Category Archives: Research

Don’t Fear Admitting to A Mistake

Research,

Researchers in this field of study must remain on guard against developing an inflated ego.  When recognition for past work, for the most part, seems to be looked upon with favour it is too easy to become pigheaded, and develop a sense of ‘I am always right and others who disagree with me are always wrong’.

I have had a great many arguments in the past that I now regret, as I realize the person with whom I was arguing with, might have indeed had a valid point.  It is easy to fall into the trap of arrogance.  However, to realize you have made a mistake, yet continue to move in a direction you know is wrong, is by far, much worse.

One of my own cases was dealing with a well-known Sasquatch skeptic, the late Michael Dennet.  Mr. Dennet had always been very critical of so-called evidence brought forward by the late Paul Freeman.  In the early 1980s, I believed Paul Freeman and most of the evidence he brought forward, and defended him much longer than perhaps should have.  I also had a few long, drawn-out debates with Mr Dennet concerning Freeman’s findings and conclusions.

Well, over time – and looking into the matter – I studied the evidence, I talked to people involved and I learned things.  I can say, right here and now, that in the case of the late Paul Freeman, the late Mr. Dennet was right and I was wrong.

Being wrong is nothing to be afraid of.  We all make mistakes in the Sasquatch field, and admitting to them takes nothing away from a researcher’s credibility.  In fact, in my view, it improves it.

So, if there are any researchers out there whom may feel now, after much sober, second thought, that perhaps they had been taken in somewhat by, oh I don’t know, Todd Standing; or perhaps a researcher was a little to quick to jump on the Massacre at Bluff Creek band wagon, it is far better to admit to a mistake than carry on knowing you are wrong.  Or even just going silent on a particular issue hoping the whole thing just blows over.

Making mistakes is a learning experience.  I now always listen to what people have to say, even if I disagree with them.  I will always keep an open mind when doing so even though they’re wrong! 😛

Thomas Steenburg

Out and About

Research,

Today, January 25, 2015, a group of us went out to an old stomping ground for me; a location in the lower mainland which none of my friends had been before.  I myself had not been back to this area for over a year.  New logging and hydro projects, cutting too many trees for my liking, were ongoing so this particular Forest Service Road (FSR) had been put on the back burner for a while.  Also, being January, I did not really expect that we would be able to to get very high in elevation, as deep snow would prevent us going any further.

But with this being one of the mildest January’s in recent years, we were able to get much further than expected.  I was pleased with some new course changes that had been made on the road in general.  One rock strewn, steep climb which was always nerve-wracking at the best of times, is now bypassed.

It was a good day condition-wise; a bad day footprint-wise!  Not only were there no Sasquatch tracks found, but no tracks of any kind were found in some of the best conditions here in a long time!  Deep snow, about 12 kilometers in, stopped us in our tracks.

I look forward to returning to this FSR in the near future, to find how far the new bypass will go before reconnecting to the old road.  If it goes to where I think it does, then this will be a good place for some of our future trips and expeditions.

Thomas Steenburg

SCAVENGING SASQUATCH

Research, ,

On my youtube site someone asked me if I had ever heard of any reports of Sasquatch observed in or around public garbage dumps?  That got me thinking, as I have noticed a change in such reports since the 1980s.

I have spoken to witnesses who claimed to have seen a Sasquatch rummaging through human garbage but every story that I am aware of is now at least 30 years old.  There are a few more recent ones where the subject was observed rummaging through people’s garbage cans but these too have been few and far between.

So I wondered, ‘Why have reports of this creature in garbage dumps stopped?’  The answer became clear, at least here in Western Canada (Alberta and BC).

In the early 1980s, various levels of government decided that the long standing practice of open pit dumps would end.  The main reason for this decision at the time was the increasing number of what was officially known as ‘spoiled bears’.  Bears that became so used to easy picking of human food in the dumps that such scavenging had become the norm.

A spoiled bear can quickly become an aggressive problem bear when that food source is cut off.  This became a huge issue in 1980 when a large, problem Grizzly, which was a known garbage feeder, killed one man and seriously mauled another in Banff National Park.  The National, and later the Provincial Parks, led the way in shutting down the open pit dumps – a rule communities soon followed suit.

There was a period of time for the bears to go though a sort of, ‘No easy pickings, withdraw’, but today nobody even remembers the outcry.  Remember when suddenly one could  just drive to the local dump and drop off a bag or two for free?  Or going to the dump in the early hours of the morning to do some bear watching?  This was the norm.  So, of course, there were a few reports of other creatures seen in and about the dumps, too.

Today, the dumps are like little forts!  High fences all around; steel containers; everything separated for recycling; or everything trucked in or out; staff there almost ’round the clock to keep an eye on things.  And the biggest change of all: trash is now weighed and you have to pay to leave it there!  No bears anymore – just ravens, crows and seagulls.  At least that is the way of it here, where I live, in Mission, British Columbia.

So, to conclude, I feel even though there were a few reports in the past of Sasquatch in and around community open pit garbage dumps, that has indirectly become a thing of the past – like the dumps themselves, for the most part.

Thomas Steenburg

ALONE OR A GROUP – WHICH IS BEST?

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I have done a great deal of both during my years of research and I have found advantages and disadvantages with both.  The best advantage to going into the bush alone is the ability to remain quiet.  Logic would suggest you are more likely to see wildlife this way though I must admit that coming across large animals, like deer and bear, have occurred as often in the company of other researchers as it has on my own, with the exception of the one good sighting I had of a cougar in the Alberta Rocky mountains in the early 1990s.

