1 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: From the day the men arrived at the remote beach 2 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,920 Speaker 1: on the Cook Inlet on the southern coast of Alaska, 3 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: they felt a pervasive sense of unease. 4 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 2: One of the men, a normally. 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: Fit and healthy individual, felt nauseous and then vomited for 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: no apparent reason. Then, after they began exploring the area, 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: a few of the men came across a large stone 8 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: column set back from the shore among the trees. They 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: called it the Obelisk. After waving for the others to 10 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: come and see it too, another member of the team 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: approached it, only to find himself feeling suddenly overcome with 12 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: a strange, unpleasant feeling. It felt to him, he said, 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: like there was an evil energy emanating directly from it. 14 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: Then he staggered back a few paces and vomited. Two 15 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 1: The men were an expeditionary team who had been sent 16 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: by the Discovery Channel in twenty twenty one along with 17 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: the film crew, to see if the location of an 18 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: abandoned settlement situated on the inlet was safe to live in. 19 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: Home to Indigenous people and white settlers. The settlement had 20 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: been abandoned decades before under mysterious and some say frightening circumstances. 21 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: On the investigation team was Ashnaderhoff, Keithserville, Noah Craig, DJ Brewster, 22 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: and Kyle McDowell. They were assisted by two locals, Tommy 23 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: Evans and Frank Berestov, both descendants of former villagers. One 24 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: precaution the men took soon after they arrived was to 25 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: set up camp in an open air close to the beach, 26 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: a good distance from the treeline of a dense forest 27 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: that stretched for miles inland, because they'd been told by 28 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: historian Jeff Davis and local elders that the reason the 29 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: village had been abandoned decades earlier was due to something 30 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: monstrous that was said to lurk within the surrounding trees. 31 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: Over the next few days, the team, with a camera 32 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: crew in toe, set up cameras in the forest and 33 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: took video footage along with the audio recordings, exploring. 34 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 2: The area around their camp. 35 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: The settlement had once been an active fishing community with 36 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: a canning factory where the abundant fish caught from the 37 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: local waters had been processed, packaged, and exported. As they 38 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: searched an area far into the trees, the documentary team 39 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: found large pieces of old machinery from the factory in 40 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,799 Speaker 1: odd places, lying unusual angles, as if they'd somehow been 41 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: thrown there by something with superhuman strength. But it wasn't 42 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: only physical evidence that began to spook the team. As 43 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: the days went by, even those who had originally been 44 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 1: skeptical of the stories about the location's dark history began 45 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: to feel as if they were being watched, convinced that 46 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: a malevolent presence was steadily closing in on them. You're 47 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: listening to Unexplained, and I'm Richard McLean Smith. The former 48 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: settlement of Port Locke was located on the Lower Cook Inlet, 49 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: around two hundred miles south of Anchorage, at the far 50 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: tip of Alaska's Kenney Peninsula, not far along the coast 51 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: from the present day towns of Homer and Seldovia. The 52 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: area has been home to the so Piac people for centuries. 53 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: There's a nearby village inhabited mostly by Sugbiak along with 54 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: Russian settlers, called nan Wallach, which means place by the Lagoon, 55 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: and it has the reputation for being the creepiest place 56 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: in Alaska. Often referred to by locals as Port Chatham 57 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: rather than Port lock. The abandoned settlement is on private 58 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: property owned by the English Bay Corporation, who restrict access 59 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: to the area. There were no indications of anything strange 60 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: when in July seventeen eighty six British naval Captain Nathaniel 61 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: port Lock sailed up the Cook Inlet looking for a 62 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 1: safe place to anchor and reprovision his ship. Captain port 63 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: Lock had been appointed to command the merchant vessel the 64 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: King George just the year before by the King George's 65 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: Sound Company, of which he was a partner. Port Lock 66 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: kept meticulous notes about his extensive travels, which he published 67 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,799 Speaker 1: in his elaborately titled seventeen eighty nine book, A Voyage 68 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,679 Speaker 1: round the World, but more particularly to the Northwest Coast 69 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 1: of America. In these detailed records, he describes finding a 70 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: sheltered bay off the inlet, clearly not a modest man. 71 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: There's a sketch of it in the book, already bearing 72 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: the assumed name port Lock's Harbor, where the ship's