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Expedition X - Season 11 - Episode 02: Atomic Ape Cat
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00:00Whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:00What do you mean, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa?
00:01Look, there's a warm spot.
00:03That means that something was here.
00:05I think this thing is close.
00:08Whoa.
00:08What?
00:09What?
00:10Holy.
00:12On this episode of Expedition X,
00:16my team investigates reports of a horrifying hybrid creature
00:20stalking the woods of Washington.
00:23Oh, my God.
00:24That looks big.
00:25Witnesses describe a monstrous black cat
00:28that, shockingly, has the face of an ape.
00:32This thing is an apex predator built for stealth.
00:36Ooh.
00:37I just saw eyeshine over there.
00:40Some whisper this could be a top-secret government experiment gone wrong.
00:44Could an animal have escaped that resulted in this thing
00:48that people call the ape cat?
00:49Absolutely, I could have.
00:50Look, down here.
00:51Heather and Phil will prowl for proof
00:54as they attempt to track the atomic ape cat.
00:57Well, we want answers,
00:59but I don't want to be dragging you out of the woods in a body bag.
01:02Oh, no!
01:04Oh, no!
01:06Oh, no!
01:06Oh, no!
01:08Oh, no!
01:24It sounds riveting, Phil.
01:25Maybe next week we should investigate my kid's goldfish.
01:28It's funny.
01:29No, seriously.
01:30It's been acting fishy.
01:31No!
01:32So, listen, this is no ordinary cat.
01:34And by backyard, I mean the millions of acres of Washington wilderness,
01:38more specifically the Columbia River Gorge.
01:41Volcanic mountains, raging rivers, dense forests.
01:44And, you know, if I'm a secret monster,
01:46that's definitely where I'm making my home.
01:47And apparently this cat is just as extraordinary as its habitat.
01:52It is large.
01:53Unlike any known species,
01:54there have been hundreds of terrifying encounters.
01:57And strangest of all, people who see it,
01:59some of them say it looks half feline, half simian,
02:03so they call it the ape cat.
02:04The ape cat.
02:06I have to say this is one of those great cryptid stories
02:08that I have never investigated myself.
02:11A monster cat with the face of an ape.
02:14Some people say it was cooked up in a top-secret government lab
02:18or that it's been wandering in this gorge for centuries.
02:21Any way you cut it, this story is wild.
02:29More than 80 miles long,
02:31the Columbia River Gorge is a natural border
02:33between Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest.
02:39The gorge was formed
02:41when saber-toothed tigers still ruled the region.
02:45Although those fearsomely fanged ancestors are long extinct,
02:50there's evidence that monstrous cats may have never left.
02:53A 3,000-year-old petroglyph on a gorge canyon wall
02:57depicts a giant cat-like figure.
03:00In the 19th century,
03:02the earliest colonists in the region
03:04write about a huge beast prowling the forests.
03:07A century later, in the 1960s,
03:10reports of a ferocious jet-black feline
03:13become disturbingly frequent.
03:15However, the only known big cats in the area
03:18are cougars,
03:19which do not have a gene
03:20that can produce an all-black coat.
03:23As the mysterious sightings continue,
03:26locals whisper that sinister animal experiments
03:29at a nearby, top-secret government facility
03:32called the Hanford Site may be to blame.
03:36For decades, it produces plutonium
03:38for the U.S. nuclear weapons program,
03:40but residents suspect
03:42it's also conducting grotesque experiments,
03:45leading to escaped mutant test subjects.
03:49In the 1990s,
03:51reports of the pitch-black cat
03:53take a truly terrifying turn.
03:55Witnesses describe the beast
03:57as standing five feet tall
03:59with a nightmarish, ape-like face.
04:04Today, encounters with the so-called ape cat
04:06are still surging,
04:08alongside horrifying reports
04:10of mutilated livestock.
04:12Many believe this strange creature
04:14possesses an uncanny intelligence.
04:16A seasoned hunter insists
04:18the monstrosity deliberately lured him
04:20into a trap
04:21from which he barely escaped.
04:24Is the ape cat an undiscovered ancient animal,
04:27or could it be some kind of mutant feline?
04:30With no easy answers,
04:32officials fear the gorge
04:34is no longer home to a legend,
04:36but instead hosts a very real
04:38and vicious predator,
04:40stalking humans from the shadows.
04:48So, listen,
04:50I think there could be something
04:51really interesting here.
04:52Some sort of undiscovered monster cat
04:55on the prowl.
04:55And, for the record,
04:57we had success in England,
04:58finding evidence
04:59of a previously undocumented
05:01big cat out there.
05:02But, I gotta say,
05:03the whole ape-face thing
05:05sounds bananas.
05:07Well played, Phil.
05:08Skeptical and funny.
05:09Heather, what say you?
05:10Well, I'm thinking
05:11if it is that monster
05:12in those petroglyphs,
05:13then it has to be dang smart
05:16to win at hide-and-seek
05:17for centuries.
05:18You know what that means?
05:19Bigger brain, bigger threat.
05:20Well, whether it's related or not,
05:22cougar attacks in the area
05:23have been on the rise
05:25with someone being killed
05:25just a few years ago.
