Erickson What?! Its called the Ketchum Study! Sasquatch DNA Drama Continues

** UPDATE: Please read the correction supplied by Richard Stubstad on Apr 8, 2012  in the comments below.

 A couple of comments from Richard Stubstad indicate Dr Melba Ketchum as the "Official" lead on the Sasquatch DNA research. It is now called the Ketchum Study. Whenever Stubstad refers to the Erickson Project Ketchum Study, "Ketchum" is in quotes. We don't know why. It could be the internet equivalent of underlining her name three times, with arrows pointing to the name.

In a post we did earlier about Dr Meldrum titled, "Meldrum is Interviewed by NPR and is criticized by Wired Magazine" Stubstad responds and breaks the news of the new title of the Sasquatch DNA research:

 "I have discussed with Jeff Meldrum some of the DNA findings and conclusions I reached early on in the "Ketchum" study (as it is now called).

I did not hear the interview, but I think he is extremely intrigued about the progress that other scientists have made in the discovery process, now in terms of complete DNA genomic sequencing.

While neither Meldrum nor I am in possession of irrefutable proof that "sasquatch exists" as a new hominid or subspecies of an existing or past hominid, we do have compelling evidence that this is so -- far beyond the footprints, Double-pleaked normal Distribution of footprint lengths and widths, dermal ridges, and questionable video and film footage.

The latter is at least possible to hoax; but not DNA.

Richard Stubstad

Dec 28, 2011 12:38:00 PM 

In another comment to the post, "Robert Lindsay Gives Biscardi Benefit of the Doubt." Richard offers Biscardi's early role in the Erickson Project Ketchum Study:

Your take on Biscardi is probably correct. It's all about publicity (he's from the Las Vegas show scene, you know?).

Java Bob once told me that Biscardi's MO is: "bad publicity is better than no publicity at all".

The interesting thing is: Now and then he is correct; using the "saturation" method, he's bound to be.

We (that is, an ad-hoc group as the proverbial "we") are currently collecting potential sasquatch DNA samples for a so-called "parallel" study by a non-North American research lab. We have about a dozen samples so far, and we are (of course) vetting these samples before accepting them into the study. Guess who provided the first sample -- once again? Biscardi, that's right. Our vetting procedures indicated his sample was likely from a sasquatch (75% certain; we can't do any better than that without first doing DNA sequencing).

For the "Ketchum" study, he also provided the first samples for the currently ongoing project. Out of five samples, only one tested positively certain as being a hominid other than typical modern human or chimp, etc.

Some of the others were not tested; one may also be from a sasquatch; I just don't know, since it was never tested (to my knowledge).

By comparison, Erickson submitted six DNA samples to the "Ketchum" study; I know for a fact that the first two of these were both from "an unknown hominid", as it were. I have also heard the other four were equally viable -- and non-modern human.

The moral of the story is: Some folks do their homework well; some do not. Both manage to contribute to the state-of-the-art come hell or high water.

Richard Stubstad

Dec 28, 2011 12:27:00 PM

You can go to Richard's Website http://www.sciencealivenews.com/

Sleeping Bigfoot from Erickson Project

Click any picture to enlarge

A good friend of Bigfoot Lunch Club, Robert Lindsay, was quick to point out the sleeping Bigfoot from the Erickson Project had similarities to the sleeping Almasty illustration.



As usual, Robert Lindsay does a thorough investigation the photo and the story behind the photo:

We can verify that this photo is of a young female Bigfoot sleeping in the forest in Crittenden, Kentucky in 2005. The video was apparently shot by owners of the property in that year, not by the Erickson Project. Therefore, there is a question of whether or not the residents of the house were hoaxing the videos.

Apparently they were not, because when the EP moved Dr. Leila Hadj Chikh, PhD in Evolutionary Biology, and Dennis Pfohl into the site after purchasing it, both of them continued to see the Bigfoots on many occasions. Pfohl also apparently shot quite a bit of video of the Bigfoots at the site. Dr. John Bindernagel, PhD in Wildlife Biology, also saw the Bigfoots there on one occasion. Since the EP saw the Bigfoots at the site also, it is highly dubious that the owners of the site hoaxed the video.

