Creature in the Giant Sequoias

Today I am going to talk about the 'Creature in the Giant Sequoias' video. There are numerous breakdowns and talks about this particular video but it still manages to resurface often.

There is a lot of speculation about whether the video is authentic or if it was an attempt by a film student to make a short film go viral. Unfortunately, I don't have a definitive answer but I will try to present enough information so you can make a decision yourselves. Personally, I think the video is just another hoax. It has all the hallmarks of a hoax in my opinion. Out of focus and shaky camera work is at the top of the list.


The video, as most of us know, was posted by Shawn Bannon. Shawn is an aspiring film maker with some titles under his belt.

Shawn Bannon: IMDB

Shawn also has a website that showcases his short documentary that was shot with 16 mm film.

shawnbannon.com

Here is Shawn's short film.

I can't find the original video but this one is close. This video includes some slow motion which provides a better view of the subject.

Shawn Bannon claims to have shot the film in about a minute but there are numerous camera angle changes. Previous breakdowns on the video have mentioned the angle changes and edits.

The only breakdown that seems to suggest the subject is a real Bigfoot comes from Thinker Thunker. Just when a video is put to rest, he comes up with a sensational video that tries to convince viewers this video shows a Bigfoot. The only thing that I agree with in the breakdown is that the Bigfoot is not CGI.

Excluded from Thinker Thunker's breakdown are the easily found photos of this alleged Bigfoot. How convenient.

The last two photos above are interesting because both show the extremely long arms. This is due to the fact that very long hair extends past the hands. This can be seen in the sighting video and in the documentary. Never before have I seen a Bigfoot video that shows hair that covers and extends well past the hands by a foot or more.

The next set of photos shows a very similar Bigfoot on stage with a band by the name of Dead Meadow.

This Bigfoot is also with the band outdoors. Note the very long hair at the hands.

Dead Meadow feature this beast in their live shows and in a few of their videos. Here is a screenshot from a video showing the drummer wearing the head. I'll provide the video below the photo.

The video is low resolution and has a low budget feel to it so the creature is hard to see clearly. Another glaring problem is the lack of any visible facial features. All we see is a red glowing light on the face.

I was trying to find a connection between Shawn Bannon and Dead Meadow, or a connection to both of them through the costume, such as a common friend or artist who may have provided them with the costume.

I will admit that I failed in that area but I'm a stubborn and persistent SOB, so I kept digging. What I found was the Dead Meadow Facebook page that yielded a couple of interesting photos.

This is the first photo I found and it shows the mask of their onstage hairy dancing machine.

I know what you're probably thinking. This looks nothing like the Bigfoot in Shawn's video. Maybe the next photo will be a bit more convincing.

The photo above from the Dead Meadow fan page strongly resembles the Bigfoot in Shawn's video but that's my personal opinion.

I did a side by side to see how the faces compared.

The background photo is a bit dark but I can see similarities in the brow, black nose and lips so I tried an overlay.

Here is a short overlay animation to compare both faces.

While there are no definitive answers to this video, you only need to ask yourself this. What are the chances of a real Bigfoot and a fake Bigfoot looking so similar in almost every possible way?

IMAX Bigfoot

Usually I focus on the hoaxers and cons of Bigfootland but I have decided to focus on something different for my next few posts.

  The Bigfoot community has a constant influx of new people, and those people usually post videos that have been debunked, or videos that are highly questionable. The goal here is to try to get to the bottom of these videos. I will likely focus on the more popular videos in which the lines have been blurred by guesses and assumptions.

  Part of the problem for new members to the community is that there are breakdowns of videos that are incorrect, in my opinion. Other breakdowns are sensational in nature in order to drive viewers to their channel.

Recently I have seen debate about the IMAX Bigfoot in various Facebook Bigfoot groups, so I'll cover this one today.

I don't know who it was that first suggested this being is a Bigfoot or something other than a human being but I did find a video to use to show how people can jump to conclusions.

The above video appears to be innocent in nature, even though I consider the analysis to be faulty.

The next video comes from a person who I consider to be a detriment to the Bigfoot community. His analyses of videos appear as if he has done his homework but if that was the case, I wouldn't be talking about him. He has over 17,000 subscribers and that is problematic when it comes to sorting out fact from fiction.

   He has a loyal following and many of those folks are people who are new to the community. They get sucked in by fancy illustrations and graphics, and by a confident and believable channel host. If you have the time, watch the following video. This one compares to the highly debated Bigfoot versus Buffalo video. It has becomes obvious to me that Thinker Thunker really doesn't have much of an idea of what he is doing, so I hope this blog post gets passed around to as many eyes as possible.

