Whispers in the Woods: Exploring the Paranormal with Michael Walters

>> John: Hello, my spooky friends. This is your host, John, and welcome to another episode of Dairyland Frights, the paranormal podcast that covers everything spooky, creepy and mysterious in the Midwest. And the great spooky guests continue on the podcast the day I have Natasha from cryptids, creeps and conspiracy. Welcome, Natasha. >> Natasha: Hey, thanks for having me. I would also like to point out that I, too,

am actually in the Midwest. So this is perfect. I cover all your bases, and I'm in the right spot. Location, location, location, location. >> John: location. You are in what state again? Indiana. >> Natasha: Indiana, is that correct? yep, yep. Good old corn state. However, I'm also. I'm in the wrong state. Yeah. I'm literally, like, allergic to my life. It's a doozy. >> John: Boy, I tell you. You know, that is something that people don't understand with midwestern people. They

think, like, because we're flyover states, right? We're just like, whatever. Or we'll just fly right over. I ain't gonna go to Indiana. Whatever. But people don't understand. Some of the most spooky, creepy conspiracies, you name it, are here in the Midwest. It's like, no doubt. >> Natasha: Well, I don't know if I'd say most. So I've noticed just from my research and stuff. A lot of it happens more east coast, the Massachusetts, the Maine, the, >> John: Sure.

>> Natasha: Where the hell is West Virginia? Is that south, right? It's south and into the right. >> John: Yeah, yeah, okay. >> Natasha: Yeah, yeah. I'm really not good with geography. I almost failed that class. Yeah, I don't know. You know when they gave you the blank map and you had to put all the states in? I had, like, Indiana and, like, what was around us and then blank. And I was like, I have no idea. I was like, one of

them, the little baby ones. Rhode island or something. And I was like, I don't. I don't know. Yeah, I don't. It's rough, but I don't need to know. >> John: Yeah, right. Yeah, we have this. Now. >> Natasha: I'm kind of a hermit, so I don't need to know where I'm going. >> John: Well, there's nothing wrong with that either, right? Because, you know, especially now where it's, you know, not, Pai won. Poor Natasha is doing her best because it's really hot in the midwest right

now. Yeah, she's kind of like, like me struggling through it because the humidity is, like, nuts. >> Natasha: I kid you not. Day before yesterday, I got home from work and I pulled into, like, my little carport and I walked maybe 20, 30ft to my door. By the time I got out of my car into my house, I had a physical layer of moisture on me from what it was like walking through like a miss chamber or whatever. It like holiday world. I think it's holiday world that has.

>> John: And I know, I know our Florida listeners who, which I'm sure we have, Florida listeners, both of us are like, shut the hell up. Because in Florida humidity is like, you're dead. It's crazy. >> Natasha: You know, I just thought of something. They say a lot of older people live in Florida, right? You retire and you go south for the winter and then you stay there forever. I wonder if that's because old people are always so fucking cold. They're always bitching

about being cold. And then, down there they don't. Maybe that's it. Maybe it's like a throne stow away from hell itself. >> John: That could be. Could be. So, Natasha, tell me a little bit about yourself and your podcast so my spooky friends can find you. And hey, tell me a little bit, you know, what do you get, what do you cover and stuff? >> Natasha: I'm a bit strange and unusual both on the podcast and off. So we do. Well, I say we, I also say we, like there's me and my split

personality that does it myself. And whichever random guests I grip off the street or whatever, I just troll the Internet for speakers, which it works out because so far everybody's been like super cool. So I'm okay with that. >> John: Yeah, right. >> Natasha: I kind of do a little bit everything again. I tried to find a name where I didn't have to explain it a lot. Although somehow cryptids, creeps and conspiracy still

makes people ask. I don't know, I was like, I don't know what's going on, how thick they are. But the only thing is, is the creeps part is a little bit, I did that on purpose. Creeps is I could do anYthing. So right now it's primarily I do, paranormal

investigations at places I try to save up and go once or twice a year to actually investigate. And I'll find the place, I'll research the history behind the place and the land, ANY accidents or deaths that happened on the premises. And then I go into what you can find online as far as things, people have seen, heard, or just experienced in general.

And then if it's a place that I've been to, I'll put some, if I get any evidence in my investigation, I'll put that in and I'll talk about things that happened to me while I was there. So I like to try to get, even if I've not been there, I'll sometimes try to find people who have been here or there, whatever, so that way they could kind of add to it, because I feel like it adds little veracity, just. You know? Cause if you

just read the Internet, I mean, come on, you might as well just surf Reddit. And, like, if that's the case, then no one knows. Anybody could put anything out there. And I like to have people that have first hand experiences, so we do those, cryptids. We have a little bit of a little thing there, too. They're my favorite. No offense to the other guys, but cryptids are my babies. I love them, and

I have so much fun. We, I mean, either I'll go in and we'll cover what it is, where it is, what does it look like, what does it do, any kind of description we can find, and basically try to just get and break it apart so that we can then analyze it. And if somebody has an experience with it, we'll talk about that. I do some interviews with, people that have seen, Dogman and Bigfoot. So they're

on here. I got a couple of those, some of them we just talk about the cryptid, and then at the end, it's kind of, what do you think? Is it bullshit? Is it real? Could it be possible? What are the options? And then for my conspiracies, I don't do, it's not like I'm going to have a whole episode on Illuminati or any,

anything like that. I don't want to do that because I feel like if the conspiracy is big enough for people to have heard about it, that means that everyone knows about it, or a large portion of people know about it. And I don't want to be, like, beating a dead horse, that even though you could tell different things, I don't want people to come in and be like, and see, oh, we're talking about this Saturday. The other,

like, Kennedy. We're talking about Kennedy. Oh, it's the same story over and over and over. And I don't like to do that. So what I like to do is mainly they come in on some cryptids and a lot of Bigfoot conversations. We have them, and I also, do I interview, like, authors and ufologists, people with, abduction scenarios and stuff like that. And then I like to kind of, you know, sprinkle on the conspiracy, right? So if we talk about Bigfoot, then we

don't just talk about Bigfoot. Then I'm like, oh, perfect opportunity. Do you think that they're an animal? Do you think that they're alien? Do you think that they're interdimensional? So I try to, and I like to play devil's advocate, even if I, even if I know I'm talking out my ass like Jim Carrey style, I wholeheartedly sometimes come up with these crazy ideas or theories that no one else has thought of, just because I'm like, well, why not? Right? If we don't have any

proof that it is, we don't have any proof that it isn't. So it could be anything. And what about. And, my brain works mysterious ways, so sometimes triggering it like that. I come up with a lot more ideas and stuff as I talk to people instead of just me thinking about it, because

it'll be something they mention or something like that. that triggers it. And I like to interview different people that have no relation at all to hear, what are the similarities? What are the differences? Is your location different? Is the creature different? How so? All of that kind of stuff. And then the one that people really like for me is I'm, again, a bit odd. I don't like to put a label on it because it makes me feel a little weird. sure.

