Media Article # 380
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Article prepared and posted by Kevin Withers

Monday, October 23, 1978

Missing links living in Kenya?

By LAURENT CHEVALLIER
Des Moines Register

NAIROBI, KENYA - There is convincing evidence that prehistoric hominoids, not animals but not quite humans, still exist in the depths of the tropical bush of Kenya, says French sociologist Jacqueline Roumeguere Eberhardt.
Numerous eyewitness accounts of encounters with the creatures, which she calls “X,” have convinced Roumeguere, a research scientist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, of the existence of hominoids, who were already living in Kenya 500,000 to 3 million years ago.
One Kenyan described his encounter in the forest with an “X” who kept him prisoner more than an hour. “His eyes, his mouth were those of a man, and his face was not covered with hair, but his forehead was very low, rather like that of a baboon,” he said.
Roumeguere, who has been living in Kenya since 1970, first came here in 1966 to study the social structure of tribes like Masai and the Samburu. But soon after her arrival she heard tales of encounters with strange creatures from herdsmen who lived on the edge of the forest and from hunters who occasionally went into the jungle.
According to evidence that she has collated, there are four different types of “X.” Three are tall, solidly built. The fourth type, on the other hand, is a pygmy, sturdily built but with a heavier head in proportion to its body.
With the exception of a reported tall, thin, light-skinned individual with black, curly hair, the creatures are allegedly covered with grayish hair. “Gray like a donkey,” said one witness.
Another witness said the hair of one creature “nearly fell to his heels.” “He had so many stones and twigs in his hair that, if he had not moved, I would have taken him for a rock.”
The French scientist is reluctant to give more information on the location of these encounters for fear that the “Xs” may be driven from their haunts by hastily organized expeditions. But creatures of this type have been reported before from Kenya, and several scientific expeditions have been organized in the past to try to establish contact. All were unsuccessful.
Not True, Says Leaky
Kenya National Museum Director Richard Leaky - the discoverer of some important pale-ontological finds in the country - says categorically that such creatures simply do not exist. They are quite mythical, he says, and rank alongside the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas or the Bigfoot of North America.
But Roumeguere is convinced that her Kenya sources know what they are talking about. So is her assistant Metamei Ole Kapusia, a Masai who claims that several of his companions have met such creatures.
The French Sociologist says she has interviewed 17 people who have had encounters with the “X,” and a great many people close to those who have met the creatures.
She has a record of 33 encounters in 11 forests, some of them separated by a distance of more than 60 miles.
Some of the “Xs” encountered were women, some were children.
Males Uncircumcised
The details are so varied and so precise - the witnesses have noticed that the males are uncircumcised and their ears are not pierced - that she feels it is impossible to dismiss the tales as simply legends told over a night fire.
There is only one possible way to solve the mystery, says the sociologist: organize an expedition which will bring back irrefutable proof that the Homo habilis and Homo erectus of prehistoric remains still exist.

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