If Thinker Thunker had really investigated this video at all, he would have come across the next video. That would have rendered his half bake analysis useless, though.

The video below comes from Cliff Barackman's channel. Matt Moneymaker and Wally Hersom discuss the subject in the video. This is probably the best resolution I have seen so far.

My advice to everyone would be to be responsible for what you accept as evidence of Bigfoot. Spend a bit of extra time and dig deeper. Most of the time it's easier than you think. Compare various breakdowns and talk to better informed people before jumping to any conclusions.

This Is What Happens

The latest video breakdown by Thinker Thunker has gotten under my skin. He took a perfectly innocent video and turned it in to a circus freak show. I'm sure he knows damn well there are no Bigfoot in his video but that doesn't sell. What does sell is contrived bullshit combined with flashy software and some fast talking.

  It is people like Thinker Thunker who make the Bigfoot community look foolish. He may not be a hoaxer but he is a hoax enabler and a bullshit artist. Thinker Thunker is counting on the fact that people will blindly believe his weak analysis, and that those people will not research the issue.

Two other breakdowns have been done by other individuals and their analysis of the video better shows what those bipeds likely are. They are human beings out for the day, having fun. Even still, there are others who dismiss those breakdowns in order to side with Thinker Thunker. No real reasons were given other, than "I trust him more" or "I believe him". Really? Is that good enough for people nowadays? It's kind of scary if you sit back and think about it.

I was visiting a thread in one of the Bigfoot Facebook groups and there were a few people who were able to cast doubt on the Bigfoot vs. Buffalo video in about five minutes.

Here is a link to the streaming video of Yellowstone. Old Faithful Geyser Webcam

I checked the webcam yesterday and *gasp* guess what I saw? No, it wasn't a rogue Bigfoot. It was a person strolling on the walkway. It takes awhile for the person to start walking. Look to the right side of the screen and you will see a dark figure on the walkway.

Someone took a few minutes to compose an email and send it to the park. After all, if you want to really get to the bottom of a mystery, why not start with a comment from park officials.
  This was the reply the individual received.

If that's not enough, the same person found a website showing a group of people out that very day. Could they be the four people caught by the park webcam?
Link:  Yellowstone National Park

You won't believe this but one person in the group took a photograph of a fierce Buffalo.

There was a question asked on the website but no reply had been given when I last checked the site. Today the person replied to the question. Click on the photo to enlarge.

"how many where there in your group , and did you walk single file?"

 "Hey Danny, there were four of us. When we snow shoed we mostly walked single file, but there was room in some areas to walk next to each other on more established trails. Thanks for sending the Bigfoot link. Wish we could have had a sighting!"


Isn't that an interesting coincidence? Thinker Thunker magically finds four Bigfoot in a random video and there were four individuals walking single file in the same area, and on the same day.


Common sense and a tiny bit of logic should tell us that just maybe this group was caught by the park webcam.

This kind of blatant sensationalism by people such as Thinker Thunker needs to come to a stop. Take ten minutes to do a bit of checking on your own. People in the community are always complaining about hoaxers but how many are doing anything about it? Take the time and dig for answers you can share with others. Let's put an end to this madness.

Bigfoot, or Big Tree?

Today I visited one of the Facebook Bigfoot groups and a discussion had started about an old alleged Bigfoot sighting from 2010, however, the video was only recently posted on YouTube.
If you have time check out The Genoskwa Project Ohio , it's a fantastic group.

Here is the video. It's a series of still shots. Link: Paranormal Central

This alleged sighting was also discussed in this video: Bigfoot Photo From Trail Cam

Right from the get go I had problems with this video. First of all, the titles state that the subject in the video is a real Bigfoot without a shred of real evidence or proof shown.

When I see marketing tags like these, it usually raises red flags with me. How can the individuals be so confident that this thing is a Bigfoot?


I watched the video about six times and left some comments in the thread that was discussing this anomaly. From the stills in the video I created some overlays to show what I considered to be nothing more than a tree, foliage and shadows blended together that gave the illusion of a large dark upright body.

Jeffrey Gonzalez from the Sanger Paranormal Society jumped all over me for my own opinion. There were plenty of  "LOL!!!", followed by other words with exclamation points. Mr. Gonzalez, as a last resort, started in with the expected ad hominem attacks. At no point in time did Mr. Gonzalez provide any further evidence to support his claim, save for this ONE photo.