But I have a ton, and I mean, like, ton of paranormal experiences that I have myself, and they happen all the time, and they have since I can remember. So to me, it's normal. But some people are like, oh, my gosh, that's so creepy. I'm like, oh, no, it happens all the time. It's fine. This is another Tuesday. You know, whatever. I have a lot of those, and I've had. I'm very good at people. Can't get away with anything with me. I know when you're lying. I know why you're lying,

and I know how you're lying. so don't lie, huh? Usually. >> John: All right. >> Natasha: There's sometimes where we'll play games with people. I used to be, like, the party favorite. I would go to a party, or we'd be doing something, and we would play games where I could guess a person. Like, we could pull a person out of, like, my phone book. Well, you know,

contactless. Sorry, millennials. And I could be like, here, I'm gonna give you the phone, and I'm gonna tell you to ask them questions, and then I am going to tell you what they're going to tell you before they answer. And I have no idea who these people are or whatever. It's just that I have to at least know who they are to connect with them. So it could be, you know, ask a, think of an animal, any animal, and I'll be sitting there.

And one time these people like, were freaking. They were high. I was sober because I can't do this crap whenever I'm drunk or anything. But they were pretty high. And I was like, that's an animal. And they're like, what's that? I was like, it's an elephant. And they're like, what? I'm like, trust me. And then the phone went off and it just said elephant. And I said, now? Yes. It asked me to think of a color. And they're like, okay. And I'm like, purple. He's like, what? And I'm like

purple. And then he's like, okay. And then phone goes off, it's purple. And it was like, if we did this for like ten minutes, that's awesome. And I have no idea. And it's just things that some people. I don't know what it is. I'm just super connected. Creepy thing is, I sometimes have dreams that actually happen. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're not so good. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: And so it's always kind of weird. So, I'm on

baby number twelve. Not me personally, but I am on calling where I call, and I'm like, hey, I had a dream about you last night. Congratulations, you're pregnant. And it's a, boy or whatever, and they don't even know they're pregnant. So now people are afraid when I actually call them, because I don't really call anybody. So if I call them, they're like, oh my God, please tell me to have a dream. No, you're good. but. And I've been right so far. I've been right twelve in a row.

>> John: Whoa. >> Natasha: But I've also been able to tell people. Well, I don't tell them. Correction, I don't tell them because I always feel I'm not confident enough. Even though this has happened to me seven or eight times now, I'm not confident enough to break this kind of news. but I'll have a dream where someone dies. And usually they don't make it any more than 48 hours. >> Natasha: And usually how I think they're dying is how they die.

So it's a little creepy. I don't really know. Because what if you're wrong? Right? What if I'm wrong. I don't want to go out and be like, hey, you're going

to like get hit by a bus in two days. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: So I just, I, low key, I'll tell my husband, but that's about it. >> John: Yeah, that's, yeah, that's probably a good idea. That, that's really interesting, to me, Natasha, because one of the things I just had a medium on and she, was in your realm, you know what you're talking about.

And she never told anybody, though. And she something where when she was, now, this is crazy to me, and I already talked about this on another episode, but she said when she was a, high schooler, well, a teenager, she knew she had a gap. Like she knew because she would go into high school and it would be like people talking to her. Like, she would be like, yeah, that person having issues. Oh, this person's gonna have this. And she said it was like, oh my

God, you know, just coming at her. and then eventually she just got sick of like hiding it. So she just came out and told her parents, I'm, I feel I'm gifted. I have all this stuff. And now she is, using her gifts and she's like studied for them and made sure she, you know, everything professional. So she's not one of those ladies. >> Natasha: Learn how to better, have control. Because like, I don't control them, I don't ask

for them. It just happens when it happens. And I wonder, I'm like, I could do so much good for people if I could learn how to use what's happening to me. But I was raised in a very religious house. >> Natasha: So when I tried to explain that something was wrong with me, even though my mom knew that there's also in my family, tree, there's some witches down the line. >> John: Oh, nice, nice.

>> Natasha: And they're aware of it, but it's like, you know, I was spawn of Satan because I could do these things and I was like, well, it's not like I was like, here, let me cut a chicken and let me tell the future. I'm like, no, yeah, right. And this shit just happened. I'm like, or you, and I totally get it. You walk in a room and you, you can feel hate crowds and you can feel everything if, someone's having a bad day. I even had, a friend of mine one day. So I'm always hot, just

so you know. I'm always like 200 degrees all the time. Doesn't matter. And, one day I was freezing my ass off. I don't know what happened. I just was, I was good. And then all of a sudden, I mean, I was shivering. I went and got fuzzy onesie jammies on, you know, I looked like a little toddler watching my cartoon network loser, and I'm all fuzzed up. I got a blanket, socks, I mean, and I was so cold. I was like, what the fuck is happening? And I know that there's a person that I'm very

connected to. I still don't understand why or how or anything, but I know that we're very connected. It's like we must have known each other in another time in the past. Like, sure, yeah, I sent a message and I was like, hey, how's it going? Just trying to be like a little curious to be like something going on. And they go, it was like 2 hours later, and then I finally started to warm up a little bit. I was like, oh, thank God. And then my phone goes off and I look and they're

like, yeah, it was a little bit of a rough morning. I was working in the freezers all morning. >> John: Whoa. >> Natasha: I was like, you son of a bitch, like, you're a dick, but stuff like that, or I'll be like super angry. Like one time I was super angry and I sent a message. I was like, hey, is everything okay? Because I was like, something feels

off. Like, I just am super angry. And apparently as soon as I sent a message, they were walking and their dog had like pushed something in the floor and they'd snapdez stepped on it. And like, as the phone beeped, they were actually cussing and pulling the thing out of their foot. And I was like, I was like, can we, like, how do you sever it? Like, I don't know how to like, cut the cord, man. >> John: But it's so crazy. >> Natasha: And you can just know, like, are you

okay? What's going on? Like, you're different. Something's off. It's just, you could just feel it. >> John: Mm Mm Speaking of crazy and demons, how's that for a segue? >> Natasha: Oh, I totally left out my part two. I was like, oh, I never even talked about any of my stuff. Oh, sorry, we'll send it again. >> John: One of the things, Natasha and I were talking offline and she was saying, hey, John, if I

have issues or something's going on, I have this really dick spirit here, you know, that's kind of messing with me and stuff. >> Natasha: I'm pretty sure it's a straight demon. Well, you had asked me there was a particular paranormal event, and, far the one that kind of creeps everybody out, which I think is kind of funny, because now I'm. I mean, it's just. It's really weird. It should have scared the holy crap out of me, right? Should have, yeah. And it was my very first

encounter. So when I was probably as I was a kid, apparently I would talk to people that weren't there. Well, or well, I thought they were there, but other people didn't think they were there. They just assumed that I had imaginary friends or whatever. I could know. I always knew when something bad was gonna happen. I always knew all of that, but I didn't actually acknowledge and know that I was encountering something, not here until I was, like, 15. I just got my driving permit, you

know. Of course, I took driver's ed. I did the whole thing, you know, put a lot of time in. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: And for whatever reason, I don't know what the hell my mom was doing, but she needed sugar. Now, I'm going to give you a little diagram here to kind of explain this. So, on the land I grew up on, there was a house. In the very back, we had a pond. And on the backside of the pond, there was a house. It was my. My great great grandparents built it, like,

forever ago, and then it got so run down. Then it was condemned, and blah, blah, blah, blah. And my aunt. My uncle lived in a house that was on the other side of the pond. Well, everybody died. My aunt and uncle were here, and so they tore the old house down, which I remember being in it. And that's a whole nother story, actually, now that I think about it, that kind of probably makes a little more sense. But anyway, they tore the house down,

and they built a really nice house back there. And then we moved into their old house. So you have a, like a, not really a circle driveway. It's like you have the main road. There's two driveways. One goes straight into my house, one goes straight back to her house. But the drive actually kind of breaks off. So it's like an oval where we're at, but. So it's kind of like an oval with a stick at the end. Like a lowercase d, I guess. Okay. >> John: Okay.

