Manwolf's Howls & Growls

FINDING BIGFOOT: Virginia is for Bigfoot Lovers

2012-02-12T23:14:00.001-08:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 2/12/12

The BFRO (Matt, Cliff, Bobo, & Ranae) head to VA to track down the Beast of Gung Hill (sp?) a.k.a. another very fuzzy video. Could it be the elusive woodbooger? Ranae thinks that the video, which shows a shape moving across a creek in front of an ATV is suspicious; the rest want to see the sighting spot. So they hop some ATVs and head out into the woods for a recreation. Bobo is smaller than the supposed "squatch," and I'm wishing for some of Fact or Faked's voice analysis on the witness. Ranae is skeptical, and even Cliff expresses some reservations. Time for the first night investigation of the week. (Every week has two.) Some "knocks" -- which I'm not convinced are squatch evidence at all -- but nothing else. So, Matt stays in the wild (one crew member does every week) and checks out some caves, which he believes might be bigfoot shelter during the winter.

The rest do the usual town hall meeting to dig up places to look for local sasquatch--and they get the usual interesting & compelling stories--from which they pick 3 to investigate further (as usual this season). The first, a teen girl, Ranae is skeptical about. The second, near a waterfall, seems harder to explain, and the third witness is a former cop, who says he saw the thing at close range. Real? Who knows. But in tonight's investigation, they're going to try something new: they'll use a luminous dust to try to track anything taking their bait. I'd think they might put up camera traps, too, but not tonight. Twenty-four hours later, they check the bait, and discover some cool luminous raccoon tracks. And, naturally, they hear strange woodland sounds--but no solid bigfoot evidence.

And I have to wonder, at this point, if I need to do such long reviews of this show. The formula this season is clear: 1) investigate crappy probably-hoaxed video, 2) night investigation; nothing shows up, 3) camp out &/or talk to locals; hear interesting but unprovable stories, 4) second night investigation hearing spooky sounds, 5) Ranae disagrees with the rest about whether this proves anything (she says no; the rest, yes). So, unless they do something really interesting -- like tonight's luminous dust -- maybe I should just say, "Same as last week. Nothing proven; a few things dis-proven."

FINDING BIGFOOT: Buckeye Bigfoot

2012-01-29T23:31:00.001-08:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 1/27/2012

Off to Ohio to hunt some squatch with Matt, Cliff, Bobo, and (the reason I watch) Ranae! The story starts, as often, with a pretty vague "bigfoot" video, where the beast seems to shake a tree. The thing's bulky torso even impresses Ranea - though distance makes it little more than a dark blurry shape. They talk to the father & son witnesses and find the fallen tree. In a re-creation, the creature looks smaller than Bobo, which makes Ranae (and even Bobo) skeptical -- and the witness is no longer sure. (Nice debunking job, guys!) Naturally, they do a night investigation, and for once hear a strange cry in return to one of their "squatch" calls. Tonight's solo camp-out goes to Bobo (who says that cooking bacon attracts the beast), while the rest look for more witnesses at a town-hall meeting. They get some interesting tales (and even a recording) and pick 3 to investigate.

The witness stories are intriguing, as always, but come without any actual proof. Plotting the sightings, the team decides to take their next hunt in the Salt Fork state park and do a "grid search" (with a line of people sweeping the area). They find a strange stick structure, which Ranae suggests might be a flood remnant, but Bobo thinks is a squatch hunting blind. Then they find a "heel" print -- according to Matt, though Ranae doubts it. They do another night investigation, but turn up nothing substantial -- which, frankly, is the way a lot of these shows go. If you're wanting to hear more "tales of bigfoot," tune in. If you're looking for hard evidence, you, like Ranae, will have to keep looking.

FINDING BIGFOOT: Canadian Bigfoot, eh?

2012-01-24T00:34:00.001-08:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 1/22/12

Into the Canadian Rockies for Matt, Cliff, Bobo, and Ranae, to hunt "the most territorial bigfoot of all." They start with a controversial video, showing a "bigfoot" hunching down behind a rock. Bobo points out that the video, at 5 seconds long, seems likely a hoax. Why didn't they film longer? Ranae wonders. Todd, the videographer, is controversial in the bigfoot community, too (possible hoaxer), but they want to talk to him. Todd says the original location is too dangerous to go to. (Ranae's not buying it, and I'm wishing for Fact or Fake's voice analysis) So they go some place similar to re-create the video. Bobo thinks the thing is bigger than him; Ranae & Matt think if you put Bobo in a furry costume, he'd be a match. (Yay, team!) Matt suggests they need to check hoaxes (like this) to tell them from the real thing.

They do a night investigation in the area; no luck, so they go to meet some local Native Americans (First Nations, in Canada, I think). The natives believe that bigfoot is real, and they do a ceremony to help the team in their hunt. Matt does the lone camp out, this week (every week this season, someone does). The rest of the team hold the usual town meeting and canvas witnesses. The first story they check out seems credible, and not explainable by people or bears -- but, as always, it's just a story. (Science needs more.) The other encounters involve rock throwing and pissing(!) on a tent. Again, compelling stories, but.... For their second night investigation, they bring in a mechanical deer, to use as a lure. The make howls and hear some strange sounds back, but apparently don't catch anything usable on the parabolic mics. (Either that, or I couldn't pick it out from the usual annoying soundtrack/sfx.)

In all, this seemed to be a more scientifically balanced show than the norm. A trend I hope will continue in the future.

FINDING BIGFOOT: Peeping Bigfoot

2012-01-15T23:48:00.001-08:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 1/15/11

The group goes to Minnesota to check out a recording of a supposed bigfoot howl and daylight sightings of a 10-foot-tall monster. They meet with the audio recordist, who claims he's got more than wolves on his recordings. (Ranae hears only wolves; I'm with her.) Matt suggests that sasquatch disguise their calls to fit in with the local fauna. (Really? I suppose they shape-change to fit in, too. Is there any evidence to the contrary believers can't explain away?) Cliff has fun driving the crew to the recording site in a (tracked) amphibious vehicle, capable of mowing down small poplar trees. They find broken trees (too tall for Cliff to have broken) which Matt thinks is some kind of territorial marking by sasquatch. A night investigation leads to the usual strange sounds, and this time Bobo stays behind to investigate while the rest head off to do the usual town hall meeting.

In the packed meeting hall, nearly the whole audience raises their hands when Matt asks if anyone has ever seen a bigfoot. (Even I am impressed by the number of hands that go up.) The usual compelling stories of sightings follow, which the group then maps. The locations seem to cluster around the west fork of the Kettle River, so the BFRO team investigates. They estimate the nurse-jogger witness' creature as 11' tall, which makes Ranae think it's misidentification of some kind. Another witness claims a bigfoot, estimated at 9 feet tall, was peeking into the windows of a trailer. Rejoining with Bobo (who's almost been eaten alive by mosquitoes), the group interviews a family who saw a 9-foot-tall bigfoot while riding their four-wheelers. Even Ranae is impressed ... but not convinced. So, it's time for a second nighttime investigation along the aforementioned river gorge, featuring a car with a PA system call-blasting, in hopes of getting a response. The team also makes knocks, and Matt thinks he hears something following them but -- Surprise! -- nothing shows up. Nothing. For all the witnesses, no evidence. Again.

And and at this point, I feel it should be pointed out that stories are not proof. People have been telling stories (and seeing strange things) since the beginnings of human history, and much of what our ancestors took to be "real," we find absurd today. For instance, few people today believe in fairies, dragons, mermaids, or witches flying on brooms (Harry Potter notwithstanding). Yet, just a short while back, otherwise sensible people believed in all of those things -- and they had the eyewitness stories to "prove" it. This is why science doesn't take stories as fact. It's fun to believe in such things, but liking a story doesn't make it real. Happily, on this show, we have Ranae insisting on scientific proof, even if the rest of the crew wants to believe in fairy stories.

FINDING BIGFOOT: Big Rhodey

2012-01-15T22:48:00.001-08:00

Animal Planet -- Original Air Date: 1/8/11

The BFRO team goes to Rhode Island, to prove that while the state may be small, it can still have Bigfoot. They're surprised that Rhode Island has so much trackless forest (Hint: All of New England does.), and they've come to check out some supposed footage. Most of the team thinks the blurry object in the film could be sasquatch, but Ranae (wisely) points out that the story behind this (footage for documentary) is fishy. Plus, the blurry image could be someone in a coat. "Why do you have to think it's a bigfoot?" Ranae asks. Why, indeed? A recreation indicates the "figure" is smaller than Bobo, and to me it looks like it could even be a shadow of a tree, though a person in a hoodie seems more likely than Bobo's juvenile sasquatch suggestion. They do a night hunt complete with calling; coyotes reply, and they hear mysterious squatchy "knocks." This time, they leave Cliff behind in the woods to look around more while the rest go and hear the usual interesting stories from local folks. (Though the team is surprised that Rhode Island has so many stories, I guess 'cause the state is so small.)

This time, one of the witnesses even has a actual track (cut from the dirt) and a cast of what he found, though he didn't actually see what made the prints. Ranae recreates the print's stride, and suggests that the print may have been someone in those barefoot/glove jogging shoes. Naturally, Matt and Bobo still believe it was a squatch. Cliff, meanwhile, finds animal tracks and hears barn owls (which he readily identifies; points for that). Joining back up, the group decides to do a night hunt trying to flush any animals toward Ranae, who's observing from a tree stand. But aside from small fauna, they turn up nothing. Bobo, of course, thinks he heard something and declares Rhode Island "Squatchy as hell." Well, maybe if Hell has lots of stories by no actual sasquatch. Sorry, guys, blurry footage, colorful stories, and no actual evidence do not a bigfoot make.

FINDING BIGFOOT: Baby Bigfoot

2012-01-15T21:51:00.001-08:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 1/1/12

Matt, Cliff, Bobo, and (most importantly) Ranae are back for another season of looking for (and probably not finding) bigfoot. This show starts with a shadowy video (from New York state) of something apparently swinging in a tree, perhaps, they suppose, a baby bigfoot. It looks like a jumping jack doll to me -- or maybe some kind of pet monkey, but when good video is thin, I guess you've gotta follow every lead you can. Ranae (the skeptic) points out that with an image this small and grainy, it's hard to tease any reliable data from it. Cliff believes that the "baby" figure jumps from the shoulder of a larger figure into the tree. This seems to say "handler" to me, though the group thinks it's a parent sasquatch. So, they go talk to the witnesses, check the scene, and all the usual stuff. Comparison on location shows the creature to be only 1/3 of Cliff's size. Suggestion of a gibbon seems more sensible, but Bobo thinks it's a baby "squatch." So they set up surveillance & do a night hunt, and hear "knocks" which to most of them is an indication that bigfoots are ... afoot. Matt & Ranae find a deserted house, and Matt wants to see if there is a mattress a bigfoot might have lain on to get out of the cold. (Really.)

This year, they're apparently leaving people in the field to do further investigations, so Ranae stays behind to see if she can find anything that will make her a believer. The rest go talk to locals, to hear about experiences in the area. A local zoologist points out that these woods are big and could contain unknown animals. Ranae sees deer but no squatch. Cliff interviews someone whose tent was attacked by something large, possibly sasquatch, and Matt talks to a witness who saw one in the road -- maybe. Matt theorizes that the bigfoot travel along the Appalachian Trail. The group does a hunt along the Trail, this time with a borrowed baboon, hoping to use the animal to lure in the sasquatch. As usual in night hunts, they hear strange sounds, but ... big surprise, find no actual bigfoot. Which, I suspect will be a continuing trend this season. (As it was last season.)

FACT OR FAKED: Bar Fright; Mexico City Cave Witch

2011-12-14T23:44:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 11/30/11

The "shown but not investigated" videos this episode include: Greensberg Flyers shows UFOs through a grove of trees. Lanisha thinks they look like balloons, and that was my feeling, too. Trent UFO Photographs show an iconic UFO shape over a house and telephone lines (much like the Rex Heflin case). Devin points out some photo inconsistency, and Austin suggests the UFO could be suspended from the power lines. (Which is pretty much how I made a similar photo as a kid; plus, I've always thought this UFO looked suspiciously like an old-time metal lampshade -- look for the cord at the top.) Stonehenge Apparition seems to show a shadowy figure on one of the stones at the famous monument. But more shadows are a likely culprit, and it seems slim evidence for a long trip. In the commercial debunk, Enfield Demon Seed seems to show a mysterious figure in a nighttime crib. But the figure turns out to merely be the baby's twin, who was already in the crib, and a motion blur from the IR camera. Which leaves the 2 cases for investigation:

Ashtray Poltergeist seems to show an ashtray in a bar (on security cam) shattering for no reason, and also an orb (bug). The bar has plenty of "spooky" history, but stories aren't proof, so the team does some experiments. First they test dropping objects, in case something came loose from the ceiling. But objects big enough to shatter the ashtray are picked up by the camera. Next, they try shattering the ashtray with thermal shock (sudden temperature change). But normal heat won't shatter a frozen ashtray, though a blowtorch does. Next, they rig the ashtray with a special effects squib. They get a puff of smoke, but otherwise the vid is dead on. Later examination shows what might be a similar rig in the initial video. Case solved, but they still do a ghost hunt. (Annoyingly, every show must have a nighttime ghost hunt.) Of course, they get strange results, but one -- a glass falling off a secure bar rack -- impresses even me (a bit), though the EVP, not so much. Again, we get the annoying "fake but maybe some real supernatural goings on anyway" verdict.

Mexican Bruja seems to show a floating witch-like figure (outside a cave) that then seems to fly away. They talk to the witness, who swears (of course) that it's all true, and go to the cave to make some tests. First, they use a big owl to see if the shape could be a bird. But it shows clear wing flapping: no match. Next, Austin dresses in black and does some parkour (free-running) moves, in case it was just an athlete caught by mistake. Closer, but doesn't quite have that float/fly quality. So, they set up some pulleys and a dummy, and ... Bingo! Perfect match for the original fake. (Liar! Liar! Witness on fire!) Happily, they do not do a night bruja hunt, just to be sure.

Again, this show does some very good scientific investigation, and exposes two hoaxes (plus extras). I just wish they'd skip the ghost hunts, which have very little (if any) basis in science (experimentation, repeatability, etc.) Clearly, though, those ghost hunt segments play to people who want to believe, and SyFy must believe: 1) those folks make up a big percentage of FoF's audience, and 2) those people would desert the show if the investigations stuck to pure science, like Mythbusters. Too bad.

FACT OR FAKED: Old West Haunting; Freeway Flyer

2011-11-23T20:14:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 11/16/11

Debunked videos this week include: Zombie Cam claims to show a zombie figure caught by a hunter's camera trap, but it's just Photoshop trickery. Snow Triangle shows a huge "snow circle" design in the Alps. It's a fractal, as many "circles" are, but fakery seems very likely. (Regular readers will know I think -- with some justification -- that crop circles are made by human artists.) In the commercial-break debunk, Wedding UFO shows strange lights hovering over the water, but it's merely a reflection of a chandelier on the picture window between photographer and water. Leaving us the subjects of this week's show.

Bird Cage Theater Ghost is another famous haunted site, and the video seems to show a ghostly image of a figure which appears as a flashlight beam passes over a wall. At the theater, they hear scary stories and talk to the original videographer, who shows them where and how he shot the video. First, they test whether items on a nearby table could cast reflections/shadows to form the "ghost." They get some interesting shapes, but not the right ones. Then they try hoaxing the image with black light paint, but the image is too vague. But Devin has noticed something, and shining a flashlight through the wheel of a big museum coffee grinder produces a perfect match. But, because the audience won't like the "no ghost here" conclusion, I assume, they then stage the usual ghost hunt. Naturally, they hear spooky sounds, and one of the camera lights falls off and is mysteriously outside a door (where it was previously inside). Rats maybe? No, that plus an EVP are this week's sop to believers. Video: faked; paranormal activity: yes. Really?

Freeway Flyer seems to show a bright light hovering over a freeway (at night) that then zips away with amazing speed. They talk to the videographer and then set up their own highway in the desert to test some theories. They start by shining a laser into the moving vehicle used to film the video. But the laser beam seems too small, and the beam reveals itself when it moves: no match. Next, they test reflections off of power lines; similar, but too elongated. Finally, they test a helicopter with a mounted searchlight. That and a little After Effects trickery to speed the light up at the end create a perfect match. The team's Layered Voice Analysis (which I'm not sure I totally believe in) suggests that's how the videographer did it -- doctoring the original video to make it sexier.

So, two good debunks this week, but I'm still bothered by the apparent need to reinforce audience beliefs in the supernatural. Why not let this show be a real supernatural Mythbusters and just go for it?

FACT OR FAKED: Asylum Apparition; Mystery Over Mexico

2011-11-23T19:27:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 11/9/11

The videos the crew is not investigating this week are: Roswell Alien shows a purportedly living alien in B&W footage, though puppetry, animatronics, or CGI seem more likely. Cascades Bigfoot is a cell phone video of a mysterious figure walking through the woods -- but it's shadowy enough to be a suit or even just a person. In the commercial break, Sky Portal is supposedly an alien portal in the sky. The "portal" is merely a misidentified smoke ring being used to advertise the amusement park where the video was shot. Which leaves the two cases they're actually looking into.

Waverly Hills Apparition shows 2 figures in the deserted hallway of a legendary haunted sanatorium. A second video seems to show a toy ball moving on its own. Waverly is a ghost-hunting hotspot, and the team gets the usual grisly tour (as seen on several Ghost Hunters shows). A test with a ball immediately shows how uneven the floor is. They do a wind test, and the ball moves around easily because of that, too. Seems debunked to me, but the team becomes caught up in the ball moving too much, rather than just rocking as in the video. That's silly. Clearly this drafty old place with the un-level floors could produce any number of effects on a light ball like this, depending on drafts and floor dents/grooves. Then they try to recreate the hallway apparitions with first humans (too solid), then with heaters (too obvious in frame or not defined enough when out of frame). So, even though this "ghost" looks like another reflection or camera malfunction to me,(nothing was seen by the human filming, only the camera), they start a ghost hunt and (no surprise) hear strange noises. Plus, the ball they set down rolls around, seemingly on its own. I'd be more impressed with a baseball, basketball, or even a standard playground ball, rather than the lightweight play balls they're using. Vibrations in this rickety old building could probably move the test-subject ball around. In fact, a heavier-looking ball nearby doesn't move at all. They also get EVPs, which you should know by now I think are almost always completely bogus. Should you be surprised that they declare Waverly Hills haunted? You shouldn't be; the MO of the group this year seems to be to have one gimme for believers every episode. I'm guessing the SyFy execs think there's not enough ratings in bursting believer balloons -- or rolling balls -- every week. And speaking of balloons...

Guadalajara UFO Fleet seems to show a fleet of round white UFOs hovering in the sky. Their first theory is that the objects might be birds, so they send up a flight of pigeons, but the birds are obviously birds. Next, they try floating ping pong balls in a pool with dry ice clouds to fake the shot. Closer, but ripples are a problem. So, they try what I thought the obvious solution from the beginning (though I understand the need to structure the show this way) and release a mass of balloons. Yeah, hey, bingo! Balloons plus dodgy camera equals UFO fleet. Which makes me think the original videographer was an idiot not to notice. I saw three UFOs this summer, and one of them was likely a Mylar balloon floating over Yellowstone. (Other 2 might have been a helicopter and a Chinese lantern.) So, good job, group. One out of two ain't bad, but...

The problem I'm having with this show this year is that each episode seems to have an obvious sop to believers -- a case where the group just doesn't push far enough. Last year, this wasn't so much a problem, and I was encouraged. This year, not so much. I hope they'll do better in the second half of the season.

