Boston Rob Takes on Bigfoot & Mothman

According to a new press release, there is going to be a new, short, television series coming in the fall of 2006. Here’s the release and my commentary. – LC

Sci Fi Channel Announces New Program Will Explore Bigfoot, Mothman, and Other “Controversial” Topics

Pasadena, Calif. — July 13, 2006 — SCI FI Investigates is a new SCI FI Channel series that explores the sweeping and eclectic mysteries and legends that pervade our world. Produced in a partnership with NBC News Productions, this six-part, one-hour weekly series is a real-life X-Files, aggressively exploring the unexplained. Investigations are led by an array of subject-specific authorities including, as was previously announced, Survivor and Amazing Race alumnus and resident cynic Rob Mariano.

Mariano’s fellow SCI FI Investigates teammates include, forensic expert Deborah Dobrydney, scientist Dr. Bill Doleman and author/historian Richard Dolan. Mariano is the resident “jack of all trades,” offering pragmatic, resourceful input on a variety of investigations.

[Dr. William H. Doleman contributes as the project leader to the book Roswell Dig Diaries, Richard M. Dolan is the author of UFOs and the National Security State, and Deborah Dobrydney appears to have a background in psychology but is a relatively unknown. Where are the zoological, natural history, or physical anthropology “experts”? The team seems heavily-oriented to UFOs. Of course, I totally agree with “Boston Rob’s” choice of a major league baseball team!- LC]

[In an earlier April 2006 press release, the Sci Fi Channel mentioned the following as the show’s line-up: “Survivor and Amazing Race alumnus Rob Mariano is joining the ‘SCI FI Investigates’ team, which also includes an array of subject-specific authorities including forensic expert Lisa Van Camp, tech wiz John Greenwald (actually this should be correctly spelled “Greenewald”), scientist Dr. Bill Doleman and journalist Len Cannon. Mariano will be the resident “jack of all trades,” offering pragmatic, resourceful input on a variety of investigations.” I do wonder if the membership has changed, as well as Mariano move into a more cynical approach? BTW, John Greenewald, Jr. is the author of Beyond UFO Secrecy, thus reinforcing my notions that the Roswell/UFO experts are the one that are mostly being mentioned. – LC]

Capitalizing on the experience and resources of NBC News Productions, the series and its team of investigators will seek out new evidence by using the latest forensic technology to reveal fresh perspectives on world-renowned mysteries.

Today, Thomas Vitale, SCI FI Channel Senior Vice President of Programming and Original Movies, has announced the first group of topics the SCI FI Investigates team will be examining when the series premieres in the fall. They are:

Bigfoot: New sightings are making news and SCI FI Investigates does whatever it takes to secure legitimate evidence of the legendary creature’s existence.

Mothman: A real-life nightmare that made headlines around the world, recent sightings of a terrifying winged apparition, known as the Mothman, takes SCI FI Investigates deep into the mountains of West Virginia.

[Actually, most Mothman investigations happen in the Ohio River town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, not in the mountains of Appalachia, of course. – LC]

Paranormal Hotspots: As hubs for such uncommon occurrences as UFO sightings, cattle mutilations and unexplained paranormal activity, Dulce, New Mexico and Sedona, Arizona are quite unique. SCI FI Investigates gets to the root of the disturbances that have put these cities on the paranormal map.

Roswell Revisited: 2006 marks the 60th anniversary of the alleged crash of an alien spacecraft in Roswell, New Mexico. SCI FI Investigates revisits this controversial location as startling new evidence has recently surfaced.

[Memo to NBC News Production: Get some new batteries for that calculator. LOL. The Roswell crash supposedly happened in July 1947, which won’t be 60 years ago until 2007. – LC]

The Afterlife: What happens at the moment of death? Evidence has suggested that the human consciousness can function independent of the body. Our team members explore altered states (sensory depravation, past life regression, etc.) in an effort to find the ultimate truth.

Voodoo: There is more to Voodoo than tales of dolls and pins. To learn the truth about this religion, the SCI FI Investigates team heads to New Orleans to experience its practices first hand.

NBC News Productions is an in-house production unit serving NBC News, NBC’s Entertainment Division and all of the NBC-owned cable channels. Recent productions include Biography of the Year, a People Magazine People of the Year special and the seven-hour Greatest American with Matt Lauer special. News Productions has also done three documentaries for SCI FI Channel: a two-hour special Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets with Lester Holt, Countdown to Doomsday with Matt Lauer, and Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Secrets, with Natalie Morales. In addition, the in-house production group oversees a DVD division that works closely with Universal to produce bonus material included in new DVD releases.

SCI FI Channel is a television network where “what if” is what’s on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site www.scifi.com and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies.

The above is a press release from Sci Fi. The bracketed comments are by me, Loren Coleman of Cryptomundo. Disclaimer: “Sci Fi Investigates” was to fly me to Point Pleasant to be interviewed for the program in July 2006, but there appears to be some technical difficulties developing. Their or my trip to West Virginia has been delayed.

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.

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