Eyes on Johor: New Drawing Linked to French Illusion
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 1st, 2006
Interestingly, the day after Cryptomundo filed an update here on the void in the Johor Bigfoot photo situation, Sean Ang posted yet another drawing from the alleged photographs. My commentary on this new material follows an introduction of what has newly appeared.
Part of what is being said follows:
The above is a sketch based on Photograph labelled as JH002: Jogi. Both Photograph JH002 and JH003 belong to the same individual, probably a young adult female hominin. Whereas photograph JH001: Joman is a photograph of a full body of an adult male hominin, both JH002 and JH003 are closeup of the upper half of the female hominin. Compared with the Yeti de Bourganeuf photograph, obviously the photos are crystal sharp. JH002 is the clearest photo thus far, as we could even see the pupil. An interesting note from this photo is the prominent blood vessels. From a distance it looks as if Jogi suffered from sub-conjuctival haemorrhage.
Sean Ang apparently does not realize that the "Yeti de Bourganeuf" is a created illusion, in imitation of the Minnesota Iceman. Why should it matter how clear a photograph of a fake hairy hominid is compared to those of the “Johor Hominid”? The “Yeti de Bourganeuf” trickery was admitted by the creators, done to honor Bernard Heuvelmans and his dealing with the Minnesota Iceman. It is a sculpture by artist Emannuel Casteels Janssen, and was manufactured to showcase Janssen’s skill.
My friend and associate from France, Michel Raynal wrote of this:
In 1997, what looked like a new version of the affair of the frozen man (this cadaver of a frozen hairy man shown in the US fairs, which Bernard Heuvelmans was able to study in 1968) occurred… in France ! It was indeed a hoax, and amusingly, our Belgish friends of the ABEPAR (which publishes the journal Cryptozoologia) are (involuntarily) responsible. Emmanuel Janssens Casteels, animal sculptor and a collaborator of the magazine, relates in the June to August 1998 issue of Cryptozoologia that two friends of his have helped people who wanted to make a giant copy of Bernard Heuvelmans’s frozen man: "In fact, it was a sculpture made with sponge rubber on which hairs of horse tail have been pasted. The eyes have been simply bought from a provider specialized in taxidermy."
It is a shame that so little cryptozoological and hominological knowledge appears to be within the grasp of Vincent Chow’s new assistant.
The "slit" appearance of the pupil has been challenged by various people, to which Sean Ang replied:
I dont think a Flash was used, as I heard that the photographer climb up a tree (3 stories high) to take the pictures. If a flash is used, maybe that could explained why the Female is agitated. The red eye may be conjunctivitis. Or else we have to assume it is something normal. Or Jogi just had fight with Joman and cried? 🙂 Just a food for thought.
Once again, we are given one drawing from the alleged photographs, which does nothing to finalize this case.
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.
Again using a term or name without full knowledge of the meaning. That really may be what sinks this entire thing – inaccuracy
If the photographer was three stories high in a tree, then the angle of the photo/drawing would not be as it appears. A photographer that high in a tree would be aiming DOWN onto his subject. This drawing, allegedly based on a photo, appears to be taken from a straight-on angle by a photographer/drawer on the same plane as the subject.
Why do they keep this up just show us the pic’s and let the world decide. Like I said the other day what a joke this is turning out to be.
I agree with jjames1. The angles are different. Also, from 3 stories high, not much detail would by discernable.
Well, it’s not so much the detail as it is the incorrect angle. A zoom lens could certain provide that level of detail from a distance.
Why bother continuing to show the drawings? We all know the truth by now.
This actually brings to mind a question I’ve had for many years, and have never seen a real answer to. What did ever happen or get decided about the Minnesota Ice Man? As I recall it simply vanished before a real examination could be done. Was there any later sighting or developement?
The fact that this new drawing was released seemingly in direct response to yesterday’s posting is interesting, to say the least.
Loren, as much as we all appreciate following this fascinating story, it may be time to ignore future developments unless those developments involve the release of a photo. It is my fear that covering press releases, sketches, and other tidbits are simply fueling a cruel hoax, whose aim is yet unknown.
This, of course, is your community Loren, and should you and your colleagues continue to follow this story, I will as well continue to read every article. But, without further proof, these little teasers seem to do nothing but frustrate community members and waste the time of real researchers who could otherwise be concentrating on firmer issues. (don’t worry, I’ll take my soap box home now 🙂 )
I have to agree as well. In fact the whole thing is starting to remind me of a Biscardi tale. Sorry but that is my opinion.
I just wanted to note that when I said “these little teasers…” I was referring to the releases from the Johor Hominid team, not the articles on Cryptomundo!
Having watched this discussion over a period of months now (at times with unwarranted enthusiasm), I agree with Mysteriousness. Put up or let’s all shut up. Where do they go with this then….if its a hoax…and the stench is growing…then let’s remove the reinforcement we are giving them. If its somehow for “real” our efforts don’t seem to be expediting the photo release anyway….
I wonder if Vincent Chow and Sean Ang are following in the footsteps of Frank Hansen?
So how fast do you think they’d show these photos if Cryptomundo boycotted any further information coming from the Johor folks?
Cryptomundo now only infrequently notes what is happening there, just enough to keep you informed.
oldbutnotstupid Says:
Why bother continuing to show the drawings? We all know the truth by now.
