Cryptozoology

[Steven Russell]

Thanks for that, Kensei. Very interesting. Could you discern the texture of the creature you saw? I mean did it appear furry or what? And how did you rule out its being a tall man? Please don't think I'm doubting your tale - just very curious.

I would love Bigfoot to be real but am unsure what proof would mean to humans and the creatures themselves.

Watched a good documentary on Orang Pendek the other day. In England we have Antan Dek, two small hominids which inhabit Saturday nights on ITV.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[kensei]

Hi again Steven. At the distance at which I saw it, it was close enough to easily rule out it being just a tall man in dark clothes, but too far away to discern texture. If it was a man then it was a man in a black creature costume of some kind, and apart from him not letting us get a better look at him I think you have to stop and think... just how often do people actually go out and do something like that? Especially in an area that isn't particularly well known for Bigfoot.

Basically, it was like a black silhouette against the green of the trees.

[Steven Russell]

Thanks again, kensei. Food for thought.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Errata]

My geometry class had to make crop circles for our final. Three teams of 6. My group's crop circle ended up on the Art Bell show three years later. And then we had to all pay fines because the stuff we used to keep the grass bent down evidently mummified it. Still totally worth it though.

[Ausgirl]

Crytozoology is huge Down Under. I've several friends and acquaintances who are mad buffs for the bunyip, the yowie, living thylacines, feral big cats and the like. Because, you know, we don't have -enough- bizarre animals on this continent.

One fellow I know had no interest whatsoever in the yowie until he and some friends went camping in the Queensland outback and encountered from a distance some strange bipeds that smelled really bad, were covered in hair and walked like apes (I could make a joke about rural Queenslanders here, but won't). There was a large one and a smaller one - the small one was seen at closer range and made an eerie screaming sound when approached; both creatures moved off with what he described as 'incredible speed'. This guy is a quiet, unassuming fellow with a very typical Aussie forthrightness about him - which is to say he isn't a raving loony or attention seeker, and I generally found no cause to disbelieve that he saw -something- strange. He said the sighting affected him deeply, and sparked a decade of research into yowie sightings.

I do like to think the thylacine is still out there in the wilds of Tassie somewhere, wisely avoiding human beings at all costs.

[Steven Russell]

Yes, it would be wonderful if the thylacine has survived.

Just watched a two-hour show on Animal Planet called: Mermaids, The Body Found. Most entertaining.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Scorpio]

Bigfootage:The Patterson film

I cannot believe how riled people get over the grainy 1967 footage. Is it an emotional thing; In our Eco conscious age, is there is a real need for this creature to exist. To me it looks like a man in a monkey suit, but the faithful maintain that it is genuine.
Here are some pro arguments i have heard: The creature's gait is impossible for a human to replicate;The musculature is clearly visible beneath the hair, which was beyond the bounds of prosthetics in 1967; the facial structure and limb proportions are to extreme for a human. Any feelings on the subject?.

[kensei]

I cannot believe how riled people get over the grainy 1967 footage. Is it an emotional thing; In our Eco conscious age, is there is a real need for this creature to exist. To me it looks like a man in a monkey suit, but the faithful maintain that it is genuine.
Here are some pro arguments i have heard: The creature's gait is impossible for a human to replicate;The musculature is clearly visible beneath the hair, which was beyond the bounds of prosthetics in 1967; the facial structure and limb proportions are to extreme for a human. Any feelings on the subject?.

Any feelings on the subject? Strong ones, Scorpio. I could go on and on about the Patterson film so I will just mention a few things. The pro arguments you mention are all valid ones. There have been several hoax claims against the film in recent years, including people who claim firsthand knowledge of how it was hoaxed and even to have been the person in the suit. However, each hoax claim is different. They cannot all be true and so effectively cancel each other out. Analysis of the film and the events surrounding it are where the facts are to be found.

Patterson is long deceased, but his partner Bob Gimlin is alive and has long maintained the film to be genuine. He and Patterson camped in the area for a few days before they got the film, and it was he that suggested they check out the particular spot where the filming happened on that day, not Patterson, and he says that Patterson yelled "Cover me!" as he ran toward the creature with his camera, prompting Gimlin to aim his rifle at the creature for the entire time it was on film. These facts rule out Patterson having a costumed friend hiding in the area and pulling a fast one on Gimlin. Costume-man could have easily been shot. As for the possibility of Gimlin being in on the hoax- well, he has never profited from it one iota and has never backed down on his story.

