Well, I did say "if..." I do have to admit, based on Loren Coleman's initial reaction that he posted in his original blog entry Bigfoot Body: "Georgia Gorilla" Will Shock the World, I was cautiously hopeful that this could indeed be "the real deal". Sadly, however, the public has been subjected to another pathetic hoax by a trio (Matt Whitton, Rick Dyer, and Tom Biscardi) of financially-motivated scam artists. One bit of news that gave me a modicum of satisfaction was that Matt Whitton, the cop from Clayton County, Ga, was fired from his job because of his involvement in this scam (link to article here).
Those of us who have a sincere interest in topics such as cryptozoology, ufology, and the paranormal in general, are a community; and as a community we do not tolerate publicity-seeking idiots that perpetrate hoaxes in the interest of making a fast buck. The best thing that we can do, as a community, is to completely ostracize these people: do not visit their website, do not call in on any radio show on which they appear or attend any event at which they're appear, do not buy any book, dvd or any other product or service that they are selling. In the case of Biscardi, who makes a living in the "bigfoot business", that would essentially cripple him financially - and he deserves nothing less. Ignore them, and they will go away.
What bothers me the most about this whole business is the fact that it hurts the field of cryptozoology and devalues and belittles the work of gentleman like Loren Coleman, Matt Moneymaker (head of BFRO), Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, and our friend Adam Davies.
Adam Davies has appeared on our Internet radio show 'The Paranomalists' and will be speaking with us again on Sunday, August 31st at 9:30 AM EST. If you haven't read it, pick up a copy of Adam's excellent and highly entertaining book "Extreme Expeditions: Travel Adventures Stalking the World’s Mystery Animals". He is a tireless investigator of mystery animals (as the subtitle indicates) and he has frequently put himself in life-threatening situations in his search for these creatures. In a recent email Adam wrote to me, in his understated way, "Man, when you risk your life for this stuff, its difficult to find anytime at all for hoaxers..." (hope you don't mind me putting that out there, Adam).
The fact is, these types of pranks/scams/hoaxes - call them what you will - shed a poor light on a legitimate field that, unfortunately, already suffers from a lot of bad press because of the involvement of liars, hoaxers and the lunatic fringe. A good friend of mine said to me yesterday, "Well that should put to rest all this bigfoot nonsense". "Of course it doesn't!", I argued. "Simply because a few asses decide to perpetrate a hoax, does not invalidate all the strong evidence that points to the existence of such creatures". I do believe that, and I continue to respect those serious individuals who dedicate themselves to the search for and classification of cryptids.
John Carlson
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I'll agree that Loren Coleman is a gentleman, but his blind acceptance of the 'Georgia Gorilla' as real - a term he invented as a follow-up to the Montauk Monster - has caused me to question his judgment on things crypto. I realize he has to pay bills and wants as much activity on his website as he can get, but this time he crossed the line for me, and I won't be back to cryptomundo. He plays the 'good cop, bad cop' thing too consistently - playing up stories for the believers, yet simultaneously taking a 'cautious' approach with MSM in order to retain credibility.
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