FACT OR FAKED: Sinister Spirals: Flying Saucers

2011-11-07T23:00:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 11/4/11

This week, the crew rejects Menger Hotel, which seems to show a shadowy figure walking across walls and down a hall (not enough info & possible CGI), Duende Gnome, a tiny figure chased by teens (probably a marionette), and UFO in the Clouds where a San Paolo (Brazil) photog supposedly catches a UFO hiding in a cloud and later mysteriously zooms away. Close inspection by Bill shows the object missing from the sky as a truck passes: CGI Galveston Ghost Face -- their commercial break debunk (which I remain glad they're doing) -- shows a "mysterious" face on the side of a building, but it's only a stain and pareidolia, the tendency of human beings to see patterns as familiar shapes -- like Jesus on a piece of toast. Which leaves FOF with the two cases they will be investigating.

Heflin UFO Ecounter is a famous case that shows a hat-shaped silvery object floating above a road in 3 pictures and a mysterious smoke ring in a 4th. Supposedly the photos were later confiscated by Men In Black and then mysteriously returned 28 years later. Ben, Devin, and Lanisha go to California and talk to "researchers" who talked to the photographer, who is now dead. Scientifically, such second-hand information means very little, and when a "doctor" (of what?) declares that Polaroid photos of this type would be very hard to fake, my spider sense goes off loudly. I could fake you a great Polaroid UFO before I reached high school.

Nevertheless, the crew stages some experiments. First, they re-create the photos using a remote-controlled helicopter UFO, testing whether the pics could have been taken in 20 seconds, as Heflin claimed. Why they believe the 20 seconds is necessary, as this was before date/time stamps on photos, I don't know. I certainly don't believe it. But they do, and they do manage to replicate taking 3 photos that fast -- though none of the photos is as sharp and focused as the Heflin photos (which are very clear). This, for me, would tend to indicate Heflin lied about the rapidity of his picture taking, but the crew continues. They try some natural explanations for what he saw, using various types of wind-blown debris: paper plates, clay pigeons, and a hat. But it's too hard to take pictures of things moving that fast. (Hmm... Wonder how fast that "UFO" was flying....) Then they try a hat on a fishing line, which looks quite similar, though they then declare that there's no evidence that Helflin had an accomplice to pull of such a hoax. This seems like flimsy reasoning to me -- for reasons I'll explain in a bit.

Finally, they put up a saucer-shaped balloon to "prove" that what Heflin saw could have been a large object further from the camera, as he claimed. Results look similar (though they don't match the size and distance he claimed to have seen the object at). So they decide to explode the balloon, as if it had hit a power line, theorizing the hat-shape might have been an actual balloon, and its explosion could have created the smoke ring. The explosion, though, just kills the balloon. Devin, however, recreates the smoke ring with a metal tube, diesel fuel, and propane, essentially blowing a smoke ring into the sky -- with technology available from the time. So that, at least, could be hoaxed. Ben notes that El Torro Marine Corps is near the original sighting area, and might have been doing testing. Devin adds that perhaps the MIB were really from the government, as they claimed, and protecting a then-secret project, only to return the pictures later. Ben concludes that they were able to show that the craft could have been close to the vantage point, something hoaxed, or something far away -- so the case is still open.

I say, nice try, but you didn't try hard enough. First, I would ask, if I wanted to fake this, how would I do it? 1) I'd simply toss a pie plate or vintage hub cap (both made of metal at the time) in front of the camera -- or have someone do it for me. 2) I'd take as many Polaroids as I needed to get a some good shots, and then I'd throw the rest away. Remember, there are no negatives with this type of film (or, at least, the negatives elements are seldom kept). Unless the photos were numbered in their canister (I don't remember if they were), there would be no way to tell how many photos I actually took to get 3 good ones. 3) And for a capper, I'd use Devin's set-up to get a mysterious smoke ring -- or just have someone blow a cigarette smoke ring for me and then photograph it back-lit against the sky so that it appeared black. Because I'm clever, I might take all 3 pics against slightly different backgrounds, to make it hard to compare shadows to show the passage of time while I was experimenting. 4) Then, I'd claim to have taken the pictures faster than I actually did, just so people would think I couldn't have faked them in the supposed time frame. (He wouldn't have time to throw a hat into the air 3 times in twenty seconds and take pictures!)

I don't buy that no one ever having come forward as an accomplice is proof of something not being hoaxed. My brother hasn't come forward to talk about our hoaxed monster/UFO photos, has he? And even if they were famous, would he? It's a silly argument. But, if I had no accomplice, I'm certainly capable of rigging up a pole with mono-filament to take the pictures myself. Heck, I've even got a convenient van to attach it to. All I need is a bit of time to move the rig around between shots -- and since I've already decided to lie about how long it took me to take the pictures....

Which is to say, I think that -- because of this case's iconic nature -- the team was way too easy on this one. In my experience, anything that can be faked, likely has been faked. People do hoaxes for a number of complex reasons, and sometimes, once done, they don't admit it ever. Look how long the Loch Ness and Cottingley Fairy hoaxes took to be exposed. It's reasonable to assume that some hoaxers carry their secrets to the grave rather than face embarrassment or public ridicule, especially in a famous case like this. (And let's not even start in on the malleable nature of memory and how people can come to believe their own lies.)

Sorry, team, you blew this one. I hope you'll be harder on iconic cases in the future -- as you were on the UFO in the Woods story a few seasons back (even if doing so may crush the feelings of your want-to-believe audience).

Spiraling Rods shows mysterious wave-like creatures flying through the sky. (Those of us who saw the Monster Quest show know they're really just insects and slow-shutter digital cameras, but maybe that bears repeating here.) Bill, Austin, and Jael go to Joplin, Missouri, to talk to the videographer. He claims to have taken the pictures after setting off a bug bomb -- so it couldn't be bugs -- and to have taken similar photos in winter (though we never see any of those). The team then bug bombs the area, sets up a net tent, and brings in various critters to try having them fly past the camera. Bats don't look like it, nor does a slingshot, but the team wisely notice that the bug bomb has not cleared the area of insects -- not nearly. (You'd have to be a dope to think it would.) So they catch some bugs and try fly-bys with some of the bigger ones. Close ... until they put on the slow-shutter night shot, and then ... Bingo! Perfect match and a job well done. Hopefully, this puts the "rods" case to rest for good. Mistaken identity, bugs, and shoddy camera work (and knowledge) -- end of story.

So, one out of two this week ain't bad, though given last season, I'd come to expect more from Fact or Faked.

FINDING BIGFOOT: Birth of a Legend

2011-10-30T23:40:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 10/30/11

This Bigfoot Believer show returns with a 2-hour premier looking at the legend they're pursuing by going to Humboldt County, CA, site of the controversial Patterson film -- still the Holy Grail for many bigfoot researchers. (Despite the fact that National Geographic's Is It Real debunked it for me long ago.) The rest of the crew, Cliff, Bobo, and Matt have all clearly spent a lot of time convincing themselves the film is real. Happily, despite having seen the film as a child and believing, Ranae Holland, often the only sensible member of the team, remains more skeptical; she thinks it could be a suit. (And so do I. See part of my critique in this review, here.) The team goes to Bob Gimlin, the surviving member of the two-man team who filmed the footage, and they all ride and hike into the forest where the film was taken. More "why it's real" excuses by the believers ensue. Ranae asks Gimlin if it could possibly been a man in a suit, and he says no; he could see the muscles moving under the fur. (Though I seem to remember an interview where he previously confessed that Patterson could have duped him; sadly, despite my Howls & Growls database, I cannot turn up a program reference. Nor do I remember Gimlin mentioning muscle movement on the thing until that became the catchword of bigfoot believers. Muscle movement is bullshit. See the Michigan Dog-man case.)

They reconstruct the sighting using Bobo as bigfoot, and though it looks good, Cliff makes the usual muscle-movement excuse for why he still thinks the original is real. I suggest they check the Is It Real show on bigfoot. So they do a night bigfoot hunt in the area, including Bobo's dog in the team. Would you be surprised if they heard mysterious sounds? I wouldn't, and sure enough, they do: Ranae seems to hear children yelling. But finding nothing else besides a bear track, they leave behind some camera traps and move on to Willow Creek, a town built on bigfoot belief. There, they meet Al Hodgson and see his bigfoot museum; not surprisingly, he thinks the film is real. He thinks both Patterson & Gimlin were honest men, though we know Patterson had a history of hucksterism and deceit. They then call a town meeting, talk to more witnesses, and try to recreate sightings for which there is no video record. All in good fun, I guess, but aside from placing sightings for further investigations and collecting interviews, not a lot of hard scientific.

So they do a night investigation and camp-out sasquatch party, hoping to attract the supposedly curious animals. But even with Ranae yodeling bigfoot calls, no luck. So, they move on and show video of a "bigfoot" watching a ridge line, but only Ranae seems to think it's a person. The video also shows a 'bigfoot hut" (nest) and supposed tree damage, but the videographers are all laughing at the time, and the entire thing could possibly be a joke. An actual witness doesn't think so, and Bobo stands in on a ridge for a reasonable recreation. "I see no reason to discount that (original film) as a sasquatch," Cliff says, and Matt and Bobo agree. Ranae sensibly points out there's no reason it couldn't be a hiker. Believers vs. skeptic again, but the cast is not tilted in Ranae's favor.

Now they hire a chopper to do a thermal sweep on the Hoopa Indian Reservation in a nighttime investigation. Matt & Bobo spot something on a road below, while Ranae and Cliff walk nearby. Ranae hears a strange whistle and spots eye-shine nearby. "Oh my God, that was ... there is something standing to your right, there," she declares. They hear more strange noises (perhaps a rock hitting a tree), but they can't locate the thing they're seeing and hearing. Bobo and Matt, now on the ground -- with no mention of what the figure on the road was -- check their sighting area and then converge on the other two. They "smell animals," and hear a yell (which sounded like a person to me), but.... At the end of teh night, Ranae admits that events have decreased her skepticism. "I had a rock thrown at me. Definitely," she says. "Maybe there really is a small possibility that there is something out in the woods of Northern California."

Maybe. But like Ranae, I'm going to need a lot more evidence -- and a lot less belief on the part of investigators -- before I'm convinced.

FACT OR FAKED: Area 51; Cajun Apparition

2011-10-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/26/11

The videos that fail the test to be worth investigating this week are Utah Sun Halo, which could be UFO stargate technology, but is actually a "sun dog" halo, an atmospheric condition created by ice crystals (great diagram of this, guys). Goodyear Chupacabra looks almost identical to the one in their previous Texas chupacabra invstigation, likely a mangy dog or coyote. Which leaves the new team to investigate this week's posers;

Cajun Ghost is a mysterious shape-shifting mist at The Myrtles Plantation, (supposedly) "America's Most-Haunted" in St. Francisville, Louisiana. This place has a history that would do a horror film proud: abused slaves, murder, inter-racial affairs, a supposed Indian burial ground, etc., and they're clearly doing good business on their haunting. The team tests whether the mist could be condensation on the video lens, but there's too much condensation, and you can't see anything. They next text a windy fog vortex, but the fog diffuses too quickly. The industrial fogger and flashlights also don't work, but using the IR light on the video camera in fog proves just right; a near-perfect match. Naturally, despite having debunked this video, they have to do a ghost hunt as well. And naturally the equipment does weird things and they catch "laughter" on their EVP session. But they do figure out that a mirror casts strange, face-like shadows on a nearby wall. Good catch there, though I'd have just skipped the ghost hunt and stuck to the facts. (During a walk on the chilly night I saw this show, my breath produced a similar "ghost" on my glasses.)

Area 51 is a shape-changing UFO moving through the sky (supposedly) over Area 51, the secret government test facility which Ben admits he's wanted to go to for most of his life. While there, the team is watched almost constantly by government agents at the edges of the secret base -- which I gotta admit is spooky. First Ben, Jael, and Austin test a military heli-kite, a combination of winged kite and balloon used to check wind speed. (Good idea, and they should have gone further down this line of reasoning.) It doesn't look or behave right (because of its tether). Then, they check a payload slung beneath a helicopter -- but the suspension sling is clearly visible, and keeping the helicopter out of the picture would require a dedicated hoaxer.

So, they tromp around at night, trying to check out the forbidden area with telephoto lenses, during which time they're under constant security surveillance. Momentarily, the base landing lights go on, and, almost simultaneously, something that looks exactly like a shooting star to me, streaks across the sky. Coincidence, or something more? On later analysis, Bill doesn't think it's a shooting star -- which makes me wonder how many shooting stars he's seen. (I've seen dozens, more than 30 in one night alone.) Sadly, having failed to replicate the video, the show seems to buy into the "mysterious (alien) craft in Area 51" mythology. Bill says, "Good work," but I say...

This "UFO" looks like a balloon cluster caught in high altitude winds to me. In fact, it looks almost exactly like the simple balloon cluster from UFOS OVER EARTH: Mass Sightings in Mexico show. The investigators on Fact or Faked should have checked that out before jumping to their own erroneous conclusions. They got close with their heli-kite, but then stopped too soon. Personally, I saw three UFOs this summer, and I suspect that one was just such a balloon. (The other two were likely Chinese lanterns.) Further, there's nothing I saw in the "Fact" video to indicate it was taken at Area 51. The sky looks the same everywhere; where are the landmarks? I also think a hoaxer designed this balloon to be a convincing UFO for his/her film. I'm calling "Bullshit!" on the conclusion of this investigation. I expect better from the Fact or Faked team; they haven't failed this spectacularly in quite some time. I'm hoping in future that the show's need for ratings (by pandering to believers) won't outweigh their need to find the truth.

This week's quiz is of a supposed mythical beast sighting: Ontario Unicorn, which turns out to be CGI perpetrated to boost a local museum exhibit. Glad they set the record straight on that, otherwise people might have been seeing unicorns in their gardens.

FACT OR FAKED: UFO Crash Landing; Graveyard Ghost

2011-10-30T20:14:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/19/11

Fact or Faked is back for its third "season" with crew regulars Ben, Bill, Jael, Devin, Austin, and new member Lanisha (replacing fab photographer Chu Lan). Videos not investigated are Alien Plant by a garden pool (obvious CGI) and Habitat for Humanity Ghost (likely spider inside the security camera housing). That leaves the two they will investigate, which turn out to be a ghost case and a non-ghost case, a developing trend.

White Sands UFO seems to show a saucer-shaped object which comes down, ricochets off the ground, and then zooms back up before finally falling to the ground and exploding. White sands is only 200 miles from Roswell, so there's a UFO connection there, too, and possible "back-engineered alien technology." Ben, Devin, and Jael head to White Sands to talk to the filmmaker and observe the local area before setting up their experiments. First they try a rocket engine alone, but it's way too wild for the controlled trajectory seen in the film. Then they create a fake saucer and run it on guide wires with a special effects explosion to finish it. Looks great, but the speed is too slow, and the bounce is pretty wobbly, because of the cable guiding system. They then suggest the shape is merely the exhaust plume from a rocket hidden by speed and poor film quality -- and that ends up being a perfect match. (It's amazing what blurry video/film will conceal.) Maybe it's just me, with more than a half century of life experience, but that would have been my first guess. Though I suppose they have to walk through the others to help convince non-believers (or, in this case, UFO believers).

Cemetery Ghost seems to show an white shape floating over the landscape near Tonopah Cemetary, an area reputedly haunted by miners slain in a nearby disaster. Bill, Lanisha, and Austin head to the area to check it out, hear the legend of "Big Bill Murphy," who rescued miners before dying himself, and talk to the videographer. Then they set up experiments, and, as a capper, do some "night investigation." Naturally, during the investigation, their paranormal-catching equipment does strange things. (You'd almost think it was designed to do so.) And of course there are mysterious EVPs. (Aren't there always?) But disproving the video proves easy. It's not a person with a light, their first guess, but their lens flare from highway traffic lights theory proves dead on the mark. Of course, the show notes, this doesn't mean there are no ghosts, just as the first segment doesn't prove there are no UFOs.

And therein lies what I think is one of the show's innate faults: its audience is composed largely of people who want to believe. So, if you want to keep them tuning in week after week, you can't constantly dash their hopes. This, I think, sometimes hurts the show's investigative qualities, which can be quite good. I wish they'd cut back on the ghost segments (Don't we have enough ghost hunt shows?) and concentrate on other weirdness. Or, alternately, just be willing to stand up and call "Bullshit!" more of the time. A new feature this season is a short "quiz" -- at a middle commercial break -- debunking popular videos. This week the short is walking slippers in a cemetery. which was done with invisible wires or strings. I like the short addition, as I miss when they debunked more videos at the start of the show.

Legend Quest - Coda

2011-07-21T20:43:00.001-07:00

My review of Legend Quest was brief mostly because it's a bit outside what I usually review in these spaces -- that is, "true supernatural" TV shows. (Though I have been known to review movies and/or theater productions, too.) Longtime readers know that my hope in doing most reviews is to separate the wheat from the chaff, allowing me and the readers to track the science of the supernatural, and whether shows are giving good, scientific info, or merely repeating dogma and legends (which is what most do, most of the time). We can't hope to find out, for instance, if bigfoot is real without actual, scientific evidence -- as opposed to (often unreliable) hearsay and witness testimony. I want to know whether monsters are real; I praise shows that work toward that end and damn those that (often deliberately) repeat myths and otherwise obfuscate.

Legend Quest doesn't really fall into that realm. It is a show that attempts to draw connections between pieces of actual evidence associated with mythical objects and places. I may not agree with those connections -- so far, I think a lot are big stretches -- but, at least as far as I can tell, Ashley Cowie and his crew aren't deliberately ignoring or cutting their show to conceal facts that don't fit with their presuppositions. Instead, they're following thin threads of evidence and, hopefully in so doing, making viewers think in new directions. They're also highly entertaining when they do it. That's the true value in the DaVinci Code and for this show, too. I think that's worth doing. And I hope Legend Quest encourages others to think rather than merely believe. (Thus, my admonition to not take it too seriously.)

It's also worth mentioning (and maybe not obvious from my review) that I enjoyed both of the episodes I've seen so far. They have that adventurous, headlong quality that I admire so much in Destination Truth -- a quality that makes going out and searching for legends look like a lot of fun. That, too, is worthwhile, and hopefully it will encourage others to get the training needed to go into the field, find out new things, and do good work.

Be like Cowie. Be adventurous. Ask questions. (Even about "reality" TV shows.)

Legend Quest - micro-review

2011-07-20T22:43:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Dates: 7/13/2011 & 7/20/11 and beyond

There is a difference between an adventurer and a scientist, and, to me, Ashley Cowie falls firmly into the "adventurer" category. Mostly, this show seems to follow a series of thin, often-art-based "clues" to supposedly uncover the "truth" about ancient mysteries such as: Excalibur, the Ark of the Covenant, the Cintamani Stone, the Mayan Talking Cross, etc. It's a lot like a weekly episode of The DaVinci Code, and -- as someone with a minor in art history, I can assure you -- about as accurate and substantive. Just the thought that Cowie can solve centuries-old archaeological riddles in a half hour every week is absurd.

But, boy, all that globe hopping and checking out cool art and mysterious places sure looks like fun. Just don't mistake it for science ... or history ... or truth. Oh, and don't expect them to actually find anything amazing and new and revolutionary. So far, all the segments have ended with a statement like "This may well be the resting place of..." Or it may well not be. Smart money is betting on "not."

Alaskan Monster Hunt: Hillstranded

2011-07-19T22:48:00.001-07:00

Discovery Channel - Original Air Date: 7/19/11

The brothers HIllstrand, captains on The Deadliest Catch, look into Alaskan legends of the cryptid animal cadborosaurus. They start by viewing a video of the supposed beast taken by a local salmon fisherman. The video puzzles all of these experienced seamen and cryptozoologist Paul Leblond, too. (I'd be somewhat more impressed if they had a top marine biologist -- though Leblond's resume claims he was one, formerly.) The brothers then start outfitting for the trip as if they're on the world's biggest fishing trip. I am reminded of Quint's ill-fated venture to catch Jaws, and I am more than slightly disturbed when brother Andy declares, "Time to go kill a sea monster!"

