Poll Results: Bigfoot-UFO Connection

The results of Lisa Shiel's (book: Backyard Bigfoot and Bigfoot Quest blog) poll on a Bigfoot - UFO connection are in. Interesting results.
Bigfoot Quest

Bigfoot Recreated and More

Lots of Bigfoot items around lately: The Anomalist has several links to all kinds of entries on Bigfoot. Rather than list a bunch of links here, just check out The Anomalist

I will comment on one piece, and that’s Bigfoot and the repugnance of truth by Ryan Kenneth Peterson. Peterson was a costume designer, and discusses why it’s unlikely in his view the Paterson Gimlin Bigfoot was faked:

In my opinion, the technology and artistry were not available in 1967 to create such a convincing Bigfoot costume. Even if Roger Paterson orchestrated the whole affair and was able to hire John Chambers, the one special make-up effects man on the planet at the forefront of such technology, I would argue it wasn't enough.

On a BBC program broadcast in 1998, they “recreated” the Paterson footage. And concluded, based on this “recreation” that the Paterson Bigfoot was a fake.

Ridiculous, as CryptoZoology.com pointed out, as well as Cryptomundo blog.

Craig Woolheater on Hostile Deniers

A good entry by Craig Woolheater of Cryptomundo, about those “skeptics” or those in denial about Bigfoot. Woolheater gives a lot of talks on Bigfoot; and while he has overwhelming positive responses, there are the more hostile ones as well.

One point that struck me was the following, where Woolheater discusses the anger and hostility of one skeptic, which seemed to go beyond just disagreement:

My friend was perplexed by the anger displayed by someone who was obviously highly-educated, yet extremely unreasonable.

I’ve experienced this many times myself. (This weird anger has, in a couple of cases, gone so far as these kinds of so-called “skeptics” harassing me, “cyber stalking” me, threats, etc.)

It’s a highly interesting phenomena, this over the top hostility that often comes with discussing “fringe” topics.

Review of Redfern's Man-Monkey!

Monster! The A-Zooform Phenomena blog (title of blog author’s book)

reviews Nick Redfern’s Man-Monkey. This is a book I have to get for two reasons: one, it’s by Redfern, so that’s the only reason I need, and two, it’s about Man Monkey! A strange “bigfoot” like creature with glowing eyes that haunts the UK. It’s one of those regional crypto tales that I find so intriguing and delicious.

"Invisible Bigfoot" thread on skeptic forum

Aside from a fantastically long running thread on Bigfoot on the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) forum, (for those who don’t know, uber “skeptic” site) there’s another thread about Bigfoot over there. This one’s titled:
Bigfoot,the Invisible Variety.

Bob Dylan and Bigfoot Hunters

The juxtaposition of Bob Dylan and Bigfoot, on Cryptomundo, in

Woods Full of Armed Bigfoot Hunters?

From Blogsquatcher: Hoaxing hoaxers

Blogsquatcher has a good piece:

Hoaxes and the hoaxers who hoax them.

Wanoga Butte, Oregon 1957: Bigfoot Impervious to Shots

Living in the Pacific Northwest (Lane County, Oregon) I’m particularly interested in Bigfoot, UFO and other Fortean events in the area. This is one from Wanoga Butte, Oregon, dated 1957, from John Keel’s Mysterious Beings:

Both were hunting, and had just shot a deer. Before they could get to it, a 9 foot tall, hairy creature walked into the clearing, and picked the deer up, and carried it off under its arm. Joanis, annoyed about losing his deer, fired several shots with his 30.06 into the creatures back, but the creature never stopped walking. However, it did emit a "strange whistling scream". Present witnesses were Greg Pointer, Roger True, Tom Thompson, Carl & Jim Franklin, John McKnight, Alvin Anderson, Selby Green, Roger Howard, Bob McDonald, Ron Blackburn all witness an 8-ft, whitish-gray Bigfoot

I find the “whitish gray Bigfoot” and “impervious to gunshot” very interesting. It seems there’s a particular aura of high strangeness involving white Bigfoot; it might just be the folklore concerning their color -- after all, high strangeness involves Bigfoot of all colors -- or something odder. (I also find it curious Joanis was seemingly more annoyed at losing the deer, rather than being amazed at seeing a Bigfoot.)

Wanoga Butte is in the Deschutes National Forest, in Deschutes County in Central Oregon. There’s a lookout there; The Wanoga Butte Lookout, built in 1932. According to one source, the lookout is the “most endangered historic lookout in America.”

In FATE: Old Yellow Top

Excerpts from Old Yellow Top, by Andrew Hind and Maria da Silva in the October issue of FATE magazine can be read here. Interesting item about sightings in Ontario, going back to the nineteen twenties.

In July 1923, two prospectors, experienced woodsmen by the names of J. A. MacAuley and Lorne Wilson, were taking test samples of their mining claims northeast of Wettlaufer Mine near Cobalt when they saw what initially looked to be a bear feasting in a blueberry patch. With courage that bordered on recklessness, Mr. Wilson threw a stone at the animal.

