Happy Halloween

I just wanted to say Happy Halloween to all of you out there. It is one of my favorite holidays for sure. Of course, there is a bit of news to report on the Cryptozoology front as well. The Waco Tribune-Herald has a story about Daryl Colyer, a Bigfoot researcher with the Texas Bigfoot Research Center. You will remember Colyer from a story I posted a few days ago about a recent Bigfoot lecture. This article gives a little history about Daryl and his search for Bigfoot in the Texas Forests. It also goes into explaining that the guys that are doing this field work, looking for Bigfoot, are doing it at their own expense. There are no grants for this kind of work. Such is the story with most Bigfoot researchers. I think there needs to be a push for more funding into this research. I am sure there are some large corporations who would like their company name tied to the first actually discovery of a large North-American primate. Now, the $1 million bounty from a few weeks ago was a start, but that fell through. These researchers need big money to look for these creatures. Sure, I know that's easier said than done, but without it, we may never know the truth.

Loren Coleman Article

Through my normal news searches, I found an article on the Southern Illinois website. The article goes a little in-depth with the history of Loren Coleman. Anyone who follows Cryptozoology knows who Loren Coleman is. Loren has written over two dozen books on the subject and has had numerous TV appearances. The article digs a bit into Loren's past, mainly his college days at Southern Illinois University Carbondale(SIUC). It also mentions his recent endeavor with the Wizards Of The Coast and their 'Creature Appreciation Week'. You will remember the Wizards Of The Coast from the short lived $1 million bounty, that was quickly withdrawn. Loren Coleman is one the main reasons why I am so interested in Cryptozoology. Having read a few of his books when I was younger, it drove me to search for the truth when it came to the subject of Cryptozoology. I have spoken with Loren on a few occasions and not only is he a very intelligent man, he is also very down-to-earth and just a really nice guy. Keep up the great work Loren!

A History Of Bigfoot

It seems that Texas is the popular spot lately when it comes to Bigfoot conferences and such. At the College Of The Mainland, in League City Texas there will a lecture this Friday, the 28th of October at 6:30PM. The lecture is entitled, "Bigfoot, Sasquatch at COM". Daryl Colyer, a freelance Bigfoot researcher and Craig Woolheater, director of the Texas Bigfoot Research Center in Dallas, will be presenting the lecture. I actually think the chances of a Bigfoot-type creature existing in Texas are quite reasonable. Texas has a large amount of unpopulated forests, and as people encroach on this habitat, it is not unreasonable to think that they might start running into these creatures more and more. Oklahoma has had quite the surge of sightings in the last several years as well. Could this area of the country surpass the Pacific Northwest as the mecca for Bigfoot sightings? Only time will tell.

$1 Million Reward Retracted

This may come as bad news to some of you out there; It appears that the $1 million dollar bounty, that Loren Coleman announced at the Texas BF Conference last weekend, has been retracted. A Hasbro owned company, The Wizards Of The Coast, was the one who was going to sponsor the bounty. The Wizards of The Coast is mostly known for it's Magic The Gathering games. The bounty was withdrawn due to safety concerns for the people involved and the creatures that may be harmed in the process. The company is sponsoring another photo contest, however the prizes for that are much less than the $1 million originally planned. Here is a quote from the article: Instead, Duel Masters is sponsoring a photo contest that provides a guaranteed first prize of $5,000 for the photo that best perpetuates the mystique surrounding the hunt for the legendary creatures Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster and/or Yeti. A second place prize winner will receive $2,500, and three third place winners will receive $500. More details about the new photo contest will be revealed in a few days on their site. Overall, I still like idea of a photo contest that gets people out there looking. Maybe the $1 million was too much and that is why they decided to pull it. Money can make people do crazy things. When I heard about the reward last week, I was also concerned about the number of inevitable hoaxes that could be passed off as real pictures of Nessie or Bigfoot. Amazing things can be done by digital manipulation these days. All of these hoaxes may have hurt the real search for these creatures in the long run.

Bigfoot Conference News

Well, I am sure that most of you know of the highly publicized Texas Bigfoot Conference over the weekend. The story has been in most news papers and on TV as well. From all appearances, the conference was a huge success. One of the biggest, if not the biggest stories from the conference is Loren Coleman's $1 million bounty. All of the details have not been announced yet, but it appears that the bounty will be paid by a company(not named at this time) for photographic evidence that leads to the safe capture of Bigfoot, Yeti or the Loch Ness Monster. More details will be revealed at the Bates College Symposium on the weekend of Halloween. This is an exciting time for Cryptozoology. We all know how great it would be if this reward led to the capture of one of these creatures. I just hope that if there is a capture, these creatures will be protected and not exploited. It would be a travesty to watch as these creatures were wiped from the earth not long after they were discovered. All in all though, I do hope something comes of this. Stay tuned for more news!

