A Bigfoot Gig Reviewed
Posted by: Nick Redfern on April 16th, 2012
Early on Saturday morning, along with Cryptomundo’s very own Craig Woolheater and Lyle Blackburn (pictured) – author of the recently-published, The Beast of Boggy Creek, I headed up to Oklahoma for the Cross Timbers Creature Conference, which was organized by the Western Oklahoma Team of the Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center.
Given that the very location of the conference – the town of Norman, OK – had been hit by a tornado the previous night, we wondered as we headed out of dark, pre-dawn Texas how many people might (or might not!) attend. But, there was no need for concern. Yes, the wind blew and howled all day throughout the outdoor pavilion at Lake Thunderbird State Park. But, I’m very pleased to say, Bigfoot audiences are made of far sterner stuff, and 50 or so people came along to listen to a wide variety of revelations on all-things of a Sasquatch nature.
Jim Whitehead gave a number of presentations that, collectively, demonstrated not only the sheer scale of Bigfoot activity in Oklahoma, but also the long history of the phenomenon in the state, and the many and varied names that the locals give to the animals.
D.W. Lee (of The Legend of the Ozarks) provided a good overview of the work of the MABRC in Oklahoma, and Carl Hartline offered an insightful presentation on the various types of essential equipment needed in the field if you’re going to stand a chance of not just investigating Bigfoot reports, but also of capturing for posterity high-quality imagery and audio.
And Robert Swain was on hand to entertain the audience with his Bigfoot-themed cartoons, LaughSquatch.
I spoke about so-called “Wild Man” reports from ancient England, and also touched upon various Texas-based Bigfoot cases I have investigated over the least decade – including the sightings out at Lake Ray Roberts that I discussed a few days ago.
And Lyle gave an excellent presentation on the infamous creature of Boggy Creek that provided a wealth of information on the history of the affair, the witnesses, and, of course, the movie: The Legend of Boggy Creek.
And then there was Larry Parks, who lectured on Bigfoot vocalizations. This was a presentation that really caught the attention of people, since Larry had a wealth of audio-recordings on-hand of strange screams, howls, growls and much more of a very strange and possibly even monstrous nature from the woods and forests of the United States.
So, in conclusion, the Cross Timbers Creature Conference was a gig well-worth attending, with a lot of data revealed, a great deal of welcome audience interaction and questions, and much more!
About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.
