Georgia Hoax: The Lighter Side
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 19th, 2008
Let us journey to the lighter side of considering the Bigfoot carcass hoax case for a few moment. I know, I know, you think the story is already full of its own humor. But wait, this is a fertile field that is waiting to be plowed.
First a suggestion for future YouTubers wanting to make your own melodrama from the now widely available videos of the Georgia gentlemen’s and the Bigfoot hunter’s news conference.v
Looking for background visuals of the rural north Georgia area where Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer, two guys from the Atlanta suburbs of Clayton County, said they stumbled over a Bigfoot carcass?
You have to search no further than the 1972 movie, Deliverance. I have been informed that their Bigfoot (hoax) carcass came from the same rural countryside.
I am really surprised that no one has developed a comedic movie yet of the Georgia hoax episode, with dueling banjos being used in the audiotrack. Soon, perhaps?
Meanwhile, you knew it won’t be long before the jokes would begin to pour in, as with this item about Bigfoot being an opossum.
Or these YouTube videos:
My money is on Burt Reynolds playing Tom Biscardi in the future movie about the Georgia Gorilla hoax!
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.
Loren, I am rolling on the floor laughing right now. I had no idea you’d found my video on YouTube entitled “Message From Sasquatch- Me Not Dead”, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that you had posted a link here on Cryptomundo. I hope you got as good a laugh viewing it as I did while making it.
-Lonewolf 9390-
I really want the Cohen Brothers to make a movie about this.
Hello there.
Well, the only thing I have to say after watching this thing unfold over the last few weeks is that I feel conned. Not by the gentlemen from Georgia, but by you Mr. Coleman.
You see, my belief in Bigfoot has always been rooted in the personal conviction that there’s more to the world we live in than meets the eye. Bear in mind my chances of ever seeing one are dim to say the least. I don’t live in the US, the odds of ever going to the US, then go hiking in the woods and finally coming across the mythic Bigfoot are definitely not in my favor.
So in order to back belief with facts I, like many others around the globe on these modern days, chose to read the words of the experts in the field. “Loren Coleman” is one of the names which stood out, as much as names do in the so often mocked cryptozoology field (one can only wonder why), as one worth of credit.
Bear in mind I can make my own assumptions and mind about stuff, and the first thing which sprung to mind when I first read about the body in Georgia right here on Cryptomundo was “HOAX” (in block capitals).
I was one of the people who urged legal measures should be taken against the now called “Georgia Gentlemen” if all this proved to be indeed a hoax as it now has.
I was prepared for a hoax if it came, my “shields were up” if you like it, but when Loren Coleman comes forward in a public website/blog saying, and I quote: “I feel, in all honesty, this, indeed, may be the real deal, and I say this carefully after reviewing information that has been shared privately with me. I cannot say more yet. But people will be very surprised. ~ Loren Coleman” I, like many as the comments had shown, let my guard down and started to hope only to be confronted now by posts here on Cryptomundo which, in other words, say “well I didn’t really say so”.
Well, I also firmly believe in taking sides. You either back something up or not, there’s no standing on the wall here, nor is it excusable to argue a part was being played in order to be allowed access to the pertinent material as the photos in question back then (when the “part” was palyed) surfaced all over the web anyway. It does show a lot about one’s character though.
Tom Biscardi isn’t a person to be believed in? Maybe as his past history shows. There’s even the saying which goes “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” isn’t it? But now, at least to my eyes, Loren Coleman lost credibility too and from now on I will certainly take all his words with a serious pinch of salt while at the same time urging others to do the same.
And as far as theories go maybe the guys were doing all of this for the Bushnell camera prize. Who knows? We might find out tomorrow. But one doesn’t have to read to deeply into the rules to find out, if that’s their intend, they’re disqualified as implied by the rules.
The “bonus category” is so described: BONUS CATEGORY: For all you jokers out there – we’re giving away an additional Bushnell Trail Scout Pro camera for your best attempt to cheat Bushnell out of their $1,000,000 prize. So go grab your gorilla suit and head to the nearest woodlot. Just don’t get mistaken for a bear*. So in order to qualify you should try to “cheat Bushnell out of their $ 1,000,000 prize” and how one does that? By submitting a picture which complies to the regulations of said “contest” but that turns out to be a fraud (and a pretty good one according to the same rules).
Well, said picture would have to comply to the following rule:
RULES: Bushnell will offer a winner $1,000,000 (payable in a 40-year annuity of $25,000 per year) if a participant can provide an unaltered photograph/video, verified and substantiated by a panel of independent scientific experts, approved and assigned by Bushnell, as the evidence required to prove a live Sasquatch/Bigfoot/Yeti exists. Photo or video must be taken with a Trail/Deer Camera. A Trail/Deer Camera is defined, for this Sweepstakes, as any camera designed/sold for the purpose of being attached to a tree or other object to automatically capture images of passing wildlife. Either day or night, still or video, color, or black and white. The Sasquatch/Bigfoot/Yeti must be alive at the time the photograph/video was taken. Entries must be in jpeg format, un-retouched, unaltered and not changed in anyway, or it will be disqualified. No old historical or legendary photos or video will be allowed (Patterson-Gimlin Video, photos of footprints, casts of footprints in photos, Sasquatch artifacts or the like).
It seems clear to me that no matter what the guys from Georgia and Tom Biscardi did, their photos or publicity stunts haven’t, so far, do not meet the pertinent criteria. One because they didn’t show photographs of a live animal, two because the photos shown weren’t taken in the wild nor with a trail/deer camera and third because the photos released have been digitally manipulated.
One other reason is that all the “circus” created by the “Georgia Gentlemen” and Mr. Biscardi hardly qualify to the other norms pertinent to the sweepstakes. It doesn’t take much legal knowledge to realize that and I’m sure all they’ve done is definitely not worth a Bushnell Trail Scout Pro camera (which is the appropriate prize for the “Bonus Category”).
In the end I feel there’s very little to laugh about nor is there a lighter side to it. All this has only led to one thing, to have cryptozoology smeared at the world’s eyes once more. And you Mr. Coleman.
Gereth, I think you are far off on your ideas here. Mr. Coleman only reported what he knew and what was shared with him at the time. In a matter of mere hours he quickly realized the whole thing was full of red flags, as stated in a follow up posting. In no way would Mr. Coleman ever purposefully do anything to smear cryptozoology or con anyone. I think you need to reanalyze your thoughts and put everything into perspective. I’m sure I’m not the only one that will stand up and support Loren.
As far as the Bushnell contest, it’s obvious they were not trying to win and did not follow any of the guidelines set forth for the contest. This was not their intention.
The lighter side? Yes, hopefully we can all start to laugh about this and the videos posted above are quite hilarious.
The brighter side? Maybe some people who were not familiar with cryptozoology now are and maybe some will take notice of the cause of this site and other sites to support real and true evidence in the field of cryptozoology. Also, hopefully Biscardi will be out of the picture now for good in this field.
I assure you that the evidence in any future “findings” will be held up to critical analysis before any of this type of hoopla ever happens again. That is unless others decide to post their findings on youtube and those who do are on their own.
The last video is my favorite in this post, pretty funny.
I believe that a police officer shouldnt take part in hoaxes even harmless ones like this Georgia Bigfoot thing! Its just not right, to claim the have found the next scientific break through! Say what you want laugh it off if u can but in the end Cryptozoology is the only thing being laughed at!
Those last two were REALLY funny!!
“Me not dead!”
GO BIGFOOT!!!