Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 09 | Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science Debuts

Cover art for Discovery Channel documentary and companion book

2003. It was a Thursday night exactly ten years ago today when a documentary film, Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, aired on the Discovery Channel. The program featured scientists from various disciplines analyzing the most compelling evidence. Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science was produced by Doug Hajicek with White Wolf Entertainment, the same people who brought us Monster Quest. It is narrated by the distinctive voice of Stacy Keach.

The documentary can be defined by the analyses of three pieces of Sasquatch footage and 17 categories of evidence.

The three pieces of footage were the Patterson/Gimlin film, the Freeman footage and the Memorial Day footage. The 17 different categories of evidence included: fossil evidence, new species discoveries, dermal ridges, the Sasquatch body, images, step frequency, biomechanics, forensic measurements, Patterson-Gimlin film, behavior parallels, vocalizations, visual misidentification, track morphology, kinesiology, soft tissue pathology, statistics, and DNA.

Also included in the documentary were six experts, described by the official webpage below:

In the documentary, scientists from various disciplines put the most compelling sasquatch evidence to the test. Collectively their conclusions are ground-breaking. There is now scientific proof for the existence of a giant primate species in North America -- a species fitting the descriptions of sasquatches (bigfoots). 

The nation's top primate anatomist, Dr. Daris Swindler of Washington State Univeristy examines the Skookum Cast, along with prominent primatologist Dr. Esteban Sarmiento of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and anthropologist Dr. Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University, give their conclusions about the Skookum cast, and what it points to.

The nation's top bioacoustics analyst, Dr. Robert Benson at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, analyzes sound recordings of purported Sasquatch vocalizations with an advanced computerized system in his laboratory. He explains his conclusions about the recordings.

Primate fingerprint expert, Officer Jimmy Chilcutt, discusses the consistent and distinct dermal ridge patterns found in track casts from the northwest and southeastern United States. He states his conclusions about the level of proof provided the dermal ridge casts evidence.

DNA expert Dr. Craig Newton from BC Research in Canada attempts to extract DNA from hair samples and saliva taken from the Skookum Cast site. He explains the potential and problems with DNA analysis.

Dr. Russel Ciochon shows life-size models of Gigantopithecus, and describes their interactions with early man. Various other scientists fill in other parts of the puzzle.

Anthropologist Dr. Jeff Meldrum also wrote a companion book with the same title, "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science."

According to Wikipedia, the DVD version is slightly different from the broadcast including extra footage.

• The full length of the Patterson footage in digital format, allowing you to zoom in on individual frames with unprecendented clarity
• More of the Freeman footage
• More of the Memorial Day footage
• An FAQ on the Sasquatch mystery
• A gallery of images related to Sasquatch evidence and research

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 07 | First Documented Mystery Footprint

Postage stamp commemorating David Thompson's Life and reputation as a mapmaker

Today in 1811, marks the first recorded account of an overly large foot print in North America by a non-native person. The honor goes to David Thompson, a British-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, who was known for keeping detailed records. On January 7th, 1811, Mr. Thompson found curious animal tracks in the snow near Jasper, Alberta. He described the tracks as 14 inch long footprints (see T.C. Elliott, "Journal of David Thompson", Oregon Historical Quarterly, 15 March-June 1914) Some years later, a book of Thompson's, David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations of Western America, based on his journal, was published. In it he says:

I now recur to what I have already noticed in the early part of last winter, when proceeding up the Athabasca River to cross the mountains, in company with.... Men and four hunters, on one of the channels of the River we came to the track of a large animal, which measured fourteen inches in length by eight inches in breadth by a tape line. As snow was about six inches in depth the track was well defined, and we could see it for a full hundred yards from us, this animal was proceeding from north to south. We did not attempt to follow it, we had not time for it, and the Hunters, eager as they are to follow and shoot every animal, made no attempt to follow this beast, for what could the balls of our fowling guns do against such an animal? Report from old times had made the head branches of this River, and the Mountains in the vicinity the abode of one, or more, very large animals, to which I never appeared to give credence; for these reports appeared to arise from that fondness for the marvelous so common to mankind: but the sight of the track of that large a beast staggered me, and I often thought of it, yet never could bring myself to believe such an animal existed, but thought it might be the track of some Monster Bear.

For all you rational, critical thinkers who took Santa Claus away from us at 6yrs old. Yes, we know snow melt distorts prints and we don't know how long the tracks were laid before they were discovered. We are also aware that 8 inches is rather wide for a 14 inch print. Prints 8 inches wide are usually at least 17-18 inches in length. So even with the obligatory caveats listed in the previous sentences, we still love adopting David Thompson's mystery creature into the Bigfoot lore. After all, we are the same blog that thinks historically, werewolves are potentially misidentified Bigfoots.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 01 | Chief Big Foot and Finding Bigfoot Season 2 Premiers

Photo of Chief Big Foot taken on January 1st 1891, 2 days after the Wounded Knee massacre .

This photo had been taken on January 1, 1891, two days after the chief was killed by a horrific revengeful Seventh Cavalry gone berserk. Although far from the cryptozoological Bigfoot, Chief Big Foot got his namesake in a similar way; not from his actual feet, but from his tracks. Jut as Jerry Crew's 16 inch print discoveries led the media to describe our favorite cryptid as Bigfoot, Chief Big Foot was also known for his extra large snowshoe prints he left while pursuing deer. In other words, white people have been abusing the word Bigfoot 70 years earlier than we thought. It should be noted that only U.S. soldiers referred to the Chief as Big Foot, he was known by the Lakota as Spotted Elk (Unpan Glešká).

