Cobfoot? Shucksquatch? The wild maize-man?

Nevermind…

If you’re cruising through the Cornhusker State this Friday February the 17th, head over to the C3 Hotel for a delicious weekend helping of Sasquatch. The event is only $10 and features some fantastic speakers, including Fouke/Boggy Creek Monster expert and author Lyle Blackburn.

Who organized this conference?

Harriet McFeely was only 8 years old when the the Shipton Yeti prints were discovered; an event that sparked a lifelong fascination and dedication to the field. Currently, she is an investigator with Sasquatch Investigations of the Rockies (S.I.R.) and seems like a real nice lady:

“It is my hope that having a Nebraska Bigfoot Conference will provide education and increase interest not only in the Sasquatch, but also in all of the mysteries and challenges of our natural world.”

Presenting this inaugural event, Harriet is joined by fellow researchers and Sasquatch enthusiasts Robin Roberts and Ellen Vee. One of, if not the only, all-girl team of active researchers, Harriet knew this was a dynamic squad more than capable of leading Nebraska into the growing world of Bigfoot conferences. Per Harriet:

“We’ve got a power machine going here right now. We’ve got five girls that are doing this Bigfoot conference and we’re all researchers. We go out and we camp out and we have a blast.”

Who is speaking at the Nebraska Bigfoot Conference?

Harriet, Robin, and Ellen put together a nice crew of speakers for this very first event. Lyle Blackburn, Fouke/Boggy Creek expert, author, musician, and cryptid-researcher headlines the conference. Most recently, Lyle starred in the powerful and compelling documentary Boggy Creek Monster.

Also stomping the stage will be the production team of David Ford & Stuart Miller, known for Something in the Woods (2016), Jericho (2016), and Czar (2017); S.I.R. researcher Mike Johnson, Missouri Bigfoot Researcher and Musician Scotty Plowman; and, of course, S.I.R. investigator Robin Roberts with her personal canine bodyguard Roo.

Lyle Blackburn, author, researcher, and musician

Are there many Bigfoot sightings in Nebraska?

Not too many according to the BFRO. There are only 14 registered sightings.

The most recent BFRO-reported sighting took place in Howard County in 2008.

The most recent “Class A” report was filed in August, 2005 detailing a 2002 event in Douglas County. Just before sunrise one day the witness, an elderly woman, let her dogs out into her large spread of backyard that led up to a wooded area. The dogs immediately sprinted outside to the treeline. Curious, the woman walked out into the dark morning to investigate. She arrived about twenty feet from the edge. Beyond the chain-link fence surrounding her property, she observed something frightening.

In-between the fence and trees was a seven-foot-tall, muscular “thing” with deep-set eyes, a prominent brow, fat neck, massive hands, and extremely long “ape-like” arms. It was covered in long brown hair, like a dog.

Eerily, the being jumped from side-to-side. It leaped three times from one tree to another. When it hopped towards the fence, the woman frantically ran inside with her dogs.

Freaky.

Nebraska Sasquatch sightings

The post Coming Soon: The First Annual Nebraska Bigfoot Conference appeared first on Bigfoot Base.

This creepy clip from ‘In Search Of…’ (1978) is a good introduction to the ‘Sierra Sounds’:

Background of the ‘Sierra Sounds’

In 1971, Ron Morehead worked as a hospitality manager and church board administrator in Merced, CA. One fateful week, Ron learned that a family friend & fellow church board member was two days late returning from a high-Sierras hunting trip. The man’s wife explained to Ron that his hunting troupe encountered mysterious creatures that made “horrific, intimidating sounds and left five-toed prints around their camp.” One of the men even fled the site in terror.

A known explorer/adventurer and trusted friend, the man asked Ron to return with him to the area and collect evidence. Soon thereafter Ron trekked into the wilderness with a small group that included the hunter-friend and Sacramento journalist Alan Berry. The first trip yielded no results other than fragments of perceived toe prints in sand. The follow-up adventure was much more eventful.

