Meets The Weird » Cryptozoology

Killing Bigfoot

John D — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:10:21 +0000

There has been a bit of a flap going on in the Bigfoot hunting community regarding a research opening fire on a Sasquatch during a field investigation. While I want to come back to the particular incident later, this event has served to cast a spotlight on an issue that divides the Bigfoot research community. On one side, you have the no-kill researchers who are completely opposed to any attempt to kill a Sasquatch. Other researchers, however, feel that a specimen must be taken to further the study of the creature. Looking at this one issue, the two groups couldn’t seem to be any more different in their goals, but they both want the same thing. Both pro-kill and no-kill researchers ultimately want to protect the Sasquatch and their habitat.

While no-kill research is important to understanding Sasquatch and how it lives, ultimately a specimen will have to be taken to have the species formally classified and accepted by the mainstream scientific community. While unfortunate, this is the process by which new species are identified. Without formal identification there is no way that Sasquatch or its habitat will have any hope of receiving protection under the law. Especially considering that protecting Bigfoot, in its natural habitat, will have a significant impact on the multi-billion dollar lumber industry. There can be no controversy regarding the existence of Sasquatch that could be leveraged by the lumber industry to limit or prevent habitat preservation efforts. As saddening as the unnatural death of a Bigfoot would be, the simple fact is that its sacrifice would benefit the rest of its species.

That being said, I hardly think that every Sasquatch researcher that sets foot in the woods should head out looking to bag a Bigfoot. If a Bigfoot is taken, it needs to be done humanely as possible AND in a way that allows the scientific community a viable sample to be used for classification. Ideally, a team looking to collect a Sasquatch specimen should include an experienced marksman/hunter armed with a weapon that will allow a clean kill with minimal tissue damage. The last thing Bigfoot and the Bigfoot research community needs is an animal being taken in a way that makes its remains useless. That would be a horrific waste and is inexcusable. Additionally, if an expedition intends to take a sample for classification they need to be very clear of their intentions with whomever is granting them access to the property they are hunting on. If a landowner does not want a Sasquatch killed on their property for whatever reason, that is well within their rights. Ignoring this would endanger all Bigfoot research as private land owners may become less likely to allow any researcher on their land for fear of it being turned into a shooting gallery in spite of their wishes.

photo by Ed Siasoco

This brings us back to the incident in question. This past July a team member performing an investigation with Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy opened fire on a Sasquatch while on the land of one Charles Branson. While this particular event has become somewhat of a black-eye for the Bigfoot community, there is quite a bit that can be taken away from it for future expeditions. Foremost, it would seem that Mr. Branson was unaware of the groups intent to take a specimen for analysis. Had the group been upfront about their intentions, Mr. Branson could have easily either rescinded his permission to access his property or made clear that agreeing to not harm any Sasquatch was required to access his property. Secondly, according to the account released by TBRC the individual who opened fire on the Bigfoot with a shotgun, “firing all the rounds in rapid succession”. The landowner’s nephew was on the property at the time of the shooting and he believed the gunfire he heard to have been from a “machine gun”. Ignoring any other issues (including possible safety implications), witness reports like this paint Bigfoot hunters who would like to collect a specimen in a bad light, making them out to be crazed Yosemite Sam types who would shoot down a whole forest in the hopes of hitting a bigfoot. Hopefully the community as a whole can learn from the mistakes made by the TBRC team and move forward better prepared to secure the future of the Sasquatch species.

Ultimately, it is up to each individual Bigfoot researcher to decide whether they want to be involved with the potential killing of a Sasquatch. It is perfectly fine for a researcher to decide that they want to focus their research on observing Bigfoot in their natural habitat without doing any harm to the creatures. Hopefully researchers who make this choice will acknowledge the benefit collecting a Sasquatch specimen will bring to the field and not attempt to prevent that from happening. Ultimately, this misguided “protection” could end up hurting the entire Bigfoot population. On the same token, researchers who choose to attempt collecting a Sasquatch specimen need to ensure they conduct themselves in the most professional manor and are beyond reproach in their methods or they risk damaging no only their own reputation, but the reputation of the entire community as well.

Major Update: TBRC Admits To Shooting

Yet Another Chicago Mothman Sighting Reported

John D — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:20:49 +0000

It would seem that the bat-like Chicago Mothman that we have been following for the last week has made yet another appearance. Here we have a report submitted to the UFO Clearinghouse (unedited):

“I am currently attending university in Chicago , Illinois and I wanted to respond to the informational flyers about recent events involving the large bat-like creatures. I was enjoying an evening with my girlfriend and taking a well deserved break from my studies. We decided to go out and enjoy the unusually warm weather that we were having and go for a walk. As we walked toward a community park near the campus, we were talking about our classes when a commotion amongst a group of people caught our attention. As we looked toward the group of about 4-5 people, something caught my eye and I looked up to see this thing fly overhead.

