Jeff Meldrum Addresses Sierra Kills Rumors
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on January 26th, 2012
Jeff Meldrum posted the following on his facebook page today.
Yesterday, Robert Lindsay posted an item reporting on events associated with the alleged shooting in the Sierras by Justin Smeja. It was in turn picked up by other blogs and several individuals contacted me directly asking for confirmation. The piece is riddled with errors and false insinuations, to say the least. I am very disappointed in the caliber of the journalism. Attached is the text with the erroneous elements highlighted in red. Presently, I am not at liberty to discuss details of my participation during the examination of the scene or the tissue sample provided, due to an NDA with parties involved.
I can say:
There was no “steak” — i.e. no muscle tissue, just a patch of skin and hair.
I was invited to the scene and had permission to bring a dog handler, but the scene was already rendered unsuitable by the activities of those already on site, and the dogs were never deployed.
I never made the statement rendered in quotation marks.
I never enumerated a list of characteristics indicating it was the “real deal” — quite the opposite.
I returned to the lab with a tiny sliver of the salted specimen (1mm x 5mm) with a couple dozen hairs attached. I cannot discuss the details of the analysis of the hair further due to the NDA.
I will say that humans are primates. No primates have underhairs. No human populations adapt to elevation by sprouting underhair.
Also, there are a lot of misconceptions and misrepresentations about my ideas concerning what sasquatch are — more ape-like or more human-like. I don’t appreciate others putting words in my mouth, who don’t have a grasp of the principles involved.
Finally, this just received from Mr. Lindsay at the close of a brief email exchange:
“You have developed an unfriendly tone in this exchange, and that makes it hard to work with you now and certainly in the future. If you develop a positive relationship with me, you receive special consideration in our reporting about you. Just a heads up.”
You be the judge…
~ Jeff Meldrum
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Robert Lindsay has been a key player in hyping this hoaxed event. I believe Jeff Meldrum to be credible and this is all the more reason to see how his words were changed, that directly points into the direction of a hoax.
We all know Lindsay is a jackass…
Why does he feel it necessary to demonstrate it over and over and OVER again?
I think I’ll have to side with Jeff…you keep doing your thing! I respect the work you do and everything you’ve done for the BF cause!
If Robert Lindsay can’t even keep things truthful or or at least accurate, there’s no need to even take him seriously as a researcher.
This whole Sierra shooting thing stinks to high heaven. Yeah, go ahead, prove me wrong…if you can.
Another Bigfoot encounter, this time with actual “kills ” and no evidence. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Nothing like blowing to smithereens, once and for all, something that smelled of a massive school of tuna in a dumpster to begin with.
Such are the risks to a scientist involving himself in an area like this one. Lindsay should restrict future comments to:
Really sorry about the suit, Dr. Meldrum. I’ll pick up the cleaning bill.
What I take from this when you subtract all the red items per Dr. Meldrum is essentially the following:
He was at the site of the alleged Bigfoot killing.
He did observe a piece of hide and actually took a minute sample of it but there was no “steak” as claimed (or at least he did not see one).
Apparently the piece of hide resembled that of a coyote.
He has signed a NDA and cannot say more.
What I take from this is I wonder if a NDA covers fraud? Or does fraud trump any type of NDA which in my opinion it should or else criminals would use a NDA all the time? Any attorneys out there who might know? If a NDA covers fraud than that would be just terrible in this situation. If a NDA does not cover or include fraud there might be a very slim chance that any of this is for real.
So, if the “patch of skin and hair” was from a coyote or other known animal, wouldn’t it have been rejected right off the bat by Ketchum, and if so, why would it still be covered by the NDA, and Meldrum not be allowed to talk about it?
Yeah, I’ve thought about it some more–with all of the sideways information that’s supposedly come out of this (only half paying attention to this particular nonsense, I was getting mixed up on which people belonged to which bunch and so on)…it was fishy to begin with, but the more it drags on, the easier it is to see that this is another Georgia scam…
show us the DNA or go bother somebody else…
“You have developed an unfriendly tone in this exchange, and that makes it hard to work with you now and certainly in the future. If you develop a positive relationship with me, you receive special consideration in our reporting about you. Just a heads up.”
