Monday, October 27, 2008

A Scottish Yeti?

A ghosthunter rescued from Scotland’s second highest peak was claimed he was attacked by a mysterious yeti. Tom Robertson, 68, was led to safety by mountain rescuers after a ten-hour ordeal on Ben MacDhui in the Cairngorms.

He and a pal had been hunting for the legendary Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui – Mountain of the Black Pig in Gaelic.

But yesterday he insisted a 12ft high yeti-type creature attacked the tent he was sleeping in near the 4,296ft summit.He maintains he may have strong evidence of its existence – a series of pots showed 2ft long footprints in gravel at their camp site.

Mr Robertson said; "At about 1am after we climbed in to our sleeping bags we heard the footsteps of something coming to the tent and heard mumbling noises outside.”

Moments later the side of the two-man tent, perched 4,000ft up the peak, caved in.

“I looked up through the air vent in the roof and saw a large arm crashing down.

“The figure of what seemed like a yeti was standing over the tent, then all hell broke lose and it was trying to get on at us.

“I remember something landed on my foot. My toes are black, kind of bruised.

“I have never been so scared in all the 60 years I have been interested in such things.

“I don’t know what it is but it wasn’t human. I reckon it could be the Grey Man or something from outer space.”

The pair were soaking wet after heavy rain poured into the damaged tent overnight.

At 4am they set off down the hill but almost two miles on Tom was too exhausted and fell ill half-way down. He was wrapped up in sleeping bags and left to rest.

Pal Derek Blake, 32, battled on and raised the alarm three miles away at the Cairngorm Ski centre.

Source: Daily Star, 28 July 2004. (Thanks to Mark Fraser of www.bigcatsinbritain.org for bringing this to my attention)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Bryn-Boncath Beast

You will undoubtedly have seen at this blog the excellent illustration of a glowing-eyed British Bigfoot as drawn by a friend of mine in Wales named Simon Wyatt.

Well, the good news is that Simon - a highly-skilled artist - has just struck a deal to have his graphic-novel, titled Unbelievable, published.

And as the publisher (Insomnia Publications) says about the book:

"Unbelievable is a dark masterpiece that weaves strands of Welsh legend, modern murder, mystery and horror with a dash of cryptozoology that wonders: What if seeing isn’t always believing, but believing will allow you to see?"

Here's the link for more details; and I'll keep you informed of all the developments on what looks to be a great project.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The "Prestwick Baboon"

Here's a story that is interesting, odd, and possibly relevant to the whole British Bigfoot controversy. It was brought to my attention last week by big-cat authority Mark Fraser and appeared in the Ayrshire Post newspaper on January 17, 1999.

Almost 10 years have passed since the episode occurred. Can anyone fill in the gaps or provide an update?

Here's the text of the article:


Baboon sighted near Prestwick Airport

A motorist spotted what he believed was a "Baboon-like creature" on the Shaw Farm Road in Prestwick, not far from the airport. Police rushed to the scene, and as the officers got to within 30 yards of the animal it disappeared into the undergrowth.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday: “We received a call from a local man who said he’d narrowly avoided hitting a baboon-like creature on Shaw Farm Road, Prestwick. A patrol car was sent out and after a search of the area the officers reported seeing an animal of some sort, although they couldn’t be sure what it was.”

Checks were also made at the airport which had received a cargo of livestock, but there were no reports of escaped baboons. One senior policeman said: “The officers were very careful how they phrased the sighting over the radio. The mickey taking could have been merciless and they didn’t want to make monkeys of themselves.”

No Scottish zoo’s keep baboons, but experts admitted that some one may have had one as a pet.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

OFFLINE FOR A FEW DAYS

I'll be offline from now until next Monday, as I'll be flying to the Boston-based Mass Monster Mash (see this link for details), where I'll be speaking about (a) the controversy surrounding British Bigfoot reports; and (b) my books There's Something in the Woods and Man-Monkey: In Search of the British Bigfoot. If you're gonna be there, say hello!

"Woods" in "Fate": A Review

Anomalist Books highlights a new review of my latest book, There's Something in the Woods that appears in the new issue of Fate magazine, written by Jerome Clark. The book, as many of you will be aware, focuses deeply on the mystery of the British Bigfoot.

As Anomalist Books say:

There is probably no more thoughtful commentator on all matters fortean these days than Jerome Clark. Yes, he has some nice things to say in the latest issue of Fate magazine about Nick Redfern’s latest book, There’s Something in the Woods.

“Part of Something’s appeal is its can-you-top-this quality,” writes Clark, who finds more genuine curious the reports Redfern collects “from persons who, to all appearances of sound mind and unforked tongue, speak of encounters with a range of incredibly peculiar creatures…everything from phantom peacocks to giant snakes with feet to flying humanoids to living pteranodons… Something certainly makes for entertaining reading, while occasioning at times some deeper reflections on the reader’s part.”

Including some from Jerome Clark, who ends the review with these insightful words: “I doubt firmly that the sorts of esoteric beasts Redfern’s witnesses describe exist as hidden, uncatalogued wildlife alongside us in consensus reality, but they are present in some shadowy approximation, to be encountered in profoundly anomalous states of consciousness. In frustrating truth, the answers that we who are open to such things seek are well beyond current knowledge. In the meantime, ridicule is a very poor substitute for understanding.”

Friday, October 3, 2008

Bigfoot Radio

I'll be on the Richard Syrett Radio Show tonight - at 10.30pm Central Time - talking about my book, There's Something in the Woods and the British Bigfoot. Here's the link for details.

Blogging the Chase

As you'll know from this blog, I am always keen to highlight the many and varied sightings of the British Bigfoot in the vicinity of the Cannock Chase - that large area of woodland in Staffordshire, England, and only a stone's throw from where I grew up.

Well, the good news is that the Chase Post newspaper has just set up a new blog - in the capable hands of Post journalist Matt Lloyd - to chronicle all the weird goings-on in those mysterious woods.

And here's the link.

Given the sheer scale and nature of the strangeness that dominates the area, this is a blog to definitely keep a close eye on for all future developments!