Lisa A. Shiel's new Sasquatch-themed book, Creature of Controversy: Forbidden Bigfoot, Part One, is now available. It contains an extensive Q&A with me on my thoughts on what Bigfoot is (and isn't!), the paranormal/Fortean aspects of certain Bigfoot encounters, and much more that will probably not endear me (not that I am already! LOL) to the mainstream field of Cryptozoology!
As an example of the interview with me, here's a taster from it:
Lisa A. Shiel: "What is the biggest controversy in Bigfoot research?"
Nick Redfern: "In my personal opinion, without any doubt, it's why we haven't been able to catch Bigfoot or find a body or any hard evidence—which flies in the face, in my view, of any other animal that doesn't fall in the realm of cryptozoology. When it comes to bears, lions, and tigers, we may find them dead occasionally in the wild or we might find a bear occasionally hit by a truck, but the important thing is that even though it's just occasionally, it does happen. I think this is the biggest controversy with Bigfoot research. Bigfoot, even when it reportedly gets shot, never crumples to the ground and dies. If it unfortunately gets hit by a car, it always manages to escape. Photographic evidence is interesting but never conclusive. Hair samples are interesting but never conclusive. It's this overwhelming, almost eerie elusiveness with Bigfoot that to me is the most controversial aspect. The reason it's the most controversial aspect is because, by default, being so elusive to me implies there's something more—or paradoxically less—to Bigfoot than just being an unclassified animal that science hasn't found or doesn't recognize."
And if that has caught your attention, here's the publisher's blurb on the book:
Is Bigfoot real or a hoax?
For most people, this is the most controversial question surrounding Bigfoot. But to the folks who study Bigfoot—interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and analyzing the data—there's no question about Bigfoot's reality. Yet behind the closed doors of Bigfoot research, arguments boil over into feuds worthy of the Wild West.
Now, Lisa A. Shiel invites you to step through the door and learn about the controversies that both enliven and hinder the quest for this mysterious creature:
• What should we call Bigfoot?
• Is Bigfoot paranormal, flesh and blood, or both?
• What on earth is Bigfoot?
• Should we shoot a Bigfoot in order to prove they exist?
• How much do we really know about Bigfoot?
• And much more!
Creature of Controversy exposes the feuds in a no-holds-barred look at the secret world of Bigfoot research, enhanced by interviews with other well-known Bigfoot researchers:
• Eric Altman
• Melissa Hovey
• Regan Lee
• Thom Powell
• Nick Redfern
• Kathy Strain
Will the Bigfoot mystery ever be solved, or will infighting block the search? Buy Creature of Controversy today to find out!
Excellent--another one for my reading list. Thank you for advising it and thanks for the input in the book--obviously in a world fraught with crazies in the BF industry, you are a voice of reason.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Autumn! I think you'll find the book very interesting!
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting, although you'll find that in parts of Africa/Asia black leopards are rarely, if at all found dead - the same could also be said for snow leopards and clouded leopards in their native environment. If any animal is rare - i.e. certain species of Rhino (and that's a big animal!) then finding a carcass is almost nigh on impossible. Gorillas are rarely found dead in the forests - too many scavengers around.And consider when the mountain gorilla was discovered ? I'm not saying Bigfoot is flesh and blood...but if it's on the verge of extinction a carcass would be impossible to find.
ReplyDeleteNeil, you're forgetting these "hard to find" bodies you mention are of well-documented species (some are in zoos). Bigfoot is both unknown and we lack a specimen.
ReplyDelete> if it's on the verge of extinction a carcass would be impossible to find.
And I should point out that mammoths have been extinct for 4500 years yet we have bodies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/11/mammoth-find-herders-climate-change