How Would You See This?

There doesn't seem to be much happening in Canada these days, so have a look at the latest from Washington State, about 100km from the border.  In a tweet, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) released photos of a shadowy figure that resemblance Sasquatch.

Sasquatch spotted!!! I'm not superstitious... just a little stitious. Have you noticed something strange on our Sherman Pass/SR 20 webcam before? If you look closely by the tree on the left there looks to be something... might be Sasquatch... We will leave that up to you! pic.twitter.com/RaDGqQdEUF

 — WSDOT East (@WSDOT_East) January 22, 2020

In this still image, taken by webcam , the so-called Sasquatch appears to be mid-stride walking on Sherman Pass, into the forest of the Pacific Northwest.  The area is a hotspot for sightings.  

I have to wonder how this relatively ambiguous black figure was spotted.  Is there someone assigned to watching the cameras for Bigfoot?  Here's a cropped close up of the figure.

I don't find this photo particularly conclusive.  This could be a lot of things.  It would have been much more interesting if someone had made the effort to go check the spot for tracks/footprints.

The Kelowna Now Facebook page discussion of this even has garnered over 560 comments.  Most were just tagging friends to show them the article or something funny but respectful.  The western provinces of Canada generally embrace Sasquatch, whether real or myth. One of the posters puts it well:

Laurie Smitty Smith I believe they are out there...but this ...skeptical

More Reading
https://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/news/news/Around_the_Web/Sasquatch_spotted_Highway_webcam_appears_to_capture_elusive_Bigfoot/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/KelownaNow/posts/?ref=page_internal

Oh Boy-Ogopogo

Like the Loch Ness Monster, BC  has it's own freaky fish; or monster; or hoax.

Documented sightings to back at least to 1873.  The first recorded sighting (by a Caucasian) was by , B.C. pioneer and author, Mrs. Susan Allison.  Her ranch was located near what is now known as Quail's Gate Winery in West Kelowna, BC.  She described seeing a snake-like creature.  Native persons have reported something similar they call,  N’ha-a-itk, the "water demon".

One of the more recent reports came in to ogopogoquest.com.  The date of the sighting is June, 2017.  It took place on Lake Okanagan.

My wife, son & I were on the boat around 1:30 in the afternoon heading back to the Penticton marina (South). My son was driving as I was watching for stuff in the water. As we were heading South I told him to watch out for the Sea Doo ahead as he was jumping around and making big waves. My son asked what side should we pass him on. I told him to wait until we got closer as he may change directions. When we started to get closer 300ft away we all noticed there was no jet ski there but this object that had three perfect symmetrical waves coming off of it. My wife said slow down as she thought it was a kayaker. We slowed down and approached the area and told my wife and son to grab their phones and start taking a video. Now this is the weird part not one of us had our phones. That never happens. So anyways the object that was making the waves disappears, but the waves were huge, bigger than the wake my 25ft boat was making. They were these perfect three waves rolling away to the West, not the east. There were no boats in the area either and a super com day. So we are not sure what we saw but the size had to huge as we thought it was a jet ski jumping around. The picture is so vivid in our minds.

 Literally hundreds of reports have come in since 1873.  Most report a strange wave, or something sticking up out of an otherwise calm lake.  Some scientists believe that the creature must be a form of primitive whale  Basilosaurus cetoides was a prehistoric whale that lived about 35 million years ago. during the Cenozoic era.  Basilosaurus matches almost exactly with the log-like descriptions and as being one to two feet in diameter with a length of 10 to 20 meters (30 to 60 feet).   One glaring problem with this theory is that the first fossils were discovered along the Gulf Coast of the United States , along with a few fossils in the eastern U.S.  Fossils were later found of a second species, B. isis, in 1904 in North Africa.  They were thought to have inhabited Tethys Ocean (located between the ancient continents of Gondwana and Laurasia), before the opening of the Indian and Atlantic oceans during the Cretaceous Period. The Black, Caspian, and Aral seas are thought to be its crustal remains.  None of these are anywhere near Kelowna, BC.

Ogopogo's head has been described as being horse or goat-like. It is reported to be able to move with astounding speed or in calm weather apparently feeding on either fish or aquatic weeds. Some reported seeing fins or feet on the creature.  

