Missing 411
Special thanks to Jim Malliard, paranormal researcher and radio host for his views and contributions to this article.
Since 1752, thousands of visitors to National Parks and Forests in the Western U.S. and Canada have disappeared. Sometimes they return, and sometimes they don’t. What makes these disappearances strange is the fact that once they happen, mum’s the word. Beyond the standard 7-10 day investigation window and period of grief for those affected by the disappearances, no one talks about it.
Strange weather patterns erupt after someone goes missing as if the earth is covering up the trail. K9s can’t even pick up a scent with their highly trained noses. Park rangers and service staff are reluctant to speak up. Is it part of their code of conduct, or are they too afraid to say what they’re really thinking?
Who Is Disappearing?
Those who vanish without a trace tend to be highly intellectual types, while others have been children. Take for example Alois Krost, a 62-year-old German physics professor, a highly skilled mountaineer who vanished in Lake Arrowhead. Then there’s Jaryd Leto, a tiny 3-year-old who went missing from a trail in Northern Colorado. His shoes later turned up – laces tied and all. But Jaryd didn’t know how to tie his shoes when he went missing. Based on some theories, those who want these people maybe tapping their brains for information.
Disappearance Theories
So what’s happening in the woods? Are there strange beings lurking in caves waiting to snatch explorers? Alternate portals of reality in plain sight, just waiting for people to pass through?
David Paulides, the author of the series Missing 411, is determined to find answers to these unsolved disappearances.
He recently appeared on Beyond Belief with George Noory, an original program available exclusively on Gaiam TV, where he presented firsthand accounts of the investigative journalism he’s been working on to determine the source of these vanishings.
Noory probes Paulides for possible answers to these vanishings by keeping an open mind about who, or what could be taking these citizens out of mainstream society. He throws out ideas like U.S soldiers conducting secret studies, reptilians, ultraterrestrials, alien connections, European folklore and myths like fairies and little people, gods who are fulfilling their destiny, and even Bigfoot.
So many speculations, but no answers.
Searching for Answers
And the more Paulides digs into the data, the stranger it gets.
Those abducted appear to be either first or last in line when traipsing through the parks and forests. The vanishings are unusual – they don’t fit the norm. No scent trail, no footprints, no evidence of animal attacks. Those who are found alive appear to have some type of disability; they could exhibit signs of dementia or muteness, making it harder for them to share their story of disappearing, yet also giving them a better chance of making it through and back to civilization.
Professional trackers are hired to survey the land where people have gone missing. These include Navajo Indians who are native to the land and know it well, military-trained personnel, K9s, and other experts who are trained to find what others might miss.
Keep an open mind as you watch Missing 411 on Beyond Belief with George Noory. There may be more than one answer to these mysterious vanishings. And Gaiam TV is willing to ask the tough questions.
Updated 9/1/20 by Gaia Staff
About the Author
Countless Bigfoot Sightings in Colorado Tracked at Sasquatch Outpost
If you perform a Google search for the term “Bigfoot” or “Sasquatch,” on any given day it’s likely you’ll find at least a few articles published within the past week. Sasquatch has become so ingrained in our culture, arguably more than any other cryptid, to the point that if it somehow isn’t real, we’ve practically willed it into existence.
Beyond its cultural acceptance, there’s actually overwhelming evidence of the reality of such a creature that spans centuries of sightings and lore throughout myriad cultures. Jim Meyers, a professional Sasquatch seeker and owner of the Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, CO, cites the fact that nearly every Native American tribe has its own epithet for Sasquatch.
The Navajo call it “Ye’ Iitsoh,” meaning “Big God”; the Cherokee call it “Ketleh-Kudleh,” meaning “Hairy Savage”; and the Lakota-Sioux call it “Chiye-Tanka” meaning “Big Elder Brotha.”
Often, Native Americans refer to Sasquatch as another tribe or another people, rather than a species of ape or animal, Meyers says. And this near-universal acceptance of such a creature by indigenous peoples who have inhabited remote areas of the US, centuries before its modern development, is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence for the existence of Sasquatch in his opinion.
Though Sasquatch has assimilated into our modern mythological zeitgeist, it can be found in a number of cultural traditions across the world—on nearly every continent, in fact.
Known as the Yeti, Yeren, Yowie, or the pejorative Abominable Snowman, tales of a large, hairy bipedal creature can be found in Australia, Asia, Europe, and both Americas. Interestingly though, Meyers says he’s not familiar with any instances of Sasquatch sightings in Africa, which is also where he lived much of his life.
Meyers grew up in Africa, as his parents were missionaries—a career path he would follow in his adulthood. Having moved to Kenya at age 11, he went to boarding school before attending college in the US. Feeling a desire to continue his parents’ work, Myers would spend another 20 years working as a missionary in Senegal, followed by a decade spent in France. Eventually, he returned to the states and settled in Bailey.
While he was always fascinated with Bigfoot, ever since he saw “The Legend of Boggy Creek” as a kid, Meyers said it wasn’t until a local businesswoman in Bailey recounted a very credible sighting she experienced in the area. Shortly thereafter, Animal Planet recorded an episode of Finding Bigfoot in Bailey, adding to Meyers’ interest, and the rest was history…
Searching for a new avenue of business to pursue, and hearing multitudes of stories and eyewitness sightings in the area, Meyers decided to open a Sasquatch museum in his small Colorado township in 2014. It’s now become a tourist hotspot with over 36,000 visits.
At the Sasquatch Outpost, Meyers has curated his ongoing research into the Sasquatch Encounter Museum where one finds recordings of the creature’s vocalizations, examples of the ways in which it bends, and snaps tree branches, and plaster casts of its footprints.
One of those casts happens to be from the most famous and credible Bigfoot sighting of all time: the Patterson-Gimlin film from 1967. While some skeptics claim the clip has been debunked and a deathbed confession of a hoax was made, Meyers is quick to correct that as a fallacy, pointing out that he’s talked with Patterson’s wife who said he maintained the veracity of the film up until his death.
And if that weren’t enough, Meyers has also kept a map of various levels of Sasquatch sightings and interactions people have reported experiencing throughout Colorado at the Outpost. On the map are various colored pins based on the type of encounter experienced: red denotes a visual sighting; yellow indicates tree breaks and bends; green indicates a vocalization or tree knocking; blue identifies a rock or item thrown at someone.
If you’ve had a Bigfoot encounter in Colorado, you may be able to contribute to this growing map of over 300 encounters. In the meantime, check out Meyers in the latest episode of Beyond Belief.
