| |
Article by Matt Moneymaker, President of the Bigfoot Field
Researchers Organization
______________________________________
This is definitely a HISTORIC MILESTONE for Bigfoot/
Sasquatch research.
It will be the first large university study of Bigfoot/Sasquatch
evidence.
This is a long article, with links to some connected
articles, but it is all essential if you want to be informed on the subject of DNA analysis
applied to Bigfoot evidence. You must understand the history
first.
NOTE: There is an important update below this first
article.
_____________________________________
Twenty years ago Jane Goodall stated publicly that she
believes Sasquatches exist, and that DNA will prove their
existence so it will not be necessary to kill one in order to
prove their existence.
She was right, and still is. The
problem with that, at the time:
No respected research
institution that performed DNA analysis at the time wanted any
connection with the words Bigfoot or Sasquatch. It was too
controversial.
Twenty years later, a respected state
university in the eastern United States will be the first one to
conduct a long term, systematic study of Bigfoot/sasquatch
evidence in all its forms, especially DNA from hairs.
This is
the first time this has happened!!
The study will take
place at North Carolina State University.
Among other things, the
university will perform DNA analysis on hair samples already
collected, including some which are suspected of
being from Sasquatches but were never offered to previous DNA
efforts (all 2 of them: Sykes and Ketchum) because those efforts were
not legitimate academic/scientific studies.
________________
The earliset attempt to have possible Bigfoot
hairs analyzed for DNA:
Way back in the 1970's, decades before the Sykes and Ketchum DNA efforts, prominent
Bigfoot researcher Peter Byrne sent a hair sample to the
FBI for identification -- seemingly the best place, at the time, to identify a species
from a hair sample. DNA analysis was very new in that era but they
had the ability.
The FBI did Byrne a real solid favor ... 43 years
after sending the hair sample, eh
hem ... letting him know their results: It was just deer hair.
Gee, thanks.
For more info on the FBI case, see:
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/man-who-sent-fbi-physical-evidence-of-bigfoot-waited-43-years-to-learn-they-took-him-seriously
________________________________
The next foray was "Bigfoot Genome Project" led by Melba Ketchum in
Texas.
Melba Ketchum's effort was
not connected to any university. It was basically a hustle of wealthy
sponsors. Both the results and the study itself have been debunked by actual
scientists in an open-letter peer review process. Scientists were able to do
that simply by examining the long delayed publication of the Bigfoot Genome
Project's conclusions and methods.
For more
on that, see:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/07/an-honest-attempt-to-understand-the-bigfoot-genome-and-the-woman-who-created-it/
__________________________________
|
|
The more recent attempt was
led by the late Bryan Sykes, a world famous Emeritus Professor of human
genetics at the University of Oxford. He was paid to oversee an effort for a
television program commissioned by the BBC. He was definitely a step
up from Melbe Ketchum in terms of scientific talent.
Sykes was very respected for his
genetics investigations but this "study" for the BBC was not normal scientific study.
Sykes himself expressed misgivings about it afterward. He noted the lack of
time and budget for a more thorough investigation.
It was a limited
effort for a TV program, and the results were manipulated for cost
reduction and timeline adjustment to work with the TV production
schedule and its pre-determined script.
For more background
on that, see:
https://cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/moneymaker-on-sykes-yeti-dna-study/
_______________________
As a skeptic
of the professional skeptics, the lead of this DNA project got the ball rolling some years
ago to organize an academic effort to look for DNA in possible
Bigfoot hair samples.
He has now spoken with most of the
prominent Bigfoot researchers who are still alive and in
possession of hair samples that might contain DNA.
The project
is not yet ready to receive hair samples but they would like to
know what is out there in personal archives.
This effort already has a wide array of top level scientists
from various fields quietly participating, and willing to publish
any results they determine from the evidence.
They will receive
samples but there will be protocols involved. They first want
information about the hair samples before agreeing to receive
them, so that interviews can occur and samples can be prioritized
for analysis.
The most important and laudable aspect of
this effort: It is not a short term project. It will go on for a long
time, coordinated at this progressive (scientifically) university, with
excellent top-level preparedness for dealing with
interference.
_______________________________________
Years ago the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and
Identification put together a very useful web page showing microscope
images of hairs of common mammal species. Thankfully, most of this web
page still works properly and will continue to be work for a long time as
a reference for citizen scientists who come across hair samples in the
wild.
__________________________________
More refence material
for hair analysis:
Twenty years ago the supreme authority on the
topic of hair identification was a man named Doug Deedrick. He was (and
may still be) the FBI's top hair identification guy at Quantico. A few of
his articles are linked below. Deedrick's articles will make you much more
knowledgeable on the subject of hair identification.
|
| |
AUGUST 2023
UPDATE
This first big DNA
study is happening at North Carolina State University. The organizer
of the effort is Darby Orcutt. He has already been featured in many
Bigfoot-oriented podcasts.
I have been calling it the "Bigfoot Hair
DNA Project" but formally it is (and needs to be, wisely, for
political reasons) the University's "DNA Study of Anomalous
Biological Samples" ... among a wider program to collect evidence
and data on several major anomalies that have long been
marginalized.
ONE the major anomalies they are
keenly interested in is the Bigfoot mystery, not surprisingly. Their
official position is that modern skeptical explanations for all the
evidence (much of it physical) for Bigfoots is "unsatisfying" to the
University.
This day has been a long time coming.
If you know
someone who has good reason to believe they are in possession of
Bigfoot/Sasquatch hairs, then Darby and team at NC State want to
know about it. They would like to examine a good portion (always
retain some of the hairs) of good samples.
If you merely have
a clump of hairs you cannot identify, odds are they are not
Bigfoot/Sasquatch hairs. You could send photos of unknown hairs
(with a dime next to them for scale) to either the BFRO or other
animal hair experts to see if they appear to match hairs of known
animals.
Whereas if there has been indications of
Sasquatches in the area (footprints, howls, sightings) where hairs
were found then odds are much better. There should be some
correlation.
The University needs to strike a balance
between total openness for hair samples, and the need to prevent
enthusiastic people from sending in any animal hairs they find in
the woods.
Here is the URL for the hair sample intake form:
https://csc-rc.cvm.ncsu.edu/surveys/?s=7R9HACAJMHH47J9N
Do not
be thrown off by the request on the web page for donation support.
He has to include that. The project is supported already but
donations will allow them to process more samples faster, among
other things.
They are currently developing a convenient
way to keep hair sample providers updated on the results of
examinations of their sample(s).
They will be prioritizing every hair
sample they receive, so you must be patient. You will not be able to
plan for when your results are due, and you definitely should not
bug them about it. They will not give a completion date in advance.
You can
only bank on this:
If Darby agrees to accept your hair
samples in the first place, based on what they see in the intake
form, etc., and/or the followup phone interview, then you can be
sure they will provide updates about their examination of that
sample so you do not need to keep checking with them.
|
|
