Friday, December 21, 2007
Schedule for the remaining 5 episodes of Season 1 of Monsterquest
December 26th-Swamp Beast (Skunk Ape)
January 2nd-Stalin's Ape-Men (Genetic Experiments with Apes and Men)
January 9th-Creatures from the 4th Dimension (Rods)
January 16th-The Real Hobbit (Homo Floresiensis)
January 23rd-American Werewolf (Dogmen/Beast of Bray Road)
All programs air on the History Channel, Wednesdays at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central. Check local listings for time and channel.
January 2nd-Stalin's Ape-Men (Genetic Experiments with Apes and Men)
January 9th-Creatures from the 4th Dimension (Rods)
January 16th-The Real Hobbit (Homo Floresiensis)
January 23rd-American Werewolf (Dogmen/Beast of Bray Road)
All programs air on the History Channel, Wednesdays at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central. Check local listings for time and channel.
Editorial: Monsterquest: Good or Bad For Cryptozoology Studies?
So far, for 8 episodes, the White Wolf Entertainment Productions series Monsterquest has presented 8 different cryptids for examination, starting with America's Loch Ness Monster, also known as Champ, the Lake Champlain Monster, and examining Sasquatch, Thunderbirds, Giant Squid, Bigfoot, Mutant Canines, Melanistic Lions and Giant Fish in subsequent weeks. There was DNA found in the Sasquatch episode which seemed promising but was ultimately deemed too old and too corrupted to be of any value. Certainly the whole series has been I would say a help to Cryptozoological studies even if it seems in some cases "staged" or too much like reality TV. Some researchers have bemoaned the seemingly staged and in their opinion phony nature of some of the episodes, but these opinions seem to be based only on observation of the show as they watch it on TV, not behind the scenes experience, such as what some individuals who participated more particularly in the Sasquatch Attack and Bigfoot episodes experienced, and they have not reported any staging or phoniness going on when they were filming. So it seems to me that a lot of negative opinions on the show are based on outsider experience and not any actual one-on-one experience. I personally think the show is well done and is very helpful to the studies of Cryptozoology, and it is good to see a weekly Cryptozoology series which even if it finds nothing, it at least advances the studies of cryptids for the general public who may not know that much about it. In that, it is refreshing to see a serious cryptozoology program which does not make the public feel like idiots. So, I would say that Monsterquest is good for Cryptozoology studies.
Snaky Smells Help Squirrels Stay Safe Yahoo! News
Researchers at the University of California Davis spotted ground squirrels and rock squirrels chewing up skins shed by rattlesnakes. The squirrels then licked their fur. The observation led the researchers to the conclusion the squirrels are trying to mimic the odor of the snakes. Is that what they are really doing, or are they just adding to their diet while grooming? If they're really doing this as a defense mechanism, where did they learn the process?
New Discovery: Giraffes May Be 11 Species
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 21st, 2007
In the midst of this new finding comes worries for the Nigerian giraffe, now down to only 160 individuals.
Investigate Further: New Discovery: Giraffes May Be 11 Species »
Two New Poison Dart Frogs Discovered
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 21st, 2007
While looking for endangered bird species in the Central Mountain Range of Colombia, two new species of amphibians were found. Photos.
Investigate Further: Two New Poison Dart Frogs Discovered »
Beyond The Edge Radio Tonight...
Sean and Eric will be having a Year-End show, with guests myself, James Baker and Bill Bean. The show begins at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central and can be found at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
nfrasound? Interview with Dennis in New Jersey, Pt. 4 The Blogsquatcher
Not everything that happens on the trail of Bigfoot can be easily quantified or assigned a specific order within the initial goal of the endeavor. What strangeness did Dennis experience on the Sasquatch trail? To catch up with the discussion, follow the links from here: Infrasound? Interview with Dennis in New Jersey, Part 1.
