The Wild Creek Bigfoot Photo

 

Wild Creek Bigfoot
Photo Property of Cliff Crook

Back in 1995, an off-duty forest ranger allegedly took a series of seven 35mm photos of a Bigfoot-type creature in the Wild Creek area of Washington State, near Mt. Rainier. Not wanting to draw attention to himself or put his career in jeopardy, the ranger was said to have sold the photos to sculptor and (controversial) Bigfoot researcher, Cliff Crook. The photo above is the only one of the set to be widely circulated among the public, appearing in quite a few books about Bigfoot, cryptozoology, and all things strange and unexplained.

In fact, that's how I first became familiar with this photo. I was watching a YouTube video (I really wish I could remember who the creator was so I can credit them) of a guy talking about some of the books he had read as a child. He happened to show this photo, which appeared in one of those books, and noted that it scared the crap out of him at the time. I immediately thought the photo looked familiar, so I assume that I had probably also come across it at some point in my younger days, as I was devouring anything and everything I could find written about anomalous phenomena. 

But unlike this YouTuber, I don't remember ever being scared by the image. Rather, I thought it was pretty hilarious to look at! I'm not sure if it has something to do with  the Uncanny Valley, or if my love of movies like Clash of the Titans (1981) influenced me, but I never thought this thing looked like a living, breathing animal---undiscovered or not. I thought it looked like a claymation/stop-motion model of a monkey man. 

And, as an adult, I'm pretty relieved to find out that most people agree with me! On January 30, 2010 Matt Moneymaker of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO) wrote an article in response to Cliff Crook's continued promotion of this image (licensing it to publishers for up to $9000!). In the article, titled 'Hoaxer Cliff Crook Promoting Phony Photo, Again,'  Moneymaker notes that Crook is a sculptor by trade, and thus this image, along with a whole collection of tracks, were merely pieces of art, photographed and passed off as the real thing. Respected researcher Doug Hajicek agreed, noting that the 'model' Bigfoot used was probably no bigger than a foot high. This makes total sense to me, because whenever I see this image, my mind interprets the figure as actually being very tiny. I think its mostly the vegetation in front of him. To me, those look like blades of regular ol' grass, not waist high weeds or anything. There are no big trees in the background for perspective, just a reflection that could have been nothing more than a tiny branch. Trying to be fair, however, I sought out another analysis.

Posted on the ThinkerThunker Facebook page on October 3, 2021 is an analysis video titled 'Shadowlands Bigfoot...Could it Be Real?' In the analysis, ThinkerThunker kind of tears Matt Moneymaker's article apart, pointing out the old adage, 'just because you CAN, doesn't mean you DO.' In other words, although Crook was a sculptor and could have created a model, that doesn't mean he actually did. Okay--I can see that. When I want to know for sure if something has been hoaxed or not, I like to see indisputable proof that fraud has been committed, not just a mention of that it could have happened, so it did. ThinkerThunker then delves into analyzing some facial and body proportions. The results were inconclusive, but seemed to lean to the idea that it was at least possible for this to be a real creature. He also takes at look at the fur, which is of an irregular length and hangs in wet clumps in a way that he feels would not be possible with fake fur. At this point, I'm seriously starting to believe that this guy is going to come to the conclusion that this is a photo of a real Bigfoot. 

On the right is the 2nd photo, used in
Thinker Thunker's analysis.
Screen-shot from video.

And then a second photo emerged. 

The original photo that we've all seen floating around for 25 years was supposedly taken from a bridge, with the forest ranger aiming the camera at a downward angle. This second shot appears to be taken at a totally different angle, from the side and much closer to the creature. Yet, in the time that it would have taken the ranger to access the other vantage point, the creature does not move at all. It doesn't even turn it's head (well, actually, from its lack of neck, it'd probably have to turn its whole body) to look at him, or throw up it's arms. I don't know where ThinkerThunker obtained the second photo (I can't find a copy online) or if it is 100% true that it's the same creature, but this was the smoking gun for him. That was the proof needed to declare the photo a hoax. 

I think it's safe to say that the majority of the Bigfoot research community has filed this photo away as being fraudulent, but without the rest of the photos in the set of 7 available for analysis or the true photographer coming forward, there will always be doubters. Unless Crook confesses or the actual model that was used is found, there will be someone out there who legitimately believes this goofy, neckless creature represents the Holy Grail of Bigfoot evidence. 

What do you think? Could there be any chance that this photo is the real deal? Is there a piece of the puzzle I'm missing or overlooking? Or, do you agree that it's nothing more than a hoax? Let me know down in the comments below, or join me over at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State Facebook for more discussion on this and lots of other paranormal topics!

The Infamous Its a Small World Photo

Sorry for the weird sizing of the image below, but I wanted to make sure it was big enough for you to not only read the text, but to SEE the image of the 'hanging.' 

