Scottish Bigfoot is a Hoax Using Pictures From Another Hoax

Declared a Bigfoot in Scotland, this was originally a Hoax in Pennsylvania

Obviously hoaxes are frowned upon, but how this single picture was able to fool the media twice is fascinating and almost unbelievable! We dig deep in this investigative report to prove Bigfoot was not found in Scotland.

On December 29th 2013 a man named Garry Mcteague uploaded a photo to the open Facebook group North Muirton Community Council. Along with the photo he wrote, "My dog that's usually timid starting going mental. I spotted this before 'it' ran off. I was crapping myself...but managed to grab a quick snap on my phone."

Two days later, on the 31st, TheCourier.co.uk ran the story with the photo. In two more days the Huffington Post UK would rerun the same story under the headline, "Bigfoot Found In Scotland? Dog Walker Snaps 'Sinister Figure'"

The irony is Huffington Post already ran a story with the same photo back in October 3rd 2013, under the headline, "TWO Bigfoots? Hiker Shoots Clear Photos Of 'Moving Beasts' In Pennsylvania" See the photos below.

This is the same photo that ran in both stories.

All three photos were taken in Pennsyvania

Huffington Post wrote, "Pennsylvania hiker John Stoneman says he was driving his car through Kinzua State Park when he noticed not one, but two hulking creatures lurking in the woods. He slowed down and took the photographs, which do indeed appear to show at least one giant apelike creature behind some trees.

He told the HNGN, 'I'm a skeptic myself. I'm not a believer, but this was not a bear and you can see fur on it ... It's wider at the shoulders and tapers down whereas a bear is bigger in the middle and stands differently with its paws out -- this was standing like a man, like a Bigfoot.'"

WAIT! It gets better. Three days on October 6th 2013 later Huffington Post reveals the Bigfoot photos are a HOAX! A new article publishes photos of the "Bigfoot" from the same angle but up close revealing it is a tree stump and nothing more. See the photos below.

The "Bigfoot" without trees obscuring the view

HuffPost Showcases Facebook/FindBigfoot Videos and Bigfoot Blimp

Clockwise: Patterson/Gimlin film, a still for a FB/FB analysed video,
and the Bigfoot Blimp

The Huffington Post's Lee Speigle filed a report about the current state of Bigfootery from his limited perspective. We can give you the Readers Digest version. People are waiting for Melba Ketchums' Bigfoot DNA results. Facebook/FindBigfoot (FB/FB) have positioned themselves as video analysis experts and are claiming 2013 to be year of the Bigfoot. Finally, Idaho State University Anthropology Professor Jeff Meldrum supports a Bigfoot Blimp project.

Each of these three Bigfoot news items (DNA, video, blimp) have encouraged great conversations and debates within the community. These items are not without concerns. Regarding the DNA, after 5 years there are those that are anxious for results. As far as FB/FB video analysis? There are those that feel FB/FB does not take into account the submitter of the videos, some known submitters are considered dubious at best. And the Bigfoot blimp? Some feel no matter how great the camera technology is (and it is really amazing, best of the best) a blimp may not be a practical way to navigate under a forest canopy.

Despite these concerns, at Bigfoot Lunch Club we find these high visibility projects encouraging and innovative. As for most Bigfoot endeavors it is best to take a "wait and see" approach. 

Some interesting quotes from the article.

Jack Barnes of Facebook/FindBigfoot on the Bigfoot "camper" video:

"What's so amazing about this new video is how close the Bigfoot is to the camper's tent," Jack Barnes, chief video analyst for FBFB, said in a press release. "A Bigfoot usually maintains maximum distance from humans, but this one couldn't have been more than 25 feet away."

 Dr. Jeff Meldrum on the Bigfoot blimp:

"It won't be this big, ominous blimp cruising over the tree lines, but it will be this little speck at night that's painted black with some lights on top. It'll just blend in with the starry background," Meldrum said. "Most wildlife usually aren't as aware of things up in the air as they are of things at eye level and on the ground, and even if they did happen to glance up, they wouldn't take notice."

If you wanna see some high quality, quick-witted Sasquatch video analysis, check out Phil Polings YouTube channel ParaBreakdown. Phil Poling does a great job keeping his analysis interesting (FB/FB can be dry and boring at times) and he always takes you through a logical structures argument.