>> Natasha: So my aunt and uncle are here. My mom needs sugar. She's like, here, can you go get sugar? And I was just excited because I had my learner's permit, so I was like, oh, can I drive the van? I could have walked. I could have walked. Granted, black outside but whatever. And my mom's like, yeah, here, take the van. I was like, okay, awesome. You know, I'm thinking I'm hot shit driving the van. And, yeah, I get in, I close the door, you know, and I was

just going up there. I didn't even have to put my seatbelt on. I was checking my mirrors. You know, everything that I learned to drivers, I would just. Stupid. I didn't need to, but I did anyway. And, you know, I'm looking, and I put my hands attention to, and I'm like, okay, all right, we're good. And I leaned forward to turn the key over. And the moment I went to turn the key over, it was like every single hair on my body just stood up. I mean, it was like, cold

chills. Everything was stood up. And immediately I was like, somebody is sitting next. Like, I could just feel something over next to me. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: And I was kind of, like, just kind of looking out the windshield. I'm like, okay. I was kind of scared. And it was in the passenger seat, and I was like, okay. And out of the corner of my eye, which normally, you know, you see something out of the corner of your eye, and you look, and it goes. Right. Normally, most people

have that. It, happens to them all the time. So I was just thinking, I'm gonna look, and it's just gonna be gone. It's whatever, but I need to at least look, because it's creeping me out that it's sitting right here. And I can just feel it staring at me like daggers. And I really slowly just kind of turn towards my passenger seat, and it never moved. It sat there just m dead eye watching me. >> John: Wow. >> Natasha: And it was. It literally looked like he was sitting in the seat.

It was kind of like a, Like a. Like a domi on the top, like, okay. Have you ever seen spirited away? There's a character called no face. Okay. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: So if you take no face, but take his mask off. That was sitting in my passenger seat. And the weirdest part was, it was, like, leaning kind of, like, towards the dash and, like, turn towards me. Like it was waiting for me to look

like the whole time, it was just, like, waiting. And it had its arm up on the dashboard, and it had these huge, long, sharp fingers that were just resting on the dashboard, which were so kind of. If you think the grinch, Jim Carrey. okay. If you make them not fuzzy and they're just sharp and jet black, those. >> John: Are what it looks like. >> Natasha: Yeah. And it was just had one on the thing. And

we were just having a stare down. Like it was all black except two big sockets where I guess, eyes could have been. But it didn't have any facial structure, really. It was just these two darker spheres. And the only way I could describe it is almost like it was darker, like, blacker than black. Like, instead of it just being black, it was void of all color. Like, it was

sucking stuff in, like, a black hole is what it felt like. And so I'm just staring at it, not knowing what the hell's happening. And I was looking, and, like, I blinked a couple times, thinking it would just go away. When I opened my eyes, and it didn't. It was just staring at me. And after a couple minutes, I could almost. It felt like it was pulling something, like, out of

my chest. I mean, I couldn't see see it, but it just felt like something was literally grabbed a hold of something way inside me and just pulling it in, just taking it from me and sucking it out. And I don't know what. Or. I don't know. It was just. It never said anything. And the weird part was, is I didn't really feel scared. I was more like, really? What? What's it like? Confused. I didn't feel scared at all. I was just like, well, this, like. Is this happening? Like, what.

What's going. Because I was fully awake. It's not like I was asleep and had sleep for us. No, I was awake. I was driving a drive damn car. And. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: I closed my eyes, and I grabbed the steering wheel really tight. I was like, you have to leave. You have to leave. I was like, you can't be here. Get the fuck away from me. Like, I'm just, like, talking, like, go away, go away, go away. And I, like, you know, kind of squeaked one eye open and looked, and it

was gone. And I was like, okay, cool. So then I just put off down to my aunt's house, and I get the sugar. And when I was coming back, I was coming down that straight away. Oh, gets better. Yeah. So I was coming down the straightaway, and right before it turned to go towards my house, that straight one goes all the way through. And right where the road meets the drive, there's like a. I want to call it a streetlight, but it's not a real country bumpkin streetlight. I'm talking wooden pole.

>> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: And it had. It looked like what was, like a trap. Like a metal trash can lid is what looks like. And then add this ball. that was weird, right? Yeah. So I'm getting ready to turn, and this thing. Oh, my God, so gross. It comes out from under my van and, like, it's crawling on its belly, but not just crawling on its belly. I'm talking when it's crawling. Its arms, its elbows are up in the air. Its knees are up in the air like a

cricket. And it's scurrying like it's doing this weird, kind of like the ring where it's kind of like a glitchy movement. >> John: Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Natasha: And it just like. It, like shimmies like a lizard that's, like, glitching in and out. And it goes all the way down, like, super fast. It shoots up the light pole. When it gets to the top of the light pole, the light bulb explodes and the light goes out. And I was just like, am I hallucinating? What's going on?

>> John: Yeah, yeah. >> Natasha: I was like. I tried to shrug it off, thinking I was just losing my mind. And the next day they had to send a road crew out to replace the light. It was toast. And that was it. That was it. It was done and it disappeared until about eight months ago. It came back and saw me again in, like, physical form. I didn't see all of it. I was in bed. And, I always sleep on my side because, well,

I'm sure your listeners know there's some people out there. If you're like me, we don't lay on our back. we don't lay on our back because, you know, we might suffocate. So we always lay on our sides. And I, woke up in my room and I was laying on my back, which was kind of weird because I don't ever do that. And I remember looking at my phone, like, I turned my head and tapped my phone and it was 330 in the morning, which is usually when all the weird stuff happens. And I

was looking around and everything was black. We have blackout curtains. We've got. Everything's super dark in there, so it should be pitch black. But it wasn't. There was a weird, almost like a very dim, maybe like an aqua blue, maybe kind of hue. Just enough where you could kind of see the outline of, like, the dresser and the door and so you could kind of see where things were, but not super clear. It was just like shadows because it was so dark in there. And then I'm just laying there

and I was just like, huh? And then I was thinking to myself, am I awake? Because I wake up all the time at 03:00 it's just between 230 and 330, I'm up. I don't know why. >> John: It just. >> Natasha: It always happens, like, every night. I'm like, am I awake right now? Am I sleeping? And about that time, that same hand and that arm came from, like, beside me, like, in towards me, and. No, but this is what's so weird. I looked right at it, and I never felt scared, I never felt

threatened. I never. It was literally almost like when you run into somebody that you saw in high school and you're like, wow, been a long time. Nice to see you again. Like, I recognized it, and I never, like, I didn't even try to move. I just kind of laid there and just watched it, and it came just straight towards me. And it. I had a t shirt on, it was kind of rolled up, and it took just its pointer finger, and it just ran it down my arm, like, towards my, like, down my bicep and just one

finger. And it felt almost like if you were to take, like, a steak knife and just the tip, run it down your arm, and it just did it three times almost. It was like, I kind of felt like this thing was like, hi, again. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm going to show you. If I wanted to, I could, but I'm not going to. And then, poof. It pulled the arm back, and everything went back to normal. And I was just like, well, that's weird.

But that next day, when I got up, everything, if I touched anything electric, it died. Every computer at work I touched froze everything I had, my battery on, my phone was just going to shit super fast. Everything was just being weird. I couldn't touch anything that was electrical that day. And then it was just. >> John: Okay, right. Whoa, whoa, whoa. And whoa. Okay. If I had a flag, I'd throw it up in the air, or I'm gonna call it time out. I'm calling a timeout and calling a time out.

