by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine

You may notice my blog is a bit late today. That’s because I spent my morning looking up pictures of El Chupacabra for an article I was writing for someone who is not Paranormal Underground. Yep – I cheat on PUG. What can I say? It’s a living.

So I was assigned to write about El Chupacabra pictures. Already at the outset of the assignment I was feeling a teeny tiny bit lukewarm about it, because my knowledge of El Chupacabra – that old goat sucker – was pretty minimal. I say was, because after a morning of looking up pictures and writing about them, I am an El Chupacabra expert.

Here’s what I learned. There are a lot of people out there who believe that the road kill they find is El Chupacabra. As I looked at the pictures, I sort of had to scratch my head. With the exception of a few rodents, what I saw were some type of canine missing most of its hair.

Imagine my surprise when, with further research, what I found was that many of these lovely menu items from the road kill cafe had been DNA tested (oh what a pleasant task collecting that DNA must have been – getting a sample from an animal carcass that had been baking in the Texas sun for God knows how long – yummy!), and they turned out to be canine. Most likely a coyote, although with a slight DNA variation. The theory for this rash of dead Chupacabra (is there a plural to that? Chupacabrii? Chupacabras? Chupacabros?) in Texas and Oklahoma was that there was some undetermined form of mange spreading throughout the coyote population there. Just what I thought. Hairless coyote.

It’s not that I am a disbeliever in cryptids. I have long understood that a number of animals that were once considered cryptids actually broke on through to the other side and became bona fide animals. The goofy looking platypus comes to mind. Also my childhood neighbor, Mrs. Schwartz, whose presence was merely rumored because of those reflective eye sockets we saw peering from between her drapes until she stepped out onto her front porch wearing glasses one lovely Saturday morning to yell, “YOU KIDS GET OFF OF MY LAWN!”

Heck – I live in a hotbed of reported cryptozoological activity here in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve got Bigfoot. We’ve got Batsquatch. We’ve got the tree octopi of the Hoh Rainforest. It’s even rumored that we have professional football and baseball teams called the Seahawks and the Mariners – although frankly I don’t know that I’ve seen any pro-level teams playing in this here neck of the woods. Crypids – the whole lot of them.

So it’s not that I don’t believe in cryptids. I most certainly think that there is a very distinct possibility that they could maybe just almost exist. Some are more credible than others, sure. Or maybe credible isn’t the right word. Maybe I should say that some seem more possible than the others. After all, it’s a big, big world out there. Who knows what exists in the places that we can’t easily get to and observe?

What am I saying? If it looks like a hairless dog, there’s probably a darn good chance that its a coyote with mange. If it looks like a turtle without a shell, it probably is. If it looks like an ape suit in a cooler from the get-go, it seems silly to waste valuable news footage on it unless it is a super slooowww news day. And then you might want to try a headline like “Two Idiots Want Us To Believe an Ape Suit in a Cooler is Bigfoot” as opposed to “Bigfoot Carcass in Cooler!!! News at 11!!!”

Here’s the thing. If there is something legitimate out there like the goofy platypus or cranky Mrs. Schwartz from next door, then claiming that every piece of roadkill you find is a cryptid probably isn’t going to help establish any kind of credibility. Those pictures of road kill on the news, on the Internet and everywhere else you look only serve to diminish the research of the true scientists like Jeff Meldrum or Loren Coleman.

I know that there is a certain level of wanting to believe – cryptozoological creatures are cool. It is a fun area of the paranormal. I’m certainly not saying that there aren’t cryptids out there. We discover new things every day. It’s an amazing universe and an amazing world. At the same time, let cooler heads prevail. That black and white stinky flat thing stuck to your front tire isn’t some famous cryptid. If it looks like a skunk and smells like a skunk, I’m guessing that’s what it probably is. No need to post it on the Internet or call the news like we did after fleeing her lawn the day Mrs. Schwartz finally emerged from behind the curtain. Now THAT was a true discovery.

by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground

Was it real or an elaborate hoax?

On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed what remains the most hotly contested ever video of a creature believed to be Bigfoot. In the intervening years, the Patterson-Gimlin footage has been analyzed and re-analyzed by Bigfoot enthusiasts, cryptozology experts and scientists all around the world.