Vote for One Wonder: Bigfoot/Yeti
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 20th, 2007
It’s the second round of the Seven Fortean Wonders of the World polling. After it is published, this could be forever. Keep cryptozoology on the list.
Investigate Further: Vote for One Wonder: Bigfoot/Yeti »
On The Track of The Gbahali
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 20th, 2007
Cryptomundo Exclusive: This new information is about a Liberian cryptid described as having an armored back with three rows of serrations, a powerful tail, and a short snout with many large teeth.
Investigate Further: On The Track of The Gbahali »
2007’s Top CZ Lists To Date
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 20th, 2007
Here’s a quick rundown on the top cryptozoology and Bigfoot lists for 2007. Links. Photos.
Investigate Further: 2007’s Top CZ Lists To Date »
Review: Let's Talk Bigfoot 12-19-07
This was a wonderful show, with author Lee Murphy, who has written several crypto-fiction novels, including a new one about the Honey Island Swamp Monster called Heretofore Unknown which features some real-life members of the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy, such as Daryl Colyer, Monica Rawlins and Craig Woolheater, who apparently meets a grisly end in the book. Lee is asked about his inspirations, and he discusses that he was inspired by things like dinosaur and the Loch Ness Monster, seeing The Legend of Boggy Creek and more into Bigfoot and Nessie. Lee is also asked about his interest in writing a non-fiction Bigfoot book, but he says he is not inclined to write something like that. Murphy speaks on how with his first novel Where Legends Roam he is criticized for his lack of bringing the people to life but is able to give the animals more personality. He is asked about his favorite crypto book, and he gives several examples, mostly from crypto-fiction. His three books are as follows: Where Legends Roam, about the Sasquatch; Naitaka, about Ogopogo and Heretofore Unknown, about the Honey Island Swamp Monster, and his hero in those books is named George Kodiak. It was a great show, full of great info. Melissa returns next week with guest Michael Rugg, curator of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, California, next Wednesday at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Sasquatch Triangle Encore Presentation Tonight...
By special request, we will be re-running the August 9th episode with Ohio Bigfoot/UFO Investigator Paul Rozich, beginning at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right, and the chat will be open. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Review: Monsterquest 12-19-07
This was a rather interesting episode, examining giant fish. An expedition is taken to the Amazon River in Brazil, where giant catfish are seen and are said to suck children under and eat them. A reenactment takes place from 1975 in which a canoe is bumped severely and a child is knocked overboard and is never seen again, and reports have been taken of children being found inside giant red-tailed Peraibas. A catfish wrangler, Lee McFarland, is interviewed about his techniques for capturing fish bare-handed. A record fish caught in Oklahoma was 9 feet long and 546 pounds. The Mekong Catfish in Cambodia is 5 times larger than the largest one found in the U.S. In 2002, McFarland encountered a large fish in The Sooner State which threatened to pull him under so he let it go. In the Amazon, the research team is having to catch bait to catch giant catfish, this consisting of Piranha and Barracuda. Fisherman Mike Knee is presented with quite a challenge down there. The catfish stories are compared to the fictional film Jaws and also the Mattawan Creek, New Jersey shark attacks of 1916. Shark expert Ralph Collier is interviewed for this part of the program. Barracuda and Alligator Gar are also examined. I will not give away too much more, but it makes for interesting television. Next week, Hajicek delves back into Bigfoot territory by examining Swamp Beasts, Skunk Ape-like creatures found in the swamplands of the U.S. The show begins at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central on the History Channel, and make sure to check your local listings for time and channel.
(Editor's note: My grandfather's friend who owns a store down the street from us caught a 40-pound catfish about three weeks ago, and we still have meat from that large fish in our deep freeze. The fish measured at least 2 1/2-3 feet long.)
(Editor's note: My grandfather's friend who owns a store down the street from us caught a 40-pound catfish about three weeks ago, and we still have meat from that large fish in our deep freeze. The fish measured at least 2 1/2-3 feet long.)