'Jungle Yeti' Evidence

I hope you like the new design and as always, if you have any suggestions about this blog feel free to contact me. Well, now that the main redesign of the Crypto-Blog is done, it's time to start posting again. The BBC website has an article about new evidence of the 'Jungle Yeti' in the jungles of Sumatra. The 'Jungle Yet' or "Orang Pendek" to some is thought to be an upright walking ape of some sort. I suppose it could be described as a smaller version of the American Bigfoot or Sasquatch. The Orang Pendek story is one of the more plausible Cryptids. There have been sightings for nearly 100years now. There have also been many sightings of footprints and scientific examinations done on unknown hair samples found in the Sumatra Jungle that show they came from an unidentified species. The two explorers who made these recent discoveries are planning to write a paper about their findings. If these findings lead to the discovery of an unknown primate in the jungles of Sumatra, that could lend credence to all of the other unknown primate sightings across the world. I will stay with this story and if there any developments, I will post them here.

New Design!

I am currently working on a new design for the Crypto-Blog. Things may be a little wonky for little bit, so bear with me. If you have any comments or suggestions about the new layout, let me know.

Cryptozoology Courses.

For those of you who are interested in taking your knowledge of Cryptozoology to the next level, why not take a Cryptozoology class? That's right, the Florida Keys Community College has an online Cryptozoology course. It is a non-credit course, but you don't have to be enrolled at the college to take the course and since it is online, you can take it from anywhere. The course outline is as follows: Week 1: Course Introduction & Typology Week 2: Animals & The Mind of Man Week 3: Cryptids of Ancient Mesopotamia Week 4: Cryptids of Ancient Egypt Week 5: Cryptids of the Classical World I: Mythology Week 6: Cryptids of the Classical World II: Natural History Week 7: Crypdis of Asia & India Week 8: Cryptids of the European Middle Ages Final Project The courses start on October the 18th. So, click the link and sign up now if you are interested. Thanks to Corey for providing me with this info.

Bigfoot. All in Your Head?

I was reading an article on the Chicago Tribune site and I would like to post a few thoughts on it. The article starts off dealing with some recent Bigfoot sightings in Illinois. Specifically Seneca, IL. However, shortly into the article they bring the skeptics in to say their two cents. No less that one Sociologist and two Psychologists speak in the article. Basically, debunking all of the sightings in the area. One type of a believer is a person really fascinated by something strange, but who typically doesn't have much background in science, or found science hard or boring growing up," Alcock said. "But if they jump on the bandwagon with flying saucers or Bigfoot, they think that they're doing some sort of science. And that in some way they're a `real' scientist at the forefront of trying to make a discovery." This coming from a Psychologist and member of CSICOP. Now, I am not saying there is a Bigfoot or any unknown creature in the Seneca, IL area. What I am saying, is why does mainstream science and the media always treat this subject like it is a mental problem. Basically saying all of these people who have reported sightings are seeing things that aren't there. Why does science treat eye-witness accounts as unreliable info, yet our entire justice system is built on witness testimony? I understand, science needs a physical specimen, a body, but how is that ever going to happen if the sightings and reports continue to be treated as if they are figments of the imagination? What these psychologists and sociologists behind their desks in their plush offices don't realize, is that there is real science going on. There are people out there in the field, looking for these creatures among others and I believe, one day, they will be found. Unfortunately, until then, I fear this close-mindedness will continue.

Reward for Cryptozoological Specimen!

For those of you who always thought about actually going out in the wild and looking for a cryptid, but never thought you had the time, how's this for motivation! At the upcoming Texas Bigfoot Conference, Loren Coleman is going to release details of a $1 million reward to "to encourage the public to assist in the safe capture of a Bigfoot, Yeti, Lake Monster, Sea Serpent, or other cryptozoological specimen". If you can't make the Texas Bigfoot Conference, and are interested, Loren will also be making the announcement at the Bates College Cryptozoology Symposium later this month. For those of you who can't make the convention or symposium, don't fret. As soon as the details about the reward are revealed, you can be sure I will post them right here on this blog. Also, if you are planning on attempting this or know someone who is, I want to hear your stories. Send me your reports and I will post them on this blog. Stay tuned!

Cryptozoology-related Art Exibit

I am sure some of you remember earlier this summer I reported about Jill Miller, the artist who had a 'performance-installation' (camped out) out in the Northern California wilderness waiting for Bigfoot. She had a live video camera feed to her campsite that she was broadcasting over the Internet. Well, Jill is participating in an art exhibit at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. The title of the exhibit is Cryptozoology: Out Of Time Place Scale. You can see more about that exhibit here. Loren Coleman will also be giving a keynote address at the symposium there on October 28-30. Loren has also recently contacted me, and seems interested in my blog here. Loren has agreed to keep in touch with me as his travels permit and hopefully, I can secure an exclusive interview with him sometime in the near future. Stay tuned!

Some Crypto-News

Well, it seems that the photos of the giant squid last week has brought Cryptozoology to the mainstream news again. There is an article about the Giant Squid discovery last week and it also has some of the history of the field of Cryptozoology and various other Cryptozoological discoveries and theories. This article is somewhat similiar to first article and mentions some of the same things. This article, like the first one, is a typical mainstream news article on Cryptozoology. It very briefly covers many subjects and almost always says the same thing. Moving on from the Giant Squid, there is one other article about the Bigfoot Fall Festival this past weekend in Oklahoma. The article is mainly quotes from Katie Cogburn, the vice-president of the event. If anyone was able to attend the festival and want to share their experiences, send me an email and I may post some of your stories on this blog.