Sasquatch – Museum of the Weird

Posted on January 15, 2016January 29, 2019 by MOTW Admin

Report released from 4-year Bigfoot search

Why don’t we have Bigfoot in a cage yet? Why hasn’t he been captured? When do we get definitive proof? How hard can it be?

As it turns out it’s harder than we might imagine. Few of us are actually privy to the painful process of discovery. We find out the results, the path that worked out. We usually aren’t told about the failed theories, the false trails, the dead ends. So, when we look at things like finding Bigfoot it’s easy to get discouraged.

This video, courtesy of KTUL in Tulsa, Oklahoma, outlines the findings of some dedicated Bigfoot after four years of looking. Some of their observations are pretty interesting. They’ve found signs of primate activity. They’ve also found some logic to why it’s difficult to capture the creatures on camera. This video leads you briefly through everything. The full report is available in PDF format.

Does this get us closer? Maybe. They certainly provide some food for thought that other Bigfoot searchers might consider, especially when it comes to technologies. They might even be on the track to get us the proof that we crave. Time will tell, as it always does. We’ll keep watching and waiting.

Posted on October 5, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Walking through the woods when you hear this

Imagine you are enjoying a pleasant walk in the woods on Vancouver Island. Suddenly, the air is pierced by a terrible howl. Your blood runs cold as you try to imagine what it could be. Is that a dog? Is it a man in agony? Is it something unearthly?

Residents of Alert Bay don’t have to imagine. They are experiencing it. Several residents have reporting hearing what some believe are vocalizations from Sasquatch in the area. A young man named Mackenzie Mountain managed to get a recording on his phone. CTV, Vancouver had this video report where you can hear some of the recording.

I have been searching for the original, but have had no luck so far. If anyone has a pointer to it I’d be much obliged.

British Columbia has historically had more sightings of Bigfoot than anywhere else in Canada according to records at the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. (California has the most recorded sightings in the world.) As the news story reported, people have not only heard these calls but they have seen creatures.

Also noted in the video, Vancouver Island does not have the sort of wildlife that is normally given as probable explanations for Bigfoot sightings. There are no bears or other such creatures on the island. It’s also remarkable that something could manage to stay hidden in such a small place. Vancouver Island is less than 3 miles across. This gives some weight to the idea that it could be some sort of inter-dimensional being.

Bigfoot researchers have taken an interest in the sightings and CTV had a follow up story with John Bindernagel who traveled to the area to get his own recordings. (See his web site. We have the Bigfoot cast he shows on his home page in our Museum!) You might be interested in his latest book, The Discovery of the Sasquatch.

Will this lead us closer to answers about Bigfoot? I’m always hopeful. As always, we wait and watch to see. Have you had a Bigfoot encounter? Tell us!

Posted on February 8, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Skunkape/Bigfoot Found Jumping into Gator Infested Waters

Outside of Tampla Florida, a Bigfoot hunter & enthusiast named Matt M. captured a video while canoeing in the swamps of Tampla, Florida.

What was thought to be a bear, has been analyzed further to be proven not to be. No bear has arms that lanky and long, and how it walks seems unnatural for a bear, even a weirdo one.

Matt saw this thing in the woods and smartly started filming this unknown creature as it dove into Gator infested waters, probably to show all the Gators why he’s a mythological creature and they’re not.

Check out the video below (which has been stabilized) and decide for yourself!

Posted on February 6, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Bigfoot vs. the Buffalos in Yellowstone National Park

This is one brave man, for to get this video, he had to get way too close for my comfort. In the video below, you can clearly see some Bigfoot-esque creature attacking a heard of unfortunate buffalos.

It’s easy to write this off as a hoax of sorts, but who would risk their life for a hoax like this? What do you think? Watch the video and find out for yourself.

Posted on February 4, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Hipster Bigfoot Found in Brooklyn?

Seems like a PBR drinking, fixed gear bicycle riding Bigfoot was found doing yoga… I mean walking around in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

The video was shot Tuesday morning in Prospect Park by a hot toddy drinking local mustache aficionado probably filming a short film when all of a sudden a large, dark figure walked in the back of his frame and probably ruining the man’s perfect intro shot.

The video was met with great skepticism upon viewing, and has been widely decided to be a hoax. All of Brooklyn scoffed upon viewing and went back to their home micro brew.

Watch the video and decide for yourself whether this is a PBR slinging Bigfoot, or large elaborate hipster hoax.

