Thursday, November 17, 2011

Detroit Lakes Online: the Hunt for the Illusive Bigfoot

Cryptozoologists Ken Gerhard and Ron Coffey speak during the first Shooting Star Paranormal Convention Photo by Jerry Ecklund


“…one half of the human population lives on less than 10 percent of the Earth's land, and three quarters on only 20 percent.” --American Association for the Advancement of Science


The Detroit Lakes Online covers the Shooting Star Paranormal Convention and talks to Ken Gerhard about some of the most frequently asked question by bigfoot skeptics.

There are nearly 10,000 different new species discovered on the planet Earth annually, while over half of the land is uninhabitable for humans.

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “…one half of the human population lives on less than 10 percent of the Earth's land, and three quarters on only 20 percent.”

In other words, that’s a rather large area for undiscovered species to remain that way, including one of the most sought after “cryptid” which goes by many names — Yeti, Sasquatch, B’gwas or the Skunk Ape.

But almost everyone knows it by its most common name — Bigfoot.

That’s where cryptozoologists like Ken Gerhard enter the picture, as they hunt for creatures or monsters like Bigfoot.

Gerhard has appeared on television shows such as “MonsterQuest” and the History Channel’s special “The Real Wolfman” and recently was one of the featured presenters at the Shooting Star’s Paranormal Convention.

The pursuance of discovering animals which have never been seen by humans has brought Gerhard to over 26 countries in the world and it’s a passion which actually started with his childhood in Minnesota, where he lived until the age of 12.

“I’ve been fascinated all my life with the animals such as Bigfoot,” Gerhard said. “I’ve always read up on them and watched every television show about them. It’s just been a life-long passion.”

When Gerhard goes out for an investigation for one of his cryptids — which is the term used for the undiscovered animals of cryptozoology — it can last for days or weeks on end.

He and his group will spend days hiking the area, searching for clues or evidence of a cryptid, such as hair or blood samples.

“Many times, we investigate during the night, since we believe most of these cryptids are nocturnal,” Gerhard added.

The investigators do call-blasting, which is a vocalization call to attract the species in and capture evidence of their existence.

But the number one cryptid and the Holy Grail of cryptozoology is the discovery of a real Bigfoot.

Gerhard, who wears his trademark leather cowboy hat, has hunted for Big-foot across the United States.

His best evidence to date has been his recording of a vocalization during one of his camp-outs.

“I am familiar with all the sounds of animals in the U.S. and this particle one sounded like a primate, similar to the ones I heard down in South America,” Gerhard explained. “It was very deep, loud and aggressive sounding.”

He went on to add the best evidence of the existence of Bigfoot includes track castings and the Patterson film, which was taken in 1967 depicting what looks like an ape — or Bigfoot — running through a clearing in the forest.

So why, through the many years of searching for Bigfoot, has not one been discovered?

Gerhard said even though there is potentially thousands of such creatures in the U.S. region, that still makes them very rare and enough to put them on the endangered species list.

“Secondly, they choose to live in remote areas and they sense humans are their biggest threat,” Gerhard said. “Much like a bear, they have very keen senses and can pick up people early and flee to a more remote area.”

Another reason why sightings are so rare is they are nocturnal and nomadic.

Even the question of why no carcass of a Bigfoot has ever been found can be explained, Gerhard said.

“You very rarely find animal carcasses in the wild, because Mother Nature disposes of them very quickly by fast decay and scavengers spreading their bones about,” he added. “I’ve talked to hunters who have hunted for many years and they say they don’t come about many carcasses.

“There also is the theory they bury their own dead like the Neanderthals did. That also decreases the odds of stumbling across one of (Big-foot’s) body.”

With 10,000 species discovered yearly — with most being insects or mollusks — Gerhard does believe the discovery of a Bigfoot species is close.

That alone could advance the thought of human evolution.

But there is plenty of area to cover and for Big-foot to hide, making the ultimate goal of proving the existence of one of the most sought after cryptids in the world a most difficult one.

