Bigfoot DNA – Proof Within Controversy
As the results of the Bigfoot DNA studies slowly emerge from the silence of Dr. Melba Ketchum’s lab, it is both exciting to hear about the discoveries, and distressing to realize there’s so much in-fighting and bickering going on. As usual, in Bigfoot research, every ego is on edge and some go over the edge.
I first heard of it from my neighbor, JavaBob Schmalzbach, author of Monsters, Myths, and Me and owner of the Footprints in Your Mind website. He was involved with Richard Stubstad and Dr. Melba Ketchum when the project started. However as it progressed and the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) expired, communication within the team broke down. It seems that Ketchum has taken over the evidence and edged others out of the deal.
Consequently, Richard Stubstad recently published a statement about the results of the DNA research, after refusing to sign a new NDA giving Dr. Ketchum 100% of the glory and joy of the new discovery. It appears that her attempt to cut out her former associates has backfired.
This appears to be a typical Bigfoot research scenario. I don’t know what it is about Bigfoot, but researchers have been vying with one another for the glory of the great discovery for decades now. I tend to think it is a matter of motivation. When we’re caught up in the human drama rather than thinking first of the well-being of the Bigfoot people themselves, competition runs rampant. So many people want to be the owner of the name that goes down in history as the person who proved the existence of Bigfoot!
Richard Stubstad’s article about Bigfoot DNA can be found in the July 2011 issue of JavaBob’s online magazine: Footprints in Your Mind – Special Sasquatch Edition. It is also on his website.
According to his biography on Footprints In Your Mind.Com, Richard Stubstad started his Bigfoot research as recently as 2009. Since then he “initiated the mitochondrial sequencing of several purported sasquatch samples through Dr. Ketchum’s DNA diagnostics laboratory in Texas.”
The information he is revealing now is not a “leak” of someone else’s work, but rather is from Richard Stubstad’s own collection of evidence and work on the DNA project prior to being shut out. For more information see this rebutal found on JavaBob’s website. He believes he has a legal right to share this much with the public.
Quoting Richard Stubstad:
1) This wasn’t intended to be a leak. Since I am no longer working with Dr. Ketchum according to her own personal desires, I am simply reporting on the work I did, without assistance, on the mtDNA analysis of the first two unspecified mtDNA samples.
2) Dr. K is incorrect; I’m not at all “misinformed” about her ongoing DNA work on various purported sasquatch samples; I’m not informed whatsoever, much beyond what I have already stated.
3) What I stated was not the result of Dr. K’s own work; she merely provided the mtDNA sequencing that others (who provided samples) had paid for. I also paid for some of the testing involved out of my own pocket.
4) Dr. K did not initially notice the close connection between Samples 1 and 2; I did the statistical analysis and told her, quite openly, of the statistical results since we and several others were intimately involved in this exciting and cooperative research when it started.
5) Within a short period of time, she excluded me from what quickly turned into “her” project, along with several others. She told me that her lawyer(s) told her to do so. This does resemble the smell of blood, eh?
The two original samples submitted to the lab were from totally separate sources. In fact, the researcher offering sample #1 did not see eye-to-eye with the researcher offering sample #2, so there was no opportunity for cross-contamination. Nevertheless these two samples had strikingly similar DNA characteristics, enough so that Stubstad concluded that there is a 97-98% certainty that Bigfoot exists.
The mtDNA tests of both samples offered clues to the mitochondrial (maternal/female) origins, showing them to be 100% HUMAN (homo sapiens) proving that “Bigfoot People” is a reasonable term… just as many recent research reports have suggested. They are our cousins, and a likely possibility is that they resulted from breeding between something else, and humans of our species.
What is known about the “Mitochondrial Eve” for both the original samples, is that she was from the “Franco-Cantabrian glacial refuge”. She was a homo sapiens human being living in southern Europe 15,000 years ago, give or take about 5000 years.
Sources include:
Breathtaking News From the Erickson Project
New Erickson Project News: Bigfoot DNA Project Using Two Dead Bigfoot Bodies for Samples
Bear Hunter Interview – Part 2
Interview with Richard Stubstad – Is Bigfoot Human?
The issue of two dead Bigfoot . . . is something I can’t totally believe at this time, but I will explain it to you. The story is that a hunter in Plumas County, CA was threatened by a female Bigfoot, old enough to have gray hair. She was, according to him, blocking the road and making gestures that made him feel threatened, so he got out of his vehicle and shot her.
Then he says there were two young Sasquatches in the forest nearby, obviously upset by the female’s death. The hunter is reported to have shot and killed one of them.
