Our Sasquatch Investigations of the Rockies Researchers
Michael Johnson is the driving force behind Sasquatch Investigations of the Rockies.
Michael came to Colorado in 1977 from north of Salina, Kansas.
He instantly fell in love with the mountains and Colorado, and
has spent countless days and nights exploring its majesty.
He got started in this endeavor in the 1990′s after finding 17″ footprints
in the snow at Rampart Range during Thanksgiving break.
In the same location, Mike had a Class 1 Bigfoot sighting when he saw a male Sasquatch in person. This sighting was investigated by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO).
Mike is very comfortable in the woods. He hunts elk and pheasant, and is well adapted to search for the legendary creature in the remotest areas of Colorado, in all four seasons.
Mike is a Christian man, he is a husband, a father of three, and a proud grandfather.
He is very spiritual, whether it be his religion or his search for his Indian heritage.
He is a man’s man, who loves life, the outdoors, his friends and his family. He is painfully honest, which has been his biggest challenge in this field, much to his surprise.
Mike is interested in both the scientific side and spiritual side of the Sasquatch Equation, which makes him a unique individual in the field today.
Scott Barta, Sasquatch Investigations of the Rockies Co-Founder
I have known Michael Johnson since 1966. After graduating college I moved to Aurora, Colorado in 1987.
Mike and I worked for the same Insurance Company for four years. When I moved back to Kansas in 1991 he had talked to me about his interest with Sasquatch and in late 1990′s he advised me of seeing a Sasquatch in the Pikes Peak region.
Frankly, I was not very responsive to it. Over the years we would camp around and he would usually bring it up but not every time. Little did I know he was looking at all the camp spots we went to. He just did not announce it to me or whom ever was with us.
Now when I say camp spots when you are with Mike Johnson that can be an extremely remote and beautiful location. I have had the pleasure of camping and traveling the Colorado Rockies with a true modern mountain man. He is like a tour guide pointing out the topography of the area we are in or going through.
He is a careful, well thought out outdoors man. Most of what I said about Mike applies to Scott Walter as well. Scott and I have only known each other since the first excursion and I like what I see, very technically sound. Mike, however, is at a different level than anyone I have been around concerning the mountains. That includes Fauna, Flora and waterways. The list is endless.
Well in 2009 Mike went on an expedition and Scott Walter was there as well. I called him afterward and he said I had to go with him. We went in July of 2009 and I was going in with my mind as a “zero believer”.
I was open minded because of Mikes credibility with me but I felt I would punch holes in what they were telling me. I openly was known as the non believer. That lasted for one night. Let’s just say they would ask me to put a percentage on where I was on believing. The percentage went to 50% by day two. By the fourth night of a five night stay I was 99% believer. It’s hard to be a 100% when you have not actually seen one to the degree that Mike has, as Scott Walter will attest.
As we were leaving our site I told Mike I wanted to go back up. We postponed my plane flight a week and we went to his home for the weekend and then went back up for another six days. Now, after countless excursions, which are much harder for me to make due to my proximity, I have had a litany of life changing experiences.
I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work with Mike, Scott Walter and our other S.I.R. researchers. The things I have witnessed and heard are not sounds or behaviors of anything or anyone you come across in Kansas or anywhere else for that matter.
However, these special sanctuaries in the mountains are rife with strange goings on and small minutiae of events that unless you are tuned into you will miss. The one thing I do know is there is no Wizard, and not even a man behind the curtains pulling the strings.
I have not had to experience everything vicariously. I have actually had a front row seat to the greatest phenomenon on earth. I know I am closing the gap on that 1%.
S.I.R. Investigation Team
Brad Corless – Idaho, Utah and Wyoming
Brad is a native of Northern Utah he grew up hunting, fishing and exploring the Northern Mountains of Utah. He learned how big game animals and non-game animals live and move in the forest at a young age.
Brad has been researching and chasing Bigfoot since the Patterson film of 1967.
Brad has been a hunting guide, trapper, U.S. Army Special Forces (honorably discharged), U.S. Forest Service (range crew – forest fire fighter). He has been a big game hunter, and avid outdoorsman his whole life. Brad has also had three visual encounters himself.
Other encounters include rock throwing, howls, and roars. The mountains are the only place that he truly calls home. Brad is excited to be a part of S.I.R. and to prove Bigfoot is real !
Brad Jesmer – Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico
Brad was born in California and moved to Colorado in 1986, at the age of 12. He has resided in the Southwest corner of the state ever since.
He is an outdoor person who enjoys camping, hiking, boating, fishing, photography, etc. He thrives in the outdoors and spends as much of his time there as possible.
His first experience with Sasquatch investigations came in 2009 when he attended an expedition with S.I.R. co-founder Mike Johnson. His experiences in the field on that expedition have fostered an undying interest in research and exploration into these great creatures.
He continually explores and investigates in and around Southwest Colorado and Northwest New Mexico. He has experienced roars, grunts, rock throwing, footprints, and a sighting of one “creature” using third-generation night vision.
Brad is employed as a law enforcement officer and he uses the skills of his trade in his
Sasquatch field investigations.
Jeff Yelek – Northern Colorado
Jeff is a native of Colorado, is married with two sons, and has a deep interest in Colorado history.
He loves hiking, fishing, photography and video. Horticulture and Forestry Management were his main subjects of interest in school.
Jeff has been interested in Bigfoot since a young age and never knew how or where too go learn more about the phenomenon. Being a part of S.I.R., Jeff thinks we can come up with some of the answers to this Mystery that is Bigfoot.
Ron Petersen – Colorado
Ron grew up in northeast Iowa on a farm where he developed an appreciation for the outdoors.
In 1982 he came to Colorado where he met his wife Toni. They decided that Colorado was an ideal place to live and raise a family. They have
five children and enjoy hiking and camping together.
Ron’s interest in the bigfoot phenomenon became serious when he found footprints of the creature in 2009. He has since developed an in depth knowledge of the Colorado forests and wildlife.
His investigative skills include an eye for detail and being very thorough with evidence.
Ron’s goal is to provide “Through field research” information for people to decide for
themselves if “Bigfoot” is real or myth.
