Monsters and Myths

The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, or Am Fear Liath Mòr as he seems to be known in his native Scotland, is a ten-foot-tall creature that ‘haunts’ a very high peek in the Cairngorms. He’s been described as both a physical creature and a ghost of sorts, and many a mountain climber has a story including him.

Whether the Fear Liath is a physical creature or not, those that have encountered him have said they were absolutely overcome with fear - sometimes enough so to cause them to stumble through five miles of mountainous fog just to escape his presence.

The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, as we said, is a ten-foot-tall creature that has been described a few different ways. Some say he’s got a barren skin, while others insist he’s covered in a short brown hair. The Encyclopedia Mythica describes him thusly:

“Fear Liath More, or the Grey Man, is a creature said to have inhabited the vicinity of the summit cairn of Ben MacDhui, one of the six great peaks of the Scottish Cairngorm Mountains, for generations. The Grey Man is identified as a presence encountered both physically and psychically. In its physical form, the Grey Man is most often described as quite large and broad shouldered, standing fully erect and being in excess of 10 feet in height, with long waving arms.

“He is also reportedly olive complected or, alternatively, covered with short brown hair. Because of this, some tend to associate him with the Bigfoot or Sasquatch of North American fame, or the Yeti of the Himalayas. Footprints found on the summit of Ben MacDhui do closely resemble the “typical” Bigfoot imprint. However, this association is misleading, as the Grey Man has far more interesting identifying characteristics than his physical description alone.”

From  what we’ve gathered, the chief difference between the Grey man and Bigfoot is that a Bigfoot is generally (we said generally) encountered with your eyes. When you run into the Grey Man you usually don’t see him - but you’re suddenly terrified by him. Encyclopedia Mythica also gives a description of a typical encounter:

“More frequently, the Grey Man is encountered in physical sensation, but without a true physical form. Sensations of this type include vast, dark blurs which obscure the sky, strange crunching noises, echoing footsteps which pursue the listener, an icy feeling in the surrounding atmosphere, as well as a physical feeling of a cold grip on, or brush against, the observer’s flesh. There is also a high pitched humming sound, or the Singing as it is sometimes called, which is associated with Ben MacDhui and the Grey Man.”

The singing sounds pretty spooky. It gets worse - a specific encounter is given on Wikipedia:

“In 1925, the noted climber John Norman Collie recounted a terrifying experience he had endured while alone near the summit of Ben MacDhui some 35 years before. “I began to think I heard something else than merely the noise of my own footsteps. For every few steps I took I heard a crunch, and then another crunch as if someone was walking after me but taking steps three or four times the length of my own.” Collie was unable to make out the source of the noises because of mist, and continued “… [as] the eerie crunch, crunch, sounded behind me, I was seized with terror and took to my heels, staggering blindly among the boulders for four or five miles.””

Here’s another encounter - this one includes gun shots, and was found on Ghostclub.org.uk:

“In 1943 the most sensational account of the Big Grey Man appeared penned by a mountaineer Alexander Tewnion: he claimed he had actually shot at it with a revolver! He described how he had been climbing Ben MacDhui when a thick mist descended so he descended by the Coire Etchachan path. He was disturbed to hear menacing footsteps and recalling Professor Collie’s experience he peered into the mist. A strange shape loomed up in the mist, receded and then came charging towards him. Pulling out his gun he fired three times and then turned and ran reaching Glen Derry in a time I have never bettered since.”

So the Grey Man seems to be physical enough to get shot at, but generally appears as more of a terrified feeling than a face to face meet & greet. Although the beast has never been sighted off-mountain, there are a few other places in this big wonderful world where similar entities are believed to exist - spooking you out as you walk alone through the middle of nowhere.

Wheever they are, we are more than content to just give them their space.

hecklerspray.com/awesome-or-off-putting-the-big-grey-man-of-ben-macdhui/200816114.php

A reported sighting this month of Okanagan Lake’s renowned Ogopogo has sparked curiosity as to whether Cadboro Bay’s mysterious water monster has surfaced recently.

