Expedition Bigfoot: Season 4

 I've been watching this show since season one. I think the team has found some interesting evidence on camera. One thing that I always wonder at with research teams; why not stay for a long time in one area? (although Ron Morehead and his fellow researchers to go back to the same area in Northern California, and have gained a lot of experiences there.)  The team thinks of Bigfoot as just an animal, though Ron Le Blanc does seem to accept paranormal explanations. 

Season 4, episode 1 brought the team to Prince Wales island in Alaska. It's said the Bigfoot creatures there are more aggressive, more violent.  

Stumbling around in the dark in unfamiliar places seems dangerous, which is something the team does a lot, especially Russel Acord, who goes off on his own. (along with at least one camera man of course.) And why didn't he pick up the skin and fur sample right away instead of chasing a creature that surely was aware of him and, if it were Bigfoot, was aware of him long before Acord was cognizant of Bigfoot. Sure enough, when he returned to the spot, the fur was gone. 

Overall though Expedition Bigfoot is a good program.

Bigfoot Mapping Project

 A Facebook friend alerted me to this link: Bigfoot Mapping Project.   Fall Creek area in Lane County has a lot of Bigfoot activity. A very nice resource! Oregon, including the Eugene area, lots of sightings!

Paul Sincair's 'Wolf Lands'

 Just watched paranormal researcher Paul Sinclair's new documentary Wolf Lands on Amazon Prime.  The documentary is about the unexplained encounters with a werewolf/dog man/sasquatch (?) type being in the forests of Yorkshire.  Excellent documentary. Sinclair interviews witnesses but he also goes into the history of Yorkshire. Place names, for example. Many translate to words like wolf, or hound. It seems hundreds of years ago shamanic activity took place in the woods. Does a place hold energy? Of course it does. Whatever it is these people are seeing it's something. Something weird and huge and at a loss for a reasonable explanation. 

Other paranormal activity as well: UFOs, orbs, etc.

One thing that resonated with me: one witness described the sudden fear he felt while in the woods. He felt he was being watched, and like a switch had been turned on, as he explained it, a deep fear arose within him. Terror. Had to get out of there! As soon as he left, the fear left. Again, like someone threw a switch.

I had a similar experience, which I blogged about here in the past. A beautiful sunny day. I was taking a drive in the country, just because. I stopped at the top of a hill, pulled over to look at the view. I got out of my car. Below me, on my right, was the valley. Gorgeous view! Behind me, steep embankment, thickly wooded. Suddenly, a terrible fear entered me. It came from behind, came roiling down the hills, through the trees. It was horrible. More horrible because it was so damn weird. I was really very very scared. The message was clear: GET OUT! LEAVE! So I did. The whole thing only lasted about ten, fifteen seconds, but it was enough. For a split second I thought of staying; I'm not crazy after all, I'm not listening to some imagined thing, I'm being silly. Then I realized it was foolish to stay. This wasn't coming from me at all. It was definitely an energy, an intelligent energy, sent my way. So I got out of there fast. The fear left me completely after about a quarter mile. Everything back to normal as if nothing strange had happened at all.

Did you know? Millersburg had its own Bigfoot-style monster (maybe)

A few months ago I was interviewed for the following article by Kyle Odegard about the Conser Lake Monster in Millersburg, Oregon: Did you know? Millersburg had its own Bigfoot-style monster (maybe)

Regan Lee, a paranormal researcher from Eugene, had hoped to write a book on the creature and said she has letters in her files from residents who remember the incident.

I still hope to write the thing. Inspiration. I'll put it up as a Kindle e-book or some such. 

Why So Coy? Missing 411: The Hunted

 I watched the David Paulides  2019 documentary last night: Missing 411: The Hunted. (You can stream it on Hulu.) It started off with the expected cases of  individual hunters who went missing; their disappearances remain unsolved.  Paulides then camps out with Bigfoot researchers Ron Morehead and Scott  Nelson. Morehead and Nelson describe their experiences over the years in the area; strange noises, orbs, lights and more. The audio is eerily familiar to other recordings of Bigfoot. As are the descriptions of strange lights. These have been reported by many a seeker of Bigfoot. But not once during the Paulides interview does Morehead or Nelson say the words Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Not once. I had the distinct feeling that Paulides instructed them to not say those words.

Paulides has been coy over the years as to any connection with Bigfoot and the missing. I have no idea if the two are connected, but it seems there does seem to be some kind of relationship at times. . Paulides consistently skirts around the idea, but never comes out and suggests it as a possibility. True, it is all speculation but nothing wrong with speculation as long as it’s made clear that it’s speculation.

The documentary also includes an interview with Bruce Mcabbee’s wife, who saw a strange transparent being moving through the trees while she was sitting up in a deer blind.  She describes it as looking something like the being in Predator. Around the same time, witnesses in the town saw a UFO. A very curious encounter for sure.   

