Bigfoot, Other Monsters (?) Bug Scientists
by Boris Wctatraub
National Geographic News Service
The reports started coming in to
officials in Truro, Mass., last fail.
A large, cat-like animal was killing
cats and pigs, running in front of
cars, and generally alarming the
populace of the Cape Cod com
munity.
"It's been compared to Bigfoot,
to the Loch Ness Monster, to
everything," says Edward A. Os
walt, the town's selectman
assessor and chairman of its board
of health.
"We've had trackers out every
where, and we've followed up on all
leads. To this day, we haven't
found anything conclusive to indi
cate there was such an animal in
the area."
But the animal has been named
"the Beast of Truro," and no one
has explained it vet.
Dinosaur Hunt
Mysterious creatures of this sort
are reported nearly everywhere.
Just last fall a University of Chicago
biologist went off to central Africa
to search for Mokele-Mbembe. said
to look like a dinosaur with a long,
flexible neck and a muscular tail.
So far he's had no luck; Mokele
Mbembe hasn't turned up.
The Loch Ness Monster has
North American counterparts in
"Champ" of Lake Champlain, and
in "Ogopopo," the sea serpent of
Okanagan Lake in British Colum
bia. Then there is the Abominable
Snowman of the Himalayas, the
Wildman of Hubei in China, Yowie
of Australia, and the Soviet
Union's Chochunaa and Wild Man
of Dagestan.
But the most famous North
American creature is Bigfoot, or
sasquatch, as he was known to
British Columbia Indians. Like
many such creatures elsewhere, he
is described as being at least 8 feet
tall, covered with hair, and emit
ting a foul odor. Like creatures
elsewhere, he goes back centuries
in folklore and myth.
The number of Bigfoot sightings
reported each year depends on who
is doing the counting. The creature
has been reported in every region of
the continental United States,
through the Pacific Northwest, with
its dense forests, is its most
common "home."
Apart from sightings, the evi
dence in favor of its existence
consists of footprints, some, hair
samples, a little blood and some
droppings, an occasional photo
graph, and a short film sequence
shot in California in 1%7.
But every piece of evidence has
proven to be controversial, leading
Grover Krantz, an anthropologist
at Washington State University, to
say that only a specimen or a
skeleton would convince other
scientists. Krantz himself is con
vinced already.
Foot Not Hainan
"I've examined evidence that 1
can't explain any other way," he
says. "I've analyzed the footprints,
and I can deduce that it's not a
gigantic human foot involved. It's
been modified exactly the way
you'd have to modify a foot for an
Literacy Council Fish Fry Friday
The Hoke Reading/Literacy
Council will hold a Fish Fry on
Friday, May 21, in the Eden
borough Shopping Center from 11
a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tickets are S3. You may pur
chase your tickets from the literacy
office, board members, or "Friends
of Literacy."
The profits from this event will
be used to combat illiteracy in
Hoke County.
"As the Council becomes more
stabilized our tasks become great
er. More illiterates and functionally
illiterates are asking for help.
Almost daily someone comes in to
register as a student. This is far
from true for volunteer tutors,"
said the project direcctor, Barbara
Buie.
She continues, "We are greatly
encouraged by the student partici
pation in this event. They are
involved from planning to clean
up." There are many ways that you
too can become involved in literacy.
Please call 875-2145.
Upchurch Chorus In 'Wizard Of Oz'
The Upchurch Chorus is as busy
as little elves ? or in this case,
Munchkins -- working on a gala
production of "The Wizard of Oz
or "The Wiz."
The Chorus will perform musical
highlights from both shows in a
production that promises to rival
the best of Broadway.
It's scheduled for May 22 at 8
p.m. in the Upchurch auditorium.
Soloists for "The Wizard of Oz"
include: Kelly Chalaire as Dorothy,
Quy Tillman as Glinda. the good
witch, Brett McDaniels, Randall
Matthews, and Donnie Henderson
as the Scarecrow, Tin Man and
Cowardly Lion. Todd Odom as the
Wizard, plus a host of tiny Munch
kins in colorful costumes.
