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Mike Johnston

About / Author

Mike Johnston

Founder and editor of Encounter Atlas. Canadian web developer with a long-running interest in Bigfoot, lake monsters and UFOs.

About me

I've had a long-running interest in Sasquatch, lake monsters like Ogopogo, and lights in the sky. I built Encounter Atlas because the information was scattered across old forums, dead links and books that are hard to find. I wanted one place where you can see where things were reported, read what people actually said, and check the original sources yourself.

By day I build websites. Here I write and review the creature pages, case write-ups, guides and the official records sections, and I read every reader report before it goes on the map.

How I research and write

  • Original sources first. Government archives (Project Blue Book, the National Archives, Library and Archives Canada), congressional transcripts, old newspapers and published witness accounts. Every page links to where the facts came from.
  • Reports are not proof. A sighting on this site means someone said they saw something. I say what was reported, what investigators found and which explanations hold up, and I let you decide.
  • Witnesses get credit. Stories are retold in my own words and credited to the person who told them, with a link to the original where there is one.
  • Corrections are welcome. If something is wrong or out of date, tell me and I will fix it and update the date on the page.

Recently updated

  1. October 24, 2026Wendigo: the real Algonquian legend, history and the antlered myth
  2. October 24, 2026Nordic aliens: the tall blond visitors explained
  3. October 24, 2026Mothman: Point Pleasant sightings, map and theories
  4. October 24, 2026Grey aliens: names, origins and famous encounters
  5. October 24, 2026Drop bears: Australia's famous koala hoax, explained
  6. October 24, 2026Chupacabra: Puerto Rico's goat-sucker, the Texas dogs and what it really is
  7. October 23, 2026Tim Gallaudet: UFO hearing testimony
  8. October 23, 2026Senate hearing with AARO director Jon Kosloski (2024)
  9. October 23, 2026Senate hearing on AARO's mission and budget (2023)
  10. October 23, 2026Sean Kirkpatrick: UFO hearing testimony
  11. October 23, 2026Scott Bray: UFO hearing testimony
  12. October 23, 2026Ryan Graves: UFO hearing testimony

Everything I've written