Bill Green's Review of Halloween 2007 Unrated DVD
Awesome wonderful A++++ Halloween Unrated DVD, just as great the classic orginal.
Clemson Panther Alerts
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 19th, 2007
Campus police have issued alerts across the campus of Clemson University in South Carolina, not about a rampage shooter, but regarding the sightings of a cryptid cat. Copies of the actual warnings.
Investigate Further: Clemson Panther Alerts »
Maine Mountain Lion Study Group
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 18th, 2007
A group of Dexter Regional High School students and their teacher-adviser Regan McPhetres plan to investigate and prove the existence of pumas in Maine.
Investigate Further: Maine Mountain Lion Study Group »
Monsterquest/Let's Talk Bigfoot Tonight...
On Monsterquest on the History Channel...
Giant Fish December 19 at 10PM The movie Jaws scared an entire generation off of ocean beaches...but there are monsters lurking in freshwater lakes and rivers too. Are these just fish stories or are they real? From the Artic Circle to the Amazon, MonsterQuest will launch expeditions to find the biggest and nastiest giant fresh water fish. From catfish large enough to swallow kids whole to trout as large as a boat. Scientists will deploy giant lures and underwater cameras in a search for monster fish. Check local listings for time and channel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over on Let's Talk Bigfoot, Melissa and Teresa will host author Lee Murphy (Where Legends Roam) starting at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Giant Fish December 19 at 10PM The movie Jaws scared an entire generation off of ocean beaches...but there are monsters lurking in freshwater lakes and rivers too. Are these just fish stories or are they real? From the Artic Circle to the Amazon, MonsterQuest will launch expeditions to find the biggest and nastiest giant fresh water fish. From catfish large enough to swallow kids whole to trout as large as a boat. Scientists will deploy giant lures and underwater cameras in a search for monster fish. Check local listings for time and channel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over on Let's Talk Bigfoot, Melissa and Teresa will host author Lee Murphy (Where Legends Roam) starting at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Review: Bigfoot Quest 12-18-07
This was a wonderful show, with guest Billy Willard who discussed his field research in Virginia and some experiences he and his research partner Tom Lancaster have had. He was asked some really great questions from the chatroom by co-hosts Mike Killen and Chris Julian by folks like Ron Schaffner and Don Keating and others. I called in and brought in Bill Green, and we asked some great questions of the panel as well. It was a great show, and Bob continues to have a wonderful program. The next live program will be January 8th with guest Doug Bilby once again (Bullet Maker) on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008, at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Truth, It Is Out There... The Space Review
Dwayne A. Day revisits Richard Hoagland's October 29, 2007, National Press Club press conference because "The Weekly World News folded." What's Day's take on Hoagland, Hoagland's following, Hoagland's new book and Hoagland's claims NASA is covering up discoveries on the Moon and Mars? Also, Hoagland = Lose.
Dangerous To Your Health: Dressing Like Bigfoot
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 18th, 2007
The time has come to calmly reflect on a recent incident of stupidity in hominology.
Investigate Further: Dangerous To Your Health: Dressing Like Bigfoot »
Monkeys and college students as good at mental math
Moneymaker’s Moneyman
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 18th, 2007
Wally Hersom is having a heck of a good time with all of this. Photo.
Investigate Further: Moneymaker’s Moneyman »
Paranormal Talk With Annette Presents Monster Gallery Tonight...
Annette will focus on the Lake Champlain Monster with unknown guests, but it should be a good one. It starts at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Bigfoot Quest Tonight...
Bob, Chris and Mike welcome from Sasquatch Watch of Virginia Mr. Billy Willard at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Review: Squatch Detective Radio 12-17-07
This was a pretty good show, with Sally and Ammi from North Carolina calling in and giving some reports of things happening in that area, including some photos which seem interesting but questionable and a bit blobsquatchy. Several people called in, including someone named Eric Squatcher and also Eric Altman and myself to ask these folks questions. There were also a couple of prank callers who threatened to take the show down but didn't spoil the fun too much. It was great. Next week will be a best-of show, then on New Years' Eve, a possibly live New Years' Eve party, and both shows start at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
A Human Ancestor for the Apes? Anthropology.net
If humans and chimpanzees diverged 7 million years ago, what do you do with Sahelanthropus bones from 8 million years ago? With illustrations and video link.
