Close encounter [w/ BF] prompts lifelong search

[Christopher O'Brien]

Article HERE:
By Tom Kellar

Researchers, including William Allen Barnes, plan to launch a remote-controlled airship in hopes of filming an hominoid.

On a warm summer night in 1997, local Bigfoot researcher and part-time gold-mining enthusiast William Allen Barnes was plunged headlong into the world of cryptozoology.

(Barnes dislikes using the term Bigfoot due to its exploitation by those who have tried to capitalize on, or trivialize the phenomenon, preferring to use the term North American ape/hominoid.)

Barnes was camping alone near Greenhorn Creek, southeast of Grass Valley. He was asleep in a small pup tent with the rain flap up when a loud noise woke him sometime after midnight.

‘About 1 or 2, I heard this thing coming down the canyon and I could hear it walking around,’ Barnes said. ‘I figured it was a bear.’As he listened and tried to catch a glimpse of what was approaching, he began to realize that it might be something completely unfamiliar to him. ‘I could see this dark blob and when it got about thirty feet from my car, I noticed how tall it looked above the hood, he said. I thought, Oh my gosh, it can’t be a bear. It got to the car, then headed straight toward my tent.’

What happened next is something that Barnes says has haunted him ever since, and fueled his desire to prove the existence of a giant creature most consider well outside the realm of possibility.

‘It was looking down on me through the flap in the tent and I had no place to go, no gun and no flashlight…My heart was beating so loudly, I could hear it pounding in my ears. When it turned sideways, I saw how thick it was and I realized it had no neck and didn’t seem to have a nose. It looked ape-like.’

Eventually, the creature which Barnes guessed to weigh somewhere between 450 and 500 pounds seemed to lose interest, turning to walk up a nearby hill and disappearing into the darkness.After it left, the adrenaline hit me and I just sat there and shook, Barnes said. ‘I got up the next morning and left. It took me four years to go back out there into the canyon by myself, and my gun got bigger every year.’

Since that time, Barnes has driven himself to find out as much as he can about the creature he encountered, while thinking of possible ways that he could prove its existence.

In the last decade, he has joined forces with several other researchers, namely Jason Valenti (SasquatchResearch.net) and William Dranginis (VirginiaBigfootResearch.org), to initiate the Falcon Project to capture motion picture evidence of a hominoid.
The plan is to travel to hominoid hot spots in the U.S. and Canada where multiple sightings have been reported, and to nightly launch a remote-controlled blimp, using thermal imaging, carbon dioxide recognition and high-tech audio equipment to track what is below.

The camera on board will be so powerful that it can zoom in on objects with almost microscopic detail from as high as 2,000 feet and will be able to film from any angle, Barnes said.

The airship is actually two helium-filled blimps held together by graphite and will float in the same way a catamaran does, Barnes said. We’ll be searching in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Virginia, Eastern Tennessee around the Smoky Mountains and Florida.

Barnes estimates the trip could last as long as a year and will cost in the neighborhood of $190,000.The airship is to be manufactured by a Canadian company and the equipment used to operate and monitor theFalcon will be housed inside an RV that Barnes and his cohorts will travel in.

The group is still in the process of raising the necessary funds, but Barnes believes the wait will not be much longer.

It would be easy for the casual reader to dismiss the Falcon project, its founder and the creature it seeks to uncover, but remember the coelacanth, a fish thought to be extinct for at least 65 million years, found alive when a specimen was caught in South Africa in 1938.

There have been other documented sightings since then, including discovery of a second species of coelacanths found in Indonesia in 1999.

And think too of explorers like German businessman Heinrich Schliemann, who in 1868 discovered the ancient city of Troy, while the rest of the archaeological world was convinced it was only a legend.

When discussing hominoids with Barnes, it’s difficult not to be struck by his earnestness and the missionary-like zeal with which he approaches his subject. He very much appears a true believer propelled by scientific revelation.

We want to film a hominoid over a long period of time, so that scientists can then study its movements, Barnes said. I’m not trying to prove something that others don’t already know. I’m just trying to film it in its natural habitat.

 

[Wade]

"... . I’m just trying to film it in its natural habitat..."

