We are flooded with claims of encounters today which sound too incredible to be true. With the internet making it so easy for the tellers of wild yarns to make false claims so readily available to a ever increasing numbers of the gullible, so-called researchers are more interested in attention than whether or not such a creature exists.

“IVAN MARKS SYNDROME”. To the public in general it must seem that the community of Sasquatch research more resembles an Asylum being run by the inmates!  And this tragic situation seems to be getting worse rather than better.  In this mess, what advice can an old timer like me give to a young guy or girl who really wants to become involved with doing their own research?  How does one advise how to avoid the BS?

Well, you can’t. All honest researchers have to learn how to spot this stuff on their own. The best way to do this is when you are investigating a claim from a witness or on going claims from other researchers, take in all the information you can, stand back and turn your common sense switch.  View everything with a healthy dose of skepticism. Skepticism is the best quality a researcher can have.   After all, we are researchers trying to find an answer to a mystery; we are not some kind of religious leaders trying to push a faith.

Thomas Steenburg