Soldiers' Stories: The 'Rock Ape'

The following stories come to us thanks to Lon's site Phantom's and Monsters:

Soldiers' Stories: The 'Rock Ape'

APE STORY LINGERS

CAM RANH BAY, Viet-nam - With binoculars and sonar, people probe Loch Ness for its monster, expeditions search the Himalayas for the abominable snowman, and the guards at the depot here keep a watch for Powell's Ape.

It has been nearly three years since the monster was almost seen by a bleary-eyed guard. Detecting movement on the perimeter, the guard fired and the beast fled. When morning came the area was examined and a footprint and trail of blood were found.

The footprint was neither human nor ape. A picture was taken of the track but no one could decide who or what had made it. It wasn't long before Capt. Powell, then a depot company commander, found his name associated with the monster.

All that remains now is a small photograph on the ammunition area's orderly room wall. Perhaps the legend of Powell's Ape is all there ever was, but the guards at the ammunition area here still have something to think about besides Charlie. - 'Army Reporter,' 27 Apr. 1970

-----

We're all familiar with stories of Bigfoot and Sasquatch sightings and even the tales of the Yeti of the snow-covered mountains of Tibet. Now it's time to introduce you to the Vietnamese version of Bigfoot.

They were taking a breather. The six-man patrol from the 101st Airborne Division's LRRPs was set up in a protective wagon-wheel position--heads facing outward, feet pointed toward the center --as secure a formation as the terrain would allow. And it wasn't allowing much.

The behind-the-lines patrol had taken them into a remote and difficult stretch of mountainous jungle in the Central Highlands. The terrain was rugged and steep, and at night, the LRRPs had to wedge themselves between trees to keep from slipping or sliding downhill.

Wiping the sweat from their eyes and leaning against their heavy rucksacks, the tired LRRPs tended to loosen straps or realign equipment as they rested--all the while watching and listening to the jungle around them.

On quiet guard, the six soldiers were facing out against the wall of green-and-brown underbrush, guarding against any Viet Cong who might have tracked them or who might happen upon them by chance.

The combined weight of their rucksacks, weapons, and LBE--the load-bearing equipment harness that held their web gear--was one hundred pounds or so, and climbing the steep hills with that kind of load took some doing. So the break was a momentary but necessary respite.

Gary Linderer was thinking that the surrounding jungle was quiet and deceptively peaceful. The forest noises--the occasional rustling of the wind through the trees, the grunts of an animal in the distance, and the sound of birds--could easily lull a soldier into a false sense of serenity even though the war was very much around them. However, if anything was out of the ordinary, there was no indication. That is, until the small trees and underbrush just fifteen yards uphill began to shake violently.

Linderer's attention and the frenzied focus of the other team members turned to the commotion. On guard, the LRRPs brought up their weapons and waited. Linderer was the closest team member to the hubbub, his heart was jumping in his chest as he watched and waited for the intruder.

While he was ready for a VC soldier, he wasn't ready for the face that peered through the underbrush. If it was a Viet Cong soldier, then it was a damn ugly one! An oblong head framed the hair-covered face. Dark, deep-set eyes lay beneath a prominent brow, and they did nothing to complement the heavy jowls and angry mouth. As it stepped into a small clearing, Linderer could see that matted reddish-brown hair ran down the creature's neck and covered most of its body. Whatever it was, it stood at least five feet tall, had broad shoulders, long thick muscular arms, and a heavy torso. It walked upright. In the small clearing, it stopped and studied the Americans.

"What the hell is that?" someone called out from behind Linderer.

"It's a rock ape," said another team member. Another team member disagreed. "No, it ain't," he said. "I've seen rock apes, and that sure as hell isn't a rock ape!" "It's an orangutan, isn't it?" Linderer asked while the others kept their eyes glued on the strange creature. "Well, if it is, then he can't read a map. There are no orangutans in Vietnam."

The apelike creature soon lost interest in the six LRRPs, turned back the way it had come, and easily climbed back up the steep rise. "It's an ape of some kind," one of the LRRPs said. "It has to be." But then, maybe it wasn't.

In the Central Highlands region of Vietnam in the remote province of Kontum where the country bumps up against Cambodia and Laos, there is mounting evidence of the existence of strange, humanlike creatures the locals call the nguoi rung --"The people of the forest." Bigfoot.

While the montagnards and other tribal peoples have believed that the nonhuman species have inhabited the region for centuries, scientists now say there may be something more to the folktale and legend.

Toward the end of the American war in Vietnam, numerous sightings by Viet Cong and NVA soldiers of apelike creatures walking upright became so overwhelming that the North Vietnamese party secretariat ordered scientists into the region to investigate the nguoi rung while the war was still going on.

In 1974, as the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong pushed south to overrun the country, Professor Vo Quy of the Vietnam National University was sent into the region to conduct an investigation.

Vo Quy discovered a nguoi rung footprint on the forest floor and made a cast of the impression, which was analyzed and studied by Vietnamese academics. It was wider than a human footprint and too big for an ape. The unusual find added credence to the folktale. It also set off debate in the scientific arena. Other expeditions were mounted but yielded few results. Chance sightings of the nguoi rung continued, ranging from small creatures to larger ones. Eyewitnesses had differences of opinion as to the exact color of the creatures' body hair. Like those sighted earlier, these latest nguoi rung walked upright and were described as having human characteristics.

In 1982, Professor Tran Hong Viet became the second scientist to discover nguoi rung footprints, and while scientists debated the actual existence of such creatures, many of the critics' arguments went up in smoke when zoologist John MacKinnon and a team of scientists discovered three previously unknown mammals in the Vu Quang Mountain rain forest in 1992.

The discovery of the new mammals demonstrated that the remote regions might well hold other new discoveries, including clues that might solve the riddle of Vietnam's Bigfoot.

Ironically, it was MacKinnon who, in 1969, came across manlike footprints in the jungles of Borneo, ascribed by locals to the Batutut. MacKinnon wrote that "the toes of the creature looked quite human...' and that the tracks would have been about the right size for the Asiatic black bear. However, the only bear known in Borneo is the sun bear, which is considerably smaller.

To this day, the controversy continues even as international teams of scientists scour the remote mountain jungles looking for what the local villagers say have always been there. - Excerpt from "Strange but True Stories of the Vietnam War -
Kregg P. J. Jorgenson

-----

"It was 1969; I was on patrol one evening, just before dark in the North Two Corp in North Vietnam. We were returning to the hill, when we encountered hostile fire, the squad was caught off guard so we used what cover was available. The fight had been going on for only a few minutes when movement caught my eye. Through the thick vegetation I saw what I thought was a large man breaking cover from behind my left side. As the thing ran past me I realized it wasn’t a man, and was not really sure of what I was seeing. The thing was about 7 feet tall and had an enormous build, though not completely covered with hair, the thing had reddish brown hair covering a good portion of its body. It had covered about 30 yards very quickly passing within just yards of my position, when it got hit in the crossfire. The thing stumbled once or twice but never fell. All of a sudden the enemy broke and ran, one even left his weapon behind, they were yelling something, but none of us ever knew what it was they were yelling."

"We slowly regrouped and made sure no one was wounded and discussed what we thought we had seen. As it was getting dark and there were hostiles in the area, we decided to get back to the hill. That night we heard several howls sounding very similar to the ones that you have recorded, coming from all over the place. Some sounded like they were just outside of the hooch and others sounded more than a mile away. There were all kinds of sounds from whines to growls to sounds that sounded like barks. Needless to say no one slept very well that night."

"The next morning, all of us that were on that patrol, decided to try to track this thing. It took a lot of talking to get Tops to let us go looking for it, but after hearing the same story from the whole squad he decided to let us have a chance to bring it back. We returned to the area and found a blood trail, leading into the jungle. We trailed it for quite some time when we found the body of an enemy soldier that had been almost entirely torn apart. We do not know exactly what happened, but I have a good notion to what may have happened. We basically ran out of the area back to our hill."

