June 16, 2011
The folks at Sanger Paranormal are not paying attention. They put out a news release, we discussed it here earlier, and now this morning AOL News has broken the story in the mass media. But despite Sanger’s desire to keep the imagery secret until their news conference of the 23rd, in a move that is strangely similar to the leaks of the “Georgia Bigfoot” under ice hoax of 2008, Sanger has leaked the face print of the Sasquatch early. It was found on their site, and then quickly removed. But here’s what they posted, which was saved by a Cryptomundo reader, Rick Sheen and forwarded to Cryptomundo:
The image made into a thumbnail photo actually shows the open-mouthed creature’s head, turned to the left from the viewer’s point of view, a bit better:
Meanwhile, thanks to my tip, Lee Spiegel at AOL News interviewed and investigated this unfolding series of events further, and has just released the following article: “Bigfoot Investigators Hope DNA Test Will Confirm Existence Of Two Man-Beasts.” Read the entire AOL account at the link noted, but here’s the section involving how I feel about this developing story:
“One of the cautions I have about finding a nose print or anything on the side of a car is that it could be a homeless person, resulting in people letting their imaginations go wild,” suggested Loren Coleman, owner of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
“Of course, if you take a DNA sample and it comes back near-human or primate, then it would match both Bigfoot and a homeless person,” Coleman told AOL.
But what about the addition of the large footprint near the truck where the window impressions were made?
“A 12-inch footprint is not too exciting, because it could be a human or bears imprinting on top of each other,” Coleman speculated.
“In this case, it might not have been a homeless person, but in wilderness areas, there are other hikers and somebody would’ve naturally put their nose up to the window to look inside the car.”
Gonzalez is holding a news conference on June 23 at the Piccadilly Inn in Fresno, Calif.
“I’ll be presenting video of both windows, pictures and live testimony from the people who shared the event with me. We will also have a forensic expert who took DNA samples,” he said.
Coleman, a long-time investigator of Bigfoot and other legendary creatures that come under the category of cryptozoology, is cautious about the outcome of this kind of news.
“You know, I’d be a fool if I didn’t say that I’m hoping there’s definitive evidence of Bigfoot found. I hope somebody will turn over any evidence to some scientists who could then hold a news conference at a university.
“Then people won’t doubt what’s going on.”
[Interview note: I gave answers about the “homeless person” in discussing imprints in general, without reference to knowing the exact circumstances of the location, to the reporter. Then I was told more unpublished details about the site, and noted the hikers scenario. There are wilderness vagrants, but I am not silly enough to have said there were homeless people up in the wilderness areas near Fresno.]
Furthermore, Sanger Paranormal has released a footprint photo to AOL News, with the notes that it was found near the truck, and measured 12 inches long. Frankly, I think the lower imprint looks like a boot print, and I wonder if the one in the middle of the photo is also a human print. These prints are being associated with the face print, but there is no evidence of a direct connection, at all.
AOL News caption: “This footprint was found over Memorial Day weekend, 2011, near Fresno, Calif. by a group of campers who were on a Bigfoot-hunting expedition. The print, measuring approximately 12 inches, was found near a truck where possible DNA evidence was left behind by more than one Bigfoot creature.”
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.
Filed under Bigfoot, Breaking News, Cryptomundo Exclusive, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoology, Sasquatch