The story continues that there were two other hunters with him. One became hysterical and they took away the rifle and wouldn’t let him shoot the third Bigfoot.
According to the web-rumors, the hunter is extremely worried about being prosecuted, and well he should be. California law is detailed and specific about what hunters are allowed to shoot. Bigfoot, of course, is not on that list.
Also, since the DNA is proving that Sasquatches are at least 1/2 human, there could be murder charges.
One rumor states that they left the bodies there. Another states that the bodies were recovered and sent to a Bigfoot research project in Washington state. And there’s the rumor that a piece of flesh from the female’s thigh was sent to Dr. Melba Ketchum for DNA analysis.
So, there’s the story of two dead Bigfoot bodies. I’m waiting for proof before I’ll believe any of it.
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All sources for this article can be found on the web.
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[Update: Radio broadcast - 7/9/11 - Richard Stubstad interviewed by M.K. Davis and Don Monroe. Thanks to Bobbie Short of Bigfoot Encounters for the link!]
[Update: Another radio broadcast - 7/9/11 - Robert Lindsay interviewed by the Minnesota Bigfoot Research Team, with a call-in from BFRO researcher Derek Randles, who spoke with the shooter of the 2 Plumas County Bigfoot and tends to believe the story. (I'm still reserving judgement on the story because it reminds me of the Georgia Bigfoot Hoax, the Stagecoach Nevada Bigfoot Hoax, etc. etc.... show me the proof!!!)]
December 12, 2009
The Trail-Cam “Bigfoot” – My Opinion
A reader emailed to ask me what I think of this new trail cam “Bigfoot”. The picture was originally published in the Bemidji Pioneer, in Minnesota, and was a trail cam photo attributed to brothers Peter and Casey Kedrowski, and their father, Tim Kedrowski.
My first impression was that it obviously is not a Bigfoot, because the legs don’t have any muscle definition – in fact, they look very much like a costume or a pair of loose pants.
My partner’s first impression was that it is a hunter in dark camo (see examples below which are from Cabelas.) I’m not sure if my examples are the darkest camo, but it very well could have been a hunter walking by in full camo, including one of those strange hats.
Camo or not, the legs look like the give-away to me, because they aren’t curved as muscles in an unclothed leg would be. Others have pointed to the hand, barely visible behind the tree. It looks like a glove to me.
And those two bright spots on the head – they couldn’t be a Bigfoot’s eyes because a Bigfoot’s head is close to the body – there’s no neck, so a Bigfoot doesn’t turn his head like a human being does. A Bigfoot has to turn his torso too. (I get these ideas from eyewitness reports, such as those in David Paulides’ books.)
It could be a Bigfoot costume. I’ve seen plenty of them in the Bigfoot parades here in Happy Camp and in Willow Creek, and they hang exactly like that – baggy and loose.
Sample photos of dark camo winter clothing and headgear from the Cabelas website:
So, it looks to me like either an intentional hoax, or perhaps just an accident. Perhaps the brothers put up a trail cam and later a hunter walked by, triggering the motion sensor. In that case the brothers may have honestly thought they got a Bigfoot’s photo, however the lack of muscle definition in the legs makes me wonder how this particular photo got to be so well publicized. Surely people can’t be thinking this is real. Or can they?
Bigfoot researchers must have an enormous amount of skepticism in examining Bigfoot evidence, but others, unfamiliar with evidence we’ve seen submitted over time, might be more willing to believe.
Because I’ve got this site I often am sent possible Bigfoot pictures, but they’re usually very unimpressive, I’m sorry to say. We’ve got a big credibility problem with all Bigfoot photographs these days because with modern software photos are easily faked, and there are excellent artists available to do that. To have a truly conclusive photo that nobody would be skeptical about would be very difficult these days. I’d go so far as to say it is impossible. So when someone points to something shadowy behind a tree and says it is a Bigfoot, I don’t believe it. If it isn’t clear enough to be analyzed it isn’t going to impress any credible Bigfoot researcher.
Even movies are questionable. Look how much controversy there’s been over the years about the Patterson-Gimlen film. I do believe that’s a real Bigfoot, but a lot of people are still denying it, even though many respectable scholars have analyzed it frame by frame and declared it has to be real.
What we need is for some Bigfoot researcher to make contact with a Bigfoot on a long term relationship basis. I know people have reported having these relationships, but often these people will not allow others to know, for the protection of their Sasquatch friends. We need credible scientists or scholars to be able to witness and hopefully even participate in these relationships, to document the existence of these forest people. Photographs aren’t going to suffice, and film most likely won’t either, though Patty is a great start. And I’m totally against the theory that killing one will help; that would only give the Sasquatches one more reason to want to avoid us.
