August 15, 2008
Meldrum-Radford-Coleman on Georgia “Find”
Filed under: Hoaxes, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Conspiracies, Men in Cryptozoology, Bigfoot, Media Appearances, Breaking News, Forensic Science, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoologists, CryptoZoo News — Loren Coleman @ 7:03 am


ABC News
Bigfoot Believers: Discovery? Try Hoax.
Veteran Bigfoot Bounty Hunter Claims Big Find But Even Believers Cry Foul

By Ki Mae Heussner
Aug. 15, 2008 —

Even the Bigfoot believers aren’t buying it.

Three men have scheduled a press conference this afternoon in Palo Alto, Calif., to share the details surrounding what they claim is their “discovery” of a Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, in northern Georgia two months ago.

Matthew Whitton, a police officer, and Rick Dyer, a former correctional officer, maintained they happened upon the corpse of a half-human, half-ape creature while hiking in the woods. Along with Tom Biscardi, an old hand at bigfoot hunting, the men intend to substantiate their bold claims with DNA evidence and photographs.

But long-time Bigfoot experts and trackers are almost certain the trio is taking the public for a ride.

“Discovery? It’s a hoax. It’s a Halloween costume in a box,” said Matt Moneymaker, president and founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.

Created in 1995, the group maintains a database of Bigfoot sighting reports and organizes tracking expeditions for interested members of the public.

Jeff Meldrum, a leading Sasquatch researcher and Idaho State University professor of anatomy and anthropology, is equally skeptical.

“There’s a whole number of things that raise red flags, in my opinion,” he said.

The most glaring red flag: Whitton and Dyer’s appeal to Biscardi.

“He does not carry a reputation of credibility,” Meldrum said of Biscardi.

The ‘Real Bigfoot Hunter’

Dyer said he and Whitton encountered the alleged Bigfoot body approximately two months ago and froze it to stave off rigor mortis. But, until they involved Biscardi two weeks ago, no one gave them much attention.

“We started to tell people the week after we found the body, but no on believed us,” he said. “So we started to make fun of the Bigfoot trackers, and that got attention.”

Whitton and Dyer landed themselves on the “Squatch Detective” radio show and announced their discovery on the air. When the host pressed the pair to let someone verify the body, they asked for Biscardi, the so-called “real Bigfoot hunter.”

“You type in ‘Bigfoot’ and that’s the name that comes up,” Dyer said.

Biscardi, a 35-year veteran of the Bigfoot business, who declined to give his age, is CEO of Searching for Bigfoot, Inc., producer of the documentary “Bigfoot Lives,” and host of an Internet radio show about
 yes, Bigfoot.

He said he’s been fascinated with the ape-like creature ever since watching a short film made by Roger Patterson in 1967 that famously purported to contain footage of a real Bigfoot.

After being contacted by the Whitton and Dyer, Biscardi flew to Georgia to see the body for himself.

“Be still my heart, I felt bad for the poor thing,” Biscardi said of viewing the alleged corpse. “After being in the industry for the past 30 years, I wondered: Was it diseased? Did it die of old age?”

Scientific Findings Promised

Biscardi said he gave tissue from the body to Curt Nelson, a research scientist at the University of Minnesota with a personal interest in Bigfoot. Biscardi said he and his colleagues will present Nelson’s findings this afternoon’s press conference.

But on Thursday, Nelson told ABCNews.com that he’s not certain he’ll have anything to present at the conference.

For the world to really believe the existence of bigfoot, Nelson said, teams of unbiased scientists would have to collect and analyze DNA and thoroughly inspect the body.

“It would take a lot more than I’m doing,” he said, noting that people will want to see an actual body rather than just tissue samples. “If the guy claims to have a body, he really should produce one,” Nelson said.

Instead, Biscardi said he plans to keep the body at an undisclosed location while scientists, including two Russian hominid specialists, study the creature. Biscardi said the entire process will be filmed and then released as a documentary.

Besmirching the Legend of Bigfoot?

Instead of proving the existence of Bigfoot, Meldrum said profiteering antics like Biscardi’s lend support to the cynics.