It is simply not possible that the Hadj-Chikh, Pfohl and Bindernagel hoaxed their sightings and video. Not possible, no way. They’re not hoaxers. It’s also not possible that Drs. Hadj-Chikh and Bindernagel misidentified a known animal as a Bigfoot. These are PhD biologists here. This is reminiscent of the scene in the USSR where Russian PhD biologists saw Almastys and Yetis on a number of occasions in the 20th Century.
Src: Robert Lindsay

We recomend you read the rest of Mr. Lindsay's post where you will get quotes like:

"(David Paulides)is a former cop who was forced to retire for beating up a suspect, among other things."

"David Paulides and Matt Moneymaker of BFRO hate each other’s guts."

"Ketchum’s business not as successful as people think"

"Erickson and Ketchum continuing to feud."

Yes these are sensational quotes, taken out of context. Robert Lindsay doesn't care who (or if) he offends. This is quite apparent if you ever read his non-bigfoot related stuff. Although we don't agree with everything Mr. Lindsay says, we think he's quite refreshing. Please visit Robert Lindsay to get the entire details, including the list of the Erickson habituation sites.

You can read our previous coverage of Robert Lindsay

Adrian Erickson gets Local Press Part 2

You can read our previous coverage on the Erickson Project. If your new to the subject, the Erickson Project is one of the most anticipated Sasquatch endeavors since it's inception six years ago.

On the Erickson Project's website They are self-described as, "...actively researching sasquatch at various study sites in North America. The goal of Adrian Erickson and his team is to have the collected evidence validated by science and the sasquatch officially recognized as a species or sub-species."

Below is Part Two of a two-part feature about The Erickson Project published by Maple Ridge News

Click here for Part 1 of Is It Out There?

Adrian Erickson points to a footprint
possibly left by a sasquatch in gravel.

IS BIGFOOT OUT THERE? PART 2
By Monisha Martins - Maple Ridge News
Published: August 16, 2011 4:00 PM
Updated: August 16, 2011 4:08 PM

In a Texas lab, blood, saliva, hair and flesh from what’s believe to sasquatch are being analyzed and sequenced for a genetic blueprint.

For now though, what Dr. Melba Ketchum has learned about the animal is a secret.

“As an ethical scientist” Dr. Ketchum won’t comment on any of sasquatch DNA testing or her findings until her research has been submitted to a journal and has passed a confidential peer review by experts in the field.

Ketchum’s company DNA Diagnostic Inc. specializes in multi-species testing including human as well as animal DNA analysis for individuals, law enforcement, breed associations and state regulatory agencies. It usually runs tests for pet owners pining to find out whether bones discovered in the woods behind their homes belong to beloved Fluffy or Fido who met their demise in the jaws of a coyote.

Ketchum stresses the DNA testing is being done independently of the Erickson Project, the first multi-site field study of the sasquatch in Canada and the U.S. with the goal to have it recognized as a species.

“The peer review is essential to protect the integrity of a study by independently verifying the scientific analysis and conclusions in order to minimize people claiming this research as another bigfoot hoax or fraud,” said Ketchum.

She hopes to have the peer review complete and results ready for release by the end of the year.

To prevent people with “some limited knowledge of the ongoing DNA testing from trying to make premature disclosures or claim unfounded credit,” everyone associated with the research is under a legally binding non-disclosure agreement that includes Adrian Erickson, the man who filmed what he believes are sasquatch in Maple Ridge and other research sites in the U.S.

But getting a new species recognized isn’t an easy task.

Since 2000, there have been many new species “described” but none “discovered” by science.

Most of these were species initially thought to be the same, but which are now split into two groups.

For example, a sloth thought to be a normal three-toed sloth was found to be a separate species after DNA analysis, explains Arne Mooers, a professor of biology at Simon Fraser University.

In terms of real discoveries, the most recent large mammal stumbled upon was the Pseudoryx nghetinhensis or Saola, a bovid (ox) found in Laos and Vietnam in 1992.

Another large mammal – Balaenoptera omurai, a whale which range from 8 to 28 metres, was formally described in 2003.

Mooers finds it hard to believe a bipedal primate has been in North America’s forests and mountains for centuries.

It is too big, he says, pointing out that many of these sasquatch hideouts happen to be rather close to urban areas and suburban subdivisions – but have yet to cough up skulls or bones.

