Sasquatch Not a Mystery to Some

By Seabury Blair Jr. | Mr. Outdoors - November 7, 2006

Last week, I mentioned the Idaho State University professor who is attempting to bring the mythic Sasquatch into the world of science.

Then I read an article about him in my favorite daily newspaper last weekend. His name is Jeffrey Meldrum, a Ph.D. and tenured professor who has written a book about the big, hairy "American Ape" that supposedly lives in the wilderness forests and mountains of this continent.

I was only trying to scare up a Halloween column, but it appears there are a bunch of folks who are better acquainted with Bigfoot than me.

I heard from a number of readers with new Sasquatch stories and — having little to write this week that could be considered socially or culturally redeeming — I thought I might share some of the new tales with you.

First off, I got an e-mail from a reader who sent me a number of photographs purporting to show a Sasquatch near a camper in the forest. Like every other photo of a Bigfoot I’ve seen, it’s difficult to tell what the picture actually depicts.

It could be a Sasquatch, or it could be a seagull. It’s hard to tell because of the distance from the object in the picture and my observation that not a single person who has ever taken a picture of a Sasquatch knows how to operate a camera.

There’s this thing called "autofocus" on most modern cameras, see. It’s a piece of technology obviously lacking on the equipment used by Bigfoot photographers.

Then I got an e-pistle from Scott McDonald, who is a member of the Washington State Bigfoot Research Group.

"I have seen two of these creatures myself," Scott wrote. "One was over in the Olympic Mountains while deer hunting in 1997, and the other one that I had seen was over in the Blue Mountains in 2001."

Warren Lewis of Seabeck also e-mailed me three stories of Bigfoot sightings by several Kitsap pioneers, including his father, who was born in Crosby in 1891. Lewis said his dad was driving down the Hite Center Road in 1932 when he saw the road’s namesake, Ashland Hite, standing in the road.

"Dad offered him a ride back to his house," Lewis wrote, "but Ash was beside himself about something, and just stood outside the car gesturing wildly ..."

"He left his house with a rifle and spotted a tall bear-like creature on the narrow dirt road. Ash said it was the tallest ‘bear’ he had ever seen and when it saw him it ran off.

"But what made Ash so excited was that ‘that bear ran into the woods on his HIND legs!’"

Lewis also told of a Bigfoot encounter his brother and Don Curtis of Crosby had at Mission Lake, and of a blood-chilling scream he heard one night at Frenchman’s Cove that frightened his horse into the woods, which he had to chase with a dimming flashlight.

"Cougar? Bigfoot? I guess I’ll never know," wrote Lewis.

At least he didn’t try to take a picture.

Keep those cards and letters coming!

Seabury Blair Jr. is the author of two day-hiking guides, a backcountry skiing guide, and a book of humorous tales. E-mail him at Skiberry@wavecable.com.

In Our View - Bigfoot, Baloney!

Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Columbian editorial writers

Maybe this legend fills a human need

Bigfoot doesn't exist. That bold editorial stance is subject to change if and when there's scientific evidence that the legendary ape-man of the Northwest, also called Sasquatch, now roams or ever did roam the Cascades or other mountains anywhere. Until then, taxpayers shouldn't subsidize the fantasies of people such as anatomy professor Jeffrey Meldrum at Idaho State University or the late Grover Krantz of Washington State University.

A recent Associated Press story said Meldrum, a Krantz disciple, "spends most of his days in his laboratory (on campus) analyzing more than 200 jumbo plaster casts of what he contends are Bigfoot footprints." The notoriety Meldrum brings to the Pocatello school is embarrassing to many on the faculty, although some defend his work as academic freedom. Last summer, more than 30 faculty members signed a petition protesting ISU's hosting of a Bigfoot symposium where Meldrum was keynote speaker.

Tom Leeson of Vancouver has taken wildlife pictures professionally for 30 years and has seen and photographed rare and furtive animals, including the black footed ferret in Montana, wolverines in the Canadian Rockies, and wild cougars on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. He and his wife, Pat (www.leesonphoto.com) travel all over the world shooting pictures.

And guess what? They've never seen a Bigfoot, alive or dead. And they haven't seen or heard of evidence such as a bona fide photo or fur or bones that scientists can say are consistent with the notion of the legendary man-ape. "Somebody would eventually find a body" if there were a Bigfoot," Leeson quite sanely figures. "A hunter would have shot one in the past 150 years. A motorist would have hit one crossing a road somewhere."

Maybe, as Leeson figures, the Bigfoot legend fills a need in some folks to have something in their lives they can't explain, like lost gold mines. Or how about a man's disappearance? Thirty-five years ago this month, Dan "D.B." Cooper parachuted out of a commercial airliner over Southwest Washington with $200,000 in cash. He or his remains have not been found. Maybe Bigfoot ate him.

This editorial, from my home town newspaper... (yes I am embarrassed!)
http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/11082006news74660.cfm

‘Big’ news
To the editor:

Throughout history, individuals who rebelled against accepted scientific dogma have endured ridicule, hostility and professional ostracism. That grand tradition remains unchanged today, as evidenced in a recent article titled “‘Professor Bigfoot’ Draws Critics.” The article discussed Dr. Jeff Meldrum, an anatomy professor at Idaho State University who has become involved in Bigfoot/Sasquatch research.

