A Good Week for Bigfoot Researcher Cliff Barackman

At the risk of seemingly having a man-crush on Cliff Barackman (we've had 3 posts about him in the last week alone), the truth is, we go where the news goes, and not only has Cliff been on fire, he's gone international!

The German Bigfoot blog, Sasquat.com has interviewed Cliff with some great insightful questions. The post is half German, half english. We have translated the opening paragraph for you below:

The search for Bigfoot is a lot more than just a hobby. The "Squatching" or "Bigfooting" as it is called by the performers themselves, has blossomed into a kind of lifestyle for some. You go out every free minute in the wilderness and spend most of their income on fuel and equipment for voyages to remote regions. One such man is Cliff Barackman. The man from Portland, Oregon, has been interested in the school for the Bigfoot phenomenon. Today he is a member of his Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, and probably one of the most persistent field researchers, there is. Alike, the man who works as a teacher and jazz guitarist, as one of the helpful "Bigfoot." I met Cliff at Oregon Sasquatch Symposium in June, but had unfortunately no opportunity to interview him because he broke during the Symposium on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, because there were fresh tracks were found. I asked him why, to answer my e-mail a few questions. Questions such as why he is looking for Bigfoot, whether it would be ethical to kill such a creature on the value of focus photos and videos and how he feels about the ominous Kentucky project.

We love the end of the interview, which feels like a quickfire question and answer sessions.

What are your three favorite books on Sasquatch?
Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science by Dr. Jeff Meldrum.
Bigfoot / Sasquatch Evidence by Dr. Grover Krantz.
North America's Great Ape: The Sasquatch by Dr. John Binder nail.

Three most admired Bigfoot?
Dr. Jeff Meldrum for his academic professionalism, and bravery by sticking his neck out.
Dr. John Mionczynski for his staggering field experience and knowledge.
Bob Gimlin for his integrity and kindness in the face of mud slinging and misinformed gossip.

Three best pieces of evidence?
The internal congruence of the available data.
The Patterson / Gimlin film.
Footprint casts.

Three worst pieces of evidence?
The only "bad" evidence is that which is fabricated. The rest of it is simply to be disproved by investigation. That's the nature of science.

Three best events in bigfooting history?
The Patterson / Gimlin film event for it's unique impact.
The Cripple Foot footprint event for its role in getting Dr. Krantz interested.
The founding of the BFRO for being the largest database ever assembled of sasquatch sightings and publicly shared.

Three worst events in history bigfooting?
The Georgia "Body In A Freezer" hoax.
The publishing of Greg Long's book, The Making of Bigfoot: The Inside Story.
The "Massacre at Bluff Creek" theory getting any traction at all

Three best locations to search for sasquatches?
The Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
Prince of Wales, Iceland, Alaska.
Uninterrupted green belts near your home.

Three best items for field research?
Thermal imager.
Audio recorders.
Nature observation skills.

Three best experiences in the field?
Bigfooting with Bob Gimlin.
Adventures with Bobo (every trip with him can be described as "the best").
Doing field work on Prince of Wales Iceland.

Three worst experiences in the field?
Finding myself four miles upstream from camp at sunset without a flash light at Bluff Creek.
Any one of my numerous experiences with poison oak or poison ivy.
Having to get towed out of slick, deep mud in the White Mountains of Arizona.

Three best websites on Bigfoot?
(All modesty aside)
http://northamericanbigfoot.blogspot.com/
www.NorthAmericanBigfoot.com
www.bfro.net
(if asked for a fourth one we are sure he would have added Bigfoot Lunch Club)

Not German? Can't speak or read German? no Problem the link below will automatically translate the blog for you.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Sasquat.com (translated)
Cliff's new Facebook Page

Bigfoot, Bonobos, and Vanessa Woods

We've mentioned Vanessa Before, back in 2009. She is a writer, researcher and journalist. She works at Duke University in North Carolina and Lola ya Bonobo in Congo and is the author of Bonobo Handshake (Gotham 2010), a memoir of her research with bonobos in Congo.

Vanessa has won the Acclaimed Book award from the Royal Society, UK, and the Australasian Science award for journalism. Her books have been sold in the US, Canada, Australia, Korea, Israel and the UK.

Recently she has reprinted a letter written to her from Mike Phillips, plus she includes a nod to Cliff Barackman's blog.

her post begins:

Bonobos are becoming quite the rage in the bigfoot circles. In 2008, I had one of my bonobo photos stolen from my blog and entered into a bigfoot photo competition (they took it down so i can't show you the link), then I have a totally cute fan club of one on the North American Bigfoot blog).
So officially, I don't think you can say for sure that there is 100% no bigfoot. I'm willing to entertain the thought that bigfoot might be out there. I'm not sure it's very likely, but i'm not crossing it out.