crew 73 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: spent several days gathering provisions. The observant captain recorded that 74 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: some of the local people lived in temporary shelters made 75 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: of sticks and bark During the summer. They ate a 76 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: diet comprised mostly of fish supplemented by the dried inner 77 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: rind of pine bark, as well as hemlock and angelica roots, 78 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: plants considered poisonous by Europeans, but the locals seemed to 79 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: have adapted to the toxins and apparently a them without 80 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: any problem. One Internet blogger claims that six years before 81 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: port Lock arrived, explorers from Spain had visited the exact 82 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 1: same area but had fallen sick, some had even died, 83 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: while the remainder were haunted by strange, terrifying cries they 84 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: heard in the night. The cries started far off in 85 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: the mountains, but over time seemed to edge down through 86 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: the forest, getting closer towards them. The blogger also stated 87 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: that when port Lock's crew surveyed the land around the 88 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: bay that would later bear their captain's name, they found 89 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: the remnants of an abandoned native village. They wandered openly 90 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: why such a prime area full of game fish and 91 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: shellfish was now unsettled. Just then, some members of the 92 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,799 Speaker 1: landing party grew sick and scared, and begged port Locke 93 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: to depart immediately, believing the area must have been cursed. 94 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: For what it's worth, port Lock's own accounts do not 95 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: appear to contain this sinister story, nor did he seem 96 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: to have been told any tales of what locals refer 97 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: to as the non Tenuck. But if he hadn't, he 98 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: would have been one of the few visitors to the 99 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: region who hadn't heard of it. The word non Tinuk, 100 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: found in the Chugach dialect of sugpiac Alutik, comes from 101 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: the Alaskan Native denar Ena word nantina, meaning those who 102 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: steal people. It describes a legendary monster with three toes 103 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: on each foot and six fingers on each hand, who 104 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: was woven into traditional tales as a way to scare 105 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: children into not wandering off into the world woods, though 106 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: some say it was never just a story. From the 107 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: late seventeen hundreds onwards, port Lock Sheltered Bay was settled 108 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: once again, first by native communities, later by fishermen, lumbermen, 109 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: and miners, nearly all of either Alaskan Native or Russian descent, 110 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: or those tales of the Nuntinuk remained firmly in the 111 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: folklore of the indigenous peoples. Some reports say that events 112 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 1: began to take a dark turn around eighteen sixty seven, 113 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: when a new community of nomadic Sugbiak set up a 114 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: camp on port Lock Bay, where they enjoyed the abundance 115 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: of seafood, But within a month they were apparently attacked 116 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: by what they described as cannibal giants, who raided their 117 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: encampment on an almost nightly basis. Tales tell of how 118 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: these giant, hairy, human like attackers fought with the wild savagery, 119 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: which the Sugbiak had never encountered before, and that although 120 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: the tribe fought back, the attacks would resume whenever game 121 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: animals became scarce in the area. Whatever the truth of 122 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: these stories, it is known that around the beginning of 123 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,719 Speaker 1: the nineteen hundreds, the bountiful fish stocks attracted an American 124 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: company who brought in a fleet of commercial fishing boats 125 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: and built the Port Lock Cannery. The settlement grew quickly, 126 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: with accounts from the time describing a quaint and tidy 127 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: village nestled in a beautiful setting between the sea and 128 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: snow covered peaks. By nineteen twenty one, the town was 129 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: established enough to merit a United States Post office. The 130 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:52,439 Speaker 1: seal of official township status records kept by the port 131 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: Lock Cannery management showed that early on the site had 132 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: been vacated. In nineteen o five, when the cannery ste 133 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: the supervisor noted that all the Native Alaskan workers promptly 134 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: left the area because of something in the forest. However, 135 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: the threat must have abaited, since the records also stated 136 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: that the workers returned the following year. But over the 137 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: subsequent years, rumors started to spread around the Kenai Peninsula 138 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: that weird things were happening at port Lock. It was 139 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,719 Speaker 1: said that in the forest around port Lock, trees were 140 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: being completely ripped out of the ground, turned upside down, 141 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: and then thrust back into the earth, with the roots 142 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: facing up into the air. Locals began to speak of 143 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: a bigfoot like monster that was stalking the area