Please examine our site visits for yesterday versus August 15th, 2008. Yesterday we covered the new iPods. August 15th, we covered the Bigfoot press conference. To be fair, these are just visits, not pageviews. We did more pageviews yesterday than we did with the Bigfoot stuff. Now imagine if Steve Jobs had Bigfoot as the special guest at the next Apple event. The internet would probably melt.

Just received a big, long comment on our original Bigfoot post (found here) concerning the events that have taken place over the past week or so. Would you believe that this whole Bigfoot thing is looking more and more like a hoax? Can you believe it?!!

Looks like the Bigfoot’s foot was apparently made of rubber and that a sample of the creature’s hair, when burned, “melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair.”

Full story after the jump. Thanks to Mr. Bluze for leaving this over on our other post.

And now, here is the rest of the story……

THE FOLLOWING IS PART OF THE NEWS RELEASE GIVEN TO FOX NEWS

Good afternoon. I am Steve Kulls Executive Director of Squatchdetective.com and Host of Squatchdetective Radio. I am here with Bob Schmalzbach, Vice President of Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. I had been invited to be a witness of the thawing of the alleged Bigfoot Body by the Searching for Bigfoot team. As an independent researcher, it has been Squatchdetective.com’s goal to obtain proof positive in all cases when either trying to substantiate a claim or debunk it, so as there is no question to the matter’s certainty. Having worked in the past, with Searching for Bigfoot, Inc., I understand that it has always been their corporate goal, “to tell it like they see it, as it happens, and when it happens”. In my organization’s limited involvement with Searching For Bigfoot, Inc. it is and has been the goal of both organizations to obtain the truth in this and all matters.

On July 9th, 2008, Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer placed a video on Youtube making the claim they had recovered the body of a Bigfoot body. Their website, Bigfoottracker.com also echoed the sentiment. At that time I had doubts and followed the story for two weeks when on July 25th, 2008 I placed a video response to challenge them to come on to Squatchdetective Radio on July 28th , 2008.

On July 14th, 2008 an article was published where Whitton released a statement to his local newspaper, the Clayton Times Daily stating that they had recovered the body of a Bigfoot.

The afternoon of July 28th, 2008, Ricky Dyer asked if I would call him and after interviewing him using various forensic interviewing techniques, which I have been trained on, I could not get an accurate read on him as I was seeing deception on numerous things, but insisted he had a body in his possession. At one point he asked me who Tom Biscardi was. I immediately surmised however their motive was financial.

After concluding my one plus hour long phone call with Dyer I called the CEO of Searching for Bigfoot, Tom Biscardi, and we discussed the matter. We, at that time decided it best to turn the investigation over to Mr. Biscardi and his team. My involvement in the remainder of the process was as an independent observer.

The following are my observations and the facts as I understand and know them:

On August 1st, 2008 Tom Biscardi traveled to Georgia and on August 2nd was given a sample, allegedly, from the corpse, for DNA testing. The DNA was hand delivered to Dr. Curt Nelson of Michigan and a chain of custody of the said sample was maintained from the time it was received from Ricky Dyer and Matthew Whitton.

On August 4th, 2008 both Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer entered a legally binding contract with Searching For Bigfoot, Inc .recognizing the fact that Searching for Bigfoot, had absolutely nothing to do in the demise or storage of the corpse until such time as it was transferred to Searching For Bigfoot for the benefit of scientific study, marketing and promotion.

On August 10th, 2008 Tom Biscardi received an email from Dr. Nelson that after the amplifications of two of the three samples, that the size of the DNA was consistent with human/ape DNA.

On or about August 12th, 2008, Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer requested an undisclosed sum of money as an advance, expected from the marketing and promotion, and as a good faith gesture of the contract.

On August 14th, 2008, after signing a transfer receipt for the amount money requested and counting said money, Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer led the Searching for Bigfoot Team to a location and turned over a freezer with something appearing large, hairy, and frozen in ice.

On August 15th, 2008, Tom Biscardi, Ricky Dyer and Matthew Whitton held a press conference at the Cabana Hotel in Paolo Alto, California, announcing that the corpse of a creature fitting the description known as “Bigfoot” had been discovered. A police officer of seven years, on medical leave, labeled as a hero for being wounded in the line of duty, got up in front of the world and told the world of how he and Ricky Dyer uncovered this creature. This has since been proven a lie. It is notable that Rick Dyer insisted on this press conference and told Tom Biscardi he would not release the “body” unless the conference was held on this specific date.

On August 16th, 2008 the freezer containing the alleged corpse arrived with the Searching For Bigfoot Team. I arrived on location at 6PM to provide initial verification examination, biohazard control and consult for security measures at the location. At that time the ice was being thawed slowly without aid, to prevent any decomposition of the alleged corpse. We estimated that the freezer and its contents weighed over 1500 pounds and it would take several days or longer to thaw completely.