Its response was immediate and terrifying. The creature, no bear, stood up to its full seven feet and, baring its teeth, let out an ear-piercing roar of defiance. It was like nothing either man had ever heard before, a dreadful sound that melted courage and left these grown men quaking in terror. They ran, and didn’t stop until they reached the safety of town.

“It sure looked like no bear I have ever seen,” said Mr. Wilson to a reporter from the North Bay Nugget. “Its head was kind of yellow and the rest of it was like a bear, covered in hair.”

From the BlogSquatcher: Bigfoot Epistemology

Another good post from the BlogSquatcher, this one on a Bigfoot Epistemology. Blogsquatcher (for I don’t see a name anywhere on the blog) has given us a list and definitions of the types of Bigfoot “beliefs” and researchers. Of the Bigfoot is an ape theory he writes:

Bigfoot is an Ape – These folks follow from the earliest investigators, notably John Green and Grover Krantz. They hold that bigfoot is a real creature somehow related to modern apes. They have almost universally held to scientific materialism in their writing. The difference between them and Extreme Skeptics is their exposure to and openness to evidence. Note that this viewpoint doesn’t spring from physical evidence. This is the crowd that supports the idea of bigfoot descending from Gigantopithecus, without any real physical evidence to support this theory (beyond the size of bigfoot).

I think Lisa Shiel and some others would agree.

BlogSquatcher has parsed the “paranormal bigfoot” theories into distinctive categories. Instead of the sort of catch all “paranormal bigfoot” he’s divided these ideas into Paranormal, Inter-dimensional, UFOs, etc.

It’s clear from this post and others the BlogSquatcher knows his or her stuff.

Washington State Sasquatch Exhibit

Olympia, Washington is hosting a Sasquatch exhibition at its Capitol Museum:
Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch" The exhibit will be there for a year.

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.

Bigfoot Blog; Ape Canyon and more

The Anomalist a link to a "relatively new" bigfoot blog called The Blogsquatcher. (good name.) I haven't had time to read what's over there yet but take a look. I'm looking foward to reading his entry on Ape Canyon.

Lisa Shiel: Bigfoot is Paranormal: Get Over It

Lisa Shiel, Bigfoot Quest blog, is succint in explaining why Bigfoot is paranormal.

Seeing Bigfoot From Space?

I was going to title this "Bigfoot From Space" then I realized that'd give the wrong impression. This time I'm not talking about the idea of Bigfoot coming from space, but seeing Bigfoot from space, as well as other cryptids.

Benjamin Radford is an arch skeptic. He’s one of the standards that appears on UFO, Bigfoot and other Fortean documentaries; like Michael Shermer and Joe Nickell, Radford appears on these programs to offer us their reasons on why bigfoot, or UFOs, or abductions, etc. don’t exist.

Radford’s recent article for Live Science: Satellite Searches Could Spot Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, offers the suggestion that satellites could prove these creatures existence.

He acknowledge the difficulty of finding a Bigfoot in “heavily wooded areas” but comments that:

While satellites would be of limited use in heavily wooded areas, Bigfoot creatures have been reported in many places with relatively little forest, including Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Texas and Arizona. A single 12-foot Bigfoot may or may not be hard to spot, but a family of them would be easier to find

He then makes a weird turn on the logic train:

Of course, if such searches are done and still reveal no solid proof of the monsters' existence, few minds will be changed. Diehard believers can always claim that all the monstrous beasts somehow hid undetected or are masters at camouflage. Or the searchers didn't look long enough or in the right places. It only takes one live or dead Bigfoot or lake monster to forever prove that they exist, but no amount of failed searches will ever prove they don't.

Well, if a satellite search doesn’t turn up a Sasquatch -- “twelve foot” tall or not -- that doesn’t prove anything. It’s only data: a search was done by satellites, nothing found. The conclusion that “there is no Bigfoot” is merely interpretation of that data. An assumption that none exists. It isn't proof it doesn't exist.

I recall seeing footage of some kind of giant snake (anacondas?) on some documentary af few years ago. They were filmed from the air, and these things were huge. There they were; on film, and even so, denial of exactly what they were, how big they “really” were, and so on, continued. Pretty amazing stuff, this footage, and yet it slowly sank from the cultural milieu. Now if you bring up “giant anaconda’s” you’re treated like a kook. (We also have film footage of Big Cats and there's still debate on that.)

So, if we spend the money on satellite searches for Bigfoot and other cryptids, and we do get images of these creatures then what?

Will further argument about their existence cease? Will all the thousands of witnesses be vindicated? Will the pathological skeptics and debunkers apologize to those they’ve insulted, and worse, once it’s shown there “really is” a Bigfoot?

I’m not against any kind of satellite search for these creatures. I just don’t care. For those that have seen them, they have the proof. For others, like myself who’ve never seen a cryptid, that’s okay. I’m fine with it. I tend to think they exist, but if it’s somehow proven they don’t (and how can that ever be proven?) okay. And if it’s proven they do, I’ll have mixed emotions.

