A DISCUSSION WITH A SKEPTIC ON BIGFOOT

BIGFOOT BOOKS TALKS ABOUT SASQUATCH WITH A SCIENTIFICALLY-MINDED ANONYMOUS READER. CAN THE MINDS MEET ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE OF EMPIRICISM AND POSSIBILITY?

In regard to our previous blog posting involving those shall we say "controversial Bigfoot issues," a certain "Anonymous" said in our Comments field:

"How can there be a massacre of creatures that do not exist?"

And then Anonymous said...

"No Bigfoot. No cry."

This led to us contacting him to discuss Bigfoot a bit more in-depth. What follows was done by email, often with two threads going at one time, back and forth, so it is a bit freewheeling and a touch disjoint at times. Bear with us. We feel there are some interesting points made in there.

Image: "Thinker-Squatch" confabulated by Steven Streufert, who is a somewhat sloppy Photoshop artist.

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ANONYMOUS: Ain't no such thing as B/bigfoot. Waiting for Godot. Good for laughs. Good for a window into what's going in the minds of the fringe of humankind. But that's it.

I've read your blog. Your considerable intelligence and apparent talents are going to waste. They are being wasted on a dispute with a fool who is, like Don Quixote, attacking windmills, while you defend the windmills, both of you agreeing they are something more than windmills. There is an imaginary movie on the screen. You defend what is on the screen. Another says that what is on the screen does not show the full reality of the fictitious fiction-predicated fiction that follows. Bottom line is, it's all fiction. Why argue over fiction.

There is no bigfoot. Never was. Never will be. The Patterson-Gimlin film is a hoax. The whole thing is a sham. It's obvious. If there were a bigfoot, there'd be certain evidence of it by now. A creature that size cannot exist without a breeding population of some size, bones, etc., and, if it is intelligent, other signs of its society. Why not focus on elves and dwarves and trolls? If you want to comment on the social phenomenon, write a book about the bigfoot culture? Either you can be a Tolkienesque fiction author or you can be a social commentator. Other than that, why waste time on this fiction?

This little feud also shows that it's just like everything else involving humans - much ado about nothing - except in this case it's much ado about REALLY nothing.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: You may be wrong....

I guess I don't know what else to do these days, really. Plus, Bigfoot is fun and fascinating.

I suppose what I am doing is kind of like full-immersion anthropology.... And I do tend to believe. Bigfoot is one of the last real mysteries in the visible, objective world... I mean, what we can see with our eyes and physically sense.

ANONYMOUS: There ain't no bigfoot. Take my word for it.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: So, let's make this the start of an interview for the blog, eh?

ANONYMOUS: Nah. You need publicity. Not naysayers. No interview. There ain't no bigfoot. Take my word for it.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Afraid of the debate, eh?

ANONYMOUS: I see no debate. There are real things that I struggle with that are right in front of my nose that are up for debate. A modern-day fairy tale is not one of them.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: We miss so much, always looking at those things right before our noses, always seeing things from the nose perspective....

ANONYMOUS: We don't miss that much. There are MANY noses. We are not talking a microbe here that would only be seen if the right soil sample were put under a microscope. We are talking a creature bigger than a man. There is no way that and the artifacts of its existence would be missed. It is so incredibly improbable that Bigfoot exists that it is a sign of insanity to even believe in it. This is religion. This is a sad pastime for minds that are bored and unchallenged. There are indeed many wonders out there, but it requires some patience and some discipline and learning to address these questions. Bigfoot is just cheap thrills. Bigfoot is a wannabe "scientist's" adolescent drive-in movie sex.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: How do you KNOW????

ANONYMOUS: Logic. Occam's razor militates against the existence of Bigfoot... BIG TIME!

Large animal. Intelligent. Ape or even hominid. THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL that this large and sophisticated creature, with a breeding population that would have had to last from the last thawing of the Ice Bridge to the present, would not leave REAL evidence of its existence. If such a creature were real, there'd be bones, discarded tools, burying grounds, nests, a lot more footage of the creature, almost certainly animals captured, etc. It is, in fact, INSANE to believe otherwise.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: A lot of things that do exist would be considered highly unlikely or non-parsimonious if they did not in fact exist. What if you had never heard of one, and I proposed the idea of a panda to you? Or a whale? There is a lot of evidence of Bigfoot, just none yet accepted by many scientists. Google Jeff Meldrum Bigfoot, see what comes up.... Occam's Razor is a mental tool, not an external fact. Belief in Bigfoot usually IS based on evidence, or even actual experience, for those who believe.

ANONYMOUS: There are Pandas and smaller whales in zoos and aquaria. Larger whales have been photographed and filmed extensively. The marine realm is much less accessible to us than the deepest forests, yet we have evidence of myriad "improbable" marine creatures. There is NO hard evidence of Bigfoot. None. Just a movie that is almost certainly a hoax and lots of footprints, which are easy for humans to make and of which the large part are, even amongst Bigfooters, clearly considered hoaxes. It is a billion-to-one against a Bigfoot exiting on logical grounds. So... applying the principle of Occam's razor, a thinking person must conclude that Bigfoot almost certainly DOES NOT exist.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Not everything is logical, on it's surface. Logic does not always have predictive power. The universe is full of surprise and things of wonderment. At one time Westerners scoffed at the idea of the panda. And the gorilla....

You can cite all the animals in the zoo, but perhaps Sasquatch is smarter than they are, with a much smaller population. One of the premises of the reality of Bigfoot is the idea that they are highly adapted to avoid humans; they would have had to be so to survive alongside our species as homo sapiens spread out across the land bridge. I think you exaggerate those "odds" against its existence. For instance, the Gigantopithecus lived for some odd million years, and the only way we know of it at all is a few dozen teeth and two partial jawbones.

ANONYMOUS: The universe is indeed full of surprise and things of wonderment, but they are always things that can be rendered credible or explained in some logical framework. Things outside of that are the realm of hallucination, superstition and religion.

No matter how smart Bigfoot is, it cannot exist without a breeding population. At the very minimum, we are talking, say, 200 individuals, but even then it's hard to see how enough genetic diversity to maintain a species that would not succumb to deleterious recessive traits could sustain the species. Now, that's AT LEAST 200 individuals who would have the chance of encountering one another. And if they are intelligent and human-like, everything suggests they'd live in groups. They'd thus logically be concentrated into small units, yet disperse enough to avoid detection. But there'd have to be enough to maintain a viable breeding population in America over tens of thousands of years.

American Indians are genetically related to the much larger population of East Asians. Where is the evidence for a similar larger founder stock of American Bigfoot in Asia? Abominable Snowman legends? Moreover, the smarter it is, the more likely it will leave artifacts of it existence. Is it a human-like ape? It's going to be intelligent and social and leave real artifacts of its existence. Okay...let us just concede then that maybe a minimal population of these creatures exist. They came across from Asia, but became extinct there, only surviving in legend. They evolved to be afraid of humans and to hide from humans. Fine. Still, there'd be some remains of them. Bones. Burial grounds. Something. Unless they are super-intelligent aliens or ghosts. It's in the same category of plausibility as UFOs or ghosts. Gimme a break.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: There are logical explanations for the possible existence of Sasquatch; it's just that there has not been the full objective verification of a confirmable body or part that would have been distinguished as such. Read the Meldrum book, Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. There is a lot of evidence that goes beyond hoaxery, apparently. Even the Patterson film has never been conclusively proven to be fake. People just say, Oh, that could not be real, even when it is right there before their eyes! Look closer and you will see the convincing details, too.

ANONYMOUS: Sasquatch as a microbe of a micron in diameter that has not been detected: okay. Sasquatch as a very large and intelligent ape that ranged far and wide and crossed from Asia to America without any definitive trace: near impossible.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Right now, up in the Klamath and Siskiyou wilderness area I would venture to guess that there are NO "noses" out there. There is a LOT of open and inaccessible land. Any remains would be a needle in a haystack to find. Some would argue with you about "signs" and traces. Many involved are not insane or deluded or something like that, but simply SAW one, clearly, right before them, leaving tracks behind that were later cast. How do YOU know they were hallucinating?

