Georgia Bigfoot A Hoax; The Internet Is Not Surprised
Aug 21, 2008While it is not really worth mentioning in and of itself, I’d hate for the TriCitiesBlogs.com Paranormal Blog’s record of the Georgia Bigfoot to be an incomplete account of the event. In case you haven’t heard yet, it was just a rubber gorilla suit stuffed with roadkill and entrails.
These sheisters, who briefly went into hiding, recently poked their heads back out to tell everyone it was a joke and that everyone should have known it was a joke. Well, we all love a good joke, that’s for sure. However, by definition, a joke usually ends with people laughing, or the joker pulling out before any real harm is done. Calling a press conference and taking cheques for undisclosed amounts of money usually don’t factor into the equation. In fact, you might call that a lie instead of humor. In fact, I am.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that interest in the paranormal has hit a high recently - the success of TV shows like Ghost Hunters is proof enough of that. I hope that a fraud like this perpetrated at a time of increased visibility doesn’t do irreparable damage to the real hunt for Bigfoot. I’m not saying that I believe Bigfoot is real, I’ll believe it when I see it. But I do hold it to be a small possibility; nothing is impossible. The thing about Bigfoot is that Bigfoot is FUN. Bigfoot captures the imaginations of people; he stirs those emotions that make you want to get out there and find something that no one else has. Get out in the woods and tromp around a bit - look for Bigfoot. Why not? Even if you don’t find anything, you’ve still spent a nice day hiking. It would be a real shame to see that fun diminished by a hoax.
I think I will continue the discussion about Bigfoot in general in the next blog post, but let’s not muddy the waters of that with this foul story.
Bigfoot Press Conference
Aug 15, 2008“Is this a hoax?” jeered some unknown spectator at the Bigfoot press conference in Palo Alto, California today.
Tom Biscardi seemed buffeted, but stayed strong. “This is as real as you’re standing right where you are, sir.”
Many in the audience were clearly unconvinced at the press conference, a bizarre spectacle thin on answers and thick with questions. Even if by some miracle Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton’s Bigfoot find turns out to be the real deal, most will still believe it a hoax, considering how badly the whole thing has been managed. The two Georgia men, dressed more like they were on their way to the local watering hole, and less like they were participating in an international press conference, seemed notably uncomfortable and stiff in front of the audience, as they attempted to explain away blunder after blunder with the discovery and preservation of the body. For the most part, they claimed ignorance.
That, at least, was not hard to believe.
Two new photos of the creature were shown: a close-up of the mouth with the tongue hanging out, supposedly proving that the head was not a mask, and your standard long distance photo of the creature loping away. Biscardi held these 8.5 x 11 prints up for the crowd to see, but promised copies to those who attended.
Sadly, I was not able to convince Media General to bankroll a plane ticket to California to attend a Bigfoot press conference, so you’ll have to get those elsewhere.
Perhaps more information will be forthcoming in the following days. One thing the the trio did manage to do was leave my hunger for more information largely unsatiated. I, like most, want to see this handled by the scientific community at large. Get me a biologist notable in their field. Get me a zoologist, a horse trainer, a dog groomer - anybody that might have the slightest idea about animals. Get me somebody that knows to contact a university or a Federal Wildlife Marshall or at least someone that knows that putting a valuable scientific specimen into a freezer full of water isn’t the best way to preserve it. Most of all, get me a decent photographer. Get me somebody besides Tom Biscardi, Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton.
Please.
I continue to be unconvinced,but I’ll follow this in case more developments of a slightly more believable nature come in.
Bigfoot Body Found?
Aug 13, 2008Bigfoot websites have been thrown into a tizzy recently at the announcement of a possible bigfoot body being found in North Georgia. Surprisingly clear photos (but with a touch of trademark Bigfoot blurriness) of the corpse have been circulating around, following a press release announcing the body’s finding and a subsequent press conference this Friday.
I’m not going to post the photos on the blog, due to some legal chest-beating by some groups over their exclusive ownership, but if one wants to see the photos, and one knows where to look, one will find them.
The press release states a few “facts” about the find, including:
- The creature is seven feet seven inches tall.
- It weighs over five hundred pounds.
- The creature looks like it is part human and part ape-like.
- It is male.
- It has reddish hair and blackish-grey eyes.
- It has two arms and two legs, and five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.
And what about Bigfoot’s titular feet? They measure up at 16 and three-quarters inches long, close to a whopping size 27 in men’s shoes.
