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Thursday, December 20, 2012

BIGFOOT DOWN: An Interview with the Author of the New Novel... BRUCE PHILLIP HOOD

BIGFOOT'S BLOG
DECEMBER 20, 2012... "End of the World" Edition

Just in time for you to read it before the end of the Mayan calendar brings devastation or fifth-dimensional evolution down upon our planet, here is an interview I did with the author of the recent novel, BIGFOOT DOWN, Mr. Bruce Phillip Hood. He is an interesting character, with whom I've had many hours-long phone conversations. If he seems a bit reserved in some of the responses below, just know that he is only trying to hide some aspects of the strange and interesting plot of his suspenseful and humorous novel about a captured Bigfoot.

I asked Mr. Hood for an author bio several times, but being a man of mystery of some sort he never sent one. So, I wrote one for him, which he, surprisingly, approved. Here it is: "Bruce is an artist, novelist, grand schemer, and transhumanist lapsed Catholic, and loves a strong martini shaken not stirred." He describes his book, alternatively, as  "a Dadaist thought experiment," or "A mule eyed piece of Dadaist humor." I found it to be a rollicking good read, with some intriguing suggestions about the potential craziness that could occur were a Bigfoot and human society to intermingle.

It should be noted that, despite the violence and suspense in the book, BIGFOOT DOWN is NOT a "Pro-Kill" Bigfoot book.
Back cover, detail. Art by Joshua Kemble
Here is a book review I wrote a while back:
BIGFOOT DOWN
is the Debut Novel by
BRUCE PHILLIP HOOD,
out now as an Amazon Kindle eBook.
"The Closest You Will Ever Get to a Sasquatch Without Smelling His Breath!"

 This is perhaps one of the strangest and most challenging Bigfoot novels ever written. It depicts a creature at once not like that of the B-movies featuring a slasher/killer monster, but also not as corny as the "Forest Brother" featured in the recent "Letters from the Big Man." Instead, we find a being every bit as complex and intelligent as any human, if not more, yet one with the strength of a bulldozer. Part suspense novel with all the twists and turns and intriguing ideas of a Dan Brown story, part "Blackhawk Down," and partly like the novel "Ishmael" (which features interspecies philosophical discourse with a gorilla), BIGFOOT DOWN will twist your categories of of what is possible with a Bigfoot-human encounter, all while challenging at the core the idea of what it is to be "human." Who is the savage beast, and who is the higher intelligence? What is right and wrong when all usual parameters for ethical judgement have broken down? Who will one day rule the earth if civilization falls, or if Bigfoot proves to be capable of mastering technology? Who is civilized, and who the beast? Entertaining and intriguing, this novel is much a Dadaist thought experiment as it is an engaging read. Bruce Phillip Hood's Bigfoot suggests a scenario where we are not only not the only intelligent life forms on the planet, but in some ways, potentially, we may have been surpassed. When Claude Michel puts his big foot down it shakes the human world at its core, and it should shake you up as a reader, as well.
Here is a brief promotional summary of the book:
"Deep in the wild of Canada’s Boreal Forest, in a place chosen for its isolation, a botanist experiences a series of break-ins that threaten his life’s work. The perpetrator is caught in the act and gunned down. When the smoke clears the botanist and committed naturalist realizes he has bagged a live Bigfoot, now barely clinging to life. Stricken with grief, he summons all his resources to right this wrong. What happens next is a bloody clash of cultures with a creature filled with intelligence. An outsider chosen by the beast himself serves as biographer for a story of love and fear, hope and tragedy, humor and horror and, in the end, a true tale of friendship and loyalty. Bigfoot Down is as close as you will ever get to a Sasquatch without smelling his breath." 
The author, Mr. Hood

Visit the BIGFOOT DOWN Facebook page and Like it for updates, book excerpts, reader reviews, and discussion about the book.
https://www.facebook.com/BigfootDown
Visit the dedicated BIGFOOT DOWN web site for a full array of ordering options and other cool things... http://bigfootdown.com/
Mr. Hood, Author of Mystery
*******

THE BIGFOOT DOWN INTERVIEW
 Bigfoot Down: Starting November 23... An INTERVIEW between BIGFOOT DOWN author Bruce Phillip Hood and blogger Steven Streufert (Bigfoot's bLog), as conducted on the book's Facebook page.

  Steven Streufert: Hello Bruce, are you there? I'd like this interview to be just as lively and interesting as the many phone conversations we've had. But first, a simple question...
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE BIGFOOT AS A SUBJECT FOR YOUR FIRST NOVEL, AND WHAT ABOUT BIGFOOT INTRIGUED YOU ENOUGH TO WRITE ABOUT IT? HAVING READ YOUR BOOK, I WOULD SAY THERE IS A LOT MORE THAN JUST THE BIGFOOT TOPIC IN THERE.

November 23 at 5:20pm

  Bruce Hood: I was on a fishing trip with a couple of friends one of which was Canadian. We had been drinking a lot and got on the subject of Sasquatch and I came up with "Breakfast With Bigfoot" as a title and we all thought it was funny and after a half gallon of Canadian Mist it was pretty funny.

November 23 at 9:53pm

  Steven Streufert: Bruce, CAN YOU LET US IN ON THIS JOKE? AND, HOW DID THIS DRUNKEN MOMENT TURN INTO A FAIRLY SERIOUS (THOUGH STILL QUITE FUNNY) BOOK ABOUT BIGFOOT?

November 23 at 11:50pm

  Bruce Hood: I believe that a Sasquatch like creature or group of creatures exists so I am not mocking on that level. I am not so much making a joke out of Bigfoot like that stupid beef jerky commercial as I am exploiting the lore of Bigfoot. Gorillas eat their own feces, that’s a fact but when you see them chewing away on film its funny and that’s also a fact.