Ten Notable 2007 Cryptozoology Deaths
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 17th, 2007
The list includes Bigfoot researchers, Mystery Cat investigators, cryptofiction authors, discoverers, cryptid seekers, and a skeptical commentator. As the year ends, it is time to say a final goodbye to those we lost in 2007. Photos.
Investigate Further: Ten Notable 2007 Cryptozoology Deaths »
The Money Behind Moneymaker
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 17th, 2007
I want to be perfectly clear about how I feel about the new revelations that have come out in today’s news regarding millionaire Wally Hersom’s support of the BFRO. Commentary and the news.
Investigate Further: The Money Behind Moneymaker »
Foja Mountains’ “Lost World” Mammals
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 17th, 2007
Here are the first images of new animals from a remote location in western New Guinea, and the reminders about the first news of this area from earlier in the year. Photos.
Investigate Further: Foja Mountains’ “Lost World” Mammals »
SSA Announces 2007 Winners
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 17th, 2007
The Southeast Sasquatch Association has announced is year-end awards. We are humbled by the results.
Investigate Further: SSA Announces 2007 Winners »
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Squatch Detective Radio Tonight...
Steve and Billy will speak to two eyewitnesses from North Carolina, Sally and Ammi, about recent encounters in the Tarheel State, starting at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Review: Sasquatch Experience 12-16-07
This was a wonderful and informal show, with guest co-host Eric Altman, along with Sean and myself, giving a general review of Bigfooting in the year 2007, such as the Jacobs Photos, the P/G Movie 4oth Anniversary, the recent Yeti track find, the DNA examined on Monsterquest, the sudden popularity of that show and other various topics. We also discussed Eric's recent jaunt with Tom Biscardi in the wilds of Pennsylvania, as well as some of the problems with the BFRO. It was a great show, and we enjoyed it. Our next program will be a special Sasquatch Experience Flashback next Sunday, going back to October 7th and our interview with the legendary John Green. That starts at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central and can be found at the link to the right. The chat will be open during that show for those who want to come in and discuss Bigfoot. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Southeast Sasquatch Association Year-End Awards Winners!!!
1. Cryptozoologist of the Year-(Tie)
A.) Loren Coleman
B.) Jeff Meldrum
2. Bigfooter of the Year
E.) Steve Kulls
3. Cryptozoology Book of the Year
A.) Mysterious America (2007 Edition) by Loren Coleman
4. Bigfoot Book of the Year
D.) The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot-Tony Healy and Paul
Cropper
5. Bigfoot DVD Documentary of the Year
C.) Eyes In The Dark: The Sasquatch Experience-Produced by Todd Partain
6. Bigfoot/Cryptozoolo gy Television Show or Series of the Year
A.) Monsterquest- Produced by Doug Hajicek (History Channel)
7. Bigfoot/Cryptozoolo gy/Paranormal Internet Radio Show of the Year
J.) Squatch Detective Radio (Blog Talk Radio)
8. Bigfoot/Cryptozoolo gy/Paranormal Internet Radio Show Host of the Year
C.) Steve Kulls (Squatch Detective Radio)
9. Bigfooter of the Year Honorary Award:
Robert Emory Gimlin
10. Cryptid of the Year
A.) Bigfoot or Sasquatch
11. Cryptozoology/ Bigfoot Site of the Year
A.) Cryptomundo. com
A.) Loren Coleman
B.) Jeff Meldrum
2. Bigfooter of the Year
E.) Steve Kulls
3. Cryptozoology Book of the Year
A.) Mysterious America (2007 Edition) by Loren Coleman
4. Bigfoot Book of the Year
D.) The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot-Tony Healy and Paul