Cadborosaurus willsi, affectionately known as “Caddy,” was last spotted several years ago off the shores of Galiano Island, according to Paul Leblond, a retired University of British Columbia oceanography professor who wrote a book on the Cadborosaurus in 1995.

“The search is still ongoing,” he said.

Leblond said Jason Walton, vice-president of the B.C. Scientific Cryptozoology Club, keeps a video camera at Telegraph Cove monitoring the waters for a hint of the sea serpent.

The woman who claimed she spotted Ogopogo this month said she noticed waves in the water of Okanagan Lake and snapped a photo, thinking it might be the legendary lake creature.

Leblond said his threshold of proof for Caddy sightings are higher than those who documented the Ogopogo sighting. He needs specific details, like a hump, an eye or a head, he said.

“Hell, waves are all over the place,” he said.

The first sighting of the leviathan dates back to 1932, just off Chatham Island. Since then, there have been hundreds of reported sightings among the waves of Cadboro Bay, which sparked the name Cadborosaurus.

People who say they have seen it describe a serpent-like creature with a long neck and horse-like head.

Tammy Voak, who grew up in Oak Bay, says she used to hear stories about a creature lurking in the waters as a kid, but has since dismissed it as Island folklore.

“You’d think you’d see more of it if it was out there,” she said, as she watched her kids play on the only likeness of the Caddy which can be seen now, the 100-foot-long play structure in Gyro Park modelled after the green serpent. “Yeah, you need proof,” piped in her 11-year-old son Dustin.

But Victoria’s version of the Loch Ness monster did carry enough credence to spark a short-lived tourist attraction, Caddy Tours, which operated from 2003 to 2005. The tour’s former operations manager, Eric Hildebrandt, said there was not a sea monster to be found during any of his tours, which also included viewing of other marine wildlife around Discovery Island.

He doubts the serpent exists, but said his riders enjoyed getting lost in a tale of mystery at sea. “There’s not a lot of mystery left in life,” said Hildebrandt. “So for people to believe in something mythical like that, it makes them feel kind of good.”

While Leblond likes the idea of the homegrown, entrancing tale as much the next Islander, he wants scientific proof to either validate or repudiate the murmurings about the monster.

“We hope that eventually it’s going to be cleared up. Either someone is going to catch one or it will be stranded somewhere or someone will get a photograph,” he said. “Until then, it remains a mystery.”

Canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/story.html?id=09058700-ec11-4970-9e34-8cb4963d4b2c

LONDON (AFP) - The okapi, an African animal so elusive that it was once believed to be a mythical unicorn, has been photographed in the wild for the first time, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said Thursday.

Camera traps set by the ZSL and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) captured pictures of the okapi in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The pictures have dispelled fears that the species had died out in more than a decade of civil war.

Dr Noelle Kumpel, ZSL’s Bushmeat and Forests Conservation Programme Manager, said: “To have captured the first-ever photographs of such a charismatic creature is amazing, and particularly special for ZSL given that the species was originally described here over a century ago.

“Okapi are very shy and rare animals, which is why conventional surveys only tend to record droppings and other signs of their presence.”

The okapi, which have a black, giraffe-like tongue and zebra-like stripes on their behind, were last spotted in the Virunga National Park nearly 50 years ago on the west bank of the Semliki River.

The new ZSL survey revealed a previously unknown okapi population on the east side of the river.

Thierry Lusenge, a member of ZSL’s Democratic Republic of Congo survey team, said: “The photographs clearly show the stripes on their rear, which act like unique fingerprints.

“We have already identified three individuals, and further survey work will enable us to estimate population numbers and distribution in and around the park, which is a critical first step in targeting conservation efforts.”

The exact status of the okapi is unknown as civil conflict and poor infrastructure makes access to the forests of DRC difficult.

But ZSL warned that even the newly-discovered okapi population was under threat from poachers.

Okapi meat, reportedly from the Virunga park, is now on sale in the nearby town of Beni and ZSL warned that if hunting continues at the current rate, okapi could become extinct in the park within a few years.

