Hair DNA Reveals Monsters' True Identity

[Crabby Kitten]

It seems like there are traces of extinct animals still living and breathing in hidden places in the modern world. Such as this prehistoric cave bear whose hair sample was found. That's a big mystery, scratching under the surface, beneath the Yeti and Bigfoot legends are unknown animals that don't want to be found!!!

When they found so-called Yeti DNA results to be other animals like a horse, what kind of a horse was it?

[Night Walker]

[Night Walker]

When they found so-called Yeti DNA results to be other animals like a horse, what kind of a horse was it?

Shouldn't you be questioning how/why so many people mistook mundane animal hair for that of a legendary creature?

[Myles]

Shouldn't you be questioning how/why so many people mistook mundane animal hair for that of a legendary creature?

That is a great question. Why choose bigfoot over horses, bears, dogs, deer or any known animal.

[Thorvir]

Shouldn't you be questioning how/why so many people mistook mundane animal hair for that of a legendary creature?

Wishful thinking?

[Sakari]

So there you have it folks. Some of the people Sakari knows have never seen or heard bigfoot. Case closed. Caso cerrado. And in related news, I've never seen a duckbilled platypus. And neither has anyone I know. All we've seen are trumped up pictures, probably photoshopped or a hoax. So they are, therefore, a myth. Can you imagine a duck-billed mammal with fur that lays eggs? Preposterous!

Nice way to take a quote out of context.

To help you out, in case you can not read well.

I was replying to people that live in the supposed heart of Bigfoot country believing in bigfoot. ( that I know )

And as well pointed out....Great comparison...

[SSilhouette]

...SSilhouette - no comment about misidentifying desiccation ridges as "dermal ridges" in alleged Bigfoot casts? Do you also think the "Skookum cast" is from Bigfoot too because Prof. Meldrum says so in his Bigfoot book?

I have no reason to believe Dr. Meldrum would risk his career lying about something like that where peers can access and review his findings. It takes a lot of hard work to get a PhD. Not something someone would throw away on a risk like that. So I find him more credible than you, for example.

I know what I heard on that ridge at night. The deep tones, the primate quality along with eerie human undertones, the extreme volume and then the events that followed. Like I said, my dog had never acted that way before or since and was quite used to backcountry camping, backpacking, tracking, bears, moutain lions etc. I've never even seen that dog truly afraid before, let alone whimpering and darting into the bottom of my sleeping bag shivering like a vibrating chair.

Edited July 9, 2014 by SSilhouette

[Myles]

I know what I heard on that ridge at night.

I don't think you do. I think you are making many assumptions.

[Thorvir]

SSilhouette, you can't possible know what you heard that night. You heard noises, unidentified ones, that you are attributing, without any proof, to some sort of primate, with human undertones--which above all else points to a human causing a ruckus. But I don't doubt at all that you did hear something.

[Sakari]

I have no reason to believe Dr. Meldrum would risk his career lying about something like that where peers can access and review his findings. It takes a lot of hard work to get a PhD. Not something someone would throw away on a risk like that. So I find him more credible than you, for example.

I know what I heard on that ridge at night. The deep tones, the primate quality along with eerie human undertones, the extreme volume and then the events that followed. Like I said, my dog had never acted that way before or since and was quite used to backcountry camping, backpacking, tracking, bears, moutain lions etc. I've never even seen that dog truly afraid before, let alone whimpering and darting into the bottom of my sleeping bag shivering like a vibrating chair.

Third time I will try this.

What part of Coos Bay did this happen?

4 miles east, west, north, south?

[+Hammerclaw]

The lamest reason for Bigfoot's existence is "I heard weird noises so it had to be Bigfoot." Then there's the 'fraidycat dog . My German Shep's heart turns to jelly when it catches whiff of a skunk. "My dog was scared to death so it had to be Bigfoot." Lots of things spook dogs. Getting stung on the nose will bring one howling out of the woods. Dogs react to their master's emotions, too.

[Night Walker]

I have no reason to believe Dr. Meldrum would risk his career lying about something like that where peers can access and review his findings. It takes a lot of hard work to get a PhD. Not something someone would throw away on a risk like that. So I find him more credible than you, for example.

I know what I heard on that ridge at night. The deep tones, the primate quality along with eerie human undertones, the extreme volume and then the events that followed. Like I said, my dog had never acted that way before or since and was quite used to backcountry camping, backpacking, tracking, bears, moutain lions etc. I've never even seen that dog truly afraid before, let alone whimpering and darting into the bottom of my sleeping bag shivering like a vibrating chair.

Meldrum is not risking his career or his PhD by rejecting/failing to consider more likely explanations about Bigfoot. It's his (profitable) hobby not his career. Meldrum is simply speculating about Bigfoot - not lying - just like you and most everyone else who "believes" in spite of the evidence/non-evidence. Speculating about what if is half the fun of cryptozoology but it doesn't necessarily equate to what is...