On this trip, once they reached the remote deer-hunters camp, it didn’t take long for the mysterious beings to arrive from a nearby ridgetop.

Luckily, Ron & Alan brought ammo.

Well, tape recorders.

Though they evaded sight stealthily, the creatures whistled, screamed, and vocalized towards the men several times. After the invaders faded into the night, Berry and his companions found large bare-foot prints in the snow and pine.

For the next year or so, Ron, Alan, and friends returned to the site with microphones, tape cassette recorders, and plaster of Paris for foot-casts. It seems that, more often than not, the team encountered the supposed Bigfoot. Furthermore, they found the creatures to be incredibly stealthy. Camera traps were evaded easily and only brief glimpses were ever attained. Luckily, the phantoms overlooked the discreet microphones taped to bush branches and hanging from tree limbs. Over time, the team successfully collected high quality audio and footprint casts: a treasure trove of Bigfoot evidence.¹

Listen to the ‘Sierra Sounds’ Part 1:

Listen to the ‘Sierra Sounds’ Part 2:

About Alan Berry

I think it is important to note that, early on, Alan was very skeptical. Aside from being a former officer in the Vietnam War and holding a Master’s Degree in Science (if those accomplishments equal integrity for you) , Al was an investigative reporter for the Sacramento Bee. He cared very much about accuracy, and was described as a man of great character. He accompanied the men for a breakout story. Until his death in 2012, he always felt that “it would have made the story even more interesting if he could have discovered how anyone could have pulled this off.” His primary goal in the initial trips was to disprove the encounters. He was convinced of the hunter’s deception and even rummaged through their packs to find evidence of the fakery. He never found a shred of proof that he was being deceived.

Al Berry & Ron Morehead on their way to the ‘Sierra Sounds’ camp

Where is the Spot Exactly?

Ron and his group certainly found a super secret spot. According to a radio interview with BigfootEvidence.blogspot.com, the approximate area is inbetween Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park. Ron provides a nice rebuttle to skeptics on a hoax page of his website, providing some general geographical details:

• The Sierra camp is over eight miles, walking, from the closest road, any road.
• The trip is very exhausting. The men (about half way into the trip) would often leave the forest trail and proceed different ways to the camp, so as to not leave an obvious trail.
• The camp is over 8,000′ in elevation. In the fall it would snow and freeze.
• The men would always look for evidence of other people that may have been in the area. Rarely was any other humans within miles of the Sierra camp.

A shelter used by Ron Morehead and friends at the ‘Sierra Sounds’camp

How many recordings of the ‘Sierra Sounds’ were collected?

Several clips of the ‘Sierra Sounds’ can be found across the internet. I first heard this evidence on the In Search Of… clip where Al recreates an evidence collection session from 1972. There are staples, but I believe there’s still quite a bit of audio that’s not readily available, but can be purchased on Ron Morehead’s website. To date, Ron has released two collections (available on CD or digital download), and a book about his experiences (also available to download). Here are the descriptions for each:

Bigfoot Recordings Volume One: A True High Sierra Wilderness Story
Description: Produced in 1996 by Ron Morehead features very clear vocalizations captured in 1972, by Alan Berry, the investigative reporter brought into camp . Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, narrates. (40 minutes)

Bigfoot Recordings Volume Two: The Bigfoot Recordings
Description: Produced in 2003. Written, produced and narrated by Ron Morehead. It features rhythmic rapping-pounding sounds, and almost understandable phrases emanating from these creatures. (40 minutes)

Looks like about 80 minutes of high quality evidence. Hell yea.

Studies Supporting the ‘Sierra Sounds’

The ‘Sierra Sounds’ underwent a year-long evaluation at the University of Wyoming. The researchers determined the origin to be primate, and that one of the speakers possessed a vocal range and lung capacity much greater than the average human’s.

Additionally, they ruled out the presence of alteration. The tapes had not been sped up or slowed down or even re-recorded. They were organic pieces of evidence.

