2010 Countdown, 10 days of Appreciation: Day 01 Toby Johnson

We want to spend the final days of 2010 appreciating those who have supported us this year. Three years ago, we could of never hoped for this much success. Our only goal was to search, dig and find the most topical Bigfoot news, make a modest mark and if we were lucky contribute value to the community.

We will save the last day for our fans, without your tips comments and suggestions we wouldn't have the mass appeal we have. For now, we would like to recognize Toby Johnson.



We know Toby has learned cloning technology and refuses to share with the rest of us. Without duplicating himself, there is no way one man could have accomplished as much as he did during the first annual Oregon Sasquatch Symposium. We know he had help, but no one can deny how much he put into the event himself.

He's on his way towards the 2nd annual symposium and, trust us, we will have more info on that as we get closer to the event.

Toby was our gateway drug to bigfooting community, when we began our blog we had only read about other Bigfooters, because of Toby we were able to meet them, talk to them, drink beer with them! And of course talk Squatch.

Thanks Toby for being a friend of Bigfoot Lunch Club. We salute you. We will see you at next years 2nd Annual Oregon Sasquatch Symposium.

Check out next years line up below!

BETH HEIKKINEN
Beth Heikkinen is an independent researcher living in the Pacific NW. Beth's first daytime sighting happened 50 miles from her home. Since that time, and with the help of wonderful people, her background now includes tacking, backpacking and hiking.

LEE TRIPPETT
In the nearly 50 years of active research regarding the Sasquatch phenomena, Lee has come to the conclusion that Sasquatch has a very unique form of conscience reference; such as "There is an awareness for play, exploration, hunting/gathering, safety and shelter...a intuition compared to our need for reasoning. In addition, their ability for focused coherent emotional energy and ability to manipulate the high density subtle energy of a remarkable conscious universe. Also known by quantum as the intelligence invisible energy field that is independent of time, space and form."

THOM POWELL
Thom authored a book about Sasquatch research entitled "The Locals" which was described by reviewer Lisa Kearns as, "a brilliant combination of science and storytelling". His was the first book to suggest many fairly radical ideas that have since been endorsed by many contemporary researchers, such as habituation, infrasound, paranormal elements, human levels of intelligence in the Sasquatch, awareness of cameras, and much more.

HENRY FRANZONI
Henry made the very first Bigfoot websites on the Internet and also helped many currently notable footers build their websites/databases and moderated the first Bigfoot newsgroup and the first Bigfoot email discussion group...to which Henry is stated as saying, "I apologize for that, please forgive me."

DR. MATTHEW JOHNSON
On July 1, 2000, Dr Johnson and his family ran into a Sasquatch about one mile up the mountain from the Oregon Caves National Monument Park. Since their encounter, Dr Johnson has led numerous research expeditions surrounding the Oregon Caves as well as near Grants Pass, Oregon. His encounter and subsequent research expeditions have helped him to become a sensitive listener to others who've had encounters and need someone to talk to. Dr. Johnson also works through the issue of PTSD with the witness, a process he deeply understands.

RON MOREHEAD
He is best known for his audio evidence of indistinguishable vocalization, known as The Sierra Sounds. The Sierra Sounds Volume #1 "Bigfoot Recordings" is a selection of audio clips captured by Morehead, that reveal very clear Bigfoot vocalizations captured on a crisp night at a remote wilderness camp.

SCOTT NELSON
Nelson is retired U.S. Navy Cryptologic Technician Interpreter (Crypto-Linguist), and he worked for Naval Intelligence, logging thousands of hours of collection and transcription of voice communications.

BOB GIMLIN
Expected Guest of Honor.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Oregon Sasquatch Symposium
Buy OSS tickets and T-Shirts now!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Our Coverage of Last Years Symposium

Utne Reader: The Meaning of the Yeti and Sasquatch

We like it when "outsiders," standing on the precipice, respectfully peak into our Bigfoot community. The idea and notion one can fall in love with the pursuit and wonder of Sasquatch without jumping in with both feet is, to us, a beautiful thing.

This is the case with David Doody's Utne Reader article. It is nice to have one of these high brow literary types view us from the precipice with respect and delight.

The Meaning of the Yeti and Sasquatch
12/15/2010 5:18:01 PM
by David Doody
I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for a Bigfoot story. The idea that there is something that might be avoiding the long hand of scientific scrutiny makes my day. I smile when I hear of a new frog or monkey out there. But, it’s bitter sweet, as any new discovery reminds me that soon there really will be no place on this planet to hide.

Frank Bures, writing for Minnesota Monthly, comes to the same conclusion in his article “The Search for Sasquatch.” Bures’ desire to believe in such a thing as a “9-foot-tall monkey” led him into the north woods of Minnesota, along with 41 other fellow Bigfoot explorers, to try to prove what no one else has proved before. But through the course of his adventures Bures realizes that proof of discovery would mean one less magical thing left out there, away from human touch.

[W]hat would happen if we actually found Bigfoot?...

I felt a wave of sadness sweep over me at the thought. The reason I had always loved the idea of Bigfoot was that, if he was real, it meant the world still contained mysteries, things that were yet unknown and maybe even unknowable. It meant the woods were still big and dark enough to harbor something like Sasquatch. Bigfoot was like a hairy wood sprite loping through my dreams—the spirit of the wild! Find him and, well, he’d be just another monkey.