November 24 at 8:37am

  Steven Streufert: PERHAPS OTHER PRIMATES ARE FUNNY TO HUMANS AS THEY REVEAL THINGS ABOUT OURSELVES? AFTER ALL, WE ARE PRIMATES, APES, TOO. AND, IN MANY WAYS, OUR BEHAVIORS ARE ABSURD AND PRIMITIVE. HOW DID THIS AMUSING ASPECT FIND ITS WAY INTO YOUR NOVEL, AND WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE BIGFOOT WITHIN IT? ARE YOU COMMENTING ON HUMAN SOCIETY, OR ARE YOU MEANING TO REVEAL IN YOUR BIGFOOT CHARACTER THINGS YOU BELIEVE MAY BE TRUE OF THE BIGFOOT AS A SPECIES? WHAT SORT OF RESEARCH MAY YOU HAVE DONE INTO THE BIGFOOT AS REPORTED IN THE RECORDS OF SIGHTINGS AND ANNALS OF THE SUBJECT?

November 25 at 5:10pm

  Bruce Hood: I disagree with your premise that humans are apes. I don’t eat my own feces and I can with others of my kind make war on a grand scale, go to the moon, write a novel. I agree that human behaviors and bio mechanics share many commonalities with apes but humans are not apes like ants are not small trucks. I am saying that what makes something what it is, is as much about its nature as it is about its D.N.A. In this book I have done my best to reveal everyone’s nature no matter how wild it may be.

The research aspect of this book covered a lot of ground. I have come to the conclusion that these creatures do exist and were most likely pack hunted in to the mountains by smaller more organized groups of weapon using hominids. I believe that Sasquatch spends a good deal of time in the canopy of the Forrest ambush hunting and storing meat caches. I think that researchers might think of setting camera traps in trees in areas where they lose tracks or sign regularly. That Sasquatch might be standing twenty feet over their head in a tree. In “Bigfoot Down” I also chose to incorporate some of the more mystical aspects of the creature including an association between B.F. sightings and UFO’s and Orbs and other things I prefer to keep under my hat.

November 26 at 1:36pm

  Steven Streufert: Bruce, I DON'T THINK IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT BIOLOGICALLY WE ARE APES, BUT OF COURSE WE ARE APES OF A DIFFERENT KIND. IN TERMS OF SOCIOBIOLOGY, MUCH OF THE BASIS OF OUR HUMAN BEHAVIORS AND CIVILIZATION CAN BE FOUND ROOTED IN THOSE OF THE OTHER HIGHER PRIMATES. WE HAVE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ORDERING, HOWEVER, THAT ALTERS AND MITIGATES OUR INSTINCTS, GOALS AND ACTIONS. IT STRIKES ME THAT YOUR BOOK PLAYS WITH THESE ISSUES OF WILD, INSTINCTUAL EXISTENCE, CONTRASTED WITH THOSE OF CIVILIZED AND ORDERED HUMAN MODERNITY. YOUR CHARACTER OF BIGFOOT IS DECIDEDLY ADVANCED, WHILE BEING SHOCKINGLY "PRIMITIVE." ALSO, YOUR HUMAN CHARACTERS DESCEND INTO WHAT WE COULD CALL INSTINCTUAL SAVAGERY, WHILE THE BIGFOOT SEEMS IN MANY WAYS TO SURPASS THESE HUMANS IN ADVANCEMENT, AND EVEN INTELLECT. CAN YOU DELVE INTO THIS CHALLENGING AND PERPLEXING ASPECT OF YOUR BOOK?

November 26 at 5:01pm

  Bruce Hood: We are said to share 96% of DNA traits with Chimpanzees which means that 4% is the difference between driving a fiat and chewing an old tire. I think that because RNA and DNA are still newer science that too much stock is put into the numbers. People might assume wrongly that these numbers reflect a closeness in nature that simply does not exist in real terms. The writer in me must deal with the nature of things for my work to feel real and at the risk of sounding boastful I think it does feel real. You have picked out a “Lord Of The Flies” aspect in my book that certainly is in there but as to my Sasquatch character he/she can hardly be judged as a moral agent. Claude Michel my Sasquatch is in a horrible spot and takes the necessary steps to make it out of a bad situation. I mean what do you do when a Bigfoot attacks? Sue it, or apply for a permit to kill it…..? So much of this book is dealing with the real issues that will arise with first contact.

November 26 at 5:58pm

  Steven Streufert: OK, BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT IT ISN'T PURELY INSTINCTUAL BEHAVIOR, AND THUS ENTERS INTO A MORAL DIMENSION. ON THE ONE HAND YOUR CHARACTER DEVELOPS AND DEMONSTRATES A RATHER HIGH DEGREE OF INTELLIGENCE, AND YES, CULTURE, ONE THAT SURPASSES IN MANY WAYS MOST OF THE BARBARIC HUMANS THAT HOLD IT IN CAPTIVITY. ON THE OTHER, HE ACTS IN GREAT SAVAGERY; BUT IN HIS SAVAGE ACTIONS THERE SEEMS TO BE A CONSCIOUSNESS BEYOND IMPULSE, AND AT TIMES A CERTAIN SADISTIC AND WARPED AWARENESS OF THE "MIND-FUCK" EFFECTS HIS ACTIONS MAY HAVE. WHAT HE DOES TO THAT DEER, FOR INSTANCE, IS SHOCKING. PLEASE DISCUSS THIS. ONE FEELS INCLINED TO ASK YOU, DO YOU FEEL THAT FIRST CONTACT BETWEEN THESE TWO SPECIES WOULD HAVE THAT "LORD OF THE FLIES" ASPECT, OR WOULD IT POTENTIALLY BE MUTUALLY EDIFYING AND BENEFICIAL? DOES YOUR CHARACTER "GET" THE NATURE OF THE BIGFOOT IN THE END, OR IS HE HORRIFIED AT THE RAMIFICATIONS? ALSO, DOESN'T THEIR FRIENDSHIP IN THE BOOK, HOWEVER STRAINED, DEMONSTRATE THE CLOSENESS OF THE SPECIES, DESPITE ONE BEING WILD AND LOOKING LIKE AN APE? DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE ANTHROPOMORPHIZED BIGFOOT, OR DOES YOUR HUMAN PROTAGONIST GROW TO UNDERSTAND AND INTEGRATE HIS "WILD SIDE"?