Posted on December 22, 2014July 29, 2024 by MOTW Admin

The Bigfoot Gift Guide for the Cryptid-Hunter Who Has It All

Still having trouble what to get for that cryptid-hunter in your life? There does seem to be a bit of a cap on Bigfoot accessories available. Many of the more popular items you can buy at The Museum of the Weird, located at 412 E.6th St in Austin, TX, so please, come on down and shop in our gift shop! But the point of this post is to hunt down some of the more off the beaten track items. Lets explore Sasquatch gifts for the fan who seems to have it all…

First off, tis the season for outrageous holiday sweaters. Why not make your giftee happy with their very own Bigfoot one?

This beautiful (?) bit of hirsute holiday habiliment is available over at Archie McPhee. Alternately you’ve got this great one…

Available from middleofbeyond.com, which make crazy sweaters for lots of different obsessions, including Dungeons & Dragons, Cthulu, Krampus, Gremlins. Zombie and Santa. They also make scarves, rugs. t-shirts, Christmas ornaments and more using images from these same off-beat topics.

Perhaps your friend is somewhat circumspect about engaging others in conversation about the beast-man. A more appropriate gift for them to admire in the privacy of their own home might be this:

The story goes that Teddy Roosevelt had a Bigfoot encounter. Of course it probably didn’t go quite like this, but what fun is history if we can’t patriotically embellish it a bit (not sure if this is sarcastic or not)? This beautiful, handmade, 11×17 print is available from Etsy. The store also offers other US Presidents and historical figures fighting various monsters or using them as steeds. I’m partial to Paul Revere on a “Tron” lightcycle.

I don’t like to assume things about people. Like for instance, who am I to say that none of you are close personal friends with supermodel Megan Fox? That would be just plain rude of me. Especially considering that she’s a devoted cryptid fan.

In an interview for Esquire Magazine, she extolled the virtues of Bigfoot and more…“Would you not be so much more interested in finding out that Bigfoot existed than in watching a really good movie?” she said.

Assuming you’re that guy tasked with buying her something nice, or really anyone who’s got to get something sexy for your lady that espouses her Bigfoot-belief, may I suggest the tasteful…

What says “I love you” (or, at least, I love your body) better than a “Bigfoot for President” thong? I can’t think of anything (and believe me, I looked for Bigfoot engagement rings). You can pick this up. or the same slogan printed on just about everything else, right here.

You’ve got to decorate your tree, and there are a lot of cryptid-specific ornaments out there to choose from. But let me point out two of the best…

This lovely fellow is extremely popular and tends to sell out well before Christmas every year, so this might be in prep for NEXT year, but you can pick him up from designToscano.

Bigfoot rides Nessie. I love it. And on a Christmas star. I think this one is a loch for the perfect christmas gift.

Of course, your friend may not be quite so passive. Do they have a big trip planned this year to Washington State or Canada? You should know that they’re probably planning on traipsing through the woods hoping to catch a glimpse of the fabled creature. Why not help them out with professional Bigfoot hunting gear?

Roadtrippers.com not only has assembled a list of the best Sasquatch hunting equipment out there, but is even sponsoring a contest where you can win it all!

So there ya go. We here at Museum of the Weird hope that not only will you consider some of our off-beat suggestions, but perhaps as well consider buying some of the items we offer ourselves. For instance, we offer this “Bigfoot Lives” t-shirt that you can see our intrepid leader Steve Busti wearing as he poses next to our “Minnesota Iceman” exhibit.

We’ve got lots of Bigfoot gifts along with a plethora of downright weird items of every stripe. Come visit us at 412 E. 6th st in Austin, Texas or call at 512-476-5493 to see about shipping options. And have yourself a Merry, Hairy, Little Christmas!

Posted on July 9, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Cryptozoologist raising funds to study Lovelock Cave Giants

Despite my colleague Chris Cox’s article the other day (see A Bad Day for Bigfoot), I remain optimistic that there will be some proof of an unknown, living, upright-walking primate found — eventually.

As cryptozoologist Scott Marlowe points out in response to that article, “The researchers DON’T claim any sweeping generalization whatsoever. They are simply reporting on those samples they worked with — and say as much in the report.”

“Good science is about patience, not easy gratification.”

Well now Scott is putting his money where his mouth is (or more accurately, your money). Marlowe is starting a GoFundMe campaign to raise $10,000 to conduct a DNA study on the skeleton of one of the mysterious Lovelock Cave Giants. According to his GoFundMe page:

Having located the remains of one of the Lovelock Cave “Giant” skeletons, and verifying that the keeper of it is willing to permit me to extract a tooth for the purpose of doing a DNA study on the creature, I am attempting to raise the funding necessary to complete the expedition and subsequent DNA work upon it to determine its origins and phylogeny.