“The unusual growl-like sounds and whistles were studied by Dr. R. Lynn Kirlin, a professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Wyoming. It was his opinion that the format frequencies found were clearly lower than for human data and their distribution does not indicate they were the product of human vocalizations and tape speed alteration.”

Went Worth College Professor and former U.S. Navy crypto-linguist Scott Nelson determined that the ‘Sierra Sounds’ feature an actual deliberate language. With over 35 years in the field and fluency in four languages (English, Russian, Spanish, and Persian) his expertise led to the realization of more than grunts and snarls. He believes there are clear distinctions tagged on to the words in the form of phonemes. Phonemes are sound unites that “distinguish one word from another in a particular language.” Phonemes directly cause accents, since foreign-language speakers apply one type of phoneme inventory (French, for example) to a language with a different one (English). Nelson even created a transcription of the recordings by slowing the ‘Sierra Sounds’ down considerably. Per his report:

“Sasquatch Language is spoken approximately twice as fast as any known language in most analyzed recordings, therefore it must be slowed down to be transcribed accurately.”

Nelson’s ‘Sasquatch Phonetic Alphabet (SPA)’ paper is truly amazing. Even if these theories never lead to a definitive conclusion, one can’t deny Nelsons work proves there’s much more to the ‘Sierra Sounds’ than just primal grunts.

“Because of what I did in the Navy, spending years and several thousand hours speeding the human voice up and slowing it down, I could just detect language in those vocalizations.”

Opposition

Like any piece of Sasquatch evidence, the ‘Sierra Sounds’ are highly debated.

Good.

We need to keep adding good, conscious evidence in bulk to the pot, but we ultimately need to strain out the flimsy bits. The ‘Sierra Sounds’ are held in high regard, but what do some skeptics say?

A Hard Skeptic: Karen Stollznow, ScientificAmerican.com

“The vocalizations are an amateur impression of how a proto-language might sound if it evolved from non-human primates. This “Bigfoot” is likely human, and the ‘Sierra Sounds’ a combination of hoax and misidentification, like all of the other evidence for Bigfoot.”

“Similar to the claims of the (so far mythical) Orang-Pendek, Bigfoot would probably communicate using vocalizations. However, non-human primates don’t have the physiology to produce a wide variety of speech sounds, so it is unlikely that Bigfoot would have developed language, or would be able to speak existing human languages.”

A Recreation

Youtube user Hippies WithGuNs recorded his own version of the ‘Sierra Sounds’ and I must admit, he does a good job. He certainly nails the “pig monkey” sound, as he puts it, but admits he needs to work on the whistling. Check out the video and let me know what you think.

¹ Natalina. “10 Extraordinary Questions With… Ron Morehead of ‘Bigfoot Sounds’.” Extraordinary Intelligence. N.p., 31 July 2013. .

The post The ‘Sierra Sounds’ : Our Most Impressive Evidence for Bigfoot? appeared first on Bigfoot Base.

Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick WA. Site of the International Bigfoot Conference

Who’s putting on the International Bigfoot Conference?

Author/researcher duo Russell Acord & Ed Brown began brainstorming a Bigfoot-centered conference in October 2015. The team quickly realized that there was a huge opening for this kind of event, especially in the Pacific Northwest- Sasquatch’s original backyard. They set out to book a list of the field’s most respected analysts and legitimate researchers. Mixing these popular names with successful independent researchers, Russell and Ed knew they had something special, something with a purpose. “We had to create a conference with a purpose, and that purpose was to provide an opportunity for up and coming researchers to share the stage with some of the biggest names in the world of Bigfoot research.”

Who’s going to be there?

The International Bigfoot Conference will feature an impressive “who’s who” of Bigfoot names. Every one of these speakers is truly exceptional:

Dr. Jeff Meldrum: Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology and Professor of the Department of Anthroplogy at Idaho State University, Dr. Meldrum is the most renowned authority of Bigfoot footprints. In the past decade especially, Dr. Meldrum has pushed legitimate scientific evaluation of these cryptids to new levels.