"The rest of the time we were in Vietnam, I never heard the sounds or saw anything like it again. The talk of what we had seen spread very quickly, and some of the locals called it a name that I can neither pronounce or remember, but the translation if I recall was 'Stench Monkey' or 'Foul Monkey', something like that. I can’t remember for sure. What I do know is that it bothered me so much that I transferred from there, to a job on a helicopter so that I wouldn’t have to be in the jungle anymore."

"After returning home to Alabama when my tour had ended, I occasionally heard sounds that reminded me so much of that encounter. It had been years since I left Alabama and moved to west central Illinois. I seldom thought of that day in Vietnam or the things I heard and saw. The recording is exactly what I had heard over there, I could close my eyes and still hear the howl in Vietnam. Regrettably I have mixed feelings about discovering your website, relieved that someone else may now know what I went through, frightened that I that there may be something in the area of where I now live."

"I realize that you are interested in pursuing this creature or one like it, but let me warn you from someone who has seen what it is capable of first hand. Don’t." - stancourtney.com

-----

"While at an army military police school, my brother in-law, Craig Miles of Boise, Idaho, met a Vietnam veteran that recalled a low altitude Special Forces drop in the interior during 1967-68. It was the middle of the night; there were no villages for 15 miles."

"For a period of three nights they heard choking and gurgling noises. On the fourth day they found the upper half of a decomposing bigfoot-like creature. It had been blown in half by something......not them. This was apparently not the noise they had heard ...a mate possibly? This was the speculation that was circulating."

"They could see into the body cavity...spine, lungs, and such. All was crawling with bugs. There was shorter hair on the huge head. The eyes sunk back an inch and a half from the brow line. It had long arms. Very large and long fingers. One hand was still wrapped around a branch."

"He didn't say what color it was, but did mention that it had a flat nose. If the creature had it's legs, the estimated height was around 8 ft tall...there was no sign of the lower half of the body. They were able to see the teeth. All flat, well formed molars, except the canines, which were longer and pointed. Seemed adapted to living in the forest with long arms and fingers, or perhaps just builds night nests like gorillas sometimes do." - Steve Williams

-----

"The matter of wild people or feral humans seems to be a reoccuring phenomenon in southeast Asia. Once while in the Marines I showed a Vietnamese colleague a reference in Mark Hall's hominid book to a term used for wildmen in Vietnam. He was surprised to see the word in print and explained that growing up in his village a wild man and woman were once captured from the jungle after they'd been stealing food (chickens, I think it was). Either they were killed or kept in cage prisons; something unfortunate in either case. They were people, he explained, and not something ape-like by any means. But they were very dirty and had long ragged hair and I think he said they couldn't talk. He seemed to suggest that while this was a rare occurence such incidents would be heard of from time to time." - Nick Sucik - Homin Investigator

-----

"We ran into them frequently and I have a friend whose Recon position on Dong Den was overrun one night by hundreds of them. They made a noise that sounded just like a dog barking. In fact, you'd swear it was a dog."

"One time on a ridge of Nui Mo Tau, about 15 km S of Hue, about eight of them came walking up a trail and surprised a squad of our platoon while it was stopped for lunch. All hell broke loose because they looked very much like NVA soldiers in khaki (same height, size and color) as they came around a bend in the trail about 10 meters from the unsuspecting GI's."

"I was with the other two squads of the platoon eating our lunch on the far side of a clearing about 50 meters wide that separated the two elements. The trails wound up the ridge and then through the clearing."

"All of a sudden and without any warning, the lone squad opened up with every thing they had...M-16's, M-79's and hand grenades. I grabbed about 300 rounds of gun ammo and my M-60, then ran across the clearing with the platoon Sgt. (everyone else stayed home!) to the cover of a huge, toppled tree that was lying on the far side and close to the point of contact. The Sgt. and I looked at one another, nodded and then came up over the top ready to blast away but what we saw instead blew us away!"

"The firing had been non-stop and we fully expected to engage a sizeable enemy force, but instead, we found ourselves looking at our men, some seated, some standing, some kneeling, and firing at these ghostly images swooshing around in brush and trees (some off the ground by that point) in all directions. All except one was light brown to reddish brown in color, and about 5 1/2 four feet
tall. One dark, almost black, male remained fighting to protect the others retreat and he was flying through the branches and rushing the men with his teeth bared. He was one very brave animal, I'll tell you that."

"Then, as if someone had snapped their fingers, they all just seemed to disappear. Zip, the male turned and flashed into the trees and was out of site in a second."

"This may sound very strange to you, but although I had no or little concern about killing the enemy, the killing of innocent animals turned my stomach and could enrage me if done without being a necessity. But I searched the site and but found not a drop of blood, which totally amazed me given the amount of firing that had gone on. I wonder to this day if the men were shooting just to scare the Rock Apes away or whether they were really just poor marksman!"

"The men who'd suffered the surprise looked a bit worse for wear, and I'm sure a few had to wash their shorts out as a result of the unwelcome visit. It really scared the crap out of them, I kid you not!"

"We, on the other hand, did suffer one casualty. A trooper had an eardrum blown out by the muzzle blast of the first shot fired because the trooper who first saw the apes just picked up his M-16 and fired without saying a word, and the muzzle was right next to this poor fellow's ear when he did."

"Apart from that, I have all the same questions your student does and would love to hear just exactly what sort of apes they were?" - Michael Kelley - D Co 1st/502d Infantry, 101st Airborne Div 69/70

-----

Lt. Alan Szpila of Cumberland. R. I., spotted footprints while piloting a 101st Airborne Division helicopter. 'I have been looking at footprints from the air for quite a while now and I noticed the exceptional size (of these) immediately. I landed to get a closer look and sure enough. these tracks were about 18 inches long and eight inches wide.' Someone suggested that they were made by Ho Chi Minh sandals. which are made of car tires. 'They were embedded deeply, indicating a heavy wearer. The stride of whatever made them was about four feet,' he said. Warrant Officer Darryl Santella of Long Beach, Calif., saw the footprints at the same time as Szpila and estimated that, if made by a man, he must have been about eight feet tall." - Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans - On the Track of Unknown Animals

Very Crazy, G.I.!: Strange but True Stories of the Vietnam War

War and Shadows: The Haunting of Vietnam

Donations Needed at Cryptozoology.com!

Donations are needed at Cryptozoology.com which is one of the best
websites on Cryptozoology on the internet for well over a decade in
order to help keep it up and running.

Cisco, the owner and founder of the site, writes on the forum
of his challenge in keeping the website up and running:

"I'm sorry to have to ask this, but theres been problems with money currently, and I'm not going to have the fee to pay for hosting of this site next week. The fee is $80/mth. If I could get some donations made to my paypal account, cryptozoology.com@gmail.com, or sent by mail to
Cisco Serret
8306 Valleyfield Dr.
Austin, TX 78724
I would greatly appreciate it. I can send out the remaining cryptozoology.com tshirts I have, but I have no more large, just a few small, medium, XL and XXL, to anyone who donates (or at least donates enough to cover the mailing cost).

Thanks, and hopefully this is just a temporary situation. And, of course, thanks to everyone who has donated in the past. I remember all of you.

- Cisco"

-From Cryptozoology.com forum topic via the main lobby Donations Needed 

I will try to help Cisco keep Cryptozoology.com up and running by
sending in one or two small donations sometime this year, hopefully
soon in a few months or so.

I urge everyone who likes this site or Cryptozoology to please
help Cisco keep it up and running!

Thanks for your help and support. -Rob

250th post!