Vancouver Province reporter  Ronald Kenvyn (Nov. 26, 1884 - Aug 13, 1948) composed a song which parodied a popular British song.  Kenvyn's tune included the following stanza:

His mother was an earwig;
His father was a whale;
A little bit of head and hardly any tail-
And Ogopogo was his name.

The name Ogopogo stuck and the original Native name was replaced by this anglicized version.

Possibly the most recent sighting dates to September 2019.  A woman identified only as "Susan C." reported that she was kayaking on Okanagan Lake towards James Grant Island.  No boats were around and the lake was very smooth.  She and her friend both report seeing a long wave and felt a bump under her kayak.  Their husbands reportedly saw the event from the lake shore.  Her husband described it as,  "a funny wave moving down the lake almost something large just below the surface."  The witnesses provided this photo to ogopogoquest.com:

Global News, a Canadian national news source, shared this report about a sighting from June 1, 2019.


Naturally, more sightings occur in the summer months since far more people are on the lake during the season.  UBC-Okanagan  sociology professor Chris Schneider does not "believe in" Ogopogo and says emotion overpowers logic.  “By the very virtue of them not understanding it, it makes them want to try to understand it even more,” Schneider said in the Global interview.

Ogopogo has its own statue downtown and even a book collection.  Real or not, this creature is a huge part of the BC landscape.

More Reading:
https://ogopogoquest.com/sightings.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethys_Ocean
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-Tethys-Sea
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/ronald-kenvyn
https://ogopogoquest.com/sightings-most-recent.php
https://globalnews.ca/news/5381999/pretty-creepy-okanagan-man-believes-hes-captured-definitive-ogopogo-sighting-on-video/
https://www.ownerdirect.com/rental-guide/okanagan/okanagan-lake-communities-map

John Green

John Willison Green was a Canadian journalist and a leading researcher of Bigfoot. John  was born on February 12, 1927, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  His father was Howard Green, a long-time Member of the Canadian Parliament. His mother, Marion Green (nee Mounce), was the first woman to graduate from the University of British Columbia school of Agricultural Sciences.He graduated from the University of British Columbia and achieved his Master's degree in Journalism at Columbia University.  He has compiled a database of more than 3000 sighting and track reports.

In 1963 he was elected Mayor of the Village of Harrison Hot Springs, BC.   It has always been a resort community, but it also has the Ranger Station Public Art Gallery, and is the closest access to Sasquatch Provincial Park.  He was responsible for the construction of the Harrison lakefront beach, and spearheaded the World Championship Sand Sculpture Competition for many years.  He also had a passion for history, founding the Kilby Historical Society in 1973, then later the Fraser heritage Society and he continued to donate his time and funds to go towards the maintenance of the site. He was a Board member for over 40 years.


John Green settled in Agassiz, BC in 1954  He purchased the local newspaper becoming the owner and editor of the Agassiz-Harrison Advance. In 1972 Green sold the local paper to pursue his Sasquatch research and interest in writing publications.  It is now known as the Agassiz-Harrison Observer and is still in publication.  He raised his family, ran a business and pursued his political aspirations. He ran for provincial office as a Conservative but lost four times.He was a competitive sailboat racer in his youth, designing and constructing the first fiberglass hull sailboat to steer through British Columbian lakes. He also was a successful investor of an inheritance he received from his father, and a philanthropist. Forty years after first being elected Mayor, he won a commissioner’s seat in 2002.
 

  Green first began investigating Sasquatch sightings and track finds in 1957. He had met René Dahinden and they collaborated in interviewing witnesses and sharing information of alleged sightings. In 1958, Green was shown a series of 15" tracks crossing a sandbar beside Bluff Creek in California and investigated the tracks in the summer of 1958. Green had access to a variety of British Columbia news and had written a fictional April Fool’s story about Sasquatch in 1953.  He was first asked seriously about Sasquatch in 1956 when René Dahinden entered came to his newspaper office looking for reports in the area. Green told Dahinden the accounts were nonsense.

This is about 20 minutes of Q & A with Mr. Green from the Sasquatch Summit in Harrison Hot Springs.





