He added the new study “will perform DNA analysis on hair samples already collected, some which are strongly suspected of being from Sasquatches but were never offered to previous DNA efforts”.
Moneymaker will introduce the leader of the new project during his speech at the upcoming Smoky Mountains Bigfoot Conference, set to be held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, US on July 22.
A Soviet scientist said Wednesday she came within feet of the legendary abominable snowman during an eyeball to eyeball encounter with the furry beast in the snow covered forests of western Siberia.
In what Radio Moscow described as one of the closest encounters of its kind, the creature reportedly stood and stared at her with red eyes, not making a sound, before her pet dog chased the snowman or yeti deep into the woods.
The scientist, Maya Brikova, told Radio Moscow she had spent 25 years studying the yeti. Her sighting occurred late last year when Soviet media reported three yeti encounters.
Brikova and two guides had stopped for the night in a forest cabin at an undisclosed site in western Siberia and were awakened by a sound of rolling logs. They said they rushed out to the porch and saw the creature they had waited so long to see.
‘The day was breaking and we could see everything clearly. I saw in front of me an animal about 2 meters (6 foot, 7-inches) tall, covered with fur some 6 to 7 seven centimeters (2.5 to 3 inches) long,’ Brikova said. ‘It was covered with so much fur, its lips looked like slits. The fur on its head and face was shorter than that of its body. The palms were red and bare. The creature studied us with great attention. Its eyes were red without any whites, and its ears didn’t stick out,’ she said.
Radio Moscow said there had been an estimated 5,000 eyewitness accounts of yeti sightings in the Soviet Union, mostly by peasants, drivers, shepherds and other rural people.
The sightings had been reported in the Caucases region, the Altai district of south-central Siberia and the northeastern Yakutia area.
Brikova said she had prepared herself for such an encounter, so that she could have ‘a very good look at this creature and examine it thoroughly. There was a distance of 5 meters (16 feet) between us.’
She said it had not been difficult to measure the hairy biped’s height because it was standing against a tree.
‘We just stood on the porch and didn’t move. The creature didn’t move either. Then, all of a sudden our dog dashed out, and the creature quickly hid itself in the forest. We looked around for it but never saw it again,’ Brikova said. —
Last month, the leader of Soviet scientific expedition told the official Tass news agency one of the creatures had repeatedly tried to make friendly contact with his reasearch team in the Pamir mountains near the border with Afghanistan.
Igor Tatsl, said his expedition had reported several nocturnal encounters with the yeti, which they had also seen in the twilight at a distance of about 30 meters (90 feet).
Radio Moscow described Brikova’s sighting as one of the closest encounters of its kind but did not say whether she had photographed or filmed the human-like creature. Although yetis, also sighted in the Himalayas, are dismissed by many scholars as a myth, some claim they could be a form of hitherto unclassified ape.
Radio Moscow said in the past 60 years, more than 100 specimens of large mammals had been discovered, ‘so the most unexpected discoveries are always possible.’
The Soviets set up a special organization at the end of last year to establish contact with the abominable snowman. Its head, Pavel Belenitsky said the group based in Leningrad will embark on an expedition from May to September to try and obtain photographs and video footage.
‘We shall not be hunting for the creature. We shall not be trying to get hold of nature’s mystery. It is more important to study its psychological traits, its habits, its migration routes, in short its life under natural conditions,’ he said.
The ministry of culture recently established a Society of Cryptozoologists to study the possiblity of its existence following the discovery of a report that Marshal Pavel Rybalko, a famed Soviet tank leader, carried a snowman-like creature in a railroad freight car for several days in 1939 during fighting against the Japanese in the Soviet far east.
Soviet authorities also claim there is evidence that Maj. Gen. Alexander Topilsky found a dead snowman after a shootout with White Russian troops in the 1920’s during the Russian Civil War.
By ROMAN ROLLNICK
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 1988 United Press International
McARTHUR, Ohio A man who has been searching for the legendary ‘ Bigfoot ‘ in southern Ohio says he has found new evidence that several of the elusive creatures may be living in the area.
Robert Gardnier of Columbus, Ohio, said he and several other hunters went into the Wayne National Forest west of McArthur recently and found footprints measuring 17 ? inches long and 9 inches wide.
Gardiner, who described the creatures as being ‘very shy,’ said he and his hunting party were surrounded by the creatures at one time.
‘We had been to this deserted A-frame … and were looking in this ravine for tracks and didn’t find anything,’ said Gardiner. ‘Later on … we came back to the A-frame and there were big tracks. These had to be made within an hour before we got there.’
He said the hunters went into the ravine where the visibility is limited because of dense woods, brush and brambles.
‘We were looking at a specific sign on a tree,’ he said. ‘We found something on a tree. I’m not going to divulge what it is, but we were checking it out and we heard one bark.
‘They have a barking-type growl like a chimpanzee or like a gorilla,’ he said. ‘We listened and then we heard one behind us, and what these two things were doing was communicating back and forth. They couldn’t have been over 25 or 30 yards away from us.
‘One was between us and the A-frame and the other was on the other side of us,’ he said.
Gaadiner said he feels the creatures are only passing through the area heading for mountains in the southern part of the United States. He said one may have been injured and that is why they are staying in the McArthur area for so long.
‘I’ve told everybody to quit shooting at these things,’ Gardiner said. ‘If you come across one, he won’t bother you. He’s just curious.’
Many hunters have tried to find the creature, also called Sasquatch , which is about as elusive as the Himalayan Yeti _ the ‘Abominable Snowman’ _ and supposedly comes from the Pacific Northwest.
Throughout the summer, Sasquatch -like creatures have been sighted and reported in southern and central Ohio.
Bigfoot reportedly was first sighted in Ohio near McArthur Aug. 24. Larry E. Cottrill said he found three Sasquatch -like animals near his home, shot at them and may have wounded one in the shoulder. Cottrill has since moved away.
It’s the same dream When the mist clears And he’s standing there I’m frozen in place With my eyes locked at his face Neither him or I move an inch We weren’t expecting this His life of solitude kept him out of sight But tonight we both got a fright When I blink He’s gone again No one will believe me What do I tell my friends I have no proof I was to shocked to move Does it even matter if they believe After I’ve seen what I’ve seen I felt I was given a gift I feel blessed Nothing else matters Not fame or all the rest Just this little moment A moment in the forest Like none other That will ever be Free in the forest The wild man and me…. Poem by me…