Bigfoot DNA Update: The Fallout and Summary

Today at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman commented: “For some of those entrenched in the Bigfoot community this is non-news. For those that loosely call ourselves journalists, like moi, we believe it is worth reporting–in other words this is news.

The following is the Reader’s Digest version of what happened on November 23rd 2012:

Igor Burtsev, Head of International Center of Hominology, announced the completion of Dr. Melba Ketchum’s project to sequence Bigfoot DNA. Dr. Burtsev continued on to say, “It is human like us only different, a hybrid of a human with unknown species…The hybridization event could not have occurred more than 15,000 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.”

Almost immediately Dr. Melba Ketchum responded on her Facebook page, “It is unfortunate that the partial summary of our data was released in this manner, however, I will be making a formal response in the next few days. Even though Igor Burtsev released this, it was not Dr. Burtsev’s fault.”

Another player in the Melba Ketchum project is David Paulides, who seems to want to position the Ketchum project in front of the Bryan Sykes Oxford University DNA study and any interest the TV Show Finding Bigfoot may have.

David Paulides writes on his website, NABigfootSearch.com,  ”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.”

At the risk of editorializing, and we should acknowledge these may not be the opinions of Cryptomundo, or of any of the other Cryptomundo contributors here, David Paulides’ post seems to be an effort to  reassert ownership over any other Bigfoot DNA results.  I also want to say, if I may speak for the community, we have ALL been interested in Bigfoot DNA. We have been interested in Bigfoot DNA before the technology was even mature enough to benefit us.

Finally, there are those in the community, myself included, that acknowledge DNA does not inform us details on population, ecological niche, physical morphology, behavior, diet. There is still a grand journey ahead of us, there is still room for all of us to help piece together the mystery of Bigfoot.”

Source: Loren Coleman @ cryptomundo.com/cryptozoologists/bigfoot-dna-update-thefallout-andsummary

Cryptid Chronicles readers, what do YOU think??

Please post your comments!

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Sydney C. Squidney
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Greetings, Cryptid Chronicles fans!

British author and contributing editor for Phenomena magazine, Nick Redfern, has notified me that Anomalist Books has just published a new book from him: Monster Diary: On the Road in Search of Strange and Sinister Creatures.

In Nick’s own words: “Written in first-person style, the book chronicles my on-the-road investigations of all-things cryptozoological from early 2009 to late 2011. And here’s the AB background-info on the book…”

MONSTER DIARY is the latest saga in Nick Redfern’s ongoing series of worldwide road-trips in search of strange creatures and terrifying beasts.

In this transatlantic trek, Redfern is hot on the trail of…a Mothman-like creature in Wisconsin; giant eels that lurk in the canals of Birmingham, England; a spectral mammoth and a ghostly big-cat in American woods; Bigfoot in New Mexico; a Chupacabras in the wilds of Oklahoma; vampire-like beasts roaming the valleys of Wales; and California’s very own shape-shifting Skinwalkers.

MONSTER DIARY reveals that many of the unknown animals of our planet are not all they seem to be. They may appear to be flesh-and-blood creatures, but is that what they really are?Redfern sets out to prove that the true nature of the fearsome creatures that dwell in dark and shadowy woods, atop imposing mountainous peaks, and within the depths of murky lakes and rivers can only be understood with a knowledge of ancient rituals designed to conjure up foul life forms from some terrible realm, ominous sacrificial ceremonies undertaken in the dead of night, and disturbing occult rites.

Monsters do exist. Monsters are among us. But according to Nick Redfern, they are not what you probably think they are.

Later this month, I will be reading this book and once I am finished reading will post my review of Nick’s latest saga.

Stay tuned for more Cryptozoology news and discover more cryptids and mysterious creatures at Cryptid Chronicles and let us know What is the Scariest Cryptid You’d Never Want to Meet?

If you enjoyed this cryptozoological news update please comment, Like ❤ and share! Thank you!

Your Chronicler,
Sydney C. Squidney
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Night-Ravens - Or What’s In A Name?

What, if anything, is a mysterious winged creature known as the night-raven?

The answer to this question depends upon whether you are investigating it from an ornithological, cryptozoological, or zoomythological standpoint - because three entirely different creatures all share this same intriguing name.

In Norway, the nattravn (‘night-raven’) is simply a name given to the European nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus or goatsucker. End of story.

