BIGFOOT: Possible Sasquatch Caught on Video, The Turtleman, and My Return to the Sierras

I am back in Reno now. Finally. My friend Woodrat and I have made a couple day trips up into the Sierras, and really have nothing of interest to report. We explored our usual areas, and ventured out to some lesser explored spots. We were able to stay until 10 PM on our last trip. We heard some distant knocks, and whistles, but took them with a grain of salt. With the popularity of the television show, Finding Bigfoot, it is hard to rule out humans making the sounds I've heard. Unless it is close and definitive, and by "definitive", I mean that if you've ever heard a squatch up close, it's hard to conclude that any other person or animal could have produced some of the sounds I've heard, and felt. Yes, I said, "felt." On several occasions, I've heard some low murmurs and growls, that I could feel vibrating in my lungs. I liken it to being at a red light, next to one of those idiots with the window shaking sub-woofers, blasting in their car, and you can actually feel it. It is a very unsettling to feel your lungs vibrate in your chest. I want to reiterate that it did not happen on this trip, but it has in the past. (Read about Infrasound on Cliff Barackman's site) We actually got so bored that we even broke my rule of no whooping or yelling to try and get a response. That also produced no results. I figured, in the least, if other humans were around, we'd hear a response, but we got nothing.

Aspen and willows coming back in an area that burned in a massive forest fire 20 years ago.
The springs, that usually hold water year round, were dry. These springs are what we attribute to all the activity we've witnessed, as we believe the bigfoot use this chain of springs, as a travel corridor for the area. With them empty, we had no action. One good sign was that there was still a good amount of deer in the area. The undergrowth was dry, and it seemed like there was more Bark Beetle damage this year also. The drought conditions being experienced in the region, really seem to be taking it's toll. With little food, in the mountains, the bears are really on the move. Both times we were up there, we had bear encounters. One came out of the bushes, near a stream, and charged Woodrat. He had just enough time to draw his pistol, and fire off a warning shot, that luckily scared the large bull bear off, from just 30 feet away. It's gotten so bad, that the drought conditions are bringing more bears than usual down into Reno, with 3 captured this past week alone by the Nevada Division of Wildlife.

One of the areas still holding water, away from our area of concentration.
The cold weather has moved into the area now. The ski resorts like Heavenly, Mount Rose and Squaw Valley are glad the season came early. It is more than likely that we will not be squatching on this side of the Sierras, until April. We hope to get out to the west side though for a winter trip or two.

A couple interesting videos were released recently, of possible sasquatch caught on video.

This first one was posted by a rather well known bow hunter, Tim Wells, who has a hunting show on the Sportsman Channel. I have some issues with this video. The squatch looks so fake. On the flip side, the gentleman in the video are genuine and quite believable. If they were acting, they did a really good job. I can't believe someone would be so stupid as to hoax them, while they are on a hunt, unless the hoaxer was wanting to commit suicide-by-hunter. I also believe that Mr. Wells wouldn't jeopardize his reputation to post a goofy hoax on YouTube. So watch the video below, and you can decide for yourself.



This next video is more compelling to me. Though, it's blurry because the camera was focusing on the vegetation between the videographer and the supposed squatch, what's got me is that is seems rather massive when you see it stand up. If it's a suit, it looks well done. The main thing that has me thinking it is a bigfoot, is that at :26 seconds, into the video, the subject extends it's arm to the right to cast off some of the tree it is tearing apart. There are some other negative issues to the video, but that arm length is not proportional to that of a human. To me, it resembles the arm length similar to that of an Orangutan. It is out of focus and it could just be playing tricks on me, but at that part of the video is when I stopped, and thought.... "Wait a minute." You be the judge.....



This last video is of Earnie, the Turtleman, from Animal Planet's show, The Call of the Wildman. He tells of his possible encounter with a Sasquatch when he was a kid. He claimed it was the most frightened he has ever been in his life.



I just want to thank you for your patience. I should be posting more now that I'm home. I'm glad to be back.

