Major Misquote of Me in the News!
My face is red… OMG I didn’t say that! I love the publicity but I wish it said something I’d actually said rather than something that sounds to me like a grandiose delusion.
Here’s what I’m quoted as saying: “There have been more Bigfoot sightings here than anywhere in the world,” said Linda Martin, who operates the blog bigfootsightings.org. “Happy Camp is surrounded by wilderness. It’s one of the only areas left where they can survive.” See the Article!
I personally don’t believe there are more Bigfoot sightings in the Klamath River Valley than anyplace else in the world, so I’m sure I didn’t say that. Sorry if I gave that impression, but reality is that there are probably more sightings in other areas, such as in Washington and British Columbia.
And as for the Happy Camp area being one of the only places where they can survive, I’m sure I wouldn’t say that either. There are Bigfoot sightings in many countries and 49 of the US states (not in Hawaii).
The reporter might have gotten the wrong impression because I am concerned about how Bigfoot’s world has shrunk. 150 years ago they lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley. But now they’re shoved back into the forested mountains. As humans pave over more of the planet our forest cousins are forced to retreat.
Yes, they’re here in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, but that’s not one of the only places. There are many areas all over the USA and world where they’ve been seen.
So, I’m posting this here, blushing, because I sure didn’t say what was quoted and I think the reporter may have misunderstood because of the noise level around the booth where he spoke to me. The interview was in the middle of our Bigfoot Jamboree celebration.
Being a reporter is a tough job. The man was very busy gathering information for his article, and the pressure to get these articles out quickly without fail is enormous. So I am not angry that I was misquoted, but just a little embarrassed because any Bigfoot researcher would immediately know that what I was quoted as saying is simply not true.
This just goes to show how easy it is for a reporter to get the wrong idea about what’s being said.
July 4, 2011
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!!!)]
September 26, 2009
Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence
By Linda Martin – © 2009
Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence
Dr. Krantz was a professor of anthropology specializing in human evolution at Washington State University. He started his study of Sasquatch in 1963 after examining footprint castings and believed that Sasquatch is an actual flesh and blood creature.
The book, Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence
This book will be reviewed, chapter-by-chapter, on this blog as soon as all reviews of Tribal Bigfoot
A home page for Dr. Krantz’ book has been created at Squidoo: Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence.
August 25, 2009
Is It Real? – An Analysis of Bigfoot Evidence
Is It Real? is a web page with a fascinating analysis of Bigfoot photographic evidence. Author Jack D. Davis of Elmira, Oregon started researching Bigfoot evidence after learning about Dr. Jeffrey Thompson’s sighting at Oregon Caves National Monument in 2000.
The site starts with a careful analysis of one frame of the Patterson-Gimlin film, compared to a photograph of a Sasquatch taken on Silver Star Mountain in Washington state, in 2005. Using TurboCad Jack Davis compares the shape and proves they are nearly identical. He also compares them to the faces of gorillas and humans.
Next he takes a look at the back of the Sasquatch in the Patterson-Gimlin film and compares it with a Silver Back Gorilla’s back, and the back of a man in a Bigfoot costume. Though he’s admittedly not a scientist, he’s great at noticing details that might escape others. He shows the clear resemblance between Patty’s back and the Gorilla’s back, and then points out how certain elements of the costume shot clearly show it is false.
Do not miss his page on Measuring Patty Using CAD Software, as he comes up with a plausible theory on her height and weight using photo and footprint measurements.
August 10, 2009
Flying Bigfoot – in the Blue Mountains, Washington State
David N. of Southeast Washington state has seen a creature he believes was Bigfoot, flying.
A FLYING Bigfoot you say?
Quit laughing!
He’s serious and has written an article detailing his sighting and other Bigfoot experiences. He’s focused on learning more about Bigfoot in his area and is forming a research organization, the Blue Mountain Bigfoot Research Group (BMBRG), to connect with others in the Blue Mountains who have had Bigfoot sightings, or who want to participate in the research.
He’s not the only one.
In his article, Blue Mountain Trackers Bigfoot Research Update, he provides links to photos of his UFO sightings and to a video someone else took of a strange flying hominid. He says that video resembles what he saw.
His facts are intriguing, and he’s without a doubt living in an area that should be a hotbed of Bigfoot activity. I think he’s one of those people who sees things because he takes the time to look up at the sky. So many of us don’t, and we miss a lot, no doubt.
Here in Northern California there have been plenty of Bigfoot sightings, but I’ve never heard of one flying around here. I will be visiting the Willow Creek Bigfoot Museum soon, and will ask if there are any reports like that from our region.
You know, Washington is the location of MEL’S HOLE… that hole without any perceptible bottom. I wonder if Bigfoot is flying up out of something like that, from the HOLLOW EARTH. (Just a thought!)
To David: Good luck with your Bigfoot research. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your discoveries and enjoy reading your articles at Gather.Com. Thanks for submitting your Bigfoot articles to my Gather group, Bigfoot Research.
