The Top Ten Bigfoot Stories of 2006
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 20th, 2006
Top Ten Bigfoot Stories of 2006
by Loren Coleman, coauthor The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates.
In the 1950s, anything covered in hair, upright or nearly so, and appearing to be an unknown human-like creature was called an “Abominable Snowman.” Today, the universal term, cryptozoologically speaking, used for any hidden, uncaught, or yet-to-be-verified hairy hominoid, hominid, or anthropoid, anywhere in the world is “Bigfoot.”
Here are the top ten stories that appeared from broadcast media to blogs, from newspapers to network news, globally, regarding the topic of “Bigfoot.”
1. Johor Bigfoot Seen, Slammed, and Stabilized
Starting in late 2005, and moving right through every month of 2006, reports of sightings, government disputes, footprints, and expeditions in search of the so-called “Johor Bigfoot” issued forth from south Asia and were repeated worldwide. (Cryptomundo was reporting on so many stories we created a “Malaysian Bigfoot” category to file away all the blogs.) Most of the middle of the year’s “Johor Hominid” distraction was caused by first withheld and then exposed photographs that turned out to be a hoax. Nevertheless, re-surfacing of credible 1970s’ accounts, for example from Harold Stephens (below), mixed with a confusing array of 2006 Johor footprints, have left open questions about what is really happening in Malaysia. More.
Click on the above image of Harold Stephens finding the track of Orang Dalam in the 1970s, on a Malaysian sandbar, for fuller-sized version.
2. Meldrum Media Mania Mushroomed
With a Bigfoot symposium in his hometown, a new book Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, wire service attention that made it sound like his Idaho State University job was in jeopardy (it isn’t), podcasts, radio program interviews, an appearance on National Public Radio, and more, Jeff Meldrum was the Bigfoot news for many weeks. More.
3. Pine Ridge Big Man Thermal Imaged
Beginning at the end of July through September, the Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota experienced frequent sightings and encounters with a large Bigfoot peering into windows and being seen by tribal police. For example, on August 17, Chief of Police James Twiss reported directly to Cryptomundo that he, using the department’s thermal imaging camera and along with about six other officers, observed a large heat signature on their camera. More.
4. U.S. Navy Covertly Videotaped Kalanoro
Harry Trumbore’s drawing of Africa’s kalanoro illustrates what became the most viewed single Cryptomundo story of 2006. This was especially true after it was picked up and distributed widely by cryptoinsider David Pescovitz at Boing Boing. In January, it was learned that a covert U.S. Navy SEAL unit involved in operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1997 and 2002, apparently saw and videotaped some strange creatures. According to the former member’s account, his team observed a group of thirteen “chimpanzee-like” creatures between 4.5 to 5 feet tall, uniformly gray all over their bodies, with rows of seemingly porcupine-like quills running the length of their backs. The video is still classified. More.
5. Skunk Ape Photographed
Defining the historical beginnings of “Skunk Ape,” photographs that turned up and then were withdrawn, reports of encounters, debates on the role of slave ships transporting them to Florida, and more have brought the Florida Skunk Ape back into focus. Further discussions comparing the overall reports with the Green Swamp excitement of last year occurred. Then early in November, a well-publicized photo of a “chimp” seems to be the most recent image (above) of a Skunk Ape perhaps misunderstood as something more mundane. More.
6. Yowie Hailed Anew
Before the book The Yowie was even published, something seemed to be on the horizon, in terms of increased interest and new sightings. In September, a Yowie-like creature locally known as a Yarram Ape was photographed crossing a road.
7. Camcorder Confusions Continued
While some interesting images of Pacific Northwest Bigfoot were discussed, such as the Mt. Hood remote cam photo, unfortunately it was a hoax that got the most attention. In Sonoma County, California, in November 2005, a couple said they videotaped a Bigfoot. The story came to a merciful end in April (with the general public) when Penn & Teller’s program was broadcast and they detailed how they hoaxed the Bigfoot community into thinking a real Bigfoot had been photographed. Well, they didn’t fool all of us. More here, here, here, and here.
8. Yeti, Almas, and Sasquatch Cinematized
During the spring, Disney World opened Expedition Everest, and the spillover was many television documentaries on the Yeti, including a Jeff Corwin program exploring the question of the Abominable Snowman. As the year unfolded, documentaries appeared on the Travel Channel’s “Weird Travel” (on Bigfoot), National Geographic’s “Is It Real?” (on Orang Pendek and Almas), Sci-Fi Channel’s “Sci-Fi Investigates” (on Bigfoot) and Animal Planet’s “The Real Lost World” (on unknown hominoids and more). Meanwhile, on Sci-Fi Channel, several Bigfoot movies were screened, with most appearing together again on what became a Sasquatch Saturday in September.
9. Unknown Hand Horrified
Like in a bad scary movie, when there was any hint of a Bigfoot being seen around America in 2006, Tom Biscardi would pop into town and get some publicity. Suing his former partners for only getting several thousand dollars instead of more, coming off being banned by Coast to Coast AM for not producing a Bigfoot he said was captured, and having to leave Happy Camp, California allegedly in haste, Biscardi turned up in 2006 showing a “Unknown Hand” in a jar. It was like the Ray Bradbury television episode, “The Jar” [The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1986); and The Ray Bradbury Theater (1992)], in which a rural man has the townsfolk come by and look into the mysterious jar. Everyone sees what they want to see. The same happened with this “hand in the jar.” Some wished to think it was related to the Bigfoot mystery. Others said it probably was a bear’s.
