We know, a lot of you out there are going to be saying, Jeez, the NERVE of that guy. After apparently tricking the world with the GEORGIA GORILLA or "Bigfoot Body Hoax," and doing huge damage to the world of serious bigfooting, here he comes trying to make a buck off of the aftermath. But hey, here's Tom Biscardi and his Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. crew, trying to have their say as to what REALLY happened. We, for one, are willing to listen, at least out of curiosity about the workings of the propaganda machine and PR tactics in the post-modern age. 
We've blogged on Mr. Biscardi and his "Bigfoot Lives" DVD before--read it HERE and HERE. We're willing, for now, to suspend the majority of our criticism and let him have his say... especially as this DVD is, for the next three months, being sold to benefit a GOOD CAUSE. Yes, Biscardi is ever the social networker, and does appear to truly care about his friends and associates, at least judging by his friendly tone and myrad of shout-outs taking up a large portion of his BlogTalkRadio show, "Bigfoot Live." Now he is offering exclusive distribution rights to Michael Rugg to benefit his fabulous BIGFOOT DISCOVERY MUSEUM and BIGFOOT DISCOVERY PROJECT, found in Felton, CA, in the redwooded hills outside of Santa Cruz.IMAGES: CLICK TO ENLARGE AND READ.
The BDP/BDM will receive ten bucks from every $29.95 DVD sold, so if you're curious about this subject buy now! Details can be found in the press release, below. Suffering under the recession and other factors (including the infamy and discredit brought upon Bigfoot by the Georgia hoax, perhaps?), the Museum needs your support. At least, if you're not buying the DVD, or have qualms about giving money to Biscardi, be sure to visit the Museum and leave at least ten bucks in their optional donation slot. OK? That's what we plan to do. However (if it isn't a cynical ploy to somehow gain control of the Museum), we'd like to sincerely COMMEND Mr. Biscardi for taking this gracious and philanthropic action. Kudos, and a big honk of the horn to you on this one, Tom!!!
Michael Rugg is a very interesting, highly knowledgeable representative for bigfooting to the general public, and we feel that his Museum right along Highway 9 is of extreme importance to The Cause. Also, along with partner Paula Yarr, he hosts each year a fine mini-conference called BIGFOOT DISCOVERY DAYS, which in the past has fielded a large number of seriously important Bigfoot people, such as Bob Gimlin, Bill Munns, Kathy Moscowitz-Strain, Jeff Meldrum, David Paulides and more. SUPPORT THE MUSEUM!
Listen to the very cool interview with Mr. Rugg streaming online on BlogTalkRadio's CAMPFIRE SHADOWS using this LINK. You'll find Michael has a rich and fascinating viewpoint on the Sasquatch to share.
For us, it is particularly difficult to believe Searching for Bigfoot Inc.'s declaration that Tom and crew were naively duped by two good old boy hoaxers out of Georgia. We take this position, especially after reading the absolutely scathing indictments issued by Steve Kulls, a former SFBI associate to some degree who goes by the moniker, SquatchDetective. Visit his website, http://squatchdetective.com/. But be sure to check out his quasi-legal analyses of what REALLY HAPPENED (?) down there in the woods of GA, links following. Presenting not only inside information discovered in association with SFBI, Kulls' piece reveals the amazingly cynical leaked "Searching for Bigfoot Business Plan 2008." In this plan, among many other far out things, is the declaration that SFBI is a "entertainment company" basically seeking to generate evidence and hype surrounding the popular myth elements of Bigfoot in order to create a profit-generating business and investment opportunity. Note the emphasis on creating evidence, from the SFBI Business Plan: ""To educate and create exciting and interesting proprietary properties surrounding the mythology and capture of Bigfoot." Kulls goes so far as to accuse SFBI's valuation of fake evidence in ranges over millions of dollars a piece as being basic, naked attempts to defraud investors. We will withhold our personal judgment until after we manage to see Biscardi's new DVD. For now, READ FOR YOURSELF. It is a fascinating story, whatever "side" one is on.
The Official Report of Steve Kulls regarding the Georgia Bigfoot Body Hoax of 2008
Introduction
The Big Claim
The Deceit Begins
The Second Trip and the Media Blitz
The Pick Up and The Press Conference
The Hoax Exposed
Searching For Bigfoot, Incorporated (The Big Lie)
Be prepared--you are going to see cow eyeballs and sheep testicles, piles of guts, and other strange and disgusting things in the realm of human ethics. This is astonishing stuff, and if true, it should be the utter ending of Biscardi's reputation as a real Bigfoot Hunter, and call any and all of his future evidence and activities into question. Folks, we'd just like to add: Look, it is clear that no formal accusations of fraud, nor any legal action, were taken in this case due to the simple fact that the general public already feels that Bigfoot/Sasquatch is a JOKE. After escapades such as this one, how can we expect anyone to take the Creature, and the determined and honest activities and works of bigfooters trying to find it, seriously? This kind of crap has just got to end, and all the blobsquatches along with it!
THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:Bigfoot Discovery Project sole distributor of a new DVD called “Anatomy of a Bigfoot Hoax” available for a limited time only.
"This video documents the true story of the “frozen bigfoot body” that was revealed to be a costume filled with the body parts of dead animals after two men from Georgia‑-at an international press conference arranged by Bigfoot Hunter Tom Biscardi--announced they had found a bigfoot corpse. The press event took place August 15, 2008 and came to be known as “Black Bigfoot Friday” due to all the Internet sites that crashed under the burden of millions of hits by people all over the world seeking details of the story. Information on obtaining the DVD can be found at http://www.bigfootdiscoveryproject.com/.
