Blog

 THE MURPHY FILE NEWSLETTER 
Newsletter #16 October 1, 2006   Editor: Chris Murphy This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
©C.L.Murphy 2006 
 
I think the entire sasquatch/bigfoot research issue can be summed up as, "waiting for the other shoe to drop." That it has not dropped with all that we know and have done is astounding, but not beyond reason. There are certainly more issues in the universe we (humans in general) can't explain than those that can be explained. 
 
Did you Know, Nice to Know, or Need to Know
 
Dash mounted videos Click Here would probably be a sure-fire way of getting a sasquatch on film if one is seen at a roadside or crossing the road. However, the units are expensive and it is therefore doubtful that many people would install them. Another way of getting at least some result might be to mount an ordinary  camera on a car dash. Certainly, you have to "push the button," but the time to get a picture would be reduced to simply this action - as opposed to getting out a camera and focusing it. If the camera rotated, then one might get two or three shots...just a thought.   
 
Here's a sasquatch ad you have probably not seen, unless you are over 40 Click Here
 
Joedy Cook send me these photos of prints recently found in Adams County, Ohio Click Here. If you check on pages 40-46 of Bigfoot Encounters in Ohio (Hancock House, 2006), you will see that it was in this county  (near Bentonville) that the intriguing "gorilla" handprint was found and cast.  I continue to be miffed with this case, as does Jimmy Chilcutt. The cast, which clearly shows the dermal ridges (finger prints) of a gorilla (possibly dead or near death), had to come from an impression made with an actual gorilla's hand.  That's a bit of a tough call, but there you have it.
 
The photos of this giant bear shot in Alaska in 2001 are truly amazing Click Here There are several shots on the site, but the last is a bit graphic as it shows the remains of a person who was killed by the creature (there is a warning, so don't look if you have a weak stomach). Anyway, from a sasquatch perspective, note the enormous size of the bear's foot, and the exceedingly large claws. A bear like that would definitely leave some large and deep footprints in semi-soft ground, however, you can see that the configuration of the toes is very different to those of sasquatch prints. Also, those big claws would dig in and therefore be very evident in the footprints.  I do hope they had that bear stuffed for a museum display, really a magnificent creature, despite its "crimes."  
 
I put this together using Peter Byrne's photo of the film site with Michael Hodgson at about the creature's location in frame 352 of the Patterson/Gimlin film Click Here. I did basically the same thing Jeff Glickman did to determine the relative height of creature, except I used the large log in the foreground of both images. In other words, I matched up the log images (made the log about the same size) which theoretically makes other objects relative  I DON'T KNOW HOW VALID THIS IS, and it would certainly not be as exacting and precise as Glickman's work.  As the log is round, I BELIEVE, you can do this. Objects that are not round can't be matched this way as the camera angle comes into play. You will note that in Byrne's photo, there is much more space between the log and Hodgson than there is in the film frame between the log and the creature. This is because Patterson took his movie at a lower elevation than Byrne - I would think over one foot. This fact and camera angle would make objects look somewhat different, although I can't fully rationalize the size of the debris chunk that blocks out the creature's left let leg (it's far too large). 
 Please don't quote me or hang me on this one.  I am not a professional in these matters. I just wish to point out that if someone with qualification would work on material such as I show here, then we might be able to put a lid on the creature height issue. We need to have several references that don't depend on the foot size.  We already have Glickman's work; the log would reinforce his finding. Then we have the wood fragment, and finally I believe it is possible to use a film frame itself - there are apparently certain "knowns" related to the entire image that can be used to calculate the size of objects seen.         
 
Here is the Canada Post write-up on the sasquatch stamp issued in 1990 (Scott #1289) Click Here The facts presented are not quite right. The correct information is in Meet the Sasquatch. Nevertheless, it's a nice presentation and it's amusing that we have an official Canadian stamp depicting the creature.  It would be nice if the U.S. followed suit.
 
Under New Stories below, you will see that I have posed the National Wildlife magazine article by George W. Harris, managing editor, that appeared in the October-November 1970 issue. This was a major article because Harris actually went on an expedition and saw large footprints first-hand. It is hard to believe that thirty-six years have past since the article appeared and the sasquatch has managed to thwart all of our efforts (be those what they may) to prove beyond doubt that it exists. 
 Some time ago, I talked to John Green about this issue, stating that I felt there was something "missing" in the equation. In other words, perhaps there is something we don't know that gives the creature the "edge" when it comes to being caught - and I'm not referring to some paranormal explanation. John did not think so, but I still wonder. Time after time, searches have been made after credible sightings without any success.  Numerous lines of footprints have been followed with various signs found in this connection or separately (droppings, urine, broken branches, discarded food, moved logs/boulders, sleeping/resting places and even possible crude shelters). 
 Certainly, we can look to other animals that were not known to science until "recently," such as the mountain gorilla, panda, and platypus, but once these creatures were reported, they were found, and it did not take some 200 years... 
 