And here is a very interesting letter I got from a Bigfoot researcher, Mike Phillips....

the Post continues to share the email from Mike here



You can read the reposted letter at the psychology today link below

EXTERNAL LINKS
Bigfoot and Bonbobos

VISIT Vanessa's Other Websites
http://www.friendsofbonobos.org/
http://www.vanessawoods.net/index.html

Bigfoot Wars II: Beware of the Trolls

In our first Installation of Bigfoot Wars, we borrowed heavily from Steven Streufert's BIGFOOTS bLOG.

Steven Streufert and his sincere opinions are again a topic at The Journal, a Humboldt County Weekly. The article, titled Bigfoot and the Trolls highlights some of the back and forth between Streufert and a few members/moderators of the Bigfoot Forums. The troll reference is from a post on Streuferts Blog described in the blurb below.

On May 29 at 12:10 a.m. Streufert posted a cryptic warning on his blog and, as he always did, posted notice of it on the BFF: “When looking for Bigfoot, watch out for TROLLS.”

Photo of Steven Streufert by HEIDI WALTERS


The article continues to allow the story unfold on its own and pauses in the excerpt below, telling much about Streufert.

“I haven’t had a sighting that I can prove,” he said. “But I think the anecdotal evidence is tremendous. I can point in all directions here to places where Bigfoot has been seen, right from this store [by others]. Including across the river right there” — he pointed through the store toward the open front door, beyond which lay the highway and the Trinity River — “and including behind these cabins out here. Last year, there was a sighting up on Friday Ridge Road, and by the forest lookout.”

With regularity, as if they’re just reporting yet another black bear crossing the road or raiding someone’s garden, people come into his store to tell him they or someone they know just saw Bigfoot.

“This store’s like Bigfoot bait,” Streufert, who’s 45, said. “And when I opened it in 2005, that’s what I was thinking: I could put Bigfoot in the name and have Bigfoot in the front window, and people would eventually start coming in here.”

Bigfoot books and memorabilia do flood the store. Even so, there are far more books on non-Bigfoot topics, from religion to romance. Streufert has a master’s in literature and a master’s in teaching writing, both from Humboldt State. He loves learning about everything, he said.

The article is one of the best reads in a long time. The other item, if you didn't already know, is Bigfoot Forums is under new management.

EXTERNAL LINKS
The Journal:Bigfoot and the Trolls
BIGFOOTS bLOG

Igor Burtsev to head another Bigfoot Expedition in Siberia

Siberia? Don't you mean Yeti or Almas? Yes astute readers you are ever so clever, but if Igor wants to call it Bigfoot, we wont split hairs (unless those hairs are Sasquatch with potential DNA evidence).

Igor, director of the International Center of Hominology, was responsible for discovering a possible skull of the Almasty. In 1996 he sent the skull to the US to have DNA testing done. Despite a possible DNA relationship to Neanderthals, the morphology seemed too different to corroborate such a conclusion.

This has not stopped Russian news agencies to continue to report Igor Burtsev's ongoing expeditions. Most recently Itar-Tass News Agency files this report below:

KEMEROVO, September 22 (Itar-Tass) -- A fourth science expedition has left for Mountain Shoria (a territory in Southern Siberia, east of the Altai Mountains) earlier on Wednesday in search of any traces of the abominable snowman. Taking part in the expedition will be the director of the International Center for Hominology, Igor Burtsev, deputy president of the public association Kosmopoisk, Vasily Dovgoshei, History Doctor Valery Kimeyev and other experts.

As Igor Burtsev, a participant in several previous expeditions, has told Itar-Tass, the search will last for about ten days. The experts are determined to find irrefutable evidence the Bigfoot (also known by the names of Sasquatch and Yeti) does exist.

“During the previous expedition a year ago I saw markers (half-broken branches) the creature uses to mark the controlled territory,” Burtsev said.

“Mountain Shoria is a perfect place for yetis. It is a sparsely populated, mountainous area, where there are many caves, it is relatively warm and there are sources of pure fresh water. In the mountain rivers fish is in abundance and hunting in the forests must be really good. I reckon the Bigfoot likes to go fowling. In the woods I have found several artifacts to confirm my theory of mine. This time I plan to find the Bigfoot’s shelter and even try to contact the creature."

The head of the Tashtagol District, Vladimir Makuta, says that the first mention of Bigfoot’s presence in Mountain Shoria dates back to 1980. The creatures seem to have gone especially active over the past three years.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Itarr Tass Original Article
International Center for Hominology
Cryptomundo's Take on the Skull evidence

M.K.Davis: Video Proof Bigfoot was Shot in Thigh

*** UPDATE 11/27/2010 ***
M.K. Davis has emailed us and requested we correct this post. While we have not changed the following post we would like add M.K. Davis denies he has ever accused Bob Gimlin of shooting Bigfoot. Below is a quote from the email:

"On your comment that I have theorized that Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin shot bigfoot at Bluff Creek. This is absolutely untrue. I don't know where you got that from but I have formulated no such theory. I respectfully request that you correct this assertion that I have accused Patterson and Gimlin of this, as I have not done so. -- M.K.Davis"

We appreciate M.K.Davis taking the time to help us balance the record and we apologize for over-generalizing the sensitive subject of Bluff Creek.