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080910/sc_afp/britaindrcongoanimalwildlife

MonsterQuest’s Yeren (China’s Wildman) episode with Adam Davies, Zhou Gouxing and Jeff Meldrum has now been rescheduled to the 21st of September 2008, at 9 pm Eastern.

The primary organizer and concept promoter for the excursion with Meldrum to China was cryptozoologist Adam Davies, who actually was behind firming up the “Monster Quest” funding for the trip. Davies is the author of a new book (below) on his past trips in search of cryptids. Besides the tome being filled with his funny and interesting insights on daring creature encounters, drinking, and dating, Davies details his remarkable fiscal penny-pinching and travel packages to extend his global adventures. Extreme Expeditions is highly recommended reading for world travelers of the cryptozoological kind or anyone interested in sharing such treks from the comfort of your home.

Davies feels that he and Meldrum brought back good news from their efforts in search of the Yeren.

The evidence from the sightings of the Yeren generally speaks of two types of unknown hominoids being reported - one might be a relict population of orangutan and the other a form of Sasquatch found in Asia - as shown in the diversity of drawings of the Yeren.

Davies returned from China with some new thoughts on what he found going on there. He told me that he had used my and Patrick Huyghe’s field guide and its Harry Trumbore drawings (see at bottom) with eyewitnesses, to determine what was being seen.

He wrote: “Yours and Patrick’s book was very useful indeed.”

Other physical evidence was gathered, as well, including the casts Meldrum mentioned, and hair samples.

Davies was quoted :

The trip was “highly successful” but I am unable to say anymore until the evidence we found is properly analysed. We still are awaiting the results of hair samples.
My view before I went was that Yeren was most likely to be an archaic species of Orang-utan. However, I tend to be much more general now and say it is bipedal, it is an unknown very large primate, but beyond that I cannot say.
Dr. Meldrum was very specific on camera; there was no doubt at all. He much linked it to Sasquatch, and talked about similarities between the two.
I’m looking forward to the other tests, but they will take at least a month to come out.

NBC – Is there a mysterious creature living in a West Hartford, Connecticut reservoir?

Barbara Blanchfield was taking a few snapshots last Friday when something took her by surprise.

The photos she took depict something just below the surface of the water that appears to have spikes.

“When I saw the tail part of it, which looked ancient the way the spikes are, I just said, “Oh my God, I think I got something here,” she said.

Blanchfield showed the photos to officials with the Metropolitan District Commission, who are now working with their wildlife and patrol department to determine what is in the water.

Officials said the reservoir does not hold drinking water, so there is no cause for concern about contamination.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=154705&catid=71

Without the benefit of handlers, publicists or even a stylist, Bigfoot once again wandered into the spotlight.

Even though the half-man, half-ape’s latest comeback in Georgia ended badly, don’t assume we’ve seen the last of him. The creature, or at least the myth, endures, in spite of all the wannabe P.T. Barnums who have tried to cash in on his fame. “It’s amazing to me that people made such a big of deal out of it as they did,” said Bradd Shore, director of the Emory Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life. “But our myths and stories are so populated by the part-man, part-animal, and Bigfoot represents that. It attracts and repels at the same time.” For lay people, the mystery of Sasquatch” as he was known among the Indian tribes of southwest British Columbia ” is too compelling to ignore, said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “In this MapQuested, GPS nation of ours, that there could be something like this out there in the woods is fascinating,” Thompson said.

But in this case the thing out in the woods is also a celebrity, particularly for the children of baby boomers who grew up fearing Bigfoot, the go-to bogeyman of the 1970s. While he never quite reached the A-List, Bigfoot was ubiquitous through much of the decade, appearing in several movies and television shows. He famously battled the “Six-Million Dollar Man” and even starred in a short-lived Saturday morning series (alongside D-lister Wildboy, who has yet to resurface). “There is a nostalgic quality to it,” Thompson said. “The idea of Bigfoot as something that scares us is kind of quaint in this time when there are such real fears out there.

