Richard Stubstad: Sasquatch Proof Requires 100% Certainty, I'm at 97%

Richard Stubstad continues to use statistical mathematics to understand Bigfoot DNA

In case you missed it, Richard Stubstad is quite an active commentor on this blog. Especially on posts that are about him and his research. You can read our previous coverage of Richard Stubstad.

Recently we have become more familiar with his role and perhaps his opinion on the ongoing Bigfoot DNA research; Melba Ketchum's and his own parallel research.

Richard has taken the opportunity to clarify his support for Dr Melba Ketchum and further explain his statistical approach to the DNA data. Below are his own words:

1) Actually, I worked with Ms. Ketchum for almost a year. I did not make any "genetic" conclusions whatsoever; essentially, I connected the dots (the first four samples) and examined, statistically, the relationships between these using GenBank.

2) No, I do support Ms. Ketchum's work 100%. I hope she gets her paper published sooner rather than later. My point was and still is: at least two parallel studies (regardless of who is first) will be needed due to the highly controversial nature of the subject matter.

3) Really, the only thing I don't like about how she works is her secrecy throughout. I think this secrecy hurts our "industry" as it were. In fact, since she has 20-some fresh samples (relics are not yet included in her work), of course she knows a whole lot more than I do about results.

4) Secrecy to that degree, I maintain, is detrimental to our search for both the existence and nature of sasquatch.

5) I worked with Melba through the first four of her 20-some samples.

6) In the event, Sample 1's mito dna (all 16,569 pairs) came out within modern human ranges.

7) Melba and I, while being somewhat disappointed in this result agreed to test Sample 2 as well (whole mito genome again), and lo and behold Samples 1 and 2 both indicated that their mitochondrial "Eve" lived in the sub-glacial region of Europe some 15,000 or more years ago.

8) The odds of this happening using the modern human population in GenBank were less than 2%. Meaning the odds of us happening to identify a new hominid were some 98% or better. Ms Ketchum didn't notice this connection, but rather she took each sample on its own and surmised they could have been hoaxes or misidentifications.

9) Both Adrian Erickson and I pointed out to her that by connecting the dots between Samples 1 and 2 (mito only), it was definitely worth pursuing further, so Sample 3 was tested for the mito genome (full loop) next.

10) This sample indicated a sub-Saharan mito Eve from perhaps 50,000 years ago more or less; totally at the opposite ends of the human family tree, although still within modern human ranges.

11) THe number of differences between Samples 1 & 2 vs Sample 3 was about 90 pairs (almost the maximum that exist in the modern human database).

12) Still, the statistics changed by virtue of having three mito sequences instead of two, so the odds of a hoax or misidentification changed from less than 2% to 3 or 4%.

13) Erickson then funded a nuclear DNA study, which began in earnest. The first gene tested was MC1R, and the results were equally or even more astounding. Samples 1, 2 and 4 all showed the MC1R sequences to be outside of human ranges (in the database), with two of three (2 and 4) as 100% identical.

14) Sample 1 was also not within modern human ranges, but it differed from 2 and 4 by two pairs (out of 950 or so).

15) Bottom line: I am 97% certain that SASQUATCH EXISTS. I am not at all certain what its genesis is, but IT EXISTS. I am not positive of this conclusion, only 97% certain. This is evidence but not proof. Proof requires 100% certainty.

Even Titanic's Centennial Celebration Can Not Escape Bigfoot

Jack Grimm never found the Titanic or Bigfoot 

An Abilene, Texas paper reminds everyone that at one point Jack Grimm claimed he had discovered the wreckage of the Titanic, he even had a blurry photo of the propeller. The Bigfoot connection does not stop at blurry photos. In fact, Jack Grimm had once picked Bigfoot discovery as one of his many eccentric pursuits.

We only get a teaser in the article:

"The eccentric Abilene oilman, who died of cancer at 72 in 1998, was known both for his wealth and his propensity to seek out the odd — bigfoot, Noah's Ark and the so-called Loch Ness monster were among his many quarries through the years." SRC: Abilene Reporter-News. 2012

When we think of rich oilmen funding Bigfoot Research we think of Tom Slick, not Jack Grimm, so we went looking for details. Back in 1977 Sports Illustrated described the man during a world poker tournament and had this teaser predicting Grimm's foray into Bigfooting.