It's the 250th post on my blog here! To celebrate this small milestone and over 5,000 blog
views as well here is one of the most interesting articles on Bigfoot/Sasquatch that I've come
across in a long time via The Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy:

Indiana Jones and the Sasquatch of Doom 

By Henry Gee, Senior Editor for Nature Magazine

They get you, don’t they? Those big, unanswered questions of existence. What is dark matter? How did the universe get started? Why is Miley Cyrus? Who put the Benzedrine in Mrs Murphy’s Ovaltine?
Science presented as a list of pre-digested facts that we must obediently learn is rightly condemned as dull – but that’s not what science is about. No, science is a long list of unanswered questions, a voyage into the unknown, a quest to reach for things slightly beyond our grasp. Be honest, now: who’d really rather go on an adventure with Indiana Jones than be lectured at by Richard Dawkins?

Even today, when science is so often a world of pristine laboratories and humming machinery, the old-fashioned, down-and-dirty spirit of adventure pokes through. Just when you’d imagine that everyone has an iPod, and that we’d shaken every tree and looked behind every bush on the planet, some creature walks into view that is entirely new to science.

Not tiny creatures, either, such as sea urchins living obscurely on the ocean floor, miles below the surface; or near-microscopic wasps that lay their eggs in the pupae of jungle-living butterflies; or bacteria only found in sulphurous slag heaps. Sure, such things are being found all the time, and each and every one is a wonder. Oh noes, I’m talking about big creatures that everyone would recognise as such, living on land accessible to people with no special equipment except their own eyes.

As recently as 1993, a scientific paper landed on my desk at Nature describing a species of antelope hitherto unknown to science. And not some cute little creature that could slip between your knees and hide coyly behind a leaf, but a beast big enough to bump into, and do you serious injury if it stepped on your foot. How could people in this overcrowded world have missed it?

The location was a start. The saola, for such is its name (its more formal handle is Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), comes from the remote and deeply inaccessible Annamite Mountains on the border between Laos and Vietnam, a kind of Lost World known for hosting other rare species. Even if you can hack your way in, the saola is pathologically shy, and goes out of its way to go out of its way.

A female saola or Vu Quang ox (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis). One of the world's rarest mammals, it is a forest-dwelling bovine found only in Vietnam (Vu Quang Nature Reserve) and in Laos, near the Vietnam-Laos border Image: Bolikhamxay Provincial Conservation Unit.

The scientific description was not based on a live animal, or even a dead one, but hunting trophies – horns, skulls and skins of several animals collected from the houses of local hunters. The live animal had not been seen. To my perhaps jaded editorial eye, the report seemed to have come straight out of King Solomon’s Mines. How romantic!

The saola is, in fact, so shy and secretive that it wasn’t until 1998 that it was photographed alive in the wild – and then only fleetingly. In 1999 it disappeared from view altogether. It was only in September 2010 that a live saola was captured. It obligingly stayed alive long enough to pose for its portrait whereupon it expired, presumably unaccustomed it its unwanted celebrity. The number of saola in existence is unknown, but it is likely to be small, and getting smaller all the time.

The saola joins a select band of large mammals discovered relatively recently, all of which are (not surprisingly) rare to the point of vanishment. A wild pig, the Chacoan peccary, Catagonus wagneri, was known only from fossils until it turned up on the wild borders of Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina in 1975, and is believed to be hanging on by its trotters.

A wild ox called the kouprey, Bos sauveli, a cousin to the saola, was described in Cambodia in 1937. There were around 1,000 of them in 1940; down to around 100 in 1969; and it hasn’t been seen at all since 1983. This strongly suggests extinction, as creatures as big and beefy as the kouprey would be hard to miss.

Other creatures hardly touch the zoology texts before disappearing entirely: the red gazelle, Eudorcas rufina, is only known from skins discovered in Algerian souks in the nineteenth century. It has never been seen alive.

That such large creatures roamed the Earth until present times before dying out is a reminder of humanity’s remorseless conquest – hackneyed, to be sure, only because of its frequency of repetition. But there’s a wider point to be made here, about how little we know even about large mammals (let along squashy creatures from the abyss, or microbes), and the degree to which the documentation of recently extinct creatures grades from certain knowledge into myth. The Chacoan peccary was known from fossils until live ones were found. The saola was described from trophies before live examples were seen. The red gazelle is only known from such trophies. And where antelopes, oxen and pigs lead, humans will follow.

If stone tools are any guide, human beings – of one sort or another – have been living on the relatively far-flung island of Flores in Indonesia for a million years at least. By “one sort or another” I mean exactly that – as far as we know, modern humans didn’t arrive on Flores until a little before 10,000 years ago. The previous residents were (presumably) related to the extinct form Homo erectus.

The announcement in 2004 of an entirely unknown species of extinct human that lived on Flores – Homo floresiensis, or “The Hobbit” – caused a sensation. The small size and unique morphology of this creature is still a field of battle between those who contend that it is a real species, against those who think it is a diseased form of modern human. But what is really remarkable is the age. Initial findings showed that H. floresiensis lived on Flores from before 38,000 years ago to as recently as 18,000 years ago. Further work extended the range from as long ago as 95,000 years to as recently as 12,000 years ago.

Given the great age of the Earth, 12,000 years is very much less than an eyeblink. That an animal became extinct 12,000 years ago, or yesterday, hardly matters, for in the great scheme of things, this difference is insignificant. If the Chacoan peccary came to life from fossils, and if the saola emerged alive – if only just – from the Annamites, it is entirely legitimate to ask whether H. floresiensis, or something like it, still exists, or, perhaps, became extinct in historical times: a human version of the red gazelle, perhaps.

And if one admits H. floresiensis to the canon, what of other celebrated mythical beasts – if not necessarily Nessie, then the orang pendek of Malaysia? The yeti? The sasquatch? Bigfoot? Are all such creatures the products of delusion, conspiracy theories and hoax? Perhaps – but not necessarily. The little we know of those large mammals on the fringes of knowledge suggests that they live in remote places, are very shy, are extremely rare, and that to find them before they become extinct requires a degree of luck. So far, no hard evidence for yetis (say) has emerged. But in a world that hosts H. floresiensis and the saola, the kouprey and the red gazelle, one should keep an open mind.

Henry Gee is a senior editor of Nature. He blogs at The End Of The Pier Show. He will be speaking at the Grant Museum, University College London, on 26 October. [630pm; UCL Darwin Lecture Theatre; free admission].

Link to original article at The Guardian.

Hope you enjoyed this article from The Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy. Stay tuned
for more blog posts to come! Thanks for your support :)

-Rob

Chief Shares Knowledge About Star Nations, UFO's

BFRO Report # 32634

Report # 32634  (Class B)
Submitted by witness on Thursday, January 26, 2012.

---

Two paranormal investigators find possible evidence at Cumberland Sugar Creek Cemetery

---

YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 28

STATE: Illinois

COUNTY: Sangamon County

LOCATION DETAILS: Two miles west of Glenarm.

NEAREST TOWN: Glenarm

NEAREST ROAD: Gordon Drive

OBSERVED: [Witness first names have been changed] On Tuesday evening June 28, 2011, I along with fellow paranormal investigator James arrived at the Cumberland Sugar Creek Cemetery in rural Sangamon County near the small town of Glenarm, Illinois a little before 10:00pm.

James and I are both paranormal investigators and had previously talked about trying to find the cemetery to check it out for a possible paranormal investigation. Upon finding the location, we decided to do a quick walk through of the cemetery to see if anything of a paranormal nature was occurring and to check out the cemetery's layout.

We also had heard from other local paranormal sources that a group of paranormal investigators had been pelted with rocks or dirt clods thrown from the tree line around the cemetery. This occurred less than one week ago and during a paranormal investigation. We had also heard of several recent sightings of large tracks or foot prints in the Covered Bridge area of rural Sangamon County which is not far from the cemetery.

James and I both felt that the throwing of stones sounded like classic Squatch activity and because of this we decided to check the tree line around the cemetery to look for possible signs of what may have been throwing the stones at the paranormal group.

This is when we found the following.

In the Southeast corner of the cemetery property and next to an opening in the fence line, we found a mound of fairly soft clay. As we were looking around the mound of dirt, we noticed what looked like a fairly large foot print. Upon further examining the foot print, it was apparent that whatever had been walking there was barefoot. In the same proximity we discovered two other footprints which were approximately the same size. We estimated the size of the prints to be at least fourteen inches long. The footprints were also barefoot.

