Georgia Bigfoot Hoax Draws Global Attention
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
NEWS AND COMMENT Georgia Bigfoot Hoax Draws Global Attention BENJAMIN RADFORD In early August, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer claimed to have found in the northern woods of Georgia something never known to exist: a dead Bigfoot. They claimed to have a body, photos of the body in a freezer, and DNA evidence, which they would reveal at an August 15 press conference in Palo Alto, California. I heard of the claims a week earlier, and since it seemed a likely fraud, I assumed the issue would die away qui- etly. Instead, as August 15 approached I was shocked by the level of media interest in the story. People around the globe were following the saga of the Georgia Bigfoot, from the Discovery Channel to the Kansas City Star to the Times of London. Posts on the monster-hunt- ing Web site Cryptomundo.com gloated that Bigfoot skeptics were about to eat a lot of crow. I was asked by ABC News to look into the case and reported back with a laundry list of red flags—aspects that suggested that the chances of the new discovery being a breakthrough instead of a hoax were vanishingly small. They included: A short video clip shown on YouTube featured Whitton and Dyer being inter- A photo of the “Bigfoot body” supposedly found by Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer in northern viewed by a taxonomist named Dr. Paul Georgia. The story made international news before being exposed as a hoax in late August 2008. (Photo credit: /AFP/Getty Images/Newscom from www.searchingforbigfoot.com) Van Buren. It was later revealed that “Dr. Van Buren” didn’t exist and was with the pair, promised that “Extensive said his group had captured a Bigfoot a instead portrayed by Whitton’s brother. scientific studies will be done on the week earlier, a male beast that weighed Whitton admitted that they had faked body by a team of scientists including a over 400 pounds and stood eight feet tall. the interview but claimed that they molecular biologist, an anthropologist, a He said he would be presenting photos did it “to give the psychos something paleontologist, and other scientists over of it several days later. It turned out to to do over the weekend.” He said they the next few months at an undisclosed be a hoax. In 2005 Biscardi promoted a had received angry messages and death location” under armed guard. Unnamed pay-per-view cable TV show in which he threats since their discovery: “It seems experts? Undis closed location? It sounded offered viewers the chance to see a Bigfoot like there are lot [sic] of people in the more like The X-Files than real science. captured on live television for only $59.95. Bigfoot world who are a little delu- Third, and perhaps most damaging, So had a Bigfoot finally been found sional.” Tom Biscardi previously claimed he had after all these years? Or was this just the lat- A second curious detail was how the captured a Bigfoot. On August 19, 2005, est hoax to embarrass Bigfoot believers and evidence was being handled. Bigfoot Biscardi appeared on the radio show bring further ridicule to a field sorely in en thusiast Tom Biscardi, who was working “Coast to Coast with George Noory” and need of science? A few prominent Bigfoot SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November / December 2008 5 NEWS AND COMMENT researchers expressed skepticism, but many a Bigfoot costume in a trunk and DNA while Biscardi claimed to be the inno- in the community clearly thought the results from both an opossum and a cent dupe amid a flurry of accusations Bigfoot smoking gun had been found. The human. (It’s not clear how exactly the and counter-accusations. Whitton was press conference was packed with media analysis would have proven Bigfoot’s soon fired from his job as a police officer from across the country, eagerly awaiting existence, since there is no comparison and the media circus eventually faded actual proof. A reporter from Scientific specimen; no DNA analysis can defini- away. Bigfoot believers were left with American asked if I would be attending. I tively identify Bigfoot tissue.) red faces in the wake of the highest-pro- said I’d probably pass, adding, “I think I’ve Most journalists were suitably skep- file Bigfoot hoax of the last few decades. seen this before.” tical, but Whitton, Dyer, and Biscardi —Benjamin Radford Instead of producing a body at the stood by their story—at least at first. press conference, Biscardi offered pho- Within days everything unraveled; Benjamin Radford is managing editor of tographs of what was later proven to be Whitton and Dyer admitted the hoax SKEPTICAL INQUIRER and author of “Bigfoot Nocturnal Lights and Sounds Baffle Maryland Town . for Awhile For more than two years, residents of far more