The Paracast Newsletter
July 20, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Monster Hunters David Eller and Janice Nolan Reveal Amazing Cryptid Encounters This Week on The Paracast.
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022 and later now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Now includes over 100 classic episodes, so take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode (July 20, 2025): Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present a highly-experienced Bigfoot-hunting team, David Eller and Janice Nolan. David is an artist an adventurer who has spent over 30 years as a monster hunter and cryptozoologist. Born in Illinois, David had what he calls a “Tom Sawyer boyhood” filled with the woodland investigations and natural history experimentation’s that prepared him for a lifetime of cryptozoological experiences. His travels across North America, Canada, the Yucatán and various European countries have resulted in numerous encounters with the paranormal and the unexplained. He is author of “The Pagoda: In the Presence of Mystery,” about a woven tree structure, both delicate and intricate, unlike anything he had encountered in his years of cryptozoological research. This structure, which he later dubbed “The Pagoda,” defies natural explanation, showcasing deliberate design and engineering that suggests a greater intelligence at work. It stands as a potential sign of cryptid behavior. With no evidence of human-made materials like ropes or ties, the structure relies solely on the dexterity and strength of its creator(s), leaving researchers baffled. Janice has worked as a camera operator and Cryptid investigator for the past 15 years with Relic Films. Director Greg Ogles and Janice Nolan have three documentaries, including “The Downey Booger,” ‘Cryptic Expeditions: The Land Between the Lakes” and the forthcoming “The Vanished.” Over the years, Janice has had many speaking engagements as well as investigations. Check out their site: The Pagoda Site | P.U.R.S.U.E.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ ssubscribers by July 19: Bigfoot hunters David Eller and Janice Nolan return to explore more amazing mysteries uncovered in their search for strange creatures. Speaking with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz, they talk about the so-called mound builders who created such structures as Stonehenge. Also on the agenda: The Biblical references to races of giants, the possibility of humans mating with Sasquatch, reports of dogmen and possible wolfmen, plus claims of feral humans inhabiting forests and other remote areas who may be hiding in plain sight. David travels across North America, Canada, the Yucatán and various European countries have resulted in numerous encounters with the paranormal and the unexplained. He is author of “The Pagoda: In the Presence of Mystery,” about a woven tree structure, both delicate and intricate, unlike anything he had encountered in his years of cryptozoological research. This structure, which he later dubbed “The Pagoda,” defies natural explanation, showcasing deliberate design and engineering that suggests a greater intelligence at work. It stands as a potential sign of cryptid behavior. With no evidence of human-made materials like ropes or ties, the structure relies solely on the dexterity and strength of its creator(s), leaving researchers baffled. Janice has worked as a camera operator and Cryptid investigator for the past 15 years with Relic Films. Director Greg Ogles and Janice Nolan have three documentaries, including “The Downey Booger,” ‘Cryptic Expeditions: The Land Between the Lakes” and the forthcoming “The Vanished.” Check out their site: The Pagoda Site | P.U.R.S.U.E.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
Scream and Scream Again
By David Eller
I have spent most of my life looking for monsters and cryptids, investigating ghostly occurrences and exploring the unknown. I’ve been in a lot of crazy places. I’ve done a lot of crazy things. And I’ve seen a lot of crazy sights. Although I research several cryptids, traveling to various parts of the United States to do so, Bigfoot are the creatures I most actively seek and have opportunities to research.
We all have our fears and foibles. And in no way am I trying to say that I’m some fearless swashbuckler that eats nails for breakfast and storms in where angels fear to tread. But I have no problem walking in the woods at night. I’ve done it many times for many years and never felt threatened or fearful. I’ve explored the black tunnels of the Yucatan pyramids with nothing but a failing flashlight. I’ve explored caves, hunted ghosts and investigated abandoned asylums. I regularly visit a certain swamp in Louisiana and commune with the local alligator population.
I had been investigating an area in Tennessee where I had discovered "structures" made from bent trees that had been braided together. Bigfoot researchers for years had been finding similar structures all over the U.S. and often referred to them as Bigfoot nests. I called the ones that I discovered "pagodas," and studied this particular area for several years.
It’s Quiet Tonight, A Little TOO Quiet
On August 5, 2021, I arrived at the location, bringing with me recordings of nature sounds, hoping to elicit some kind of response if there happened to be any sort of cryptid creatures lurking about nearby. The forest was extremely quiet at this time…almost too quiet. There was an uneasy hush over everything. There was little movement anywhere and almost no sound. The only sound that could be heard consistently was the occasional soft sound of my shoes scuffing a root or rock.