Conversely, the night-raven that appears in English literature is a much more diffuse subject. It was a certain William Shakespeare who penned the following tantalising lines: “The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time;” (3 King Henry VI, V.vi.47), and “I had as lief have heard the night-raven, come what plague could have come after it.” (Much Ado About Nothing, II.iii.81). Equally, in his The Faerie Queene (II.vii.23), Edmund Spenser wrote: “And after him the owles and night ravens flew, the hateful messengers of heavy tidings,”. And according to John Lyly in his play Sappho and Phaon (1584), the owl’s shriek and the night-raven’s croak were fatal. But what is the night-raven, this ill-omened bird that appears in such esteemed works of literature yet is singularly absent from any comparably notable ornithological tome?

Several identities have been offered, including the nightingale (even though its famously musical, uplifting song hardly corresponds to the night-raven’s hoarse croak of doom), the afore-mentioned European nightjar, the bittern, various species of owl, and even the night heron (curiously, the latter’s scientific name is indeed Nycticorax – ‘night crow’ – although it shares no resemblance with any corvine bird). However, as elucidated by Edward Armstrong in The Folklore of Birds (1958), it is most likely that the night-raven is of mythological rather than ornithological status, deriving from Norse legends in which the raven is identified with Odin who in turn became identified with the Wild Hunt tradition, featuring spectral hunters riding through the sky at night with a pack of howling dogs – which in literature are extensively associated with the night-raven.

Undoubtedly the most fascinating member of the night-raven trio, however, is the mythological nattravnen (‘night-raven’) of southern Sweden. I first learnt of this extraordinary entity from Swedish cryptozoological artist Richard Svensson, whose wonderful illustration of it heads my present blog. On 2 October 2008, in response to a request of mine for information concerning it, I received the following detailed account from Richard, who kindly permitted me to publish it if I so wished, and which I am therefore delighted to do here, for the very first time anywhere:

“Nattravnen is found in the folklore of Sweden’s two southernmost regions, Skåne and Blekinge. It’s not very well known in general Swedish folklore, and it’s not considered a mystery beast per se, like the Lake Storsjö monster, for example. It’s called Nattravnen in Skåne and Leharven in Blekinge. The name “Nattravnen” is said to mean “the night raven”. Leharven is a more dubious name. “Le” is an old word for bodily joint (and I’ll get back to why that’s a part of its name). Nattravnen is seldom described in detail, but it is a bird-like monster, sometimes said to be dark in colour, but without any feathers. It belongs to a special group of monsters called “grimmar”. Grimmar are supernatural animals that cannot be killed by any normal weapons. They are either ghosts of animals or beasts created by sorcery.

“Nattravnen flies around during the night and is said to devour any lonely wanderer on the roads. But the monster was also dangerous in another way. If you looked up just as it passed the moon or when its body was illuminated by the moon rays, you would be able to see the skeleton (and its joints) through the creature’s thin hide. This was a very bad thing and the sight would render you horrible pains. Mostly you would fall terribly ill and vomit blood or get blood in your urine for at least a week.

“There is an old story from Blekinge concerning Lake Halen, where in old times a flying monster lived. This creature is not actually identified as Leharven, but it appears to have many similar traits. According to legend it resembled a vulture, but without any feathers. When returning to the lake it would not perch in a tree, but dive down under the water and disappear. In the 1970’s a local school adopted the creature as their mascot and dubbed it “Halengamen”, “the Halen Vulture”.

“If I’m not totally mistaken this aquatic connection rings a bell concerning the African “Kongamato”. And the feature about getting ill from watching the flying beast also seems familiar, from something in the West Indies, perhaps.

“There’s also a folktale about a giant vulture sweeping down and grabbing an oxen in an area of Blekinge called Jämshög. The name is said to be derived from “Gamshög” =”Vulture’s Peak”, a hill where the creature is said to have been observed seen sitting. This tale is generally considered as a tall-tale, with no real etymological verification to the name of Jämshög. It’s still interesting as a Swedish counterpart of the American “Thunderbird” tales.

“I’ve done two illustrations of Nattravnen, where I’ve chosen to depict it as very pterodactyl-like.”

From a Norwegian goatsucker and a corvid of Odin to a monstrous Swedish neo-pterodactyl - who would ever have guessed that a name as innocuous as ‘night-raven’ could have conjured forth such a dramatic diversity of creatures real and imaginary?

Source Credit(s): © Dr Karl Shuker 11 November 2010 karlshuker.blogspot.com/2010/11/night-ravens-or-whats-in-name.html

Top Illustration: The terrifying nattravnen or night-raven of southern Swedish folklore © Richard Svensson

Cryptid Chronicles readers, what do YOU think??

Discover more cryptids and mysterious creatures at Cryptid Chronicles and let us know what Cryptid you most believe in/find plausible!!

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Sydney C. Squidney
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