The Big Grey Man of Ben Macdui Options

[Paul1968UK]

I have mentioned this on a few other threads, so I thought I would try and bring it all together for those that are interested.

The Big Grey Man (in gaelic = Am Fear Liath Mo) is a large man-like figure that is said to roam the Scottish mountain of Ben Macdui.

Ben Macdui is a forbidding mountain in the Scottish Cairngorm range in the highlands it is the second highest mountain in the UK, and towers above the ski village of Aviemore. At 1309 metres Ben Nevis beats it by just 35 metres. MacDui has a wonderful plateau and a mountain range and is the largest sub-arctic plateau in the UK.

Ben MacDui is notoriously haunted by a ghostly figure, the Grey Man, whose existence is attested by many mountaineers who have seen him on the bleak, misty fellsides. Noteworthy among these is Sir Norman Collie - a pioneer of Himalayan exploration and eminent scientist credited with taking the first medical X-ray photograph – who was chased off the summit by the Grey Man.

Different people give different reports of this creature - some say it is a hominid, others say it is a ghost - either way, it is very strange, and has been seen by dozens of people.


Personally, like the majority of Yeti sightings, I think it is a typical combination of folk tales, high altitude and lack of oxygen - probably nothing more than overactive imaginations, but *is* worthy of further investigation.


Any ideas ?

[Streamrunner]

Thanks for that Paul... you EVER heard of anyone getting any evidence on this subject? You would think SOMEBODY would have seen tracks or
have some sort of evidence of SOME kind...

[bipto]

That report you posted about the guy who had a late night encounter sounded like it could have been a dream. Just a thought...

[Paul1968UK]

As far as I know, there has been no physical evidence collected, but then you have to bear in mind that very few people climb this mountain - probably only around 100-200 every year.

The report of the guy in the bothy (small hut-like shelter open to everyone) probably is nothing more than an overactive imagination combined with high winds.

I think quite often, when it comes to sightings like this, and of the Yeti, I think the physical demands of climbing, combined with altitude, thin air and loneliness could play all sorts of tricks on the mind.

I am fairly convinced that the Yeti sightings are no more than confused people seeing the chemo bear, but becase they are thinking 'Yeti', they see a Yeti - the footprints of a chemo bear are unusually long for a bear.

[Streamrunner]

Well dang, I was hoping you would say there was some sort of evidence... like a track image.
Regarding the yeti, I know what you mean. The evidence besides the
cool footprint images (apparently lots of people with ability thought they were real) seems to be very minimal.... Ya just don't know.

[Paul1968UK]

Update

I have been doing some more digging on the Big Grey Man, and there has been at least one report of tracks.

visit the 'british' section of my website at www.britishbigfoot.com for more details


Paul

[Targangil]

I am sensing an obsession with Robin Hood here...

[Fishbone35]

Dude, Robin Hood kicks ass!!!

My GGGGrandfather was born in Sherwood Forest so I've gotten my info from a good inside source. :wink:

[Paul1968UK]

I am sensing an obsession with Robin Hood here...  

Absolutely not - especially since it got the Kevin Costner 'lets completely mess with history and acurracy' treatment.

It has to be said though, that historically, a lot of 'outcasts' did live in the forests here, which lead to many of the 'wildman' stries - robin hood can't be ignored.

[msfit32]

Paul, could you convert meters into feet for those of us Americans who are metricly challenged ? I can't get a fix on the altitude we are talking about here....

(I am SO busted! This straight A nerd never did figure out the conversion tables of the metric system)

Also, am I understanding you right in that you do not believe in the "Yeti", but you do believe in "Bigfoot"? Just wondering.....

[Paul1968UK]

Paul, could you convert meters into feet for those of us Americans who are metricly challenged ?  I can't get a fix on the altitude we are talking about here....

(I am SO busted!  This straight A nerd never did figure out the conversion tables of the metric system)

Also, am I understanding you right in that you do not believe in the "Yeti", but you do believe in "Bigfoot"?  Just wondering.....

As the saying goes - "A Meter measures 3'3" - it's longer than a Yard you see !"


Of course, I did actually put the height of Ben Macdui on the website !

4296 feet for those that are metrically and readingly challenged !


As for the Yeti - the jury is still out - many of these sightings are at serious altitudes - way above the vegetation line, which doesn't make sense to me.

The Chemo bear is very rare, and has a foot that is longer than north american bears - it looks very Yeti-like - in the snow, the claws won't be as noticeable as they would be in a mud footprint.

Also, we have extreme temperatures and altitude - it takes 4 weeks to acclimatise to the altitude at everest base camp before you can climb - that sort of altitude and lack of oxygen could do some very odd things to the brain and sense of perspective.

I'm not dismissing it out of hand - but the evidence for Bigfoot is far better.

[msfit32]

4296 feet? That is not a very high altitude for the brain to be thrown out of wack.....lets see....right here in me own hometown the altitude is 4800' above sea level......well, maybe THATS whats wrong with me!