Have you ever had the feeling of “not being alone”? Like there was something just beyond the range of your view? As I walked, I began to be aware of something to my right. This was the same area from which I had gotten a wood knock on an earlier visit. Did I have a curious visitor? I heard…felt…something just beyond my vision. It was not distinct or identifiable. It was just the occasional snap or pop or hush sound that lets you know that something is up.
I almost never get this feeling. I’m pretty aware of my surroundings at all times. But I had it…this feeling, I mean, it wasn’t a frightening feeling at all. It just was. I made a mental note of it and pocketed it away for later. I set up my sound equipment and prepared for the bombast. I clicked it on and waited for the storm.
If you have never had the experience of hearing gibbons screaming, you are missing out. There’s no way to describe it. It’s like trying to describe the color red to a blind person. You have to feel it for yourself. It’s an amazing experience. Normally you can hear this sort of thing at the larger zoos that specialize in monkey habitats. The CD that I have was recorded at a zoo in Japan and is a very good introduction to these sounds.
The CD contains an hour’s worth of gibbon screams and whoops. I played about half that, letting the forest resume its silence afterward. I waited for any sort of response. I heard nothing.
The Natives Get Restless
I performed a few mandatory tasks as I began my preparations to leave. Finishing up with these I looked around, listened intently and officially called it a day. I then packed up my equipment and leisurely walked from the glade. I was hopeful that I might receive some sort of reaction at some future point. I began my walk to the parking area and, as I went, began to perform a few wood knocks. I would knock and listen, knock and listen. I did this for a few minutes as I made my way to the main trail and heard no response.
The forest was at rest. It was quiet…peaceful. And then, abruptly and without warning, out of the woods came a blood curdling scream, short and loud...and close!
Thinking that I was about to die and regretting that I had put off the legalities of making a will, I whipped around to my left anxiously searching the area from where the sound had exploded, almost dreading what I might see. It sounded female…high pitched and wild…and it made my skin crawl. I gazed into the forest wondering what I was about to see, the whole time thinking “Why is there a woman in the woods and why is she screaming at me?!!???!!!!”
I heard a loud crash, and through the trees, I saw a flash of darkness. Through a small opening in the wall of foliage I saw “something” with what seemed like a hair covering move quickly, parallel to my direction; then it turned abruptly and disappeared into the darkness of the woods ahead.
I saw only the briefest glimpse, but whatever it was ran quickly as it shot through the forest away from me. As it did so I heard three distinct wood knocks as though it was rapping trees as it ran. Signaling? Informing others of my presence? Was this a danger signal? The knocks came in rapid-fire succession with only a slight interval between knocks. Pop!…Pop!…Pop!
The first knock was louder than the last telling me that the beast was moving at a high rate of speed from the location where it had screamed. The entire incident lasted less than 10 seconds. It happened in an instant and then it was over. And the forest returned to silence as I stood quietly confused, feeling naked and exposed.
As I said, given the abrupt nature of the incident and the dwindling light, I could ascertain only a fleeting glimpse of a shadowy form and a flash of dark hair. Still tingling from the experience, I wondered what I had just seen. Was it one of the creatures making its presence known?
Was it a feral female that lived her existence in the woods and wilds? Whatever it was it screamed like a crazy woman being murdered and it knocked on trees as it moved speedily through the darkening forest. It also screamed AFTER I had already passed it.
If it was interested in hiding from me the screamer had a strange way of doing so. To keep me ignorant of the fact that I had just passed its hiding place all it had to do was…nothing. And I would have never known of its hidden presence. But it chose to scream…loudly and aggressively. Was this for my benefit or someone else’s? What was this screaming, knocking enigma and what was its motivation?
An excerpt from The Pagoda: In The Presence of Mystery: A Chronological Narrative of the Events Surrounding the Discovery and Subsequent Investigation of a Series of Sasquatch Structures in Tennessee, By David Eller
Artist and adventurer David Eller has spent over 30 years as a monster hunter and cryptozoologist. Born in Illinois, David had what he calls a “Tom Sawyer boyhood” filled with the woodland investigations and natural history experimentations that prepared him for a lifetime of cryptozoological experiences.
You can find out more about David’s book, The Pagoda, at his website: The Pagoda Site | P.U.R.S.U.E.
Copyright 1999-2025 The Paracast Company. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!