On August 17th, 2008 Searching for Bigfoot Team Director of Field Operations, TJ Biscardi and myself, were up early to discover that some hair was now exposed. I extracted some from the alleged corpse and examined it and had some concerns. Bob Schmalzbach arrived and concurred. We burned said sample and said hair sample melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair.

At that time we contacted Mr. Biscardi who gave us permission to begin an expedited melting process. We set up a salamander heater to heat the freezer. Within one hour we were able to see the partially exposed head, as I was now able to touch it, I was able to feel that it seemed mostly firm, but unusually hollow in one small section. This was yet another ominous sign. Within the next hour of thaw, a break appeared up near the feet area. As the team and I began examining this area near the feet, I observed the foot which looked unnatural, reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot.

At that point we immediately contacted, Tom Biscardi and advised him of the situation and he began to take action on his end. Later that day, Tom Biscardi informed us that both Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer admitted it was a costume. They reportedly agreed to sign a promissory note and admission of what they had done, and set a meeting in their hotel room in California for 8AM on August 17th, 2008.

At that time I drew up the documents for Mr. Biscardi. On August 17th, 2008 Tom Biscardi went to the hotel where Dyer and Whitton were staying and found that they had left. At this time action is being instigated against the perpetrators of this fraud. Tom Biscardi asked us to contact you, the press, and share all that we have discovered.

The motives behind this fraud are still unknown at this time. It is still unclear why Whitton who, being a police officer for the Clayton County Police Department in Georgia got up before the world and lied and was complicit in a scheme to defraud in a felonious manner.

At this time the victim of this series of deceptions, Searching for Bigfoot, Inc., is seeking justice for themselves and for all the people who were deceived by this deception. Due to this event peoples lives have been disrupted and many people, so wanting vindication about there prior experiences were hurt. Let us all try to be mindful of such.

On behalf of myself I can say with certainty Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer not the best Bigfoot trackers in the world!

Thank you.

The alarm goes off, and my daily routine begins. Out of bed, into the shower, wash, brush, dress. From there, it’s straight into the Crunchgear writer chatroom.

Greg K. has entered the room
Greg K. Good morning, party people.
Doug A. happy Bigfoot day, Greg

Crap. Today was the day of Bigfoot press conference. I wanted to use Qik to share the conference with the world, but I still hadn’t managed to track down anyone involved who could tell me what exactly I’d need to get in the door — or if I even could. It’s one of the few nasty parts of being a blogger – a small (but just big enough to be horribly annoying) chunk of people out there still don’t consider bloggers to be press. I dig up the e-mail address of Tom Biscardi (the main face of the whole Bigfoot fiasco), rocket off an email, then hop in the car and tear down the 101.

About 15 minutes into the drive, I get a response: “Tell them at the door Tom said it was o.k.” Jackpot! That M.I. A song from the Pineapple Express trailer is playing on the radio; I celebrate by cranking up the volume and doing all of the gunshot noises with appropriately matched hand gestures.

Four and a half hours, a nasty bout of surprise traffic, and a mad sprint through Palo Alto’s Cabana hotel later, I wind up in the press conference about 10 minutes late. I pop out my handset, cross my fingers, and start up QIK. No 3G. Not even a hint of edge. After relocating myself at least 5 times in hopes of finding reception (likely annoying the hell out of the entire back half of the audience), I lose hope. Users were treated with one half second of video before streaming (or even liveblogging) went out the door.

I glance around, considering one final relocation for the sake of reception. The audience was a mix of bloggers, younger guys writing for various school papers, some dude in a bigfoot suit, and a good number of traditional media folk who were making it quite obvious that they hated being there and wanted to get the hell out as soon as possible.

With everyone waiting to ask their pressing Bigfoot question, things teetered on the edge of chaos.  There were at least a handful of times where questions were yelled over each other, resulting in a big blur of RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE with some higher-toned RABBLES mixed in. For the questions that were heard and fielded, answers were as ambiguous as you might expect. When was it found? No one remembered an exact date. What happened with the DNA testing? One test said human — the other said it was 96% possum. Did they have video of the live ones? Yeah, but they weren’t releasing it yet.

After about 30 minutes of questioning scrutiny, the audience got sick of waiting for what they really came for: “When will we see more evidence?”, came a voice from the back. To paraphrase the response: “When we’re done answering questions. Are you all done listening to us talk?” The crowd goes crazier than Doug Aamoth at a New Kids concert.

Tom takes one step toward the table where the photographic evidence was to be passed out, and the entire audience collectively decides to make an attempt at standing on the exact same spot in the room at once. There are no Excuse-Mes. No “Oh, sorry for stepping on your toe with my massive feet while wearing a backpack full of AV gear.” Just a crap ton of hot, tired journalists trying to get their hands on the goods without much regard.