ordinary. The repositioned police Pikesville, Maryland, have been startled cameras showed activity in a condominium awake in the middle of the night by bright building window just prior to an explosion. flashes and loud explosions. Baltimore Gas Police searched the condo unit and found and Electric workers checked their equip- illegal fireworks, as well as twelve handguns, ment and reported everything was in work- a rifle, two shotguns, an Uzi submachine gun, ing order. A local weatherman reviewed cocaine, and marijuana. Frederick Lee Mack- weather reports and said there were no ler, age fifty-nine, was arrested and charged unusual meteorological events at the time with ten counts, including disturbing the of the incidents. A physicist from the Johns peace, possessing narcotics, reckless endan- Hop kins Applied Physics Laboratory toured germent, and concealing a deadly weapon. the site and was unable to offer any sugges- Mackler confessed to using a starter pistol tions. Baltimore County Police set up video to fire “bird bangers” into the courtyard cameras and were able to catch on tape what behind his building. (Bird bangers are used they described as a “bright flash and very by farmers to scare birds and rodents away loud report” about one hundred yards above from crops.) “It wasn’t directed at anyone,” the ground. “I have a feeling that if we repo- said a Baltimore County police spokesman. sition the cameras, we will be able to identify “He just happened to have pyrotechnics and, the source,” a police spokesperson stated. early in the morning, he would set them off.” Barbara Friedman, president of the neigh- Mackler told police he wanted to annoy borhood community association, praised his neighbors. po lice for taking their complaints seriously. He was being held at the Baltimore “The quality of life has been very much dis- County Detention Center on one million turbed for hundreds of homes,” Friedman dollars bail. “I’m not a psychiatrist, but I said. “It’s a very strange story.” believe this was a cry for help,” his attorney A local science-fiction fan suggested the told the judge. cause could be time-travel experiments gone —Bill Vanderlinde awry. “We believe time travel will eventually be possible,” Paul Scheerer said. “I always Bill Vanderlinde lives in Columbia, Maryland, thought this could possibly be someone try- and is a member of the National Capital Area ing to beam something back through time Skeptics. and we are just seeing the end result.” Alas, the true cause of the explosions was 6 Volume 32, Issue 6 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT Where’s the Responsibility? UK Broadcasting Code Prevents Re-Airing Psychic’s Failure In 1931 Stanley Baldwin, the Tory leader, supposedly “based” on the life of Allison accused owners of the major British Du Bois, the WE channel hosts John newspapers of exercising “power without Ed ward, Court TV features Psychic responsibility.” In doing so, he criticized Detectives, A&E hosts Psychic Kids, and the major news papers as being tools for the list goes on. In all of these television their owner’s political agendas and called shows, not once has any psychic ability for responsible reporting of the facts. As been demonstrated in a double-blind the media grow and proliferate, so do test. As with Browne, television feeds the their role in educating the masses in other celebrity of the psychics and gains viewers aspects of our life. This includes not only who want to believe in the paranormal. politics but science and the public’s under- standing of reality. Consequent ly, govern- ments and media associations have created guidelines intended to aid in balancing In all of these television viewpoints and prevent offending material from reaching the public. However, some shows, not once has material is not worthy of a “balanced” view, any psychic ability been and sometimes broadcasting codes have a negative impact on re porting reality. demonstrated in a Such was the case when the broad- casting codes in the United Kingdom double-blind test. recently silenced Sylvia Browne’s most Stanley Baldwin famous false prediction. Until The Montel Williams Show was Com munications ruled that ITV2 breach ed cancelled, popular psychic Sylvia Browne All too often we see “psychics” on its standards by re-airing the episode when appeared weekly on it for more than a television interviewed by the likes of Browne falsely told Hornbeck’s parents he decade. Each week she told families of popular and seemingly intelligent hosts. was dead (see “ITV Wrong over Psychic missing loved ones about the missing, Some times a skeptic is included on these Claim Repeat,” The Press Associa tion, gave relationship advice, or offered med- shows to offer a “balanced” view. How ever, June 23, 2008). Consequently, the show ical recommendations.