Don Schneider Discusses Cryptid Research and Ohio Sightings Investigation

If you've ever wondered what it feels like to be physically shoved by something you can't see through a tent wall, Don Schneider might be the only person willing to talk about it over a podcast mic. The Illinois-based researcher recently sat down with the Cryptid Wilderness Research team for a wide-ranging conversation that touches on nearly five decades of fieldwork, and honestly, some of the stories he tells are the kind that make you sit up straighter in your chair. Schneider's journey into the unknown started back in 1979, deep in the Black Hills of New Mexico, not far from the tiny town of Mimbres. He had moved out from Illinois and was working two jobs, driving a beer truck during the week and helping a rancher on weekends. The rancher warned him about black bears in the area where he liked to camp alone with his dog, about 11 miles from his truck. What happened that night changed everything. He found himself surrounded by something at his campsite, and whatever it was stuck with him for the next 45-plus years. That experience flipped a switch in him. If it could happen by accident, what would happen if he actually went looking? The answer, apparently, is a lot. Schneider describes face-to-face encounters, thermal imagery of figures standing in the woods, and eye shine captured on regular photography. Then there's the incident from about seven or eight years ago that really stands out. He was lying on his right side inside his tent when a hand pushed through the mesh webbing and physically shoved him, rolling him onto his stomach. The nights before that had already been wild, with rocks being thrown at metal sheeting someone had attached to trees in the area. The more recent portion of the conversation shifts to Ohio, where Schneider teamed up with a researcher named David from Akron to investigate a cluster of sightings that popped up earlier this year. A friend had captured audio of what he described as "grass man" chanting, vocalizations that Schneider says sounded remarkably Neanderthal-like, almost like a caveman trying to communicate. The two of them eventually made their way to Berlin Lake, the same area where researcher Matt Money Maker reportedly had his first Bigfoot sighting years ago. They hiked several miles in the rain, nearly lost their GPS coordinates, and came out with footprints and some unusual structural finds. From there, they spent a full day and night in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, logging over 16 miles on foot. Schneider describes finding X-shaped structures, pinned arches, and strange accumulations of wood that don't seem to have any natural explanation. One of the most interesting finds was what he calls a "triple arch," two arches running parallel and almost touching, with a smaller third one underneath pointing in a different direction. He describes it like the creatures were framing a piece of artwork, picking the location deliberately. For anyone familiar with Ohio's landscape, this shouldn't be surprising. The state has far more forest land than most people realize, and the eastern, northeastern, and southeastern portions sit in the foothills of the Appalachians. That geography makes them a natural migratory corridor, and researchers have long noted the area as a hot spot for sightings. Schneider mentions using a sort of mental checklist when evaluating locations, ticking off boxes like water sources, food availability, and isolation, and Ohio keeps coming up as a place that fits the profile. What makes this conversation worth your time is the sheer depth of Schneider's experience. He's not a guy who read a book once and decided to go look for footprints. He's been doing this since the late 1970s, across multiple states, and he's got stories that range from the eerie to the genuinely unsettling. The Ohio segment alone, with its audio recordings, footprint finds, and those bizarre wood structures, gives listeners a lot to chew on. If any of this sounds like your kind of thing, the full episode is worth sitting down with. Schneider talks for nearly an hour, and there's a lot more detail than what fits in a quick summary. The CWR team has built a solid reputation for long-form interviews with people who actually spend time in the field, and this one fits right in with their best work.