Believers were in a state of wonderment as they oggled the shot of Bigfoot marching through the woods; skeptics wondered if it was just a still from Harry and the Hendersons. Overall, I don’t think anyone left the press conference feeling any different than they had when they entered.

Our own Greg Kumparak is live at the Bigfoot press conference we told you about the other day. Remember? They found and captured Bigfoot? Hit the jump to watch…

Still getting things set up. Greg’s trying to get live video going using Qik. One moment, please. This initial video’s only about a half a second long, which means he’s probably having trouble or can’t get a good signal. If Greg’s not able to get a video stream running, we’ll wait to hear what he says about the press conference anyway.

From Greg at 4:00 PM: “Looking for a solid net connection. No 3g barely edge”

From Greg at 4:10 PM:

It ended, seems like everyone is disappointed.

It was a whole lot of nothing, for the most part. My QIK feed totally failed, as the signal in there was 0 everything

Some details:

Biscardi holds up an small (6×4 or so) printout picture. The picture is of the teeth to prove its “not a mask”

Which is weird, seeing as its supposed to be a primate but has 6 incisors

A bunch of people from college papers were here, plus a dude in a big foot costume.

One of the guys used to be a law enforcement officer but refused to speak about it

The junk in the picture around the stomach is intestines and other inside bits

They said they don’t know if it was shot, but they didn’t shoot it

Someone asked if it was a hoax and the guy, Tom Biscardi, removed his glasses, paused and said “It’s as real as you are, standing right there.”

Totally dramatic.

They couldn’t remember what day they found it on, exactly

To preserve it, they apparently dumped water into the freezer to encase it.

When questioned on the process, Tom Biscardi said they were pouring water in it, questioned them of their methods, but they kept going.

Someone asked if it would damage the DNA and he said something like “Don’t ask me, I’m not the scientist.”

One test came back saying its 96% possum (Shown in picture below)

They said It was likely from what it had been eating

There was a bunch of questions surrounding their website and their business – looooots of skepticism.

They also said the two dudes who found it have video of live ones that they are not ready to release yet

When questioned, they said they just happened to be carrying a video camera, and that they always do

But that they don’t carry guns.

At about the 30 minute point, people got sick of the lack of evidence. At least, the evidence no show. Someone asked for it immediately. He asked if everyone was done asking questions. People all went crazy. He went over to the desk and was mobbed.

Here’s a photo of the mob:

[Leave any questions for Greg in the comments section and he’ll answer them. The whole thing looks a bit shaky and there wasn’t a lot of info given, though.]

Photos:

And the very short Qik stream from the conference today.

See that photo there? That comes from the web site Searching For Bigfoot. Don’t bother going there right now. There’s nothing there except a note to check back later “for a big announcement.” The photo is supposedly the body of a real-life Bigfoot, although our own Greg Kumparak says it “looks like a F-ing carpet thrown into a bath tub with a Chewbacca mask on top.”

The big announcement in question is supposedly coming this Friday from two men in Georgia who claim they have “a body, photos of the body, and DNA evidence,” according to LiveScience.com. The problem is that these two men are involved with a third man named Tom Biscardi, who apparently perpetuated a Bigfoot hoax back in 2005. He even tried to get people to pay $59.95 for “the chance to see a Bigfoot captured on live television.”

I’m all for believing in Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the Yeti, and all that good stuff but something tells me we’re not going to see it this Friday. If we do, great. There have been enough reported sightings that it’s plausible such an animal exists. Scientists find new animals all the time.

However, see that picture above? Its copyright belongs to a company called Bigfoot Global LLC. Why would a group interested in the scientific search for Bigfoot start an LLC? A limited liability company is a for-profit legal entity that behaves similarly to a corporation. People generally set up LLCs with the intent to turn a profit. Well it turns out that Mr. Biscardi’s company also does Bigfoot hunting expeditions, so that could explain the formation of the LLC. But wouldn’t that be a nice boost to the company’s bottom line if they were to find a real Bigfoot?

And there’s this tidbit from the press release (see below):

“Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. has exclusive rights to all publishing rights, photo rights, television and film rights, production and distribution rights and other commercial opportunities related to the discovery and findings regarding this body and these creatures.”

But let’s assume for the sake of argument that this is legit. Here’s the full press release, with what to expect from the press conference on Friday.

Bigfoot Body Found: “Georgia Gorilla” Will Shock The World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2008

BIGFOOT BODY FOUND

DNA evidence and photo evidence to be presented at a PRESS CONFERENCE
to be held on
Date: Friday, August 15, 2008
Time: From 12Noon-1:00pm
Place: Cabana Hotel-Palo Alto (A Crown Plaza Resort) 4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, California 94306

Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. Menlo Park, California
Tom Biscardi, CEO

BIGFOOT BODY FOUND – EVIDENCE AND DNA DETAILS TO BE PRESENTED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 15th

FROM 12 N00N TO 1:00PM AT THE CABANA HOTEL-PALO ALTO IN PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA

A body that may very well be the body of the creature commonly known as “Bigfoot” has been found in the woods in northern Georgia.