North America would also be the last place he’d consider exploring for a new species of primate.

“The only primate that lives outside the tropical region is us,” says Mooers.

“There’s a macaque that lives in southern Japan but all other primates lives in equatorial or sub-equatorial regions.”

But if someone drove out of the mountains with a dead sasquatch strapped to the hood of their car, it would change his mind.

“Never say never,” he says.

•••

John Bindernagel is one of the few biologists in the world who readily admits the sasquatch is an extant or “real” animal.

Based in Courtney on Vancouver Island, he is more concerned with addressing ecological questions such as how it over-winters in the colder regions of North America and its range.

The best proof for Bindernagel are the tracks left behind by sasquatch, especially when those foot prints which have been cast in plaster.

Other evidence lies in sightings.

“I’ve just heard so many sincere, eyewitness accounts,” says Bindernagel, who has written two books on the subject.

“These people do not want to tell me their reports. You almost have to drag it out of them.”

Hoaxes are a big reason why scientists steer clear of sasquatch. Bindernagel believes referring to sasquatch as “Bigfoot” doesn’t help either. “We need to convince them to look at the evidence which is what they’ve been unwilling to do so far,” he said.

“Many discoveries have taken sometimes a century to be fully accepted. It’s exactly what we are dealing with here. It’s a de facto discovery – a discovery made in fact but simply not recognized by the larger scientific community.”



•••

Tales about sasquatch roaming Golden Ears Provincial Park and thwarting bear-proof bins to snack on garbage amuse Stu Burgess.

As park manager, he’s responsible for the “front country” – an area one kilometre from the park’s main road that includes horse trails and campsites. He’s yet to catch sight of any ape-man or – for that matter – odd-looking, seven-foot tall bears with the gait of super models.

“I’ve been working up here for 17 years and in that time, I’ve seen two cougars,” he says with a laugh.

The Erickson Project intends to release their documentary Sasquatch: The Quest in conjunction with the DNA test results.

SRC: Martins, Monisha. "Is the sasquatch out there?Part 2." Maple Bridge News. Ed. Michael Hall. 2011. 18 Aug. 2011 <http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/mapleridgenews/news/127905518.html>.

Adrian Erickson gets Local Press Part 1

You can read our previous coverage on the Erickson Project. If your new to the subject, the Erickson Project is one of the most anticipated Sasquatch endeavors since it's inception six years ago.

On the Erickson Project's website They are self-described as, "...actively researching sasquatch at various study sites in North America. The goal of Adrian Erickson and his team is to have the collected evidence validated by science and the sasquatch officially recognized as a species or sub-species."

Below is Part One of a two-part feature about The Erickson Project published by Maple Ridge News

Adrian Erickson has filmed what he says
are sasquatch in Golden Ears Provincial Park.

IS BIGFOOT OUT THERE? PART 1

By Monisha Martins - Maple Ridge News
Published: August 12, 2011 8:00 AM
Updated: August 16, 2011 4:07 PM

From a thicket of hemlock, a rock fell at Jason’s Erickson feet with a thud.

It was followed by a second volley, a scattering of tiny pebbles, bound to get his attention. From the trees that crowded at the base of a rocky slope, he heard a purr, a bass, vibrating sound, he was sure didn’t come from a cougar or bear.

“I’ve grown up in the bush and it’s definitely something different.”

Stretching from the edge of Maple Ridge to the rugged reaches of Mount Blanshard, Golden Ears Provincial Park is 62,540 hectares of second-growth forest, home to beaver, deer, black bear, and mountain goat.

But lurking in the red cedar and moss-covered Douglas fir is where a legend comes to life. Sasquatch – the gigantic hirsute beast that figures in First Nation mythology, the comical Kokanee beer mascot – has been barking at Jason, tossing pebbles at him, banging on trees.

He hasn’t seen one.

“But I believe they are real.”

•••

Jason’s dad Adrian Erickson is your stereotypical outdoorsman, tall and rugged with weathered skin. He grew up on a small farm in northern Alberta, hunting and trapping with his father at an young age to help supplement their meager income.

He saw his first sasquatch at age seven, shrugging off the encounter as something normal, just another beast in the forest, as nothing odd.