10. Bigfoot Is Humanized
On November 26th, M. K. Davis released a press release, in conjunction with two DVDs he was promoting, that specifically identified “the subject of the famous [Patterson-Gimlin] film to be completely human. Not a man in a suit, but a human in the wild.” Yes, human. Later he would say on a radio show that the Bigfoot was a specific type of Native American with a “digging stick” and followed that with leaks through others that the Bigfoot had “likely Caucasoid skin” and the head shape was “explained by a process called cradleboarding.”
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To find the master list of all links to every 2006 lists created at Cryptomundo about the top cryptozoology stories, the top Bigfoot stories, top mystery photographs, best cryptozoology books, best cryptofiction books, top creepy fossil discoveries, gifts, passings, top cryptids, and more, please click here.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
The Navy SEAL story is potentially the most important of them all, but it still troubles me because it is a report of a single witness who says all the footage is, years later, still classified and none of the other witnesses was interested or will talk about it. Even hard-core Special Forces types I’ve known would be fascinated by what are clearly unknown apes walking across their mission. Have you been able to verify the person was a SEAL in that time period?
Regards,
Matt Bille
Yes, nevertheless, due to Homeland Security safety issues, his identity is, of course, being hidden in this reportage. Next goal: covert confirmations of the videotape are being assembled. More in 2007.
hey loren & researchers here those are definitely very interesting sasquatch articles for this year, hopefully for 2007 the articles will be better. thanks bill
The best that can be said about some of these reports is at least the year was not boring.
Thanks Loren, et al. for a great year.
Maybe 2007 will be the year we finally get proof.
Whatever happened with all the Pine Ridge activity? It was a hot topic here and I was very enthralled in these stories, wondering what in the world was going on, and then the stories just kind of stopped. Any new developments?
I was following the Pine Ridge incident very closely but then it seemed to fall off the face of the earth. Did the rez decide put out a gag order on the subject to avoid a media circus or did activity just stop completely?
Was there ever any follow-up on those photos taken at Silver Star Mountain in Washington? I thought the photos (or was there only one?) were fabulous and fascinating but never heard anything more. A picture appeared on Coast a few days ago but there was no additional information. Anyone??
Those photos were all over the web in 2005. They are merely being recycled in 2006.
I also had high hopes for the Pine Ridge situation, which in my opinion was the most promising crypto-related event of the year. I have to agree with those, who are wondering why nothing new has surfaced on that story. Maybe sasquatch got tired of the attention and moved somewhere else?
Another great year for cryptozoology as a whole I think. Across the board there have been thousands of different sightings of cryptids, discoveries of new species, discoreies of previosly presumed extinct species and of course the usual barrow-load of moronic hoaxers! Still, were it not for the guys and girls at sites like Cryptomundo we wouldn’t know the half of it! Huge thanks for all the fascinating news from 2006 guys and I look forward to what further stories/evidence may be unearthed in 2007.
The Navy SEAL story is definitely the most fascinating and intriguing. Hopefully there’ll be some more inside information “leaked out” in 2007? Thanks again for another great list Loren!
The thing I find sad about the large amount of cryptid sightings and new species discoveries is that this is likely happening because we are closing in on their habitats which is bringing us closer to them. Unfortunately, a good year for cryptozoological sightings and new discoveries is probably not such a good year for the animals in question.
Yes, some interesting stories, but it happens all too often: the encounter(s) end and we hear nothing more about it. It happened in Pine Ridge (which may have been one of the most interesting events of the year); and more recently it happened in Wisconsin: the two boys and then the road kill employee. I guess there is nothing to follow up on. Looking back to when I was a younger guy in Michigan, several encounters in the early and mid 70’s in lower Michigan ended in the same way. There would be great write-ups in the papers, lots of excitement in the few days that followed, plans to “scour the countryside” and look for evidence, and then nothing else. Either the creature(s) moved on or nothing happened at all to begin with. I always choose the first one myself. In closing, we usually always hope that next year will be the year (for something). Generally, “something” always does happen! I’m done. Next…
I only got into cryptozoology during the Summer- clicked on a link about the maine mutant (and what a load of rubbish that turned out to be) on AOL that brought me to this website and now I check up for new posts almost every day. Bigfoot has been my main interest, and I must say, only being sixteen years old, I like to retain some hope that the truth about the hundreds of sightings will all be…verified within my life time.
Of course, by 2007 would be even better!
All imagery collected by SEAL teams is classified. Only the Public Information officer can even apply to have it released, and that seldom happens. When it is thermal imagery, it is even more dificult to release.
It’s a little off-topic, but someone really did their homework about the Ray Bradbury story, and the different versions of it.
Thanks, Grant.
Actually, I tend to do a lot of homework (perhaps too much), all the time, regarding the blogs I write for Cryptomundo and for my articles and books. Most of the time, the labor is hidden, merely makes me happy, and serves my need to fact-check and fill in the right level of texture I like in my word paintings.
In the case of Ray Bradbury’s “The Jar,” I figured if I went to the trouble of looking into my memories’ link to the 2006 events, I might as well share the details for others who might also vaguely recall the televised Bradbury story. 🙂