Deep in the Brazilian Amazon, something huge, red-haired, and reeking of death still walks on backward feet. Locals call it the Mapinguari: one eye, impenetrable skin, and a screaming vertical mouth in its stomach. First written about in 1542, it has terrified people ever since (hunters, rubber tappers, miners, even indigenous elders who say it was once a shaman cursed for revealing forbidden knowledge). Bullets don’t kill it. Only fire and deep water keep it away. Tonight we bring you the clearest sightings, the scariest recordings, and the chilling indigenous origin story no one outside Acre has ever heard.

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Announcements: Mitch is launching a new podcast "The Gamers Council" soon to be available everywhere you get podcasts

Sources:

Historical / Early Written Sources

1. Pero de Magalhães Gandavo – História da Província Santa Cruz (1576) – first European use of “mapinguari”
2. João Daniel – Tesouro Descoberto no Máximo Rio Amazonas (written 1757–1776, published 1975) – earliest detailed Jesuit description
3. Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira – Viagem Filosófica pelas Capitanias do Grão-Pará… (1783–1792, published excerpts 1971–1974) – first scientific expedition mention

1. Terri Vale de Aquino – “O Mapinguari: um estudo etnográfico entre os Kaxinawá” (Master’s thesis, Universidade Federal do Acre, 1995)
2. Angelika Gebhart-Sayer – “The Cosmos Encoiled: Indian Cosmos and Shamanic Transformations among the Kaxinawá” (in Shamanism, History and the State, 1996)
3. Elsje Lagrou – A Fluidez da Forma (2007) – chapter on the Mapinguari as transformed shaman

1. David C. Oren – various articles:
   • “Did Ground Sloths Survive to the Present?” Cryptozoology 12 (1993)
   • Interview in Veja magazine (June 17, 1998)
   • “O Mapinguari” in Revista do Museu Goeldi (1994–2000 internal reports)
2. Glenn Shepard Jr. – “Sloth Man: The Mapinguari and the Giant Ground Sloth Hypothesis” (blog post & academic talks, 2001–2010)

1. Stefano Varese – Salt of the Mountain: Campa Cosmology (on Boraro in Peru/Colombia, 2002)
2. Fernando Santos-Granero – “The Enemy Within: Cannibals and Sorcerers in the Amazon” (on Boraro and similar beings, 2009)
3. Peter Rivière – Individual and Society in Guiana (1984) – on Didiman/Yurokon in the Guianas

1. Cândido, M. – Na Planície Amazônica (1997) – classic collection of caboclo testimonies
2. Bruce Means & David Oren – chapters in Lost Animals (2020) – short, accessible summary with sources

Explore dragons in folklore—from Mesopotamian origins like Tiamat to Chinese rain dragons and European hoarders. They cover common traits across cultures, vulnerabilities like soft spots and tricks, historical sightings involving Alexander the Great and Mount Pilatus, and how many tales symbolize draining swamps to fight malaria. Plus, why dragon fossils haven't been found (hint: not thin bones). Listen for myths, history, and facts.

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Sources:

Core/Very Common Traits

• Slavic: Russian byliny.
• Greek: Hesiod's Theogony (700 BCE, Hydra/Typhon/Ladon).
• Indian: Rigveda (1500–1200 BCE, nāgas).
• Japanese: Kojiki/Nihon Shoki (712–720 CE, Yamata-no-Orochi).
• Norse: Völsunga Saga (13th cent., Fáfnir).
• Chinese: Shanhaijing (4th–1st cent. BCE, dragon kings).

Mesopotamia (Earliest Dragon-Like)

• Tiamat: Enūma Eliš (1800–1100 BCE); cylinder seals (2500 BCE).
• Mušḫuššu: Sumerian texts (2300 BCE); Ishtar Gate (604–562 BCE).

Earliest "Dragon" Word

• Tunnanu: Ugarit tablets (14th cent. BCE).

Chinese Lóng

• Proto: Hongshan jade artifacts (4500–3000 BCE).
• Full: Shang oracle bones (1200 BCE).

European Drakōn

• Da-ra-ko: Linear B tablet KN V 52 (1250 BCE).
• Myths: Homer's Iliad (750 BCE); Hesiod's Theogony (700 BCE).

Indian Nāga

• Vritra: Rigveda (1500–1200 BCE).

Americas Feathered Serpent

• Proto-Quetzalcoatl: Olmec La Venta Monument 19 (900 BCE).

