The Ones We Don’t Speak Of: Chapter 1 | 375

[00:00:00] Tonight, I'll be taking a look at one of the most widely recognized yet highly misunderstood

[00:00:12] supernatural entities throughout North America.

[00:00:15] An entity that pulp culture has made famous over the decades, and unfortunately turned

[00:00:20] into a staple of paranormal media everywhere.

[00:00:24] What follows is a brief introduction to these mysterious creatures, and some possible examples

[00:00:29] of eyewitness encounters involving them.

[00:00:32] Creatures most commonly known as…

[00:00:34] Skinwalkers.

[00:00:51] There are certain aspects of the paranormal world that frustrate me, and tonight's topic

[00:00:55] is on my shortlist for a couple of reasons, and if you'll bear with me, I'll explain

[00:01:00] why.

[00:01:01] As we all know, the entertainment industry likes to take topics and turn them into

[00:01:05] something that they can capitalize on.

[00:01:08] Anything that fits a particular niche or narrative that makes them money, they'll

[00:01:12] manipulate it until any resemblance of its original form is completely unrecognizable.

[00:01:17] And this is what I believe has happened to the subject of Skinwalkers.

[00:01:22] No matter what show I watch or which podcast I listen to, almost everything unexplainable

[00:01:27] seems to be a Skinwalker nowadays.

[00:01:29] Strange sounds, odd-looking people, or even digital artifacting on Ring Doorbell cameras.

[00:01:35] It must be a Skinwalker.

[00:01:38] Now I fully understand that this is a byproduct of our society, which feels

[00:01:41] as though it needs to put a label on everything, especially when we don't understand

[00:01:45] it.

[00:01:46] But if anything, this just muddies the water and trivializes a topic that should

[00:01:50] be taken much more seriously.

[00:01:53] In my opinion, we do this because being able to associate a name with something unknown

[00:01:58] somehow makes us feel safer.

[00:02:00] But this only gives us a false sense of knowledge about something that we know nothing

[00:02:04] about.

[00:02:05] And I believe this is extremely dangerous, especially when it comes to these entities.

[00:02:10] It blurs the line between fact and fantasy, and in many ways dilutes the phenomena

[00:02:14] down into nothing more than a myth.

[00:02:17] When in fact, they are very real.

[00:02:21] From the website Legends of America comes an article entitled Navajo Skinwalkers – Witches

[00:02:28] of the Southwest.

[00:02:30] It briefly explains what a Skinwalker is, or at least how we interpret it, and I'd

[00:02:34] like to read a portion of the article now.

[00:02:38] In the Navajo culture, a Skinwalker is a type of harmful witch who has the ability

[00:02:44] possess or disguise themselves as an animal.

[00:02:48] This witch is called Yee Nodlushy by the Navajo, which translates to, with it he goes

[00:02:54] on all fours.

[00:02:56] It is just one of several types of Navajo witches and is considered the most volatile

[00:03:01] and dangerous.

[00:03:03] For the Navajo people, witchcraft is just another part of their spirituality and one

[00:03:08] of the ways of their lives.

[00:03:10] As such, witchcraft has long been part of their culture, history, and traditions.

[00:03:16] Witches exist alongside humans, and are not supernaturals.

[00:03:21] The Navajo believe there are places where the powers of both good and evil are present,

[00:03:25] and those powers can be harnessed for either.

[00:03:29] Medicine men utilize these powers to heal and aid members of their communities, while

[00:03:33] at the same time, those who practice Navajo witchcraft seek to direct the spiritual

[00:03:38] to cause harm or misfortune to others.

[00:03:41] This type of Navajo witchcraft is known as the Witchery Way, which uses human corpses

[00:03:46] in various ways, such as tools from the bones and concoctions that are used to curse,

[00:03:51] harm, or even kill intended victims.

[00:03:55] The knowledge of these powers is passed down from the elders throughout the generations.

[00:04:00] The Navajo are part of a larger cultural area that also includes the Pueblo people,

[00:04:05] Apache, Hopi, Ute, and other groups that also have their own versions of the Skinwalker.

[00:04:12] Each includes a malevolent witch capable of transforming itself into an animal.

[00:04:17] Among these tribes, several stories and descriptions have been told throughout the

[00:04:20] years about skinwalkers.

[00:04:24] Sometimes these witches evolved from living and respected healers or spiritual guides

[00:04:28] who later chose to use their powers for evil.