Bigfoot encounters does a much better job covering this story, but below have a few image teasers. These teasers are what M.K. Davis is using to support the whole Big foot massacre theory.

In a nut shell. M.K. Davis proposed that the famous Patterson Gimlin footage was actually a small part of the film documentation of a Bigfoot Massacre. M.K. Davis theorized Bob Gimlin and Roger Patterson killed Bigfoot at Bluff Creek in 1967, and John Green, Bob Titmus, and others being behind a coverup of this “massacre.”

It goes deeper too, according to the extended theory the Patterson, Gimlin, et al were hired by the forestry corporatist to kill these Bigfoot to protect their financial interest. If this was truly something the foresting industry wanted, you would have thought they had the foresight of the spotted owl.

Now that you have the teaser and the backstory go to Bigfoot encounters and read this intriguing read here.

NY Post: Bigfoot will be MUST HAVE Toy

Today, the New York Post List many Must Have toys, on top of the list? the Fisher Price imaginext Bigfoot Toy. Back in February we mentioned how the Wall Street Journal also thought this toy would be a holiday winner.

Big-ticket toys are making a comeback.
While last year's must-have toys were mostly lower-priced items like Zhu Zhu pets -- selling for less than $10 -- a few toy makers this year are betting that parents are feeling more flush.
Take, for example, the "Imaginext Bigfoot the Monster" by Fisher-Price. While it lists at Toys "R" Us for a whopping $109.99, the giant toy chain says it expects it will be among the 15 hottest sellers this season.
"Bigfoot stomps around, throws tantrums, exercises, somersaults, naps and more," the retailer enthused in a press release that's slated for release today...

you can see the revved up promotional ads below

A 3-minute 3D Adventure


Our breaking video on our YouTube Channel



EXTERNAL LINK
New York Post Article
The iPhone App
Interactive Find Bigfoot Game
Official Fisher Price Bigfoot Page

i09's 5 Strangest Sasquatch Theories

We love i09.com. They appeal to our inner geek and have done great things for digital art. With that said, we have a couple of issues with a recent article from i09.com.

One, we don't like the dismissive tone regarding Bigfoot. Second, while there is some good research and citing done for this article, there are some other great theories that we believe should have made their list.Descendant of Cain, Government grizzly/Human hybrid experiments. Heck some are even saying Bigfoot doesn't even mean Bigfoot anymore.

Below are all five theories provided by i09.com

There may not be actual giant bipedal humanoids wandering the wilderness, but that hasn't stopped Bigfoot fanatics from coming up with some seriously weird theories explaining all those footprints and blurry videos.

While Bigfoot seems like a North American phenomenon, there are tales of giant wildmen around the world, from the Tibetan Yeti to the Australian Yowie and Siberia's Chunchunya. Could these creatures really be endemic worldwide? Or is there some deep part of the human psyche that peers into the wilderness and sees not something alien, but rather a horrifying reflection of what we could have been (and might still be) without the thin veneer of "civilization" we've wrapped ourselves in?

Or maybe we're actually seeing invisible, telepathic, hypnotic otherdimensional aliens.

Here are the five weirdest theories of what's really going on when people report a Bigfoot sighting.

Theory One: Bigfoot represents a lost species of hominid.
On the surface, this theory doesn't seem that crazy. The deep forests and remote mountains of the world could hide a few evolutionary offshoots. It's a lot harder to hide a sustainable population, though. Within a single habitat, any population below about 500 would be considered severely endangered. While it is technically possible such populations of large primates could exist in several places throughout North America and have escaped detection (no confirmed carcasses, bones, scat, or abandoned nests), it is incredibly unlikely. And trying to explain away the scientific implausibility of this theory gives rise to the increasingly arcane theories that follow.

Theory Two: Bigfoot is a Native American nature spirit.
I know it's culturally insensitive to include this on a list of "bizarre" theories, but cloaking an idea in religion or tradition doesn't make it any less ridiculous. In an early issue of the Bigfoot newsletter The Track Record, Gayle Highpine surveyed the various attitudes of North American tribes toward Bigfoot. Lakota, Dakota and Ojibway consider him a spirit guide and harbinger who brings "signs or messages that there is a need to change, a need to cleanse." One Dakota tribe member told a local newspaper, "They exist in another dimension from us, but can appear in this dimension whenever they have a reason to."

Highpine also alludes to a common Bigfoot theme – psychic powers:

The existence of Bigfoot is taken for granted throughout Native North America, and so are his powerful psychic abilities. [Native elders] say that Bigfoot knows when humans are searching for him and that he chooses when and to whom to make an appearance, and that his psychic powers account for his ability to elude the white man's efforts to capture him or hunt him down.
In the 2002 documentary Bigfootville, Native Americans in Oklahoma claimed that Bigfoot could be standing right in front of you, but he could make you not see him with his "magic hypnosis powers."