Patterson is known to have made a call shortly after the filming asking to have tracking dogs brought to the location to pick up the creature's scent. This did not materialize, but he could not have known that it would not. Bringing in dogs would have been a surefire way to expose any hoax he was staging.

And the proportions of the creature in the film are key. Enough analysis has been done over the years to demonstrate that no man alive could have fit into the hypothetical costume and still had the freedom of movement seen in the film. For still photos, possibly, but not a moving film. Most notably, check out the analysis of Bill Munns, a man with extensive experience creating monsters for the movie industry. He has demonstrated that if a man were wearing a costume and you line up human proportions with the upper body, the legs wouldn't fit. Line up human proportions with the legs, and the upper body wouldn't fit. A human head inside the supposed mask presents similar problems of how it would fit. Other studies have yielded similar results, and they allow for even the most oddly proportioned examples found within the varied human race. No human could have worn the suit and been able to move like that, period. The math is subtle, but it is real, and so is the creature seen in the film.

[kensei]

I cannot believe how riled people get over the grainy 1967 footage. Is it an emotional thing; In our Eco conscious age, is there is a real need for this creature to exist. To me it looks like a man in a monkey suit, but the faithful maintain that it is genuine.

Some further thoughts-

The footage is not actually all that "grainy." We're just used to modern video and digital images and the Patterson film was shot in 1967 with a primitive 16-mm home movie camera by a man who had just fallen off a horse and injured one foot, running/limping in cowboy boots and jumping over logs and stumps toward his fleeing subject. Under those conditions, I think he did a remarkable job.

And as for a "need for this creature to exist" in the eco conscious age, I don't think that's what it's about at all. The fact is, there is a centuries-long history of anecdotal AND physical evidence that indicates that apparently this creature DOES exist, like it or not, regardless of whether you are sympathetic to the environment or not. Sasquatch is not a poster child for the eco-movement. It just is.

[Chris Scott]

Some time back I wrote a long article about Bigfoot - if anyone wants a copy (in pdf format) let me know
Here is the earliest press account I found