If anything, this one photo helped support my assertions that this is nothing more than pareidolia.


I will lay out the photos down below so you can decide for yourselves.

Zoomed image

Jeffrey Gonzalez at the location

They did do a good job of getting the angle right in this photo but that's about as good as it gets in my opinion.


The next photo is a side by side comparison. Note the shadowed tree behind Mr. Gonzalez. Also, note the bright sunlight on the photo on the left. I believe this is causing a darker and/or larger shadow.

This gives a reasonable size comparison between the "Bigfoot" and Mr. Gonzalez. The scale of the two photos is a bit off in the above picture.

That has been corrected in the overlays below.

I don't have a decent animated gif program so I used Bandicam for the following:

So, is this a blurry Bigfoot? A huge bear? Pareidolia?  I'm sticking to my own opinion on this one but don't let that sway your own opinions.

I do not think this is an outright hoax but I do think it's a simple misidentification or wishful thinking...or maybe both.

If someone, especially those with a public platform, are going to assert that something is genuine, I would hope that these people perform their due diligence to rule out ALL possibilities before jumping to the conclusion that something is a Bigfoot.

I suppose trees don't garner much excitement though.

Seek Thermal Review

The following review is based on my personal experiences with the Seek thermal camera. I am not an expert with thermal imaging devices and this is my first experience with a thermal camera.

I think it would be safe to say that any Bigfoot enthusiast would welcome a thermal camera as part of their gear. Some people in the community have access to, or own, a high end FLIR thermal camera. Many of us simply don't have the budget for such a device but now we have an alternative.

The Seek thermal camera was recently released for sale and the demand appears to be very high for this device. Seek initially had some delays but I think they are finally getting caught up on back orders. There still remain a couple of issues with the Apple version of the camera, mainly due to the app being accepted in the Apple app store. Seek assures it's iOS customers that the cameras will ship soon. I have an Android device so my wait time was only about three weeks. When the camera shipped, it only took ONE day to get to Canada.

The camera comes in a good sturdy box and shows a bit of information on the camera.

Included with the camera is a hard plastic carrying case and key ring.


Before using the camera, the Seek app needs to be downloaded from the playstore. Once the app is installed, just plug the camera in to the micro USB port. The app will prompt you to accept the device. After that, use is very straight forward.

The Seek thermal camera comes with different functions and nine colour palettes. I like pictures, so I am going to post a lot of them you so get a good idea of what the functions are.

Enabling this function will give you a fairly accurate temperature reading.

Hi/Lo displays a low temperature and high temperature. This is useful if you want to check for air leaks at home or it could aid in detecting a heat signature of an animal in the brush.

This is where you fine tune the heat detection settings. I'm still playing with this function in order to get the best images possible. You have the option of including a date/time stamp and a watermark of the Seek logo. Date and time are very important when you're out in the field, so I opted to use this.

The slide function is something I really like. This is great for day time use and you get a heat signature. You can slide back and forth to pinpoint the target. Engaging this function is done via the on/off button on the top left of this image. Unfortunately at this time the two images don't match up exactly. I'm hoping Seek can fix that issue. A new product will always need some tweaking.


Once I unboxed the camera, I started snapping photos and my dog was the target. Thankfully he was nice enough to stay still.

"Iron" 

"Cool"

"White" Subject shows in white.

"Black" Subject shows in black.

I'll post a few short video clips showing some of the colour palettes and functions of the camera. One thing I immediately realized is that a thermal camera should not be moved around a lot, like you would with a camcorder. I realized this after the fact, so excuse the blurry videos.
  The camera is great for a point and hold application.

The video above shows a herd of cattle. Finding any deer was tough due to the plethora of hunters in the area. Distance ranged from about 80 ft. for the closest animal and roughly 300 ft. or more for the furthest animal. Setting is on "White". Temperature outside was approximately 5C.

This video is from the same location with the "Black" setting used.

Once again, same location. This is the "Iron" setting from the colour palette choices. Because it was a bit cool out, I preferred the gray scale, using the "Black" setting. Personally, I found it worked better. As the day warmed up, I used the "White" setting.

This function is good for day time use. As you can see, the cattle don't appear to be a one to one scale between normal video and the thermal video. Video quality seems a bit degraded in the non-thermal side of the window. I use a Galaxy Note3 and the video quality of the phone is much better under normal use. The zoom function of my phone works while using the Seek thermal camera. The Note has a maximum zoom of 4X, so your results may vary.

