Speaker 1A law enforcement helicopter crew was using thermal imaging to search out illegal grow operations in the mountains of southeastern Oklahoma when they saw something really strange. A human figure emerged from the woods. It caught them off guard for a second because it was a remote area and this was late at night. And then the person started running at an incredible rate of speed. As the helicopter got closer and closer, they could tell it was a man. But the man appeared to have no clothes on, be tall, fairly thin build, and then he zigzagged in and out of the rocks and disappeared in the darkness. The great outdoors is a place of enjoyment, peace, and solitude. But at times, the outdoors experience goes dark. Increasingly, outdoors are a place of peace. Increasingly, outdoors are a place of peace. Increasingly, outdoors are a place of peace. Increasingly, outdoors are a place of peace. Increasingly, outdoors are a place of peace. Increasingly, outdoors are a place of peace. 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Increasingly, outdoors are a place of peace. from human habitation what's going on I don't know but there is some weird stuff from thermal helicopter cameras, mysterious naked men running out of the woods, pieces of arrows. And three of these reports are from Oklahoma. And this other one that I have is from my area in Southeast Texas. Didn't see anybody, but saw some footprints that were definitely human in an area that I can't imagine someone coming out of their house, taking their shoes off and attempting to walk through that. You would be shredded. It's just mind blowing to me. So these are some of the things that I have been investigating because I think the feral human issue has basically been hijacked into something it may not be. You have the one major report that everyone sort of bases all the feral human stuff off of. And that's the Dennis Martin case from the Great Smoking Mountains in 1969 of his disappearance. And there was a strange encounter with that. And if you look at a lot of these YouTube reels and this TikTok stuff and all of this, a lot of them will mention that. But I don't hear a lot of concrete, this person saw this, this person. I don't even hear secondhand where someone says, hey, my dad finally confessed he saw this and didn't want to tell anybody because they think he was crazy or whatever. You don't even really have that in a lot of these cases. It's one of the reasons I'm investigating. And trying to expand the boundaries of what this idea of feral humans could be. And I think there is something with the growing homeless culture in America and it's growing everywhere. I never had homeless when I was a kid. You'd see people under the overpasses sometimes where I live in Orange, Texas, but now it's everywhere. And there is a homeless encampment, a small one that's in the woods about three quarters of a mile, my property where I'm sitting and recording this right now. So we have to go into the danger side of this. Look, if someone is drugged out enough to walk through briars and live in that stuff barefooted, there is a very good chance they may be willing to hurt you. Now, look, I'm a follower of Christ. I want people to be helped. I have compassion for people that are going through stuff. But this podcast is about raising awareness and shining a light into the dark outdoors. And I think we have to look at that. And I think we have to look at that. And I think we have to look at this from a whole other angle, because on the surface, just what feral humans have been talked about as it's talked about the Smoky Mountains doesn't have much evidence. But if you start expanding the boundaries of what feral humans could be and look at some of these other things like the tribal aspect, like the drug culture, the homeless culture, you get into some different stuff. Things are changing out there. And I think we have to look at that. And I think we have to during the pandemic, there was a major increase in camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, all of that stuff, kayaking, any outdoors activity. It's come down some since the pandemic, but it's still above what it was, no doubt about it. But in comparison to what people's activities were in the woods 30 years ago, 50 years ago, especially 75, 100 years ago, there are far fewer people in the woods, especially going into deep woods than ever. And I'm going to give an anecdote around the area that I grew up. Okay. My neighborhood is full of kids and it was full of kids. I live in the same neighborhood that I grew up in as a kid. Now I moved back into that neighborhood and we were always out in the woods. Well, there's one set of woods that I haven't really been in since I was a kid. We were always out there. We were always out there hunting. We were playing war out there. I went out there in a neighborhood full of kids and did not find one sign of a human being. I went out there and I found one sign of a human being. I went out there and I found one sign of a human ever being in this set of woods right by my house. So there are things that people see and people don't see. And something I think is very important when looking at the idea of people living off grid, whether it's some kind of strange event where a family went off grid and they're kind of like this crazy inbred family like we saw in that one X-Files episode. They lived in a house, but you know what I mean? Or it's primitive native people that have like the code somehow or this homeless culture, drug culture thing. No matter what it is, people will fly under the radar. For the most part, people don't report sightings of seeing someone they think is a vagrant or something like that in the area. They'll just stay away because they might think, oh my God, that person's on meth or whatever. I think that lets some of this go under the radar. And for the most part, we don't see that. We don't see that. We don't see that. We don't want to talk about these things in America. So it's a very interesting topic. But these are some of the things that I've investigated personally, spoken with people, put some boots on the ground looking for. And I think we need to expand the feral human search and expand the boundaries of what we're looking at. And I think we need to expand the boundaries of what we're looking at. And I think we need to expand the boundaries of what we're looking at. And I think we need to expand the boundaries of what we're looking at. And I think we need to expand the boundaries of what we're looking at. Helping protect wildlife and wild places around the world. Based in Missoula, Montana, Working Dogs for Conservation has worked throughout the U.S. and internationally with their dogs, helping to find rare and endangered species, stop invasive plants and animals, detect wildlife disease, and even help combat poaching and wildlife trafficking. These incredible dogs don't just get a second chance. They're helping solve some of the toughest conservation challenges. To learn more and support their mission to save dogs and the planet, visit WD4C.org. That's WD4C.org. Thanks for listening to Dark Outdoors. If you would like to share your dark outdoor story, email Chester at ChesterMoore.com. That's Chester at ChesterMoore.com. Follow me on Instagram at TheChesterMoore. Read the blog at HigherCalling.net. And remember, before you enter the wild, do what I do. Pray, prepare, and pack heat.
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