Is it not enough to simply say "I don't know what it was I heard or why my dogs behaved like they did" - which is accurate - instead of relating the incidents to some legendary creature for which there is no tangible evidence (except that which consistently indicates fakery and misidentification)? However, It is way cooler for people to think that they may have encountered Bigfoot (or something similarly mysterious) than to think they are simply mistaken or just don't know what happened. That is apophenia - the human tendency to seek patterns in random information. Bigfoot, then, is a human phenomenon rather than a biological one...

[SSilhouette]

Meldrum is not risking his career or his PhD by rejecting/failing to consider more likely explanations about Bigfoot. It's his (profitable) hobby not his career. Meldrum is simply speculating about Bigfoot - not lying - just like you and most everyone else who "believes" in spite of the evidence/non-evidence. Speculating about what if is half the fun of cryptozoology but it doesn't necessarily equate to what is...

Is it not enough to simply say "I don't know what it was I heard or why my dogs behaved like they did" - which is accurate - instead of relating the incidents to some legendary creature for which there is no tangible evidence (except that which consistently indicates fakery and misidentification)? However, It is way cooler for people to think that they may have encountered Bigfoot (or something similarly mysterious) than to think they are simply mistaken or just don't know what happened. That is apophenia - the human tendency to seek patterns in random information. Bigfoot, then, is a human phenomenon rather than a biological one...

Meldrum most certainly is risking his career. There is enormous pressure among the faculty at universities not to drum loudly for controversial theories. Those who do find their tenure not even saving their butt. There are contracts at most universities where professors agree not to attracted unwanted scorn or professional censure to the institution they work for. If they break those contracts, the university breaks their tenure and out they go, the laughing stock of the scientific community.

And even with all this, he presses on. Apparently there has been enough peer review of his findings that has drawn some unexpected accolades that Dr. Meldrum holds his position and continues with his public airing of his theories and research.

[Sakari]

Apparently there has been enough peer review of his findings ....

Uhm, no.

[+Hammerclaw]

Dr. Meldrum has become to the Bigfoot, "community" what Dr J. Allen Hynek was to the Flying Saucer crowd. That one guy with impeccable scientific credentials to cite for those who don't believe. Straying from the scientific analysis of footprints, hoaxers have attempted to lead him astray from time to time, mistaking his scientific curiosity for credulous naivity. To his credit, they failed. His analysis of footprints and the Patterson film have to be viewed with the caveat that it's not proof that they are real, only his interpretation of the evidence.

Edited July 12, 2014 by John Wesley Boyd

[Night Walker]

Meldrum most certainly is risking his career. There is enormous pressure among the faculty at universities not to drum loudly for controversial theories. Those who do find their tenure not even saving their butt. There are contracts at most universities where professors agree not to attracted unwanted scorn or professional censure to the institution they work for. If they break those contracts, the university breaks their tenure and out they go, the laughing stock of the scientific community.

And even with all this, he presses on. Apparently there has been enough peer review of his findings that has drawn some unexpected accolades that Dr. Meldrum holds his position and continues with his public airing of his theories and research.

False.

Meldrum has a long list of publications and edited volumes - none of which pertain to Bigfoot.

He teaches six courses at Idaho State University - none of which pertains to Bigfoot.

He is a full professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, a professor of the Department of Anthropology, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, and an Affiliate Curator at the Idaho Museum of Natural History - he is not the Professor of Bigfoot.

He does a great deal of academic work in non-Bigfoot related studies as any other professor.

So when Meldrum speculates about Bigfoot it has nothing to do with his institution - he does so as an aside (a hobby) and even personally drums up support from private donors (ie without academic institutional support).

You are welcome to contact Idaho State University for yourself to confirm this is the case. The notion that there is academic pressure "not to drum loudly for controversial theories" is folklore (ie not supported by objective evidence - like Bigfoot)...

[+Hammerclaw]

False.

Meldrum has a long list of publications and edited volumes - none of which pertain to Bigfoot.

He teaches six courses at Idaho State University - none of which pertains to Bigfoot.

He is a full professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, a professor of the Department of Anthropology, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, and an Affiliate Curator at the Idaho Museum of Natural History - he is not the Professor of Bigfoot.

He does a great deal of academic work in non-Bigfoot related studies as any other professor.

So when Meldrum speculates about Bigfoot it has nothing to do with his institution - he does so as an aside (a hobby) and even personally drums up support from private donors (ie without academic institutional support).

You are welcome to contact Idaho State University for yourself to confirm this is the case. The notion that there is academic pressure "not to drum loudly for controversial theories" is folklore (ie not supported by objective evidence - like Bigfoot)...

Exactly. He's a tenured Professor and he indulges himself by giving Bigfoot evidence the serious and professional scientific scrutiny Bigfoot believers have clamored for.

[Sakari]

Exactly. He's a tenured Professor and he indulges himself by giving Bigfoot evidence the serious and professional scientific scrutiny Bigfoot believers have clamored for.

Just because he is a College Professor does not make him an " Expert " on Bigfoot, or any more protected from ignorance then the typical Bigfoot believer.