In 1911 mummified remains were found by guano hunters in Lovelock Cave, a large rock shelter in Nevada’s Lake Lahontan region. According to legend, these skeletons belong to a cannibalistic tribe of red-haired giants.

Known to the Paiute indians as the Si-Te-Cah, these cannibals were at war with the Paiute until a number of tribes came together and trapped the Si-Te-Cah in Lovelock Cave, started a fire and asphyxiated them.

There may be some factual basis for the legend. During a 1924 expedition, some human bones found in the cave showed evidence that they were split to extract the marrow, which may indicate cannibalism. In addition several large fiber sandals were found in the caves, one measuring a whopping 15″. Now that’s a Big Foot!

If you’ve ever wanted to be a part of a potential new discovery, I’d say here’s your chance. To help Scott reach his goal, you can contribute to his study here:

Red-Haired Giant Research

Posted on October 31, 2013 by MOTW Admin — 1 Comment

BEST VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE SKUNK APE YET

Screen shot of the moment the supposed Skunk Ape stands upright.

Could this be the best video yet of the elusive Skunk Ape, the south’s version of Bigfoot? Here’s the description accompanying the video, which was uploaded by YouTube user Josh Highcliff on October 28, 2013:

Here is exactly what I seen, I’m not sure what it is but can someone please tell me? Is there a person who can do video analyses or something? I got scared and ran away, i wish i stayed to keep taking the movie.

Date: october 24 – 2013
Where: about 9 miles west of Tunica, Mississippi on my hunting property
Time: about 6pm

I was out hunting hogs, just sitting in a part of the swamp i have heard em before…it is not too far from a road. I was wearing hunting camo and just sitting dead still waiting for it to get dark, cause thats when the hogs come out. I hear a noise behind the tree i was sitting on, i thought it was the hogs, when i got around i could not believe my own two eyes.

There was this huge black thing crouched by a dead cypress about 50 yards away, i thought it was a hog but saw these big shoulders and a head upright with hands. It looked like it was digging out the stump. My first instinct was to run, i did not even think of shooting…then i know no one will believe me…it was like everything slowed down…i was scared! I took out my iphone and started videotaping it..i guess i pushed the record button twice cause it stopped blinking red.. but i pushed it again. I hear a truck driving down the road and the thing stood up!! I was trying to be dead quiet…when it stood up i could not control myself and ran. That stump was huge and i’d guess the sucker was 7feet tall, i am a hunter and am pretty darn good at guessing size.

that’s no bear!

I don’t know what to think.. if someone can tell me what it is or if somone was trying to prank me i, I don’t want to go back on my land. this is the first movie i have ever put on youtube..the video looks better on my phone and computer

I always heard stories of skunk ape and honey island swamp monster from these parts but never thought about it being real ever.

has anyone seen anything like this in mississippi?

Posted on October 24, 2013 by MOTW Admin

BIGFOOT FILES PROMISES “UNEQUIVOCAL, EXTRAORDINARY AND TOTALLY UNEXPECTED” RESULTS

Former heavyweight boxing champion-turned-Bigfoot hunter Nikolai Valuev joins host Mark Evans as they investigate the Almasty.

For those of you who have not had the chance to watch the first episode of the excellent show Bigfoot Files, you can watch it in its entirety here:

The show is well-worth watching, and is an example of the type of programming cryptozoology needs more of. Bigfoot Files takes a scientific approach to the search for answers to the mystery of Bigfoot, following genetics professor Bryan Sykes in his analysis of DNA extracted from hair samples provided to the Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project (OLCHP).

The first episode had some pretty amazing (in my opinion) results on some supposed Yeti hairs. And while the description for Bigfoot Files: Episode 2 sounds less than enthusiastic…

…Professor Sykes reveals the results of his DNA tests on the hair samples he’s collected. Will the results confirm the Bigfootologists’ stories or will it be bad news?

…Episode 3, the finale of the three-part series, sounds much more promising. From the British Channel 4 description for Episode 3 of Bigfoot Files:

The ‘Almasty’ is Russia’s very own Bigfoot. It has been written about for over 300 years, and Russia’s Almasty hunters claim there have been over 10,000 encounters over the years.

The big theory in Russia is that it’s a surviving hominid, possibly even a Neanderthal.

Mark Evans travels to Russia and investigates one of the highest profile Bigfoot stories in the world: the tale of Zana, the so-called Wildwoman: a living Almasty said to have been found in the remote Caucasus in the 1870s.