And actually, bigfooting is a much more fun and healthy pursuit that sitting around in a laboratory all day under fluorescent lighting. To these guys, myself included, it is also an enjoyment of nature, and one of the last non-internal adventures left to us humans.

ANONYMOUS: Bigfooting is fun. There you go. That explains the phenomenon. Seriously.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Well, first, from the sightings there would seem to be a population that ranges through most of the parts of North America that provide forested, isolated, and normally high precipitation zones; or there are several regional groupings. If anything, encounters are proliferating.

ANONYMOUS: Big area. Breeding population means they can all encounter one another. Encounters proliferating could just mean alcohol is proliferating.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Family groups have been sighted. A fellow in my shop whom I know to be rational and sane told me he was out hunting and saw three of them as clear as day down the hillside. No mistaking them for a bear or humans. What do you say to that? I hear such things ALL the time around here.

Image: Original source unknown, found on internet site.

ANONYMOUS: Sightings? Why all the sightings? With so many sightings proliferating in the age of cheap digital cameras and cell phones with camera/video capabilities, shouldn't digital evidence be increasing? Sightings. Hallucinations. Drunk or otherwise.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: The background population is considered to be either a branch of earlier hominid, or else the Giganto type of ape. There are plenty of examples of relic populations of animals being found.


ANONYMOUS: Evidence of migration from Asia to America? Fossils usually exist for this type of thing. No? Ahem...

BIGFOOT BOOKS: There HAVE been artifacts and remains found, but none have either been preserved for modern science or been found convincing enough to be accepted by the mainstream. What do you make of hair found that tests out as "unknown primate"? What do you make of the incredibly scant evidence for Giganto... which is, despite that, a known species?

ANONYMOUS: Where can I see these artifacts? What museums? Or can I at least see photos? Face it, you are in the realm of RELIGION. The weird Bigfoot Religion. Amen!

BIGFOOT BOOKS: But you admit... it is "NEAR" impossible? You said it "ALMOST certainly" does not exist.

Reports are numerous of Sasquatch being seen but then basically just disappearing by blending in with their surroundings, or of odd sounds, and rocks being thrown, but with the actual sighting being totally elusive. If real, they are very sneaky, clever, and perfectly adapted, without the need of tools and cultural artifacts. Despite this, they ARE seen, they do leave traces, however frustratingly inconclusive.

ANONYMOUS: They must be as sneaky as bin Laden, who is dead. Give me a break...

Yeah, I admit it NEAR impossible as in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA

[He presents a link to a scene from "Dumb and Dumber:"]

BIGFOOT BOOKS: And yet, you believe in bin Laden, and with no evidence you believe he is dead? Osama was alive once, and MAY just be hiding, not dead.

ANONYMOUS: Yes, because there is no evidence he is alive now, but there is evidence he once was. Evidence!

BIGFOOT BOOKS: If a rock hits you on the head in the middle of the woods with no other humans around, and you heard strange vocalizations and found big footprints, how would you explain it?

ANONYMOUS: I'd say you were then suffering from post-concussion hallucinations.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: I meant... a small rock. And where did it come from? A mischievous squirrel?

Yes, bigfooting is "fun." So I argue it is a very healthy, sane pursuit. I like the idea of mysteries and unexplainable things; but I have experienced certain things in the woods I cannot explain, and I know people who HAVE seen them in states of total sanity and clarity.

ANONYMOUS: Me too. The wind. A poetic moment.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Look at science. Many of its propositions seem utterly absurd or incomprehensible (like multidimensionality and quantum physics), and much of it remains in the realm of hypothesis and theory (like string theory).

Image: Original source unknown, found on internet site.

ANONYMOUS: Not true at all. Completely unabsurd and very comprehensible if you know science.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Whales can encounter one another over vast spaces of oceans. Why not Sasquatches across the mountains and woods?

Actually, there has been an increase in photo evidence, but they are nearly all very dark, tiny, blurry, inconclusive. Blobsquatches. The creature is not posing, you know? And this equipment is normally of very limited quality, resolution and capacity. If I took a picture at night with my cell phone camera of my daughter standing on the edge of the woods in my yard one would only see a dark blur.

The artifacts are held by researchers, as museums won't have them. Dr. Meldrum has a ton of great evidence I his lab. There is an element of faith, and of Mystery, I'll admit that. It's part of the fun and fascination. And, I'd argue that Bigfoot is way more plausible than God, yet billions believe in That!

ANONYMOUS: Whales don't pose either, yet, in an alien (to us) aquatic habitat, they make their presence known in film and photos. They spend a tiny fraction of their time breaching, yet we have the evidence. Sasquatch, a terrestrial creature, can't even give us that? What a spoiled sport. He is nocturnal. I guess the confident stride of PGF is an anomaly, then. Artifacts held by researchers? Any researcher worthy of the name would have it documented and publish it, a.s.a.p. Bigfoot is more plausible than God, but that doesn't say much. Tinkerbell is more plausible than God.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: There is nowhere for a whale to hide when it breaches. That is why they are sitting ducks for whaling ships and sightseers, despite considerable brain size and all. No one ever SEES Tinkerbell. The stuff HAS been published. It's just kind of hard to get peer review. Look into the works of Meldrum and Grover Krantz.

ANONYMOUS: Can you send me the evidence? If it has been published, that should be easy. Otherwise, it's TinkerFoot to me.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: I don't HAVE to believe in Bigfoot. God requires belief and faith. Bigfoot just shits in the woods, walks across the road, and then eats blackberries in the yard. It's very simple, actually. No heaven, no hell, no dogma; just a well-adapted creature living in the forest and mountains in the real world. To me it is relieving to not have superstition and belief. Bigfoot is anti-religion, anti-human culture, its very opposite.

ANONYMOUS: Tinkerbell is the same, and her shit has also not been found. Anyway, who cares? There are a lot of myths. Evidence?

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Like Rene Dahinden said, "What if I hit you over the head with one of those footprints' plaster casts? Would that be real enough for you?"

ANONYMOUS: Does buying an extra-large condom mean you have an extra-large dick? Same logic.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: You can't verify the empty space in the condom, nor really hit someone over the head with it. But many of the footprints have very convincing anatomy. Good enough to convince anthropological anatomist, Meldrum, anyway. Any guy can buy a big condom, but can he USE it???

ANONYMOUS: Anyone can make a "cast" of my penis that is two-feet long. That is not evidence of being Long Dong Silver.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: But would it have dermal ridges, and convincing anatomy? Perhaps "unknown primate" pubic hair remains, too?

ANONYMOUS: Oh, does all that show up in Bigfoot foot casts? Wow. They must really be into foot-casting, pressing their dermal ridges and sprinkling pubic hair on them as well. Smart Bigfoot. Good boy. Heel.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: The pubic hair would have come from your theoretical penis casting. Normal remains of an organic, biological mammalian foot placed on the ground. Ask Meldrum. Primates have dermal ridges on their feet, too, you know. Bigfoot will have his say!

ANONYMOUS: If you believe in Bigfoot, you are as irrational as any theist. Evidence. Show me. They have published shit evidence on other animals before. Where's the Bigfoot shit evidence?

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Bigfoot shit HAS been found, or so it is proposed. Big, nasty, stinky ones, containing parasites not known in other animals. I had a bird shit on my head once--could that have been Tinkerbell?

ANONYMOUS: If  I had evidence of this, I'd publish a.s.a.p.. It'd make me famous. Any scientist would do so. If it were real. Bigfoot flies with Pinocchio

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Hey, Pinocchio becomes a "Real Boy."