Theory Three: Bigfoot is an alien creature.
At some point, researchers started noticing that Bigfoot sightings often seemed to be accompanied by strange lights in the sky. The conclusion: Bigfoot is so hard to find because he arrives on his spaceship, makes some footprints, then flies back home. There's more to it than just a vague statistical connection, though. Sometimes Bigfoot seems to be under the control of some other species of alien. In a 1997 interview with Big Foot Encounters, researcher Peter Gutilla related the following story about a rural Seattle man's experience:

Under hypnosis he told of watching two UFOnauts descend from beneath a huge hovering disk-shaped UFO and walk casually into the woods followed by a tall, hair-covered ape-like creature that seemed subservient to them. For weeks preceding the experience the witness said he was often roused at night by a loud whirring noise that originated in the sky above trees near his home. Neighbors also heard the sound which was recorded on tape, and in one of the recordings a high-pitched wailing cry can be heard behind the drone of the sound-maker.

Theory Four: Bigfoot is an invisible psychic monster from another dimension.
Some Bigfoot sightings have been accompanied not by lights in the sky, but rather weird flashes of light in the woods. Also, sometimes his massive footprints just end, as if he was walking along and just disappeared. Some people even claim to have seen a Bigfoot vanish into thin air. Therefore, he must be warping in and out of our dimension.

John Cotton, vice president of the Canadian Society of Questers, in a 1997 news article in Utah's Deseret News, described Bigfoot as a "hairy angel" who comes to our dimension to impart some kind of vital knowledge to shamans. The subject of the article was a man named Ron Mower, who claimed to have seen otherdimensional Bigfoot nine times. He warned that there were good and evil Bigfoots, but they are helpfully color-coded – the bad ones have red eyes. Mower also believed that Bigfoot had teleported himself to Mower's home to stalk him there.

It gets better though. So much better. A story posted to Cryptomundo in 2007 made astonishing claims about government research on otherdimensional Bigfoot. You should really go read the whole post, but in summary: In the 60s and 70s, Livermore Labs and UC Berkeley captured a pair of Bigfoots, but they escaped through the 4th dimension and wandered the lab for weeks invisibly, scaring the secretaries, who were the only ones who could detect them on account of their natural female sensitivity to the electromagnetic clouds produced by the entities. Finally, the government took all the research notes and is suppressing all Bigfoot information and research. The kicker? Stephen Hawking was there, and we could prove all of this if only anyone had the balls to ask him about it.



Theory Five: Bigfoot is human...with really nice hair.
This theory relates to one specific Bigfoot sighting, the famous Patterson film (above). I'll admit, even in the face of (contested) declarations that it was a hoax, it's hard to watch that film and not feel a shred of doubt. You can convince yourself that it isn't just a guy in a costume if you watch it enough times. What else could it be? Well, if you look closely, you can see that the creature in the film has breasts. It also has a prominent sagittal crest on its head, which gives it a somewhat coneheaded appearance. The problem is that sagittal crests generally appear on males in large primates, while large, furry, pendulous breasts suggest the creature is female. How to sort out this apparent inconsistency?

Close analysis of still frames has revealed (to some people) that the bulge on top of the head isn't a sagittal crest at all. It's a beehive hairdo.

While this seems ludicrous, it does perhaps lead to a more plausible theory, at least in regard to this one sighting. Could it be a human woman born with several congenital disorders? Hypertrichosis, gigantism, perhaps a bone growth disorder? In a rural area, she might have been abandoned at a young age, yet somehow managed to survive as a feral child. It's a bizarre and incredibly unlikely series of events.

I guess Bigfoot really must be an invisible psychic 4D shaman, after all.

SOURCES

Arave, Lynn. "Utah man says he's seen Bigfoot 9 times since '68." Deseret News, June 7, 1997.

Highpine, Gayle. "Attitudes Toward Bigfoot in Many North American Cultures." The Track Record.

"An Interview with Peter Gutilla." bigfootencounters.com.

"Invisible Bigfoot?" cryptomundo.com.

"The Patterson-Gimlin Film Footage and links to the film's Stabilization & Enhancements and GPS Co-Ordinates For the PG-Film Site." bigfootencounters.com.

OTHERS THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE THE LIST
Bigfoot descendant of Cain
Bigfoot is an Alien Chimera Grizzly/Human Hybrid
Demon Debate on NatGeo
Bigfoot is not even Bigfoot

EXTERNAL LINKS
i09.com's original Article

Interview: A man who would kill Bigfoot

J Anderson is free-lance writer for Associated Content who plans on going on a BFRO Expedition soon. Recently he has been in contact with individuals who would favor killing Bigfoot in the name of science.

He writes an interview with one of the individuals with the pseudonym "Dave".

We have a short teaser of the interview below.

Bigfoot: Would You Shoot One?

Published September 10, 2010 by:J. Andersen

I'm excited about an upcoming Bigfoot expedition I will be attending soon with the BFRO in the northern region of the U.S. I always enjoy doing actual field research in addition to blogging about Bigfoot. What I'm also curious about is an invitation I recently received from a Bigfoot researcher who wants to shoot a Bigfoot in the name of science. And he's invited me to tag along. Is this guy crazy?