After all, he supports Todd Standing. That should be enough right there.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Sakari

[SSilhouette]

False.

Meldrum has a long list of publications and edited volumes - none of which pertain to Bigfoot.

He teaches six courses at Idaho State University - none of which pertains to Bigfoot.

He is a full professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, a professor of the Department of Anthropology, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, and an Affiliate Curator at the Idaho Museum of Natural History - he is not the Professor of Bigfoot.

He does a great deal of academic work in non-Bigfoot related studies as any other professor.

So when Meldrum speculates about Bigfoot it has nothing to do with his institution - he does so as an aside (a hobby) and even personally drums up support from private donors (ie without academic institutional support).

You are welcome to contact Idaho State University for yourself to confirm this is the case. The notion that there is academic pressure "not to drum loudly for controversial theories" is folklore (ie not supported by objective evidence - like Bigfoot)...

Yes but their contracts often state that they not engage in activities/hobbies/private endeavors that can bring shame or infamy upon the institution.

[Crabby Kitten]

Shouldn't you be questioning how/why so many people mistook mundane animal hair for that of a legendary creature?

Well the extinct bear isn't a mundane animal. It's a new mystery.

I guess people have seen something.

[Sakari]

Yes but their contracts often state that they not engage in activities/hobbies/private endeavors that can bring shame or infamy upon the institution.

Never heard of that.

Meldrum has nothing to worry about.

(Reuters) - An Idaho scientist shrugging off skeptical fellow scholars in his quest for evidence of Bigfoot has turned his sights skyward, with plans to float a blimp over the U.S. mountain West in search of the mythic, ape-like creature.

Idaho State University has approved the unusual proposal of faculty member Jeffrey Meldrum, an anatomy and anthropology professor ridiculed by some peers for past research of a being whose existence is widely disputed by mainstream science.

Now Meldrum is seeking to raise $300,000-plus in private donations to build the remote-controlled dirigible, equip it with a thermal-imaging camera and send it aloft in hopes of catching an aerial glimpse of Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/05/us-usa-bigfoot-blimp-idUSBRE8A402G20121105

[Night Walker]

Well the extinct bear isn't a mundane animal. It's a new mystery.

I guess people have seen something.

That is true but those two samples came from around the Himalayas (another came back as "serow"). Whether it is some ancient type of polar bear or some type of hybrid it remains exciting news and I look forward to further developments.

Every sample from North America, however, came back as a mundane animal (one sample was artificial and another was plant) despite high confidence levels to the contrary - this is significant as to what is really going on in the World of Bigfoot, is it not?

[Night Walker]

Sequences derived from hair sample nos. 25025 and 25191 had a 100% match with DNA recovered from a Pleistocene fossil more than 40 000 BP of U. maritimus (polar bear) but not to modern examples of the species. Hair sample no. 25025 came from an animal shot by an experienced hunter in Ladakh, India ca 40 years ago who reported that its behaviour was very different from a brown bear Ursus arctos with which he was very familiar. Hair sample no. 25191 was recovered from a high altitude (ca 3500 m) bamboo forest in Bhutan and was identified as a nest of a migyhur, the Bhutanese equivalent of the yeti.

http://rspb.royalsoc...140161.full.pdf

[Night Walker]

The lamest reason for Bigfoot's existence is "I heard weird noises so it had to be Bigfoot."

To be fair - it is actually a good personal reason to believe in Bigfoot and it is one that others can relate to. It is one of those You-had-to-be-there paranormal moments and its actually not as daft as you flippantly put it. Who knows who any of us would have reacted under such conditions... when some nameless FEAR suddenly strikes in the dark...

The Bigfoot experience can be a very powerful thing that may trigger something primal within us - as can any experience with the "unknown". That it is a subjective phenomenon rather than an objective one does not make it any less "real" or intense...

Then there's the 'fraidycat dog . My German Shep's heart turns to jelly when it catches whiff of a skunk... Lots of things spook dogs. Getting stung on the nose will bring one howling out of the woods. Dogs react to their master's emotions, too.

You make some good points here, though...

[Thorvir]

From what I'm seeing, the "hearing" Bigfoot meme that is used now is a fairly recent thing. Seems like everyone is using that now just to justify their experiences. Again, I don't doubt that people do hear something, but always attributing it to Bigfoot without research and critical thinking seems no different than swearing to blurry photos and shaky hand cams.

I've heard strange things in the woods before, I never once though "Bigfoot!" I always chalked it up to ignorance on my part, not knowing what animals could make the sounds that I heard. Or just someone else in the woods making the noises. Too many normal things to take into account before blaming Bigfoot.

Besides, if Bigfoot is so good at hiding from humans*, why then would he start making so much noise in the last few years? Isn't that a bit contradictory?

*...though if you watch TV, he actually seems pretty bad at it--in fact, in some shows, like Finding Bigfoot, they find him every episode! It must be a catch-and-release program.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Hida Akechi