[00:04:31] Though they can be either female or male, they are more often male.

[00:04:35] They walk freely among the tribe during the day and secretly transform under the cover

[00:04:40] of night.

[00:04:42] To become a skinwalker, he or she must be initiated by a secret society that requires

[00:04:47] the evilest of deeds – the killing of a close family member, most often a sibling.

[00:04:54] After completing this task, the individual acquires supernatural powers which give them

[00:04:58] the ability to shapeshift into animals.

[00:05:02] They are often seen as coyotes, wolves, foxes, cougars, dogs, and bears, but they

[00:05:09] can take the shape of any animal.

[00:05:12] They then wear the skins of the animals they transform into, hence the name skinwalker.

[00:05:19] Sometimes they also wore animal skulls or antlers atop their heads giving them

[00:05:23] more power.

[00:05:24] They choose what animal they want to turn into depending on the abilities needed for

[00:05:28] a particular task, such as speed, strength, endurance, stealth, claws, teeth, etc.

[00:05:37] They may transform again if trying to escape from pursuers.

[00:05:41] Because of this, the Navajo consider it taboo for its members to wear the pelt of any

[00:05:45] predatory animal.

[00:05:46] However, sheepskin, leather, and buckskin are acceptable.

[00:05:51] The skinwalkers can also take possession of the bodies of human victims if a person

[00:05:55] locks eyes with them.

[00:05:57] After taking control, the witch can make its victims do and say things they wouldn't

[00:06:02] otherwise.

[00:06:03] Once they were shapeshifted, others could tell that they were not real animals because

[00:06:07] their eyes were very different from those of animals.

[00:06:10] Instead, their eyes are very human, and when lights shine on them, they turn bright

[00:06:16] red.

[00:06:17] Alternatively, their eyes look more like animals when they are in human form.

[00:06:23] The evil society of witches gathers in dark caves or secluded places for several purposes

[00:06:28] to initiate new members, plot their activities, harm people from a distance with black magic,

[00:06:34] and perform dark ceremonial rites.

[00:06:37] These ceremonies are similar to other tribal affairs including dancing, feasts, rituals,

[00:06:43] and sand painting, but they were corrupted with dark connotations.

[00:06:48] The evildoers are also said to engage in necrophilia with female corpses and commit

[00:06:52] cannibalism, incest, and grave robberies.

[00:06:57] During these gatherings, the skinwalkers shapeshift into their animal forms or go

[00:07:01] about naked, wearing only beaded jewelry and ceremonial paint.

[00:07:06] The leaders of the skinwalkers is usually an old man who is a very powerful and

[00:07:09] long-lived skinwalker.

[00:07:12] Witchers also have other powers, including reading others' minds, controlling their thoughts

[00:07:17] and behavior, causing disease and illness, destroying property, and even death.

[00:07:24] Those who have talked of their encounters with these evil beings describe several ways

[00:07:28] to know if a skinwalker is near.

[00:07:31] They make sounds around homes such as knocking on windows, banging walls, and scraping

[00:07:36] noises on the roof.

[00:07:38] On some occasions, they have even been seen peering through windows.

[00:07:42] More often, they appear in front of vehicles in hopes of causing a serious accident.

[00:07:47] It is said that, in addition to being able to shapeshift, the skinwalker can also control

[00:07:52] the creatures of the night, such as wolves and owls, and they can make them do their

[00:07:56] bidding.

[00:07:57] Some can call up spirits of the dead and reanimate the corpses to attack their

[00:08:01] enemies.

[00:08:03] Because of this, the native people rarely ventured out alone.

[00:08:07] Their supernatural powers are uncanny, as they are said to run faster than a car and

[00:08:12] have the ability to jump high cliffs.

[00:08:14] They are extremely fast, agile, impossible to catch, and leave tracks larger than animals.

[00:08:21] When seen, they have been described as not quite human, and not fully animal.

[00:08:26] They are usually naked, but some have seen the creature wearing tattered shirts

[00:08:30] or jeans.

[00:08:32] The skinwalker kills out of greed, anger, envy, spite, or even revenge.

[00:08:38] It also robs graves for personal wealth and collects much-needed ingredients for black

[00:08:42] magic use.

[00:08:44] These witches live on the expired lives of their victims, and they must continually

[00:08:48] kill or perish themselves.