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities

• St. George: Golden Legend (1260 CE).
• Sigurd/Fáfnir: Völsunga Saga.
• Beowulf: Beowulf MS (1000 CE).
• Hydra: Hesiod/Ovid.
• Zmey Gorynych: Byliny (12th–16th cent.).
• Knucker: Sussex folklore (1614).
• Yamata-no-Orochi: Kojiki.
• Lambton Worm: Durham ballads (1400 CE).

Famous Encounters

• Alexander's Serpent (325 BCE): Aristotle's Meteorologica (340 BCE); Onesicritus (quoted); Strabo's Geography Bk 15 (20 AD); Pliny's Natural History 8.36 (77 AD); Arrian's Anabasis (2nd cent. AD).
• Mount Pilatus (1421): Von Wattenwyl testimony (1422, Lucerne Archives Nr. 221); later reports (1499/1619).
• Brienzersee (1934): Swiss newspapers (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Basler Nachrichten); Federal Police file; Air Force historian (1984).

Malaria Theory

• Wawel Dragon: 13th-cent. Polish chronicle.
• St. Mercurialis: Giovanni Villani's chronicle (14th cent.).
• Tarasp Dragon: Graubünden folklore.
• Context: Comparative history (e.g., Winegard's The Mosquito, 2019).

Thin Bones/Paleontology

• Examples: Pterosaurs (1,200+ specs, e.g., Quetzalcoatlus); Archaeopteryx (Solnhofen); Microraptor/Velociraptor (Liaoning); Sauropods/mosasaurs/plesiosaurs (global); Sarcosuchus/Deinosuchus (Cretaceous); Protoceratops (Gobi); Karoo Basin (300,000+ specs).
• General: Paleontology texts (e.g., Benton/Mayor).

The Hat Man (Internet) and Draugr (Iceland)

“The Hat Man”

Paranormal investigator Mara Ellison tracks a global wave of identical sleep-paralysis nightmares: a tall, featureless man in a wide-brimmed hat who silently watches victims, radiating pure evil.She calls it internet folklore—until he appears on her own camera in an empty asylum. Now people are dying of sheer terror, and once you learn his name, he learns yours.

He’s already standing behind you.

Draugr

Not ghosts. Not zombies.

A corpse that swells monstrous in the grave, turns blue-black with death-bloat, and rises heavier than any living man could lift. Greedy, hateful, tireless. It guards its hoard with crushed bones and broken necks, rides rooftops until the beams explode, and drives whole valleys mad with terror. Normal weapons glance off it. Fire is slow. And some refuse even ash. In this episode we meet the worst of them: a dead man so stubborn that the living have only one weapon left: the law itself.

One courtroom. One doorway. One final judgment for the restless dead.

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Sources:

• Book: The Secret War by Heidi Hollis (2008) Popularized the "Hat Man" as a demonic entity; draws from radio show reports and early online sightings.
• Book: Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us by Jason Offutt (2009) Collects eyewitness accounts of shadow figures, including Hat Man encounters tied to sleep paralysis.
• Book: Sleep Paralysis: What It Is and How to Stop It by Chris White (2015) Scientific guide with personal stories; debunks supernatural claims while offering prevention tips.
• Documentary: The Nightmare (2015, dir. Rodney Ascher) Explores sleep paralysis hallucinations through interviews and reenactments, featuring shadow intruders.
• Article: "Who is the Hat Man? ‘Shadow people’ and sleep paralysis" (The Week, 2025) Overview of global reports, folklore roots, and the role of online forums like The Hatman Project.
• Article: "Have You Seen 'The Hatman'?" (IFLScience, 2025) Examines cultural influences on hallucinations and consistency in descriptions.
• Primary source Eyrbyggja saga, chapters 30–34 & 51–55 (the entire Þórólfr bægifótr and Fróðá haunting episodes) – Best modern English translations:
  • The Saga of the People of Eyrr (Penguin Classics, 1989, tr. Judy Quinn & Kate Heslop)
  • Eyrbyggja Saga (Penguin Classics, 1972/1989, tr. Hermann Pálsson & Paul Edwards)
• Old Norse text (for reference) Eyrbyggja saga, ed. Einar Ól. Sveinsson & Matthías Þórðarson, Íslenzk fornrit IV (1935) – available free on heimskringla.no and snerpa.is
• Supporting medieval references to draugr and door-court
  • Landnámabók (Sturlubók & Hauksbók redactions) – mentions re-burying walking corpses
  • Grágás (Konungsbók) – early Icelandic laws on dealing with “aptrgǫngumenn” (revenants)
  • Grettis saga, ch. 35 (for comparison of draugr traits)
  • Hilda Roderick Ellis, The Road to Hel (1943) – classic study of Norse undead
  • John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (2001)
  • Ármann Jakobsson, “The Fear of the Dead in the Íslendingasögur” (in Trolls and Revenants, 2012)

Roswell wasn’t the first.