Spotted Elk (Chief Big Foot) The son of Lone Horn, he was cousin to Crazy Horse and half brother of Sitting Bull. He became chief upon his father's death in 1875.

Though skilled in war, he was known as a great man of peace, adept at settling quarrels between rival parties. Known for his political and diplomatic successes, he was often called upon to mediate disputes. Following their defeat during the War for the Black Hills, he encouraged his people to live in peace, and to adapt to the white men’s ways while retaining their native language and cultural traditions. He encouraged them to adapt to life on the reservation by developing sustainable agriculture and building schools, taking a peaceful attitude toward white settlers.

This makes all the more tragic the circumstances of his death. Sick with pneumonia, he was en route to the Pine Ridge Reservation, seeking shelter with Red Cloud's band. Apprehended, he became a victim of the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) in which nearly 300 men, women and children of his tribe lost their lives.

Cliff Barackman trying to be a "baby Bigfoot"

On a less somber note, on January 1st, 2012 the second season of Finding Bigfoot kicked off. Below is an excerpt from the full Finding Bigfoot press release.

Over the course of 10 hour-long episodes, Animal Planet’s FINDING BIGFOOT returns for a brand-new season on Sunday, January 1, 2012, at 10 PM (ET/PT) for further expeditions to investigate reports of the mysterious bigfoot. From small towns in the South to remote areas of the mountain West and dense forest of the Northeast and into Canada, four passionate, driven researchers and adventurers embark on one single-minded mission – to find this beast.

BFRO members Matt Moneymaker and James “Bobo” Fay, professional educator Cliff Barackman and skeptical biologist Ranae Holland engage in the ultimate quest in search of proof that Bigfoot really does exist – and that he or she is alive and abundant in North America. By examining photos and videos of the creature, speaking to local witnesses, using new technology and luring the mysterious beast with the team’s squatch calls, the group uncovers startling proof of the legendary and highly intelligent enigma that has eluded capture for centuries and fascinated man for just as long.

During the series premiere, called “Baby Bigfoot,” the quartet of investigators head to the Catskills in New York near Poughkeepsie to provide in-depth analysis of 15-year-old video footage from 1997 that indicates a juvenile or baby sasquatch could have been in the area at the time.

 Click the following link to read responses to the Baby Bigfoot episode.

Bigfoot and other Pongidae Skeletons

You can click the picture above to see larger version.

New Illustration for you Bigfoot Lunch Clubbers. As most primatoligist and anthropologist know, we humans share a classification called Homindae which includes Pongidae (the three/four other great apes; Gorillas, Orangutans, and Chimps/Bonabos).

Well, obviously BF would fit into that class as well. Above are the skeletons of the homidae/pongidae family, notice different porportions such as a a gorillas wider torso, orangutans longer slimmer build, and the chimps thicker, stockier leg bones. The BF skeleton is a blend of a Gigantopithecus reference and the Patterson film.

RELATED LINKS
Homidae Taxonomy at Wiki
Gigantopithecus at Wiki
Patterson/Gimlin at Wiki

911 audio and full transcript of San Antonio Bigfoot call.

I recommend that you play the video and just scroll down to read the transcript. There is nothing visually significant in the clip. At the bottom of this post is a photo of the traffic light and water tower mentioned in the call.

911 Dispatch: 911 San Antonio Do you need Police Fire or EMF.

Caller: I'm not real sure mam, Um I just watched the biggest creat-critter, but it smelled real bad. I'm a homeless female I live right in the middle of the woods around 151 and Calebra. Just north where the light is? This thing was 75 ft away from me, smelled awful, devoured a deer carcass and then took off and like screamed, screached; and took off across the street. And I know you guys are going to think I'm crazy, but I'm dead serious,there was something very big. Bigger--a lot bigger than me (heh) -- out here. So we thought it was something you should know, really dont know what you can do about it.

911 Dispatch: Uhh, how long ago did this happen?

Caller: This im um. How long? Like immediately. Like I just, yeah. (Second voice in distance) I dont know if animal control? I mean its...

911 Dispatch: Ok, again, now tell now tell me where was it? This was is at 151 and Calebra?

Caller: Ok yeah like, you know the light right at 151 just up from calebra on 1604 like where 1604 splits and you can get off on the access road to calebra or tyou can take 151?

911 Dispatcher: Right.

Caller: That light right in there? Its, yes, right in there It is a very large scary animal of some kind!

911 Dispatcher: Now was it standing on two or four?

Caller: Well if I told you it was standing on two legs, your gonna think I'm crazy, but I'm serious it ran off breaking limbs in trees. And it kinda screached/howled. And a very creepy scary thing and like I said I live in a tent, um, here in the woods. So..Never...

911 Dispatcher: You live in a tent?

Caller: Yes mam I'm a homeless female, I live in a tent, in the woods and I just saw this creepy scary very large creature devour a deer and run off clera across the road so um...

911 Dispatcher: Okay is there any way we can have an officer contact you?

Caller: Uh yeah, I guess at this number. Um but I really perefer like animal control or somebody bigger than me. i appreciate it, I just thought somebody should know that there is a very large animal in the vicinity

911 Dispatcher: Now the deer was walking around and...?

Caller: No. The deer was dead and it got devoured, it was a carcass.