November 28 at 6:43pm

  Bruce Hood: I once worked with a guy who had a nephew that worked security at a large shopping mall in Los Angeles. One day a woman parked on the sixth floor of the mall’s parking structure and walked to the open edge and sat down on a cement rail then proceeded to swing her legs around and let them dangle in the air. The motion caught the security guards eye and he jogged toward the structure across the parking lot and started yelling up to her. The woman seeing the guard stood up on the railing. This made the nephew run even faster. The woman jumped and the young security guard positioned himself and caught her in his arms. That young man’s name is Conrad Cave and he is now a quadriplegic, the woman perished a few days later. She was at the back end of a long bout with cancer. Instinct? Heroism? Foolishness? To this day I do not know what motivated this young man’s actions. I choose to see the scene as an act of chivalry. 

 Claude Michel the Bigfoot in my book begins his interactions with humans from a position of weakness, flat on his back with serious injuries. Immobile, he is totally reliant on his captors for everything, so he learns to play the game like a dog learns to wag his tail; but he blames these people for his situation. In the bush Claude Michel asked no one for permission. He was a law unto himself, with the power to enforce. Now his survival required a social component. The once mighty hunter was now a salesman of sorts. This intake of human knowledge was a survival tactic on some level. This birthed in the creature resentment and some passive aggressive masochistic acting out as well as some out right physical assaults. The creature does his best to fit in, studies human nature; but is the interest real or is he just trying to look good at his parole hearing? That is for the reader to decide. 

 I read a book about this guy that walked around Africa in the early seventies. I don’t remember the title or the author but I remember that he had made a friend of a bushman who had been taught English by some missionaries and was then sent west to Bible College. Five years later the bushman came back to his country with a doctor in divinity. He disembarked from his plane to a small crowd of people including the Author and a few missionaries. He stripped naked right in front of them, and walked from the tarmac straight into the desert, leaving his clothes and suitcase on the runway. You ask if meeting humans will benefit Sasquatch. Will the meeting be edifying? I say that it all depends on what’s in it for us. Historically we exploit. 

 I think B.F. researchers are naive about the ramifications of such a find. What if a capture has already occurred? What if everyone involved was silenced by threat of prosecution under the auspicious of national security? D.N.A. is patentable. Pharmaceutical companies may find incredible curatives in the blood of such a creature. Lastly you asked about the buck that Claude Michel hunts down beats into submission then rapes. I don’t really know what you want me to say about that; I mean it’s not really bestiality is it? Out of context it sounds tawdry but I can assure anyone thinking of buying the book that the killing, raping, dismemberment, and consumption of this deer is handled by myself with dignity and grace. I would not have left the scene in the book if it was not crucial to the plot and served the higher calling of literature.

November 29 at 12:29am

  Steven Streufert: YOU SAY THAT IN HIS NATURAL STATE HE WAS A LAW UNTO HIMSELF. IN CONTACT WITH HUMANS HE ENTERS A KIND OF SOCIAL CONTRACT. HOWEVER, HE NEVER SEEMS TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH THESE CONSTRAINTS, AND RATHER RAPIDLY SEEMS TO MASTER NOT ONLY CERTAIN FORMS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE, BUT ALSO THE ABILITY TO PLAY WITH HUMAN EXPECTATIONS. IN ESSENCE, HE IS A CONSUMMATE GAMES PLAYER. DID YOU MEAN FOR YOUR BIGFOOT TO EXPOSE HUMAN SHORTCOMINGS, TO IN EFFECT REVEAL A SORT OF HIGHER WILD ETHICS? IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOUR BIGFOOT REPRESENTS A COOPTING OF HUMAN CULTURE AND A SURPASSING OF IT, AS IF THE BIGFOOT REPRESENTS A POTENTIAL EVOLUTIONARY SUPERIORITY THAT MAY SOMEDAY TAKE THE PLACE OF HUMANITY WHEN THE SHORTCOMINGS AND FOLLIES OF MAN CAUSE OUR DEMISE. AM I REACHING HERE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS MATTER? WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY ON AN OVERCROWDED AND POTENTIALLY DYING PLANET, WHEN CONTRASTED WITH THIS AMAZINGLY ADAPTABLE AND INTELLIGENT WILD BEAST?

December 1 at 4:58am 

  Bruce Hood: Claude Michel may or may not be an intellectual superior to his captors. The question is does he in the wild really need any gold? The question being posed is does intellect make him morally responsible for his actions? What happens when humanity makes contact with a being that understands our ethics in detail and simply doesn’t care? I’ll tell you what happens; a whole lot of fun is what happens. As far as the future of mankind, I give the whole of humanity about twenty to sixty years without some divine intervention. Say the planet does die out... it’s just a whisper in a silent universe.

December 2 at 5:16pm

  Steven Streufert: I'M TRYING TO GET AT WHAT YOUR BOOK IS ABOUT AND WHAT IT MEANS. IT IS PART SUSPENSE THRILLER, PART COMEDY, AND PART PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATION. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO WRITE IT, AND WHAT WOULD YOU HOPE YOUR READERS GET FROM IT BEYOND A GOOD READ?

December 2 at 7:25pm

  Bruce Hood: I know you are and I know that you might get the feeling that I am being aloof, but I feel like readers should fill in the gaps for themselves. I love that Joe Cocker song, “You Can Leave Your Hat On.” I think that a reader knowing all my motivations takes away the fun of the read. I remember when I first started talking with you and you agreed to read the book. I didn't hear from you for some time and I emailed you and asked if you had finished the novel. You wrote back and said that you had finished in a very short and curt answer that did not include the slightest hint of how you felt about the work one way or the other. I know you better now and looking back it's funny, but at the time I thought, Oh well he must have hated it. I waited a day or two then emailed you again to ask how you liked it and you said you were still too traumatized to know. I have had some good reviews since then but that was and will always be my favorite.