their 144 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: very own non teanuck alarm, which creature said to walk 145 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: on two feet, had been seen around a Chromian mining 146 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 1: camp sixteen miles north of the town. It was also 147 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: said that citizens of port Lock began to experience a 148 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: series of strange disappearances and deaths. Sometime in the nineteen twenties, 149 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: a man named Albert Petka was said to have died 150 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: after receiving a fatal blow from a peculiar animal that 151 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: he was trying to scare off with his dogs. In 152 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, a logger named Andrew Kamlock is claimed 153 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,959 Speaker 1: to have died after being hit in the head by 154 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: a piece of logging equipment that would have taken the 155 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: strength of two or more large men to wield. When 156 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: the man's body was found, it was said that there 157 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: was blood on the equipment a good ten feet from 158 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: where he lay, as though someone or some think had 159 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,839 Speaker 1: used the equipment in the attack and then tossed it aside. 160 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 2: Some reports also say. 161 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,319 Speaker 1: That Kamluck's dogs were found near by, torn to shreds 162 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: around the same time. According to Simyon Kvasnikoff, a resident 163 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: of present day nan Wallick, a gold miner also disappeared 164 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: after heading out for the day. No sign of him 165 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: was ever found. Another time, local man Tom Larsen was 166 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: said to have gone out chopping wood to make fish traps. 167 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: It was a calm, tranquil morning, with a faint mist 168 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: rising from the tree tops. Then Larsen sensed movement along 169 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: the shore. Looking up, he saw something large and hairy 170 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: on the beach. He ran back home and returned quickly 171 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: with his rifle. Racing down the beach to the water's edge, 172 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: he was alarmed to find the creature was still there. 173 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: It just stared at him, Larsen claimed later, and he 174 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: never could explain why he failed to fire at it, 175 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: but instead just watched as it slowly turned around, walked 176 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: up the beach, and disappeared into the trees. Over the 177 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 1: course of the next twenty years, as many as between 178 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: fifteen and thirty bodies were alleged to have turned up 179 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: in and around port Lock, along trails and on river banks, 180 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: some floating out. 181 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 2: Into the bay. 182 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:32,199 Speaker 1: It was rumored they'd been dismembered, the clothing ripped of shreds, 183 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 1: or more damage that bore no resemblance to wounds caused 184 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: by bears or wolves. One story of the apparent nantinook 185 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,199 Speaker 1: stalking port Lock was that a group of hunters tracking 186 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: a moose through the local forest came across giant human 187 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:01,600 Speaker 1: like tracks over eighteen inches long. As they closed in 188 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: on their prey, they reputedly found signs of an apparent 189 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: life and death struggle, where the grass had been matted 190 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: down over a wide area, as if disturbed by large animals. 191 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,680 Speaker 1: From that point on, only one set of tracks emerged 192 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: deep enormous human like footprints that led up high into 193 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: the mist shrouded mountains. Twice, it was said, on the 194 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: foggiest of nights, something broke into the port Lock canning factory, 195 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: causing significant damage. Stories of other hauntings added to the 196 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: general atmosphere of terror. They included the specter of a 197 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: woman in a long black dress with a pale face, 198 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: who was said to appear from near by cliffs to 199 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: moan and scream before disappearing back into the rocky walls. 200 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: One season, its alleged that the cannery workers left town 201 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: for a second time, only agreeing to return the following year, 202 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: after the factory owners agreed to hire armored guards to 203 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: protect the camp around the clock. Then, in nineteen forty nine, 204 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: the town was completely abandoned. Many stories insist that, sick 205 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: and tired of living in fear of the ravages of 206 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: the Nanteinook, the locals fled, leaving many of their possessions behind. 207 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: Abandoned relics belonging to the previous residents can still be 208 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: found on the beach and in the woods to this day, 209 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: but tales of the Nanteinook do not end there. In 210 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight, one hunter claimed to have been chased 211 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: by a strange creature while he was hunting in the area. Then, 212 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy three, three more hunters, beset by a 213 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: three day storm, were forced to take shelter in one 214 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: of Port Lock's abandoned buildings. On every night, they claimed 215 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: to hear something vast prowling round the cabin and what 216 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: sounded like two feet In nineteen ninety, a paramedic was 217 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: called out to attend to a seventy year old man 218 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: who'd suffered a heart attack while incarcerated in the Eagle 219 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: River Jail just north of Anchorage. While treating the man, 220 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: the paramedic happened to mention that he'd once hunted in 221 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: the area around Port Locke. At the mention of the word, 222 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: the elderly man instantly sat bolt upright and grabbed the 223 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: paramedic by the shirt. 