn't like a roar. Um, it wasn't an animal call. It was low and like throaty and violent and it kind of, it kind of hit me in the chest, right? Um, like a brick, it kind of vibrated through my body and shook me. And, and then in later research,

• 17:13Speaker 05

  I would learn about infrasound, you know, which is low frequency shock waves that predators use to paralyze prey. Tigers can do it and elephants can do it. I mean, usually we don't perceive it audibly, but it's something that puts us into that, that panic mode, right? And so I know this thing could do that because when it screamed, I swear my, my blood ran cold, you know, and it was like total terror erupted from my core.

• 17:49Speaker 05

  Like, um, like fear had been waiting under pressure and just exploded through every nerve in my body. I mean, I'm sure I had a massive adrenaline dump, but I ran, I kept, you know, tearing to the brush like a wild thing, bleeding and tripping and not caring, just, just moving, um, fleeing, just trying to get away from it. Not because I thought it was necessarily chasing me, but because I knew that it could if it wanted to. And so a few hours later, I mean, I was exhausted. I don't know if you've ever been in Arkansas, in the national forest and in those deep woods,

• 18:32Speaker 05

  but there's a lot of hills and, um, it's, it's kind of rough terrain. So I kind of collapsed and, uh, when the sun came back up and the light came back to the woods, I, I went back to my camp cautiously and slowly and I grabbed my rifle and, you know, packed everything and I left. But I'll, I'll tell you something that, that the smell was still there and I'll never forget that smell. It was like a, a heavy stomach turning mix of rot and wet fur, stale urine, old blood. I mean, it was like a, almost like a dead body, but you know, like a predator

• 19:17Speaker 05

  that's been sleeping in the same nest of corpses for weeks. And it, it kind of clung to the trees and hung in the air and stuck on, you know, my gear, my backpack. And yeah, I never went back to that spot again after that. I, I didn't think I needed to because, you know, it definitely saw me. It, it smelled me, it let me go. And I know people laugh about Bigfoot and they treat it like a mascot, a meme. But what I saw wasn't a blurry joke. It was, it was calculated and, you know, controlled and, and probably capable of, of ripping me apart.

• 20:02Speaker 05

  And I'm a, I'm a big guy. I'm like six feet tall, 275 pounds. So that was that situation and that kind of got me started like, what the hell was that, you know?

• 20:16Wes Germer?

  No one could blame me for not going back and you're pretty close to this creature. When you were looking at it, what, what kind of stood out to you about it? I mean, what kind of stays with you today, looking back on that moment?

• 20:30Speaker 05

  I was probably 15 feet away. Like I said, I mean, it had to be eight feet tall if it was an inch and it, you know, as, as wide as a truck, I mean, much, much wider than me, probably twice as wide as me. And, you know, I, I've got a 60 inch chest and it was, I mean, I, I felt like a child, you know, next to it and matted hair and kind of a flattened nose, dark, darker skin on its, on its face and kind of a heavy brow line.

• 21:14Speaker 05

  And, you know, you could see its, its muscles, you know, you've hunted, right? I mean, I'm sure you've seen like the muscles under the skin of deer and things as they're moving. I mean, it was, it was lean like that.

• 21:30Wes Germer?

  You know, you had talked about the smell and when you're out there in the woods, when you're hunting, I will say animals have kind of a wild smell to them, but I wouldn't say it's the worst smell you've ever smelled in your life. The way people describe it, I've heard sulfur, I've heard rotten eggs, basically sewage, the worst things you can think of. And sometimes that's what people smell when they run into these things.

• 22:01Speaker 05

  I've never smelled something like that. I've, I've had the, you know, unfortunate opportunity to, you know, be around a dead body and no, it was, it was different. Yeah, there's, there's kind of the wild gamey smell, but this is, this is different. It's like, I don't know, it's something that kind of invades your, your nostrils, right? Just a disgusting, um, yeah, maybe sulfur, maybe like rotten.