July 20, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Monster Hunters David Eller and Janice Nolan Reveal Amazing Cryptid Encounters This Week on The Paracast.
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022 and later now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Now includes over 100 classic episodes, so take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode (July 20, 2025): Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present a highly-experienced Bigfoot-hunting team, David Eller and Janice Nolan. David is an artist an adventurer who has spent over 30 years as a monster hunter and cryptozoologist. Born in Illinois, David had what he calls a “Tom Sawyer boyhood” filled with the woodland investigations and natural history experimentation’s that prepared him for a lifetime of cryptozoological experiences. His travels across North America, Canada, the Yucatán and various European countries have resulted in numerous encounters with the paranormal and the unexplained. He is author of “The Pagoda: In the Presence of Mystery,” about a woven tree structure, both delicate and intricate, unlike anything he had encountered in his years of cryptozoological research. This structure, which he later dubbed “The Pagoda,” defies natural explanation, showcasing deliberate design and engineering that suggests a greater intelligence at work. It stands as a potential sign of cryptid behavior. With no evidence of human-made materials like ropes or ties, the structure relies solely on the dexterity and strength of its creator(s), leaving researchers baffled. Janice has worked as a camera operator and Cryptid investigator for the past 15 years with Relic Films. Director Greg Ogles and Janice Nolan have three documentaries, including “The Downey Booger,” ‘Cryptic Expeditions: The Land Between the Lakes” and the forthcoming “The Vanished.” Over the years, Janice has had many speaking engagements as well as investigations. Check out their site: The Pagoda Site | P.U.R.S.U.E.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ ssubscribers by July 19: Bigfoot hunters David Eller and Janice Nolan return to explore more amazing mysteries uncovered in their search for strange creatures. Speaking with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz, they talk about the so-called mound builders who created such structures as Stonehenge. Also on the agenda: The Biblical references to races of giants, the possibility of humans mating with Sasquatch, reports of dogmen and possible wolfmen, plus claims of feral humans inhabiting forests and other remote areas who may be hiding in plain sight. David travels across North America, Canada, the Yucatán and various European countries have resulted in numerous encounters with the paranormal and the unexplained. He is author of “The Pagoda: In the Presence of Mystery,” about a woven tree structure, both delicate and intricate, unlike anything he had encountered in his years of cryptozoological research. This structure, which he later dubbed “The Pagoda,” defies natural explanation, showcasing deliberate design and engineering that suggests a greater intelligence at work. It stands as a potential sign of cryptid behavior. With no evidence of human-made materials like ropes or ties, the structure relies solely on the dexterity and strength of its creator(s), leaving researchers baffled. Janice has worked as a camera operator and Cryptid investigator for the past 15 years with Relic Films. Director Greg Ogles and Janice Nolan have three documentaries, including “The Downey Booger,” ‘Cryptic Expeditions: The Land Between the Lakes” and the forthcoming “The Vanished.” Check out their site: The Pagoda Site | P.U.R.S.U.E.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
Scream and Scream Again
By David Eller
I have spent most of my life looking for monsters and cryptids, investigating ghostly occurrences and exploring the unknown. I’ve been in a lot of crazy places. I’ve done a lot of crazy things. And I’ve seen a lot of crazy sights. Although I research several cryptids, traveling to various parts of the United States to do so, Bigfoot are the creatures I most actively seek and have opportunities to research.
We all have our fears and foibles. And in no way am I trying to say that I’m some fearless swashbuckler that eats nails for breakfast and storms in where angels fear to tread. But I have no problem walking in the woods at night. I’ve done it many times for many years and never felt threatened or fearful. I’ve explored the black tunnels of the Yucatan pyramids with nothing but a failing flashlight. I’ve explored caves, hunted ghosts and investigated abandoned asylums. I regularly visit a certain swamp in Louisiana and commune with the local alligator population.
I had been investigating an area in Tennessee where I had discovered "structures" made from bent trees that had been braided together. Bigfoot researchers for years had been finding similar structures all over the U.S. and often referred to them as Bigfoot nests. I called the ones that I discovered "pagodas," and studied this particular area for several years.
It’s Quiet Tonight, A Little TOO Quiet
On August 5, 2021, I arrived at the location, bringing with me recordings of nature sounds, hoping to elicit some kind of response if there happened to be any sort of cryptid creatures lurking about nearby. The forest was extremely quiet at this time…almost too quiet. There was an uneasy hush over everything. There was little movement anywhere and almost no sound. The only sound that could be heard consistently was the occasional soft sound of my shoes scuffing a root or rock.