The tracks were headed away from the cemetery and towards the southeast. Because we had not planned on doing anything more than a walkthrough of the cemetery we did not have our usual camera and lighting equipment with us, so we took several photos of the footprints with James’ cell phone camera. We also noticed that approximately 75 feet or so and to the North of the footprints a fairly good sized tree of maybe 3 to 4 inches in circumference had been snapped and bent over. The tree was located next to but outside of the fence.

The area surrounding the cemetery is rural, the cemetery itself has a fence around the rear part of the graveyard however the best that we could tell in the darkness is that it looked like there was an open field to the rear of the cemetery and it appeared that on the other side of the open field there may be more substantial tree coverage. But unfortunately due to the darkness and lack of lighting equipment, we could not determine any further details of the surrounding terrain.

We then left the cemetery around 11:00pm.
ALSO NOTICED: Only what is in report.
OTHER WITNESSES: Two of us.
OTHER STORIES: Yes, We also had heard from other local paranormal sources that a group of paranormal investigators had been pelted with rocks or dirt clods thrown from the tree line around the cemetery.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: 10:30 p.m. Clear weather
ENVIRONMENT: Pioneer cemetery, wooded creek nearby, corn and soybean fields.

---

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:
I have visited the cemetery several times and interviewed both witnesses in person.

• The footprints were 14" long.
• The width was 6" wide at the ball of the foot
• The toes were all plainly visible.
• The footprints were in soft clay.

Left foot impression found in soft clay.

(For pics from the report please go to this link:
BFRO report #32634)

Thanks. -Rob

Can I Be a Cryptozoologist?

Can I Be a Cryptozoologist? Well here is some excellent advice from professor and author
Loren Coleman on this subject people often ask him:

"There are several ways you can prepare to be a scientist with a cryptozoological interest. (Actually being a “cryptozoologist” is so rare as to be almost as infrequent as seeing a Yeti. There are no jobs, per se, in cryptozoology, really, other than writing and blogging. Only a handful of people in the world actually are free-standing cryptozoologists.) In high school, any of the following will assist with having a vocation related to or specifically one that enhances your interests in cryptozoology: biology, human anatomy, zoology, anthropology, psychology (for interviewing), criminal investigations, and so forth. You also need to be a good communicator, so take writing or English classes where papers are written. Then you can build on those courses and grades to assist you to get into college.

Before college, the best way to follow a passion, for example, in the Loch Ness Monster is to study hard, and stay on track to get into a college by taking high school classes on environmental studies, biology, or aquatic studies (if offered). In high school, if you want to learn more about Bigfoot, take courses in biology, zoology, anthropology, and psychology. You have to creatively link your favorite cryptid with the related areas of study, because, frankly, no one has courses on the Death Worm of Mongolia or Mothman or Thylacines in high school."

For more of Loren's advice please go to this link here at Cryptomundo: Can I Be a Cryptozoologist?

Well said Loren and thanks for the advice! -Rob

Scientists reconstruct 'tall, elegant' New Zealand penguin

 Scientists have reconstructed a 'tall and elegant' race of penguins which inhabited New Zealand 25 million years ago, and stood over a metre tall.

With a long beak and an elongate trunk, researchers say it had a body shape different to any other known penguin.

"Kairuku was an elegant bird by penguin standards, with a slender body and long flippers, but short, thick legs and feet," said Dr Dan Ksepka, a scientist from North Carolina State University. At the time Kairuku lived, most of New Zealand was underwater, leaving isolated, rocky land masses that kept the penguins safe from potential predators and provided them with a plentiful food supply.

The penguin was dubbed Kairuku, a Maori word which Ksepka says loosely translates to "diver who returns with food". "If we had done a reconstruction by extrapolating from the length of its flippers, it would have stood over 6 feet tall (1.8 metres). "A standing Kairuku penguin would have reached about 4 feet 2 inches (1.25 metres), more than a foot taller than an Emperor Penguin."

The penguin is now being formally entered into the scientific catalogue, with the research appearing in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Chris Gaskin, from the Geology Museum, University of Otago, has drawn a recreation of two of the animals, coming ashore beside a stranded Waipatia dolphin.

"Artist Chris Gaskin created a meticulous reconstruction of the new species that really drives these features home. You can practically feel the wind whipping sand and ocean spray into the air as the two penguins come ashore," said Ksepka in a blog posting.
 
'A history of producing exceptional fossils'

Ksepka said New Zealand has a history of producing exceptional fossils that give important insights into the history of penguins and other marine creatures. A highly complete skeleton of the Kairuku was discovered in 1977 by Dr Ewan Fordyce, a paleontologist from the University of Otago. Other fossilised skeletons have also been discovered.

In 2009 and 2011 Ksepka and another American scientist, Dr Paul Brinkman, travelled to the University of Otago to aid in the reconstruction of the giant penguin fossil, working with Fordyce and former Otago students Dr Tatsuro Ando and Dr Craig Jones. Kairuku was one of at least five different species of penguin that lived in New Zealand during the same period.

Ksepka hopes that the reconstruction of Kairuku will give other paleontologists more information about some the other fossils found in that area as well as add to the knowledge about giant penguin species.
"This species gives us a more complete picture of these giant penguins generally, and may help us to determine how great their range was during the Oligocene period," he said. - TVNZ

Note: I wonder what other giant birds exist besides these? Plenty I would say
throughtout history even now (just google Thunderbirds which I will cover on my
blog here sometime. -Rob 

Did Bigfoot Really Exist? How Gigantopithecus Became Extinct

Did Bigfoot Really Exist? How Gigantopithecus Became Extinct

A reconstruction of Gigantopithecus. Image courtesy of Flickr user Sam_Wise

Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Yeti. The Abominable Snowman. Whatever you want to call it, such a giant, mythical ape is not real—at least, not anymore. But more than a million years ago, an ape as big as a polar bear lived in South Asia, until going extinct 300,000 years ago.

Scientists first learned of Gigantopithecus in 1935, when Ralph von Koenigswald, a German paleoanthropologist, walked into a pharmacy in Hong Kong and found an unusually large primate molar for sale. Since then, researchers have collected hundreds of Gigantopithecus teeth and several jaws in China, Vietnam and India. Based on these fossils, it appears Gigantopithecus was closely related to modern orangutans and Sivapithecus, an ape that lived in Asia about 12 to 8 million years ago. With only dentition to go on, it’s hard to piece together what this animal was like. But based on comparisons with gorillas and other modern apes, researchers estimate Gigantopithecus stood more than 10 feet tall and weighed 1,200 pounds (at most, gorillas only weigh 400 pounds). Given their size, they probably lived on the ground, walking on their fists like modern orangutans.

Fortunately, fossil teeth do have a lot to say about an animal’s diet. And the teeth of Gigantopithecus also provide clues to why the ape disappeared.

The features of the dentition—large, flat molars, thick dental enamel, a deep, massive jaw—indicate Gigantopithecus probably ate tough, fibrous plants (similar to Paranthropus). More evidence came in 1990, when Russell Ciochon, a biological anthropologist at the University of Iowa, and colleagues (PDF) placed samples of the ape’s teeth under a scanning electron microscope to look for opal phytoliths, microscopic silica structures that form in plant cells. Based on the types of phyoliths the researchers found stuck to the teeth, they concluded Gigantopithecus had a mixed diet of fruits and seeds from the fig family Moraceae and some kind of grasses, probably bamboo. The combination of tough and sugary foods helps explain why so many of the giant ape’s teeth were riddled with cavities. And numerous pits on Gigantopithecus‘s teeth—a sign of incomplete dental development caused by malnuntrition or food shortages—corroborate the bamboo diet. Ciochon’s team noted bamboo species today periodically experience mass die-offs, which affect the health of pandas. The same thing could have happened to Gigantopithecus.

