Book: Where the Footprints End

My copy of Where the Footprints End; High Strangeness and the Bigfoot Phenomenon Volume 1 (Joshua Cutchin, Timothy Renner) arrived yesterday.

As you can see, I already very into it!

I am loving this book and am excited for Volume 2.

Among other things, the book is very well written, which I appreciate.

A bit of synchronicity: the introduction contains a report from 1973 about an orange orb and Bigfoot type encounter.  Interesting for many reasons one being, the orange orb is described as being very large and close to the witnesses, and, it occurred in 1973! It's unusual to find reports of large sized orange orbs from that time. My sighting in Oregon of a large orange orb was in the early 1980s.

Haven't finished the book yet but just had to give this book a plug. I really think that anyone serious about Bigfoot research -- honest research -- should read this book, as well as others, like Them Powell's books.

(cross posted, with minor alterations at UFOMystic.)

After listening to another intriguing and spooky interview with David Paulides (Coast to Coast, George Knapp host) last night, I found myself rethinking not only Dr. Ketchum, but Bigfoot as well.

For awhile I was excited about what Dr. Melba Ketchum would find. So was last night's C2C host George Knapp, who interviewed Dr. Melba Ketchum some time ago. Lots of games, it seemed, lots of attacks, lots of the to be expected nonsense in the world of Bigfoot.  (UFO World doesn't fare any better in this context.) Then I was disappointed and jaded. Then I just didn't care. 

But if David Paulides's explanation on the entire Ketchum journey was accurate -- no journal would review her findings, etc. -- and if the evidence is truly what it says it is, then there's still hope. And bafflement, for it seems everyone just walked away from this. Of course, I haven't read the report, and Paulides pointed out that many who criticized Ketchum and the findings haven't actually read the thing. I can't comment much more than these idle musings of mine because I am not a scientist, and I haven't read the report; just the reports of reports. It is also too bad Ketchum seems to have behaved badly at times. Maybe this was due to simply being overwhelmed by her lone seeker status out there in Bigfoot Land. Lots of naivety, at best, and silly sloppy missteps seemed to have happened, adding to a carnival-like,  here we go again feeling in Bigfoot Land.  But all that can be ignored if the evidence is what it's supposed to be: Bigfoot is not a giant ape, but something completely different. That's huge of course and huger still: Bigfoot is both its own mysterious self, as well as part of us. Yet after a few people acknowledged this finding, people went missing. Some were offended, some laughed, but we haven't seen any paradigm shifting news stories break on CNN. 

Meanwhile, David Paulides continues his research into the strange stories of missing humans in parks and forests. Many of these missing are children. He alludes to the possibility;  Bigfoot, or a Bigfoot like creature, as being responsible for these disappearances. The few children who have been found alive after going missing for a few days have strange tales to tell of "ape men" and other high strangeness. In last night's interview on C2C, Paulides referred to Native Americans and their tales of Bigfoot -- as being human -- and their on-going relationships with this being. Yet, with some exceptions, most, including BF researchers, ignore this fact.

What's strange about the missing humans is that they disappear abruptly, often in daylight, often while in the near proximity of others. While logic says these missing people would be found downhill, or near water, they are often found (if found at all) quite a distance aways, and uphill, over extremely rough terrain difficult to cover. Very weird for adults, and much stranger still in the case of little children. Stories of "ape men," and other inexpiable events add to this mystery. Adding fuel to conspiratorial speculation (which doesn't mean it's invalid) is the presence of military in some of these cases, who act covertly and separate from parks authorities and local law enforcement agencies while ostensibly searching for the missing.

IF Bigfoot is responsible for these disappearances, that's cause for a shift in beliefs about we think Bigfoot is. Many of these stories contain really weird "high strangeness" elements that have always annoyed many a Bigfoot researcher. UFOs? Aliens? Underground beings -- reptilians? Of the latter, Paulides said he's received a few detailed emails about that subject, but he is unfamiliar with that realm and doesn't want to go there. He referenced John Mack and his work concerning abductions -- will we hear of a Bigfoot/UFO theory from Paulides in the future?

