Bigfoot Collectors Club

Wood Elf Media

Episode: "The Pennsylvania Bigfoot/UFO Invasion - Part II" w/ Steve Berg

Date: February 19, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Michael McMillian (actor) and Riley Bray (musician) are joined by returning guest Steve Berg (High Strangeness podcast, actor/writer) for a deep-dive continuation into one of North America's wildest unsolved mysteries: the Pennsylvania Bigfoot/UFO Invasion of 1973-74. Building on last week’s installment, the hosts and Steve explore overlapping reports of massive, bizarre creatures and UFOs terrorizing rural Western Pennsylvania, focusing on investigator Stan Gordon’s landmark ‘Silent Invasion’ case files. The discussion weaves between storytelling, analysis, and comedic banter, delving into one of the most documented flaps of “high strangeness” on record.

Key Themes:

• First-hand accounts of cryptid and UFO phenomena
• Mutilated evidence and suspicious interference
• “Men in black” figures
• Disappearances, strange smells, and unique creature traits
• Questions of credibility, memory, and the boundaries of reality

Clubhouse Banter & Getting Started

[01:19–04:55]

• Michael and Riley joke about the episode's visuals and set design, giving thanks to listeners for listener-submitted nicknames.
• Discussion of a notably esoteric 5-star podcast review sparks a riff on sentience, perception, and reality being 'porous'—setting the tone for weirdness to come.
• Steve Berg is welcomed back for a rare back-to-back deep dive: “I couldn’t be more excited. As you know, I am such a fan of Southwestern Pennsylvania weirdness. It’s one of the spots where it happens, folks.” (Steve, 04:55)
• Steve ranks the world’s weirdest hotspots, naming Southern Wisconsin and Pulaski County, Kentucky, as two of the other “top three” areas for high strangeness.
• Lighthearted interlude as Riley's dog Nova disrupts the studio, which devolves into playful old-timey movie banter.

Setting the Scene—The 1973 Pennsylvania Flap

[09:43–16:19]

• The hosts recap the state of play in late August 1973:

  • Westmoreland County is awash in reports of UFOs and 8-10 ft, pointy-eared, red-eyed, three-toed creatures.
  • Stan Gordon (age 26) and the Westmoreland County UFO Study Group (WCUFOSG) are inundated with calls.
  • “It was August 1973 and there was high strangeness afoot in Pennsylvania.” (Michael, 09:43)

• Case: The Tanya Lake Encounter ([11:16])

  • Pseudonyms are used throughout Stan Gordon's reports.
  • Tanya Lake flees her home at 3am after seeing a tall, ape-like creature with reddish orange eyes and fangs.
  • Large three-toed tracks found around her house.

• Sue Mace’s Encounter ([12:19])

  • Sue awakes to see a towering creature peering into her second-story window (window 9 feet off ground).
  • Creature described in detail as having a gorilla-like, round face, deep-set dark eyes, flat nose, wrinkled burnt-looking skin.
  • Steve’s humorous Stan Gordon impersonation: “The nose was flat and pushed back and similar to a gorilla. The eyes were more round than oval, and it seemed deep set...” (Steve as Stan, 14:43)
  • Phenomena includes metallic sounds, a sulfur stink, and shadowy figures; common motifs throughout this wave.

Interference and Evidence Tampering

[16:21–26:15]

• Reports proliferate of hairy creatures peeping through windows, making metallic sounds, and leaving lingering foul odors.
• A witness claims a creature with glowing green eyes (not red) throws rocks at his house.
• Attempts to collect physical evidence are thwarted—hair samples and field reports repeatedly vanish in the mail.
• Stan begins to believe: “Someone or something had been tampering with their investigation.” (Michael, 19:02)
  • Multiple incidents of phone call interference, with voices growing “so electric and robotic” (Michael, 17:39, 18:43).
  • Reports stolen from locked cabinets; plaster casts destroyed.

Men in Gray—Classic High Strangeness Motifs

[22:17–29:58]

• Beverly Burns’ Encounter ([22:17])
  • After seeing a husky, 5-6 ft cryptid stripping electrical lines from her mobile home—preceded by "baby cries"—Beverly is visited by a “UFO investigator from Ohio.”
  • Man in a gray jumpsuit, with a UFO/Ohio badge, forcibly collects hair samples, destroys photographic evidence, and obliterates the creature’s tracks, uttering, “It has been destroyed.”
  • “This guy gets weirdo of the year award for 1973.” (Michael, 25:29)
• Steve points out this “gray suit” character hits all the Men In Black tropes, adding: “This particular case has all the big motifs...metal on metal sound, baby cries, and electrical interference... I mean, are we dealing with classic Men In Black stuff?” ([25:47])
• Discussion of orgone theory (Wilhelm Reich), postulating that trailer parks—being dense metal—could “capture sexual energy” and generate more high strangeness activity.