What a jerk! That’s about as unprofessional as it gets. I have to admire Dr. Meldrum for his patience, as well as his courage in taking on the boobs and the flakes in his quest to get to the truth. We are very fortunate to have the good doctor doing actual science in this quest. We need more like him, but I can’t say I blame anyone of his stature for giving the field a pass.
Actually, after the Georgia hoax, the Russian “expedition ” that Jeff went on, and these new weirdo’s etc., I’m amazed that he still believes Bigfoot is real.
Apparently after his examination of tons of footprints and the PG film none of this shakes him-makes one think huh?
Personally, when I watch the PG film I see a gorilla from the waist up and a powerful bipedal human-LIKE something from the waist down. Let’s summarize some attributes of the film and typical reports:
Very flat face with large brow ridge and sloping forehead, very short forward jutting neck, very long arms, hair cover and patterning very much like a chimp on the arms and like a silver back gorilla on the back. Doesn’t look very human to me.
It just looks like a version of ape that is meant to travel over rocky, steep terrain- thus the bipedal walk is efficient in most cases probably…A very nicely designed creature in the ape line.
Also; the sounds that are most commonly associated with these things-howls-(like a howler monkey on steroids), screeches-like chimps and Gorillas…
Stinks-like Gorillas when in distress give off a bad musky smell.
Eats plants and occasional meat-like chimps.
Throws stuff when territory is infringed upon-chimps do this too…
Said to charge people-like Gorillas “bluff charge”
So, Why not an ape?
Isn’t the ape/not-ape discussion sort of putting the wagon before the horse at this point?
We’re on the verge of possibly having physical and peer-reviewed evidence of a creature that hasn’t been officially identified yet. Bickering over the presumed ‘mixology’ of this cryptid just strikes me as pointless. I get the sense that Meldrum believes this as well. RL is trying to write a narrative that if the Ketchum study points to human that all of Meldrum’s previous work is bunk. I don’t see that. Meldrum probably doesn’t see it that way.
So, one must either grovel for inclusion in Lindsay’s good graces or forever be relegated to the ranks of the “unfriendly”, and thus not given the super secret decoder ring.
I admire Dr. Meldrum. I find his approach to Bigfoot research both calm and rational.
Maybe Smeja was right the first time; he shot a bear.
@oldphilosphoer: Smeja would have to be an idiot to mistake a mother bear and her cubs as bigfoot or else on some sort of medication. Although I have heard of an idiot from the city who once shot someone’s goat and tried to check it in as a spike buck whitetail deer, in Washington County, Maryland! So I guess anything is possible. At any rate it seems the BF Community has a funny mixture of people, such as the classy Dr. Meldrum, Loren Coleman, Dr. Bindernagel, John Green, etc. and then the seedier sort like the Biscardis, Lindsays, etc. Then you also have the middle of the road folks. like Bobo, Cliff, Moneymaker, etc. So it is what it is folks. We must take the good with the bad, but be thankful for the classy folks we do have involved in this subject.
I love this quotation from Dr. Meldrum, “I am very disappointed in the caliber of the journalism.” If this is journalism, I think this Lindsay character must have learned his trade off the back of a matchbook!
Either Lindsay is lying or Meldrum is lying.
Who knows?
Don’t simply assume that Lindsay must be the liar because Meldrum is more ‘established’ and ‘classy’
It silly to dismiss the idea that a Bigfoot cant have guard hairs. That is making assumptions and is not ‘scientific’.
R. Lindsay is a blogger. the title of his blog is, “If I am not making you mad I am not doing my job.”
He is performing what he promises, and in this case a detour from the typical subjects of his blog.
I am surprised Dr. Meldrum made any response at all. Why? Makes no sense to me if indeed the information is totally inaccurate, because total junk false information does fall by the way side and pretty quick and responding validates so much of what Lindsay has been writing.
For me, Dr. Meldrum’s response, and the many, many, vile responses to Lindsay’s blog, give steam to the many complaints I have heard from respected (who defines that?) Bigfoot Investigators whose data says Bigfoots are more human than ape. In the next sentence they often cite Dr. Meldrum as the biggest problem for the state of Bigfoot understanding.
So, there are very strong opinions out there that Dr. Meldrum’s bias and/or conservatism has been a barrier to many because he does control the credibility and exposure of so many amateurs. But, you won’t hear them too often, or too publicly, and now I think perhaps the reasons those cited to me may be true.
