America Unearthed (2012–…): Season 4, Episode 7 - Bigfoot of the Bayou - full transcript

A huge apelike creature
allegedly

Walks upright
through the louisiana swamp.

It's only been seen
from far away, but tonight,

I plan to see it up close.

What the hell was that?

Okay.
I got to go check that out.

What the hell was that?

What is that noise?

What is that smell?

No, the hell?

The history that we were all
taught growing up is wrong.



My name is scott wolter,
and I'm a forensic geologist.

There's a hidden history
in this country

That nobody knows about.

There are pyramids here,
chambers, tombs, inscriptions.

They're all over this country.

We're going to investigate
these artifacts and sites,

And we're going to
get to the truth.

Sometimes history
isn't what we've been told.

AMERICA UNEARTHED - SEASON 4
EP - 7 - Bigfoot of the Bayou

Deep in the louisiana bayou,

A legendary creature
is said to lurk.

There's something out there.

There's something
big in the swamp.

It was an unidentified creature.



Kind of turns your world
upside down

When you see
something like that.

Many locals have seen it,

And I convinced
a few of them to talk.

There's even a new report
of an eyewitness

Catching the creature
on thermal video.

That's why I'm in louisiana,

To investigate the
honey island swamp monster.

It stood on two legs.

Large, dark,
almond-shaped eyes...

And it looked like
it was upright,

And it looked fairly tall.

It had a very profuse smell,
a musky odor, really bad.

What made you decide to tell me?

I know you're a scientist,
and you do research,

And if this helps you,
I want to help you.

If this creature really exists,

It picked the perfect place
to hide.

Honey island swamp, known as
the amazon of north america,

Spans 133 square miles.

That's over 100 times the size
of new york central park.

All over the world,

People tell stories
of giant apelike creatures

Hiding in the wilderness.

Sasquatch roams north america.

The yeti stalks
nepal's himalayan mountains,

And the yowie haunts
australia's outback.

A few years ago,
I investigated the theory

These legendary
creatures are real,

And they're all surviving
members of a species

Called gigantopithecus,

A giant primate
from the last ice age.

Scientists believe it went
extinct thousands of years ago,

But I think gigantopithecus may
have migrated from asia

To other parts of the world,
maybe here to the swamp.

A retired air traffic controller
named harlan ford

First spotted
the creature back in 1963.

He tracked it
until his death in 1980.

I'm headed to the swamp
village of slidell, louisiana,

To meet harlan's granddaughter,
dana holyfield.

Dana? - Hey, scott.

How are you?

I'm doing good.
I got by your guard goose there.

Yeah.
He's kind of a good watchdog.

What you got there?
Some mudbugs.

Are you hungry?

One of these? Yeah.

That's crawfish.

I hear they're delicious.

Well, I'm about to boil some.
You could find out.

Sounds good to me.

I'll gladly taste this
bayou specialty if it means

Learning more about the guy
who coined the name

Honey island swamp monster.

Tell me about your
grandfather's experience.

What did he tell you
about the monster?

He was on a hunting trip
with him and his friend,

Billy mills, and they came up
on this thing

That was on all fours.

They thought it was like a hog
at first, and billy was like,

"what is that thing?"
and when it heard their voice,

It stood up
and turned and faced them.

He said that when it stood up,

It stood up like a human
would on two feet.

Hmm. My grandfather stood 6'4",

And he said it was taller
than he was.

Was it muscular and robust?

Very, very broad shoulders,
had the long arms, long, dingy,

Grayish dusty-looking hair.

He said it was
pretty sinister looking.

It scared him, so he was getting
his gun out of his backpack,

And by the time they did that,
it turned and ran.

That was the first time in 1963

That he'd come
face-to-face with it.

There must have been people that
thought it was a hoax, right?

Some people still today think
it's a hoax,

But my grandfather
never let that bother him

Because he knew
what he had seen out there,

And he was determined
to try to find out

What exactly this thing was.

I know that he took a cast
of a footprint, right?

Correct.
Do you still have that cast?