You can read the whole article at Bigfoot Video, DNA Tests Raise Hopes For Believers In The Legendary Beast (VIDEO)

Benjamin Radford Writes Predictable Critique on Bigfoot Conferences

Benjamin Radford, Editor of the Skeptical Inquirer

Benjamin Radford has offered a critique of Bigfoot conferences. The kind of critique that would take little effort to write from the perspective of a skeptic. As many of you readers know, we believe skeptics are a healthy part of the Bigfoot conversation. In fact, we often have high praise for Brian Dunning of Skeptoid and Sharon Hill of Doubtful News. So, we appreciate the the amount of rigor and discipline that comes with most skeptic commentary, even if we don't always agree. What we do not appreciate is when the commentary is predictable and lazy, like Radford's post in today's Huffington Post article, "Bigfoot Conference Cites No Hard Evidence...Again"

You only need to read three paragraphs to know how the rest of the article goes.

There's rarely much new in the way of Bigfoot evidence to offer or discuss; after all, it's not as if researchers can give presentations comparing, say, a Bigfoot body found in Oregon in 1984 with a Bigfoot body found last year in British Columbia. Without hard evidence grounding the discussion, conferences are often heavy on personal stories by people who swear they encountered the world's most famous mystery monster, if only indirectly.

Other than the exotic subject matter, Bigfoot conferences are pretty much like any other conferences. There are guest speakers of varying quality, plus lunches and networking opportunities. And, of course, merchandise: Bigfoot is the most commercialized monster in the world, lending its name and likeness to everything from monster trucks to pizzas to beef sticks. Bigfoot-themed sundries include plaster footprint molds allegedly recovered from sightings, DVDs, books, hats and posters, as well as general camping and hunting equipment that might plausibly be used in an amateur Bigfoot hunt.

How do you organize a conference around a subject that has never been proven to exist? Often the answer is by accepting the assumption that the beast exists, and offering theories about it: what Bigfoot monsters eat, where they sleep, their mating and social habits, and so on. Discussions on the details of Bigfoot ecology and morphology often resemble the classic debate among medieval theologians about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It makes for a fun parlor game among interested parties, but it's all opinion, theory and wild speculation until we know they exist.

The gist of the article is we bigfooters accept the assumption that the beast exists, and don't even debate if Bigfoot even exist. Guilty as charged. Yes, our starting  position is that there is an unidentified bipedal primate out there, a relict hominid, if you will. It is Bigfoot conference!

If there is a glimmer of novelty in Radfords's article is his paragraph about how sometimes we feverishly debate opposing views that are "putting the cart before the horse" as Radford says.

Many discussions at conferences and within the Bigfoot community tend to put the cart before the horse, a classic example being the long-running "kill or capture" debate: whether it would be ethical to shoot or kill a Bigfoot if it meant that the creature's existence was finally proven. (Ironically, this would be the first step toward protecting these presumably endangered animals.) This debate is taken very seriously and is highly contentious in some circles, especially since it was recently ruled legal to shoot Bigfoot in Texas.

We wish he would have expanded on this point a bit more and fleshed it out. We think this is an important argument, because some of these heated debates create road blocks towards cooperation. Some of these divisive debates are bridges we haven't even crossed yet.

You can read Benjamin Radford's full article here.

NPR, HuffPost cover 'Finding Bigfoot' in Michigan Town Hall

Town hall meeting for the Finding Bigfoot's season one finale
(Left to right: Matt Moneymaker, Cliff Barackman, Renae Holland, James "Bobo" fay)

The following three articles are updates for Michigan Town Hall meetings conducted by the crew at Finding Bigfoot. To catch up to the news before the town hall click the following link to read our entire Michigan Bigfoot news coverage (this includes the Bigfoot that favors blueberry bagels).

In chronological order we will repost the three articles that address the town hall meeting held in the Houghton Lake area. The town hall meetings have become a staple of the television series, it is set up as an opportunity to find encounters to investigate. Although sometimes they find new encounters, it may be interesting to know, some of the investigations are already pre-picked and planted in the town hall. Its TV, you don't complain when the dish is pre-cooked in the oven during a cooking show. 