Again Under New Stories, I have provided a bit of a photo adventure on the Blue Creek Mountain footprints found in August 1967. As with the first part of the Patterson/Gimlin film, what you see has not been seen before as still frames. This footage was also on the film DVD I sent to Marlon Davis who stabilized the frames for me.  Many thanks, Marlon, and I apologize for taking you away from your other good work, but I find this material highly interesting as it allows one to reflect a little. With the images in motion, you really don't have much time to see anything. (Note that there are two stories, Blue Creek Mountain and Blue Creek Mountain - The Creek Bed.)
 
Hancock House Publishers will soon be carrying Bigfoot T-Shirts. Here is the image that will be used Click Here. The story of this image is on my blog Click Here.  I just thought it was about time bigfoot had a little equal time with eagles. I will let you know when the shirts are available.
 
Here's a Canadian government map showing Canada's forests. Click Here Note all of the "unaccessed" regions. The accessed areas mean that someone has gone in there, mostly for logging, certainly not a lot of people in there on a full time basis. Now have a look at where all the people are Click Here.  Is it possible for a breeding population of sasquatch to live in Canada without being detected?  Seriously folks, once you go north beyond about 150 miles of the Canadian/U.S. border, the lights are out and there's nobody home. Where do most Canadians go for their vacations? South, of course, where we are cordially greeted by some 285 million Americans.  No use going north unless you are a die-hard naturalist (or you want  to find a sasquatch).
 
I was a guest the other night on "Erskine Overnight" Click Here. We talked a fair amount about "wild men."  This is an interesting subject that I never realized was so wide-spread until reading the old newspaper articles that Scott McClean has dug up. Certainly a few cases are sasquatch-related, but most appear to be "something else."  We then have a work by Richard K. Nelson (Make Prayers to the Raven) that discusses at length native belief in the "woodsman" (not a sasquatch) in Alaska.  I have put together my thoughts on all of this in a new story Woodsmen and Wild Men. Please click the link under New Stories. It is interesting to note that in 1993, a newspaper group in Alaska (circulation 17,000) requested that their readers send in stories about what they refer to as the "hairy man,"  One editor, James MacPherson stated, "People here really do believe [in] it, and I respect  that."
 
Book News
 
I am down to the final edit (Roger Knights) on my work The Bigfoot Film Journal: A Detailed Account and Analysis of the Patterson/Gimlin Film Circumstances and Aftermath. The information I provide gets down to the real "nitty-gritty" of the filming circumstances. John Green, Tom Steenburg, and Daniel Perez have all had a hand in it  through the seven plus years it has been bouncing around in my various computers.  However, as I say upfront in the book, I do not imply that they are in agreement with all that I have written.  Hancock House plans to make the work an E-book.  
 
New Stories
 
Story of a Man-wolf Click Here
Mark Twain and the "Wild Man" Click Here
National Wildlife magazine article, October-November 1970 Click Here 
Blue Creek Mountain Click Here
Blue Creek Mountain - The Creek Bed Click Here
Woodsmen and Wild Men Click Here

Actual Links for "Click Here" Insertions Shown Above
 
Story of a Man-Wolf: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/article.php/20060903002857952
Mark Twain story: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/article.php/20060906111603356
Dash Video: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060909232540629_1_original.jpg 
Sasquatch Ad: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060909232540629_5_original.jpg 
Adams County Prints: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060909232540629_6_original.jpg 
Giant Bear: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-grizzlybear2.htm
Canadian Stamp: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060909232540629_9_original.jpg 
National Wildlife: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/article.php/20060911105933867
Blue Creek Mountain: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/article.php/2006091115514513
Creek Bed: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/article.php/20060912202540596
Image Story: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/article.php/20060113115550546
T-Shirts:http: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060909232540629_12_original.JPG 
Canada - Forests: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060909232540629_10_original.gif 
Canada - Population: http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/peopleandsociety/population/population2001/density2001 
Woodsmen and Wild Men: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/article.php/20060918142722725