As readers of this blog may be aware, I have a deep interest in so-called British Bigfoot reports. And the hairy critter that fascinates me most of all is that which was seen late one night in January 1879 on the Shropshire Union Canal - and which involved a man being attacked by a large ape-like animal with bright, shining eyes.
Of course, as I point out in my book on the subject, Man-Monkey: In Search of the British Bigfoot, the incident was not an isolated one, and other sightings of the creature have since been made in the same vicinity. Well, now none other than British Waterways have picked up on the story and have a new posting at their website that reveals background data on the 1879 affair, as well as much more on countless other haunted canals of Britain.Here's the link to the complete article.
Showing posts with label British BHM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British BHM. Show all posts
Friday, December 04, 2009
Friday, September 04, 2009
BIGFOOT AT CANNOCK CHASE
Synchronicity is a strange thing. Last night I was talking to Lizzy about the Cannock Chase `bigfoot`, and it was only this morning that I remembered that I had given an interview to a bloke from one of the tabloids on exactly the same subject, a day or two back. Then I was visiting my non-cfztv youtube account, which I use to paste up anything for which I do not have the copyright, in order to post a novelty song about yetis, and I found this, from some bloke called Stefan. It was posted in January 2008, in answer to this video:
(The fact that I didn't pick it up until today shows what a good boy I am and how seldom I post bootlegs)
"Jonathan Downes, suggests in this clip that the sightings of a Bigfoot type figure on the Chase could be hallucinations triggered off by electromagnetic emissions, perhaps from the BT tower. Whether or not this creature is a reality or not it is very highly unlikely that the BT Tower at Pye Green has anything to do with the reported phenomenon. The creature sighting's are mainly in the area of Hazel Slade on the Chase four miles away. The BT Tower is relaying communications line of sight (not omnidirectional) to negate the curvature of the Earth between BT Towers, using an array of dishes transmitting and receiving electromagnetic emissions in the microwave frequency band. There are BT Towers in all sorts of locations for example the centre of Birmingham, but do people report the sightings of Big Foot or an Ape like creature in the City or elsewhere in relation to BT communication towers? People could easily be misled by Jonathan Downes sweeping suggestion. There is currently no conclusive evidence that electromagnetic emissions cause hallucinations in humans. Such statements are often used by our modern day ill informed debunkers."
Now is it just me, or does that sound horribly like someone from BT spouting the party line? (If you will excuse the pun). Methinks that he doth protest too much, although as I made the above film in 2002, and a lot of water has passed under a lot of bridges since then, I am not even sure if I believe the theory any more.
(The fact that I didn't pick it up until today shows what a good boy I am and how seldom I post bootlegs)
"Jonathan Downes, suggests in this clip that the sightings of a Bigfoot type figure on the Chase could be hallucinations triggered off by electromagnetic emissions, perhaps from the BT tower. Whether or not this creature is a reality or not it is very highly unlikely that the BT Tower at Pye Green has anything to do with the reported phenomenon. The creature sighting's are mainly in the area of Hazel Slade on the Chase four miles away. The BT Tower is relaying communications line of sight (not omnidirectional) to negate the curvature of the Earth between BT Towers, using an array of dishes transmitting and receiving electromagnetic emissions in the microwave frequency band. There are BT Towers in all sorts of locations for example the centre of Birmingham, but do people report the sightings of Big Foot or an Ape like creature in the City or elsewhere in relation to BT communication towers? People could easily be misled by Jonathan Downes sweeping suggestion. There is currently no conclusive evidence that electromagnetic emissions cause hallucinations in humans. Such statements are often used by our modern day ill informed debunkers."
Now is it just me, or does that sound horribly like someone from BT spouting the party line? (If you will excuse the pun). Methinks that he doth protest too much, although as I made the above film in 2002, and a lot of water has passed under a lot of bridges since then, I am not even sure if I believe the theory any more.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
LINDSAY SELBY: The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui
The big grey man is often said to be Scotland’s bigfoot and the stories go back hundreds of years.
In the 17th Century, a man of the clan Murray was reported as having captured a wild man in Craigiebarns Rocks and a chained wildman still appears in his family's heraldic shield. The next written report I could find was in 1791.
Poet James Hogg, known as the `Ettrick Shepherd`, described seeing a huge figure on Ben Macdhui whilst tending his sheep. As he watched the halo, which had formed around him due to the combination of sunshine and the mist, he looked up and saw a huge, looming figure. He fled, not stopping until he reached some of his fellow shepherds. Hogg later said he believed that the phenomenon, which had so frightened him was, in fact, an uncommon natural phenomena known as the ‘Brocken Spectre’ and was a reflection of himself caused by the weather conditions - so could the grey man be just an effect of climatic conditions?
At 1309 metres (4296 feet) high , Ben MacDhui is the highest peak in the Cairngorms and the second highest peak in Scotland. Many mountaineers and locals are certain that the regions of the Cairngorms and Skye harbour an entity known locally as 'Fear Liath Mor' (meaning big grey man). Sightings of the Big Grey Man have been rare but 'eye-witness' descriptions of his appearance describe him as being around ten feet tall, covered in hair, with very long arms and legs. ( Remind you of anything?)