By the age of 16, while still in high school, Erickson was guiding American moose hunters and after graduation expanded his guiding and outfitting business into reclamation work for the oil and gas industry.

At 26, Erickson put down his gun and switched to a bow. He’s comfortable trekking into the wild, spending days camped far from civilization, alone, braving all kinds of weather. In 2001, not far from Jasper, Alta., a sasquatch, quite literally, crossed his path.

He admits he initially dismissed it as a cow moose. But he couldn’t avoid the nagging, gnawing notion that the lumbering, hairy brown creature he had seen was no ungulate.

He had to find out more.

•••

Founded in 1995, the Big Foot Field Research Organization bills itself as “the only scientific research organization exploring the bigfoot/sasquatch mystery.”

It is a virtual community of scientists, journalists, volunteers and the curious who maintain a database of sightings and research.

When Erickson googled “sasquatch” a decade ago, the BFRO was like an easily accessed encyclopedia.

“I realized how much evidence there was out there,” says Erickson.

He devoured the BFRO’s compilations of eye witness reports from across the continent, the Patterson footage and research done by retired B.C. journalist John Green.

Soon, Erickson signed up as a researcher and began to interview people in the U.S. and Canada who claimed to have seen a sasquatch.

These were people who were dismissed as kooks, ridiculed, folks who has lost their jobs after revealing they believed in a beast that shared the same plane as fairies and the Loch Ness monster.

It made Erickson wonder: why is the sasquatch shunned by science?

“If scientists put 10 per cent of the effort into proving this exists, rather than trying to prove it didn’t exist, this would have been recognized decades ago as a species,” says Erickson.

By 2005, Erickson had talked to hundreds of witnesses who were relieved to speak about sasquatches to someone who took them seriously – who had seen them himself.

Tired of the wayward stares and sneers, he started the Erickson Project that year, the first multi-site field study of the sasquatch in Canada and the U.S. with the goal to have it recognized as a species.

“It is to vindicate the thousands of people who have been ridiculed,” says Erickson, who has been juggling a quest for the sasquatch while he develops acreages in Osoyoos, with his two sons, Jason and Ryan.

•••

The term “sasquatch” is an anglicized derivative of the word “Sésquac”, meaning “wild man” in Halkomelem, the language of Coast Salish aboriginals of the Fraser Valley and parts of Vancouver Island.

Aboriginal tribes across North America have more than 60 different terms for the sasquatch.

And “big foot” isn’t just a North American legend.

Yeti and Meh-Teh, the Abominable Snowman, is said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, India and Tibet. The mapinguari or Inashi is a giant sloth-like creature that features in legends throughout the Amazon, while Yowies are the ape-men of the Australian Outback.

Big foot researchers pledge to study the species in ways that will not harm them.

It’s why Erickson won’t tranquilize the creatures. To kill them, he says, would be akin to murder.

Erickson says he has seen the sasquatch with his own eyes.

So armed with cameras, in 2005, the Erickson Project began its quest to document the sasquatch, capturing what is purported to be the only other footage of the creature since the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film.

Most scientists believe the Patterson film is a hoax with a man in an ape suit, but some people, including Erickson, insist it’s a creature unknown to science.

The creature in the Patterson film resembles the sasquatch he’s seen, says Erickson. They have well-defined muscular physiques, long arms and walk like runway models.

Erickson and his Reel Productions team say they filmed the sasquatch in Maple Ridge and in U.S. locations. They didn’t just film one – but several. They caught them sleeping, peering through trees and via thermal images. In his film, you can hear the sasquatch make low guttural sounds, the kind that make your hair stand on edge. The creatures are in a variety of colours – grey, brown and an orangutan orange.

The location in Golden Ears Provincial Park was ideal because it had been hiked for more than a decade by the man who reported the sightings to Erickson. The sasquatch were not afraid to interact with the man, growing more familiar with him as he returned to the area.

Erickson filmed at the location for two years and collected hair samples from what he says is a grey, light-coloured sasquatch.

“You whistle and they whistle back. They won’t interact with strangers,” he explains.

Not all encounters are visual. The sasquatch like to chuck rocks at you. They are skittish.

“We don’t know why they pick certain people to show themselves to,” says Erickson.