Where's the Bigfoot scat evidence? Well, I can't really say. But the problem with excrement is it decomposes quickly in the field and smells really bad. The parasite scat thing happened in the early sixties. Science journals don't like to publish Bigfoot stuff, so it ends up in the Bigfoot genre books and web sites.

ANONYMOUS: There you go. I guess excrement doesn't decompose so quickly when it is important.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: If a turd falls in the forest, and no one is there to see it, does it really fall?

I think this is part of why I like Bigfoot: It is not human, just a free floating possibility and it represents freedom; and yet it has its feet on the ground, as it were.

Bigfooters love science and scientists, by the way, or at least when they have open minds they do....

ANONYMOUS: Yeah, whatever. If you publish this it could be perceived as justification for hating scientists. They don't need more anti-sciene BS. Other scientists are already enough for scientists to deal with.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: You should see how they revere the scientists at Bigfoot conferences...!

ANONYMOUS: ...those who validate preconceived notions and ideology.

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Editorial NOTE: From here the conversation evolved into Existentialism and Politics. THE END, for all Bigfooting purposes.

Some readers on the believer side may wonder why we published all these criticisms. Well, please keep in mind: these are questions we have to face all the time. It is good to consider them, and to hone and perfect our responses. We say: welcome skepticism and criticism, but then CHALLENGE it with logic, evidence, and accuity.

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COMING UP: A CLOSE READING OF THE HOOPA PROJECT.

Many of the readers of this blog may wonder why we came out as so critical of David Paulides, author of The Hoopa Project. Well, we felt much of that needed to be said. Our intention was mainly to explore the issue of "The Bluff Creek Massacre Theory," which we had tried to delve into with Dave and MK Davis in interviews. We were unable to crack that nut with them. We also wanted to challenge certain ideas about the timeline of events surrounding the making of the Patterson-Gimlin film. Along the way, in our effort to defend the honor of John Green and Bob Gimlin, not to mention the memory of Roger Patterson, Bob Titmus and Rene Dahinden, some interpersonal issues arose with Mr. Paulides. Our interview with MK fizzled out when he would not talk about certain issues. Really, we wanted to stick to the just the issues, but we felt some of these things to be of deep importance within the Bigfoot community. And so we talked about them. However, we had told Paulides before that we felt The Hoopa Project was among the bigfooting classics, and would last over time--we STILL think that is so.

DON'T GET US WRONGLY--we read both of Mr. Paulides' books (the other is Tribal Bigfoot), and found both to be mainly quite fascinating reads. We STILL recommend them. Mr.  Paulides is a dogged investigator with some unique angles, and did some excellent work especially by focusing deeply on particular areas, delving into them, and revealing both new information on Bigfoot/Sasquatch sightings in those areas, and also unique characteristics that would have been missed in superficial or more glancing inquiries. However, our qualified problems with these books and their conclusions and methods remain. There are issues with the facts in some major and important areas, there are issues of logic and methodology that need to be addressed. There is the issue of history, and the books' serious lack of citation and crediting of prior books and research done by others. We wish to again explore The Hoopa Project, and in an analytical close re-reading we intend over the course of the next few weeks or months to unearth what we liked in this book, and to reveal and explore what bothered us about it during our first read and subsequently. We hope that NABS and their friends will not see this project as an outright and biased attack. Rather, we wish to be fair, and give credit where credit is due, but yet to discover areas that could be corrected and improved. The book has great value, and we hope that in the end perhaps Mr. Paulides could be encouraged to issue a corrected and revised second edition of his interesting book.

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ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!

 Me got woken up by New Years hu-man noise. Me start thinking, me not go back to sleep. So me have idea. Me get angry again about hu-man crazy acting and thing they think about ME. Me will set them straight. Now I talk to human friend who write and he like my idea. Next time on this blog-thing hu-man write ideas. He call it PROPOSITIONS FOR A NEW DECADE IN SQUATCHING.

Me spell that right? It be  up here next time, if hu-man not hibernate too.

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The text of this blog entry is copyright 2009, Bigfoot Books and Steven Streufert. Please present with citation and blog link if you are quoting. Thanks!

Interview with David Paulides of NABS, Release of Ray Crowe's THE TRACK RECORD Newsletter on CD

NEWS: THE TRACK RECORD Newsletter Reissued on CD!
A Discussion with DAVID PAULIDES of NABS.

David Paulides and North America Bigfoot Search (http://www.nabigfootsearch.com/) have just released the collected, complete 174-issue run of the newsletter of the Western Bigfoot Society and Ray Crowe, The Track Record (view it on Amazon through this link), on a computer-viewable CD (an Adobe Reader PDF format document). Bigfoot Books decided to have a talk with Mr. Paulides about this exciting new resource, Ray Crowe, his bigfooting work, and about Bigfoot topics in general. This interview was conducted by email in mid-October, 2009, and has been only very slightly edited for format.

Dave is the author of two notable and acclaimed, though also sometimes controversial books, The Hoopa Project and Tribal Bigfoot. The first was winner of the 2008 Crytozoological Book of the Year, awarded by Cryptomundo.com. The second one expands upon the principles of the first, extending its range to other areas of Northern California, Southern Oregon and beyond to Minnesota and Oklahoma. In both you will find new methodologies and sightings, as well as interesting theories on such matters as the possibility that the Bigfoot species is more human than previously thought, and not an "ape."
READ ON--this isn't just an advertisement!

Note: Dave specifically stated that he did not want to discuss certain "controversial" issues, and we have endeavored to respect that wish. He does, though, bring them up a bit all on his own.

Note, too: All colored text parts in this blog are tested and legitimate Bigfoot site links--check them out for more information, or just roll over them with your mouse to see the site address. Many of them are links to the fine Squatchopedia Wiki pages.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Hello Mr. Paulides. The Track Record on CD is an amazing recovery of a lost resource for the Bigfooting field in the 21st Century. Thanks to you and NABS (North America Bigfoot Search) for doing it! Now, for those readers who may not know the man and his influence, could you tell us a bit about Ray Crowe and his Bigfooting organization, research and newsletter, and perhaps what his approach to Bigfoot research was?

DAVID PAULIDES: Ray established the Western Bigfoot Society out of his used bookstore in Hillsboro, Oregon. He had a lifelong interest in crypto topics and soon started a newsletter that he called, “The Track Record.” Ray was one of those people that got along with everyone and that served him well for making and keeping contacts throughout the world. His passion was bigfooting but he entertained items that included UFO's, chupacabras, Loch Ness Monster and many other crypto topics; but, his true love was bigfoot. He produced the newsletter for 16 years, 3000 pages that included information from all parts of the world and every state in the U.S. NABS saw the value in the document and when Ray decided to sell his research, we immediately bought that and all rights to his writings. Two years later and after hundreds of hours of documentation, we released The Track Record on CD along with an 80 page WORD document that is a master index of those 3000 pages.

Nothing compares to these documents anywhere in the crypto world. We knew this would be a valuable research tool for NABS but part of our organizational objective is to give back to the bigfoot world and assist researchers. There were actually several members of Ray's organization who heard what we were doing and tried to encourage us not to do it, they wanted to keep this to themselves...

 Ray had a policy to print just about anyone's sighting. He didn't go into the field and validate everything but he did go out and conduct field research. He was friends with many of the old time researchers and several of their reports included in the TR are very fascinating. I remember that when I originally met Ray and expressed my admiration for his work he told me "keep your skepticals on." I did ask him what his views on bigfoot were, meaning did they migrate, were there different species, did they have special abilities, etc. Ray looked directly at me and stated, "The more you read, the more people you interview, and the more time you spend in the field, the more you realize you really don't know much about our big friend." I think Ray was right! The Track Record is truly a bigfoot researcher’s encyclopedia of information. Ray painted the picture and NABS put the frame on it.