The Big Grey Man was first brought to the media’s notice when eminent climber Professor Norman Collie made an announcement to the members of the Annual General Meeting of the Cairngorm Club during their 1925 gathering. He reported that in 1891 he had been descending from this mountain's summit through heavy mist when suddenly: "I began to hear the sound of noises in the loose rock behind me coming down from the natural cairn on the high plateau. Every few steps I took, I heard a crunch, and then another crunch as if someone was walking after me but taking steps three or four times the length of my own."
Dismissing this as an aural hallucination, he continued, but so did the mysterious steps. Gradually he became more and more apprehensive, until he was seized with terror and fled blindly down the mountain for five miles until he reached Rothiemurchus Forest. Although he was unable to catch any real sight of it, Collie was left with a sinister impression of being stalked by a huge and menacing creature. He vowed never to return to Ben Macdhui alone and remained convinced that there was "something very queer about the top of Ben MacDhui".
Following his disclosure he received a letter from Dr A.M.Kellas detailing his experience on that mountain. Dr Kellas and his brother Henry were on the mountain close to the summit when they saw a "giant figure" approaching them from the direction of the cairn. For a moment it disappeared from sight, as it moved into a dip, but the men did not wait to see it reappear and ran as fast as they could to get off the mountain.
Hugh Welsh, in 1904, was camping with his brother by the summit cairn of Ben Macdhui. He said he heard the type of footsteps, which later, others described as being the big grey man. They heard the noise both at night and in daylight, describing it as being like "slurring footsteps as if someone was walking through water-saturated gravel." Welsh also recalled they were "Frequently conscious of ‘something’ near us, an eerie sensation of apprehension, but not of fear as others seem to have experienced." They talked to the head stalker at Derry Lodge and he said to them, "That would have been the Fear Liath Mor you heard." (Fear Liath Mor is Gaelic for ‘Big Grey Man’ ).
Then, in the last century, George Hall, in his book Leaves From A Rambler’s Diary, told of the experience of an unnamed friend who worked in the Cairngorms. The account was sketchy but it seems the friend had an odd experience on Ben Macdhui involving a ‘presence’ which frightened him to such an extent he left the mountain, after which the sensation faded.
The Cairngorm Club Journal for 1921 noted a recent letter to the Aberdeen Free Press in which the writer, "....called attention to a myth prevalent in Upper Deeside to the effect that a big spectral figure has been seen at various times during the last five years walking about on the tops of the Cairngorms. When approached, so the story goes, the figure disappears."
Then, in 1924, Dr Ernest A. Baker’s book The Highlands With Rope and Rucksack was published. Baker also related the experience of a friend whose job took him into the mountains. Alone on Ben Macdhui one day he became aware of a terrifying presence, which he said "disturbed him in a manner which was beyond his experience." Baker’s friend fled Ben Macdhui. Baker also reports how one mountain climber had told him that he would under no circumstances spend any time on Ben Macdhui alone; even in daylight.
Another story was related to the author of The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui: a man called Richard Frere. He told of a friend of his who decided to spend a night camping on the top of the mountain. In his tent near the cairn he began to suffer a feeling of morbidity and a sense of unreality but finally fell asleep. He woke up with moonlight shining through a gap into his tent and suddenly realized that he could see something brownish between himself and the moon. Horrified, he froze and waited for the thing to move away. When it did, he looked out into the brilliant moonlight and saw a large brown creature 'swaggering' away down the mountain side. He said the creature had "an air of insolent strength" about it. Incredibly, he estimated the height of the thing to be twenty feet and described it as having an erect posture, broad shoulders and a tapering waist.
Another author - Wendy Wood - author of The Secret of Spey, said she was approaching the pass of Lairig Ghru in winter, whereupon she heard a voice. She described the voice as being of "gigantic resonance" and reminiscent of Gaelic. After a brief look around the local area to see if she could find the person she had heard speaking, she realized that she was, indeed, alone. When she walked away she could hear footsteps following her as if immediately behind. At first she thought the footfalls to be echoes of her own but then noticed that they did not coincide or correspond to her own footsteps.
There are other stories from other mountains in the area too. One day during the early 1920s, an experienced mountaineer called Tom Crowley was coming down alone from Braeraich in Glen Eanaich, close to Ben MacDhui, when he was horrified to see a huge, grey, mist-shrouded figure with pointed ears, long legs and finger-like talons on its feet. He did not stay for a closer look. Another Mountaineer Alexander Tewnion wrote an account of his 1943 experience for The Scots Magazine:
‘Of all the experiences that have come my way, one stands out above all others in its strangeness. This was when I shot the Fear Liath Mor, the Big Grey Man of Ben Macdhui. It happened like this. In October 1943 I spent a ten day leave climbing alone in the Cairngorms. Rations were short then, and I carried a revolver and ammunition to shoot any hares or ptarmigan that came my way. One afternoon, just as I reached the summit cairn of Ben Macdhui, mist swirled across the Lairig Ghru and enveloped the mountain. The atmosphere became dark and oppressive, a fierce, bitter wind whisked among the boulders, and, fearing a storm was imminent, I took hurriedly to the Coire Etchachan path. Above Loch Etchachan the path angles easily downhill. I was swinging along at about five miles an hour when an odd sound echoed through the mist - a loud footstep, it seemed. Then another, and another. Spaced at long intervals!’