911 Dispatcher: Okay and did you see signs of um a dead deer? Blood or whatever?

Caller: Um actually Mam uh I'm not-I'm not going to check it out right at this moment. Is that ok?

911 Dispatcher: That's fine.

Caller: I'm waitin' for daylight, I got...I don't own anything but a machete and a hatchet. So, I'm kinda creeped out. I just thought, like I said, I just thought somebody should know theres a very large something big enough to eat a deer

911 Dispatcher: Are you with someone there?

Caller: Uh, yes mam.

911 Dispatcher: Did they see it too?

Caller: Yes mam.

911 Dispatcher: How about I have an officer contact you guys out there?

Caller: Um, I'm not going to leave my camp right at the moment, I mean if you want to come look at the light. (to her partner) She wants to send an officer

Caller's male partner: Like Hell!

Caller: heh huh, we're not leaving where we're at, is like what we're trying to say. I'm a little bit scared and its raining. And um, I just want somebody to maybe check it out in the morning when its not dark.

911 Dispatcher: What i can do right now is have the officer patrol the area. Which direction did it run?

Caller: It ran across um the light at 151, like towards the water tower on two feet. Like my husband said. Something very weird. I just wanted make a documentation to animal control.

911 Dispatcher: Have you ever seen or heard anything like this before?

Caller: No mam,I lived in the woods a while

Caller's Husband: I lived in the woods for 6 yrs. I'm gonna tell you right now, I lived in the woods for 6 yrs, i swear to god I aint never seen anything like this! the sonuvabitch was bigger than me!

Caller: And it had a very odd smell.

Caller's Husband: I'm 6'3", I'm 6'3". it was bigger than ME!

Caller: yeah so.

911 Dispatcher: Its bigger than 6'3"?

Caller: Yeah its bigger than 6 foot 3, its very large!

Caller's Husband: (muffled) He carried the carcass off!

Caller: Yeah.

911 Dispatcher: What did he say?

Caller: "He carried the carcass off!"

911 Dispatcher: Oh he carried it!

Caller: I mean it was like nothing. Like Just. Like, I want to believe it was like a large cat or a bear but I'm...

Caller's Husband: Bulls#!t, bulls#!t.

Caller: I'm thinkin', I'm not going to tell him what I think it is.

911 Dispatcher: What does he think it is?

Caller: (to her husband) What do you think it is?

Caller's Husband: What I think it was? I don't know. I would be a liar if I said I thought I knew what it was. But I know it picked up that deer and run--on two feet!

Caller: Yeah, its very large something. It smells bad and it's bigger than we are.

911 Dispatcher: So you saw it walk or runninin' or walk in which direction?

Caller: Uh, towards the light at 151 and 1604.

Caller's Husband: It went towards the water tower area.

Caller: Yeah, it went towards the water tower area and it screached/howled. (to husband) Yelled?

Caller's Husband: Yeah.

Caller: Yeah my husband's very large. Nothing has ever scared him. Ever. And um.

Caller's Husband: I saw it too!

Caller: I mean we both saw it, so.

911 Dispatcher: Did it have any type of clothing?

Caller: No No, It was fur.

911 Dispatcher: OK

Caller: As far as I can tell, I mean its a pretty light night out due to the overcast, we doused our fire. I have this like blanket thing hung up and we saw it over the top of that. And when it ran it cracked branches. yeah it was large, like the size of the grizzly bear! Imagine that! So...

Caller's Husband: (to caller) It had two feet momma!

Caller: I know.

911 Dispatcher: Okay and did you? What is your name?

Caller: Jennifer, Jennifer. yeah its raining now and we can't hear nuthin' outside. Its kinda scary.

911 Dispatcher: Okay alright we'll have an officer patrol that area and see what we can find.

Caller: I know, I mean you guys might find--or animal control might be able to find some tracks or something in the morning. Its hard to find tracks (innaudible, then to husband) She says she's going to send a patrol to the area. So.

Caller's Husband: Go to the light and sound your sirens.

Caller: Go to the light and sound your sirens, and we'll come oput of the woods and talk to you.

911 Dispatcher: you guys, you guys have you camp set up at 151 and Calebra?

Caller: Um not exactly, um yeah in the area. Just go to the light and sound the sirens and we would hear you (from) where we're at.

911 Dispatcher: At 151 and 1604. Right?

Caller: Yes. mam.

911 Dispatcher: Ok

Caller: Allright?

911 Dispatcher: Allright.

Caller: Thank you

911 Dispatcher: Your Welcome.

Street View

Arial View

Click on picture to see full-screen view. In this picture is the intersection traffic light and the water tower mentioned in the call.

San Antonio Bigfoot update: a week later

View SA SASQUATCH SIGHTING in a larger map

The above interactive map contains three of the major players regarding the SA Bigfoot Sightings (1) The Phone Call (2) The primate research center (3) the Body Shop. Click on any icon to get the latest news of each player. There is also an additional green pin. The pin is for a 2005 sighting near the area according to the BFRO database. it is the only class "A" sighting in the area.

This will be short and sweet. A week later and the San Antonio Bigfoot is dead--or at least the story is. Rick Tullos, the primary investigator at the scene in San Antonio from Gulf Coast BigFoot Research Organization (GCBRO) has not updated any news on the GCBRO site. In fact, the sites recent reports page does not even list the SA sightings at all.