• 22:36Speaker 05

  Rotten flesh. I mean, I spend quite a bit of time in the Philippines. Um, and one of the fruits they eat there is called durian. And you know, what they say is it smells like hell and tastes like heaven.

• 22:52Speaker 05

  Uh, and it has kind of a sulfury smell, but maybe if you mix durian with like a dead, rotting corpse or something, it was, it was definitely unforgettable for sure.

• 23:05Wes Germer?

  What's durian? Is it like a fruit?

• 23:08Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's a fruit common in the Philippines and Asia. It's got spikes all over it. It doesn't look like something anyone would ever eat. It's a, you know, probably two or three times are larger, bigger than a coconut. Yellow flesh in it that, um, like custardy flesh. And it's, it's amazing, but some people can't eat it. In fact, it's, it's banned from hotels, banned from the airport and things like that areas. Uh, some people will gag if they smell it. So it has a very strong smelly odor, but yeah, it's delicious.

• 23:50Wes Germer?

  The book again is called The Bigfoot Paradox. Everything is a lie and everything is true on Amazon. And Justin, you know, a couple of years ago, I did this whole show about the Aswang or Ashwang, I don't know how to pronounce it. But the show I did on the Aswang is it's from the CIA's perspective and how they were able to accomplish the psychological warfare against the Filipino government. But I can never quite figure out what the Aswang was or Ashwang actually was. I know the Filipinos have a very deep belief in this entity or creature,

• 24:31Wes Germer?

  but it's been described as, uh, I almost think it's like an umbrella term. Because if there's a shape shifting creature, you know, like a skinwalker, it's an Aswang. If there's a vampire, uh, you know, type creature out there or demon, it's an Aswang. And that's kind of what I got from it. Like there's not really one basic description of what the Aswang is, but you went to the Philippines. If you would, tell me about your experience with this Aswang or Ashwang.

• 25:07Speaker 05

  Yeah, so when I went to the Philippines, and this is in 2022, I basically went with two goals. To meet my new girlfriend and I was gonna hunt and try to, you know, go on a little quick expedition for the Amanango, which is the the cryptid in the Philippines that people say is like our Bigfoot or our, you know, folk monster or Sasquatch. When I got there, and let me back up a little bit, so

• 25:46Speaker 05

  I didn't go looking for Ashwang or anything. Again, I'm perpetually skeptic unless I've seen it or experienced it. I wanted to see what this Amanango was about. And it's said to be, you know, most prevalent in the mountains of Negroes Occidental. And again, it's supposed to be a large beast, you know, some people describe it with a sagittal crest, some people describe it, you know, as looking like an ape, it's seven to 10 feet tall. All of that, all of pretty much the same stuff that we talk about with Bigfoot and Sasquatch here.

• 26:28Speaker 05

  So I arrived in the Philippines and met my girlfriend and we had met online and it was, you know, one of those things. And so I told her, hey, I want to take a week and I'm gonna go to Negroes Occidental and I'm going to, you know, see what I can find out there. Because I was already earnestly in my research and everything for this book. And I wanted to talk to locals, I wanted to, you know, get out there and see if I could find anything. Plus, it was a cool opportunity to, you know, get out into the wild and into the jungle and all that stuff.

• 27:11Speaker 05

  So my girlfriend, I'll try to paraphrase what I have in the book, but she was, you know, she thought I was insane, of course. But I reassured her and I said, you know, I'll just be gone a week and then I'll be fine, I'll be back. And I had found this gentleman named Ronaldo, who was an Ati tribesman, which is a local tribe there in Negro Occidental. And just some background for people. So I speak Tagalog and I am also learning Wari. And, and he told me that he, he knew the jungle well and he knew where the Amamango

• 27:56Speaker 05

  lived and um, he basically told me it was like in the shadows of Mount Kanoon, uh, which is a mountain there in Negro Occidental. So at the time I was, my condo was in Iloilo. Um, and I, I took the ocean jet ferry from Iloilo to Bakolod, uh, which was like a two hour ride. And then I met Ronaldo at, there's a local bar there called Tippy's Bistro. And I paid him 3,000 pesos. And then we kind of set off and you know, we're, we're hiking

• 28:38Speaker 05

  um, to the jungle and the first day or two is kind of uneventful, right? But then at night I would hear, especially on the second night, I would hear like, you know, whoops and sounds like that. This one is, is actually a little traumatic for me because I was actually physically attacked. Um, so I would, I would hear those whoops and you know, I would hear jungle noises. But I mean, I'm not as familiar with the jungles of the Philippines as I am with the forest and woods of, you know, North America, so.