‘I am not unduly imaginative, but my thoughts flashed instantly to the well-known story of Professor Norman Collie and the Fear Liath Mor. Then I felt the reassuring weight of the loaded revolver in my pocket. Grasping the butt I peered about in the mist, here rent and tattered by eddies of wind. A strange shape loomed up, receded, came charging at me! Without hesitation I whipped out the revolver and fired three times at the figure. When it still came on I turned and hared down the path, reaching Glen Derry in a time I have never bettered since. You may ask, was it really the Fear Liath Mor? Frankly, I think it was. Many times since then I have traversed Macdhui in mist, bivouacked on it in the open, camped near its summit for days on end on different occasions - often alone, and always with an easy mind. For on that day I am convinced I shot the only Fear Liath Mor my imagination will ever see.’
Huge footprints were found in the snow and were photographed. In 1965 prints were discovered measuring 14 inches and with a massive stride that covered around 5 feet, just as Norman Collie had estimated prior to his panic-filled descent down the mountainside in 1891.
More recently there were reports around 1993/1994 in the area around Torphins, near Aberdeen. Three young men, who have not been named, were walking along a wide track through a forestry plantation. One of them saw a dark human-shaped figure run across the track, two hundred yards in front of them. He felt a sense of terror but his friends saw nothing. They teased him and said he made it up. Then all three saw a face, that they afterwards described as "human... but not human," peering out at them from between the branches of the fir trees. One of them threw a stone in the general direction of this face and whatever it was disappeared. These three youths had a second encounter with a similar creature a few weeks later. One of the three claimed later that a female friend of his, who lived in a secluded cottage, had twice seen a dark, hairy figure standing in the forest watching her cottage, before slinking away into the undergrowth (having lived in the area of Aberdeen for a few months I can confirm there is a forestry plantation, or was when I was there 3 years ago, and it is quite deserted and eerie).
So, grey man or mist? Well, mist does not make the noise of footfalls. Without the footfalls it would probably be dismissed as illusion but maybe there is also a case for auditory illusion to occur? Something definitely causes these sightings and terrifies even seasoned climbers. Be wary if you go walking that way!
More information here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4720797.stm
http://www.scotland.org.uk/guide/John_Norman_Collie
http://www.biggreyman.co.uk/legend.html
In the 17th Century, a man of the clan Murray was reported as having captured a wild man in Craigiebarns Rocks and a chained wildman still appears in his family's heraldic shield. The next written report I could find was in 1791.
Poet James Hogg, known as the `Ettrick Shepherd`, described seeing a huge figure on Ben Macdhui whilst tending his sheep. As he watched the halo, which had formed around him due to the combination of sunshine and the mist, he looked up and saw a huge, looming figure. He fled, not stopping until he reached some of his fellow shepherds. Hogg later said he believed that the phenomenon, which had so frightened him was, in fact, an uncommon natural phenomena known as the ‘Brocken Spectre’ and was a reflection of himself caused by the weather conditions - so could the grey man be just an effect of climatic conditions?
At 1309 metres (4296 feet) high , Ben MacDhui is the highest peak in the Cairngorms and the second highest peak in Scotland. Many mountaineers and locals are certain that the regions of the Cairngorms and Skye harbour an entity known locally as 'Fear Liath Mor' (meaning big grey man). Sightings of the Big Grey Man have been rare but 'eye-witness' descriptions of his appearance describe him as being around ten feet tall, covered in hair, with very long arms and legs. ( Remind you of anything?)
The Big Grey Man was first brought to the media’s notice when eminent climber Professor Norman Collie made an announcement to the members of the Annual General Meeting of the Cairngorm Club during their 1925 gathering. He reported that in 1891 he had been descending from this mountain's summit through heavy mist when suddenly: "I began to hear the sound of noises in the loose rock behind me coming down from the natural cairn on the high plateau. Every few steps I took, I heard a crunch, and then another crunch as if someone was walking after me but taking steps three or four times the length of my own."
Dismissing this as an aural hallucination, he continued, but so did the mysterious steps. Gradually he became more and more apprehensive, until he was seized with terror and fled blindly down the mountain for five miles until he reached Rothiemurchus Forest. Although he was unable to catch any real sight of it, Collie was left with a sinister impression of being stalked by a huge and menacing creature. He vowed never to return to Ben Macdhui alone and remained convinced that there was "something very queer about the top of Ben MacDhui".
Following his disclosure he received a letter from Dr A.M.Kellas detailing his experience on that mountain. Dr Kellas and his brother Henry were on the mountain close to the summit when they saw a "giant figure" approaching them from the direction of the cairn. For a moment it disappeared from sight, as it moved into a dip, but the men did not wait to see it reappear and ran as fast as they could to get off the mountain.
Hugh Welsh, in 1904, was camping with his brother by the summit cairn of Ben Macdhui. He said he heard the type of footsteps, which later, others described as being the big grey man. They heard the noise both at night and in daylight, describing it as being like "slurring footsteps as if someone was walking through water-saturated gravel." Welsh also recalled they were "Frequently conscious of ‘something’ near us, an eerie sensation of apprehension, but not of fear as others seem to have experienced." They talked to the head stalker at Derry Lodge and he said to them, "That would have been the Fear Liath Mor you heard." (Fear Liath Mor is Gaelic for ‘Big Grey Man’ ).
Then, in the last century, George Hall, in his book Leaves From A Rambler’s Diary, told of the experience of an unnamed friend who worked in the Cairngorms. The account was sketchy but it seems the friend had an odd experience on Ben Macdhui involving a ‘presence’ which frightened him to such an extent he left the mountain, after which the sensation faded.