Actually, the point is I climbed 10,000' Mt Rose this summer and I definitely didn't see any Grey Men! (Unless you could count my husband as a Grey Man, he did look a little pale at the top ) But, I am not saying there is or isn't a Grey Man, just that an alitude of 4000' isn't going to make you "see things". Or get you all that exhausted either if you are in decent shape. But you did say it was very misty there and I could see all sorts of weird things in the fog, or NOT see things....like cars in front of me on the on the freeway .....

For some reason a Grey Man roaming the English hillside sound so romantic and like it would make a great novel!!! I am going to read up more on him.....

[msfit32]

OK I read what you have on your website Paul, that IS so very haunting isn't it? Definitely novel material ....It would seem to be more paranormal than physical from the accounts you have....what to think?

I am quite familiar with panic and fear when alone in the mountains, I felt this before hiking or horsebackriding and just thought it to be "nerves" or something...OK to be honest I sometimes wondered about certain places having "evil" associated with them from past occurances, for instance abandoned mines that had held m urdered people or something, but if that were so then places like the UK would be FULL of "evil" spirits because humans have lived there for so long and bad things have happened in alot of places.....so NEVER MIND.....what am I talking about :roll: ????????

[Targangil]

I am sensing an obsession with Robin Hood here...  

Absolutely not - especially since it got the Kevin Costner 'lets completely mess with history and acurracy' treatment.

It has to be said though, that historically, a lot of 'outcasts' did live in the forests here, which lead to many of the 'wildman' stries - robin hood can't be ignored.

Sound something like our Bushrangers, so what is the low down on Robin Hood - past the myth. Was he a Saxon rebel during the Norman invasion or something? As well as that, what do you know of the Faerie/Sidhe - is there any possible historical basis there? I read a book saying that the Tuatha are probably based on the civilisation that lived in Britain and Ireland pre Celtic era.

[Paul1968UK]

4296 feet?  That is not a very high altitude for the brain to be thrown out of wack.....lets see....right here in me own hometown the altitude is 4800' above sea level......well, maybe THATS whats wrong with me!

Actually, the point is I climbed 10,000' Mt Rose this summer and I definitely didn't see any Grey Men!  (Unless you could count my husband as a Grey Man, he did look a little pale at the top )  But, I am not saying there is or isn't a Grey Man, just that an alitude of 4000' isn't going to make you "see things".  Or get you all that exhausted either if you are in decent shape.  But you did say it was very misty there and I could see all sorts of weird things in the fog, or NOT see things....like cars in front of me on the on the freeway .....

For some reason a Grey Man roaming the English hillside sound so romantic and like it would make a great novel!!!  I am going to read up more on him.....

You are right of course - the altitude is not that great - it can't really be blamed on altitude sickness, but the weather is something else - it can get very cold and foggy in seconds up there. I haven't climbed BenMacDui, but I have climbed britain's highest peak Ben Nevis - you take written instructions with you on how to get off the peak the right way if you can't see your feet because of the fog ! (otherwise, you are likely to fall off!)


Don't forget that the Grey Man is in Scotland, not England ! (seperate country don't ya know)

[Paul1968UK]

OK I read what you have on your website Paul, that IS so very haunting isn't it?  Definitely novel material ....It would seem to be more paranormal than physical from the accounts you have....what to think?  

I am quite familiar with panic and fear when alone in the mountains, I felt this before hiking or horsebackriding and just thought it to be "nerves" or something...OK to be honest I sometimes wondered about certain places having "evil" associated with them from past occurances, for instance abandoned mines that had held  m urdered people or something, but if that were so then places like the UK would be FULL of "evil" spirits because humans have lived there for so long and bad things have happened in alot of places.....so NEVER MIND.....what am I talking about :roll: ????????

I really don't know - I try very hard not to sound like Beckjord when it comes to the Grey Man, so for the time being, I am going to reserve judgement.

It is a vast area, with very few climbers - the USAF has only just recovered the plane that crashed there two years ago. - I am inclined to beleive that anything could live up there, but I am reluctant to beleive that it could house a breeding population without more people noticing physical evidence.

As you know, we no longer have bears in Britain or Ireland, although Wolves are being re-introduced to parts of Scotland - I am more inclined to believe that the Big Grey Man is a ghost of some kind than a 'bigfoot'.

What I don't understand is why - it won't attract tourists in the same way that Nessie does, so I am more inclined to believe the stories that come back from that area.

I am planning on spending a week up there next summer, so i'll keep you posted.

[Paul1968UK]

Sound something like our Bushrangers, so what is the low down on Robin Hood - past the myth. Was he a Saxon rebel during the Norman invasion or something? As well as that, what do you know of the Faerie/Sidhe - is there any possible historical basis there? I read a book saying that the Tuatha are probably based on the civilisation that lived in Britain and Ireland pre Celtic era.

As far as I am aware, there have been three Robin Hoods - the popular tale seems to be a combination of the Robin Hood of Yorkshire, and the Robin Hood of Loxley.

This is quite a good website with some good info

http://www.robinhood.ltd.uk/robinhood/

Whatever the truth behind Robin Hood(s) - one thing is certain, and that is that he lived in the forests

As for the original inhabitants, there is some evidence to support that the first inhabitants of Ireland were Germanic - crossing a land bridge between Britain and Ireland.