We would be so lucky if Bigfoot was our biggest fear.” To a growing number of enthusiasts, Sasquatch is no myth. The scientific community is generally dismissive of Bigfoot and his believers, though some prominent names have spoken out in his defense, including famed primatologist Jane Goodall. “Well now, you’ll be amazed when I tell you that I’m sure that they exist,” Goodall told National Public Radio in a 2002 interview. “I’ve talked to so many Native Americans who all describe the same sounds, two who have seen them.”

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=134254

I think by now most of us have seen the photos of the so-called Montauk Monster, an unusual carcass that was discovered on the beach of an upscale resort town. Experts were shown the photographs and theories ranged from a shell-less turtle to a slightly decomposed raccoon, although debates rage on about its true nature. Capybara? Chupacabra? We may never know for sure.

The study of and search for new animals is called cryptozoology, and the creatures these scientists pursue and study are dubbed cryptids. While I am no cryptozoologist, I do follow sightings and unusual happenings. Here are my theories on what might be going on out on Montauk:

The creature washed up not far from an animal disease research facility called Plum Island. Could this be some unfortunate experiment gone horribly wrong, or does that only happen in bad sci-fi movies?

Reports indicate that locals have seen these odd creatures scurrying around in the brush in the area and even swimming in the ocean, so another one of these strange creatures is sure to show up on the radar in the future. Or, perhaps the Montauk Monster will join Bigfoot and the Jersey Devil as sometimes-sighted rural myths.

According to the group Endangered Species International, there are currently 784 extinct species of plants and animals. Could it be that Mother Nature is trying to replace them? Could she be fixing the flaws that caused her other creations to die out, bringing forth new and never-before-seen designs?

Maybe this creature has always been around but is very stealthy. Maybe our human presence is finally encroaching enough that we have flushed it out of hiding. Maybe we have wiped out its food supply or are chopping down its habitat. And maybe one day the cryptids will rise up and start fighting back.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/973318/

theories_about_the_montauk_monster.html

It’s scheme’s like this being cooked up by idiot’s that give a bad name to real bigfoot research and sightings.  This kind of stuff only hurt the bigfoot communities who thrive to find the truth whatever that may be and keep honest people with real stories and sightings from coming foward.

HOAX Timeline

2008 – June 10 - Using a fictional date “reconstructed” by Steve Kulls (SK), a Bigfoot body is allegedly discovered by Matt Whitton and Ric or Rick Dyer in northern Georgia. Dyer later tells Steve Kulls on the Internet radio show that it took them a day and a half to carry it out with six men. According to their story, Whitton sat with the body overnight while Dyer went to get the help. Also according to their story, on their way out of the woods, they were followed by several other Bigfoot creatures, which they managed to film. Kulls will introduce the pair to Tom Biscardi, according to blogger D. B. Donlon (DBD) and others.

2008 – June 16 - Someone registers the domain name “bigfoottracker.com” and Steve Kulls claims it is Matt Whitton and Rick Dyers who have created the site.

2008 – June mid-late - Videos begin to appear on YouTube under the name of RDYER678. In one or more of these videos, it is claimed that an associate of theirs killed the Bigfoot with a 30.06. This person is not named, but described as “a felon.” (DBD)

2008 – July 3 – Matthew Whitton is wounded in the wrist while allegedly struggling with a robbery suspect in some woods behind a Kroger’s in Clayton County, Georgia, according to Clayton County Daily News and Atlanta television stations.

2008 - July 4-5 – Whitton is given heroic media coverage and placed on medical leave by the Clayton County Police Department.

2008 - July 9 - Whitton states on a YouTube video that they’ve recovered a Bigfoot “corpse.” Whitton is released from hospital after being shot. (SK)

2008 – July – mid month - Videos continue to be posted on YouTube. Many of these videos begin to have a derogatory slant in regard to other Bigfoot researchers. (DBD) Matt Moneymaker, Loren Coleman, and Jeff Meldrum are frequent targets.