December 3 at 11:24am

  Steven Streufert: OF COURSE YOU KNOW I WAS KIDDING ABOUT BEING TRAUMATIZED, BUT THERE WERE INDEED SOME RATHER SHOCKING MOMENTS IN YOUR BOOK. BEYOND MY INQUISITIVE QUESTIONING, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOUR BOOK AND YOUR IDEAS, OR ABOUT YOURSELF, THAT COULD SERVE AS A CONCLUSION AND SUMMATION? DON'T HOLD BACK. CONSIDER IT AN OPPORTUNITY TO SAY EVERYTHING YOU'D LIKE ABOUT YOUR BOOK TO THE READING PUBLIC IN GENERAL AND PERHAPS THE WORLD OF BIGFOOT AND BIGFOOTING IN PARTICULAR.

December 3 at 4:31pm

  Bruce Hood: If you say you weren’t traumatized Steven I believe you, but you would not be the first person to admit to having a white knuckle read. I was traumatized writing the book. This book progressed when all of the characters started speaking for themselves. I might have started out as the director but in the end I was just a scribe. I wrote the entire novel from cover to cover without a story line, I was rudderless until the characters came to life and guided me. To the Bigfoot community, I now count myself among your numbers. I believe that we are 6 to 16 months out from real PROOF of the creature’s existence.

I think with that proof there will come a time of prideful vindication for those in the fold but I believe that time will be followed by others rushing in picking up the torch and running away with it. Just remember that you believed when no one else believed. Then the game will be about law and advocacy.

In closing I want to give you my heartfelt thanks, Steven. I love that you like the book; you own a Bigfoot bookstore for crying out loud. bigfootdown.com

December 3 at 6:29pm
  Steven Streufert:  IT REALLY IS A GRIPPING AND OFTEN FASCINATING READ, AND IT HITS THE GROUND RUNNING. THOSE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOK WILL KNOW WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO... THE SEQUEL! THANKS FOR DOING THE INTERVIEW, BRUCE.

December 3 at 6:52pm

 Bigfoot Down: OK, that was great! Thanks to both of you for the interview.

December 5 at 4:22pm
*******
Original cover art sketches
You can download the current eBook version or get a sample segment via Amazon here:
Barnes and Noble has one for the Nook Reader and other compatible devices here:

A "hard-copy" version will be published soon, for those of you who don't like using e-texts, collectors and libraries.

There is a Facebook page where you may read more, find links and reviews, and get updates soon to come:
http://bigfootdown.com/
****************************************************
ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!

Me hear about this "The Four Bigfoots of the Apocalypse" thing and world ending. No need Maya calendar. No need four Bigfoots. Me do it all by my self.

****************************************************
This blog is copyright and all that jazz, save for occasional small elements borrowed for "research" and information or satirical purposes only, 2011, Bigfoot Books and Steven Streufert. Borrowings for non-commercial purposes will be tolerated without the revenge of Angry Bigfoot, if notification, credit, citation and a kindly web-link are given, preferably after contacting us and saying, Hello, like a normal person would before taking a cup of salt. No serious rip-offs of our material for vulgar commercial gain will be tolerated without major BF stomping action coming down on you, hu-man. 

at 2 comments:

Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Ketchum Bigfoot DNA Study Fiasco, with Some Questions for Igor Burtsev


This is a re-post from my other blog,
THE BIGFOOT NEWS AND REVIEW. If you haven't seen it, go check out the other posts there.

This post is a sort of compendium and quick analysis of the fast-breaking DNA madness (I won't say "news") hitting the Bigfoot world and the national media of late.

Recently a huge media flap was started by a seemingly innocent post by Russian "Hominologist," Igor Bursev, after he posted information disclosing "secrets" about the uber-secretive Melba Ketchum Bigfoot DNA Project. Supposedly, this study has been in peer review for publication in a professional scientific journal. This could, of course, prove that Bigfoot may indeed exist... not the publication, but the scrutiny and potential acceptance of the methodology and data that the paper presents. Unfortunately, no one but the inner cabal knows the actual data/method content of the paper. What we have gotten, for the past two years now at least, is a myriad of leaks and supposition, many coming from the Ketcumites themselves, or Ketchum herself (despite the claimed need for silence during review and research).

Most problematic is the question, IS BURTSEV ALSO A KETCHUMITE? His apparent ladyfriend, Robyn Lynne "ForestPerson" is now apparently the media spokesperson for Ketchum. Igor spends much time with her in the suburban woods of Michigan pursuing possibly phantom Bigfeets. Well, so, Igor leaked this "news," but was it even news? Was there anything actually NEW in it? No. Basically everything in their press announcement has been known already by the Bigfoot community for over a year. It did, in fact, confirm and vindicate about 90% of the stories published by sometime Bigfoot blogger Robert Lindsay. These stories by Lindsay have been consistently denied by the Ketchum Kamp, and they have spoken constantly about the need for secrecy during the peer review process. Countless times during the four years passed in which this study has been ongoing they have said it would be published SOON. Well, it hasn't been published, and it hasn't even been announced that it has passed the peer review process. Ketchum herself said that is had NOT passed peer review. Where is the PROOF in the pudding? So far there is none.

Nephilim Shape-shifter?
What is going on here? It's pretty clear, folks... they are waging a PUBLIC RELATIONS campaign, meant to circumvent and precede any announcements coming from the Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project, headed by a real advanced academic scientist, Bryan Sykes. The timeframe and description of the project:
As part of a larger enquiry into the genetic relationship between our own species Homo sapiens and other hominids, we invite submissions of organic material from formally undescribed species, or “cryptids”, for the purpose of their species identification by genetic means.
Timetable
The project is divided into three phases.
SAMPLE SUBMISSION PHASE May – September 2012
DNA ANALYSIS PHASE September – November 2012
PUBLICATION PHASE November – December 2012

 Isn't it clear? Burtsev was used (or let it appear that way) to get the as-yet unpublishable Ketchum paper into the news ahead of Sykes.