Image, David Paulides in his formally-attired author photo.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Yes, I've always been impressed with that “Wear Your Skepticals” slogan on every issue, especially as during Ray's time active in the field he was perhaps kind of like a bigfooting Art Bell (original host of Coast-to-Coast AM), operating a clearing house for information on things that otherwise people mostly would just not have heard about. In the few issues I'd read before seeing your new CD version it seemed to me that Ray was covering some of the “weird” side of Cryptozoology, often moving more into what we'd have to call the "Paranormal." But then, he was operating at a crucial time (when did he get started?), when the old hoopla over Bigfoot had faded somewhat, but the internet age had not yet begun to take hold. Groups like NABS and BFRO enable, like never before, sightings reports and information sharing, not to mention the myriad regional groups, blogs, conferences and online radio shows.

Also, there seems to be a much higher level of technology and scrutiny applied to reports now, for example with NABS using affidavits and BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization) excluding a large number of unconfirmed or “strange” reports from what they will put on their public web site. In your view, aside from its obvious historical value, how does the Western Bigfoot Society research and newsletter hold up today? How has the field changed from the time of its founding until now? And how have views of and approaches to the Bigfoot phenomenon evolved? Also, what sorts of evidence or sightings did Ray Crowe himself have?

DAVID PAULIDES: Remember, Ray represented all views, researchers, etc. Example, John Green hates Peter Byrne and yet both contributed greatly to the newsletter. Ray was able to walk that fence line so well that all research was uniquely represented. Ray's newsletter was something that was greatly needed at the time. It was a method to dispense information across North America before the internet. There still isn't a bigfoot search engine anywhere that has a searchable internet database for sightings. There are several that exist for states and counties but, there isn't one single location where you can look-up "brown colored bigfoot" sightings… until now--the TR's index has this ability.

To the best of my knowledge Ray never actually had a sighting. He had many unusual incidents happen to him but I think the sighting always eluded him, as it has many researchers, including myself.

The sightings in The Track Record actually hold up better than almost anything we are currently reading. Most witness descriptions mimic much of what NABS has found today, there is a distinct human quality to bigfoot. The more we read the historical record of sightings, the more you realize that witnesses have stated that the biped is very human, and, this is much of what you find in the TR.

The bigfoot field has changed greatly since Ray first introduced the newsletter. Peter Byrne was the first researcher to enter the field with significant funding and brought a level of professionalism and protocol to the arena. Since Peter, there have been very few researchers who have been able to commit to the research on a full time basis and this is what is needed if you want to make significant contributions. Probably the one group that made significant contributions to research without any funding was the "Bay Area Group," headed by George Haas. Where Ray was the absolute expert at documenting and dispensing information, George and his team did some incredible research on a shoe string budget. Much of their research still is extremely credible and timely and we are shocked it didn't get more publicity at the time. NABS is posting all of George's Bigfoot Bulletins on our website.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Isn’t Haas’ and the Bay Area Group’s (B.A.G.) The Bigfoot Bulletin the first newsletter on Sasquatch, starting in the late sixties? Before that there wasn’t much being published aside from Ivan Sanderson, John Green, and Roger Patterson’s book. The seventies were a heyday for Bigfoot, but a lot of that was kitschy pop-cultural stuff--even though most of the early foundational Bigfoot books were published at that time. Arising out of this period and the lassitude of the 1980s we had Ray Crowe’s work arise, and then Daniel Perez’ The Bigfoot Times (publication starting in 1998, and still at it today, despite the internet). The Track Record can then be seen as an important transitional effort, bridging the past and its laboriously typed and cut-and-pasted publications sent to very small groups of the interested few to today’s slick and widely read web sites and glossy Hancock House-style books. Since the late 1990s there’s been a virtual explosion of these publications, and Bigfoot is seen on TV, with its myriad cable specialty channels, more than ever before. It is difficult to find anyone now who does not know at least the rudiments of the subject; even though what they often know is just the myths and stories of hoaxes.

By way of example, my own humble Bigfoot’s bLog has garnered over 7,000 site hits in only the first six months or so I’ve been monitoring. I don’t know the numbers of readers for Crowe’s original Track Record--do you? I would bet the circulation was fairly small, representing even more clearly how much dedication it took to produce it. Would you say, then, that The Track Record represents a kind of bridge to the current era? It seems significant to me that, as you say, the newsletter represented so many researchers from beyond the core group of the Western Bigfoot Society. I mean, John Green basically stopped writing books after Apes among Us. So it is important that he is represented in The Track Record during the time that preceded a work like Meet the Sasquatch, and his appearance at meet-ups such as the 2003 Willow Creek International Bigfoot Symposium.

Do you think that this semi-underground newsletter publishing, and the small groups that made them, kept Bigfooting alive during a period where serious interest and research could have been buried and lost in the somewhat foul wave of popular cultural exploitation? It seems that one can trace a lineage, from the early “elders,” to the newsletters and groups, and then a handing off to the modern period and new generation of the internet explosion and a sophisticated, new NABS/BFRO-type pursuit of the subject. Also, not having been able to read The Track Record until now, save in a strange photocopied book assemblage that has since been stolen from the Willow Creek Library, I wasn’t aware that so many notable Bigfooting figures had published in the newsletter. How much of it was Ray Crowe’s writings, how much reader and sighting submissions, and how much consisted of writings from the more known, professional-type researchers of the time?

And also, as you mention it, would you say that Ray himself would agree with your and NABS’ theories about the humanness of the Sasquatch? When you quoted Crowe saying the more we look at the Bigfoot phenomenon the more we realize how little we know about it (“him”?), does that imply that the more we look the more we see it as a being that is no mere animal, that it has mysterious or maybe even more human ways? And do you intend, perhaps, to publish the Haas newsletter in some non-internet way, like you have done with Crowe’s?

DAVID PAULIDES: Peter Byrne kept professional investigations in our field alive when he received funding for his project. There's been a long line of amateur and con artists that have entered the Bigfoot arena, but there have been very professional approaches to research. It's really not hard to understand why many stay away from our field of study. Just go to a conference, read newsletters and you see the amount of jealousy, back stabbing and outright lies that some people make about others, it's embarrassing. As I've told everyone who will listen, DO NOT believe ANYTHING you read about NABS or our people unless you read it on our website or you hear me say it. The last 9 months has been a continuous series of lies, fabrications and exaggerations about us by people who call themselves "researchers" perpetuating these myths. No, you won't hear us respond to these ridiculous accusations and we won't be intimidated into backing away from research into areas that need a professional approach. We have resources, personnel and access to technology and professionals that no other group has, and, with that, we have had many things given to us because of our approach to the topic and people's belief in our cause.

The Haas newsletters are posted on our website, free. They are only a fraction of the size of The Track Record so we have the ability to post them, http://www.nabigfootsearch.com/.
[Ed. note: GO HERE, they're great!: http://www.nabigfootsearch.com/Bigfootbulletin.html.

[Ed. note, paraphrase: And re. the question as to whether the B.A.G. newsletter was the first, Dave responds:] I'm actually not sure. [And re. the circulation stats for the original The Track Record newsletter, Dave responds:] Do you? No--don't know. [Re. the “humanness question” Dave responds:] I think this was explained fully in Tribal Bigfoot. [Ed. OK, folks! Go out and get yourself a copy of the book—it is quite interesting, and extends the unique approaches found in his great first book, The Hoopa Project. One thing: in an earlier email Mr. Paulides clarified that he proposes that the Sasquatch is possibly part of the human gene tree, a closer relative to us than to apes, but not exactly human in the same way we are.]

BIGFOOT BOOKS: A few more questions, then. Let's not forget that Ray is still alive and kicking. What is he up to now, and why did he retire? I know he had some health issues, but how can one get Bigfoot out of the bloodstream, so to speak?

DAVID PAULIDES: Ray did have some serious medical issues and I believe that he is living in an assisted living home in northern Oregon.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: On the “Squatchopedia.com” website there is a mention of Tom Biscardi funding and producing The Track Record newsletter for a while, in its last days. Do you know of this, and what was Biscardi's role in producing or directing the publication, if any?

