After 40 years Hypnosis is Revisited for Bigfoot Research

Doug Meacham is a certified hypnosis and these are actual sketches from the hypnosis recall

Researchers Revisit Hypnotizing Bigfoot Witnesses
4 Decades Later Hypnosis Plays a Part in Recall

Certified and Registered Hypnotist, Doug Meacham will present his findings at this month’s HopsSquatch, Bigfoot and Beer Speaker’s Series. Frank has had two significant Bigfoot encounters; one at age 10 in New York and another, almost face-to-face, was at the age 16 in Oregon. Hypnotist Doug Meacham has been able to help Frank retrieve incredible details including hair patterns and behavior. Several forensic-quality sketches of what Frank witnessed will be available at HopsSquatch, Sunday August 25, 2013 at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214 from 2-6pm.

Doug is a hypnotist in Gresham, Oregon and a member of the American Board of Hypnotherapy. During his presentation at HopsSquatch he will explain what Hypnosis really is and provide examples of how it has been used in the past and share his new ground-breaking process with a two-time witness.

This month’s event will include a presentation with Doug, a moderated question and answer period, previews of upcoming Bigfoot movie “Bigfoot Chronicles,”  over $100 of cool Bigfoot swag and the chance to socialize with Bigfoot enthusiasts. This month’s event is sponsored by Off The Charts Games, Missing Link Toys and Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this historic event. Limited space available, only $5 per person to attend. Reserve early so you don’t miss out.

For more information, please contact Guy Edwards at GuyEdwards@BigfootLunchClub.com, 503.929.7436 or register online at HopsSquatch.com.

About HopsSquatch:   HopsSquatch is a unique speaker’s series bringing together Bigfooters and those that want to know, in the relaxed atmosphere of beer and camaraderie.

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(limited seating so reserve early!) or save by becoming a member of HopsSquatch for $50.

Membership includes a seat at each series event, a Hopssquatch t-shirt, first chance at news and speaker updates, and more.

Series Format:

Featured Guest Presentation
Moderated Q&A
Panel Discussion Featuring Differing Views and Debate
Raffle for Bigfoot Swag

Enjoy Options from the Full Menu at 
The Lucky Labrador Brew Pub 915 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland OR 97214

Limited Space-Reserve Now!

Bobcat on Bigfoot and Willow Creek

Bobcat Goldthwait understands what Bigfooting is all about.

"...when I got to Willow Creek, this just seemed to be the movie to make because of the people I met there. And I found the town very interesting." --Bocat Goldthwait

Recently while promoting his stand-up performance for this weekend (Friday, Aug. 16, and Saturday, Aug. 17, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.) at the Liquid Lounge in Boise, ID, Bobcat Golthwait talked about his recent found footage Bigfoot movie Willow Creek.

Read the excerpt below from BoiseWeekly:

[Bobcat's] latest, Willow Creek, is currently making film festival rounds and is probably his biggest step in a different direction--not only from his early stand-up, but from the canon of his film creations: Willow Creek is a found-footage film about Bigfoot. And although it is not without humor, Willow Creek, is definitely a horror movie.

"It's a scary movie. It's a departure from my other movies. There's comedy in the beginning but then it goes pretty straight-up horror," Goldthwait told Boise Weekly.

Willow Creek, which was shot on location, is about a couple who hikes into the remote woods near the small hamlet of Willow Creek, Calif., searching for the site of the famous Patterson/Gimlin footage--the few seconds of grainy film showing a giant, hairy man-like creature walking through the trees.

Comparisons to Blair Witch Project are inevitable. Found-footage is a well-trod genre and Goldthwait's film contains the standard ingredients: young people, scary place, mythical creature. Goldthwait said he knows the found-footage format is kind of played out, but his take on it is different.

"I only have 67 edits in this movie," Goldthwait said. "Usually you have 1,200-1,400 in a movie, but I wanted it to feel like they really were just turning the camera on and off."

Goldthwait also included something he felt was missing from other movies in the genre.

"I think sometimes in found-footage movies, they don't concentrate too much on the chemistry of the [characters]. And that was really important to me--that you believe these are real people," he said.

That authenticity was important to Goldthwait, which might be an odd thing to consider in the context of Bigfoot, but makes perfect sense considering Goldthwait's longtime love of the legend.