What we can report is the local police have already decided it was most likely hunters.

“... what appeared to be a 6-foot-3 or larger creature covered with fur or hair, and had a very foul odor. It ran toward the water tower, past 1604, carrying a deer. I know there are a lot of hunting areas out that way... maybe it was a hunter.”

said San Antonio Police Department spokeswoman Romana Gutierrez

According to the Texas Fishing and Hunting Regulations it is legal for hunters to be out one-half hour before dawn and one-half hour after dusk.

You heard it here first.

San Antonio Sasquatch and Body Shop Bigfoot are not alike

UPDATE! Cryptomundo reveals this odd coincidence! The founder of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research(SFBR) was none other than Tom Slick!

From Wikipedia:

During the 1950s, Slick was an adventurer. He turned his attention to expeditions to investigate the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, Bigfoot and the Trinity Alps giant salamander. Slick’s interest in cryptozoology was little known until the 1989 publication of the biography Tom Slick and the Search for Yeti, by Loren Coleman.

As you can see in the map below the SFBR is nearby all the San Antonio Sasquatch action and dispatched two representatives immediately to investigate the mysterious primate at the Body Shop.


We just want to be fair. The sightings based on the San Antonio Police report have been loosely tied to a primate spotted at a body shop. The Body Shop "Bigfoot" should not be related to the San Antonio Sasquatch sightings. Why? Because based upon further research we have discovered the primate at the body shop was identified. Using a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the guys at the shop were able to lure the primate and videotape it. Katie Birk of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation center was able to study the video and quickly identify the macaque.

There is one thing bigfooters can gain from this. We have learned that a PB & J sandwich is an effective lure to attract primates (like Bigfoot), although I would recommend leaving a cold glass a milk to wash it down. Be kind to the big guy.



Above is the footprint the macaque had left, which also help identify the three foot primate. Below is an exerpt from the article and interview from www.mysanantonio.com:

“We didn't know what to think,” Joe Duarte said.

But he did wonder if the animal could have escaped from the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, which keeps baboons on hand and is located just north of the shop at Loop 410 and Texas 151.

The two immediately called the foundation. Adrian Duarte, the shop's manager, said that a few hours later, two individuals showed up to inspect the prints. He said the men told them they resembled a baboon's print.

Foundation officials said Wednesday they don't know what it is but they do know it's not theirs.

Ty May, a veterinary resource manager at the foundation who's familiar with the incident, said it's not conclusive that the prints found at the business were from any type of primate. May said the research center was “not missing any animals and have not confirmed a sighting of any kind.” Worried about what kind of animal might be foraging from their trash bin, the Duartes set up a video camera to get a better look at the animal.

“I'm cautious to walk over there,” Adrian Duarte said. “I mean, I want to see him, but then again I don't. Those animals can be dangerous.”

Still, they left food on top of the trash bin, including a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, to try and lure the animal out.

The dimly lit and fuzzy footage shows some type of animal climb atop the bin, grab the sandwich and jump back down — all in a fluid motion. But the video camera is too far back, making it hard to clearly make out any of the animal's features.

So the guys at the body shop called the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation center in Kendalia for a second opinion. On Wednesday, Katie Birk, an animal caretaker at the rescue, went to the shop to see the video.

Her initial reaction was a large smile and a laugh.

“You got a little monkey friend on your hands,” Birk said chuckling. She said the creature was “agile” and it's movements resembled an animal “not native to the area.”

The Duartes showed Birk the evidence they had collected, including the prints and tufts of hair. Birk guessed the animal could be a macaque, a primate mostly located in Asia.

Although a macaque isn't as aggressive as a baboon, Birk said that if anyone comes across the monkey, they should walk away, go inside somewhere and wait for it to go away.

You can read the full article here.

Now that we got that out of the way, what did that woman see near Loop 1604 and Texas 151 Monday night?

What Color is Bigfoot's World?

In a recent article, Scientific American reveals how primates are uniquely evolved to see in three colors, known as trichromacy.  Unique not only among mammals, but unique among the entire animal kingdom. To find out why read the excerpt below.  It seems, genetically, it is not such a feat to see in blues and greens (Dichromatic view), but seeing the additional red hues (Trichromatic view) requires a mutation of a gene nowhere near the other two genes. You can read the full Scientific American article here

To our eyes, the world is arrayed in a seemingly infinite splendor of hues, from the sunny orange of a marigold flower to the gunmetal gray of an automobile chassis, from the buoyant blue of a midwinter sky to the sparkling green of an emerald. It is remarkable, then, that for most human beings any color can be reproduced by mixing together just three fixed wavelengths of light at certain intensities. This property of human vision, called trichromacy, arises because the retina the layer of nerve cells in the eye that captures light and transmits visual information to the brain uses only three types of light-absorbing pigments for color vision. One consequence of trichromacy is that computer and television displays can mix red, green and blue pixels to generate what we perceive as a full spectrum of color.

Although trichromacy is common among primates, it is not universal in the animal kingdom. Almost all nonprimate mammals are dichromats, with color vision based on just two kinds of visual pigments. A few nocturnal mammals have only one pigment. Some birds, fish and reptiles have four visual pigments and can detect ultraviolet light invisible to humans. It seems, then, that primate trichromacy is unusual. How did it evolve? Building on decades of study, recent investigations into the genetics, molecular biology and neurophysiology of primate color vision have yielded some unexpected answers as well as surprising findings about the flexibility of the primate brain.