05:26But the bottom line here is
05:28the locals are asking for our help.
05:30I think we need to get there
05:32and figure out what's going on.
05:33Absolutely.
05:34Let's get into it.
05:35And while the two of you
05:36start looking for the creature,
05:37I'm gonna dig into these reports
05:38surrounding this top-secret
05:40Hanford government base
05:41where some say
05:42this thing originated.
05:43Let's see if there really is
05:44a cat to let out
05:45of the proverbial bag.
05:47Happy hunting.
05:47We're on it.
05:48Next week, the goldfish.
05:51It's a six-hour flight
05:52from New York
05:53to Portland, Oregon.
05:54Phil and Heather
05:55then cross into Washington
05:57and spend another hour
05:58and a half driving deep
05:59into the Columbia River Gorge,
06:02averaging one majestic waterfall
06:04every two and a half minutes.
06:06All right, Heather.
06:07Welcome to my home state.
06:09It's so exciting.
06:10I've never been here.
06:11You've never been here?
06:12No, I've never been
06:13to the Pacific Northwest.
06:14I did not know that.
06:15It's crazy beautiful.
06:16It is crazy beautiful.
06:18I mean, take a look around.
06:20This is why I moved here.
06:22It is green all year round.
06:26All right.
06:27I think this is James' spot
06:28right up here.
06:29Okay.
06:36Hey, James.
06:38Hey, good to see you.
06:39Good to see you.
06:40We're meeting with James Shupski,
06:42a local whose terrifying encounter
06:44with a monstrous creature
06:46in the woods
06:46inspired him to seek out stories
06:48similar to his own.
06:50You think you have seen an ape cat.
06:53That's right.
06:54It was about four years ago.
06:56I was in the East Gorge
06:58hiking above a lake.
07:00And I saw something large
07:01and dark swimming in the water.
07:06It was at least 10 feet long
07:08and all black.
07:10You know, there's not a lot
07:11of creatures around here
07:12that are that big.
07:13I couldn't figure out what it was.
07:15You know, we do have
07:16a lot of black bear.
07:17Of course, you know,
07:18black bear don't have a tail.
07:19And this thing that I saw,
07:21it had a tail, a long tail.
07:24The next option would have been a cougar,
07:26but there are no such thing
07:27as black cougars.
07:29And they're not that big.
07:31I probably watched the thing
07:32for 20 minutes in total.
07:35And I took my attention off it.
07:36And when I got to another vantage
07:38where I could see the lake again,
07:39it was gone.
07:42What were you thinking at that time?
07:44I was shocked to think
07:46that there's a creature
07:47out here in these woods
07:48that we don't know what it is
07:49and it's that large.
07:51It was a little disconcerting,
07:52I'll be honest with you.
07:53When did you connect
07:54your sighting to the ape cat?
07:56My wife and I own an outdoor store.
07:57And one night,
07:58a guy came in
07:59and told me a story
08:00that really kind of blew me away.
08:03He was up near
08:04the White Salmon River,
08:05one of the major rivers here.
08:07He saw this enormous cat.
08:10And he described it
08:11as having black fur
08:13and a long tail.
08:15And then he said,
08:16you know, James,
08:17the strangest thing
08:19was that it had a face
08:20that looked like a monkey.
08:22And I had no idea
08:25like how genetically
08:26a cat and a monkey
08:28be combined into a thing.
08:29But it seemed like
08:30he was very genuine and credible.
08:32And I really wanted to understand
08:33what this thing was.
08:35So I started asking around.
08:36I put up flyers,
08:37we put out radio ads,
08:38and now we have over
08:40130 reports of the cat.
08:42Wow.
08:43Yeah.
08:44So considering all the reports
08:45you've heard,
08:46where do you think
08:47we should focus our efforts?
08:48You got that map
08:49I sent you, right?
08:50Yes.
08:50And get out.
08:54Okay.
08:55So I created this map
08:56based on all the reports
08:57that I got.
08:58And these icons,
08:59each of these represents
09:00a credible sighting.
09:02That's correct.
09:03That's a ton.
09:04I know.
09:05And do you see how
09:05they're clustered
09:06along the waterways?
09:07Yeah.
09:07It seems like
09:08they're using the waterways
09:09as their sort of transit system.
09:11So that's really
09:12where I would start.
09:13Right along the White Salmon River
09:14and right along
09:15Panther Creek Falls area.
09:17Well, thank you.
09:17This is incredibly useful data for us.
09:20Any advice for us
09:21as we go looking for this thing?
09:22This thing is an apex predator
09:24built for stealth
09:25and it's going to see you
09:27before you see it.
09:28Before you head out,
09:29there's one more person
09:30you got to talk to.
09:31Who?
09:32The sheriff.
09:34You bet.
09:34All right, James.
09:35Appreciate it.
09:36Never wanting to keep the law waiting,
09:39Heather and I head into town
09:40for our summons
09:41at the Skamania County Courthouse.
09:43Hi, Sheriff.
09:44Hi.
09:45I'm Phil.
09:45Hi.