I do.

I got
the 8-millimeter film, too.

Okay, well, dinner can wait.

Yep. Alright.

Okay, wow. Look at that.

You know, this looks
like a claw.

That's my first impression.

You know, it kind of looks
almost like an alligator foot.

It's got three
very pronounced toes.

It's got a fourth toe here, and
you can see bones in the foot.

Like knuckles. Yeah.

This foot looks different

Than some of the others
that I've seen.

You know, bigfoot actually looks
more like a human foot,

But here we are in the swamp.

Maybe this thing
evolved differently.

When you compare alleged bigfoot

And the honey island swamp
monster track side by side,

It seems clear that
if this is the same creature,

It has adapted
to this environment.

So how did your grandfather
find this?

Where did he find it?

Well, on another hunting trip
in 1974, they were duck hunting,

And there was a big wild boar
laying at the edge of the water,

And it had its throat
gashed out,

And he said blood
was all over the place,

And then they thought,

"well, maybe a gator
might have done that."

Wouldn't a gator carry it off
and eat it?

The gator would and drag
it down to its den

Probably if it wasn't ready
to eat it right then.

Right.
But then they saw these tracks.

So he got this at the site
where this boar was killed,

And it was slashed in the throat
but not eaten or carried away.

It wasn't carried away or eaten.

I find that really curious,
don't you?

Yeah, he thought it might have
been a territorial thing.

Right.

My grandfather always thought
it was sort of prehistoric,

Something that just was
living out in the swamp

Undiscovered by science
all these years,

And being out there,
something could go undiscovered

For a long time by man.

I actually really like
that theory

Because the working idea
I have right now

Is that this creature
and bigfoot, sasquatch,

Whatever you want to call it,

That's been seen
thousands of times

Could possibly be something
called gigantopithecus.

Gigantopithecus is basically
a large apelike creature

That lived back
in the pleistocene.

We have fossils of it.
It's documented.

We know that it lived, and we
just assume that it disappeared.

Now, that's been done
many times.

People have made assumptions
that creatures have disappeared,

But they found out later
that in fact, they didn't.

Every year, around 15,000
new species are discovered,

And some are rediscovered
like the coelacanth.

This 2-meter-long fish
was thought to have gone extinct

66 to 100 million years ago
until it was discovered alive

And well in 1938 off
the southern coast of africa.

But you have another piece
of evidence I'd love to see.

It's a video, right? Yep.

We have a 8-millimeter
movie reel

That my grandmother found in his
belongings after he passed away.

So this is it?

This is the film of
the honey island swamp monster?

Yep. Can we take a look?

Sure. Alright.

So this is the opening,

Where he obviously is
in a boat going upriver.

Right.

There's the tree blind
where he was sitting.

Okay, so normally he would
use that for hunting, right?

- Mm-hmm.
- Okay, but he was up there.

Oh, is this the creature here?

Oh, there it is. Look at there.

Can you stop it? Go back.

Can you stop it right between
those trees, right in there?

Okay. Alright. Look at this.

Do you see the head?

I mean, you can see
this creature.

It has a conical-shaped head,
a little rise at the top,

And the face is sticking out.

They actually call
that midface prognathism.

Apes have midface prognathism,
where the front of the face,

The nose
and the mouth stick out.

I see what looks like an ape
or a gorilla,

But it walks like a man,

And it could very well
be gigantopithecus.

This could be a survivor
of what was thought

To be an extinct species.

This is really compelling.

Well, this is incredible,

But this isn't going
to be enough to prove

That the swamp monster exists.

We need to find
irrefutable evidence.

So you going to go out there
and look for it?

I'm just getting started.

Harlan's film is
exciting, but it's 39 years old.

There's a much newer piece
of evidence I need to check out.

In fact, it's the main reason

I decided to start investigating
the honey island swamp monster.

The eyewitness thinks he caught
the monster on thermal video,

But did he?

That's pretty impressive.

Alright.

So I have to ask you,
do you use the drone

To look for
the honey island swamp monster?