In that case I hope the airship has interdimensional capabilities

 

[Samander]

Sounds like an amazing idea, its nice to hear a fresh new way of documenting the species existance. I would love to hear more about it on the paracast if possible at some stage.

 

[mike]

My brother in law saw a Yowie in the bush while camping, he left his tent and all his gear behind.
Got in the car and took off, wild horses in a team couldnt drag him back there.

To this very day if you press him about the event he gets very angry and refuses to discuss it.
But my wife remembers the event, he got home all freaked out , only ever talked about it that one time.

 

[pixelsmith]

a 500 lb animal would leave footprints and most likely hair samples in the brush yet two grown men in separate incidents failed to think about that.

 

[Samander]

because there thinking about the 500 lb creature in front of them.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

My brother in law saw a Yowie in the bush while camping, he left his tent and all his gear behind.
Got in the car and took off, wild horses in a team couldnt drag him back there.

To this very day if you press him about the event he gets very angry and refuses to discuss it.
But my wife remembers the event, he got home all freaked out , only ever talked about it that one time.

That sort of response appears to be very common. I mean, there are some people who make things up for attention, but there seem to be a number of people who witness something and do not want to talk about it. I don't blame them. Many people will make fun of you, even some who rather unquestioningly accept all accounts of UFOs or ghosts.

And yeah, many witnesses report being really freaked out, almost beyond how you would react to a known dangerous animal. There is a tendency to not stick around and look for tracks, hair, or to follow the creature; although in many cases there is a curious lack of physical evidence which should be there. Panic, close to the original sense of the word, may occur. And I think a lot of it involves the witness just trying to accept what they just saw.

 

[Goggs Mackay]

Thinking about the possibility of an actual hominid such as 'bigfoot', I've always been concerned there could not be enough food in these wooded areas, not for multiple creatures (must mate and have offspring).
What would they eat in a cold winter? Do they store food for winter? If so, where and how etc. I've not heard of a bigfoot-stash of nuts!

There do seem to be credible witness reports and I've seen a couple of vids/phots that might just be real and if not, they were excellent fakes.

Some inter-dimensional connection, which seems to be trendy explanation just now, would actually explain a lot.

It is most strange if true, how it seems all continents had indigenous peoples' stories about hairy hominids in the wild. These totally independent accounts may be the strongest evidence there is to date that these beings do share parts of this planet with us but only in the greatest possible seclusion.

If they exist, it's a fair bet that ever since humans have been here, they have suffered and chosen not to mix at all.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

Thinking about the possibility of an actual hominid such as 'bigfoot', I've always been concerned there could not be enough food in these wooded areas, not for multiple creatures (must mate and have offspring).
What would they eat in a cold winter? Do they store food for winter? If so, where and how etc. I've not heard of a bigfoot-stash of nuts!

There do seem to be credible witness reports and I've seen a couple of vids/phots that might just be real and if not, they were excellent fakes.

Some inter-dimensional connection, which seems to be trendy explanation just now, would actually explain a lot.

It is most strange if true, how it seems all continents had indigenous peoples' stories about hairy hominids in the wild. These totally independent accounts may be the strongest evidence there is to date that these beings do share parts of this planet with us but only in the greatest possible seclusion.

If they exist, it's a fair bet that ever since humans have been here, they have suffered and chosen not to mix at all.

In large forest areas like Northwestern North America or in the forests of Russia, you could probably make a fair argument for some kind of food source undiscovered to us, including preying on other animals. Maybe even in smaller forests, this might occur. The vast majority of hunters hunt at the periphery of wild areas and do not penetrate far within. There exists a good chunk of woodland that sees very little human traffic.

That said, a large number of sightings are reported in areas where it would be very hard to support even a black bear population, let alone an eight or nine foot bipedal creature.

 

[Goggs Mackay]

For sure. Well said and I kinda get the impression you have the same questions as I do. Pandas are big bears with a restricted diet so large animals can certainly survive in densely forested areas far from where humans roam. Bearing (pardon the pun) in mind though, that Bigfoot seems to be a strong and active creature and that means a more calorific diet than a panda.

