Beastly Fakes ‘Sasquatch’ Tracks — the Book Could Justi- Fiably Have Been a Compilation of Mockery and Humour
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followed by other people faking evidence, until a self-reinforcing legend is established. As more monster hunters flock to find the beast, more dubious evidence is generated. Before you know it, there is a souvenir shop POPPERFOTO/GETTY POPPERFOTO/GETTY selling T-shirts. Yet it is the hunters — ranging from out- right rogues to serious, if misguided, research- ers — who make this a gripping read. For instance, Bernard Heuvelmans, referenced as the founder of modern cryptozoology, earned a doctorate studying aardvark teeth, worked as a jazz musician and comedian, escaped from the Nazis and befriended Tintin creator Georges Prosper Remi (known by the pen- name ‘Hergé’) before producing his work on “What cryptids of all kinds. emerges is On a 1958 expedi- a never less tion to Tibet to seek than rigorous the yeti (a kind of examination Himalayan Bigfoot), of the led by Texas oil baron evidence.” Tom Slick, some members of the group allegedly performed sleight of hand on a sacred relic, swapping human finger bones for purported yeti A purported yeti footprint from the Menlung Basin in Nepal. bones. The stolen bones were reportedly smuggled out of the country in the luggage CRYPTOZOOLOGY of actor James Stewart. Going by these and other anecdotes in Abominable Science! — such as people strapping on fake wooden feet to create Beastly fakes ‘Sasquatch’ tracks — the book could justi- fiably have been a compilation of mockery and humour. In fact, it is a sensitive but Daniel Cressey delves into a sceptics’ history of devastating takedown of an entire subcul- monster hunters and their mythical quarry. ture. It culminates in a final chapter that poses a puzzling question: why do people believe in monsters, in a world under sur- he animals that star in Abomina- biology is not neces- veillance by satellites and camera-toting hik- ble Science! will be known to most sarily very big,” they ers? No credible photograph of any of these children. Sadly, none of them exist. write, before compre- creatures has ever been captured. TDaniel Loxton, a journalist for Skeptic hensively document- Rather unsatisfactorily, Loxton and Pro- science magazine, and palaeontologist ing that ‘necessarily’ is thero fail to pin down the answer to this Donald Prothero dedicate their engaging a key caveat. question. Instead, they end up detailing the book to chronicling how we arrived at a Some hunters of damage pseudoscience can do, and suggest- point at which, despite a huge absence of Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, ing how cryptid hunting could become a evidence, people still believe in cryptids the gigantic primate genuine science, contributing to “a world such as the yeti, the Loch Ness monster, sea Abominable that supposedly stalks somewhat less ignorant and anti-scientific serpents and the ‘Congo dinosaur’ (Mokele Science! Origins the forests of North than the one in which we grew up”. On the Mbembe), a purported living sauropod. of the Yeti, Nessie, America, do seem to basis of the information they present, how- What emerges is a never less than rig- and Other Famous behave like biologists. ever, it seems probable that true believers orous examination of the evidence, and a Cryptids A less kind interpre- in such tall tales will always be with us. Evi- cultural history of cryptozoology. Loxton DANIEL LOXTON AND tation would be that dence — or the lack of it — is never enough DONALD R. PROTHERO and Prothero, who take it in turns to pen Columbia University they adopt the trap- to scupper a good story. At least Abominable chapters, have a grudging respect for some Press: 2013. pings of science, but Science! proves that proper examination of of the characters who populate this bizarre ignore its philosophy. it can produce an equally compelling tale. world of monster hunters, if more for their As Loxton and Prothero demonstrate, the Loxton admits that as a child, he believed doggedness than their scientific preci- hunters’ behaviour would appal most right- in the things he now debunks. His passion sion. They point out that a number of real thinking field researchers. The title of the eventually led him to question what he was animals, such as the okapi and mountain book says it all. told, and to co-author this book. Hopefully gorilla, have been discovered after scien- Each chapter follows a similar pattern, it will encourage others to take a similar tists investigated the stories of locals and starting with an early pioneer combining journey. ■ vague reports of sightings. “The distinction some folk tales with a vague sighting of between cryptozoology and conventional something in the distance. This is generally Daniel Cressey is a reporter for Nature. 406 | NATURE | VOL 499 | 25 JULY 2013 © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.