The cast for "The Wiz": Renee
Bruton as Dorothy, Adriene Kemp
cast in a double role as Dorothy's
mother and as the Evil Witch,
Bunkye Williams, Leonard Frier
son and Eric McLaughlin as the
Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion,
and Rhonda Malloy as the good
witch.
Admission price is $1.
Kennedy Playing In Disney World Concert
Tommy Kennedy, a 1975 grad
uate of Hoke County High School,
will appear this weekend with the
other members of the Birdie Hig
gins singing and musicians' group
at Disney World in Florida.
Kennedy is a drummer and has
been with the group the past four
years. He is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. J.R. Kennedy of S12 E.
Donaldson Ave.
Another Raeford man who is
with the Higgins group is Ronnie
Huff, son of Mr. and Mrs. D.R.
Huff. Ronnie Huff is a pianist but
will not play in the Disney World
program.
Tommy Kennedy and Ronnie
Huff have been musicians since
their junior high school days in
Raeford.
UPCHURCH BETAS ?? The new members and some of the senior members of the Upchurch Junior High School
chapter of the Beta Club, a national academic honor society, are shown here. In the rear. L-R. are newly inducted
members Laurie Byrd. Karen Troublefield. Lenita Easterling. Debbie Baker. Scott Houston. Mary Lynn Buoyer.
Teresa Ramsey. Carla Oxendine. Tonya Hornsby, and Tim Ward. Front, L-R -? new members Christie Batton
and Amy Black, and senior members Jill Schuchard. secretary-treasurer of the club: Michele Musselwhite.
president, and Shawn Brock, vice president, new members Melinda Riley, Susan Miller. Karen Campbell and
Susan Osborne, and senior member Tripp Simpson. The picture was taken May 4. ( Staff photo).
PARKTON j
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800-pound body in order to keep it
walking correctly.
"There's a lot of pig-headedness
about scientists. It science has
missed an animal this big, science
would look a little funny. So better
not look for it."
No, that's not the problem, says
Turhan Murad, a physical anthro
pologist at California State Univer
sity at Chico. Murad teaches a
course called "Bigfoot and Other
Monsters: Myth or Reality?"
"It's not that scientists are
unwilling to accept Bigfoot, but a
matter of having to prove its
existence, coming up with physical
evidence of some type," says
Murad, who uses the mystery as a
lesson in how science works.
Krantz bases much of his case on
more than 1,000 footprints found
in a single area of California that
suggest a giant creature with a
clubfoot. Only someone with a
detailed knowledge of anatomy
could fake such a deformity, he
says.
But Murad, who has examined
the same prints, says a human foot
can be deformed in many ways.
Thus, he says, anybody could have
faked the prints.
No Bones About It
No skeletons, bones, or fossils
have even turned up for a Bigfoot, a
major reason most scientists are
skeptical at best.
But the people who believe in its
existence offer explanations, some
admittedly bizarre. Take, for ex
ample, Robert Warth, president of
the Society for the Investigation of
the Unexplained.
Warth suggests that an aberra
tion in the earth's electromagnetic
field may have caused a time warp
that enables the creature to appear
and then disappear, baffling scien
tists.
And John Beckjord, a Seattle
man who operates a "Bigfoot
Hotline" and says he has seen the
creature three times, offers this
explanation of why people shoot at
Bigfoot but don't kill it:
"It suggests something science
isn't ready to face yet, and doesn't
have the tools to study. It could be
that Bigfoot isn't from this earth,
that it's able to prevent us from
seeing it. Now this is just specula
tion, but we need to have an open
mind."
Beckjord has sent samples of
purported Bigfoot hair to experts
for analysis. The result, he says, is
that the experts agree that the hairs
were unique and didn't match that
of other North American mammals
including humans.
One of the experts, Ellis Kerley,
a University of Maryland anthro
pology professor, puts the matter
slightly differently.
"The hair resembled the Eastern
black bear a good bit, it had
components of gorilla hair, and
some of human hair," he says.
