You say it’s all a hoax?
Posted by: Rick Noll on November 2nd, 2005
(Deftones – Change)
Ok – I really am trying to tie the last three posts together with what is to come but it may not seem like it until the very end. Your in the middle right now, and I really need to talk about all of this first.
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Why are there people hoaxing Bigfoot evidence? My list seems rather short, but maybe I missed something. If you can add anything to help, please do:
1. Publicity – People seek publicity in an otherwise boring lifestyle they feel trapped in. I remember John Green telling me that I underestimate the power of publicity especially when you are not getting it. Telling tall tales has been a main staple for many in creating riveting attention to themselves. I am going to have to label Ivan Marx and Tom Biscardi’s antics here.
2. Revenge – Getting back at those who think themselves better or that make fun of the ones who live on the outskirts of human population. Classic example of this one is Ray Pickens who told his story on film in one of the earliest Bigfoot documentaries.
3. Entertainment – Some people are just born to entertain others. It is in their blood and they don’t feel complete unless they are able to do so. This is where I firmly believe Ray Wallace started but when I actually finally met the man I think he may have started developing some type of disorder so drops down to…
4. Deranged behavior – Some see things, hear things that aren’t really there. It could actually be a mental disorder, or the things they do see and hear are so far away from their current knowledge base that their mind make an erroneous connection in explaining it. There are a couple of people I could place here, all but one most would not know.
5. Validation – After finding some really good evidence and then nothing ever again makes one question everything about the subject, maybe a little too much. It could start with the simple over cleaning a "maybe" impression before casting it to the outright fabrication of a Bigfoot track. Here, artistry would come in handy but there is some real funny stuff out there. I know of only one person I feel confidant has traveled to this place. Many times they put the evidence in someone else’s hands and say that they were handed it, they actually had nothing to do with it but have exclusive information about it or own it outright.
These are all hard to detect, especially if all you have to go on is the evidence they bring in, or the lack there of. Some can read people pretty good – like Matt Moneymaker and John Freitas. I am not one of those so I have tried to fine tune looking at the evidence and when I finally got fed up doing that (the Elaine picture) I started to think that the best route is more direct. Stop chasing this stuff and get out in the woods to look for yourself. If all these people are out there and they find this stuff you can do it to, maybe even better. So I have but you know what…
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You go way out into the woods, at a time of year where nobody is going to be walking very far without their shoes on and you find these big bare foot tracks. You know what the first thing I do is?
Look in back of me to make sure someone isn’t in the tree line laughing. Do you think the music is too depressing?
About Rick Noll
Rick Noll has been actively searching for the Sasquatch since 1969 and continues his pursuit with extended field trips into the Pacific Northwest's most remote regions. Rick has worked with Peter Byrne, René Dahinden, Grover Krantz, John Green, Jeff Meldrum and the BFRO during all this. He helped with many documentaries on the subject including Animal X: The Skookum Expedition and Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science.
Freeman was validation, he worked over maybe tracks, he added tracks to other real tracks, Freeman, i think shot real video of a bigfoot on biscute ridge then faked the deduct footage. He took photos then passed them off saying his sone took the pictures, he gave Kevin Linley ( not sue on the last name) audio recordings of a bigfoot that were Freeman making the noises. All this to validate a few real encounters. Then there is revenge which is something i think we will be seeing alot more of. I think people will become put off with the know it all attitudes seen on the internet by people on message boards and groups who really are not any wiser than the one making the report. It will be like I know what i saw and this punk says im wrong, well i will show him a thing or two. Im not sure how you would classify the next one but what about the weekend warrior bigfooter that wants to fit in and figures they will break off some branches, stick em togeather and call it a shelter, making poor tracks and such, they throw these pictures up and hope to be taken seriously.
I think I would add a sixth one which I would label “Amusement”; you might call it something else. This is for those who a) feel that anyone who researches Bigfoot or any of a host of other “fringe” topics is by definition an idiot, and b) tries to manipulate and defraud these people for his/her own personal amusement. As a researcher I’ve been a victim of attempts like this and it shows that it takes all kinds, as they say.
What about a researcher that puts out fake tracks and video to test what other researchers see. There could be alot to learn by that but would it be considered hoaxing?
I have to admit, I am at a loss for why some feel the need to hoax. Im sure part of it is money – but who has actually gotten rich by faking tracks etc? If someone has actually made a living off hoaxing bigfoot “evidence” please tell me. So, for me, the biggest motive is out the window to begin with.
Im sure their are a number of people who have hoaxed, thinking they were helping the “cause”, in some twisted way they think by putting out fake evidence-more attention will be paid to the subject. Unfortunately they have only made things worse.
As for those who do this to get a laugh. Well, the methods of determining a real track from a hoaxed track are improving. Before, a casted track would hit the media almost the minute it was found – not so much anymore(which I have to add is smart to withhold evidence for a period of time for evaluation). So, the Amusement hoaxers are not getting their thrill as fast anymore, and in time hopefully will stop.
I have no answers. I will be the first to admit that – wish I did.
Sasquatchworks – thats not hoaxing, thats working on the method by which someone would perpetrate a hoax. Law Enforcement officials do this sort of thing all the time. You have to understand the process by which something is done – in order to prove or disprove the theory.
Just my Opinion.
When I was in high school Dave Peterman and I used to make fake UFO hot air balloons. When we started out we found it amusing that people might see these things as UFOs. But over time, our hot air ballooning became more of a technical challenge than “hoaxing”. We built them to fly higher and longer rather than to fool people.
I suspect some hoaxers are like this; driven by a need to refine their technique and create “better” hoaxes. While a lie is a verbal statement, a hoax usually involves something more, and has a certain “arts and crafts” element. I think there is a certain aesthetic and creative component to hoaxing.
There are things called “controls”. In Washington the Fish and Game department got in a lot of trouble a couple of years back when they submitted some Canadian Lynx hair to their ID lab. The supposed collection of this hair in Washington put a big spin on the logging industry because it is a protected – endangered species.
When all was said and done though the two men who submitted it stated that the hair actually came from a stuffed Lynx, not a live one and they were just testing the ID lab to make sure that if they did find some that they would be able to positively ID it. It was a control for their process they were testing.
Their supervisors were not too happy because they took it upon themselves to do this without informing anybody else. It made things appear shady.
Of course the Fish and Game department stood to get a lot of federal funding if such an animal was proved found within the state borders. The local newspapers made quite the deal about it all… like a backwoods Watergate or something.
I stand corrected. I never even considered financial gain by Government employees — not sure why I didnt.
I do agree with you tube ( I cant believe you would do such a thing 🙂 ) but, some do hoax things just to see if they can, and then the whole thing just gets bigger and better.
I dont understand the need for that myself – maybe I just have no imagination.. lol.