These two items concerning strange lights, UFOS, Bigfoot type voices and transparent beings don’t seem to have anything to do with the missing. They could have; it’s absolutely possible. But in the documentary it wasn’t made clear the two had anything to do with the missing hunters. And at no point did Paulides say “This is why I’m including these incidents.”  In fact, David Paulides has been downright cranky when asked about any Bigfoot connection; he’s been downright cranky if he even thinks someone thinks he did when they didn’t. Yet there are highly interesting clues that suggest a Bigfoot type connection, or something appearing as Bigfoot. An energy that is non-human and manifesting as a being that is clearly intelligent. The following are from children who went missing and were later found alive:

Three year old boy found safe after being lost in the woods for two days. The boy says he was kept safe by "a bear."

The 3-year-old boy who spent two days lost in the woods of eastern North Carolina tells his family he “hung out with a bear” for companionship while hundreds of people searched frantically in cold and rainy weather to find him. 

Lost Boy in Woods Found Safe; Hung Out with Bear

David Paulides, of the Missing 411 books, has written that missing people, including children, often happen when it rains, or has been raining. I remember a couple of survivors Paulides writes about that mention a bear or ape like creature who helped them. Bigfoot? Paulides is coy about that, but it's possible. Or, angel, spirit, who knows. Bears are hibernating this time of year. Not to mention a bear might well attack, rather than protect. But, again, who knows?

https://paranormalbigfoot.blogspot.com/2019/01/lost-boy-in-woods-found-safe-hung-out.html

Article about Flix, The BHM in Oregon

I was interviewed for this article in November, which appeared in the Albany Democrat Herald, about a Bigfoot like creature who communicated telepathically, saying he was from outer space.

Did you know? Millersburg had its own Bigfoot-style monster (maybe)

Why Do I Believe Bigfoot Exists if I've Never Seen One?

What's the Intrigue?

 It's interesting to think about the researcher who researches. What is their motivation? What makes a person intrigued by a topic like UFOs, or ghosts, or cryptids?

Sometimes it's because the researcher herself saw something. Something so unusual that she has to pursue it. Or the person has had a lifetime of odd experiences. (I fall into those categories concerning ghosts, UFOs, psychic experiences, but not Bigfoot. Well, even if with Bigfoot I did have one odd episode. More on that later.) And sometimes the person is a skeptic, a debunker even, who is out to disprove the existence of ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs, aliens, etc.

So why do I, who has never seen a Bigfoot, believe that the being exists? I watch just about every Bigfoot show I can. I have dozens of books on my shelf about Bigfoot. I can't get enough. Why? Someone asked me that not long ago; why am I so intrigued? 

Part of it is the mystery. I love mysteries. Part of it is the fact I have personally met many people here in Oregon who have seen a Sasquatch. People of all ages, genders, occupations . . . including teachers, doctors and psychologists. I believe them. Why would they lie? And do I think they're stupid enough, or ignorant enough, about local wildlife that they  mistake an elk or bear for a Sasquatch? Of course not.

There's the added factor of paranormal type activity connected to many Bigfoot encounters. What is going on with that?! Orbs, strange lights, cloaking, "mind speak," or telepathic communications, UFOs, black helicopters, cover-ups. All seemingly part of Bigfoot's existence. Who can resist chasing after that mystery?

There's just enough evidence to strongly suggest -- very strongly suggest -- that Bigfoot exists. Footprint casts, heat images on camera, calls, tree knocks, rock throwing, structures, synchronicities, not to mention eye witness accounts. 

My Bigfoot Encounter: Sort Of

I've written before about my odd episode concerning Bigfoot. I was inside the local New Age bookstore in Eugene discussing with the owner Stan Johnson. Stan Johnson, (deceased) lived in Sutherlin, Oregon and self-published a couple of books on his interactions with a family of Sasquatch. (They did not like to called Bigfoot, they told him.) Johnson's experiences included many telepathic communications with several Sasquatch on his ranch, and journeys inside a spaceship. Johnson's experiences included UFOs, conversations with a family of Sasquatch, and a new age version of Christianity. (I met Johnson once; he was in his eighties, I believe, but extremely vivacious. Definitely had charisma. He shook my hand; he was so strong I thought he was going to break it.)

So, the bookstore owner and I were talking about Bigfoot and Stan Johnson, when suddenly, I saw/felt a cone of light come down through the ceiling and cover us. Things were a bit blurry through this cone of light, like looking through gauze. Sounds were muffled. Colored streaks of light. I'm standing there, thinking this is very very weird. When our conversation finished, the cone shot up through the ceiling, and everything returned to normal. I mentioned this to the owner of course, who simply smiled and said "That sort of thing happens all the time when we talk about Stan."

So there it is. 

Enough "there there" for me to continue my Bigfoot studies. It might seem odd to some that I hope that there will never be undeniable proof Sasquatch exists, i.e. a dead body. Or even a live one, as in captured. I doubt either will ever happen. I sure hope not. For those that have seen a Sasquatch, no proof is needed. That's enough for me.

