Cryptozoologists Confusion: Adeek, Illa, Sis
Posted by: Loren Coleman on September 30th, 2006
As mentioned here, the group the Seekers decided to sell their often-photographed Johor Bigfoot footcast (pictured in situ above and, as frequently recalled, immediately below). I have learned their recent starting bid was $30,000US. That was beyond what most people can afford, and their Malaysian eBay auction ended on September 27th with no bids.
All the "new" news about the cast reminded me that the identity of the woman (above) next to the cast should be tied down. Despite attempts to resolve the question of her name this week, she was misidentified by some informants as Adeek. Her identity is Illa.
As can be seen from photographs below, when these tracks were first found and unveiled at the Seekers’ news conference, three young women associated with the group appeared in several of the photographs, sometimes together, sometimes alone. These three women have been identified by the use of their shortened names Adeek, Illa, and Sis. They frequently wear shirts with these names on them.
Australian tracker Tony Burke stands behind, from left to right, Sis, Adeek, and Illa, in the Johor bush.
But to be concise and clear, please note, the woman with her hand extended, photographed near the cast often seen in the West, the image second from the top of this blog, is Illa, not Adeek.
Illa photograph courtesy of Sean Ang.
Obviously, the attractiveness of these women are part of their celebrity television appeal and comments in the previous blog on this matter demonstrate hormonal awareness in readers here. However, with all due respect, these are women who are fully committed to being researchers of some significance, and culturally they are not as available as some male commenters on Cryptomundo appear to understand.
According to one of my informants, on the trail for the Johor Bigfoot, these "three young women from the Kuala Lumpur Seekers show…routinely carry daggers on stakeouts in the jungle. They have plenty of fans from their television appearances, but they discourage interactions with strange men who are not first vetted by fathers or brothers."
Click on image for full-size version
Click on image for full-size version
Click on image for full-size version
Click on image for full-size version
Illa photograph courtesy of Sean Ang.
This image taken during the February trek shows Sis on the left, Illa on the right, as well as others. The man shown in the orange shirt is the security guard hired by the Mandt Bros production. The individual in the hat is Tony Burke, an Aussie tracker. Photograph courtesy of Jan McGirk, and it may be clicked to enlarge.
Another photograph of Illa courtesy of Jan McGirk, which also may be clicked to enlarge. She is wearing the same tee-shirt all three of the Seekers’ women have on in several Johor Bigfoot cast photos.
The woman in this photograph remains unidentified.
Respectful comments, on-topic, careful of language, are encouraged.
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.
There were several statements in here that gave me a good chuckle, but $30,000? If they showed the picture of the girl holding the track on eBay it could have caused some confusion to if they were purchasing a chunk of plaster or a mail order bride.
What are they looking at on the last picture? It doesn’t look very appealing.
It’s one of those vampire thingies that are taxidermically created souvenirs, we thought, but now are alleged by some to be actual living animals as well.
I can’t help but think as I review the photos for the 4th or 5th time that the US is supposed to be the greatest nation on earth, yet our “seeker” is Leonard Nimoy instead of a group of hot chicks. No fair. I mean, we love ya Spock, but you aren’t going to inspire many teenage boys into becoming cryptozoologists.
I also liked the photo with the guy with the mike. He’s in front of a poster and it makes it appear he has flowing blond hair on top of his hat. A good lesson in interpreting two-dimensional images, I guess.
Very attractive ladies but the plaster cast looks ridiculous and to me it all has a rather contrived feel.
The object being studied in the last photo is a “mummy”. Loren first featured the photo in his Bigfoot vs Mummy post.
Additional details of the “mummy” were given in Loren’s post Johor Bigfoot Interest Evaporates.
The woman in the last pic is a forensic expert. She is cutting some hair from the mummy to get some DNA identification to find whether the mummy is fake or the real stuff. The Seekers group also have done some x-ray on the mummies and it revealed that the mummies contains real bones although some expert speculated that the bones are from common animal like bird or chicken.
U guys can checkout the group website for more info.
Hopefully jjames1 and ned-kogar those enjoying the photos here will catch the warning “…they discourage interactions with strange men who are not first vetted by fathers or brothers.”
A cultural thing perhaps but a wise tradition as well.
Lighten up, boys. Your hormones are showing! Identification of the principals are part of a good investigation. If that means you have to ogle the researchers, then do so, and leave us to go on with the hunt.
Crypto foot, my foot.We need some real CRYPTIDS, not some fake, phony and frauds.
Oh my gosh! The things we are forced to look at as Crypto fans. Sometimes you just have to tough it out.
Next time, I recommend they start the bidding at THREE dollars.
The more I see that cast the more I tend to agree with those who say it looks like a rhino’s track. Which leads me to think it’s value would increase if the proper identifacation were given. Tthe cast of a rare animal’s footprint IS valuable to those who study that rare animal.
The woman in the last photo is a Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (Science University of Malaysia) forensic expert Dr. Zafarina Zainuddin who had agreed to a request by Seekers to run a DNA test on the mummy or jenglot.
Well, they are certainly beautiful women! A welcome distraction from the mundane search for Bigfoot creatures and a welcome asset to any search team!
Well, Sci-Fi dropped the ball on not hiring this team. I’d rather look at them (especially since they are really dedicated to cryptozoology) than “Boston Rob”. Give me a break!
I believe that in this series of posts on the Malaysian Seekers team’s female members, we may be witnessing the birth of a new Fortean discipline: cyphercryptozoology, or, the study and identification of previously unknown cryptozoologists.
I’ll never forget the time I was hiking in the Sierra Nevada and I saw my first cryptozoologist. He must’ve been 5’9″ tall! He (I assume it was a male) was wearing what looked like a photographer’s vest, and he was carrying a videocamera in one hand and a bucket of casting plaster in the other. Unfortunately, he scampered off into the forest before I could get my camera out.
😉
Was that cast being auctioned off for Singapore dollars, per chance?
As much as the cryptozoologists impress me, the cast never did. It looks primate-like only in the most general sense. Rhino? Hoax? I don’t know.