Two Bigfoot Encounters: 1956 California Hunter and 1989 Washington Miner
Posted Thursday, August 20, 2026
By Squatchable.com staff
# The Infamous Bigfoot Scream Returns: Two Encounters That Will Leave You Speechless
A recent upload to YouTube from The Bell Frequency channel has resurfaced one of the most spine-tingling moments in paranormal radio history. The clip features the legendary Art Bell hosting his iconic show *Dreamland*, with none other than Linda Howe joining him to discuss two remarkable Bigfoot encounters and replay the hair-raising Bigfoot scream recording from Snohomish, Washington that has haunted listeners for decades.
For those unfamiliar, Art Bell was the king of late-night paranormal radio, and Linda Howe is widely regarded as one of the foremost researchers into animal mutilations and crop circles. When these two got together, you knew something interesting was about to unfold.
## The Scream That Started It All
The broadcast kicks off with the infamous Bigfoot scream recording originally captured in the 1970s near Snohomish, Washington. Art Bell himself admits the sound curls what little hair he has left, and after hearing the encounter stories that follow, you'll understand exactly why. This audio has become something of a holy grail for researchers, often cited alongside the more famous Sierra Sounds recordings as potential evidence of vocalizations unlike anything known in the zoological world.
## Ted Freley's 1956 Nightmare
The first story comes from Ted Freley of Carson City, Nevada, who has carried the memory of his encounter for over three decades. Back in the fall of 1956, Ted and a friend named Richard were deer hunting about 35 miles east of Redding, California, when their flashlights caught something impossible in the darkness about 60 yards across a meadow.
The eyes Ted described were unlike anything in nature, grayish-blue, almost incandescent, like lights shining from behind them. Not deer. Not bear. Not mountain lion. Something else entirely. When Richard urged him to shoot, Ted leveled his .30-30 Winchester and fired between those glowing eyes.
What happened next would stay with him forever. The woods erupted with a scream that started low and climbed higher and higher until, as Ted put it, the trees themselves seemed to vibrate. The decibel range was beyond anything he'd ever experienced. Richard's hair stood straight up on his head, the first and last time Ted ever witnessed such a reaction in another person.
## Skip Fach's 1989 Close Encounter
But it's the second story that really gets under your skin. Skip Fach of Seattle was visiting a mining claim near Darrington, Washington, in the foothills of the North Cascades, in July 1989. After hearing sounds like someone hammering in the forest, something came crashing down an 80-foot cliff, bounced off moss-covered granite boulders, and rolled 150 feet down the hillside to land at his feet.
Skip had only a .22 caliber pistol. What he faced was something that, when shot over the head, stood up vertically like a man rising from a push-up position, turned, and looked him dead in the eye before walking away as if he didn't exist.
The description Skip provides is remarkably detailed. The creature had hair on the back of its head that grew into a tapered cape reaching the middle of its back, approximately 24 inches long, completely dark, shiny black, and looking almost synthetic. The rest of its body was covered in about 3 inches of hair. Its face was entirely hair-covered except around the eyes and the bridge of the nose, where ruddy brown, pine cone-colored skin showed through with deep wrinkles reminiscent of the great apes.
But here's where the story takes a turn that has researchers still scratching their heads. Skip describes hearing what sounded like a servo motor, the kind that actuates electric devices, and seeing what appeared to be a silver cone emerge from the side of the creature's head. He admits he can't be 100% certain whether this was real or a nightmare fragment, as he suffered nightmares for three years afterward.
The encounter didn't end there. As Skip made his way down the trail, the creature reappeared, cresting the hill and charging at him at a 45-degree angle. Trees were pushed aside, rocks flew through the air, moss and debris floated behind the thing as it pursued him down the mountain. Skip escaped by sliding into a small cave-like depression in the ground, and when he climbed out, he could still see the trees moving as the creature ran in a zigzag pattern searching for him.
Skip has returned to the site repeatedly and found massive footprints and grass mats inside the mine tunnels, suggesting the creature may still be in the area.
## Why This Matters
What makes this particular broadcast so compelling is the combination of the audio evidence, the detailed eyewitness testimony, and the unusual elements Skip describes. The servo sound and silver cone detail align with some of the more fringe theories about Bigfoot, including speculation about possible technological components or unknown biological features. Whether you take that aspect literally or as a trauma-distorted memory, the physical encounter itself is hard to dismiss.
Linda Howe's work has always pushed the boundaries of conventional wildlife research, and her willingness to share these accounts on Art Bell's platform helped bring them to a wider audience during a time when mainstream science was reluctant to engage with the subject.
This clip is absolutely worth your time. The scream recording alone is worth the listen, and the two encounters provide the kind of detailed testimony that researchers dream about. Head over to The Bell Frequency channel on YouTube and experience it for yourself. Just maybe don't listen to that scream alone in the dark.