Cropper
5. Bigfoot DVD Documentary of the Year
C.) Eyes In The Dark: The Sasquatch Experience-Produced by Todd Partain
6. Bigfoot/Cryptozoolo gy Television Show or Series of the Year
A.) Monsterquest- Produced by Doug Hajicek (History Channel)
7. Bigfoot/Cryptozoolo gy/Paranormal Internet Radio Show of the Year
J.) Squatch Detective Radio (Blog Talk Radio)
8. Bigfoot/Cryptozoolo gy/Paranormal Internet Radio Show Host of the Year
C.) Steve Kulls (Squatch Detective Radio)
9. Bigfooter of the Year Honorary Award:
Robert Emory Gimlin
10. Cryptid of the Year
A.) Bigfoot or Sasquatch
11. Cryptozoology/ Bigfoot Site of the Year
A.) Cryptomundo. com
Hunters of Sasquatch undaunted by failure
Mcclatchy-tribune - December 16, 2007
DEVIL PEAK, EL DORADO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. - Wally Hersom is an intuitive man, with an instinct for when opportunity might knock.
It's not knocking now.
The soft-spoken, white-maned Hersom is standing in the dark on a remote mountaintop in Northern California listening to the eerily quiet rustling of leaves.
"It's too quiet," he says. "It doesn't feel right."
Below him in the pitch-black hollows of this remote forest area, groups of men and a few women sit crouched, pointing $9,000 thermal imaging cameras at the darkness.
Every so often, one of them emits a blood-curdling shriek.
They are searching for a monster.
Hersom, 72, is the reason why. Over the past year, the part-time resident of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., (Hersom's primary home is in Henderson, Nev.) has pumped tens of thousands of dollars into the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, an Orange County-based group of Sasquatch-hunters.
Hersom pays the salary of Matt Moneymaker, the BFRO's director. He has outfitted the group with 10 thermal imaging cameras, as well as video recorders and night-vision devices. Total cost: more than $100,000.
In the process, Hersom hopes to change the popular conception of Bigfoot believers from wooly-eyed weirdos to heroic hominoid hunters.
Hersom, like the more than 2 dozen people who have joined him on this expedition to the El Dorado National Forest, believes that Bigfoot is a yet-undiscovered species of immensely strong, craftily intelligent and highly elusive great ape.
"I think the timing's right," Hersom says. "In the next 12 months, this thing is going to break wide open."
Hersom is the former owner of HC Power, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that manufactured power conversion equipment for cell phone towers and industrial facilities. The company flourished, Moneymaker says, in large part because Hersom foresaw the importance of gadgets like cell phones and computers and created technologies to serve them.
"He's an engineering genius, and ... he's got this almost spooky sense of when it's the right time to do something," Moneymaker says.
That sense convinced Hersom to sell his company in 2000, before the dot-com bust. He reaped $110 million and decided to indulge a lifelong fascination: Bigfoot.
"My broker - when I told him what I was doing he couldn't stop laughing," Hersom says. "He thought I was crazy. But I think we have a unique opportunity because nobody believes us. Once [it's] proven that Bigfoot is out there, ... I think this is going to be the biggest discovery of the century."
Hersom stumbled on Moneymaker's BFRO Web site, one of many such sites that track and list Bigfoot sightings around the country. He went on an expedition in Wisconsin.
Nothing happened.
Hersom tried again on a second expedition. This time he says he heard howls in the night and had rocks thrown at him - typical Bigfoot behavior, according to Moneymaker.
"I heard three distinct steps near my tent," Hersom recalls. "I thought 'Oh, my God, here it is.'"