The drone there is just
a tool in my arsenal

Amongst other things.

Well, it's obvious to me
that you take this investigation

Into the swamp monster
very seriously.

Yes, I do.

If a myth hangs around
long enough,

There's usually something to it.

So what you're trying to do
is take the honey island swamp

Monster and move it
from the mythological

Category into reality?

We share this planet
with a lot of things,

And some things are not known.

Not yet. Not yet.

Take the giant squid
first described

In the 4th century bce.

It took until now
in the 21st century

For the elusive sea creature
to finally be photographed.

There's little doubt now
the scandinavian sailors

Who feared what
they called the kraken,

A legendary
man-eating sea monster,

Actually saw a giant squid.

What if the honey island
swamp monster

And other bigfoot-type creatures
are just like the giant squid,

Real but elusive?

So I understand you have a video
that I would like to see,

A thermal image? Right.

I have a thermal image
that was taken last November,

What I believe could possibly
be the swamp monster.

Why don't we go in there
and take a look?

Sounds good to me. Alright.

Well, I can see you have spent
an awful lot of time

Doing research on bigfoot
and the swamp monster.

You've got quite
a collection here.

Well, thank you.

M.K. And I believe the swamp
monster is related

To other bigfoot-type creatures.

I think they're descendants
of a primate

That lived in asia
thousands of years ago.

Gigantopithecus was discovered
in 1935

When its molars were found
in a chinese pharmacy

Among fossilized bones
and teeth used to make medicine.

Even though scientists 3-d
printed a possible

Gigantopithecus in 2013,

No real skeleton
has ever been found...

Only teeth, jawbones,
and fossils.

One theory is
that giant porcupines,

Which chewed on bones
for calcium, ate up

All the gigantopithecus bones.

You have some pictures.
I'd like to see those pictures.

Yeah, right here.
Just let me get them.

Now get ready.

These are sort of graphic.

Oh, my god.

These pigs, what happened?

Ran into the swamp monster.

Oh, my god.

They're just eviscerated.

This is disgusting.

Could a bear have done this
or some other local creature?

I don't think so.

Bears tend to just make
a mess of things.

You know, they just consume
and break bones,

You know, crunch it up.

They would have eaten
something, right?

Yeah, this was done differently.

It was, like, you know,
pulled apart, you know,

With force like this
and the cavity exposed

And then the entrails
pulled out.

And how did you find the pigs?

I just walked up on them.

Well, you must have been shocked
when you saw them.

I was shocked.
I was very shocked.

That gave me the creeps,
sure enough.

I've never seen
anything like that.

This reminds me
of jack the ripper.

This is exactly what he did.

Well, it's jack the ripper,
but it's living in the swamps.

No wonder you were creeped.

But there was something
even creepier.

What's that?

I came back the next day,
and they were gone,

And in their place
was a skull of a pig.

Oh, my god.

That is creepy.

Do you think it was leaving
a message of something?

I don't know. I don't know.

What the hell?

So you're saying that when
you came back the next day,

Both of the boars were gone
and a skull left in their place,

But they're not of the pigs?

It's an older skull.
It's been long ago cleaned.

The mutilated wild pigs
m.K. Davis found

Are just like
the one harlan ford found

When he was hunting
the swamp monster,

But these bodies were replaced
with a single clean pig skull,

Almost like some
sort of message.

It could be the work of
the honey island swamp monster,

But why?

And, you know,
that's the scary part of it.

You don't know what motivated it
or why it did it.

I wanted to get out of there
when I saw this

Because I, you know,

I didn't want to be
the next victim.

You know,
what I'd really like, though,

Is to see those thermal images,
the video that you have.

Can we look at that? Sure.

I've got them on the computer.

Okay. Alright.

Okay. Let's take a look here.

Alright. Let me play it.

Thermal imaging opens up
a lot of things.

There it is off in the distance.

So is that the creature?
That's it.

M.K. Sees the honey island
swamp monster,

But I'm not sure
what I'm seeing.