A Gigantopithecus jaw. Image courtesy of Wikicommons

Further evidence of Gigantopithecus‘ food preferences and habitat was published last November. Zhao LingXia of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues analyzed carbon isotopes in a sample of Gigantopithecus teeth. Plants have different forms of carbon based on their type of photosynthesis; this carbon footprint is then recorded in the teeth of animals that eat plants. The team determined  

Gigantopithecus—and the animals living alongside it, such as deer, horses and bears—ate only C3 plants, evidence the ape lived in a forested environment. This work also supports the proposed bamboo diet, as bamboo is a C3 plant.

So what happened to this Pleistocene Yeti? Zhang’s team suggested the rise of the Tibetan plateau 1.6 million to 800,000 years ago altered the climate of South Asia, ushering in a colder, drier period when forests shrank. Other factors could have exacerbated this crisis. Gigantopithecus‘s neighbor, Homo erectus, may have over-hunted and/or outcompeted their larger ape cousin. And at least one dental study indicates Gigantopithecus developed and matured very slowly—a sign they probably had low reproductive rates, which can elevate a species’ risk of going extinct.

Some Bigfoot hunters say Gigantopithecus is alive and well, hiding out in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Other Sasquatch enthusiasts, however, point out this is unlikely, as Bigfoot is reported to be a swift, agile, upright walker—not a lumbering, 1,200-pound quadruped.

Note: Great articles by The Smithsonian and Dr. John A. Bindernagal (see previous post on my blog here)
on Hominid/Bigfoot/Sasquatch Research.

Sasquatches in Our Woods

From The Texas Bigfoot Research Organization:

Sasquatches in Our Woods

By John A. Bindernagel

Cockamamie myth? Pie-eyed bear sightings? Not so, says this B.C. wildlife biologist — these creatures of folklore really exist.
“I have seen an animal that defies conventional description.”

So began a letter to me from a resident of British Columbia’s West Kootenay region, describing what he saw on his rural acreage one morning in September 1998. He agreed to provide details if I would assure him complete confidentiality.

---

Initially, he thought it was his neighbour walking among the shrubs, but says he soon realized the animal was not human. As he caught increasingly good views, he mentally discarded bears, then cougar, as possible explanations.

“One minute this creature was able to squat and be no more than three of four feet in height. The next, it seemed to be able to draw itself up to six feet, or perhaps more in length.” Three others appeared, and one of the smaller ones climbed into the branches of a tree. “It was then that I first had the thought that I was looking at monkeys … The profile was like that of an orangutan. It seemed to have hair not fur.
 
“The one that… had first drawn my attention drew up behind slightly denser bush and walked off on its hind legs … This really floored me … The movement seemed so naturally bipedal.”
After about 35 minutes, all but one of the animals had disappeared into the forest. “It seemed that this would be the last chance to determine … whether I had really been watching bears, I was not disappointed. It, too, finally rose up. I was extremely struck with its barrel chest and seemingly long, skinny legs and arms. This, though, was only relative to its large chest and upper body. It walked off! Maybe two or three strides and it was gone."

“It most definitely walked erect with shoulders sloped forward. The gait was not like gorillas that I have seen either in the zoos or on TV. Nor was it that peculiar walk of the orangutan. This was a full easy stride."

“I suppose for me, I must accept that I probably saw sasquatches that day. I keep waiting for a news report that tells me that a private zoo has lost some apes or something similar.”

National political columnist Allan Fotheringham once characterized B.C. as the land of “Social Credit and the sasquatch.” B.C. journalist Stephen Franklin called the sasquatch, “the godsend of newspaper cartoonists in the silly season when politicians are on vacation.” The creature is, as Canadian folklorist Carole Carpenter once said, part of B.C.’s “cultural identity.” Long before our time, the Kwakwaka’wakw people depicted Tsonoqua, “Wild Woman of the Woods,” on West Coast totem poles and masks as a giantess with pursed lips, along with her male counterpart, Bukwuss. The words “sasquatch” itself comes from the Coast Salish term Sasqits, or “hairy man.”

It is my conviction that the sasquatch, or bigfoot, is real, and that its very existence has generated the myths, aboriginal legends, newspaper reports — and yes, the jokes and hoaxes. As a wildlife biologist, I have examined the issues for more than 25 years, and not only do I believe the sasquatch is a real animal but one about which we know a great deal. We have samples of its tracks and scat, and reports of its “eye-watering” odour. We know details of its physical appearance, its diet. and its behaviour in feeding, nesting, and defending its territory.
There have been more than 200 reported sasquatch sightings in B.C. alone. Eyewitnesses are remarkably consistent in their basic description of the animal encountered or observed, reporting a large, upright, human-shaped animal standing or walking on its hind legs. The shoulders are prominent, like those of a human, but the neck is short and thick. The animal is covered with hair, usually dark in colour. The arms are proportionately longer than those of a human. Witnesses are often impressed by the animal’s huge size.
 
In some cases more detail has been observed: a barrel chest (“its chest was as deep as it was wide”), a flat, broad nose (“like a gorilla”), an area of bare skin on the face around the eyes, and the apparent absence of ears, which, if present, were hidden by long hair. Some witnesses say they saw breasts on what appeared to be adult females.

Despite the compelling consistency of eyewitness reports, most wildlife biologists do not recognize the sasquatch as a valid wildlife species in B.C. or elsewhere. Skeptics remain the majority, and their arguments merit examination. How, they say, could such a large animal exist here without being seen more often? Why do we have no good photographs of a living sasquatch, no bones or teeth of a dead one? How is it no sasquatch has ever been roadkill, or fallen into the sights of a backwoods hunter?

The media’s treatment of sasquatch reports may provide part of the answer. A sasquatch sighting, when reported, normally takes the form of a light-hearted news item, often recounted with a knowing grin and the suggestion that the eyewitness was on the way home from a pub. While a healthy skepticism regarding the existence of an ape-like animal in B.C. is justified, such cynicism and ridicule tend to inhibit other witnesses, such as the West Kootenay man, from coming forward publicly.

John Green of Harrison Hot Springs published The Sasquatch File in 1973, summarizing 110 reported sightings in B.C. He concluded then that animals answering the description of sasquatch are seen far more often than we realize. To date, Green has collected almost 350 B.C. sightings of sasquatches or their tracks — but witnesses remain as reluctant, as fearful of ridicule, as they were 27 years ago.

Nevertheless, those who have seen a sasquatch — especially those employed in outdoor occupations who are familiar with bears — know when they have seen an unusual animal and wish to report it. Balanced media treatment of sasquatch evidence inevitably results in an outpouring of fresh reports.

As for the absence of sasquatch remains — bones, teeth, hair, a body — this is understandable in the case of an uncommon or rare mammal. Wildlife biologists and archaeologists recognize how quickly animal remains are scattered, eaten, and broken down in nature, especially in our acidic B.C. soils. The possibility remains that well-preserved sasquatch bones may yet be found in a limestone cave or similar site.
 
That sasquatches have escaped roadkill may attest simply to their intelligence in avoiding moving automobiles, and their preference for backwoods habitat. None have been shot, though a few hunters have had opportunity. While hunting deer in the Okanagan Valley north of Vernon on September 11, 1994, Randy Rudnyk says he watched a sasquatch in his rifle scope for almost 15 minutes — never thinking of killing it, though he was close enough to move the crosshairs from eye to eye. In October 1955, William Roe says he levelled a gun at a female sasquatch on B.C.’s Mica Mountain. “If I shot it, I would possibly have a specimen of great interest to scientists the world over,” said Roe. “I lowered the rifle. Although I had called the creature ‘it,’ I felt now that it was a human being and I knew I would never forgive myself if I killed it.”