I always remember how dense the wood is that surrounds Houston, Tx. I don't think a machete would help much there, it's so think. Perhaps if hominids could eat plants and meat, basically anything at all edible, they might be able to live. But I felt I learnt a lesson regarding arguments for the Loch Ness Monster. Now, I don't believe in it at all anyway but it had to be pointed out to me years ago that Loch Ness could not support such a creature with the available food it has, period.
We have to consider these factors in addition to just the idea that undiscovered hominids exist right not on earth.

 

[RenaissanceLady]

But I felt I learnt a lesson regarding arguments for the Loch Ness Monster. Now, I don't believe in it at all anyway but it had to be pointed out to me years ago that Loch Ness could not support such a creature with the available food it has, period.
We have to consider these factors in addition to just the idea that undiscovered hominids exist right not on earth.

That's only assuming that the waters of Loch Ness aren't somehow connected to other, larger bodies of water. While I don't personally believe that there is anything unusual happening in that Loch (other than lots of people wanting to make money off of tourists), I can admit that it's possible there are water channels deep within the Loch that might make it part of a larger system. We do know that it's connected to other rivers and Lochs, so.... If Nessie is around, it's probable it might have a bigger playground than just Loch Ness. One of the things that makes that Loch so mysterious is that its high peat content makes visibility exceptionally low. It doesn't need a cryptozoological animal to add to its sense of foreboding. Anything from larger eels to odd fish behavior could be mistaken for a strange creature, especially if someone was already anxious or had the predisposition to do so.

(On a similar note: This isn't exactly keeping a certain religious private school from milking Nessie for all its worth:
Louisiana Private Schools Teach Loch Ness Monster Is Real In Effort To Disprove Evolution Theory

Losing faith in humanity in 3...2...1...)

I live in a rural area that borders a large national forest in Colorado. I tend to take Bigfoot sightings with a hefty grain of salt but I can also say that I've read about more Bigfoot sightings in the area during the past couple of months than I ever remember happening in the past. I should also say that in this area, the black bear population has absolutely exploded. I've seen more black bears recently than I have in all the other combined years I've lived in Colorado. In the past month or so, I've seen a black bear cross my deck three times and one of those times he came up to the open window where I was sitting in order to take a whiff of Eau de RenaissanceLady. (He walked off after I screamed. The great and mighty Pyrenees slept through the whole thing. I swear I half expect to find him smoking a bong - but that's another story.)

We can look at this a couple of different ways:
1. With the enormous number of black bears in the area, someone could mistake a bear sighting for Bigfoot.
2. We certainly have the environment that allows the black bear population to thrive, so we could therefore also have an environment that allows Sasquatch to thrive.

#2 also brings me to a point: I've spent a lot of time in Colorado. While I've seen many living bears, only once in my life have I ever seen a dead bear. That happened on I-25 about 20 miles south of Raton and the only reason I saw it was that it looked as though it had been hit by a vehicle while trying to cross the interstate. Bears are learning how to co-exist around humans and even benefit from human activity, such as raiding dumpsters. For this reason, bear sightings are frequent in bear country and bears often end up dead due to these encounters. If they had a healthier fear of human encroachment, it's possible few of us would ever see bears (living or dead) as there is a lot of undeveloped land that could sustain their population. A more intelligent animal (such as a hominid) might have learned to be more stealthy and avoid humans altogether.

I was also reading that all the fires we've recently had in the area may have driven Sasquatch out of the forests. If Sasquatch is real, could this be behind the increase in sightings? It seems to me that many of the sightings happened before the bigger fires up here, so I can't really say. I do think these fires may have been behind other Close Encounters of the Furry Kind, including what seems like a spike in mountain lion sightings.

Edited to add: One nearby sighting that took place a few years ago happened near "Monkey Creek". It does make me wonder how that creek got its name.

 

[Goggs Mackay]

All great points. Your point about the increasing black bear population being supported does indeed make it more believable there could be other large creatures surviving and even thriving.

Perhaps someday, like how in this country CCTV is ubiquitous, these 'trailcams' could be set up in enough places to photograph something interesting?