Now, this is at night,
and that's not a light image.

That's a thermal image.

Now, that's a warm body.

You can't know for certain,
but I'm kind of inclined

To think
that we're looking at a primate.

Okay, here's kind of
an off-the-wall question...

How do you know
it wasn't another human?

Well, you know, to be honest
with you, I don't know that.

You know, it would be kind of
ridiculous for a human

To be across there,
but I was out there.

So what part of the body
is this?

This would be the front,
and this would be the rear,

The rear leg
coming down like this.

So it's crouched?

It's crouched down low
behind some brush actually.

Crouch, that's what
harlan ford said

He saw the monster do in 1963,
and many of the eyewitnesses

I spoke to said
they saw it do the same thing.

Primates often alternate
between standing on all fours

And walking on two feet.

M.K. Doesn't think the creature
in the video is a bear

Since it never moved,

And bears are normally shy
and try to avoid humans.

They run from perceived
threats or climb trees.

How did this whole video
take place?

Tell me about that night.

This last November,
November the 3rd,

I was with some friends,

And they have
a little hunting dog,

And we would have never known

It was there
if it hadn't been for the dog.

The dog is pulling against
the leash, and he's pointing,

And so I get out
the thermal gear,

And that's when we saw it. Okay.

The choctaws,
they call them shampe.

Shampe, what does shampe mean?

That's a monster, and the shampe

Is supposed to have
a terrible odor.

The choctaws, their origins say
that they came from lands

To the west and that shampe
came with them, followed them.

The legend of the choctaw
and shampe

Coming from lands to the west
could refer to ancient migration

Across the bering strait
land bridge.

Historians say early humans
crossed the exposed land bridge,

An easy route between asia
and north america.

My theory... if humans
could migrate on this path,

Why couldn't gigantopithecus?

Maybe this is how the precursor
of bigfoot

And the honey island swamp
monster

Came to our continent long ago.

This choctaw legend, you know,
that sounds like a perfect story

For me to go investigate next.

I believe legends hide
secret truths,

And I'm betting the story
of the shampe in swamps

All across the south
may be an important clue

In my quest
to find the swamp monster,

So I'm meeting
an old friend, tim hall.

Tim is an expert
in north american folklore,

And if anyone can help me unlock
this legend's secrets, it's him.

Well, tim, it's great
to see you again.

Great seeing you, scott.

Tell me a little bit about the
choctaw legend of the shampe.

Well, shampe is a monster.

Their legend goes that
he was a big hairy beast,

Stands about 7 foot tall.

He is very, very aggressive.

The shampe will go and leave
warnings for people

That come into his area,
so if you come into his area,

He'll go ahead and murder
and kill an animal,

Leave it as a warning
to you not to go any further.

This reminds me of the pictures
of eviscerated pigs m.K.

Showed me, and harlan ford
found the same thing,

But that's not the only
similarity between the stories.

Smells, oh, the smell that comes
from them is tremendous.

It is so much so
that the humans can't take it.

So, you know, I keep hearing
about this bad smell thing.

I mean, why do they smell bad?

What's that all about?

Shampe smells bad because
he sleeps with his victims.

It is the smell of rotting flesh
that makes him smell so bad.

Oh.

Well, that's pretty gross.

Based on this description
you've given me,

This sounds an awful lot like
the honey island swamp monster.

How far back do these
legends go?

About 10,000 years,

That's what the native americans
are telling us right now.

When you go back that far,

We're talking about
the pleistocene age.

This was a time
of giant megafauna

And huge mammals
like mammoths and mastodons.

Prevailing theory is, is that
they migrated over from asia

Across the bering strait
land bridge

10,000 to 15,000 years ago

When the glaciers
were at their maximum,

Ocean levels were lower,
and that bridge was exposed.

Humans also took this track,
so my thesis is,

Is that this creature
is actually

Gigantopithecus that came
from asia and is now down here,

And maybe what we're seeing here

Is the survivors of that species

That just disappeared
into the woods, into the swamps

And is now just reemerging
when it wants to,

But really, it is
a scientific species

That was long thought
to be extinct

But actually did survive,

And these legends
you're talking about

And all these sightings,
it could be connected.