John Bindernagel, PhD: John is a Canadian professional wildlife biologist and author who has studied and gathered evidence for Sasquatch since 1963. He earned a PhD in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1970. John taught biology and wildlife courses across the globe, including Africa, Asia, and Central America. Throughout his career John has led a level-headed analysis of the wildlife ‘footprint’ of these cryptids, suggesting on his website’s author page that “tracks constitute a more reliable and persistent record of the presence of a mammal species in an area than a fleeting glimpse of the animal itself.”

Loren Coleman: Known across the globe as THE cryptozoologist, Loren has penned dozens of books and hundreds of papers about cryptids. He completed doctoral-level studies of anthropology at Brandeis University and sociology at the University of New Hampshire. Loren taught at New England Universities over the course of 24 years. A true icon for the field of cryptozoology, Loren is also the curator of the fledgling International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland MA.

Derek Randles: A 29 year veteran of scientifically sound Sasquatch research, Derek is co-founder of the world renowned, Washington-based Olympic Project. The association performs comprehensive habitat study and empirical evidence analysis for these elusive Sasquatch creatures. Derek encountered a Sasquatch in 1985, spurring over two decades of passionate, yet practical research.

Ron Morehead: Renowned author and researcher, Ron is most well known for collecting arguably the most compelling audio evidence of Sasquatch: the Sierra Sounds. He wrote ‘Voices in the Wilderness’ about his experiences with Sasquatch and compiled personally recorded audio for a series of records called ‘The Bigfoot Recordings.’ A cornerstone of the Bigfoot world, Ron provides unique insight from his research and encounters for conferences and special events across the globe.

The event will also feature very special guests Cliff Barackman, of Finding Bigfoot fame, and the man himself: Bob Gimlin!

(Left to Right) Jeff Meldrum, John Bindernagel, Loren Coleman, Derek Randles, Ron Morehead

Additional deets

• $45 per adult for total access to the three day event (amazing price if you ask me; honestly just LOOK at that rundown of speakers)
• $25 for children 12 and under
• Vendor space available
• Hotel information HERE
• Door prizes up for grabs, including win-a-four-wheeler!
• Begins Friday 9/2 at 2pm
• Location:

Three Rivers Convention Center
7016 W Grandridge Blvd, Kennewick, WA 99336

For more information, visit the International Bigfoot Conference main page or the event’s Facebook page. Cheers!!

— AJ

The post The International Bigfoot Conference: Why You Need to Go appeared first on Bigfoot Base.

© 2012 The Sasquatch Genome Project

In 2013, Dr. Melba Ketchum, a Texas veterinarian published a controversial report detailing the existence of a new indigenous peoples: Sasquatch. Ketchum led a multi-year study to sequence nuclear genomes of these elusive creatures. Her team tested over 100 pieces of perceived Bigfoot hair, ultimately finding that several samples originated from an unknown hominid species. In Ketchum’s report “Novel North American Hominins, Next Generation Sequencing of Three Whole Genomes and Associated Studies”, she claimed that Sasquatch are hybrids of Homo sapiens combined with an undetermined primate. Whether or not you believe in this study, an odd video surfaced alongside the official release.

Upon release, Ketchum paired with Bigfoot researcher Adrian Erickson to provide the public a double dose of strange: the comprehensive Bigfoot DNA study paired with a 30 second ‘teaser’ clip of a sleeping Bigfoot named ‘Matilda’. The creature in the video is “donor 37” from Ketchum’s 100 samples. Both can be yours for only $29.99!! Seriously, buy the full study here.