There is nothing sacred about an education and nothing inherently evil about fringe bloggers. This is today and the reality of a communicating connected populous with the ability to speak out without permission.
Perhaps why the tower of Babel was destroyed!
Lots of valid comments here. I especially like and agree with this:
“Torosaurus Preservation Society responds:
January 27th, 2012 at 12:57 am
Isn’t the ape/not-ape discussion sort of putting the wagon before the horse at this point?
We’re on the verge of possibly having physical and peer-reviewed evidence of a creature that hasn’t been officially identified yet. Bickering over the presumed ‘mixology’ of this cryptid just strikes me as pointless. I get the sense that Meldrum believes this as well. RL is trying to write a narrative that if the Ketchum study points to human that all of Meldrum’s previous work is bunk. I don’t see that. Meldrum probably doesn’t see it that way.”
That seemed to be the jist of it.
What is interesting is that this reviled blogger gets so much traction.
I visit the blog for the Bigfoot news, I can’t help it.
Sadly, I researched a lot of his claims, some I am intimate with personally. It is not all garbage.
Inflammatory yes, but interesting how that works. Each raising of the anger bar brings more players out talking.
The truth is, the players themselves, or defectors, have provided most of the information.
Lindsay provides the colorful commentary: his blog, his way. He is not trying to appear balanced or unbiased, a constraint Dr. Meldrum does have (might explain the rabid comments at another anon site…an outlet for his frustrated supporters all bound by secrecy).
We have been told by various players to be ashamed of being online following this. Really? It makes me want to know more…
Has anyone watched Parnassuss in the Bigfoot Forums?
The guy, an erudite, but snarky diehard Skeptic, writes more inflammatory and derogatory things than Lindsay and has fans there! So, is it just style? Maybe not. Maybe, it’s that long ugly history of Bigfoot thuggery. There is just no other word for it.
If one is public in any fashion, you are a fair target for those types.
The best policy for those such as Meldrum, or Ketchum in my mind? Don’t respond, it’s that simple, at least until the paper is out.
LOL, now they have drawn Dr. Meldrum into this hogpile of a wreck. Is there no one sacred?
If Dr. Meldrum is wise, he will stay far away from this nightmare as he can. It appears as if Mr. Lindsay stirs hornets’ nests just for the hell of it.
Yeah I noticed it to…”drug in the hogpile” good description
Dr, Meldrum wasn’t smart apparently, because he shot off a response, after not responding to Lindsay’s inquiries prior to printing (according to Lindsay) and revealed a private email to the public.
So what is a blogger to do?
Are Professors Sacred?
I can think of very little sacred to most in this world today.
For me it is truth, love, compassion, beauty.
Those are sacred for me and anyone who tries to embody that gets my support. No one hits 100%. I don’t.
Truth comes first in a situation like this, for me.
At first I thought the blog was reporting a hoax – the Sierra Kills.
I still don’t know, but it’s 6 months later and it seems Dr. Meldrum went to the site…
What Lindsay is doing….it’s ugly isn’t it? Is he ugly for writing about these under the surface arguments and jockeying, or the people for doing?
I think Dr. Meldrum has earned great respect for his work on relic hominoids including his trip to explore the so called sierra killing reality. I also think it was quite reasonable for him to issue a disclaimer to Lindsay’s thin on fact, fat on fiction blog. On analysis though isn’t Meldrum’s disclaimer a bit confusing and not necessarily helpful to his cause? Would he perhaps have been wiser to limit his reply to an unqualified rejection of Lindsay’s blog?
Up till now it may have been correct to state no primates have underhair and if Dr. Meldrum can state this confidently including sasquatch, is this part of new information he has, not yet in the public domain if so other ideas like Mtdna must be looked at for sasquatches cold adaptation. I cannot wait to find out along with all the other news that appears to be whizzing about behind closed shutters!
Its damn shame that this guy took a shot at a Bigfoot who was waving its arms and then turn around and shoot a CHILD!! Since this may be real, I think that criminal charges should be filed and a lawsuit for wrongful death should be filed also. I feel as if I and the rest of us have been robbed from these shootings and we all want to see justice served.