09:46Nice to meet you.
09:47Sheriff Summer Shire
09:48oversees search and rescue operations
09:50throughout the Columbia River Gorge region
09:52and has chilling reports to share
09:54from deep in the wilderness.
09:57There's something out in these woods
09:58that might be dangerous for our community.
10:00I want that identified
10:01and that's why you are here.
10:03Okay.
10:04We'll do our best.
10:05We've heard a lot of stories,
10:06but from you,
10:07we want the facts.
10:09What's going on out there?
10:10I have heard reports
10:12of this ape cat.
10:14I've been very skeptical of it.
10:16However,
10:17one of my deputies came to me
10:19and said,
10:20I've seen something similar to ape cat.
10:22One of your deputies has seen it.
10:24Yes.
10:25He was out hunting
10:27and he saw a very large black cat
10:31walking across the field.
10:33He's very well versed in the outdoors.
10:35He knows what's indigenous to the area.
10:38He said he's never seen anything like it before
10:41and could not figure out
10:43why he saw what he saw.
10:45Wow.
10:46I wasn't expecting that answer from you.
10:48You're telling me
10:48this could really be out there.
10:50Absolutely.
10:53Beyond the ape cat,
10:55there are a lot of hazards
10:56and dangers out there.
10:57In fact, last year,
10:58two gentlemen were about 30 miles away from here
11:01and died in the woods
11:03looking for cryptids.
11:07And that's my team
11:08that has to bring those bodies out.
11:10So we want answers,
11:11but I don't want to be dragging you
11:13out of the woods in a body bag.
11:16We don't want that either.
11:17No.
11:18We'll be careful
11:18and we'll let you know
11:19what we find out there.
11:20Excellent.
11:21All right.
11:21Thank you, Sheriff.
11:22Great to meet you.
11:23Great to meet you.
11:24Lovely.
11:24Great to meet you.
11:24Good luck.
11:25Thanks.
11:27Heeding the Sheriff's warning,
11:28Heather and I prepare to set out
11:30for the rugged terrain
11:31of what some say
11:32is Ape Cat Country.
11:34James' map points us
11:36to two hotspots.
11:37We'll tackle Little White Salmon River first,
11:40navigating a three-mile stretch,
11:42placing trail cams along the way.
11:44Then we'll hike up
11:45to Panther Creek Falls,
11:46which has the highest concentration
11:48of supposed sightings.
11:50Little White Salmon River
11:51has some seriously tough white water
11:53to navigate.
11:54Let's hit the water.
11:56So we enlist a local guide
11:57to help us ride the rapids.
12:02Heather, I'm at your pace.
12:09So you see a lot of coogies out here?
12:11We sure got them out here.
12:13They're here.
12:14There's a reason they call it
12:16Panther Creek Falls.
12:17What about black ones?
12:19I haven't seen a black one myself,
12:21but I've heard stories.
12:23Cats don't like people.
12:24They're really reclusive.
12:25So the further you get away
12:27from civilization,
12:28the more likely you are to find them.
12:30So we're heading in the right direction.
12:32Oh, yes, we are.
12:33Copy that.
12:38All right, looks like
12:39we got some rapids coming up.
12:40All right, let's get this.
12:43We're in battle.
12:44Give us a bar.
12:46No.
12:51Here we go, here we go.
13:00Keep it going, keep it going, keep it going, keep it going.
13:32You good?
13:33You good?
13:33Yeah.
13:34I'm good.
13:36Hey, how about next time I'll stay in the boat, huh?
13:38Yeah.
13:39That'd be great.
13:41Though it's not easy with rough water,
13:44Heather and I scan the shoreline as we go,
13:46searching for the best spots to mount our trail cams.
13:50Trail cam trail coming right down to the water.
13:54Any animal around here that wants to go for a drink
13:56is going to pass through this trail.
13:59I doused the trees with a horrifically pungent cocktail
14:02of animal musk and pheromones
14:04designed to attract any wild predators.
14:07Oh, that is horrible.
14:10Hopefully including the ape cat.
14:14We blanket the three-mile stretch of river
14:16with six trail cams.
14:21Camera trapper's set.
14:23Then it's time to shift our focus
14:25to a main hotspot of sightings,
14:27Panther Creek Falls.
14:28This is the end of the line.
14:31All right.
14:33From here, we hide the other.
14:34All right.
14:36All right, guys, I'll secure the raft.
14:38I'll set up camp.
14:39I'll see you when you get back.
14:40All right, Mark.
14:41Thanks for the ride.
14:42Good luck out there, guys.
14:43Be careful.
14:44You got it.
14:51Look, I know we have our bear spray with us,
14:53but what do we do if we see a big cat?
14:55Well, first of all, don't run.
14:57You want to look as large as possible,
14:59maintain eye contact,
15:01then back away slowly.
15:02Okay, so only the most dangerous
15:04staring contest of my life.
15:05Yeah, pretty much if you blink, you die.
15:07Great.
15:08No blinking.
15:10We'll go away.
15:11You hear that?
15:12Water.
15:13It's got to be Panther Creek.
15:14Follow that up river,
15:15and we hit Panther Creek Falls.