[00:08:53] Skinwalkers and other witches have long been blamed for unexpected struggles and

[00:08:56] tragedies including sickness, drought, poor crops, and sudden deaths.

[00:09:02] Even smaller or individual problems such as windstorms during dances, alienation of affection

[00:09:07] by mates, the death of livestock, and reversal of fortune were often believed to be a

[00:09:13] witch's work.

[00:09:14] This was most apparent with the Navajo witch purge of 1878, which initially evolved

[00:09:19] from a cultural response to so many people moving across and onto their land.

[00:09:25] After a series of wars with the U.S. Army, the Navajo were expelled from their land and

[00:09:30] forced to march to Fort Sumter in New Mexico in what is now known as the Long Walk

[00:09:35] of the Navajo in 1864.

[00:09:38] There, the people suffered from bad water, failed crops, illness, and death, reducing

[00:09:44] their numbers dramatically.

[00:09:46] After four years, the government finally admitted that they had made a mistake,

[00:09:50] and the Navajo were allowed to return to their homeland in the Four Corners

[00:09:53] area.

[00:09:55] During these years, many of the tribe's members were said to have turned to shape-shifting

[00:09:59] to escape the terrible conditions.

[00:10:01] In the meantime, the rest of the tribe was convinced that their gods had deserted them.

[00:10:07] Once the people had returned to their homeland, their conditions improved, but

[00:10:11] the dreaded Skinwalkers, who they blamed for their years on the Bleak Reservation,

[00:10:15] were still among them.

[00:10:17] Accusations of witchcraft and the hunting of the Skinwalkers began.

[00:10:22] When someone found a collection of witch artifacts wrapped in a copy of the Treaty of 1868,

[00:10:27] the tribal members unleashed deadly consequences.

[00:10:31] The Navajo witch purge occurred in 1878, in which 40 suspected Navajo witches were

[00:10:37] killed to restore harmony and balance to the tribe.

[00:10:41] Today, most of the tales of sightings of these witches do not include death or

[00:10:46] injury, but are more trickster-like.

[00:10:48] Numerous people have told stories of swift animals running alongside their vehicles,

[00:10:53] matching their speed.

[00:10:54] After a short period, however, they run off into the wilderness.

[00:10:58] Along the way, these animals sometimes turn into a man, who sometimes bangs on the

[00:11:03] hood.

[00:11:05] Another story tells of a man making repairs on an old ranch home when he heard loud

[00:11:09] laughter from the nearby sheep pens.

[00:11:12] Thinking that he was alone, he went to investigate and found all of the sheep

[00:11:16] but one huddled in the corner of the pen.

[00:11:19] A lone ram separated from the group was standing upright and laughing in a very human

[00:11:24] manner.

[00:11:25] After the man locked eyes with the ram, he saw that his eyes were not that of an

[00:11:29] animal, but very much like a human's.

[00:11:33] The animal then casually walked away on all four legs.

[00:11:38] Some say that they have seen them running through the night, sometimes turning into

[00:11:41] a fiery ball, leaving streaks of color behind them.

[00:11:45] Others have seen angry-looking humanoid figures looking down on them from the

[00:11:48] cliffs, mountains, and the mesas.

[00:11:52] In the 1980s, one of the most notable events occurred when a family was driving

[00:11:56] through the Navajo Reservation.

[00:11:59] Something jumped from the ditch as they slowed to make a sharp curve.

[00:12:02] It was described as black, hairy, and wearing a shirt and pants.

[00:12:08] A few days after this event, the family was awakened to loud drumming and chanting

[00:12:12] at their home in Flagstaff, Arizona.

[00:12:15] Outside their home were three dark forms of quote-unquote men just outside their fence.

[00:12:22] However, these shadowy creatures seemingly could not climb the fence, and they soon

[00:12:26] left.

[00:12:28] Witchcraft represents the antithesis of Navajo cultural values and is not tolerated.

[00:12:33] They work to avoid, prevent, and cure it in their daily behaviors.

[00:12:38] However, when it exists, their laws have always said that when a person becomes a witch,

[00:12:43] they have forfeited their humanity and their right to exist, and so they should be killed.

[00:12:49] However, skinwalkers are notoriously hard to kill, and attempts are usually unsuccessful.

[00:12:54] Trying to kill one will often result in the witch seeking revenge.

[00:12:59] Successful killings generally require the assistance of a powerful shaman who knows

[00:13:02] spells and rituals that can turn the skinwalker's evil back upon itself.