Okay. >> Natasha: So, yeah, it's a lot, and that's just the one thing. >> John: When you were, younger, did you. I had a little bit of this problem with my daughter. Okay. just. Just really quickly, not to take away from your story, but just really quickly. When my daughter was going through, when she's a teenager, she was going through, she was getting bullied, and, people are treating her like shit. And I would, you know, piss his dad off. You know, I'm about to

knock some heads. Right. Maybe not the best way to do it, but. Right, okay. >> Natasha: Oh, I just punched the biggest one, and knocked him out, and then I was fine. >> John: Yeah. Okay, there you go. so getting back to the story here, so one of the things that I noticed was, there would be weird things around the house. And one thing, I talked to a paranormal investigator, mediums and. Right. So what she explained to.

But what he explained to me was teenagers tend to with their angst, with their, you know, their emotions, everything like that. Tend to collect. Spirits tend to collect also evil spirits. So two things happened to me not taking away from your story. One, when I was sitting downstairs in my man cave, I had a woman's voice right next to my ear, go, John. >> Natasha: Oh, my God.

>> John: And then I was sleeping on my. Yeah, so when I was sleeping on my futon, I don't know if you ever do this to your

husband, let's say your husband's taking a nap on the couch, and you come over and, like, drag your fingers on his back and kind of wake him up. Even a little playful. Right? So, ah. Like, yeah, so what I felt, Natasha, was exactly what you felt. These long, like, long fingernails, by the way, my wife doesn't have long fingernails. She hates them. Whatever, it doesn't matter. So anyway, I felt scraping along my back, and I felt like, that's not my wife. There's something fucking scary behind me.

>> Natasha: Like a saw. >> John: Yes. It was hard. It was like, oh, mine was like. >> Natasha: Super, I mean, it was super light. It was just like if you were to barely touch it. >> John: Yeah, okay. Anyway, so then when I turned around, it was gone. Now here's the thing, and maybe you can tell me, this too. Once my daughter started, she went to

therapy, thank God. And she got the help. And we talked to the people at the school and said, leave her alone, and we're going to see the shit out of you. >> Natasha: Yeah. >> John: You know, one of those things where everybody's like, okay, back off. These guys are serious. And then my daughter really, now she's into her own and she does fine.

So let me ask you this. My first question was, at that time, were you experiencing any, like, you break up with a boyfriend, you were having issues, anything like that? Family things with mom and dad? Well, I'm getting into it if you don't want to. >> Natasha: I'm bipolar. And at the time, we tried to get me help because things were just getting out of hand and they misdiagnosed me and almost killed me.

>> John: Oh, my God. >> Natasha: Yeah, it was, it was, it was not good at all. And it was actually before, really, and I mean, nothing, I mean, it's my mom, my stepdad, we, you know, I did sports, I did school. It really wasn't anything. Nothing really drastic happened till I was 16. So it's like, the next year. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: What if it was like my own personal Mothman?

They were definitely black. and this is something that. But these things in general have happened. I mean, weird stuff happened before, like, since I was a kid, like a little kid. I mean, they've never really stopped. So I don't know if it had anything to do with it. I mean, even after I got medicated and stuff, I got mentally, I got better, but none of the weird stuff, stopped happening. >> John: Yeah. So this is common

to people like yourself, who are extremely sensitive. I actually want to do an episode on it where some people talk about they have demons. >> Natasha: Yeah. >> John: Literal demons attached to them who are not hurting them, are just basically saying, I'm here, and I'm gonna fuck with you, and there's not much you can do about it. Right. >> Natasha: I think the whole purpose of this thing was it didn't want me scared. It didn't want me frightened. It wasn't one of those.

It wanted me calm. So that way I didn't do anything to get rid of it. I think it was siphoning something from me. I don't know if it's because I'm sensitive, because I do have this. It's so weird. If I were to put my hands up against yours but not touch you, it feels like, almost like an electric current. Even though I'm not touching you, you can feel it other like, everybody else can feel it. I can. I can

do. I can do it on demand. And I almost wonder if whatever that energy is, is what it was trying to take from me. And maybe it just comes around every ten years for a recharge. I don't know. >> John: Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Natasha: Ah, but, I mean, never hurt me. >> John: Yeah. So there's this famous picture. Whether it's fake or

not, it's still a pretty cool picture. There was this guy, and he was at his wedding, and in the back you can see a, for lack of a better word, like a demon's head, like in the picture right behind him. And the guy claims he's always dealt with this and he told his wife, but, it's a. It's one of those pictures. You look at Natasha and you go, like, I could Photoshop that right now.

>> Natasha: Yeah. >> John: However, when the guy tells about his story, he says this demon has been following him forever and screwing with his life. And then when he started turning his life. And he met someone. He got married, they took a picture, and like I said, right over his shoulder is, for lack of a better word, like a dog demon. Just sitting there grinning and looking fierce. And I'm like, interesting.

>> Natasha: Actually, ironically, it happened when I was 15, and then it happened again about almost 15 years later. So it's on a schedule ish. But, what if it. What if it's a generational demon? And maybe that's why. Maybe it attaches it to a person out of the group and it just attaches. And it is what it is. >> John: Yeah. Right. And that my. Again, my last episode with, the medium and stuff, where she walked into,

this. They do house calls, and she walked into the house, and she immediately knew a demon was attached to the father. She's like, I don't want to worry you, but I gotta tell you, there's a demon attached to you. And he

was like, I know. And he was. They were like, I don't know which. >> Natasha: Would be more shocking, the fact that they're not surprised, that they're like, I know. >> John: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he. And, he's. This demon has literally made his and his family's life shit for years. And you say, like, well, why don't you move? It's never that easy. Why don't you? >> Natasha: It doesn't matter to me. I tell people, like, it's not the house, it's me.

>> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: No matter where I go, this thing follows me. I, it's like I have a whole poltergeist posse back here. And they just are like, instead of it being like, moana m Moana. >> John: It's like, natasha poltergeist. Poltergeist posse. My new band name, we're gonna keep. >> Natasha: I was like, it's just. It's a. Just weird. Or like the ghost gang or whatever you want to call it. And because I tell people, like, it's

not. It's nothing. That, is really, like I said, if I. If I move, I mean, this stuff happens to me all the time. It doesn't just happen in my house. It happens at work, it happens at the grocery store. It does not matter where I am. It happens. M although I did have fun saving from getting fired one day, so that was kind of nice. >> John: Okay. What did you do, beat up the boss?