On the one hand, it’ll be nice to know, and everyone can relax. But it will also lead to all kinds of issues about protection of the species and its environment. We’ll also have questions and controversies surrounding the new question: “Okay, we know it exists, but just what exactly is it? Which leads to the possibility of killing one for study, something I am absolutely against.

I find it a little topsy turvy that an industrial strength skeptic like Radford would urge satellite searches for Bigfoot and other cryptids. On the one hand, he dismisses such “beliefs” with typical scofftoid aplomb. On the other, he considers using high technology to search for the things. What does he want to do with such knowledge if one of these cryptids is found? Would he be okay with further study, including expeditions to kill one?

I think those skeptics who dismiss the possible reality of Bigfoot and other creatures, yet suggest ways to look for the things (like the use of satellites and so on) need to take another step forward and tell us what they think they'll do with such knowledge, er, "proof" if one is ever found. It'd be interesting to know where they stand on such issues. Do they support a kill policy? Work towards protection of habitats? That's a good question for all concerened, skeptic or not.

Thanks to Lisa Shiel of Bigfoot Quest and Nick Redfern, There’s Something in the Woods. Lisa has a poll right now about science searching for Bigfoot.

Yeti tracks sold

Cyrptomundo has an item on the Yeti tracks just sold.

Bigfoot Dream

Had a dream I saw Bigfoot. The dream was all mixed up with work place stuff, home stuff; something about cleaning out an old storage/garage kind of structure with one of the new teachers where I work. This shed like thing was right next to my house. Behind both the shed and the house was where the woods started.

There was a crowd of people here, all helping to clean out this thing. Suddenly the teacher “yells’ but in a stage whisper: “Get back! Everyone get back!” and motions us with her arms outwards, while she’s stepping backwards. We all move back a little, and she points to the dark wooded area.

At first I see a couple of tall, black (in shadow) birds, like wild turkeys or pheasants. Then I see a Bigfoot; a tall, dark figure striding across, off to the right. I am amazed, and awed. I’m not frightened, but a bit nervous. After all, it’s a Bigfoot! A little respect here, please. It knows we’re all here, we’re all looking at it, but it doesn’t care. It just wants to get to where it’s going.

In this dream, I am so ecstatic over seeing such a creature. It’s unbelievable. No doubt at all, at all, that it was exactly what it was; a Bigfoot. It just was, end of story.

And in the dream, I had the thought that I was damn glad there were plenty of other witnesses, because if I had been alone and seen it, who’d have believed me? Here, about fifty people saw the creature.

I run onto my porch to see if I can follow the Bigfoot; sure enough, he comes around the back and down along the side. There’s a cyclone fence between the other side of my house and the Bigfoot. I watch him walk off, he disappears from sight as he walks between the houses across the street.

I’m so excited I run down the street a couple of blocks to the town, where there are buses, etc. I run around like a crazy person, asking everyone I see, “You saw it, didn’t you? I know you did, you were there!” and they say “Yes, we did, it’s true.”

Later, I go back to my porch to see if I can see Bigfoot again. I see him! I’m so damn excited; then realize, no, it’s not a Bigfoot, it’s a teenager in a hooded sweatshirt. He’s imitating Bigfoot! My first response is anger, how dare he pull off this hoax?! Then I realize, somehow “know” that he didn't’ hoax a thing, that was a real Bigfoot all right. This kid is just trying to protect Bigfoot by acting like him. Which doesn’t make sense, but it was a dream, after all, and dreams have their own logic.

I call out to the kid, good naturally, that I’m on to him. He turns and smiles sheepishly at me and hurries on.

POLL on Bigfoot Quest

Lisa Shiel of Bigfoot Quest has a poll about a UFO/Bigfoot connection. Cast your vote!

Bigfoot, Shapeshiting, Etc., etc.

My recent piece: When Entities Collide on UFO Digest, on BF, shapeshifting, faery, etc.

Hot on the trail of the elusive Big Foot

My people believe in Sasquatch. We do not require proof because we know he exists'

HARRISON LAKE, B.C.–Nepal has the Yeti. Scotland has the Loch Ness Monster. North America has the Sasquatch.

Sightings of these legendary creatures provoke fierce debate. Are they hoaxes, figments of overactive imaginations, culturally based metaphorical symbols or are they real?

Hoping to find an answer, we're sitting in Sasquatch Tours' high-speed jet boat on Harrison Lake, a two-hour drive east of Vancouver. The four-hour tour teaches about Chehalis' culture, highlighting their belief in the elusive Sasquatch, and includes a trip down Harrison River to a group of rare pictograms.

We gaze at the snow-capped, forested mountains ringing the lake while Sasquatch Tours' owner-operator Willie Charlie welcomes us to his Chehalis homeland.

Accompanying himself on a drum, his song reverberates along the 60-kilometre-long lake. It's a blue-sky day, and the drumbeat, songs and mountain views transport us to the realm of magic and mystery.

Rest here.