Now, I don't watch Deadliest Catch, so I don't know if this is how these guys usually act, but their expedition seems irreverent at best. Methods include huge fishing lines with barrels as bobbers. They start at the mouth of a river, catch nothing, and then travel up to Lake Iliamna, which boasts a lot of monster reports. They overfly the lake with a pilot who saw the creature once. They talk to local Tim Laport, who suggests places to fish for the beast, and also suggests that it might be a sturgeon (an ancient type of huge fish). They repeat their barrel and bait operation, and succeed in losing their bait to ... something. Soon, one of their barrels ends up a mile away from where they set it, with the heavy hook bent straight. Then they spot something big and white (15' long?) in the water; so they fish for it, apparently hook it, and... the line breaks. Just another one that got away. What's left to do but throw a tantrum, toss dynamite in the water, and shoot the lake with automatic weapons.

I'm unimpressed. A better equipped, more scientific expedition might have gotten better evidence rather than just another fish story. I'm also vexed that the original video is not shown in its entirety -- making creature identification difficult for any home viewer. Monster? With this type of "evidence," who can say?

FINDING BIGFOOT - Behind the Search

2011-07-17T21:16:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 7/17/11

This is a wrap-up show for the first season of Finding Bigfoot. Matt, Ranae, Bobo, and Cliff go to the "Bigfoot & Beer" cafe in Oregon to talk about their experiences. They start by recapping the season's highlights -- which means you can catch this show and maybe skip the originals, unless you really like long segments of folks stomping around in the dark and howling. (Alternately, you can use this episode to survey which shows in the series might be interesting to you.) The show also gives us some outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage, which give an interesting glimpse of making the series. Plus, the audience gets to ask questions about the show, the crew, and the techniques and investigations. The crew even puts forth an alternate explanation of the river raft bigfoot video -- though Matt still thinks it's a monster and Ranae thinks it's not. Overall, it's nice to have a season summary like this, and it's not a bad springboard for those new to the series.

FINDING BIGFOOT - Alaska Bigfoot

2011-07-10T22:48:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 7/10/11

On the "season finale," the BFRO goes to Alaska to hunt. I predict they'll hear compelling stories, make howls, tromp around in the dark, have Matt make unsupportable statements and Ranae be skeptical. Let's watch the show and see how I do.

They start on Prince of Wales Island -- a place covered with rain forest and full of black bears -- supposedly at the behest of Hydaburg's mayor. They have photos of a "nest," snow-melted tracks, and a blurry figure (bear? gorilla suit?). They talk to the mayor and witnesses. Ranae thinks that the prints could be bear plus elk, snow melted; Cliff estimates the prints at 17"; Matt says that it must be a male bigfoot because of the size. Matt also says the tracks were made right before the witness came by, though they clearly show melt, which makes me doubt his credibility (again). This calls for ... a night investigation! Oh, and howling. They find a fresh footprint in soggy earth, which Bobo speculates is a juvenile squatch, and take a photo. (Casting impossible because of water.) A town meeting is in order (I forgot to predict that), where they hear the usual compelling stories. Breaking with tradition, they only choose 2 stories to investigate.

First involves a log thrown at a car (cab), and the witness came back next day and found a foul-smelling stick and a green eyed creature standing in a tree. The witness says it wasn't a bear; it was a sasquatch. Bobo thinks only juveniles climb trees; Ranae notes the branch in question couldn't hold a creature of that size. The other witness saw a tall, hairy creature step behind a tree when she was out hunting deer with her cousin. Cliff and Matt guestimate it was 8 1/2 feet tall and male, but find no physical evidence. They then talk to a 12-year-old deer hunter who saw the creature in a clearing from 30' away, while hunting alone (so we do get 3 witnesses). Even Ranae thinks the witness saw something scary and strange; the rest estimate it as a 9' male squatch. They pick a location and set up a 6-foot-tall laser perimeter (new tech!) to try catch a bigfoot feeding on deer at night. They use deer calls which lure ... deer, and bigfoot calls which lure ... a perimeter hit. They then look for whatever broke the beam, but find nothing -- apparently forgetting that the beam could be tripped by anything at that height, say ... a bat flying by. (Speculation by me.) They hear strange noises, but find nothing.

Which just about sums up this series. Lots of stories, lots of tromping around in the dark, little (or no) good, hard evidence, Matt making declarations like he's studied a captured specimen of the creature up close, and Ranae being skeptical but compassionate. Its Ranae (and the likability of Bobo) that gives me hope for this show, but it needs more hard science and (as in most of these shows), more follow through. Let's see what they've got for the season summary episode (next week) and hope they do better next season.

FINDING BIGFOOT - Frozen Bigfoot

2011-07-10T21:37:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 6/26/11

The BFRO heads to The Pinchot Nation Forest in SW Washington to investigate photos that show a "bigfoot" atop a snowy mountaintop ridge. By now, the MO of this show should be obvious: they check out a sighting, use Bobo as stand-in, Matt believes the evidence shows bigfoot, Ranae does not. This show holds true to form. The photos show a shadowy figure atop a snowy ridge, turning and disappearing downhill. Matt thinks it's bigfoot, as does Cliff -- by reading details into the photos that I, personally, don't see. The Bobo's recreations convince Matt it's sasquatch, but (wisely) not Ranae. Why would another human be on that ridge? the BFRO wonders. Why was the first guy there taking pictures? I reply. Looks like a man in a snowsuit to me and Ranae: "I have no reason to believe that's not a backpack," she says of the hump on the back. The witness seems equivocal to me, and I wish for Fact or Faked's voice stress analysis (though I don't totally believe in that, either). Howling night investigations in the nearby forest must ensue. They hear howls back, w whistle, and strange whispering voices. (People?)

They call a town meeting in Yacolt to talk about local encounters, and find a few (3, as usual) to look into. One of the investigations, as usual, involves length-of-stride, which, as usual, Bobo can't recreate. Another involves pacing through the woods, trying to follow people on a trail. The third involves crashing through the woods. Naturally, the humans have trouble re-creating what the witnesses think they saw/heard. Trying something newish, the group camouflages a canoe, and hauls out an RC goose (!) with a camera in it, to do some riverbank observation -- at night. Thermal hits can't be tracked down, though they do hear return calls to their howls. (Which might be me, if I were there.) But they can find no trace of people. so, it must be bigfoot! All in all, it's just another day at the BFRO office, with lots of screaming and tromping around in the dark and no solid evidence.

FINDING BIGFOOT - Fishing for Bigfoot in Oregon

2011-07-10T20:59:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 6/19

Matt, Ranae, Cliff, & Bobo (the BFRO) head to Oregon to check out some riverside bigfoot footage. Did some rafters on the McKenzie River accidentally catch bigfoot on tape? (Maddeningly, as on many such shows, they only show a few instants of the tape, with little context.) Talking to witnesses, they recreate the footage with Bobo. Bobo looks bigger than the supposed squatch; Matt start making excuses for why the footage is a real bigfoot; Ranae says "This is a human." (Are you starting to notice a pattern on these shows?) "We are clearly in a very squatchy area," Cliff concludes. Which must inevitably lead to a night hunt. Would you be surprised if they howl at each other and hear strange noises? You shouldn't be. Nor should you be surprised they find elk with their thermal camera.

They then head to Leaburg to attend a "bigfoot beer" meeting ("bigfoot anonymous" Bobo calls it) to hear more local stories and pick a few to investigate. For once, they meet someone they don't believe; her story stretches even squatch credibility. Clearly, having a regular "bigfoot beer" night may attract people with issues other than bigfoot. Then they talk to some youngsters who have pictures and a footprint cast. And then talk to some people who hung out a rabbit surrounded by glowsticks as live bait. Naturally, the BFRO has to try the rabbit trick, in the dark; naturally, they hear tree "knocks." So, they hunt another night -- without the rabbit -- and hear strange howls. "It was nothing but a sasquatch," Matt declares; his mind is closed. "I don't know what those other hows were," says Ranae. They find fresh urine, but see no sign of elk, so maybe it was squatch. However, they apparently take no samples. Whoops. What do they end up with? Howls. Do they subject these sounds to analysis by an animal expert? Not so far as the show tells us.

Maybe someone should remind Matt -- who sees squatch behind every tree -- that evidence without rigorous analysis is worthless.

FINDING BIGFOOT: Caught on Tape

2011-07-10T20:22:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 6/12/11

Matt & the BFRO team head to Uwharrie National Forest in North Carolina to check out some thermal image camera footage of "bigfoot" snatching a candy bar left as bait. They meet the witness and re-create the incident. Bobo makes a convincing "squatch," but only to Ranae; Matt thinks their recreation was flawed, and other members of the team (Cliff) make excuses, too, as to why the footage was "real." So they stomp around in the woods in the dark. Bobo spots something -- a humanoid figure -- and Matt goes running off on his own to find it. This pisses off the rest of the group, who have this crazy idea they're doing science and collecting evidence. Naturally, after this close call (or was it?) they head somewhere else to hunt (no sense setting camera traps; do they even have any?), and call a town hall meeting there. As usual, they get some great stories (there are always great bigfoot stories), and pick a few to investigate.

And as usual, they see the sites and do re-creations with Bobo (whom you'll recall is nearly squatch sized). Recreations, including footprint strides, if witnesses are accurate, tend to indicate something not human. But, remember, these are recreations, and witnesses have (often) proven unreliable. (See the Unsolved HIstory: Roswell review.) So then they tromp off into the woods in the dark to get scary footage ... I mean, to find bigfoot. They find only a bat. So, they gather a group of people to do a grid search for bigfoot evidence. They find evidence of deer, which Cliff claims might be a food source for sasquatch, and then a deer carcass with a snapped foreleg. Matt claims a squatch did it; Ranae counters that it could have happened rolling down the hill. Matt, if you didn't realize it by now, knows everything about this mythical animal -- including all of its patterns of behavior and predation.

They then go and discuss their findings with the witness who first brought them the video. (Why?) Matt notes that Ranae doesn't believe in anything she can't see in front of her. Good for her. At least there's one scientist in this group.

FINDING BIGFOOT - Swamp Ape

2011-07-10T19:45:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 6/10/11

Matt Moneymaker and the BFRO head to Florida to try to figure where southern bigfoots live, and if they're different from the others. (Note the assumption bigfoot is real.) They talk to some homeowners who think bigfoot is visiting their back yard. They have track casts and also claim that the beast vandalized their birdfeeder (Moneymaker claims bigfoots like food that humans leave out) and broke their fence top (climbing over). They also claim bigfoot came onto a deck and left a greasy handprint on the glass door. Ranae recreates that using Bobo's hand, but the witness is unimpressed; Ranae remains unconvinced. So they do a night stakeout featuring the usual fake bigfoot calls and listening for knocking. They hear knocks, growls, and other things that make them think bigfoot are around -- well, all except maybe Ranae -- but the cut out anyway. Then they have a meeting with Seminole Native Americans, who advise leaving the sasquatch alone.

Naturally, they keep hunting -- now in south Florida -- talking to other witnesses and doing more recreations. As often, the witnesses are sincere, but the evidence slim. They call in some RC drones to help survey the Everglades for possible places to stake out for bigfoot; naturally the stakeout must be done at night and include howling. They find some deer, and a "mysterious" thermal hit, which they first claim is larger than a deer, and then claim is about the size of Matt. It then "ran off into the woods." Unfortunately, the editing of this segment doesn't show the "creature" running, just the people reacting to it. Which makes me think they've cheated this, and it was just another deer. A more reliable show would have included that footage, even if it was just a false alarm. The BFRO think bigfoot is real, and their show is designed to reinforce that -- without doing any really hard science to back up their presupposition. My proof of this? They have "bigfoot fact" quizzes -- which implies that both 1) bigfoot is real, 2) we know enough about them to have facts. Here's one:

Do you know why skunk apes stink? Because they hide out "in air pockets of underground alligator dens, and their fur absorbs the pungent methane."

IAbsurd! n my opinion, this show could use more hard science -- including camera traps and long-term follow-up investigations -- and less wishful thinking. Perhaps we could have Fact or Faked or Destination Truth re-investigate the "facts" on this show.

FINDING BIGFOOT - Bigfoot Crossing in Georgia

2011-07-01T15:20:00.001-07:00

Animal Planet - Original Air Date: 5/30/11

Every week, the team on this show goes looking for bigfoot; it's like Ghost Hunters, but with bigfoot. The team is made up of the the perhaps-ironically named Matt Moneymaker (leader), Bobo (the bigfoot stand-in), Ranae (biologist skeptic), and Cliff (the nondescript one); together, they form the Big Foot Research Organization (BFRO). They're in Georgia this week to check out a police dashboard cam of a dark figure, that might be sasquatch, running across the road. Ranae thinks its a hoax, but the rest of the crew are pretty firmly in the believer camp already. Witnesses seem sure it wasn't a bear, or a man in a costume, so the group goes for a recreation (with Bobo, who is very tall). Naturally, this convinces the group's believers that the original was bigfoot -- though Ranae notes they just proved it could be recreated. They then tromp around in the area knocking wood and making their own bigfoot calls. Naturally they hear things they think are bigfoot; though I gotta say, if I was walking in the woods and heard this stuff, I'd do it back, too -- just for fun. Bigfoot, or human prankster? The question never seems to enter their minds.

After they walk in the spooky woods, they call a town meeting to talk to other local witnesses -- and plot the locations of the "encounters." And talk to more witnesses, and do more recreations. Most of the witnesses seem very sincere, and with each one, the group (aside from Ranae) becomes more and more convinced there are bigfoot in the area. (Though they do question the veracity of one witness, who seems to be telling them what they want to hear.) They also find some footprints in the red clay earth that match what are commonly thought to be bigfoot tracks; they make casts, and even Ranae is impressed -- though she wonders if people planted them there, knowing the team was in the area. (And I wonder if this is the best they've had in 25 years, how crappy is the rest of their "evidence.") Then they drive through the woods looking for hits on their thermal camera. They get one, but can't track it down. So they start screaming again, and hear a howl back. (Me, again?) And that's pretty much where it ends.

This is a show for believers in bigfoot. It is not a show for people who want to figure out if bigfoot is real, or what people who think they've seen bigfoot are seeing. All the people on this show already know it's real (with the possible exception of Ranae). If you like sightings and eyewitnesses, this is probably a show for you. If you want careful analysis of the facts, you're probably better off with Destination Truth. We don't even get an end-of-show recap with the "evidence." Though I admire the fact that it's a show tackling essentially the same "problem" every week, the "researchers" belief in the phenomenon seems to taint all of their conclusions. I've seen a number of the shows in this series now, and the pattern holds. What you get in this episode is pretty much what you get in the rest: intriguing video (or picture), stomping around the wilderness howling, talking to witnesses, and believing that "bigfoot is here."

Maybe at some point the show will get some evidence that makes me believe (or doesn't make my wife laugh and say "That's a guy in a suit!"), but I'm not holding my breath. I doubt Ranae is, either.

House of the Wolfman = House of Boring Exposition (review)

2011-06-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

I really wanted to like this flick. I have a deep love of monster movies and a high tolerance for cheese -- but here's what you really need to know about this film:

We don't see any monsters (not counting a scary servant and granny) 'til more than an hour in -- and the film is only 1 hour and 15 minutes long.

Then, we get a complete cluster-fuck of monsters -- 6 to be exact, all crammed into about the last 10 minutes of the flick. And most of those monsters come from the "House of No Foreshadowing At All" (an entirely different -- and probably better -- movie).

The movie has good lighting, costumes, sets, makeup, and general production values. The music, heavily Salter/Skinner influenced, is passable.

But the direction and camera work are pedestrian at best. (They squander the production values.) The dialog is suitably 40s in most places, but the plot... Well, there really isn't one.

Oh, wait, there's the standard "Old Dark House" plot where a bunch of heirs are invited to a mysterious mansion/castle. But, why were they invited? The audience figures that out in under 5 minutes, but the characters spend the first hour talking about it. And talking, and talking, and talking. And the acting...?

SUPER 8 came out this weekend, and it's about kids making their own movies. Within that film, there are other films: the ones the kids are making. In a meta-film twist, in SUPER 8 we get to see young actors portraying both naturalistic kids (in the main movie) and kids performing what they think a movie should be in the film-within-a-film. The acting in this film is mostly on the level of that film-within-a-film. That is, it's someone's idea of what 40s monster movie acting should be, rather than just letting the actors act. Lots of line recitation, very little acting (or reacting).

Step One for making a successful 40s (or 50s or whatever) Monster Movie Homage/Parody: Decide whether you're doing a homage or a parody. And if you're doing a parody, it better damn well be funny. This one isn't funny enough to be parody or good enough to be homage.

As an author, I know a film is in trouble when I'm constantly rewriting it in my head as it progresses. That started pretty early in this flick.

My friend (and award-winning short-film maker) Paul McComas, who was watching this with me, walked out before the end of the first hour; Universal Films are holy writ to him, and he just couldn't take it any longer. (Glad he missed the closing line, which pissed even _me_ off.) I stayed 'til the end mostly because of the lighting and sets -- and a morbid desire to see how it turned out. If the movie had started with the last 10 minutes, it could have been better -- but it didn't.

If you want to see a well-made modern "old movie," see ALIEN TRESPASS (very good 50s homage) or CALL OF CTHULHU (brilliant silent treatment) or even FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE CREATURE FROM BLOOD COVE (good effort, but could have used HOTWolfman's lighting director).

Avoid this unless you're looking for a lesson on how to squander good production values.

I know the people making this were trying hard, but see "Step One" above.

HOUSE OF THE WOLFMAN (2009)

Area 51 Declassified

2011-05-23T12:05:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: Unknown

Just a short review about this program to note it's probably not what you expect. When I watched it last night, it was paired (in ads) with When Aliens Attack (largely a wargame scenario, positing a long campaign against an invading force). From that juxtaposition, you might thing this would be another "aliens hidden in Area 51" program. It's not.

Instead, it's a serious look at what really went on in Area 51 in the 50s and 60s (largely), during the testing and development of the U2, SR-71, and other top-secret airplanes and projects. The interviewees tell their stories in a way that will be familiar to anyone who's ever watched a History Channel war program -- that is to say with candor, humor, and professionalism. My favorite moment was when they discovered that a Soviet satellite had seen the shape of a top-secret plane on the runway; the enemy knew what our best plane looked like! To counter this, the Area 51 crew started making cardboard silhouettes of fake aircraft for the satellite to "find." They even put heaters on the cut-outs to simulate cooling engines. Great deception.

No aliens here, just good, old spy vs. spy Cold War era politics. Highly entertaining and informative.

The Truth Behind Bigfoot

2011-05-22T16:23:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: unknown

"The Truth Behind..." series has been something of a mixed bag -- some scientifically sound, some cluttered with people trying to "scientifically" prove their own beliefs -- so I was a bit concerned about this show going in. They start with the infamous Patterson Film, and by declaring "If it's a fake, then it's the work of brilliant hoaxers," which almost immediately tips this show into the believer category. (As professional magicians know, there are no people easier to fool than those who think they can't be fooled.) They chopper a research team into the area where the film was shot to laser scan the terrain for a digital recreation of the film. Next, they plan to collect details about the sighting to recreate the creature, and thereby, determine if the film is real.

Next they get Patterson's widow to loan them a 1st generation copy of the film (which removes some artifacts that have been mistaken for anatomical details, like finger curls); where the original is, they don't say. They scan the film frame by frame in hi-def, and then stabilize the frames to compensate for Patterson's "shaky cam." Then they overlay a 3d skeleton to try and match the "compliant" gait seen in the film. They should try to match the gait of Bob Heironimus, but they bring in their own 7' tall actor to do motion capture instead. Eventually, they get the actor to duplicate the gait (so much for the other no-human-can-duplicate-that-walk shows). Next, they start talking about rumors that a Hollywood SFX suit maker created the creature from the film. They claim that the details seen in the suit were "almost unheard of" and "virtually unavailable" in costumes of the day (1967). (Notice that it was heard of and available.) They pile on more and more details like this until it become obvious that this is a show that wants to believe in the Patterson film.