“Unfortunately, this kind of incident simply just casts further aspersion on the topic,” he said.

Still, despite rampant skepticism within the community of Bigfoot believers and outside of it, there’s also overwhelming interest.

“There’s always an interest in these creatures, dating back hundreds of years — mermaids, unicorns, dragons,” said Benjamin Radford, managing editor of the science magazine The Skeptical Inquirer and a widely published writer on urban legends, Bigfoot and media criticism. “There isn’t a populated place on earth that doesn’t have these kinds of creatures.”

But regardless of the doubts, most longtime Bigfoot devotees will be tuned in to Friday’s news.

Loren Coleman, a prolific writer on the Sasquatch, Yeti and other mysterious creatures, said he thinks this is going to be one of the biggest Bigfoot stories of the decade, even it turns out to be hoax.

When it comes to the alleged creature, he says he doesn’t use the word “believe.”

“I accept or deny evidence,” he said.

With this one body found in Georgia, however, it’s “99 percent a hoax and 1 percent a probability of reality,” he said.

But he’s still excited about the alleged discovery.

“I’ll never turn down a chance to look at a body because it could be real, and we can’t choose the accident of history. The most undesirable people might be the ones to discover it, but who am I to judge them.”



Comments (0)
Biscardi’s C2C Legacy: “I-Was-Hoodwinked”
Filed under: Hoaxes, Public Forum, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Conspiracies, Men in Cryptozoology, Photos, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Cryptotourism, Breaking News, Cryptozoologists, Media Appearances, Cryptozoology, CryptoZoo News — Loren Coleman @ 6:48 am
I will be a guest on tonight’s Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, to react to today’s California news conference on the alleged Bigfoot body. I am actually hoping to heard some positive things out of that news conference.

But this is all sounding so familiar, isn’t it?

Oregon Bigfoot researcher Autumn Williams has done a rather good job of re-visiting Tom Biscardi’s 2005 fiasco over on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, here, complete with transcripts of some of what was said.

One of the reasons my lorencoleman.com might have been targeted was to take out of circulation my 2005 essay on Biscardi’s earlier “I-was-hoodwinked” end game and past similar histories. That selection is now missing from the site and from the reconstructed index to the archives there. I am assuming that it might have been one of the items the ####er was after. Please do not read into this that I am saying Biscardi or one of his organization did this. I am only pointing out what has been discovered. Frankly, I think Biscardi has had his hands full, and wasn’t involved in any ####ing, of course.

However, the coincidence is intriguing, so I found an old archived copy elsewhere, and am reproducing the entire thing here, for historical insights:

Coast to Coast AM Keeps Biscardi on Track
by Loren Coleman
August 23, 2005

“Those who disregard the past are bound to repeat it.” - George Santayana

What’s the latest on the adventures of Tom Biscardi? Let’s begin with the Coast to Coast AM with George Noory overview:

+++++
Monday August 22nd, 2005
Recap

Bigfoot Update
First hour guest, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman reacted to Tom Biscardi’s Bigfoot hunt. On Friday night’s program, Biscardi claimed his group had captured one of the creatures and he would be presenting photos of it on Monday. Coleman said over the weekend one of Biscardi’s associates posted in a blog that the capture story was a hoax. “This man is a Las Vegas promoter,” and his actions speak louder than words, Coleman commented. Biscardi briefly phoned in for “equal time” declaring that he would be giving out the full story on Tuesday.
+++++

On the night of August 23, Tom Biscardi will tell his “full story,” reportedly. He could have directly addressed host George Noory’s questions about whether Noory was going to get a photograph of a Bigfoot last night. Instead, Biscardi immediately used his airtime on Monday to attempt to smear me and distract the listeners from whether or not he had actually caught a Bigfoot.