As you can see, this is the infamous ghost photo taken from Disneyland's It's a Small World ride. Now, to many people, this ride was already super creepy. According to Undercover Tourist, the version found at Disneyland dates back to 1964 when it premiered at the World's Fair under the name Children of the World. It contains at least 240 animatronics and a soundtrack that is guaranteed to get stuck in your head. 

That many weird, moving dolls would be a nightmare to all you pediophobic people out there---those with a fear of dolls. But, it gets even scarier. I've heard that the ride legitimately malfunctions quite often, resulting in riders having to be evacuated. That doesn't surprise me given the age of the ride and amount of trips it takes daily. 

However, some aspects of the It's a Small World mythology are less believable.  Apparently there are a LOT of conspiracy theories out there about the dolls coming to life, riders and staff members going missing, and general creepiness experienced by visitors to the attraction. No doubt most of these are pure fiction, just like this photo below.

The photo and accompanying story were uploaded in August of 2012 to the IMGUR site. However, the poster states that the photo is from a 1999 trip to the park.  During what appeared to be a normal malfunction, the poster and her family were escorted off the ride. Her mother decided to take the opportunity to use up the last of the roll of film in her camera. Upon exiting the attraction, the family noticed that there was an ambulance and police cruiser parked outside.

It is theorized that the photo captured from the ride shows either a suicide or accidental death by hanging. Some say the victim is one of the Disney cast members, and others believe it to be the body of a child. 

Based on the size of the 'body,' I would automatically rule out the possibility of it being a cast member. And, honestly, as creepy as a story it makes, I don't think its a real person at all. I think it is one of the animatronic dolls. It is about the same size, for one thing, but another clue is its position. When one hangs himself, either on purpose or by accident, the arms and legs generally don't assume that position. The toes don't appear to be pointing down, as gravity would cause a real person's feet to react. Gravity would also not allow the arms to be slightly raised like that, either.

So is the original poster lying? Is the photo a fake? Did an unrelated accident occur that day to cause them to have to evacuate the ride? I cannot answer those questions, but I can confidently say that I don't believe this photo is either paranormal OR evidence of a deceased person. But, I'm curious to know what YOU think! Read the story below and then hop on over to Facebook and let me know what YOU think!

Stay Spooky.

Madam Violet, Vampire Queen

Welcome, October! It's the start of a new month and a new beginning---another chance to play catch-up on this poor, neglected blog, lol. It's been a crazy few days with my son having surgery AND a birthday party in the same week, plus all sorts of other stuff, like t-ball, swim lessons, etc. I promise that I will be cranking out Day 2 and Day 3 of the Mothman Festival blogs soon, but I thought I'd go ahead and share this creepy photo I found floating around on Facebook!

Whenever this frightening lady makes an appearance on social media, she's usually accompanied by the caption of "Madam Violet, the queen of the notoriously dark Edinburgh vampire hive. Voted twice as the scariest woman in England."

I can't attest to whether there really ever was an Edinburgh vampire hive or not, but even if there was...this photo does NOT show its queen. Instead, what looks like a late Victorian era photograph of a human woman is actually...

...a piece of art! As part of the 2008 series, Storydress II, this unique image was created by Christine Elfman. The photos in the series, including this one of 'Madam Violet,' are albumen prints pasted to antique cabinet cards for a very realistic touch.  But who is 'Madam Violet,'??? In this case, Madam Violet is none other than a paper mache and plaster sculpture!

For more info on this photograph and how it was made, please see Christine Elfman's WEBSITE.

Ghost in a Wheelchair

I recently joined a few new paranormal-themed Facebook groups and LIKED a few new pages...and was surprised to see the photo above being shared over and over as a possibly paranormal photo!  It's definitely creepy, and arguably, even a little sad.  However, its not what it appears to be...

The earliest date that I remember seeing this photo was in 2012.  That May, a Brazilian website claimed that the photo was taken at an Argentinian Hospital near Rosario.  A staff member of the Clemente Alvarez Emergency Hospital going by the name of Diego took the photo and promptly posted it on Facebook.
Allegedly, multiple staff members, including doctors, nurses and cleaning staff, all had seen the wheelchair move down the hall on its own.

Several months later, in September, the same Brazilian website posted a photo of ANOTHER Argentinian ghost sighting.  Enzo Guillermo used his cell phone to capture an image of a woman sitting on a bench in the Plazoleta de los Immigrantes, in the city of Lules.  Locals claimed that the area was home to strange, paranormal noises observed in the early morning hours, and a woman had recently passed away in the park.

Hopefully you can spot the obvious similarities of the figures in both photos.  It looks like this particular ghost is traveling all over Argentina!  Or...there could be a much simpler explanation.  The two photos from South America are a hoax.