• 29:17Speaker 05

  Oh, I didn't think too much about it, but Ronaldo, he was kind of getting anxious and nervous and and I could see that he was, you know, uncomfortable, even though he was kind of trying to hide it and I could tell he was definitely afraid. On the morning of the third day, uh, I woke up and Ronaldo was gone and most of all of my gear was gone. He, he had left a, a note there. And the note said, uh, "Patawan hindi ko na kaya alam ng mga nalilang ng

• 30:02Speaker 05

  kagubutan kang bakit tayo nandito at galit na sila," which means, "Sorry, I can't take it anymore. The creatures of the forest know why we're here. They're angry. I've left you. Um, it's up to you now," which, uh, was a horrifying realization that this person that I had paid to, you know, take me and show me this place was gone and had taken my gear. Um, so without my guide and my supplies, uh, and no idea where the, uh,

• 30:43Speaker 05

  um, a mango was, I, I really didn't have any other choice but to abandon the hunt for it. Because obviously at that point I was, I was worried, you know, there's, um, there's rebels, there's Abu Sayyaf, you know, there's, there's a lot of dangers there and it is so uh, rural and, and everything. I was alone.

• 31:10Speaker 05

  Uh, I didn't have a, you know, I didn't have a guide. I didn't have my cell phone, um, no gear. Cause he had taken that. My cellphone I left back in the, in the hotel. Um, I knew I wouldn't have reception for it anyway. Um, which reception and things like that, that we take for granted in the U S is, it's non-existent in parts of the world and, and third world countries like that. So, yeah, my hunt for the Amangga would have to wait. A- a- and at that point I was just concerned about survival, right? But I, I am a survivalist, so

• 31:51Speaker 05

  I knew that if I followed a stream, you know, down downhill, down the mountain, that, you know, the stream would lead to a river. And a river would lead to larger bodies of water and water will lead to villages, right? And, and villages meant safety for me. So I just tried to get out. And then as night fell, I, I came upon a little village and, you know, lit by a few lamps here and there and a friendly man invited me into his shanty, which was kind of,

• 32:32Speaker 05

  it wasn't a, a nipahut, and I don't know if you know what that is, but that's, that's a little hut made out of like bamboo and, and straw. It wasn't a full nipahut, but it was like, um, you know, corrugated metal and, and rusted metal and bamboo. And I was obviously tired, um, so I accepted his hospitality. And went into his house there and, uh, his, his wife was in there and their, their gaunt child. And child was probably no older than 12. So the, the guy goes in the back and, um,

• 33:16Speaker 05

  you know, says he's gonna prepare dinner and, um, so he's out there doing that and, you know, the wife gave me a, a small glass of tuba, which is, uh, it's a local red wine that's made out of, uh, coconut.

• 33:37Speaker 05

  And so, you know, it it tasted bitter, it tasted a little strange, but I'm sitting there and I'm drinking this. And I'm, you know, kind of talking a little bit with them. They they were kind of shy and. Um, but I'm I'm trying to talk with them and, you know, I'm thanking them for letting me have some food and drink. And I started to feel strange, so my, I started to get extremely sleepy and my. Head in the room was kind of spinning and my vision was starting to get blurry and.