You might be surprised to know that a small minority of Bigfoot researchers carry out the same fantasy as this man (let's call him "Dave") and they believe the only way to prove Bigfoots exists is to shoot one. I personally don't believe that killing something is the best way to prove it's living, and most fans from www.facebook.com/findbigfoot and other Bigfoot sites would probably agree.

I've also been contacted in the last few months by a man from New York who is willing to hire retired military commandos to go into the field to capture or kill a Bigfoot. It beginning to feel like a techno-thriller Vince Flynn novel or maybe something from the late Michael Crichton (think Jurassic Park)...

It begins by asking the field research habits of Dave field research methods, but then gets into the ethics of killing Bigfoot:

....J. Andersen: Why do you hunt Bigfoot?

Dave: To prove that he/she exists I'm gonna try my hardest not to kill it if I can capture or immobilize it alive I would rather do it that way, but if I have to kill it then so be it. I will do it that way, Ican't say until that day comes.

J. Andersen: How do you plan on doing it?

Dave: The same way any other animal is hunted with a gun, proper camouflage and LUCK.

J. Andersen: Are you concerned with the Ethics of shooting a bigfoot?

Dave: Yes and No, there's no law against hunting Bigfoot where I'm from. Most people hate me for what I'm doing and that's fine but the only way to prove 100% that it exists is by capturing one dead or alive.

J. Andersen: What motivates you to shoot/capture a Bigfoot?

The thrill of being in its element, the thrill of being in his territory, the thrill of the hunt and to prove to the world that Bigfoot exists...

What Dave describes here is a real, growing frustration among Bigfoot researchers. Why can't we capture this thing on good video? With all of our modern technology and the hundreds of thousands of dollars of gear that the Bigfoot community owns, how do Bigfoots continue to avoid camera and thermal imaging? I can't answer that question...

Ho do long-term field researchers feel about the kill no kill debate?

Some serious researchers have been in the camp of killing a Sasquatch. Dr. Grover Krantz and John Green have been known advocates for killing one. On the other hand, more recent voices like Dr Jeff Meldrum, a protege of sorts of Krantz have distanced themselves from the idea of killing. Included in this alternate camp is Loren Coleman, in an 2006 article for Cryptomundo he gave a rational case for the captivity:

The first large unknown hairy hominoid captured will live its life in captivity, no doubt, and there it may be examined internally. MRIs, CAT scans, EKGs, and a whole battery of medical and other procedures may be used to examine it.

It is doubtful the first one will be returned to the wild, so, of course, it will die someday within the reach of future scientific examinations. Then it will be dissected, just as newly discovered animals, including various kinds of humans, have been for further study. But in the meantime, why not study the living animal’s captive and adaptive behaviors?

The days of Queen Victoria, when only killing an animal would establish it was real and not folklore, are, indeed, long gone. --Loren Coleman 2/6/2006

In case you were wondering, we do not think killing Bigfoot is necessary, and we aren't that frustrated that we don't have proof yet. There's enough unsorted data out there, that is still being dissected, to build a better physical and behavioral model of Bigfoot. As we build a better model and share information with each other, we will all eventually have the proof we pursue.


EXTERNAL LINKS
The full Interview with Dave
Bigfoot Civil Rights
Cryptomundo: To Kill or Not to Kill Bigfoot
Bigfoot Encounters: To Kill or Film

Bigfoot in Fresno County

This article is almost 2 years old, but seem to be floating around the blogasphere of late. While keeping our finger on the pulse of bigfootery, we decided to repost this article containing references to Meldrum, and Rugg.

4/25/2008 Fresno, CA (KFSN) -- Whether you want to believe it or not, there are a lot of people in Central California who think they've had a brush with a Bigfoot, or Sasquatch.

Many won't talk about it for fear of being ridiculed. But others are convinced they are real, and think science is about to prove they really do exist.

Lurking in the forests of the high Sierra are people, like Bill Compton. A cell phone salesman during the week, he spends many weekends in search of the elusive Bigfoot. He says," I truly believe there is a bi-pedal primate roaming the terrain. I've seen too many footprints, seen beasts walk away from me on two legs that look like giant, hairy animals."

Bill and his partners regularly search an area in the Sequoia National Forest in Southeastern Fresno County. Bills tells us," In that area we've had a lot of activity, that's why we constantly go back to it." Local hunters and hikers have reported Bigfoot like sightings, along with what they think are the sounds and smells of the creature on the website of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. 17 alleged Bigfoot encounters are listed in Fresno County. Web sites like this are full of pictures, videos and supposed eyewitness accounts.