In July of 2012, a controversy arose when the group Ghosts of New England Research Society (G.O.N.E.R.S.) posted ANOTHER photo of the seated woman, seen below. Shortly after, they were called out, and posted a retraction stating that another group had claimed the image of the woman was copyrighted to a photo THEY took in 1991...and that they were trying to sue a popular smart phone application called Ghost Cam for copyright infringement.

G.O.N.E.R.S photo on left, Original 1991 photo on right

That original 1991 photo is the infamous and widely know (albeit controversial) "Madonna of Bachelor's Grove" photo!  In August of 1991, members of the Ghost Research Society were on site at the small Bachelor's Grove Cemetery near Midlothian, Illinois. This cemetery has had a long reputation of being haunted.  Strange lights, unexplained sounds, and even full-bodied apparitions have all been observed there.  There is some confusion as to who exactly took the photograph, but its largely attributed to GRS member, Mari Huff, who was shooting with high-speed infrared film.  Here's the photo again:

I'm not sure whatever happened with the lawsuit, but I couldn't find this particular image on the updated Ghost Cam 2 app, and no new forgeries seem to have popped up since 2012.  But, as the recent activity on social media has shown, even older, previously debunked photos can come back to fool people.

Sources

Brazil Weird News
ParaFraud
History and Legends o Bachelor's Grove from GRS

Eskimo Exorcism

So, at first glance, this image is pretty frightening.  A creepy, wild haired creature with too many mouths filled with too many razor sharp teeth has captured a young child and is holding him with its oversized hands.  When you read the caption, it gets even more alarming!

The title of this image is "Working to Beat the Devil."  The caption states "Eskimo Medicine Man, Alaska, Exorcising Evil Spirits from a Sick Boy."

The original photograph was taken some time between 1900 and 1930 and was in a personal collection until Mrs. W. Chapin Huntington gifted it in 1951 to the Library of Congress' Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection.  Today, its considered to be in the public domain, and numerous dealers are selling postcard reprints of the image on eBay.

I've seen this photo pop up a few times on various websites and Facebook groups and was struck by the unique subject matter, but also by the fact that this image was so similar to another that I had featured awhile back called the Hami!  The Hami, or the Most Dangerous Thing, was a photograph featuring a member of the Koskimo tribe of British Columbia wearing the ceremonial costume depicting a spirit known for abducting young men. That photo was part of a very famous study by the photographer Edward S. Curtis around 1914.  I was positive that this photograph must also be a part of that series.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything to tie The Eskimo Exorcism to Curtis, nor any photographer for that matter....but I did find some fascinating information about the subject matter from the book, My Life with the Eskimo, by Vilhjalmur Stefansson.

According to Stefansson, the Mackenzie Eskimo tribe believed that disease was caused by one of two things; 1. The victim's soul was stolen, causing chills, shivering, and lassitude.  Or...2. A bad shaman has sent a spirit, or tuurngait, to possess the victim, making him ill in any number of ways.  Tuurngaits were neither naturally bad nor good, but simply did the bidding of those who summoned them.

Allegedly, sickness was quite easily remedied if it were just a simple soul stealing; all you needed to do was find the soul and reunite it with the body.  However, ridding a spirit from a person was a completely different matter, and the only thing that could offer relief was an exorcism.

To complete the exorcism, the shaman, or Angakuit, would engage in chanting, drum beating, ventriloquism, conjuring acts, and even the observance of taboos by family members of the victim or even complete strangers.  For example, a shaman would tell the mother of the victim that she was not allowed to change her socks until the sickness of the child was cured.  If she broke that rule, the child would remain ill.  And, apparently from the looks of this photograph, strange and frighteningly comical costumes also played a vital role in the practice until more and more tribes converted to Christianity and the old ways were slowly phased out, to be remembered through eBay and FB shares!

The Creepy in the Window

I love Reddit; someone posted my article about the Mountain Octopus on there and it brought in a HUGE amount of traffic to my blog!  But, there's a dark side to everything...and sometimes people use this awesome social networking site for ::gasp:: EVIL!  Hehe, well, maybe not evil, but a lot of misinformation comes out of there, either intentionally or unintentionally.

One such example is the rather creepy photo above.

Aaaugh!  I don't know what's creepier...the childlike doll, or the doll-like child?  What about the slightly off-kilter perspective?  And then, once you're adequately creeped out by all those elements, you notice the face in the window, which is eerily reflected in the mirror. Is it an alien?  Is it a serial killer wearing a mask?  Is it a ghost?  WTF is it!?

 Like many similar photographs, this one is being passed around in paranormal-themed Facebook groups.  And, in nearly all of them, this is being represented as a REAL photograph, with plenty of commentators eager to support that claim without anything to back up those opinions.  There were a few dissenters, but their opinions were largely ignored or dismissed and without any type of documentation to back up THEIR opinion, it was one camp's word against the other.