DAVID PAULIDES: Ray was having problems funding the newsletter and Biscardi stepped in at some point and started to subsidize it at some level. I suppose it gave him more access but the newsletter and its content didn't change much.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: It’s so great that you've rescued these newsletters from possible oblivion! Comparatively, I always wonder what was in the Rene Dahinden archives, but we see next to nothing being released to the bigfooting community by his sons and whomever else may have inherited them. The Bigfoot Bulletin stuff on your website is a great addition, too. Thanks! What else besides The Track Record was contained in the Ray Crowe materials and archives? Was there any interesting evidence, footprint casts, hair or photos, cultural items and other stuff that might be released by NABS?

DAVID PAULIDES: We have dozens of letters from Rene and probably more from Ray Wallace. In the future we will release some of these letters as they give the reader quite an insight into the internal politics of this arena. We know that many have bashed Ray Wallace in the past, but I guarantee that the man knew things about Bigfoot that few at the time did. He surely had contacts and insight that few did at the time, to be as accurate on his sightings as he claimed. When you read what Wallace wrote in a time prior to the internet you can readily see that he knew this topic well and he gave much credit to the Native Americans, something that piqued our interest early on.

We also have many letters and sighting reports from John Green. John has always been on the ape side of the fence and has not given much credence to the human side of the genetic scale in regards to Sasquatch. If we do release these letters you will be able to see a very opinionated and sometimes gruff side of Mr. Green that many don't want to see or refuse to acknowledge. Some of these conversations have taken place recently.

This statement is not to bash John, quite the contrary. He entered this arena at a time few would, and, he developed the protocol of requiring affidavits from his bigfoot witnesses, a brilliant move. If a witness to a bigfoot event doesn't want to sign an affidavit, there should be a careful examination of the issue. Everyone who is watching should be asking, "why wouldn't the witness sign an affidavit to what they say they observed," and, I'm sure, this was john's mindset when he initiated that process.

NABS understands John's opinionated attitude; heck, he's been on this topic since before I was born. NABS does believe that every researcher should be open to developments garnered through technological advancements, and, if you haven't kept up with what technology can do, it may be hard to accept and appreciate.
Much of Ray Crowe's casts, hair and other evidence has been loaned for the past 6 months to the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, which they have put on display.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: So how did Felton (Bigfoot Discovery Days III) go?

DAVID PAULIDES: Scott Nelson is riveting. His evaluation of the Sierra Recordings is very, very convincing that our friends [Bigfoot] use language.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Yes, I found Nelson's cryptolinguistic presentation very interesting at the Yakima Bigfoot Round-Up this year. To many, on first impression, the Sierra Sounds might sound kind of silly, but under Nelson's analysis unique language-like structures and patterns do emerge that make it quite difficult to debunk and dismiss the recordings out of hand.

I'm sorry to have missed your presentation. I still haven't had the chance to see you at any of the conferences. Would you mind briefly telling we who were not there to hear what you talked about, and what new and interesting directions is your and NABS' research taking these days? Are there any other things you'd like to say to the bigfooting community, or at least the readers of Bigfoot Books' blog?

DAVID PAULIDES: NABS is continuing down the path of getting a complete understanding of the Bigfoot hair issue. The public has been collecting the hair for 50 years but little has been done to positively identify and extract DNA. This project is ongoing.

In the past 18 months NABS has been given affidavits and other evidence on a variety of topics that may be construed to be controversial. We do not believe that an individual would perjure themselves over a Bigfoot-related issue, so, we put significant emphasis when someone comes forward with a claim, signs an affidavit and names individuals. I think it would be a gross injustice to the community if we shelved this evidence and didn't investigate.

Many in our arena are not used to professional investigations. It appears that our world revolves around rumor, innuendo and finger pointing. We do not believe in this type of journalism or research. Years ago I was working a child molestation case where the victim named a high profile individual in the community. We worked the case for months without ever notifying anyone of what we were exactly investigating. If the allegation was found to be untrue, we didn't want to ruin the suspects name in the community. The last contact any professional investigator has in any case is with the suspect. The investigator needs to know more about the suspect than he knows about himself, he needs to know every possible answer that may be placed on the table and every excuse that could be used. In the case of the molestation, the suspect gave us information that could exonerate him. We later had the victim come in for a polygraph test. Just as they were getting hooked to the machine, they admitted the allegation was a lie. This is why you don't go public with allegations until you have proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

It would appear that some people in our community call themselves journalists yet they won't post what others send them, and they aren't interested in the facts. They like to bash people over innuendo and they have no belief in the statement, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." NABS has a policy that we won't cater to tabloid journalism, and we truly don't care what the people who have these sites think about us. We are privately funded, we are polite, professional, and will go deep where others will not.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Dave, for those who have not read your books (or for those who still wonder a bit), could you tell us about the seemingly unlikely course you took going from being a policeman and detective to a Bigfoot hunter and investigator? In the public mind these are seen as kind of... contradictory. What grabbed you and pulled you into the world of the Sasquatch mystery?

DAVID PAULIDES: I have never called myself a bigfoot HUNTER.... They are not contradictory. I made a career of telling the truth, digging deep for facts, building partnerships and respecting people's rights. I know that the background of myself and the people I work with has many in our community intimidated. Most researchers in the bigfoot community have never attended an investigations, interview, or even an evidence collection class; we've done all of this multiple times. Many have the wrong opinion of us; but, almost every one of these people have never met us. I would encourage anyone who wants a realistic view of our organization, go to Hoopa, Happy Camp, Forks of the Salmon, Bena (MN), etc., places where we have conducted research, and ask those people how they were treated. I just got a note today from a witness in Happy Camp who stated NABS was viewed very highly by everyone in that community.

My background in law enforcement and human resources has trained me well to treat everyone with respect. If you treat people the honorable way, they will do the same in return. In two years in Hoopa, word spread quickly that we could be trusted and witnesses were coming to us.

BIGFOOT BOOKS: I fully understand that you did not want to talk about those "controversial" topics. The the bigfooting world can be such a soap opera of gossip and rumors, so much that people seem to forget the REAL GOAL. I must agree, from what I've heard anyway, by my experience in the Bigfoot Books shop here in Willow Creek, from the locals and people from Hoopa--they say good things about you and NABS (as distinguished, especially, from their prior mostly bad experiences with Mr. Tom Biscardi's GABRO group!).

Do you think we are getting closer to proving to the world at large that the Sasquatch exist? And also, what do you think the ramifications and cultural impact might be, especially if the creature proves to be--as you have proposed--much more human than ape?

DAVE PAULIDES: I would hope that in the next year NABS will have clear resolution on the hair issue and DNA can readily identify where on the genetic tree the biped belongs. If the DNA comes back and shows that bigfoot is more human, I think the ramification is minimal. It will put a lid on many of the older bigfoot/sasquatch researchers--we won't hear from them anymore. But, it's obvious that the biped is doing well, sightings are up, the biped is seen across the U.S. and Canada; it's obviously not endangered. The findings will be a minor blip on the news, but, it may initiate universities across North America to take notice and commit funds to a long-term academic study, this would be beneficial to everyone. The most important aspect of a finding that it's on the human side of the tree--it might cause some of the trigger happy hunters who believe a specimen needs to be taken to think twice about killing one. The first rule that every hunter with any morals must abide by--you don't shoot anything unless you are positive you know what you're shooting, and, we don't know right now....

BIGFOOT BOOKS: Dave, those were great answers. And this has been a great interview. Thanks! I sincerely wish you the best, and hope you have further success in your bigfooting endeavors. I am hoping this interview will help make your Track Record CD known more widely, and that folks out there will realize the significance of it and what NABS has done in publishing it. 

---END OF INTERVIEW---
Read on for more, including ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!...