Video using the Hi/Lo temperature setting. It was warming up but there was about four inches of snow on the ground. Tall grass and stumps were bare. Sunny skies with a few clouds.

Same location using the "Iron" setting.

I didn't record videos or take pictures using all of the colour palettes. These are posted just to give you a basic idea of the camera's abilities.


Overall, I am very happy with this camera. It works great around the house and I have already found a few areas of heat loss that I can address. Mechanics would probably find this to be a valuable tool during diagnostics. The camera can detect water leaks and moisture as well.


As a tool for use in Bigfooting, I would say the camera is okay. It could be helpful if you hear something close by, such as branches snapping etc. The range of the camera is said to be approximately 1,000 ft. but I have not found an animal at that distance yet.

  The Seek will never replace a professional grade FLIR, and with a modest price tag of $200, I wouldn't expect it to perform on the same level as a $1,200+ camera.

It's closest competitor is the FLIR One. The FLIR has a price tag of $349 and has a resolution of 80 x 60, for a total of 4800 pixels.

"FLIR has also applied some great technology to help users get the most out of the resolution. Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging, or MSX, makes use of the second camera visible on the FLIR ONE, a visible light camera with a resolution of 640 x 480. MSX uses the visible light image to mine data about surface patterns and edges, then embosses this information into the thermal image. The effect is that the somewhat low thermal resolution is much more intelligible to the eye, giving the impression of a much higher resolution."

Source: Ivy Tools Blog

 The FLIR One is only compatible with iphone 5/5S.



Compare that to the Seek's 206 x 156 resolution and 32,136 thermal pixels.

  It would be beneficial if Seek could employ similar technology like MSX to sharpen the images. Maybe this will come in firmware updates, if that's possible, or in future generations of Seek thermal cameras. 


I don't ever see myself dropping a few thousand on a thermal camera, so the Seek is a perfect addition to my collection to my kit. It's a keeper and the camera performed flawlessly the entire afternoon. I didn't notice an excessive drain ion my phone battery. I used the phone on and off over the period of about three hours and I still had over 50% battery life. Under constant usage, this may change.


If you are interested in the Seek thermal camera, visit their website:  SEEK THERMAL

The Squatchmaster: Hoaxing since 2011, Maybe Longer

I have decided to take on busting other hoaxers as time permits and last night, 'The Squsatchmaster' was busted wide open with his video, 'Sasquatch Speech'.

Here is the original video by Jeff Patterson. Don't worry, he can't delete this one from my blog.

This is a recent video of Jeff's in which he claims there is Bigfoot language. We now know this is false because I covered it on last night's blog. Steve Kulls also performed an analysis and came to the same conclusion as I did.

You can read Steve's blog at Squatchdetective

Jeff Patterson posted this particular video on Sept. 5, 2014. There is a lot of echo in the video so we know he has tampered with it. The question is why?

Here is the video after I have reversed Squatchmaster's reversal.

Why am I bringing up this video again?

 Let's take a trip back to Sept. 7, 2011 for the answer. I was looking through Jeff's videos for anything interesting and I wanted something older that shows the Squatchmaster's hoaxing goes back a few years.

I found this little gem hidden way down low in his videos. You need to watch this video first before going to the one below because Jeff Patterson is caught in some lies.

Here is the above video, only I recorded it backwards again. Did you notice anything? There is no reverb in this version. I'll get to that in a moment.

Here are a couple of screen shots to show this video dates back to 2011, and here is a link: STRANGE DISCOVERIES

In this original video, Jeff says this was an EVP session his son conducted and Jeff also said he played the recording BACKWARDS. Now, if he did that, he would know that the recording contained living human speech. The Squsatchmaster deliberately duped people with this audio. He knowingly hoaxed and he can not deny this.


We already know that Jeff hoaxed his recent 'Sasquatch Speech' video but he also had the nerve to lie to someone who questioned him.

"This was part of an EVP session years ago along the lake near one of the old farms that is now under water.
This particular audio clip was from a 4 minute file that has gotten lost over the years."

Really? It got lost? Perhaps Jeff can explain how I found it so easily. Squatchmaster flat out lied to the person he was replying to in the comments of his 'Sasquatch Speech' video.

Jeff Patterson committed a hoax in 2011 and recycled it for another hoax in 2014. The man is a complete fraud and he should not be trusted. All of his videos are worthless now (as if they weren't before).

I highly doubt these are isolated incidences, folks. The day of reckoning for all of these hoaxers has arrived.