."..Grimm has tried to find Noah's Ark and the Loch Ness Monster and will soon be in search of Big Foot..." SRC: SI Vault 1977

Still not a lot of detail, but at least we have a time line. Finally we found a copy of one of his obituaries which groups him with Tom Slick and a description of the Sasquatch expedition Grimm funded.

Grimm, who came to be known through media stories about his "quixotic quests", was with Tom Slick and F. Kirk Johnson, among the Texas millionaries who gave financial and other support to cryptozoology. Founder of Grimm Oil Company, the man known in his native Abilene as "Cadillac Jack" ... hired two photographers to slog through the western Canadian wilderness in a futile hunt for Sasquatch. SRC: http://www.jcs-group.com/enigma/homepage.html

There you have it, Bigfoot is the new Kevin Bacon. Within 6 degrees of separation, any topic can be brought back to Bigfoot, including the Titanic's Centennial. 

Vermont Paper Critical of Finding Bigfoot and Matt Moneymaker

Intro credit to Penn and Teller's show Bullsh*t.

Finding Bigfoot is coming to Vermont on April 14th. The Times Argus, a daily morning newspaper serving the capital region of Vermont has been less-than-favorable towards Finding Bigfoot and Matt Moneymaker in particular. The paper cites two topics that could be considered sore spots for BFRO and Matt Moneymaker. The full Times Argus article is at the end of this post, but first we want to highlight the two topics.

TOPIC ONE: Sonoma video hoax by Penn and Teller.

"On November 14th, 2005, a video purportedly recording a bigfoot sighting in Sonoma County, California, surfaced on the Internet. On Dec. 11, 2005, the BFRO publicly declared that it was an authentic video and that it could not have been a man in a suit. Following the broadcast of [Penn and Teller's] program, all references to the Sonoma video were removed from the BFRO website and no mention was ever made of it again." Src: Sasquatchopedia: 

Below is an excerpt from the Penn and Teller Episode (warning: explicit language)

TOPIC TWO: Finding Bigfoot cast complains about show's misleading editing.

"Cast members from the TV show have commented in various online forums that they are bugged by the heavy-handed editing done by producers of the series, and are not happy that they seem to be putting false words in their mouths. To say nothing of using tricks to make their actual findings more seemingly groundbreaking." Src: Gather.com

Read the complete Times Argus article below:

Show looks for Bigfoot in Vermont
By Gordon DritschiloStaff Writer - Published: April 7, 2012

RUTLAND — Is Bigfoot lurking somewhere in the wilderness of Vermont?
The producers of Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot,” which has yet to locate the elusive sasquatch after 18 episodes, are hoping he might be. According to a release sent out Friday by the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce, the representatives of the program want to hear from Vermonters who believe they might have seen Bigfoot and will organize a town hall meeting on the subject April 14.

While a call to producer Natalie Hewson was not immediately returned Friday afternoon, the chamber did forward an email address for people to report sightings and get information on the meeting: Vermont.bigfoot@gmail.com.

While Vermont is best known in cryptozoological circles for its supposed lake monsters, Bigfoot sightings are not unheard of in the Green Mountains.

Reports have popped up in Chittenden, West Rutland and across the border in Whitehall, N.Y. The late Warren Cook, who taught anthropology at Castleton State College, was a Bigfoot enthusiast who collected purported evidence including footprint casts and hair.
The program follows the investigative efforts of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, headed by Matt Moneymaker.

Before “Finding Bigfoot,” Moneymaker fell prey to a prank by magicians Penn and Teller, who hosted a Showtime program (whose name is not printable in a family newspaper) dedicated to debunking various phenomena.

The duo created and distributed a fake Bigfoot video, which Moneymaker said he was confident was genuine, saying he had seen a number of hoaxes, according to the Bigfoot lore repository squatchopedia.com. Moneymaker stood by that claim when Penn and Teller announced the hoax in the lead-up to the show, according to the website, but then took down his statements after the program aired.

Last year, Moneymaker was quoted on multiple websites complaining that the editing of the show was misleading. He described sounds being added after the fact by the production team and shots cutting away from mundane animals that should have been identified as not being Bigfoot.