Parallels in West Virginia Story to Creature of Conser Lake

This is from About.com, 2005: Creature at Secluded Cabin,by Neal Everett. This encounter took place in southwest Virginia. The following description of the Bigfoot like creature parallels "Flix," the "Ghost in Conser Lake, Oregon sightings in the early 1960s. From Everett's article, this description of the creature:

Your True Tales - November 2005 - Story of the Month - Creature at Secluded Cabin: What I saw next still baffles me. At my truck there was a creature standing upright, about 7 feet tall with huge claws on its "hands." It had white hair that was almost gray, but I couldn't really see its eyes. It seemed to be searching around the bed of my truck and was paying no attention to the now-frantic dog. When the lights first came on, it did nothing but continue its search, but it then looked up at the deck.

By now I was frozen in horror and it turned around and made eye contact with me. It then made a horrible screeching sound, almost as if it was in terror from the sight of me. At first it seemed as if it was going to charge at me and climb the steps onto the deck. But then in a terrorized rage it made another screech and "sprinted" away. It ran upright and its claws almost went past its knees.

I've been studying the Conser Lake story for some time. Here's a description of the creature from an article I wrote for Oregon L.O.W.F.I.:

Path leading to Conser Lake photo: Regan Lee

Mrs. Penning in Devers-Conner, about 30 miles south of Millersburg, told Betty Westby she heard “dripping sounds,” even though it was August. It is interesting that Mrs. Penning described the “dripping” sound; remember that Flix’s footsteps were also described as “squishy.” Looking out her living room window she saw a “large, light form,” hurrying away, and heard a “low pitched cry that seems to start from its toes, tapering off to a squeal like a pig’s.” Penning also fond fingerprints on her bedroom window, and Westby spectacled that they were web shaped, due to the four fingered, spread-out shape of the prints.

Three years later, the story of the Creature of Conser Lake was still news. In an article by Martin Clark, Albany Journal staff writer, he comments on writer Keith Sosebe’s upcoming talk on the “monster.”
Leaping from the shadow of a deep gully, the thing stood fully 7 feet tall in the ghostly moonlight. Petrified with mingled horror and curiosity, the young people sat motionless in their car. Suddenly, the apparition took at enormous leap over the gully and slipped away trough a tangle of boughs.”

Cryptozoologist and biologist Ivan T. Sanderson discussed the Conser Lake monster briefly in his book Abominable Snowmen:Legend Come to Life, citing a small item that appeared in the January, 1961 edition of FATE magazine, reporting that the “monster” was “still on the loose.” Sanderson also writes in Abominable Snowmen that a source wrote Sanderson in October of 1960, insisting that there was not only the one Flix, but several “Flixes” in the area. According to Sanderson’s unnamed friend, there were more than one BHM, several in fact, and fingerprint as well as footprint casts were taken. Referring to Flix, the letter writer described the creature:

he makes extremely high pitched sounds. his hair or fur had slight glow in the dark . . .feet make a squishy sound. Has been seen at day and night and seen to disappear into the lake.”

From another post of mine on the creature at Oregon L.O.W.F.I.:

Conser Lake, OR photo: Regan Lee

The creature was called the “Creature of Conser Lake,” also the “Ghost of Conser Lake” (because of its white color) . . . Reported as a bigfoot type creature; about seven feet tall, bipedal, white shaggy fur, . . . a Millersburg truck driver was understandably startled to find a white, shaggy furred bigfoot type creature trotting along beside his truck as he was driving down the road. The driver, a mint farmer, was going about 35 miles an hour; the creature was easily keeping pace with the moving vehicle. . . Flix was Bigfoot like in many ways, yet there were other characteristics described by witnesses that are strange. Flix was said to have claws and or webbed feet and hands and cat like ears.

Bigfoot - A Zoologist's Perspective: IF There Is A "Daisy" Is He/She Dead?

Nadia Moore has been blogging interesting things about what's going on in Bigfoot world lately: Dr. Ketchum, etc. Here's a disturbing account about "Daisy" the supposed captured (supposed) Sasquatch. Supposedly. Bigfoot - A Zoologist's Perspective: IF There Is A "Daisy" Is He/She Dead?

Phantoms and Monsters: Paranormal Activity, Bigfoot, Mothman, UFOs and Other Unexplained Phenomena

As an added commentary to the post below about Dr. Ketchum's research,I'm posting the link to Lon Strikler's article at Phantoms and Monsters on the Coast to Coast interview with Ketchum. (And, like Lon, I too have a lot of respect for George Knapp.)

