The area west of Gympie is claimed by some researchers to be a yowie hot-spot - home to some amazing and dramatic yowie encounters over the last 10-15 years. But what are these encounters and just how credible are they?

The first port of call is Healy and Cropper's (2006) "The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot" - widely regarded as the most thorough and balanced review of yowie encounters. Of the 282 case studies, one originates from the west of Gympie hot-spot:

Case 119. 1977 to 1997. West of Gympie, Qld. Day and night.

Gympie historian Brett Green experienced three encounters with yowies between 1977 and 1997. On one occasion, he and some friends saw a yowie steal a piece of meat off a bush barbeque. On another, he watched two yowies fighting. As he may write his own book about the yowie phenomenon, he asked us not to divulge any other details.

Witness interview with Paul Cropper, Mar 14, 2000 and Tony Healy, May 8, 2000. Credit: Dean Harrison.

No details but Green is a local historian with an intimate knowledge of the Gympie bushlands and surely Healy and Cropper wouldn't interview anyone dodgy.

An internet search reveals further alleged yowie activity in the Gympie area:

* a man knocked unconscious and woke in a fork of a tree covered in urine

* 3 trail-bike riders chased by an angry 3m tall hairy man

* a man and his wife had their campervan shaken at 2am. March, 2000

* a yowie sighted up a tree

* stories of loggers sighting yowies

* report of tree tapping, stone tapping, howls and footprints

* Dean Harrison encountering a yowie while out with Times reporter Shawn Donnan. 2001.

Of the above accounts only one was reported in the press - the shaken campervan in 2000 (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6583/cattle062.html). The couple remained anonymous and were not actually interviewed. Instead, the enthusiastic yowie researcher spoke on their behalf, took casts of footprints and gathered a stool sample. None of this evidence has ever been presented.

Harrison's alleged encounter while with the Times reporter sounded promising. Harrison's rendition of the night is very dramatic (http://www.yowiehunters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=727&Itemid=145) but is not supported by Donnan who published quite a different perspective (http://home.clara.net/rfthomas/news/onthetrail.html).

Compare:

Harrison: Another urgent call came from the camp not long after, reporting "something" circling around them in the bush. "Its big, whatever it is", said Brian. They requested our presence back at camp, but request denied! Stay put was the order.

Donnan: A few minutes later, my friend Brian was on the air: "We think it's in the riverbed. It seems to be circling the camp."
Harrison whispered into his radio: "Is it definitely bipedal?"
It took a minute and then Brian was back: "It's hard to tell. But it's definitely not small. It's definitely not a rat. It's definitely bigger than that."
"OK, hold your positions," Harrison answered. Soon afterward the hunt was called off — Brian's description had been too vague for Harrison to get excited and rush in, camera rolling.

It is difficult to know what, if anything, actually happened that night.

The remaining accounts are all undated and from anonymous witnesses - impossible to verify and must be viewed with more than a grain of salt. Besides Dean Harrison, the only other person actually named in the alleged sightings is Brett Green (although some alleged encounters appear to come from Green's friends). So to understand the yowie history of the area it is important we understand Brett Green.

Between 1995 and 1999, Green self-published 5 small books in a series entitled "Tales of a Warrior" based on the diaries of Green's direct ancestor and pioneer John Green (1819-1889). The diary accounts are dramatic and mention various legends and mysterious ruins. Alas, Green's diary was a fabrication.

Local historian Dr Elaine Brown outed Green's bogus historical account:

From the time the first book, The Legend of Gympie, was published, many readers suspected that something was wrong with Green’s claims. The content of the Green ‘diaries’ contradicted surviving records in three important areas: local history, the history of the Green family, and Aboriginal history. Nearly every page contained errors of historical fact, and the list of references at the end included many books that had nothing to do with the topics covered. The book was illustrated with unsourced photos of Aborigines from different parts of Australia, and with ‘enhanced reproductions’ (digitally altered photos) of ‘mystery stone sculptures’ of ‘Dhamuri’.

These questionable characteristics continued in the books that followed, and it became clear that, whoever wrote the Green ‘diaries’, they were not authentic and the Tales of a Warrior series was pure fiction.

(http://www.stradbrokeislandgalleon.com/Gympie.html)

Numerous discrepancies in Green's accounts where highlighted by Dr. Brown and although Dr. Brown was threatened with legal action nothing ever eventuated. While some yowie researchers may consider Green to be a historian and continue to quote his history of the Gympie region the reality is far less savoury - Green is a hoaxer.

Green and Harrison worked together for "Operation Rotation" - a stakeout to gather information about the yowie west of Gympie in April, 2001 (http://www.yowiehunters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=740&Itemid=145). Harrison claims a mysterious encounter:

Dean and Trevor geared up. Their backpacks consisted of N.V., I.R., Video Camera, Flares, binoculars, bandages, drinks and other minor items. They hit the trail back to "The Arena". Once they came within 300m of the site they walked very slowly and precisely, ensuring that they made little to no noise at all. When they arrived, the boys headed down the dirty slope towards the massive rock slab carefully making the most minimal noise possible.