Given the surrounding circumstances I truly doubt this piece of ‘evidence’, but Finding Bigfoot front-man Matt Moneymaker vouches for it’s authenticity. There were supposedly even TWO sleeping Bigfoot on display in the full-length clip. At some point in the video, the creatures even rose to their feet and shuffled creepily around the researchers. When asked if Matilda is real, Moneymaker replied on Twitter, “Yes Matilda is real. There were 2 BFs there – an adult female and a juvenile female. The sleeping one was the adult female.”

And by popular demand, a new piece of the video surfaced: this time of the face:

Multi-millionaire BFRO-backer Wally Hersom and Moneymaker were granted exclusive access to view the full footage. In the video, Hersom observed “fangs” and a “black tongue” as the creature approached the camera. The creature appeared shifty and feral with darting eyes, displaying a “paranoid and aggressive” demeanor. A more detailed list of features, via Bigfootevidence.blogspot.com:

“Others who have seen the footage say it’s much more detailed than the Patterson-Gimlin film. On the full facial close-up shot, one witness described:

• Nose similar to ours (but with larger nostrils)
• Slightly chapped, rosy lips
• Pink mouth, blackish tongue
• Pointed teeth, like fangs
• Deep set eyes that dart around and don’t blink
• Her head is round, shaped more like ours than a gorilla’s, but her brow is much more prominent
• She has lots of fine, flowing hair on her head (dark reddish brown) and soft short hair on her face
• When she walks away, she moves just like the female in the Patterson Film”

How was the Sleeping Bigfoot footage obtained?

Bigfootevidence.blogspot.com sat down with Hersom in October 2012 to discuss the events that led to the bizarre video:

“Supposedly word got out that there were two Bigfoot researchers, Dr. Leila Hadj-Chikh, a biologist, who has a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology, from Princeton University, and Dennis Pfohl, a researcher from Colorado, had successfully baited a family of Bigfoots and filmed them for hours. The researchers, hired by the Erickson Project, obtained various videos of Bigfoot from different habituation sites such as Maple Ridge, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. According to sources, Dr. Leila has seen the Bigfoots many times with her own eyes but only speaks out it privately. They have shot enough video of these creatures and are convinced that what they saw were real Bigfoots.”

Sources:

“Matt Moneymaker Confirms Matilda Bigfoot Footage Is Real, Says There’s Two of ‘Em” Bigfootevidence.blogspot.com. 21 Feb 2013. Web.

All videos and content | ©2012 The Sasquatch Genome Project All Rights Reserved

The post What is ‘Matilda’ the Sleeping Bigfoot? appeared first on Bigfoot Base.

Rene Dahinden holding the “cripplefoot cast”, 1970

Right beside the famed 1967 Patterson/Gimlin footage, many enthusiasts believe the other pillar of irrefutable Bigfoot evidence to be the 1969 Bossburg, Washington cripplefoot tracks. In this small community just south of the Canadian border, at least 1089 individual footprints were discovered by a enthusiastic team of Bigfoot hunters. On the surface these appetizing pieces of evidence are remarkable, but what is the real story? The Patterson/Gimlin footage ignited a fever among Bigfoot hunters in 1967, and just two years later these tracks once again hypnotized researchers. But does this unique piece of Bigfoot evidence truly hold that much weight? In this case, it’s essential to look beyond the footprints, right into the eyes of several overzealous Bigfooters.

What events lead to the cripplefoot cast?

In November of 1969 notable researcher Rene Dahinden received a phone call from colleague John Greene. Greene explained that a fellow Bigfooter named Ivan Marx was tracking a crippled Sasquatch, evidenced by a malformed foot print found in the mud by a butcher around the town dump. Rene traveled to Bossburg to investigate. Though trampled by curious locals, the muddy grounds around the dump did yield at least one complete footprint preserved beneath a cardboard box. Rene photographed it and took a plaster cast.

Rene performed due-diligence about town, holding interviews and investigating the surrounding wilderness for more evidence. Mystified by the extraordinary crippled trait, he made base in Bossburg, living in a trailer on Marx’s property. For the next several days he made rounds about the town fringes, dropping infrequent, random piles of meat scraps as Bigfoot bait.