There's enough strangeness, and enough references to a Bigfoot creature, in Paulides missing persons work, to consider that Bigfoot is more than "just" a big ape, or strictly a flesh and blood creature. It's possible this BF being is a variation of Bigfoot, another type, related or something else altogether; something that looks like an "ape man" but clearly has abilities transcending ours at the moment.

Honobia Bigfoot Festival 2011 Schedule

Among the speakers and music at the Honobia Bigfoot Festival in Oklahoma: Thom Cantrall, author of The Ghosts of Ruby Ridge. (Which, after all this time, I'm just about finished reading. Just too many books out there; hard to catch up.) You can check out the schedule of events at the festival site: Honobia Bigfoot Festival 2011 Schedule

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.

Navajo Skinwalkers and Legends

Nick Redfern comments on Navajo Skinwalkers and Legends about the high strangeness in the four corners area: Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. This sounds like a fascinating documentary and I can't wait to get my copy.

Another author that writes about one of the four corners is Chris O'Brien, who writes the "Mysterious Valley" series, about the UFO, high strangeness, cattle mutilations and other Fortean events in Colorado. And for something about Utah, there's Hunt for the Skinwalker, of course, but also The Utah UFO display: A biologist's report by Frank Salisbury.

Search Phrases

It’s interesting to review the search phrases for my blogs. What i find curious are the ones that seem to be a bit off the wall, or funny, etc. (See Women Of Esoterica.)

For this blog, I find that there a lot of searches, with variations, for Tom Biscardi, chupacabra, and "Georgia Bigfoot hoax." Someone wanted to know about “rickmat creature” I had to laugh at that: “rickmat creature?” Did they mean Rick and Matt, put together, equal a monster of some kind? Heh.

This is a paranormal blog, though I veer off from that when it comes to the mundane side of Sasquatch, like the recent RickMatt-Biscardi Mess. So I was glad to see people searching for “native american fairy,” and lots of searches for a native american/bigfoot connection, as well as “paranormal bigfoot” in general. Also for “giant rock joe fex” who is a researcher that doesn’t seem to get much attention, and a few for Mary Green, Tennessee Bigfoot lady.

This one has me baffled: “Oregon coast squirrels.”

Then there’s “does bigfoot” --- does bigfoot what? Inquiring minds want to know!

“Aliens and bigfoot;” and both Bigfoot on Mt. Rainer and Mt. Shasta are popular too.

Poll Results: American Indians And The Paranormal

I’ve had a poll up for awhile now, asking: Anomalous Researchers: Are You of Native Descent? I did this because the meme is that those with American Indian blood are more prone to UFO, psychic and paranormal experiences, and/or are drawn to them. The poll isn’t to be taken all that seriously, it isn’t scientific in any way, just a casual question.

69 people responded (thank you!) and here are the results:

Yes, enrolled in tribe: (9%)

Yes: (38%)

No: (46%)

Don't know: (7%)

Total Votes: 69

I’m not sure what to make of the “don’t know” and come to think of it, I don’t know why I included that. So by a teeny margin, it seems there is a majority who are Native that are involved in this field.

I’ve been working on an idea for some time, but haven’t figured out yet what to do with it exactly; what direction to take. And that’s the area of Native American myths, issues and the overall culture in the UFO and paranormal field. There’s a combination of appropriation, exploitation, sensationalism, marginalization, trivialization, and respect by those who “use” Native American traditions in their work. There are many who claim to be Indian who aren’t. Well, we can’t make that assumption, but one often wonders for obvious reasons. there are a lot of self styled medicine men, shamans and guides out there who have questionable backgrounds in this regard.

There’s the cliché of the haunted house or building or area being on “old Native burial grounds” and yet, this is the case many times. During the spiritualist seance days, it was common for the medium to have a deceased American Indian as their guide.

Treated with a sort of spiritual awe and envy, even while being trivialized and exploited, the Native American culture continues to be a theme in paranormal matters.

So, where I’m going with this I’m not sure yet. (Yes, I consider myself Native, of Lenape and Cherokee descent.)

Thanks for voting, and now here’s the next poll.

A Navajo Bigfoot Story

This was sent to me by a good friend of mine, who is the creator of The Granmother's Circle Gathering here in Eugene. She had fowarded this to me from one of her contacts.

CHINLE, Ariz., Jan. 31, 2008

I don't pick up hitchhikers for free.

