Okay…here are a few final fun facts culled from Jerome Clark’s “Unexplained,” the most comprehensive, expertly written, level-headed tome on physical anomalies on the market:
-The clubfooted trail I mentioned was discovered in Bossburg, Washington in October 1969 and consisted of 1,089 seventeen inch footprints. 1,089!!! For the love of Christ, folks! Primatologist John Napier says, almost unnecessarily: “It is very difficult to conceive of a hoaxer so subtle, so knowledgeable- and so sick -who would deliberately falke a footprint of this nature. I suppose it is possible, but it is so unlikely that I am prepared to discount it.”
-James A. Hwekin of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has been finding tracks for years “in remote, almost inaccessible regions of the Cascade Mountains.” And “from his observations Hewkin, a biologist, concluded that a ‘species of giant, bipedal primate, weighing up to 800 pounds and standing at tall as 8 feet, and known as Sasquatch, does, in fact exist. Its diet is probably omnivorous, with feeding habits similar to those of bears (grubbing for roots, larvae, etc.)’”
-According to two electronics specialists, “one from the University of Wyoming and ther other from Rockwell International,” studied a series of purported sasquatch cries and declared that the “moans…and whistles” recorded on October 21, 1972, at 8,500 feet altitude in northern California’s High Sierras “where a number of sightings had been logged” came from “more than one speaker, one or more of which is of larger physical size than an average human male. The formant frequencies found were clearly lower than for human data, and their distribution does not indicate that they were a product of human vocalizations and tape speed alteration.”
It hasn’t, DrFidelius (see above.) I guess you were wrong, huh?
Gee, RD, if it’s in a book by Jerome Clark, that must make it true, right?
So, tell me, where were these results originally published and reviewed by other scientists?
You know, my co-worker has told me a story of his extraordinary encounter with what he felt pretty clearly to be several large hairy bipedal primates while he was working as a camp counselor in Northern California in the 1960s. I’ve been trying to get him to give me a written account so I can post it on here; if he does, I’ll start another thread with it.
(Or should I confine it to this thread, David? I wanna distance myself as much as possible from the crop circle and remote viewing mockery.)
Gee, David…if you can’t immediately explain it away, it must be bullshit. IT MUST BE A BALD FACED LIE! Where was it published?? Um, gee…I don’t know…The New England guide to Medicine and Sasquatchery, I suppose. Where WOULD it be published, since there exists no format for it? At the end of that particular chapter, Mr. Clarke has a list of cites…I can gladly transcribe them here.
Have you ever read anything by him? Just wondering.
Whoops! My bad. Apparently, Sasquatch, and his 100 or so cousins, do exist! Here’s The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide for the truly credulous. Hey, they couldn’t print it if it wasn’t true, right?
See CSISOP’s review of this trash if you are less than credulous.
By “trash,” Unc, do you mean that book in particular, or the possibility of “mystery primates” existing in general?
My absolute final word on the subject (“Hooray!” cries aggravated populace) is twofold:
1.) Here is a link to a webpage containing the latest info (along with the purported origin) concerning and the clearest images of what is now being dubbed the “Myakka Photographs.” Analysis reveals “forehead lines, yellow canines, fingernails, hair, and other significant details,” details which, of course, may or may not mean anything, depending on how complicated a hoax one is willing to entertain. Consensus SEEMS split between escaped orangutan or chimp…with a small, but vocal minority that claims that the creature, judging from appearances, can’t be either. Like I said in the OP…is it worth looking in to? I’m…oh…75% certain that yes…it is, if for no other reason that neither an orangutan nor a chimp belongs where this photo was taken.
http://www.lorencoleman.com/myakka.html
2.) Look, Unclebeer…you can post links to some author’s kookery all you want (I’ve read that book…you haven’t, I know…and, you’re right, it’s hastily put together and far from convincing, save for the closing arguments in the final chapter, essentially a rehasing of everything I’ve said), but one bad seed doesn’t negate the serious, levelheaded research many have contributed, the we’ve mentioned in this thread.
My absolute final word on the subject (“Hooray!” cries aggravated populace) is twofold:
1.) Here is a link to a webpage containing the latest info (along with the purported origin) concerning and the clearest images of what is now being dubbed the “Myakka Photographs.” Analysis reveals “forehead lines, yellow canines, fingernails, hair, and other significant details,” details which, of course, may or may not mean anything, depending on how complicated a hoax one is willing to entertain. Consensus SEEMS split between escaped orangutan or chimp…with a small, but vocal minority that claims that the creature, judging from appearances, can’t be either. Like I said in the OP…is it worth looking in to? I’m…oh…75% certain that yes…it is, if for no other reason that neither an orangutan nor a chimp belongs where this photo was taken.
http://www.lorencoleman.com/myakka.html
2.) Look, Unclebeer…you can post links to some author’s kookery all you want (I’ve read that book…you haven’t, I know…and, you’re right, it’s hastily put together and far from convincing, save for the closing arguments in the final chapter, essentially a rehasing of everything I’ve said), but one bad seed doesn’t negate the serious, levelheaded research many have contributed, the research we’ve mentioned in this thread.
For what it’s worth: a detailed sightings database. Many of these entries seem fairly credible.
My co-worker is also working on typing up his account for me as we speak–it involves, among other things, visual contact with a hairy female creature in broad daylight at a distance of about fifteen yards. So he says; when I post his story, you can judge for yourself.