[00:13:07] Their alternative is to shoot the creature with bullets dipped into white ash.

[00:13:12] This shot must hit the witch in the neck or the head.

[00:13:16] Traditionally, the Navajo will not speak with outsiders about these creatures for

[00:13:21] fear of retribution by the skinwalkers.

[00:13:24] For that reason, it is a taboo subject amongst the natives themselves.

[00:13:30] To read the full article and give Legends of America the credit that they deserve,

[00:13:35] please visit The Show Notes.

[00:13:38] Now, for the remainder of tonight's show, I thought that it would be fitting to share

[00:13:41] several different experiences where the witnesses believed that they came in contact with a

[00:13:45] skinwalker.

[00:13:47] Some of these reports were submitted by my listeners, and others are ones I came

[00:13:50] across online.

[00:13:52] Are they actual encounters with the fabled skinwalker?

[00:13:55] Or are they something else altogether, but equally as terrifying?

[00:13:59] Well, I'll leave that up to you and the witnesses to decide.

[00:14:07] Before I continue, please consider showing your support by subscribing, sharing, and

[00:14:16] giving the podcast a positive review.

[00:14:19] You can also visit me on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, or even on PayPal, where you

[00:14:23] can make a donation or become a member for as little as a dollar a month.

[00:14:27] And if you've had a paranormal experience, you can share it with me through email or

[00:14:31] voice message, and all of my support and contact information can be found at paranormalmysterypodcast.com.

[00:14:38] As well as in the show notes.

[00:14:41] And with that being said, I'll be right back after these brief messages.

[00:14:49] This first experience comes to us from Christine, and Christine's experience is called

[00:14:54] Something at the Edge of the Woods.

[00:14:59] Christine says, Hi, I love your show and I have plenty of experiences, but this one

[00:15:04] really shook me because I can't explain it off as a ghost or a spirit, as those things

[00:15:08] don't usually scare me.

[00:15:10] But this was something else.

[00:15:13] It was August of 2020 and it was about 2am.

[00:15:17] Me and my friends were all hanging out.

[00:15:19] I will not put their full names for privacy sake, just the first letter.

[00:15:23] We were all at E's house, and he lives in a beautiful secluded acreage with a

[00:15:27] bunch of forests, and no one else around.

[00:15:31] We all had a few drinks, and E said he knew a place just a 20 minute walk away that was

[00:15:36] an open field in the middle of a bunch of forest.

[00:15:39] After some debating, we decided that it wouldn't hurt to just go and hang out there.

[00:15:43] S and L were getting ready to go, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't

[00:15:48] be safe, so I confided in my other friend N, and I told him I wasn't certain that

[00:15:53] we should go.

[00:15:54] He said that we would be okay, and that we all had cell phones if we needed anything,

[00:15:58] or if anything went wrong.

[00:16:00] I decided the best thing I could do was go with them, as I am fiercely protective of

[00:16:04] my friends, so if this bad feeling had any truth, I could protect them.

[00:16:10] We walked for a while, and we finally reached the clearing in the woods.

[00:16:13] It was a gorgeous place, and the sky was so clear you could see every star.

[00:16:18] There were a few hills, so we decided to roll down them and play around because

[00:16:22] we were a bunch of drunk 18 year olds.

[00:16:25] L was saying that she thought she had lost her phone after rolling down the

[00:16:29] So I went to go and look, and try to find it.

[00:16:31] I split off from the group for about three minutes to go to the bottom of the hill,

[00:16:35] and I found her phone.

[00:16:37] As I stood up, I thought I heard something in the woods behind me moving around.

[00:16:42] It sounded big, and I live in Canada, so I was afraid it could be a bear or even

[00:16:46] a mountain lion.

[00:16:48] But when I turned around, I was frozen.

[00:16:50] Someone, or rather some thing, stood at the edge of the woods.

[00:16:55] It was like a human, but not quite.

[00:16:57] It was maybe eight feet tall, and it almost blended in with the trees.

[00:17:01] I would have missed it if it hadn't been moving.

[00:17:04] It was muscular and bipedal, unlike any animal I had ever seen.

[00:17:10] I took a step closer to see if this was maybe some sort of drunken hallucination,

[00:17:14] but sure enough, it moved again, taking a step forward, almost emerging from the

[00:17:19] trees.

[00:17:20] I saw its eyes.