They very well
could be connected.

The stories are oral stories.

They memorized them
and told the story again.

Story time is over.

It's time to meet
the monster face-to-face.

My plan... spend a night
in the swamp alone,

Armed with trail cameras
and bait.

Hopefully I can lure
the swamp monster

In to see it with my own eyes.

To tip the scales,

I'm enlisting
professional cryptozoologist

Ken gerhard to help me get ready
for a swamp monster stakeout.

Hey, ken. Good to see you, man.

Whew!

Thanks for joining me today.

Scott, it's a pleasure
to be here, man.

You know, today,
I'm here to try to collect

Some serious hard evidence.

I've seen videos.

I've talked
to firsthand witnesses.

All of that's great, but really,
if we're going to get

To the bottom of this
honey island swamp monster,

I need to document it,
record it myself.

Hopefully we'll draw this thing
out into the open

Where you can see it.

Be careful. Be alert.

Though it falls within
what we assume to be

The family
of bigfoot-type creatures,

The honey island swamp monster
is highly aggressive

Compared to other
bigfoot-type creatures

That I've investigated.

I mean, has this thing been
known to attack people?

There's no actual accounts
of it attacking people,

But for example, there are
some stories of people

Disappearing here in the swamp
without a trace.

Really? Yeah.

There was an old guy named
ted williams

Who had a lot of sightings
of the swamp monster

On his property,
and the guy vanished one day

While he was running
some trotlines.

So there is an aggressive nature
to this thing?

You're going to have to
stay frosty, buddy.

Frosty? You know, alert.

Oh, okay. You know...

Frosty, okay.

Just be aware
of your surroundings

Because if this thing is smart
and also very aggressive,

Then, you know, you're going
to have to be on your toes.

Okay, so you consider this
a dangerous animal, right?

But it's a beast.

It's an animal, and so we
have to approach it as such.

Well, if you take a look here,
we've got several little xs

I put on here where sightings,
people have said,

"this is where I saw
the swamp monster."

Each of these xs marks a spot

Where someone I interviewed
in recent weeks

Saw the swamp monster.

There have been a lot
of sightings from here.

Right here.

That's where we need to focus
our energy, right there.

I agree with you.
I think it's time to go.

After reviewing
eyewitness accounts,

Cryptozoologist ken gerhard
and I are on our way

To a remote stretch
of the honey island swamp

Where the monster
seems to be most active.

You got her? - Yeah.

- Alright. You ready?
- Let's do this.

Maybe I can finally prove
that the creature

The locals call
the honey island swamp monster

Is actually a descendant
of gigantopithecus,

A 10-foot-tall,
1,000-pound prehistoric ape

That I think might still
live among us,

But first, I need to turn
an abandoned hunting blind

Into the base for my stakeout.

Alright. Ken, this is good.

All right. What do you think?

This is a great spot, man.

It's not a high-priced hotel,

But I'm hoping that
it'll help me

At least see the swamp monster
from a good vantage point.

I think you've got
a sound strategy here.

Find a spot, and obviously
you want to stay

Hidden as much as possible.

That's the reason
why I like the idea

Of getting up in this blind.

Remember, harlan ford,

He had a blind that he was up
that he built himself.

He had a good vantage point.

He didn't have all
the low brush in the way,

And he really got
a reasonably good shot

With the film of the monster.

He had success.

Maybe I will, too.

Step one... we have to lure
the swamp monster in,

And that means bait.

Got it.

How about right there?

That's perfect. Okay.

We're looking for something
6 or 7 feet tall, right?

Alright.

So that's too high for anything
else in this area to access.

Do you think 25 pounds
of hog leg will do it?

Many people talked about,
you know, boars and pigs

Being associated
with the swamp monster.

There are many, many accounts
of this thing allegedly

Killing or stalking pigs,

So I think we've got
the perfect bait for that.