Bzzzzzt!!! Wrong again. I own, and have read the book I linked.
Both, Gadarene. The book is trash. And the existence of “mystery primates.”
For the credulous.
Thanks for the gratuitous personal attack, Beer. Jerk much? (Your knee, that is.)
I’ve always thought it blunts Occam’s razor a bit more, personally, to assume that every single person who claims to have seen or found evidence of a “mystery primate” over the years is either misguided, misled, or lying. Maybe that’s just me.
I’d also be hard-pressed to believe that my co-worker was being less than honest with me about what he thinks he saw–but that’s obviously not something anyone else is capable of judging, unless they knew my co-worker. Whatever. Like I said, I’ll post his story and you can tear it apart, if you like.
Breaking my earlier post that said I wouldn’t post on this again, I just wanted to address this quickly, heh…
Yeah, I did at first. And it was the first reply so I figured people would follow in suit and I’d get flamed all to hell and back, but thankfully there are some people who responded thoughtfully (I don’t care if you disagree with me because that’s the whole point of a discussion, just don’t treat me like garbage because you don’t agree). Then I figure that being a moderator, he probably runs into this exact same conversation dozens of times a month (replace “Bigfoot” or “Skunk Ape” with “God” or “Ghosts”) and the short quick insult was just the result of being sick of answering the same thing over and over.
It would have been nice if he had actually replied to some of the points instead of just disregarding the thing as crap, but hey, there are other people here to talk to so I don’t care. As long as he doesn’t delete my posts just because he doesn’t disagree, then he can say what he wants.
And DavidB: I don’t see how the “insults” you warned Digested not to make were any different from your “insult” regarding my post and how I believe everything people tell me (which weren’t your exact words I know, but if you say you meant anything other than that then you’re full of it, heh…and to cover my ass because I don’t have any moderating powers to wield over anyone, that’s not an attempt to insult you directly and if you meant otherwise then you did a bad job of showing that in your reply).
Just figured I’d cover a bit there and say while I’d rather have had a thoughtful reply, some people just like to give quick jabs, so I don’t care.
Gadarene: I’d like to see that story about the sighting…And while you may be sure he’s not just screwing with your head, none of us know him so I doubt it’ll be received all that well, heh…Hard to explain to people “Trust me, I know he’s not lying!” over the net. 
And I liked APB9999’s idea about the sedative-laced oranges. The “story” behind the Skunk Ape photos said that the thing was stealing their apples for a few days so they left some nearby so they could take a photo of it…if the sudden flashing didn’t scare the thing off for good and it comes back, the drugged food would probably work great. Probably couldn’t get in touch with the little old lady who took the photos though, for she asked to keep her name and location out of it (judging from the response of most people, that’s not all that surprising).
- Tsugumo (“The reception I recieved on the phone was one of disbelief, or mis-identification.” That pretty much sums it up, heh…)
Recently Digested wrote, amongst other things:
Cool. I must have missed the paper. Primatology is not really relevant to what they pay me to do.
What journal was his monograph published in? I have associates who do have access to almost every archive published in English, Russian, or Chinese. I would love to read this paper.
(Gee, Loren Coleman is involved. I haven’t seen anything from him since Mysterious America was published back in, what, '82? How could I have missed him?)
I’m having trouble finding anything further on James A. Hwekin. Possibly it’s a typo or spelling problem. I’ll be checking with the more specialized search engines when I get into work tomorrow if my workload allows.
Wrong “again?” When was I wrong before that?
So…because this forest ranger didn’t submit his opinion based on his personal experience out in “the field,” so to speak, on a daily basis (contradicting your statement that no forest ranger, etc. had ever encountered evidence of a sasquatch) to a scientific journal…what? Doesn’t exist? Was he created out of whole-cloth? A complete lie? Please, what could explain this unholy abberation?
I’ll be damned.
Your subtly sarcastic “maybe it was a typo” jab got me to thinking, “Hell, maybe it WAS a typo.” So I went to the book and checked again…just to make certain, you know?
http://www.open-spaces.com/article-v1n3-sullivan.php
He’s mentioned in the second to last paragraph…and it’s “Hewkin.” I transposed the first two letters.
Boo-ya.
Recently Digested said:
And I said that exactly where?
Who says there exists no format for it? Are you trying to show that you don’t know what you’re talking about?
Have a ball.
Yes. Have you ever read anything by a source that wasn’t credulous? Just wondering.
[Moderator Hat: ON]
Tsugumo said:
This was my original reply, in full, to your post (which included claims about genetically altered crops and the government hiring people to say they made crop circles) :
Nowhere in this message was there an insult directed at you. It classified what you posted as “crap” and agreed that I could tell you listen to Art Bell – believed everything they said there.
Even if I had said you appear to believe everything people tell you, that would still not have been a direct insult that would get a warning in this forum.
However, Recently Digested did, indeed, throw out a direct insult by talking about the “jerkassedness” of another poster (in this case, me, but it would have been the same result no matter who he had referenced).
There is a big difference between describing what a person has posted as “crap” (or whatever) and describing the person himself in an insulting way. We don’t allow insults directed at people here. If somebody really wants to do that, they can go to the Pit.
If you have any further questions about this topic, please take them to e-mail.
David B, SDMB Great Debates Moderator
[Moderator Hat: OFF]