Lucky for us, someone finally DID take the time to track down the origins of this photo and not surprisingly, was able to prove that it is NOT paranormal.

The author of the wonderful blog, Skeptic's Boot, who also runs the Facebook page, The Rational Paranormal, recently posted his findings after conducting a simple Google Images search for the photograph in question. What that search led to was a thread listed under Reddit's "Creepy" subreddit.  Reddit user "tiffyyffit" submitted a photograph with a request for other users to help her "make a creepy in the window."

Several members met the challenge, but it was the image created by "phubans" that essentially "won," meaning, that's the image that was hoarked and passed around the web.  The Skeptic's Boot has provided a screenshot and a link to the original thread, where it clearly shows "tiffyyffit" posting the original photo (sans creepy faces), asking for help, and other members submitting their creations.  Personally, I prefer the subtlety of "MikeyBakes" creation much better, but that's just me!  Check out the link below to check them all out and see a photograph of the original, unaltered image.  And a huge thank you and shout out to the Skeptic's Boot for his work in making the paranormal field a little more intelligent!  Go check out the blog and give his Facebook page a LIKE!

Reddit's Creepy Subreddit Thread

The New Mexico Skin Walker HOAX

A little over a month ago, Facebook and other social media blew up with a photo showing a strange, crab-like humanoid standing by the side of the road between Lybrook and Counselor, NM...very close to the Jicarilla Apache reservation.

The story that accompanied the creepy photo was that a geologist working in the area noticed something strange, and decided to take a heat signature of it.  The geologist promptly quit the next day under mysterious circumstances and the photo of the alleged skin walker surfaced on the internet, causing a huge sensation, being shared thousands of times within mere hours.  Many believed that the creature was indeed a Skin Walker, or a magical person with the ability to transform into an animal-like creature.  It is interesting to point out that the general area where the photo was allegedly taken is in the vicinity of the Skin Walker Ranch, a property with a long history of high strangeness, including UFOs, cattle mutations, and...skin walker beasts.

However, it didn't take long for the web warriors to put an end to the speculation!  It was quickly discovered that the photo in question was actually a still from a MOVIE!

That movie would be the 1982 low-budget gruesome British sensation, Xtro.  Released in the U.S. in 1983 and directed by Harry Bromley Davenport, Xtro is a sci-fi horror involving a man who was abducted by aliens, only to be returned three years later.  Only...he wasn't the same when he returned.

Xtro became somewhat of a cult classic, spawning two sequels that had nothing to do with the original plot.  As late as March 2011, Davenport claimed to be working on the next movie in the installment, Xtro IV.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything past that date confirming whether or not the movie was ever made...but it seems like this mysterious picture that no one is taking credit for posting might have been the perfect viral marketing ploy!  It's definitely sparked an interest in the original movie with a generation who wasn't even born when it came out.

It's also an example of something I blogged about awhile back; the importance of cinematic research!  As researchers, its SO important to keep up with pop culture...and how people can use pop culture to relate to, or in this case mimic, a paranormal event!  So, go watch some horror films...even some really bad, cheesy 80s gems...and don't feel guilty about it; you're doing legitimate research.

*Theresa's Note:  I feel like I shouldn't have to dedicate a blog post to the subject of the Skin Walker hoax since its already been debunked, but I've noticed that these things have a habit of making a comeback...and I wanted to be prepared!  Plus, it was kinda fun looking up clips and information about this movie.  It's uh, definitely not for those with a delicate constitution! *

Would You Want to Live Here?

If you've been on Facebook any time in the last few months, chances are you've seen someone post this photo, usually accompanied by the challenge of, "Would YOU live (visit/spend the night/etc.) here?"  If the creep factor didn't bother you, you'd probably weigh the benefits of living that close between two tracks...and decide that no matter how historic or beautifully haunting the little home looks, its not worth it!  But, how much do you REALLY know about the building in this photo?

It probably doesn't surprise you, but this isn't a home that has survived the march of progress to be nestled between two tram tracks...its actually a tram station!  Well...it WAS.

From what I can gather, I BELIEVE this particular station is the Little Pest Depot, located in Budapest Hungary.  Built in 1887, the depot once serviced the country's horse-drawn tram network along the Zugligeti Road, a main thoroughfare.  The pictures above and below were taken post-1896 when the city installed its first electric railway system.

From WikiPedia

This particular depot serviced the 58 tram, and thus, was known as the 58 Tram Depot.  It was eventually taken out of service in either December of 1976, or early the following January.  Unfortunately, vandals and the elements have taken their toll on this unique building, which was already creepy enough 100 years ago!  Here's a modern look at the old tram stop, with many, many more recent photos from the Zugligeti Reality post on the Merites website:

More Info