Dive into six jaw-dropping, rarely-told encounters from 1904–1954:

• U.S. Navy officers tracking glowing red orbs years before airplanes existed
• Mystery airships terrorizing New Zealand in 1909
• A 1941 Missouri crash with bodies… six years before Roswell
• A UFO downing just miles from the first atomic bomb test
• A French worker paralyzed by a landed craft and its pilots
• 10,000 soccer fans watching discs rain “angel hair” over an Italian stadium

These are documented, multi-witness events the history books conveniently forgot.

If these are real, “they” were here long before 1947.

Hit play and have your UFO timeline rewritten in under 90 minutes. 🛸

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Sources:

• Monthly Weather Review (Mar 1904)
• NICAP report: nicap.org/040228pacific_dir.htm
• UFO Evidence: ufoevidence.org/cases/case640.htm

• Papers Past (1909 NZ newspapers): paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
• Tony Brunt article: hauntedauckland.com/site/the-new-zealand-ufo-wave-of-1909-by-tony-brunt1967
• Ufocus NZ: ufocusnz.org.nz/2020/07/22/the-1909-kelso-airships-of-new-zealand

• “MO41: The Bombshell Before Roswell” – Paul Blake Smith (2015)
• KFVS12 (2021): kfvs12.com/2021/05/26/alleged-ufo-crash-cape-girardeau-area
• Leo Stringfield “UFO Crash/Retrievals” (1991)

• “Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret” – Vallée & Harris (2021)
• NYT (2023): nytimes.com/2023/01/13/us/ufo-new-mexico-congress.html
• 8 News Now series: 8newsnow.com/investigators/breakdown-of-the-history-of-alleged-ufo-crashes

• Patrick Gross file: ufologie.patrickgross.org/1954/10sep1954quarouble.htm
• Aimé Michel “Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery” (1958)
• Vallée “Passport to Magonia” case #197

• BBC (2014): bbc.com/news/magazine-29342407
• The Florentine (2025): theflorentine.net/2025/10/22/ufos-1954
• La Nazione / Corriere della Sera archives (Oct 1954)

Venture into the misty moors of East Anglia, where a legendary black dog has haunted the night for centuries. In this spine-tingling episode of Yeti To Rumble, we uncover Black Shuck – the glowing-eyed hellhound that's both a death omen and surprising protector.

Explore the 1577 church attacks with lasting scorch marks, the heroic Littleport tale of saving a girl from danger, medieval Wild Hunts, modern sightings, and influences on Hound of the Baskervilles and Harry Potter's Grim.

Demon or guardian? Hosts Mitch and Russell dig into lore, digs, and eerie accounts that keep the legend alive.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your fave platform. Drops Wednesdays– subscribe and rumble!

Episode Sponsor: Top Squatch topsquatch.com use code FREEYETI for free shipping!

Sources:

• Wikipedia - Black Shuck: A comprehensive overview of the ghostly black dog roaming East Anglia's coastline and countryside.
• Discovery UK - Black Shuck: The Devil Dog of English Folklore: Details the legend's prominence, including the 1577 incidents in Bungay and Blythburgh.
• The Suffolk Coast - The Legend of the Bungay Black Dog: Focuses on the 1577 church attack and the dog's role in Suffolk folklore.
• Facebook Group - Norfolk History, Tales, Myths (Post on Black Dogs and Shuck): Community discussion on East Anglian tales of the immense hell-hound.
• The Shoebox - The Black Shuck and The Black Dogs of Norfolk: Describes sightings of the huge, burning-eyed dog in rural Norfolk.
• Terrible Tours - Black Shuck: Cambridge's Demon Dog That Inspired Sherlock: Explores the legend's influence on literature like The Hound of the Baskervilles.
• Tetrapod Zoology - Legend of the Black Dog: Covers Abraham Fleming's 1577 booklet and related stories.
• Reddit - r/Ghosts: The Black Shuck of Norfolk: User-shared legend tying it to Viking and Saxon Wild Hunt beliefs.
• Folklore Thursday - Black Shuck: Proof of Existence Finally Found?: Discusses the 2014 archaeological find of a large dog skeleton in Suffolk.
• BBC News - The Terrifying Story of the 'Hell Hound': Accounts of ferocious black dogs with glowing eyes attacking churches.