It looked like a man; it looked like a man with wings! He flew about 10-12 feet above us and was perfectly silhouetted against the evening sky. In all honesty, it looked like an immensely oversized Sugar Glider, the kind I would see back home in Tasmania . It had the rough shape of a sugar glider, but its eyes were nothing like the soft eyes of a glider. They glowed red! We saw it for about 4 seconds before it disappeared from view. At first I thought I saw a man in a hang glider, but it was those bloody eyes that made me thing otherwise!

I at first thought of ringing someone, but I didn’t want them to think I had gone crazy. To say that I was Gobsmacked would have been an understatement”

As one commenter on UFO Clearinghouse stated, the report seems a little “overwritten”, but I am not as quick to immediately write it off as a hoax as the commenter is (though I am not about to accept it as gospel either). There are some people who just happen write/talk in an overly flowery manner for a number of reasons. It is troubling that the report while so full of “detail” seems to lack any real detail of the encounter like where or when it occurred. It is possible that those details are missing because the encounter never happened. I also think that it is possible, especially if more cowardice was involved in the encounter that the witness is willing to admit, that he may not be sure where or when the encounter happened and the extra fluff is an attempt to compensate for the details he is to proud to admit. If the Chicago Mothman is becoming a “thing” we do need to become more mindful of hoaxes as the awareness of the phenomena grows. Unfortunately, we will see false reports from skeptics poking fun at investigators and from everyday people who just want to be a part of the excitement. Hopefully more witnesses will come forward and help to corroborate these Mothman sightings.

Another sighting report of the Chicago/UIC Mothman

New Chicago Mothman Evidence Emerges

John D — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:05:04 +0000

Earlier this week we reported on possible Mothman/bat-like creature sighting in the University Park area of Chicago. Yesterday, photo evidence of a similar type creature was submitted to the MUFON database. Taken September 22, 2011 on the corner of 63rd St. and Pulaski Rd. by an individual using a HTC Sensation 4G to photograph the large indian statue that sits on the building at the northwest corner of the intersection (apparently, when viewed from this particular angle the statue’s left thumb sticks out giving the illusion that his “totem pole” is showing). At home, the photographer reviewed the images and noticed a black object in one of the photos just to the left of the indian (enhanced with 4x magnification to the left). Upon enlarging the image, he noticed that the object appeared to be some sort of large bat like creature.

Examining what appears to be the original image, there does not appear to be any obvious fakery/photoshopping (though I will be the first to admit that I am no expert in image forensics). This leads me to believe that the bat-like object was in fact present when the photo was taken. This leaves us to consider where the object was in relation to the camera. Was it closer than the cars in the foreground, making is relatively small, or was it beyond the indian statue (which would make it quite large)? Unfortunately, there is no good frame of reference for us to really judge size by. However, in the original image, the “creature” appears sharp and focused, as does the indian, satellite dish and street lamp. Most likely since the photo’s true subject (the indian) was so far away, the camera was set to infinite focus. This means that anything over a certain distance from the lens should appear, more or less, in focus. Since the object is more or less in focus, I am led to believe that it is in fact positioned at a equal or greater distance from the camera as the foreground cars and is quite large. The fact that the witness did not notice the creature at the time the photo was taken would seem to support this hypothesis.

Could then, if this photo is not a hoax, the creature in this photo be the the same one spotted by multiple witnesses eight days later in Miller Park? The two locations are only separated by approximately 7 miles and in the photo the creature seems to be flying away from the camera (assuming a bat-like anatomy), which was facing North Northeast, which happens to in the direction of the second sighting. If neither report is a hoax, then it seems it would be safe to assume that the creature in this photo is at least the same type of creature (if not the same one) that was later spotted in the University Park area. This only leaves one question, what exactly has taken to the skies above Chicago? Is the windy city the latest host of a Mothman or is the bat-like creature something else entirely?

Photo: 2nd Mothman / Bat-Like Object Witnessed Over Chicago

Possible Mothman Sighting In Chicago, Illinois [September 30, 2011]

John D — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:00:14 +0000

[UPDATED] It looks as if a Mothman may have paid a visit to the Windy City. According to witness reports a large bat-like creature with glowing red eyes was spotted in the University Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois on Friday, September 30th 2011. Witnesses spotted the creature, which they estimated to be 6 to 7 feet tall, perched on a basketball hoop in Miller Park. When it took off, the heard an audible “whoosh” as it beat its wings. Nearby two female witnesses were moved to hysterics when they spotted a pair of glowing red eyes peering in the window. Researchers have identified multiple witness and are currently investigating the incident.