So I'll enjoy the journey, the process itself. I hope I am fortunate enough to see a Bigfoot some day. Whether I do or not, I will continue to believe Bigfoot exists. 

Alaskan Killer Bigfoot: Spoiler Alert

 Alaskan Killer Bigfoot airs on the Travel Channel. It's about a team of researchers going out to Portlock, Alaska. Portlock was a booming fishing town seventy years ago but several gruesome and mysterious deaths occurred. Finally, humans abandoned the place and no one has lived there. Now, with the approval of indigenous elders, a small group was sent to Portlock in order to find proof of Nantinaq, their name for a Bigfoot type creature believed to be the possible cause of those deaths. Hoping to reclaim Portlock and once again have it inhabited, the tribe wants it safe of course. In order to do that, Nantinaq has to be vanquished.

They brought in Ron Morehead, who certainly knows his stuff. His assessment: Bigfoot is there all right. They brought in a psychic; she was too shaken up by the negative vibes of a malevolent energy and left in a hurry. They brought in a demonologist (eye roll here) and a sensitive. The sensitive was very interesting; she picked up on a lot of things that coincided with the experiences of others on the team. 

Plus, tree knocking, rock throwing, stenches and reeks, strange howls and whistles, "mind speak," feeling disoriented, unexplained lights. 

Assuming of course these were actual happenings and not made up or exaggerated stuff for para-tainment.

I usually watch these shows, and even with a grain of salt, overall accept that something very weird is going on. Assuming that what they say is true, it seems obvious there is a hugely strong presence. Whether or not it's Bigfoot, or a Bigfoot like creature, who can say. Lots of similarities with Bigfoot. Or it could be an elemental. Of course, Bigfoot could be an elemental. 

If that's the case: ticked off elemental, unliveable island, horrific deaths due to "evil" elemental/spirit/Bigfoot, why bother? Leave the thing there. Leave it alone. I know this is probably politically incorrect. The native people want their land; in order to continue survival, to have a home for the generations to come. But it seems that, while yes indeed, the indigenous peoples were there before us, it seems clear that whatever is the energy of Nantinaq has been there much longer.

In that case, let it be. Or, treat it with not just fear (you wouldn't find me looking for it) but respect. Make offerings. Gifts. Talk to it. It seems evil to you, well of course. It does to me too, if that is the cause for the murders. But from its perspective, it wants humans out of there. It's defending its space.

The next to the last episode of Alaskan Killer Bigfoot had the demonologist cleanse the forest, using a giant squirt gun filled with holy water. (I think it was a combination of rose, sage and holy water but not sure.) It reminded me of the Monty Python hunting mosquito episode. After the cleansing, everyone felt better. Only one day, with everyone feeling lighter, they decide Portlock was now safe. 

Hubris? Ignorance? Why would anyone believe that after only day, with something so old and powerful, would be vanished after a quick spray of blessed water? 

Sure enough, as the happy team leaves Portlock, full of good feelings of success, they turn back to look and  . . . Fire! 

The little shack they built as a symbol of hope and future buildings to come, was mysteriously on fire.

I wasn't at all surprised.

Next episode is the final episode. Don't know if it's the season finale, or the show finale. 

Bigfoot "contactees"

From Mysterious Universe:

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Owl Symbolism, Gifting and Sasquatch

In the excellent Where theFootprints End (Cutchin, Renner) the authors write about Bigfoot gift giving. Which is strange enough, of course. Stranger still is the symbol of the owl drawn on rocks said to be left by Bigfoot as a gift to humans.

Gifting, by humans to Sasquatch, and from Sasquatch to humans. Sasquatch is not the only entity to leave gifts for humans. Fairies are known to leave gifts for humans. Some suggest that Sasquatch is a type of fairy. 

In the book, Cutchin and Renner tell the story of Samantha, who found rocks left  on her property from Bigfoot. Describing the rocks, Samantha says that “There’s stuff etched into them, especially owls.” (page 140) Why owls? It’s said that Sasquatch imitates owl calls. Owls are known to be an iconic symbol in high strangeness encounters. Giant owls, owls morphing into aliens, etc. appear in abduction, UFO and other supernatural tales. If Bigfoot is a supernatural entity the connection with owls seems fitting. Books about owls as messengers from other realms discuss the relationship of owls and strange experiences in detail. (see Mike Clelland); The Messengers; Owls, Synchronicity  and the UFO Abductee and  Hidden Experience: a Memoir of Owls, Synchronicity, and UFO Contact.) Where the Footprints End is the first mention that I recall of a relationship between owl imagery and Bigfoot.

As the Colonel said in Twin Peaks: “The owls are not what they seem.” 

Craig Woolheater, the TBRC, and Rationalization

Bigfoot Evidence: July 2011 Bigfoot shooting incident at Honobia, OK

"Voucher" specimen. A term used by biologists and other scientist to euphimistically disguise the act of intentionally killing an animal to satisfy the ego.