So there you have it… my opinion. I often don’t comment on these types of photographs that hit the news because if I can’t believe they’re real Sasquatches, what good does it do to show them to people?
If you want to see a lot of bad “Bigfoot” photographs head over to this link: Field & Stream’s Trail Cam Contest – they offered a million dollars to anyone who could provide a photo of a Bigfoot, so consequently they attracted all kinds of hoax photos from collages to blobsquatches to bears to sheer nothingness. People were desperate to get that money! (Thanks to Don Campbell for sending me that link.) You can sift through the photos and help rate them… it is great advertising for Bushnell trail cams.
I wonder if this photo everyone is talking about was intended for that contest. Is it worth a million dollars to you to put on a Bigfoot costume and walk in front of a trail cam at night?
Too late… the contest has ended.
September 1, 2009
Bigfoot Reading Group
September’s Bigfoot Reading Group selection is Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides. This is his second book examining Bigfoot sightings in Northern California. He also includes sightings in Minnesota and Oklahoma. The first chapter, which I’m reading now, presents historic Bigfoot sighting information and newspaper clippings.
His first book was The Hoopa Project, something I found fascinating because I live down the road from Hoopa, about sixty-five miles on the Bigfoot Scenic Byway, Highway 96 in Northern California.
My schedule for this Bigfoot Reading Group project is semi-flexible. I want to read through the entire book within a month and plan to post something each time I finish a chapter. If you’d like to discuss it with me, the comment section for each posting will provide a place for opinions.
I’ve come up with a tentative schedule. I intend to read and comment on chapters 1 through 5 during the first week. Week two will be for chapters 6 through 9. Week three, chapters 10-12, and week four, chapter 13. Can I do it? Well, I will try. I am a notoriously slow reader, but David Paulides’ writing does manage to hold my attention.
After September, there will be more Bigfoot Reading Group books. Here’s the tentative schedule:
October – Bigfoot Sasquatch: Evidence
November – Bigfoot Encounters in New York & New England
December – Giants, Cannibals & Monsters: Bigfoot in Native Culture
January – Bigfoot Film Journal
February & March – Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us
August 19, 2009
Ed Runninghorse – Bigfoot News Video
Great news coverage for Ed Runninghorse in Minnesota:
Ed has an extensive archive of Squatching videos on YouTube: TheFirstBillyJack. He’s also on MySpace: Ed Runninghorse.
July 1, 2009
David Paulides interviewed for the Eureka Times-Standard
The Eureka Times-Standard is the closest major newspaper to the site of Patterson’s 1967 Bigfoot filming. Bluff Creek is north-east of Eureka; both places are in Humboldt County, California which is just east of Siskiyou County, where I live.
Author and Bigfoot researcher David Paulides was interviewed for a May 30, 2009 article about his investigation and book on Hoopa Bigfoot sightings. I’ve already written a review of that book: The Hoopa Project.
In the article, Bigfoot is not at all imaginary for many inland residents, a paragraph from The Hoopa Project is printed – about a sighting by the local supermarket manager. It took place in front of what used to be a computer store on Highway 96. The man was driving to work one early morning from Willow Creek and clearly saw a Bigfoot standing on the highway. Until that time he was a Bigfoot skeptic.
This is only one of many fascinating Bigfoot sighting reports documented in The Hoopa Project.
Now – Good News – David Paulides has had another Bigfoot book published. I haven’t read it all yet, and my full book review will have to wait a while. The new book is Tribal Bigfoot.
The new book contains reports from many Northern California locations as well as Oklahoma and Minnesota. One of his investigations was an interview with Collette Alexander, whose Bigfoot story was originally posted here on Bigfoot Sightings: Santa Cruz, California Bigfoot Sighting, 1999.
I’m a Siskiyou County resident living in Happy Camp in the center of the Klamath National Forest – so I found the chapter on our county of interest. He interviewed and wrote about Darrell Whiteaker, who I don’t know; Lars Larsen, a long-time Happy Camper I am acquainted with; and Tara Hauki, who I know quite well and who comments on this site from time to time.
Other chapters in the book: Historical Bigfoot, The Bigfoot Map Project, Associations, Extreme Sighting Locations, Santa Cruz County, Amador County, Trinity County, Del Norte County, Humboldt County, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and The Bigfoot/Hairy Man/Human Connection.
Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?
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In the meantime I’ve been reading Bigfoot Encounters in New York and New England – a book by Paul B. Bartholomew and Robert E. Bartholomew – brothers. I will post my review soon!