The experience sold him. He joined the BFRO and went on four more expeditions. He collected photographs and plaster casts of 15-inch-long Bigfoot tracks, which he displays in his stately San Juan Capistrano hilltop-home. He bought cameras and other equipment in hopes of generating photographic proof for the naysayers - and lucrative film footage for himself.
Moneymaker and Hersom speculate that Bigfoot has a nocturnal animal's acute night vision. The key to "discovering" Bigfoot, if such a creature exists, is to mimic that ability.
"The only way we're going to [prove] it is if we can film in the dark," Moneymaker says. Hersom has enabled the BFRO "to bring some technology to bear that has been out of reach of Bigfoot researchers."
On the mountain, Hersom stands silently while Moneymaker and his group of volunteers put the equipment to use. Through the camera's glowing scope, the darkness transforms into a silvery landscape. But there is no Bigfoot to be seen.
Moneymaker tips his head and emits a piercing scream. Over the radio, the scattered group of BFRO members is instructed to do the same and to knock baseball bats against trees. The screams and knocks are meant to mimic the alleged noises of a "real" Bigfoot. The hope, Moneymaker says, is to trick the creatures into coming within filming range.
Does Hersom ever feel ... er ... a bit ridiculous?
"I'm just going to play it by ear," Hersom says. "I'm going to go as long as it feels right for me."
Hersom says he has only heard Bigfoot, but many within the group report more intimate encounters. They describe a giant apelike creature that walks on two feet and appears to have its own language (called "Samurai" for its sing-song resemblance to un-dubbed ninja warrior movies).
Bigfoot also is, some say, capable of projecting a paralyzing telepathic feeling of fear that stuns humans and animals alike. Moneymaker uses the term "infrasound" and calls the experience being "zapped."
Why then, would anyone pursue an encounter?
Moneymaker describes the discovery of Bigfoot as a "historical prize." But for many members of this (mostly male) group of enthusiasts, the quest is the lure.
"Part of me really like the mystery of it - the not knowing, the seeking," says Robert Leiterman, who works as a park ranger in Humboldt County, Calif.
Leiterman is one of a half-dozen past and current Orange County residents who have joined Hersom and Moneymaker on this expedition to Northern California.
Among the group: two employees from an architectural design company, an advertising executive and the director of security for a hotel.
"I just have to know the truth," says Kathy Lammens, 43.
Lammens is on the expedition with friend and office-mate, Brooke Sharon, 54. Like many members of the BFRO, they are captivated by their obsession and capable of laughing at it.
"I am one of these people who have an open mind," Sharon says. "I love the idea of Bigfoot, of UFOs, of Nessie. Why not? Who's to say it's not true?"
Does it bother BFRO members that nothing will come of this night spent in the cold mountains of California - or the next two nights to follow?
"I'm a little bit discouraged that we didn't hear anything," Hersom says. "They're not everywhere all the time."
Good timing is Hersom's stock in trade. But even he acknowledges that "there's some luck involved."
"Some people say: Bigfoot will find us, we can't find Bigfoot," Hersom says.
Mcclatchy-tribune - December 16, 2007
DEVIL PEAK, EL DORADO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. - Wally Hersom is an intuitive man, with an instinct for when opportunity might knock.
It's not knocking now.
The soft-spoken, white-maned Hersom is standing in the dark on a remote mountaintop in Northern California listening to the eerily quiet rustling of leaves.
"It's too quiet," he says. "It doesn't feel right."
Below him in the pitch-black hollows of this remote forest area, groups of men and a few women sit crouched, pointing $9,000 thermal imaging cameras at the darkness.
Every so often, one of them emits a blood-curdling shriek.
They are searching for a monster.
Hersom, 72, is the reason why. Over the past year, the part-time resident of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., (Hersom's primary home is in Henderson, Nev.) has pumped tens of thousands of dollars into the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, an Orange County-based group of Sasquatch-hunters.
Hersom pays the salary of Matt Moneymaker, the BFRO's director. He has outfitted the group with 10 thermal imaging cameras, as well as video recorders and night-vision devices. Total cost: more than $100,000.