And as they keep telling us how "impossible" it would have been to make a suit like this during 1967, I should point out that many of the same kind of arguments were made about the Michigan Dog Man film, which was fairly recently revealed to have been a hoax using a simple ghillie suit. Sometimes, simple tech in the hands of a hoaxer can fool very sophisticated people.

Meanwhile, they talk to "the world's foremost bigfoot expert" Jeff Meldrum, who has many footprint casts and other "evidence." He says it's not strange that no actual bones of the creature have been found, because of natural conditions where these creatures would die. He also thinks bigfoots have flat feet to help navigate difficult terrain. Others think the casts in his collection are from prints made by hoaxers. Meldrum cites sheer numbers to dismiss hoaxers, while others note huge variation in such tracks, including the number of toes -- supporting multiple hoaxers with different ideas about the creature. Meldrum believes the woods could support this type of large animal, and the anecdotal evidence is strong. He also claims to have 15+ (hair) samples that defy identification, yet show primate characteristics. (But unidentified samples do not make bigfoot real, any more than unidentified lights in the sky mean we're being visited by aliens.)

Back at the film, Bill Muns lines up a CGI actor with the monster, but can't make both shoulders and hips match. He notes that the anatomy would be unusual for a human -- but, again, there's Bob Heironimus, whom they haven't tried to match. Could it be that all this science is being thrown off by a random choice of a disproportionate model (Heironimous) to wear the costume; sure seems like that to me. Calculating from the sighting distance reported and the lens (25mm) Patterson claimed to have used, the height of his creature would have been a mere 4' tall. (Clearly absurd.) Based on foot casts, Meldrum calculates it would be 8' tall. (For the record, Bob Heironimus is 6' 2" tall.) Note that this "scientific" TV program now assumes that the reported lens length was wrong, and they substitute their own lens length to fit their 8' creature theory. I can just as easily, and with more evidential support, assume that Patterson lied in order to line his own pockets.

They conclude that while there is no actual proof, their evidence suggests the film and bigfoot are real. I conclude that they had a horse in this race when they started, and are therefore unreliable witnesses -- and scientists.

There's a lot of interesting science brought to bear in this show. Sadly, it's all misused by believers to support the pre-supposed truth of the Patterson film. Thus, the only real value I can see here is a new, more clear scan of the film. (And, oddly, that seems less clear that some of the duplicates we've seen before.) Every person in this show, all of them should be forced to watch National Geographic's own Is it Real? program on the same subject before they're allowed to do another TV showof this type. Turns out my concerns for this episode of The Truth Behind... were well founded.

FACT OR FAKED: Whaley Ghost House - Muck Monster

2011-05-22T15:09:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 4/27/2011

Videos passed over for investigation this week include Hawaiian Halo, which seems to show circling objects over a Hawaiian landscape. Looks like doves to some in the group, something mechanical to others, possibly a new RC toy. Fire Fairy seems to show a sprite-like thing dancing around a fire, "an angelic fire elemental" according to the film's creator. It looks like a lens flare to many in the team (and to me, too). So, the two remaining cases are... Muck Monster shows a strange aquatic mass moving in the waters near Jupiter, Florida. It's an intriguing video and seems to show a large creature with a serrated fin. Some biologists have ruled out local fauna, including seals and manatees. The Whaley House (museum) boasts many mysterious still photos, showing hovering lights and shapes, and almost daily reports of strange happenings from visitors. One photo (which looks like matrixing to me) seems to show a face in a window.

Bill, Austin, and Chi Lan head to San Diego to check out the Whaley House and hear it's haunted history. The team sets out to replicate some of the famous "ghost" photos. Some are obvious reflections in the glass blocking off access to the rooms, so they choose a more ghostly courtroom shot. They set up lights and replicate the image using reflections off of objects in the courtroom; mystery solved. To replicate the "ghost in the window," they try various things, including reflection of the photographer and a person (Austin with funny mustache) in the room behind the window -- but those don't match it. And it still looks like random shadows (and human pattern finding: matrixing) to me. So, they do the usual ghost hunting at night stuff and get the usual mysterious sounds on EVP sessions -- including one they think is a gavel sound (though I remain unimpressed). Good work on debunking the photos, though.

Ben, Jael, and Devin head off to Florida to search for the Muck Monster. They talk to witnesses and then set out to recreate the video. I suppose I might as well go on record that any FOF show that puts Jael in a bathing suit is a good show for me, so take that into account when reading the rest of this review. First, she and Devin go diving to look for the monster and check out the terrain; there's plenty of debris to be mistaken for a monster. They try filming a discarded raft, but it doesn't look as alive as the original footage. Next, they construct their own monster and try to hoax it; closer, but still not right, the original is much more fluid and alive. So, they decide to go to a the Miami Seaquarium and check out actual local marine life. Talking to biologists there, they quickly come to the conclusion that the scientists quoted in the myth were wrong; this biologist quickly recognizes the "creature" as a herd of mating manatees. The strange "flipper" is merely a tail that has been mutilated by a close encounter with a speed boat. Case solved.

One occasionally wishes that the original rumor mongers would do a better job with their science, and thereby spare Fact or Faked from investigating cases like this. But then, we wouldn't get to see Jael in a bathing suit quite so often. Some sacrifices I suppose we simply must endure. Thus ends another "Syfy season" of FOF, which, happily, will return in the fall. Like Destination Truth, I wish they would do less ghost hunting, but I'm glad they're out there shooting down some of these very popular -- if absurd -- viral videos. Good job, team!

DESTINATION TRUTH: Ghosts of Antarctica

2011-05-22T14:22:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 4/19/2011

On the "season finale" (whatever that means), Josh & crew head for Antarctica to look for ghosts. They stop in the tip of South America (Tierra del Fuego) and pick up a 50-foot sailing boat to make the trip across some of the world's most dangerous waters, including Drake Passage. The trip takes most of a week and doesn't look like much fun, with choppy seas and cramped quarters. Naturally, there are icebergs, too, but eventually they reach the remote, inhospitable, and beautiful continent. They party with some Russian scientists and hear the local legends of Deception Island, first stop in the DT ghost hunting tour. Though the sun never quite sets (being Antarctic summer), they set up camp and haul out the IR gear to investigate. Soon, people begin seeing and hearing things: Josh thinks he sees a shape inside a building (but I"m not convinced, and the FLIR evidence seems like video artifacting); Gabe sees a light in a hut, but it looks like an IR reflection to me; Josh and Ryder hear strange bumps in a warehouse-like building -- they don't see big pieces of fallen debris, but there's of junk plenty around to fall, and in a place like that.... Ryder sees a dark shadow by a door. "This whole place is freaking me out." And therein lies a common ghost-hunting problem. They never discover the source of the noises or shadow, naturally. So it's on to their next stop.

Wordie House is an old British base supposedly haunted by its former occupants, after being abandoned in 1962. The team picks up the house key from some Ukranians, who collect bras to decorate the only bar in Antarctica. Wordie remains pretty much as it was when abandoned, and while Josh pokes around inside, Ryder discovers a noisy leopard seal outside -- perhaps explaining some of the local weird sounds. Naturally, the team starts hearing strange sounds within Wordie House. They set up watches, and hear even more strange sounds. (Sitting alone in the dark will do this to you.) Things also seem to mysteriously fall off shelves or tables. (Vibrations of humans moving about and entropy, anyone?) In his isolation session, Josh thinks he sees someone outside a door, but finds no one. They keep recording and having weird feelings, and eventually it's time to head for home and analyze.

They think the FLIR hit at Desolation is something moving; I think it's a video problem. (Really, these people should become more expert with their cameras, especially, and other equipment.) Enhanced audio when someone hears something "reveals" a set of "pulses" in series that the team notes could be SOS in old Morse code. But to me, that's a stretch, and as they note, there's only one series and it could be coincidence. Really, it seems pretty much within the range of background noise to me. The "light switch" sound from Wordie isn't much more convincing to me.

One of the troubles with these type of ghost hunter shows is I always have the feeling that the investigators have never lived in an old house, or in the woods, or in any place with an odd variety of natural sounds. Houses creak and groan (woods do, too, as does ice) and most natural places are filled with sounds (animal or otherwise) if humans will just shut up long enough to hear them. And wear and tear and vibrations and entropy... boy, that can make strange things clang and clack -- just ask my dish rack. Also, if Wipeout can put cameras on people that show their POV, I think it's high time that DT did the same, rather than merely having cameras that focus on the team members. I'm really tired of people exclaiming about something cool they saw just in time for the cameraman to miss it. POV cams might help capture evidence that's now being missed -- or help show just how prone people are to optical illusions and jumping at their own shadows.

In the end, though this remains my favorite of the supernatural shows, and I like the cast -- in my humble opinion -- this is just another hunt for ghosts that aren't there. I wish DT would do less of these and stick to searching for monsters -- maybe doubling their time on each case by skipping the ghosts. We already have Ghost Hunters and GHI, if ghosts are what we want. More hard science would be welcome, too.

FACT OR FAKED: Dashcam Chupacabra - Nightly News Alien

2011-04-29T22:43:00.001-07:00

Syfy - Original Air Date: 4/20/11

"Haunted Funeral Home" features two knuckleheads breaking into a funeral home that's supposedly haunted; tissues fly into a lamp, chairs fall over -- but it looks staged. The "Lake Lure Ghost" seems to show a ghostly figure near an ice sculpture - but it looks like a long exposure motion blur to Chi-Lan (and me, too). So the two cases to check out are... From Argentina (again) comes "News Alien," which seems to show a "nightcrawler" like alien walking casually behind an interviewee. The alien was only spotted when the film aired on TV. It looks like a fake to me, but off they go to investigate (probably along with last week's haunted swing -- ganging up a trip, I suspect). "Dashcam Chupacabra" is a video from a squad car showing a strange, hairless doglike animal running down a dirt road in Texas, and a rancher claims to have a carcass.

In Dewitt county, chupacabra rumors run rampant, so they go talk to the rancher who has one stuffed and mounted. The specimen is a strange, dog-like creature with big fangs and long claws.; the ranch owner claims to have seen another one 3 days ago. She also has the carcass (meat) of the stuffed one in her freezer -- and is happy to provide samples for genetic testing. Then, they talk to Sgt. Carter who took the original video. Could it be mistaken identity? They set up a simulated dash cam and bring in local animals to check against, including a miniature horse (nope) and an Peruvian Inca orchid dog (very similar, especially in the run - but the snout is wrong). So, they do a night watch to try and find a live one and use a helicopter drone to help them look. (Nice tech! That'll generate UFO reports!) They hear howls and see something on their IR and night vision cameras, but it's only cows. The DNA sample comes back as a hybrid of gray Mexican wolf and coyote. Case solved. But is this beast the "real" chupacabra?

Austin claims they blew the alien case in Patagonia "wide open"; let's see how they did it. First they test a stray wind sock blowing past to see if it could be mistaken identity -- but it's too windy to even pull that hoax off. Could it be a worker moving some kind of equipment? Nope. Then they notice the alien is casting a shadow opposite that of the reporter in the foreground. Looking like a hoax, so they go and ask the videographer flat out: Is it a hoax? "No. Not completely." Did you fake it? "Yes." He says he did it as a joke, and he then shows us how -- using an animation program that looks like Poser. (I use the same program to make art.) The hoaxer thinks local people have a predisposition to believe in such things, because of local UFO sightings. Naturally, because you always have to do a night investigation, they now set up one to look for UFOs on the coast. Bill suggests that local thunderstorms might attract aliens -- though I think it more likely to create ball lightning or other electrical phenomena. Jael also mistakes what looks like lens flare for some kind of "gray halo." (Nailed by Chi-Lan, later on.) The local sea lions begin acting up, and Jael hears strange whistles, from atmospheric electrical events -- an approaching thunderstorm, it turns out.

Aside from the night investigations, which seem increasingly silly and irrelevant to me, this show featured some very good bringing the truth to light. I know that "Ghost Hunters" has made tromping around in the dark popular -- and viewers are more easily creeped out at night -- but I wish there were less of it. A lot less.

FACT OR FAKED: Playground Poltergeist - Alien Intruder

2011-04-29T21:34:00.001-07:00

SyFy -- Orginal Air Date: 4/13/11

Passed over this week are "Pantry Ghost," in which a door mysteriously opens, is closed, and a face appears behind the pantry door window. (Too convenient, no reaction, and a subtle edit for the SFX.) "Dome UFO" seems to show a light hovering over the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, before shooting into the sky. The fact that there are no other witnesses to this, and that it looks like CGI rule this out. Leaving the two cases to follow up: Alien Intruder, in which a Florida couple claims to have caught on camera an alien spying into their bedroom. Now they have a second strange video, seeming to show a hovering, ghostlike alien. The second case is of a swing set in Argentina that seems to swing on its own -- but only one of the three seats. Legend has it that the swing is haunted.

In Argentina, the team talks to the original witness, then they try pulling the swing with mono-filament wire. It looks good, but you can see the line, plus the swinging swing is ongoing; surely no one would hang around for this long a hoax. Next, they build a duplicate swing set right next to the "haunted" one. But, when set in motion, the new swing does not keep going like the original. Next, they put up an air-supported dome to isolate the swing and use a fan to simulate various wind directions. Doing this, they discover the center seat is slightly wider than the other two, and the right angle of wind sets it going while the other to remain stationary. (They don't mention that the swing stopped swinging when they put up their dome.) So, no hoax, just normal fluctuating wind conditions.

In Milton Florida, the team talks to the people supposedly being harassed by these "aliens;" they also claim worm infestations on their lawn. The homeowner has set up elaborate mirrors (and even strobe lights) to fool the aliens into thinking that they are not being filmed. It seems ripe for a hoax to me, but the crew takes it very seriously. First they use an art mannequin and try to replicate the alien in the bathroom -- they come pretty close. Next, they set up to see if cast shadows (from a coat rack) could cause an optical illusion of the floating "alien." Close, but not close enough. So they set up a puppet to fake the video. This is closer, but not as eerie as the original. This could be either an illusion or an intentional hoax, but they decide to do a stakeout and see if they can find any evidence on their own. They set up lasers and one-way mirrors, and monitor the homeowner. They get electrical interference, the homeowner thinks he hears things, and they find a mass of worms on the lawn. Did they cause their own electrical interference? Is there something paranormal going on here. Voice analysis says the homeowner is telling the truth -- but I'm still not sure I trust that tech. The case remains baffling; the homeowners seem to believe something is going on. But what? I wonder if local electrical interference could be setting up a hallucinatory "fear cage" effect for the people living in the house.

Not a bad episode. The swing debunking was really well done. But the "alien" problem would seem to require more long-term surveillance. (Something I wish was routinely done with contactees.) Just because people believe something is real, doesn't mean it is real.

DESTINATION TRUTH: Thai Tree People - Aiya Napa Monster

2011-04-13T00:12:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 4/12/11

First, Josh & crew go to Thailand to search for the Naree Pon, a mythological Buddhist plant-person, 3' tall. A temple supposedly has bodies of these creatures, so off the DT folks go. After fooling around with local food, they head to the temple and ask to see the bodies. They're allowed, and take photos. They then head to an area where the creatures are believed to have kidnapped people, and they talk to a recent witness. They hike into the jungle, set up base camp, and poke around in the dark. They find Buddhist shrines and avoid spiders and a poisonous viper, barely. They poke around in a cave and nearly get hurt. Back in LA, they ask a mammologist what the what the temple photos are -- and he cannot figure it out. Because of the bodies, the case remains ever-so-slightly open.

On Cyprus, people are seeing a massive sea serpent, and folks are concerned about what they call the Aiya Napa Monster. While waiting for their luggage to catch up, the team sees the local ruins and sights. Local witnesses and fishermen suggest they check out the nearby sea caves, so they jump right in -- literally. Finding nothing, they hire a boat and head to sea, with Josh doing the diving duties. Naturally, they have to dive at night, too, and check out some undersea caves & wrecks. Finding only fish (though glimpsing a big one), they do a surface patrol and catch a thermal hit. In the end, they figure the monster is likely a basking shark, a gentle giant of the sea.

FACT OR FAKED: Raining UFOs - Ectoplasmic Pic

2011-04-12T23:10:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 4/6/11

Videos not investigated this week are: Poltergeist Down Under, from Queensland, Austrialia, which seems to show an invisible force moving boxes and other things across a garage -- and then similar happenings in a kitchen. The analysis says these things could be mono-filament wire and simply throwing objects. Government UFO, in Hawaii shows formations of lights moving over a government installation. Bill and Chi-Lan point out this would be super easy to fake with CG. Which leaves the two the team will check out - Seeding UFO a Christmas Night UFO, dripping sparks "seeding the earth" and the old spiritualist ectoplasm photos (including one with a face in the "ectoplasm") by T.G. Hamilton.

They head to Longbeach to check out the UFO, noting that no one yet has an official explanation for the incident. They talk to the helicopter pilot that took the video, and then they start running experiments using a night vision camera like the one that took the original video. They start with a military flare; it drips well, but you can see the parachute. Next, they test a homemade hot air balloon, powered by candles; this is closer, but didn't get quite the altitude. Finally, they attach sparklers to an RC plane. Though this seems a dead-on match, they also do a night watch, just in case there are real UFOs. But all they catch is a bird (which looks like a UFO in night vision). Conclusion, the balloon or the plane are both good explanations.

The second team goes to recreate the ectoplasm photos in the same house where they were originally taken. Despite the "experimenter's" precautions, these photos all look completely bogus to me -- and apparently to the team, too. The first one the recreate by Gavin simply blowing cigar smoke out of the sides of his mouth. The second they recreate with cotton wadding. The third they recreate using Dry Ice to create a mist around a "sleeping" figure. The fourth they recreate using a seltzer tablet and a photo attached to the end of a q-tip. While these are not perfect recreations, they are very good given the time constraints. And it's worth noting that the original medium had a lot of time to practice her effects and a lot riding on people believing them. The crew concludes that she might have hoaxed everyone, including well-meaning experimenters.

My conclusion: One of the most rigorous episodes in the series. Well done.

DESTINATION TRUTH: Jungle Temple Ghosts - Namibian Night Stalker

2011-04-12T22:07:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 4/5/11

First up, off to Thailand to look for the Phret, a spirit of the damned, which seems to be captured in a video, scaling a local monument. The video is fuzzy (and seems like possible camera error to me), but the team heads off, talks to witnesses, and does the usual poking around in Bangkok. They try to recreate the video with a variety of cameras, and then head out to a jungle temple reputed to house the spirit. Ryder takes a bad spill on a dirt bike, needs stitches, and they regret not getting good-luck charms to avoid such accidents. They deploy their usual base camp in the huge Khmer temple reputed to be the creature's lair. They see mysterious lights inside and outside the temple and hear strange sounds. Rex starts choking for no apparent reason, and red marks appear on his neck; Josh catches a mysterious heat signature on the FLIR, but they find no further evidence. The lights in the sky were probably distant fireworks or lightning; the light in the temple remains mysterious, as does Rex's incident, and the thermal hit. The team fails to recreate the original monument video, but it still looks like a reflection problem to me. Josh concludes, like all things in Thailand, what happened -- and the cause -- may come down to belief.