I'll say this: Even if this Bigfoot DNA paper passes review and is published, its findings and methods will still need to be scrutinized by the larger scientific community before it can be considered valid scientific fact. Publication does not prove a proposition; it offers the proposition up for scrutiny.

In this frame of thought, I've come up with some questions for Igor. Below, keep reading for examples of what Igor actually said, as found on the COALITION FOR REASON, SCIENCE AND SANITY IN BIGFOOT RESEARCH page on Facebook. I sincerely hope that Burtsev will answer these, but now he has had yesterday and today with no answer yet. This should dispel some rumors, such as the one that the paper is going to be published in a Russian scientific (or even paranormalist) journal. What was going on that led up to this? Igor wanted to help Ketchum, obviously, but also to dispel false statements made in the Russian media about Bigfoot DNA. Read onward...

QUESTIONS FOR BURTSEV:
Igor Burtsev, will you clarify some issues and rumors?

1) Did you release the information about the DNA study on behalf of Ketchum, or despite her wishes that you or anyone not do so?

2) Is there any truth to the rumor that you are going to publish the DNA study in a Russian journal? Did you mean to imply that, or were you just talking about publishing your press release about it?

3) Is it the same Robin Lynne (ForestPerson) that you have worked with who is now Ketchum's publicist?

4) Are you, then, involved with the Ketchum project yourself (an insider, so to speak), and privy to its full details and potential publication status?

5) Will it EVER be published in a peer reviewed journal? I ask this because your second statement the other day implied that it was being SUPPRESSED by the scientific status quo establishment and was most likely to be rejected or "covered-up."

6) Why, after so many months (years) of stating that she COULD NOT talk about the paper before its peer review and publication, did she (and you) suddenly leak the summary of results and findings? This is a direct self-contradiction, and seems also to violate all the principles of the professional publication process spoken of earlier and constantly. In fact, it seems like "Science by Press Release," rather than real professional Science in practice.

7) Was this information released to circumvent and precede the upcoming results from the Sykes Oxford-Lausanne DNA study?

8) How can they (or you) declare this to be "Proof" of Bigfoot's existence, not to mention its supposed Human status (complete with political agenda) when the paper has NOT YET PASSED peer review, let alone scrutiny from the larger community of scientists post-publication?

9) Igor Burtsev, what field of study is your degree in, and at what equivalent level would that hold in the United States (a doctorate, or a master's degree as Paul Vella has said)? Are you a Scientist or Historian? I'm just curious. Thanks!
*******
First...
Does Igor have a Ph.D., since he calls himself "Doctor," and allows many others to call him that? Is he a scientist, even? Well, here is what is said on his own web page:
Igor Burtsev, born in 1940, candidate of historical sciences, publisher, president of the Cryptosphere Fund for furthering scientific searches and explorations, director of the International Center of Hominology.
What are "historical sciences"? What is meant by "candidate"? It would seem that Burtsev has not completed a dissertation, and is actually some form of historian.
http://hominology.narod.ru/eng.htm


Paul Vella, one-time honcho at the Bigfoot Forums, had this to say:
Paul Vella We had a case a few years back of a guy in the same professional field as me, who like Burtsev had a qualification that he was led to believe was the 'equivalent' of a Bachelor of Science Degree - for years he produced reports for court with BSc in hisqualifications, and swore under oath that he had a degree. When it was discovered that he only 'thought' he had a degree because he was told it was equivalent to, he was prosecuted for perjury.
This is the situation Burtsev is in - he may well believe his qualification is equivalent to a Phd, but the reality is that it isn't, and isn't recognised in the west as a Phd.
In the same way that a UK Veterinarian, unlike a US Veterinarian is not a 'Doctor' - if a UK Vet moves to the US, they can't start calling themselves 'Dr' just because US Vets do - the UK qualification does not allow you to call yourself doctor even though it is more stringent than the US qualification.
This is the same argument we had years ago about Moneymaker referring to himself as a 'Lawyer' even though he never took or passed the Bar in any US state and never practised law.

*******
What did Igor really say? HERE:

URGENT announcement from Igor Burtsev ...

"International Center of Hominology (Russia)
Urgent!

The DNA analysis of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch specimen conducted by Dr. Melba Ketchum the head of DNA Diagnostics, Timpson, TX, USA has been over!
Team of American scientists led by Dr. Melba Ketchum for five years has analyzed 109 purported samples of such creatures. The study has sequenced DNA of a novel North American hominin, commonly called Bigfoot or Sasquatch.
There were a large number of laboratories associated with this study including academic, private and government laboratories in which blind testing was utilized to avoid prejudice in testing. Great time and care was taken in the forensic laboratories to assure no contamination occurred with any of the samples utilized in this study.
After 5 years of this study the scientists can finally answer the question of what sasquatch really is. It is human like us only different, a hybrid of a human with unknown species. Early field research shows that the Bigfoot/Sasquatches are massively intelligent which has enabled them to avoid detection to a large extent. They are different than us, however human nonetheless.
The hybridization event could not have occurred more than 15000 years ago according to the mitochondrial data in some samples. Origin of this hominin was probably Middle Eastern/Eastern Europe and Europe originally though other geographic areas are not excluded.
The manuscript associated with this study has been submitted to a scientific reviewed magazine.
For years people have refused to believe they exist. Now that we know that they are real, it is up to us to protect them from those that would hunt or try to capture them for research or for sport. They should be left alone to live as they live now. After all, they are our relatives.
At this time, analysis of the Sasquatch genomes is still ongoing. Further data will be presented in the future following this original study. Additionally, analysis of various hair samples purportedly from Siberian Wildman are being tested in an effort to determine if relatedness exists between the Sasquatch and Russian Wildman.