• 34:17Speaker 05

  At first I was just thinking, you know, I'm just really super exhausted, but then it kind of hit me that. They they put something in my drink. And I tried to stand up to kind of shake off the dizziness. And that's when the room kind of be begin to spin. And that's when I looked at the kid, like I said, probably twelve, super skinny. Uh, gaunt kid and and his his eyes were red. And they were they were glowing red. And um, he's staring at me.

• 34:59Speaker 05

  Man, it's it was so bizarre. He's staring at me like. Like, you know, like a lion and looks at something or, you know, like a predator looks at. At you. So he's like staring at me like he's, you know, hungry and. And his, I remember his lips curled back and his teeth were jagged and and I said, you know. What the hell's happening? And I was kind of struggling to stay upright and then I was like, I've I've got to leave, I've got to, you know, get the hell out of here. And I went for the door.

• 35:45Speaker 05

  The doorway, which just really had, you know, some cloth hanging down over it to cover it up. And that's when the kid, he growled and he lunged at me and jumped on my back. Um, like a wild animal and he was clawing and punching at my face and uh, just like a feral, you know, animal. And I, I grabbed him and again, you know, I'm six feet tall, two hundred and seventy pounds. I'm strong. I used to power lift. I I've

• 36:25Speaker 05

  I've studied, you know, Taekwondo and Shido Kondo, Full Contact Karate and Shinga Tai Jiu Jitsu and Judo. And I just grabbed him and just to, to throw him off of me because he's like clawing at my face and and everything. Um, and, and that's when he is, his teeth sank into my arm, deep into my forearm. When I had, when I tried to grab him and I think when he did that, it hurt so bad. I think it, it made the seriousness and everything of the situation like, you know, it made everything spike. And so

• 37:10Speaker 05

  I had that, that moment of clarity because of the pain and the pain was so intense and I uh, I, I threw him into the wall, you know, with all the strength I had. And he kind of thudded against the bamboo and, and um, was on the ground and my arm was throbbing. Uh, and you know, I had his teeth marks in my arm and there's blood running down um from my face and, and on my arm, down my um, hand. So I'm, I'm just trying to escape and

• 37:51Speaker 05

  The mother started screaming and she was also, you know, it was like a twisted guttural, filled with rage and desperation. She was saying, she said, "Tayyan, hurry. Our, our food is escaping. Don't let him get away." And her face, and so she's blocking the doorway out in my escape. And her, you know, her voice had transformed. It wasn't sweet anymore. It was like a, a growling, menacing, uh, half beast, half human voice. Um, her, her son had recovered at this point,

• 38:36Speaker 05

  and he's like scrambling towards me on all fours. And, um, the walls were, they seemed to like close in. I could feel like, you know, uh, I'm, I'm going to die here. Um, you know, I had that realization and I was extremely desperate, um, to escape. She was in my way and, and I, I just remember I kicked her as hard as I could, as hard as I could with everything inside me, right under her chin. And she drops to the floor and that was really all the time I needed to, to

• 39:19Speaker 05

  escape. And I had seen the husband come from the back, uh, outside where he was and he had a bowl of machete in his hand and his eyes were glowing red at, you know, two. And I, I realized, these, these are Ashwam. These are, this is, these are Ashwam. And again, it's like, you know, I couldn't believe, I couldn't believe what was happening and what had happened and I...

• 39:53Speaker 05

  I ran out the door and just I I just kept running until my, you know, legs gave out and my lungs were burning. And I could no longer hear them. And um. I was at a a small barangay hall, so. That's kind of how things are in the Philippines, right, especially in the the bukit or the boondocks areas of. You know, neighborhoods or a few houses, small villages, they'll typically have a barangay hall. And a barangay captain there and. They'll kind of handle internal disputes and everything, but but anyway, I.

• 40:34Speaker 05

  So I went to the barangay hall door and there was light on inside and I. Beat on the door. And a man probably. Probably in his sixties, mid sixties. Introduced himself as the barangay captain um. And let me inside. And um, you know, he had kind of a first aid kit there and he's. He's like trying to help me and and as best he could. And I I told him what happened and that's when he confirmed what I thought. He said. Ashwang, he said, you're very lucky, Joe.