Almost all nonprimate mammals are dichromats, with color vision based on just two kinds of visual pigments. A few nocturnal mammals have only one pigment. It seems, then, that primate trichromacy is unusual. The short-wavelength (S) pigment absorbs light maximally at wavelengths of about 430 nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter), the medium-wavelength (M) pigment maximally absorbs light at approximately 530 nanometers, and the long-wavelength (L) pigment absorbs light maximally at 560 nanometers. Although the absorption spectra of the cone pigments have long been known, it was not until the 1980s that one of us (Nathans) identified the genes for the human pigments and, from the DNA sequences of those genes, determined the sequence of amino acids that constitutes each pigment protein. The gene sequences revealed that the M and L pigments are almost identical. The S-pigment gene, in contrast, is located on chromosome 7, and its sequence shows that the encoded S pigment is related only distantly to the M and L pigments.


Almost all vertebrates have genes with sequences that are very similar to that of the human S pigment, implying that some version of a shorter-wavelength pigment is an ancient element of color vision. Most nonprimate mammals have only one longer-wavelength pigment, which is similar to the longer-wavelength primate pigments. The gene for the longer-wavelength mammalian pigment is also located on the X chromosome. Those features raised the possibility, then, that the two longer-wavelength primate pigment genes first arose in the early primate lineage in this way: a longer-wavelength mammalian pigment gene was duplicated on a single X chromosome, after which mutations in either or both copies of the X-linked ancestral gene produced two quite similar pigments with different ranges of spectral sensitivity the M and L pigments.

DID HUMANS MAKE LOVE OR WAR WITH CAVEMEN

Its an ongoing question. Time Magazine has a new article out today suggesting we made war.

It is one of the world's oldest cold cases. Sometime between 50,000 and 75,000 years ago, a Neanderthal male known to scientists as Shanidar 3 received a wound to his torso, limped back to his cave in what is now Iraq and died several weeks later.

New research suggests that Shanidar 3 may have had a more familiar killer: a human being.

At the time of his death, only humans, who had adapted their hunting techniques to the open plains of Africa, had developed projectile weapons; Neanderthals, who hunted in the close quarters of forests, used thrusting spears. To learn the cause of Shanidar 3's wound, Churchill and his team used a specially designed crossbow to fire stone-age projectiles at precise velocities at pig carcasses (a pig's skin and ribs are believed to be roughly as tough as a Neanderthal's). At kinetic energies consistent with a thrown spear, the pig's rib bore damage resembling Shanidar 3's isolated rib puncture. What's more, Churchill found that the weapon that killed Shanidar 3 entered at about a 45-degree downward angle. Churchill also found that Shanidar 3's rib had started healing before he died. By comparing the wound with wounds documented in medical records from the American Civil War, a time before antibiotics, Churchill hypothesized that Shanidar 3 probably died within a few weeks of the injury.

Others suggest they may have interbred with humans.

Read The full Article here.
Read the competing interbreading theory here.

FAYETTE, PA SIGHTING

The incident occurred on July 10, 2009, outside of Uniontown, in Fayette County.

On July 15, 2009, a team from the (Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society) PBS traveled to the location where the reported Bigfoot encounter occurred to interview the witness and to look over the area for any possible physical evidence. The team was comprised of Eric Altman and PBS members Dave Dragosin and his wife Cindy. When we arrived on the scene, the witness and her husband were awaiting us. The creature, which walked upright on two legs, had a head that was said to be large and elongated, and covered with hair that just looked wild.

The neck was somewhat hard to explain since it was covered in hair. The witness said that it appeared to be thin and long. The nose was flat and dark, but was also mostly covered in hair. The eyes were dark, possibly black in color, wide set, and “wild looking.” The witness thinks that is why the eyes looked so odd. The wild look and the fierceness of the eyes of the creature, scared the woman.

The creature was stocky and muscular in appearance. The witness said the hair on the arms was long, like ape hair. The witness had the impression that this creature was older in age. At the scene, Dave Dragosin sketched an illustration of the creature under the direction of the eyewitness. Eric and the witness’s husband searched a wooded area not far from the location of the encounter, but nothing of interest was found.

The scratched area was about 8.5 inches long and 2 inches wide. The witness told me that after the encounter, she drove down the road a short distance and parked her car. The fast movement of the creature and the way it leaped over the trunk. The eyes of the creature frightened her.

Original Report at Pensyvannia Bigfoot Society
Read about it at Paranormal News
See drawings posted at Cryptomundo

UPDATE!!!!
Cryptomundo has some photos of the sighting location here.

Those Who Live in Glass Houses

Any Bf Researcher worth their night vision goggles knows Bigfoot loves to throw stones.

MonsterQuest Sasquatch Attack I and Sasquatch II programs show the involvement of stone-throwing Bigfoot as major components of those documentary treatments.

Loren Coleman Posts on Cryptomundo

The best evidence for understanding BF behavior is through the study of the five great apes that we do have access to; Gorillas, Orangutans, Chimps, Bonobos and Humans.

Many of our old BF assumptions are based on our old primate assumptions. As the primate assumptions get upset we need to also reevaluate our BF assumptions. Who is our primate paradigm provocateur? Satino the Chimp.