Dr. Igor Burtsev,
Head of International Center of Hominology,
Moscow, Russia +7(916)812-6253
inhomin@yandex.ru "

THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE, dealing with Igor's concerns over the Russian media posting false stories, not an announcement that the Ketchum paper will be published in Russia. Why are people thinking that Igor is going to publish the DNA paper? It makes no sense at all.

OK, and then Igor responded to a question (he hasn't yet answered mine, above, go figure):
Igor Burtsev
I have received a question:

I have one question, what motivated you to share what you did today?
... and that you simply didn't understand that you weren't supposed to release the information until the American Journal first published the results.

I'm answering.
We waited a couple of years the scientific publication by Dr. Melba Ketchum. But scientific magazines refuse to publish her nanuscript which deserves to be published. And I want to remind some facts of the destiny of scolars in our field.
Before the First World War our zoologist Vitaly Khahlov described the creature, named it Primihomo asiaticus. He send his scientific peport very circumstantial, thorough to the Russian Academy of Sciences. And what? The report was put into the box, and had stayed there till 1959, about half of century. Until Dr. Porshnev found it and published...
Dr. Porshnev himself had written a monograph "The present State of the Question of Relict Hominoids". It was issued in 1963 by the Academy of Sciences in some 180 copies only, for a special use. Only after a half of century (again!) it was publishe 1n 2012 in 2500 copies...
In 1960ths Mongolian Academician Rinchen had sent the skull of supposed almas to Poland, becaus our anthropologists refused to study it. Poland's anthropologist made a sculptural portrait of that creature, Rinchen called it Homo sapiens almas in 1960ths. But - it has been forgotten till last years... Again half a century!
I don't want the new discovery (not the first one, but the next one) to wait for another half a century to be recognized by haughty official scientific establishment!
That is why I broke the tradition, did not let this acheavement to wayt for ne[t half a century to be recognized. No matter of the publication in the scientific magazine^ people should know NOW, what bigfoot/sasquatch is.
As I know, one third of population of the USA believe in exuiosting of these creatures. And they deserve to know WHAT THEY ARE.

 NONE DARE CALL IT CONSPIRACY? That is what the above is: Conspiracy Theory. If the manuscript is worthy and worthwhile Science, then it will be published.

What was Igor's real concern, and why was he releasing this press release? If not FOR Ketchum, then he did it to further refute THIS story, from the end of October and beginning of November:
http://bigfootevidence.blogspot.com/2012/10/russian-bigfoot-researcher-dr-igor.html
http://www.bigfootlunchclub.com/2012/11/yeti-hair-dna-news-from-across-world.html
http://www.bigfootlunchclub.com/2012/11/professor-valentin-sapunov-doubles-down.html

  • Igor Burtsev In that comment published in Siberian Times there was a soft edition of my attitude. I can say more strictly: Dr Sapunov is a liar, he just tryed to make his PR, publicity, as he did it some times before also. Now I feel it was a pity that I attracted him to attend that conference and had given him several hairs from Azass cave to study. And he didn't inform me about results before publishing them first time about a year ago. After I made him warning for that, and he accused the reporter in exagerrating results. But again he claimed about "Study" this time - in the newspapers and on the TV (twice). Now it can't be forgiven him.
  • Igor Burtsev This lie was not initiated by the Kemerovo authorities, but by Sapunov himself, separately. He lives and works in St.Petersburg, some 3000 miles away of Kemerovo city
  • Igor Burtsev The truth is that I've sent the hair samples to Japan, Italy, USA (TX), and Great Britain (Bryan Sykes project), and am waiting the DNA results

    and more....
  • Steven Streufert More hoaxy bullshit. Did they or did they not actually do a DNA analysis? Where are the results and data? It sounds more like they just looked at hair under a microscope.
  • Igor Burtsev Yes? you are right Steven, Dr Sapunov himself just did look at the sample under a microscope, but he is not a specialist on the hair, and he didn't compare with such samles as from apes or some animals usual in those areas (like a bear)/ Re DNA - NOBODY exzamined the samples in Russia. But I sent the sample to Japan, Italy, Great Britain (Dr Sykes' project), and TX, and now wait for the results. They haven't received yet. That proclamation in the news were just a PR action of Dr S., not of the Siberian authorities/
  • Igor Burtsev And I don't agree with Dr. Meldrum, that the findings there in October of the previous year were orchestrated by authorities. The footprints there in the cave had the dermal ridges, and the wood arches found there were not made by humans, and they are very similar to Fverican ones... Also one month later new footprints were found by a local family on the snow in the same district, just about 50 km away of that cave.

    Igor Burtsev In this article there is mix of true and untrue info.
1/ This photo is not of Dr Sapunov, but somebody else
2/ That info about DNA analysis was made up by a journalist yet in December of 2011 and repeated now. Sapunov didn't tell that/
3/ Only untrue is his saying about the structure of the hair/ No hair specialists looked at the sample, just Sapunov himself. But he is not a hair-specialist, though his speciality is biology/ I believe it was necessary to compare the structure of that sample with other animals' hairs, and it was not done.
4/ But the academician Oleg Pugachyov from very beginning haughty refused to study the sample named it with upsetting word. that is why Sapunov started to studiy it by himself
5/ I have sent the hairs from Azass cave, Siberia, to DNA labs of four countries including the Dr Sykes project in UK and am waiting for results. We need just a little patiency to make conclusion, if those hairs are of Bigfoot or other animals.

Oh well. People are going to believe what they want to believe, I guess.

********
ON TO KETCHUM...

The Ketchum "Bigfoot DNA" copyright application from some two years ago now. Is it any different from the "news" in the last release? Nope, not really. Foregone conclusion, or is she a prophet?