224 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 2: Did it bother you? He said, with wild eyes. Did 225 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 2: you see it? 226 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: Many of the stories about alleged attacks and sightings of 227 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: the nantinook come from an article written by journalist and 228 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: author Naomi Clouder published in The home A Tribune in 229 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: two thousand nine. From the article have been widely circulated 230 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: among crypto zoology websites ever since, further feeding the legend 231 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 1: of port Lock. But Clouder's article was based on just 232 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: two sources. The first was a nineteen seventy three report 233 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,880 Speaker 1: in the Anchorage Daily News quoted in John Green's nineteen 234 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,919 Speaker 1: seventy eight book Sasquatch, the Apes among Us. The piece 235 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: contains many of the buy now often retold stories of 236 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,879 Speaker 1: alleged non Teinook attacks, but is very light on specific 237 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: details or corroborating evidence. The second source was an interview 238 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: with a pair of elderly Alaska Natives who grew up 239 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: in Port Lock. It's in these interviews that the name 240 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: non Teinuok becomes closely associated with port Lock. 241 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 2: In print. 242 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 1: One of the two elders, Milania Helen Kel, was born 243 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: in Port Locke in nineteen thirty four. She provided some 244 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: specific details, including the names of the men who supposedly 245 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: died or disappeared at the times of the alleged creature attacks. 246 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: Kel also insisted that her parents left Port Lock because 247 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: they could no longer put up with the constant attacks 248 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: of the Nantinook. Yet, despite these anecdotes, the archival news 249 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: reports from port Lock and its alter eager Port Chatham, 250 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,200 Speaker 1: going back to its inception, are almost exclusively only about 251 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: commercial fishing, with the odd lumber and mining story peppered 252 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,639 Speaker 1: in for good measure. In all those years, only a 253 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: single death from the settlement appears to have made it 254 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: into the papers, one man who was reported to have 255 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: died in an unspecified accident in nineteen twenty. Perhaps deaths 256 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: in the mining, lumbering and fishing industries, three highly dangerous 257 00:18:54,880 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: professions simply weren't thought to be newsworthy. Even so, only 258 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,680 Speaker 1: one accidental death over several decades seems on the low 259 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:09,639 Speaker 1: side for such a location. As for general crime, only 260 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: one was reported in the entire town's history, in nineteen 261 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: twenty four, when then port Lock postmaster one mister George 262 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 1: Henk was arrested by the Prohibition Enforcement Bureau for possessing 263 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:27,479 Speaker 1: one gallon of moonshine. There was one case of missing 264 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: persons reported, however, that of two hunters, Ben Sweezey and 265 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,120 Speaker 1: Bill Weaver, who left on a two week trip by 266 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,719 Speaker 1: boat in nineteen seventeen and were never seen again. But 267 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: the men were from Steward, quite a distance down the coast, 268 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 1: and only mentioned in relation to Port Locke because a 269 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: boat that washed up there seemed to match the description 270 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: of the boat belonging to the missing men. In over 271 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: a quarter of a million pages from Alaskan newspaper reports 272 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 1: dating from the late seventeen high hundreds to nineteen sixty 273 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: three in the US Library of Congress, there seems to 274 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: be nothing as headline worthy as the killings and dismemberments 275 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: that are said to have occurred. 276 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 2: In Port Lock. 277 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: Could it be that the demise of port Lock had 278 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: very little to do with the Nuntinook or any other 279 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: murderous Bigfoot type creature for that matter. In analyzing port 280 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:39,439 Speaker 1: Lock's descent into becoming a ghost town, one fact stands out. 281 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: The completion of Alaska Route one, which was first open 282 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,919 Speaker 1: to the public in nineteen forty eight. Running along the 283 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: opposite edge of the Kenai Peninsula, it allowed for much 284 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: more efficient travel between Anchorage and the many towns along 285 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: the peninsula. Towns that no longer needed to rely on 286 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: ship for their supplies, places inaccessible from the new highway, 287 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 1: like port Lock, suddenly had a significant part of their 