I am the first to admit that I am not a big believer in Bigfoot or most of the mysteries being investigated in Cryptozoology. But I enjoy interviewing people from shows such as Discovery's upcoming Lost Monster Files because I'm honestly interested in hearing their point of view. Not only is it possible I could change my mind, but also treating the interviews seriously can lead to some really fascinating conversations.
In the show, the team obtains access to the long-lost case files of renowned cryptozoologist Ivan Sanderson, and decides to revisit some of his best-known investigations including the Chupacabra, the Abominable Snowman, the Kodiak Sea Monster, the Wildman of Minnesota, the Thunderbird of Pennsylvania and the Ozark Gowrow.
I recently spoke with cryptozoologist Brittany Barbieri, who is one of the investigators on Lost Monster Files, which premieres on Wednesday.
The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
You obviously have a strong interest in cryptozoology, and I notice you're interested in other topics as well. Just what is it about this field that fascinates you?
What really fascinates me about cryptozoology is basically the unknown and the challenge of what we perceive we know in zoology.
And I have been a firm believer growing up in the animal space and listening to others in the field, from doctors to the experts and scientists there that talk about how many species we do discover annually and the possibility of there still being more discoveries to be made. The problem is where do we get the funding and how do we make it happen? So from a very young age, it's just been fascinating to me. And I truly believe that all these things are out there just still waiting to be discovered.
You said you were interested since you were a little girl. And what was the first moment where you saw something or experienced something and thought, you know what, I think there's actually something there. This isn't just me being fascinated with it?
Well, growing up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, there were always stories and legends of Sasquatch, the wild men that lived in the woods. And I was the youngest of seven, and several of my older brothers and my father had had a few experiences. But I didn't have my first experience until I was like eight – with my mother.
We were out feeding our animals on the ranch. We had an exotic animal ranch, and we had to feed the llamas. And I was on one side of the fence, and she was on the other. And for the first time, we heard something make a horrific sound, almost as an intimidation to let us know that it was watching us or that it was there. And I just remember dropping the grain. I remember running away.
My mom locked herself in the barn. And we were around tons of different types of animals. We're very familiar with different animal sounds from bobcats to cougars to grizzlies, all these different varieties, and deer as well. And this was something just otherworldly in a sense. And that was a big spark for me that this is it. There is something out here.
This might sound like a stupid question, but as you're getting older and you know you're interested in this, it's not as if you can go to cryptozoology university. How do you learn more about it? How do you talk to people who have some knowledge and can sort of help you learn things that you can get to a point where you feel like you're more of an expert?
(laughs) It's interesting. You're right. There isn't a university at all. I kind of wish there was. I wish there was an offshoot in zoology for cryptozoology.
But it really starts with research and reading. For me, from a very young age, I did read, and I still own, several of Ivan Sanderson's zoological books of his journeys within the jungles and different things like that. And then I started to acquire a lot of his cryptozoology books.
And it really starts there. You really have to integrate and understand where it came from, understanding the leading stories, the turning points in zoological science that made people scratch their head. And then it's taking that risk.
It's taking that chance to put yourself into the field, getting to know those that are leading figures like Ken Gearheart, Lauren Coleman, others in the area close to you or in other states. And reaching out and asking, you know, do you have a class? Do you have any hours that I can learn from you or do whatever? To put yourself out.
And honestly just coming from the animal side and already knowing animals and growing up in that field and learning so much from my older brothers, it was more or less I'm going to take this knowledge and start going on my own track and paving my own way. And then talking to others about what their interests are, what they do or how they do it and what are their theories and concepts, and then apply it to my own. It really comes down to yourself and your research that you do to begin with.
You mentioned all these theories and for yourself anyway, how do you keep yourself on the right intellectual path? Because, I guess I don't have to tell you. There are some people out there who have went down some really deep rabbit holes. And how do you keep yourself from not doing that, sort of keep your head and remind yourself, OK, I'm going to stick with the scientific approach.