Phantoms and Monsters: Paranormal Activity, Bigfoot, Mothman, UFOs and Other Unexplained Phenomena: I am also frustrated...by the conjecture and rumors whipped up by a large number of Bigfoot researchers and enthusiasts, not the DNA study. Knapp also states:

The most vehement, the nastiest reaction to the aforementioned [Bigfoot] DNA study has come from those that think of themselves as Bigfoot researchers.


I have read a few responses to the C2C interview, many of which claim Knapp is an apologist for Dr. Melba Ketchum and the DNA study. Once again, we have someone who is privy to Dr. Ketchum's results and criticized for defending the study.

These salvos by Bigfoot dogmatics are clearly a 'push back' against those who are willing to have an open mind and not afraid to speak out.

Why is (almost) Everyone Giving Dr. Melba Ketchum a Hard Time?

Listened to some of last night's Coast to Coast with host George Knapp and guest Dr. Ketchum. And if what she says is true, as to her diligence with testing, then why is she getting so much flack from many in Bigfoot Land? Such flack from science, well, sadly that's no surprise. Sciences' blindness to the existence of Bigfoot and the data is horribly frustrating and a mystery but, to be expected.  Why, though, are some in the Bigfoot world attacking her? I think she's been coy in the past, a bit, but overall, look. She's trying to do something. She's sent samples out to several labs. She's looking at the DNA. She's used blind studies. She has a variety of samples, not just one strand of elk hair. All this costs money, a lot of money. Finding labs to do the work is a huge job. Scientists have turned her down once they get wind that her research is Bigfoot research. According to Ketchum, one scientist threatened to sue her and her team if they used his findings; that's how angry he was over the subject of her research -- and how afraid he remains of being associated in any way with Bigfoot research.


Knapp asked her about her insistence that those she's discussed her research with sign disclosure statements. (Knapp himself signed one.) Ketchum explained that it's important to keep the data as uncontaminated as possible.

Then there's the infamous "peer reviewed" journal citation that gives any researcher the cred they need to be accepted in mainstream science and academia. It's a crazy loop: you have to be accepted by the very types of individuals who think you're nuts to be doing this kind of research in the first place, so you're not going to be accepted. Not having been accepted, your research is nothing. If her research isn't accepted into an accepted scientific journal, she's out. So is the star of this thing: Bigfoot.

So, given all this, why is Dr. Melba Ketchum --despite her possible missteps involving communication or style -- being treated badly by some in cryptozoology?

One possible answer to that is the uneasiness among some researchers that Bigfoot might be human, or far more human like, than those researchers have presumed. Some Bigfoot researchers have no problem with promoting a kill -- "for science" they tell us -- or thinking of Bigfoot as a big ape. Or some kind of animal. (Forgetting that we, too are animals.) Bigfoot is intelligent, very cool, what a find! but in the end, "just" an animal.

Many witnesses who've encountered Bigfoot speak of the eerie human qualities of the "creature" and as we know, many have tales to tell of spiritual and paranormal events within those encounters. These aspects of Bigfoot encounters sometimes don't go over very well with the more pragmatic Bigfoot researcher. Are they afraid that somewhere along the line, Ketchum's research presents clues or evidence of "more" here?

Ketchum said in last night's interview that if she is rejected by peer reviewed journals she'll put it out to the public. That would be fantastic, but also a cruelly frustrating gift, since it will be ignored by science.

Rain and White Danskos

I'm at work. My recurring dreamscape of an elementary school that's also, in some ways, a small college on a woodsy campus. It's raining outside, but very pretty. Large open lawns and glistening green trees beyond. In one of the large and sunny (even though it's raining) classrooms, full of kids ages seven to twelve or so. Very informal, lots of students, probably around forty, and they're sprawled out, on the floor, etc. Very easy and casual. My supervisor invites one of the college teachers to come in and talk about Bigfoot. She's excited because she knows of my interest and research.

Well, he comes in, and he's a debunker. He not only is mocking but he's actually outright lying. One thing to disbelieve that Bigfoot exists, another to just lie about the research and make things up to get your point across. He has a chart he's made and all kinds of things but he's, simply, lying. He has the kids attention all right which annoys the hell out of me. I don't know what to say because I don't want to lose my job but on the other hand, he's lying. 