288 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: livelihoods removed, much like towns along Route sixty six that 289 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: were bypassed by that famous interstate network in the nineteen 290 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 1: seventies and eighties. Furthermore, port Lock was much more remote 291 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 1: from the new Highway than Route sixty six towns ever were. 292 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 2: Even today, there is only a. 293 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,680 Speaker 1: Single unpaved forest road within ten kilometers of the town 294 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,879 Speaker 1: of Russian Alayut descent. Milania kiel As lived in the 295 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,160 Speaker 1: nearby settlement of nan Walloch for most of her life. 296 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: Her ancestors were nomadic, moving from place to place with 297 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: the seasons, through the port Lock area and as far 298 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: afield as Homer and even Kodiak. To her, port Lock 299 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: was always a creepy place. As a kid, she was 300 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: told by adults to go out on foggy days because 301 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 1: that's when Nanteinuk were most likely to be walking around. 302 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: According to her, the creature is less a physical thing 303 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: and more a part human, part supernatural being. Her uncles 304 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,639 Speaker 1: and grandfathers said that the Nantinuck had been alive for 305 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: a long time. They described it as tall and strong, 306 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,120 Speaker 1: and liable to omit a noxious odor if you ever 307 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: got near to it, or so the story went. As 308 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: reported by the Homer Tribune back in two thousand and nine, 309 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: Milania's story was translated for the author of the article 310 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: by her younger cousin, Sally Ash. As she sat with Milania, 311 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 1: Sally got the distinct feeling that, tired of being asked 312 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: about Nantinuk and the abandonment of Portlock, her cousin simply 313 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 1: made up the story about how the creature was killing 314 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:02,119 Speaker 1: people brought up to respect elders. Sally said that she 315 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: didn't feel able to correct her in front of the reporter, 316 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: but that the family had had a laugh about it later. 317 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,959 Speaker 1: Sally suspects that the story might have been her elder 318 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,159 Speaker 1: relative's way of trying to scare people away from an 319 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,880 Speaker 1: area where family connections are deeply rooted and many generations 320 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: of ancestors lay buried. Nonetheless, if that had been the intention, sadly, 321 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: it only added to the allure of Portlock for a 322 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: whole new generation of crypto zoologists. Milania's explanation is also 323 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: not unusual among many Indigenous people who continue to believe 324 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 1: that creatures supposedly taking the form of the Nantinok, Sasquatch, 325 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: or Bigfoot are non physical beings. Some believe these creatures 326 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: live in another dimension but can appear in the physical 327 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 1: plane at will, and that they can be visible to 328 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,640 Speaker 1: some people while at the same time remaining invisible to others. 329 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 2: In the same group. 330 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 1: They're often thought to be shapeshifters, disappearing or changing into 331 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: the form of a different creature if a human gets 332 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: too close, and if you try to shoot them, they'll 333 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: just pull the bullet from their bodies, completely unaffected by it. 334 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: Back on the cook Inlet in twenty twenty one, with 335 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:34,439 Speaker 1: the Discovery Channel's exploration team, Nan Wallach, elder and local 336 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: historical expert Tommy Evans shared his own stories of strange 337 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 1: goings on around the. 338 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 2: Former settlement of Port Lock. 339 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: One time, while he was walking along port Lock Beach 340 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,439 Speaker 1: on a school trip, he heard people talking in a 341 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:54,360 Speaker 1: native language he didn't understand, despite nobody else being around. 342 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: He also said that when a bear was in the vicinity, 343 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: the dogs didn't act too scared, but if it was 344 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: another thing, as he put it, the dogs became so 345 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:09,320 Speaker 1: frightened they'd run straight to the owner's house to hide. 346 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 2: A few nights. 347 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: Into their expedition, the documentary team was startled awake in 348 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: their tents by what sounded like a huge creature breathing 349 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: heavily as it prowled around their camp The following morning, 350 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: Convinced that they were close to encountering the nantinook, the 351 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: team set about putting cameras up in the trees to 352 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: try and capture the thing on film. As they set 353 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: to work cutting away some branches with an axe, they 354 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: claimed to hear knocking sounds coming back at them from 355 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:45,960 Speaker 1: deeper within the forest. The knocking sounded like the axe 356 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: blodes they were making, and the pattern changed in rhythm 357 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: to mimic exactly. 