In the process, Hersom hopes to change the popular conception of Bigfoot believers from wooly-eyed weirdos to heroic hominoid hunters.
Hersom, like the more than 2 dozen people who have joined him on this expedition to the El Dorado National Forest, believes that Bigfoot is a yet-undiscovered species of immensely strong, craftily intelligent and highly elusive great ape.
"I think the timing's right," Hersom says. "In the next 12 months, this thing is going to break wide open."
Hersom is the former owner of HC Power, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that manufactured power conversion equipment for cell phone towers and industrial facilities. The company flourished, Moneymaker says, in large part because Hersom foresaw the importance of gadgets like cell phones and computers and created technologies to serve them.
"He's an engineering genius, and ... he's got this almost spooky sense of when it's the right time to do something," Moneymaker says.
That sense convinced Hersom to sell his company in 2000, before the dot-com bust. He reaped $110 million and decided to indulge a lifelong fascination: Bigfoot.
"My broker - when I told him what I was doing he couldn't stop laughing," Hersom says. "He thought I was crazy. But I think we have a unique opportunity because nobody believes us. Once [it's] proven that Bigfoot is out there, ... I think this is going to be the biggest discovery of the century."
Hersom stumbled on Moneymaker's BFRO Web site, one of many such sites that track and list Bigfoot sightings around the country. He went on an expedition in Wisconsin.
Nothing happened.
Hersom tried again on a second expedition. This time he says he heard howls in the night and had rocks thrown at him - typical Bigfoot behavior, according to Moneymaker.
"I heard three distinct steps near my tent," Hersom recalls. "I thought 'Oh, my God, here it is.'"
The experience sold him. He joined the BFRO and went on four more expeditions. He collected photographs and plaster casts of 15-inch-long Bigfoot tracks, which he displays in his stately San Juan Capistrano hilltop-home. He bought cameras and other equipment in hopes of generating photographic proof for the naysayers - and lucrative film footage for himself.
Moneymaker and Hersom speculate that Bigfoot has a nocturnal animal's acute night vision. The key to "discovering" Bigfoot, if such a creature exists, is to mimic that ability.
"The only way we're going to [prove] it is if we can film in the dark," Moneymaker says. Hersom has enabled the BFRO "to bring some technology to bear that has been out of reach of Bigfoot researchers."
On the mountain, Hersom stands silently while Moneymaker and his group of volunteers put the equipment to use. Through the camera's glowing scope, the darkness transforms into a silvery landscape. But there is no Bigfoot to be seen.
Moneymaker tips his head and emits a piercing scream. Over the radio, the scattered group of BFRO members is instructed to do the same and to knock baseball bats against trees. The screams and knocks are meant to mimic the alleged noises of a "real" Bigfoot. The hope, Moneymaker says, is to trick the creatures into coming within filming range.
Does Hersom ever feel ... er ... a bit ridiculous?
"I'm just going to play it by ear," Hersom says. "I'm going to go as long as it feels right for me."
Hersom says he has only heard Bigfoot, but many within the group report more intimate encounters. They describe a giant apelike creature that walks on two feet and appears to have its own language (called "Samurai" for its sing-song resemblance to un-dubbed ninja warrior movies).
Bigfoot also is, some say, capable of projecting a paralyzing telepathic feeling of fear that stuns humans and animals alike. Moneymaker uses the term "infrasound" and calls the experience being "zapped."
Why then, would anyone pursue an encounter?
Moneymaker describes the discovery of Bigfoot as a "historical prize." But for many members of this (mostly male) group of enthusiasts, the quest is the lure.
"Part of me really like the mystery of it - the not knowing, the seeking," says Robert Leiterman, who works as a park ranger in Humboldt County, Calif.
Leiterman is one of a half-dozen past and current Orange County residents who have joined Hersom and Moneymaker on this expedition to Northern California.