"I took a Bigfoot vacation," Goldthwait said, with no trace of irony. "I actually put 1,400 miles on my car just driving around to all the famous Bigfoot sites in California. And when I got to [the community of] Willow Creek, I was kind of thinking of a different movie. But when I got to WIllow Creek, this just seemed to be the movie to make because of the people I met there. And I found the town very interesting.

"The other thing was, I always wanted to try my hand at a suspense movie. I'm always jealous when I watch a Tarantino movie and you're at the edge of your seat most of the time and there's nothing going on. I'm like, 'How do you do that? How do you make suspenseful stuff?' That was my goal."

Reviews of Willow Creek would indicate Goldthwait achieved his goal.

Indiewire.com called it "the monster movie of the summer," adding that the film is "a unique representation of the tension between those who scoff at the Bigfoot legend and others willing to accept the mythology as gospel."

Fearnet.com said Goldthwait's film "is a refreshingly matter-of-fact horror/thriller ... a calm, cool, creepy little winner."

While Goldthwait has no plans to retire from stand-up, it's anyone's guess what Willow Creek may mean for his career. Regardless of what happens, he has a new subject to mine for stand-up material and, in making the film, Goldthwait learned something about himself.

"[The vacation] was a gift to the 8-year-old me," Goldthwait said. " I've always been fascinated by [Bigfoot] and what it represents and how it shows up over and over again in so many different cultures. And it took me a while to realize it, but I like the outdoors. If you go looking for Bigfoot and you don't find him, the byproduct is you went camping."

Charity Event with Cliff Barackman and Bobo in Portland, OR

Meet Cliff and Bobo in person! Click image to enlarge

Save the date!!! This Wednesday, August 14th 2013 you can meet cast members of the hit show ‘Finding Bigfoot’! Cliff Barackman and James “Bobo” Fay will be on hand to sign autographs and talk Squatch!

WHAT: Sippin’ with Sasquatch featuring Cliff Barackman and James “Bobo” Fay!

WHERE: Barlow Tavern 6008 N. Greeley Ave. Portland, OR 97217

WHEN: Wednesday, August 14 2013 at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:30pm.

COST: $10 Cover. 100% of the proceeds raised by the door charge go to benefit the Animal Shelter 

Alliance of Portland

SPONSORED BY: The Barlow Tavern, Batch 206 Distillery’s ‘Counter Gin’, Olympia Beer, Drink Think and Missing Link Toys.

RESTRICTIONS: 21 years of age and older only. ID required.

Come enjoy a fun-filled evening with the cast members of the hit show ‘Finding Bigfoot’! Cliff Barackman and James “Bobo” Faey will be on hand to sign autographs, take pictures and discuss all things sasquatch. The Barlow Tavern will have Bigfoot themed drink and food specials on hand and Lady She Buckaroo will be spinning hits on the turntables. There may even be a special guest or two! This is a great opportunity for fans of the show or Bigfoot to meet with the cast in an intimate, informal setting.

100% of the money raised through the cover charge will be donated to the Animal Shelter Alliance of 

Portland. The Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland provides low cost spay and neutering services to 

Portland residents, promotes animal welfare, responsible pet ownership and reduces the amount of 

abandoned or unwanted cats and dogs.

This event is sponsored by generous contributions from the Barlow Tavern, Batch 206 Distillery, Olympia Beer and Drink Think. 

www.batch206.com

www.olympiabigfoot.com

www.facebook.com/drinkthinkpdx

www.missinglinktoys.com

Space is limited and the event is anticipated to sell out. Tickets MAY NOT be purchased in advance. 

Guests will be admitted on a first come, first served basis and it is strongly recommended that guests 

arrive early. Ticket sales and doors open at 6:30pm. There is no early admittance. This event is not affiliated with Animal Planet, Discovery Networks or any of their subsidiaries.

For event inquiries and vendor information, contact Molly Wolfe at mollyawolfepdx@gmail.com or 

206.850.5309

Abominable Science! A Skeptical and Slightly Sympathic Approach to Cryptzoology

Abominible Science is being described as skeptical and empathetic towards cryptozoology

“Scientists are not inherently negative sourpusses who want to rain on everyone else’s parade.” --  Donald R. Prothero; Co-author of Abominable Science

The book is self-described by the publishers as:

Daniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero have written an entertaining, educational, and definitive text on cryptids, presenting the arguments both for and against their existence and systematically challenging the pseudoscience that perpetuates their myths. After examining the nature of science and pseudoscience and their relation to cryptozoology, Loxton and Prothero take on Bigfoot; the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, and its cross-cultural incarnations; the Loch Ness monster and its highly publicized sightings; the evolution of the Great Sea Serpent; and Mokele Mbembe, or the Congo dinosaur. They conclude with an analysis of the psychology behind the persistent belief in paranormal phenomena, identifying the major players in cryptozoology, discussing the character of its subculture, and considering the challenge it poses to clear and critical thinking in our increasingly complex world.