Naturally we have to be a bit skeptical about this find, but the level of excitement it is generating in the Bigfoot community is palpable. Whoever has taken control of the body before the press conference also seems to be taking this very seriously, as reports of armed guards around the creature accompany discussions online.
There’s not a lot of hard evidence around currently - I suppose we’ll have to wait for the Friday press conference for more of that, but there’s nothing to keep us from speculating. I am naturally inclined towards skepticism here, and the “press conference” (why in California instead of Georgia?) along with the nature of the press release (why is Searching for Bigfood, Inc. claiming they own all rights regarding this creature?) do nothing to alleviate my fears along these lines. Those who keep up with paranormal happenings may remember a previous post-dated “press conference” earlier this summer regarding an alien video in Denver. Not surprisingly, very little came of this press conference, but it did manage to stir up quite a bit of interest for a few days.
Of course, the photos are fairly impressive, and the idea of a Bigfoot finding so close to home is exciting enough to keep an eye on this thing. I’ll make sure to get some info from the press conference and post more information on Friday.
What do you think? Bigfoot or no?
UFOs in Chattanooga?
Aug 08, 2008Recently I was sent a very interesting photo and a story to go with it by Tennessee Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) director, Eddie Middleton.
Eddie says that the following photo was taken in a remote area near Chattanooga, our distant neighbors to the south, during a “vectoring” session by a local group. About six people near Chattanooga have been holding these sessions, where they say they have been able to call in UFO craft like in the photo, actually initiating the contact. The group calls this the CE-5 initiative.
I’ll have more details next week, but a closer look at the photos beforehand may pique your interest to learn the whole story.
This is a close up of the craft, cropped by me from the original photo. It seems to be a near classic saucer shape, but the shadowy bottom appears oddly irregular.
This is the full photo I received. Obviously, the photo was taken last year, and you can see the object within its reference to local objects.
EDIT: According to at least one comment, the previous statement may be understood that the picture above is the full resolution photo that MUFON sent to me. It is not - it was resized to fit the content area of this blog, and may have acquired JPEG artifacts when saved. In the sense of fairness and comparison, the following link will allow you to download the full sized image I received from MUFON.
Download full resolution photo. (1.3MB)
Camera Data:
Model: Kodak Easyshare C533 Zoom Digital Camera
Date: 2007-01-28
Time: 17:43:45-05:00
Shutter Speed: 1/1000 sec
F-Stop: f/2.7
Aperture Value: f/2.8
ISO Speed ratings: 80
Focal Length: 6.0mm
Flash: Did not fire, No strobe return detection, Auto mode (3), Flash function present, No red-eye reduction
Metering Mode: Center weighted average
What’s your take on these? Can humans initiate contact with aliens, or is this an elaborate hoax? Sound off in the comments.
Hauntings at ETSU?
Aug 04, 2008Talk to anyone that’s been involved at ETSU over the years and more than likely they’ve got a creepy ghost story or two, knew someone that did, or knew someone whose cousin did. With the University fast approaching its centennial birthday, a lot of souls have passed through its halls over the years, but if popular opinion is to be believed, not all have left. Rumors stay active for years - passing from generation of students and faculty on down to the next, with each generation adding their own experiences and beliefs on the matter. Stories of the ghost of Sidney Gilbreath closing windows and turning off lights mingle with those of the child ghost of Lucille Clement dormitory, always playing with marbles. The stories are so numerous in fact, that it’s kind of hard to get a hold of what’s what.
That being said, I was privy to a first hand account of a recent ghostly experience on the campus just this weekend, and thought I would share it.
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The semester was coming to a close and, being a music major, Jason was knocking out some last minute practice time in a late night session in the music building. Working alone, he made his way through his pieces until he got each right. Throughout the night, he kept hearing the sounds of someone playing the drums in a lower level of the building. After he was satisfied with his own performances, Jason decided to head down to where he was hearing the drumming to say a quick “Hello” to whoever was down there. Yet, as he was preparing to do just that, the drumming stopped. Walking down the stairs, he reached the door to the other practice room, and found it closed tight. The doors were locked, the lights were off, and he got the very real feeling that it had been that way all night. The drumming had stopped too recently to reasonably expect anyone down there to have cleaned up and thoroughly closed the place down in that short amount of time. A chill ran up Jason’s spine.
Walking outside, Jason was unsurprised to find no trace of anyone in the nearby vicinity. His car sat alone in the dark night. Jason got in, started it up, and headed for home.
Have any ghost stories of your own, from ETSU or elsewhere around the region? Post a reply or send in a comment!
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