2008 – July 23 - Two news stories appear in the Clayton County Daily News about the alleged body. Also on this day, Whitton and Dyer hold a press conference for local media, trying to drum up interest in their story. (DBD)

2008 - July 25 – Steve Kulls issues a “challenge” to Whitton and Dyer to come on his Internet radio show. (SK)

2008 – July 28 - Rick Dyer appears on Steve Kulls’ radio show. During the show, he gives a description of the body that includes a height of eight feet, eight inches, and the fact that, if you were to shave the creature and put a hat on it, you would not be able to distinguish it from a human being. During the show, Dyer says the pair would welcome only three Bigfoot researchers to their location — Steve Kulls, Tom Biscardi, and Chris Harper. Dyer says that the evidence they have will be revealed on September 1, 2008. Dyer asks Kulls to call him. Dyer asks who is Tom Biscardi. ?Kulls puts Biscardi in contact with Dyer and Whitton. (DBD, SK)

2008 - July 29 – Kulls calls and thanks Dyer for being on his radio show. Biscardi tells Kulls that Dyer stated they sold the “corpse” to the National Enquirer. (SK)

2008 - July 30 - Kulls finds out that Whitton and Dyer did not sell the “body” to National Enquirer, and an attorney mentioned on the radio show knows nothing of a Bigfoot body. Biscardi calls me and tells me Dyer and Whitton want him to deal with the body exclusively. Both Whitton and Dyer appear on Biscardi’s separate Internet radio show. (SK)

2008 - July 31 - Kulls calls Biscardi’s Searching for Bigfoot (SFB) VP Bob (“JavaBob”) Schmalzbach and he tells him that he thinks this is a con. He needs to talk to Biscardi. JavaBob tells Kulls to call him. (SK)

2008 -August 1 – Allegedly the date on which Biscardi flies to Georgia to obtain the tissue sample for DNA testing. (DBD)

Kulls says he calls Biscardi to tell him of some revealing information about Dyer and that Kulls believes indicates he is a “con.” Biscardi says, Kulls reports, that he’ll get to the bottom of it. Biscardi asks Kulls to write an interim contract for obtaining the body or something from Whitton and Dyer. (SK, DBD)

The words “for entertainment perposes (sic) only” are noticed for the first time on the site. At about this time, videos begin disappearing from the YouTube site. (DBD)

2008 - August 2 - Biscardi calls Kulls and says that he was “Right there when the DNA was cut from the body.” States to Kulls: “This thing has incredibly thick skin” (SK)

Biscardi reveals later that he did not extract the sample from the body on this date, as he at first implied. Instead, he says later that Whitton and Dyer meet him in an “Atlanta hotel lobby” and hand him the sample. (Media reports)

There is a video up on the YouTube site briefly that talks of Biscardi taking the DNA sample, but it is soon removed. (DBD)

2008 - August 4 – Kulls says the contract he authored for Biscardi states Kulls is the introductory party and thus his only involvement. The tissue sample for DNA testing is being hand delivered to Dr. Curt Nelson. (SK)

Steve Kulls announces on his radio show that there is a “gag order” on the news of the Bigfoot body, so that he cannot talk about it. (DBD)

2008 - August 9 - Biscardi told Kulls that the next day Biscardi would be taking measurements, and taking pictures. (SK) (These statements seem less that truthful, later.)

2008 - August 10 - Biscardi describes the body to Kulls, telling him about the eyes, the teeth, and genitalia. ? (SK)

Biscardi calls many different people, around the country, for the first time, excitedly telling of having seen the body, and claiming this is a real “body.” Says the feet show it is a humanlike being, not an apelike creature. (LC)

2008 -August 11 - Biscardi forwards Kulls an email from Dr. Curt Nelson stating the DNA amplification size was consistent with human/ape and was going to be sequenced. ?(SK)

Dyer (and Whitton?) post a YouTube video with a flash of a black and white image of the “body in the box,” picture of Biscardi near the freezer, and text noting they are working with Biscardi now. Dyer and Whitton claim to have passed DNA on to Biscardi.

The screen capture of this image is posted at Cryptomundo, as a “leaked photo” of the “body.” The YouTube video is withdrawn later when it is realized the image is recognized as the alleged body.