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

For sure. Well said and I kinda get the impression you have the same questions as I do. Pandas are big bears with a restricted diet so large animals can certainly survive in densely forested areas far from where humans roam. Bearing (pardon the pun) in mind though, that Bigfoot seems to be a strong and active creature and that means a more calorific diet than a panda.

I always remember how dense the wood is that surrounds Houston, Tx. I don't think a machete would help much there, it's so think. Perhaps if hominids could eat plants and meat, basically anything at all edible, they might be able to live. But I felt I learnt a lesson regarding arguments for the Loch Ness Monster. Now, I don't believe in it at all anyway but it had to be pointed out to me years ago that Loch Ness could not support such a creature with the available food it has, period.
We have to consider these factors in addition to just the idea that undiscovered hominids exist right not on earth.

According to Yosemite, black bears can eat up to 20,000 calories per day in the fall when gorging to prepare for winter. Pennsylvania's record black bear was 879 pounds, compared to Yosemite's biggest of 690 pounds, so that calorie number might go even higher. Given that sort of intake, I feel strongly drawn to consider non-physical explanations for some sightings. That is, if we are certain that sasquatches are just an unknown hominid, and we can extrapolate what sort of food source this thing would need, wouldn't we would have to start ruling a number of sightings as impossible?

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

That's only assuming that the waters of Loch Ness aren't somehow connected to other, larger bodies of water. While I don't personally believe that there is anything unusual happening in that Loch (other than lots of people wanting to make money off of tourists), I can admit that it's possible there are water channels deep within the Loch that might make it part of a larger system. We do know that it's connected to other rivers and Lochs, so.... If Nessie is around, it's probable it might have a bigger playground than just Loch Ness. One of the things that makes that Loch so mysterious is that its high peat content makes visibility exceptionally low. It doesn't need a cryptozoological animal to add to its sense of foreboding. Anything from larger eels to odd fish behavior could be mistaken for a strange creature, especially if someone was already anxious or had the predisposition to do so.

(On a similar note: This isn't exactly keeping a certain religious private school from milking Nessie for all its worth:
Louisiana Private Schools Teach Loch Ness Monster Is Real In Effort To Disprove Evolution Theory

Losing faith in humanity in 3...2...1...)

I live in a rural area that borders a large national forest in Colorado. I tend to take Bigfoot sightings with a hefty grain of salt but I can also say that I've read about more Bigfoot sightings in the area during the past couple of months than I ever remember happening in the past. I should also say that in this area, the black bear population has absolutely exploded. I've seen more black bears recently than I have in all the other combined years I've lived in Colorado. In the past month or so, I've seen a black bear cross my deck three times and one of those times he came up to the open window where I was sitting in order to take a whiff of Eau de RenaissanceLady. (He walked off after I screamed. The great and mighty Pyrenees slept through the whole thing. I swear I half expect to find him smoking a bong - but that's another story.)

We can look at this a couple of different ways:
1. With the enormous number of black bears in the area, someone could mistake a bear sighting for Bigfoot.
2. We certainly have the environment that allows the black bear population to thrive, so we could therefore also have an environment that allows Sasquatch to thrive.

#2 also brings me to a point: I've spent a lot of time in Colorado. While I've seen many living bears, only once in my life have I ever seen a dead bear. That happened on I-25 about 20 miles south of Raton and the only reason I saw it was that it looked as though it had been hit by a vehicle while trying to cross the interstate. Bears are learning how to co-exist around humans and even benefit from human activity, such as raiding dumpsters. For this reason, bear sightings are frequent in bear country and bears often end up dead due to these encounters. If they had a healthier fear of human encroachment, it's possible few of us would ever see bears (living or dead) as there is a lot of undeveloped land that could sustain their population. A more intelligent animal (such as a hominid) might have learned to be more stealthy and avoid humans altogether.

I was also reading that all the fires we've recently had in the area may have driven Sasquatch out of the forests. If Sasquatch is real, could this be behind the increase in sightings? It seems to me that many of the sightings happened before the bigger fires up here, so I can't really say. I do think these fires may have been behind other Close Encounters of the Furry Kind, including what seems like a spike in mountain lion sightings.

Edited to add: One nearby sighting that took place a few years ago happened near "Monkey Creek". It does make me wonder how that creek got its name.