• 41:19Speaker 05

  And, you know, I I'm an American, right? I'm a Caucasian guy. With a shaved head. I mean, it's it's fairly common, especially in the rural areas for people to call you Joe. As in G I Joe from the military. Um, but anyway, so he he he patched me up as best he could and he called his. A friend um who had a vehicle.

• 41:49Speaker 05

  You know, and I'm, I'm just kinda sitting there in shock. And he said again, he said, you're lucky. And he's shaking his head. And then he told me, you know, my friend will drive you back to your hotel.

• 42:06Speaker 05

  You need rest. And I just remember on the ride back. I was just trying to register. Everything that had happened and. You know, feeling grateful that I was alive. And then in my hotel. I was still in a shade of state of shock and my, my arm and my face and my body. Uh, was littered with bites and, and lacerations. And, uh, so I, you know, took photos. And some of those photos are in the book. But yeah.

• 42:44Wes Germer?

  As you were talking, I was like, man, did they put a hallucin in his drink? But it couldn't have been because it were off too quick. What, what do you think happened there?

• 42:54Speaker 05

  I think. Based on my research after the fact. There is a bitter gourd called Ampalaya. That you can brew down to a tea. And then I would think, or they could have used a local plant called Saangubat. Um, and then probably something like, uh, diphenhydramine hydrochloride, which we know commonly as Benadryl. Um, it was probably a combination of that mixed with the two, but because they don't have access to medical clinics and. Drugstores and, and things like that.

• 43:35Wes Germer?

  And like I was saying earlier, I've really researched this ashwong. Uh, creature in the Philippines and sometimes people describe it as a creature. Sometimes people describe it as like an evil spirit. I could never really get a clear answer on. Like I said, I feel like it's kind of a, an umbrella term.

• 43:57Speaker 05

  There are parts of the Philippines where they believe that Ashwangs will climb on top of roofs and stick their their tongue in through the window and to suck, you know, whatever blood or whatever from pregnant women to latch on to their stomach. There's some other local folklore about them being able to shape shift and turn into things like pigs and or other creatures. But my understanding is people there do know that these things exist and usually they if they live in a small village or they live in a

• 44:41Speaker 05

  Boondocks or Bukid, they will punish them and will, you know, attack them or beat them if if something happens. But I think I was and and, you know, it's all related to blood or or being, you know, carnivorous. But I think because I was a foreigner, I just think I had a extremely unlucky situation. Again, they didn't they didn't change in the animals in front of me, but they definitely, which is another part of the folklore, is that they're they're normal looking people during the day. But at night, they take on

• 45:23Speaker 05

  more of the Ashwang tendency. Some some people even say they have wings and but I I didn't see any of that. All I saw was the glowing red eyes, the teeth changed, obviously, the the ferocity and the way that they were, you know, attacking me. Yeah, so, yeah, some people equate them to vampires, although if you look deep into the folklore, they don't they're not immortal. They're not supposed to be, you know, immortal. But yeah, it always revolves around blood or or, you know, carnivorous, you know, or cannibalistic. I mean,

• 46:09Speaker 05

  Um, tendencies and you know, and I've been in the Philippines. I've been probably ten or 12 times. And, you know, I've had people say before to me, yeah, that's, that's where the ashwagam lives. And I've walked by and they just seem like normal, you know, Filipino people, but they, they say that at night is, is when they, they change and they get like this.

• 46:39Wes Germer?

  You know, when I hear the account, I think of, um, especially the glowing red eyes. In a lot of possession encounters, demonic possession, uh, this is reported where people will have glowing red eyes. And a guy your size trying to fight off an old woman, an old man and their gaunt son, uh, it would seem like it would be no problem, but it was. Do you think that they were possessed? Or do you think this is the ashwagam or it's kind of all the same thing?