Related Content
STORY: Claims of a Bigfoot Body Found in Georgia
Such stories are no surprise to the Native American tribes living in the Sierra. To them Bigfoot was just like the bear, mountain lions, wolves and coyotes. Ron Goode of the North Fork band of Mono Indians tells us, "We have an understanding that Bigfoot was here, is here. That he once he existed. The Mono's have two names for him. One that was in the mountains, Kooseekoosnow, and then one for the foothills is Kakownow, Kakownah." Goode says he hasn't seen a Bigfoot, but thinks he smelled one. "It had kind of followed me along and really scared the heck out of me because I was running for a little bit and I could smell this thing and it smelled terrible."
Another encounter near North Fork involved not smell, but sound. Susan Larson, an accountant believes she heard a Bigfoot outside her window one night. She says, "The scream was so scary, that you would no way in your right mind go out that door and go looking for it, and it's a shame I didn't have the guts."

Susan says she didn't know she'd heard a Bigfoot, until listening to a recording on a Bigfoot web site. Listening to the sound, "Ooooappp....ooooapp..." She tells us, "That's exactly what I heard."

She later took pictures of footprints she thinks could belong to Bigfoot, or maybe a bear. Casts of footprints, along with pictures, videos and other Bigfoot evidence is on display for all to see at the Bigfoot Discovery Museum near Santa Cruz. Museum owner and curator Michael Rugg says, "We are trying to come up with definitive proof that there are Bigfoot out there."

Rugg has wanted to prove Bigfoot lives ever since he saw one as a kid, while camping with his parents along a creek in Humboldt County. He recalled the incident. "Stepped out on a sandbar and there was a great big hairy man standing there looking at me and I looked at him and he looked down at me." The creature ran off when Rugg's parents called out to him. Rugg says he didn't realize he'd seen a Bigfoot until years later. After retiring as a graphic artist he opened the museum to help further Bigfoot research.

One of the few academically credentialed scientists who will acknowledge the possibility Bigfoot exists is Jeff Meldrum. A biology professor at Idaho State University in Pocatello. His book, "Sasquatch, Legend Meets Science," has been cited in some of the most recent documentaries on Bigfoot. He believes he has almost found a scientific basis for the legendary creature from a site in Ontario, Canada. Meldrum says,"We collected tissue, the remains of blood as well as muscle tissue as well as some hairs." Meldrum explains the creature stepped on a board with screws in it, leaving the flesh behind, giving researchers a sample from which to obtain DNA for testing. He says a preliminary test indicated a feature in a strand of DNA that appeared to put the creature somewhere between a human and chimpanzee.

Meldrum admits much more DNA testing is needed, but, says he thinks there's something out there. He says," Based on all the evidence I have seen it suggests this is an unrecognized species of great ape."

That however, is not a conclusion shared by most of the scientific community. Stephen Lewis is a professor of Earth Sciences at California State University Fresno. A Geologist he teaches a course on popular myths masquerading as science. He puts Bigfoot in the same category as UFO's and Power Crystals. He says, "This whole Bigfoot topic is what can be classified as pseudo science." He adds," There's really no credible evidence that's ever been turned up that a giant six hundred pound hairy, hominid creature, man-like except bigger, inhabits the Pacific Northwest, or Fresno County or anywhere else. There's just no evidence of that."

Many Bigfoot believers say "what more could you need?" They believe the evidence, from Indian legends to eyewitness accounts, along with film and videos is already overwhelming. But even those on Bigfoot's trail, like Bill Compton of Fresno, admit the absolute proof they need may be very hard to come by. He says, "We go to investigate and can't find anything. Very mysterious, it drives us nuts. " But he says, "I truly believe we have them in the Central Valley. Bigfoot's, and it will come out, someday."

The obvious question is, "Why can't anyone seem to find a real Bigfoot, dead or alive?"

The Native Americans believe the creatures live and die hidden underground, in tunnels and caves that run for hundreds of miles through the Sierra, and only come out to feed now and then. Others believe they're just too smart to be discovered. With the sensory skills of wild animals, and near human intelligence, they are presumably, incredibly elusive.

It will take actually finding one to convince skeptics they exist, but as long as there's no way to prove they don't exist, some people will keep looking for and believing in Bigfoot.

Valenti of SasquatchResearch.net Drums up Media

The picture above is Jason Valenti in a bigfoot costume for a film festival commercial. He is also the man in charge of markeing for the Falcon project, a research endeavor to document Bigfoot with the help of 35 foot blimps. If our facebook page is any indication. Most folks in the community are unenthused about the Falcon Project. Not because it is not a fascinating idea, but because there has not been much happening since the project has been announced over a year ago.

Recently, however, the project may be getting some traction. We can only guess this is why Jason and crew have been getting attention from mainstream media. At the Humboldt Beacon, a local news weekly, Jason Valenti has penned the first, in a four-part series. On his website SasquatchResearch.net his short bio is as follows:

Jason Valenti is a resident of Ferndale, WA.
He was introduced to the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomenon
in 1996 one spring morning at 4 a,m. in the Appalachicola
National Forest near Tallahassee, Florida. Since that
moment he has been driven to find out more about this
elusive species. He moved from Largo, FL to Bellingham,
WA in 1999. In the 10 years of residency he has
discovered some very interesting areas in the Pacific
Northwest that he frequents with several other
researchers. His research has led him into the same
areas that Lloyd Pye has tapped into and he is in the
process of writing a book and developing a foundation
called Hominoid Research Group for the further studies of
Hominoids.