The Cairngorm Club Journal for 1921 noted a recent letter to the Aberdeen Free Press in which the writer, "....called attention to a myth prevalent in Upper Deeside to the effect that a big spectral figure has been seen at various times during the last five years walking about on the tops of the Cairngorms. When approached, so the story goes, the figure disappears."
Then, in 1924, Dr Ernest A. Baker’s book The Highlands With Rope and Rucksack was published. Baker also related the experience of a friend whose job took him into the mountains. Alone on Ben Macdhui one day he became aware of a terrifying presence, which he said "disturbed him in a manner which was beyond his experience." Baker’s friend fled Ben Macdhui. Baker also reports how one mountain climber had told him that he would under no circumstances spend any time on Ben Macdhui alone; even in daylight.
Another story was related to the author of The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui: a man called Richard Frere. He told of a friend of his who decided to spend a night camping on the top of the mountain. In his tent near the cairn he began to suffer a feeling of morbidity and a sense of unreality but finally fell asleep. He woke up with moonlight shining through a gap into his tent and suddenly realized that he could see something brownish between himself and the moon. Horrified, he froze and waited for the thing to move away. When it did, he looked out into the brilliant moonlight and saw a large brown creature 'swaggering' away down the mountain side. He said the creature had "an air of insolent strength" about it. Incredibly, he estimated the height of the thing to be twenty feet and described it as having an erect posture, broad shoulders and a tapering waist.
Another author - Wendy Wood - author of The Secret of Spey, said she was approaching the pass of Lairig Ghru in winter, whereupon she heard a voice. She described the voice as being of "gigantic resonance" and reminiscent of Gaelic. After a brief look around the local area to see if she could find the person she had heard speaking, she realized that she was, indeed, alone. When she walked away she could hear footsteps following her as if immediately behind. At first she thought the footfalls to be echoes of her own but then noticed that they did not coincide or correspond to her own footsteps.
There are other stories from other mountains in the area too. One day during the early 1920s, an experienced mountaineer called Tom Crowley was coming down alone from Braeraich in Glen Eanaich, close to Ben MacDhui, when he was horrified to see a huge, grey, mist-shrouded figure with pointed ears, long legs and finger-like talons on its feet. He did not stay for a closer look. Another Mountaineer Alexander Tewnion wrote an account of his 1943 experience for The Scots Magazine:
‘Of all the experiences that have come my way, one stands out above all others in its strangeness. This was when I shot the Fear Liath Mor, the Big Grey Man of Ben Macdhui. It happened like this. In October 1943 I spent a ten day leave climbing alone in the Cairngorms. Rations were short then, and I carried a revolver and ammunition to shoot any hares or ptarmigan that came my way. One afternoon, just as I reached the summit cairn of Ben Macdhui, mist swirled across the Lairig Ghru and enveloped the mountain. The atmosphere became dark and oppressive, a fierce, bitter wind whisked among the boulders, and, fearing a storm was imminent, I took hurriedly to the Coire Etchachan path. Above Loch Etchachan the path angles easily downhill. I was swinging along at about five miles an hour when an odd sound echoed through the mist - a loud footstep, it seemed. Then another, and another. Spaced at long intervals!’
‘I am not unduly imaginative, but my thoughts flashed instantly to the well-known story of Professor Norman Collie and the Fear Liath Mor. Then I felt the reassuring weight of the loaded revolver in my pocket. Grasping the butt I peered about in the mist, here rent and tattered by eddies of wind. A strange shape loomed up, receded, came charging at me! Without hesitation I whipped out the revolver and fired three times at the figure. When it still came on I turned and hared down the path, reaching Glen Derry in a time I have never bettered since. You may ask, was it really the Fear Liath Mor? Frankly, I think it was. Many times since then I have traversed Macdhui in mist, bivouacked on it in the open, camped near its summit for days on end on different occasions - often alone, and always with an easy mind. For on that day I am convinced I shot the only Fear Liath Mor my imagination will ever see.’
Huge footprints were found in the snow and were photographed. In 1965 prints were discovered measuring 14 inches and with a massive stride that covered around 5 feet, just as Norman Collie had estimated prior to his panic-filled descent down the mountainside in 1891.
More recently there were reports around 1993/1994 in the area around Torphins, near Aberdeen. Three young men, who have not been named, were walking along a wide track through a forestry plantation. One of them saw a dark human-shaped figure run across the track, two hundred yards in front of them. He felt a sense of terror but his friends saw nothing. They teased him and said he made it up. Then all three saw a face, that they afterwards described as "human... but not human," peering out at them from between the branches of the fir trees. One of them threw a stone in the general direction of this face and whatever it was disappeared. These three youths had a second encounter with a similar creature a few weeks later. One of the three claimed later that a female friend of his, who lived in a secluded cottage, had twice seen a dark, hairy figure standing in the forest watching her cottage, before slinking away into the undergrowth (having lived in the area of Aberdeen for a few months I can confirm there is a forestry plantation, or was when I was there 3 years ago, and it is quite deserted and eerie).
So, grey man or mist? Well, mist does not make the noise of footfalls. Without the footfalls it would probably be dismissed as illusion but maybe there is also a case for auditory illusion to occur? Something definitely causes these sightings and terrifies even seasoned climbers. Be wary if you go walking that way!
More information here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4720797.stm
http://www.scotland.org.uk/guide/John_Norman_Collie
http://www.biggreyman.co.uk/legend.html
Thursday, June 04, 2009
NICK REDFERN: More on British Man Beasts
Any mention of the infamous Beast of Bodmin Moor inevitably conjures up imagery of large black cats roaming the British countryside.But not always.
