A Bigfoot investigator has shared incredible new audio of what he believes are sounds made by the mysterious beast as it roams the woods in Kentucky.
For over three decades, Charlie Raymond, 57, a Florida native, has meticulously documented nearly 700 sightings of the elusive creatures in his new home state of Kentucky. He went on to establish the Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization after college and the calls have flooded in ever since.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com he said: ‘I would spend sometimes two hours on the phone where people would thank me for listening, because their own families did not believe them,’ he said. and ‘That’s when I realized there’s something to this.’
While Raymond predominantly focuses on analyzing other people’s Bigfoot reports, he has also collected his own recordings of mysterious sounds in the forest near where he lives in Pine Ridge.
In one clip, a loud whooping sound can be heard, which Raymond claims is identical to renowned recordings captured by researcher Ron Moorehead in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
‘It’s an exact match and not human. These whoops are almost 50 years apart and over 4,000 miles away,’ he said.
Charlie Raymond, 57, a dedicated Bigfoot researcher, has spent over three decades investigating these elusive creatures in Kentucky
Driven by childhood fascination and inspired by the Patterson-Gimlin film, Raymond has meticulously documented nearly 700 credible sightings
Raymond said he has been fascinated by Bigfoot ever since he was a child, fueled by bedtime stories of the Skunk Ape and the iconic Patterson-Gimlin film – and now that has been transformed into a decades-long career.
He said the biggest challenge when reviewing the numerous eyewitness accounts is distinguishing between real sightings and false identifications, as well as verifying the credibility of the witnesses.
He described how he uses various techniques to eliminate bogus reports, including checking the report is consistent with their initial email or call, looking at the area’s history of sightings and comparing the detail with other witness descriptions.
‘If I have doubt, I throw it out,’ he said. ‘As an investigative researcher, it is a death sentence to be associated with hoaxes or liars, so I’m very cautious if I suspect it’s not true,’ Raymond said.
He also explained how he uses open-ended questions to gather details descriptions from witnesses, focusing on physical characteristics.
Specific physical details like a flat face and wide shoulders help rule out bears or other wildlife, he said. The description that intrigues Raymond the most is when a witness describes seeing something ‘human-like.’
Verified footprints, hair samples and tracks that have been collected over the years provide compelling evidence supporting the existence of Bigfoot.
In fact, casts of Bigfoot tracks made by Tom Shea in Northern Kentucky have been verified by experts like Dr. Jeff Meldrum, a leading academic in the pursuit of Bigfoot at Idaho State University.
However, the lack of a definitive DNA comparison is a sticking point.
‘We don’t have a body and the world is not going to accept this until we have a body. And I don’t want to kill one,’ he said.
Pictured: The research spot in Kentucky where Raymond captured a vocalization recording in 2013
Raymond’s system of cross-referencing consistent witness reports and tracking clusters of sightings on Google Maps has led him on expeditions deep in the woods.
Based on his research, he paints a picture of Bigfoot as 7-8ft tall with a broad build, long arms, hooded nose, a prominent brow.
He claimed they communicate through tree knocks, whistles, hand claps, mouth pops, and whoops, which has claimed to have recorded himself.
‘They’re not knocking to us. They’re knocking to each other. Sometimes, we just happen to be at the right place at the right time,’ he said.
Raymond said he believes to have deciphered some of the knocking patterns used by Bigfoot, suggesting they serve as signals to alert other Bigfoot of human presence.
‘One loud knock, we call that a ‘home run knock.’ It seems to be a warning that people are present in the area and everything gets quiet,’ said Raymond.
‘Ten fast knocks, like really rapid fast knocks I call distress knocks like ‘come quick, I need help.
‘I believe, a short, straight line whistle, where one Bigfoot whistles on one side of the trails and another whistles on another side – that’s them alerting to each other that humans are present, as if saying ‘lay low and be quiet.”