In this case, the term is used by Alton Higgens of the TBRC, along with the disingenuous statement: "It is not immoral, even if there are those who disagree for various emotional reasons."  Higgens cites the use of collecting "voucher" specimens -- in other words, killing creatures to drag back to the lab -- to justify a Sasquatch kill.Higgens wrote:

Speaking now outside of my Chairman role, as a field biologist I have always indicated that I supported collecting a specimen for documentation and study, although I have not personally pursued that objective. I don’t think sasquatches are people. Biologists are trained to think in terms of, and to care about, populations. Collection of a voucher specimen is a way of protecting the population, from my perspective. It is not immoral, even if there are those who disagree for various emotional reasons. Since this would be a new species to science, there is little question but that a specimen is justifiable. Here’s a link to guidelines and policies that have been worked out in the scientific community regarding the collection of voucher specimens. (Source.)

It is immoral.

The use of the word "emotional" is used to trivialize NO KILL supporters and activists and it's extremely condescending. Dismissing those who are avidly No Kill as mere "emotional" beings with no understanding of the clinical is dishonest, as is using euphemistic terms like "vouchers," citing scientific protocols to bolster justification, outline the TBRC policies on carrying guns, and being passive-aggressive about one's own part in killing, er, collecting, a Sasquatch, I mean voucher. (I also noticed the lower case use of "sasquatches" in the above quote, which is either a typo, or an intentional use to  further distance oneself from seeing Sasquatch as a living being and both marginalize and underscore the idea that Sasquatch aren't "people."

Craig Wooheater, a co-founder of TBRC doesn't agree with the Kill/Capture platform either. This is what Craig recently posted on his Facebook page; it's been re-posted many times since throughout the Internet. Craig gave me permission to post his statement:

As the co-founder, former board member, former director and chairman of the TBRC, I feel it necessary to state my opinion regarding the shooting incident involving the organization.

The organization was formed as a strictly no-kill organization.

Myself, former member Gino Napoli and Daryl Colyer participated in a pro-kill versus no-kill debate held at Chester Moore's Southern Crypto Conference in 2005. We represented the no-kill position, which was hugely unpopular with the vast majority of the attendees.

I stepped down from the organization in July of 2010 and was given the title of Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder.

In December of 2010, I began hearing rumors that there was a philosophical change brewing in at least several current TBRC board members.

I communicated with Alton Higgins, current chairman, regarding the rumors and he stated the TBRC's position was neutrality regarding pro-kill versus no-kill.

I felt that was not the case and I relinquished the honorary titles and asked that my name be removed in all instances from the website.

This was not an easy decision to make, taking into account the 11 years of dedication I had given to the organization.

After word came out regarding the shooting incident, my suspicions were verified and I knew I had made the correct decision.

- Craig Woolheater

I cannot tell you how much I respect Craig for doing this.

This is an issue I feel so damn strongly about; it's not a mere disagreement on theory or speculations about what Sasquatch is, or isn't, or the "flesh and blood vs. paranormal" issue. (Although that does bring up interesting aspects that one should consider in all this.)

 Some of the comments on the sites where the above articles have been posted (a few which are "anonymous" yet feel compelled to share their opinions, including name calling, while hiding behind the ubiquitous no name name) say that Sasquatch "aren't people." Higgens certainly has said so. Maybe they are, maybe they're not. I have not been honored to see a Sasquatch so I don't know. For many who have, they say it is indeed closer to human than not. For myself, it doesn't matter (well, it does, but...) if it's "people" or closer to a worm. Its intelligence level is not the criteria for making the decision to go out and kill one. Or, capture one for that matter.

Naturally, if Sasaquatch is "closer to people" than not, then yes, it'd be horrific to kill one. But it's also pretty damn horrible to kill one just because you can. (Although, have you noticed, no one has, thankfully.)

It's a living being minding its own business and we do not have the right to intrude upon its habitat and attempt to kill or capture, simply to satisfy our egos. It gets to that, and only that. Fuck science. We don't need to prove a damn thing. Witnesses who've seen Sasquatch know. The rest of us who haven't, well, too bad for us. Maybe we'll be blessed as well some day.

We Love Bigfoot, Even Though We Hate Him

Just because: From November 2008; I wrote this when I was contributing to American Chronicle.

We Love Bigfoot, Even Though We Hate Him

I happen to think that Bigfoot exists. I don´t know this for a fact, because I´ve never seen one. I do know a number of people who have. These are people I know, trust, and are -- contrary to the opinion of ignorant or knee-jerk uber-skeptics -- often educated, professional people. The fact that some of these people have college degrees and work in white collar jobs doesn't mean that those who do not hold degrees or work in fields like education are any less intelligent or credible. In fact, those who spend much of their time hunting or camping, or living in rural areas and are familiar with the wildlife, have just as much credibility as anyone else.

I also have this opinion based on years of study about the phenomena. Given the fact I know people who've seen Bigfoot, and my own explorations, I have the strong opinion Bigfoot exists, not only here in the contiguous United States, but I also have the opinion a Bigfoot like creature exists in several places the world over.