FIRST: DETROIT NEWS

Bigfoot show seeks close encounter of a hairy kind

By Tom Greenwood

Bigfoot in the Big Mitten?

Producers from the Animal Planet TV program "Finding Bigfoot" have been filming in the Houghton Lake area this week, looking for signs of Sasquatch.

Phil Shaw, a member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, said there have been more than 130 Bigfoot sightings in almost every county in Michigan, and they got some leads at a town hall meeting April 5 at the Houghton Lake Playhouse.

"I'd say there were at least 350 people at the meeting," said Shaw, 69. "Many people had stories that they shared: My favorite was from a lady who lives south of Houghton Lake that actually had been able to record 'whoop howls' from a Bigfoot.

"They only howl on a limited basis, so that was very rare and impressive."

Bigfoot is a general description of a huge, hairy, ape-like — and what most believe to be mythical — creature usually covered in dark brown or reddish hair.

They are usually described as having a huge brow ridge, a gorilla-like face, a jaw-dropping aroma and reportedly have left footprints as large as 24 inches long and 8 inches wide.

According to Shaw, the average male Bigfoot is 8 feet tall and weights 800 pounds; females are 6 feet tall and a petite 600 pounds.

Many scientists have largely dismissed the idea of an ape-like hominid living in the backwoods of America.

Tim Barnum, news editor for the Ogemaw County Herald, says there are many reports of the big guy in the area, but often people keep the sightings to themselves rather than face potential ridicule.

"I've heard stories, but personally I've never seen one," Barnum said. "Then again, I'm not much of an outdoorsman."

For many Americans who want to believe in Bigfoot, the truth is out there.

"People might think it's crazy to believe in Bigfoot, but there have been sightings like this for years in every culture all over the world," Shaw said.

The episode featuring the search near Houghton Lake will run sometime this summer, Shaw said.

tgreenwood@detnews.com

(313) 222-2023

From The Detroit News: 

SECOND: THE HUFFINGTON POST

'Finding Bigfoot' Takes Search To Houghton Lake, Mich.

The Huffington Post  |  By David Sands 

Posted: 04/12/2012 3:37 pm Updated: 04/12/2012 4:15 pm

The stars of a popular cable show are combing the woods around Houghton Lake, Mich., for signs of the the giant bipedal ape-man known as Bigfoot. Animal Planet's show "Finding Bigfoot" is filming in the area and drew 350 people to an April 5 town meeting held to gather clues about the whereabouts of the elusive cryptid, according to the Detroit News.

Phil Shaw, a member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization told the News that some of those who showed up for the meeting shared stories of personal encounters.

"My favorite was from a lady who lives south of Houghton Lake that actually had been able to record 'whoop howls' from a bigfoot," he said. "They only howl on a limited basis, so that was very rare and impressive."

Shaw's organization has records of around 140 Michigan Bigfoot sightings since 1910 -- including a November 2011 report by a hunter who heard "resonant vocalizations and bipedal movement" while camping in Roscommon County.

"Michigan has been a hotspot for sightings since the 1960s, especially areas like Sister Lake and Monroe, where there were reports of very aggressive creatures and people being attacked," said Loren Coleman of the International Cryptozoological Museum in Portland, Maine.

Coleman said the high number of sightings makes sense because of Michigan's extensive wilderness.

"It's in the boreal forest, the heavily tree-covered area that goes from the Pacific Northwest across the U.S.-Canada border to Maine, but it has more sightings than other places because there are more people," he said. "You need people to see Bigfoot and Michigan has a higher population than, say, the Dakotas."

The Houghton Lake episode of "Finding Bigfoot" will air on Animal Planet this summer.

David Moye contributed to this report.

From: HuffPost

THIRD: NPR

Searching for Bigfoot in the mitten state

by MICHIGAN RADIO NEWSROOM

April 12, 2012

In terms of hotspots for giant, bipedal ape-men, Michigan might not come to mind, especially compared to states in the Pacific Northwest. But the mitten state is not without its share of alleged Bigfoot sightings.

According to the Detroit News, some high-profile Bigfoot hunters are paying visit to Michigan with camera crew in tow, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive cryptid.

From the News:

Producers from the Animal Planet TV program "Finding Bigfoot" have been filming in the Houghton Lake area this week, looking for signs of Sasquatch.

