From left to right: Gayle Beatty, Brian Herbst, John Finn, Pat Kipp and Tom Williams look through pictures and other Bigfoot evidence in Claverack on Oct. 20. They're members of Bigfoot Researchers of the Hudson Valley, which believes Sasquatch roams the region.Anthony Vellone/Special to the Times Union
RED HOOK -- Everybody is skeptical about the existence of Bigfoot until something changes their mind. Gayle Beatty had such an experience when she was a teenager.
It was a summer night in the 1960s, and Beatty's parents had grounded her. As an act of rebellion, she packed a bag, snuck out and went camping alone on Stissing Mountain. Alone in the woods, night began to fall, but Beatty wasn't afraid.
Suddenly, she heard what she believed at first was an owl. But it didn't sound like any normal owl.
"It was really loud, and at the end, it sounded weird," she recalled recently.
Beatty told herself reassuring words to calm down. But seconds later, she heard another "unearthly" howl that sent vibrations through her chest.
"I felt the blood drain and I thought I was going to be killed," Beatty recounted.
The memory was so vivid it could have happened yesterday. She gathered enough courage to bolt from her tent, sliding down a steep ravine and running back home. Minutes later, she burst into the house of her very confused parents.
"I was white and shaking and crying, and I said, 'There's something up there on the mountain, and it's after me,'" Beatty remembered telling her mother. "She's like, 'That's what you get for going up there by yourself!'"
Years passed. Beatty married and worked various jobs before taking over the Hook Line and Sinker Bait Shop in Red Hook in the early 2000s. But for decades, she was haunted by that howl and the question of who or what uttered it.
Until one day in 2011. Beatty was washing the dishes in the kitchen and the show "Finding Bigfoot" was playing in the background. That's when she heard the familiar sound again.
"That's what was on the mountain!" Beatty said to herself.
She Googled "Bigfoot sightings in Dutchess County." The first one that came up was a report by two women on Lake Road in Pine Plains -- where she lived.
Beatty has since dedicated part of her life to Bigfoot research. In 2012, she founded Bigfoot Researchers of the Hudson Valley to raise awareness about the creature and provide a point of contact for others to share their stories. Members of the group, which has more than 6,000 followers on Facebook, believe not only that the mythical creature exists but that it roams the Hudson Valley.
The group has received reports from all over the region, Beatty said. When somebody calls with information, the members will search the site with cameras and other devices, hoping to find evidence or confirmation.
Legends of a mythological apelike creature have circulated in American folklore and other cultures across the world for decades. Many, including the FBI, have investigated the mystery surrounding Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. But with only anecdotal evidence, the creature remains in a paranormal space alongside other pseudoscientific hypotheses like aliens or the Loch Ness Monster.
The Hudson Valley group's concept of Bigfoot differs from that of the lone humanoid so embedded in popular culture. They believe it lives in clans and that there are different types with varying appearances -- some more human or monkey-like, some in different colors, ranging from 6 to 15 feet tall.
On a recent October day, five group members met at Beatty's bait shop, where it is difficult to walk without hitting one's head on all sorts of Bigfoot evidence and paraphernalia. They shared the experiences that made them believers.
Tom Williams is a longtime friend of Beatty's whose interest in the creature was also sparked by watching the show "Finding Bigfoot." He has since become one of the group's most active members, a man who doesn't hesitate to wander the woods by himself seeking evidence.
For Brian Herbst, a scientist and technologist who lives near Pawling, it was the time he was camping in Mount Jefferson, N.H. The sound of knocking wood and a growl made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
"The reason I studied science is to understand how life works," he said. "This is an extension of that. This is where science should go -- to understand what we don't understand."
The informal meeting became an impromptu outing to new member Pat Kipp's property in Claverack, where she said she's had two Bigfoot sightings. Recently, she said she saw one through her window, followed by a knock on the side of her house. She called the state Department of Environmental Conservation asking if there were any new animal species around, but they dismissed her, she said.
"The problem is, people don't want to talk about it," said Kipp, who contacted Beatty after the encounter. "At first, I didn't. They'll think you're crazy, you're making this stuff up."
There is a degree of fear of public ostracism that comes with bearing witness to an inexplicable event. That's where Bigfoot Researchers of the Hudson Valley come in. More than anything, Beatty provides the kind of nonjudgmental support and reassurance that comes with understanding what it's like to have a paranormal experience.
"I feel like they have PTSD," Beatty said. "Some of them will never go in the woods again. It changes your life."
"When you have thousands of witnesses, why would you make fun of them or discount them?" Herbst added. "There's something going on."
The group is used to receiving skeptical eye rolls when the topic of Bigfoot comes up, he added. Others will approach with ulterior motives, but they've learned to spot these false actors.
On Kipp's property, the five researchers walked up the hill toward the woods, searching for signs of Sasquatch: rotten smells, distinguishable growls, or trees placed in an "X" formation. They said when Bigfoot kills dogs, cattle or deer, it will twist the necks of their carcasses -- another tell-tale sign.
Herbst held an electromagnetic field meter, which detects fluctuations in magnetic, electric and radio waves that some believe are produced by supernatural entities (they're more commonly used to test home electronic appliances). He also had a random word generator, whose screen filled with words that sent the members thinking of possible connections: "Nation." "Hurt." "Gail" -- shockingly close to Beatty's first name, Gayle.
After the search, the group sat down to examine additional evidence, including a photo of what Kipp believed to be a ghost in her driveway, a photo of a deer carcass she thought Bigfoot killed, and trail camera images of footprints. Just then, Herbst's electromagnetic field meter went off for the first time that day.
"Something's here with us when these pictures came out," he said.
The meeting concluded with a land acknowledgment and a prayer as Beatty cleansed every member with burning sage.
"We ask permission to enter because it's their home. We just can't go traipsing through somebody's house without acknowledging and respecting them," she said. "I think that's why none of us have been hurt."
When they're not investigating in the woods, the researchers meet at the bait shop and catch up on new developments. They also give presentations at local libraries and attend events like the Sasquatch Calling Festival in Whitehall.
Regardless of whether they ever find Bigfoot, the group has brought its members a sense of community and purpose.
"I lost my wife seven years ago," Williams said. He is retired and every week awaits Beatty's calls with new developments in her Bigfoot search. "This is something for me to do."
Beatty also hopes to inspire more people to search for Bigfoot. She cowrote "A Young Researcher's Guide to Bigfoot," published in 2017, and with Kipp is compiling all the reports she's received for a future book.
"I'm not out to prove to the world that they're here because I know they're here. We all do," Beatty said. "It's for our own curiosity. It's nice to be in the woods enjoying nature ... with like-minded people. And if we find something, that's even better."