[00:17:22] It stared at me, and I stared back.

[00:17:24] I didn't know what to do, so I walked back slowly, keeping my eyes on it.

[00:17:28] I tried not to run, because I know predators are more likely to attack prey

[00:17:33] that runs away.

[00:17:35] Once I was halfway up the hill, I turned and ran because I couldn't hold it in

[00:17:38] anymore.

[00:17:39] I was terrified.

[00:17:41] I give Elle her phone back, and I said that I wanted to leave.

[00:17:44] They all asked why, and I turned to point out whatever was in the woods.

[00:17:49] But when I went to show them, it was gone.

[00:17:52] Thankfully, I seemed terrified enough that no one asked any further questions,

[00:17:56] and we left.

[00:17:57] I kept it to myself, and I never told anyone until 2023, when I told my sister

[00:18:02] after we had a discussion about skinwalkers, and we weighed the possibility

[00:18:07] that maybe that's what I encountered.

[00:18:09] To this day, I have no clue what I saw, and I hope I never see anything like it

[00:18:15] again.

[00:18:17] I came across this report from a person on Reddit with the username NavajoJoe,

[00:18:25] and it's entitled, Tap Tap at the Window.

[00:18:30] I was a kid when this happened.

[00:18:32] My uncle and I were finishing up shopping and gathering firewood for my

[00:18:35] grandmother because it was getting dark.

[00:18:38] Driving back on a dirt road at about 30 miles per hour, I had this awful

[00:18:42] sense of being watched.

[00:18:44] Before I could turn to look out my passenger side window, my uncle quickly

[00:18:47] shouted, don't.

[00:18:49] I completely froze.

[00:18:52] My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, and it then completely

[00:18:55] stopped when I heard a knock on my window.

[00:18:59] My uncle then sped up and was loudly praying in my native language.

[00:19:03] I didn't know what was going on, and I thought that it was over until our truck

[00:19:07] suddenly dipped from the bed.

[00:19:10] My uncle then started saying, look at me and don't turn away, over and over.

[00:19:16] Then I heard it again.

[00:19:19] But this time it came from the window behind me.

[00:19:21] It was getting harder for me to breathe, and I wanted to cry.

[00:19:25] A minute or two passed, and the truck dipped again.

[00:19:29] My uncle then looked around and sighed.

[00:19:31] It was now quiet, besides the truck and the road.

[00:19:35] He then looked at me and said, we will ask your father to do a prayer in the

[00:19:38] morning, so the evil will forget our faces.

[00:19:43] I remember curling up on the seat and just staring at the radio, watching the

[00:19:46] time, listening to my uncle sing an old prayer till we got to my

[00:19:51] grandmother's house.

[00:19:53] Later, I called my uncle because I had a nightmare about that night.

[00:19:56] We talked about it for a bit.

[00:19:58] He said, I didn't see faces, just eyes.

[00:20:02] They were like brake lights that you see on the road.

[00:20:05] It watched you.

[00:20:07] Before hanging up, I tried joking with him about it.

[00:20:10] I said, why didn't you just step on the brake when it was in the back?

[00:20:14] But there was no laughter, just a pause.

[00:20:17] And he said, because it wasn't alone.

[00:20:24] This next experience comes from the Ruiz's, and their experience is called

[00:20:29] Strange Noises While Camping in the Woods.

[00:20:34] My husband, daughter, and myself went camping on the Laguna Mountain recently.

[00:20:38] All of the mainstream campgrounds were full, but this didn't bother us because we wanted

[00:20:42] to camp away from other people anyway.

[00:20:45] We took a turn down Pike Creek Road and drove down the winding path for about 20

[00:20:49] minutes.

[00:20:50] The road was pretty desolate, the pavement was old with potholes everywhere, so we

[00:20:54] weren't expecting to encounter too many other people.

[00:20:57] It was about 2pm by the time we found a decent spot, so we parked the car in my

[00:21:02] husband's motorcycle, and we set up camp about 40 yards from the road.

[00:21:06] We still wanted to have the car in sight, just in case we had to leave.

[00:21:11] The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful, aside from a random black

[00:21:14] truck driving down the path and stopping right next to our car, lingering

[00:21:18] for a couple of minutes, and then leaving.

[00:21:22] We never saw the truck again, so we rode it off.

[00:21:25] We ate our dinner, enjoyed s'mores, and around 8pm it was too dark to see

[00:21:29] further than 5 feet from the fire, so we decided to call it a night.

