The Monkey Man of New Delhi: India's Bigfoot

WELCOME VISITORS FROM INDIA!

We have been getting tons of visits from India lately and we wondered at the Bigfoot Lunch Club, "How can we return the appreciation?" What better way than to add Monkey Man to the AKA Bigfoot World Map and post a tribute to India's Monkey Man of New Delhi.

An an overview provided by Wikipedia:

In May 2001, reports began to circulate in the Indian capital New Delhi of a strange monkey-like creature that was appearing at night and attacking people. Eyewitness accounts were often inconsistent, but tended to describe the creature as about four feet (120 cm) tall, covered in thick black hair, with a metal helmet, metal claws, glowing red eyes and three buttons on its chest.
Theories on the nature of the Monkey Man ranged from an avatar of the Hindu god Hanuman, to an Indian version of Bigfoot.[1]
Many people reported being scratched, and two (by some reports, three) people even died when they leapt from the tops of buildings or fell down stairwells in a panic caused by what they thought was the attacker. At one point, exasperated police even issued artist's impression drawings in an attempt to catch the creature. Many today still believe this "monkey man" continues to haunt the streets.

Time Magazine even dedicated an article covering this 2001 phenomenon.

In India, where religion dominates lives and where many of the country's 330 million gods take the shape of animals, birds and demons, the supernatural is often fused with reality, and reason often gets plowed under by superstition. In frightened northern and eastern New Delhi, home to some 4 million people, no neighborhood is dark after sunset anymore. Power outages have been stopped as a result of the panic, and city politicians guarantee electricity will remain on around-the-clock until the monster is caught (or forgotten). Wandering bands of vigilantes guard neighborhoods with wooden cudgels, daggers, field-hockey sticks, ceremonial swords and pikes made from butchers' cleavers. They carry whistles around their necks to warn other neighborhoods of impending attack. In the early hours, police fire flares over cultivated ground to see if the Monkey Man is hiding in the darkness. The area's 500-strong police force has been tripled. Some legislators are demanding the central government send in Elite commandos to deal with what they call "the crisis." A bounty of $1,100 has been put on his head.

The man charged with playing Agent Mulder to track down the Monkey Man in northeast Delhi is Vivek Gogia, deputy commissioner of police. At 2.30 a.m. the radio in his curtained automobile crackles, setting him racing to Old Seemapuri, a warren of closely packed, illegally built two- and three-story dwellings crisscrossed with alleys. Every light in every building is on. Women and old men peer from balconies and roofs. The vigilantes men and boys huddle around, babbling excitedly. Singling out a tall man at the back of the crowd, Gogia asks what happened. "There was this shadow, sir," he replies.

And as a final litmus test to determine the Monkey Man of New Delhi we have The Animated TV Series the Simpsons. Apu's wife says to her divorce lawyer: "No offense, but you remind me of the monkey man who slaughtered my family's chickens".

Disclaimer: We neither condone or endorse the stereotype of Apu in The Simpsons. We even found a link that asks, "How do Indians feel about the stereotypical portrayal of Apu in The Simpsons?"


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Learn More about The Monkey Man of New Delhi at Wikipedia
Read an article about The Monkey Man of New Delhi at Time Magazine

Thank you India for your support!the Bigfoot Lunch Club Salutes You!

Hibagon: Japanese Bigfoot

Japanese manga (comic book) version of Hibagon

At the Wide Island View blog Courtney Coppernoll reports a rich history of Hibagon. Delving deep into how the legend has even affected the local cuisine. Below is a short sample.

Looking at Saijo on a sunny afternoon, you’d never guess that such a sleepy little town was once the scene of a mass panic that spread throughout Hiroshima prefecture. Yet, in the early 1970s, local residents were terrified to step outside their doors and every news station in the area was covering the shocking events taking place in Saijo and the surrounding villages. So, what exactly was it that caused a typically quiet, laidback community to be so completely overwhelmed by fear?

The answer is Japanese Bigfoot. Or, as they like to call it here in Japan, the Hibagon.

Read the rest of the article here.


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By Courtney Coppernoll
Looking at Saijo on a sunny afternoon, you’d never guess that such a sleepy little town was once the scene of a mass panic that spread throughout Hiroshima prefecture. Yet, in the early 1970s, local residents were terrified to step outside their doors and every news station in the area was covering the shocking events taking place in Saijo and the surrounding villages. So, what exactly was it that caused a typically quiet, laidback community to be so completely overwhelmed by fear?

The answer is Japanese Bigfoot. Or, as they like to call it here in Japan, the Hibagon.

The Hibagon gets its name from the Hibayama Mountain Range, the area it’s said to inhabit in northern Hiroshima prefecture. Like many other countries’ versions of Bigfoot, the Hibagon’s appearance is open to some speculation.

Most eyewitnesses claim that the creature walks upright on two legs, but some describe it as running on all fours like an ape. Some sightings report angry, glaring eyes, while others insist the eyes were more human-like and intelligent. At least one account even makes note of the creature’s smell – a rather unflattering scent of rotting flesh! Generally speaking, however, eyewitnesses agree that the Hibagon is around 5 feet tall (152 cm), weighs around 180 pounds (81 kg), and is covered in black or brown fur. It’s also said to have a triangular-shaped face and, of course, rather large feet.


