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Don't go down to the woods today
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 (CDT) by Isis
 Armed with binoculars, video cameras, sound recorders and thermal imaging equipment, expedition members will today plunge deep into the woods of northern Michigan on a mission to silence cynics and rewrite zoology textbooks. With their lenses poised and notebooks at the ready, the 50-strong team of investigators will scour the wilderness in search of one of the world's most elusive creatures.
Twigs will be examined for snagged clumps of fur, the forest floor scrutinised for footprints and steaming clues. At times, the intrepid researchers will simply stand silently among the trees with their microphones held high, hoping to capture a chilling but special sound - the howl of the Sasquatch.
Also known as Bigfoot - the North American cousin of the Himalayan Yeti, or Abominable Snowman - reported sightings of the ape-like Sasquatch since the mid-19th century have been largely dismissed by mainstream scientists as a figment of folklore and overactive imaginations.
But Matthew Moneymaker, the head of America's Bigfoot Field Researchers Organisation (BFRO), is adamant that there is something out there. He will today lead disciples on a three-day quest for proof that such a creature lives.
"I know they exist, I've seen them. I had one about 15 feet away from me once," says Moneymaker, who in 2002 created a stir by taking a plaster cast of what some scientists speculated could be an imprint of a Sasquatch's forearm, hip, thigh and heel, after it supposedly lay down next to a muddy puddle in Washington State to retrieve a piece of fruit.
Despite purportedly standing up to 10 feet (3 metres) tall and weighing more than 500lb (227kg), Sasquatches have proved camera shy through the decades, their alleged existence recorded only by footprints, scientifically uncorroborated reports, claims of unearthly howls emanating from American marshlands, and the occasional fuzzy photograph. Brief film footage shot in 1967 by Bigfoot hunters Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin, appearing to show a tall hairy primate lolloping beside a creek in California, was for decades considered by advocates as proof that the Sasquatch was more than just a myth.
Grover Krantz, a respected professor of anthropology at Washington State University at that time, said he was convinced that the footage showed a surviving example of Gigantopithecus, a giant ape that first walked the earth five million years ago. But subsequent testimony from a costume designer, 35 years after the sighting, claiming that he had sold an ape suit to Patterson shortly before the incident, and a further confession by Bob Heironimus, a retired Pepsi bottler from Washington State, that Patterson had paid him to wear it and lurk by the creek that day, shattered the legend.
Yet Dr Jane Goodall, considered one of the world's greatest authorities on primates, startled the scientific world when she admitted that she is a believer. "I'm sure that they exist," said Goodall in an American radio interview in 2002. Endorsing a recent book on the subject by Professor Jeff Meldrum, a Sasquatch enthusiast at Idaho State University, Goodall wrote: "There are countless people - especially indigenous people - in different parts of America who claim to have seen such a creature. And in many parts of the world I meet those who, in a matter-of-fact way, tell me of their encounters with large, bipedal, tail-less hominids.
"I think I have read every article and every book about these creatures, and while most scientists are not satisfied with the existing evidence, I have an open mind."
Moneymaker has compiled a computer database of many of thousands of those alleged encounters, and led a number of expeditions in America which he claims have yielded important clues. On all but two of his 30 previous expeditions, he claims, members have heard or seen a Sasquatch. "People have been seeing these things for many years... and they come to Jesus real fast when they do. I've seen people traumatised; it turns their world upside down," he says.
Doubters question why - if there have been so many sightings - there are not more convincing photographs in existence.
"People are expecting to see commercial-grade wildlife photography... to be convinced, it's got to be something that's just going to knock people's socks off. But these things aren't going to stand out in the open, in broad daylight, waiting for you to take their picture," claims Moneymaker.
Bigfoot is said to be a meat-eater - and, it would seem, clears up meticulously after its meals, because leftovers have never been found - but also allegedly enjoys snacking on acorns, berries and wild mushrooms. Luring them with fruit can also help them conquer their shyness, researchers suggest.