Next up, they head to Namibia (again with former teammate Jael) to look for the Night Stalker, a blood-draining beast. (Like an African chupacabra.) They head for a national park to find the beast, talk to the locals, and Ryder gets painted red by tribeswomen. (She does Deja Thoris proud.) They set up base camp, Jael arrives, and they prowl around in the dark (SOP). They find a dead goat, avoid a live python, and nearly see some other animals in the dark. Back home, the kills they discovered (goat & giraffe) are analyzed. The giraffe, at least, was taken by lions. The goat, the expert is less sure. There could be something else out there, but for now we will all have to wait for more proof.

DESTINATION TRUTH: Sandstorm Spirits - Cerro Azul Monster

2011-04-12T19:06:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 3/29/11

Josh & Crew goe to Namibia to investigate a ghost town buried in the sand. With them is old teammate Jael (now from Fact or Faked). After the usual eating of strange food, talking to locals, and clowning around (Ryder loses a race with an ostrich), the group goes by dune buggy to Kolmenskop, the abandoned town. They poke around in the sand-covered buildings and hear the (usual) strange sounds. Ryder has mysterious trouble breathing, Rex swears he sees a figure in a room where there's no one (and immediately gets a bloody nose), and Jael hears breathing in her ear in an empty room. They actually capture what sounds like the whisper Jael heard, but no other solid evidence. Josh concludes that the long-gone residents are still seen, heard, and felt - though there's more investigation to do. (I wish they had out-looking personal cams, as well as ones focusing on the team's faces.)

Next, they go to Panama to research a photo of a supposed mystery beast, the Cerro Azul Monster, photographed by some boys. The creature is hairless and looks something like a land seal. So, off to the country of the canal to look for it! They talk to a local professor, who says something unknown could lurk in the jungles, and get sent to possible habitat by witnesses. They head into a national park, talk to more natives, and almost lose a team member and camera in a raging river. Avoiding pit vipers and cave scorpions, they poke around in water-filled caves, get scared by fish, and capture a sloth on a perimeter camera. Back home, they show the original picture to a zoologist, who says the "creature" is, in fact, a sloth with no hair -- possibly because of disease or mutation. In such a wild land, it's no wonder ordinary creatures can become "monsters."

The Cyclops - A Fun Flick, Uncut - Bert I. Gordon

2011-04-07T23:03:00.001-07:00

(I watched this movie tonight and then posted this review on Amazon, and figured I might as well share it here, too.)

This is a fun film from early in Bert I. Gordon's career. In it, you can see many of the elements that would later become B.I.G trademarks: giant people and animals, seat-of-the-pants special effects, and deadpan sincerity. If you like cheesy monster movies from the 50s, this flick is a good bet. The actors are attractive and competent, and it's fun to watch Lon Chaney, Jr. chew the scenery -- though it's actually the titular character who does the most scenery chewing.

The Cyclops, by the way, looks like a dry-run for the later Amazing Colossal Man/Beast make-up. Half his face is melted and the other half distorted, with a huge eye. It's a creepy if crude make-up. There's a lot of pretty dodgy matte work here -- Bert got better at that as he went -- and I'm surprised that he didn't do much of it with forced perspective instead. Still, for all its flaws, this film is a must have for collectors of B.I.G's work or 50s monster movie buffs.

In other reviews, there has been some controversy over whether the "pull the stick out of the eye" scene has been censored from this release. Well, I just got my copy of the disc direct from Warner Archives today -- 4/7/2011 -- and I can say that I _saw_ that scene in this DVD. So, unless there's more to the supposedly missing scene than the cyclops pulling out the stick and weeping for a moment, I'd say the current edition is intact/uncensored, folks.

Make sure you get this release and not previous ones. The DVD quality is good -- a nice widescreen (anamorphic?) transfer -- and it played fine on my old Toshiba player (not a player/recorder). I would have given it another star, but the SFX are pretty crude -- clearly from early in B.I.G.'s career. What it lacks in polish, though, it makes up for in imagination and sincerity.

Enjoy!

BEAST HUNTER: Mongolian Death Worm

2011-03-31T23:15:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: 3/25/11

Pat Spain heads to Mongolia to check out the legendary Death Worm. Mongolia is about the size of Alaska, but with a population of only 3 million, it's the most sparsely populated country on earth. Basically, there's a lot of empty ground to cover. Pat talks to the locals and hears the legends of the worm; lots of eyewitness accounts -- even one from close range -- but no actual bodies or other evidence. As pointed out earlier, Mongolia is big and has a history of mysterious creatures -- including a toad that lives underground 300 days a year -- and amazing paleontological finds, such as the first dinosaur eggs.

Pat pokes around with the local fauna, and hangs with the nomadic peoples, and speculates about what might lie at the bottom of the fantastic myths about this creature. Could such a poisonous and/or electric creature exist? His camera traps, set in hopes of catching the creature, show something very mysterious -- which, once viewed completely, turns out to be a close-up of a cow. "A perfect example of seeing a common animal from a different angle, out of context, and being totally confused by what it could be." Pat speculates this is what is happening with the local people, though there may be some kind of creature that's causing these legends to spring up. Whether the creature exists in modern times remains in question.

FACT OR FAKED: Thermal Theater Ghost - Fire in the Sky

2011-03-31T22:16:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 3/30/11

The teaser cases not investigated this week are: Ghost Twins (AL) which appear suddenly, one on the stairs and another in a downstairs room, both appearing and vanishing during quick pans of the camera. It looks very "Japansese horror" to me, and the pans too convenient -- stopping and starting in just the right places -- and the camera being used (seen in a mirror) is a pro camera. The Captured Alien video (2008, Brazil) seems to show a "gray" alien being interrogated, but it seems "too good to be true," possibly a combination of puppetry and CGI. The two cases we're checking out fully are: 1) El Paso UFO, a falling "meteor" that breaks into 3 separate lights and then appears to hover, and 2) Florida Theater Ghost (Jacksonville), which seems to show a translucent apparition sitting in a balcony seat.

The theater is one of those grand old palaces that are often reputed to be haunted. The team sets up their night vision cameras and then stations Austin in the seat the "ghost" was seen in. The image seems too distinct, though I think they've done a bad job replicating the lighting seen in the video (see below). Next, they create a Plexiglas outline of a person and light it with a light box, but the box spills out too much light. So, they decide to ghost hunt for a bit, and find mysterious heat signatures. Because these seem to vanish whenever someone steps next to them, I think it's a calibration problem with the camera. They, though, try to track this ball of heat across the auditorium, and eventually corner it near the "haunted" seat. I still think it's a camera problem; nor am I impressed with their replication of the lighting of the original video. For instance, the doorway (or wall) on the right of the seats is clearly visible in the original, while it remains dark in the recreation Thus, the seat in question is underlit, thus this whole experiment is a fail, IMHO. You may think you found something; I think you didn't try hard enough. Sorry, guys. More science needed.

They do better with the UFO investigation, starting by talking to the witnesses, and then sending up LED-filled balloons on, essentially, kite string. But the lights aren't stable enough, nor do they have the streaking, sparkling tails of the original video. Next up, a rocket deploying military flares, which are timed to last the minute and a half that the incident lasted, as reported by the eyewitnesses. This looks almost right, but the flares descend too fast and don't hover long enough. Next, they try a similar trick with sky divers. The divers strap flares to their boots and then go out of the plane and form a formation. They then light the flares, plummet for a while, and finally separate into a triangle shape and deploy their chutes. The effect is a prefect replication of the video. It's so good, in fact, that the recreation even gets UFO calls to 911 (though apparently people refuse to believe the true explanation). Research proves that the Army's Golden Knights skydiving team was responsible for the El Paso lights. Case solved. Science wins. Good job, team.

FACT OR FAKED: Real Battle of LA - Queen Mary Menace

2011-03-31T20:33:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 3/23/11

FoF returns for a second season with a slightly altered cast and a firm grasp on their format. We start with videos, as usual. A kitchen poltergeist looks too good to be true, with plenty of places to hide people pulling wires. Napa Valley Vortex shows a pond draining into a huge hole; it looks like SFX, but it's actually an overflow drain. The two mysteries they're investigating are: One - The Battle of LA (2/25/1942), when radar hits caused an LA anti-aircraft fire barrage. Nothing was ever found, but a picture shows a supposed saucer-shaped craft being hit by spotlights. Two - Queen Mary ghost (2008, Long Beach, CA) shows a ghostly white figure strolling out of a wall and down a hall. It was supposedly captured by a camera set down in a lounge.

In LA, they talk to experts, who confirm that a meteorological balloon was launched the night of the battle, though the experts can't explain why the balloon didn't come down. The team then drives to the desert to try and replicate the photo. First, they test for an optical illusion using 8 searchlights, focusing on the same space. The result is similar, but not the same, as the beams to do not stop in mid-air (and the beams are different, too, see my end-of segment note). They decide to see if the beams will stop because of flak, which they test at scale (anti-aircraft being unavailable). Better, but the beams still don't stop. So they put a weather balloon in the spots. This looks much more like the original, but it only takes a hit or two to bring the balloon down. The same would hold true for a barrage balloon, which would more closely resemble the purported object. So, the mystery remains.

Or does it? I gotta say, though, the "original" photo looks retouched to me. The spotlights are shaped oddly (spreading out too quickly), and they stop too abruptly; also, retouching was common at the time, especially to "clear up" muddy photos. My guess is that the spots were added by retouchers to the picture of the flak, to better portray the scene to readers. Compare the beams in the show to those in the photo; the photo beams look airbrushed on. Too bad the FoF team didn't try to find an original negative. As to why all those shots were fired, ever see 1941?

On the Queen Mary, they tour the ship -- with people who seem to believe in vortexes -- and talk to the people who shot the film. They then create a base plate of a figure walking, and project it onto haze from the fog machine. Close, but you can see the beam. Next, they try projecting onto a teleprompter -- which is a pretty close match. Then, for some reason, they start doing the usual ghost huting/EVP stuff -- and turn up a very spooky raccoon, plus what sounds like the laugh of a little girl. (Mysterious!) Back at the shop, Bill also throws together a video composite, which matches the original almost exactly. This proves there are many ways this video could have been faked, but that doesn't prove the Queen Mary isn't haunted.

Not a bad start to the new season, though the science could have been tougher in places.

BEAST HUNTER: Sea Serpent of the North

2011-03-22T21:04:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: 3/18/2011

Pat Spain goes to British Columbia in search of Cadborasaurus, or "Caddy" as it is fondly known. He talks to local witnesses who claim to have seen the monster, hangs out with local fishermen, and spots local whales. He speculates that some Caddy sightings could be humpbacks surfacing in unison, or perhaps porpoises. He also pokes around in the Woods Hole Institute's freezer, checking out their specimens, and talks to some First Nations folks about native legends (Caddy has a long history). He also looks at possible historical and current candidates, including the elusive oarfish. Then he goes diving into the deep (in a submersible), where he sees strange things, like a giant jellyfish. In the deep, Pat believes, an unknown sea monster like Caddy could exist.

DESTINATION TRUTH: Haunted Island Prison - Ucumar

2011-03-22T19:22:00.001-07:00

SyFy Channel - Orignal Air Date: 3/22/2011

First, Josh & crew head to Panama to check out a notorious prison of the country's former dictator. Located on an island, it is remote and was difficult to escape -- a hellish place for inmates. On the way there, the team has the usual adventures, talks with locals (including former prisoners), and nearly gets drowned trying to kayak across the ocean surf. When there, they poke around the complex at night, hear strange sounds, and get frightened by a . . . frog. Later, they meet with Ghost Hunters International's Kris & Barry to review evidence. An orb turns out to be caused by a spider web, but they're too easy on a fuzzy sounding EVP (in my opinion). Strange noises and "footsteps" they heard remain mysterious, and Josh concludes the inmates seem to be serving an "afterlife sentence."

Next, the team heads to Argentina to look for the bigfoot-like ucumar, which their recreation makes look like half bigfoot, half rat. After stopping in Rio De Janero, they head to Salta, Rosario, the El Ukumari Ranch, and the outback -- after talking to ranchers and local witnesses, of course. They set up camp and go tromping around in the dark (with horses at one point), looking for the beast. They find some bones and some footprints, hear a mysterious sound, and get a thermal camera hit they can't track down. Back home, the bones turn out to be dog and the print from a bear -- an endangered animal virtually unknown in this part of Argentina. Josh concludes that the very rare bear is likely the truth behind this legend.

BEAST HUNTER: Swamp Monster of the Congo

2011-03-14T00:39:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: 3/11/11

Pat Spain, a great-nephew of Charles Fort, goes to the Congo to look for the legendary, dinosaur-like mokele mbembe. He talks to witnesses, one of whom claims to have seen the monster a mere 3 months ago. (The witness dismisses Pat's natural animal explanations.) Trudging into the jungle, Pat sets numerous camera and video traps. As in the Amazon, Pat spends much time gaining the trust of the locals to aid in his search. But he doesn't find a dinosaur, he does, however, see elephants -- and even gets one on his camera traps. He speculates that elephants in the river may have helped give rise to the mokele mbembe legend. Of course, in the end, he doesn't rule out the beast's existence.

After 3 shows, I do appreciate this program's low-key approach to investigation. It's usually very sober, and seldom has those annoying "cliffhanger" commercial breaks. Because of this, however, it is a bit of a snooze. Certainly, actually finding a beast would make it much more exciting.

BEAST HUNTER: Nightmare of the Amazon

2011-03-13T23:48:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: 3/5/11

Pat Spain goes to the Amazon looking for the mapinguari -- either a beast or an evil spirit, which the show describes as a one-eyed monster(with a sideways face), slashing claws, a noxious stench, a mouth in its chest, and a savage howl. It also supposedly protects the forest from clearcutters. To ingratiate himself to the locals, Pat undergoes a ritual involving being stung by bullet ants (so called because the sting feels like being shot). Talking to witnesses, Pat theorizes that a giant anteater may be responsible for at least one attack. Another scientist theorizes that the beast could be a giant ground sloth (supposedly extinct). Pat does some call blasting, and gets a reply (which sadly does not show up on their audio). He also gets a witness to pick the giant sloth out of a lineup. Interesting theory, but next time I hope we'll have more evidence.

BEAST HUNTER: Man Ape of Sumatra

2011-03-13T22:46:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: 3/5/11

Hunting host Pat Spain goes to Sumatra in this kick off for a series of monster hunting shows - boldly going where Josh Gates (Destination Truth) and MonsterQuest have gone before. This show does the usual witness interviews and chats with locals. Some of the witnesses, especially the naturalists, are very compelling. Then Pat tromps around the jungle looking for the beast. And, of course, doesn't find it.

While this might be okay for newbies, mostly it seems like a less entertaining version of Destination Truth. I expect a little more meat from my National Geographic shows.

My Capricon 2010 Schedule

2011-02-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

As those of you who follow my free newsletter know, I'm appearing at Capricon 2010, in suburban Chicagoland this weekend. (February 11-13, 2010)

Here's a rundown of the events/panels I'm appearing at. Hope to see you there!

D & D - The Beginning - Friday, 02-11-2011 - 11:30 am to 1:00 pm - Lake Michigan B
C'mon, we've all played a little D & D at some point, right? Stephen Sullivan joined TSR as part of the development team for Dungeons & Dragons. Come get the inside scoop on how the world's most famous role playing game came to be.
Stephen D. Sullivan

Breaking Into the Gaming Industry - Friday, 02-11-2011 - 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm - Ravinia B (Teen Lounge)
Got an idea for the next D & D or WoW? Learn from the pros how to get into the gaming industry and succeed.
David Abzug
Brian Babendererde
Stephen D. Sullivan (M)

A Celebration of Bad Films, Part Deux - Friday, 02-11-2011 - 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm - Willow
We couldn't cover them all last year, so welcome back for Part Deux! They are the films you claim never to have seen, but when they come on cable, you can't turn away. You might even have a copy on DVD hidden behind the more sociably acceptable porn. What movies make Plan 9 From Outer Space look like a masterpiece of plotting, character, and special effects?
Br. Guy Consolmagno
Lee Darrow
Dave McCarty
Paul McComas (M)
Stephen D. Sullivan

Reading: Stephen Sullivan - Saturday, 02-12-2011 - 10:00 am to 10:30 am - River AB (Cafe)

Autographing: Paul McComas & Stephen D. Sullivan - Saturday, 02-12-2011 - 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm - Autograph Table

Escapist Gaming - Saturday, 02-12-2011 - 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm - Birch B
For most people, a primary childhood escape was "make believe". As "adults", we still escape through games - role playing, board games, online, and others. What are your favorite escapist games?
Donald J. Bingle
Matthew Duhan
Melissa Fichter
Eileen Maksym
Stephen D. Sullivan (M)

Tentacle Love - Sunday, 02-13-2011 - 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm - Birch B
The influence of Lovecraft and Cthulhu on today's SF and horror.
Brian Babendererde
Valli Hoski
Stephen D. Sullivan (M)
Gene Wolfe

Bigfoot: The Definitive Guide

2011-02-06T13:06:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 2/2/11 (?)

This show claims that its team of "top scientists" will search the globe for bigfoot, doubt its existence, discover shocking new evidence, and wonder if we've been searching for the wrong creature all along. In 2009, North Americans reported 250 bigfoot sightings. The show plots 10,000 sightings on a world map to determine patterns. More than 95% of all reported sightings are in Asia or North America; nearly 70% of these are at high altitude with dense tree cover. Hotspots include the Himalayas (Yeti), Indonesia (Orang Pendek), Central Asia (neanderthals), and North America (Sasquatch). The wilds of British Columbia have one of the highest concentrations of sightings in the world. The show then does numerous recreations of sightings (with quite good special effects). Team members include Jeff Meldrum (from the stone-throwing MonsterQuest incident), Ian Redmond (bigfoot hunter), Anna Nekaris, Bill Sellers, and Jack Rink.

They look at video footage, trying to sort out the hoaxes -- like the one from Bamf (sp?) Canada (a local promotion) -- and images too blurry to be any good. Once they've eliminated these, there's not much left. The team isn't surprised, as animals can be hard to photograph -- and cite the recent discovery of the bili ape. (I however, would point out the pictures of this ape are much, much better than any bigfoot evidence, despite all the bigfoot searching.) They look at a "tree structure" in the woods (which looks like a tree fall to me) and speculate it may be territory marking by bigfoot. They do some moonlight hunting and engage in tree knocking and "call blasting" and even use tracking dogs. Of course, they find nothing.

Then they look at the Patterson film. Redmond and Nikaris point out the "natural gait" of the creature (they clearly haven't seen the clips of Bob Heoronimous walking with his natural gait); Sellers and Rink are skeptical, pointing out that Patterson was a scoundrel. Journalist Mike McCleod relays that Patterson never held a steady job, claimed to be an "inventor," and published a book on Bigfoot (Do Abominable Snowmen of America Really Exist?) a year before featuring a sketch similar to what he later claimed to photograph. Patterson also borrowed money to direct a film about bigfoot and was down on his luck. The whole thing seems to good to be true. The team remains split on the authenticity, and I'm still disappointed these "experts" apparently haven't seen the National Geographic Is It Real special I referenced above, which convinced me the Patterson film is a fake. The team does dismiss the "skunk ape" Florida sightings as most likely "pet" chimps (or other apes) released by their owners.

Then Meldrum looks at the famous Shipton Yeti prints, which he's convinced are real -- if perhaps pathological because of the twin big toes on one foot. (He ignores the idea that the print is something else distorted by snow melt. None of the rest of the photos look like the "footprint" cast to me.) The show points out that only one species of primate is known to live in cold weather, and speculates that Yeti might have adapted, too. Redmond, at least believes that Yeti don't live in the snow, but merely pass through. He also believes in a lowland yeti called "mandi baru" (sp). They mention the yarin as well, and quickly turn to gigantopithecus as a possible explanation. Could Bigfoot be this human offshoot/ancestor? There are sightings of such creatures worldwide, especially in Russia, where they are called almas. They recount a Red Army encounter with such a creature and then talk about the "hobbit" found in SE Asia and orang pendek. Then they turn to homo heidelbergensis, a large-framed human offshot, as a likely suspect. We then get stories or bigfoots/wildmen chasing and kidnapping women.