The Bigfoot Discovery Project (BDP) and Museum, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Central California, became involved when Biscardi heard that the Bigfoot Museum was struggling financially, and he volunteered to help out by offering the “Anatomy of a Bigfoot Hoax” DVD exclusively through the BDP for three months.
The video chronicles the entire episode via a combination of live narrations by Biscardi and his colleagues, combined with live action video of the two Georgia men from YouTube, their website, and the press conference in Palo Alto. Also shown is the actual transfer of possession of the freezer holding the "body" in Georgia.Robert Barrows, PR man for Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. (SFBI) thinks the highlight of the video for most people will be the "dissection" of the macabre "bigfoot corpse," which took place in Indiana a day or two after SFBI took possession of the freezer. It’s disgusting what those Georgia men did to make the thing appear real.
Michael Rugg, curator of the BDP and the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, California said this about the arrangement: “I agreed to market this DVD because we are very much in need of additional funding due to the recession (Biscardi pledged 1/3 of sales receipts to the Bigfoot Museum). I also think the public needs to see how well-orchestrated the hoax was, and how guilty the men from Georgia were of perpetrating what I think should be considered a criminal act from the get-go. In light of the recent ‘Balloon Boy’ episode and the ensuing court judgment, I feel these two dudes should also be punished for the massive hoax perpetrated on the public, as well as the fraud they committed in taking $50,000 cash for the alleged ‘body.’"
The video makes it clear how the former correctional officer (Rick Dyer) and the Deputy Sheriff (Matt Whitton) were able to use their police affiliation and experiences to help make the whole thing believable to Tom and his team. It was all carefully orchestrated right up to the transfer of possession.
Rugg said, “I was at the press conference and spoke to Tom that day. Based on what he told me then I'm convinced he had no idea the body was a fake.” Through chronological video clips the DVD makes it obvious they were ALL fooled until some of the ice was melted and chipped away.
The Bigfoot Discovery Museum thinks this video shows the cleverness and culpability of the two Georgia men as hoaxers who are also guilty of fraud. Rugg hopes it will help to get a law passed against this sort of orchestrated prank, which does indeed cause harm to the public. For example, this has already lead to several recent hoaxes aimed at getting web hits for profit, book, movie or TV deals in a fashion similar to the Balloon Boy caper. Besides the $50,000 in cash, this fiasco also cost SFBI many more thousands for wasted payroll, plane fares, gasoline and so forth, while leaving the public with dashed hopes of a solution to the mystery.
Tom Biscardi is a controversial figure in the bigfoot research community largely because he is a natural born promoter, and his tactics with the media make other researchers uncomfortable. What’s more, he’s a “true believer” and has been taken in more than once by hoaxers and liars along the way. Consequently, he has some out-spoken detractors among his bigfoot peers and competitors, and as soon as the DVD release was announced, some of them immediately accused him of trying to profit from the hoax.
Rugg responded with this statement to Biscardi’s critics: “Yes, Tom has been fooled by a number of hoaxers and he apparently is not a good judge of bigfoot flesh, but he’s dedicated to the hunt, and has a full-time crew out in the field doing their best to obtain real evidence. Very few others have invested that kind of time and money in an attempt to get this done. I certainly don't blame him for trying to recoup some of his expenses by marketing a DVD that sets the record straight on this real life tragedy.”
For more information contact the Bigfoot Discovery Museum, Felton, CA 95018 at 831 335-4478"So, we will concede: maybe Michael Rugg is right, and Biscardi is just so enthusiastic about finding Bigfoot that he just can't help himself every time he finds a toenail or animal body part. We'll grant Tom that--he certainly has devoted much money and effort, and several decades, to the pursuit. For better, or worse? These things he finds could be of Bigfoot origin. Who knows?
But we, especially after the Happy Camp debacle a few years back (read our previous blog entry), find it difficult to accept. Certainly, for all of us, expectation and habit precondition experience; but one must ever be aware of the potential con or delusion that may present itself. Get this video, help out the Bigfoot Discovery Museum, and weigh it in the balance with what Kulls says. If one doesn't necessarily learn anything about Bigfoot/Sasquatch, well, at least we can learn a thing or two about human nature. If Biscardi can help save the Museum and Bigfoot Discovery Project, then all will not have been a big waste of our attention and CNN's airwaves, after all.
IMAGES: CLICK TO ENLARGE AND READ. Sources: Promotional images from respective web sites. Use the map above to find Felton, CA and the BIGFOOT DISCOVERY MUSEUM. You can't miss the building, right along Highway 9.
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ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!Me think it such a joke, hu-man. You try find me? Can't! You start go crazy! Look everywhere, make up big doo-doo stuff. Take good food, animal part, and put them in costume suit you think look like me? Stu-pid hu-man! Why not just go trick or treat? Me not no alien you catch and do Bigfoot Autopsy. I kick your naked monkey ass! You hu-man pile gut on top of Bigfoot corpse, think you fool me? Ha. Me take Searching for Bigfoot, feed hu-man to my buddy fox and raccoon. Me pile hu-man bones outside my cave!
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Text contents of this blog, save for the press release, copyright 2009 Steven Streufert and Bigfoot Books Intergalactic. Please provide citation and link when quoting. Thanks!