Satino, a canny chimpanzee who calmly collected a stash of rocks and then hurled them at zoo visitors in fits of rage has confirmed that apes can plan ahead just like humans, a Swedish study said Monday. Santino's behavior fascinated researchers because it was so carefully prepared. According to a report in the journal Current Biology, the 31-year-old alpha male started building his weapons cache in the morning before the zoo opened, collecting rocks and knocking out disks from concrete boulders inside his enclosure. He waited until around midday before he unleashed a "hailstorm" of rocks against visitors, the study said.

Study: Belligerent chimp proves animals make plans

By MALIN RISING – Mar 9, 2009

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A canny chimpanzee who calmly collected a stash of rocks and then hurled them at zoo visitors in fits of rage has confirmed that apes can plan ahead just like humans, a Swedish study said Monday.

Santino the chimpanzee's anti-social behavior stunned both visitors and keepers at the Furuvik Zoo but fascinated researchers because it was so carefully prepared.

According to a report in the journal Current Biology, the 31-year-old alpha male started building his weapons cache in the morning before the zoo opened, collecting rocks and knocking out disks from concrete boulders inside his enclosure. He waited until around midday before he unleashed a "hailstorm" of rocks against visitors, the study said.

"These observations convincingly show that our fellow apes do consider the future in a very complex way," said the author of the report, Lund University Ph.D. student Mathias Osvath. "It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including lifelike mental simulations of potential events."

Osvath's findings were based on his own observations of Santino and interviews with three senior caretakers who had followed the chimpanzee's behavior for 10 years at the zoo in Furuvik, about 93 miles (150 kilometers) north of Stockholm.

Seemingly at ease with his position as leader of the group, Santino didn't attack the other chimpanzees, Osvath told The Associated Press. The attacks were only directed at humans viewing the apes across the moat surrounding the island compound where they were held.

However, he rarely hit visitors because of his poor aim, and no one was seriously injured in the cases when he did, Osvath said.

The observations confirmed the result of a staged laboratory experiment reported in 2006 by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. In that case orangutans and bonobos were able to figure out which tool would work in an effort to retrieve grapes, and were able to remember to bring that tool along hours later.

"Every time you can combine experimental and observational data and you get a consistent result, that is very powerful," said an author of the 2006 study, Joseph Call. "This is an important observation."

He noted that individual differences are big among chimpanzees so the observation might not mean all chimpanzees are capable of the same planning.

"It could be that he is a genius, only more research will tell. On the other hand our research showed the same in orangutans and bonobos so he is not alone," Call said.

Osvath said the chimpanzee had also been observed tapping on concrete boulders in the park to identify weak parts and then knocking out a piece. If it was too big for throwing, he broke it into smaller pieces, before adding them to his arsenal.

"It is very special that he first realizes that he can make these and then plans on how to use them," Osvath said. "This is more complex than what has been showed before."

The fact that the ape stayed calm while preparing his weapons but used them when he was extremely agitated proves that the planning behavior was not based on an immediate emotional drive, Osvath said.

For a while, zoo keepers tried locking Santino up in the morning so he couldn't collect ammunition for his assaults, but he remained aggressive. They ultimately decided to castrate him in the autumn last year, but will have to wait until the summer to see if that helps. The chimpanzees are only kept outdoors between April and October and Santino's special behavior usually occurs in June and July.

"It is normal behavior for alpha males to want to influence their surroundings ... It is extremely frustrating for him that there are people out of his reach who are pointing at him and laughing," Osvath said. "It cannot be good to be so furious all the time."

In the U.S. state of Connecticut last month, a 200 pound (90 kilogram) pet chimpanzee once seen in TV commercials mauled a woman trying to help its owner lure it inside and cornered a police officer in his cruiser before he shot and killed it, authorities said

The owner has speculated that the chimp was trying to protect her and attacked the woman because she had changed her hairstyle, was driving a different car and was holding a stuffed toy in front of her face to get the chimp's attention.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Merry Xmas Epic!

Man! The book to the left is indeed my favorite present this year. Which brings me to one of the things I forgot to mention in the previous post. This past year we had the honor of having the Loren Coleman leave a comment on our site...

Mr.Coleman's comment is reprinted below.

Welcome to the wonderful, crazy world of blogging.

At Cryptomundo, we deal in an extremely high volume of new reports and postings, so to say you *scooped* us is fine with us. We need not mention the scores of stories we paid attention to while you highlighted Cameron Gainer's newest appearance.

But let me mention that, yes, Cryptomundo's first posting about Cameron Gainer's art was on September 14, 2006, with a followup on October 22, 2006, and an added update on October 20, 2007.

I guess I could post on Cryptomundo, in response to this posting that we scooped you on posts about Gainer's art by almost 17 months, but I won't. LOL.

Keep up the good work.

Well thank you again sir I hope we still do you proud. Please folks if you get a chance please donate to the International Cryptozoology Museum as we have asked you to do in the past.

Oh and if you do not know who Loren Coleman is you can visit is fabulous sight Cryptomundo or check out his Bio at Wikipedia

As always Mr.Coleman any progress made in crytozoology is only due to our ability to stand on the shoulders of your achievments. BfRLC salutes you!

Yeti on SETI Radio

Seti has a podcast titled Skeptical Sunday. The weekly hour-long radio program features top scientists talking about the latest in genetics, paleontology, technology, physics, and evolutionary biology - as well as cosmology and astronomy. Find out how to extract DNA from a banana, what size wrench you need to build a time machine, and whether dark energy can be bottled (yes).