Dean and Trevor sat quietly at the bottom end of the rock face for half an hour with little, to no movement around them. The bush was seemingly quiet and there was no other animal life stirring at all. They left their gear at the bottom of the cascade, walked up to the top half with absolutely no Equipment what so ever and lay back on the Granite slab staring at the night sky. It was then that the forest came alive from above the valley.

The foliage snapped, cracked and moved from three different directions towards them at a steady pace. "Creatures Unknown" were making their way down the slopes towards where they lay with no inhibitions and making as much noise as required.

During this time only two comments were made by Trevor as they stared at each other in amazement. One being "This is like Custers last stand" and the other one was "Are you ready for this?"

They knew that their equipment was too far to retrieve quickly. They surmised at the time that this response could have been a result of the "Creatures Unknown" being encouraged by the fact that Dean and Trevor were not carrying anything and were now on equal ground. It was just a thought at the time, and whatever the facts maybe, the "Creatures" continued down the hill towards them. The movements were most definitely bipedal from all three directions and they seemed to be all heading to the one area, which was at the top of the Cascade. When they arrived, they stayed just within the fringe line of the forest surrounds, which was roughly 35m from where they lay. The boys were determined not to leave or even stare in their direction. Every so often, one or the other couldn't resist and would have to have a short glimpse. As these "Creatures" would transfer their weight from one foot to the other, the sticks beneath their feet would crack and break, but they seemed quite happy in their vantage point to stay and 'watch the Humans'.

Is it too convenient to carry an assortment of recording equipment yet be consistently unprepared to document anything? Why does this seem to happen time and time again with some particular researchers? To Harrison's credit, however, I agree with his assessment of this encounter:

Notice that we didn't mention the name 'Yowie'. There were large bipedal Creatures surrounding them, however they were not seen physically by either man due to the darkness and thick bush. They were not Kangaroo's, Dingo's, Cow's, Horses or Sheep. Whatever they were, walked and thought like Humans. They circled behind the men and watched from behind trees. The entire situation was clearly obvious and the event transpired over 30-40 minutes.

Most likely the mysterious creatures were Brett Green (who knows these bushlands very well and had been relieved from Operation Rotation that afternoon) and a couple of friends from his Dhamurian Society (http://www.dhamurian.org.au/index.shtml) who made a nocturnal return.

Conclusion:

There are a number of alleged yowie stories in circulation relating to the area west of Gympie. Claims of supporting footprint casts and stool samples yet to surface. Most involve no specific names or details while the others involve seemingly exaggerated dramatic accounts from "researcher" Harrison and a documented fabricator Green. None are credible.

While Gympie may not be a yowie hotspot it does appear to be a hoaxer's paradise.

If anyone has any specific information regarding any of these or other alleged encounters from the Gympie region I would be more than happy to investigate.

Hi Night Walker. As co-author (Paul) of the book you quote I have a few comments.

Firstly, I encourage everyone to use our book as a starting point for their own research. Thats the spirit of cryptozoological enquiry, and its why (unlike many other crypto works) we referenced it so heavily and, wherever possible, used real names (with their permission).

I'm not quite sure about your comment:"No details but Green is a local historian with an intimate knowledge of the Gympie bushlands and surely Healy and Cropper wouldn't interview anyone dodgy". Huh? Is that some kind of backhand criticism? In the cases section we simply listed available reports. We never claimed that all of them were 100% solid. Its obvious that some are less credible than others. There are all referenced - go out and check them.

I do agree the material you quote raises some serious questions that only Brett can (and should) answer, but have you ever spoken to him or even to the person who site you list? Have you ever spoken to Dean Harrison? Is your idea of research to simply use material you googled up from one site - but never checked first hand - to support another web site you never checked either?

I'm not against asking hard questions, but I am against lazy research. It seems to me that there are those who think that a computer, Google and access to various Bigfoot forums is how you conduct research. Real researchers get out in the field, talk to witnesses, collect new material and - hopefully - get it published somewhere so that others can discuss share their findings. Its too easy - and kind of futile - to be just an armchair expert locked in front of a computer screen.

Paul

Hi


Welcome to the BFF ~ Cropster ~ Couldn't help but notice the join date vs the first post, Guess something finally got you out of the woodwork to join in ~

Peace
Tim

Hey Paul,

I am currently in email contact with Green seeking further details and clarifications. I had been conducting an online interview with Harrison but he terminated that, as you know. Be sure, I do check the sources of information and alleged evidence carefully. Since I am quite new to this field there are not a line of ready witnesses approaching me with yowie stories so I do my research when and where I can and a good deal of it beyond the comfort of my armchair.