The morning of December 13th brought Rene’s best chance to nab the Cripple. Cruising the banks of Roosevelt Lake with Ivan Marx and an interested young local man, the team pulled over near a railway crossing adjacent to the Columbia River. Marx left the car to check on one of Rene’s meat-piles. Within seconds he flew back to the car shouting “Bigfoot tracks!”

The cripplefoot trackway

1089 individual footprints covered the snowy landscape, winding along the railroad, across the railroad, across the highway, over a 3 ½ foot wire fence, and underneath a pine tree. Beneath the tree they found a large impression littered with pine needles. In the center of this marking was a large clump of snow bearing a few toe prints. Rene believed that the creature stopped to shake off accumulating snow from its foot.

Upon realizing there were hundreds more tracks beyond the pine tree pit-stop, a fiery Rene abandoned all skepticism, shouting “Now we’re going to get that hairy sonofabitch!”

The tracks went up a steep hill and back down the same hill, side-by-side. A deep, yellow-tinged snow patch indicated the possibility the creature stopped to urinate. No samples were collected. Beyond the pee-patch the footprints led down a steep grade parallel to the river, until they finally disappeared amidst the Columbia’s rocky shore.

Left to right, Rene Dahinden, Don Byington, and Ivan Marx following the trackway discovery, 1970

What did the crippled foot look like, and what supposedly happened to ‘the creature’?

The left print measured 17 ½” inches long and 6 ½” across the ball. The right, “crippled” foot measured 16 ½ long and 7” across the ball. The right print showed more compression than the left. This suggests that the body weight favored the right side.

The most notable attribute, and perhaps the sole reason this event became so delectable to the hungry group of Bigfooters, is the infamous crippled right foot. Shorter and wider than the left foot, it strangely left a deeper impression. Rene along with several academics offer their own explanations of the gnarled appendage:

Rene Dahinden, on-scene Bigfoot researcher: Believed the ‘creature’ to have a shorter right leg and endured an accident that dislocated the shinbone.

Dr. Grover Krantz, anthropologist: Believes the tracks made by the ‘crippled individual’ are authentic and simply too sophisticated to be faked. Notably penciled in anatomical structure of the bones upon the plaster cast.

Dr. Jeff Meldrum, Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology, expert on foot morphology and locomotion in primates: Believes the tracks to be authentic and the chances of a hoax to be “almost non-existent.” In an official study, he details the structure of the foot and appears to accept Grover’s skeletal outline:

“The malformed right foot has been previously misidentified as a case of talipes equinoverus (clubfoot). However, it is consistent with the general condition of pes cavus, specifically metatarsus adductus or possibly skewfoot. Its unilateral manifestation makes it more likely that the individual was suffering from a lesion on the spinal cord rather than a congenital deformity. Regardless of the epidemiology, the pathology highlights the evident distinctions of skeletal anatomy. The prominent bunnionettes on the lateral margin of the foot mark the positions of the calcaneocuboid and cuboideometatarsal joints, which are positioned more distal than in a human foot. This accords with the inferred position of the transverse tarsal joint and confirms the elongation of the heel segment. Furthermore, deformities and malalignments of the digits permit inferences about the positions of interphalangeal joints and relative toe lengths, as depicted in the reconstructed skeletal anatomy depicted below.”

Dr. David Howe, orthopedic surgeon: Believes the prints are wholly authentic. He echoes Dr. Krantz, believing that “it would be very difficult to come up with the knowledge and the ability” to fabricate the structure of the foot. He also feels that it could be a lisfranc injury: dislocation of the metatarsal bones from the tarsus, the cluster of bones that including the ankle and heel that are inbetween the toes and the shin bones. If the creature suffered a lisfranc injury, without medical treatment, the “residual deformity could heal over in [that] direction.”