2008 - August 12 – Biscardi calls Loren Coleman, and emails color photograph of body in the box, for embargoed release on Friday, August 15. Then Biscardi sends the press release, which Cryptomundo posts as it was noted for broad release. Loren Coleman expresses “skeptical optimism” in hopes perhaps he can share a photograph and make it more available for analysis for more analysis. Others express optimism. (LC, DBD)

After receiving complaints from Biscardi that Coleman or others might be the source of leaks of the photo, Coleman calls Biscardi, to tell him that, indeed, it is Barrows and Biscardi who are the source of the leaks through their own website. Coleman informs Biscardi that he is in the process of writing a blog that will post the photo to the Cryptomundo website immediately, because Biscardi’s own organization has prematurely released it themselves. Coleman posts the “body in a box” and prepared enlargements and enhancements at 9:29 pm Eastern, and the hits increase into the millions shortly.

Within minutes, Cryptomundo readers (e.g. “Ryan Thrash”) sends evidence of the costume by Chuck Jarman, which is the source of the “body” in the box. That information is posted by 9:40 pm Eastern, but because the site is crashing so often, few see the revisions immediately.

Also Tuesday, William Parcher on the JREF forum (at first without identifying the maker of the costume), Matt Moneymaker on the BFRO forum, and various (anonymous) people at the BFF do post varied exposures of the costume as keys to the hoax pour in. Overnight, Loren Coleman appears on Coast to Coast AM to express caution about this developing story because of the history of Biscardi and the costume info.

2008 - August 13 – The national media ignores the costume developments, instead going ahead with the interest in the Friday news conference. Biscardi goes on the morning Fox News, showing the “body in a box” photo, and promising the host she can be the first one to go “touch the body” next week.

Kulls says he is given a picture of the alleged corpse for the first time. Biscardi asks Kulls why “would [he] drop 50 large if this wasn’t the real thing; I saw it.” ? (SK)

2008 - August 14 – Kulls says he wasn’t shown comparisons of pictures to costume, until this date, two days after they appeared. Kulls says he relates this to Biscardi, who says he saw it and says that “it’s not a costume; it’s the real thing.” When Kulls hears the “corpse” is in transport, he buys his plane ticket. ? (SK)

2008 - August 14 - William Wald Lett Jr. of Eaton, Indiana, says he met Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer in the Clayton County (GA) Justice Center parking lot. The two men signed a “transfer release agreement” to sell the frozen remains of Bigfoot. Lett said he handed over $50,000 in cash. Lett said he then followed the two men to a house on nearby Poston Road, where another person was “standing guard” over a freezer that held the alleged remains. Lett said the freezer containing a frozen, furry “carcass”, which weighed almost a ton, was loaded onto a trailer towed by his GMC Yukon Denali. Lett and Biscardi associates then drove it back to Indiana. (Court documents, AJC)

2008 – August 15 – “Bigfoot Friday” Biscardi, Whitton, and Dyer hold a press conference in Palo Alto, California. The DNA results that are “released” and “read” by Biscardi are inconclusive and confusing, while the two pictures released do not show anything compelling either. Biscardi is abrupt and confrontational with the media, at one point saying that he wanted to get, as much money as possible and saying Jeff Meldrum “wasn’t an anthropologist.” (LC, DBD)

Whitton talks more than Dyer, and says that Biscardi is now in possession of the body. Whitton describes how they came across “corpse” (which is different that two earlier stories). Whitton says he was never interested in Bigfoot, (which conflicts with early storytelling about how wanted to hunt Bigfoot as a kid). Biscardi states he touched it, smelled it, and felt it in the midst of other statements, which turn out to be mistruths. (CNN, BFRO, DBD, LC)

Kulls arrives at the Indianapolis airport at 4:10PM EST. Kulls is driven to location in Indiana, outside of Muncie in a rural community. There are no televisions, however he sees a few snippets of Whitton on a computer from his appearance at the press conference. (SK)

Whitton and Dyer appear on MSNBC at around 8:50 pm Eastern on “Countdown” and say about the same things they had said at the noon Pacific Time news conference. Dyer mentions that he wants to get as much money as possible from “the Bigfoot body.”