Naturally, I could be wrong. But so far, I haven´t come across any compelling evidence to convince me that the reasons for its nonexistence hold up.

Uber-skeptics and debunkers have a very different opinion about Bigfoot of course. It doesn´t exist, end of story. Well, you´d think that´d be the end of the story, but it isn´t. For something that they are certain doesn´t exist, and that only the liars, delusional, or drunken/drug addled see, the pathological debunker spends a huge amount of time arguing about its nonexistence. For some reason, I find this stubborn insistence of disbelief fascinating.

The James Randi Educational site is a popular on-line site, with its own message board: the James Randi Educational Forum. The forum is divided into several different sections, like religion, politics, etc. and, of course, one category called "skepticism and the general paranormal." Everything from ghosts, UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster, all the expected and usual stuff, is discussed here, including things that don´t make much sense at all as to their inclusion, like being a vegetarian.

Bigfoot is there too. Bigfoot is currently being discussed, in one way or another, in thirty-seven different threads (!) on the forum.

Thirty-seven separate threads on why Bigfoot doesn't exist! Wow.

To be fair, some of the threads are obvious jokes and attempts to have fun at poor Sasquatch´s expense, like "I Saw Bigfoot Kissing Santa Claus." A few are just snipe fests: attacks on pro-Bigfooters, or, attacks/defenses from pro-Bigfooters in the midst inside Skeptoid Land. One thread is actually interesting; that´s the "Native American myths/traditions support Bigfoot? A critical look" thread.

Overall though, the number of threads insisting that Bigfoot doesn´t exist is an intriguing insight into the mind of the debunker. To argue, so insistently, so persistently, that something doesn't exist seems . . . well, a waste of time, for one thing. Sheesh.

We´re still left with the big question: what is it that people are seeing? To dismiss such reports as, at best, cases of mistaken identity (a bear, an elk, etc.) and at worst, being an ignorant drunken fool, ignores the fact of the witness.

I happen to believe (but take note, it is not a dogmatic belief) that Bigfoot exists, but I don´t have thirty seven separate threads going on about it. The skeptics, who don´t believe, do. Which is the more rational?

"Bigfoot Believers"

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2010/07/06/local_news/doc4c336f90017c0019558558.txt">Bigfoot believers by Rachel Thomson
The Daily World

C’iatqo (pronounced SEA-at-co) is one of the many words Native Americans throughout the country use to describe the ape-like creature — commonly referred to as Bigfoot — that allegedly inhabits the wilderness. Martin, along with several Quinault Indians and members of various other Olympic Peninsula tribes, were interviewed this spring about the creature and its influence on Native culture for an upcoming show on the A&E network.

JREF Bigfoot Thread Watch

This topic almost deserves a blog of its own.

Anyway, in the "What was that again, cognitive dissonance, irony calling" statement of the day, comes this comment from a BF thread over there titled 'Calling All Skeptics! Help Kitakaze End PGF Controversy - Pitch to Discovery Channel' certainly a long winded title. Thread starts off with the somberly serious self-congratulatory and yet endearingly naive plan to make a BF documentary that will forever silence BF believers and gratify skeptics. Then the thread devolves into fights amongst the debunkers themselves, namely William Parcher. But anyway, on the issue of why so many damn BF threads about something that doesn't exist by people who don't think it exists, this statement by "Blackdog":

I think people are wasting their time in the woods chasing BF but I don't think it's a waste of time to discuss it.

I love it. Just a delicious example of debunkers and their evil ways of moving goal posts, contradicting themselves, general dishonesty, and utterly oblivious to their own surreal exhibitions of humor.

So; going out and actually doing physical research and investigation in hopes of finding physical evidence, proof even, hopefully vs. staying at home and typing on your computer endless non-productive arguments about how something you don't believe exists, doesn't' t exist.

Sounds rational to me!

MQ's Fear of Getting Real and Alfred Lehmberg: 'Sandbagged by Monster Quest'

Alfred Lehmberg writes about last week's Monster Quest episode about the Flatwoods Monster on our blog UFO Proletariat. It's reposted below.

It seems Monster Quest has always been timid around real cryptostuff; I don't mean Bigfoot -- of which Monster Quest has done many episodes of -- but the high strangeness and certainly esoteric angle in the cryptid realm. As I posted before, the Mothman episode wasn't all that much; and any conspiracy or so-called anti-government/infrastrucure perspective decidedly unwelcome (as made clear by a producer of the show I spoke with.) For more on that, see My Mothman Monster Quest Moment, on my blog Mothman Flutterings. Even the Bigfoot stories stays away from the weirder side of Bigfoot lore; high strangeness, UFOs, so much more.

As to the Flatwoods episode, what a shame MQ didn't use the opportunity to do an authentic story about one of both UFOlogy and cryptozoology's classic and fascinating cases. The Flatwoods story could take up several episodes on its own without doing something ridiculous like bringing in the 'Starchild' skull.

