Thursday, June 21, 2012

Cliff Barackman and Dr. Jeff Meldrum look at London Bigfoot Tracks

Cliff Barackman co-host of Finding Bigfoot and self-described track nerd.

"The problem I found was that there seemed to be little toe splay variation from print to print." --Cliff Barackman on his initial "impression" of the London Trackway Casts

Cliff Barackman is a fountain of Bigfoot knowledge, he is especially keen on Bigfoot tracks. Recently he has had a break in his taping schedule and has taken the opportunity to update us with an update on his discussion of the London Trackway with Dr. Jeff Meldrum. Click the following link to read our previous London Trackway news.

Below is a excerpt from Cliff Barackaman's update

While going over the casts on my very short break in April, I discovered some things that made me wonder if the impressions could have been hoaxed.  The problem I found was that there seemed to be little toe splay variation from print to print.  This feature (or lack thereof) might indicate a prosthetic foot, such as a wooden cutout.  
I later discovered that Dr. Jeff Meldrum had an opportunity to examine a small sampling of the London casts obtained by Toby Johnson, Thom Powell, and Guy Edwards at the recent Primal Peoples gathering in Washington.  After seeing the casts, Dr. Meldrum also had some concerns about their authenticity.  
Read the rest of this update at Cliff's Blog NorthAmericnBigfoot.com

Impression 121 of the London Trackway

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

USA Today Promotes SyFy's Bigfoot Movie

Danny Bonaduce in SyFy's 2012 Bigfoot Movie
"I had one condition, and that was that I could beat the heck out of Danny Bonaduce at some point in the movie," -- Barry Williams (Greg Brady of the Brady Bunch)


USA Today teases at a few updates regarding the much anticipated SyFy movie simply titled Bigfoot. Click on the following link for our previous coverage of the SyFy Bigfoot movie. Below is an excerpt of the USA Today article

•Bigfoot, starring Bonaduce (The Partridge Family) and Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch). Airs June 30. 
"We've put together four fun movies in a row," says Syfy original movies chief Thomas Vitale. "It's June. It's escapist popcorn fare. They're the kind of movies that are released theatrically in the summer — the big, special-effects-driven movies to give you an emotional release."
They may mix fun and fear, but "their production is taken very seriously," says Ken Badish of Active Entertainment, which produced Arachnoquake and past Syfy originals Swamp Shark and SwampVolcano. "We're able to do so much more even on a relatively lower budget than we could a few years ago." 
Badish says technological advancements have enhanced filmmakers' ability to add higher-quality CGI for less. "We have the ability to deliver production values that are comparable to studio films because we're using the same cameras, the same lenses, the same (executive producers) and crews. We're able to make better B-movies." 
And the actors appreciate the benefits of mixing horror with hoke, and are quick to joke about it. 
"I had one condition, and that was that I could beat the heck out of Danny Bonaduce at some point in the movie," says Williams, best known for playing squeaky clean Greg Brady. (In a 2002 match on Fox's Celebrity Boxing, Bonaduce, who played the mischief-making Danny Partridge, bested him.) 
Williams knows that casting him and Bonaduce is a publicity stunt with the potential to draw curious fans of these vintage '70s shows. "When you team Barry Williams and Danny Bonaduce in a movie, that's inescapable," he says. 
Bonaduce shares the sentiment. "If you took The Partridge Family-Brady Bunch quantum out of this, you'd have yourself a pretty good sci-fi movie about Bigfoot. It's just that big numbers (of viewers) are going to be coming because of Greg Brady vs. Danny Partridge going after Bigfoot. Otherwise, you'd just have the Bigfoot cult and the sci-fi cult."

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Untimely Yeti Footprints found in Siberia

Siberian Yeti foot print (© Photo: «Vesti.Ru»)
We use the word "untimely" because usually Yeti news in the Shoria region falls in late September and early October. This timing usually funnels right into the tourism season starting with Yeti Day on November 11th. Of course this does not dis-qualify the great research (read our Kemerovo news coverage) being done in the region, we are only asserting that the Yeti is not usually on the minds of the population and media until Yeti Day begins to approach.

Below is an article from the Voice of Russia. 

Do yetis exist after all?

Maria Domnitskaya
Jun 19, 2012 18:31 Moscow Time

Fresh footprints of a yeti have recently been found in the region of Gornaya Shoria in Siberia. This picturesque mountainous area is sometimes dubbed a “Siberian Switzerland”.

A group of Italian scientists plans to visit Gornaya Shoria to look for more evidence that yetis really exist.

This is not the first time that footprints which are believed to belong to these mysterious creatures have been discovered in this region. Some local residents claim that they have seen yetis with their own eyes. As a rule, yetis’ footprints are found in the vicinity of the Azasskaya Cave and the Karatag Mountain.

Yetis’ footprints are bigger than those of humans – they can reach 45 cms in length. That’s why yetis are also called “Bigfoot”.

Gornaya Shoria has already become to be associated with claims of evidence that yetis exist. Every year, the tourist season in the local mountains opens with a celebration of ‘Yeti Day’, when tourists can find yeti souvenirs all over Shoria.

Local hunters call Bigfoot “the spirit of the taiga”.

In October 2011, a delegation of US, Canadian, Swedish, Estonian and Russian scientists explored the Azasskaya Cave. They didn’t find a yeti, but discovered a large footprint and small samples of hair inside it.

The hairs were up to 8 cms long, curly, gray along the whole length except at the root which was black.

The hair samples were taken to St. Petersburg and thoroughly examined at a local zoological institute. It turned out that they were identical to which was thought to be yetis’ hairs found earlier in California in the US, as well as outside St. Petersburg and in the Ural Mountains in Russia.

One of the members of the expedition, a member of St. Petersburg and New York academies, Valentin Sapunov says:

“These hairs are very similar to the other hairs which were found in 4 different parts of the world and are believed to be yeti hairs. The results from the tests conducted by the scientists indicate that these hair samples are very likely to belong to creatures of one and the same species. A scientific mistake would be highly unlikely.”

However, only genetic testing can prove or disprove that yetis are related to the Homo Sapiens. An attempt made by Russian scientists to examine the DNA of yetis’ hair samples found near St. Petersburg and in the Urals was unsuccessful due to lack of appropriate equipment. But when US scientists announced that the results of their testing apparently proved that the DNA of the yeti’s hair from California was in no way different to that of the Homo Sapiens, very few people actually believed them.

At present, Russian scientists are trying to extract DNA from the hair samples believed to be those of a yeti, which were found in the Azasskaya Cave.

In the meantime, a well-known genetic Professor Bryan Sykes from Oxford University is concluding his own tests. Using equipment of the latest generation, Professor Sykes is trying to prove that yetis really exist. As a sample, he uses what is believed to be yeti remains, which are held at the Museum of Zoology in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Professor Sykes has posted a request on the museum website, which asks everyone, who may possess what they believe to be yeti remains, to send them to Professor Sykes for testing.

He promises to announce the results of the testing in December.
Please read our terms of use policy.