The general reaction of the media, the press, and the blogs, as the night wears on, is skeptical and they are insulted by Biscardi’s behavior at the press conference. Most members of the media thought they were going to be presented with proof of Bigfoot, not blurry photos, stories, and DNA results stating that human and opossum tissue had been proven found.

2008 - August 16 – In Indiana, through the use of heaters, the ice around the “body” melts to where Kulls takes a hair sample, burns it and it balls up like as an artificial fiber might. (Kulls, AJC)

Johnson, Biscardi’s son, and JavaBob begin to speed-thaw the ice using a salamander or turbo heater, and eventually pull a rubber foot out. Biscardi is called, told about the find, and Kulls describes him as unusually calm about it. (SK)

Biscardi allegedly calls Kulls (two of the crew and investor are not present at the time) and he allegedly tells Kulls that he wants to fill the freezer up with water, freeze it, and release it back to Whitton & Dyer. Kulls recalls that Biscardi said that then Whitton and Dyer would make a statement that the public pressure was too much on them and they took their body back. Biscardi would then place a gag order on it, and never speak of it again. Kulls says he staunchly objects and would not participate in it. ?? (SK)

Next, Kulls says he talks with Whitton to return the money. Whitton states they don’t have it and they only want to deal with Biscardi. Biscardi calls Kulls back and claims that Whitton & Dyer will sign a promissory note and a confession the next morning before they leave for home. Kulls says he draws up the documents. (SK)

2008 - August 17 - Whitton and Dyer left before their scheduled meeting with Biscardi. Biscardi wants press there to expose it as a hoax, but no one in the press wants to let him on the air. Kulls remains in Indiana, and is asked to prepare a statement. (SK)

2008 - August 18 - Bob Schmalzbach revises the Biscardi-Kulls joint statement, and removes many of the separation items in the statement.

Kulls’ Squatchdetective Radio promises an “important statement,” and keeps listeners waiting for him announce the hoax at 10:10 PM. He times it to be co-broadcast with the footage of the rubber feet and costume being thawed out of the ice being broadcast by a local Fox News television station. Kulls is evasive in his answers, and his connection to Biscardi. The phone-in listeners are not happy with Kulls, Biscardi, Whitton, and Dyer.

Kulls says he was doing the live-feed while in the presence of Biscardi’s son and others in Biscardi’s crew. He says, “If I agreed on the lying at that point it could have risked me physical harm.” (SK)

2008 - August 18 - Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer appear on WSB-TV and admit their roles in the hoax.

2008 - August 19 - Matt Whitton, 28, is fired after six years with the department because of his involvement in the hoax, police Chief Jeff Turner says. Dyer, 31, worked at three state prisons, according to Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council records. However, he now drives a truck for Big Foot Towing Co. and sells used cars over the Internet.

2008 - August 19 - Morning news on Fox and other media outlets broadcast the “costume” from the ice footage, and/or tell of the hoax.

2008 - August 20 - Whitton and Dyer state that Biscardi and Kulls coached them. Kulls issues a statement denying the coaching, and coming clean about the above July-August involvements. Kulls says he never met them and has not been to Georgia this year. (YouTube, SK)

2008 - August 21 - Kulls appears on Fox and Friends at 6:50 am Eastern and reveals what he calls “the deceptions of Tom Biscardi,” and how he believes Biscardi was “complicit in the hoax based upon the DNA email and statements made” to Kulls. (SK)

2008 - August 21 - William Wald Lett Jr. of Eaton, Indiana, files a formal legal complaint with Clayton County, Georgia, police. Lett said he brokered and videotaped the transaction on behalf of Tom Biscardi, who promised Lett that he’d repay the loan at 50 percent interest, $75,000 due within 90 days. Lett said he has tried without success to contact Whitton and Dyer to get his money back. (AJC)

The timeline was constructed from various files, including the timelines found in the media, blogs, and forums, including from the BFRO, BFF, D. B. Donlon, Steve Kulls, and Cryptomundo.