THE TRACK RECORD is available from NABS or on Amazon.com (just enter "track record bigfoot" in the Search box). List price is US$19.95. It is also available in-store or by email request from BIGFOOT BOOKS, in Willow Creek, CA.

 

DAVE PAULIDES' BIOGRAPHY, as entered on Amazon: "Dave Paulides received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of San Francisco, and, has a professional background that includes twenty years in law enforcement and senior executive positions in the technology sector. In 2004 he formed North America Bigfoot Search (http://www.nabigfootsearch.com/) where his investigative and analytical experience were invaluable in researching Bigfoot/Sasquatch sightings, encounters and behavior. He spent two years living among the Hoopa tribal members, listening to and recording their Bigfoot stories. The Hoopa Project is his first book, based upon his experiences in the Bluff Creek area of Northern California. David's second book, Tribal Bigfoot is a quantum step forward in Bigfoot research and allows for a common sense understanding of this elusive biped. These two books have been called the new standard for crypto research."

Image above by Harvey Pratt, NABS' amazing forensic Bigfoot artist, from the NABS website.

THE NABS "ABOUT US" (from their web page): "North America Bigfoot Search (NABS) is a privately funded organization that had its start in Silicon Valley, California. A small group of technology executives had prior incidents in the woods of Northern California and dedicated resources for the research and investigation of the Biped. One significant difference between NABS and every other Bigfoot organization is our dedication to stay on a regional project until every possible angle of every sighting has been researched, witnesses interviewed, locations and food sources understood, and an extensive list of variables answered. Our organization will stay in a community sometimes for months/Years and thereby develop the trust, integrity and contacts to make our research valuable and enlightening. The organization is interested in all regions of North America and can have a researcher dispatched to a specific area in your state in hours. We do appreciate information on any Bigfoot sighting anywhere in the world. Our researchers and investigators have extensive experience in their specific field and may have knowledge about your area that is unique. Our ability to keep a researcher on site to develop that "unique" knowledge has assisted our organization in developing advanced techniques in gathering information. Our ability to communicate and align with all facets of government, business, academics and various levels of society make our field personnel an unusual commodity in Bigfoot circles. The researchers we field may be from any one of a variety of academic backgrounds, private industry and university adjunct positions. We pride ourselves in being professional, discrete and open to all ideas and feedback.

An article about The Hoopa Project appeared fairly recently HERE, in Humboldt County's local paper, The Times-Standard.

Go to the NABS website to find loads of interesting materials. Not just the Bigfoot Bulletin, but David Paulides' own blog, and many other great features abound there: http://www.nabigfootsearch.com/. Explore the sidebar to the left of the page--you won't be disappointed.

An article about Ray Crowe's interesting fictional book, The Bigfoot Bar & Grill: HERE. We have a rare copy of it available here at Bigfoot Books. There is a REAL Bigfoot Bar and Grill, in Salem, OR.

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ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!!!

"I quote human: 'Can't We All Just Get Along?' Bigfoot very angry. Too many humans think crazy human drama what really matters. Bigfoot hates human soap opera. Hate!!! Bigfoot says Ha Ha Ha! Human bigfooters argue, accuse each other of bad things, then they see blobsquatches, and Ha Ha! I get away into the forest. You never even smell me, not ever see me!"

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Interview rights reserved, copyright 2009, Steven Streufert, but may be used with permission and by all rights at least a citation and reference, and a link to this blog. The proprietor of Bigfoot Books bookshop, Steve sometimes does other things besides Bigfoot/Sasquatch... MySpace, Facebook, Email.

COMING UP, we hope (if all goes well)!: An interview with BIGFOOT TIMES publisher and editor, DANIEL PEREZ.
The Bald Hills Road and Klamath Trip, not to mention the Leap of Skepticism and Blobsquatching blog entries are on hold for now--there's just too much going on!

Reading the BIGFOOT TIMES, plus News: MONSTER QUEST R.I.P., BIGFOOT AUTOPSY, Rock Slide on Hwy. 96, BIGFOOT DAYS 2010

READING THE BIGFOOT TIMES: What a Difference a Critical Viewpoint Makes!

"You did the best, most significant interview with Al Hodgson, ever, to this point"

---Daniel Perez, on our recent INTERVIEW WITH AL HODGSON (click highlighted text to view)

Coincidentally, just as we'd begun to write this blog entry involving his newsletter, we received a call from Daniel Perez, editor and writer of the best periodical publication on Bigfoot, the BIGFOOT TIMES. He brightened our day with the quote above. A dogged and persistently critical-minded investigator of this phenomenon since he was 10 years old, Daniel practically qualifies as a member of the Bigfooting "old guard," even though he is only in his 40s. His only currently-operating rivals in terms of historical scholarship in The Field are Loren Coleman and Christopher Murphy. He has spent not only his entire adult life seriously pursuing this mystery, but also a good part of his childhood and youth. Though he is not averse to field research, Perez really shines when it comes to Bibliography, History, and his Historiographical meta-view of the field of study as a whole and its place within human culture.

Images: Perez speaking at the 2007 PGF 40th Anniversary Celebration, Photographed by Steven Streufert. The cover of the Bigfoot Times that featured not only the Bigfoot Books shop sign, but also yours truly with the gang at the  Celebration. CLICK TO ENLARGE ALL IMAGES.

Last month, suffering a dearth of new Bigfoot material to read, we finally broke down and bought the entire print run of the BIGFOOT TIMES. We just couldn't bear the wait anymore for each month's new issue. We had to have it all. It cost a pretty penny, but we can tell you that it was well worth it. In the saved cost of gas, phone calls, time spent interviewing witnesses and attending conferences, and paying for room and board on the road, this publication's full run has probably saved us a hundred times its cost. We devoured it all at once, reading numerous issues a day, in less than a month.

Comprehensively covering some twelve years now of the activities of the world of Bigfooting, the newsletter is a veritable Cryptozoological time machine. Not only does it cover in-depth and with a cutting edge all the events, discoveries and disappointments, the Bigfoot Wars between the advocates and the skeptics and the believers amongst themselves, but it also offers the true jewel of Perez' sense of the history of the field. He not only knows that history, but he checks his facts. He doesn't just dig up rumors and word-of-mouth gossip and theory-trading, but actually makes phone calls to the primary sources, or digs them up out of the massive archives in his home. Not only does he know personally most of the investigators in the field, past and present, but he is not afraid to call one of them a fool when it is due. One has to earn Daniel's praise. He may annoy some Bigfoot researchers with his critical gadfly behavior, but ultimately that is for the best--it keeps us all on our toes and within reason. Some may call it muchraking; but we will call it truth-seeking. They killed Socrates for such things, but look at the impact that man had on the formation of true Philosophy in the West.

Images: Perez' masterwork, BIGFOOT AT BLUFF CREEK. You may order one through Bigfoot Books: bigfootbooks@gmail.com. Below, the MK Davis Bigfooter of the Year issue--only two years later he would be called a "discredited researcher" in the publication's pages.

 Perez combines all the wit and skeptical incision of a Rene Dahinden and the logical aplomb of a John Green with the investigative journalism of an early, pre-sellout Geraldo Rivera (the guy used to be serious!). It seems to us that he is the true heir to the "Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery." No other voice in Bigfooting compares at this time, though many do a good job in their own right and areas of focus. One gets the feeling from Daniel of the excitement of the chase, but also benefits from the bullshit detector of one who has seen it all, good and bad and abysmal, and yet still preserves enthusiasm. For one who has been looking into the field at this depth for some three decades not to have burned out is extraordinary in and of itself. It is one thing to just collect all of the stories and sugarcoat them to support a belief in Bigfoot or publish some regurgitation of a book; it is another thing altogether to drill down to the heart of the matter in all cases, to never accept evidence at mere face value, and to carry on despite finding repeatedly that a lot of the hoped-for proof turns out to be silly hoaxing and tall tales. Well, we all must carry on. And surely we shall, to the end. If anything gets past the gauntlet of Daniel's critical eye you can be sure that it is GOOD evidence. No BS hurling grandstander, media trickster or footprint-faking con man gets past him, either; at least, not for long. He knows an ape suit when he sees one; and in the Patterson-Gimlin film, his specialty, he sees a real, living Creature.