Some time ago, I received an email from a man who had an intriguing, but unfortunately, very brief story to relate.
The details, from Keith Fletcher of Derby, concern a story told to him back in the mid-1980s (by a work colleague who hailed from Cornwall) of a "giant monkey" roaming Bodmin Moor 6 or 7 years prior to when Keith heard the story - which would have placed the events somewhere in the latter part of the 1970s.
Keith is currently trying to track down his source; and so hopefully we may learn more in due course.
In the meantime, it's intriguing to note that others seem to have uncovered data on what may very well be the same story.
In his book Big Cats Loose in Britain, author Marcus Matthews says: "On 2nd January 1985, an article appeared in Exeter's Express and Echo about the 'Beast of Bodmin.' I have learned from a relation that in the 1970s and 1980s there were always rumours of an escaped orang-utan ape in the area. Farmers coming home from the public houses were used to seeing a strange pair of eyes looking at them, and a hairy human-like figure disappearing quickly."
Expect more data if and when I hopefully get it...
And, on a somewhat related matter:
Another story brought to my attention not too long ago is worthy of commentary: it comes from a man named Bob Shenton, who claims to have seen "something bloody odd" on the wilds of Dartmoor back in the winter of 1967.
Bob was driving across the moors late one night (at the time he worked as a plumber and was heading to a house to deal with a case of a burst water-pipe) and - while near the village of Postbridge - came across something decidedly strange.
According to Bob, for the briefest of moments, and as he approached Postbridge, he caught sight of what looked very much like a large ape-like figure crossing the road in front of him and vanishing into the shadows at the edge of the road.
Interestingly, Bob described the creature as "like a shadow", in the sense that it seemed one-dimensional in nature - which closely, and eerily, echoes the description of the similar beast seen at Bolam Woods by Squire Downes in 2002.
Not only that, Postbridge has been the site for many years of a phenomenon that may very well be related: namely, that of the infamous hairy-hands - concerning which, a quick search of Google will provide quite a lot.
I am contacting local newspapers in the area to see if anyone else can shed further light on this mysterious encounter. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
THE BIG THREE: Nigel Wright
A FEW WEEKS AGO WE ASKED VARIOUS BLOGGO REGULARS TO TELL US WHAT WERE THEIR TOP THREE FAVOURITE MYSTERY ANIMALS... AND WHY 
The
“Big three”
Choices of a
Lesser-known English
Ufologist
By
Nigel Wright
Ok!..So I “borrowed” some of the title of this blog from the famous film “educating Rita”, but I just love that film!...Whoops this is supposed to be a blog about crypto-creatures, not a film review, but it sounded cool anyway!. Right. Down to work!..
(Creature number one)
UK Bigfoot... Why? Because the very idea of huge, hairy creatures, running amok in the peaceful English countryside, scarring old ladies as they eat their cream teas, seems very amusing to me, in a sort of perverted way. But on a more serious note, these mysterious creatures, if they exist, in the physical sense, may just go on to prove a long-held theory of mine. That there might exist a form of “window” or “vortex” in inter-dimensional space, through which these and other types of paranormal objects materialize. I consider the possibility of these creatures being able to have existed in our UK countryside, undiscovered for thousands of years, as being totally preposterous! So, the only other explanation possible is that they “come” from another place, or time.
(Creature number two)
The Owlman. Now the reason that this creature fascinates me is easy to answer! It was the first “crypto” creature that I was introduced to, courtesy of Jon. We all had a marvelous time, a few years ago, filming a short film, with members of the CFZ posse. The memories of that summer will be with me for the rest of my life, and it led to a fantastic time, which I had with Jon and the gang, for my years afterwards. Happy days! Thanks Jon my old mate!!!
(Creature number three)
As a ufologist, you might expect this of me!. It is the “Grays” that UFO contactees often report meeting aboard these mysterious craft, that prowl in our night-time skies. I judge these creatures as counting as “crypto” others may disagree I suppose, fair enough!.
So, there you are. My selection may show all just what a narrow mind I posses, but, considering that I had very little knowledge of animals and no knowledge whatsoever in “crypto” subjects before I met Jon and the rest of the CFZ, I consider myself very lucky to have been educated in such a fascinating way!
Monday, March 30, 2009
RETURN OF THE SHUG MONKEY
There is a bear in Rendlesham Forest, or so says The East Anglian Daily Times. "At least three people claim to have seen the grizzly beasts in the forest within the last week, although bears are not native to Britain. [...]
One of those who saw the creature is Jenny Pearce who said: "I was on the green at Rendlesham Forest having a picnic with my three-year-old son and his friend's family. After the picnic we stayed to play and explore the woods. While we were in the forest I saw a large animal moving through the trees ahead. i thought it was a big dog, so I picked up my son because he has never really got into dogs and gets easily scared. But as it continued away from us it was clearly not a dog. It was much bigger and there wasn't anyone there to be walking it if it was a large dog."
It will not surprise anyone to hear that I have been to Rendlesham Forest on a number of occasions. Anyone who went to the 2002, 2006 or 2007 Weird Weekends will know that Larry Warren, probably the most famous UFO contactee in modern Britain is a personal friend of mine and so is his erstwhile partner in crime Peter Robbins. And nearly anyone who has more than a passing interest in the subject will know that Larry was once a USAF Sergeant at the long defunt Air Base at Bentwaters, where in 1980 the most famous British UFO case of all time took place.