If the creature that was spotted in Chicago was a Mothman, could there be a tragedy in the city’s future? If we are to believe the historic sightings of the Mothman, it very well may be. After the 1966 and 1967 sightings in Point Pleasant, West Virginia the Silver Bridge, which connected the town to Kanauga, Ohio over the Ohio river collapsed during rush hour killing 46. There are also reports of a Mothman type creature being spotted around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant shortly before the plants catastrophic failure in 1986. If the Mothman is indeed an omen of catastrophe, what does the future hold for Chicago?

UPDATE: I can’t believe that I failed to make the connection when I was writing the post, but Friday Oct 8th there was a major freight train derailment 100 miles outside of Chicago. The derailment set off a series of massive explosions that caused the evacuation of the 800 residents of the small town of Tiskilwa, Illinois. Amazingly, no one was hurt in the accident. Could the Mothman sighting be linked to this accident, or is something else in store for Chicago?

A possible Mothman sighting in Chicago, Illinois? [via @CoraxSays]

Could There Be A Conspiracy To Cover-Up The Existence Of Sasquatch?

John D — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:49:13 +0000

Is it possible that there is a conspiracy afoot that has moved to suppress the existence of Sasquatch in the United States? According to a series of tweets by Big Foot researcher William Jevning, that is exactly the case. Jevning relates an incident that he was involved with in 1994.

While scouting a favorite hunting spot the father of one of Jevning’s co-workers and his friend came across a series of what they believed to be Sasquatch tracks running down a little used access road in the Mt. Adams area of Washington state. On the way out of the area the two reported the prints to a forest service supervisor. The supervisor then headed out to the area with a camera to document the tracks. When they returned home, the two contacted Mr. Jevning and offered to take him out to the area. On the way in, they passed a forest service water tanker that was leaving the area. Upon arriving where the tracks had been, Jevning discovered that the water truck had been driven down the access road spraying water, destroying any evidence. Jevning attempted to follow-up with the forest service, but was told the supervisor the hunters encountered didn’t exist. According to him, the forest service personnel he spoke with responded in a less than honest tone.

But why would the forest service cover-up the existence of a big foot? According to Jevning, it all has to do with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the logging industry. While researching his new book, “Notes From the Field: Tracking North America’s Sasquatch“, Jevning discovered that if the existence of a North American Hominid or Great Ape were proven, the entire logging industry in the area would be shut down while scientists conducted research on the new species and studied the impact that continued logging would have, costing the industry what would certainly amount to billions of dollars.

I have to say, I never thought to consider the effect that the “discovery” of Sasquatch would have on the logging industry. After seeing the lengths that other industries have gone to protect their bottom line, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to learn that the logging industry was taking steps to prevent the formal identification of Sasquatch as a living species. While all we have right now is a single anecdote which hardly proves anything, I would love to see more research into this facet of the Big Foot story. (I will admit though that this has peaked my interest and I have a copy of Jevning’s book sitting in my cart at Amazon as we speak.)

[via "Recent Cryptid Odds and Ends" @ Phantoms & Monsters]

North Carolina Man Comes Face To Face With Sasquatch

John D — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:03:25 +0000

Last week, Tim Peeler, a resident of Cleveland County, North Carolina, got more than he bargained for while calling coyotes at his mountain top home near Casar. Expecting coyotes to emerge from the woods, Peeler was shocked when a 10 foot tall creature with yellowish hair and a yellow beard came into view and started to approach. Peeler, yelled at the creature and was able to turn it back before he called the local authorities. In his calls to Cleveland County 911, Peeler sounds disoriented, though it is hard to tell if it is because of the shock of his sighting or from intoxication. Audio from those calls is available here. For comparison, here is an interview of Peeler from a local news report of the encounter:

While I am not sure if alcohol or another substance may have played a role in the sighting, Mr. Peeler stands by his story and asks that everyone keep an open mind. Adding some credibility to the report is the fact that there is no obvious benefit from the sighting to Mr. Peeler (in fact, saying that he was drunk and that he must have imagined the whole incident would probably be the easier course).

Bigfoot sightings are nothing new for Cleveland County, with reports of a Sasquatch-like creature locals dubbed Knobby dating back to the 1970′s, though county authorities say they have not received a report in years. Do you think this new sighting is genuine, or is it just a tall tale fueled by a mind altering substance?