Biscardi rushed on air to repeat one side of an old story of a misunderstanding between myself and a fellow researcher whom I respect. Biscardi, naturally, was trying to discredit me because he didn’t like that I was skeptical of the twists and turns in his fantastic tales. Nevertheless, the question on the table was about Biscardi and his “captive Bigfoot.” What came so quickly out of Biscardi’s mouth was expected. I guess it was easier to do that than address the issues at hand. Bottomline, I’ve never claimed on a national radio program that I’ve caught a Bigfoot or requested people support me with a million dollars to go on an expedition. And ask yourself, if you had someone on your “team” catch a Bigfoot, would you sit in your room for apparently ten days before going to see it, as Biscardi has said he has?

So folks, hold on to your hats. The next part of the melodrama on C2C with George Noory is on tonight. Noory will do his job, I bet, and directly ask questions about Biscardi’s claims and the flip-flops on his captive Bigfoot news. People want to know (and have been asking me in emails), how much money has been netted after each Coast to Coast-Biscardi appearance, for the $19.95/week registrations and $59.95 “passes” to see Biscardi’s pay-per-view videostreaming and the promised views of “his” captive Bigfoot? The more important issue for me is what damage to the credibility of the field will this fiasco have.

Will the “real story” Biscardi is going to tell go something like the one that was apparently leaked over the weekend?

Linda Martin, identified as the editor of the Happy Camp News, the one who invited Biscardi to Happy Camp, and now, as she claims, is his friend and associate, wrote in her “Bigfoot Sightings” blog on Saturday, August 20, 2005:

“I got the news a few minutes ago - Biscardi was scammed by a woman in Nevada. There was no Bigfoot after all. I hope they didn’t lose much money on this fiasco. He will issue a statement on this soon I’m sure. I’m so glad it is over.”

She continues:

“Though it is a big disappointment and embarrassment to be scammed like this - going through this can make our team stronger in many ways. And we can get back to business - what this project was started for - to capture a Bigfoot and prove they exist. Yay! I feel that we’re on the right path again. I heard Tom filmed an apology from the woman’s husband, and I hope he adds it to the videostream! It’s all part of the story of this expedition. Very exciting stuff if you ask me.”

After receiving many negative comments about her involvement with Biscardi and Biscardi himself, via her blog, late on Monday, August 22, Ms. Martin took her “No Bigfoot” entry off her blog.

What will tomorrow bring? Isn’t this all such a detour from the real search for Bigfoot? Won’t it harm the credibility of Bigfoot research? The recent and past history would seem to indicate as much.

During last night’s program, I only had enough time to outline what had come before, and for those interested, here’s the specifics:

In 1970, according to the Redding Searchlight newspaper and many other sources, Tom Biscardi’s mentor or associate, Ivan Marx said he would capture a Bigfoot in a year. He apparently never did. What he did produce were two films that are now universally said to be alleged fakes, even though one was sold to the “You Asked for It” television program for $25,000 in 1972.

In May 11, 1981, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Biscardi said he saw a Bigfoot on April 12, 1981, on Mount Lassen that “was a male, 7-foot-4, some 450 pounds.” Biscardi told the reporter he was going to capture a Bigfoot. Apparently he never did.

In 1983, Tom Biscardi was the executive director and associate producer of “In the Shadow of Bigfoot,” a self-proclaimed documentary that contains more Ivan Marx footage of apparently the same pointy-headed, pointy-eared alleged Bigfoot seen in the earlier Marx films. It also contained the infamous “Bigfoot in a snowstorm” scene that had many film reviewers laughing off their seats. Once again, critics were unexcited by this film and noted it was full of factual errors. “Good for entertainment value only,” wrote Mike Quast in his long entry on Ivan Marx, with notes on Biscardi, in his book Big Footage: A History of Claims for the Sasquatch on Film (2000). “In the Shadow of Bigfoot” was distributed by Biscardi’s company, Amazing Horizons, Inc.

With the 2003 news of legitimate organizations like the BFRO (bfro.net) planning sponsored (pay-as-you-go) expeditions, Biscardi’s reappeared in early 2004, to put out press releases stating he was trying to obtain over a million dollars from corporate sponsors to conduct a Bigfoot expedition. “The timing of this current expedition was prompted by the recent sighting and news reports of an ‘albino’ Bigfoot. Biscardi has seen and has a photo of a baby Bigfoot with white fur
.The photo was taken by tracker, Peggy Marx,” noted the January 4, 2004, press release. Later he would say his expedition was going to be a pay-as-you-go trek, just like the BFRO’s. Biscardi’s various group’s names (e.g. “American Bigfoot Expedition”) then morphed into the GABFRO (Great American Bigfoot Research Organization).