>> Natasha: I don't know. I don't know who it was. So I was, burned the candle both ends, and I was exhausted, and I didn't know we were doing some of my medicine, so I just couldn't wake up. And so I was sitting at my desk, and I had dozed off sitting at my desk, and I heard someone whisper, and they were like, natasha. And so I jerked, and I look around, and there's no one around me. And I was like, hello. And then I kind of, like, dozed off again, and they're like, get up. And I

jerked, and right. Whenever I jerk, I look over and down this long hallway. My boss came around the corner. So this thing was like, wake up, wake up, wake up. Someone's coming. Yeah. So sometimes they're nice. Sometimes they're just kind of a pain. >> John: Okay, helpful, helpful. Definitely get it. So awesome and frightening at the same time. So, like, it's scary and frightening. Awesome. >> Natasha: Paranormal activity can't get much worse

than that, right? So I was ready for everything. I was like, let's do it. >> John: You know, I love this. Natasha, I don't know about you, but I love talking to people like you. If I wouldn't do this podcast, I would never meet great people like you having these stories. I mean, I just think that's. >> Natasha: I love it, too. And it's so weird, because I know that I'm weird. And until I started doing my podcast, it was. The best way I could describe it is I was always the

black sheep. Always. My whole life, I've always been. >> John: Cindy said, yeah. >> Natasha: And it's. It's always so weird. But whenever I started doing my podcast, I went to, cryptid con last year, and when I went down there, not knowing what to expect and being weird, and I was like, man. And, you know, again, I'm in a crowd of people, and normally that makes me very uncomfortable, because I know, like,

I could feel everything. But I walked in there, and it was like, instead of being a black sheep in the herd, I walked in, and I was in an entire herd of black sheep. It was amazing. Everybody was so nice. Even though they never met me before, they were super helpful. These two girls helped me in my hotel room because I was drunk off my ass the first night, and I just met him at the bar. But they were nice enough to give me my room, so, you know, touche. And

now I follow them instagram, so. Hi, ladies. You know who you are. That's awesome. And I never for a second felt out of place or anything. It's just knowing that there's people out there like you is very comforting. >> John: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's a good thing, too, for people to know that you're not alone, because that's hard for people like us who are weird. And you're like, how do I fit in? I played. I was the

weirdest nerd in high school. Just really quickly. I played football and baseball, but I played d and d. I listened to heavy metal. I got into a lot of trouble, you know? You know what I'm saying? Like, it was like, this weird collage of, like. And now I'm still weird. Like, I'll tell jokes, and people stare at me like. Like, they'll look at me like, this is morbid. >> Natasha: Like, I don't know. Like, why are you laughing, you

freak? Yeah, I get that all the time, too. I make jokes like that all the time. And people are always like, I don't think I should morally laugh at that. I was like, oh, come on, it's funny. Like, I was like, I'm not gonna do anything. It's hilarious. >> John: Yeah. Like, yeah, like, lighten up. Lighten up. So let's get into our topic. I almost forgot our topic because I was having so much fun. I know what it is. Here we go. >> Natasha: I'm ready to pounce.

>> John: Natasha, what if I told you there was a cryptid similar to bigfoot, but maybe not as famous, but just as scary? Right? What do you think? >> Natasha: So, well, considering if it is a creature. >> John: Go ahead. >> Natasha: Most creatures come in different species, so that does not surprise me at all. >> John: Yes. Yeah. So it m could be a him. it could be a her. Yeah. and is known as momo. And it is a local legend, similar to a bigfoot, which is reported

to be in Missouri. So we're both in the midwest. You know, it's kind of, kind of in that Midwest belt, per se, and it is mean. Go. Yeah. >> Natasha: I did not, I didn't even realize that I was wearing my bigfoot merch. And we were doing. I did. I know we were doing, but I just didn't even think about. I just put on my Bigfoot shirt, and it's just what I felt like wearing. But anyway, see, we're on the same wavelength.

>> John: I love it. >> Natasha: Yes. I grew up and spent a lot of. I didn't grow up grow up. we would go at least two, maybe three times a year, every single year. And at one point, I lived in Missouri. >> John: Oh, okay. Yeah. So that's. >> Natasha: And they totally missed out on a naming convention. Just saying. >> John: Yeah. So, yeah. M. Yeah. Yeah. Right. If they caught the Missouri monster, but Missoulu.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. That's what I said. they gotta, they got a name shop that we got a gotta help them. But here's what it looks like, okay, this is a little different from Bigfoot. Everybody knows Bigfoot, so I'm not gonna get into it. And Natasha can fill in the gaps if she wants to. So, ah, Momo has a large, pumpkin shaped head as a very furry body with hair covering the two eyes. So basically, it's Bigfoot, except for maybe the head, I think.

Bigfoot. Correct me if I'm wrong, Natasha doesn't have a pumpkin head. It's more of a human head. Am I right in that, or am m I off in that? >> Natasha: Yeah, pretty big. Ah. Sometimes people say they are sometimes a little, like, boxy, kind of almost like, a gorilla. When you said hair over the eyes, I immediately went, snuffleupagus. >> John: Yes, snuffleupagus. My spooky friends was an imaginary friend at Sesame street that we all loved as children, because him and big Bird

would hang out and nobody would see. Snuffle up. Yes. >> Natasha: He's the big. He was the big, like, elephant. He looked almost like a woolly mammoth, right. But he had, like, really, I remember his eyes. When he would blink his eyes, it'd be like, terrible. >> John: His eyes, and they would. That's awesome. Unlike Bigfoot, this is kind of a different timeline. Okay, so Bigfoot, I believe, was fifties, sixties, even forties. There's, there's a long

timeline. But for Momo, he was first reported in July of 1971. Now, they say near Louisiana, Missouri, by Joan Mills and Mary Ryan, two women, which you don't hear a lot, which is kind of interesting, in the cryptid game. But I love it that we have some women spotting some things. Momo was spotted, has been spotted up and down the Mississippi river. Is supposedly, like I said, he's 7ft tall, again with the snuffle of his eyes. Now, people, don't yell at me about this. This is, I didn't

write this. He eats cats and dogs and admits a terrible odor. So don't keep your dog outside or your cat outside. He will. Momo will eat it. I've never heard bigfoot eating cats and dogs, but momo will eat your cat. >> Natasha: Or your dog might have heard some stuff about them eating small animals. >> John: Oh, really? Yeah. >> Natasha: Or dogs disappearing. >> John: Yeah. Well, it makes sense, right?

>> Natasha: Most of the bigfoot, sightings and encounters, though, are in areas where they're sometimes not very close to where a dog would be. But there was a story I was listening to shout out to my guys, Mark, Chris, and Rob, at the cryptidot podcast, they were talking. I'm pretty sure it was them. There was like a guy in this, there's a bigfoot in the woods. He went to

investigate it, and his dog went with him. The dog would like, bark at the treeline, and the bigfoot actually, like, killed the dog and like, chucked it at him. Whoa, stop. Sorry. My cat's bitch. You bitch. I hate this cat sometimes. She's a fucking asshole. And she just dropped my mountain dew on the porch. Now it's fucked anyway. But yeah. so why? I have a real quick question on the description. >> John: Yes. >> Natasha: So you said the head is pumpkin

shaped. Is it orange like a pumpkin? Is it still hairy? >> John: No, no, no, it's pumpkin shape with a bunch of fur, like, okay, just covered in furnival. So, yeah, and I don't know why they say it's pumpkin shape, but that's what they're saying. so here's the next one that they reported another sighting in the seventies again, which I think is always interesting. Seventies always have the elbow

setting. So now this is funny. I don't know how they looked at their watch or whatever, but it says another sighting began at 03:30 p.m. at July 11. So somebody's being really interesting here. It was reported by Terry Wally and Doris Harrison, and it lasted for about two weeks because they were following these tracks, and what they were finding was these tracks going into the woods of, you know, like, we followed tracks going

through there and stuff. However, I'm sorry, Natasha, this turned out to be a hoax. Someone was being a dick. Was being a dick and going through there and doing that. So it turns out these two young boys were messing around, and creating that. So, you know, it was super weird that people were doing this already, which I think is like, if you think about it, in the seventies, someone has some sightings, and then everyone's starting to do fake.

I don't know, that was kind of strange to me. I thought part of that story, right?

