Yeti Hairs DNA Test: Update

UK experts optimistic about 'yeti' hairs

British experts say tests on hairs claimed to come from a yeti in an Indian jungle show they bear "a startling resemblance" to those brought back from the Himalayas by famed New Zealand adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary nearly half a century ago.


"The hairs are the most positive evidence yet that a yeti might possibly exist, because they are tangible," ape expert Ian Redmond, who is co-ordinating the research, told The Independent in London.

The hairs had the same cuticle pattern as hairs brought back to Britain by the late Sir Edmund and donated to the Natural History Museum, he claimed.

"We are very excited about the preliminary results, although more tests need to be done."

The two short hairs - 33mm and 44mm long - were picked up in thick forest in the Garo hills in the mountains of northeast India five years ago after a forester reported seeing a yeti - locally known as mande barung, or "forest man".

Sir Edmund led an expedition at much higher altitudes in Nepal in 1960, and investigated reports of yeti footprints on the Ripimu Glacier at the head of the Rolwaling Valley.

But hidden microphones and cameras enmeshed in trip wires failed to capture a Nepalese yeti's likeness - or record its famous high-pitched whistle - and the Hillary team said that "yeti" footprints they had found were the tracks of a relatively small animal which had melted out in the sun.

Sir Edmund borrowed a yeti scalp from Khumjung Gompa, a Sherpa temple, to take to America and Europe to be looked at by scientists who eventually said the scalp had been made from the hide of the serow antelope - probably intended as a ceremonial hat but gradually acquiring the status of an actual scalp.

A "yeti skin" was identified as a blue bear.

The scalp might not have been the real thing, but one of its guardians, village elder Khunjo Chumbi won a debate with Professor J Millot of the Museum of Man in Paris, who suggested that yetis did not exist.

"In Nepal we have neither giraffes nor kangaroos so we know nothing about them. In France, there are no yetis, so I sympathise with your ignorance," Khunjo told him.

Bigfoot Capture?

A Clayton County Police officer says he and a friend have the body of a Bigfoot

The animal -- a legendary, hairy hominid that supposedly lives in remote forests -- is said to be dead, frozen, and "shocking."

Matthew Whitton, a 28-year-old, who has been with the department for six years, and Rick Dyer, a 31-year-old former correctional officer, posted a video on youtube.com, last week, claiming to have the male Bigfoot corpse.

Whitton and Dyer co-own bigfoottracker.com, offering exploration expeditions in the North Georgia Mountains,

On their web site Whitton and Dyer announced an alleged discovery: "We have located a family of Bigfoot, and besides the clear photos and video, we have something even more shocking, a BODY."

Stay tuned...

The Clayton County Police Department responded to the news with an official statement giving the department some distance.

"That's his own personal business," said Police Chief Jeff Turner. "That has nothing to do with the business of the Clayton County Police Department. As long as he's not engaged in any type of illegal activity, his business is his business."

Turner said it is against department policy for any officer to represent himself or herself online, as an officer or anything other than an individual, private citizen, and said he does not know that Whitton has violated that policy.

Whitton is currently on leave, recovering from a gunshot wound to his left hand during a response to a Stockbridge armed robbery earlier this month.

The people who believe in Bigfoot and are searching for evidence responded to the announcement with a mixture of disbelief, ridicule and hope. The Bigfoot Field Research Organization, a California-based group claiming there have been 61 Bigfoot sightings in Georgia, officially described Whitton and Dyer as "idiots" and "clowns," and warned their claims are a scam to advertise their business.

Tal H. Branco, an Arkansas man who writes a regular column about Bigfoot research, said a lot of Bigfoot people think the whole thing's a hoax, but a lot of people are hoping, too, that they do have a Bigfoot body.

"Maybe Whitton did obtain the hard evidence required to solve one of the world's greatest mysteries," Branco said. "It is apparently being promoted by a police officer that has everything to lose as far as his profession is concerned, if it is a game, a hoax or just a joke. On the other hand, if it is true, and the Bigfoot body is in his custody ... his decision to announce it on an Internet web site before the body was examined by an expert certainly indicates a lack of good judgment."

In one video, posted online by "RDYER678," Whitton and Dyer interview a "pathologist" who is shocked at the Bigfoot, but then, in a follow-up video, the pair admits the "doctor of pathology" is actually Whitton's brother. Standing in a kitchen, Whitton's brother says to the camera, "Live and let live. What happened to that? Guys just trying to have a little fun, you know?"

Dyer said the claims are not a prank, though, and not just an attempt to have fun. Reached on his cell phone Tuesday, he insisted the body is real and will be unveiled on Sept. 1 on the web site.

"Why would we jeopardize Matt's job? Why would we risk the embarrassment of the backlash that we would get? We just have a lot to lose if this is a hoax ... I thought Bigfoot trackers and hunters were ridiculous and I made fun of them, to be honest, and I still do. They know nothing as fact. We do," Dyer said.

Dyer said the Internet announcement and the obvious lie were meant to draw detractors and "build hype." Other Bigfoot researchers were dismissed by Dyer, and he said he and Whitton are the best trackers because they "have a body."

He said the animal is about eight-feet tall, and about equal to the size of "three silverbacks," adult male gorillas, and nothing like the reported descriptions in the books.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said. "It's a lot more than animal."

Dyer did not say how they came into possession of the carcass, and declined to let a news reporter look at it, but swore it was being well-preserved and would be revealed.

Dyer said he and Whitton plan to sell the Bigfoot body and make a lot of money.

"As of right now," he said, "we've been offered a million bucks for it, from a very credible source. But we'll make 10 times that. This will change history forever."

Reprinted from fayettedailynews.com

Scientists To Test 'Yeti Hairs'

Hair strands thought to be from a yeti-like creature living in India are to be tested in Oxfordshire.

Scientists at Oxford Brookes University will study the sample, which was found in the state of Meghalaya.

They will see if the strands match a known animal. To date there has been no conclusive proof yetis exist.

The hair was found and handed to BBC reporter Alastair Lawson during an expedition to try and find the animal after a number of reported sightings.

He told BBC Oxford: "The region was thick with jungle and very hot, an unlikely country you might say to find a yeti.

"But the tribal people who live there claim to have seen fossilised footprints of the creature which could have existed in prehistoric times.

"Then one of the locals said he once saw a yeti and afterwards gathered hair which he thinks might be from the creature.
Yeti hairs owned by Dipu Marak
Scientists will study hairs collected in India

"It would have taken a long time to test in India due to bureaucracy, so I decided to bring it to England."

Scientists at Oxford will perform a microscopic analysis on Thursday before it is taken to Bristol where a DNA test will be performed.

The little known Indian version of the legendary ape-like creature is called mande barung - or forest man - and is reputed to live in the remote West Garo hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.

Lawson was invited to the region to hear evidence of the existence of a black and grey ape-like animal, which stands about 3m (nearly 10ft) tall.

Now he hopes his quest will end with a positive outcome.

"I have to admit I will be a a little bit disappointed if the hair turns out to be from a yak or a cat, but we'll see," he added.

Reposted from BBC america