I'm not using a live pig
for bait

Because chaining it up
in a foot of water

Just doesn't seem right.

With the bait set, my next step
is to cover all directions

Of the approach
with trail cameras.

Reconyx, have you used
this before?

Oh, yeah.

You're talking a high-definition
passive infrared sensor,

High-definition video,
night vision, superfast trigger.

Once we finish putting up
these cameras,

I'll be on my own.

To maximize my chance
of success,

I'm sending ken
to a nearby site.

If he sees the monster
before I do, he'll let me know.

This is where we part.

I really appreciate
all your help, man.

Good luck, scott.

I really do hope you see
the swamp monster.

That would be awesome,

And, hey, you may
need this, just in case.

Nah.

I'm not here to kill it.

I just want to see it. Alright.

But definitely take
the flare gun, though.

Oh.

If things get hairy,
fire it off.

I'll be here as quick as I can.
Alright?

Knock it out.

Okay. Well, cameras are set.

The leg is up,
and I'm up here in the blind.

I've got a clear shot
of the pig leg.

I can see all the cameras.

Ready to go.

I wonder where that thing is.

Realizing that I'm trying
intentionally to have

The honey island swamp monster
come here and confront me is...

It's a little unnerving.

Nothing yet.

Where are you?

I can't forget
he's in the trees, as well,

According to some witnesses.

Pretty quiet out there.

I can see the leg
still hanging there.

Well, if the swamp man
doesn't eat it,

I'll cut it up
and make pork chops.

What was that?

What is that?

What is that noise?

Nothing.

Oh, man.

The sun will be
coming up anytime.

I guess we can't expect
a home run the first night.

Alright.

I'm going to go check
the trail cam.

Okay.

That one is on.

What the hell was that?

Must have been a...

What the hell?

What is that smell?

That's awful.

I fired a flare just before
dawn to let ken know to come join me.

He's probably wondering
if I spotted

The honey island swamp monster,

And I can't wait
to tell him what I found.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm okay.

What's up?
Don't worry. Don't worry.

I'm fine.
Well, you got here fast.

I just want you to know
I think I made

A pretty important discovery
that I want to show you,

But we're going to
need that water jug.

You want to grab it?

This one? That one right there.

Okay.

So you're probably wondering
why I brought you out here.

Let me tell you what happened.

I thought for sure
the swamp monster was here.

I mean, I couldn't believe it.

I came down here.

I was standing here,
and then I smelled the smell,

But I looked around and nothing.

All of a sudden,
it dawned on me.

It wasn't the swamp monster
that smelled.

It's the swamp.

I have a hunch
that a naturally occurring

And rancid-smelling gas

Might account for at least some
of the swamp monster encounters,

Including the one I thought
I was having last night.

Let me show you something.

Let's walk out here.

I have a method to my madness.

Now, what's happening here is,
you see all these plants?

Well, eventually they're
going to die, right?

They go to the bottom,
and they form a cap

Over the bottom of the muck,

And as they decompose,
they form gases...

Carbon dioxide,
hydrogen sulfide, and methane.

What I want you to do
is just reach over,

Put your right foot, step down
and squish it into the mud,

And I want you to see
if any bubbles come up.

Okay. Where do I step?

Just anywhere.
I'm getting stuck.

It is a swamp, scott, so...
Alright.

Okay. So keep going forward.

With each step, ken is forcing
tiny bubbles of gas

Up to the surface of the swamp,
and I'm capturing them.

So here's what I'm going to do.
I want you to light that.

Okay. Alright.

And then hold it on this end
when it comes up

And watch what happens.

Okay. Ready?

Whoa. Look at that.

Whoa, that's crazy.

Huh. That's swamp magic.

Here, let me put it down.

Whoa. There you go.

Water is displacing the gas.

It's forcing it up the tube,
and there you go.

Huh.

I thought I encountered
the swamp monster,

But all I encountered
was swamp gas.

That is your smell,
that horrible smell

That people think is coming
from the swamp monster.

It's coming from the swamp.

