Overview
A recent episode of The Cryptid Podcast centered on a firsthand account from a traveler who says he saw an unidentified creature while driving through New Mexico, adding another personal testimony to the long-running public fascination with cryptid and paranormal sightings in the American Southwest. In the episode, host Dano interviewed a guest named Jonah about what he described as a startling encounter on I-40 between Albuquerque and Tucumcari. The discussion was framed as a true encounter story rather than a verified identification, with the program inviting listeners to weigh the description against familiar folklore such as Bigfoot, Dogman, Wendigo, and Skinwalker reports.
The New Mexico Encounter
According to Jonah’s account, the sighting occurred around 11:00 PM, just before Christmas, while he and his wife were driving eastbound through New Mexico on their way from Arizona to Minnesota. Jonah said he was scanning the roadside for wildlife when a creature suddenly appeared on the right shoulder, about 15 to 20 yards ahead of the vehicle. He described the animal as roughly the size of a deer but looking like an “emaciated coyote,” with a tan coat, a big barrel chest, a sucked-in gut, and long, skinny legs. He also said the figure stood taller than the hood of his wife’s Buick LaCrosse and the nearby guardrails, and that it remained motionless as the car passed.
Witness Reaction and Identification
Jonah told the podcast that the encounter triggered an immediate physical reaction, saying he felt “goosebumps all over [his] whole body” from head to toe. He said fear kept him from turning around, and he continued driving rather than investigate further. His wife and their dog were asleep at the time and did not witness the incident, leaving Jonah as the sole observer. At first, he considered whether the creature might have been a Dogman, Wolfman, or Wendigo, but he later said he settled on the Skinwalker explanation after hearing a separate podcast episode, “50 States of Fear: Arizona,” claiming the descriptions matched his experience “to a T.”
Broader Cryptid Context
The episode also expanded beyond Jonah’s account, with Dano referencing similar stories from acquaintances and listeners. He mentioned a friend named Charlie, who reportedly described a sighting near Centerville that could have involved a Wendigo or Skinwalker, and another friend, Joey, who claimed to have seen Bigfoot. Jonah added a separate anecdote about spotting an orb in his Arizona backyard, which he said moved from right to left before disappearing. Despite frequent camping trips in the Mogollon Rim region — an area long associated with the Mogollon Monster, a regional Bigfoot variant — Jonah said he had never personally seen anything unusual there. The episode closed with Dano encouraging listeners to stay alert and share their own experiences, underscoring the show’s recurring theme that “A legend begins with a sighting.”