While we have no body of a sasquatch, we are not without physical evidence of it’s existence. Scat has occasionally been reported where sasquatches have been sighted. William Roe backtracked the female sasquatch he observed on Mica Mountain and dissected several scats, finding only vegetable matter. John Christman of Bremerton, Washington, found a deposit on the Olympic Peninsula “the diameter of a pop can and enough to fill a large bucket.” Unfortunately, it may be that sasquatch scat is not sufficiently different from that of large bears to provide definitive evidence. But then there are the footprints.

Sasquatch tracks are characterized by their elongated human-like shape, the absence of claw marks, and the occurrence of “hind” feet only. Bear tracks, by comparison, show claw marks, the pointed heel of the bear’s hind foot, and the presence of alternating forefoot and hind foot impressions. Compared to human footprints, sasquatch tracks differ mainly in size: those recorded vary from seven to 22 inches (17 to 56 centimetres), with an average in John Green’s records of 16 inches (40 centimetres). Physical anthropologist Dr. Grover Krantz, author of Big Footprints: a Scientific Inquiry into the Reality of Sasquatch (1992), states that sasquatch footprints are normally one-third wider than human footprints of the same length.
Most mammals are nocturnal or crepuscular (active mainly at night, or at dawn and dusk), and so are observed infrequently. Wildlife biologists routinely accept mammal tracks as evidence than an elusive species is present, without need of a sighting. This is common practice for bears, wolves, and caribou — yet most scientists will not accord the sasquatch the same benefit of the doubt.

Nevertheless, laypersons have observed sasquatches engaged in feeding and nesting as other animals do. In some cases the creatures have left physical evidence of their activities. In spring 1997, bear hunter Mike MacDonald observed a sasquatch eating willow buds and young leaves in the Fraser Canyon. To reach buds above its head, it stood upright and pulled the branch tips down to its mouth with one extended arm and hand. In October 1967, in a remote part of Oregon’s Cascade Range, Glen Thomas observed a male sasquatch dig a pit, from which it obtained and ate ground squirrels. Edwin James, along with a group of friends and family members, surprised a sasquatch digging for clams on Gilford Island in the 1950s. A friend of Audrey Wilson of Alert Bay was driving south with her husband near Sayward, Vancouver Island, when she saw a sasquatch dragging a deer up a mountainside beside the highway. Ten minutes later she asked her husband, “Did you see that?” His answer: “Yes. Did you?”

Prospectors, hunters, and biologists from the B.C. coast and Interior have reported sasquatch nests, which differ from bear beds and dens in having a woven rim and sometimes a roof. Dr. Fred Bunnell, a University of British Columbia wildlife biologist described a “sasquatch bower” he discovered with unusual bent and broken branches overarching a nest against a rock face. “No bear makes a day bed like that,” Bunnell concluded.
 
Most biologists assume that eyewitnesses reporting sasquatches are misidentifying upright bears, since a bear on its hind legs is the closest acceptable approximation. Others argue that claimants were duped by tricksters wearing fur suits. Unfortunately, witnesses have had little with which to compare their own observations. The sasquatch is notably absent from our field guides, the authoritative reference books on which we depend to identify the animals of our natural world.

In my recent book, North America’s Great Ape: the Sasquatch, I have included field guide-style illustrations that compare the squarish, human-like shoulders of the sasquatch with the tapered shoulders of the bear. In profile, the sasquatch’s flat face contrasts with a bear’s prominent snout. As well, the distinctive sasquatch gait — a graceful, ground-eating stride with arms swinging — is very unlike the bear’s briefly maintained upright shuffle on its short hind legs. The fluid sasquatch gait also differs significantly from the stiff-legged human gait. The West Kootenay eyewitness quoted above recalled seeing the animals “moving in the trees in a way no human could have imitated without a lot of noise and superb acrobatic training. They would … move rapidly from one place to another with a gracefulness and ease.”

I have studied evidence of the sasquatch since I first found tracks on Vancouver Island in 1988, and my research suggests the sasquatch is, in fact, a great ape. Dr. Krantz proposed that the sasquatch may be the descendant of Gigantopithecus, a giant fossil ape of Asia — or, more likely in his view, actually may be Gigantopithecus, “still with us.” Unlike the great apes of Africa and Asia, however, the sasquatch has a more human-like stride and foot shape.
Occasionally, sasquatches in remote areas have revealed themselves, and their ape-likeness, in their attempt to repel humans. While most sightings involve a sasquatch walking or running away, or watching curiously from a distance, there have been reports of apparent intimidation. While walking up a beach in B.C.’s remote Deserters Group of islands in the early 1990s, some clam diggers sped an animal with an “ape face” watching them from behind a large stump. It then began to throw rocks and driftwood. “A large rock just missed my head!” recalls Samson Cecil, adding that his group then set a possible world speed record for dragging a skiff down a beach into the water.

Campers on beaches and riverbanks have been threatened by the sound of a large animal running back and forth just inside the adjacent forest, vocalizing, breaking large branches, and making a great deal of noise without showing itself fully. When this happened to Mary Strussi and her friend on Vancouver Island’s Cruickshank River in the summer of 1992, they abandoned their tent for the security of their truck. Some years earlier, two men in a truck camper on the west side of Harrison Lake noticed an ape-like face in their window, and immediately afterwards felt their vehicle being shaken “as if that thing wanted to turn us over.”

In general, the sasquatch seems quite benign, with little or no interest in harming people. Its uncommon intimidation displays — breaking branches, running back and forth, throwing stones — are remarkably similar to those of chimpanzees. The result is to drive intruders from the animal’s range, away from its young or a rich food source, without actual physical interaction.
 
Another interesting parallel to the ape world is the reported persistence of sasquatch odour, described by observers as a “strong stench of rotten eggs” or “rotten meat.” The smell “makes you gag or want to vomit,” said Jo Jo Christianson, a crew member on the seiner Skidegate who caught wind of two shoreside sasquatches near Alert Bay in September 1994. The overpowering odour is likely of glandular origin, as with mountain gorillas, which, according to noted researcher Dian Fossey, emit “a gagging fear odour” when threatened.

My interest in the sasquatch often raises eyebrows, but I am not alone in my convictions. I have been encouraged in my research by professional colleagues in the international wildlife research community — researchers not subject to our local and regional conditioning. Jane Goodall, widely known for her pioneering field studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania, admits to a long-time interest in ”’wild men,’ the yeti, bigfoot, and the sasquatch.” She called my book “exciting” and acknowledged my efforts to “carefully describe the behavioural characteristics that have been recorded for the sasquatch.” Dr. Vernon Reynolds, an Oxford University primatologist and author of The Apes, was impressed with “the many points of similarity between sasquatch anatomy and behaviour and that of the great apes.” Biologist Dr. George Schaller, author of Year of the Gorilla, thought I showed “a lot of insight” and made “sensible deductions” in developing my hypothesis that the sasquatch could be North America’s great ape.

I am now convinced that sasquatches are seen far more often than we know. Indeed, some of my professional colleagues in the provincial Wildlife Branch have admitted to being less than diligent in filing sasquatch reports. Yet some witnesses continue to come forward — challenging our collective skepticism, braving public ridicule. As recently as September 1999, a Vancouver youth said he observed a sasquatch near Bradley Lagoon on the B.C. coast.
I fully expect that wildlife biologists will recognize the sasquatch as a species in the not-too-distant future, and subsequent researchers will find B.C.’s shellfish-rich West Coast to be one of its prime habitats. But until other North American biologists are willing to look beyond their own continent for possible explanations — and until we finally have irrefutable evidence that sasquatch exists — doubt will continue to linger, and witness will remain reluctant to speak out.

As the West Kootenay eyewitness mused at the end of his letter: “I think if anybody asks me I might deny the whole thing and cover it up by saying I saw bears and it was a joke.”

John A. Bindernagel Ph.D., is a registered professional biologist in B.C. with more than 30 years of field expertise. He is the author of North America’s Great Ape: the Sasquatch (Courtenay: Beachcomber Books, 1998, Box 3286, Courtenay, B.C.), a field guide to the anatomy, ecology, food habits, and behaviour of the sasquatch.