You can read an excerpt from a LosAngeles Magazine review below:

Both researchers approach the book from a skeptic’s point of view but they’re not quick to dismiss claims that these creatures could exist. Both have been hooked on the topic since childhood and as Prothero writes, “Scientists are not inherently negative sourpusses who want to rain on everyone else’s parade.” Though the book sometimes gets bogged down in details, the authors retain a childlike enthusiasm toward the topic. Here are the origin stories for three of the legendary beasts in the book:

Bigfoot: Most people imagine an ape-like creature that stands on two legs, but the original story of Bigfoot describes the creature quite differently. The first “sightings” of Bigfoot in North America occurred in the 1920s. A man named John W. Burns gathered reports from people of their encounters with a creature called Sasquatch, described as hairy giants who looked like giant Native Americans. They had clothes, fire, and weapons and lived in villages. And their hair? According to the stories it was not all over their bodies but worn very long.

The Yetti: Also referred to as the Abominable Snowman, the creature got its name from a team of explorers scouting a route for an attempt to climb Mount Everest in 1921. The team saw tracks that looked like a human foot. Though Lieutenant Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, the leader of the expedition, surmised that the footprints were caused by a large grey wolf, his Sherpa guides said that it was the tracks of a wild man whose kind were found in remote mountains. The first recorded sighting of a beast that fit the description of a Yetti happened more than 180 years ago when Brian Hodgson, an English explorer living in Nepal named, wrote that his shooters were alarmed by a wild man. However in the paper, which was published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, he also wrote that he doubted their accuracy.

SRC: LAMag.com

While we haven't read it, you can bet the Skeptics like it. Some Amazon.com reviewers felt, "The authors treat figures in the field of cryptozoology with perhaps more empathy and respect than they deserve, and there is generally a studied avoidance of the (understandable) temptation to intellectually skewer some of these folks."

Really? The authors were too soft on Cryptozoologist? Bill Munns left a review on Amazon.com. We were able to confirm it is, indeed, Bill Munns, the creature FX expert and author of the Munns Report chronicling his extensive research of the Patterson/Gimlin film. In his review he felt there was a clear bias and, "[Daniel Loxton] humiliates the scientific process and journalistic professionalism alike."

Read a portion of his review below:

This book entitled "Abominable Science" achieves a level of scientific and journalistic hypocrisy that warrants the publisher recalling the book. The reason is that one of the co-authors, Daniel Loxton, has written a fairly substantial portion of this book practicing the very "abominable science" the book proportedly sets out to expose. In other words, he has demonstrated a journalistic or scientific hypocrisy that is either grossly negligent, grossly incompetent, or so blatantly biased that he humiliates the scientific process and journalistic professionalism alike.

In Chapter One, Co-Author Donald Prothero describes very admirably and meticulously what is good science and what is not. Sadly, in Chapter Two, Co-Author Loxton proceeds to evaluate the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin "Bigfoot" film from page 44-50 and Mr. Loxton does nearly everything that his co-author has just explained to us that we cannot rely upon. Co-Author Loxton is discussing a topic in which there is a wealth of fine empirical data and a equally voluminous heap of poor anecdotal evidence and the author totally dismisses the fine empirical data with absolutely no justifiable explanation, and wallows in the poor anecdotal evidence instead as if it were splendidly scientific. The author also looks to material nine or more years outdated, and demonstrates virtually no awareness of new research, data, developments, or shifts of the landscape of the controversy more recently than 9 years ago, when there has been tremendous new material and analysis work worthy of his evaluation. This is intolerable and unconscionable in a work proportedly to be educating the public about good science.

While my criticism focuses on Mr. Loxton's segment of the book focused on the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin Film, we must wonder if that travesty of hypocritical fodder is an isolated moment of scientific dementia or is it the tip of a much larger iceberg of unscientific and heavily biased writing throughout his half of the book's authorship. When a write "cooks" a story with disregard for facts and academic responsibility or journalistic fairness and accuracy, that incident generally casts a profound suspicion over the entire body of the writer's work. Thus, while I focus this concern on one section, the concern may put a serious cloud over the book in general.

