A television crew that investigates paranormal activity across the region will spend time tonight at Mauch Chunk Lake Park searching for signs of Bigfoot, following reports of sightings in the area dating back decades.

Eric Mintel, host of “Eric Mintel Investigates” on Pocono Television Network, said the crew chose the park after hearing from a local man who reported seeing the creature while hiking in Jim Thorpe and taking a photo of it. Mintel said he interviewed the man personally before deciding to investigate.

“He was very sincere,” Mintel said. “I’m pretty good at discerning the truth from the BS, and this guy, I could talk to him.”

The crew also plans to explore the area because of an earlier reported sighting nearby.

“There was another sighting back in the early ‘90s, a woman saw something over by Mauch Chunk Lake,” Mintel said.

A police officer who also researches Bigfoot, identified by Mintel as Matt Nickey, is expected to join the investigation and discuss cases and witnesses he has encountered over the years.

Filming is scheduled to run from 5 to 9 p.m.

“I’m going to kind of poke around in the woods a little bit more when it gets a little on the darker side,” Mintel said.

Mintel said the crew keeps its equipment minimal to limit its impact on the sites it investigates, typically relying on a magnetometer to detect electromagnetic energy and an electronic voice phenomena recorder to capture sounds inaudible to the human ear. He said the team may also use thermal imaging equipment in the woods Wednesday night.

Mintel, a professional jazz musician, said he started the show in 2016 under the name Bucks County Paranormal Investigations before renaming it after businesses such as restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts began asking the crew to investigate reports of hauntings. The show airs nightly at 7 p.m. on PTN, with new episodes airing Saturdays at 8 p.m. Mintel said the Mauch Chunk Lake Park episode likely will air at the end of August, after he finishes editing the footage.

Mintel pointed to a 2021 investigation in the Wharton State Forest section of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens as some of the most compelling evidence he has gathered. He said the crew recorded a vocalization from the woods that was answered back by a member of the group, and that the team later saw two illuminated eyes about seven feet off the ground during a follow-up visit to the same area.

“I saw two yellow eyes about 7 feet up, and they disappeared, and you could hear something clomping back into the swamp,” Mintel said. “It was the craziest night.”

Mintel said he considers the East Coast, including the Poconos, a hot spot for Bigfoot activity.

“People think, ‘Oh, Bigfoot’s on the West Coast, what’s he doing on the East Coast?’ But I think there’s been more Bigfoot sightings per capita on the East Coast than there has been on the West Coast,” Mintel said.

He acknowledged skepticism the show is likely to draw when the episode airs.

“Yes, this is entertainment, but we’re also trying to look at this in a scientific way, too,” Mintel said. “We’re going to be doing something that’s going to be real research into this area.”

Mintel is scheduled to release his second book, “Paranormal in the Poconos,” later this month on Amazon. He also said the first Pocono Para-Con is scheduled for Oct. 4 at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, featuring speakers and vendors focused on UFOs, Bigfoot and ghosts.