•••

Although Erickson captured sasquatch several times in clear, crisp images, he soon realized people would still dismiss his video as a hoax.

“The more evidence we got, scientists started backing away further and we got really tired,” he says.

“We realized DNA was the only thing.”

He hired Dr. Leila Hadj-Chikh, a biologist, who has a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology, from Princeton University, along with Dennis Pfohl who set out to collect blood, saliva, hair and skin samples.

A resident of Colorado, Pfohl, is an avid outdoorsman who had some strange encounters while camping in the backcountry.

Married with four children, he has spent the past six years hunting sasquatch with a camera and baiting them with food for samples of their DNA. The Erickson Project picked sites in Maple Ridge, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama where they knew they could get close to the creatures.

Pfohl says the reports from those locations were credible and the sasquatch were known to return to the areas, especially to snack on human food.

Much like bears, it seems the sasquatch have a taste for garbage and sweet things. Pfohl spent six months of the year visiting the research sites, trying to perfect his techniques.

He’s missed birthdays, many Christmases, his son’s graduation.

“Cumulatively it takes thousands of hours to collect the DNA,” he says.

“I have spent days in tree stands, on the ground, in tall weeds, with ticks, rain, snow, hell.”

Pfohl’s baited the sasquatch with dog food but finds cakes and candy – Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Susie Qs – are what they like best.

He’d leave them at the site for two or three days and is confident it was sasquatch that took the snacks rather than a raccoon or bear.

He also figured pancakes were an inexpensive and quick-to-create bait.

When he didn’t have time to cook pancakes, he’d drive to a local McDonalds and buy a stack. Sasquatch like them smothered in syrup. “I often think I’m leading to their early death by cardio vascular disease. Or the poor things will end up with tooth decay because of all the sweets,” he says with a laugh.

Pfohl sees himself as someone on a mission to find answers.

“A lot of scientists won’t risk their reputations or careers on this,” he says.

“The discovery of a species – a bipedal hominid – that is the greatest discovery of modern day man.

“How could they live all these years and we didn’t know they were there?

“The fact is people do see them. Hunters talk about them all the time but no one acknowledges it. People think I’m nuts.”

SRC: Martins, Monisha. "Is the sasquatch out there? Part 1." Maple Bridge News. Ed. Michael Hall. 2011. 18 Aug. 2011 <http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/mapleridgenews/news/127560548.html>.

GO TO PART 2

Erickson Project: Bigfoot may be Erectus-Sapiens Hybrid

Our dynamite friend Robert Lindsay who continues to get the best scoops on leaks from the much anticipated Erickson Project. He broke the two dead Bigfoot news which was followed up at Cryptomundo's article (See Bigfoot DNA Project Using Two Dead Bigfoot Bodies for Samples)

there is a new update at RobertLindsey.wordpress.com titled Breathtaking News from the Erickson Project where he discusses the results of the DNA tests. Below is an excerpt of the meaty stuff.

The leaks from people close to the Erickson Project continue to come in fast and furious.

Surely, the most breathtaking news so far involves the sequencing of Bigfoot DNA. We already reported previously on the sequencing Bigfoot mitochondrial DNA, which is coming out 100% human. That means that the Bigfoot female line goes back to human females.

However, we can now report on the sequencing of the nuclear DNA from the male side. The report is that it is absolutely non-human! It is very far away from humans. In the chart below, various hominims are measured according to their distance away from humans.

Hominim spp. Distance in polymorphisms
Neandertal 3,300
Denisova 6,600
Bigfoot 12,375?
Chimpanzee 33,000

As you can see, Bigfoots are approximately 1/2 way between humans and chimps. More precisely, they are 37% of the way between humans and chimp. Also, Bigfoots are 4X further away from us than Neandertals are, and they are 2X further away from us than Denisova was.

We only have DNA from three hominids: Homo sapiens, Neandertal and Denisova. We have no DNA from Flores Man or Erectus or any of the rest. One reason for this is that DNA degrades, and it is impossible to get DNA from samples more than 50,000 years old.

Therefore, evidence indicates that Bigfoots are a hybrid species. Some “thing,” some “monster,” some “subhuman,” mated with human females somewhere in Europe possibly ~20-50,000 YBP. Shades of King Kong! What this thing is is completely unknown. It must be a hominid. It quite possibly was Homo erectus. Therefore, Bigfoots may be Erectus-sapiens hybrids.