One thing that really makes the TIMES stand out is the commitment over time shown by the author/editor. It is one thing to put things together into a time-bound book or one-off article, but it is another to publish on-the-record, monthly, over a considerable time. Thus, the BIGFOOT TIMES leaves behind a chronological paper trail of events as they happened and are still happening. There is no going back and editing. One can thereby see the evolution of the field and its ideas, members, groups and tactics along the way. We see, for instance, the rise and fall of MK Davis; the movement of Tom Biscardi from being a slightly odd carney-type investigator to an outright pariah; the excitement and then the disappointment over such evidence as the Sonoma video and various blobsquatches; the persistent and increasingly psychotic presence of E.B., Jon-Erik Beckjord, and his eventual demise both professional and physical.

Images: Author photo and logos courtesy of Bigfoot Times. Mr. Perez in his usual baseball cap.

There are ups and downs along the way, for sure, where one may see some evidence come in with big hopes, only eventually to be dashed on the rocks. Or where, earlier on, an investigator like Tom Biscardi gets attention in the newsletter, along with some of his suspicious activities and evidence, only later to be revealed as the hoaxer and media exploiter that he is.  The newsletter covers sightings, footprints and field findings as they happen, so this kind of thing is inevitable. Perez has a month at a time to think these things over, though, so he tends to stay away from the flash in the pan sensationalism that surrounds today's current internet blobsquatching and YouTube footage hypes. Some of the things covered in the pages of the newsletter over the years end up seeming a bit ephemeral given a retrospective view; but in significantly more cases a transient bit of information otherwise forgotten turns out to be a hidden treasure. Book reviews reveal publications that we're sure you've never seen before, nor even heard of, often privately published works that are incredibly difficult to locate now. (If only one might convince Daniel to lend out or make copies from his library!)

One may also watch the development of projects such as David Daegling's "Bigfoot Exposed," in their formative stages; and in this case, see how that particular writer used Perez as a source and entry into the viewpoint of the Bigfoot believer, but then turned around and betrayed him in the end by publishing a mockingly skeptical book. A saddening aspect of the publication is how it recounts a crucial decade in Bigfooting/Sasquatchery wherein a very large number of its primary writers, witnesses and investigators passed away. At times it seems, reading the newsletter chronologically, that every month brings another death. Rene Dahinden, Grover Krantz, Bernard Heuvelmans, and so many others' passings are covered in the newsletter. Perez eulogies for his lost colleagues are deeply moving, especially the one for Dahinden. One watches, as well, the rise of a new generation, including Jeff Meldrum, Matt Moneymaker, MK Davis and many more. One may observe, as well, the coming of the internet into its full force in the world of Bigfoot, changing it forever. There are strange moments in the TIMES, as well; but it only adds to the interest and appeal of  it. A good example is when he named Moneymaker, founder of the BFRO, as the "Bigfooter of the Year," only to accompany the award with an extensive collection of criticisms and in-group gossip. Odd, but curious, it was, and still fascinating.

Images: Above and below, the 16mm Kodak camera similar to the one Roger Patterson used in his famous film, brought by Perez to the 2007 Willow Creek PGF Celebration. Photos by Steven Streufert. 

One could argue that the BIGFOOT TIMES is now at a transition point. How will Perez deal with the latest movements in Bigfooting? Will he adapt to or fight against the current trend towards gonzo "field research," or will he slowly become an "elder statesman" himself, settling into a phase of bookish scholarship? We encourage him to do both at once. We never can tell--it may be someone who knows nothing about the history of the PGF and the field of ABSMery who turns out to be the one who "proves" that Bigfoot exists.

All along the way Perez is a great tour guide and teacher; and he is full of sardonic wit without being snide. His fascination leads him on, but he doesn't just go barrelling over the cliff like much of the Bigfoot herd. He looks before he leaps. He knows better, and he knows the track record of all involved, the credibility factors and the patterns that make up movements in the research. If you weren't there for all of those years of Bigfooting, and would like to absorb that history not as after-the-fact, but as History-as-it-happened, then this newsletter is HIGHLY recommended. (We also seriously recommend SUBSCRIBING to keep up with current issues--no web site out there does things quite like BIGFOOT TIMES does.) Books can condense and consolidate information, DVDs can catch a glimpse of a moment, web sites can show the flashes in the pan; but a dedicated publication like this can teach you the meaning of what it really is to be a committed investigator over time, through all the crazy ups and downs. With a guy like Perez at the helm this ship can sail through the night of unreason toward the simple recognition of the reality of giant anthropoids currently denied and mocked by the status quo of our society. And it will be a fun ride along the way, we guarantee it. Taken as a whole, the BIGFOOT TIMES easily equals the best of the Bigfoot books, among which we place it in the top five, right next to Green, Sanderson, Meldrum, and Murphy. Don't miss out.

Above you may view the contact information for Daniel and his Center for Bigfoot Studies. Subscriptions and back issue orders may be made by snail mail at the address above, email, over the internet, or by phone as above. Just keep in mind, he's a busy guy who works as a full-time electrician. I've always found him to be incredibly prompt and responsive with all order inquiries.

Subscriptions run "USA = $15, Canada = $16, Rest of World = $19," and we assure you it is well worth it. Back issues are $1.50 each, but Daniel might be encouraged to make you a deal like he did with us for a bulk purchase. The BIGFOOT TIMES is a four-page 8.5 by 11-inch illustrated newsletter sent by postal mail; but it isn't just about the paper, it's the CONTENT that counts. And what it contains, really, is priceless, if one is a serious Bigfoot researcher.

Interested in viewing the incredible breadth of topics, regions and reviews covered in the BIGFOOT TIMES? Download the massive 57-page BIGFOOT TIMES INDEX HERE. It comes in printable PDF document format. It is current through December 2009 at this point, and is maintained by George M. Eberhart.

Image: Perez, Willow Creek, 2007, by Steven Streufert.

Go to Squatchopedia, the Bigfoot Wiki, for more info and a nice download link to a FREE SAMPLE ISSUE of the BIGFOOT TIMES.

NOTE: Daniel Perez published a newsletter back in the eighties called BigfooTimes. Back issues of these are also available, though we can't comment yet as we haven't gotten a hold of those yet.

Want to know MORE about Daniel Perez and the BIGFOOT TIMES? What bigfooter woudn't? Well, go now and read our extensive BIGFOOT BOOKS INTERVIEW AND DISCUSSION WITH BIGFOOT TIMES EDITOR DANIEL PEREZ, originally published here on 8 November 2009.

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NEWS!:

HIGHWAY 96 ROCK SLIDE CLOSES BIGFOOT HIGHWAY.

Those of you planning trips into the Bluff Creek area of Bigfoot Country should be advised that there have been some rock slide problems, closing sections of Highway 96 between Orleans and Happy Camp, CA. There are huge amounts of rock covering the entire roadbed, and finishing time for cleanup work has not been determined. As the backcountry forest roads are all closed for the season going in to Bluff Creek itself, we are very concerned that there may be roadway horrors along the way for any early season bigfooting activities.

We surely hope that this year both the PGF site and Louse Camp with be open and accessible. There was a nasty rock slide above Louse and Notice Creek last year. If there are slides on the main highways, one can only imagine how bad it will probably be along Forest Road 12N13! At the current moment limited traffic is being allowed through on a detour over the narrow and winding Ishi Pishi Road.

View a very cool online ROCK SLIDE VIDEO of the Highway 299 event as it happens here.