358 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 2: The sequence the team mate. 359 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: Around fifteen minutes of it was recorded, of which a 360 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: few were featured in the resulting TV show, Emboldened. The 361 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,400 Speaker 1: team played these recordings of alleged bigfoot calls and wood 362 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 1: knocking over loud speakers into the forest, hoping to provoke 363 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: a response. Moments later, they were apparently spoot when something 364 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 1: they couldn't quite make out seemed to stir in the 365 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: surrounding foliage. Later that day, out in the forest, one 366 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: of the men was sure he'd heard a voice whisper 367 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: into his ear, despite no one being near him at 368 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: the time. That night, the team were woken suddenly again 369 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 1: from fitful sleep to loud crashing sounds outside their tents. 370 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: Scurrying outside to get a better look, the men shone 371 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,639 Speaker 1: their flashlights out into the darkness, from where it appeared 372 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: something was hurling. 373 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:48,120 Speaker 2: Rocks at them. 374 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: They later claimed that the assault snapped the frame of 375 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: one of their tents in two, leaving them terrified. The 376 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: team's next step was to recruit bigfootspere specialist Ron Moorhead. 377 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: It was his belief that the men were being targeted 378 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 1: by the dark spirit of a nantinook, taking the form 379 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: of what he called a violent interdimensional being. A self 380 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 1: described psychic medium, Polyweerram was then brought in and invited 381 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,239 Speaker 1: to try and make contact with whatever the being was. 382 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,160 Speaker 1: After a short time exploring the area, she reported sensing 383 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 1: a dark and potentially deadly presence, then promptly left, but 384 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: for the self proclaimed demonologist James Sonia from the Alaska 385 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,919 Speaker 1: Paranormal Response Crew, who was also brought in to help. 386 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:44,679 Speaker 1: There was one thing the team needed to fear above 387 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: all else, the obelisk. When James Sonia arrived to join 388 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,640 Speaker 1: the team, he took a moment to survey the eerily 389 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: remote location, taking in the still waters, the dark Sandy 390 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,400 Speaker 1: Beach and the pine. 391 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:07,360 Speaker 2: Covered hills beyond. 392 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: But before long he found himself being drawn to the 393 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 1: strange stone pillar that had been discovered at the back 394 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 1: of the beach. Drawing closer, he claimed to sense a dark, 395 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: malicious energy emanating from it. It was clear to him 396 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: that a high class demon, as he put it, had 397 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: tied itself to the area and was feeding off the 398 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: obelisk's negative energy. They needed to perform an exorcism without delay, 399 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: and so James vied up his holy fog dispensing machine 400 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,239 Speaker 1: that had been filled with holy water and infused with 401 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: rose and sage. Then steadily moving throughout the area, from 402 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: the obelisk to the team's camp and anywhere else they'd 403 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: sensed the apparent demonic presence, he blasted it all with 404 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: the fog machine while reciting the invocation of Solomon from 405 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: the magical text, The Greater Key of Solomon, Powers of 406 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 1: the Kingdom be beneath my left foot and my right hand. 407 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: Glory and eternity touch my shoulders and guard me in 408 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: the paths of victory, mercy, and justice. Be ye the 409 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 1: equilibrium and splendor of my life. And with that the 410 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: expedition came to an end. Although the team had failed 411 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: to capture any definitive evidence of a nantinook or any 412 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 1: other large creature on camera. It had certainly been an experience. 413 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: As for whether they had succeeded in banishing the alleged 414 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: evil presence and the area was now safe to resettle 415 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: in is a question for another day. So far, the 416 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 1: mystery of what supposedly haunts the forests and shores of 417 00:29:55,720 --> 00:30:06,480 Speaker 1: the cook Inlet remains to this day unexplained. This episode 418 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: was written by Diane Hope and Richard McLain smith. Diane 419 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: is an audio producer and sound recordist in her own right. 420 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: You can find out more about her work at Dianehope 421 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: dot com and on Instagram at in the sound Field. 422 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 2: Thank you as ever for listening. 423 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: Unexplained as an AV Club Productions podcast created by Richard 424 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: McLain Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music, 425 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: are also produced by me Richard McClain smith. 426 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 2: Unexplained. 427 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 1: The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. 428 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and 429 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever 430 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in 431 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 432 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or 433 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: a story of your own you'd like to share. 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