Across the globe another writer, Ben Judah, delves into the Romit Valley in Tajikistan in search of the Yeti. Like Bures in northern Minnesota, Judah meets many avid believers. Two hunters tell him, “He has wool, black wool, and these breasts…” and “Oh yes, I was up in the glade, and he attacked my donkey. It was very frightening. He looked like a wild man—or a clever monkey.”

Whereas Bures is left with a feeling of wonder when contemplating Bigfoot’s existence, Judah has a slightly different take away:

Living close to nature, without thorough schooling, peasants have always been frightened of the mythical wild man. In the 18th century, the oppressed central European peasantry was gripped by a terror of aristocratic vampires in the run-up to the French Revolution.

The hysteria raged for a generation. Thousands of sightings were reported. Villages swore by Christ they knew what they had seen. The Austro-Hungarian Empress Maria Theresa was concerned enough to dispatch her personal physician to investigate whether or not vampires existed. They were not real, but poverty, oppression, ignorance and superstition were.

With political reform across the continent in the 19th century, the swarms of fairies, Woodwose, beasts and ghosts that had inhabited European minds for centuries slowly faded away. But in Romit, I touched a living myth.

Judah begins his essay by telling us that “Dushanbe is not a real city. It isn’t a real capital and Tajikistan is not a real country.” That, in the end, is really what his story is about. He does not expect to find an ape-like creature towering over him in the mountains of Tajikistan. Rather, Judah is trying to figure out why people believe in things that are so clearly made up.

In the end, these stories are doing different things—both great in their own way and both highly entertaining. As for me, I think I’ll continue to hope that there are new frogs and cats out there, as well as something that might have gotten stuck somewhere on the evolutionary path between monkeys and us.

Image by Bob Doran, licensed under Creative Commons.

External Links
SRC: Utne Reader
Minnesota Monthly: The Search for Sasquatch
Standpoint: Tajikistan: In Search of the Yeti

Bigfoot Discovery Museum on the Travel Channel

Fan's we recently got word from the Anthony Bourdain channel, also known as the Travel Channel, asking us to help promote their new show. To be honest, we are already fans of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman and Man v. Food with host Adam Richman, so adding another favorite to list is something we are happy to do. Below is the reprinted request from the Travel Channel the parenthesis are ours.

"I work with Travel Channel and recently came across your site (in my bookmarks), the (internationally known) Bigfoot Lunch Club. I thought it might be appropriate to reach out to you because (of your vast social network and) we are featuring Felton's Big Foot Discovery Museum on Travel Channel’s new series, Mysteries at the Museum, Tuesday night. In this show we take a look at the strange and curious remnants of America's past, often accompanied by scandal, mystery, and intrigue.

The next episode, airing Tuesday, December 21st at 9 E/P, will feature some of the nation’s most revered museums, including the Big Foot Discovery Museum.

Would you be interested in helping us spread the word about this show via your (successful) blog and (vast) social media network? If so, you will find additional information about each of the mysteries that will be uncovered in this volume below. I hope you enjoy the show!

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, National Historic Site: Tucked away on the east side of Manhattan is Theodore Roosevelt’s childhood home. Inside are two particular artifacts on display that had a bigger impact on Roosevelt’s life than any other. Both of these artifacts share a strange feature, and saved the life of one of America’s greatest statesmen.

The Western Reserve Historical Society: The Western Reserve Historical Society carefully preserves Cleveland’s legacy, but one set of the museum’s artifacts remains shrouded in mystery. They are five postcards from the 1950’s that hold a distinctly taunting tone. Who wrote them and why? The story starts in the midst of one of the worst killing sprees in American history…

Museum of Science and Industry: Inside Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, there’s a vehicle that resembles a space hip or rocket, but it’s neither. In the 1960’s this amazing automobile helped a young California hot rod driver do something no one had ever done before- travel over 407 mph on land.

Titanic Historical Society: In Massachusetts there’s a museum that is dedicated to shedding new light on the ill-fated voyage of the world’s most famous ocean liner. Inside this official Titanic museum there is a single faded piece of paper. Do you know why this wireless telegram was unable to save the Titanic from her tragic fate?

Henry Ford Museum: On the outskirts of Detroit, the famed motor city, is the Henry Ford Museum. On display is a simple yellow city bus where visitors can see for themselves the very seat where Rosa Parks took a historical stand, by simply sitting down. But this story didn’t play out the way most of believe…

Big Foot Discovery Museum: Nestled in the heart of Northern California’s epic red wood forests is a museum dedicated to the region’s most famous alleged inhabitant, Big Foot. Can a recently discovered primate tooth put an end to the age old debate of whether or not big foot is real?

Find out the answers to these questions and more by tuning-in to Mysteries at the Museum Tuesday at 9 E/P on Travel Channel. Enjoy the show, and secrets that will be revealed.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Travel Channel's Page for Mysteries at the Museum
Map of Volume 8 Travel Guide

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Bigfoot Discovery Museum with Amazing Amanda
Blonde Bigfoot at Bigfoot Discovery Museum
Santa Cruz Sentinal talks about Bigfoot Discovery Day