Lisa Shiel, a Michigan researcher who has spent six years on the creatures' trail, is scornful of the BFRO's tactics. Moneymaker allows anybody to join his expeditions for $300 (£150) each, which Shiel says results in an unscientific mob approach that will make the Sasquatch run a mile.
"Fifty people clopping through the woods will scare off any wildlife. That's not how you're going to find an elusive animal," says Shiel. She has received 15 reports of sightings in the area in the last year alone and claims to have had several personal encounters, the latest last year when she glimpsed a "tall, dark figure in the woods".
"It went behind a tree and then... I'm not sure what happened. Sasquatches are very intelligent, very smart creatures and they know how to hide," she explains.
Moneymaker, 41, denies that he is in it just to make money. A former software engineer and corporate lawyer from southern California, he used to run the BFRO as a sideline but has now made it his full-time work, assisted by private sponsorship. He documents Sasquatch sightings from all over the world, including Australia - which has its own version of the legend, called the Yowie Man - and Brazil, where Amazonian tribesfolk have spoken through the years of seeing a part-man, part-sloth known as the Mapinguary, which loosely translates as "fetid beast" (it emits a powerful stench as it roams the rainforest).
Moneymaker's first encounter came some years ago, in the woodlands of eastern Ohio. "It was two o'clock in the morning and the moon was a quarter full," he later recalled in an interview with National Geographic. "Suddenly, there he was, an eight-foot-tall creature, standing 15 feet away, growling at me. He wanted to let me know I was in the wrong place."
He claims that by getting expedition members to pay a fee, it helps to ensure that only the serious-minded, or sufficiently curious, take part. "The money we charge is mainly to filter people out, [so] we get a much better crowd," he says. "People say, 'Oh, they're charging money, they've probably got people in ape-suits hanging around to make sure they don't disappoint their clients'... but that's not how it is. The one thing no-one can argue with is that there have been hundreds of reported sightings in North America, and that makes it a legitimate thing to look into."
While some in Michigan will scoff at such endeavours, perhaps fearful that the extra publicity the expedition brings to the state's Upper Peninsula region could result in thousands of amateurs crashing through their pristine forests in search of the phantom ape-man, others are rubbing their hands at the potential for a lucrative boost to local hotels and businesses.
Visitors to Michigan's Upper Peninsula area are currently directed to the newly-opened Weird Michigan Wax Museum, which has a "life-size" waxwork in honour of the hairy celebrity. Indeed Bigfoot has, over the years, spawned a booming industry all his own. As well as the numerous books and souvenirs, including Bigfoot keyrings, postcards and mugs, various states have made the most of their Bigfoot heritage by opening museums.
A Bigfoot Discovery Museum has opened in Felton, California, for example (motto: "If you're sceptically enquiring please be aware, there's more for the eye than fake Bigfoot hair") and exhibits six containers of purported Sasquatch droppings. In Willow Creek, California, site of the infamous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin sighting, there is an annual Bigfoot festival, a Bigfoot Motel, a Bigfoot Museum, a Bigfoot statue, and Bigfoot carvings adorn the roadside.
Other states including Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana have also claimed sightings, while Texas hosts an annual Bigfoot conference, attracting around 400 enthusiasts from all over the country who come to hear the latest reports and snap up mementoes such as T-shirts that bear the slogan: "Bigfoot: Often imitated, never invalidated." While the latest BFRO expedition will undoubtedly shed a new light on Michigan's own Sasquatch history, columnist Ben Bromley of the Baraboo News Republic newspaper in the neighbouring state of Wisconsin - which also boasts its share of purported sightings - is sceptical that it will reap results.
"Sadly, Moneymaker probably is unaware that we have more than our fair share of crackpots in these parts," he wrote. "In asking for testimony regarding Bigfoot, he's sure to find yokels who not only play smear [a local card game] with the big fella every Thursday night, but also crash-landed with the aliens at Roswell and have solved the Kennedy assassination."