Little Hibagon at a park in Saijo. (Photo by Courtney Coppernoll)

The first recorded sighting of the Hibagon occurred in Saijo on July 9, 1970, when a creature covered in brown fur was seen crossing a field in a single, large step. Less than two weeks later, a large creature with gorilla-like legs was spotted near a dam, but swiftly crossed the river and disappeared. Another Saijo resident described seeing a large, ape-like creature with brown fur running through a field (and reportedly knocking down 30 ears of corn). For the rest of the year, sightings of this mysterious creature continued to surface and, in December, the discovery of a set of footprints 21 cm long (8 inches) and 22 cm wide (8.5 inches) in the snow secured the Hibagon’s place in the history of Hiroshima prefecture and Japan.

A special department was established to handle Hibagon-related matters and, according to one Saijo resident I talked to, a Japanese national university even came to the area to do research on the Hibagon (their results were apparently inconclusive). Though sightings of the Hibagon continued to be reported for the next four years, they stopped almost completely after 1974, with only a few sporadic reports being made after that time.

However, the Hibagon is far from being a thing of the past in Saijo. There’s a sweets shop in the town called Daikokudo, which is famous for their trademark sweet, “Hibagon Eggs.” Hibagon Eggs are chocolate sweet bean cakes, with the inside of the cakes designed to look like the yolk of an egg. Written on the outside of each Hibagon Eggs box is a warning: “DANGER: The HIBAGON is an unconfirmed Japanese animal. He was witnessed at the foot of the Mt. Hiba mountain range in Saijo-cho, Hiba-gun (incumbent Shobara City), Hiroshima prefecture in 1970. The egg of the HIBAGON is in this box. Be careful! It’s dangerous!!”


Hibagon Eggs (Photo by Courtney Coppernoll)

Each box of sweets also includes a newspaper insert called Hibagon Tsuushin (“The Hibagon Correspondence”), which is full of information on the Hibagon, including a timeline of sightings, speculations about what the Hibagon actually is – possibilities include human, ape, large monkey, bear, or even alien! – and some details about Hibagon Eggs. Though, perhaps the most interesting section is titled “Wait a minute! Big monkeys, apes, bear, humans – they lay eggs…?” It’s a short passage where the Daikokudo shop owner defends their making of Hibagon Eggs by essentially saying that since no one really knows what the Hibagon is – it could even be “an alien creature not from this world” – it’s entirely possible that it does actually lay eggs. So there.

While I was in Saijo I also had a chance to ask some of the locals if they truly believed in the existence of the Hibagon. The owner of Daikokudo, an older man who remembers the Hibagon-induced panic from the 1970s, told me without hesitation that he’s a firm believer. His son, on the other hand, said he doesn’t think the Hibagon really exists, but he’s open to the possibility that it might. Most of the other Saijo residents I talked to couldn’t decide one way or the other and instead settled for telling me that it’s a big “mystery.” Everyone did seem to agree, though, that if the Hibagon exists, it’s probably a pretty scary creature and they hope they never meet it.

Still, whether it exists or not, the Hibagon remains an important and unique part of Saijo and the surrounding area. In addition to selling Hibagon Eggs, a movie about the Hibagon called Dear Hinagon (an alternate name for the Hibagon) was filmed in Saijo in 2005, and a local company features the Hibagon in its logo. Along the highway heading into Shobara (the city Saijo was merged into in 2005) there’s even a Hibagon statue to welcome visitors to the area.



So, the next time you have a chance to travel up north, keep your eyes open and maybe you’ll have a chance to meet one of Hiroshima prefecture’s most unique and unusual residents!

EXTERNAL LINK
Another great Hibagon Article

Oct 20th: A Special Day for Bigfooters

The Patterson-Gimlin film (also referred to as simply the Patterson film) is a short motion picture of an unidentified subject filmed on October 20, 1967 by Roger Patterson (Wall, South Dakota, February 14, 1926 – January 15, 1972) and Robert Gimlin (Missouri, October 18, 1931) who claimed the film was a genuine recording of a bigfoot. The film has been subjected to many attempts both to debunk and authenticate it. Some qualified scientists have judged the film a hoax with a man in an ape suit, but other scientists contend the film depicts an animal unknown to science, or cryptid, claiming it would be virtually impossible for a human to replicate the subject's gait and muscle movement. Source:Wikipedia

Today, October 20th, 42 years ago, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed the most famous Bigfoot footage to date. Always at the forefront BLC is one of the first to recognize this anniversary today.

Perhaps throughout the day more sites will recognize this date. In the meantime, I thought I would share some links around the web that focus on the historical film. On top of our list is Cryptomundo, because Loren Coleman has an exclusive tale straight from Bob Gimlin: Roger Patterson's little known deathbed confession.

1. Cryptomundo:Patterson's Confession
2. Wikipedia
3. BFRO
4. Cryptomundo
5. Pattersonfilm.com
6. Bigfoot Encounters
7. Anomaly Magazine: Film Analysis
8. Animal Planet
9. Timeline of Key events of from Oct 20-31, 1967
10. Patterson/Gimlin Film Site on AKA Bigfoot Map


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