At the end I tell my supervisor he's a liar, and she says she knows, and I'll have a chance. But it doesn't come fast enough, I need to tell everyone now what the facts are. We all run outside, in the rain, for some reason. Something about having to leave the building. I, and many of the instructors, are wearing white -- some in white lab coats, or white pants, outfits. My shoes are patent leather white Danskos. (I have a pair of red patent leather ones.) I look down and think, in a lucid moment, "Wow, I don't think they really make white patent leather Danskos! I can't decide if they're really cool or very ugly. I should find out when I wake up."

So we're running around, slipping on the wet grass, in white, while I'm trying to give my presentation on Bigfoot.

One thing I realized about this dream is the water element. Another Bigfoot dream where there is water. What that means, no idea. But a recurring image in dreams is important.

My Blog - By The Lake Worth Monster: July 10 1969 - Fort Worth Star Telegram

Some silliness with dead links about the Goatman. Always a favorite.My Blog - By The Lake Worth Monster: July 10 1969 - Fort Worth Star Telegram

thomsquatch: Finding Bigfoot by Blimp: Really?

I agree with Thom Powell, who respectfully disagrees with the find Bigfoot via blimp plan. One reason being, the idea of Sasquatch as "just" a big ape:

thomsquatch: Finding Bigfoot by Blimp: Really?: On the other hand, the text on the Falcon Project website repeatedly refers to the sasquatch as the North American Ape. Yikes! Granted, we are all, technically, apes. I get that, too. But as a matter of strategic planning, it seems to me a fundamental flaw, a deal breaker, really, to regard the sasquatch as any kind of ape, especially in the intelligence department. Rule number one of any adversarial engagement: Never underestimate your opponent.
For the sake of the success of the Falcon Project, I hope I am wrong in my assesment of sasquatch intelligence, even though I don't think so. Still, I have always encouraged each and every bigfoot researcher to develop their own hypothesis about what was going on, and then put it to the test. I know plenty of folks who, even at this late stage of the game, are still trying to 'bait the ape.'

Phantoms and Monsters: Paranormal Activity, Bigfoot, Mothman, UFOs and Other Unexplained Phenomena

Lon Strickler on Ketchum's research and how it might apply to paranormal Bigfoot:Phantoms and Monsters: Paranormal Activity, Bigfoot, Mothman, UFOs and Other Unexplained Phenomena

George Knapp: I’m dreaming of a Bigfoot Christmas | Las Vegas CityLife

Exciting article by one of my favorite paranormal journalists, George Knapp, on Ketchum's research:George Knapp: I’m dreaming of a Bigfoot Christmas | Las Vegas CityLife.

I'm not surprised by the rejection and mocking from Big Science, but there's a lot of it going on in Bigfoot Land as well. I have problems with Ketchum's coyness but in the end, she was trying to do something. Maybe it isn't much, or even anything. Point is, she's tried, regardless of weaknesses and naivety.

Knapp writes:

The only reason I am able to say anything about the study is that Dr. Ketchum unwisely responded a few weeks ago to a spurious report from a Russian scientist about the findings. Ketchum confirmed that she has overseen the analysis of dozens of hair samples collected at the sites of alleged Bigfoot sightings. Those people who do not want the study to be true and don’t want to wait for results to be verified have teed off on Ketchum, have carved up her study, and have made it almost impossible for anyone to take the results seriously, even though not one of the critics have seen the actual data. Dr. Ketchum insists that a major science journal is concluding a rigorous review of her work and will publish the paper once the process is completed. I am not holding my breath.

Here is what I can say legally, now that Ketchum has lifted the cone of silence: Scores of hair samples were sent to a dozen well-respected DNA labs across the country. The people at the labs weren’t told anything about the samples. They performed DNA analysis in the blind, then sent the remarkable findings back to Ketchum. I’ll put it this way — this is spooky stuff. The results are unequivocal: The hairs are not only from an unknown species, but they show a common link to humans. In other words, whatever these creatures are, they share a common ancestry with humans dating back about 15,000 years. Half of the DNA in the samples is simply unknown. The blind tests conducted by various labs weeded out known species such as bears or wolves. And in the end, they were left with the completely uncomfortable conclusion that the hairs came from a primate species previously unknown to science.

That is big news, and why isn't it bigger? I hear crickets chirping over there in Science Land.

