November 28, 2012
Posted on Dr. Meldrum’s facebook page:
The press release was frankly premature and unprofessional given the lack of any published reviewed results.It apparently was precipitated by a leak of information that was pubicized. Let’s wait and see what the published results will be and how they are to be INTERPRETED.
BTW — the spokesperson would divulge neither a timeline for publication, nor which journal received the submission. She did however inform us that they were in regular communication (psychic?) with sasquatch, and that they (the sasquatch) were enthusiastic about the study and the press release, and are completely supportive of Melba’s project.
[That being the case, one could ask why one or two of them (the sasquatch) doesn’t just come forward and hold their own press conference.]Don Jeffrey Meldrum
The video interview Jeff speaks of below:
Dr. Ketchum provides a much more reasonable interview for a Houston news program. She acknowledges the prematurity of the announcement (I believe she could have stopped short of discussing her unpublished results, however). She does conclude by saying the publication is anticipated in a matter of weeks not months (we’ve heard that before, but I hope this time it is indeed accurate).
Please don’t get me wrong. I truly hope she has the brass ring. I want very much for her study to be legitimate and significant. To that end I want to see her navigate the publication process properly and successfully!
My criticisms stem from the lack of available substantiation of her interpretation of the mtDNA results and the difficulty I have envisioning a scenario that accounts from what is proposed — a hybridization event 15000 years ago in Eastern Europe that resulted in a population dispersed across North America.
Many people don’t seem to understand the role of a null hypothesis (a working hypothesis). The aim is to attempt to falsify or refute it. The hypothesis that whatever is out there is likely a relict ape, or a relict early hominin (e.g. Paranthropus) appears the most reasonable in light of the substantive objective data (personal subjective experiences by some, notwithstanding). Melba even acknowledges this fact in her interview. If evidence, properly interpreted, overwhelmingly negates the null hypothesis, then we set it aside — simple as that. The notion of “camps” as if they were political parties, has no legitimate place in a scientific endeavor.
I am anxious to see the results — whatever they are!Don Jeffrey 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.
Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Forensic Science, Sasquatch, Television, Videos