Right. This sounds like an interesting theory, but I don't see any evidence of that. So I'm just going to ignore that for now. There is a lot. And you have to be careful. It's a slippery slope down that rabbit hole once you get in it.
I enjoy a good conspiracy theory just like the next person. You know, I think it's fun to fantasize and think. But I think, honestly, the anchor for me is always the understanding of animals from the zoological standpoint.
I really believe that that's what's anchored me a lot to where you begin to understand a lot of the local lore, but also understand a lot of cultures. They wrote what they saw. You know, they were trying to express what they saw.
So they did see something, and then you have to kind of pull the layers of the onion back. But that's really what anchors me, especially in cryptozoology. You know, there's a lot of theories of the alien connection to Sasquatch.
And although I appreciate those kind of raising the bar and pushing the narrative to a new spectrum of thought and really opening the boundaries of the mind, which I appreciate. But for me, that's not where I'm at because of the experiences and field research I've had. I believe these are more actual tangible animals, and it should stay in the cryptozoological field. But that's just me personally.
And, again, I admire everyone's theories out there. 
Well, let's talk a little bit specifically about the show. How does having cameras around and crews around sort of effect what you're doing? Is it possible to do the same level of an investigation with all these people following you around?
It makes it a lot more tricky, to be honest.
But we were very blessed with a very intimate crew that understood that what we're doing is true work, real field work. And even the glimpse of trying to understand the ecosystem and the animals in that ecosystem, we have to remain quiet and diligent. That's where my team, who I rely on in the field, who are my brother and our good friend Justin, being in the field and working with them previously and having that expertise, we share a common language.
We understand the field that we're in. And we were very much blessed with a film crew. But it does make it a little more challenging because you think of sound and you have to be extremely quiet when you're dealing with wildlife.
You're encroaching on habitats. They're going to push further in. So we were very blessed that our crew was excited to listen to our direction and take notes.
And they were prepped and ready. And we made it very small, very intimate. The less gear, the better.
Cryptozoology, like a lot of professions, is male-dominated in a lot of ways. So what are the challenges of working in the field as a woman? Are there some advantages as well?
That's a great question, actually. Thank you. It's a very – it has been challenging.
I would say in the last probably 10 years, it's been a little bit easier for women to make a mark in this field. However, it is still a little bit challenging. I think the majority of men kind of see women with more of an emotional attachment and that we're more sensitive to a lot of things. Which I think is also an advancement for us in this field because we can get maybe a little bit more out of our eyewitness because we don't come off so harsh or very matter-of-fact.
We come off a little bit more empathetic and understanding to our eyewitness. And I think that helps. And I think that is why we're getting a lot more eyewitnesses coming forward.
That's why they're feeling that there is a safe space and more comfortable rooms to speak their truth in. And for a woman, it's a tough place because even though you have opinions and you've done your research and you've had your own field work, it's almost as if in some places the guys still think that they can do it better. And it's hard.
What's the biggest challenge of doing something like this, just technically? Ultimately you want to get as much proof as possible. So what are the limits on how you can get that done? Is there something that you would like to have that you don't have? What is difficult about what you do?
The difficult part for any cryptozoologist is we are constantly on an uphill challenge of what we're looking for isn't documented by science. We're starting at ground zero.
True old world exploration style of finding locals, finding evidence, everything from the beginning. And I make this joke with Troy and Justin a lot as you guys have it made so much easier. When you have to go out and use your expertise and professional background to help relocate, transport or find a said animal.
These are animals that you have been able to study because you have other creatures within this genus to study and learn from. So you know the behavior. I'm looking for something that has yet to be found.
And we don't know all the behaviors. We don't know how it reacts or does it work in packs? Does it work in numbers? So there's a lot more to this side of the field than zoological side of the field and it becomes challenging. But that challenge is extremely exciting.