>> Natasha: Were they all in the same area? >> John: Yes, yes. So I guess it got out and these two kids thought, okay, you know, let's do this. I guess so, right? So then there were more sightings of Momo later in that year, were actual sightings that at, one point, a 20 person posse was put together to kill the beast. >> Natasha: But the creature was killed, with a good posse.

>> John: Good posse. Could you see that going into the local bar, Natasha, and be like, okay, I see the seven foot creature that could rip our heads off. Let's kill it. >> Natasha: It was Missouri. >> John: It was Missouri. So it is, the seventies. >> Natasha: I was picturing more. Grab your torches and your pitchforks. Not a bar, but I guess teach their own. >> John: You gotta posse, you know, torches, pitchforks, kill the beast. so believe it or not, there were

many more sightings. There's some. If you go online, you please look at it. I didn't. I'll include the links in the episode. There's a bunch of grainy footage, a bunch of grainy pictures. Same old, same old, right? However, there is one of the few surviving momo witnesses, and I love that they say surviving, so I'm like, what, did Momo kill the rest of the witnesses? And then I realized, oh, they're probably dead. Like,

died of natural cause. So Richard Allen Murray told motherboard, which I've never heard of, but okay, it must be some local paper in Missouri. that he was driving near Louisiana's town branch of small creek that runs through the middle of the town. Interesting. Around 11:00 p.m. as he was passing a small hill, he noticed something moving, turning his truck towards the hill. Man, this is bad. His headlights illuminated a strange upright figure covered in brown

hair. Murray guessed the creature was about 20ft away, and when it realized he was there, it quickly hurried up the hill and disappeared. Now, Murray is a lifelong resident who has served as the town's fire chief. There's a little validity to this town, and he sat on the city council. So, again, a little, validity that he's not some creepy weirdo. Was surprised by the sighting, and I quote, I was amazed to see something. I thought it was a bunch of nonsense, but then I

saw something Murray said, end quote. Now, in hindsight, Murray admitted the sighting could have been nothing more than a bear. But at the time, he supposed the monster was on, everyone's brain. So this is just exactly like Bigfoot, Natasha. You know, could it be a bear? Could it be something else? And this is cryptids in general, right? So the brave road, famous in Wisconsin. A lot of people say it's a big dog. You know, I don't know if you've heard stories similar to that where people.

>> Natasha: Said, okay, so I like to play devil's advocate for everything that I talk about. Have y'all ever, like, hung your coat over the chair recliner on a coat rack, and then the middle of the night, you go out to get a little snacky snack out of the fridge, and you think, there's a straight up freaking demon in there. And it's just your coat. >> John: Yeah, yeah. >> Natasha: My other thing is. >> John: Yeah.

>> Natasha: it wasn't specific. If this damn thing was 20ft from you, you'd have a lot more description of what it is, what it looks like it went up the hill. Okay. Was it four legs, two legs? Did it jump? Did it run, did it skip? Like, was it whistling? Hollywall do a lot of day or whatever that goes. Like, I can't remember how it goes, but, like, it just doesn't seem like there's a lot. Even the encounters they have aren't very right descriptive. And that's what's causing

problems for me. I don't care how. If he's a fire chief, that mother, he's been trained. He's been trained to keep notes, to investigate. And that's the crappy ass description he gave. >> John: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And the other encounters I read that I didn't put in here, Natasha, were basically the same. I saw something in the woods. There was, But momo is very shy. Let's put it this way. That was the feeling I was getting. Like, people see it in the woods and it takes off.

It's not like Bigfoot, which you've heard the stories, and if you want to share one, please do. Where bigfoots have been aggressive, where they've thrown rocks, they've thrown dead dogs, they've thrown deer. Roadkill. Right. >> Natasha: 1 million do not think these things are nice. Yeah, I do not believe these things are nice at all. They will not hesitate to kill you.

>> John: Exactly. Exactly. >> Natasha: There's a lot of people that say, they'll be out and the things are like, rocks are thrown at them and logs are thrown at them. And if it's, you know, shy, that's not what you do when you're shy.

>> John: Yes, absolutely. And Bigfoot, as you know, is tied sometimes to aliens, right. To UFO's. Well, Momo supporting in these stories have never, no one's ever reported he's been, in, a UFO. You all landed, then Bigfoot's come out or whatever crazy stories you hear. Right. and it's kind of different because Momo, again, is, I think, like this kind of lost. It's almost like he's like a lost puppy. Like, I just want to eat dogs and cats and fish and leave me alone.

>> Natasha: Just let me do my thing. Although I haven't heard any encounters or sightings where somebody actually saw Bigfoot going in and out of it. It's just a correlation between Bigfoot sightings around the same time in the same area as UFO sightings. >> John: Yeah, yeah. Interesting. So this is. This is one of my favorite parts, and I got to check this out. Nearly 50 years after those initial momo sightings, indie filmmaker. I love this name. Seth

Breedlove. Yes. His last name is Breed love release his latest. That's great. I love that name. Really? I've never heard that name in my life. >> Natasha: Yep. She was really nice, too. She was awesome. >> John: So he released a film called Momo, the Missouri Monster. In this film, Breed love weaves together a documentary format with fake 1970s b movie vignettes

to tell the little known story. It is a cool, campy movie destined to become a cult classic, but it also explores an often ignored aspect of cryptid mythology. So, here we go. What creature sightings reflect about our world? Monsters are a reflection of where we are in history. Breed love says, I quote, as much as they are a spooky tale to tell around the campfire. Breedlove set monster stories tend to change and evolve with time matching where we are scientifically, artistically, and as a

society. In a long term, they act as a window into our past. End quote. So what do you think about that? So what he's saying that monsters evolve with us. Like, we're kind of keeping that legend going and keeping that, when society changes, we kind of change with it. Kind of. What do you think? >> Natasha: Movie monsters or real monsters? >> John: Real big foot. Ah, loch ness. The big guys, right? Mothman. Big guys. Oh, really? Okay. >> Natasha: Yes. >> John: Okay.

>> Natasha: But think about it. let's see here. In the thieves, guess what? Deer were still deer. Butterflies were still butterflies. A cow was a cow. >> John: Yeah. Yeah. >> Natasha: I mean, now they're a little different because the hormones. But cows that were not bred just for food. We're cows. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: But I agree. I just.

If for those who do believe in the whole evolution bull crap, then that doesn't make sense either, because it would take so much longer than 50 years for anything to change. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: I mean, yeah. I mean, even though we've. How long we had. >> John: Right. >> Natasha: When was the first car made? >> John: Early 19 hundreds. Right. >> Natasha: Okay, so it's hot minute, and those sons of bitches will still run right in front of them. they'll

still run in town. They don't care. People have been here. >> John: This. >> Natasha: My town's been here for hundreds of years, and they still come into town. So I don't. I think movie monsters and depictions and the stories, sometimes that people tell about them changes because it's not like, now we're gonna say, oh, which is, I think, kind of a little bit upsetting sometimes because it does kind of. So let's think thrillers,

right? So you watch a thriller movie now, if somebody were to pick up a rotary phone or an actual landline, everybody'd be like, I don't get it. What is that like? So they now have to do like, oh, your phone law service or so those things. Yes. or people be like, why don't you just google it? You know what I mean? So you've got

to change for that. But I feel like if the encounters and the sightings and stuff are changing with the times with us, they're probably fake because a good old fashioned monster in the woods is a good old fashioned monster in the woods. And they don't need Wi fi or a camera or anything to mess you up. >> John: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So here's something I thought was really funny. this is common, as we know, especially in a

capitalist society. so some monsters like the Mothman of West Virginia, have a huge following. And if you know anything about that, you see the Mothman statues and there's Mothman pizza at this local restaurant and they have a yearly festival. So momo, this is funny. Momo, unfortunately, poor momo, he never made it into the big leagues with Mothman. And I think there's like, by the way, we should have an episode one day of, who's in the big leagues? Cryptids. Who's in the

minor leagues of cryptids. And he was left. And we'll talk about that. I was just gonna bring that up. He was brought up in this town and what they did, he, it didn't help that he's like this kind of like mister stuff. Alpha gets this lumbering creature and iconic big butt. Right? But there's some people, Jason offit, who lives in this town where, momo supposedly, but he says, I believe Louis

