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!!!)]
April 4, 2010
Missouri: Saint Louis University Biology Professor Supports Bigfoot Research
Dr. John Severson lectured on “Bigfoot: Science Fiction or Science Fact” during a recent family night at the Space Museum in Bonne Terre, Missouri. Dr. Severson is a professor of biology at Saint Louis University where he teaches Biology of Health and Disease.
He clarified that although there’s no “hard evidence” (bones or bodies,) there’s plenty of “soft evidence” (footprints and sightings.) He also told his audience that recent examinations of the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film showed it could not have been a hoaxer in a costume.
Dr. Severson has been interested in Bigfoot for a long time. He did not commit to being a totally convinced believer, but said that Bigfoot is thought to be nocturnal, omnivorous, and a strong swimmer.
His statements about the flexibility of Bigfoot footprints and the ludicrous idea that thousands of fake-foot hoaxers exist are reminiscent of Dr. Grover Krantz’s anthropological study in Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence, which I’m currently reading. (I’ll share more about that in a future posting.)
Source: Giving Bigfoot evidence a second look; Dr. John Severson talks about Bigfoot at space museum’s Family Fun Night by Teresa Ressel, published on March 30, 2010 in the Park Hills, MO Daily Journal Online.
Note that a comment on the article cited above mentions a Bigfoot known to frequent the Bonne Terre Rock Quarry. Rock quarries are known to be a site frequently associated with Bigfoot sightings.
Bonne Terre, 62 miles south-west of St. Louis, is surrounded by forests, and in the vicinity of Missouri’s St. Francois State Park.
September 2, 2009
North America’s Great Ape: The Sasquatch – Dr. John Bindernagel’s Bigfoot Biology Site
Dr. John Bindernagel, B.S.A., MS, Ph.D., is a professional wildlife biologist based in British Columbia, Canada. He has studied Bigfoot evidence since 1975. In 1988 he found and cast a set of Bigfoot footprints near his home. In the mid-1990s he wrote a book, North America’s Great Ape: The Sasquatch Since that time he’s written some well-received scientific research papers about Bigfoot and some magazine articles as well.
I read his entire Bigfoot biology website today and appreciated his discussion of three types of Bigfoot evidence: tracks, sightings, and other phenomena. With his discussion of other phenomena he provided several excellent photographs of tree twists – broken by a force that’s hard to imagine unless it could be an actual Bigfoot.
I especially appreciated the page about whether Sasquatch witnesses are confusing Bigfoot with bears. He mentions that forestry workers and other outdoors people are unlikely to mistake a bear for something else. An illustration shows the vital differences between an upright bear and a Bigfoot, and even the tracks of each are examined for perspective.
Dr. Bindernagel doesn’t doubt that there’s a real creature called Sasquatch, and focuses on understanding the biological aspects of Sasquatch life. He’s documented the distribution of Sasquatch reports across the North American continent.
On his page about Sasquatch and science he wrote:
“One aspect of my own sasquatch research and writing is that of assisting in validating the sasquatch as a subject for serious research by mainstream sceientists. I have attempted to acquaint students of natural history, field naturalists and colleagues in science with existing data and evidence. I do not try to convince them to necessarily accept the sasquatch as an existing animal, but rather to recognize that it … may be a subject worthy of serious discussion and some research effort.”
Dr. John Bindernagle is a pioneer in the scientific study of Bigfoot. His contribution to Bigfoot research is very much appreciated.
August 22, 2009
The Believe It Tour’s Willow Creek Adventure
The Bridge in Orleans
Bigfoot Scenic Byway
Last Sunday, August 16, I drove to Willow Creek, the town on the other end of the Bigfoot Scenic Byway, 75 miles from where I live, in Happy Camp, California. The occasion? I’d been invited to meet The Believe It Tour team as they started their journey through Bigfoot country. We planned to meet at the Bigfoot Motel, visit Bigfoot Books, tour the Bigfoot Museum, then have dinner at a restaurant. I was fairly thrilled about this opportunity because so often researchers travel through the valley but never contact me.
This event has opened a lot of doors for me… it has been utterly amazing, really. I met Michael Esordi and Diane Smith in the lobby of the Bigfoot Motel, and then told them I’d meet them at the bookstore which is a few miles east of town. I met the third tour member, Brad Pennock, team skeptic, outside the Bigfoot Motel where he was photographing everything!