And why they need to trot out skekptics like Joe Nickell all the time -- well, at least he didn't say the Flatwoods creature was an owl. Or did he?  He did say several other ridiculous things however. Not unexpected, but terribly annoying and insulting nonetheless.

As to Alfred's piece below, I want to comment on the following by Al:

Feschino, who deserves better than this, was fit to be tied. See, he's telling the culture changing real story. Nickell and company shill for the guys insulting the reader's intelligence and obscuring real history. Case in point "Mass Hysteria" as touted by Dr. Nickell... is a clueless dodge.

Feschino is Frank Feschino of course, author of the well researched and excellent book Shoot Them Down! - The Flying Saucer Air Wars Of 1952
As Alfred points out, there is a real story that goes beyond a "monster" in the Flatwoods case, but sincerely exploring that story would indeed be "culture changing" as Al puts it, and we can't have that.

Flatwoods, Sandbagged By MonsterQuest (by Alfred Lehmberg)

Folks, regarding the recent History Channel MonsterQuest episode of March 10th featuring Fred May, Frank Feschino, Stanton Friedman, and other witnesses from the town of Flatwoods, West Virginia: I was the bearded fellow, the only one, I think, associated with the Flatwoods segment exclusively. I wore the UFO Magazine hat. I was working with the Helium Balloon and assisting Feschino vis a vis the sighting at the hunter's camp in deep forest beside the spring fed stream. My one spoken line, used apart from where I actually said it was, "Frank, there's a hot spot up there...," or some such... all that said:

Folks? You can quote me!

I have no idea what that program was about! Why, apart from Joe Nickell who was decidedly true to form, I didn't even recognize who was involved in it!

This is _real_ irony, reader, given I was at Flatwoods for a week during the shooting —and I do mean shooting— of the MQ program. Moreover, I have an appropriate intimacy with all the principals shown on the Flatwoods segment and have better than a layman's understanding of just what occurred in and around Flatwoods that Indian summer night in 1952.


Ladies and Gentleman, let me digress to say that, entirely apart from what the Reader saw on a "flawed" MonsterQuest, THIS is what occurred on that one night in Flatwoods in Flatwoods: http://paratopiary.blogspot.com/


I remind the HONEST reader that this referenced map data is supported by Project Bluebook, named Newspaper reportage, and first person witnesses in that order of numeracy.


The History Channel, one finds, had the time, opportunity, and all the requisite data to produce a stunning program about the infamous Flatwoods affair. What the History channel did instead, reader, was to contrive to manufacture a senseless "mash-up" of two entirely unrelated cases from what could be most easily be "faux-discredited" in either of them. Suggesting this bogus relationship, one not even remotely tenuous, is the program's kiss of less-than-mediocre death.


Sincerely, none but those entirely honest with themselves dare call this very poor, contrived, and inauspicious telling of the Flatwoods story a blithering incompetence, a fatuous cluelessness, or a distorted propaganda! More irony is revealed given Feschino, Friedman, and I had to sign sworn statements indicating our contribution to the program was true as we knew it to be true. The History Channel reportage of same, paradoxically, was not.


See? Flatwoods was the tail end of the biggest UFO Flap in US History: The 1952 "Summer Of Saucers" chronicled by Frank Feschino, Wendy Connors, various other authors, and an un-sifted Project Bluebook. Reader! It was _not_ about "Lizard Monsters" allegedly lurking the woods for 60 plus years, and to this day. This is the distortion prosecuted by the History Channel.

And this! The intrepid MonsterQuest documentarians wrongly called the more honest Stanton Friedman a "doctor" and made the dissembling (to be kind) Dr. (degree immaterial) Nickell look "reasonable" in contrived comparison! Glowing eyes? Not before or since. Ground miasma? Not before or since! Mass hysteria? Not before or since! Noxious weeds? Not before or since! Roc sized barn owls? Not before or since! How could they have got things so canted and wrong!

I'm sick at heart and really ticked off... Feschino, who deserves better than this, was fit to be tied. See, he's telling the culture changing real story. Nickell and company shill for the guys insulting the reader's intelligence and obscuring real history. Case in point "Mass Hysteria" as touted by Dr. Nickell... is a clueless dodge.


Why? The witnesses at Flatwoods, a gang of playing children and a couple of young adults, presupposed a meteor, predominantly, on the Fisher farm in the hills above the school that evening. They'd heard about them recently in school. Nickell _dissembled_ when he reported they expected "monsters"... They did not run up a hill armed with only with a flashlight to look for "monsters," Reader! That only happens in the movies and Joe Nickell's facile imagination! They went up the hill to pick up pieces of a meteorite!


No, the Flatwoods story was not remotely told. The historical facts regarding the "Flatwoods Monster" incident are distorted, once again, by a soap-selling TV show.