Jack Rink then suggests that bigfoot isn't a throwback, but rather modern humans who have deliberately adapted to the wild -- possibly as part of a shamanistic ritual. In British Columbia, one First Nations archeologist believes that Squamish nation initiates spent years training in the woods, covering themselves in moss to keep warm. When these "wild people" were seen by members of other societies, they led to the legends. The show then suggests that these shamanic traditions may continue even today, all over the world. But is this enough to explain all the sightings worldwide? The team weighs all the evidence and -- not surprisingly -- the skeptics remain skeptical and the believers remain believers. What seems clear is that the Patterson film escalated sightings, but not all sightings are hoaxes or easily explained. Bill Sellers points out that if these creatures were real, there should be more solid physical evidence.

With a title like Bigfoot: The Definitive Guide, one would hope for a show full of sightings and good science. While we do get plenty of stories and sightings, a pretty good overview of the phenomenon, and a veritable catalog of bigfoots, bigfoot-like creatures, and suspects for what bigfoot could really be, the science beyond that cataloging is very much of the "I want to believe" variety rather than actual "how can we form a hypothesis and test it" science. What we mostly get, rather than "good" science is speculation, lots and lots of speculation.

Review - Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove

2011-01-28T22:48:00.001-08:00

I stumbled across this flick in my continuing quest for B-Movie fodder (now that I'm regularly contributing prizes to the B-Movie Cast) and decided to check it out. I'd been wondering recently why old-style monster movies weren't being made nowadays, since modern technology should put doing so within the reach of talented amateurs. This flick, from its promo material, seemed to fit that bill. And it's a pretty decent movie. I enjoyed it. There are plenty of monsters and monster fights and the makeup/suits are pretty good looking, though the werewolf outfit (not the face) is a bit Muppety. What surprised me, as it was billed as a homage to Universal and films of the 40s-50s, was the amount of nudity. I'd expect that in an exploitation homage, or a Euro homage,or a modern film, but not something that claims lineage from Universal and AIP. In its execution, the film reminded me of the Lost Skeleton of Cadavera, though it's not as successful.

The main problem I had with "... Blood Cove" were these: 1) The story needed more development: though the elements were good, they didn't come together to form a compelling whole; extraneous ideas should have been trimmed and the plot focused on the title conflict' the story should finish on the title characters, not with a deus-ex-machina "twist." 2) Though the cinematography was generally competent, the lighting made the movie look flat and uninteresting. Consulting any Outer Limits episode would have helped, not to mention the movies this film was homaging. Again, Cadavera did a better job in aping the "classic" look. 3) The acting was often campy when it would have been better served by being sincere. Playing it straight is what saves a lot of Euro-horror flicks with stories just as underdeveloped as this one. 4) A full orchestral score, or something approaching one, would have helped. The score, though well conceived, often sounded tinny to me.

Despite all that, I liked the picture. I enjoyed the attempt at a modern Frankenstein vs. ... film. I just wish they'd pushed it a little further toward the material that inspired them. I think there's a market for old-style horror movies, and this was a good attempt (despite the nudity). That and better lighting would have raised this a star, at least, in my estimation. I still enjoyed it more than the "classic" Dracula vs. Frankenstein, which I watched 2 days previously. It was worth the few bucks I paid for it -- and it has a really good set of DVD extras.

Rating (out of 5) - ***

FACT OR FAKED: Bayou Beast - River Ghost

2010-12-14T23:22:00.001-08:00

Syfy - Original Air Date: 12/9/10

The finale of their first season takes the FF crew further down the road of serious science and skepticism. The cases they do not look at in depth are: Christmas Ghost, which seems to show a ghostly image at a Christmas party. But Chi-Lan correctly points out that it's just lens flare. Ice Vortex shows a very strange circular vortex, which was observed for 12 hours, in the middle of an icy river. But it's merely the result of a methane gas uprising and the Coriolis effect; strange but not paranormal. Ghost Girl seems to show a ghostly girl in a deserted house. But it turns out this was a fake, a publicity put up to promote an internet site. Good job on exposing those, guys. Which leaves the 2 cases for investigation. Honey Island Swamp Monster seems to show a bigfoot-like creature skulking through the swamp near New Orleans. Ghost Light shows a mysterious light flying near a bridge on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

Heading to Louisiana, Ben, Chi-Lan, and Larry trek into the swamp, check out the area seen in the super-8 film, and interview witnesses. Then they go to see if the thing in the film could be a Louisiana Black Bear. The bears are very large, and can stand on their hind legs, but they don't walk very well, unlike the thing on film. Next test: a hunter (Ben) in a camouflage ghillie suit and stalking make-up. (Shades of the Michigan Dogman!) The resulting footage looks just like the original film. Of course, that doesn't mean it couldn't be bigfoot, so they set some nighttime traps for the monster, just in case. While they don't catch a monster, they do catch some strange and disturbing howls on their equipment. Conclusion: The film shows a man in camo, and the howls are identified by an expert as wild boar fighting. Also, the film is a short roll--indicating some of it's footage is missing, perhaps deliberately. While this film was "fake," there could still be a monster out there somewhere.

On to Oregon, where Bill, Austin, and Jael talk to the people who shot the flying light film; they seem sincere. At night, the team goes to the bridge and conducts some experiments. First, they throw Frisbees bedecked with lights off the bridge; they don't stay aloft long enough to replicate the flight pattern. Next, they pull a lighted balloon from a speedboat to try and replicate the object. This looks closer, but the flight pattern isn't smooth and regular when the boat turns. Finally, they outfit an RC plane with LED lights; though the object was described as "silent," it's impossible to hear the plane over local traffic. The plane is a dead-on match. Conclusion: The object is an RC plane, though the witnesses didn't know that; they were just fluke observers to a nighttime RC plane flight. It was merely a case of mistaken identity. Fake.

Over the past few weeks, this show has gone from a flabby "We want to believe" show to a harder-hitting "What's the most reasonable explanation" show. As they've improved, they've gained me as a loyal viewer and supporter, and I suspect many other fans as well. Since they've deservedly been renewed for next season, I hope they'll be able to cast off the EVP sessions and other remnants of pseudo science and stick solely to the facts in the season to come. They seem well on their way to becoming SyFy's equivalent of Mythbusters. I look forward to next season.

FACT OR FAKED: Lunar Landing Hoax - Tropical Intruder

2010-12-02T21:05:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 12/2/10

The show starts with the usual rundown of videos that might be worth investigating. Lancaster PA Mothman is filmed through a window and shows a creature taking off near a clothesline at night. It looks like a bird (owl) to me, but the video quality is low, and the team passes. Texas Explosions fill the sky with blue light, but it looks like weather to me (and Chi-Lan, too). Which leaves us with the two cases to be investigated this week. Apparently, one-quarter of the world's population doesn't believe the Moon Landings actually happened. (For those of us alive then, this theory is really insulting/annoying.) They show the hammer falling at the same rate as a feather; the moon jump salute to the flag, and an astronaut "assisted" to his feet - supposedly done on a Hollywood set. Gulf Breeze UFO shows one of the classic glowing UFO shapes (with apparent portholes) gliding through the trees; it vanishes suddenly. "Too good to be true," springs to my mind, but let's see what the team thinks.

Aron Ranen started as a documentary filmmaker, and now believes that NASA is hiding something. He has a good story, but is any of what he says true? He hedges though, and says, "There is a possibility that man's first landing on the moon might have been a hoax." So, the team (Ben, Austin, Chi-Lan) builds their moon landing set, and Austin gears up. Then they do the falling bodies test with a hammer & a weighted feather; video looks very similar. Chi-Lan then suits up, and Austin uses spring boots to make the salute jump; this looks terrible - and I can't imagine how the spring boots would have been used with 1960s tech (no CGI) to remove those boots. They try again with theatrical fly wire (which is what the conspiracy buffs claim the moon suit's radio antenna is); it looks better, after a few takes, so they continue with the wire. (Note that the physics of the jump is still wrong; the suit drifts with the wire. Note also that the early moon landings were broadcast live. Want to get that right in one continuous take?) They then try the assisted stand, which looks pretty good with the wire, too. But a pressurized suit would have a natural spring-back motion, explaining what's seen in he original footage anyway.

Conclusion: Yes, the "stunts" can be replicated, but no one in the cast believes they were faked. (They don't mention it, but watch the physics of the moon dust in the original footage.) Ben points out that because these tests were done on earth, it doesn't mean that similar results wouldn't happen on the moon without SFX, and 400,000 NASA workers are a lot of people -- too many, to involve in such a conspiracy. If you are interested in this conspiracy, you should see the excellent Mythbusters show on moon conspiracies, as well as Conspiracy Moon Landing from Nat Geo. Sorry, conspiracy buffs, the moon landings did happen (in the age before the politics of personal destruction), and it's insulting to all mankind to think they didn't. Good recreations, though.

On to Gulf Breeze, on the coast of Florida near Alabama, home of an Air Force base. They talk to Mike Hawkins, the witness responsible for the video, and he claims he wasn't involved in a hoax. He says the UFO was hovering over the bay, and he and the other witness moved through the trees to get better pictures before the UFO disappeared. The team (Bill, Jael, Larry) makes a mock UFO with foam sheets, a beach ball-type thing, lights, and tape ($20 of materials), and then attach it to a zip line outfitted with pullies. A remote turns the light on and off, to simulate "disappearance." It looks amazingly similar, aside from light cast on a tree and lack of vertical motion -- which I think they could have solved with a different rig further back in the trees. They then try attaching a UFO to an RC helicopter and repeat the test; again very similar, but the UFO is flat, and when it swings in the wind that hurts the effect. So they doubt that's the solution. Next they use a GOBO (Go Before Optics lighting) setup rear projected onto a screen, like the Bat Signal. Again, it's amazingly similar, and a camera move makes the craft disappear. Looks like a hoax, so they subject their interview to voice analysis. Initially, the tape shows Hawkins is telling the truth about seeing the thing, but, later on, he's being deceptive about not knowing what it was. (I remain dubious of this technique, but...) Conclusion: he may not have been in on the hoax initially, but he likely did know what it was later.

Again, this episode presents two tough looks at famous videos and shows how they could have been faked (though the moon landing was not). I wish they'd done some more proof about the good evidence for the moon landing (scientific mirrors left by the astronauts, etc), but that's a small quibble for a show that is more and more bringing hoaxes into the light. Good job, gang!

FACT OR FAKED: Mystery Mermaid; Ghostly Guardian

2010-11-19T00:17:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 11/18/10

As usual, we start with videos of cases that won't be researched this week. Dash Cam Ghost looks like a misty figure walking across the road, supposedly caught on a police dash cam. They want to authenticate it, but it looks like a reflection from a side window to me. Hawaiian UFO shows 3 lights moving through a Hawaii sunset. Bill says the film was created by Blake Cousins, who has done a number of paranormal videos, and this is just another of his CGI jobs. The Lake Erie Lights were filmed in March 2010 by Eugene Erlich (sp?); they move very strangely in the sky, but the group decides to wait until there are more confirmed sightings. Which leaves the two cases they are investigating this week: Ghost Guardian features a set of pictures where, over a course of many years, strange blurs appear in pictures of a girl as she grows up. She's 16 now, and the family thinks the blur is her spirit guardian. They've supposedly ruled out camera straps. The Mermaid was filmed off the Great Barrier reef by a photographer who didn't realize what it looked like until he got the film home, and, boy, it does look like a mermaid tail swimming away -- and not like any sea animal I'm familiar with. (And I'm a sea creature buff.) So, it's either a fake, or... an excuse to film Jael in a mermaid costume.

I might ask a local fish expert first, but the group quickly flies to Australia, dons their wet suits, and Jael and Ben -- both certified divers -- get wet while Austin mans the sonar. Quickly, they spot something on sonar, but it's just a shark, and not a match for the video. Could it be a sea cow (dugong)? I've seen manatees in the wild from a distance of a few feet, so I know even before the team does that this is not what's on the video - though the dugong does have a mermaid-like fluke. Next up, Jael in a mermaid suit (thank you, producers), and she looks pretty good -- as a mermaid, I mean -- and maybe with a better costume.... So, they find a professional mermaid named Hannah down under with a better costume and years of experience -- and she's a nearly exact match. They declare the video a hoax, and Ben even has a CGI recreation of what a real mermaid might look like. She's a blubbery, hairless creature, that looks nothing like the mythical beauty, or even my own Umira. Pretty funny finish to this fish story.

In Hawaii, the team talks to the grandmother who takes the mysterious pictures. The woman claims her granddaughter has seen this "guardian angel," and the girl says she has a sense of being watched at night. She gives Chi-Lan permission to interview her (with identity hidden) and take pictures. They set up a film processing lab on site and develop their pictures. They see nothing remarkable in their first shots, so they decide to try and replicate the effects they see on the ghost pictures. They set up a dummy as a model and try shooting with a camera strap dangling in front of the lens; it looks fairly close, but doesn't have the right texture. (Maybe the wrong strap?) Next, they test climate effects on film, but it doesn't look anything like the "spirit." So, they try a more elaborate hoax using reflections (which, for some reason, they call holograms), but that seems too elaborate for these people. Again, an interesting result, but not quite right. Sadly, this kind of investigation would not be complete without some "ghost hunting," so the lights go out and all the usual pseud-science poking around happens. Larry hears a strange noise on the walkie-talkie, but it sounds like interference to me (and Chi-Lan). So, they do the expected EVP session, which gives us another strange electronic noise -- which sounds a little, once they point it out, like "I'm watching you right now." Despite this, the group agrees that the "spirit" on the film is likely a camera strap or other lens interference. (Which is my conclusion as well.) Unfortunately, we get an end-of-show sop to the believers that what they've found doesn't rule out some other paranormal activity in the home.

So, again, the team gives us two good explanations -- a trend I'm liking in this series -- despite the nod to what may be the series main audience (true believers) in the closing moment.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghost of Menegai; Kalanoro

2010-11-13T23:59:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/14/10

Josh & Crew head to Africa to prowl a haunted volcano and to Madagascar to look for a small, savage creature. The Menangai crater is in Masai country in Kenya. It is reportedly haunted by the spirits of those killed in a battle on its rim. The forest-filled crater is 6 miles wide, so there's a lot of ground to cover. After touring Nairobi and hobnobbing with the locals, they hop a train and then head by boat and foot into the wilderness. After a stop at a Masai village for advice (and to obtain an offering for a blessing), the team climbs into the crater. There, they set up the usual cameras and equipment and go prowling in the dark for ghosts. Shortly after they make their ritual sacrifice, they start seeing strange shapes in the darkness and hearing strange cackling noises. (Wildlife?) In a cave, they see an unexplained light and hear whispering/singing voices. Back in LA, they see something blurry on a camera, plus the strange light, and hear the "singing" on their recordings. They have no good explanations.

In Madagascar they go hunting for the Kalanoro, a mischievous tiny, hairy humanoid with razor-sharp claws; it also has backward feet. After the usual fooling around with the locals, they get some lessons on local fauna and talk to an American biologist who claims to have seen the thing. Then they head out into the jungle, set up the usual cameras, and stomp around in the dark looking for the creature. They find some tracks that look like tiny human feet, but the ground is bad for casts, so they take pictures. They also catch something on the FLIR heat-sensing camera. Based on the size of the eyes and the thermal image, they determine they were probably photographing nocturnal lemurs; the "footprint" was too undefined to identify. It seems likely that the Kalonoro is merely an amalgam of local animals, but since Madagascar is still home to a wilderness uncorrputed by man, the show concludes that it's possible something is still out there.

FACT OR FAKED: Sasquatch Sprint - Alien Attacker

2010-11-11T23:14:00.000-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 11/11/10

Videos passed on this week include Mothman flying at a car windshield at night (probable animation), and the "Guardian" UFO footage of a "ship" allegedly hovering over a park, but with no witness they decide to put that one off and maybe look into it more. Which leaves the videos they're investigating: a Sprinting Sasquatch (the famous Memorial Day film of bigfoot running across a field) and the Alien Attacker (famous black triangle ship with dead alien) where the alien supposedly killed a dog before being brained and photographed by a human. This second looks obviously fake to me, and the body was supposedly later stolen by a mysterious van, but the group decides to look into it anyway.

After talking to the bigfoot witnesses, they try to duplicate the running speed of the "creature" in the film. This has been attempted successfully before, in Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, but this show -- like all others -- makes no mention of previous successful debunking. (I guess if they did, they wouldn't have a show.) Team member Austin runs the course in 9.6 seconds, faster than the creature at 10.6 seconds. They then attempt it again using a 10 pound bigfoot suit, and after taking a big fall, he completes it again, but in around 12 seconds. Trying again, and taking off his mask at the end, the result looks similar to "growth" in the original creature footage (which some tried to say was the bigfoot carrying a baby on its shoulders). Then they do some night investigation with IR cameras and sand traps for prints; they also fly over with an IR camera. They get a hit on the overhead camera and chase it, but can't catch up. They also find a print. Conclusion: The footage could be faked, and probably was. Same conclusion as other shows. The print is inconclusive, but too small for bigfoot. Which doesn't mean there is no bigfoot, just not here.

On to the alien, checking out the story of "Doctor" Johnathan Reed in Snowalmie Pass, WA. He claims this creature seized his dog's jaws and ripped the animal in half. The dog dropped to the ground and turned to ash, whereupon Reed hit the alien in a head with a stick, fatally wounding it. Nearby, he saw a triangular-shaped craft - 9 1/2 feet long, 2 1/2 feet thick, and 3 feet wide -- hovering three feet off the ground. Seeing this, he videoed what he saw and then took the alien body, in black jump suit, back to his house. I'm unimpressed. It all looks like amateur theater to me, and I'm pretty sure I could recreate it using a bit of hardware with the help of my kids. Ben, the former FBI guy, points out that though Reed tells the story well, he's been doing it for over 15 years -- a lot of time to rehearse. They build a triangle craft (obelisk) out of plywood and paint it black; team member Larry has also brought an alien he built. His alien looks better than the one in the film. They suspend the craft using a pole wrapped in greenery, a standard magician/SFX trick. They then plant the alien and use a shaky-cam technique to duplicate the video. (I'm convinced.) Finally, they take the alien inside and use servos to recreate its blinking eyes and "autopsy." (Though the original eyes look like they might have just been flashing lights to me.) Jael points out this took some skill to recreate, but Rob notes the financial gain for pulling off such a hoax is great. They then re-interview Reed, and apply "layered voice analysis" to the interview. Reed claims a life-threatening conspiracy trying to cover up his evidence; he sticks to his story. The voice analysis says he's lying. "Johnathan Reed is not who he says he is, and this did not happen to him," Ben concludes

Reed, it turns out, is also known as con-man John Bradley Rutter, and this case has been debunked previously -- a fact turned up by a quick online search. But, as I said with the bigfoot case, if they told us that in advance, they wouldn't have a show. On the other hand, this show the team did debunk two stories held dear by "believer" communities, and, in doing so, and bringing the truth to a wider audience, Fact or Faked has done a public service. Thanks, guys. Good job.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Guam Zombies; Fangaloblo

2010-11-05T00:00:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/28/10

Josh & team go back to Madagascar to look for the monster bat fangaloblo, a 5' bat rumored to carry off the unwary. The DTers fly to the African isle, hobnob with the locals, talk to witnesses, and witness a street fight. They then take motorbikes into the wilderness to find the monster. (Josh needs to learn to wear a helmet.) Rickety canoes take them into some caves, and dump them into crocodile infested waters. Fortunately, they survive, and, later bike even further into the wilds to find even bigger caves, and set up base camp. Then they hike through dangerous caves and cliffs and over a rope bridge. They find many bats in the caves, though no obvious giants, but they do get a big thermal hit they can't explain. They do find a "claw" that puzzles their expert back home, too; he thinks the people of Madagacar are seeing something real, possibly a very large bat.