For those who believe it is real, they cite a number of reasons including:

*The gait of the creature is not a gait that is achievable by a human being
*The video shows muscle movement underneath the “suit” which wouldn’t be visible if it were a costume. I’ve seen various muscles cited, although the independent movement of the buttocks seems to be one of the biggest arguments.
*The creature in the video has an uneven fur pattern and fur length, showing areas of wear. This is consistent with wearing patterns in the fur of wild animals.
*The creature in the video appears to have a herniated quadriceps muscle.
*Height analysis shows the creature to be over seven feet tall with an exceptionally broad chest.
*Close up analysis of the video shows the creature to have a sagittal crest (bone running along the ridge of the brow) and breasts like you would see on a chimpanzee or a woman.
*No costume has ever been found, nor has anyone been able to reverse-engineer the “costume” to recreate something that looks and moves like the critter in the movie.
*The arm length of the creature is disproportionately long compared to human arm length.

Here is a video that outlines some of these arguments for the reality of the footage:

There are a number of things that also point to the footage being a hoax, however.
*Patterson was a long-time Bigfoot enthusiast and actually set out to make a Bigfoot documentary. Many feel it is rather serendipitous that Patterson was able to capture footage when no one else ever had.
*In a 1999 interview, Gimlin admitted that he could have been fooled by an elaborate hoax set up by Patterson (who died in 1972 swearing that the footage was real).
*There have been rumors that Planet of the Apes costume designer, John Chambers, helped to design the creature in the footage. Chambers denies these allegations.
*The quality of the footage is poor, as home movies were at the time. Because of this, many argue that there was no need for an elaborate suit and even one of poor quality could be used.
*In 2002, a North Carolina costume designer named Phillip Morris claimed to have made the suit used in the Patterson footage. His wife vouches for him; however, Morris hasn’t produced evidence other than testimony about his part of a hoax.
*Yakima, Washington native Bob Hieronimus claims to have been the man in the suit. Hieronimus’ description of the suit he wore, however, does not match the description of the suit given by Phillip Morris.
*Arguments have been made that the Bigfoot in the film was made to look taller using forced perspective photography techniques that have been used in a number of movies to make principles look either taller or shorter.

Is the Patterson-Gimlin footage a hoax? It depends on who you talk to.

One site, Bigfoot Encounters, makes a point by point examination of the film; however, they are seeking to prove the existence of Bigfoot. Much like anything else, once a personal agenda comes into play it is impossible to know how objective any observation is.

The site, Patterson Bigfoot Debunked, has the opposite agenda. On this site, Leroy Blevins, Sr., makes a point-by-point argument for why the Patterson-Gimlin footage is a hoax. Some of it is quite compelling.

For those interested in finding true evidence of Bigfoot, the Patterson-Gimlin film footage remains a mystery that may never be solved. Too many logical explanations surround the footage -including people who have come forward and admitted to perpetrating a hoax – to make it ever be considered evidence of the Bigfoot phenomenon.

We’d love to know what you think of the Patterson-Gimlin footage. Use the comments section below, or weigh in using our forums.

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Paranormal Investigator Spotlight
–Paranormal Investigation team A.P.A.R.T. of Washington covers all of the bases

Special Reports
–Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC): Bridging the gap to the other side
–Transdimensional Communication
–Cemetery Walking: How to maximize results
–What are Ghosts?

Haunted Sites
–The Whaley House: The House that Still Haunts

Cryptids
-Let’s Have a Round of Applause for the Pangboche Hand

Haunted History
–The Strange Case of Pearl Curran and Patience Worth

Cultural Beliefs
–Why Do We Believe in and Investigate the Paranormal?

Are We Alone?
–Intergalactic Smackdown in Kentucky

Fiction: Featured Author
–“Vehicular” by Peter Navarro

Personal Experiences
–Haunted Gettysburg: Diary From a Haunted Hotel
–The Whaley House Ghost
–It Could Happen to You

Also
–TV Watch: Haunting Evidence
–Equipment Update: The Dream Paranormal Equipment Guide
–Roundtable Debate: Spirit Communication
–Recommended Reading: ITC, EVP
–Reviews of the Month: Night of the Living Dead, White Noise, Knowing
–Member Profile: AlmostHunted
–Paranormal News
-Ghost Hunter comic

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

-Special Halloween issue
-Witchcraft
-Demonologists and paranormal investigators, Keith and Sandra Johnson (Ghosts R N.E.A.R.)
-Interview with an exorcist
-Two tales of possession
-Werewolf lore
-History of Halloween
-Myths and truths about vampires
-Haunted Waverly Hills
-Haunted Gettysburg
-Cryptids: Jersey Devil
-UFOs: Star Gods
-Zombification and witch trials, a look back
-A cultural look at demonology
-Ghost hunters case files: Waverly Hills
-Using a digital camera in paranormal investigation
-Diary from a haunted Gettysburg hotel