Lee, Louisiana, Missouri, tried to have momo festivals, but the townspeople never really cared that much. Poor momo. So they've tried to have this momo festival and everybody's like, the big. I know. >> Natasha: Festival. >> John: So would I. So the big difference between the Mothman and Momo is that Mothman collapsed the silver bridge. It killed people. So he. Yeah, well, yeah, he didn't, he didn't. >> Natasha: Tear the bridge down.

>> John: No, no, no, he didn't. But he's a social. Martha is associated with that. Momo hasn't like killed the mayor in public or something. And he goes, I hate to put it this way. >> Natasha: Right? >> John: exactly. But as much as I love a good Bigfoot story, the big guys become too common, which I agree in popular culture, to attract that much attention. So, according to Murray, most people in Louisiana, Missouri, just don't care anymore.

There were people that were afraid, but it's not something that has tremendous lasting effect. He said most of the young people don't even know anything about it. Come on. Young people. And Momo and many other cryptids are indicted of a broader issue. Once bustling world can. Communities with booming populations and industries are slowly decaying with younger populations moving to cities, and many small towns are fading away. I don't know about that so much anymore.

Yeah, yeah. Much like their monster legends. And then he says, like, point pleasant again, you know, they pivoted to the Mothman and has made a successful economic adventure. Other towns, again, were not so lucky. But for a brief moment in time, Louisiana, Missouri, caught the wave. This is a really small, intimate story about this tiny town that was dramatically affected by the sightings. Breedlove

explained. Breedlove's talking again here. I quote, I always jump at any opportunity I could find to tell stories in a way that challenged us. As our world changes, so too, we're our monster. So that's pretty much it about Momo, which I just look at stories like we were talking earlier, Natasha, that are not the big ones, you know, try to look at a smaller cryptid story. But what do you think of momo? Are you a little sad? I'm, like, sad for momo.

>> Natasha: I don't know if I can even throw my hat in the ring. So if momo had made more appearances. Yeah, I feel like it would have taken off a little more. >> John: Yeah. Yeah. >> Natasha: Another question is, did it describe at any point how long its hair was? >> John: Just, >> John: They say long hair, like, covering its body. Like, just long. >> Natasha: Well, there is a genetic defect that causes a person to literally grow hair on every edge of their

body. What if he's just some poor circus freak? That's a horrible way to put him, like, you know, like the dog boy or whatever. >> John: Right? >> Natasha: Not, in between not having very many sightings and then the sightings, not having enough evidence to even prove they were sightings. >> John: Right. >> Natasha: I'm leaning towards momo's bullshit. >> John: Yeah, this is, this is a no for me, too. >> Natasha: Or if anything, maybe it was a

bigfoot. Like a juvenile bigfoot. >> Natasha: That just was. Got either was, exploring and went too far or got lost or something. M maybe right. If I was really reaching. I'm reaching hard. >> John: I hear you. >> Natasha: Yeah. Yeah. Ah, I have a hard time. I don't like to poo poo any of them necessarily, but yeah. I just, with the fact that one guy says that he saw it 20ft away but didn't describe it at all, kind of screams. >> John: Right?

>> Natasha: I mean, why couldn't it? And he says it, you know, it ran, it's a figure. Well, that's a, that could have been a damn bear. >> John: Yeah. it could have been because it's. >> Natasha: Not like you said, oh, the thing was running on 2ft, then I'd be like, okay, maybe it wasn't a bear, but then just say, oh, it took off. I'm m. Like, I'm feeling bear. >> John: Yeah. Yeah, so am I. So am m. I. >> Natasha: And even if they don't have brown bears, it

could be. What if it's a black bear? That just so happened. There's, there's clay deposits around the midwest everywhere. It could have just been rolling around and just got covered. It looked brown. >> John: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. So I call bullshit on this too. unfortunately, I feel sorry for momo. He never made into the big time. So. Speaking of that, Natasha, I'm going to put you on the spot here. Who's in the big time of cryptids? Who's the major, who's the, who's the.

>> Natasha: OG that I believe are real or. >> John: That everybody talks about that you believe are real? Real. >> Natasha: Okay. >> John: Who's the OG? >> Natasha: Who's the obviously Bigfoot? >> John: Bigfoot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Natasha: I would say so. I'm also on the fence for this one too. So there's dog man, werewolf to me, a hellhound to me. They all could be interchangeable. It could be the same thing. >> John: Yeah.

>> Natasha: being misidentified. Right. So, but that's definitely up, that's, that's had a big spike in the last, what, five to ten years maybe. >> John: Mm Mm >> Natasha: I think nessie's bullshit. I just probably hurt a lot of people's feelings, but it's okay. Chupacabra is also bullshit. Really? >> John: I'm gonna call you on chupacabra. >> Natasha: The lizard shoe from Mexico is legit. that. >> John: All right, all right.

>> Natasha: let's see here. Bit Mothman, obviously. >> John: Yeah. How about dog man?

>> Natasha: I wrapped him up with werewolves. Goober. >> John: Oh, okay, okay. Yeah. Well, he'll have goat man. Goat man. >> Natasha: Oh, goat man. I do have an interesting theory that makes sense with goat man. >> John: Okay, let me hear. >> Natasha: Aside from my theory, I say bullshit okay, so let's see. Have you ever seen the movie or the show fringe? >> John: Yeah. Good show. >> Natasha: So, like a portal. So there's a portal like that, in these

weird places because that's a lot of people do. They say there's portals and all this stuff. Now let's think about the fact of, in theory, when you walk through, say, a wormhole or a portal, all of your molecules dismember and then they re emerge on the other side. What if this poor lonely farmer and one of his poor little goats was just walking and they just slipped into the portal and they all their molecules got jumbled up and then put together? >> John: As a goat man, I love it.

>> Natasha: that recited, basement of hell. And the goatmen are like, all in hell. And they're like, hey, Fred, go get a can of beans in the basement. And then he like, slips into the portal. He's like, ah, shit. And then he just shows up. I like the COVID one too. >> John: I love that theory. I'm like, shit, look at me now. What the hell? Okay, so. Oh, go ahead. >> Natasha: Now I'm just trying to think of, cryptid related stuff. >> John: How about. Okay, Wendigo,

windigo? Huh? Huh? >> Natasha: I don't know about a windigo. >> John: Skinwalkers. >> Natasha: Skinwalkers. I don't think they're cryptic. >> John: They're in a different category. >> Natasha: They might exist, but I don't. I think they're more demonic. something maybe a little more magical or spiritual. Not so much a cryptid. >> John: Okay. >> Natasha: My favorite. I would like to say it works, but,

I think it's bullshit, but I still love him. It's snally gaster. >> John: Snally gaster? >> Natasha: Yep. >> John: I was gonna ask you your favorite. Thank you for. Yes, please tell my spooky friends if they don't know what the snally gaster is. >> Natasha: So long story short. Well, I guess it's a short story shorter. It came from Germany, so the german immigrants came over and along came, well, they called the snell geist, but we translated into

snally gaster because it's better. Anyway. And basically this thing is like a, like a bird lizard hybrid thing with like these big wings and this long, 30ft long school bus. And it's got this huge tail and it's got a beak, it's got one eye and these like steel claws. Like, they appear to be like steel because they're strong and sharp. And some accounts say that it's got these like massive tentacles that come out and it'll sanguinate your ass.