Have you ever had the feeling of “not being alone”? Like there was something just beyond the range of your view? As I walked, I began to be aware of something to my right. This was the same area from which I had gotten a wood knock on an earlier visit. Did I have a curious visitor? I heard…felt…something just beyond my vision. It was not distinct or identifiable. It was just the occasional snap or pop or hush sound that lets you know that something is up.
I almost never get this feeling. I’m pretty aware of my surroundings at all times. But I had it…this feeling, I mean, it wasn’t a frightening feeling at all. It just was. I made a mental note of it and pocketed it away for later. I set up my sound equipment and prepared for the bombast. I clicked it on and waited for the storm.
If you have never had the experience of hearing gibbons screaming, you are missing out. There’s no way to describe it. It’s like trying to describe the color red to a blind person. You have to feel it for yourself. It’s an amazing experience. Normally you can hear this sort of thing at the larger zoos that specialize in monkey habitats. The CD that I have was recorded at a zoo in Japan and is a very good introduction to these sounds.
The CD contains an hour’s worth of gibbon screams and whoops. I played about half that, letting the forest resume its silence afterward. I waited for any sort of response. I heard nothing.
The Natives Get Restless
I performed a few mandatory tasks as I began my preparations to leave. Finishing up with these I looked around, listened intently and officially called it a day. I then packed up my equipment and leisurely walked from the glade. I was hopeful that I might receive some sort of reaction at some future point. I began my walk to the parking area and, as I went, began to perform a few wood knocks. I would knock and listen, knock and listen. I did this for a few minutes as I made my way to the main trail and heard no response.
The forest was at rest. It was quiet…peaceful. And then, abruptly and without warning, out of the woods came a blood curdling scream, short and loud...and close!
Thinking that I was about to die and regretting that I had put off the legalities of making a will, I whipped around to my left anxiously searching the area from where the sound had exploded, almost dreading what I might see. It sounded female…high pitched and wild…and it made my skin crawl. I gazed into the forest wondering what I was about to see, the whole time thinking “Why is there a woman in the woods and why is she screaming at me?!!???!!!!”
I heard a loud crash, and through the trees, I saw a flash of darkness. Through a small opening in the wall of foliage I saw “something” with what seemed like a hair covering move quickly, parallel to my direction; then it turned abruptly and disappeared into the darkness of the woods ahead.
I saw only the briefest glimpse, but whatever it was ran quickly as it shot through the forest away from me. As it did so I heard three distinct wood knocks as though it was rapping trees as it ran. Signaling? Informing others of my presence? Was this a danger signal? The knocks came in rapid-fire succession with only a slight interval between knocks. Pop!…Pop!…Pop!
The first knock was louder than the last telling me that the beast was moving at a high rate of speed from the location where it had screamed. The entire incident lasted less than 10 seconds. It happened in an instant and then it was over. And the forest returned to silence as I stood quietly confused, feeling naked and exposed.
As I said, given the abrupt nature of the incident and the dwindling light, I could ascertain only a fleeting glimpse of a shadowy form and a flash of dark hair. Still tingling from the experience, I wondered what I had just seen. Was it one of the creatures making its presence known?
Was it a feral female that lived her existence in the woods and wilds? Whatever it was it screamed like a crazy woman being murdered and it knocked on trees as it moved speedily through the darkening forest. It also screamed AFTER I had already passed it.
If it was interested in hiding from me the screamer had a strange way of doing so. To keep me ignorant of the fact that I had just passed its hiding place all it had to do was…nothing. And I would have never known of its hidden presence. But it chose to scream…loudly and aggressively. Was this for my benefit or someone else’s? What was this screaming, knocking enigma and what was its motivation?
An excerpt from The Pagoda: In The Presence of Mystery: A Chronological Narrative of the Events Surrounding the Discovery and Subsequent Investigation of a Series of Sasquatch Structures in Tennessee, By David Eller
• • •
Artist and adventurer David Eller has spent over 30 years as a monster hunter and cryptozoologist. Born in Illinois, David had what he calls a “Tom Sawyer boyhood” filled with the woodland investigations and natural history experimentations that prepared him for a lifetime of cryptozoological experiences.
You can find out more about David’s book, The Pagoda, at his website: The Pagoda Site | P.U.R.S.U.E.
Copyright 1999-2025 The Paracast Company. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!