15:17Awesome.
15:17Let's go.
15:28All right, look at that.
15:29Woo!
15:30Welcome to Panther Creek Falls.
15:32It's amazing.
15:34It's incredible.
15:35Well, I see the creek.
15:38I see the falls.
15:40Now all we need is that ape cat.
15:42Who knows?
15:43Maybe that's what they were seeing back in the 1800s.
15:45Who knows?
15:46So, notice how we kind of have to yell here?
15:48Yeah.
15:49I want to use that to our advantage.
15:51For any of the wildcats in the area,
15:53their main advantage over us
15:55is their ability to hear us coming
15:57and their vision.
15:59This noise, it levels the playing field a bit.
16:02And when it comes to that vision of theirs,
16:04when we were out here tonight,
16:05I'm going to go completely lights out,
16:07only night vision.
16:08You want to look for this thing in the dark.
16:10You look for ghosts in the dark all the time.
16:12They're not going to eat me.
16:14True.
16:14Well, I'll tell you what.
16:15While we do have some daylight,
16:16I want to put up some camera traps,
16:18then let's head to higher ground
16:19so we have a better vantage point over everything.
16:22All right, let's get to it.
16:23Okay.
16:24Okay.
16:39I think this might be the sweet spot
16:41because the creek and the falls
16:43are still masking our noise a little bit.
16:45We have a very good vantage point
16:47of the habitat around here.
16:48Right.
16:49What are you thinking?
16:50I'm thinking you post up here,
16:51take advantage of the visibility.
16:52I will head further upstream,
16:54see if I can find some physical evidence
16:56of what's living around here.
16:57Okay.
16:58And from here on out,
16:59if you're going to use a light,
17:00use these red lights.
17:01Cats can't see it very well,
17:03and the red light wavelength
17:04doesn't travel very far.
17:06And cameras, let's switch to IR.
17:09All right.
17:10Good luck and stay safe.
17:12We got it, then.
17:15It is incredibly creepy in these woods.
17:18It's pitch black,
17:19and I can't hear anything.
17:22So the best way
17:23that I think I'm going to feel
17:24somewhat aware of my surroundings
17:26are night vision goggles.
17:34I'm looking for signs of scat,
17:38markings, clawed up trees,
17:41anything that could be a sign
17:43of a large cat.
17:47I'm not seeing anything right now, though.
17:56Oh, oh.
17:59Look at these scrape marks.
18:03The way that this bark is peeled back
18:06and slashed up.
18:07I'm sure many of you have seen a house cat
18:09do this to furniture.
18:10This is what the bigger cats do.
18:13Look at the size the animal would have to be
18:15to reach all the way up here
18:16and scrape the bark off.
18:19If this were a bear,
18:20you would just see claw marks,
18:21but this is continual scraping.
18:23That is a large animal.
18:26I'm, like, shaking.
18:27I'm not seeing any fur, any scat.
18:30So I'm going to get a photo.
18:37All right, if this thing is close,
18:40it is time to get out the flare.
18:47This is slightly terrifying.
18:51We are in this thing's territory.
18:54It will see us before we see it.
18:58I can make out the stream down below.
19:02Dark, dark blue.
19:04I'm not seeing anything alive around here, though.
19:12It's awfully quiet.
19:16Ooh!
19:21Did you hear that?
19:23Did you hear that?
19:26There's nothing on the goggles.
19:38What's that?
19:40Oh, my God.
19:43I just saw eyeshine over there.
19:50It's gone.
19:55I can't see anything.
19:58Phil, I just saw eyeshine.
20:00You got eyeshine?
20:02Yes.
20:02It looked big.
20:03That it completely disappeared.
20:05Stay put.
20:06I'm heading your way.
20:08All right, let's move.
20:16Where's eyeshine?
20:17It was this way.
20:19That way, that way.
20:20Yeah.
20:21Keep the light low.
20:22Look at the flare.
20:28Could you make out any details for this?
20:30No.
20:31It looked like two glowing eyes.
20:33If they were glowing like that,
20:35you may have seen a big cat.
20:38There is something out there.
20:41I'm not getting at anything.
20:46Whoa.
20:46Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
20:47What do you mean, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa?
20:48Look, look.
20:50There is a warm spot.
20:51Where?
20:52On the ground, right in front of us.
20:54Look.
20:55Look at that leaf.
20:56It's right down right there.
20:58Something was sitting there.
21:01Are you kidding me?
21:02Were you down on the ground over here?
21:04No.
21:05No.
21:06That means that something was here.
21:08I think this thing is close.
21:15Whoa.
21:16What?
21:17Whoa, my God.
21:28Heather?
21:28What?
21:29You got bear spray?
21:30Yeah.
21:31Something just jumped.
21:32No.
21:33Something just jumped down there.
21:34It looked like a cat.
21:35What?
21:42I mean, there was something here, Heather.
21:47Where is it?
21:50Did it go?
21:51Where did it go?
21:51Where did it go?
21:52Not seeing any signatures right now.
21:56What?
21:57Whoa.
21:59Okay.
22:00Looks like there's a bit of a game trail here along the creek.
