A Track Is Not A Foot

Today, guest contributor Mark A. Hall, author of books on cryptozoology, the inventor of the concept of True Giants, and the editor of Wonders, shares his thoughts on the Malaysian evidence of four-toed tracks.

I have looked over the record of tracks for True Giants after all these impressions from Malaysia have been published.

We are always learning more about these creatures. We know they have a mammalian limb so a fifth toe was once a part of their limbs, and it still might show up as it appears to be there at the back of these several tracks. In one of the impressions there appears to be a small side extension that could result from something stepped upon at that one spot. So that single cast is not a key indicator of how a foot might be constructed. (That is the much-pictured Joshua Gates imprint.)

The True Giant tracks show four prominent toes and a fifth toe was either not showing or not as obvious in many imprints examined in North America. Of course, I would have liked to have had the budget and the foresight to know which of the scores of tracks were most vital to have examined them in person, but that did not happen and we have to go with the second hand and imperfect record (often a poor visual record) of the North American tracks. When we look for it, there are indications in the past record of a fifth toe appearing on the inside of the foot.

I am sending along a photo (below) from the Corinth, Mississippi, episode where we can see a possible indication of a fifth toe in that location on the foot.

We are looking at populations widely separated geographically so that the position of the fifth toe might be different in the many parts of the world where these giants occur. They seem to be remarkably widespread, as I was indicating in the third edition of Yeti, Bigfoot, and True Giants.

The photos you have marked "Orang Pendek" cause me to caution that it might be misleading when people tack that label on everything that turns up in Sumatra. Much as people have put "Bigfoot" on everything in North America. We have to be ready to make distinctions. And keep learning.

I would prefer to look at these issues over time and see what evidence can be found to support this take on the tracks. But the modern age is not so gentile. I want to share what I know, and these are my preliminary views on the new evidence and how it may well fit in with the known history of True Giants.

The image is a photograph by Lee Ann Taylor that appeared in Tennessee’s Memphis Commercial Appeal for March 23, 1976.

The footprints — nearly 15 inches long and 6 inches wide and most with four toes — were first discovered March 14 along Smith Bridge Road north of US 72.

Since then, more tracks have been reported at two churches and one graveyard on the southern side of the highway 12 miles west of here [Corinth].

Loren Coleman 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.

Email • Facebook • Twitter •