On April 16, 2005, ferry operator Bobby Clarke allegedly videotaped a Nelson River, Manitoba Sasquatch and then sold the first rights to broadcast, for reportedly “six figures,” to Fox TV’s “A Current Affair”. It screened on May 4, 2005.

On April 19, 2005, Marx’s grandchildren, the Hickmans, and Biscardi claimed to have seen a Bigfoot near Burney, California. Unfortunately, Biscardi told the media, he “left his tranquilizer gun and his wire-mesh grenade launcher at home.”

On April 27, 2005, Jill Miller’s “Waiting for Bigfoot” project, in the planning for months, is announced. One of the innovations of the project is for Miller to live on-site for six weeks and have real-time video feed from her campsite’s satellite uplink, 24 hours a day.

On June 29, 2005, another Biscardi press release appeared, saying that an “Imminent Capture Anticipated” (sic) of Bigfoot. The release gave helpful contact information that the “findings and materials forthcoming from this investigation will also be offered for commercial sale and distribution. Organizations interested in acquiring the rights for projects such as publishing, television, film, merchandising, lectures and exhibits based on Biscardi’s expeditions, “could contact his p.r. firm.” Some of the publicity from Biscardi’s interviews with the media, based on this release, have been revealing, as is the one on July 21, 2005, in the North Coast Journal, entitled “BIGBUCKS.”

+++

BIGBUCKS: And why not? Why shouldn’t the premiere Bigfoot researcher make some money from his efforts? “I’ve been doing this for 33 years,” rants Tom Biscardi on the phone, adding he and his “24-7″ team of investigators have recorded more Bigfoot sightings than anyone. He’s miffed at anyone who raises her eyebrows at his charging journalists, along with everyone else, $5,000 a head to go along on his planned Aug. 21 expedition into the Bigfoot Caverns near Happy Camp to roust out a Bigfoot. His team has spent weeks setting up cameras and other recording equipment at the site. “I’m tired of the ridicule, and I’m tired of the baloney. What happens here is, all these scholars, all these PhDs, they go on TV, and where do you think they get their material? From me. And they’re the ones who get the lecture tours, who get to write their books, and they’re the ones getting paid, and then they refute my work. Let me ask you this, do you work for free? Do you get a paycheck? Well, I think it’s about time I did, too. So, now I’ve had it, and I’m tired of it, and I’m gonna hang up my spurs after this.” Biscardi hopes his blockbuster expedition will finally shut up the hoo-hawing skeptics and wink-winking media. A Canadian team is going to provide a pay-per-view live webcast to 65 countries. Biscardi shies from naming the cost of the expedition. But he is confident they’ll capture a Bigfoot. There’ve been frequent sightings in the caverns area, including three last week, he says, and he knows where the lair is. “Right now there are two male adults there,” he says. “They know something is up because of all of our activity around there.” So, what happens when they catch one? “We’re out to seek, search, capture, detain and transport it to a facility” where “the PhDs” will study the animal and test its DNA, Biscardi says. “And after, we’ll release it.”July 21, 2005, North Coast Journal, “BIGBUCKS.”

++++

Jill Miller’s “Waiting for Bigfoot” project began July 2, 2005, sending live feeds out from waitingforbigfoot.com. Biscardi said he was going to have a pay-for-view live feed from his “expedition” site, 24/7, for $19.95 per week, or a $59.95 “pass.” A site, findingbigfoot.com, is created for Biscardi’s “streaming video.” Meanwhile, Miller’s videos are placed on the internet for free viewing.