#BlackShuck #PhantomDog #CryptidLegends #YetiToRumble @YetiToRumble #paranormal #uap #cyptids #bigfoot #supernatural

Skinwalker Encounters Continued: Grandmothers who whisper “Yenaldlooshi is watching,” dogs that move like rocking horses, and coyotes that keep pace with a pickup—on two legs. In this follow-up deep dive on skinwalkers (Navajo: yee naaldlooshii), we share eight more first-hand encounters from Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and the reservation backcountry. From a grandmother’s lifelong fear and a great-dane-sized black dog with burning yellow eyes, to midnight footsteps on the roof and a medicine man’s blessing, these accounts trace a pattern of dread: intelligent watchers, impossible speed, and that chilling moment when an “animal” seems to know you’ve recognized what it really is.

This episode is brought you by Top Squatch use code FREEYETI for free shipping on all orders www.topsquatch

Sources: see previous episode description

Skinwalkers: — This episode steps carefully into a topic rooted in Navajo (Diné) teachings and often kept private. We outline what “skinwalker” commonly means versus the Diné concept of yee naaldlooshii—a harmful witch opposed to medicine and healing—then explore why this subject isn’t casually discussed with outsiders. From there, we trace how roadside lore and pop-culture touchstones like Skinwalker Ranch grew around the core idea, and we share a slate of eerie modern accounts: the “bulletproof” wolf, a midnight chase near Gallup, a farm besieged by mimics, a hitchhiker with the wrong smile, suburban shadows in New York, and a backcountry voice that sounds a little too familiar. Along the way, we emphasize respect for living communities and sacred lands, note protective traditions at a high level, and add historical context like the 1878 Navajo Witch Purge. Curiosity is welcome; care is required.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin-walker
• https://www.legendsofamerica.com/navajo-skinwalkers/
• https://www.legendsofamerica.com/navajo-skinwalkers/
• https://skepticalinquirer.org/newsletter/skinwalkers/
• https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/navajo-skinwalker-legend-gains-massive-192501080.html?guccounter=1
• https://www.skinwalkerranch.com/
• https://www.ksl.com/article/50955342/sightings-and-reports-of-skinwalkers-in-utah-throughout-the-years
• https://cvltnation.com/12-people-tell-their-terrifying-encounters-with-navajo-skinwalkers/
• https://www.darkstories.org/post/skin-walker-encounters-13491032
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk1AkbS9f1c
• https://x.com/KiingDaave2/status/1982534387737477185?referrer=grok-com
• https://www.wattpad.com/244925288-scary-stories-skinwalker

Lord of the forest: Step into the old-growth hush where paths rearrange themselves and the woods feel…aware. In this solo episode, Russell explores the Leshy—the shapeshifting master of Slavic forests who can guide respectful travelers or bewilder the arrogant. You’ll hear how hunters and herders once bargained for safe passage, why mimicry and lost time are classic calling cards, and the curious counter-charms (inside-out clothes, backward steps) people still swear by. We connect folklore to real ecology—how a spirit story can double as a rulebook for not being a jerk to the forest—and touch on modern claimed encounters that keep the legend breathing. Pack a little humility, mind the trail, and meet the landlord of the green world.

Shoutout to TopSquatch.com for their awesome designs and apparel!

Sources:

• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Wikipedia, “Leshy” (for names/variants, shapeshifting, family terms, calendrical customs; cross-checked where possible). Wikipedia+1
• PBS/Monstrum, “Leshy — The Slavic Lord of the Forest.” (overview of traits and dual role). Described and Captioned Media Program
• Linda J. Ivanits, Russian Folk Belief (context for lower mythology and memorate genres; used here as background). Taylor & Francis+1
• ThoughtCo, “Leshy, Slavic Spirit of the Forest.” (accessible summary; corroborates trickster qualities and protective role). ThoughtCo
• Mae Clair blog post compiling common motifs (inside-out clothing counter-charm; included as a popular retelling, not a primary source). From the Pen of Mae Clair