NC man claims to have come face-to-face with Bigfoot
911 calls released from Sasquatch sighting in NC

Multiple Skunk Ape Sightings In Southern Georgia

John D — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:59:01 +0000

Recently, the Valdosta Daily Times published an article about the Skunk Ape, the bigfoot like cryptid said to inhabit the south east. Since then it has received numerous calls from readers who claim to have seen the creature. One of the sightings happened as recently as the 21st of April when a reader, identified only as Joy, was driving down a stretch Highway 37 in Berrien County that is lined with swampy terrain, Georgia when her headlights caught something walking into the woods.

“I saw the back of something,” Joy says. “It was tall. … I thought it was a bear but a bear don’t walk on its back legs. … Honestly, it looked like an ape.”

According to the report, the witness gauged the hight of the creature to be approximately 6 feet tall.

A skunk ape was also sighted earlier this spring in nearby Brooks County when a witness, who asked that the paper withhold his name, spotted the reddish brown creature from the back porch of his house. Watching through binoculars, the witness observed the skunk ape for several minutes and estimates that it was over six feet tall. Originally, the witness thought what he saw may have been a human wearing a ghillie suit, but as he looked on, the creatures movements appeared strange.

“It didn’t walk like a human,” he said. “It’s joints don’t quite move like a human.”

In search of the skunk ape [via Ghost Theory]

Skunk Ape Commemorated On Silver Coin

John D — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:36:44 +0000

First seen in 1818, the skunk ape has been a part of Florida folklore for nearly 200 years. Now, the Sunshine State’s very own bigfoot has been commemorated on a silver coin produced by Florida Skunk Ape, LLC. The one troy ounce silver coin features a rendering of a skunk ape on the front and an inscription reading “Florida Skunk Ape – The Southern Most Bigfoot In The U.S.A.” with the silhouette of Florida on the reverse. The novelty coin is also stamped to indicate that it contains on ounce of .999 fine silver. While the coin may never be worth more than the silver that it contains (about $16 at the time of writing), it is a nice piece of memorabilia for anyone interested in skunk apes or cryptozoology in general. The skunk ape commemorative coin is available from FloridaSkunkApeCoins.com for $29.95 with free shipping.

Florida Skunk Ape Silver Coin [via FloridaSkunkApe.com]

Witness recounts encounter with a Mothman in Texas

John D — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:40:26 +0000

A statue commemorating the first Mothman
sighting near Point Pleasant, WV

photo by Fokket

Quite possibly one of the worlds best know cryptids, the Mothman has been seen on and off across the United States for the past 40 plus years. Just recently a witness came forward and contacted About.com’s Paranormal Phenomena Guide Stephen Wagner with the details of an encounter near the Ft. Worth suburb of Mansfield, Texas.

In the fall of 2007 the witness was driving with her daughter along FM 157 between Mansfield and Venus, Texas around dusk when something caught her eye. At first she thought she was seeing a plastic bag caught in the wind, but as the object neared she saw it was no bag. It appeared to have a “human-like form with wings attached”. The witness reported the creature made no noise as it glided towards her car. Filled with fear she instinctively rolled up her window. When her daughter didn’t say anything, the witness began to think she was seeing things. Finally after driving a few miles she asked her daughter if she had seen the creature. The daughter replied that she had. They then sheepishly opened the inside cover of the sun roof to see if the creature, which had disappeared from sight, had landed on the roof, which luckily it had not.

Mothman in Texas

Did a documentary crew capture footage of a sasquatch?

John D — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:31:59 +0000

[UPDATED See below.] For a few brief seconds of the 2001 IMAX film “Great North” a dark figure is seen on the far side of a river. The figure, which went unnoticed for 9 years, seems to startle part of caribou heard that the crew was filming crossing the river. While the figure is currently unidentifiable in copies of the film available online, big foot researchers are currently attempting to track down the filmmakers in the hopes of being able to find a print of the film at the full IMAX quality for further analysis. If they are able to find a high quality version of film, the researchers should be able to tell whether or not the film crew inadvertently documented the existence of an undocumented North American hominid. Until that happens we are left to ponder over lower resolution versions of the clip, like this one taken from Youtube:

While there is definitely no way to make any identification of the figure, the clip is more that clear enough to peak my interest in finding out exactly what was filmed. What do you think?

For anyone interested, the full documentary is available on Hulu to anyone in the US.

UPDATE: It turns out that the figure in the video was a crew member that was positioned to direct the caribou heard.

In search of Great North camera crew [via Chris Holly's Paranormal World & GhostTheory]