DNA evidence and photo evidence of the creature will be presented in a press conference on Friday, August 15th from 12 Noon to 1:00pm at the Cabana Hotel-Palo Alto at 4290 El Camino Real in Palo Alto, California, 94306. The press conference will not be open to the public. It will only be open to credentialed members of the press.
Here are some of the vital statistics on the “Bigfoot” body:
*The creature is seven feet seven inches tall.
*It weighs over five hundred pounds.
*The creature looks like it is part human and part ape-like.
*It is male.
*It has reddish hair and blackish-grey eyes.
*It has two arms and two legs, and five fingers on each hand and
five toes on each foot.
*The feet are flat and similar to human feet.
*Its footprint is sixteen and three-quarters inches long and five and three-quarters inches wide at the heel.
*From the palm of the hand to the tip of the middle finger, its hands are
eleven and three-quarters inches long and six and one-quarter inches wide.
*The creatures walk upright. (Several of them were sighted on the same day that the body was found.)
*The teeth are more human-like than ape-like.
*DNA tests are currently being done and the current DNA and photo evidence will be presented at the press conference on Friday, August 15th.

The creature was found by Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer (residents of Georgia) in the woods in northern Georgia. (The exact location is being kept secret to protect the creatures.)

Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer will be flying in from Georgia to be at the press conference. Also present at the press conference will be Tom Biscardi, CEO of Searching for Bigfoot, Inc.

Whitton is a Clayton County, Georgia, police officer, who is currently on administrative leave after being wounded in the course of duty pursuing an alleged felon. Dyer is a former correctional officer. Whitton and Dyer are co-owners of bigfoottracker.com and Bigfoot Global LLC., a company that offers Bigfoot expeditions. Whitton and Dyer are working with Bigfoot hunter, Tom Biscardi, and Biscardi’s Searching for Bigfoot, Inc., to present and conduct the scientific study of the evidence and information on this body.

A few weeks ago, Whitton and Dyer announced the finding of the body on the “Squatch Detective” radio show, an internet based radio show hosted by Steve Kulls. While on that show, the commentator asked Rick Dyer “Would you allow one of our people to come down and verify the body?” Dyer replied, “The only person we would allow to come down and verify the body was ‘the real Bigfoot Hunter,’ Tom Biscardi.” The next day, the producer of the Squatch Detective show contacted Biscardi with pertinent information on how to contact Dyer and Whitton.

Extensive scientific studies will be done on the body by a team of scientists including a molecular biologist, an anthropologist, a paleontologist and other scientists over the next few months at an undisclosed location. The studies will be carefully documented and the findings will be released to the world, according to Biscardi.

Biscardi is known as “the real Bigfoot Hunter” because of his extensive investigations out in the field. He has been searching for Bigfoot since 1971 and over the past several years, he has been criss-crossing the United States and Canada tracking down the hottest leads on Bigfoot sightings.

Videography on the studies will be done under the supervision of Scott Davis, an independent producer and owner of TV Biz Productions in Phoenix, Arizona.

Currently, Tom Biscardi and his Searching for Bigfoot Team, in conjunction with Bigfoot Global LLC., are preparing to capture another of these creatures alive. That expedition will start very soon. The dates and the locations are being kept confidential.

The body that is currently being studied is being referred to as the “RICKMAT” creature, a name derived from the names of Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton. [Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman recommends the term “Georgia Gorilla” be used to remove any taint of ego from the discovery, and so the general public, media, and science will have a comfortable moniker until a formal zoological name may be bestowed.]
Last year, a film that Biscardi produced about his investigations, called “Bigfoot Lives,” won first place in the Documentary category at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival. Biscardi also hosts a Bigfoot oriented internet radio show that can be heard on Wednesday nights from 7:00pm to 8:00pm PDT at www.bigfootliveradioshow.com. The show is heard in over thirty countries.

Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. has exclusive rights to all publishing rights, photo rights, television and film rights, production and distribution rights and other commercial opportunities related to the discovery and findings regarding this body and these creatures.

Interested parties may contact Searching for Bigfoot, Inc., in writing, at their mailing address, 1134 Crane St., Suite 216, Menlo Park, California 94025.

I don’t want people thinking that I don’t believe in Bigfoot. I just never imagined the first one would be revealed this way, with all this fanfare. It just seems a bit too hyped. Plus, there was that whole alien thing a few months back.

If it’s real, though, it’d be pretty cool. Your thoughts?

[via LiveScience]