Not Just Bigfoot: A Menagerie of Monsters

[30:00–34:45]

• Sightings extend in variety: gray, polka-dotted creatures, horned beasts, dog-like cryptids with humps or tiger-like fangs, and even a winged “man-like” entity in Dongle.
  • Ex: “A grayish bipedal creature with a white mane, curved horns, tiger-like fangs and grizzly claws”—one farmer claims it stole his goose and, when chased, threw the goose back at him. ([31:00–32:20])
• High frequency and diversity suggest something more than mere folklore.
  • “They feel different...it’s very Dungeons and Dragons.” (Riley, 33:15)

Linking Bigfoot & UFOs—Encounters of Coincidence

[35:31–39:27]

• Michael highlights reports where cryptids and “craft” directly intersect:
  • September 1, 1973: Three women observe a metallic rectangular craft land in a field; steps descend; two tall, hairy creatures rush out and vanish into woods.
  • September 27, 1973: Two girls on bikes encounter a white Bigfoot with glowing orb. Soon after, a UFO emits a beam into the woods; their father investigates, later denies memory, but acts disturbed—proclaims doomsday is nigh.

The Palmer Farm Incident: The Pinnacle Case

[40:08–64:12]

Steve Berg Tells the Story

[40:44–56:27]

October 25, 1973, Uniontown, Fayette County

• Multiple witnesses, including police, observe a “large red object” over a farm.
• Palmer family (pseudonym) and others see two “hairy covered creatures with bright red eyes making baby sounds” approach a barn by fenceposts, waiting for one another as they progress.
• One boy fires tracer and live rounds at them—the shots sound like they’re striking water.
• The UFO morphs into a glowing white dome and vanishes, leaving behind a “giant puddle of light” so bright you “could read a newspaper by it.” ([46:25])
• Investigators arrive within hours: circle of light has faded but is still visible and slightly radioactive; sulfurous stench hangs in the air.

Transcendent Aftermath

• “Steve Palmer Jr.” (pseudonym; real name George, per Steve) starts convulsing, making guttural inhuman sounds, going into a trance, and suffering apocalyptic visions.
  • “Started going a little weird. Like he started going into convulsions…it looked, felt, and seemed like a possession.” (Steve, 49:44)
• Claims new abilities—no longer needs thick glasses, can summon birds, experiences poltergeist activity at home.
• Life derailed by the event; corroborated later by investigator interviews and his own son.
• “It absolutely turned Steve Jr’s life upside down...he was pretty tortured.” (Steve, 53:21)

Audio of his episode exists but Stan Gordon refuses to release it due to promises to the family (55:04).

Analysis & Theories

[66:36–77:36]

• The hosts reflect on the depth and authenticity:

  • “This is one of my favorite things we’ve covered on the show.” (Riley, 70:38)
  • Contrasts with known folklore; creatures differ from classic Bigfoot.
  • Timing (pre-internet, pre-mass media) and lack of “contamination” among witnesses adds weight.
  • “This is just its own genre. It’s its own genre.” (Michael, 74:19)

• Steve observes: “The 60s and 70s were just the craziest time for UFOs and Bigfoot...we were seeing hundreds of different manifestations.”

• The team discusses the possibility of government coverups, the “juice” of high strangeness, and how Stan Gordon’s work was long ignored by skeptics for blending UFOlogy and cryptids—a now increasingly embraced approach.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the palimpsest of weirdness:

  • “Someone or something had been tampering with their investigation.” (Michael, 19:02)
  • “This guy gets weirdo of the year award for 1973.” (Michael on gray jumpsuit man, 25:29)
  • “Tracer rounds are just like rounds that you can see at night, right? They’re not, there’s no payload.” (Steve, 44:14)

• On documentation:

  • “He [Stan Gordon] was reporting these things as they were happening. And people did not like that...The UFO people hated it. The Bigfoot people hated it. The paranormal people hated it.” (Steve, 72:47)

• On the best high strangeness case:

  • “I think this is the best high strangeness case of all time.” (Michael, 70:44)
  • “This is the most underrated high strange book that has ever been written. I hope one day this is as popular as the Mothman because it absolutely should be.” (Steve, 63:56)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Intro & banter: 01:19–04:55
• Weirdness hotspots & studio hijinks: 04:55–08:16
• Setting the flap scene: 09:43–16:19
• Case reports, interference, men in gray: 16:21–29:58
• Cryptid diversity, credibility issue: 30:00–34:45
• Linking UFOs & Bigfoot: 35:31–39:27
• Palmer Farm Incident (detailed): 40:44–64:12
• Theories & wrap-up: 66:36–77:36

Tone & Style

• Intimate, irreverent, and enthusiastic. The conversation blends deep respect for the material with comedic riffs and playful “what-if” speculation.
• Direct, colloquial, and rich with references to both outsider folklore and pop culture.

Listener Takeaway

If you missed this episode, you missed a fast-paced journey into one of America’s strangest, least-explained paranormal outbreaks. The hosts, boosted by Steve Berg’s dedicated research, recount a series of sightings so numerous, well-documented, and bizarre that they challenge the boundaries of every “normal” category—UFOlogy, cryptozoology, or folklore—offering a compelling argument that, just maybe, the weirdness of 1973-74 Pennsylvania remains unmatched.

Further Reading/Viewing Suggestions

• Silent Invasion by Stan Gordon (primary source).
• Watch “Invasion on Chestnut Ridge” (Small Town Monsters documentary).
• Dig into newspapers.com and UFO/cryptid zines from the 1970s for original field reports.

Closing

For bonus content and in-depth spillover, check out the BCC Patreon. For “weirder than fiction” mysteries and cryptid lore—Bigfoot Collectors Club has you covered.

End of Summary.