Next Biscardi followed up on his earlier promise to capture a Bigfoot during an appearance on Coast to Coast AM, by announcing to George Noory on Friday, August 19, 2005, that, according to Biscardi, his team (although Biscardi hadn’t seen it), had in captivity for over a week, a 17 year old, male, over 400 pounds, 8 foot tall Bigfoot. Biscardi stumbled during the show and although he had earlier said the Bigfoot was 800 pounds, told George Noory had misheard him. (Noory would play back, on the August 22nd appearance, that Noory had gotten it right.) Furthermore, inquiring listeners emailing me wanted to know how can anyone, with a straight face, claim they know a Bigfoot is 17 years old?

But as it turned out, according to the leak revealed on August 20th and detailed above, there is no Bigfoot. So, once again, Biscardi is empty handed? Or is he? What will his next claim be? George Noory can be trusted to ask the hard questions, once again.

Some of you knew how this was going to turn out, since, say, 1970 or 1981. For others, this is all new territory. Indeed, we will see if Tom Biscardi’s actions, not his words, stories, excuses, or distracting attacks, are what speak volumes. It is up to everyone to examine what has happened, learn from it, grow, and move on.
———-

An Update: August 24, 2005
In what is being called the “I-was-hoodwinked account” (as coined by Roger Knights, an insightful Bigfoot writer), Tom Biscardi appeared on Coast to Coast AM, during the evening of August 23. Here’s is the short recap, followed my longer summary of the program:

+++
Recap of Coast to Coast AM, August 23, 2005:

Biscardi Statement
First hour guest, Tom Biscardi offered an explanation and apology related to his earlier claims (made on Friday’s show) that he had a Bigfoot in captivity. He now says he was misled by an acquaintance of his colleague, Peggy Marx. The acquaintance, who lives in Stagecoach, Nevada, had told them of an injured Bigfoot that was being cared for by two veterinarians. As the details of her story began to unravel, Biscardi said he eventually concluded that her reports were false.

George Noory asked Biscardi if he would refund people’s money who signed up for his Internet streaming service after Friday’s announcement that video of Bigfoot was forthcoming. Biscardi said he would consider that. George suggested that people could also contact their credit card companies about reversing the charges if they had signed up for his service after Friday’s show.
+++

My summary

Biscardi’s story just got more fantastic, saying an Indian shot an injured Nevada reservation Bigfoot with arrows, that after the male was captured, a female was also taken into captivity, and that one of the vets treating it or them, “kidnapped” it or them. Reportedly, this “kidnapped” Bigfoot is right now being kept in one of two warehouses in Clearlake, California, just down the road from a grocery store. Biscardi said it was a story from a woman in Stagecoach, Nevada. (Stagecoach is not even close to his “three team” sites near Happy Camp, California.) He never had a video, never saw the Bigfoot, and there probably never was a Bigfoot. He kept using the word “hoodwinked.”

At a couple points, Biscardi seemed like he was trying to blame Coast to Coast and its listeners as the source of the hoax, that a listener of the program was behind this hoodwinking. Noory launched into him about this, noting Biscardi can’t blame the listeners for what Biscardi said about having a Bigfoot. Afterall, Biscardi is the one who came on the program and said what he said. Noory mildly pushed back at Biscardi for attempting to shift the responsibility to others.

Biscardi’s rambling story of blame and hoodwink ended, thankfully, when George Noory correctly moved on to the callers who had much to say to Biscardi.

Biscardi began somewhat arguing with the people calling in, saying at first they had not been “gipped.” But, as the show rolled along, it became clear from the callers that on Friday, August 19, Biscardi’s exact words were that “we have a Bigfoot” in captivity. Not “we’ve heard about a captive Bigfoot” or anything similar. Also, callers said Biscardi told listeners they were preparing the video and pictures of the Bigfoot for their site. Not that he was still trying to get a video, or that the Bigfoot wasn’t under his control, but some very obvious statements that misled people.