But that's not what interests me most about Rendlesham.
The area between Orford Ness and Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk is a very strange place. As well as being one of the most eastern points in the British Isles it has also been the focus for a wide range of bizarre paranormal activity. Writing in the 13th Century, Ralph of Coggeshall, described a "wild man" caught in fishing nets off Orford Castle. This creature who like so many contemporary sightings of humanoids seen in conjunction with UFOs was seemingly equally at home on land and at sea, lived at the castle for several months. The wild man is not the only item of cryptozoological interest from the Rendlesham area. The lanes of the area are reputedly haunted by giant spectral black dogs (like the one seen by Lady Rendlesham in Leiston Churchyard at the end of the nineteenth century), that pad malevolently but silently along. An even more disturbing spectre called the shug monkey, which is described by witnesses as an unholy combination of mastiff and great ape is also seen on occasion, and in recent years the forest has also been the haunt of mysterious black ‘panthers’.
An ex-girlfriend of mine - an East Anglian paranormal researcher - was in possession of some video tape which showed the paw print of some huge animal - like that of a cat or a dog, but far bigger and with strange flattened finger nails rather than claws. She thought that it was a print from an alien big cat of some description, but my immediate thought was of the semi-mystical ‘shug monkey’. When I later found that my friend and colleague Jan Scarff who was brought up in the vicinity of the air bases also knew about the so-called ‘shug-monkey’ I became even more interested, and I have been collecting reports for some years. Nick Redfern also writes about the shug monkey in Three Men seeking Monsters and between us we have built up a convincing image of a large, dark coloured shambling beast which is presumably zooform in nature.
So, did Jenny Pearce see a bear? I suppose it is a possibility. Bears have been reported in the UK over the years; in the most recent edition of Animals & Men writes about London `Bear Scares`. Bears have escaped from captivity and lived wild in the UK before now. One was reported for some years from the Wychwood in Oxfordshire. But as the legislation surrounding private animal keepers is tightened up, the chances of bears being released from captivity into the wilds of Suffolk recedes. There is always the ever present spectre of `canned hunting` - a barbaric and completely vile practrise whereby animals are realeased into the wild purely so some moron with a gun can shoot them for a trophy, but despite claims over the years, no concrete evidence has ever been presented to us for bears being used for this horrid purpose in the UK.
One researcher who shall remain nameless claimed to me about ten years ago that so many bears had been released into parts of mid Wales that there were "organised bear hunts" held every weekend. But he was an idiot, and I will not dignify his ridiculous claims by discussing them further.
No, I have a gut feeling that the creature that has been reported on three occasions in the last week is something far less tangible, and far less easy to catch. It is, I strongly suspect, the return of the shug monkey, some ten years after its last spate of appearances. I wonder what else may be about to make a comeback.
The game is afoot.
The picture, by the way, is of part of Bentwaters Air Force Base (now demolished) which was taken by me in 1997, and exposed all wrong. However, I have always liked the spookiness of it and waited for a chance to use it..
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
GUEST BLOGGER LIZ CLANCY: Monkey Town
It is always nice to be able to introduce you all to a new guest blogger. Possibly the nicest thing about the CFZ bloggo is that it is a living, breathing community, and new people arrive on a regular basis. I can't tell you anything about Liz, apart from the fact that she bought some books from us at Uncon, briefly spoke to Richard, and has a charming habit of referring to me as `Mr Downes`, when everyone else calls me `Jon` or `Hey You` (or somethimes something more scatological). She is obviously one to watch....It was from the friendly little town of Heywood in Lancashire that I descended on UnCon in November 2008 for the first ever time. I was looking for anything to do with ape-men and I was not disappointed. I sat like a five-year-old at story-time through Richard Freeman’s almasty talk (genuinely convinced he had caught one and would bring it out any second; I even primed my camera just in case!) and bought every book on the CFZ stall that mentioned Bigfoot in the contents list.
You see, British Bigfoot has fascinated me since childhood. Growing up in nearby Rochdale I heard tales of Heywood, or Monkey Town (or Ape Town) as residents and neighbours call it: a little mill town where the people have long brown tails and the pubs have holes in the bar stools to accommodate said appendages. This was a place where monkey-men and human apes roamed the streets and local woodland; where it wasn’t safe for ordinary men and women to walk alone lest they be accosted by Roddy McDowell’s less benevolent cousins.
When I moved to this place of wonder almost three years ago I eagerly cased out the local pubs with my mate Donna for incomplete bar-room furniture. I took the dog to the Roch Valley Nature Reserve in case Bigfoot lurked under the footbridge over the river like the troll from the old fairy tale.
Alas, my hopes have recently been dashed. Ape Town has a railway line and a station; now mainly used by the East Lancashire Railway Preservation Society; and this line was built by Irish navvies who pronounced the Heap Bridge section “Ape Bridge.” The nickname stuck and ever since Heywood has been proud to call itself Monkey Town.
There is a little hope, however: on a recent late-night walk through town I did notice a group of very suspicious-looking hominids in black tracksuits, swigging beer and puffing on spliffs at the back of Morrison's.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
GUEST BLOGGER NICK REDFERN: A Strange Tale of Gorillas & Man-Monkeys
As regular readers of this blog - and of my books, too - will be aware, one particularly strange British-Bigfoot story that has fascinated me for years is that of the so-called "Man-Monkey" of the Shropshire Union Canal.
