Veteran Nurse Reports Bigfoot Sighting on Rural Kentucky Highway

Posted Monday, September 28, 2026

By Squatchable.com staff

If you're looking for a Bigfoot story that comes with some serious credibility, you absolutely need to check out this episode of Drunken Cryptids. Host Matthew Wharton sits down with John M. Reiners, and let me tell you, John's background is the kind of resume that makes you sit up and pay attention. Four years in the Coast Guard. Over 26 years as a registered nurse. The man has spent decades working in high-pressure medical environments, and he brings that same disciplined, black-and-white observational style to his Sasquatch research. John has actually written three books, and the titles alone tell you his research goes deep. One is about fishing adventures with his dad, which honestly sounds like a heartwarming legacy project. But the other two? "Crouching Behemoth Quadruped Sasquatch" and a book on aquatic Sasquatch. Yes, you read that right. Aquatic Sasquatch. If you've been following the research community, you know there's been growing discussion about water-adapted Sasquatch populations, and John is clearly one of the people pushing that conversation forward. Now, the meat of this episode is John's own encounter, and the setup is something else. It happened on November 17, 2020, right in the thick of the COVID pandemic. John was working on an immunocompromised unit at the hospital, and after getting swabbed before a shift, he got the call nobody wanted back then. Positive. Seven-day quarantine. With his father-in-law living with them and dealing with early dementia and COPD, John made the call to isolate at a family cabin on Rough River Lake, about 58 miles from his home in Owensboro, Kentucky. The drive itself is worth noting. He took Highway 54 east out of Owensboro, hooked a left onto Highway 261 north at Fordsville, and then eventually turned onto Highway 105 near a tiny four-way stop called McQuade. If you've ever pulled up that stretch on Google Earth, you know exactly what John is describing. It's rural Kentucky at its finest. Rolling hills, thick woods, the occasional hobby farm with livestock that have clearly never heard of fencing laws. Horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, foxes. John says he's almost hit a horse on that road before. And here's where things get interesting. About a mile and a half before that four-way stop, on a dark two-lane highway with no traffic for miles, John describes the terrain on his left side. A ravine with a row of trees, and then about 30 yards back, a second ravine extending another 100 yards past it. Thick woods. Foothills-type country. The kind of terrain that Sasquatch researchers have pointed to time and time again as prime habitat. The discussion cuts off right as John is getting into what he actually saw coming out of that heavy wooded section, and honestly, that's the part that had me leaning in. You'll want to hear the rest of this one for yourself. John walks through the encounter with the kind of detail you'd expect from someone trained to observe and report. No embellishment, no drama, just the facts as he experienced them. If you're into witness testimony from people with serious observational backgrounds, or if the aquatic Sasquatch theory has ever piqued your curiosity, this episode is a must-watch. John Reiners is the kind of guest who reminds you that the research community is full of people quietly adding their piece to a very large puzzle, and his piece is a fascinating one. Grab your coffee, settle in, and check out this episode of Drunken Cryptids. Trust me, you won't want to miss where this story goes.