John Kirk on Sasquatch DNA Press Conference
Posted by: John Kirk on October 2nd, 2013
When I saw this footage last night, things leapt out at me without even having to use the analytical parts of my brain.
The first thing I noticed was the very human length of the arms in the bits and pieces of murky footage they adduced as evidence. They are far shorter than those of the sasquatch in the Patterson-Gimlin film and the descriptions by many witness of long arms that hang down.
Just about all the clips show something with sloping shoulders which again flies in the face of the descriptions by witnesses and the PG film creature. It would also seem that the footage shows creatures with some sort of neck which is contrary to the absence of necks in sasquatches remarked upon by those who have had encounters.
The gait of the persons in the Erickson footage shows that they walk like people especially the one shot with night vision from the back. There is none of the knees-bent gait of Patty and her ilk.
What is most galling is that they would use a piece of footage with a Wookie costume that they previously stated would be the best ever piece of close-up footage of a sasquatch. I find this absolutely incredible and did they think that sasquatch researchers and the general public would accept this at face value? To introduce footage of a fictional character with clear partial canid facial features into the mix of an animal that is oft-described as a hominid (as Ketchum herself insists) – maybe pongid – species is so utterly preposterous that I cannot believe they seriously thought that the creature in the footage was a real sasquatch.
I recall Bill Munns talking about this several months ago and again I must completely agree with him that this closely resembles a wookie and not a sasquatch. If you look carefully in the footage the wookie head turns and looks at the camera by using its NECK. When Patty turns to look at Patterson and Gimlin she has to turn her entire shoulder structure as her head is so deeply set on her shoulders that she is unable to turn it very far. Another tell-tale sign that this footage does not appear to be what it claims to be.
In future when we look back to this debacle in the history of sasquatchery, we will remember that our cause was shunted backwards by a group of people who presented less than acceptable material as evidence and made the world wonder about the people who participate in sasquatch research and investigation.
In the wake of this debacle, we need to get back out in the field and obtain evidence that is definitive and clear. It has to be verifiable scientifically and by neutrals that have no connection whatsoever to those submitting the evidence. Nothing less will do.
Now, as others have said here, I await the unveiling of Bryan Sykes’ results and come what may positive or negative, I would welcome them as they would either assist our cause or send us back out to see if it is possible to obtain tangible evidence.
See:
Breaking News: Sasquatch DNA Press Conference in Dallas Today!
More on Sasquatch DNA Press Conference
About John Kirk
One of the founders of the BCSCC, John Kirk has enjoyed a varied and exciting career path. Both a print and broadcast journalist, John Kirk has in recent years been at the forefront of much of the BCSCC’s expeditions, investigations and publishing. John has been particularly interested in the phenomenon of unknown aquatic cryptids around the world and is the author of In the Domain of the Lake Monsters (Key Porter Books, 1998).
In addition to his interest in freshwater cryptids, John has been keenly interested in investigating the possible existence of sasquatch and other bipedal hominids of the world, and in particular, the Yeren of China. John is also chairman of the Crypto Safari organization, which specializes in sending teams of investigators to remote parts of the world to search for animals as yet unidentified by science. John travelled with a Crypto Safari team to Cameroon and northern Republic of Congo to interview witnesses among the Baka pygmies and Bantu bushmen who have sighted a large unknown animal that bears more than a superficial resemblance to a dinosaur.
Since 1996, John Kirk has been editor and publisher of the BCSCC Quarterly which is the flagship publication of the BCSCC. In demand at conferences, seminars, lectures and on television and radio programs, John has spoken all over North America and has appeared in programs on NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, TLC, Discovery, CBC, CTV and the BBC.
In his personal life John spends much time studying the histories of Scottish Clans and is himself the president of the Clan Kirk Society. John is also an avid soccer enthusiast and player.
Agree completely. It was embarrassing to explain this event today.
I am sorry, but those clips they showed are obvious fakes. The one of the face is a Chewbacca head from Star Wars, without question. The short arms, wrong walk. These guys are doing more harm than good.
Not sure if hoaxers, or just extremely inept zealots…
I know that a sample (blood mostly) obtained and DNA tested around 10 years ago was determined to be closely related to orangutan DNA, and orangs are the only known extant members of the genus Pongo. This makes sense as they are also the only genus known to have lived in Eastern and Southeastern Asia.
As for the wookie closeups in the video, one obvious problem with it is the fact that it is just standing around with its mouth open. That is not a natural position for humans or animals. A few species do it to cool down, but that typically involves flattening the tongue as well, making it more visible. Think about all the animals you have seen in the zoo, in the woods, and on TV, and recall if they kept their mouths open like that when not under duress. Pay extra attention to chimps, gorillas, and orangutans. They don’t, and neither do humans.