Phil Shaw, a member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, said there have been more than 130 Bigfoot sightings in almost every county in Michigan.

The episode including the Michigan investigation is set to air sometime this summer, the Detroit News reports.

-John Klein Wilson, Michigan Radio Newsroom

From NPR.org

Huffington Post Does a Finding Bigfoot Round Table With Ranae Holland and Matt Moneymaker

Left to Right: Barry Weintraub of HuffPost Weird News,  Lee Speigel,
Ranae Holland and Matt Moneymaker

Watch the video below of a round table with Barry Weintraub & Lee Speigel (HuffPost Weird News) and  Ranae Holland & Matt Moneymaker (Finding Bigfoot)

Included with the video was this blurb written by Lee Speigle:

Armed with a military-type array of special night-vision and infrared technology, a group of determined hunters has only one mutual outcome on their collective mind: "Finding Bigfoot."

That's exactly what the four-person team of Animal Planet's popular series hopes to accomplish, finding ultimate evidence that groups of tall, hairy, human-like animals exist in the forest and wilderness areas of the world.

"People have been describing these types of animals in many different parts of North America for well over 400 years -- that's indisputable, that people have described seeing them," said Matt Moneymaker, founder and president of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, or BFRO, a network of scientists and amateur researchers interested in Bigfoot and its reported "cousins": Sasquatch, Yeti and the Abominable Snowman. 

SRC: HuffPost Weird News

95% Certainty and Indisputable Proof?

At Cryptomundo Loren Coleman is quick to tone down the rhetoric coming from the Seberian Yeti Expedition.

"...while “evidence” might have been collected, there was not “indisputable proof” gained.

No DNA analysis has been conducted. No results have been confirmed or published.

One footprint, allegedly.

One clump of moss said to be a bed, supposedly.

Sorry, such a rush to make a sensational media splash is not even good hominology among my Russian colleagues."

--Loren Coleman

You can read below where Mr. Coleman tells the Huffington Post, "These are not 'proof' that would hold up, zoologically,"

Scientists '95 Percent' Certain They've Found Elusive Siberian Yeti
Lee Speigel | First Posted: 10/10/11 07:34 PM ET Updated: 10/11/11 12:56 PM ET

Has it finally happened? Did scientists find real evidence of the existence of a hairy bipedal creature known as the Siberian Snowman or Siberian Yeti?

Researchers are claiming they are 95 percent sure that the fabled Russian version of the Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot lives in the Kemerovo region of Siberia.

Last week, a group of international scientists met in Moscow and then set out to the remote mountainous area in search of the elusive creature

It didn't take very long for them to issue a statement on the official Kemerovo website stating they had found "footprints, a probable den and various markers that Yetis mark their territory with."

An English translation (from translate.google.com) of the original Russian news report added that the conference researchers "collected irrefutable evidence of the existence of the Yeti in Mountainous Shoria" (the southern part of Kemerovo).

They concluded that the artifacts gave them 95-percent proof of the existence of Yeti in the Kemerovo region, the press release stated.

Some possible Yeti hair samples reportedly found in the region by Russian scientist Anatoly Fokin will be studied in a laboratory to determine their origin.

"This does not seem to be any more than what you hear about from weekend excursions in North America that go out, discovering some hair of undetermined origin, calling it 'Bigfoot hair,' then locating some broken branches and piled trees, saying it was made by Bigfoot, and finding footprints that look like Sasquatch tracks," said Loren Coleman, director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

"These are not 'proof' that would hold up, zoologically," Coleman told The Huffington Post.

It's not the first time this year that alleged Bigfoot (aka Sasquatch) "evidence" has come under scrutiny.

Back in June, creature researchers in California held a press conference soliciting help to get a DNA test that might determine if Bigfoot left physical impressions on the windows of a pickup truck in the Sierra National Forest.

So far, the jury is still out on that case.

Skeptics point out that the area of Siberia that's allegedly home to the local Yeti legend helps promote tourism. In fact, opening day of the ski season there is known as Day of the Yeti -- an attempt to sell many Yeti-related souvenirs and bring in more skiers to the region.

While scientific researchers continue hunting for signs of a Yeti lair in Kemerovo, let's hope they don't discover a cave that contains a set of recently purchased touristy Yeti beverage mugs.
SRC: Huffington Post