Grover Krantz examines the cripplefoot cast

Treachery comes to Crippleburg

The cripplefoot tracks began a Sasquatch circus in Bossburg. Over the course of a few months Bigfooters of all types flocked to the sleepy mountain town. Among them were Roger Patterson of the Patterson/Gimlin film and the aforementioned John Greene. All of the colorful Bigfoot eggs were in one red-hot basket. Unfortunately for the gang, their salacious optimism no doubt attracted treacherous agents.

A mysterious prospector named Metlow appeared one evening in the Bigfooter’s trailer headquarters. The man, who I picture as some sort of shrouded, pale, devil incarnate, instigated a bidding war for control of an actual Sasquatch that he managed to trap in a deep mine shaft. He refused to let any of the men view the creature. This delectable offer divided the diehard group. With remote financial backing for each side, the bid grew every day. Swept up with excitement, Rene’s bid of $55,000 placed him top of the heap. Excitement faded quickly, as Metlow suddenly withdrew his proposition.

As if dangling chunks of meat for a gator congregation, Metlow returned shortly thereafter with the promise of a frozen Sasquatch foot. The group of Bigfooters once again bit hard on the proposal. And once again they divided, coming up with nothing but whiffed air on this attempt. Simply, Metlow dangled the relic, got bored or wasn’t offered enough cash, and quietly withdrew.

Peter Byrne vs. Ivan Marx

Peter Byrne (left) and Ivan Marx (right)

The cripplefoot saga cycled back to Ivan Marx for the final chapter. The original reporter of the now famed ‘Bossburg Cripple’, Marx phoned old-faithful Rene nine months after the Metlow debacle (October, 1970), proclaiming, “I’ve got a film of the cripple.” On cue, the starving gators crawled back to Crippleburg.

According to Marx, he received an anonymous phone call explaining that a “large upright creature” was struck on the highway by a train or a car. Marx had rallied his hunting dogs and armed himself with a camera. It wasn’t long before he tracked the creature and recorded several minutes of compelling footage:

“On the screen the Sasquatch is shown moving from right to left at an angle of about forty-five degrees away from the photographer. Distance from the subject according to Marx ranged from twenty-five feet to more than a hundred feet as it made its way into the heavy underbrush on the far side of the clearing. Probably the most impressive part of the film, besides its extreme clarity, is the fact that the Sasquatch is visibly injured, holding its right arm tightly to its chest and using its long muscular left arm for compensating balance. Also, both ankles of the creature seem badly skinned, the wounds showing plainly raw against the black hair of the legs and feet. In watching the frames singly, the injured or skinned area appears to extend onto the bottom of one foot, and possibly on both feet, which would account for the apparent pain-filled movements of the frightened creature. As the Sasquatch is nearing the far side of the clearing, a twisted tree limb is stepped on, bouncing up and striking it above knee level. Marx, the following day, photographed this stick, which was ten feet long. In comparison the creature photographed would have stood about nine feet tall and Marx estimated its weight as that of two large bears, or around seven to eight hundred pounds.”

Ding! Ding! A bidding war for the rights to the original footage ensued. A fresh faced British adventurer named Peter Byrne entered the sullied arena. With backing of his own from infamous millionaire (and Yeti enthusiast) Tom Slick, Byrne agreed to pay Marx a $750 monthly retainer to continue hunting the creatures. As part of the deal, the original film would be kept in a safety deposit box. Marx happily agreed.

It was not long before the astute Byrne suspected Marx’s validity. Already doubting the footage, Byrne sought trusted help. He showed a copy of the clip to a local friend and his children. Incredibly, the children recognized the exact location of the filming. Byrne investigated. According to Marx, he tracked the creature six miles north of his home into remote foothills. Amazingly, the actual location of Marx’s short movie was indeed a spot the children were very familiar with: the furthest edge of their own ranch.

