Malaysian Bigfoot Search Continues

In the wake of the dramatic developments that the “johor hominid” photos are a hoax, many have forgotten that the foundation of the Malaysian Bigfoot reports remain intact. Here’s a report from Raymond Goh of the API, a sometimes rival, sometimes cooperative entity of the SPI and Vincent Chow. For the sake of balance, I thought it important to publish these thoughts, with Raymond’s permission, to get some insights into the API’s point of view. – Loren

The sudden turn of events of the Johor hominid case has angered and disappointed many. Touted by a reputed Malaysia Nature Society Advisor Vincent Chow and a palenoanthropologist Sean Ang as probably the most significant and mind shattering discovery, the crypto world was lead into crescendo of high expectations and then downwards spiral into dismay abysses when the photos that show red eyes, breasts and scrotum that supposedly cannot be “faked” turn out to be a hoax after all.

API Raymond ponders over current events and give a updated picture of what is going on in the deep jungles of Johor, Malaysia.

The Bigfoot has its beginning in the aborigines who live in the Johor jungles: The Orang Asli. Most of them descend from the Hoabinhians, stone tool-using hunter-gatherers who occupied the peninsula as early as 11,000 BC. Today they comprise of at least 19 culturally and linguistically distinct groups. In 1999 they numbered about 105,000, less than 0.5% of the Malaysian population.

These Orang Asli have a strange legend to tell. In the long past, the Endau valley was inhabited by a tribe of hairy giants. They were called Hantu Serjarang Gigi because of their huge, widely spaced teeth. These giants were well over eight feet tall and had arms of the size of a man’s leg. The Orang Asli still claims that they still exist, but these days they seem to be rare.

The hantu serjarang gigi, shown here, is another name that the API uses for the Malaysian Bigfoot.

This is an interesting legend as it is known that the Flores people too have similar legends of “small people” before Homo floresiensis was discovered recently.

The part of the wide spacing teeth was intriguing, for Gigantopithecus blacki (a subfamily of Ponginae, of which modern day orangutan also belong), was believed to roam round these region and by their teeth fossils, thought to be a plant eater, eating mainly bamboo and fruits. The teeth fossils were found to have a lot of cavities, most probably due to the high sugar content. Now what is so intriguing is that “Jarang Gigi” is commonly referred to the teeth of an old man who has lost his teeth through old age and decay or a growing kid with milk teeth.

Bigfoot sightings in Malaysia did not just begin late last year. In fact Harold Stephens in the 1970s, had seen huge footprints in the sand along a river bank. There in front of Harold Stephens eyes was huge footprints, big ones, 19 inches by 10 inches. All around the river bank are also found elephant tracks with fresh droppings and numerous tiger tracks. The size of the Bigfoot varies between 6 – 9 feet, hairy but not furry, and red-shot eyes, and give off a strong odour (Source : Harold Stephens’s Return to Adventure Southeast Asia, 2000).

Harold said at that time that Orang Asli were honest people. They are superstitious but they don’t deliberately tell lies. We believe this statement of Orang Asli being honest people still stands true today in the 21st century.

Also according to the Orang Asli historical records, the place Mawai was so named because their forefathers found the Mawas Bigfoot and so named the place after it.

After that, there are some sporadic sightings and even in 1995, the government launched an “Operation Big Foot” at Tanjung Piai forest in South Johor, although there was no results after several days of searching.

Most of the footprints and footcast obtained, however can be explained by either botched elephant prints, rhino prints, or a mixture of boar/cow prints.

Because of the different types of footprints found, it led some party to believe Johor Bigfoot may be of different types.

The increased sightings was attribute to the deforestation that is occurring now at rapid pace in Johor jungles. Most of the sightings came from a closely knit group of Orang Asli of which we are in constant contact and which we have become sort of friends throughout these months of investigations.

These group of Orang Asli are led by their chief Alan, together with Along, Amir, Evan, Bahar and Awang are the main witnesses to the Bigfoot sightings. They often goes deep into the Johor jungles for weeks to collect rattan and other jungle produce. It is during these trips that they saw something Big and something inexplicable.

We have personally interviewed these eyewitness several times, checking their testimonies. We concur with Harold Stephen’s observation that they are truthful, and we truly believe they saw something unusual out there.

Our interviews with the Orang Asli’s eyewitnesses together with explanation of many of the so called Big footprints can be found in our API Malaysia Bigfoot Enigma, which is available online here.

Suddenly in Feb 2006, a society formed only several months ago, the Johor Wildlife Protection Society (JWPS) sprang into the scene with stories of Bigfoot colonies, Bigfoot Eden Garden, and loggers who have telescopic lens to take pictures from 3 m tall tree tops. These colonies are believed to have migrated from Northern Malaysia near the Thai border to Southern Johor, a distance of more than 600 km. The colonies are also believed by this society to follow certain trails, but they always return to a so called Eden Garden whereby fruits are plentiful.

Vincent Chow, I believe also subscribe to following these trails, bound by a triangular area between Mersing (Kahang), Endau Rompin and Panti (Mawai).

As I have said earlier, Vincent Chow is passionate about Bigfoot, in fact too passionate that he take many things in blind faith and attribute them to Bigfoot. The hairs which he found in Kampung Lukut, which is an agricultural farmland, turns out to be human for obvious reasons, yet he attribute it to Homo erectus. The size, footprints and other evidence just did not add up to Homo erectus that even Chinese and other scientists challenge his theory.

Then came the mention of the photographic evidence by JWPS in Feb at a press conference. First they say the photos are locked up in a safe. Then they say someone has offered 170,000 RM for the photos but they refused. Then came this latest mind shattering picture hoax which resulted in a controversy in which Vincent / Sean / JWPS are all disputing where the source of the photos are from.

But Cryto fans, please do not treat the Johor Bigfoot as history just because of this fiasco. Our investigations are still ongoing. We will verify information from our sources, conduct interviews and do investigative research together with other experts. We will keep you informed of updates as and when available. At present, based on current available evidence on hand, we think what the Orang Asli saw might be either a new species of Orangutans, or descandents of the orangutans released by the Johor Sultan more than 30 years ago, or maybe even a newly evolved species from the genus Gigantopithecus.

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.

Email • Facebook • Twitter •