22:04It must have gone past this.
22:16There's a scent mark here.
22:18Smell that?
22:19Come here.
22:19Smells musky.
22:21Any animal passing underneath this might leave a hair behind.
22:25I'm going to look for hair, scat, claw marks.
22:28You watch my back.
22:29Cool?
22:29Okay.
22:30Okay.
22:37Oh, look.
22:38That is a hair right there.
22:40Yes, I see that.
22:41That has to be from what we just saw.
22:44We have walked right through here, left a hair behind.
22:48And Heather, craziest thing about this hair?
22:50It's colored.
22:51What color is it?
22:52It's black.
22:54It's black?
22:56Yes.
22:57We may be on something here.
22:59All right.
22:59I'm going to back it before it blows away.
23:06Got it.
23:15All right, not to freak you out even more,
23:17but that heat signature I found on the ground,
23:20that was close to you.
23:21That could have been this animal stalking you, watching you.
23:28Of course it was.
23:29And the way it moved on the flare,
23:30it seemed like it knew where it was going.
23:32So what, it comes in here to hunt
23:34and then heads back to its den somewhere else?
23:37I mean, that's kind of what James is saying.
23:39He thinks that ape cats use this waterway
23:41to navigate the eric.
23:43The question is, where's that den?
23:45Let's keep looking, but no more splitting up.
23:50Phil and I continue searching Panther Creek Falls
23:53until sunrise,
23:54but we don't uncover any additional leads.
23:56It did feel like we were being stalked
23:59by whatever we encountered at Panther Creek.
24:01So the next morning,
24:02I connect with an eyewitness
24:03who reported experiencing something similar.
24:05He felt certain he was being pursued by the ape cat.
24:10Jasper, thanks for meeting with me.
24:12Yeah, of course.
24:13Jasper Foster is a seasoned hunter,
24:15familiar with every animal in these woods.
24:18But he says one fateful night,
24:20he encountered a beast
24:21with a frightening, unnatural intelligence.
24:23I hear you've had an encounter
24:24with what people are calling the ape cat.
24:26I did.
24:27Tell me what happened.
24:29Well, me and my buddy were driving out
24:30to the big lava bed to go camping.
24:35It's an extremely dangerous place.
24:37In the last 50 years,
24:39there's multiple people still missing out there.
24:41And all of a sudden,
24:42we saw a massive black object
24:45bound down off the embankment.
24:53Stopped in the road in front of us.
24:55It looks at us,
24:56and we see its eyes.
24:57This was a cat,
24:59but neither one of us
25:00ever saw a cat like that before.
25:02How is it different?
25:04Now, all the cougars I've seen,
25:05none of them have been black,
25:06and this one was jet black.
25:08And it was massive,
25:10far larger than any other cougar
25:11I've seen before.
25:14And its face looked flat,
25:16more like an ape's face than a cat.
25:19We're just sitting there staring at each other
25:22until it bounded off the side of the road
25:24and into the woods.
25:28Our curiosity, you know,
25:31got the better of us.
25:32Me and my buddy decided to head on in after it.
25:34You decided to go in after it?
25:36Yes, indeed.
25:38We're pursuing it into the lava bed,
25:42but we lost its tracks.
25:47The only thing I could think
25:48was it took high ground.
25:51We were in a box canyon,
25:53walls on each side of us,
25:5515, 20 foot high,
25:57and I had a moment of realization
26:00that it may be setting an ambush for us.
26:04You think this thing led you
26:05into a box canyon
26:06to be trapped and killed?
26:08At that moment, yeah.
26:10Is that typical cougar behavior?
26:12No, it seems a little bit more intelligent
26:14than your normal cougar.
26:16I mean, that's terrifying.
26:18It was.
26:19And me and my buddy
26:20made the best decision we made
26:22all night probably
26:22and got the hell out of there.
26:24While Heather meets her eyewitness,
26:26I'm eager to interrogate
26:28the conspiracy theory
26:29that the ape cat
26:29is a product of secret experiments
26:32gone wrong
26:32at a nearby former government facility,
26:34the Hanford site.
26:36Nice to meet you, I'm Phil.
26:38Nice to meet you.
26:39I'm meeting with
26:39Professor Robert Franklin,
26:41chief archivist of the Hanford project,
26:43who has researched the site's
26:45once top secret records.
26:47A lot of people are talking
26:49about this thing
26:49that they're calling
26:50the ape cat
26:51and linking it
26:52to the Hanford site.
26:54I'm wondering
26:55if there's any merit to it
26:56and trying to get a sense
26:57of what really happened there.
27:00Well, Hanford site
27:02is one of the three sites
27:03of the Manhattan Project
27:04where we made plutonium
27:06for the world's first test
27:08of a nuclear weapon
27:09and for the Fat Man bomb
27:11that was dropped on Nagasaki.
27:13It made two-thirds
27:15of the United States' plutonium.
27:17Wow.
27:18How come no one
27:19knows about this place?
27:20It was designed to be secret
27:22and it was a pretty
27:23well-kept secret.
27:24Hanford is creating
27:26massive amounts of radiation.
