December 2, 2006: The Real Lost World - Peter von Puttkamer

Art Bell welcomes filmmaker and explorer Peter von Puttkamer, whose decades of documentary work have taken him into remote jungles, ancient caves, and the deep wilderness in search of creatures that science has yet to catalog. Broadcasting from the typhoon-ravaged Philippines, Art opens the show with a firsthand account of Typhoon Durian's devastating near-miss of Manila and the catastrophic mudslides it triggered on the slopes of Mount Mayon.

Von Puttkamer shares stories from his extensive fieldwork, including tracking the Jersey Devil through the Pine Barrens with experienced hunters and investigating Bigfoot sightings with legendary researchers like Peter Byrne and Grover Krantz. He discusses how indigenous cultures worldwide preserve remarkably consistent accounts of wild, hair-covered humanoid creatures in their masks, dances, and oral traditions. The conversation examines why credible witnesses, including state troopers and wildlife officers, continue to report encounters with unidentified creatures despite the professional risks of doing so.

Art and Peter also explore the reality of lost worlds in places like the Congo and Southeast Asia, where vast unexplored regions could still harbor unknown species. Von Puttkamer describes his search for the Mokele-mbembe and other cryptids reported by local populations across multiple continents.