They either have to teach me a Navajo word I don't already know, or tell me a story.

Lately, I have been hearing the same story so often, with so many variations, I'm beginning to wonder if it's true.

It is the story of a creature I've come to call "the Navajo Bigfoot." According to at least five different hitchhikers I have picked up over the last three years, there is a Bigfoot-like creature roaming in the Navajo Nation.

It is about 7 feet tall, black, hairy and apelike, and has feet about a foot-and-a-half long. None of the hitchhikers had actually seen it, but they all knew people who had.

Most people seem to think it resides somewhere between Summit and Fluted Rock, but a man from Navajo Mountain swore it lives somewhere up there. (Maybe there are two.) Footprints have allegedly been found as far south as Klagetoh.

Some folks say the creature has supernatural powers. It reportedly appears at some gatherings, and one man told me several friends of his at a ceremonial gathering saw it appear and then vanish into thin air.

The Bigfoot might have been around a very long time. A middle-aged man remembered his father telling stories of such a creature, saying it appears when times are about to get really bad.

But, if it is something supernatural, it apparently still needs to eat.

A woman told me all the ranchers near Fluted Rock know about the monster, because they will find dead sheep that appear to have been partially butchered with some kind of blunt knife. And the giant footprints are sometimes around.

A man I picked up near Ganado said a neighbor of his had chased it across Highway 264 on horseback once, but it was so fast that it got away.

Another guy said he visited one of the Apache reservations and was surprised to find they have similar stories ... except the Apache Bigfoot is white while the Navajo one is black.

I'm not saying I believe these stories ... for all I know, there's some kind of conspiracy among the hitchhikers to pull one over on hapless drivers.

All I'm saying is, if I'm driving late at night and some big, hairy, barefoot guy sticks out his thumb on the side of the road, I'm going to keep driving - unless he has a mighty good story.

Bigfoot Kisses Santa: More Bigfoot Threads on JREF

As if five, or however many it is, Bigfoot threads on the James Randi Forum aren't enough, here are three more that have cropped up recently:

Creekfreak’s Bigfoot hair samples and other non-photo related claims.

Native American Myths/Traditions Support Bigfoot? A critical look

I Saw Bigfoot Kissing Santa Claus

Lisa Shiel: Native American Fairy Lore

The Native American May-may-gway-shi.

Lisa Shiel has a new book coming out next fall: Strange Michigan. It’s on the list!

In her blog entry Native American Fairy Lore, and in her new book, Lisa references the May-may-gway-shi, as type of fairy entity:
It seems that the Algonquian Indians have legends of the May-may-gway-shi, the North American equivalent of the fairy. The Algonquian legends associate the May-may-gway-shi with ancient red-ocher rock art from the Pre-Columbian era. The Burnt Bluff pictographs fall within that era. Some legends say the fairies created the rock art.

The Burnt Bluff pictographs depict humanoid figures with barrel chests, wide shoulders, and almost no neck. The pictographs resemble similar figures found in ancient rock art from the Four Corners region of the U.S. The figures all resemble Bigfoot far more than humans.

From Cryptomundo: Small Pterodactyls Among The Indians

Over on Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman has posted on the insect invasion at the recent baseball game. (Don't ask me what game; what do I know?)This doesn’t have anything to do with Sasquatch, but it’s such a neat post that I had to report on it here.

I’m not a baseball fan; the whole idea of the sports things just eludes me, but I really enjoyed this post. I have nothing against baseball, I just don’t seem to get it. Any of it. (And yet, some of my favorite films are baseball films. It’s the story I suppose, not the “thing” it’s hinged on. Of course, one could argue the “thing” it’s hinged on is the story.)

Leave it to Loren Coleman to tie in cryptids, baseballs and Native Americans. Very cool. I didn’t know Coleman was of Native American descent, though it’s not surprising. I wonder how many in this field of Fortean, anomalous and cryptid research are of Indian heritage? I’m of Cherokee and Lenape descent. It’d be an interesting survey to take.

Anyway, great post on Cryptomundo.

Atshenash: First Nations Bigfoot Legend

A First Nations account of a Bigfoot legend (Atshenash) by way of Cryptomundo blog and Kathy Strain (Allieance of Independent Bigfoot Researchers.)