Type of Work Preregistered: Motion Picture
Literary Work in Book Form
Advertising or Marketing Photograph

Preregistration Number / Date: PRE000003852 / 2010-09-16
Application Title: Sasquatch: The Tribe Revealed
Title: Sasquatch: The Tribe Revealed
Copyright Claimant: Melba Stinnett Ketchum. Address: TX, 75975, United States.
Creation of Work Began: 2008-04-07 (Approximate)
Date of Anticipated Completion: 2011-06-22 (Approximate)
Projected Date of Publication: 2012-02-15 (Approximate)
Authorship on Application: Melba Stinnett Ketchum.
Description of Work: A film and/or documentary, narration or audio book, supporting photos and literary paper/document/book that will follow the The Sasquatch Project, the scientist and the scientific testing and proof for the existence of Sasquatch/ Bigfoot. Information will include discussion of results including A New Tribe of Living Humans, the complete Sasquatch mitochondrial genome sequence and nuclear DNA variations and text will show complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences were identified from DNA, analysis of the assembled sequence unequivocally establishes that the Sasquatch mtDNA falls inside the range of modern human mtDNAs and discussions of the origins thereof. The proof that the Sasquatch is not only the closest living human relative but is actually a contemporary living human. Also discussed is nuclear DNA testing performed on the same samples and the variations found in various genes including MC1R gene RUNX2 and FOXP2 as well as other targets genes involved in the perception of sound, transmission of nerve signals, the production of sperm and the lactase gene. Also discussed is how testing has ruled out ape cross and any ancient contributor and that Sasquatch is indeed a modern human with some genetic mutations accounting for their physical appearance. Also included are discussion of the history of samples and circumstances surrounding the acquisition, their testing, the circumstances surrounding the entire Sasquatch DNA Project. Documentary stars Melba Ketchum, et al
Copyright Note: C.O. correspondence.
Names: Ketchum, Melba Stinnett

NOW, COMPARE THE ABOVE TO THE RECENT PRESS RELEASE BELOW...

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

‘BIGFOOT’ DNA SEQUENCED IN UPCOMING GENETICS STUDY

Five-Year Genome Study Yields Evidence of Homo sapiens/Unknown Hominin Hybrid Species in North America

Contact: Robin Lynne, media@dnadiagnostics.com, 231.622.5362

DALLAS, Nov. 24--A team of scientists can verify that their 5-year long DNA study, currently under peer-review, confirms the existence of a novel hominin hybrid species, commonly called “Bigfoot” or “Sasquatch,” living in North America. Researchers’ extensive DNA sequencing suggests that the legendary Sasquatch is a human relative that arose approximately 15,000 years ago as a hybrid cross of modern Homo sapiens with an unknown primate species.

The study was conducted by a team of experts in genetics, forensics, imaging and pathology, led by Dr. Melba S. Ketchum of Nacogdoches, TX. In response to recent interest in the study, Dr. Ketchum can confirm that her team has sequenced 3 complete Sasquatch nuclear genomes and determined the species is a human hybrid:

“Our study has sequenced 20 whole mitochondrial genomes and utilized next generation sequencing to obtain 3 whole nuclear genomes from purported Sasquatch samples. The genome sequencing shows that Sasquatch mtDNA is identical to modern Homo sapiens, but Sasquatch nuDNA is a novel, unknown hominin related to Homo sapiens and other primate species. Our data indicate that the North American Sasquatch is a hybrid species, the result of males of an unknown hominin species crossing with female Homo sapiens.

Hominins are members of the taxonomic grouping Hominini, which includes all members of the genus Homo. Genetic testing has already ruled out Homo neanderthalis and the Denisova hominin as contributors to Sasquatch mtDNA or nuDNA. “The male progenitor that contributed the unknown sequence to this hybrid is unique as its DNA is more distantly removed from humans than other recently discovered hominins like the Denisovan individual,” explains Ketchum.

“Sasquatch nuclear DNA is incredibly novel and not at all what we had expected. While it has human nuclear DNA within its genome, there are also distinctly non-human, non-archaic hominin, and non-ape sequences. We describe it as a mosaic of human and novel non-human sequence. Further study is needed and is ongoing to better characterize and understand Sasquatch nuclear DNA.”

Ketchum is a veterinarian whose professional experience includes 27 years of research in genetics, including forensics. Early in her career she also practiced veterinary medicine, and she has previously been published as a participant in mapping the equine genome. She began testing the DNA of purported Sasquatch hair samples 5 years ago.

Ketchum calls on public officials and law enforcement to immediately recognize the Sasquatch as an indigenous people:

“Genetically, the Sasquatch are a human hybrid with unambiguously modern human maternal ancestry. Government at all levels must recognize them as an indigenous people and immediately protect their human and Constitutional rights against those who would see in their physical and cultural differences a ‘license’ to hunt, trap, or kill them.”

Full details of the study will be presented in the near future when the study manuscript publishes." 

Her "results," then, preceded completion of testing of the samples. This is to include preceding the one that revolutionized the study, the Sierra Kills slab, as well as glossing over the discoveries later made by Richard Stubstad. It is radically coincidental, too much so, that the press release is nearly identical to the prior statement. It does indeed suggest a foregone conclusion, one that in fact matches exactly with what Paulides and Ketchum said at the very start, on Coast to Coast AM, some four years back as I recall. The belief predated the research, and has clearly biased and distorted the interpretation of the data. So, there is no new "news," and the stuff was largely fictional to begin with.

...But really, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. All that happened was that Igor said something, and forced a response from the otherwise clammed-up Ketchum, and Paulides wrote his first blog entry since March 2012. The news? NOTHING. Or, maybe, Igor was acting in COLLUSION with the Ketchum group?
Notice how everyone is trying to insert themselves into the scene before Sykes publishes anything, even if they had no valid samples in any study? They are scrambling for attention and relevance.

Here is part of what David Paulides said, just hours after the supposed "leak" by Burtsev. It sure seems like a prepared statement to me, one prepared in advance...

The DNA Project/Update 

It’s been many months that myself and members of our team have silently watched the progress of our Bigfoot DNA Project under the guidance of Dr. Melba Ketchum. Silence in this research arena tends to push outsiders to make rash and irresponsible comments. In the technology world, silence about projects is routine, expected and is part of the landscape. In the bigfoot world, people in the past have been boisterous with wild claims, accusations and irresponsible behavior the norm. Our group (North America Bigfoot Search) has been trying to live by a different standard, a professional standard that the rest of the world understands and appreciates.