Read more via the Redding Record Searchlight in their article, STAGGERING ROCK SLIDE CLOSES HIGHWAY 96 NEAR HUMBOLDT-SISKIYOU LINE.

Images: Top, courtesy of CalTrans. Second, at the Willow Creek side of Hwy. 96, near the ranger station; by Steven Streufert.

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MORE NEWS!: BIGFOOT DAYS 2010 GETS ROLLING.

Bigfoot is already in the air around Willow Creek, with the coming of Spring. As evidenced by posters appearing on bulletin boards around town, a planning meeting is scheduled for April 7th at the Coast Central Credit Union office in town, at 6:00 p.m. This will the the 50th anniversary of the event, so it promises to be good! Al Hodgson is involved and is working on a photo exhibit. There may be Bigfoot speakers, too, especially if funds can be found. Al mentioned bringing John Green down, but that is quite up in the air at the moment. Loren Coleman has offered to speak as well, but the issue of buying his airline ticket needs to be resolved. Check back here for news over the summer. The event happens every year over Labor Day weekend, and normally features a community parade with small Bigfoot content and a festival down in Veteran's Park with vendors, food and live music.

Bring your Bigfoot to town! Be a speaker or run a table. We'll have the official contact number and information here soon.

Image: The flier at Ray's Grocery in Willow Creek. By Steven Streufert.

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YOU CALL THIS NEWS???

Interested in the BIGFOOT AUTOPSY?

Click the linked text to view it! This is the truly disgusting truth behind the GEORGIA BIGFOOT BODY HOAX of 2008. Well, perhaps animal entrails, sheep testicles and cut up parts of a pig (including the severed head) stuffed into a Sasquatch costume are not nearly as disgusting as the behavior of Tom Biscardi, Rick Dyer and Matt Whitton. We'll leave you to be the judge. Just turn the volume down to avoid the clownish music that so aptly describes Dyer himself.

Images: From Dyer Films on YouTube; the head of the suit was full of plastic bags, the torso full of pig parts including legless body and severed head.

Recently, Rick Dyer re-emerged with a new "Bigfoot Tracker" identity on BlogTalk Radio, using the name "BIGFOOT IS A SCAM." Apparently he wants to reinvent himself and his web site as a "Scam Police," accusing all bigfooters of being insane, delusional members of a cult. Listen to the show... it is astonishingly bad, but revealing. This guy is into money, and nothing else (well, OK, he also ADMITS that he is "into Asian whores"), and obviously now sees yet another angle at grabbing the spotlight. Sorry Rick, you've used up your 15 minutes of fame.

It is fascinating to see him move, in the few shows he's posted so far, from initially calling all Bigfoot believers crazy, deluded scammers, to, at the end, starting to seek connections to go out on expeditions because there just might be something out there after all. Rick, who is insane and deluded, now? We're wondering where you really stand, Mr. D. Now he says, on his web page, "Bigfoottracker.com is a skeptical Bigfoot Research Group has [sic] been investigating the possibility of Bigfoot creatures existing in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Russia, Thialand [sic] and China since 2007. We are known world wide as "The Best Bigfoot Trackers in the World." Yeah, right. They can't even seem to use the English language correctly, or even display basic literacy, let alone use Science to find Bigfoot. A hint to Rick--if you're going to try to pull another scam, at least get your con story straight first! This really, really makes sense: "We are very skeptical, but we have a intrest [SIC!] in finding him, the skill to do it, and the money to back it." Come on! Just a come-on!

Here is a slightly different version, with funny satirical captions, and a different ending:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXGWxlo1bBQ&feature=related

Just don't believe this guy, OK? If anything is a scam it is bigfoottracker.com! Groups such as the Bigfoot Discovery Museum and BFRO are NOT scams--they may make a little money on Bigfoot, but they are just trying to pay the rent and subsidize their Bigfoot research. They believe in Bigfoot, and the cause; a scam or con involves the generation of a false confidence in the consumer, but the Bigfoot organizations (save for Biscardi's) obviously just want to spread their interest and faith in the Creature's reality. Who made a ton of illegitimate cash off Bigfoot? Why, it is Dyer himself. Dyer, the scammer, full of sheep guts, bull shit, and pig heads! 

Steve Kulls, the SquachDetective, was involved with Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. and Tom Biscardi, but eventually exited the group and exposed the hoax. Visit his site, BISCARDI EXPOSED.

Image to Right: Kulls' Oscar for "Best Hoaxer" awarded to Tom Biscardi.

While you're at it, maybe get a copy of the silly waste of plastic, ANATOMY OF A BIGFOOT HOAX, and support the BIGFOOT DISCOVERY PROJECT AND MUSEUM. And while your at that, or instead of it, watch Michael Rugg's THE BIGFOOT DISCOVERY MUSEUM SHOW online. These are short video blogs with good information and entertainment value. There are 141 shows archived so far. It's great!

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AND SOME VERY SAD TV NEWS: MONSTER QUEST, R.I.P., 2007-2010

Even for those of us who may have complained about its methods and hyperbolic and frustratingly inconclusive presentation over the years, the passing of The History Channel's MONSTERQUEST this last week has got to be a sad thing. If not this show, what will present the field of Cryptozoology on television? Are we going to be left with nothing but jokes, hoaxes and superficial debunkings? Or will they let the MQ team produce special, serious shows on the exploration of the Mysterious and Unknown? We hope the latter.

Well, they went out with a bang, or... a whimper. You decide. They covered the Gable Film and the subject of werewolves in their episode, "America's Wolfman." We haven't seen the episode yet (no TV out here in the Willow Creek boonies), but the Gable footage is kind of scary. What IS that creature? Damn, we wuold not want to have that thing loping toward us out in the woods! Go to the link below and start watching at about 3:00 in the timing. Watching the rest of the film might just horrify you about the human 1970s. Anyway, check out Sharon Lee's BIGFOOT FIELD REPORTER where she has posted the film under her entry, Final MonsterQuest Episode.

So far Season One and Season Two are out on DVD sets, but Season Three has only one two-disc set of an apparent three sets released so far. And... willl they include the special, extended Abominable Snowman episode?

CRYPTOMUNDO.COM just posted the show's producer, Doug Hajicek's, official goodbye statement. Read it here:

MQ Producer’s Exclusive Statement

The MonsterQuest entry on Wikipedia has great information and a very helpful episode listing. So go there.

Watch MONSTERQUEST: THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN on YouTube. This is Part One, but look to the right column there to find the rest of the show.

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Coming up next week:

READING THE HOOPA PROJECT: A STUDY IN CONTRASTS AND CONSPIRACY THEORY.

A Fact and Logic Check and Close Reading of Section One. A Book Review.

"First, don't take this review the wrong way. The Hoopa Project is, despite certain flaws, a fascinating book. Say what you will about David Paulides and Harvey Pratt, they have done some interesting work, some of it unique."
Look for the rest soon!

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ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!

Hu-man sick. Total sick. Me Bigfoot never cut up animal and put part, gut, head, body, into hu-man looking Halloween monster suit. Me never do that. Like animal, Bigfoot does. Knows Respect. May stink, but never hurt a fly unless me hungry. Me ever see Dyer, Whitton, Biscardi, me smash up their camera, thermal, van, trailer, ATV, RV and stupid human Humvee!!! Me dump hu-man into hu-man outhouse tank at campground, me run away before it splash out Searching for Bigfoot poop.

Rock Slide? Someone say Bigfoot happy road closed. Damn hu-mans! Me stand up on top mountain look at road below. Me push rocks, me howl, me stomp. Whole road cover up. No more hu-man. Ha ha! You bet me happy. Me make self that way. You should try it.

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This weblog, website, soapbox, or whatever you call it is copyright 2010, Steven Streufert, Bigfoot Books Intergalactic. Sharing and borrowing is allowed (and often practiced by us, too) if you give full credit and a fair and nice link back to our page. Thanks!