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/hoax-tl-08/

British and U.S. scientists claim they have evidence that the sea extended
into Loch Ness at two points in history:  after the Ice Age in Europe
(125,000 years ago) and 12,800 years ago.  A geologist working with a
research team in 2001 noticed the clay on the anchor of their boat looked
different from other deposits found in the same part of the Loch.  Carbon
dating and amino-acid testing on the clay indicated that it contained clams
and sea urchin spines from both 12,800 and 125,000 years ago.

This discovery would tend to lend credence to the theory that large animals
could have become trapped in the Loch as the water receded back to the sea.
Skeptics have traditionally argued that no monster could exist in Loch Ness
because it has always been a body of fresh water.

Source:  The Press and Journal (North Scotland)

abominable snowman

The abominable snowman is one of the “big three” of cryptozoology, along with Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Also known as yetis, these large creatures were first sighted by Westerners in a snowfield in the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet in 1921. Contrary to popular belief, the abominable snowman is not white. Similar to Bigfoot, the creature is described as a large, dark-furred hominoid beast with long, apelike arms. It is highly reclusive but sometimes travels through snowy mountain passes, leaving massive footprints.

Champ

The crowning gem of New England’s cryptid population is the Lake Champlain monster in Vermont. Champ is the most famous of the North American lake monsters and probably the second most famous in the world, trailing only its cousin in Loch Ness and followed closely by Ogopogo of Lake Okanagan in British Columbia. Sightings of the giant, serpentine creature reportedly date back to the early 17th century, but it was most famously photographed by Sandra Mansi in 1977. Some believe Champ and other lake creatures are surviving specimen of the extinct zeuglodon, a primitive whale.

chupacabras

A relatively recent phenomenon in the crypto underworld, these mysterious monsters first appeared in small villages in Puerto Rico in the mid-1990s and quickly spread throughout Mexico. The short, hairy creatures are said to resemble alien kangaroos, with spikes down their backbones and lidless, red eyes. The term literally translates to “goat sucker”—they supposedly use their sharp fangs to drain the blood of goats, chickens and other farm animals.

coelacanth

This large, lobe-finned fish is perhaps cryptozoology’s greatest success story to date. Fossil evidence shows that the bright blue or brownish fish existed some 350 million years ago, but it was long thought to have become extinct at the same time as dinosaurs. In 1938, however, a five-foot, 127-pound, large-scaled blue fish was caught in South Africa. Another “fossil fish” was captured in the 1950s, and yet another appeared in Indonesia in the late 1990s. To cryptozoologists, the coelacanth proves that creatures thought not to exist occasionally pop up for surprise visits. (A drawing of the creature also adorns the International Cryptozoology Museum’s logo.)

giant anaconda

Initially reported by Amazon explorers in the early 20th century, these 45-foot river snakes are one of many cryptid species that are simply giant versions of existing animals. There is also the giant forest hog, giant monkey, giant octopus, giant panda, giant salamander, giant sloth and giant turtle. The giant squid was formerly considered a cryptid—until a real one was captured in Japan in December 2006.

Loch Ness Monster

Nessie, as she is affectionately called, is said to inhabit Loch Ness, Scotland’s largest fresh water body. Of the hundreds of lake monsters that have been sighted around the world, she is by far the most famous. First spotted in 1933, a London surgeon took the most recognized photos of the creature in 1934. Nessie is generally described as a large, humped, finned creature with a long, thin neck and small, horse-like head.

sasquatch

A Canadian journalist coined the term “sasquatch” in 1920 to denote the hairy, apelike beasts purported to roam the woods of British Columbia. It eventually became the umbrella term for all varieties of giant, hairy, elusive hominoid creatures. For the last 50 years, however, Bigfoot has been the more popular name for the king of cryptids. Its massive footprints have turned up in forested areas around North America, especially in the Pacific Northwest. A now-infamous loping Bigfoot was filmed in Bluff Creek, Cali., in 1967.

thunderbird

A common character in Native American folklore, these large, condor-like birds have been sighted in North America throughout recorded history. They are described as dark-colored, gliding birds with white neck feathers and wingspans exceeding 15 feet. Some believe thunderbirds are living specimen of the supposedly extinct Teratorn, which has yielded fossils with wingspans up to 24 feet.

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