Next, the DT team goes to Guam to look for ghostly zombies, the Taotaomona that haunt the jungles and remote caves of the island (which is an American territory). As always, the crew hangs with the locals and gets some background on the zombies, which erected (according to legend) the island's many standing stones. Later, the DT folk listen to a purported taotaomona moan (EVP) and perform a ceremony to communicate with native ancestors. A camera man accidentally steps on a sacred stone, possibly incurring the taotaomona's wrath, and later badly cuts his knee. Shortly thereafter, their tech manager badly scrapes herself up on a cliff climb, after tying a rope to a sacred banyan tree. Oops. After setting up the usual base camp, the crew tromps around in the dark looking for zombies. They hear moans and get strange reactions from their electrical sensors. When doing an EVP session, one team member is "pushed" in the back - leaving a mark visible on the thermal camera. They also catch a mysterious shadow on camera, and can find no explanation for it. While Josh declares their investigation eventful, he is unwilling to say the events are paranormal.

Thus ends another "season" (half season) of Destination Truth on SyFy. It's been another fun romp with Josh & crew, if not full of earth-shaking discoveries.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Haunted Island Ruins; Moroccan

2010-11-04T22:57:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/21/10

Josh and crew head to Nan Madol in Pohnpei, Micronesia, to check out the haunted jungle city, a.k.a. the "Venice of the Pacific." They clown with the locals, as usual, and then get the blessing of a tribal chief to visit the city. Of course, they set up cameras and then tramp around in the dark across the city's island and canals. They spot an "orb" in the trees, and Josh gets violently ill conducting an EVP session. (Eerily similar to an earlier explorer who died after removing artifacts.) An IV drip gets him well enough to return home. Josh wonders if the orb is an insect, or perhaps mechanical. EVP sessions turn up the usual fuzzy "voices." Josh's illness might be connected to a cold snap they experienced within one of the buildings/tombs. Conclusion? Something powerful, confirming many legends, is lurking in the ruins.

They next go to Morocco to look for Aisha Kandisha, a succubus who lures men to their deaths in the wilderness. Recent reports and disappearances lure the crew out to the desert to check out some abandoned casabas. After setting up base camp, they tromp around in the ruins in the dark to look for a "topless woman with goat legs." They're spooked by bats and nearly crushed by a falling wall. They hear sounds, but sounds travel in the desert, and they wonder if people hearing such things (from neighboring villages) have helped inspire this legend. Teeth fragments they find turn out to be from a cow, and a leg bone brought back with them belongs to a cow, too. They find nothing to substantiate the legend.

FACT OR FAKED: Symphonic Spirits - Hovering Humanoid

2010-11-04T22:15:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/4/10

It seems the team is down to examining 4 videos per week, which is too bad, as I liked both the screening and the debunking of popular vids. The two discards this show are a poltergeist of many hands in an LA apartment (CGI work) and the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights in NC (probably natural, and too similar to a recent case). So, they cases they go after are a walking "ghost" caught on a security cam in the the Valentown Museum, Victor NY, and a flying humanoid (witch or bruja) in Texas near Mexico.

Staring at the museum, they talk to the caretaker/curator about the place's history; she firmly believes there are paranormal events happening there. They also talk to the original videographer, who says they only noticed the "ghost" later. To me, it looks like a quirky in-lens reflection, but the team starts by trying to see if it's a real person, just out of focus: nope. They do a reflection test, to see if it was accomplished by a common magician's trick: very close, but not an exact match. Next, they make a video of someone walking and project that into a wire mesh screen: not as good as the reflection. At this point, their experiments are interrupted by ghostly piano and then guitar music. Chu Lan, though skeptical, is stumped, so they go into Ghost Hunter mode. Poking around, they find some odd reflections and hear things, too. They catch a "scream" on EVP, but, sadly, never go back to their previous investigation. And I still think the ghost is a lens reflection. Again, they've stopped investigating too soon.

In Texas, the other team talks to a witness, who says the flying humanoid was not a hoax by her UFO group -- it's an unidentified flying object. (Nice coincidence that the thing showed up at a UFO meeting.) The FF team starts by checking out a flying man jet pack. (I love these.) There are jet pack enthusiasts around the world, and a several enthusiasts in Monterey Mexico may have access to one. So, they have a pilot fly one and try to replicate the video. It's close, but could not carry enough fuel to do what's seen in the video (the pack has a 30 second flight limit). Plus, the flying humanoid was silent, whereas the pack is noisy like a jet. Next, they try a zip line, but though it looks good, the man on the line is also more human-looking than the original. (Balloons? Cutouts?) Next, they test out debris carried along by the wind: balloons or garbage bags. They put some balloons in (witch-shaped) garbage bags and fly them like a kite, but the balloons wobble too much. Ben suggests an elaborate hoax to fool the UFO club - using helicopter remote controls to fly the balloon. So they set that up and . . . bingo. It's an exact match and a case well solved.

FACT OR FAKED - Haunted Mansion Mist; Starlight Intruder

2010-11-03T23:17:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/28/10

Possible cases this week include: strange sand circles in El Paso's Rio Grand basin (turns out to be an art project); the Beast of Gum Hill, which seems to show a bigfoot crossing upriver from an ATV group (but on closer inspection looks like a human, and appears staged, too), and the two cases they investigate. The McPike Mansion is supposedly haunted and some ghost hunters videotaped a "strange" mist in the cellar. Also, a Delta UFO in Fremont, California, was captured on a night vision camera on December 5, 2008. They start with the mansion in Alton, IL, and try to replicate the mist in the video, which swirled and seemed to follow people. They use a blower to put dust made from Fuller's earth in the air, and it looks very similar to the video. They also experiment with an insect swarm, but the bugs keep landing on the experimenters, and it doesn't look right. They use an air conditioner and a humidifier to create their own fog, but that, too, doesn't look right. Their issue is that the mist and dust linger, rather than dissipating quickly. So they do their Ghost Hunter bit, and get some EVPs - ghost tapping - and what looks like bug feelers on the camera. Some of the team conclude the "mist" was really dust, though others think the mansion may be haunted.

In Freemont, CA, the second team hunts for the triangular UFO, talks to the witness, etc. Then they test a kite with lights (too unstable), a wicked cool RC jet (too noisy & doesn't remain triangle shaped as it moves), and finally a hang glider with lights on it. And, bingo! The glider is a perfect match, and it turns out that there are hang gliders that do night flying with anti-collison lights on. Great explanation. This show came closer to any they've yet done to having 2 rational explanations. In fact, until they went ghost hunting at the mansion, it seemed pretty clear that they'd found a reasonable explanation for the mist (combination of dust and moisture). Too bad the show seems to want to pander to "believers," even when they don't have to. Still, a much more thorough set of investigations this time around. Good job!

Review of Still Not Quite What You Expected posted

2010-10-23T21:57:00.001-07:00

I've posted my review of Still Not Quite What You Expected, Theater Undreground's new play, on my main website.

www.stephendsullivan.com

Enjoy.

BEAST LEGENDS: Monster Bird

2010-10-17T19:09:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/14/10

The BL team looks into the Navajo legend of the monster bird, which could allegedly pick up humans and dash them onto high cliffs. They investigate the beast's supposed habitat and hear the legends. They check out both eagles and condors (including a hang glider who was attacked by one), and talk to a pterosaur expert. They end up with a cross between condor, eagle, & pterosaur (claw hands on the wings), and create their usual beast film, in which the monster carries of a human to drop on the rocks. It's pretty cool, though at one point, the creature they come up with reminded me of The Giant Claw. Awk!

I'm a bit concerned that, after much initial hoopla, this show seems to have been relegated to a late-night only timeslot -- the hour it had occupied being occupied by re-runs of other shows. Is Beast Legends about to slip into legend itself?

BEAST LEGENDS: Wildman of Vietnam

2010-10-10T21:16:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/7/10

The team goes to Vietnam to scout out local legends of a bigfoot-like creature. They talk with a US soldier witness, and are shown mysterious tracks that one expert says might be from a Sun Bear. Remember, though, this team isn't really hunting bigfoot, they're just trying to recreate this legend for a computer simulation. They trudge through jungles, swim in caves, examine orangutan bones, and input all of their ideas into their computers. Then they make a movie where a wildman stalks a human through the forest. and the human releases a baby wildman from a trap. The "story" even has a surprise ending, but it's no surprise that the team doesn't actually find a real wildman.

Solving History with Olly Steeds - Lost City of Gold

2010-10-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

Planet Green - Original Air Date: Unknown

The search for El Dorado goes back to the conquest of the Americas by Europeans. This show looks at the histories, checks out legends and stories -- including one that the Vatican is covering up the lost city's location -- and trudges through the mountains looking for clues and Incan treasure. In the rarefied air of the Andes, host Olly starts wondering if perhaps, when you come this far and worked this hard, your brain starts wanting the legend to be true, and you start seeing connections where there may be none. Indeed, this seems a plausible explanation, though the team is still finding ancient Incan roads -- leading to who knows where -- when the expedition runs out of time and supplies. Olly concludes that it's possible that somewhere in this unknown region a lost city still exists. I, for one, hope people keep looking. This program serves as a good primer on the legend of El Dorado and is entertaining throughout.

Solving History with Olly Steeds - Nazca Lines

2010-10-10T09:09:00.001-07:00

Planet Green - Original Air Date: Unknown

I stumbled across this program one Sunday morning. It's a science/exploration series with a genial British host -- think a less frenetic Bear Grylls. This episode investigates and discards many of the well-known theories about the Nazca Lines. Theories dismissed include astronomical mapping and alien construction. The host, Olly Steeds, talks to investigators, archeologists, and grave robbers. He is given hallucinogens by a shaman and visits a Nazca graveyard. Finally, he settles on a scientifically supported theory, that the lines were sacred pathways walked by pilgrims to the site. Both studious and entertaining, this series seems a good one to watch in the future.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Siberian Snowman

2010-10-07T22:27:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 10/8/10

In a rare, single-story show, Josh and crew go to Russia to look for the Siberian Snowman, a.k.a. bigfoot -- which Josh notes is their most popular subject. (Gee, I never would have guessed from the number of times Monster Quest has done bigfoot -- by my estimation, about a third of their shows.) Naturally, the DT team plays with the locals before taking the Trans-Siberian Railway and hiking into the snow-bound wilds. They set up the usual camera trap stuff and then trudge into the darkness, hoping to find bigfoot and avoid hungry bears and wolves. They find what looks like a big nest, but Josh notes it might just be debris washed down by the stream. Some crew members get spooked by a noise coming downhill in the dark, and while they're running away, they find a strange fur sample. Meanwhile, Josh finds a long line of huge footprints (though it's hard to tell how big they might have been originally, as they look melted out). More tracks lead to wolves, which pursue Josh's team. (I want to know if the teams are packing heat. I would in these wilderness areas.)

Next day, they head to another Russian bigfoot hotspot. More poking around at night commences. In this location, something breaks their perimeter sensors, but they don't find anything, though another team turns up more "bipedal" tracks. Many sets of tracks, including what looks like an area where a big animal bedded down. Digging in the bed, they find no hair, but do find a urine sample. Later, they get a thermal hit, but can't locate what caused it. (This happens a lot in these shows.) Nor can they find its tracks. From there, it's back to LA for analysis. But the thermal hits are too distant for any ID. Their expert says whatever made the prints was heavy, and appears to be walking bipedal. The mysterious fur is from an ibex, though that doesn't account for the tracks. They don't talk about the urine sample. So, a mystery? Maybe. Though they never rule out bear.

BEAST LEGENDS: Winged Lion

2010-09-30T23:06:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 9/30/10

The show sets out to recreate the legendary griffon. They start with the body of a cave lion, then add in the face and hunting tactics of a Mongolian golden eagle. Then they add the eagle's talons to the front legs and give it wings with a 25' span (so it can lift Mongolian horses). They give it swept-back ears, too. Then they make a to-scale nest, out in Mongolia, for their beast to roost in. (The end result looks a whole lot like Bill the Griffon from my series The Twilight Empire -- returning to the web soon.) Finally, of course, they create a movie of the creature swooping over a city and generally terrorizing people. It doesn't carry off any horses, but it does take a motorcycle -- and some other techno gear -- to its nest.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghost Fleet; Japanese River Monster

2010-09-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 9/30/10

The crew goes to the Micronesia check out Japanese WWII ghost wrecks and then to Japan itself to look for Kappa. Truk Lagoon is a graveyard of WWII ships, patrolled by tiger sharks, and reputed to be haunted. The team will conduct the "first ever" underwater paranormal investigation. (Quotes because I have no way of verifying this claim.) As always, they chat up the locals and hear spooky stories; supposedly, sunken vehicles can be heard running in the deep, 130 feet down. Into the drink they go, turning up human remains and unexploded bombs, just for fun. They also hear mysterious noises that sound like trucks running. At night, they check out haunts on one of the local islands and do some night diving, too. More shadows and sounds, both above & below, ending in the now-standard consult with Grant & Jason from Ghost Hunters. The spooky underwater sounds prove inconclusive; sounds carry a long way underwater. A Flir (infrared) hit they determine to be merely a local villager walking by. The underwatrer engine sounds, though, do sound like an engine, but is it paranormal? Josh considers their trip a successful expansion of paranormal research.

Kappa, once feared throughout Japan, have become pop-culture icons. But recently, reptilian creatures have been sighted in Japanese rivers. Could the turtle-like Kappa be back? The DT team samples the local kappa souvenirs and sees what purports to be the bones of a kappa foot. Then they stay in a micro hotel, with rooms like a double-wide coffin before heading to Tono to check out the rivers. They spot a giant koi fish, and Josh swims a frigid river to carry across a line to ferry equipment. Then they set up the usual perimeter and camera traps, 'cause apparently monsters only come out at night, so that's when they always look. (Point: Any night-hunting creature is gonna see -- and hear -- these guys, and avoid them, long before they can see it.) They feel something moving in the river, catch something on an IR camera, and frighten some bats in a cave. In analysis, the video is possibly a rare river otter, and the moving thing Josh felt an eel. The foot bones are likely from a canine. Thus, the show concludes, the Kappa remains a colorful myth, fueled possibly, by misidentification of known creatures.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghost of Haboro; Mngwa

2010-09-25T18:28:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 9/23/10

The DT crew goes to Japan to investigate a ghost and Africa to see about a mythical beast. Haboro, Japan, was a mining town with a horrible safety record, and it's now purported to be huanted by ghosts. Locals note that it's not only dangerous because of ghosts, but because bears also live there. The team goes down the officially-closed road to town and sets up camp in the spooky buildings and apartment complexes. They spot some strange images on the Fleer (infrared) and encounter unexpected danger in rotted floors. They also see strange lights and hear strange noises. In the supposedly haunted 4th floor apartment, where they saw the Fleer hit, there's a makeshift shrine. Creepy. They return to the US with plenty of EVPs and the strange Fleer image. But could it be some kind of reflection? Josh and company think the place is haunted.

In Tanzania, the crew is looking for the gray-furred, catlike man-eater, Mngwa. They head for the Serengeti and talk to local witnesses. (I am impressed that some local hunters believe this creature to be real.) At night, they do some stalking in a jeep, and more on foot, and see quite a few native animals. (Kids, don't try this.) They see a lot of eyes in the dark and take some print casts. But video shows nothing conclusive, and the print proves to be that of a large, very dangerous lion. The crew concludes that the mngwa most likely no longer exists, though its legend remains.

BEAST LEGENDS: Megajaws

2010-09-25T17:30:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 9/23/10

The BL teams goes from the Caribbean to the South Pacific to recreate the shark god Dakuwanga. They research types of sharks, from bulls to reefs to the ancient megalodon. They swim with sharks and build a scale model on the beach from sand. They dive into the deep to find Dakuwanga's lair, and run into sea snakes on land. (The god can be either man, shark, or snake.) Then they create a CGI movie of Dakuwanga attacking a submarine. Just another day at the Beast Legends lab.

SyFy seems to have timed this episode to coincide with the release of Sharktopus (Saturday, 9/25/10), and that's fine with me, as (coincidentally) I'm flogging a shark story right now, too: "Monster Shark," which just became available on Amazon for Kindle and Smashwords for other ebook formats. I have special 99 cent pricing on the story until 10/2/10, so be sure to take advantage of it while you can. On Smashwords, you have to use the discount code: AY48G. Yeah, I usually don't plug my own stuff in reviews, but with this kind of timing, how could I resist? Enjoy.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Spirits of Angkor Wat & Canadian Lake Monster

2010-09-19T22:45:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 9/16/10

Josh and Crew go to Cambodia to look for ghosts in Angkor Wat, then head to Lake Okanagan, Canada, to find the Ogopogo. Angkor Wat, the famous forty-square-mile temple complex, is up first, and the crew has the usual adventures with the locals, and interviews the usual witnesses, on their way. Then they set up the standard perimeter cameras and start poking around in the dark. Anyone who has seen the Tomb Raider series or numerous other video games will be familiar with the look of Angkor's amazing architecture, and it's just as creepy and amazing in real life. Fairly quickly, Josh captures a shadowy, humanlike form on the Fleer (infrared) camera. Just as quickly, they start seeing shapes moving through the darkness, though they don't fine anything, either human or animal. They climb to the top of the complex, light some candles and make an offering; oddly, the candles blow out and they see a light darting through the building, though no one else is there. Back in the states for analysis, they get the usual "voices" in their EVP work, but the figure on the thermal is the strangest bit of evidence. Again, I wonder about in-lens reflections, but the team concludes that Angkor Wat has a paranormal presence.

On to Lake Okanagan to hunt the Ogopogo, Canada's Loch Ness Monster, reportedly a serpent-like creature 30-60' long. After talking to the standard local eyewitnesses, they take a plane up and scout the lake. They see a strange long shape in the water, but can't track it down, even though they go diving and check out a local underwater cave by hand and with an ROV (remotely operated vehicle). Though Josh does see a large shape swim below him, he can't catch it; silty water limits the ROV's use. They camp on Rattlesnake Island and set up the usual equipment. They get a hit on their fish finder, but eventually dismiss it as possible debris. They spot a shadow on the water on the night vision, but again can't track anything solid down, though the ROV gets caught on something, probably weeds. A marine expert later suggests that many "Ogopogo" sightings are wakes or bubbles or other natural phenomena. He also suggests a sturgeon may explain some sightings, though no sturgeon have been caught in Lake Okanagan. Josh remains convinced, because of his close calls, that something strange may still lurk in the huge, deep lake.

BEAST LEGENDS: Fire Dragon

2010-09-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 9/16/10

The team looks into dragon legends, starting with the legend of Smok, a dragon supposedly killed in Poland. They find the bones of the beast in a church, and one clever team member determines they are: the skull of a rhino, the thigh of a mammoth (or elephant), and the jawbone of a whale (masquerading as a rib). Similarly, dragon tracks turn out to belong to a dinosaur. So they play with a gator to see how it swallows its prey whole, and then add the fangs of a puff adder, some gator skin, the belly of a gar fish, and bat wings (naturally - though they discard those in favor of a gliding membrane). They also mess with a flamethrower setup. And that's our monster mash-up for this week, suitable for terrorizing woodland creatures or city dwellers. Look for it in a SyFy movie coming soon. Maybe.

FACT OR FAKED: The Caretaker; Cutter

2010-09-16T18:11:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 8/19/10

Cases the group doesn't take this week include a UFO supposedly abducting aircraft, which they dismiss as likely CGI, as no planes have been reported mysteriously missing in Southern CA. "Creepers" lurking about in a deserted hospital see a shadowy figure, but it looks like a planted dummy to me and the FF crew. Skunk ape, the Florida version of Bigfoot, looks like a guy in a suit. ("Look, everyone! Patterson film!" says one team leader, aping the onscreen actions.) They finally settle on Colorado Cattle Mutilations (Cutter, I guess), and a Cemetery Phantom (Caretaker) caught on film in IN. The "ghost" on the film was not seen by the people at the time, and locals say it was a "ghost train" passing through.