You can read the Humboldt Beacon article below. If you want our first impression, he seems to tie Dr. Jeff Meldrum's research in the same article as some of Loyd Pye's hominoid theories.

In 2007 there was an incident that took place in the scientific community that created interest of considerable proportion. Most people didn't really notice what had happened, but Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum had struck the anvil of science so hard that the shock waves of his published paper entitled “Evidence for the Existence of North American Apes” will continue to be felt for years to come.
Scattered across the United States at that time were a handful of men who would feel that shock wave, and eventually unite under the same purpose: to find out exactly what the creature is that is mentioned in Dr. Meldrum's paper, and to capture it on film.

What is a hominoid?

Hominoids are what have, up to now, been collectively labeled as Pre-Humans, (post- Miocene Apes). These are the tailless short armed apes that we've all seen in the fossil record, from the Australopithecines to the Genus Homo.

It simply means the family of apes (according to classification) that resemble humans in their ability to walk on two legs instead of four. Outside of that distinction, Hominoids seem to share most of the same characteristics in the family of Hominidea with other apes.

Although the article never mentions Lloyd Pye, the hominoid reference is a pretty strong association to those who know of Jason Valenti.

Fans, you know we think a good theory can come from anywhere, but we wouldn't consider the research of Dr. Jeff Meldrum and that Lloyd Pye to be in the same camp. More specifically there is an extra-terrestrial aspect of Pye's theories.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Falcon Project: A blimp to find Bigfoot
Dr. Jeff Meldrum Explains Lack of Bones

EXTERNAL LINKS
Falcon Project Website: www.bigfoot24-7.com
Humboldt Beacon Article
SasquatchResearch.net
Lloyd Pye Wikipedia Page

Bigfoot Balloons for Falcon Project Yet to be Built

We have been following the falcon project all year. We first brought it up in February with our post The Falcon Project: A Blimp to Find Bigfoot and recently had an update, aptly titled The Falcon Project Update

We have been so excited about this blimp. Initially described as:

"The blimp is 35 feet long and holds 1800 cubic feet of helium. It is run on electric batteries and is remote-controlled from the ground. The batteries will enable it to be airborne for five hours at a time, and can cover about five miles in any direction."

In a new article by a CBS Affiliate, Sacramento's Channel 13, Neda Iranpour reports most of what is already covered in our previous two post. Interestingly we learn the Blimps have yet to be built.

"He's still waiting for the balloons to be built. He's also waiting for funding from groups as far away as Russia."

Although this does not directly contradict the information on the website. We had the feeling that these Blimps were already built.

The website still has a paragraph stating:

"Since this website was launched, expert technicians have blessed this project toward a remote-controlled, dual-airship, 35 feet long, with a patented propulsion system, run by a very quiet gas engine that will keep the blimp up for five hours, and for a five mile radius."

We sent a message out to William to get further clarification and hope to update you fans as soon as possible. We want to know when these things are gonna start patrolling the forest from above!

One thing we can say is the official Falcon Project website (www.bigfoot24-7.com) has also been updated. We thought the Business Plan page was worth reading.

OUR PREVIOUS POSTS
The Falcon Project: A Blimp to Find Bigfoot
The Falcon Project Update

RELATED LINKS
CBS Channel 13 article
Falcon Project Website
SasquatchResearch.net

Squatchin' with Cliff and Craig

Clearly seen, circled in red, are two of the best guy's to go squatchin' with.
You know Cliff from NorthAmericanBigfoot and Craig from CrappyLittleDreams, but to be honest, until you spend a weekend squatchin' with them, you don't really know them.

Between Cliff's encyclopedic Bigfoot knowledge and Craig's survivalist skills it was the perfect formula for our greenhorn artist Guy Edwards to understand what field research can entail. Guy left us as a poser, and came back to us a bonafide field researcher.

That was the beauty of Cliff's message, anybody can do field research, and he encourages everybody to do so. Bring the 10 essentials, your camping gear (tent, tarp, matt, sleeping bag)and anything you can use to document your findings (a camera, measuring tape, and casting material). If you need to buy some of these essentials, you can use this REI Coupon Code here to help you save.

On the two full days we spent with Cliff we followed a similar pattern. First find a perching spot with steep access, overlooking a narrow valley. Then check out the valley floor for prints during the day and try some calls at night.
The perching spot seems to have multiple advantages. The first is from the perspective of Bigfoot. A perch allows Bigfoot a clear view of the valley floor to watch all the fauna (food) criss cross on the multiple trails below. Another advantage is the acoustics. Due to the nature of being on one side of a narrow valley, there is almost always a facing wall on the other side. Especially If the facing wall is concave its like an amphitheater and all the sounds will bounce back to you. Cliff explains it the video below.



DAYTIME:
We hike down from the steep perch, which its easier than it looks, unless your trying to keep pace with Cliff Barackman, who happens to be half gazelle or mountain goat. When he says, "If you want to see Bigfoot, you have to be Bigfoot," he is serious.