Green authored several Sasquatch books, including Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us, regarded by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) as the "best written book on the subject".  It has recently been re-issued, along with an updated combination of two earlier books, and is titled The Best of Sasquatch Bigfoot.  Green also was contracted as a speaker at a number of scientific symposiums on Bigfoot research, and appeared in several documentaries on the subject.  He surveyed Eastern and Southern hominid reports as well. He also asked his correspondents to research aboriginal tales of Bigfoot.  A relatively conservative man, he often called for pushing the envelope for the researchers.

Green made distinctions between typical reports of “Bigfoot”, and strange, far more massive footprints that were discovered.  Some researchers believed that indicated the presence of even larger creatures.  In his obituary, written by fellow researcher Loren Coleman,  it states that He holds the title as the first primary chronicler in Sasquatch studies, and his work in the field had lead some to affectionately call him “Mr. Sasquatch.”

John Green's research and personal collection of artifacts were donated to Kilby Historic Site in Harrison Mills, BC. Today this exhibit is a lasting tribute to Green's 58 years in the field of Sasquatch sightings and original castings. For more information visit www.kilby.ca  Green became so famed for his Sasquatch studies that late in his life he complained about trying to keep up with an ever-growing correspondence. He directly influenced many of the early researchers in the field, including Jim McClarin, René Dahinden, Tom Slick, Ivan T. Sanderson, Roger Patterson, Loren Coleman, Mark A. Hall, Bob Titmus, Grover Krantz, Chris Murphy, John Kirk, and Jeff Meldrum. His film of Jim McClarin at the site of the Patterson-Gimlin footage is still cited as one of the critical research analysis for the height of that Bigfoot.

John  Green passed on May 28, 2016 in Chilliwack, BC.  He was predeceased by his wife June, brother Lewis, and a grandson.  He left behind, three sons and two daughters, as well as thirteen grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.    In 2000, John was recognized as B.C. Senior of the Year, and has been  honoured at several public gatherings for his community service, research work and writing.




More Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Willison_Green
https://www.tourismharrison.com/hot-springs
https://www.agassizharrisonobserver.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKwc331mnxc
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/06/john-green-veteran-sasquatch-researcher-and-author-has-passed-away/
http://www.cryptozoonews.com/johngreen-obit/

First Nations Canadian Sighting

In March 2014 some aboriginal people had a bit of a surprise.

Tofino, British Columbia sits on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  Although it has just over 1900 residents, it is a popular tourist destination.   Surfers, hikers, nature lovers, bird watchers, campers, and whale watchers flock to the area every summer.  Because of its temperate climate, festivals of all sorts are held all year long.  Tofino was a filming location for the movie "Going the Distance" in 2004 and for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" in 2009.  Geographically, it is just south of the Ahousaht First Nations reserve.  The reserve is taxed with patrolling the waters in the area to enforce legal fishing practices by both natives and civilians.

Ahousaht Fisheries Manager Luke Swan, Jr. and his father returned to the site and claim to have seen tracks measured at 16 inches long and seven to nine inches wide.  They also photographed the Cedar trees that had been stripped of bark about eight feet off the ground. They believe they have found evidence of the legendary biped that has purportedly been spotted in the Pacific Northwest for over a hundred years.

“Something really big stood up, probably between eight or nine feet,” he said. “The first thing I had in my mind was to get off the beach. I pushed off as fast as I could and got to deep water.”

Bigfoot Encounters website says one of the earliest Sasquatch sightings took place in B.C.’s Toba Inlet. Prospector Albert Ostman claimed he was held hostage by one of the creatures for several days in 1924.

The Ahousaht Fisheries website gives this mission statement:

The primary goal for Ahousaht's Fisheries department is to provide safe, reliable and sustainable fisheries in our seas and rivers for today and future generations.

 The Ahousaht First Nation is the largest Nuu-chah-nulth Nation.  Ahousaht means people (aht) of Ahous, a small bay on the west side of Vargas Island. All Ahousaht reserves are accessible only by boat or floatplane.  The area is also home to Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Why is this sighting important?  Aside from all sightings being important, this one has some additional credibility.  First, the sighting was by a Fisheries Officer, who would have deep familiarity with the flora and fauna of the area.  Second, this sighting comes from a member of First Nations, which has a long history of verbal teaching about Sasquatch, including petroglyphs, carvings, and sacred significance of the creature.  Finally, the area is one of the best for the ability to sustain bigfoot populations.  The Biosphere provides everything necessary, including vast remote areas where colonies could live.