The article quoted several of his colleagues at Idaho State who want to see Meldrum’s tenure revoked strictly because of his interest in Bigfoot.

The same tactics have been applied for decades to ridicule credentialed scientists into remaining silent on controversial topics, from Bigfoot to UFOs to the antiquity of man. In the Bigfoot arena, scientists who have become involved find themselves cheated out of tenure (like the late Grover Krantz), or objects of disdain and ridicule.

What never gets mentioned in news reports like the Meldrum story is that such outright hostility and refusal to examine the facts contradicts the scientist’s credo of unbiased, open-minded research. Scientists today worship theories.

Just like religious zealots who ignore and/or attack anything that contradicts their ideology, most scientists must resort to ridicule in order to preserve their cherished theories.

The tactics employed by these so-called professionals make them look like spoiled children jealous of a classmate who’s gotten more attention from the teacher.

As founder of the Michigan Upper Peninsula Bigfoot Organization, I have encountered the same kind of ridicule filter. I’ve done radio interviews where the host apologized to me off-air for having to crack jokes about the whole thing, explaining that the station manager wouldn’t let “paranormal” topics on air if the discussion were treated seriously.

I’ve encountered people in the media who know nothing about Bigfoot, yet insist to me the famous Patterson film must’ve been faked — didn’t some guy confess on his deathbed? Never mind that no evidence has ever emerged to support such claims.

It’s hard to defend yourself against ignorance and ridicule. Researchers who fight back against the tyranny of academia deserve our respect and thanks. They’ve taken a truly scientific approach to controversial topics — choosing to examine the evidence before reaching a conclusion. The so-called “skeptics” have no need for pesky things like research — they already know they’re right.

Their sanctified theories say so.

LISA A. SHIEL

Lake Linden

Bigfoot researcher publicly scorned in media by academic peers

by Rick Snee, November 08, 2006

Every major at Radford University has a stigma. Education majors can’t cut it in real jobs, parks and recreation majors are unwashed hippies, philosophy and music majors can fry a mean batch of fries, psychology majors are insane, dance majors are homosexuals, English majors are alcoholics and theatre majors are easy. The sciences, however, are pretty stigma free, except within their own ranks. Just ask Jeffrey Meldrum, Ph.D, anatomy professor at Idaho State University.

Meldrum, according to a Nov. 3 report by The Associated Press, is considered ISU’s resident kook. It’s not because he teaches a course on Sept. 11 conspiracy theories or lectures that the president is responsible for every societal ill in America. It’s because he studies Bigfoot.

“I place legend under scrutiny and my conclusion is, absolutely, Bigfoot exists,” Meldrum said in the article.

Unfortunately for Meldrum and Sasquatch, his peers consider him an embarrassment and want his tenure recalled. The AP article even quoted two fellow ISU professors: D.P. Wells and Martin Hackworth, both physics teachers. Wells asked whether Meldrum would “research Santa Claus, too,” and Hackworth called his Bigfoot studies “a joke.” Meldrum apparently receives “funny looks and the silent treatment from other scientists, and is not invited to share coffee with the other science professors.”

Meldrum has engaged in a realm of science regarded as hogwash by the majority of “real” scientists: cryptozoology. According to Wikipedia.org (a source never to be questioned), “[cryptozoology] is the study of animals that are rumored to exist, but for which conclusive proof is still missing; the term also includes the study of animals generally considered extinct, but which are still occasionally reported.” Cryptozoologists’ most notable searches include Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, dragons, living dinosaurs, the Chupacabra and Log Cabin Republicans.

While it is easy to dismiss cryptozoologists as monster hunters, society takes many of their past discoveries for granted. Gorillas, kangaroos and giraffes—now zoo favorites—were all considered legends. The giant squid and megamouth shark were fishermen’s tales until both were discovered in the late 20th century. God’s favorite punchline, the platypus, was considered a hoax in 1799: An aquatic mammal with a duck-like bill and flipper feet that lays eggs? Brilliant!

Even other sciences have their own “impossibilities.” Both of Meldrum’s detractors are physics professors. Before 1948, respectable scientists believed that a human being could never travel faster than the speed of sound (over 1,000 miles per hour). Albert Einstein theorized that a human being could never travel faster than the speed of light (about 186,000 miles per second), yet countless physicists are looking for a way around his Theory of Relativity. Reputable physicists are exploring the possibilities of other dimensions, parallel universes and wormholes through time and space—all from laboratories here on Earth. At least Meldrum actually spends time in the Northern California and Washington forests to collect evidence for his research.

Meldrum’s quest for Bigfoot is considered quaint in our era. However, if we continue to ignorantly believe we know everything about our planet, scientific knowledge has nowhere to grow. Much like those preconceptions about other RU students’ majors, we are dismissing the very fields that may open doors to our own studies. If you don’t believe me, ask the Komodo dragon.