• 47:11Speaker 05

  No, they absolutely could have been possessed. I just know that it, it wasn't normal. Yeah, they absolutely could have been possessed. And maybe that's what, you know, being an ashwagam is, maybe it's a, an evil or malevolent spirit that, you know, makes these people do that, or, you know, gives them those, those strange attributes and abilities. I really don't know, but I just recognized, you know, that that's, that that's what it was, um, that attacked me based on the folklore and everything I had read. But you're absolutely right. Could, could be just demonic possession or something

• 47:55Speaker 05

  like that. It could be. Now, why it was all three of them, why it was the, uh, the, you know, the laki baba and the, uh, batang laki or the, the husband, the wife and the, and the child, I, I don't know. Usually in possession instances, you don't see like that, you know, the entire family is like that.

• 48:24Speaker 05

  Right? Usually it's just one host. And you know, people ask me, people that don't understand the Philippines and don't understand culture there and how life is there and how remote. Um, and, and

• 48:40Speaker 05

  just, just how it is there. I mean, they will say, you know, well, why didn't you call the police or why didn't you go back and do that? Because I, I'm a foreigner. And these are local people and I'm going to make an accusation against locals and, and it's not even you, you can't even call the police there. They might have, you know, two or three police that are two or three towns over that, that are there and you know, half the police don't even have firearms. They can't afford it. They can't afford to outfit their police like that. It's, you know, I'm sure I would have been just laughed off and I, and I knew that. I, I was just grateful to be,

• 49:25Speaker 05

  to be back at the hotel and, and away from that.

• 49:29Wes Germer?

  And I understand why you didn't go to the cops. I mean, it's this Aswang thing or Ashwang is very much in their culture. And the cops probably would have thought, there's no way in hell I'm going down there. Uh, people are terrified of it. That's why the CIA used that as a psychological warfare weapon against them in the fifties. And I encourage people to go uh, research that the Ashwang and the, uh, the CIA. The book again is called The Bigfoot Paradox. Everything is a lie and everything is true. Available on Amazon. And I noticed in the book, you go into skeptical questions.

• 50:13Wes Germer?

  Like, why don't we have any, any bodies? Why can't we find a body of one of these things? And I know a lot of skeptical people ask that and it's a very fair question, very fair question. What's kind of your take on why we aren't finding bodies of them?

• 50:29Speaker 05

  So my theory and I've, and I've interviewed and, and a lot of these um, interview expert excerpts are in my book. Um, but I've kept their names private, but my take is,

• 50:44Speaker 05

  I think this thing is intelligent. I think it may be more than what we think it is.

• 50:54Speaker 05

  And I think one of three things probably, and I document it and put it in the book from

• 51:02Speaker 05

  a tribal elder, and he gave me the impression that they eat their dead. That it's seen as a waste of the meat and, and they need to eat because of their size, that they eat their dead. So I would, my theory, my speculation is that they either use caves and cave systems and they place their dead there, or they could bury their dead with some type of rituals, like we have funerals, they could, they could bury their dead, or that they probably eat their dead.

• 51:44Speaker 05

  And, and keep in mind, it is not uncommon even for human tribes to eat the dead. There's tribes in New Guinea, tribes in other places that, you know, don't necessarily eat their own dead, but they eat dead, or they, they would eat the dead of any rival tribes. This is well documented. Even chimpanzees, if we look just pure as primates, chimpanzees will oftentimes consume one of their small offspring. If the offspring, either by the scent

• 52:27Speaker 05

  or the development or something, is not seen as able to survive, the, the mother will eat its own offspring. So I, I don't think it's out of the question that they could eat and consume their dead.

• 52:44Wes Germer?

  Yeah, I've heard that theory before. I'm not sure if I'm on board with it, but that doesn't mean that I'm right by any means. What, what do you think that these creatures are?