27:27And one way
27:28that they determined
27:29radiation's effects
27:31on the body
27:32was to experiment
27:33with animals.
27:34So it is a fact
27:36that animal experimentation
27:37was happening
27:37at the Hanford site.
27:38Absolutely.
27:39I gotta know,
27:40what kind of animals?
27:42Dogs, sheep, alligators.
27:44Alligators?
27:45Alligators.
27:47Did they have cats?
27:49Yes.
27:50In the 1980s
27:51when they were digging up
27:52the corpses of the animals
27:54to dispose of them properly,
27:55they found felines
27:56within the carcasses.
27:59No way.
28:00So it's possible
28:02the ape cat
28:02could have come
28:03from experiments
28:04down at this site.
28:05Absolutely.
28:06And so I guess
28:07the question
28:07on everyone's mind
28:08around here
28:09is could an animal
28:11escape
28:11and insert
28:12a novel set
28:14of mutations
28:14into the population
28:16here
28:16that resulted
28:17in this thing
28:18that people
28:18are calling
28:18the ape cat?
28:19Absolutely it could have.
28:21And Hanford
28:22is having an effect
28:23on surrounding communities.
28:24We know that
28:25Hanford discharged
28:26radiation into
28:28the Columbia River
28:28and wild animals
28:30were getting exposures too.
28:31Really?
28:32Oh yeah.
28:33Sometimes truth is
28:34really strange.
28:35And Hanford
28:36did some really
28:38crazy stuff.
28:41Still digesting
28:42the fact that
28:42many of the wildest claims
28:44about the Hanford site
28:45are actually true,
28:46I meet back up
28:47with Heather.
28:48Her witness
28:49has given us
28:49the coordinates
28:50where he had
28:51his encounter
28:51miles off the main road.
28:56So get this,
28:58not only
28:58is it entirely possible
29:00that a radioactive cat
29:02escaped from
29:03the Hanford site,
29:03but it is a fact
29:05that radiation
29:06contaminated
29:06the local environment,
29:08meaning it would have
29:09caused mutations
29:10in the wildlife
29:11surrounding it.
29:12So you're saying
29:12the ape cat
29:13could have been
29:13a result of this?
29:14Listen,
29:14I still think
29:15that's a stretch,
29:15but I guarantee you
29:17that the secrecy
29:18of the Hanford site
29:19has made the lore
29:20surrounding the ape cat
29:22much, much wilder.
29:27You don't get car sick,
29:28do you, Heather?
29:29I really, really do.
29:30I guess I'm having
29:32a lot more fun
29:32than you are.
29:33Yep, we're testing
29:34the limits today.
29:35Oh my God.
29:38Our bumpy ride
29:39is just a preview
29:40of the punishing ground
29:41we'll be covering tonight.
29:43The big lava bed
29:44is an 8,000-year-old
29:45lava flow fractured
29:47into sharp ridges
29:48and hidden caves.
29:49Only four miles
29:51from Panther Creek Falls,
29:52this area is another
29:53hot spot
29:54that local expert James
29:55marked on his map
29:56of supposed ape cat sightings.
29:58But it remains
29:59largely unexplored
30:01and he gave us
30:02a clear warning why.
30:04This lava bed
30:05is some of the most
30:06treacherous landscape
30:07you're ever going to find.
30:08It's filled with
30:09micro canyons
30:10and hidden lava tube caves.
30:12The rock is unstable.
30:14No one goes in there.
30:15And because of that,
30:16I think the creature
30:16might be actually living there.
30:18Be careful out there.
30:19I've been in every kind
30:20of terrain there is
30:21and that place
30:22terrifies me.
30:26All right,
30:26waypoint should be
30:27right up here.
30:28Let's get set up.
30:29Yeah.
30:33We've got to keep
30:34our eyes peeled.
30:35This ape cat
30:36could be out here.
30:36I feel like we're
30:37about to find out.
30:46Whoa.
30:48I see why they call it
30:49the big lava bed.
30:50Look at all that
30:51volcanic rock.
30:52Yeah.
30:53It's like another planet.
30:56We're not kidding
30:57about this terrain.
30:58It is rough out here.
30:59This is a perfect example
31:00of a collapsed lava tube
31:02which is going to result
31:03in caves.
31:05Right.
31:05And this lava bed
31:06is the size of Manhattan.
31:07So that means there's
31:08plenty of potential dents
31:09for the ape cat.
31:10Yeah.
31:10And I knew we were
31:11going to have a lot
31:11of ground to cover
31:12which is why
31:13I brought us
31:14something special.
31:23So this is a military
31:25grade thermal drone
31:27with target tracking
31:28capabilities.
31:29We had such great luck
31:30last night
31:31using a thermal camera.
31:32I figured
31:33why not take it
31:34to the air?
31:34Perfect.
31:35It's good eyes
31:35on the sky.
31:36Let's do it.
31:39Okay.
31:46All right.
31:47That must be us?
31:48Yeah.
31:48That's us.
31:49Okay.
31:49Let's see what else
31:50is out there.