The biggest disadvantage of going alone is the safety factor.  I have often thought, looking back at all those times I was by myself, nobody knowing where I was, if something unforeseen would happen well, needless to say, the jig was up.  A reality which hit too close for comfort during the summer of 1986! That is a tale for another day…

However, sorry to say, I didn’t really learn my lesson and continued to just go into the back country on a whim when the urge to look for evidence hit me – and it still does, too often for my own good.

Researching with others of a common interest has mutual benefits as far as personal safety is concerned.  This goes without saying.  But the greatest advantage of searching with others is simple and straight forward – more eyes continuously scanning the immediate surroundings makes it less likely that something will be missed.  It won’t guarantee it, but in my opinion it does tip the odds a little more in the researchers favor!

Thomas Steenburg

HUCKSTERS AND HOAXERS

Research, , ,

It seems to me that over the last 15 years or so a plague of sorts has been gaining continuous ground in the field of Sasquatch research.   A problem, only magnified by the wide spread use of the internet (great tool though it is).  One large, unfortunate side effect is it has become an easy to use soap box for every snake oil salesman out there.

Hoaxing, as far as this researcher is concerned, has reached epidemic proportions.  It seems to me that people, for whatever motive they may have in private, have no reluctance at all to state publicly that they have had, or continue to have, one or numerous Sasquatch encounters.  Too incredible to believe?  Most often the case comes down to, “Take my word for it”, as no supporting evidence is forthcoming.  Or said evidence is there but, for one reason or another, it can not be revealed at this time?

Media programs like ‘Finding Bigfoot’, are often targets to those looking for their 15 minutes of fame.  Young guys submitting all kinds of bogus evidence with outrageous stories hoping just to see themselves on the tube, while having a laugh with their friends.  The general public has lost the usual shyness, and reluctance, of making bogus claims as there really is no consequences for what is, to their minds, nothing more than a good joke; spinning a yarn; or no worse than faking a haunted house for Halloween.

This is a growing problem and getting worse but it pales in comparison to something much worse: The Hoaxing Researcher.  There has always really been one golden rule in the world of Sasquatch research, right from the beginning: “THOU SHALT NOT HOAX’.  Unfortunately, from the beginning there always have been researchers in this field faking evidence.  However, back then, we all basically knew who they were and their motives for their actions.  The late Ivan Marks was the first example of this behavior that I personally  ever knew.  His motive pure and simple: Attention-seeking fame.  In fact, I have seen this motive in others so often now, I have given it a name in honor of the original model: ‘IVAN MARKS SYNDROME’.

Quite often the scenario is the same, the person has become involved in a event which at first might be legit. The person finds him or herself the center of attention for a period of time but as interest dies down, their own interest does not.  They then undertake their own research and become engrossed in the whole question, as so many of us have.  Sometimes, it is the rush of being the center of attention which some find irresistible; so they start making things happen to keep the media, as well as others, interested in their activities. The attention becomes the main focus of their activities rather than the question of the existence of the Sasquatch.

This is excluding, of course, the people who are just absorbed in some spaced-out faith which they are convinced must be reality: for lack of a better term, the paranormalists.  All of these individuals, of course, only serve to make the subject as a whole appear foolish in the eyes of science and academia.  Is it any wonder the majority won’t touch this mystery with a ten foot pole?  I don’t blame them.  We, as researchers, may have to endure the college hoaxer/ huckster when they come out of the woodwork, but there is no way we have to tolerate them.  If I come across a case of ongoing hoaxing (which I have on a number of occasions), I will expose it for what it is.  Let the chips fall where they may.

And I will close this post with a piece of advice:  Anytime someone comes out of the woodwork with incredible claims of evidence for the existence of the Sasquatch, but for some reason the evidence can not be revealed at the present time, it’s BULL SHIT!

Thomas Steenburg

THE ONGOING SASQUATCH QUESTION

Research, ,

As a quick first post on this new blog, I will just simply start things off with posting my opinion as to what this species is; assuming of course the creature actually exists.  I started looking into this matter in September of 1978 and since that time the world of Sasquatch research has grown and transformed into a little bit of everything for everybody.  Researchers from all walks of life have entered this mystery with every type of preconceived notion the human imagination can possibly contrive.  All this to the detriment of the subjects credibility to those in society whom would or could influence the direction of  on-going research, thus stacking the odds against a discovery in the near future.  Assuming of course there is anything out there to discover?

With this in mind, I very early in my own personal research adopted a personal motto. ‘Stick to the facts, and never deviate from the facts‘.  By doing this I discard, for the most part, claims of a paranormal nature.  The Sasquatch, in my opinion, is a species of higher primate.  A creature of flesh and blood. They have been here for thousands of years and will continue to do so.  As long as large areas of wilderness continue to exist in western North America I can see no problem with this creatures ability to survive.

Some have claimed that the Sasquatch is an endangered species.  I think those who make such claims are acting on emotion rather than any common sense study of the facts. They are thinking with the heart not the head.  This creature has displayed an amassing ability to live and breed and exist on the very edge of our modern society.  Their elusive nature is what makes the species a success story of survivability and a great ongoing mystery for society in general.

Thomas Steenburg