I think this foul-smelling
hydrogen sulfide gas

Is a plausible explanation
for some of the stories

Of the swamp monster
but not all of them.

There's something out there.

What he remembered
most was the eyes.

It was walking upright.

I don't know too many people

That can leap as far
as this thing leapt.

My swamp gas discovery might
resolve many

Of the honey island
swamp monster encounters,

But it doesn't explain
m.K.'s thermal video

Or the mutilated animals,

Much less harlan's
8-millimeter film.

You know, one thing
I've noticed in the course

Of my investigations is that
a lot of these cryptid cases,

They involve a lot
of different components.

Sometimes there are actual
sightings of an unknown animal,

But then you have people,
you know, misinterpretation.

Some people just
make up stories.

Well, absolutely, and, look,

Just because we've answered
one question in my mind

About what could be the smell

That some of these people
talked about

Doesn't mean that the
swamp monster doesn't exist.

We've got video.
We got footprints.

We've got eyewitness accounts,
and those are pretty compelling.

Absolutely.

It's time to go meet dana.

I still believe the swamp
monster might be out there,

But I'm curious to hear
what she thinks

Of my swamp gas theory
as an element of some accounts,

Though not necessarily
her grandfather's.

Well, hi. How are you?

Hi. How are you doing?

I'm good. I'm good.

The account of your grandfather
was really compelling to me,

So I thought the best way
that I could investigate

This was to replicate
what your grandfather did,

To actually set up a blind,

Go into the swamp
and spend the night, and...

That's cool.

It was cool,
but it was a little creepy.

Creepy. At one point, honestly,

I thought I had encountered
the swamp monster.

For a moment I thought,
"he's here. What do I do?"

But then I thought about it,
and I figured out what it was.

What?

It wasn't the swamp monster.

It was the swamp, swamp gas.

I've heard of it.
That's what I smelled.

I think that probably
some of those accounts,

Not all of them but some
of them, probably was swamp gas.

Let me ask you,
and I'm being serious now,

Do you really believe
the swamp monster exists?

Do you really believe
the swamp monster exists?

I do believe something
is out there.

I've spent too many years
researching myself

And then meeting so many people
that had similar encounters.

These stories
are all consistent,

The footprints,
the eyewitness accounts.

I think that swamp is big enough

To have something go undetected,

You know, for years,
and then every now

And then,
someone stumble upon it

Accidentally
like my grandfather.

Well, you're right.
That swamp is big,

So could it have
survived unnoticed

While in a swamp like this?

Maybe. Right.

Well, dana, if you're right,

And the swamp monster
really does exist,

Think about what that would do.

I mean, first off,
they would have to rewrite

Just about everything
that we think

We know about these creatures

That most people probably think
are just a myth or a legend,

So if this could be
definitively proven,

It would be a huge story.

Oh, I agree.

That's what I'm looking
forward to.

Okay.

Researchers around
the world are closer

Than ever to finding the truth
about creatures like this.

High in the himalayas
near mouth everest,

The indian army
recently discovered 32-inch-long

Footprints they believe
are tracks of the yeti.

Well, in honor of my
experience in the swamp,

I thought I would order us
some louisiana swamp gas chili.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Bon appétit.

Bon appétit to you. Thank you.

Mmm. Ooh, that's good.

It is good.

Doesn't smell
at all like swamp gas.

No. Smells good.

I wish I'd had a chance
to see what harlan ford saw,

To look in the eyes of
the honey island swamp monster.

Maybe next time
I'm down in bayou country.

For now, I need to be satisfied
by the reasonable explanation

I came up with for some aspects
of the monster encounters...

Swamp gas,
but I also need to be open

To the possibility
the honey island swamp monster

Is laying low, avoiding humans,

And remaining a mystery,
at least for now.

If we're lucky,
some day it might join

The ranks of the giant squid
and the komodo dragon,

Creatures of myth that turned
out to be the real thing.

If you have a mysterious
artifact or site I need to see,

I want to know about it.

Go to travelchannel. Com/
americaunearthed.