Siberia Govt Wants to Study Yeti; Academia says, "No"

Click to read our entire coverage of the Siberian Yeti.

Its official, Siberian Officials are getting push-back from academia in their pursuit to establish an institute to study yetis.

We have two great articles from two great sources.

First, from Singapore of all places:

Mar 23, 2011
Siberia plans 'institute to study yetis'
MOSCOW - OFFICIALS in a Siberian region on Wednesday announced plans to open a scientific institute for researchers to study yetis, despite opposition from academics.

'Organising an institute or a scientific centre would be a logical continuation of research into the yeti,' the administration of the Russian coal-mining region of Kemerovo in western Siberia said.

The region will announce its final decision after hosting an international conference on yetis later this year, the statement said, citing the regional government's education and science department. 'The town of Tashtagol will host an international conference with leading experts into hominids. Based on its results, we will take a decision on opening a scientific research institute to study the yeti.' Yetis, or Abominable Snowmen, are hairy ape-like creatures of popular myth, that are generally held to inhabit the Himalayas.

But some believe Russia also holds a population of yetis, which it calls Snow Men, in remote areas of Siberia such as the mountains in the southern part of Kemerovo around Tashtagol.

Kemerovo officials cited yeti researcher Igor Burtsev as saying that around 30 Russian scientists are studying yetis and could work together at the planned institute. 'We think that the yeti is a separate branch of human evolution. It lives in harmony with nature,' Mr Burtsev was quoted as saying.

Mr Burtsev earlier told the ITAR-TASS news agency that the institute was planned to open as part of the region's state university. The university swiftly denied the claim in a statement, saying that 'studying yetis is not among the research interests of the scientific teams at Kemerovo State University'. -- AFP

Second, from Wired Magazine:

Science May Start Tracking the Yeti
By Kevin Makice March 23, 2011 | 1:35 pm | Categories: Science and Education
As geeks, we are encouraged to suspend our disbelief while simultaneously challenging everything we see and hear. In the words of Agent Mulder, we want to believe, but our geek roots are firmly planted in the scientific method.

That tension is possibly being resolved on one front. The Russians are establishing a scientific institute on the study of yetis, hairy ape-like creatures rumored to inhabit the Himalayas.
Yes. Yetis.

Officials in coal-mining region of Kemerovo Oblast announced plans today to open a Yeti Institute at the Kemerovo State University, a 38-year-old higher education entity in western Siberia. KSU boasts 31,000 students and is best known for reviving regional languages, like Shor. Yeti researcher Igor Burtsev reportedly claimed that 30 Russian scientists are currently studying yetis, or Abominable Snowmen, and the Institute could allow them to better collaborate.

“We think that the yeti is a separate branch of human evolution. It lives in harmony with nature,” Burtsev was quoted as saying. Burtsev believes there may be a local community of these creatures that are Neandertals who survived extinction.

The Yeti Institute is not a lock, though. The university denied Burtsev’s claim that it would be part of KSU, saying that “studying yetis is not among the research interests of the scientific teams at Kemerovo State University.” A final decision will be made after the town of Tashtagol hosts an international conference on yetis later in 2011. Leading experts of hominids will discuss the idea of whether it is worthwhile to pursue the yeti with formal science.

The belief in a population of “Snow Men” in remote areas of Siberia is significant enough to celebrate Yeti Day on November 11. Cynics will note that it also marks the start of the ski season at nearby resort, Sheregesh. A 2009 photo revived local tourism and led to tours at the “Yeti’s Cave” where a large footprint was found. I don’t think it helps that this was first reported in the Daily Mail, a UK publication with a tendency toward sensational stories.

Still …

EXTERNAL LINKS
Singapores Strait Times Article
Wired Magazine's Take

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Siberia to celebrate Yeti Day November 11
Igor Burtsev to head another Bigfoot Expedition in Siberia
Russian yetis start a war with bears

We should add, for the record, Igor Burtsev said he was misquoted regarding the wars with bears.

NC's Knobby Bigfoot Returns?

Thomas Byers snapped this photo of "Bigfoot" along Golden Valley Church Road in Rutherford County on March 22, 2011.

North Carolina's most famous Bigfoot sighting was back in in the winter of 1979. According to the Gastona Gazette, a nickname was assigned to the sightings, Knobby, based on the multiple sightings around the Carpenter’s Knob area.

North Carolina is a recent hot spot of sorts and as we have reported before, is where Animal Planet kicked off its, yet-unnamed, new Bigfoot TV Series. It is also famous for Mike Greene's Squeaky Thermal Video.

WNCN is reporting a new sighting of "Knobby" based on a 5 sec video sent to them.

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 11:05 AM
Updated today at 11:10 AM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Shelby man says he has captured video of Bigfoot.

Thomas Byers e-mailed NewsChannel 36, saying he saw Bigfoot walk across Golden Valley Church Road in Rutherford County Tuesday evening.

Byers' says he was about 15 to 20 feet away from the creature when he captured a five-second video.

