True Giants
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 30th, 2010
Both John Green and Roger Patterson acknowledged there were creatures taller than Sasquatch/Bigfoot out there. They called those giants the “Big Hairy Apes.”
Overnight, I completed the final additions and edits to the manuscript for the long-awaited book, True Giants by Mark A. Hall and Loren Coleman, to be published by Anomalist Books. It has been submitted, and I’ll let you all know when there’s a projected publication date.
The complete title, with the tentative working subtitle, is True Giants: Myth, Legend, Folklore, and Fact.
Harry Trumbore’s illustration (above) is of the type of True Giant named Orang Dalam, found in Malaysia (from The Field Guide of Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates, 2006). They are said to be upwards of 20 feet tall.
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.
20 feet tale given the physical limits of biological scaling is infact possible, King Kong is possible as well, though if he were real he would definitely be pushing limit. His feet would hurt and that would go a long to explain his tendency to fly off the handle at the drop of a banana. If dinosaurs could support their massive bodies then why not giant unknown (possibly still living somewhere) hairy apes?
I especialy love your lead in with the Jolly Green Giant and remember it fondly from your book: BIGFOOT!: The Story of Apes in America. It was a fond memory of a wonderful read and perhaps the first Bigfoot book I fell in love with and have re-read it, time after time. If only you could expand on it or give us another book on Bigfoot! Perhaps a follow up new book that left off where the last book did? Given the recent expanse of information. What do you say Loren? Of course, I’ll be running for the True Giants book.
Thank you, Ulysses. I appreciate your good words about my book, Bigfoot!, which appeared in 2003 from Paraview Pocket at Simon and Schuster.
Of course, I am always ready to do another book on Bigfoot/Sasquatch or Yeti. In the meantime, I am finding a way to get more information out there, and thus shall be happy to share Monsters of New Jersey (with Bruce G. Hallenbeck, from Stackpole), True Giants (with Mark A. Hall, from Anomalist Books), and Bigfoot in Maine (with Michelle Souliere, from Pine Winds Press) with folks in the forthcoming months.
Anyone interested in the “True Giants” should also check out Mark A. Hall’s former published work on the subject. He has previously gone into this topic extensively. Loren, I think it’s absolutely terrific that you and he are working on that project together. I can’t wait to order that book, as after reading Hall’s material I have felt for a long time that there are multiple unknown hairy hominid/pongid entitites extant in North America.
Hall posits that these True Giants are actually the species representative of Gigantopithecus, and I find it an interesting correlation that Loren mentions both John Green and Roger Patterson called these giants the “Big Hairy Apes.” That would fit with what most anthropologists proclaim was the largest ape to ever live (some people think even they may be closer to human than ape).
I have read a lot that consistently talks about finding enormous four-toed tracks in relation to these True Giants. That’s not to say that a fifth toe does not exist, but clearly it does not show in substrate with any consistency.
Bigfoot, on the other hand, is discussed as having five toes with consistency. And, I think that one of the reasons people dismiss bigfoot track finds so often is that to the average person (not hunter/tracker or anthropologist) would see five toed human-looking tracks as human. Bigfoot hides in this way right under our noses, in my opinion.
It is easy to want to dismiss people who talk about seeing a creature 14 feet tall, or twice the size of the already-monstrous 7-foot sasquatch type commonly discussed. But can you imagine the impact of seeing such a creature? If one would feel ridicule at reporting a seven-foot-tall enigma, how about doubling the doubt! Honestly, who would believe those reports. I bet a much larger percentage of people who see those creatures as compared to bigfoot never share it with anyone.
One other characteristic to note: These True Giants are often described as having a “lanky” appearance, as opposed to the “buff” appearance typical of sasquatch reports.
I’ll definitely read it. I’m especially curious about the exploration of what anatomy might permit such a height. Certainly the human-type knee structure is highly prone to difficulties in a person in the 8-foot region, not acceptable in a wild animal that has to handle rough terrain and presumably has the need to run on occasion.
This sounds awesome! I am very much looking forward to it!