From: Beautiful British Columbia Magazine, Summer 2000.

Rare whale caught on film for first time

Australian researchers Thursday revealed they had filmed a pod of extremely rare Shepherd's beaked whales for the first time ever.

The Australian Antarctic Division team was tracking blue whales off the coast of Victoria state last month when they spotted the reclusive mammals, which are so rarely seen that no population estimates of the species exist.

Voyage leader Michael Double said the black and cream-coloured mammals with prominent dolphin-like beaks had been spotted in the wild only a handful of times through history.

According to the Australian environment department, there have only been two previous confirmed sightings -- a lone individual in New Zealand and a group of three in Western Australia

They have never been filmed live before.

"These animals are practically entirely known from stranded dead whales, and there haven't been many of them," Double told AFP, calling the footage "unique".

"They are an offshore animal, occupying deep water, and when they surface it is only for a very short period of time."

Double said what was remarkable about the sighting was that the whale was previously thought to be a solitary creature, yet was in a pod of 10 to 12.

"To find them in a pod is very exciting and will change the guide books. Our two whale experts will now carefully study the footage to work out the whale sizes and so on and prepare a scientific paper."

The Shepherd's beaked whale, also known as the Tasman beaked whale, was discovered in 1937 but little is known about them. -yahoo news

Man Survives Being Trapped in Car for Months; Ancient Flowers Discovered and Lincoln and JFK Coincidinces

From Lon's site Phantoms and Monsters at:

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com

Swedish man survives for months in snowed-in car

A Swedish man was dug out alive after being snowed in to his car on a forest track for two months with no food, police and local media reported on Saturday.

The 45-year-old from southern Sweden was found on Friday, emaciated and too weak to utter more than a few words.

He was found not far from the city of Umea in the north of Sweden by snowmobilers who thought they had come across a car wreck until they dug their way to a window and saw movement inside.

The man, who was laying in the back seat in a sleeping bag, said he had been in the car since December 19.

"Just incredible that he's alive considering that he had no food, but also since it's been really cold for some time after Christmas," a rescue team member told regional daily Vasterbottens-Kuriren, which broke the news.

Ebbe Nyberg, duty officer at the Umea police, said police saw no reason to doubt that the man had been stuck in the car for a very long time.

"We would not make something like this up. The rescue services were on site too and saw the same as us," he told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

Umea University Hospital, where the man is recovering after being rescued by police and a rescue team, said in a statement he was doing well considering the circumstances.

Doctors at the hospital said humans would normally be able to survive for about four weeks without food. Besides eating snow, the man probably survived by going into a dormant-like state, physician Stefan Branth told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

"A bit like a bear that hibernates. Humans can do that," he said. "He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees (Celsius) which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up."

Why the man ended up under the snow in the forest remains unknown, police said. - yahoo

**********

Russian scientist revive plants from 30K year old frozen tissue

A team of Russian biophysicists has successfully grown ancient plants from tissue material that stayed frozen in the Siberian region for about 30,000 years.

This is the oldest plant material to have been brought to life so far.

The team from the Institute of Cell Biophysics, led by David Gilichinsky, studied squirrel hibernation burrows in the banks of the Kolyma river and found the remains of the Silene stenophylla family that remained almost intact over millennia.

According to a report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists extracted the so-called "placental tissue" from immature seeds and put it in a special nutrient solution, which imitated a growing plant.

After a while, the tissue in petri dishes germinated into mature seeds, which have been planted in soil and grew into fully-blossoming plants.

The scientists found only subtle differences in the shape of petals and the sex of flowers between the "resurrected" plants and the modern-day Silene stenophylla, which still grows in the Siberian tundra.

The research team suggested that tissue cells were a perfect material for their experiments because they contain high amounts of sugar, which helped the plants to survive in a hibernated state for so long.

The success of the scientists may open a door to a whole new area of experiments in reviving extinct plants buried under layers of soil, especially in the Arctic zone, for thousands of years. - phenomenica

**********

Commonalities

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost a son while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both were shot behind the head.

Here is an interesting one…
Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are made of fifteen letters.

Mr. Booth shot Lincoln in a Theatre called “Ford”.
Lee Harvey Oswald, shot Kennedy in a car called “Ford” Lincoln.

Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

And last but not least,
A month before Lincoln was shot he was in Monroe, Maryland.
A month before Kennedy was shot he was with Marilyn Monroe.

Labels: alternative news, bizarre, breaking news, fortean, oddball, UFO

snopes.com: Presidents Day

snopes.com: Presidents Day

Mountain man scares owners of remote Utah cabins - yahoo news

Mountain man scares owners of remote Utah cabins

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and PAUL FOY | Associated Press – 16 hrs ago

• 
  Click photo to view more images. (AP/Iron County Sheriff)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — He's eluded authorities for more than five years, a mountain man who roams the wilderness of southern Utah, breaking into remote cabins in winter, living in luxury off hot food, alcohol and coffee before stealing provisions and vanishing into the woods.

Investigators have clawed for clues, scouring cabins for fingerprints that match no one and chasing reports of brief encounters only to come up short, always a step behind the mysterious recluse.

They've found abandoned camps, dozens of guns, high-end outdoor gear stolen from the homes and trash strewn around the forest floor.

But the man authorities say is armed and dangerous and responsible for more than two dozen burglaries has continued to outrun the law across a swath of mountains not far from Zion National Park. He's roamed across 1,000 square miles of rugged wilderness where snow can pile 10 feet deep in winter.

And while there have been no violent confrontations, detectives say he's a time bomb. Lately he has been leaving the cabins in disarray and riddled with bullets after defacing religious icons, and a recent note left behind in one cabin warned, "Get off my mountain."

"You wouldn't want to come across that guy," said Iron County Det. Jody Edwards, who has been working the case since 2007.

Theories about his identity have ranged from two separate men on the FBI's Most Wanted List — one sought for the 2004 killing of an armored-truck guard in Phoenix, another for killing his wife and two children in Arizona. Some have also speculated the man may be a castaway from the nearby compounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamous sect run by jailed leader Warren Jeffs.

The FBI recently discounted the theory that the man was the fugitive sought in the armored-truck guard killing after authorities got the first pictures of him from a motion-triggered surveillance camera outside a cabin. The photos showing a sandy-haired man in camouflage on snowshoes, a rifle slung over his shoulder, were taken sometime in December.

"We believe that is not Jason Derek Brown," FBI special agent Manuel Johnson told The Associated Press.

Edwards wasn't so quick to rule out the possibility, given the close resemblance to the 42-year-old Brown, who was raised Mormon and is a highly educated, well-traveled avid outdoorsman.

Johnson said the FBI has considered the possibility that the cabin burglar may be Robert William Fisher, described as a survivalist, hunter and angler who authorities say killed his family then blew up their house in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 2001. However, at 50 years old, Johnson is doubtful it's the man in the surveillance photos, who appears much younger.

So while detectives believe they are getting close, buoyed by the recent photos, the shadowy survivalist remains an enigma. No missing person report appears to fit, and fingerprints lifted from cabins have yielded no match.

Meanwhile, cabin owners are growing more frightened by the day and are left wondering who might be sleeping in their beds this winter.

"He's scaring the daylights out of cabin owners. Now everyone's packing guns," said Jud Hendrickson, a 62-year-old mortgage advisor from nearby St. George who keeps a trailer in the area.

In November 2010, Bruce Stucki, another cabin owner, said a burglar broke into his cabin through a narrow window, pried open a gun case with a crowbar and laid out the weapons but took none. At a nearby cabin, the man reportedly took only the grips from gun handles.

"He could stand in the trees and pop you off and no one would know who killed you," Stucki said.
Some cabins he has left tidy and clean, while others he has practically destroyed, even defecating in one in a pan on the floor.

"He should know he's being followed, but I don't think this guy is normal in any way," said Stucki, who, like many cabin owners, has a lot of his own theories.

"He's anti-religious, waiting for the mothership to come in," Stucki speculated.