31:53This is going to be
31:54challenging though
31:55because these lava rocks
31:55are absorbing heat
31:56all day from the sun.
31:58So we're seeing
31:59a lot of bright areas.
32:01What we really
32:02got to look out for
32:02is movement.
32:04Okay.
32:06I'm going to send
32:07this thing really
32:08far out there
32:08but we also got to
32:10know what's close.
32:11I got my thermoscope
32:12in my bag here.
32:14Okay.
32:14On it.
32:15I'll make sure nothing
32:16sneaks up on us.
32:17Perfect.
32:24I'll tell you what.
32:25I don't know
32:26if I could not run
32:27if I saw a big cat
32:28staring at me
32:28back through this.
32:29I wouldn't mind
32:30if you ran.
32:31Go after you.
32:31All right.
32:34You seen anything?
32:36Nothing yet
32:36but we got a time.
32:45It's so quiet.
32:46Yeah.
32:48Can you hear the drone?
32:49It's so far off.
32:53Oh.
32:53Got some movement.
32:54Got some movement.
32:54What?
32:55Look on the left of the screen.
32:57Oh my God.
32:58What is that?
33:01Oh.
33:04Looks like it has a long tail.
33:06Yeah.
33:07It's moving.
33:08Oh my God.
33:09That looks big.
33:10Oh.
33:11It just disappeared.
33:13Yeah.
33:13It's like it's just vanished.
33:14You seeing it?
33:16No.
33:16I don't see it.
33:17I don't either.
33:18Do you know where that is?
33:20Looks like it's about
33:21500 yards away.
33:23Tell you what.
33:23I'm going to turn on
33:24the beacon light.
33:24Leave the drone hovering.
33:26Let's get over there
33:26and find this thing.
33:27Okay.
33:32I see the drone.
33:32Up there.
33:33I see it.
33:33You got it?
33:34This way.
33:34Okay.
33:36Yeah.
33:36There it is.
33:37Around these trees.
33:38Look.
33:39Down here.
33:40Game trail leading
33:41right to it.
33:44Do you see anything
33:45on there right now?
33:46No.
33:46I don't see anything.
33:48But the drone
33:49could be scaring it off.
33:50I'm going to back it off
33:51and set it to run a grid
33:52on the rest of the big lava bed.
33:54As for us,
33:55let's head in.
33:56Okay.
33:58Whoa.
33:59Oh.
33:59Look at that.
34:00Is that the tree?
34:02Yeah.
34:02That's got to be the log
34:04that he was running on.
34:06Let's get down there.
34:07Okay.
34:11Not seeing any tracks
34:12in the dirt here.
34:14Not seeing any hairs.
34:21Oh, Heather.
34:22Look.
34:24Is that a cave?
34:25We got ourselves a cave.
34:28Now we know how this thing
34:30disappeared on us.
34:31Must have ran straight inside.
34:33You know what might still be in there?
34:35Yeah.
34:36Let's sit up.
34:41All right.
34:42Let's go in.
34:52Wow.
34:53There's so many boulders
34:55for this thing to hide behind.
34:56Yeah.
34:59This cave could be
35:01the perfect den
35:02for a large cat.
35:03It's critical
35:04that our rules of engagement
35:05change from last night.
35:06In the open forest,
35:08any cougar we encounter
35:09could easily run away from us.
35:11Deep in this cave,
35:12a cornered cat
35:13is much more likely
35:15to violently defend itself.
35:17We need to be extra cautious.
35:19Anything could happen down here.
35:22Wow.
35:23Look how far back it goes.
35:26It just keeps going.
35:29I'm not seeing any scat fur.
35:32No signs of what
35:33might be living in here.
35:38Oh, what is that smell?
35:40I don't know.
35:41It does smell awful.
35:43Oh, look.
35:44Oh.
35:44Oh, my God.
35:52The top secret
35:54Hanford nuclear site
35:55said by some
35:56to be the source
35:57of the ape cat
35:58is confirmed
35:59to have birthed
35:59irradiated alligators.
36:01But there's one more
36:02infamous fugitive
36:03from this government facility.
36:06In 2009,
36:07the base went on high alert
36:08when radioactive
36:09bunny droppings
36:10were discovered.
36:12No, this wasn't
36:13from some mutant super bunny.
36:15Instead,
36:16it was a wild rabbit
36:17with a taste
36:18for the toxic material
36:19buried at Hanford.
36:21Crews sealed its burrow,
36:22but where was
36:23the radioactive wabbit?
36:25Well, luckily,
36:26the bunny droppings
36:26were so hot
36:27on the Geiger counter,
36:28they were trackable.
36:30By helicopter,
36:31officials scanned
36:32over 10,000 acres,
36:35GPS tagging
36:36every piece
36:36of plutonium-powered poop.
36:39Unfortunately,
36:40no Dayglo bunny
36:41was ever found.
36:42It's all just
36:43another strange chapter
36:45in Hanford's
36:46hair-raising history.
36:47Hair, rabbit,
36:49you get it.
36:55Those hooves!
36:57Those are deer legs.
36:58Oh my God.
36:59This smells awful.
37:00There's no
37:01hair circulation
37:01down here.