• 52:56Speaker 05

  I think that there's something that, I think that they're probably

• 53:02Speaker 05

  An offshoot of our of the genetic tree or something that is not

• 53:11Speaker 05

  of the natural world, you know, it it's interesting too, if you look at statistics, how many sightings and things are around the same time as UFO sightings and UAP sightings? So I definitely explore in the book, you know, could these be scouts? Could they be,

• 53:36Speaker 05

  you know, from another civilization? Could they be, you know, protectors? There's there's theories about Bigfoot being transdimensional or interdimensional, which is, you know, one of the theories that I explore in the book because there's lots of instances and I've had those instances with tree peeking and then the, you know, as you approach the the creature, it disappears and and you can only see like a partial head and a shoulder peeking out from the tree. And the tree's too small to cover, you know, the the animal or the creature and it just kind of disappears into thin air.

• 54:22Speaker 05

  But but what I really think they are is probably offshoots of the genetic tree from from man and and primate. And and I struggle with that, Wes, because I'm I'm a Christian, so I don't put a whole lot of, you know, stock into at least macro evolution, but there's definitely something there. I mean, when you have a legend and and folklore that transcends, you know, hundreds and and thousands of years and multiple tribes and multiple locations around the world

• 55:01Speaker 05

  and covered through oral tradition and cave paintings and everything. I mean, there's there's something there. So I I don't really know what they are, but I would suspect.

• 55:13Speaker 05

  That, um, I don't know, some type of hybrid genetic fork from probably Neanderthal man. And yeah, who knows, but that's what I'm thinking. I think it is a, a very real creature and we will, we will learn about it someday.

• 55:37Wes Germer?

  Yeah, hopefully one day we'll all know. The book again is The Bigfoot Paradox. Everything is a lie and everything is true. Available on Amazon and I'll include a link underneath the show. I haven't gotten my copy yet, but it's on its way. But you know, just from talking to you, what I really like is you're willing to look at all aspects of this whole phenomenon with Sasquatch. It's not just gauged towards eight people or people who believe, you know, it feels like everyone could kind of read this book and I, I really can't wait to get my copy. And I really hope people out there go out and get their copy.

• 56:21Wes Germer?

  You know, thank you again, Justin, for coming on.

• 56:23Speaker 05

  Hey, thank you so much, Wes. Anytime. It's been my pleasure. And yeah, just if you want to buy a book that, uh, looks at all the known angles along with eyewitness accounts and, and research I've done, um, I recommend people pick it up. Thank you so much, Wes. I appreciate it.

• 56:47Wes Germer?

  Thanks again, Justin. And I'll include a link underneath this episode. And that's it for tonight, everyone. Remember, if you've had an encounter, shoot me an email. My email address is [email protected]. And if you get a chance, check out sasquatchchronicles.com. You can become a member and get additional shows. Until next time, everyone.

• 57:39Speaker 05

  Treading on broken glass, feeling the weight of doubt, looking for a white star.

• 57:53Speaker 05

  I'm fine.

• 58:00Speaker 05

  I'm a lion.

• 58:08Speaker 05

  In a peculiar state of mind, traveling back in time, I wanna be a white star.

• 58:23Speaker 05

  I don't care if I die, moving backwards, head and heart.

• 58:37Speaker 05

  I don't care if I die, moving backwards, head and heart.

• 58:51Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 58:58Speaker 05

  I'm lightning.

• 59:06Speaker 05

  Stood at the speed of sound, ready to leave the ground, looking like a white star.

• 59:21Speaker 05

  I don't care if I die, moving backwards, head and heart.

• 59:36Speaker 05

  I don't care if I die, moving backwards, head and heart.

• 1:00:35Speaker 05

  I got you guys, I got you guys, do everything upside down.

• 1:00:42Speaker 05

  Okay, like, like, like, like this, slowly, okay?

• 1:00:50Speaker 05

  I think I can see a little light there.

• 1:00:54Speaker 05

  I think it's there, it's right there.

• 1:01:17Speaker 05

  I don't care if I die. Move it backwards, head up high.

• 1:01:32Speaker 05

  I don't care if I die. Move it backwards, head up high.

• 1:01:47Speaker 05

  I don't care if I die. Move it backwards, head up high.

• 1:02:01Speaker 05

  I don't...