Byrne investigated and found extreme inconsistencies in Marx’s description of the setting. He also noted that the shadow of the creature shifted far enough to indicate a significant amount of time passed between shots, directly contradicting Marx’s claim that the creature was filmed over the course of a few minutes. Endless sizing and logistical inaccuracies surfaced quickly. Byrne was quite thorough: a breed not so gullible as Marx’s usual audience. The weight of the inquiries finally crippled Marx. He fled town. When Byrne opened the safety deposit box containing the original video recording, they discovered nothing more than a film roll of a Mickey Mouse cartoon.

Marx surfaced years later. He narrated and produced a Bigfoot film called The Legend of Bigfoot (1976) starring his own uniquely designed, super-cone-head Sasquatch from the previously debunked footage. He even appeared on a game show called You Asked for It peddling “real” photos of a Bigfoot in a snowstorm. From the beginning to end, Marx definitely had a creative flair.

So, were the cripplefoot tracks legitimate? What the hell happened?

Quite literally, this saga begins and ends with Ivan Marx. In my opinion it is easy to see that he carefully penned a compelling narrative of a crippled Sasquatch. Marx was an intelligent and creative guy. He recognized that a simple set of large footprints in the woods would not quench the country’s Bigfoot thirst so easily. He needed some kind of ‘shtick.’ Thus, the most important feature of the entire tale: the crippled foot.

Was Marx desperate for the recognition attached to Roger Patterson only a few years earlier? Was this a long-con to sell endless amounts of footage with his homemade suit a la Peter Parker snapping Spider Man pics for The Daily Bugle? Honestly, it sounds like all of these things crossed his mind. He decided to build a Bigfoot: a memorable monster that was to be revealed little-by-little.

I note modern professional’s evaluation that the foot could not have been faked. In this case, I point to Dr. Grover Krantz, who inadvertently legitimized Marx’s stunt for decades to come. Krantz, always a bit too personally passionate about the topic, penciled in the bone structure of the crippled foot by his lonesome. When Marx began his outline for the fake crippled foot-stamp I imagine him reading through the same anatomy textbooks as Krantz likely did one year later, completing the charade. It is not impossible to fake a footprint like this. In fact, more questions should have risen after observation that it was actually the crippled foot that received more weight in the steps. Despite his story, Marx needed that feature to stand out no matter what.

The time was perfect. He manipulated the desperation of men like Rene Dahinden to enhance belief in ‘the Cripple’ and corral even more Bigfooters. The Patterson/Gimlin film fever entranced the nation. Marx, perhaps over-confidently, assumed he could achieve the same celebrity. He most likely believed that the creature in the 1967 footage was a fake and he could pull off something much more interesting.

If his story didn’t sloppily face-plant, Marx probably would have achieved his goals. He definitely had enough creative plot points to satisfy the public for years to come: the crippled foot, the train accident, the piss in the snow, the dumpster looting, and a very unique suit. Unfortunately for Mr. Marx, he simply waded too far. By the time Peter Byrne began a series of very practical inquiries, Marx was too far out: drowning in his own remarkable fantasy. — AJ

Sources:

¹ “Bigfoot Compendium” Orgoneresearch.com
² Meldrum, Jeff, Dr. “Evaluation of Alleged Sasquatch Footprints and Their Inferred Functional Morphology.”www2.isu.edu/. Idaho State University, n.d. Web.
³ Hunter, Don, and Rene Dahinden. Sasquatch. N.p.: Mass Market Paperback, 1975. Print.
⁴ Sasquatchalliance. “Ivan Marx Sasquatch Footage.” YouTube. YouTube, 20 June 2008. Web.
⁵ Critical Evidence. By Liz Pollock. Perf. Dr. Jeff Meldrum, Dr. David Howe. 2009. Monsterquest: Season 3, Episode 19. Web.
⁶ Byrne, Peter. “The Hoaxed Ivan Marx Footage, as Told by Peter Byrne…” Bigfootencounters.com. N.p., Sept. 2003. Web.

The post ‘Recasting’ the Infamous Cripplefoot Tracks of 1969 appeared first on Bigfoot Base.