37:04I'm trying to figure out
37:05if this is just
37:05an animal that
37:06got lost in this cave,
37:08fell,
37:08and died,
37:09or if there are
37:10definitive marks on it
37:12that say
37:12a predator did this.
37:14Phil, there's pieces
37:15of it everywhere.
37:16That animal didn't fall.
37:18Yeah.
37:18And I'm seeing
37:19some bite marks
37:19on there.
37:21Heather, I've got
37:22to document this.
37:23You watching my back?
37:24Watching it.
37:31There's a significant
37:32chance that this is
37:33where whatever
37:34we just saw
37:35brings its prey.
37:36I mean,
37:37a cougar can drag
37:38an entire deer
37:39up a tree.
37:40It absolutely
37:41is strong enough
37:42to drag it
37:42through this cave.
37:44Oh!
37:46Holy!
37:49What's that?
37:50I think there was
37:50something up there.
37:52Look,
37:52there's another way out.
37:53Oh, my God.
37:58Oh, wow.
38:06Look,
38:07look in the dirt.
38:08See this?
38:10This is scuffed.
38:12So something
38:13just ran
38:14right through here.
38:16Looks like
38:17it was going
38:17this way.
38:23Oh!
38:25What?
38:26What?
38:27My gosh.
38:28Look at that.
38:30See the three lobes
38:31and the four toe pads?
38:32Yeah.
38:33Typical of a cat,
38:34but these things
38:35are huge.
38:36Is this the ape cat?
38:38I don't know,
38:39but this is the biggest
38:41cougar print
38:41I have ever seen.
38:43I'm going to get
38:44a scan of it,
38:45okay?
38:45Okay.
38:46Look at that.
38:48I don't know
38:49what we are
38:50dealing with here.
38:51Well,
38:52one thing's for sure.
38:53It's a massive cat.
38:55Yeah,
38:55and we may have
38:56just followed
38:57this thing
38:57through its den,
39:00and we know
39:01it went that way.
39:03So,
39:03we got to see
39:04what other
39:05physical evidence
39:05we can find.
39:06Let's move.
39:10Phil and Heather
39:11spent the rest
39:11of the night
39:12trying to track down
39:13the huge cat-like shape
39:15they saw
39:15on the thermal drone.
39:16Oh my God,
39:17what is that?
39:18But found
39:19no more signs of it.
39:21It just disappeared.
39:22The team still
39:23captured a wealth
39:24of remarkable evidence,
39:26showing that
39:27there is
39:27something special
39:28stalking Washington's
39:30Columbia River Gorge.
39:31Oh,
39:32look,
39:33that is a hare.
39:35We conducted
39:36DNA testing
39:37on the hares
39:38Phil found
39:38near Panther Creek Falls.
39:40The results
39:41were conclusive.
39:42They belong
39:43to Puma
39:44Concholar Cougar,
39:46a.k.a.
39:46a North American
39:47cougar.
39:49Cougars
39:49have been known
39:50to kill humans.
39:52Heather's life
39:52truly was
39:53in danger.
39:54That heat signature
39:55I found on the ground,
39:56that was close to you.
39:57That could have been
39:58this animal
39:59stalking you.
40:00We also did
40:01toothpit analysis
40:02on the deer bones
40:03the team found
40:04in the lava tube.
40:06The marks
40:07left on the bones
40:08match those
40:08made by
40:09carnassial teeth,
40:10used by dogs,
40:12cats,
40:12and other beasts
40:13to tear meat
40:14off the bone.
40:15Humans don't have
40:16these teeth,
40:17but theoretically,
40:19could an ape cat?
40:20My gosh,
40:22look at that.
40:23The paw print
40:24Phil documented
40:25just outside
40:26the lava tube
40:27was also intriguing.
40:28It measured
40:29four and three-quarter
40:30inches long,
40:31which is very large
40:32for a cougar.
40:34Heather,
40:34you are going to
40:35want to see this.
40:36But a bombshell
40:38was yet to come.
40:39All of this evidence
40:40for and against
40:42the existence
40:42of the ape cat
40:43would arguably
40:44be put to rest
40:45by video
40:46the team caught
40:47on the trail cams
40:48around Panther Creek.
40:49In addition to
40:51capturing an owl
40:52and an impressive
40:53black bear,
40:54there is footage
40:55that seems to reveal
40:57the truth.
40:59Get up on the ridge
41:00to check this camera trap
41:01and wait till you see this.
41:05Oh!
41:06Look at that!
41:07Isn't that incredible?
41:08You know,
41:09it's not black,
41:10but to me,
41:11this looks a few shades
41:12darker than your average cougar.
41:14And look at the size.
41:15It looks huge.
41:17This is great.
41:18To me,
41:19the evidence
41:19doesn't get clear.
41:20It's a cougar.
41:21This is a case
41:23of misidentification.
41:24There is no
41:25ape cat.
41:26Case closed.
41:28Yes,
41:28it appears
41:29the case
41:29of the ape cat
41:30is closed.
41:32That is,
41:33until something
41:33altogether
41:34more monstrous
41:35is caught on camera.
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