He was reminded by the callers that he had “sold” them on his promises of seeing the footage of a “captive Bigfoot.” The callers confronted Biscardi with his marketing, that if they’d signed up to his website on Friday, with the current reduced rates ($19.95/week or $59.00/pass), they would be able to see the images cheaper than the increased rate he was going to charge after the new footage of the captive Bigfoot was posted. Biscardi was virtually speechless towards the end of the program, after several callers in a row appropriately challenged Biscardi’s actions. The callers demanded their money back, said they had been duped by Biscardi, and one frankly noted that “this is fraud, dude.” Another called it all an “Abominable Snow Job.”

George Noory was good, saying these events have questioned Biscardi’s credibility, and asking him several times if he would give refunds to those that signed up to the GABFRO since the C2C “we-have-a-Bigfoot” statements on Friday. Biscardi was not clear if he was going to give refunds, seeming to say that he would to some callers but then saying to Noory that “he had to check with some other people.”

One caller, who noted he is involved with the media, told Noory that the GABFRO site reportedly got nine million (yes, 9,000,000) hits after the Coast to Coast broadcast on Friday.

So, of course, the obvious questions are
.what is the fiscal database here? How many sign-ups, registrations did Biscardi get? How much money are we talking about that needs to be refunded? How much money did he get from the videostream subscribers? How much will he actually refund? What evidence will we have to believe him?

George Noory ended this segment of the August 23 broadcast asking his listeners to email him if they did get refunds from Biscardi. (How many “friends” of Biscardi will send in false emails?) Noory said that only if Biscardi did give refunds, would he regain his credibility. And if Biscardi did not, Noory was never again going to allow Biscardi on the program. Of course, Noory was too easy on him. Some people feel Biscardi hoodwinked Coast to Coast’s audience, and Biscardi shouldn’t be allowed on again, period. But George Noory is a gentleman, and tries to be a diplomat in such situations.

Biscardi ended by saying his operation is still in the field, operating and still distributing material for people to pay-per-view. You know what they say
”Caveat emptor” and “Taurus excreta cerebrum vincit.”

For most of us, the end of Biscardi’s credibility speaks for itself.

Comments (0)
Skunk Ape “Expert” Checks In
Filed under: Skunk Apes, Hoaxes, Conspiracies, Men in Cryptozoology, Bigfoot, Cryptozoology, Breaking News, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoologists, Media Appearances, CryptoZoo News — Loren Coleman @ 5:29 am


Campground owner and festival organizer David Shealy greeted festivalgoers from near and far at the main gate, but the Skunk Ape was a no-show at David Shealy’s Skunk Ape Festival on June 3rd, 2006.

Just in case the Georgia gentlemen and their new handler were looking for a ringing endorsement for the Georgia Gorilla, they need not look any further away than Florida.



David Shealy appears to have jumped into the Georgia quicksand, and who knows what he thinks from this media account:

Friday, April 16, 2008
Bigfoot Body A Bunch Of Monkey Business?
OCHOPEE, Fla. (Wireless Flash) — The alleged Bigfoot body recently discovered in northern Georgia may be nothing but monkey business.

David Shealy — who’s studied and tracked the Skunk Ape, Bigfoot’s smaller, stinkier cousin from the Florida Everglades, for more than 40 years — isn’t too sure the beast discovered by Bigfoot hunters in Georgia is the real thing.

In fact, he thinks there’s a bit of monkey business with the findings.

He says, “I’ve looked at the picture of what they’re claiming is Bigfoot, but I think they may have just found a big gorilla. I’ve found monkeys that escaped from places a few times and they look like that.”

However, the size and weight of the possible Sasquatch, which is said to be around seven feet and 500 pounds, leads Shealy to believe it’s actually a Skunk Ape.

He says, “We know the Skunk Ape is a real animal. Georgia also has a similar habitat and is in close proximity to Florida, so it’s very possible. We have to wait for the DNA to see.”

(I was actually happy that Wireless Flash didn’t bring up Shealy’s time in jail for pot possession. That just would have been unnecessary even though most mainstream media-types have used it to discredit Shealy in the past. Actually, Shealy’s rather obvious self-created man-in-a-suit Skunk Ape footage needs no help in undermining his own Skunk Ape “evidence.”)