If that time ever does come, it will be a mile-stone for the ages.

“It would be one of the greatest discoveries of the century,” Gerhard concluded.
src: DL Online

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Hitler, Thanksgiving and Bigfoot



Who would have known Hitler tried to thwart Thanksgiving by replacing it with Bigfoot day? Fortunately, in this case, Bigfoot was just as elusive for him.

Watch the video below in full screen mode to read the subtitles. Or click Hitler Finds Out He Can't Find Bigfoot to see it on YouTube.


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Utah Valley University Reviews Dr. Jeff Meldrum



“There have been several different humanoid species at a time in history. There is evidence that Neanderthals coexisted with the human species, and there have been six different humanoid species in the last 20,000 years.” -- Jeff Meldrum


The UVU Review is the independent, student-run newspaper for Utah Valley University. Despite comparing Bigfoot and Yetis to monkeys and monsters, UVU staff writer, Faith Heaton, does a pretty good job relaying Dr. Meldrum's arguments for the evidence for sasquatch. Read the full article below.

The room was overflowing with people sitting in the aisles as students, professors and community members gathered to listen to Jeff Meldrum discuss the possibilities of Sasquatch being more than a myth. The lecture sponsored by the Humanities department was held Friday, Nov. 11, and received much curiosity on campus.

“There is the traditional legend of Sasquatch, but is there evidence behind the lore?” Meldrum said as he began his presentation. Meldrum is a physical anthropologist and currently teaches at Idaho State University. He dedicated a large portion of his life to studying the history, folklore and evidences surrounding “big foot.” Along with traveling to Russia and parts of China, Meldrum has tracked the Sasquatch figure around the U.S. as well.

Meldrum walked the audience through the history of different interpretations of Sasquatch, or “the wild man,” beginning with Enkidu and Gilgamesh and going into the myth of Grendel and Beowulf. He laughed about the different movies and depictions of the Sasquatch figure.

Meldrum also discussed the ancestry and evolution of monkeys and how that potentially ties in with Sasquatch by showing several different slides.

“There have been several different humanoid species at a time in history,” Meldrum said. “There is evidence that Neanderthals coexisted with the human species, and there have been six different humanoid species in the last 20,000 years.”

With such a varying range of evolved human and ape-like species throughout history, Meldrum made the connection that it is very possible that the Sasquatch figure could be one of these variations coexisting with the human race today. However, Meldrum pointed that through studies, it still remains hard to determine if the Sasquatch is more of an ape or man.

In his argument that the Sasquatch could potentially be considered to have more of a monkey ancestry, Meldrum cited evidences that apes can grin, have breasts, and can walk upright on two legs, just like humans. These are all characteristics that have been linked to the Sasquatch by several eye witness accounts.

“But, people often see what they want to see, so eye witness accounts aren’t always totally reliable,” Meldrum said. People have also taken footage of the Sasquatch walking in the forest, carrying only a crude stick. “Humans often carry and collect objects,” Meldrum said as he continued to weigh the characteristics of human versus monkey traits apparent in Sasquatch.

Meldrum also cited the historical sightings of Sasquatch, beginning with several stories and footprints appearing in several Asian countries. He feels that the “Yeti” monster reported about in the Himalayan mountains may be an ancestor figure to the current day Sasquatch. Meldrum’s main line of expertise involves the footprints and tracking of the Sasquatch. He has studied several different imprints in mud and sand, and he possesses fossilized models to figure out the movement of the massive “big foot.”

Meldrum meets much skepticism with his theories and worldwide research associated with chasing the evidence of Sasquatch.

“When a friend said, ‘Well after all, these are just stories,’ I replied, ‘Yes. Stories that shed hair, leave footprints, and are seen by eyewitnesses.’”

By Faith Heaton – Staff Writer
Photos by Gilbert Cisnero

SRC: UVU REVIEW
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