Tune in to the actual story, cited above, to tune _up_, sincerely. See, it's not a story about a giant lizard in a "hover round" "attacking" a group of Flatwoods residents with a harmful gas. The gas, remember, was actually an exhaust emitted from pipes surrounding the lower torso of the body. The lower torso was part of the propulsion system of this giant "metallic" structure propelling it and causing it to hover. Moreover, apart from the gas, the "Flatwoods Monster" never made any aggressive or threatening maneuvers towards the witnesses during the encounter!


More crass inaccuracies?


The nearly 60-years of "sightings" reported by the MQ show were not all "monster" sightings, as the over-edited Feschino and Friedman footage seemed to intimate, but were UFO sightings! This is what the two researchers reported on. _UFOs_, reader! Not _monsters_!


The "Flatwoods Monster" incident, the Snitowsky "Frametown Monster" incident and the Frametown Hunter incident are the documented entity sightings, reader. These, and other "monster" sightings... never occurred again! It's UFO sightings that are ongoing! This was the actual report and testimony of Friedman and Feschino!


Other "real" entities documented on record in the Flatwoods area are as follows:


Dec. 30, 1960. Hickory Flats, WV, Located in Webster County and just across the southern Braxton County border - Witness Charles Slover, 35 years-old, was driving a delivery truck and sighted a 6-foot tall hairy biped, man-like creature near the road. This was _unreported_ by the History Channel.


Dec. 7, 2005. Braxton County, 7-8 miles from Flatwoods. A wildlife trap camera took a photograph of an unknown entity that has been called the "Braxton Beast." This was _unreported_ by the History Channel. Meager and unrepeated stuff!


UFO sightings _abound_, reader, on the other hand... not "monster" sightings! A UFO sighting that occurred in Holly, Braxton County on Nov. 8, 1957 was documented by Jacques Vallee in his book "Passport To Magonia."


Holly is located near Flatwoods. In Case #437, Vallee reports that Hank Mollohan and eight other local witnesses saw an elongated object that was 12-metres long.


More UFOs! Frametown Area, 1990: A Frametown couple saw several UFOs over the area of the Middle Ridge area southeast of Frametown. When one of the witnesses walked outside of the house to get a closer look, one of the UFOs flew into the back-yard and shot a bright beam of light down towards the witness. This Frametown incident was documented and broadcast in 1990 by a national TV show of the time, Current Affair With Maury Povich.


In 1991, Feschino documented crop circle rings in Frametown, WV., which were recorded by Colin Andrews. Throughout the early 1990s, Feschino also photographed and videotaped UFOs in the same area of Middle Ridge southeast of James Knob.


OTHER MONSTERQUEST DEGLECTED POINTS


The Sept. 12, 1952 "Master Map" of UFO locations was not shown. The flight-path trajectory of the "Flatwoods Monster" UFO was not shown or mentioned. This was the Washington DC. to Flatwoods, WV UFO flight-path. Check the included link for same.


The Colonel Leavitt Interview was not shown or mentioned, nor was there any mention of the sizable West Virginia National Guard involvement in and around Flatwoods.


There was no reference that the USAF had heavily documented the Flatwoods incident.


The First person witness-journalist John Barker interview was not mentioned.


Well respected reporter and first person responder A. Lee Stewart, Jr., who broke the national story, was not mentioned. The drawings of the metal piece that he found on the farm were not shown.


There was no mention or reference that there were strange metal and black plastic-like pieces found on the Fisher Farm by the locals, shortly after the incident.


The five known drawings made by five of the boy witnesses who saw the "Flatwoods Monster" were not shown." Despite being separated by Stewart the drawings are astonishingly similar!


The "Flatwoods Monster" color illustrations painted by Feschino from eyewitness descriptions were not shown.


The 1996 Fred May pencil drawing of the "Monster" was not shown. It depicted the figure as "mechanical." This was a point errantly avoided by MonsterQuest!


The Flatwoods reenactment segment did not show the actual "mechanical" figure as described by Mrs. May and Fred May. The incorrect 1952 "We The People" mock-up, which depicted the arms and claws was shown instead... and then senselessly compared to the "Frametown Monster."


Finally, the Star child skull and the entities in Flatwoods/Frametown were errantly compared. These cases have no relationship to each other, what so ever, all respect to Lloyd Pye! I'm sure he would agree.


I'd hoped for the best regarding the History Channel. What happened?


"Hollywood" happened, reader... corporate manipulations apart from, and not interested in, telling the real story... These contrive a mash-up between two unrelated cases and, "highlighting" what was "explainable," work to "faux-discredit" both... actually. We were sand-bagged, imo.


The only good thing... the Flatwoods story was broached, at all, in a no-nonsense manner by Frank Feschino, Freddy May, John Barker, and Stanton Friedman! People are eventually going to wonder where the "lizard monster" (sheesh!) came from and how it came to be in Flatwoods at all. That story? Again, right here: http://paratopiary.blogspot.com/


I personally apologize to the people of Braxton County, Frametown, and the town of Flatwoods specifically, that the story was not portrayed as it was related to the production company. We regret their time was wasted. It's not Frank Feschino's fault that the creative control was well out of his capable hands... as it will be on _all_ these programs. You pays yer money and takes yer chances. We all got burned. All the credible stuff went to the cutting room floor.


