Bigfoot discovery press conference fails to deliver. Image: theslowlane/Flickr.
Georgia hunters Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer sparked an almighty Internet explosion late last week when they announced the discovery and frozen preservation of a Bigfoot corpse, claiming to have finally put credence to the mythological half-man, half-ape creature that supposedly roams the forestry of North America.
In light of such a media furore, and with sceptics reacting to the story with almost as much passion as true-believers, the hunters have duly attempted to support their claim during an official press conference, which was held yesterday in Palo Alto, California.
With several hundred expectant journalists and Bigfoot experts in attendance, Whitton (an officer of the Clayton County Police Department), and Dyer (a former corrections officer), sat alongside long-time Bigfoot hunter Tom Biscardi -- apparently the only person to have physically seen and verified the corpse -- and fielded a variety of probing questions.
While the hunters failed to produce the actual body, something Biscardi had previously intimated in a Scientific American report, their promised substantiation came in the form of a somewhat questionable e-mail communication from a scientist regarding DNA samples, and a selection of photographs showing the apparently disembowelled creature stuffed into a freezer in order to prevent decomposition.
One of the most telling, and potentially damaging, questions thrown at the insistent trio asked why anyone should accept the Bigfoot claim as truth given their continued unwillingness to reveal its actual frozen corpse or confirm exactly where it had been located?
Standing firm that their three DNA samples provided credible evidence, Whitton, Dyer and Biscardi offered up a supporting e-mail from University of Minnesota scientist Curtis Nelson. However, of the three samples tested and reported in the e-mail, the scientist returned that the first likely belonged to a human, the second to an opossum, and the third could not be tested due to technical issues.
“Extensive scientific studies will be done on the body by a team of scientists including a molecular biologist, an anthropologist, a paleontologist and other scientists over the next few months at an undisclosed location,” offered Whitton and Dyer via their official Web site. “The studies will be carefully documented and the findings will be released to the world.”
Photographs offered up by Biscardi to help support the claim included the same shot that recently swept the Internet, in which what appears to be an ape-like creature is lying in a large freezer with entrails visible across its torso.
According to press conference attendee Jeffrey Meldrum, an anthropologist at Idaho State University, the high-profile media event was “not compelling in the least.” He also commented that he thought the freezer photograph looked suspiciously “like a costume with some fake guts thrown on top for effect.”
Lending support to those calling the Bigfoot claim little more than an example of elaborate fakery, Whitton and Dyer have supplied a selection of different accounts explaining how they came across the corpse, according to an AP report.
Specifically, one outlines how it was shot by a former felon before the two men followed it into the woods, while a second version claims they found a “family of Bigfoot” in the mountains north of Georgia, and a third has them finding the creature while out hiking together.
Further compounding any clawing sense of being hoodwinked, a YouTube video posted by Whitton and Dyer introduces a scientist, Dr. Paul Van Duren, into the unfolding story. It was later revealed by the men in another YouTube clip that the alleged scientist was actually Whitton's brother.
However, despite the lack of irrefutable evidence and an exposed penchant for deception, the two hunters remain adamant that the secretly stored creature is authentic and that emerging sceptics are merely jealous of the find.
“They don’t have a choice [but] to believe us,” insisted Dyer. “We have a body.”
Outside of their day jobs, Whitton and Dyer offer short expeditions to search for Bigfoot throughout the northern forests of Georgia via their company Bigfoot Global LLC. They reportedly charge $499 USD for the weekend-long trips.
Biscardi, who claims to have been actively seeking Bigfoot for some 35 years, runs a group called “Searching for Bigfoot.” Despite his drive, Biscardi is not held in particularly high regard by other hunters, and has even been accused of committing Bigfoot hoaxes in the past.
Whitton and Dyer have announced they’re partnering with Biscardi’s Searching for Bigfoot Team in order to capture and return a live Bigfoot. The expedition is expected to start “very soon” throughout dates and locations that “are being kept confidential.”
anonAug 17th, 2008 - 07:25:01
These guys are idiots.
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