WHOOP! There it is! They’re in too deep in this stupid deception, and can’t figure a way out. For THEM to cease publishing drawings, or anything at all, would be a start.
Just a suggestion.
Actually I wouldn’t call it linked to the French Illusion. I think I might be at fault for the “link”, considering I had been sending images of various apes, and ape like creatures, both real and imagined, for Sean to compare with the photos. He was just talking about the quality of the photograph of the French Illusion, as compared to the photos he has been looking at. I agree, the whole thing is starting to smell fishy, but I don’t think there was a “link” between the drawing and the “Yeti de Bourganeuf”, as your article’s title implies.
Lee Murphy, I agree. I have not visited the jh.org site in a while, and I don’t plan to either. I do plan to boycott the site as I have found it to be a waste of time.
I will however continue to check Cryptomundo on a daily basis for Crypto-stories, info, fun, and breaking news.
Thanks Loren, for keeping us informed.
I’m still convinced that Sean Ang is not intentionally deceiving anyone. He may be the victim of a hoax, but he’s an unwitting victim, if he is. That being said, yes, I still think it’s foolish of him to continue to release information in this manner.
jjames1, I agree…the whole thing has a shady quality to it, but I think that Sean means well, and would be the most victimized of all if this turns out to be a hoax. The rest of us will just shrug and say “I knew it”, but he has his neck stuck out pretty far.
now, I’m no expert of the larger primates, but I just looked at a picture of a gorilla’s eyes. With glare on its lenses, it looked as though their eyes are similiar to ours, not slitted like a cat’s. Then again we don’t know if these creatures are nocturnal. I just find it interesting that all the other drawings (if I remember right) the creature had eyes where either the pupil was round like ours or the eyes were too dark to make out any differences between pupil and iris. Suddenly the photos are clear enough to tell? I dunno. I really love the way loren does make these available, but I am also greatful that, as he put it, “Cryptomundo now only infrequently notes what is happening there, just enough to keep you informed.” I know of some sites that will just throw out anything to have new stories. Keep it up loren.
I hope I don’t hurt any sensibilities around here, but I’ve always thought this Johor business is a hoax. I mean, do you really think that someone who discovers an entire bigfoot community and takes cristal clear pictures of the creatures would not release them immediately? Or disclose the place where the animals are, at least to a group of select scientists who can verify his claims? It would be the discovery of the century!
The “Yeti de Bourganeuf” allusion is just another nail in the Johor Bigfoot big coffin. The worst part of it, I’m afraid, is that it will bring further discredit to legitimate field researchers, at least in the eyes of the general public.
“I dont think a Flash was used, as I heard that the photographer climb up a tree (3 stories high) to take the pictures. If a flash is used, maybe that could explained why the Female is agitated.”
First of all, Sean Ang is certainly no photography expert, and we can’t rely on his opinions to reach any kind of conclusion about the photos. That remark he made is a clear sign of his lack of photography knowledge. Like a couple of you have mentioned correctly, the angle of the shot indicates that either the photographer was in a position level with the creature or, if he’s in a three-storey-high tree, some distance away, using a zoom lens. Now, assuming he was really up a tree as claimed, he would have to be quite a distance away, which would mean the use of a flash would have been (a)ineffective at all (b)impossible to cause such pupil reaction, especially when the creature is looking away as is obvious in the sketch.
Secondly, I have this feeling that Vincent and Sean are both frantically looking for more hard evidence, including the creatures themselves, before they would show the photos. The reason is simple: They have to convince themselves first. As we know, neither of them has actually seen the real thing – only the photos were shown to them. If you were in their shoes, wouldn’t you want to be absolutely sure or risk making a fool of yourself? Of course, Vincent had already made the initial mistake of committing himself with the claim that he has evidence (if I’m not wrong, the photos were mentioned later) of the creatures’ existence. He and Sean are, like I said, probably trying all they can to gather more solid evidence to support this claim.
Interesting, BFRO seems to have removed the link to the Johor web site.
The BFRO link to the Johor Hominid site has just been moved off of the main page to their Malaysia News page.
Loren, great job in getting this continuation of the Johor bigfoot saga. I just dont know, this picture of the eyes of one of the bigfoots it looks like real eyes its a very good sketch it could be credible. This situation i think is driving everyone batty. First its this then its that. To solve this problem Dr.Chow needs to release the pictures. This has gone on long enough.
Ill tell you one thing those eyes must belong to one gigantic bigfoot. The size of the individual i think must be enormous. Could be well over 6ft maybe 9ft just look at the size of the eyes. What do you think Loren?
I have the same question for the Johor naturalists and for Ms. Carter.
When will we see a single, clear picture of Malaysia bigfoot or from Fox, the english-speaking bigfoot?
From these 2 stories in particular I see discussion, drawings, more discussion, and the development of a whole “anthropology” based in Bigfoot, its customs, speech, hunting methods, burial rites, reproductive issues, childcare, paranormal powers, telepathy, religious beliefs.
Please, stop suppositions. They are fiction. They belong to the realm of entertainment stories and mythology.
Until we DO prove something. Scientifically. Then we will know if there’s really a guy lurking in the woods, just trying to make his own business like any other.