BIGFOOT SAMURAI CHATTER: Ron Morehead Presentation In Reno, Nevada This Weekend

My friend John has started a group in Reno for those interested in sasquatch research. He has a great guest speaker, making a presentation tomorrow.

Back in the 1970's, Ron Morehead had some experiences in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where he was able to record some amazing audio, of what is to believed to be sasquatch communicating in a complex language structure. Within the bigfoot community, these recordings have come to be known as the "Samurai Chatter." For those of you that are old enough to remember, the recordings remind me of John Belushi's Samurai character on Saturday Night Live. I'm thinking that is where the name came from. This would be a great opportunity to hear Mr. Morehead discuss his work, and what studies have been done on his recordings.

Here's the email that my friend John sent out regarding the event:

Ron Morehead, of Bigfoot Sounds, will be appearing at Archie’s Restaurant, 2195 N. Virginia St, in Reno, Nevada on Saturday Sept. 21st.

Time starts at 8:00am
Lecture duration: 45 minutes (approx.)
Afterwards there will be time for Questions and Answers and getting acquainted.

Ron will be lecturing on the subject of ‘SASQUATCH’. His study encompasses many years of research from a variety of resources including personal experiences, and encounters with these ‘Beings’. Learning from different Indian tribes Ron has gained further knowledge about the ‘Hairy Mans’ background . Using a Power Point program Ron will present a display of audio and visuals enhancing the lecture you will find incredible.

This is a rare occasion for us to have Ron J. Morehead visit with us as a ‘Special Guest’.
All Sasquatch Researchers and public are welcome to attend.

This is going to be an impressive presentation that you DON’T WANT TO MISS!

It is encouraged for all who attend to patronize the business of Archie’s and show your gratitude to the waitress that serves you. The employees work very hard and deserve a monetary token of appreciation.

See you on Saturday morning.

To read more about Mr. Morehead and his work, visit his website at www.bigfootsounds.com.

BIGFOOT: Recent Sighting Report Near Gardnerville, NV

I recently received a report on a sighting near Gardnerville, NV. It was left in the comment section of Bigfoot Sighting In Genoa, Nevada, which was posted back in 2010. This newest comment/report from july 2, 2013 was left anonymously, as most comments are. I'm leaving out details until I can collect more information from the witness, and I've taken it off the comment section of the aforementioned post. Here are the brief details of the sighting:

This is so crazy still to me, that I came across this blog after today....if it weren't for what my girls and I encountered today, I would have never looked this up! We were in most of the day because of storming outside, and we kept hearing the strangest noises out in the swampy area behind us. After about an hour we decided to go out to take a look. The water fowl started going crazy, and before we knew it, we seen the figure of a gorilla like animal about 300 feet out in the swamp. We found strange tracks, but never would have guessed anything like this! While I am still sceptical. I am really watching now, and the kids aren't playing outside on the patio alone.

I'd really like to follow up and ask a few questions. I'd appreciate it if the witness would please contact me again at stbigfoot@gmail.com. Please know that privacy and respect is of utmost importance to me when handling witness reports.

Thank you.

SASQUATCH: Dr. Jeff Meldrum Presentation at the May Center in Reno, NV on Saturday, March 23, 2013

Dr. Jeff Meldrum, Idaho State University

CREATURES
Things that are. Things that were. Things that could be.

This is currently the name of the exhibit at the Wilbur D. May Museum in Reno, Nevada through June 2. Click Here for more info.

Dr. Jeff Meldrum will be doing his SASQUATCH: Legend Meets Science presentation as part of the Museum's lecture series, Conversing With Creatures. The event begins at 4:00 PM on Saturday March 23, 2013. On Sunday, March 24, 2013 he will be doing another presentation on how to properly cast tracks and prints, where you can also purchase a copy of his book and get it signed by Dr. Meldrum. This is a very unique opportunity that I regretfully will miss. Most of my bigfooting friends in Reno will be there. If you're interested in attending, I suggest you Click Here for more info.

SASQUATCH: New Photo Released Of Possible Bigfoot And Why Out Of Focus?