You all know I love what Knapp writes here:

Since Dr. Ketchum made her premature defense of the study, responding to unfortunate leaks, an army of armchair critics have already dismissed the results without waiting to see the actual data. That’s not the way science is supposed to work, but it is exactly how modern science operates. It’s as much a religion as Catholicism or Mormonism, and anything that falls outside the accepted scriptures must be ridiculed.

A side question that's sort of the elephant in the room, at least for some of us: if physical proof is to be had that proves Bigfoot as a biological creature upon the earth, what of the "paranormal" aspect? Ah, that's another post for another day. :)

Don't Squish the Sasquatch! - Boing Boing

Don't Squish the Sasquatch! - Boing Boing

Author Kent Redeker tells the tales of a green sasquatch who boards a bus and begs the driver (Mr. Blobule) not to allow passengers on board who might squish him.The driver tries his best to comply with the sasquatch's request, but the subsequent passengers -- an elephant shark, an octo-rhino, a goat-whale, etc. -- are so voluminous they quickly crowd the bus and send the sasquatch into a fit. This being a children's story, it ends well for everyone. (Boing Boing)

thomsquatch: The Best Bigfoot Book of 2012

Thom Powell reviews Lori and Dustin Chandler's Visitors in the Twilight. I have to get this book!

thomsquatch: The Best Bigfoot Book of 2012: Mind you, it's not a book for everyone. If you are a dyed-in-the-wool advocate of the position that Bigfoot is an undiscovered wood ape, you should definitely avoid this book. If, on the other hand, you are open to the idea of sasquatches being habituated to certain humans, this book is a definite case history to support that possibility. If you are troubled by the idea that the sasquatch phenomenon may be somehow related to other 'paranormal' phenomena, especially extraterrestrials, you will hate this book. Frankly, the fact that co-authors Lori and Dustin Chandler courageously took on that issue is one reason why I found Visitors in the Twilight to be so unique and interesting.

A Rant About a Rave

Finding Bigfoot. Didn't see it. Really have no right to judge if I haven't seen it. But, having seen several past episodes from both seasons,  I can make the safe assumption that holding a "rave" in the woods is very stupid in general, and even more stupid in particular, if one is hoping Bigfoot will stop by.

Forgetting Bigfoot for the moment, what about the other creatures of the woods? Do you think they want bozos raving in the middle of the night? Jesus flippin' Christ, show some respect!

SkeptiWatch: JREF: BF and Other Cryptid Hoaxes

A Bigfoot thread at the JREF just keeps going . . . SkeptiWatch: JREF: BF and Other Cryptid Hoaxes

Bigfoot Thread at the JREF: 'Does the BFRO (and other BF researchers) talk people into seeing Bigfoot?'

As some readers of this blog and my other blogs -- like SkeptiWatch-- might know, I've been intrigued by the excess of Bigfoot threads on the James Randi forum. I've lost literal count ages ago, but it's something like 400 separate threads discussing Bigfoot. Okay, so it's not 400. But it's a flipping lot. At last count it was around 35. Here's the latest: Does the BFRO (and other BF researchers) talk people into seeing Bigfoot? - JREF Forum

I've never seen a Bigfoot, but if I were to see one, I'd be pretty damn sure that I did, indeed, see one, and that no one "talked me into it." Maybe it's because of my life long experiences with UFOs and other paranormal phenomena that keeps me so damn interested in witness accounts of their Bigfoot encounters. As with UFOs and ghosts, when you see something that is so absolutely there, and so absolutely not "normal", you damn well know it. No one has to talk me into anything.

The OP at the forum makes use of the expected debunker-skeptoid arsenal: accusations of BF witnesses feeling special because they've seen Bigfoot and you haven't. (The same tactic is used to marginalize UFO witnesses.) Leading the witness; as in:

"...say you heard a noise you couldn't ID out in the woods. You mention it to a friend, who says, dude, maybe it was a Bigfoot, you should contact the BFRO (or whatever Bigfoot org. is handiest). So you do, and they ask you all kinds of leading Qs until you start to feel really special, like you're one of the witnesses or whatevr they call them, that's it, the KNOWERS. You are now a KNOWER and think maybe that's really what it was. You now feel very special.

(Er, "...witnesses or whatever they call them" ???)

While it's true there are those that think every unusual sound is a "Squatch" or UFOs by definition mean "aliens from outer space" but really, let's move on from that given and get to the actual phenomena.

And that's the latest from the good ol' JREF.