Johor Tracks: Four Years Later
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 17th, 2010
Years gone by allow some reflection, especially after a harsh hoax places the clamps on discussion!
Four years ago, on November 17th, after the “Johor Hominid” photos had been exposed as a hoax in August 2006, new tracks (one above) of an Orang Dalam roaming the jungles of western Malaysia were published.
The faking of the “eyeline” photos earlier in 2006 had not diminished the reality that apparent genuine hairy hominoids still exist in the rainforests of the area, and would continue to surface, now and again, as they had for hundreds of years.
The New Straits Times published details that a Bigfoot researcher named Mansur Poh presented the newspaper with several “unpublished photographs” of “footprints of the creature” found in the “deep jungles of Ulu Sedili in Kota Tinggi.” Mansur reported they were taken by “nature lovers” early in 2006.
Mansur Poh is well-known as a Lesser Adjutants biological researcher, studying birds’ habitat in the coastal areas stretching from Muar to Batu Pahat.
“The pictures of the footprints were taken in Ulu Sedili in Kota Tinggi and Kahang in Kluang this year,” Mansur Poh told the New Straits Times.
As demonstrated in the past, when large trade conferences are in Malaysian locations, “Bigfoot” evidence or activity is often presented. Mansur Poh created a Bigfoot exhibition at the Dewan Che Luan Khor in Kluang, during the 5th Kluang Commerce and Industry Fair which ended on November 19, 2006.
Mansur’s preliminary report “The Identity and Distribution of Bigfoot in Johor” was submitted to Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in October 2006.
The New Straits Times reported:
The research project is supervised by Associate Professor Dr. Azhar Kassim who is with Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Department of Animal Science.
In his report, Mansur said he had interviewed 10 people from Segamat, Mersing, Kota Tinggi and Kluang who claimed they had seen Bigfoot or its footprints in the jungle. One of those interviewed claimed that he saw four huge footprints, measuring 46cm by 28cm, last June [2006]. The footprints, which he said were found at the Ulu Sedili Forest Reserve, were about two metres apart while the depth of each footprint was nearly 8cm.
Dr. Azhar, meanwhile, said he is guiding Mansur in his research to ensure that it is being carried out in a scientific manner.
The local media highlighted the possible existence of Bigfoot early this year following the discovery of footprints in Kota Tinggi last December [2005].
The existence of hairy hominoid footprints for Johor is complex, from the probable rhino tracks (at top, below) to the 1970s’ Orang Dalam tracks at the bottom, from Harold Stephens.
What about the evidence from the 1970s…below, which seems to have produced more consistent footprint finds:
Photo: Close up of the track of the Orang Dalam on a Malaysian sandbar found during Harold Stephens’ expedition.
Click on the above image for fuller-sized version.
The complex nature of the Orang Dalam footprint evidence should not be forgotten in the mess that was the “Johor Hominid” hoax melodrama. The authentic answers may rest with the True Giants material, after all.
True Giants: Is Gigantopithecus Still Alive?, the forthcoming book by Mark A. Hall and Loren Coleman from Anomalist Books, is due out in December 2010.
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.
What were the “eyeline” photos from 2006?