Comments (0)
August 14, 2008
The Summer of Cryptids, 2008
Filed under: Cryptomundo Exclusive, Chupacabras, Videos, Cinema News, Weird Animal News, Bigfoot, Cryptozoology, Breaking News, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoologists, Artifacts, CryptoZoo News — Loren Coleman @ 10:23 pm
The following video, notice of which was sent along by a Cryptomundo reader, nicely celebrates many images from this remarkable summer.


Comments (5)
New Japanese Yeti Expedition Departs
Filed under: Cryptozoology, Abominable Snowman, Yeti, Expedition Reports, Cryptozoologists, Breaking News, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News — Loren Coleman @ 8:12 pm
The Pink Tentacle (what a great blog name) is reporting on a new six-week long Yeti expedition.

The seven-member crew of experienced climbers, led by veteran Yeti hunter and mountaineer Yo****eru Takahashi, will depart Japan on on Saturday, August 16, 2008. Their destination is in the Dhaulagiri mountains in central Nepal, where they will establish base camp at an elevation of 4,300 meters (14,000 ft) and set up an array of automated infrared, motion-sensitive cameras along a ridge.

Writes the Pink Tentacle, in part:

The expedition is Takahashi’s third attempt to find the elusive creature. The 65-year-old mountaineer first became interested in the yeti while on a climbing expedition in the Dhaulagiri region in 1971, after fellow climbers saw a mysterious humanoid creature covered in gray fur that appeared to be about 150 centimeters (5 ft) tall and walked upright. In 1994, when Takahashi returned to the region on his first mission to find the yeti, he reportedly found small humanoid footprints in a mountain cave that had a strong animal scent. In 2003, on his second expedition, Takahashi and his crew found more mysterious footprints and observed the silhouettes of unidentified humanoid creatures from a distance.

In a written statement on the Yeti Project Japan 2008 website, Takahashi describes the yeti sighting that took place in 2003. “Three dark silhouettes were observed at 12:25 PM on September 27, 2003 on the southeast ridge of Gurja Himal,” he writes. “They looked almost human and walked upright on two legs.”

My appreciations to the Pink Tentacle for translating this important expedition news.

Comments (2)
“Bigfoot Body” Has Red Flags
Filed under: Bigfoot, Hoaxes, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptozoology, Artifacts, Breaking News, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoologists, CryptoZoo News — Loren Coleman @ 5:38 pm
ABC News talked to me, Ben Radford, and Jeff Meldrum today.

CNN News got Tom Nelson, chairman of the biology department at North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega, to say he’s “pretty skeptical” the world will feast its eyes on a new species Friday.

“That would certainly rock mammalogy,” joked Nelson, who specializes in the study of mammals. “I see a research grant in my future.”

Over sixty news representatives will show up at the news conference in California tomorrow.

But you know from read forums and blogs, this story is crumbling already.

I can truly report the mainstream world has gone wild and slightly mad for the Georgia Gorilla, the Bigfoot body, the wild stories from the South and more, in the past few days and soon from the press conference on Friday.

I called the “body,” which was allegedly first shot with a 3.06, and then later “tripped” over in the woods, the “Georgia Gorilla” because 19th century newspaper reporters would use that kind of label for early tales of hairy things in the woods - whether they might be journalistic jokes, feral humans, misidentified bears, or apes in the bottomlands.



But there’s more. Others would have you call this thing by a name that is tied to the egos of the alleged discoverers’ names. Perhaps it should be called Biscardi’s Folly now, but I wanted a sillier name for this. Why? Because this body has little to do with Bigfoot and everything to do with a Sasquatch costume that someone developed after watching too many gorilla movies. The nares/nostrils are modeled on a gorilla and the mouth on the mask looks more human-like, while the teeth that seem to have been placed in the mouth could be my late mother’s false teeth. (BTW, Biscardi is trying to remember some quickly mentioned phone remarks of mine about primates, canines, and diet, but I never called this thing a “herbivore.”)

Parts of the story are falling apart. What of the rumors that millions of dollars have exchanged hands? Show us all the bill of sale. Hey, show us the body.

Rumors are flying. For example, some forums are saying I am going to be at the news conference in California. Not true.