Indeed, so fascinated am I by it, I even wrote a book about the damned critter!
The story essentially had its origins in 1879, when a man walking home late at night, and with his horse-and-cart in-tow, claimed to have been attacked by a bizarre ape-man style beast with shining eyes that ultimately vanished into the night.
Not only that: the beast was distinctly spectral in nature, as can be evidenced by the fact that the man said that as he struck it with his horse-whip, the whip actually passed right through its hairy body!
More intriguing: sightings of the Man-Monkey have abounded in the area ever since. Indeed, I think my current count of cases, sightings and incidents is upwards of 30 - and which covers the period from the early 20th Century and right up until September 2005.
But now, there is a fascinating development in the saga - and maybe, just maybe, it may open some doors to the question of what the Man-Monkey really was, is, or may have been.
The story comes via Fortean expert and author Mike Dash.
As Dash says, just recently he was leafing through a copy of the December 8, 1878 edition of Sheldrake's Aldershot & Sandhurst Military Gazette, and came across the following story in its pages:
CAPTURING A GORILLA IN SHROPSHIRE
For a fortnight past the district around Madely Wood, Salop, has been in a state of intense excitement, by the alleged depredations committed by a gorilla, which is said to have escaped from a wild beast menagerie travelling to Bridgnorth.
The animal was stated to have first made his appearance in the neighbourhood of that town, where in the darkness of the night it was severally seen by a clergyman and a policeman, both of whom fled.
It is also said to have appeared at several places in the immediate neighbourhood. A few evenings since the occupier of a house in Madely Wood went to bed at a reasonable hour, with the greater portion of his family, leaving his “gude wife” up, who took the opportunity to visit a neighbour, leaving the door open and a candle burning.
Returning in a short time, she was horrified at seeing a bent form, with a goodly array of gray hair around its face, crouching over the expiring embers of the fire, apparently warming itself, the light having gone out.
Too frightened to shriek, she ran to her neighbours, who quickly armed themselves with pokers, iron bars, guns, and pitchforks and other instruments of a similar character, and marched in a body to capture the gorilla.
The form was seen sitting at the fire, but evidently aroused by the approaching body, rose to its full height and revealed the figure of an eccentric character well known in the neighbourhood as “Old Johnny,” who seeing the door open had quietly walked in to light his pipe, accidentally “puffed” the candle out, and was very near being captured, if not exterminated, in mistake for an escaped gorilla.
The animal has not been heard of since.
Well, this is indeed fascinating: the story surfaced only one month before the Man-Monkey was seen - and in the same English county of Shropshire, no less.
And as Mike astutely notes:
"Old Johnny and his humorous encounter make for an interesting story, and it's easy to see why the journalist who wrote the piece focused on him. As published, though, the article ignores the central question of what became of Shropshire's mysterious 'gorilla'. The wild-beast-escaped-from-a-travelling menagerie is a common motif in out of place animal stories, as Mick Goss demonstrated years ago in a Fortean Times article on the mysterious crocodile of Cefn Caves - itself just over the border in north Wales. But it would be an ambitious showman who kept an animal as dangerous as a gorilla in a travelling show."
Indeed, Mike is right: numerous stories, tales and rumors of "circus escapees" (in Britain , in the U.S. and elsewhere) have been trotted out time and again to account for sightings of exotic animals having been seen in areas where they have no business roaming.
A perfect case in point is Britain's big-cats.
For example, in his classic title Cat Flaps, British Fortean author Andy Roberts discussed a wave of "big-cat" sightings in the English county of Yorkshire in the 1980s. One particular series of encounters led one commentator to tell Andy that: "They all come from Knaresborough Zoo, you know."
Of course, there was no evidence at all that the zoo had lost any big-cats - yet such tales and theories often spring up in such situations.
So, is that what happened back in 1878?
Had someone - or, as the Gazette's story suggests, several people - seen a weird Bigfoot-like entity that was subsequently explained (without any actual evidence to support the notion), as having escaped from a "travelling menagerie"?
Or, incredibly, was the story actually true?
Could there really have been a travelling menagerie from which a gorilla made a successful bid for freedom? And if so, did it ultimately find its way one dark and winter night in January 1879 to the heart of the Shropshire Union Canal, where it scared the you-know-what out of the man who had the misfortune to encounter it?
Perhaps further digging will unravel the puzzle.
Could it really be the case that a fully-grown gorilla briefly made its home in the wilds of Shropshire before probably succumbing to starvation and the effects of a harsh winter? Of course, that would not explain the seemingly spectral nature of the beast reported at the canal - nor would it explain how sightings of the same beast have continued until the present day.
Unless, that is, what people are seeing today could be the ghostly-form of the long-dead gorilla; forever doomed to haunt and wander the tree-shrouded, old canal...
But, bringing animal ghosts into the story is a whole different kettle of fish that I will keep for another day!
Suffice to say for now, however, Mike Dash has made a highly significant breakthrough in a story that - despite its age - never seems to go away.
For further information, see the following links:
1. Mike Dash's original article.
2. A post on this development at Cabinet of Wonders.
Indeed, so fascinated am I by it, I even wrote a book about the damned critter!
The story essentially had its origins in 1879, when a man walking home late at night, and with his horse-and-cart in-tow, claimed to have been attacked by a bizarre ape-man style beast with shining eyes that ultimately vanished into the night.