Rest assured, though, MonsterQuest at least showed enough to get interest kindled in _other_ quarters. There's a lot of life left to tell the story, still! You can bet Frank Feschino will be banging the Flatwoods drum, verily!


I remain firmly in his corner! There are many rounds left in this fight. Frank is strong and as focused as he ever was!


Closing, Flatwoods and Frametown residents write to tell me that the James Knob site east of Frametown is still ufologically active. Right _now_ reader.


Well, I suspect that if ET had swooped in and landed on the pasture that night while Friedman, Feschino, and myself were all up there on James Knob - and the Monster Quest people had shot miles of film of it? THAT footage would have languished on the cutting room floor with all the other pertinent material, too.


Tha MonsterQuest program regarding Flatwoods was a dissembling hypocrisy... and a shame!

One last point, in the dodgy MonsterQuest "cooked" portrayal, Fred May, Stanton Friedman, and Frank Feschino seem to indicate that Big Lizards in "hover-rounds," plus other monsters, still lurk dangerously in the West Virginia mountains around Flatwoods. No reader. They are not. Nothing these men actually reported to the film crew made that indication.


Sincerely, be disabused of the notion that dangerous monsters haunt your hills and forests! Fred, Frank, and Stan made _no_ such intimation. I was _there_. I _know_.

Linda Newton-Perry's Bigfoot Ballyhoo Blog

(You can also find this post over at my Western Oregon blog on the L.O.W.F.I. site.)

A Bigfoot blog that I've recently become aware of is Linda Newton-Perry's Bigfoot Ballyhoo. A lot of activity there, the latest concerning news of Bigfoot sightings in the coastal areas of Waldport, Siletz, etc. Exciting for me personally (I live vorcariously) since I often travel through those areas, in fact I hope to relocate there soon.

Newton-Perry is an author who writes a couple of Bigfoot related columns for local newspapers, and has written a few children's books about Bigfoot.


About the above sightings in that area; aside from the Bigfoot sighting reports themselves, is the discussion about the treatment of reports and witnesses from the local police, which is very negative, even heavy handed. I find that interesting; why are the police (and other authorities in the area) so reluctant to accept such reports, and why are they going so far as to be rude, almost libelous, in their treatment of witnesses?

Cool Beans: Links to Moi on the JREF

A Trickster's Realm column I wrote awhile back on the JREF threads on Bigfoot, as well as this blog, got the notice of one of the more snarly skeptics over there.

Blogsquatcher Interviews Henry Franzoni

So, have you read the interview yet? No? Do it!

As far as the question of "paranormal" Bigfoot vs. "flesh and blood" it's an exciting -- and typical bit of synchronicity -- that this is discussed in the way it is, since I've been thinking about this lately. And I came to the conclusion (as much as one can in these areas) that the manipulation of sound and energy are abilities of Sasquatch, which would cause us to think of Sasquatch as "paranormal." And in a way, it is paranormal, but, like UFOs and "aliens" their almost magic like characteristics are either technology, as in the case of UFOs, or the edge of preternatural abilities to use energy, including sound, in seemingly magical or "paranormal" ways. And is paranormal is really just a word to describe normal, just the part of normal we don't yet completely understood, or can explain, then . . . as some researchers say of the paranormal vs. flesh and blood Bigfoot question, "it's both."

I don't intend to give the impression Franzoni is in any New Age "bigfoot are our psychic brothers" stuff; there's solid ideas, research and science here, as well as data that's been around for some time but somehow lost or forgotten.

All right, I know I'm rambling. Point is, Blogsquatcher has brought us a fantastic interview, and everyone needs to read it.

I would love to buy Henry Franzoni's book, but it is spendy $59.00 plus s/h. Well worth it I'm sure, given there are maps, etc. but it's something I need to save for and wait until I can afford it. But in the meantime, there is the interview, and his website.

Henry Franzoni - Don't Miss This!

Blogsquatcher has done a valuable thing for Bigfoot research;
brought us a lot from Henry Franzoni, introduced thusly:

Henry's views of the bigfoot phenomenon are not your garden variety views. He has a very idiosyncratic viewpoint built up over years of personal experience, and also though interacting with various PNW Indian tribes. I know that some of what Henry says and thinks will be very hard for most bigfoot enthusiasts to swallow.

That’s something that cannot be ignored!

I'm only halfway through the interview so far but was so excited had to post the link here. Franzoni is an amazing person; from his background, how he "fell backward" into biology, and his views on Bigfoot, or as he calls Bigfoot, Seatco. Why does he call Bigfoot Seatco? You have to read the interview to find out!

eBay Win: Vintage Bigfoot Postcard

Just won this item on eBay, couldn't resist.