Rumors also say that conclusive DNA results will show this is a verification of Bigfoot. Not true. The results being read on Friday supposedly are from Curt Nelson, who did the “Sasquatch Attack” tissue analysis for MonsterQuest, and they will sound as extremely inconclusive as the MonsterQuest results sounded.

As I ask in an earlier posting on this matter, do you remember the OJ Simpson trial? The chain of custody of the evidence for the “piece of meat” that this University of Minnesota senior scientist in the Department of Entomology has tested could be from anything.

The press release mentions that documentary filmmaker Scott Davis will be taping the autopsy. Rumors have flown that he is tied to $11 million dollars for the filming. The source of the rumors: Tom Biscardi. But the story changed today.

I asked Davis directly about this. He gave me an answer, but it had to be vetted before being published because he is under a gentlemen’s agreement in his forthcoming work.

After Scott Davis got approval to release a revised comment to me, the following is what Scott Davis said in response to my question about the rumor that he was one of the wealthy backers who allegedly bought the body. Please note, do not read this in any way as a characterization that Davis is complicit in what quite possibly is a hoax. That is not what I am saying. This is all about just “following the money.”

“I heard that rumor too. I don’t know who spread it but they are flat-out wrong. I have neither invested nor put together a group of investors. I rather like the rumor, though. Makes me look a little crazy and a little rich. And who doesn’t like a crazy rich guy?! Tom Biscardi is the one handling all financial and scientific arrangements - I am sure he can answer your future questions.”

Biscardi has not answered my questions about sharing the other photographs he promised, and I have a feeling that his attempt to use me is not meeting with the results he had predicted.

Clearly, if this was the real deal, there would be no reason at this point to not roll out the actual body tomorrow.

But the unusual structure of the face, the fabric-like look of the hair, and the close match with an actual costume does not speak well for this “carcass.”





This all seems to be some kind of master design to ridicule people in the mainstream field of Bigfoot research.

How could a couple guys in Georgia gotten this idea?

Do you all remember the Bushnell Trail Cam contest?

“We’re not saying we believe in Sasquatch, but if anyone’s ever going to capture an image of one, we’re guessing it’ll be a hunter with a trail camera. That’s why Bushnell is offering a chance at $1,000,000 to the first person using one who snaps a verifiable photo of the live beast.”

Do you recall this part of it?

“BONUS CATEGORY: For all you jokers out there – we’re giving away an additional Bushnell Trail Scout Pro camera for your best attempt to cheat Bushnell out of their $1,000,000 prize. So go grab your gorilla suit and head to the nearest woodlot. Just don’t get mistaken for a bear*.
*Please use caution when taking photographs outdoors and in the wild, especially when using suits or costumes that resemble wild animals (Gorilla, Sasquatch, or other).”


BTW, my personal websites (lorencoleman.com and the museum site, cryptozoologymuseum.com) have been ####ed, destroyed, and I will have to re-build the entire two sites at new locations. For those that think this is all a joke, I just don’t see it that way. If you ask me, ####ing in and taking down a website sort of reminds me of, well, burning books.

Comments (46)
Rare Snake News from Vietnam
Filed under: Cryptozoology, New Species, Cryptozoologists, Cryptotourism, Breaking News, CryptoZoo News — Loren Coleman @ 12:00 pm


Photo: Vncreatures

Scientists have uncovered a rare snake species named “Fimbrios” at Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in the central province of Quang Binh, Vietnam.

According to the park’s management board, scientists from the Cologne Zoo (Germany), the French National Natural History Museum and the Vietnam Institute for Ecology and Fauna Resources joined forces to locate this rare species of snake in an evergreen forest on a limestone mountain in Phong Nha-Ke Bang.

The Department of Science and Technology of Quang Binh on July 25 announced that in the five years since Phong Nha-Ke Bang was recognised as a world natural heritage site by UNESCO (July 2, 2003), Vietnamese and international scientists have discovered 20 new species of animals, including many valuable fish and reptile species, in the park.

In addition, many new varieties of plants have been found in the park,