More reading: 
www.ahousahtfishingcorp.com
https://twitter.com/AhousahtAdmin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofino
http://www.ahousaht.ca/
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/purported-sasquatch-tracks-found-on-vancouver-island-1.1714645
https://www.sasquatchcanada.com/first-nations-sasquatch-references-gallery.html

Do those that believe in Cryptids really suffer from psychological disorders?

Stephen Turnbull
PSICAN/CFZ-Canada

People are often ridiculed for reporting that they have seen some mysterious creature, especially if it is referred to as a lake monster or sea serpent. Often this fear of ridicule prevents it from being reporting in the first place. Some scientists, as well as many others, are quick to try to explain it as a misidentification of a known animal species or perhaps some inanimate object. Granted, many sightings turn out to be just that, but some remain a mystery.

In some cases however, the reports end up being authentic! Many animals have been so shrouded in myths and legends that it was hard to believe that they existed. A classic example is that of the mythical Pongo, a shape-shifting creature that preyed upon villagers in Africa. Eventually this creature was identified as a gorilla! Scientist also dismissed the possibility that an animal striped like a zebra and looked like a giraffe could exist, despite the evidence of skins. Eventually a living okapi was photographed!

What is it that draws people to the belief in cryptids and the desire to push through all the ridicule and pursue them, to separate fact from fiction? And what is it about the witnesses that convince them what they have seen is real, and the fact that they often provide a very detailed description?

Researchers from California State University tried to answer questions such as these. Sharps et al. (2006) stated that certain individuals still have ancient hunting/gathering cognitive aspects in them which make them more susceptible to belief in such things as cryptids. Their findings indicated that those that believed in cryptids (and other paranormal activity for that matter) have a tendency toward ADHD, depression, and dissociation. Sharps et al. also state that people with these tendencies may interpret sensory information in cryptozoological terms and report seeing Bigfoot rather than a bear in certain situations. .

It is possible that some purposely go into areas where there are a high numbers of sightings of a creature (i.e. Bigfoot, Nessie) and hope to see it. In this case shadows, other animals, and inanimate objects such as a huge wave may take the shape of this creature. This may be a case of, “If you believe in it, you will see it?” As Sharps et al. reported that the information an individual has prior to an event has an impact on the memory and interpretation of that event. This relates not only to interpreting Bigfoot instead of a bear, but it is also a problem with crime scene witnesses.

Sharps et al. (2006) did add a disclaimer, likely to ward off nasty comments from cryptozoologists, that they would not expect all those that have cryptozoological beliefs to have these tendencies. Some may simply arrive at these beliefs through other aspects such as personal experiences or environmental influences.

I have only touched on the study but there are few things that should be addressed. First, their sample size had many more women than men. Other studies indicate women are not as skeptical as men therefore this may have skewed their results. Other studies indicate race and religion also played an important part in the belief of cryptids (those that have strong religious beliefs tend not to believe in cryptids; see the Baylor University study (2005) at the link below.

The authors also included a caveat that it is possible for unknown animals to still exist and give the examples of the okapi and coelacanth. However, the study by Sharps et al. and the Baylor University study, had questions that only referenced creatures such as Bigfoot and Nessie, not animals such as the okapi. Had they included animals such as the okapi and coelacanth, perhaps their results might have been different.

The bottom line, it is definitely not as clear-cut as Sharps et al. (2006) indicate. Certainly, some people that believe in Bigfoot and Nessie (and other creatures) may have these tendencies. What about those researchers that push through the myths and legends and discover new species? Do they suffer from these disorders? Possibly, but my question is, “Do the skeptics also suffer from similar disorders?”


Suggested Readings:

Sharps, M., J. Matthews and J. Sten. 2006. The Journal of Psychology. 140(6) 579-590
Cognition and Belief in Paranormal Phenomena: Gestalt/Feature Intensive Processing Theory and Tendencies Toward ADHD, Depression, and Dissociation.


http://www.thearda.com/includes/crosstabs.asp?file=BRS2005&v=377&v2=390&p=1&s=on