Investigators say they have found several of the man's unattended summer camps, what they initially thought were left behind by "doomsday" believers preparing for some sort of apocalypse because of the remote locations and supplies like weapons, radios, batteries, dehydrated food and camping gear.

Edwards said two camps found a few years ago were stocked with 19 guns. One of the camps also had a copy of Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild," a book about a young man who died after wandering into the 

 Alaskan wilderness to live alone off the land.

The cabin burglar has managed to avoid being seen all but twice over the years, each time retreating into the forest. In recent weeks, it took detectives an entire day to reach a remote cabin after getting a report that lights had been seen on inside overnight. It turned out they were solar-powered lights on the porch, and the cabin was empty — another dead-end.

The coffee and alcohol the survivalist favors plays into some cabin owners' assessment that he could be a castaway from the nearby twin towns of Hildale or Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border. The so-called lost boys are said to be regularly booted from the polygamous sect there by elders looking to increase their marriage opportunities with young women.

Unlike members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which discourages consumption of alcohol and coffee, many of the Mormon fundamentalists imbibe.

Detectives aren't sharing their latest assessments but "we've got a lot of leads" from the surveillance photos, Edwards said. "I would say we're very close to making a positive ID on him. We just got to catch this guy."

To cabin owners in southern Utah, he remains a spooky and menacing figure.

"We feel like we're being subject to terrorism by this guy," Hendrickson said. "My wife says flat-out she's not going back to our trailer until they catch him."

Note: Hope they catch this creep! Scary indeed.

BFRO Report # 30442 (Class B)

From BFRO Report 30442

Report # 30442  (Class B)

Submitted by witness on Saturday, August 20, 2011.

---

Family has recurring encounters at home near Forsyth

---

YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 11

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Taney County

NEAREST TOWN: Forsyth

NEAREST ROAD: hwy H & hwy 160

OBSERVED: My husband and I were woke around 12:30 am with some strange sounds coning through the baby moniter. The bed room the kids are in is right next to ours but we didnt hear anything from our room, it was only through the moniter that the sounds could be heard, at first. There was a squeaking that sounded like someone was messing with the window in the kids room. My husband went to the other room to turn the outside lights on, we have lights on every side of the house(installed after an attempted brake in) while I stayed in the kids room to see if I could see what was making the noise. I was standing beside the window peaking through the edge of the blinds when the lights came on. There was another noise, something hitting/ bumping the side of the house, the same side of the window I was standing on. Then there was a big shadow moving away from the house twoard the woods. The woods are only about 10 feet from that side of the house and this shadow moved very fast.

My husband returned and he looked out the window, saw nothing. We waited looking out the window for several minuets but were able to see nothing. My husband left to turn the lights out, when he returned we stayed in the kids room for a few more minuets then as we were getting ready to go back to bed we heard a very loud "whoop whoop" then again "whoop whoop" I said its an owl, even thouth I'd never heard an owl sound like that before my husband, who is former militatry and has been in combat, said if it was an owl then it had to be at least 8ft tall, then he told me he didn't know what it was but it there was no way it was an owl.
ALSO NOTICED: In July of 2010, our dog went missing for two days, this was very odd as our dog was fixed and never roamed, he always stayed home. Well on the 2ed afternoon I heard him yelping in the woods behind the house. So I went looking for my kids dog. I found him layed up in the bed of the spring unable to walk. He was trying to drag himself home using his front legs. Getting him home and then to the vet, we had to put him down. The dog was said to have had been beaten, the vet said his back was broken, both back legs were broken. The vet said the trama was equal to that as getting hit by a car. Yet, there are no roads or trails in the vally where the dog was found.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just my husband and myself, we were wakened in the middle of the night

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 12:30am to 1:00am
it was very dark, overcast but not raining.

ENVIRONMENT: We are setting on a 10 acre wooded lot, the area between the house and the road is cleared, the rest is thick overgrown woods.

---

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

I interviewed the Witness and her husband. Both impressed me as credible. The following information can be added to her report:

- During the summer of 2010 the Witness’ three year old son was playing in his bedroom. It was dark outside and the lights were on in the house. Her son “freaked out” screaming and crying, insisting that the blinds be drawn closed on every window. It was soon after that incident that the family dog was severely beaten and had to be put down. Both her sons still insist on keeping all window blinds drawn, especially at night.

- The Witness has a baby monitor in her sons’ bedroom to monitor them. The baby monitor is very sensitive to the proximity of people and tends to produce screeching sounds when anyone walks near it. She had the monitor hanging from a curtain rod in the boys’ bedroom so that it wouldn’t produce the screeching feedback type noises. On the night of the incident the baby monitor awakened the Witness and her husband by making its notorious screeching noises typically associated with the presence of a human body. That concerned the Witness and she became very vigilant to all sounds produced by the monitor. The Witness then heard squeaking noises through the monitor. The Witness described the sound as similar to when a person slides their face against a glass window. After hearing the noise three or four times the Witness and her husband realized that someone was outside the window in their children’s bedroom and responded.

- The Witness was in her children’s bedroom when her husband turned on the outside lights. She immediately heard a loud “thump” on the outside wall of the house by her children’s bedroom and observed the shadow of something large and tall running away from the house toward the nearby woods.

- The Witness and her husband have heard trees being snapped while outside at night. Upon investigation they found a 4 to 6 inch diameter healthy tree freshly snapped over at approximately 5 feet from the ground.

- On September 3, 2011, at dusk the Witness observed a bigfoot watching her as she smoked a cigarette on her porch. The Witness commented, “I was skeptical till now. Now I know! It was no deer.” The Witness initially felt like she was being watched and consequently focused her attention in the direction from which she felt observed. She saw a dark human form that would step out from behind a large tree into a slight clearing then slowly retreat back behind the tree. BFRO Investigator Ron Boles and I visited the Witness at her home and recreated the incident. The bigfoot’s location was identified to be within the mentioned clearing in dense woods approximately 90 feet downhill from the Witness' location at the time of the sighting. The bigfoot’s height was determined to be approximately 8.0 feet. The creature’s location proved to be the only line of sight from which to observe the Witness that evening from approximately 70 feet deep within very dense woods (the porch was another 20 feet from the wood line). The location was also immediately adjacent to a large diameter hardwood tree behind which the creature periodically retreated for cover. On the night of our investigation and in the general area of the Witness' house, Ron and I were successful in soliciting wood knocks in response to our mimicries of bigfoot vocalizations and our own wood knocking.

- On November 15, 2011, the Witness informed me that something large and very tall was heard attempting to manipulate a large heavy doghouse located on the Witness’ deck. The Witness was not utilizing the doghouse for a dog, but as a shelter for feeding her cats. Whatever had attempted to manipulate the doghouse did so from the ground, reaching over the deck railing which is 6 feet above the ground. The visitor possessed enough strength to move the heavy homemade doghouse and loudly impact the main house. No claw marks were found on the doghouse.

- Though this report involves visual observations of a probable bigfoot, it has been designated a Class B due to the diminished lighting during such observations.

- At the time of her report submission, the Witness wasn't aware of other bigfoot sightings in her area. However, BFRO Report #22600 occurred only a few hundred yards east of the Witness’ location and remains a location of continuing bigfoot activity. Report #22600 There is also a rich history of bigfoot activity in the area north of this report which is predominantly National Forest.

- This report location borders thousands of acres of National Forest to the north which is an ideal habitat for a large omnivore. This fact is bore out by the region's significance as having the highest density of black bear populations in Missouri. The nearby Swan Creek Watershed is one of many water systems running through this area that offers not only pristine water but abundant aquatic organisms as a food source. Deer and their sign are plentiful. There are deer trails running through this Witness' property including where she observed the bigfoot.

---

About BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

An experienced outdoorsman and naturalist. Mr. Stade attended the following BFRO Expeditions: 2008 & 2009 OK; 2008, 2009 & 2010 MO.

Note: Interesting report. -Rob

Sightings: Monsters