She was alleged to have had four children by her captors over the years. Almasty hunters have tracked down her descendants and Bryan Sykes uses cutting edge tests to analyse their DNA and test the Neanderthal theory about Zana.

Mark also meets a giant among Almasty hunters, seven foot tall former heavyweight boxing champion of the world Nikolai Valuev, who is now Duma Deputy (the equivalent of an MP) for Kemerovo in Siberia.

Mark joins him as he checks out the latest hot Almasty sighting and meets the three kids who claim to have captured one on camera near a frozen lake.

Finally, in Moscow, Professor Sykes reveals the results of his DNA tests on Zana’s relatives. The results are unequivocal, extraordinary and totally unexpected (emphasis mine).

SOURCE: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/bigfoot-files/episode-guide

I for one, am waiting with baited breath on Professor Bryan Sykes’ announcement of what he has found in the DNA of the relatives of Zana. If we look at the description, it sounds like 1.) his results will leave no doubt as to their veracity; 2.) we know that it is not something mundane, e.g. they’re not just normal humans; and 3.) it’s not what we would expect. I would expect the results to come back either purely homo sapiens OR neandertal-human hybrid. But could it be something other?

Will Zana’s relatives be something more than either human or neandertal?

And while I think a human-bear hybrid would be totally unexpected… I don’t think that’s the case here. 😉 I guess we will just have to wait.

Posted on October 17, 2013 by MOTW Admin

BREAKING NEWS: YETI DNA STUDY ANNOUNCES SURPRISING RESULTS

Abominable Snowmen book and my mummified "Yeti" finger. — Abominable Snowmen book and my mummified “Yeti” finger.

I was tipped off to this news several months ago (and again a few days ago) that Oxford University geneticist Dr. Bryan Sykes would be announcing some “unexpected results” concerning his DNA study of supposed Yeti hair samples. Well, now those results are being officially announced to the world, and I would think it’s safe to say they are not what anybody had expected, but no less amazing in my opinion.

For centuries, tales of the Yeti, an elusive but terrifying creature said to roam the inhospitable Himalayan Mountains, have enthralled curious minds.

Now, research by a leading UK geneticist may have unlocked the truth about the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, after hair samples from two mystery animals proved to be a genetic match to an ancient polar bear.

The findings, to be explained in “Bigfoot Files,” a documentary series on Britain’s Channel 4 TV network, are the work of Bryan Sykes, a professor of human genetics at Oxford University.

He put out a worldwide call last year for people to submit hair or other tissue from “cryptids,” or previously undescribed species, and collected more than 30 samples for analysis.

Sykes’ research focused on two samples in particular, both from the Himalayas but found about 800 miles apart, one in the Ladakh region and the other in Bhutan.

To his surprise, testing found a 100% match with a polar bear jawbone from Svalbard, the northernmost part of Norway, that dates back between 40,000 and 120,000 years, according to a news release from Channel 4.

First of all, the sheer fact that, yes, the Yeti is indeed a real living “prehistoric” animal and not just the stuff of legends anymore, is enough to get excited about. So yes, I am elated to hear this news coming from an extremely reputable source like Dr. Sykes and Oxford University. If anything, it shows that there’s sometimes much more than just a grain of truth to sightings and descriptions of legendary cryptids, that they are not just some imaginary creation made up by the locals.

Second, this confirms my own suspicions about the possible identity of the Yeti, in that it may be something altogether different from Sasquatch. For years I had erroneously made the same assumption that most people do, that is, lumping the Yeti in with Bigfoot and Almas, in that I had always believed they were all some sort of related bipedal primate. That is, until I began collecting Bigfoot prints for the Museum of the Weird.

When I first received a cast made from the original Tom Slick Yeti print retrieved on one of his Nepal expeditions, I was stunned. Now I don’t proclaim to be a scientist nor am I an expert in animal tracks, but even to my layman’s eyes these did not look anything like the Bigfoot casts I had already amassed! In fact, when I first saw the Tom Slick cast, my first thought was, “this is fake.” It just didn’t look like what I thought a Yeti print should look like (which in my mind, would be like a Bigfoot print). Once I realized that, yes, what I had was indeed a copy of the actual Tom Slick Yeti print and not a phony, my second thought was, “this could be a bear.” It was an an eye-opening revelation.

Here for your consideration is a side-by-side comparison of the Tom Slick Yeti print and a Bigfoot print (one of the “Grays Harbor” casts), both on display in the Museum of the Weird.

The Bigfoot print is nearly twice the length of the Yeti print, and the Yeti print has only four visible toes.

Look at the difference in size and shape, and let us know what your thoughts are.