Despite attempts to decode the Bigfoot language, Raymond said their communication methods are largely unpredictable.
‘I still don’t know what the three knocks mean. I’ve gotten three knocks back. I’ve gotten one knock back, and I’ve done it again and got them back again. It’s hard to get consistency,’ he said.
Unlike primates, he said he believes Bigfoot exhibit higher intelligence, hinting at a closer connection to humans.
‘I tell people that, if this was a gorilla, we’d have it in a cage by now,’ he said.
Raymond also observes regional variations in Bigfoot temperament. While some reports depict aggressive behavior, Kentucky’s Bigfoot population seems generally friendly,’ he claimed.
He shared the story of ‘Howdy,’ a Kentucky Bigfoot known for waving, which he said was possibly a learned behavior from human interaction.
‘Howdy was seen in the 60s, and he walked out of the tree line, and he raised his arm up as if to wave, as if to say how, ‘howdy,’ he said.
The behavior of raising an arm up as if waving has been observed by multiple individuals, including two teenagers who had no prior knowledge of Bigfoot or Howdy in 2011.
In another instance, a young boy told Raymond he saw a Bigfoot wave while he was camping with his father Illinois, suggesting that this behavior is not learned from local folklore or stories.
However, Raymond said does not believes it is the same sasquatch.
‘They don’t migrate,’ said Raymond. ‘From my data, we see the same physical descriptions, the same behaviors over decades. And we think Howdy, because of the descriptions of behavior, stays in those couple counties in Kentucky.
‘We do find nests which are large, usually pine needles, impressions, usually tucked away under some trees or some down, but they don’t stay long.’
Raymond’s passion for Bigfoot extends beyond data collection to personal encounters.
One chilling experience occurred during a hike with a landowner in Kentucky where he claimed they received clear responses during a tree-knocking experiment.
His friend noticed that the response originated further down the ravine, suggesting a possible Bigfoot was following them.
‘I find it hard to believe a random person was out there in the woods and freezing cold rain following us and deciding to knock back to us,’ he said.
Another encounter involved a fallen tree after a someone tried to communicate with the Bigfoot, highlighting their territorial nature.
Pictured: The snapped tree that fell down in front of Raymond’s research group
‘One team member heard growls, so he responded with a deep, threatening growl. Immediately, a tree fell right in front of us,’ said Raymond. ‘Yes, trees fall, but there was no wind that night.’
‘We went and found the tree the next day, and it was a green, meaning it was alive.’
For aspiring Bigfoot researchers, Raymond suggested thermal imagers and high-sensitivity audio equipment. He emphasized acting naturally, like a casual camper, to avoid scaring them off.
‘They want to watch us. We are their TV. We’re in their living room. We’re their entertainment,’ said Raymond. ‘As long as we go out, we’re non threatening. We play music, we cook food, we camp, they will come observe us.
‘Then we will try the knocks and whoops and whistles and stuff to communicate with them. But you cannot go out with camo and flashlights and guns. They know what hunters do and they will take off.’
But of all the wooded areas in North America, why would Big Foot set up shop in Kentucky?
‘It takes two things to have a sighting. It takes a Bigfoot and it takes a witness,’ he said. ‘In Kentucky, we live in their backyards. We live right with them, side by side, in these hills and hollers, so we tend to have a lot of reports.’
Ultimately, Raymond said he believes Bigfoot’s intelligence and adaptability are key to their elusiveness.
Raymond emphasizes acting naturally, like a casual camper, when looking for Bigfoot to avoid scaring them off
‘They’ve adapted, over thousands of years to elude us, to evade us, and they have far better senses than us,’ he said.
However, despite three decades of dedicated pursuit, Raymond has yet to see a Bigfoot – though this has in no way dimmed his passion for the research.
‘That’s what excites me, is adding all this stuff up, and that’s why I’m a believer, not a knower,’ he said. ‘Everything is speculation based on years of experience that I’ve gathered.’
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