Aloha Tide Riders and welcome to the first installment of a brand-new saga on New School Classic Cryptids. In this jam-packed episode of Strange Tides, we head deep into the tangled forests, icy mountain passes, and fog-shrouded folklore of the world’s most enduring mystery primates—Bigfoot and his global cousins. From the towering redwoods of the Pacific Northwest to the snowy slopes of the Himalayas, humans have been reporting sightings of large, hairy, human-like creatures for centuries. But are these beings all part of the same phenomenon… or do they represent something much more complex?

We kick things off with a dive into North America’s big celebrity cryptid: Bigfoot—also known as Sasquatch. We’ll walk through the timeline of sightings, famous evidence like the Patterson-Gimlin Film, and behavioral patterns researchers say point to Bigfoot being more than just legend. Then we trek across the globe to explore the icy lore of the Yeti, the elusive creature said to haunt the Himalayas. Is it just a bear… or something far stranger?

Next, we head south to the dense jungles of Sumatra to look at the smaller but no less fascinating Orang Pendek, a pint-sized primate cryptid that might actually be one of the most plausible candidates for a real, undiscovered hominid. And if you’ve ever wondered whether any of these sightings could be tied to Gigantopithecus—a real, giant ape that went extinct (or did it?)—we’ve got you covered there, too.

As always, we bring the classic Strange Tides balance of folklore, science, and speculation. We’ll unpack possible biological explanations, dive into the cultural roots of these stories, and of course, take a stroll through the Tinfoil Teepee to explore wilder theories involving interdimensional portals, the possibility of fantastic beasts and where to find them, as well as Hollow Earth guardians. Yes, really.

So grab your trail mix and night vision goggles—this one’s a trek through some of the deepest, hairiest mysteries on Earth.

Links:

The Wilderness Hunter by Teddy Roosevelt -

https://archive.org/details/wildernesshunter04roos

Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance by Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury -

https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=39421

Among the Himalayas by Lawrence Waddell -

https://archive.org/details/himalayas00waddamongrich

The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz -

https://archive.org/details/longwalk0000rawi

Aloha Tide Riders, we've reached the end of yet another awesome set here on Strange Tides. In the climactic finale of our Old School Classic Cryptid Saga, we’re turning up the heat and diving headfirst into one of the most iconic and enduring mythical creatures of all time—dragons. These legendary beasts have appeared in cultures all around the world, each with their own twist on what it means to encounter the ultimate apex predator of folklore. But dragons aren’t just about fantasy and fairy tales—beneath the scales and smoke lies a fascinating mix of ancient symbolism, cultural meaning, and, yes, even modern mystery.

We begin our journey in Asia, where dragons are revered as divine, powerful beings tied to water, weather, and imperial authority. From the Chinese Lung to the Japanese Ryū, these creatures represent balance, strength, and cosmic harmony. Their presence in ancient festivals, royal symbolism, and celestial lore paints a very different picture from the fire-breathing monsters we’re used to in the West.

From there, we travel to Europe, where dragons guard hoards, burn villages, and get slain by knights in shining armor. But where did these ideas come from? We’ll explore how medieval bestiaries, Christian symbolism, and Norse myth shaped the terrifying reptilian archetype that still influences fantasy fiction today.

Next, we head to South America, where sky serpents like Quetzalcoatl and Amaru blur the line between god, serpent, and dragon. These beings were tied to the heavens, fertility, knowledge, and even the dawn of civilization. Their lore echoes across Andean and Mesoamerican cultures, leaving behind a trail of temples, legends, and living traditions.

But this episode isn’t just about ancient history—we’re also digging into modern-day dragon sightings. From high-altitude sky serpents reported in the American Southwest to strange, winged forms seen in remote mountain ranges or caught on blurry camera footage, there are still people today who claim to have seen something big, winged, and very not extinct. Are these genuine cryptid encounters, misidentified animals, or just the human imagination doing its thing?

And finally, we wrap things up in the one and only Tinfoil Teepee, where no theory is too wild and no explanation too out-there. Could dragons be ancient memories passed down through genetic folklore? Surviving relics of a forgotten prehistoric species? Interdimensional visitors mistaken for myth? Or maybe, just maybe, they’re real in ways we haven’t figured out yet.

So light a torch, polish your shield (or telescope), and join us for this globe-trotting, timeline-hopping, fire-breathing exploration into the myth, mystery, and modern mythos of dragons.

Links:

https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/snallygaster-0010491

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snallygaster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eepCr9QDYEI

https://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2023/03/cryptid-dragon-observed-flying-over.htmlDragon sighting over Farnworth (youtube.com)https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2867849-dragons

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31291927

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/314215/american-monsters-by-linda-s-godfrey/

Aloha Tide Riders and lo siento for this message. My computer crashed this week and I lost a ton of data, including pretty much everything I needed to get the new episode out on time. But that being said, no worries 'cause my computer's in the shop and I'm working on a back-up to hopefully give you dudes and dudettes out there a double dose of the Tides next week, so stay tuned. I'll be up and running at full force again ASAP. Until then, thanks for sticking around and I'll talk to all y'all soon.

Ryan