Earlier this evening I had the 'wonderful' opportunity to watch the Sanger Paranormal Group's Bigfoot Press Conference via Live Stream. This was actually the first time I had watched any event by using Live Stream. I was actually pretty impressed by the site it's really cool idea. Basically it allows a person to give a live view of whatever event that they wish to show. As a matter of fact, I know of some podcasts that use Live Stream to allow you to watch them record. Anyway back to the actual press conference itself.
It was scheduled to begin at 7 pm EST, or 4 pm PST as the actual press conference took place in California, and since I had had a test tonight in my class I was able to get out early. I arrived home about 6:45 pm and noticed a tweet from Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters (which is a pretty cool blog) mentioning that the Sanger Paranormal Group Bigfoot Press Conference was starting. So I dutifully followed the link to the live stream so that I would be able to relay to you dear readers, who were unable to view the conference, exactly what was going to go down.
The actual press event didn't begin until around 7:08 pm or so. During that time I logged into the Twitter chat that they had so that I would be able to live tweet what my reactions were to the “news”. So throughout this post I will be referring to those tweets so that you can get an idea of what exactly was going on during the event. Here was my first tweet:
Well that's debatable, the main guy just said we have the "best evidence" of bigfoot ever - #spsradio live on http://livestre.am/Jx9t
The main speaker, I can't find his name, had made a reference almost immediately to the fact that they had, at the conference, the best evidence available proving the existence of Bigfoot. But rather than jumping right into that they spend the first 15 minutes or so showing footprints that could easily be a human footprint. After a couple of footprint photos they move on to footage of “Bigfoot”. I don't know exactly what a Bigfoot is supposed to look like however I will say that this image is clearly a black bear.
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| Clearly a black bear and not 'Bigfoot' |
All the time that they were showing this footage of the “Bigfoot” the main guy continually made reference to the fact that this wasn't a guy in a suit. So much so that I actually made the following remarks during the event:
Me thinks he doth protest too much - #spsradio live on http://livestre.am/Jx9t
"It's not a person in a suit" has been said more time than anything else thus far - #spsradio live on http://livestre.am/Jx9t
It seemed pretty clear from the still photos and videos that they showed that their 'Bigfoot' was really nothing more than a black bear. So here we were not even 20 minutes in and already I was having some clear reservations about the whole fiasco. But hey, I'm an open minded kind of guy so I figured, “What the Hell? I'll keep watching” (soon I would come to regret this as we shall see).
At this point they just continued going on and on about the “Bigfoot” videos/photos from earlier. When it had gotten to that point I said this:
OK so we've seen the black bear, where is the Bigfoot? - #spsradio live on http://livestre.am/Jx9t
The conference had been going on for about 30 minutes or so, so I decided to summarize everything that had taken place up to this point:
"Not a guy in a suit x 5, Black bear images x 6, and a bullshit story" Yep that sums it up - #spsradio live on http://livestre.am/Jx9t
Finally at this point they graciously moved on to far more convincing “evidence”. Here is that convincing evidence:
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| Better than the Patterson-Gimlin Film? |
Yep. In case you can't make it out, it would appear that the truck glass had been attacked by something with paws. At this point they handed the microphone over to a forensic expert who proceeded to give a a 15 minute explanation on how this smudge could have been a bear or a mountain lion, but it also could have been a gorilla. This was somehow proof that it was a Bigfoot, now to his credit the 'forensic' guy made it pretty clear at the end of his spiel that he hadn't ruled out that it was just a bear.
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| Get off my screen you damned dirty ape! |
By this point I was getting ready to turn the thing off, it was obvious that there wasn't going to be any real conclusive evidence. (Not that I had suspected there would be, but remember this guy is open minded). But then my ears pricked up when I heard the word DNA sample. I have to admit I was a little excited. Not because the DNA could 'prove' a Bigfoot, after all you would need to have something to compare it to, but it would allow for them to show what it wasn't.
Now hang on to your hats because this is where things get too much for me to handle. Someone from the audience asked if they have had the DNA tested yet. The reason that they didn't do this yet was because of how expensive DNA testing can be. But never fear faithful Bigfoot aficionado, you can help them get this DNA tested. All you have to do is give them money!
Yes dear readers you heard correctly, they are asking for 'donations'. It was at a this point that my patience had been tried one too many times during this 45 minute conference. I actually left at this point. I would like to provide you a quote from Who Forted?:
Complete and utter waste of time. They've just asked for money. Accidental wide shot of empty chairs in hall. Game over. #BigfootPressCon
I closed the live stream window at this point, because I was done. Between the insistence that the figure “wasn't a guy in a suit”, the all too human “Bigfoot” footprints, and the request for money. I had had enough. Not surprisingly we are left with nothing more than what we he had before we began. So basically if you didn't catch the press conference, count yourself lucky. Now if you will excuse me I need to go look at some Billy Meier photos, at least the one-armed Swiss farmer tries a little harder than these 'Paranormal Investigators'. Good night fellow Forteans!
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6 comments:
Tony,
I'm just as skeptical as you about these things I believe, but your coverage does not tell the entire story. I was in the room (about 20 people there and only a couple of people left before it was over.)
Videos not convincing to me either. No problem there, but think that you are a bit unfair with your coverage. They were asking for donations of money OR SERVICES for DNA testing. You neglect to mention that the forensic investigator was asked what he would do if the evidence turned out to be mundane. He said he just wanted to know one way or the other. If these people are perpetrating a hoax or think that they have a goldmine, they are doing a clumsy job.
Nothing Earth-shattering, but perhaps not a complete waste of time either. Maybe nothing will come of it, but I wish them luck, at least at this point. We'll see.
Thanks for linking to my site, BTW!
What a miserable waste of everyone's time. I genuinely hope no one is foolish enough to give these people money.
But I must say, despite the awful, boring, and misleading press conference, it was rather fun chatting and tweeting with other interesting parties as it wore on.
Fair enough, I will say that I get suspicious whenever money is asked for but only because I assume something negative. And my Mom always warned me about assuming. Also I will say that of everyone present I appreciated the forensic guys approach the best. He definitely struck me as a rational guy. I do like to remain open minded about this stuff, however at the present time I am unconvinced by the evidence that they showed. Perhaps if the DNA test provides something interesting I will change my opinion. I guess maybe sometimes I can be a little too presumptuous. Either way thank you for the feedback!
In reference to linking your site, it's definitely my pleasure. I'm a big fan of your work and you are certainly one of the people that influenced me to look beyond the ETH.
Sure Tony. I hope that it comes through that I am in a constant state of doubt about nearly all paranormal issues and claims, pehaps most closely aligned with the Zeteticists and Pyrrhonists in this regard.
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