"That is. it was difficult to distin
guish; you couldn't say it was one of
the three. I keep an open mind, but
if there is a Bigfoot, it's surprising
it hasn't left any skeletal remains."
Snowman, No; Bigfoot, Yet
John Napier, former director of
the Smithsonian Institution's pri
mate biology program and an
authority on hand and foot ana
tomy, wrote a thorough study of the
Abominable Snowman and Bigfoot
in 1973. He concluded that the
Snowman is not real, and that the
1%7 Bigfoot Film was not genuine.
But, because of the number of
unexplained footprints, he con
cluded that Bigfoot does exist.
Those who agree and venture a
guess, such as Krantz, think the
creature is a living Gigantopithe
cus, a big ape that lived 1 to 2
million years ago.
But there is no clear-cut evidence
that would satisfy either side.
Meanwhile, new sightings are re
ported frequently.
And what of the Beast of Truro?
Most of the sightings have occurred
on national parkland. Federal offi
cials, who have jurisdiction over the
land, have decided to call off the
search, says Oswalt, the town
selectman.
But if there are any new sight
ings, he promises they will be
investigated fully.
Foursquare Church
506 PROSPECT AVE. 875-5173
AS A NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH WE
1. Exalt Jesus Christ as Savior. Baptizer, Healer and Soon-Coming,
Kinfe.
2. Emphasize the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Whose objective is
to glorify Jesus.
3. Hold The Word of God to be the standard of all truth.
4 Believe true worship is the basis of the daily activities of the
Spirit-filled Christian.
SUNDAY SCHOOL *45 A.M.
MORNING WORSHIP 11:00 A.M.
EVENING WORSHIP 7KJ0P.M.
WED. BIBLE STUDY 7r00 P.M.
We invite you to join us in worship
where lives are changed and needs are met.
PIONEER CA T - Whiski. held by his owner. Jack Letzgus. is the first
animal to participate in the new low-price spaying and neutering program
started in Hoke County the weeks of April 25 to help reduce the numbers of
stray cats and dogs produced in the county. The neutering operation was
performed Tuesday by Dr. Russell Tate [right] at Dr. Tate's Raeford
Animal Clinic. Sandy Ramey. the clinic's veterinary technician, is at left. In
the program, the national Friends of Animals pays the difference between
what the pet owner pays and the fee the veterinarian customarily charges.
The program is sponsored in Hoke by the Hoke County-Raeford Humane
Society, of which Letzgus is a director. This picture was taken after Whiski
had his operation and was ready to go back home.
NURSES WEEK ?? Mrs. Ruth McNair of Raeford. director of nursing
services at McCain Hospital, is standing by the specially made sign
announcing Nurses Week in North Carolina, which was held May 2 through
Saturday.
AT RECEPTION ?? Some of the McCain Hospital nurses, and other
members of the hospital staff are shown at a reception held the afternoon of
May 5 in honor of the hospital 's nurses. The occasion was the observance of
National Recognition Day for Nurses and Nurse's Week in North Carolina
May 2-8.
IN SPRING CONCERT ?? These "Oklahoma" dancers will perform in the
Hoke County High School Chorus and Chorale Spring Concert. "A Night
on Broadway, " May 20 in MacDonald Gym at the high school. The
program will start at 7:30 p.m. L-R -? Lydia McGirt, Stacey Miller. Robert
Capps. Donna Pittman. Sampson Quick. Boh Weaver, and Denise Jude.
Angela Conoly. not in the picture, also is one of the dancers who will be in
the concert.
Summer Y outh Employment
CETA Program
Hoke County Board of Education
Afces: 14-21
Applications may be picked up at the following, locations:
1. Hoke County Board of Education
2. Hoke County Hi&h School
3. Upchurch Junior Hi&h School
4. Job Service
5. Hoke County Parks & Recreation
b. Hoke County Public Library
Please place all information in a SEALED envelope and
return to:
Miss Audrey Long,
Hoke County Hi&h School
YOS Office
Raeford, N.C. 28376
Last day of application is May 21, 1982 at 3:00 p.m.
T; k
. . i'i d r ?