Thank you Robert Lindsay for sharing with Bigfoot Lunch Club your new findings. Please visit his site for some of the most fascinating reads about Bigfoot and beyond Bigfoot.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Cryptomundo Update: Bigfoot DNA Project Using Two Dead Bigfoot Bodies for Samples
Bigfoot DNA Project Using Two Dead Bigfoot Bodies for Samples
Breathtaking News from the Erickson Project

Is Richard Stubstad Leaking Info about The Erickson Project?

We know Richard Stubstad as the defender of Todd Standing. Other than that we really don't know the guy and we don't know of his other contributions. He offers his contributions on his website, we can only assume he is referring to himself in third person.

Richard had absolutely no knowledge of or interest in sasquatch until the summer of 2009, when he attended a Stubstad family reunion in Kansas and his cousin Gordy called him “narrow minded” for not bothering to look into the matter. Since this insulted him to no end, he agreed to do so. Much to his surprise, the documented evidence in favor of the existence of a hominid called sasquatch (or bigfoot) was convincing enough to further perk his interest. Suddenly it dawned on Richard that the science of DNA forensic analysis had matured and had already been utilized for all sorts of scientific “proof”, including the genetic mapping of the evolutionary tree of life from a scientific point of view and the placement in this tree of life of a well-known, extinct hominid—Neanderthal man. Ergo—by obtaining DNA samples from several purported sasquai (the plural version of sasquatch—hereby officially coined) and “connecting the dots” as it were, it could be determined once and for all whether or not such a hominid actually exists—without needing a “type” specimen (a body)...

He continues on to his connection to the Erickson Project.

Within a few months, Richard made contact with Adrian Erikson, Robert Schmalzbach (“Java Bob”), Shannon Sylvia and Dr. Melba Ketchum, among others, and initiated the mitochondrial sequencing of several purported sasquatch samples through Dr. Ketchum’s DNA diagnostics laboratory in Texas. Much to his surprise, once again, the first two samples—submitted by two totally independent and disparate researchers and from research sites in two widely separated states or provinces—turned out to be intimately related to one-another, DNA-wise, making the statistical probability of two independent hoaxes or misidentifications somewhere in the 2-3 % range. Accordingly, Richard’s statistical conclusion from only having analyzed the mitochondrial (prehistoric maternal origins) sequencing of these first two samples alone is that there is a 97-98 % certainty that the sasquai indeed exist—right outside of our own back door, so to speak!

Finally our friend, Robert Linsay, reports this message Richard Stubtad.

I know most of the “players” involved in the DNA work; in fact, I have helped in some of the analyses from a statistical point of view. I have no prejudice as to whether the sasquai exist or not, but from the DNA I have seen and analyzed, I’ll give it a 97% chance that sasquatch in fact does exist (therefore no caps on the words sasquatch or the plural form sasquai).

As far as the exact race or species – I primarily have seen only some of the mtDNA sequences; that part is 100% Homo sapiens sapiens (assuming the samples I have seen are not hoaxes). Still, sasquatch could possibly be a hybrid species that is reproductively viable.

I doubt that Dr. Ketchum’s is the only DNA lab working on “Bigfoot DNA.” I believe (but don’t know for sure) that at least one, and possibly two or three others labs, are also working on Bigfoot DNA.

I favor the new hominid designation: “Homo sapiens sesqueqiencis”, in part in deference to the a Plains American Indian tribe’s spelling of sasquatch and in part in deference to the newly-discovered ability of Neanderthal Man to mate with Cro Magnon et al., thus officially Neanderthal is now called: “Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis” (with a capital “N” because Neanderthal Man is reportedly extinct).

Based on the mtDNA of several purported sasquatch samples, statistically the “sapiens” part of the above-suggested Latin name is 97% certain.

Unless the whole thing is one huge and well-coordinated hoax.

I doubt it; some of the sasquatch players who have provided confirming samples would never cooperate with one another – never in a million years.

For you skeptics, put that in your pipes and smoke it.

Check out more at Robert Lindsay's Commentary

EXTERNAL LINKS
Richard Stubstad
The Erickson Project
Robert Lindsay's Blog