British Colonist
4 July 1884
WHAT IS IT?
A STRANGE CREATURE CAPTURED ABOVE YALE.
A British Columbian Gorilla.
(Correspondence of The Colonist.)
Yale, B.C., July 3rd, 1882 (sic).
In the immediate vicinity of No. 4 tunnel, situated some twenty miles above this village, are
bluffs of rock which have hitherto been unsurmountable, but on Monday morning last were
successfully scaled by Mr. Onderdonk's employees on the regular train from Lytton. Assisted
by Mr. Costerton, the British Columbia Express Company's messenger, and a number of
gentlemen from Lytton and points east of that place who, after considerable trouble and
perilous climbing, succeeded in capturing a creature which may truly be called half man and
half beast. "Jacko," as the creature has been called by his capturers, is something of the
gorilla type standing about 4 feet 7 inches in height and weighing 127 pounds. He has long,
black, strong hair and resembles a human being with one exception, his entire body,
excepting his hands (or paws), and feet are covered with glossy hair about one inch long. His
forearm is much longer than a man's forearm, and he possesses extraordinary strength, as
he will take hold of a stick and break it by wrenching or twisting it, which no man living could
break in the same way. Since his capture he is very reticent, only occasionally uttering a
noise which is half bark and half growl. He is, however, becoming daily more attached to his
keeper, Mr. George Tilbury, of this place, who proposes shortly starting for London, England,
to exhibit him. His favorite food so far is berries, and he drinks fresh milk with evident relish.
By advice of Dr. Hannington raw meats have been withheld from Jacko, as the doctor thinks
it would have a tendency to make him savage. The mode of capture was as follows: Ned
Austin, the engineer, on coming in sight of the bluff at the eastern end of the No. 4 tunnel,
saw what he supposed to be a man lying asleep in close proximity to the track, and as quick
as thought blew the signal to apply the brakes. The brakes were instantly applied, and in a
few seconds the train was brought to a standstill. At this moment the supposed man sprang
up, and uttering a sharp quick bark, began to climb the steep bluff. Conductor R.J. Craig and
Express Messenger Costerton, followed by the baggageman and brakesmen, jumped from
the train and knowing they were some twenty minutes ahead of time immediately gave
chase. After five minutes of perilous climbing the then supposed demented Indian was
corralled on a projecting shelf or rock where he could neither ascend nor descend. The
query now was how to capture him alive, which was quickly decided by Mr. Craig, who
crawled on his hands and knees until he was about forty feet above the creature. Taking a
small piece of loose rock he let it fall and it had the desired effect of rendering poor Jacko
incapable of resistance for a time at least. The bell rope was then brought up and Jacko was
now lowered to terra firma. After firmly binding him and placing him in the baggage car "off
brakes" was sounded and the train stared for Yale. At the station a large crowd who had
heard of the capture by telephone from Spuzzum Flat were assembled, each one anxious to
have the first look at the monstrosity, but they were disappointed, as Jacko had been taken
off at the machine shops and placed in charge of his present keeper.
The question naturally arises, how came the creature where it was first seen by Mr. Austin?
From bruises about its head and body, and apparent soreness since its capture, it is
supposed that Jacko ventured too near the edge of the bluff, slipped, fell and lay where
found until the sound of the rushing train aroused him. Mr. Thos. White and Mr. Gouin, C.E.,
as well as Mr. Major, who kept a small store about half a mile west of the tunnel during the
past two years, have mentioned having seen a curious creature at different points between
Camps 13 and 17, but no attention was paid to their remarks as people came to the
conclusion that they had either seen a bear or a stray Indian dog. Who can unravel the
mystery that now surrounds Jacko? Does he belong to a species hitherto unknown in this
part of the continent, or is he really what the train men first thought he was, a crazy Indian?

[Chris Scott]

Here is the original

[Scorpio]

Any feelings on the subject? Strong ones, Scorpio. I could go on and on about the Patterson film so I will just mention a few things. The pro arguments you mention are all valid ones. There have been several hoax claims against the film in recent years, including people who claim firsthand knowledge of how it was hoaxed and even to have been the person in the suit. However, each hoax claim is different. They cannot all be true and so effectively cancel each other out. Analysis of the film and the events surrounding it are where the facts are to be found.

Patterson is long deceased, but his partner Bob Gimlin is alive and has long maintained the film to be genuine. He and Patterson camped in the area for a few days before they got the film, and it was he that suggested they check out the particular spot where the filming happened on that day, not Patterson, and he says that Patterson yelled "Cover me!" as he ran toward the creature with his camera, prompting Gimlin to aim his rifle at the creature for the entire time it was on film. These facts rule out Patterson having a costumed friend hiding in the area and pulling a fast one on Gimlin. Costume-man could have easily been shot. As for the possibility of Gimlin being in on the hoax- well, he has never profited from it one iota and has never backed down on his story.

Patterson is known to have made a call shortly after the filming asking to have tracking dogs brought to the location to pick up the creature's scent. This did not materialize, but he could not have known that it would not. Bringing in dogs would have been a surefire way to expose any hoax he was staging.

And the proportions of the creature in the film are key. Enough analysis has been done over the years to demonstrate that no man alive could have fit into the hypothetical costume and still had the freedom of movement seen in the film. For still photos, possibly, but not a moving film. Most notably, check out the analysis of Bill Munns, a man with extensive experience creating monsters for the movie industry. He has demonstrated that if a man were wearing a costume and you line up human proportions with the upper body, the legs wouldn't fit. Line up human proportions with the legs, and the upper body wouldn't fit. A human head inside the supposed mask presents similar problems of how it would fit. Other studies have yielded similar results, and they allow for even the most oddly proportioned examples found within the varied human race. No human could have worn the suit and been able to move like that, period. The math is subtle, but it is real, and so is the creature seen in the film.

I am fine with the bigfoot theory; relatives of homo sapiens surviving in remote niches are infinitely more probable than extra-terrestrials.But interest in Bigfoot attracts alot of hoaxers, and it is not always money that motivates them.