Meldrum’s Nickel’s Worth

Posted by: Craig Woolheater on October 21st, 2013

Dr. Jeff Meldrum posted this on Facebook this morning:

Just to add my nickel’s worth, in light of recent conversations with journalists —

My concern is that the results from examination of a single gene from only two hair samples, of potentially questionable origin, would be taken as the final resolution of the yeti question, which is a complex phenomenon. To the sherpas the yeti is the embodiment of the spirit of the mountains. That spirit can be manifested physically in various forms — a bear, a man-like ape, a pilgrim. My examination of footprints attributed to the yeti clearly shows that many are indeed bear tracks. The famous mountaineer Rheinhold Messner developed the thesis that the yeti was a merely a bear, based largely on this ambiguity.

Dr. Syke’s findings are interesting, and reinforce the role of bears in the phenomenon, but they do not conclusively answer the question of whether there is an unrecognized ape species in the Hamalayas. From my field of expertise — footprints — the best evidence for an unrecognized ape species comes from the McNeeley-Cronin biological survey of the Arun Valley. An exceptionally fresh and clear trackway of a bipedal ape was observed and documented. (see attachment depicting my reconstruction of the foot based on the track photos and plaster cast, which was seized at the border). It suggests an arboreal ape with a divergent big toe that clearly inhabits the high forested valleys and occasionally crosses the intervening passes leaving tracks in the snow.

yetiprint1

The “yeti” has only to do with sasquatch in that it may be another relict species of primate, as yet unrecognized by science. Descriptions of sasquatch and their footprints are quite distinct.

yetiprint2

About Craig Woolheater
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.


7 Responses to “Meldrum’s Nickel’s Worth”

  1. William responds:

    I am glad someone as respected and important to this subject as Dr. Meldrum has taken his time to get his stance and this track information out publicly. I must agree that there is a high likelihood that many Yeti sightings may be attributed to this unusual bear, and possibly even some of the Yak attacks reported by the Sherpas.

    However, some of the strange and very scary screams that have been reported by various mountain climbers during expeditions cannot be as easily explained as originating from a bear. Nor can any of the sightings reporting groups of these things walking extensively on two legs.

    It does seem that the Yeti ,if it does still exist is now very rare, as if there were many around, it would seem that pilots would report sightings. But then again, no pilots to my knowledge have reported sitings of this unusual bear either, so perhaps the Yeti (and this extremely rare bear) are mainly nocturnal.

    I wish there would be more exploration of the Himalayas than there is at present. That will be the only way to ever lay this to rest once and for all.

  2. DWA responds:

    To me, Meldrum’s thesis that the Shipton yeti track might represent a mild form of macrodactyly is about as good as I’ve heard, given that the Arun cast looks conceivably near to what a normal foot would look like given the Shipton’s appearance.

    There might not be the volume of reports; but the area’s remoteness, small population; minimal internet and television access; and (relatively) small access by Westerners can account for that. I consider yeti to be equally compelling to sasquatch.

  3. PhotoExpert responds:

    Well said!

  4. lancemoody responds:

    Meldrum uses his own “re-creations” of the footprints above to support his apparently unshakeable Bigfoot faith.

    Looking at the original photos, one can see virtually none of the details that Meldum creates here.

    On the other hand, the BBC show makes an excellent and convincing case that the famous Shipton photos likely show a back into front bear track. Interestingly, it seems that Meldrum did one of these absurd “recreations” on those low detail photos as well.

    How embarrassing but sure to be ignored by the Bigfoot faithful since Meldrum is their only (however tenuous and dubious) link to anything scientific at all.

  5. cryptokellie responds:

    My two cents as a 35+ year professional sculptor is that this cast is one of the best I have ever seen…Oh wait, it’s actually a reconstruction, meaning that it is a footprint sculpture based on Dr. Meldrum’s interpretation of the original footprint which is so indistinct that the general outlines had to been added to the image or there would be no recognizable footprint at all…well, I defer to Dr. Meldrum’s overwhelming expertise and experience and kudos to the very nice footprint sculpt. An anatomist sculptor could extrapolate this footprint into a reasonable full foot sculpture and thereby give a learned projection into the leg mechanics of this creature. I believe that would be a valuable exercise.

  6. DWA responds:

    lancemoody:

    1) Now rants aren’t science, you know that;

    2) I’ll let the BBC’s execrable effort to recreate Patty stand for all such things they do;

    3) If any way the Shipton track can be read adds up to bear, it will be such an odd new species of bear that we might take it for yeti and be done.

    4) Oh, it’s typical for folks with no experience in footprints not to understand the expertise that goes into interpretation. You don’t have an alternative explanation, trust me on that.

  7. DWA responds:

    cryptokellie: I’d agree.

    I know Meldrum has a lot on his plate (and it took a skeptic, doing a stop-slagging-Meldrum turn, to apprise me just how much), but I’m a little surprised not to have heard from him on just that.

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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