A listener writes “First off, I’m a huge fan of the show. Thank you for everything you’ve done over the years to bring this topic to the public in such a clear, thoughtful way.
On October 4th, 2025, I was in LaGrange County, Indiana for a family reunion. My wife, our two sons, and I live in Ohio, but her family has relatives in the area, so we made the trip out. The reunion was held on a family farm and basically turned into a big group camping trip. Most of us slept in tents in a wide, cleared area near a bath house and a pavilion where everyone gathered to eat, drink, and play music.
Late that night, after my boys were asleep, I was talking with a few relatives when I noticed a quick flash of movement behind us. I got up and chased after it, only to realize it was a coyote slipping around the camp almost certainly searching for food or checking things out for its pack. Once the excitement wore off, I headed to the tent and went to sleep.
It was a clear night with no rain in the forecast, so we’d left the rain fly off to enjoy the sky. At 4:40 a.m. on the 5th, I woke to the sound of light footsteps outside our tent. I put on my shoes and stepped out to look around. Nothing, no movement, no eye-shine. Before heading back in, I walked over to the bushes to relieve myself.
Back in the tent, I decided to stay awake for a few minutes and listen. I’ve heard plenty of coyotes while backpacking, so I was alert and curious. At 4:45 a.m., a huge chorus of howls and yips erupted from the woods to the west. Moments later, I heard what sounded like a single lone howl answering from the southeast.
A few minutes after that, from that same southeast direction, came a loud, sharp KA-WHAM. It was incredibly clear. I’ve been shooting since my early teens I know gunfire and this was not a rifle, pistol, or shotgun. It also didn’t have the character of a breaking branch. It sounded exactly and I mean exactly like the wood knocks you’ve described on the show: a powerful, clean strike, as if someone swung a Louisville Slugger into a tree with tremendous force. I knew immediately what it resembled.
Realizing something was very close, I somehow managed to calm myself and focus on what was happening. I personally believe these beings may be able to sense intention or emotion in ways we don’t yet understand. So I “projected” a thought, asking whatever was out there to make the sound again. I held that intention for a few minutes, but no second wood knock came.
Then, several minutes later, from the west the direction of the earlier coyote chorus I heard a deep, controlled vocalization that rose and fell in pitch. It lasted maybe five seconds, but it was unmistakably clear. It was nothing like a cow bellow; it sounded like something huge, but capable of much finer control over its voice.
I was thrilled. I knew what I’d heard, and I was confident about what made those sounds.
Around 6:00 a.m. my older son woke up, and we went to the pavilion to get something to drink. A cousin of my father-in-law joined us, and I asked if he’d heard any loud noises during the night. He hadn’t. I asked whether any nearby farmers let their cattle roam at night I was still searching for any alternate explanation for that vocalization. He said there were cattle around, but the way he answered struck me as uneasy. I don’t think he was lying; it just felt… odd.
I asked as many people as I could that morning if they’d heard anything. The only real confirmation I got was from my sister-in-law, Casey, who said she’d heard a lot of coyote activity. No one else mentioned hearing the wood knock or the deep vocalization. Maybe I was simply the only person awake and listening at that moment. I guess I’ll never know. But I do know I was clear-headed, sober, and fully aware of what I heard.”