Read Bill Munns full review

Scientific American's Tetrapod Hosts Speculate on the Yeti

Himalayan Yeti in summer pelt, surrounded by flowering rhododendron.
Image by John Conway, from the forthcoming Cryptozoologicon.

All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals was a successful book written created by palaeozoologist Darren Naish, and palaeontological artists John
Conway and C.M. Kosemen. Mr. Naish and Mr. Conway host Scientific American's Tetrapod Zoology Podcast.

They will soon release a book in the same flavor as All Yesterdays, but with a cryptozoological theme titled Cryptozoologicon. Earlier today (08.04.2013), Scientific American's Tetrapod Zoology Blog posted presented a preview of Yeti section of Cryptozoologican.

It starts out great distinguishing that the white-furred-blue-skin yeti is more of a Hollywood conception:

The Yeti is easily one of the most famous of mystery creatures. The Yeti of the cryptozoological literature is not the shaggy-furred, white snowbeast of Hollywood movies and popular artwork. Instead, it’s a blackish, dark brown, or red-brown animal of the sub-temperate and temperate forests and mountainsides of the Himalayan Mountains and Tibetan Plateau, predominantly bipedal and 3 m or so in height (though, to be fair, white Yetis have supposedly been reported from Tibet). Eyewitness and mythological accounts believed to describe the Yeti come from such countries as Russia, China, Nepal, Tibet and India. Across this large area, a variety of different local names are believed by cryptozoologists to describe the same creature (Shackley 1983). However, there is much variation in the size, form and behaviour of the hairy ape-men described across this area by witnesses and known from lore, so one interpretation favoured by some cryptozoologists is that there are actually two kinds of yeti, or that we’re actually seeing references to a huge cast of unknown hominids that range from shaggy, orangutan-like species to surviving Dryopithecus-like species, australopithecines, Neanderthals, members of Homo erectus and others (Heuvelmans 1986, Coleman & Huyghe 1999).

Although they ultimately conclude the Yeti as, "an amalgamation of fleeting glimpses of known animals (including bears, takin and serows) with both the universal wildman archetype and with local Asian lore about humanesque, mountain-dwelling demons.." This does not stop the palaeo-power team to serious speculate on (from their perspective), "What if the Yeti were real?"

Most of the speculations we might make about the Yeti (if we assume it to be a real animal) have already been made in the extensive cryptozoological literature on it. Heuvelmans (1958) gave the Yeti the suggested scientific name Dinanthropoides nivalis and proposed that giant size evolved within a lineage of arboreal Asian apes, that the members of this lineage came down to the ground, and that specialisation for life in mountainous, snowy places encouraged them to become bipedal. He implied a close link between the Yeti and Gigantopithecus but did not think that these apes were close to orangutans. This scenario would require that Yeti bipedalism evolved independently from that seen in humans and other hominids, and it’s contradicted by evidence indicating that hominid bipedalism first evolved in an arboreal setting, later being improved by those lineages that took to increased terrestrial life (see the Orang-pendek section, pp. 13-15).

While some authors have implied or argued that the Yeti and Sasquatch are members of the human lineage, we prefer the view that these are bipedal pongines, convergently similar to hominins in some ways but different with respect to the details of anatomy, gait and behaviour. Indeed, Yeti sightings create the impression of a hominid not all that different from the paranthropines, the more robust of the extinct, African australopithecines. Dinanthropoides walks bipedally with slightly bent knees, its body leaning more forwards than is the case in our species, and its long arms reaching down to its knees. Its resting poses more recall those of orangutans and gorillas than humans, and it can even move quadrupedally when scrambling up hillside and among large rocks. Its feet are only superficially human-like, the enlarged, only semi-divergent hallux and broad heel representing strong terrestrial specialisation in a primate that started its terrestrial career with a typical hominid foot like that of orangutans.

Yetis are not reported to use tools; however, this may be due to a lack of detailed observation. We know today that orangutans, gorillas and chimps all use tools in the wild: these behaviours went unknown for decades and (in most populations) only occur rarely. A strong jaw and massive, strong teeth make Dinanthropoides an expert at breaking fruits and nuts (Tchernine 1974). As a hominid adapted for temperate, often cool, habitats, Dinanthropoides is able to deal with warm summer conditions as well as far cooler, winter ones thanks to seasonal changes in the length and thickness of its pelt, though these changes don’t happen across all Yeti populations. Our Himalayan Yetis are in their thinner, reddish summer coats (the scene depicts a time several decades in the past, when the Himalayas were more extensively covered by snow and ice than they are today).