And I think some of the things that I wish I had was maybe that the scientific community was more willing to help aid and provide what they can to make these next big discoveries. But unfortunately, they still try and put us in pseudoscience and that this is nothing more than folklore.
And that's just not true.
So I'm not even sure if you can answer this question. But if I could wave a wand and you could find definitive proof of a particular creature, a particular animal, what would it be? Is there one that you just think this this is my white whale? This is the one I'd love to be able to prove the existence of.
Oh, yes, I do. And it's the one that has been the most compelling within cryptozoology from the beginning.
Even for Ivan Sanderson, which was the turning point for him. And that would be the family genus of the Sasquatch, whether that be the Yeti, the Yahweh. All of the different groupings of this said bipedal hominid primate creature that is existing to modern times.
There has been scientific interest, but the community has made a very bold statement that in order for cryptozoology to be recognized as true science, they need a physical body of a Sasquatch. And once that happens, they will consider cryptozoology as a true science. And so that's been my baby since I was a little girl.
That's what got me into this field of cryptozoology and the love of animals. And the other big ballplayer in there is once you find them, you want to protect them, just like we do with any other animal species. I don't want to shoot one.
I don't want to kill one and have a trophy in my house. I want to track it, learn from it and protect it and treat it as we do with endangered species.
Why do you think it's been so hard to find that definitive Bigfoot body or one that's alive? I'm sure the question you get all the time. Just from your perspective, why do you think it's so difficult?
You know, the thing is, I think a lot of people underestimate the intelligence of animals and they observe and see and witness a lot, especially what we do when we're in the woods, what we're doing to their environment. And they're elusive for a reason. And there's a lot of times I've talked to so many hikers and I say this to them.
You've done the Appalachian Trail. You've done all these different hikes globally. And how often do you get to see these bears, these beautiful, Rocky Mountain sheep or any type of animal outside of a deer? And they're like, well, it's like never. And that's my point.
And how often are you walking in the woods and you come across a carcass of a bear? Because the scavengers that run on the floors of the forest, whatever the larger predator leaves behind, the scavengers come and get. And all you're going to get is small fragments of bone. And the common folk walking through the woods, if they see one bone, they're just going to think it's a deer or a bear.
They won't ever think about looking at it deeper or taking it for collection of evidence for a different species that may not basically be known. And so I think when they always ask, well, how can we have no bones? How can we have no bodies? Well, we have to understand how decomposition works with bones, how muscle and tissue work within, you know, an ecosystem with wolves and different types of predators. All these things are going to get ripped apart and shredded and basically just strewn about throughout the woods.
And you're not going to find it as easy. It's not like there's a burial ground of Sasquatch. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, here's where they lay. But we can go find them. It's a lot trickier in the animal world. And that's that's how it is.
The gorilla was no different. You have to place the gorilla into this. They didn't even believe that a certain type of gorilla even existed until they actually had a skull and bone from a local village.
They were like, oh, OK, they do exist in this area. And it was just because they were hunting them and they finally found the skull and bone. But it took decades and research and exploration. And that's how it is.
Well, let me wrap it up with this question. This is a subject which I'm sure you can get a little obsessed about. What do you do to get away from it? It's it's not like you can go hiking in the woods because that's pretty close to what you would be doing anyway. What do you do to get away and cleanse your mind a little bit and take a break from all of this?
To be honest with you, it's very hard for me to turn my brain off on my on my work. But really, it's being home with my family.
I'm a mom of two and I'm proud of that. And I love spending time with them. And I'm also an artist.
So I love to paint. I love to draw, de-stress, kind of reset my mind and do projects with my kids or paint and kind of do that. But I'm not going to lie.
My brain is constantly in the game and I'm constantly researching and reading new scientific thesis that come out. And I I'm constantly trying to apply new tactics to my research. So it's hard.
It's hard to tap out. It really is.
Lost Monster Files premieres Wednesday, October 9 at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery.