If you're a doubting Thomas, you'll have plenty of company when we separate science from pseudoscience on "Skeptical Sunday" each month. Hear from people who investigate alien abduction, psychics, ghosts, or the Shroud of Turin, and find out how they sort out the facts from the phony. It's the world of skepticism. But don't take our word for it...

The topic of this last week's podcast was The Bigfoot press conference

Bigfoot Duo’s New Discovery: A Lawsuit Against Them

Below is an reprint from a blog called the Inquisitor. The tone is pretty much the same with the rest of the media. Portraying these two georgian boys as fools or idiots, or just plain jerks for lying. I just want to make sure that everybody realizes there was a man who is behind this whole mess, that probably knew how things would pan out better than anybody. His name is Tom Biscardi, CEO of Searching for Bigfoot.

I think Matt Moneymaker of BFRO says it best in an interview with National Geographic, "Now he(Tom Biscardi) is really a famous con man," Moneymaker said. "He was a con man known in Bigfoot circles for years, and now it won't be long before everybody knows it."

BfRLC Salutes you Matt, for boldly speaking up and letting the rest of world what's what.

Anyway on with lawsuit info...


The Inquisitor
Odd : JR Raphael
The two goons who wasted the world’s time by claiming they’d found Bigfoot are now finding themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit.

Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer went the full nine yards with a news conference, DNA tests (that showed nothing), and all sorts of empty promises last week. Of course, it was all a hoax — and, as many had initially suspected, the creature was no more than a frozen Halloween costume filled with some random roadkill.

Now, the company that helped publicize the whole debacle is demanding cash from the country bumpkins. Searching for Bigfoot paid the doofuses $50,000 for the rights to their story, and it’s not happy the whole thing’s been exposed as fraud.

The good ol’ boys from Georgia, for their part, now claim it was all just a big joke and that Searching for Bigfoot is to blame for “blowing it out of proportion.” They say they never did it to make money — even though they’re still holding onto that $50K that somehow made it into their hands. Oh yeah, and they’re also selling Bigfoot stuff on their own web site.

“It started off as some YouTube videos and a website,” one of them told Atlanta’s WSB-TV in his first interview this week. “We’re all about having fun.”

That same man — who was a police officer in Clayton County, Georgia — has been fired from the force as a result of the scam.

Smart fellers, those Georgians.


Original article here

Japan Yeti Hunters Hope 3rd Time's a Charm

By Gopal Sharma
Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:51pm IST

KATHMANDU (Reuters Life!) - It seems the search for mythical creatures goes on.

Less than a week after two men in the United States claimed they had found the remains of a half-man, half-ape Bigfoot, which actually turned out to be a rubber gorilla suit, a team of Japanese climbers began trekking on Wednesday to a mountain in Nepal hoping to find the Yeti, or abominable snowman.

Seven climbers, supported by sherpas and carrying cameras and telescopes, will spend 50 days on the lower reaches of the 7,661-metre (25,134-ft) Dhaulagiri IV to try and collect evidence of the beast's existence, team leader Yoshiteru Takahashi said.

Takahashi, who carried out similar missions in the same area in 1994 and 2003, told Reuters that one of his team members and three sherpas had seen "something like the Yeti" from a distance five years ago.

"We believe that was the Yeti," said Takahashi, a 65-year-old employee of a Tokyo furniture company. "So we are going to search for a third time. We need photographs and video tapes to prove it. It is very important."

Sherpas and climbers often narrate stories about a wild hairy creature roaming the Himalayas. Those tales have captured the imagination of foreign climbers of Mount Everest since the 1920s prompting many, including Everest hero Sir Edmund Hillary, to carry out hunts for the Yeti.

Some climbers even claim to have found Yeti footprints, but no one has yet actually seen it or produced irrefutable proof.

The Japanese will pitch three camps, manned by two researchers each, between 3,400 meters (11,154 feet) and 4,300 meters (14,100 feet) above base camp.

They will use binoculars during the day and also have long-lens cameras to take pictures at night.

"I want to shake hands if I meet him," said T. Onishi, another member of the team. "But it is very difficult. They are shy, so we want to just take pictures."

(Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Miral Fahmy)

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Read Original Article Here

Darn Good Bigfoot Research

hey BfRL Clubber's theres some darn good research goin' on at http://sopebocks.blogspot.com/ they go into far greater detail into the georgian gorilla. Too much to repost here. From all of us at the Bigfoot Researcher's Lunch Club We salute you Charlie and keep up the good work!

'There's something out there,' Sasquatch expert tells Edmonton

Bill Mah , Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, August 17, 2008
EDMONTON - When news broke Friday that two self-proclaimed sasquatch trackers in the state of Georgia claimed to have one of the fabled ape creatures in their freezer, Jeff Meldrum was quickly pulled into the story. After all, he's one of the few PhDs conducting field work on Bigfoot and reporters were quick to search him out for comment.

He was unimpressed about photos posted by the Georgians on the Internet.

And on Sunday, speaking in Edmonton Sunday at the Royal Alberta Museum on his research into Bigfoot that started when he discovered an unexplained set of tracks in the mountains of Washington state, he hadn't changed his mind.


