A Good Week for Bigfoot Researcher Cliff Barackman

At the risk of seemingly having a man-crush on Cliff Barackman (we've had 3 posts about him in the last week alone), the truth is, we go where the news goes, and not only has Cliff been on fire, he's gone international!

The German Bigfoot blog, Sasquat.com has interviewed Cliff with some great insightful questions. The post is half German, half english. We have translated the opening paragraph for you below:

The search for Bigfoot is a lot more than just a hobby. The "Squatching" or "Bigfooting" as it is called by the performers themselves, has blossomed into a kind of lifestyle for some. You go out every free minute in the wilderness and spend most of their income on fuel and equipment for voyages to remote regions. One such man is Cliff Barackman. The man from Portland, Oregon, has been interested in the school for the Bigfoot phenomenon. Today he is a member of his Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, and probably one of the most persistent field researchers, there is. Alike, the man who works as a teacher and jazz guitarist, as one of the helpful "Bigfoot." I met Cliff at Oregon Sasquatch Symposium in June, but had unfortunately no opportunity to interview him because he broke during the Symposium on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, because there were fresh tracks were found. I asked him why, to answer my e-mail a few questions. Questions such as why he is looking for Bigfoot, whether it would be ethical to kill such a creature on the value of focus photos and videos and how he feels about the ominous Kentucky project.

We love the end of the interview, which feels like a quickfire question and answer sessions.

What are your three favorite books on Sasquatch?
Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science by Dr. Jeff Meldrum.
Bigfoot / Sasquatch Evidence by Dr. Grover Krantz.
North America's Great Ape: The Sasquatch by Dr. John Binder nail.

Three most admired Bigfoot?
Dr. Jeff Meldrum for his academic professionalism, and bravery by sticking his neck out.
Dr. John Mionczynski for his staggering field experience and knowledge.
Bob Gimlin for his integrity and kindness in the face of mud slinging and misinformed gossip.

Three best pieces of evidence?
The internal congruence of the available data.
The Patterson / Gimlin film.
Footprint casts.

Three worst pieces of evidence?
The only "bad" evidence is that which is fabricated. The rest of it is simply to be disproved by investigation. That's the nature of science.

Three best events in bigfooting history?
The Patterson / Gimlin film event for it's unique impact.
The Cripple Foot footprint event for its role in getting Dr. Krantz interested.
The founding of the BFRO for being the largest database ever assembled of sasquatch sightings and publicly shared.

Three worst events in history bigfooting?
The Georgia "Body In A Freezer" hoax.
The publishing of Greg Long's book, The Making of Bigfoot: The Inside Story.
The "Massacre at Bluff Creek" theory getting any traction at all

Three best locations to search for sasquatches?
The Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
Prince of Wales, Iceland, Alaska.
Uninterrupted green belts near your home.

Three best items for field research?
Thermal imager.
Audio recorders.
Nature observation skills.

Three best experiences in the field?
Bigfooting with Bob Gimlin.
Adventures with Bobo (every trip with him can be described as "the best").
Doing field work on Prince of Wales Iceland.

Three worst experiences in the field?
Finding myself four miles upstream from camp at sunset without a flash light at Bluff Creek.
Any one of my numerous experiences with poison oak or poison ivy.
Having to get towed out of slick, deep mud in the White Mountains of Arizona.

Three best websites on Bigfoot?
(All modesty aside)
http://northamericanbigfoot.blogspot.com/
www.NorthAmericanBigfoot.com
www.bfro.net
(if asked for a fourth one we are sure he would have added Bigfoot Lunch Club)

Not German? Can't speak or read German? no Problem the link below will automatically translate the blog for you.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Sasquat.com (translated)
Cliff's new Facebook Page

Bigfoot, Bonobos, and Vanessa Woods

We've mentioned Vanessa Before, back in 2009. She is a writer, researcher and journalist. She works at Duke University in North Carolina and Lola ya Bonobo in Congo and is the author of Bonobo Handshake (Gotham 2010), a memoir of her research with bonobos in Congo.

Vanessa has won the Acclaimed Book award from the Royal Society, UK, and the Australasian Science award for journalism. Her books have been sold in the US, Canada, Australia, Korea, Israel and the UK.

Recently she has reprinted a letter written to her from Mike Phillips, plus she includes a nod to Cliff Barackman's blog.

her post begins:

Bonobos are becoming quite the rage in the bigfoot circles. In 2008, I had one of my bonobo photos stolen from my blog and entered into a bigfoot photo competition (they took it down so i can't show you the link), then I have a totally cute fan club of one on the North American Bigfoot blog).
So officially, I don't think you can say for sure that there is 100% no bigfoot. I'm willing to entertain the thought that bigfoot might be out there. I'm not sure it's very likely, but i'm not crossing it out.

And here is a very interesting letter I got from a Bigfoot researcher, Mike Phillips....

the Post continues to share the email from Mike here



You can read the reposted letter at the psychology today link below

EXTERNAL LINKS
Bigfoot and Bonbobos

VISIT Vanessa's Other Websites
http://www.friendsofbonobos.org/
http://www.vanessawoods.net/index.html

Bigfoot Wars II: Beware of the Trolls

In our first Installation of Bigfoot Wars, we borrowed heavily from Steven Streufert's BIGFOOTS bLOG.

Steven Streufert and his sincere opinions are again a topic at The Journal, a Humboldt County Weekly. The article, titled Bigfoot and the Trolls highlights some of the back and forth between Streufert and a few members/moderators of the Bigfoot Forums. The troll reference is from a post on Streuferts Blog described in the blurb below.

On May 29 at 12:10 a.m. Streufert posted a cryptic warning on his blog and, as he always did, posted notice of it on the BFF: “When looking for Bigfoot, watch out for TROLLS.”

Photo of Steven Streufert by HEIDI WALTERS


The article continues to allow the story unfold on its own and pauses in the excerpt below, telling much about Streufert.

“I haven’t had a sighting that I can prove,” he said. “But I think the anecdotal evidence is tremendous. I can point in all directions here to places where Bigfoot has been seen, right from this store [by others]. Including across the river right there” — he pointed through the store toward the open front door, beyond which lay the highway and the Trinity River — “and including behind these cabins out here. Last year, there was a sighting up on Friday Ridge Road, and by the forest lookout.”

With regularity, as if they’re just reporting yet another black bear crossing the road or raiding someone’s garden, people come into his store to tell him they or someone they know just saw Bigfoot.

“This store’s like Bigfoot bait,” Streufert, who’s 45, said. “And when I opened it in 2005, that’s what I was thinking: I could put Bigfoot in the name and have Bigfoot in the front window, and people would eventually start coming in here.”

Bigfoot books and memorabilia do flood the store. Even so, there are far more books on non-Bigfoot topics, from religion to romance. Streufert has a master’s in literature and a master’s in teaching writing, both from Humboldt State. He loves learning about everything, he said.

The article is one of the best reads in a long time. The other item, if you didn't already know, is Bigfoot Forums is under new management.

EXTERNAL LINKS
The Journal:Bigfoot and the Trolls
BIGFOOTS bLOG