Animal have their mouths open all the time. Cats and Dogs seldom spend any time with their mouths closed in fact. Facial structure makes this less obvious with cats. A closed mouth on a dog shows concern or puzzlement. I have no argument with your conclusions with any of the above nonsense but If you think a closed mouth is the prevalent human condition, look at people driving around you sometime…the world is loaded with mouth breathers, gapers and slack-jaws. I would gather that primates have a percentage of mouth openness similar to other animals.
I believe that you (along with me and most others here) are reacting to the frozen countenance of the Wookie mask which is most unlike a living animal’s “face”. The lack of feature movement is the dead giveaway. When animals, especially primates, display reactions to surrounding stimuli the facial features all move along with fluidity provided by the musculature underlying them. In fact the human being and other primates have the most muscle networking underlying the face than all other animals. This is due to the enormous importance of visual information being projected by them in terms of social behavior. So while a Bigfoot might indeed walk around with it’s mouth open…the other features (nostrils, cheeks, lips, brows) would be doing their thing as well. An example of incredible life-like masks and effects makeups is on display in the 2001 remake of “Planet Of The Apes”. The features are all moving in unison as in living faces.
I wonder how far away the Millennium Falcon is parked.
kirk is spot on.
the movements arent pg-like.
Well said, John.
I can’t say I’ve read everything on Melba Ketchum, but what I have read seems to suggest that absolutely no real scientists take her seriously. The article on Yahoo.com on her news conference contained scathingly critical comments from Todd R. Disotell, the NYU anthropology professor who has appeared on a number of the TV shows on sasquatch (the Harvard-educated professor with the puzzling Mohawk hairstyle – made me question his credibility to some extent). He seems to think she’s nothing more than a fraud:
“It’s just a joke,” he said. “She is a laughing stock of people that are of a community that are already kind of wacko. This was not reported in any scientific way whatsoever. It’s complete junk science, and then she misinterprets it. She hasn’t published in peer-reviewed papers on this stuff. I don’t know how this got put together,” he said.
How exactly does being a vet qualify one for DNA research? Has anyone looked into that and Ketchum’s qualifications to be doing this research in the first place? I suppose it might be a bit more relevant than, say, a dentist, but what percentage of veterinarians have even one incident of DNA research in their entire careers? It’s got to be less than one percent.
Has Jeff Meldrum rendered any position at all on Ketchum?
By tying her research in with an obvious Chewbaca costume hoax, I think Ketchum has descended into the ranks of quackery.
I don’t understand what inspires these hoaxers don the monkey suits and put their nonsense forth on Youtube. Are their lives really so meaningless without the attention? Do they really think they are that funny? There seem to be a lot more bigfoot hoaxers out there than I would imagine interest in such a sophomoric activity would generate.
Should I win the Powerball (rather unlikely since I do not gamble), I vow to put hundreds of tranquilizer guns out there in the hands of the more serious sasquatch researchers. This would solve the evidence vs. morality dilemma of obtaining a body and even if all these researchers bagged were a couple of clowns in gorilla costumes, at least that would be a benefit. These hoaxers truly would deserve a large dart in their arse followed by sedation and hopefully a harsh headache upon waking.
The fact that Matt Moneymaker believes this footage is an actual Bigfoot further questions the credibility of the BFRO or at least Matt himself. This is clearly a wookie costume and a cheap one at that. I have read hundreds of sasquatch sighting reports and they all describe a broad flat nose and not a little doggy black button nose. If your going to hoax and try to fool others at least get the costume correct. To steal a Star Wars quote from Obi-Wan “who is more foolish the fool or the fool who follows him ??”
Cryptokellie, This site wouldn’t let me respond to your comments on my posting for Smeja. So I will respond here instead. First of all, I will concede my misuse of the term feral. I knew when I used it that is wasn’t exactly fitting, but I’ve seen it used so often by other bigfoot researchers I bowed to the communities lexicon. You are right and I am wrong. Congratulations!
Now, let’s see if I can school you. First of all, I am fully aware of the origin of domesticated dogs and congratulations on your knowledge of the Latin term, as well. Did you know that the brain capacity of a wolf is much greater, proportionally, than a domesticated dog? We have bred out the wild wolf and inserted those characteristics that we wanted. Domesticated dogs are very smart when it comes to the kind of things we wanted them to be smart about.
Also did you know that the average human brain is, on average, ten percent smaller than it was before we became agrarian, a mere few thousand years ago? Does that mean that we are dumber than our hunter gatherer ancestors? Scientists aren’t sure because they really don’t know what part of the brain has decreased in size. Unfortunately, there aren’t any brains sitting in a preserve from ten thousand years ago. Otherwise they could look and see what is missing and what changed.