I have no qualms labelling Green a "documented hoaxer" and Harrison's yowie attack a hoax (upgraded from "most likely a hoax" after the input of further evidence) but I will put out the full details when it is complete. I am curious as to how, with your experience as an interviewer, you overlooked (or didn't even consider) such important credibility issues though...

Collecting yowie stories is all well and good but anyone can create one and if it is repeated enough - a task made easier with the internet - it becomes yowielore. How much of what we think we know about yowies is bogus? Too much seems to be purposely left vague when there is always much evidence to be gathered. I readily admit to having a problem with those who profess to research yowies, who go out into the field with the express purpose of uncovering evidence, who return with multiple stories of amazing encounters, yet who only show the barest interest in collecting and presenting any supporting physical evidence. How often can a camera or any other recording device be conveniently left behind before you would consider it suspicious?

I also have a problem with people who would rather question the entire nature of reality than to question such a "researcher's" methodology. Then again, I am new - what would I know, right?

Perhaps crypto-research in this country needs a swift kick in the arse.

Ed

And you're just the man to deliver the kick Ed...?

All well and good if this dissection of other peoples 'research' is what you want to focus on, but I don't think you can call it research any more than someone who reviews a book would call themselves an author.

No-one's perfect. I recall that on the one time I've seen you submit an actual report of your own you also neglected to have the camera ready.

I agree that too much crap is repeated often enough that it becomes received wisdom. I don't see the benefit of a topic like you've started here in isolation - surely the benefit comes from you now comparing your analysis of previous research in the area againt your own field research "west of Gympie"?

Someone has to start the process. There is simply not enough questioning and scrutiny. Too many yes-men abound. Too many are too eager to ponder supernatural explanations whilst neglecting to question the source of information. Scrutiny is only a bad thing if you've got something to hide.

"Research" is just a term for want of a better name. Perhaps "investigation" would be more appropriate for what I do. It's all sematics, what does it matter?

One time without camera handy while encountering feral pigs at night is vastly different to many alleged yowie encounters while always neglecting a camera. We are treated to a plethora of holiday snaps - group photos, cheesey shaving with a knife pics, etc - yet nothing of what really matters.

All the reports coming out of Gympie are from dubious anonymous sources and are impossible to verify. Two names, however, keep cropping up together and in isolation: Dean Harrison who fabricated the recent claim of "yowie attack" and Brett Green who fabricated a false historical account of the area along with other dodgy "mysterious" material. Not just content to make fictional stories these blokes go the extra mile...

I have no problem challanging false information. If you, forestguy, have any specific information regarding Gympie I would be more than happy to follow through. How's the North Pine dam looking thses days? Still a yowie hotspot? Otherwise, thank you for your input.

NPD's fine - the fishing is much better than a year ago. I don't think I ever said it was a "hotspot", but it did have some interesting reports in recent history.

I don't have anything to share on Gympie, but I'd love a chance to get out there to have a look for myself. That's kind of my point.

Getting out and having a look for yourself is a great idea. If you don't buy into all that violent yowie BS you are less likely to be jumping at shadows and the various noises of the bush it becomes an invigorating experience night or day. Gympie is about the northern limit of my area of interest - I've been hiking up around Amamoor and will be doing some overnighters around Kilkivan when time allows it. Beautiful area, that's for sure...

I am skeptical about recent claims of yowie activity around NP Dam but 20 years ago - when there was far less development in the area - may have been a different story. However, if you have any possible recent sighting or encounter details from residents or visitors to the area I'd be interested in investigating those - PM me. It is good to see the dam full again, though. I'll have to get some red claw for supper. Mmmmmm.

Ed

Why not do some legwork in the area and share that with everyone. Id suggest 1) check with the local libraries and historical societies for any historical cases or folkloric data relating to yowies 2) contact local aboriginal groups in the area to see if they have local stories of the hairy man 3) put an article in the Gympie times asking for stories from locals. See what you can turn up yourself.

Cheers Paul

I plan on doing some more hikes in the area (day and night) and some overnighters when time allows. Any possible activity in the area will be posted however I don't consider lack of animals, bush silences, unidentified smells, wood-like knocks, sticks leaning against trees, rock stacks, "tree bites", broken foliage, white eye-shine, indistinct footprints, and unidentified footfalls as being anything outside the normal bush experiences. Contacting local aboriginal groups is on the cards should I happen to experience anything outside the norm.

Historical archive searches have less interest for me as the more time passes the harder it is to verify and any possible yowie trail would be long cold. Appealing for stories via local paper advertising is an option only if I can devote much more time to the particular region. Besides, there already seem to be enough people collecting yowie stories - both factual and fictional and often without distinction between the two.

I'm more interested in the evidence... not that I've seen anything to get excited about but that has not deterred me as yet.