I don't know what to say about some of these private schools. I suppose its fine if you never leave that community, don't need to learn science, and don't plan on going to a real college. Then again, Philadelphia has public schools where you can effectively graduate without being literate. I guess the first option damages your mind while the second option puts you in physical danger. 0, -1, -2, -3...

I'm sure some sightings are bear misidentifications, but an awful lot of accounts describe bipedalism, not to mention a preliminary feeling of discomfort.

Sounds like you live in a great place. Central Pennsylvania has a healthy black bear population, too, though not that many.

 

[RenaissanceLady]

I don't know what to say about some of these private schools. I suppose its fine if you never leave that community, don't need to learn science, and don't plan on going to a real college. Then again, Philadelphia has public schools where you can effectively graduate without being literate. I guess the first option damages your mind while the second option puts you in physical danger. 0, -1, -2, -3...

I'm sure some sightings are bear misidentifications, but an awful lot of accounts describe bipedalism, not to mention a preliminary feeling of discomfort.

Sounds like you live in a great place. Central Pennsylvania has a healthy black bear population, too, though not that It many.

For all of my (many) gripes about living where I live, there are times I have to admit it can be pretty cool. I think I've reached the point where I just can't consider living in a city again. I miss being close to things but I think I'd miss even more not having all the critters coming around. It's lovely waking up to the site of a deer or elk grazing just off the deck. There's also the sightings of the bigger critters, mostly bears and mountain lions. Moose have started showing up. Then there's the Bigfoot sightings.

Bigfoot sightings are fairly entrenched in the culture up here. Pike's Peak Highway has a "Bigfoot Crossing" sign for all the tourists and our local community forum started a thread in the "Hobby" section just for this topic.

It seems as though A LOT of people are seeing Bigfoot in the area and investigations happen fairly often. I've been surprised at the numbers of recent sightings. I've been paying more attention to this than I used to - but I also live in Park County, Colorado. Think Southpark on steroids. They know this territory and some of their episodes are surprisingly accurate (especially their earlier episodes). I know firsthand that we have the black helicopter sightings in spurts in this county and especially the Southpark area, though I don't think there's anything remotely paranormal about it. As the crow flies, I live about 60 miles from the military bases in Colorado Springs. The National Guard uses black copters and I'd guess that black ops groups use them as well, possibly even as the unmarked ones we see. I haven't "seen" one lately, though my housemate and I have both been awakened by the sound of many helicopters flying overhead. Either it's a major accident that never gets reported or something else is going on.

 

[Wade]

Bringing in Bigfoot With a Blimp Gets a Boost | Mysterious Universe

So i guess this makes this posting a bringing in bigfoot with a blimp gets a boost bump

 

[boomerang]

It seems as though A LOT of people are seeing Bigfoot in the area and investigations happen fairly often. I've been surprised at the numbers of recent sightings. I've been paying more attention to this than I used to - but I also live in Park County, Colorado. Think Southpark on steroids. They know this territory and some of their episodes are surprisingly accurate (especially their earlier episodes). I know firsthand that we have the black helicopter sightings in spurts in this county and especially the Southpark area, though I don't think there's anything remotely paranormal about it. As the crow flies, I live about 60 miles from the military bases in Colorado Springs. The National Guard uses black copters and I'd guess that black ops groups use them as well, possibly even as the unmarked ones we see. I haven't "seen" one lately, though my housemate and I have both been awakened by the sound of many helicopters flying overhead. Either it's a major accident that never gets reported or something else is going on.

I haven't lived in the beautiful state of Colorado since the mid 70's. Does Park County lean philosophically more in the direction of Boulder, or Colorado Springs ?

 

[RenaissanceLady]

I haven't lived in the beautiful state of Colorado since the mid 70's. Does Park County lean philosophically more in the direction of Boulder, or Colorado Springs ?

It's to the right of the right, far out on the fringes. Not the best fit for your garden variety RenLadies.

 

[Wade]

There's A Yeti In The Brokerage: Bigfoot-Hunting Firm Files For IPO | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

I'm gambling people will be shorting this stock the second it becomes available.