Note: Michael Esordi, the Believe It Team’s tour guide, is webmaster of the Bigfoot Museum website, Bigfoot Surplus, and the Believe It Tour.
I got to the bookstore but found out it was closed – it didn’t open until 2pm on Sundays. With time on my hands I went to the Bigfoot Museum in hopes that Craig Woolheater might be there already. Now you’re probably wondering how Craig got into this story. Michael Esordi arranged for Craig and his traveling companion, Sharonlee, to meet us in Willow Creek.
A quick check of the museum showed nobody was there to see the Bigfoot Museum, and I traveled back and forth a few times, bought gasoline, and explored a place that was calling me, Friday Ridge Road. I drove up high enough to take this picture of the Trinity River and the highway next to it.
Finally I went back to Bigfoot Books and saw cars there, and entered to find the Believe It Tour people now talking to Steven Streufert, bookseller. He’s a Bigfoot researcher as well. I loved his used (and new) book store and bought some old cassette tapes to play in my vintage van on the way home, and a few books. Diana bought a big stack of Bigfoot books – new and used.
Bluff Creek Footprint Casts
Willow Creek Bigfoot Museum
Next we headed back to the Bigfoot Museum on the west side of town. The curator, Al Hodgson, wasn’t able to make it but we enjoyed looking at all the exhibits and taking pictures there. I will definitely try to visit again on a day when Al is available!
I’d been to the museum before but it seemed that this time there was more to look at. There are lots of footprint casts, photographs of footprints and the researchers who discovered them, and Bigfoot displays on science, history, and memorabilia.
Linda Martin & Craig Woolheater
At Cinnabar Sam’s In Willow Creek, CA
Craig Woolheater and Sharonlee were delayed during their travel from the SF Bay Area to Humboldt County, so we went back to visit Steve Streufert at Bigfoot Books, then eventually decided to go ahead and get a table at Cinnabar Sam’s so it wouldn’t close before we were ready. Craig and Sharonlee finally reached Willow Creek and joined us there, and we had a wonderful dinner together. This was my first time to meet Craig Woolheater – after reading about him online for years – so I was excited about that and asked Brad Pennock to take this photo with my camera.
Sharonlee, Michael, Steven, and Diana
getting ready for after-dinner squatching
on Friday Ridge Road.
After dinner everyone else went to Friday Ridge Road for a few hours of squatching since there have been recent Bigfoot sighting reports in that area according to Steve Streufert of Bigfoot Books. I’d already been there earlier in the day, but I didn’t say a word about it to anyone, until now. I had to get back to Happy Camp – and it is a two hour drive along a winding river road, with cliffs, high bridges, and other things I don’t like – such as rocks that fall on the highway and the occasional deer that gets mesmerized by headlights.
About the only thing I haven’t seen on the Klamath River Highway (Hwy. 96) is a Bigfoot. I’ve seen a large cougar in the middle of the road. I’ve seen a huge bear cross the highway while I was out hiking near my home. But Bigfoot? No………. not yet. I still have my hopes set on seeing one, and even communicating with one. At least I live in the right neighborhood!
It was a real treat for me to meet the Believe It Team, Sharonlee, Steven, and Craig – especially as I’ve been somewhat of a hermit the last few years. I don’t get out much… but if anyone is coming to the area for squatching, or sight seeing, please give me a call (I’m in the phone book and on Skype: ‘lindajomartin’) or email me first. I’m now enthusiastic about meeting Bigfoot researchers!
A few more photos of the Believe It Team:
Diana, Michael, and Brad inside the Willow Creek Bigfoot Museum.
I am the last to blog about this… you can read Sharonlee’s account on her blog: Bigfoot Field Reporter, and the Believe It Tour version of events on their blog: Believe It Tour Blog, and Steven Streufert’s version on his blog: Bigfoot’s Blog.
The story doesn’t end here. After spending the night at the Bluff Creek site of the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film, the Believe It Tour came back through Happy Camp and we connected to take pictures at Happy Camp’s Bigfoot statue. The next day Sharonlee and Craig came through Happy Camp and phoned me… and I went downtown with my partner, Bob, where we met them and went to a local sighting location. I will write about that soon… it requires its own posting because there’s a new footprint casting involved!