The goal is to get straight to the waterway, and then follow it up or downstream. Bigfoot have soft padded feet and the best chances for a print is going to be right at the edge of a stream with the wet sedimentary mud.

We noticed Cliff cataloged every significant clean print he found, mostly bear and cat. Although we did see plenty of deer track. With a digital camera and a retractable measuring tape he took multiple shots of each print.

Before dark we work our way back to camp, which was always uphill and, as you would expect, more challenging.

NIGHTTIME:
Theres enough time to prepare food and eat before we get back to squatchin'. A campfire and a dutch oven of boiled potatoes fed the crew the first night. Due to the greater exposure of our second camp, we went without campfire, the second night. Thermal underwear would have been handy.

Darkness finally falls and the audio recorder turns on. We begin with a little wood knocking, to get their attention and peak curiosity, then it switches to trying out a few calls. With a couple of "Bah-whoops!" we wait. The time between each knock and each call varied, although after each call we waited at least 20 minutes for a response.

We didn't get a whole lot of "action" either night, but Bigfoot Field Research seems very similar to fishing. Any fisher man will tell you why its called "fishing" and not "catching".

OTHER LESSONS WE LEARNED
1. Bears do sh*t in the woods--often
2. Around a campfire, cougar stories are way scarier than ghost stories
3. Cliff Barackman can traverse 50 yards of any type of terrain, deep brush, river, river bed, cliff face, swamp in the blink of an eye.

RELATED LINKS
Cliff's Blog NorthAmericanBigfoot
Craig Flipy's Crappy Little Dreams

Dallas and Wayne Bigfoot Bromance

Think MonsterQuest meets Dog the bounty Hunter. That is the concept for the reality show that will star Dallas Gilbert and Wayne Burton. These names may sound familiar if you watched the independent documentary titled Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie. We filed a post when it was first making its rounds in the indie circuit, and then again, when the director launched a website to promote the DVD.

Apparantly, there will be a red carpet celebration to launch the local television show that will also broadcast online.

On Sept. 11, Piscoti Productions will premiere its new reality television series, "Dallas and Wayne: The Bigfoot Hunters" at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts. The series follows Portsmouth residents Dallas Gilbert and Wayne Burton as they search for Bigfoot in southern Ohio....

Andy Dodson of Piscotti Productions described the show as "Dog the Bounty Hunter" meets "MonsterQuest."

"The show is about Dallas and Wayne and their quirky relationship, as opposed to actually finding Bigfoot. That's secondary to the humor that kind of takes place while they're out hunting and the stories that they tell," Dodson said.

you can see a preview below.

PREVIOUS POSTS
Announcement of NYTBM
launch of NYTBM Website

RELATED LINKS
Istock analysis announcement of Dallas and Wayne reality Show
Dallas and Wayne Website
Dallas and Wayne You Tube Channel

The Best Search Engine for Bigfoot Sites

Google is powerful, but often if you are using it to search Bigfoot stuff you get 4x4 trucks, Mixed Martial Arts fighters or USB microphones. Did you know there was a bigfoot search engine just for Bigfoot sites?

It has all the power of Google, but only searches sites about Bigfoot. Its called BigfootLunchClub.com. If you look to the right of the screen you will see a place to "Search Other Bigfoot Sites."



One of the things we wanted to do with Bigfoot Lunch Club, was to build a site we could also use as a resource. We were tired of wading through all the extra content on the internet. The "Search Other Bigfoot Sites" tool is invaluable, and always helps us cross-reference our stories.

Take it for a test drive, and say bye to all those false positives like, 4x4 trucks, MMA fighters and yeti microphones.

Also, while we are talking about search, here are the latest Google search trends for the last 30 days these graphs below are completely interactive.



YES! Stop wetting your pants, we are bringing back Bigfoot search trends from BLC labs! These are the trends over the last 30 days, go ahead play and mouse-over the gadgets below.







RELATED LINKS
Bigfoot Lunch Club
Our other article on False Positives
Google search Trends for Bigfoot, Sasquatch and Yeti

Bigfoot Video from 2008 McKenzie Fishing Trip Surfaces

On August 30th 2010, BFRO.net posted a video that was filmed nearly two years ago during a fishing trip on Oregon's McKenzie river.

I preview of the post here:

This YouTube video shot in 2008 briefly shows what may be a sasquatch in central Oregon, on the McKenzie River. At this stage it is just a "figure of interest". A dark, long-armed figure stood up and walked away from the edge of the river as the two whitewater row boats passed by. The cameraman was shooting a YouTube installment for a fly fisherman's blog site.

Oregon bigfoot investigator Cliff Barackman will find out the technical details from the cameraman, and ask him to submit a full report to the BFRO's database. That has not happened yet, so we don't know all the details at this point.

In our minds it seems very little to go on, but when we saw Cliff Barackman was to investigate, it peaked our interest. The video below is cued 5 secs before the the appearance of the dark figure.

RELATED LINKS
BFRO.net post
Cliff Barackman's Awesome Blog