>> John: Yeah, yeah, yeah. My favorite one is not a cryptid, but it's called a puck wedgie. I'm sorry. >> Natasha: Ah, we supposedly have them in northern Indiana. That was actually one of my first episodes. >> John: I did, yes. And, I did an episode, too, with the puck wedgie. Those are crazy. So, all right, before we wrap up here, I could talk to you for hours. Natasha, you're so awesome.

Here's the thing, Yuri. I said, favorite cryptidhood, favorite conspiracy, just off the top of your head, favorite conspiracy. >> Natasha: Project sunshine. >> John: Ooh, good one. Please explain to my spooky friends what is Project Sunshine?

>> Natasha: I'll do another long story. This one is the long story short. So, basically, back, around the time we started doing nuclear bomb testing, the, government decided that they needed to figure out the after effects of the nuclear warfare would have on humans. So they were at first asking for people to donate their body to science and then testing it. Well, then they found out that the younger the skin, the better and more accurate

the results were. So then they, started taking toddlers, infants, babies, like, stillborn babies, anything that was like, the earlier the better. And they would take them and test them. Then they would even get so bad because they needed more and more and more, and nobody was wanting to give up their child, you know, to be chopped into pieces or whatever and tested. So they came up with an entire group of people, like a whole. I don't

like a team. And they would go around and I'm talking, say your toddler, I don't know, choked on a grape and died, which is horrible. >> John: Yeah. >> Natasha: and you were going to have your kid cremated for whatever reason. sure. The government would show up, they would look at the kid, and they might saw off a leg, an arm, whatever the hell, they might sometimes take the whole damn body. And then they would give the parents fake ashes and say it was their child to test it.

>> John: yeah, that was terrible. >> Natasha: And it's actually conspiracy itself was

just that the government was basically, grave robbing to test for the nuclear side effects. But it actually was much worse than even the conspiracy imagined. >> John: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My favorite conspiracy that turned out to be true. MK Ultra, testing of LSD. That's crazy. Go, please look that up. I might do an episode on it, but it's pretty much out there. You know, you can find pretty much all that stuff. So, Natasha, again, thank you for being on the show. You're

amazing. I would love to have you back on anytime you want, because we even scratch the surface on certain other conspiracy cryptids and everything like that. But why don't you tell my spooky friends about your merch and episodes coming up so they can check you out. >> Natasha: So as for my merch, I'm super excited because I've done everything on my website. If you go to www. Cryptids creeps and conspiracy.com, i think I already sent them to you.

There's a little link at the top says merch. Just click on it, it'll take you to the store. Everything on there, I design all of it myself. I even created the website. I set everything. Anything related to my podcast, my hands are the only ones that have touched it. So I designed all of that. I just today set up my stuff here that I can now create my own merch instead of just designing and having somebody else make it.

So I'm going to be deciding all kinds of crap. There's going to be stuff all over my house with like random shit on it because I'm going to be messing with it, trying to figure it out. But I can even make plates, like I can make it or something like a cryptic edition plates with the, from my episodes. I could put stuff on my like the different creatures and stuff on the plates and then I could make like a set, you could collect them. How cool would that be? >> John: Oh, that's awesome.

>> Natasha: I love that, a side project a lot of people don't know about. I'm waiting. I haven't done it yet. I also write poetry and I do, I have a few out there right now, poems that I write and I want to get a collection of them out of. So I eventually want to publish some and have like one for cryptids, one for spooky stuff or whatever. And you know, all that stuff.

So I want to do that. I got a lot of things in the works, but I also, just so you guys know, September, the last weekend of September I'm going to be in Nashville, Indiana, because I'm a vendor, Indiana booth conference. And then in November I'm going to be at cryptid Con in Lexington. I don't have a vendor booth there, but I'm still going to go and I party hard and have a good time. So I do try to get

out. I plan on being at Paracon next year. Whether I'm a vendor or not, I'm gonna be there because they had an absolute blast this year. And I've considered maybe adding in a little live show possibly. It's on the fence and. Are you ready? Do you want to know what it is because nobody knows the first one. Friday night. Yeah, Friday night, fight club. So I would take like three, maybe two or three cryptids, and we would talk kind of like a quick summary, and then which one would win? We

battled. The next one goes to the next week, and then you'd pick another one. And then, you know, so we could, like, duke them out. And I feel like that'd be so much fun. Yeah, I can't pull the trigger on the other thing. >> John: Just, yeah, yeah. >> Natasha: It'll probably be within the next month. You guys should know about it. and it's gonna be another collab with another podcast who is absolutely phenomenal. I love her, love

her, love her. And. But I can't say anything necessarily about it yet because she still, we're still getting things together. and we want to get a little bit of a cushion before we release, so just in case something happens. But, yeah, we got some stuff coming down the pike. And I'm on all social media, so I'm on TikTok threads, text, Instagram, Facebook. Listening wise, I'm everywhere. Anything from Amazon, Spreaker,

YouTube, Spotify. I mean, I'm on platforms I've never even heard of before until they showed up on my thing and I was like, wait, what? Yeah, so, yeah, if you got anything, you can even listen on your computer. You don't even have to have a platform or download an app or nothing. You just open it up on the website. And my episodes are right there. >> John: Yeah. So again, I will put all Natasha's links in the episode notes. Please go check her out. She, again, is

amazing. She has some great stories. Her podcast is awesome. Buy some merch from her. Support your local podcaster. Because we're just. >> Natasha: My first dog man shirt that sold. >> John: I was like, yeah, yeah, so buy a shirt, buy whatever she's got out there. Support her. >> Natasha: I. >> John: Because, you know, she loves what she's doing.

This is something that makes her podcast better because we're all indie people out here just trying to make it, you know, anything you can do to support her. >> Natasha: Oh, if anybody there has any experiences or encounters, it doesn't matter if they're cryptids. Spooky, just weird, random shit that happens to you. You can submit all of those in the contact form on the website, too, because when I get enough put together, I'll be able to do my second listener stories episode.

>> John: Oh, I love that. I love it. And, you know, I've listened to some episodes. They're all great. So just pick one that you're interested in, reach out to Natasha. If you got any questions or comments or stories, please do so again. Natasha, love you. Love, to have you back on. I look forward to all the different things that are coming up so much. Soften and please visit her at, the different locations. And, she'll be attending the different, shows. And say hi to her. Come on, say hi.

>> Natasha: She's totally miss me. My hair is really orange when you put me in the light. >> John: Awesome. So we end every show this way. We say hi to our ghost, even though I know your ghost is kind of a dick, but say hello, girls. Well, there you go. Okay. Okay. And then we say, stay spooky. >> Natasha: Stay spooky, suckers. >> John: Thanks, Natasha. Awesome. Bye.