Case of “Mike” Solved: “He Was Seeing Things”

Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 12th, 2010

Update for July 12th:
Chris Noel has removed his updates, giving in to a request from a radio station host.

I agree with the editorial comment posted by Cherlyn Gardner Strong, in the Tucson Citizen, regarding this turn of events:

“I support the research community at large, yet I also support the media. When status updates reported by the media are mysteriously removed in favor of sensationalism, I do take offense.”

Posted earlier (on July 11th), with original quotations intact:

The case of the “breaking news” discovery of a Bigfoot has turned a corner, and the results are what we predicted in our interim analysis, noting that holes were developing. Did no one investigate the psychological well-being of the eyewitness from day one, or did the initial “investigators” (who seemed to only be media types) merely take the man at his word?

Impossible Visits Christopher Noel has produced the following report, posted for the world to read on Facebook:

A very capable researcher [on July 10, made a visit to] confirm “Mike’s” claims. He has thermal cameras…

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that he is able to document the situation without disturbing the visitation, or “habituation,” that may be occurring.

But later the reality settled in…

Updates Man with Sasquatch Behind his House: UPDATE.
My colleague has been able to determine that “Mike” was simply seeing things. “Mike” himself came to realize this during the course of the night on-site, when the “creatures” did not materialize before the thermal cameras. His initial account was compelling, and persuasively articulated, so I think the responsible follow-up was performed.

Yes, this outcome is disappointing, but let’s look at it, also, as good news: It restores Sasquatch, for us, to its true nature, which is NOT to set up camp night after night in someone’s backyard, allowing him to come near them. If this were their MO, the species would not have been able to survive alongside us for eons, at least not as an autonomous creature not dominated by Homo sapiens.

I’m only glad that we–meaning the research community at large, as represented by this one investigator–were able to lay the story to rest before its impact in the media was able to spiral further out of control and do greater harm, in the popular imagination, to our field, a field that hardly needs this.

Here is a short version of the video showing the Sasquatch behind the woodpile, in East Texas. I post it now to mark a contrast with “Mike’s” account. This species is MUCH more cautious than the figments that appeared in his urban yard.

One might want to say this has become an urban yarn.

Loren Coleman 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.


19 Responses to “Case of “Mike” Solved: “He Was Seeing Things””

  1. RWRidley responds:

    As I suspected, but there is still one question left unanswered. What about the picture the private investigator took? Was the PI Biscardi?

  2. Ragnar responds:

    The motion in the East TX video looks to me more like a cat tail (or other animal tail) twitching than a bigfoot’s left arm.

  3. alanrb responds:

    That thermal cam image looks a lot like a squirrel or mink exploring the edge of a board.

  4. geekomancer responds:

    Unless he was imagining the PI, too…

  5. RWRidley responds:

    geekomancer:

    Mike didn’t even know about the PI. That was the radio host’s revelation last week. He sent a private investigator to check up on Mike and the guy supposedly sat out in the patch of woods at 3:00 AM and snapped a picture of five (I think) Sasquatches or silhouettes of Sasquatches. He also heard a grunt.

  6. Ragnar responds:

    RWRidley:

    Where’s the picture?

  7. organelle responds:

    I doubt all of this. I want to her from the original sources before I make any sort of decision. Everyone else appears to be grandstanding. Many people writing about this have clearly not even listened to the entire interview.

  8. Steleheart responds:

    That video Image looks more like a Puma

  9. Lesley responds:

    The report here seems to have been removed from the facebook site and replaced with this:

    I have been asked to withold my update of the “Man with Sasquatch Behind his House” until after Monday night’s broadcast of “Overnight AM.” 9 PM CST/10 PM EST.

  10. RWRidley responds:

    Ragnar:

    That’s my question. It kind of comes off as Biscardi-esque on the hosts part. Not saying that’s the case, but claiming there’s a photo and never producing it seems untoward, especially since it’s clear there was nothing in the man’s backyard.

  11. alcalde responds:

    Organelle, I’m confused – do you doubt “Mike’s” story, or are you saying that you stand by “Mike” and doubting the people who have investigated and debunked it? I think you mean the latter, but I don’t see how listening to the interview makes the story any more true. An interview is just a story, while here we have people who actually went there and investigated first-hand and didn’t find anything tangible in contrast to the claims in the interview.

  12. Loren Coleman responds:

    Chris Noel has removed his updates, giving in to a request from a radio station host.

    I agree with the editorial comment posted by Cherlyn Gardner Strong, in the Tucson Citizen, regarding this turn of events:

    “I support the research community at large, yet I also support the media. When status updates reported by the media are mysteriously removed in favor of sensationalism, I do take offense.”

  13. tropicalwolf responds:

    I am glad this farce was exposed quickly instead of dragging on for weeks….

  14. lonewolfnan responds:

    After watching the film,it is amazing the effect of modern-day medication on what we perceive.

  15. organelle responds:

    @alcalde: I was simply saying I wanted to hear from the original sources, because there were many confusing side-stories, and it was apparent to me that many people writing about this or critiquing it had not actually listened to the interview completely, which seems a bit strange (except that the host is tough to bear for more than a few seconds at a time and the commercials are abysmal).

  16. shownuff responds:

    my comment is solely on the radio interview. i dont do that whole facebook crap or myspace “BS”. So with that being said. i will make this comment. The Old man sounded honest. He even said his Sister was sick and suffered from dementia. They grilled him pretty well. It wasnt no FBI investigation but it was pretty good. BY the end of the interview the BFRO dude was going over to the house and giving the old man a thermal camera. It makes me laugh how people think they know everything there is to know about these Tall hairy ape looking beings. All of a sudden everyone is a Pro at everything. Just take this for what it is. If its true then people who ridicule will feel a little salty. If its another Hoax then who cares. Did we forget that we dont need anyone to believe if Sassies are real or not. Everyone has reported seeing something or someone. People will always think we are crazy for believing in things others dont. Now im not saying any human being cant have an opinion but let this all just go down first. I like the story and respect Mr. Coleman for posting this. A true pioneer. Alot of people are just fans of Crypto creatures. We dont want go hunting. i’ll leave that to the pros. I like the stories.

  17. alexmac responds:

    Did the elderly gent claiming to see these ‘creatures’ outside his house suffer cataracts?
    If so, a possible case of Charles Bonnet Syndrome?

  18. terry the censor responds:

    Regarding the thermal imaging, I asked on youtube if the “hand” could be a rodent, maybe a ferret. The poster of course said, “To me, the arm doesn’t look like a ferret; one can see the fingers cupping the end of the board.”
    I’ll grant him that, “one” can see they’re fingers — but no one else can.

  19. knightskross responds:

    “My opinion”…. I suspect it’s most likely a family pet (cat) or possibly a Raccoon on top of the shed or whatever the dwelling is behind the tree looking for a way to jump down safely. Plus the daytime angle is not the same as the Night shot angle, It’s close but not the same. I can also tell he over-enhanced the night footage slightly to make it look like those are eyes peering from behind the pile. If you look closely you can see another animal behind the supposed eyes of Sasquatch between 1:17 – 1:23 of the video., Looks like another cat to me watching the other cat on the roof. anyway thanks Mr. Coleman… Best wishes

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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