Rick Dyer, 31, holds a picture he claims is the mouth of Bigfoot in Palo Alto, California, August 15, 2008. Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is a mythical ape-like creature said to live in forests of the Pacific northwest region of the United States.
Reuters

"It was not compelling in the least," said Meldrum, an associate professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University and an affiliate curator at the Idaho Museum of Natural History.

"It didn't have the bulk or the mass. It seemed to be vacuous, the hair did not look natural and the face bears a striking resemblance to an off-the-shelf costume."

Still, he's quick to point out the real creature could very well be out there in the woods somewhere. There's just too much evidence to ignore.

Meldrum, author of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, said such likely hoaxes as the one in Georgia are damaging to the few scientists researching the field.

"People who are not well-informed on this subject matter then use this incident as a litmus test of the veracity of the entire subject."

His talk was part of the museum's lecture series entitled Here Be Dragons . . . and Other Creatures.

He said such evidence as many footprints and digitally enhanced versions of the grainy Patterson film shot in 1967 of a female Sasquatch show anatomical details that are difficult to fake.

"The amassed evidence of the footprints is strong evidence that there is a real animal that exhibits a consistent anatomy that is distinct from human anatomy and yet shows adaptations that are very elegantly suited to the habitat where they are reported to exist," Meldrum elaborated after his presentation.

Meldrum said he hasn't encountered face-to-face a sasquatch himself, but has seen fresh footprints on several occasions and had brushes where something has come into his camp and rifled through his backpacks, opening clasped flaps without tearing them. He's also had stones thrown at him in isolated woods.

"I'm not here to convince you that sasquatch exists," he told the audience.

"I was hoping to convey to you that there is a body of data that is extremely compelling," said Meldrum.

"I am convinced there is something out there. Something is leaving footprints. There's something out there that begs for our consideration."




© Edmonton Journal 2008

"Bigfoot" fails DNA test

Reuters
Fri Aug 15, 2008 6:48pm EDT

Results from tests on genetic material from alleged remains of one of the mythical half-ape and half-human creatures, made public at a news conference on Friday held after the claimed discovery swept the Internet, failed to prove its existence.

Its spread was fueled by a photograph of a hairy heap, bearing a close resemblance to a shaggy full-body gorilla costume, stuffed into a container resembling a refrigerator.

One of the two samples of DNA said to prove the existence of the Bigfoot came from a human and the other was 96 percent from an opossum, according to Curt Nelson, a scientist at the University of Minnesota who performed the DNA analysis.

Bigfoot creatures are said to live in the forests of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. An opossum is a marsupial about the size of a house cat.

Results of the DNA tests were revealed in an e-mail from Nelson and distributed at the Palo Alto, California, news conference held by Tom Biscardi, host of a weekly online radio show about the Bigfoot.

Also present were Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, the two who say they discovered the Bigfoot corpse while hiking in the woods of northern Georgia. They also are co-owners of a company that offers Bigfoot merchandise.

Despite the dubious photo and the commercial interests of the alleged discoverers, the Bigfoot claim drew interest from Australia to Europe and even The New York Times.

Biscardi said the DNA samples may not have been taken correctly and may have been contaminated, and that he would proceed with an autopsy of the alleged Bigfoot remains, currently in a freezer at an undisclosed location.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin in Palo Alto; writing by Jim Christie; editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Henderson)

We Got Their Attention. Now What?

Okay Folks. All you Bf hunters, enthusiasts and lunch clubbers, let's not let this new found attention go to waste. We really need to get the message across that Cryptozoology is research is founded on anthropology, biology, zoology. Refer to the Gigantopithicas theory posited by Grover Krantz of Washington State University. You could discuss how the research and debate is very active. Reference Loren Coleman's alternative theory proposing that Bigfoot lineage may have departed futher back than Giganto.

Discuss how the Giant Panda and the Low land Gorilla was only discovered within the last century 8000 of them just this last year. Real or Hoax, the Georgian Gorilla has afforded us, all of us a tremendous opportunity to share the our determined community tied together by a single curiosity in pursuit of an elusive creature mention in myth and famed by film.

You can stereotype conspiracy theorist, ghost chasers, and ufologist, but Bigfoot researchers are as diverse a group as this great country we all live in. I'm sure if we started to talk about politics or religeon we may discover how different we are, but we dont, we support each other, encourage each other and focus on what we have in common. So if the Media comes knocking on your door asking you about this corpse in Georgia, tell 'em about what Bigfoot research is all about. The pursuit of discovery.

Captured Bf Body Pics Analyzed

Here at BfRLC Labs we have taken the photo of the captured Georgia Gorilla, varied the midtones, shifted the contrast, and even reduce the noise to see if we could somehow gain more detail from the photo of the alleged Bigfoot corpse.

This is the most we could get out of the head and face. There does not seem to be much skull or teeth support under the skin. The face almost flattens sideways. However we were able to reveal the texture of the eyesockets and actually get more definition to the snout.

For reference you can see the two areas of interest where we decided to focus on, hoping to reveal any tell-tell clues.

Not as clean as we had hoped but a close up of the entrails does suggest they may have originated from a smaller animal. Even if we are seeing a partial intestine, the sudden tapering at any end can help estimate the length and size of an intestine. this one seems to taper too suddenly for a 500 pound animal.

Over all the jury at BfRLC is still out. We are anxious to hear what will be revealed Friday. As the first website to post the captured bigfoot last month we will contiue to keep you up to date with the latest and most up to date Bigfoot news anywhere.