[00:21:34] My daughter fell asleep pretty quick and stayed asleep throughout the whole night.

[00:21:38] My husband and I had a hard time falling asleep, so we made conversation and talked

[00:21:42] about the evening and random other topics.

[00:21:45] That's when I started hearing a scratching noise by the bottom of our feet.

[00:21:49] Sometimes my husband rubs his feet together subconsciously as a comfort thing.

[00:21:53] He's always done it.

[00:21:55] I asked him if he was rubbing his feet, but he told me that he wasn't.

[00:21:59] I didn't buy it and I figured he was just messing with me, so I rode it off.

[00:22:03] I fell asleep shortly after.

[00:22:06] Fast forward a couple of hours, and I woke up around midnight to the sound of the

[00:22:10] scratching again, however this time it wasn't coming from down by our feet.

[00:22:15] It was coming from outside the tent, just above our heads.

[00:22:19] I can only describe the noise as someone taking an individual fingernail and scratching

[00:22:23] it along the tightly pulled cord that secured the tent to the ground.

[00:22:27] It sounded like they would start at the top of the cable and work all the way down

[00:22:31] slowly before starting back up at the top.

[00:22:34] We knew that it had to be the cords because the sound would vibrate along the walls

[00:22:38] and ground of the tent.

[00:22:40] It was slow and deliberate, and honestly terrifying.

[00:22:44] I also made a mental note of the fact that literally all of the other noises of

[00:22:48] the woods had gone eerily silent moments before the scratching began.

[00:22:52] There was no wind, no slight crunches of the pine needles as critters explore.

[00:22:57] Just dead, eerie silence.

[00:23:00] I immediately started tapping my husband's leg, and he responded with tapping right

[00:23:04] back on mine, indicating that we were both awake and were aware of what was happening.

[00:23:10] Now I'm not going to lie, the level of terror I was feeling in that moment was

[00:23:13] unheard of.

[00:23:15] Normally I can handle spooky things, but something about this noise had us very

[00:23:19] unsettled.

[00:23:21] There was a strange sense of dread that set in really deep, and it's hard to

[00:23:25] scare my husband.

[00:23:26] The scratching continued for another minute or so, and then it stopped.

[00:23:31] We waited, petrified, hoping to God that nothing would come from the stopping of

[00:23:35] this noise.

[00:23:37] My husband and I were trying to rationalize what it could have been, but we couldn't

[00:23:40] come up with anything logical.

[00:23:42] We posted the event to Reddit too, and people have mentioned that it could have

[00:23:46] been anything from moles or bugs to Bigfoot, or other supernatural beings.

[00:23:52] I also want to note that we would hear various noises from the woods, like the

[00:23:55] pitter-patter of the critters on the ground around the tent, the cold setting

[00:23:59] in and creating an almost white noise above us, and the pine needles falling

[00:24:03] from the trees.

[00:24:05] But literally all of this noise would stop moments before the scratching, and

[00:24:09] then after the scratching would stop, it would be dead silent for another

[00:24:13] couple minutes, and then the natural sounds of the woods would start up once

[00:24:17] again.

[00:24:19] I think the weirdest part about the whole thing was there were no sounds of

[00:24:22] footsteps or shuffling leading up to the scratching or even after, which led

[00:24:26] us to believe that whatever it was moved silently.

[00:24:30] If it were a squirrel or even a groundhog, we would have heard it

[00:24:33] cautiously approach the tent, and the scratching would have sounded a lot

[00:24:36] faster, less like it was trying to taunt us.

[00:24:39] Also, none of the food or snacks that we left outside were ever touched.

[00:24:45] We still don't know what it could have been and are just thankful to have

[00:24:48] made it out alive.

[00:24:49] Upon further investigation, we realized that we were camping not even

[00:24:53] five miles away from an Indian reservation and less than 20 miles

[00:24:57] from the Mexico-California border.

[00:25:00] We firmly believe that we were visited by one of those creatures

[00:25:03] you're never supposed to call by name, as we have no other logical

[00:25:06] explanations for the events that unfolded that night.

[00:25:14] This next experience was posted by a Redditor named Iron Jesus, and their

[00:25:18] experience is called Don't Get Off the Boss.

[00:25:23] Anybody that has been on the Navajo reservation has either probably heard

[00:25:27] of some creepy things or have experienced creepy things, namely

[00:25:32] skinwalkers.

