East Tennessee has a reputation for strange woods, hidden caves, Bigfoot sightings, Dogman encounters, and unexplained Appalachian legends, but today, we go even deeper. Tony and the Slingshot Nation crew sit down with Ricky to explore bizarre supernatural encounters in the forests of Maryville, Alcoa, Kodak, and the surrounding Tennessee mountains, including a Bigfoot-like creature crawling across a trail on its fingers and toes, possible Dogman activity near the Greenway, eerie cave systems beneath East Tennessee, occult bloodline connections, spiritual warfare, shadow figures, strange knocks on homes, and the chilling idea that something ancient may be moving through the woods after dark. From cryptid sightings to demonic encounters, today we ask one unsettling question: what is really crawling through East Tennessee?

A Smyrna man is alerting his neighbors after believing he captured a cougar on his home security camera, despite Tennessee authorities stating that such sightings are exceedingly rare.

Merkel Media CEO and The Confessionals podcast host Tony Merkel was recently featured in Tennessee Highlighter - check out some of his interview below as he discusses risk-taking, Tennessee, and more!

We love living in the Appalachia region, an area full of history, legends, strange creatures! Explore one of these such legendary creatures with Donnie Laws, a native Appalachian, as he recounts the history and sightings of the Booger of Fonde Mountain, a strange and mysterious ape-like creature who may be hiding out in the mountains of southeast Kentucky.

Is it Bigfoot in broad daylight? An intriguing video emerged online late last month that seems to show a dark, hulking figure in arguably clear view on a property in Tennessee. The creature itself looks on curiously as it is filmed, at one point stretching some pretty long, strong arms from tree to tree as it creeps around. There is little context for the video, and it frustratingly cuts off too soon, but many people do believe the clip is evidence of Bigfoot.