In the last twelve months you have seen a variety of groups suddenly take interest in bigfoot DNA. Where was that interest four years ago when we started our DNA Project? Dr. Jeff Meldrum has gone to Europe with his interest and utilized the resources of Oxford University in an attempt to develop a DNA sequence on Bigfoot. A weekly show about bigfoot also has just recently found an interest in bigfoot DNA and is trying to exploit this avenue, and there are others. There is not one group that has developed the scientific team and the high number of quality specimens to even come close to what North America Bigfoot Search and Dr. Ketchum’s team of esteemed scientists have accomplished.

The public perception of bigfoot, sasquatch and wild men is about to change forever. It has always been our belief that there would come a time when researchers would no longer be calling them animals, apes and human type gorillas, those statements will be reserved for re-runs of your favorite screamers and tree bangers. Yes, you are reading this correctly, times are about to change. I have consistently stated that we are close to a release date. We are very, very close.

Dr. Ketchum and her team of scientists and laboratories have been able to sequence three complete genomes, getting identical results independently verified by different labs. This is not a casual everyday finding, this will cause the scientific community to stand up and take notice. Many people have claimed to know what our results were, nearly everyone was wrong, even some high profile media people that have just recently made comments, all were wrong.

Dr. Ketchum originally found the combination to unlock bigfoot DNA and utilized top scientists in various fields to validate her results. The results were independently verified with the group silently sitting on these findings for months, as the results were validated a third and fourth time. Remember, this isn’t one total genome sequence; it’s three with dozens and dozens of other findings validating the results. The exact number of specimens, the number of mitochondrial results and the specifics of the scientific white paper will be released very, very soon. The paper is very complex and filled with amazing findings. 

...The one person that was able to unlock the safe to understanding bigfoot DNA, Dr. Melba Ketchum. Where every other scientist gave up and claimed contamination, Dr. Ketchum continued to move forward. Where every other scientist was unable to turn the corner, Dr. Ketchum did. This lady did not understand the word “defeat,” she is a true pioneer in her field! 

...David Paulides, Director, North America Bigfoot Search
Friday at 5:41pm 

*******
Here is what Jeff Meldrum had to say about this nonsense:

The press release was frankly premature and unprofessional given the lack of any published reviewed results.It apparently was precipitated by a leak of information that was pubicized. Let's wait and see what the published results will be and how they are to be INTERPRETED.
BTW -- the spokesperson would divulge neither a timeline for publication, nor which journal received the submission.She did however inform us that they were in regular communication (psychic?) with sasquatch, and that they (the sasquatch) were enthusiastic about the study and the press release, and are completely supportive of Melba's project.
[That being the case, one could ask why one or two of them (the sasquatch) doesn't just come forward and hold their own press conference.]

Add to all of this the talk from the horse doctor's own mouth about the Nephilim and some kind of Bigfoot molesting her and, well, you've got a very, very strange brew going on here. They deny the story about "Angel DNA," but...
By "angel" she means the FALLEN ANGELS, basically the "Ancient Alien" theory. Bigfoot are the Nephilim. She has actually SAID this. She has expressed it obliquely in her press release by referring to something "novel" in the DNA. She told Wally and others that the DNA was from "out of this world." Paulides has said that the Bigfoot lineage "STOPS" at some point, and from there there is no precedent in the DNA databases of earthly life. This can only mean one thing: the DNA is alien, or was manipulated by aliens. Say "angels" if you want. This is NOT Science. This is metaphysical lunacy. Much of this was reported by Robert Lindsay, and they called him a nutcase. I'd heard it from utterly reliable sources about a year and a half ago. I was asked at that time not to talk about it. I didn't, until I'd heard multiple other sources of confirmation, such as from the Stubstad/JavaBob connection. Rhettman A Mullis Jr can confirm this--it came right from Ketchum, in her own words, in a four hour phone conversation he had with her. It was a similar situation with the recent news of her thinking she was molested by a Bigfoot that zapped and possibly raped her. SHE said it. It wasn't just some weird gossip meant to disparage her reputation. David Paulides denies "Angel DNA" is in the paper. However, the idea of the Nephilim WAS in the first version of the paper, according to the Stubstad-JavaBob reports. She used the word "angel" in private conversations later. It's a fact, folks... this is what she BELIEVES.

It also shows how belief precedes and conditions reality formation in the human mind. The real question is whether this belief pre-biased the supposed science of this DNA study and paper. It is a deep error to mix science with mythology, legend and religion. There may be truth of a kind in the latter, but the former seeks to discover and prove things that are literally real, not just figuratively so.

And here is a big problem. Ketchum is saying that Bigfoot are a hybrid species formed rather recently by an unknown hominin/primate mating with modern Homo sapiens women. What if the samples she is studying are just the special case, and this unknown progenitor is the real Bigfoot? Hence is created an infinite regress of who begat whom. Also re. status as human, with constitutional and legal rights beyond animal management issues, comes with responsibility: How can we grant such rights and status to a creature that not only disdains law but also human contact, and one that lives essentially as a wild animal does?

The problem of hybridization, on Bigfoot Evidence:
Reactions from Scientists on Bigfoot Lunch Club...
Doubtful News has these views...
Robert Lindsay Classics...
http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/bigfoot-news-thanksgiving-edition-2012/

Also...
The Bigfoot Show did a fabulous new podcast episode on the recent Bigfoot DNA fiasco.
Episode 43 - Deoxyribonucleic Antics: The Revenge - has spliced itself into the very DNA of the internet. Featuring an interview with an honest-to-god expert, Dr. Todd Disotell of Cornell University, the boys venture into the mysterious world of Melba Ketchum and barely make it out in one piece. Get the show via iTunes, Stitcher, or rock the DDL: http://is.gd/bfs043
***

I hear the final death rattle of the Ketchum Project. It's over, folks.

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