[00:25:37] I come from a small town in northern Arizona that sandwiched between the

[00:25:41] Paiute reservation to the north and the U.S.'s largest Navajo reservation

[00:25:45] to the south.

[00:25:46] My high school, being so small, a 1A high school that has, on average,

[00:25:50] 80 students enrolled every year, always had to travel south about

[00:25:54] five to ten hours one way to play another high school in any sport.

[00:25:58] This means that we traveled a lot on the Navajo rez.

[00:26:01] We also usually stayed at hotels when we would head out to play

[00:26:05] and come home in the morning, but this trip was a little bit different.

[00:26:08] I remember the basketball coach saying that the school didn't have enough

[00:26:12] money to put up the teams in a hotel that trip,

[00:26:14] so we were going to be on the road for a total of about 12 hours.

[00:26:19] I was the only male senior to play basketball that season.

[00:26:22] We had just got done playing our game and we were heading home on our

[00:26:25] bus called Big Blue.

[00:26:27] We were headed out and it wasn't long, about two hours of driving, before we had

[00:26:31] entered the rez. By this time everyone was asleep with

[00:26:35] it being about two in the morning. When we had crossed the rez's border,

[00:26:39] I noticed the bus driver had sped up and was now going about 85 miles per

[00:26:43] hour. I thought it was a little weird because he never exceeded the speed

[00:26:47] limit, at least not in my high school career.

[00:26:50] For some reason, I couldn't fall asleep like the rest of my teammates

[00:26:53] and I just sat at the back of the bus, staring out across the desolate desert

[00:26:57] landscape, which was now lit up by the full moon.

[00:27:02] As I looked out, I could see a figure running toward the bus at an angle of

[00:27:06] pursuit and keeping up with the bus at 85 miles per hour. As the figure

[00:27:11] got closer, I could see that it was a humanoid form.

[00:27:14] As a matter of fact, it looked exactly like a human,

[00:27:17] only that the face was painted half black and half white

[00:27:21] with glowing eyes, glowing eyes like a rabbit's eyes,

[00:27:24] reflecting light from a spotlight. I immediately thought,

[00:27:28] holy crap, it's a skinwalker. The skinwalker ran up to the edge of the

[00:27:33] road and just kept up pace with the bus,

[00:27:35] hurdling sagebrush and rocks while staring at me.

[00:27:39] After I made eye contact with the thing, I could not

[00:27:42] look away. It was as if something was holding my head and eyes in place.

[00:27:47] The skinwalker just smiled at me this inhuman smile

[00:27:50] that went ear to ear, showing crooked, yellow,

[00:27:54] pointed teeth. I felt like I was going to throw up,

[00:27:57] and I was panicking through the whole ordeal. The skinwalker then started to

[00:28:01] crumple down onto all fours, still keeping up with the bus. I could

[00:28:05] see its bones crack and reform. Hair started appearing all over the

[00:28:09] skinwalker's body, and in about three seconds it was now a

[00:28:12] coyote, and it ran off back into the desert,

[00:28:16] and out of view. As soon as it was gone, I ran to the onboard bathroom

[00:28:21] and puked a mixture of food and blood. I didn't want to tell anyone for fear

[00:28:26] they would think I was crazy, but I did confide in my Navajo friend.

[00:28:30] She told me that I needed to see the chief, who also happened to be a friend

[00:28:33] of mine, and get a blessing. I saw him the next day in the

[00:28:37] school parking lot. He just came up to me and mumbled

[00:28:40] something in Navajo while waving a feathered scepter-like

[00:28:44] thing, turned around, got in his truck, and then drove away. To this day I

[00:28:50] haven't seen another skinwalker. It might be due to the fact I moved

[00:28:54] away from that town and Raz, and if I do have to go south, I go

[00:28:58] around, way around.

[00:29:06] Tonight's glimpse into the subject of skinwalkers is just the beginning,

[00:29:10] and I would like to ask anyone listening who believes they've encountered

[00:29:13] these creatures to come forward and share your experience. And of course

[00:29:17] remember that all of my contact and support information can be found in the

[00:29:21] show notes and at ParanormalMysteryPodcast.com.

[00:29:26] Until next time, thank you again for being here, and I hope you'll join me

[00:29:30] for my next episode as we continue our journey into the

[00:29:34] Unexplained, right here on Paranormal Mysteries.