For a larger, clearer view of YouTube videos, click on the YouTube symbol, to watch it in YouTube. Then click on the sprocket for settings and click on 720p or 1080p for best quality if offered. Lastly click on the full frame bracket, [ ] on the far right, to enlarge it to full frame. Hit esc to get out of full frame.Click your browser's Back button to return here.

This video showing the picture was recently put out on YouTube. Take a look and judge for yourself.

The guys commenting on the picture talk about the out of focus problem, as with most pictures of supposed sasquatch. In this case, as with most cases, I believe it's the product of an amateur photographer with an amateur type camera in low light conditions. Unless you are savvy to the more technical side of photography, you're probably using a fully automatic, point and shoot type camera. So, in this instance, it was in a darker, shadowy forest setting. There is no apparent sunlight shining in, possibly taken at dusk. In those conditions, an automatic camera would make adjustments to capture as much light as possible. This would cause the shutter speed to be slowed down quite a bit, to let more light in to the camera, to make a brighter image. This would cause the blurring effect of a fast moving object. I believe the background is out of focus because the photographer was following the subject as it was running away, or possibly lifting the camera to get the subject into frame, so not only was the subject moving fast, but the camera was probably moving quickly in order to get the supposed squatch into frame.

Modern technology is a hindrance in most cases. Sightings usually last only seconds. I know with my older point and shoot, it was always set to auto mode, to speed things up. Being an older digital camera, it took at least 4 seconds to power on, then I'd have to raise it up to frame the subject, and if I depressed the shutter button quickly, it wouldn't allow the camera's auto focus to properly adjust, so any pics taken in haste, were usually out of focus. Swinging the camera into position, in low a light setting, like under a forest canopy, and trying to frame and focus on a moving subject, all ads up to blurry and out of focus photographs. With automatic cameras, focus can be a big issue too. Especially if you are in a forest, and your subject is visible only through trees and vegetation, the auto-focus is going to have difficulty discerning what it is focusing on. Especially in the case if you zoom in. Focus tends to be slower and less accurate if there are multiple objects between you and the subject. The only way to correct these issues is to make adjustments to the camera's exposure, and then have the ability to manually focus. Point and shoot cameras don't allow for focusing manually. Video cameras will behave in much of the same manner. In low light, video will turn out grainy or foggy looking, causing the out-of-focus look.

Most of the new entry level DSLR cameras have amazing low light capability, if you know how to properly adjust the settings for the environment your in. For those who are not familiar, DSLR cameras are the ones that have the detachable lenses, such as the Canon EOS line and Nikon D3100 and D5200. You can get these cameras in a kit with lens and bag for $400-$500 at Costco, Sam's or BestBuy. There are many great tutorials, tips and examples of the 1080p HD videos these are able to take as well as the high resolution photos these cameras are capable of.

This is an example I found on YouTube of video shot in a low light, forest setting on an overcast day. Look how clear objects are when focused on. You can get a wider range of focus. In this video, the videographer purposely set the camera to blur the background to focus on certain subjects, to get a more cinematic effect. Photographs are just as professional looking with these DSLR type cameras. This was shot with a Nikon D5200.

Remember, when a person has a sighting, they are not in the clearest or calmest frame of mind. The adrenalin starts flowing, nerves go into overload and in the excitement, fumbling with the camera and getting a great picture would be near impossible, especially if the sighing only lasts a few seconds. Unless you are a professional photographer, or at least a seasoned hobbyist, with your gear set for the light conditions at that precise moment, along with all the other variables, it would be pure luck to snap a decent photograph.

Photography has always been a serious hobby of mine. Economic conditions have just held me back from acquiring new gear. I plan on buying new camera equipment in the next few months, in time for summer in the Sierras. I'll probably post more on the subject of photography if requested. I hope this helps understand the anomaly of out-of-focus blob squatches.

Email me at stbigfoot@gmail.com if you'd like some thoughts about how you can use your current gear to get a better photo when you're out squatchin.