If only more people were prepared to accept the reality of the Yeti, Sasquatch and Orang-pendek, they would realise that the supposed differences between humans and other great apes merely reflect the fact that the ‘intermediate’ taxa are extinct or scientifically unrecognised. Yet again blinkered, hidebound establishment Ivory Tower scientists, more interested in sitting behind their computers than searching the world for real animals, are holding back scientific progress!!!!!!! THEY WILL BE SHOWN WRONG IN THE END!!!

The Cryptozoologicon – by John Conway, C. M. Kosemen and Darren Naish – is due out later in 2013 and will be published by Irregular Books. Follow @IrregularBooks on twitter.

Read more from Scientific American's Tetrapod Zoology Blog 

Today in Bigfoot History | Aug 1st 1989 | Chimpanzee Pheromone Attracts Abominable Snowman

Chimpanzee Pheromone Attracts Abominable Snowman

On August 1st 1989 a Russian professor of biology used sterilized pieces of cloth saturated with female chimpanzee urine. During the experiment he believes he was able to attract an Abominable Snowman and calls his experiment a success.

You can read his full report below.

By Valentin Sapunov, Professor of Biology 

Member of Peter Ac Sci Arts, New York Ac Science

Sci Res Centre Ecol Safety, Korpusnaya 18 

St. Petersburg, Russia 197110, fax 812-235-4361

 

This report summarizes the results of a recent expedition, which attempted to obtain evidence of the Snowman, the reported Soviet hominid or hominoid, in the Chimkent and Dzambul regions of the western Tien Shan mountain range of Soviet Central Asia. The expedition was conducted in July and August 1989, and was headed by Alpinist Gleb Isaenkov, with the author serving as scientific leader.

The program involved what we consider to be some of the original strategies for the detection of the Snowman. One of these strategies appears to have met with success. The strategy in question involves the use of a sexual pheromone from the African chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes. The chemical compounds were obtained from urine of a young female chimpanzee, 3 years of age, at the Institute of Physiology of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., in Leningrad. Sterilized pieces of cloth were saturated with such pheromones.

Narrative Description

Experiments were conducted in the River Aksu valley, at an altitude of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet). Snowman sightings have been reported in this area. The valley is difficult to penetrate, and we were the first humans to enter it in 1989. The surrounding mountains reach a height of between 4,000 and 5,000 meters (13,000 and 16,500 feet). We placed the target cloths on easily visible. The trees were also selected according to the surrounding soil conditions, with the idea of track preservation.

During the night of August 1, my colleagues heard heavy footsteps and smashing sounds. In the morning, we found large, bipedal footprints about 50 meters (160 feet) from camp, and 25 meters (80 feet) from a target clothe. The length of the footprints was 32-33 centimeters (12.5 - 13 inches), and the stride was 105 - 110 centimeters (41 - 43 inches). From this, a height of 2.2 meters (7 feet, 2.5 inches) was determined. The weight of the animal involved was calculated to be at least 250 kilograms (550 pounds). At 6:30 a.m. on August 9, we heard footsteps again. Upon leaving our tents, we heard the rapid motion of a large body moving through the brush. We followed rapidly with cameras, but no sighting of the creature itself was made.

Upon examining the area around the camp, we determined that the Snowman had approached the first cloth and torn it into strips. This tearing was done by hand, not with teeth. The Snowman had also broken a branch from the tree, in a way similar to how I have observed hamadryad baboons (Papio hamadryas) doing in the field. The same procedure had been followed with the second cloth. We were able to determine that the creature had approached to within 3 meters (10 feet) of our camp, right up to the camp's clothesline. Upon our arising, it rapidly departed. At one point, it left a fist-track on the ground. The tracks from August 1 incident were identical to those from the August 9 incident. No further incidents took place during the expedition.

Results

Based on our fieldwork, we conclude that the Snowman is present in the Tien Shan region. We also conclude that ape pheromones serve as good sexual attractants for locating the Snowman.

Future Plans

We hope to undertake further fieldwork in search of the Snowman. We hope that the use of ape pheromones will again prove successful.

Sapunov’s article was also published in the ISC Journal, 1989. Department of Control of Medical and Biological Systems, St. Petersburg State University formerly (1924-91) LENINGRAD STATE UNIVERSITY, St. Petersburg, Russia