Not only that: the beast was distinctly spectral in nature, as can be evidenced by the fact that the man said that as he struck it with his horse-whip, the whip actually passed right through its hairy body!
More intriguing: sightings of the Man-Monkey have abounded in the area ever since. Indeed, I think my current count of cases, sightings and incidents is upwards of 30 - and which covers the period from the early 20th Century and right up until September 2005.
But now, there is a fascinating development in the saga - and maybe, just maybe, it may open some doors to the question of what the Man-Monkey really was, is, or may have been.
The story comes via Fortean expert and author Mike Dash.
As Dash says, just recently he was leafing through a copy of the December 8, 1878 edition of Sheldrake's Aldershot & Sandhurst Military Gazette, and came across the following story in its pages:
CAPTURING A GORILLA IN SHROPSHIRE
For a fortnight past the district around Madely Wood, Salop, has been in a state of intense excitement, by the alleged depredations committed by a gorilla, which is said to have escaped from a wild beast menagerie travelling to Bridgnorth.
The animal was stated to have first made his appearance in the neighbourhood of that town, where in the darkness of the night it was severally seen by a clergyman and a policeman, both of whom fled.
It is also said to have appeared at several places in the immediate neighbourhood. A few evenings since the occupier of a house in Madely Wood went to bed at a reasonable hour, with the greater portion of his family, leaving his “gude wife” up, who took the opportunity to visit a neighbour, leaving the door open and a candle burning.
Returning in a short time, she was horrified at seeing a bent form, with a goodly array of gray hair around its face, crouching over the expiring embers of the fire, apparently warming itself, the light having gone out.
Too frightened to shriek, she ran to her neighbours, who quickly armed themselves with pokers, iron bars, guns, and pitchforks and other instruments of a similar character, and marched in a body to capture the gorilla.
The form was seen sitting at the fire, but evidently aroused by the approaching body, rose to its full height and revealed the figure of an eccentric character well known in the neighbourhood as “Old Johnny,” who seeing the door open had quietly walked in to light his pipe, accidentally “puffed” the candle out, and was very near being captured, if not exterminated, in mistake for an escaped gorilla.
The animal has not been heard of since.
Well, this is indeed fascinating: the story surfaced only one month before the Man-Monkey was seen - and in the same English county of Shropshire, no less.
And as Mike astutely notes:
"Old Johnny and his humorous encounter make for an interesting story, and it's easy to see why the journalist who wrote the piece focused on him. As published, though, the article ignores the central question of what became of Shropshire's mysterious 'gorilla'. The wild-beast-escaped-from-a-travelling menagerie is a common motif in out of place animal stories, as Mick Goss demonstrated years ago in a Fortean Times article on the mysterious crocodile of Cefn Caves - itself just over the border in north Wales. But it would be an ambitious showman who kept an animal as dangerous as a gorilla in a travelling show."
Indeed, Mike is right: numerous stories, tales and rumors of "circus escapees" (in Britain , in the U.S. and elsewhere) have been trotted out time and again to account for sightings of exotic animals having been seen in areas where they have no business roaming.
A perfect case in point is Britain's big-cats.
For example, in his classic title Cat Flaps, British Fortean author Andy Roberts discussed a wave of "big-cat" sightings in the English county of Yorkshire in the 1980s. One particular series of encounters led one commentator to tell Andy that: "They all come from Knaresborough Zoo, you know."
Of course, there was no evidence at all that the zoo had lost any big-cats - yet such tales and theories often spring up in such situations.
So, is that what happened back in 1878?
Had someone - or, as the Gazette's story suggests, several people - seen a weird Bigfoot-like entity that was subsequently explained (without any actual evidence to support the notion), as having escaped from a "travelling menagerie"?
Or, incredibly, was the story actually true?
Could there really have been a travelling menagerie from which a gorilla made a successful bid for freedom? And if so, did it ultimately find its way one dark and winter night in January 1879 to the heart of the Shropshire Union Canal, where it scared the you-know-what out of the man who had the misfortune to encounter it?
Perhaps further digging will unravel the puzzle.
Could it really be the case that a fully-grown gorilla briefly made its home in the wilds of Shropshire before probably succumbing to starvation and the effects of a harsh winter? Of course, that would not explain the seemingly spectral nature of the beast reported at the canal - nor would it explain how sightings of the same beast have continued until the present day.
Unless, that is, what people are seeing today could be the ghostly-form of the long-dead gorilla; forever doomed to haunt and wander the tree-shrouded, old canal...
But, bringing animal ghosts into the story is a whole different kettle of fish that I will keep for another day!
Suffice to say for now, however, Mike Dash has made a highly significant breakthrough in a story that - despite its age - never seems to go away.
For further information, see the following links:
1. Mike Dash's original article.
2. A post on this development at Cabinet of Wonders.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Cannock Chase bigfoot reports resurface
http://manbeastuk.blogspot.com/2009/02/pye-green-bigfoot.html
Nicholas R continues his investigations into the BHM sightings in the Midlands. We were there some years ago with a UK weatherman who for some reason was making a tongue in cheek paranormal TV series for daytime television here in the UK. We were spectacularly short of money at the time and agreed to take part..
Nicholas R continues his investigations into the BHM sightings in the Midlands. We were there some years ago with a UK weatherman who for some reason was making a tongue in cheek paranormal TV series for daytime television here in the UK. We were spectacularly short of money at the time and agreed to take part..
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