Among the group: two employees from an architectural design company, an advertising executive and the director of security for a hotel.
"I just have to know the truth," says Kathy Lammens, 43.
Lammens is on the expedition with friend and office-mate, Brooke Sharon, 54. Like many members of the BFRO, they are captivated by their obsession and capable of laughing at it.
"I am one of these people who have an open mind," Sharon says. "I love the idea of Bigfoot, of UFOs, of Nessie. Why not? Who's to say it's not true?"
Does it bother BFRO members that nothing will come of this night spent in the cold mountains of California - or the next two nights to follow?
"I'm a little bit discouraged that we didn't hear anything," Hersom says. "They're not everywhere all the time."
Good timing is Hersom's stock in trade. But even he acknowledges that "there's some luck involved."
"Some people say: Bigfoot will find us, we can't find Bigfoot," Hersom says.
Hunters of Sasquatch undaunted by failure
Baltimore Sun - United States
has pumped tens of thousands of dollars into the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, an Orange County-based group of Sasquatch-hunters. ...
See all stories on this topic
Beast of Bolivia Track
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 16th, 2007
What is it? Felid? Canid? Identify the mystery imprint. Photos.
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Intriguing Johor Casts
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 16th, 2007
New details are being revealed about footprints found in Malaysia earlier in 2007. Photos of the casts/sighting location.
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
Sasquatch Experience Tonight...
This will be our final live show of 2007, with special guest co-host Eric Altman, to discuss not only a recent expedition he went on with Tom Biscardi, but also the Year-In-Review in Bigfooting for 2007. The show begins at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Books chronicle life, survival in the woods
Longview Daily News - Longview,WA,USA
Sasquatch sightings in 40 states. "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World," by Jennifer Armstrong. Crown, 1998. The true story of the 1914 Shackleton ...
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Salmonberry Man -- Chapter 7 -- A tearful reunion
Longview Daily News - Longview,WA,USA
Dylan realizes that this must be a Big Foot, or Sasquatch. As the creature puts him down, the boy looks into its face and says, "Thank you, Salmonberry Man. ...
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Review: Beyond The Edge Radio 12-14-07
This was certainly a more unusual and different show, with 4th Floor Pictures Producer/Director/Writer Ryan Cavalline, who discussed some of his past projects such as Dead Body Man, Day of the Ax, Rotting Souls and other colorfully-titled projects he has been involved with. Ryan believes in Boobs and Gore for his projects. He also discussed his upcoming new film Dead Body Man Chronicles, which he is hoping will have its world premiere in the Spring of '08. The second hour had some rather interesting characters call in, mainly from Ryan's movies. Colorful characters such as Suzie, Earl The Meat Man, Willie the Serial Killer and Denny called in and made the second hour quite lively. I called in and asked Ryan about his influences, as well as his opinion of the spate of PG-13-rated Horror Movies. I actually won a DVD of Dead Body Man as well, and Craig Hines and Bill Green won DVDs as well. It was a very unusual but very fun show. The next program is kind of a Year In Review for the SQuatchMEDIA Productions family, with Sean and Eric, James Baker and Bill Bean, and you never know who else might be dropping by, next Friday at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. And as always, we do encourage you to please tune in and support great research.
Water Horse, Nessie, and Sex
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 15th, 2007
This is a respond to Darren Naish’s ultra-debunking blog and makes the case for a middle-of-the-road skeptical approach to cryptozoology. Photos.
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Beast of Bolivia
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 14th, 2007
A mystery killer is said to be terrorizing the area around Bolivia, North Carolina.
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Paddington & Yeti
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 14th, 2007
A way to teach kids about Yeti.
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Really: Photos of the Loch Ness Monster Tetrapod Zoology
Categorising Gef Cabinet of Wonders
"If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. But in the liminal world of high strangeness, the classification of things is rarely so simple." AboutGef, the talking mongoose. And more: Gef (the talking mongoose).
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