"It ran across the road and into the woods right in front of us and I was able to film it," Byers wrote. "In the short video you can hear it snarl or growl at me." -- by NewsChannel 36 Staff at wcnc.com

Byers goes into greater detail of the encounter, here is an excerpts below:

As I filmed it crossing the road it turned its head towards me and snarled or growled at me as it ran across the road. It was truly one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen. It was at one point only 15-20 foot from me and it happened so fast and shook me up so bad that I really didn't understand what I had seen until it was up the side of the mountain and out of sight. You can watch the video below of what I saw and you can hear its snarl or growl on the video as it crosses the road in front of the truck I and Carolyn were riding in.

One thing I know is the smell of it was horrid. It smelled like a cross between road kill and a skunk. And it did not like the fact that I was there on the road with it. In the video you can hear it snarl or growl at me as it crosses the road. -- Thomas Byers

The embedded videos below show the 5 secs of Knobby and then Byers vocal reaction to the event.

Here is the first video I shot of Big Foot or Knobby crossing the road on the evening of March 22 , 2011. Listen and you can hear it growl or snarl at me as it


In Video 2 I took I was in the edge of the woods and you can hear me and Carolyn talking about what we just saw.


EXTERNAL LINKS
Read about the Original 1979 Knobby
Read the WCNC.COM Artickle
Read the Story from the witness himself

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
N.C. Man (Mike Greene) Lures Bigfoot with Candy
Animal Planet is Filming in North Carolina

Kathy Moskowitz Strain Talks Bigfoot Pictographs

There is a rockshelter, at Painted rock that has painted pictographs on the walls. The pictographs include paintings of a male, female, and child Bigfoot (known as the family). Nobody knows more about the history and legend behind these pictographs than Kathy Moskowitz Strain. If you live near Porterville California you are in for a treat. Kathy will share her research regarding the creation myth involving the hairy creatures painted on these walls.

Was Big Foot at the Reservation?
Special presentation Friday at PC
March 22, 2011 11:17 AM
THE RECORDER
A special presentation “Bigfoot and Native Culture: with Kathy Strain, Heritage Resource & Tribal Relations Programs manager for the Stanislaus National Forest” will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday in the Porterville College Theater at Porterville College, 100 E. College Avenue.
Sponsored and hosted by the Cultural Historical Awareness Program (CHAP) at Porterville College, the program is free and open to the public.

...There are no other known creation stories involving a Bigfoot-like creature in California, and as far as can be determined, there are no Bigfoot creation stories anywhere else in the west. There is also no evidence of any other Bigfoot pictographs...

Strain, who attended Porterville College in the late 1980s, became interested in the art and oral traditions of the local Native Americans while growing up in Porterville, especially as they pertain to the “Hairy Man” or “Bigfoot” images found on the Tule River Reservation and around Painted Rock.

“As a trained archaeologist, she has expanded her initial interests to include Native stories, dances, and artwork from throughout North America, hoping that they may shed some light on the controversy surrounding the existence or nonexistence of some type of creature who roams remote regions of our continent,” said Will Lloyd, Porterville College Public Information Officer.

Painted Rock

Painted Rock is located on the Tule River Indian Reservation above Porterville. The site, also known as CA-TUL-19, is a rock shelter associated with a Native American Yokuts village and is located immediately adjacent to the Tule River. It includes bedrock mortars, pitted boulders, midden and pictographs which are located within the rock shelter and are painted on the ceiling and walls of the shelter.

“It’s really interesting,” Lloyd said. “It’s a whole ‘Big Foot’ family.”

The pictographs include paintings of a male, female, and child Bigfoot, coyote, beaver, bear, frog, caterpillar, centipede, humans, eagle, condor, lizard and various lines, circles, and other geometric designs — all done in red, black, white and yellow.





This rock art site is unique; not only because it contains a Bigfoot pictograph, but also because of the traditional Native American stories that accompany it. There are no other known creation stories involving a Bigfoot-like creature in California, and as far as can be determined, there are no Bigfoot creation stories anywhere else in the west. There is also no evidence of any other Bigfoot pictographs. Most states, including California, keep a database of all recorded sites located on federal, state, county, city, or private land. Based on that information, there is no other known Bigfoot pictographs or petroglyphs anywhere in California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada or Idaho.

The most dominant pictograph at Painted Rock is that of the ‘Hairy Man,’ also known as Mayak datat.

Though the picture measures 2.6 meters high by 1.9 meters wide, it represents an 8.5-foot high, two-legged creature, with its arms spread out to six feet wide. It also has what appears to be long hair and large haunting eyes, which the Yokuts identify the lines coming from the eyes as tears. The pictograph is in very poor condition due to weathering and vandalism. A Hairy Man petroglyph is present at the site as well. Petroglyphs are very rare in the Sierras, reported Lloyd.

In 2003 Kathy presented at the International Bigfoot Symposium, it was titled "An Archaeological Viewpoint of the Hairy Man Pictographs." Thankfully the folks at the Bigfoot Information Project have the written version of the presentation. Please read Kathy's amazing report.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Recorder Online Announcement of Kathy's Presentation
Kathy's Report: An Archaeological Viewpoint of the Hairy Man Pictographs

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Kathy at The Oregon Sasquatch Symposium 2010