Now, I have a theory. Keep in mind it is just my own theory and I haven’t such a huge ego that I feel it is infallible. I believe we have lost those parts of the brain that helped us when we were hunter gatherers. Perhaps senses used for the hunt, navigation, risk assessment and so on. I believe that a human from a few thousand years ago had better survival skills, in the wild, than we do now. They were smarter, in the wilderness, than we are now.
I think Bigfoot has a higher capacity for these skills. I also believe they have a very good instinct for risk assessment. They know that we are dangerous and they are very shy because that has provided them with a survival skill necessary for survival in a world filled with homo Sapiens (Latin term).
Now these are just theories that I know you will have fun poking fun at. Do your best, or worst. 🙂
You know, I think I’ve only every seen one Bigfoot, if my impressions are right about the P/G film. I’d love to see input from someone who has seen more than one, and in person. Aside from hearing from that person, I can’t imagine the opinions of those here, me included, and this guy, amount to more than a bucket of warm spit.
Just show this footage next to PG, the fake will make itself obvious.
I really don’t know about the video. I have to admit I expected something different. Although I’ve been very close to them on numerous occasions, I’ve never had a good look at them. I think I may have seen them on four different occasions, but maybe not. They have made their presence known to me and/or us by rock throwing, limb throwing, knocks, trees being pushed over, a commotion in the brush (two weeks ago along with a possible visual) vocalizations such as screams, whoops or imitation of other animals and, I believe I’ve heard chest beating. I’ve also been close enough to hear them talk on a few occasions. I’ve found some prints. I once left apples at one location and two parallel sticks were left in exchange when I went back to see if the apples were taken. By the way, half of these experiences were also witnessed by one or both of my two co-researchers.
I believe the P/G film is legitimate. I just don’t know about these clips. I do think that peer review will eventually tell the story of the DNA analysis. I also have a strong feeling it is legitimate.
Melba Ketchum needs to do just one thing-GO AWAY! This woman has seriously set back what little serious Sasquatch research there was with this egotistical junk science media circus and the more she does this the more ridiculous cryptozoology, already maligned as a pseudoscience and (rightly) suspected of having more cranks than serious researchers, looks.
1) John’ve y’ever thought o’ changin’ y’first name to Captain…y’d get a lo’ o’ hot squatch action if y’did!
2) has anyone considered the possibility the reason this compilation looks so crappy’s because we’re misunderstandin’ it?
Maybe the reason it has the proportions and movements of a man isn’t because it’s someone in a cheapo Halloween Chewbacca suit but because it’s a Bigfoot turnin’ into a man?
In other words could this be the first ever film of a Weresquatch?
3) Personally though it’s perfectly obvious to me what we’re lookin’ at’s the living proof Bingo out the Banana Splits chose the wrong moment to start a new career in the porn industry.
I agree with you about this being a hoax. When I saw this story running while I was at the gym yesterday, I thought it had to be a joke because they kept showing the wookie face and I was like “who doesn’t know that’s Chewbacca?”
In regards to the neck thing, obviously in this case we are looking at faked footage, but I do not think it entirely impossible that you might have some individuals that have better neck control than others. Patty could have been arthritic, who knows? Certainly in humans we see that some people have more neck than others. I’m just saying 🙂
(I wish this site had a reply function -)
So Matt & Co. have hitched their wagon to this falling star?
Doesn’t Cliff post here on occasion? How does he explain away the obvious Star Wars mask?
Becho;
Brain capacity or brain size means nothing. The largest brain of any animal is possessed by the sperm whale. What it actually does with all cerebral material is anybody’s guess, since many dinosaurs of equal of larger size did just fine with a brain less than 1/100th the size. But sperm whales are not writing dictionaries or painting masterpieces or building cites. Mostly because they don’t have to but I’m somewhat sure that you wouldn’t put a sperm whale on the same intellectual with say…yourself. Becho, my boy or girl – no need to school me – I’m in full agreement with your theory of lost capabilities. In fact, it is not a theory but well established that as organisms become more complex either physically or socially, they lose capabilities of all kinds. I’m very positive that Bigfoot, if they exist, possess a high level inherent abilities that are lost to modern human beings. It doesn’t take a PHD to see that an intuitive ability such as risk assessment, as you so correctly mention, is in a very reduced capacity in modern society. In fact people are being schooled and encouraged to take more risks in society now than ever before. The results of poor risk assessment are everywhere I look these days. Risk assessment is based on and guided by the information gleaned from one’s surroundings and with the information that the media, modern humanities primal source of information unfortunately, well – just look at what’s happening…But, that’s for another post.
Me…poke fun? Perish the thought. But I’m old enough to know that a little humor goes a long way. Intelligence is highly overrated and not really a standard for survival in the natural world.