When Monster means Moolah
Every time another grainy photo of the Loch Ness Monster turns up, business owners in the area must rub their hands with glee. No matter that it is surely a tree branch or a cardboard cut-out rigged up by some bored teenager, monster equals moolah for businessfolk at Loch Ness, where the Nessie industry is worth around £25 million annually.
Close to 500,000 tourists flock to the banks of the loch every year, each hoping to catch a glimpse and around 2,500 people are employed in the monster industry in the Loch Ness area, unsurprising when you consider that this encompasses everything from guided tours to visitor centres, gift shops to cafes and the rest. The Loch Ness Monster Visitor Centre attracts around 200,000 people annually, and for those who don't make it north, there's even a £500,000 Nessie attraction on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, with a mini-cinema as well as the inevitable souvenirs. Alongside the usual tartan tat, you can buy Nessie-branded everything at Loch Ness. There are keyrings, T-shirts, soft toys, stationery, games, mugs and even "dragon's eggs" available. Or how about a poke of chocolate Nessie droppings?
For those who can't visit Scotland yet want to tap in to that Nessie magic, the internet has a plethora of monster junk available. There are 46 different Nessie books available on Amazon, and endless websites devoted to sightings and conspiracies.
The 1995 film Loch Ness starring Ted Danson and Joely Richardson was a box-office flop, but around 40 film crews still flock to the area each year, contributing £100,000 to local businesses. And for the punter looking to cash in on Nessie's fame, William Hill are offering a £1 million reward to anyone presenting conclusive evidence of Nessie's existence to London's Natural History Museum.
Copyright The Scotsman
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Re: Don't go down to the woods today
by Inewitwuzu on Saturday, July 14, 2007 (CDT)
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Mr. Moneymaker says he is not in it for the money, uuhhmm, I don't know what it is, can't put a head on it, but I have this feeling that this statement of his is not on the up and up. Oh I did find out I am a mystic, I bet it's that. Thanks for posting Isis. |
Re: Don't go down to the woods today (Score: 1)
by Renfield on Sunday, July 22, 2007 (CDT)
(User Info | Send a Message) | Mr. Moneymaker (which, by the way, isn't the fellow's real name) most definitely IS in it for the money, and he as nearly run the BFRO into the ground because of it (I'm speaking about the respect given to the organization by the bigfoot researching community, not financially).
If you have a serious interest in this subject (Matt Moneymaker, not just bigfoot) go to www.bigfootforums.com, and search for terms like "BFRO" and "Moneymaker", and you'll get hours of reading on the issue. |
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Re: Don't go down to the woods today
by myztique on Thursday, July 19, 2007 (CDT)
(User Info | Send a Message) | | My mom saw something years ago when I was a little kid. We lived in a very marshy area and all the neighbors in the area knew about the "night creatures". Once they scared the neighbor's big, mean bulls so badly that they ran through the fence. You could hear the night creatures "calling" to each other back and forth across the fields. We had panther and coyotes in the area, and this was neither. My mom saw one standing out by a chicken coop where she had some young chickens penned up so no predators could get at them and she said whatever it was had the biddies all scared to death. They were about to brain themselves flapping about in the cage. She said it kinda looked like a man wearing khaki pants, but it wasn't a man. It just stood and stared at the chickens, didn't actively try to get at them or anything. But all the same the animals were terrified, and these young chickens had been incubator hatched and were accustomed to people, so why were they so terrified? My oldest brother and our cousin also had an encounter with one of these night creatures. One night they drove down the road to dump out some shimp shells into a nearby stream. My brother was on crutches due to a motorcycle accident, but he beat my cousin back to the car! They both came back to the house as white as sheets. They said it was dark so they couldn't see details, but this thing was over 10 feet tall and it growled at them and shook the trees on either side of it. This was a very rural area in the 1970's and has since seen a lot of development, so I wonder sometimes what happened to these creatures. If they died out or just moved on to somewhere else. In Louisiana we have some very inaccessible swampy areas, so I suppose it's possible they could have moved further into the woods and swamp. |
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