They go to Indiana first and talk to the witnesses, all believers of course, and no one seems at all suspicious that the image was not seen at the cemetery, only when reviewing the film later. They set up at the site and try some possible explanations: ATV (too solid, too noisy), a dust devil (recreated by fan, but not convincing), and a man running in mist (similar, but...) Science having "failed," they turn to EVP sessions and catch the usual strange sounds: proof of nothing, in my estimation. So they call this one "paranormal," and never even consider the idea that a camera malfunction or reflection (which seem mostly likely to me) could have caused this image. One more case unsolved due to lack of effort and/or skepticism.

In Colorado, the team talks to witnesses, procures a dead cow, and does some experiments -- including a doctor cutting with an electric cauterizer and a laser to try to recreate the mutilations. (Carcass donated later to a wolf sanctuary, so nothing goes to waste.) Those techniques either don't work or take too long or both, so they leave the carcass out over night to check for predators. And, as they do that, they look for UFOs, too. No UFOs show up, but they do find a bird feeding on the carcass, so they decide to try to replicate natural bloating. They put an inflatable bladder inside cowhide and pump it up. When they do, they discover that, under pressure, the cowhide rips in curving, surgical-looking lines. Their conclusion: natural causes. Score one for science! (Though I have to point out that this conclusion has been reported and supported scientifically before -- including on IS IT REAL? Chupacabras.) Maybe it's new to their audience, though. Case closed.

BEAST LEGENDS: Kraken

2010-09-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 9/9/10

The ads led me to believe that this was going to be some kind of serious investigation of mythical/legendary beasts, and I guess, in some ways, it is. I thought, though, that it would be a "Wow can these beasts be real?" show, or "What is the reality behind the myth?" In that, I was completely mistaken. This show, if the premier episode is any indication, rather, takes the reported mythical properties of such beasts, compares them to reality, and then uses those "statistics" to create a CGI version of the beast. Yeah, it's recreating the monsters in CG, not investigating where the myths came from. So, at the end we get a pretty cool monster, but no real "meat" whatsoever. And the Kraken they came up with this week was pretty cool. And they stuff they did to recreate it, seeing real squids, climbing ship's masts, were pretty cool, too. But, in the end, it seems to me that this show may be mostly of a "tryout" show for future SyFy CGI monster movies. (And if they need writers for those movies, sign me up.) It is not a paranormal investigation show. If you like CGI monsters and just a tad of history/science, tune in. But if you were expecting SyFy's answer to MonsterQuest, give it a pass.

The Truth Behind UFOs Over Phoenix

2010-09-12T22:33:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: Unknown (Viewed 9/2010)

While this show claims to be the "truth" about this well-known UFO incident, the vast amount of the show is taken up with eyewitness accounts and speculation about what it would take to create and fly a craft like the one reported by those witnesses. Normal propulsion and craft and pilots are ruled out, and there's plenty of talk about what it could "not" be. "The fact is, no earthly explanations can account for the sightings," the show concludes about halfway through. They do mention the military flares being dropped that night, but they quickly rule them out as an explanation for any of the sightings. Clearly, none of these people have seen the first-class debunking in UFOs Over Phoenix, nor would they probably care if they had. All of the "scientist/experts" in this show are actually UFO researchers; they all have a horse in this race. There is very little, if any time, given to the possibility that the witnesses are merely wrong -- mistaken or unwittingly exaggerating what they've seen. Thus does science die the death of a thousand cuts at the hands of "believers." And make no mistake, despite its title, this show is for believers, not skeptics. I expect better from National Geographic; sadly, this time, I did not get it. I cannot tell if this is another in the "The Truth Behind..." series I've reported on before. If it is, it falls considerably short of the standards of the others. If you're looking for the truth for the Phoenix sightings, look elsewhere.

FACT OR FAKED: Blazing Horizon; Rollover

2010-08-18T20:55:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 8/12/10

As always, the show starts with a session checking out a few videos. Rancho Cucamonga Triangle is supposedly a UFO, but the group thinks it's more likely a plane. The Webcam Ghost looks like cheap CG SFX. The Drone UFO is another in the continuing series of jellyfish-like drone hoaxes: more CG. The Wiltshire Crop Circle seems complex, but Bill notes humans can make very complex circles; a second video seems to show a globe of light in the circle (though it looks like a bug or fluff to me). The two cases they decide to focus on are the Paulding Light in MI (supposedly a ghost light warning trains) and the Ghost Track of San Antonio, TX, where cars supposedly move uphill on their own (pushed by ghosts killed in a bus accident). As always, the team splits into two groups to investigate. These "phenomena" seem to have easy, non-supernatural explanations to me; we'll see how the teams do.

The Paulding light has souvenir shops set up nearby, propagating the ghost lantern story. The proprietors take the team out to the vantage point, which looks like view down a power line right-of-way. Some witnesses think it could be reflections or lights from small planes in a nearby airport. The team sets up cameras, as the light is reported pretty much every night; they also plan to drive down the lines to try and find it. Sure enough, the light soon appears, and they give chase, but can't find it. So they run some scans. but find no unusual natural phenomena. The light doesn't even turn up on their infrared camera. Next day, they head to the airport to do a fly over with a bright light, but they can't fly low enough to replicate the light. Next, they try car headlights. They shut down the highway so they're the only car on the suspect roadway, but their observer doesn't see their lights - though he sees the bright white Paulding Light, even when they turn their lights out. Since their actual scientific experiments have "failed," they go to EVP to try to record ghost voices. (At this point, they have veered from science to fantasy.) Naturally, the EVPs don't turn up anything. Why they didn't try to track the light down on foot, keeping it in sight as they went, I don't know; that would seem an obvious course - especially over the course of several nights. Or maybe they should bring in an expert on optics and reflection (as that show, the name of which escapes me, with Amanda Tapping once did). While they get points for doing a multi-day investigation, they clearly didn't keep at it long enough. Thus, the Paulding Light remains mysterious.

I'm betting that the ghost track phenomena will end up being an optical illusion, where you're actually rolling downhill when it appears you're rolling up. (Anyone who's been to any of the Mystery Spots scattered throughout America will be familiar with this illusion.) We'll see what they figure out, though. They meet the witness and borrow his car to replicate the video; they clean the car to try and remove any "ghost" prints. Then, they put the car in neutral, take out the keys, and release the clutch and brake. Sure enough, the car starts to roll and quickly picks up speed -- and they almost get hit by a train. They try it again, and it happens again, this time rolling them directly up the little hill near the tracks and across those tracks before stopping. At this point, I'd try it with a basketball or something similar, but they decide to dust for ghost prints - and, not surprisingly, find nothing. (Suggesting the "ghost" prints the witness saw were on his car before the original incident.) Then they test with a school bus, which rolls over the tracks, too. Again, they test for prints, but again find nothing; hauling a water level out on the terrain might be a better idea. Instead, they test for magnetism & electric fields, and find nothing there, too. Finally, they pull out a surveyor's level and do some real, scientific measuring. Which means they figure out exactly what I supposed right at the start: optical illusion. They also discover that the legend of the school bus accident didn't even happen in Texas. So, while it took them a while, and they left the Paulding Light as a mystery, at least they got one right. I'm beginning to think we'll never get a show with two "fakes," though; this seemed like a strong candidate.

FACT OR FAKED: Predator; Red Sky at Night

2010-08-11T21:47:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 8/5/10

The show starts, as usual, reviewing videos and determining what cases to follow. Stairway ghost turns out to have cuts, shadows behind ghosts, and 2 people pretending to be one on different floors. Campfire creature they figure is just a person crawling at the edge of the firelight. Russian Pyramid shows a pyramid-shaped UFO over Moscow's Red Square, but seems an obvious hoax, due to lack of witnesses in this very public space. The cases they investigate are the Beast of Dartmoor, some kind of mysterious bounding animal that looks like a black lion, and El Cajon Triangle, a Feb. 2008 UFO sighting of red lights in a triangular formation. Half the group goes to England while the other goes to CA.

The Dartmoor beast has a legend that sounds like The Hound of the Baskervilles - your basic hellhound haunting the moors. (It looks like a gussied up hound to me.) They locate the spot where the film was taken, then go to a local animal farm to film a pony, a Labrador-like dog, and a lion against a green screen to compare to the film. Pony & dog don't look good on film; the lion looks similar, but not enough. A wild boar or a large black (zoo) cat, perhaps? So they go looking with a local game expert and find a ram carcass scattered over a hillside. They set up cameras and search in the dark (naturally). They hear a deep growl, spot horses in the dark, and find another carcass. Returning home, they create a composite cat-boar simulation in their computer. (Why?) England is home to no native big cats, yet people are seeing something. They don't think the video was hoaxed (though I wouldn't rule it out), so there's "something" in Dartmoor. But what?

The El Cajon team interviews Paul, the video eyewitness. (I sense a voice analysis coming.) The witness says the lights just hung out and then slowly went out; he wonders if it was a helicopter. The team goes to the Mojave to check out some theories. Sky lanterns have trouble in the Mojave winds, but the team doesn't think it's the lights anyway. Lights on a helicopter look right, but the helicopter is clearly audible. But what about a balloon with safety flares on a triangular rig - a simple hoax? Turns out, that's a perfect match, and the show declares the lights over El Cajon a hoax. It's nice to see them come to this conclusion, as they'd "gone easy" (in my opinion) on many recent investigations. And I'm still not convinced about that beast. But how much can you do in a 1-hour show? Thankfully, there is no bogus voice analysis this week, probably because they already ruled the "UFO" a hoax.

FACT OR FAKED: Off the Deep End; Houseguest

2010-07-29T22:07:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 7/29/10

The group assembles, as usual, to try to find cases worth investigating. Sacramento lights pulsing in the sky could just be a flare hoax. Kitchen poltergeist ends up looking like fishing line, and there are explanation videos for the hoax online. North Carolina alien crossing looks like a composite digital effect. Good calls on those, so let's get on to the cases actually investigated.

Raystown Bay, PA: In a man-made lake is something that looks like the Loch Ness monster, "Raystown Ray." There's only a single photo, but the case has eyewitnesses, which is enough to send the team to check it out. They decide that the sightings could be rotting logs (a well-known lake monster theory), so they head out and almost immediately find a floating log, made to order, and tow it around. Some of the photos look good, but not as good as the photo they're working from. Next they try some black PVC pipe, with a keel and a board monster head and humps. Looks good again, but Jael doubts a local could have pulled off such a hoax unobserved. So they go sonar sweeping and diving -- at night, naturally (stupidly) -- and get some sonar hits (though I'd be more impressed if they had a pro fisherman interpreting the data). Nothing turns up, so they go fishing for monsters, but they only snag the line on the bottom. They decide that maybe there's something down there, though it's still unexplained. (Still looks Photoshopped to me.)

The Ghost Writer, writes answers to questions on Polaroid pictures, as they develop -- supposedly on cameras brought by anyone. Though (journalist) Chu-Lan isn't convinced, and it looks like a cheap magic trick to me, they decide to check it out. Unfortunately, Bill - who had the "believer" cases last 2 weeks -- is leading this team, and if the first hadn't turned out "real," I'd be laying odds that this one turns out to be "real, too. The photos still look like a trick to me, and it's odd that the spirit's messages get clearer and easier to read as time goes on: almost like a hoaxer learning to improve his craft. After some witness interviews and vortex mumbo-jumbo, they start taking pictures: nada. So, they're thinking maybe something man-made. They make some acetates and double expose the Polaroid film in a dark room, then re-insert the film in the cartridge, but the test proves inconclusive; most of the shots mysteriously don't turn out. (Reload problem, maybe/) Next they try words on Plexiglas, in front of the photographer, but they see reflections on the plexi. So, thinking it's maybe supernatural, they use ground penetrating radar to look for bodies buried beneath the house. They find some bones, but they're cow and chicken bones, so, nada there, too. Voice analysis again finds "truth" in the witnesses -- though again, I doubt the validity of this test. Again, they call this one real/unexplained.

When the first case turned up "real," I had high hopes for Bill's case being "fake," thereby preserving the balance of the show and giving Bill some credibility in my mind. (Frankly, he seems like a "true believer.") Sadly, instead, we got 2 "unexplained/real" conclusions on cases that seem, to me, to not have been investigated enough. The Ghost Writer, particularly, I think is some kind of magician's trick; Polaroids respond to pressure or something (if I remember), like a magic slate. But, again, no professional magicians are consulted, and even photo expert Chu-Lan is stumped (but hasn't pushed hard enough).

I'm hoping that this show will now have a "two hoax" episode, though since this type of program caters to believers, I'm worried that will never happen. Again, I'd urge them to go more the way of Mythbusters than Ghost Hunters or UFO Hunters. Try harder; keep at it; call in better experts. Don't play your audience for chumps.

(I have no idea why this episode was listed as "Caretaker: Cutter" - "Raystown; Ghost Writer" would have seemed more appropriate.)

Revision Note 8/2/10: Apparently, per a viewer comment, the show was mis-titled when broadcast, and is actually called "Off the Deep End; Houseguest." I have re-titled the post, but kept the original post intact.

FACT OR FAKED: Unwanted Visitors; Strange Sightings

2010-07-22T23:45:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 7/22/10

The second week of this new show kicks of with videos of two UFOs crashing together (possible Israeli missile strike), an "angel" at a crash scene (possible lens/film problem), and a Gettysburg ghost in the woods (possible optical trickery) . They settle on the Fresno "Night Crawler" video, a stick-like figure walking by a surveillance camera, (looks like a marionettes to me, and no original tape exists; fuzzy tapes hide a multitude of fakes.) and a Lake Havasu flying saucer (looks like the Balloon Boy balloon to me).

They interview the witness in Fresno, check out the scene, and try to recreate the video using a kid in a costume and a mechanical puppet on a pulley, once showing the armature and the second time covered by a sheet. Then they try it by walking the puppet across using a pole and removing the operator with special effects. They then investigate some local woods -- at night of course -- wondering if the "crawler" could be something living. They experience the same battery problems endemic to paranormal investigation shows - and naturally speculate about this being caused by "creatures." Their thermal camera picks up some mysterious movement (probably animals). Their voice analysis of the witness suggests truth telling (though I'm not sure I buy their use of this technology, nor their conclusion, as nervous shaking often indicates lying, not truth telling). I have to say, I'm not impressed with either the skepticism or the investigative technique in this segment. For one thing, this is the same team that declared the lights in last week's show "real." For another, to me the crawler footage looks similar to the "walking gnome" video that made the internet rounds last year - and was proved to be a puppet (as I recall). Finally, I believe that I could create a very similar "creature" using a "flying ghost" that I had in our yard several years ago. A good mechanic, or stage magician could make it even more convincing.

The second team goes to Lake Havasu and interviews the witnesses. Here, we get a bit more context for the footage, though still -- annoyingly -- not the complete clip. They start by trying a "reflection in glass" trick, similar to one they did last week, but this time with a model UFO rather than lasers; no dice. They then decide to launch a huge silver UFO balloon (found on the internet) from the state park, run it up to 1000 feet and see how it compares. In the words of the team, "It looks just like the video." If untethered and left to float, it seems sure to have the same flight characteristics as the object in the video. They then go looking for people who have seen the UFO at the time reported, and also saw it as a balloon. Sure enough, they turn up a park ranger who actually saw the balloon shortly after the launch. It might have been associated with a movie being shot in the area. Great flying saucer footage, but declared "fake." Case closed; well investigated.

So, again, one "real" and one fake. As I said in the previous review, I fear this may be a trend. And the "real" investigation really stopped short once they got close to an explanation. In future, I suggest that the show may want to add a professional magician to the team and adopt an "If I really wanted to do this, how would I achieve that effect?" attitude with each video. They should also add a professional hunter/tracker, so animals on a thermal camera at night don't become mysterious "creatures." And while they're making personnel changes, dumping a few "believers" from the production/marketing staff might help this show become truly useful for paranormal investigation, rather than useful about half the time.

FACT OR FAKED - Burning Rubber; Hyperjump (Series Premier)

2010-07-22T23:01:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 7/15/10

"Former FBI Agent" Ben Hanson leads a team of investigators (including Jael from Destination Truth) and experts as they evaluate footage sent to them and try to determined whether its Fact or Faked. The show starts with the group gathered together looking at weird footage: shadow figures in the woods and a bedroom, an alien in someone's bedroom, and figuring out which bears more investigation. In this part of the show, the group shows some good critical thinking skills, dismissing some as manipulated, others as possible puppets, and finally zeroing in on two cases: one where a car seems to drive right through a fence to escape a pursuing cop in Georgia, and another of mysterious lights over Arizona. The group splits into two teams and goes to investigate. The "ghost car" team checks with witnesses, finds the scene of the chase, and then recreates it -- at each step, ruling out paranormal happenings (such as the car moving amazingly fast). Finally, they set up some scenarios for driving "through" the fence. They do manage to jump a car over the fence, but not without damage. Then they hit on the idea of loosening some of the fence fasteners -- which the officer reported during the case. Doing that allows a speeding car to drive right through; the fence flexes and then swings back down, perfectly intact -- just in time to foil the pursuing cop. One very lucky perp.

The second segment deals with lights appearing at dusk over an Arizona mountain range. While these lights look to me like the Phoenix Lights, which UFOs Over Phoenix conclusively proved to be military flares, the crew dismisses the flare theory. They play some flare footage which does not look comparable (though it's the wrong angle and distance), and the witness says the Air Force said they weren't dropping flares on the night in question. Sadly, the team does not seem to call the military to double check that (and we know that the military sometimes makes mistakes in such cases, or denies "secret" flights). They then try to recreate the lights using lasers reflected off of glass and lights attached to balloons. Their results, while interesting, do not match the video. They then set up night cameras and poke around in the dark for a while (seemingly required for any investigation show - though conducting ground searches at night seems like a foolish idea to me). And they do catch some "strange lights" in the sky on video. Though one looks like an atmospheric phenomenon to me, several others are genuinely odd. Unfortunately, the program doesn't show enough of the footage surrounding the sightings to get a proper context. Mysterious, yes, but certainly not the lights they were investigating. Calling in an aviation or space expert would seem to be in order, but they don't do it. They claim the footage supports the idea of new UFO sightings over Phoenix. (Note that UFOs are merely unidentified, not "aliens.")

To me, though, the original footage -- which the program never seems to show enough of to gain proper context -- looks like a "string" of flares being dropped, lighting up, and then going out one by one in the order they were dropped. If not the military, it could have even been fireworks dropped by a private plane as a prank. I have no evidence for this, but my scenarios (military or private) seem a far more reasonable explanation than the "hyperjump" being claimed for the mystery lights.

My fear with this show -- and other shows in the paranormal investigation genre -- is that we'll get results that are skewed away from science and toward retaining viewers every week. (I've seen similar problems in MonsterQuest, Ghost Hunters, and other programs.) Viewers want to believe, and they may get bored with "we found nothing unusual" week after week. Thus, I am concerned that each week on this program we may get one debunked case, and one "real" case -- and on the "real" case, the team will just stop looking/investigating/probing before they should. It would be nice if this show were the Mythbusters of the paranormal. Instead, it's likely to be more like Destination Truth without the interesting personalities.

Inside Secret Government Warehouses

2010-07-15T23:42:00.001-07:00

SyFy Channel - Original Air Date: 7/11/10

This show sets out to explore secret storehouses (in conjunction with the SyFy series Warehouse 13). They go to an abandoned military base in Montauk, NY, into the skies above area 51 in Nevada, and to the secret archives of the Vatican. The host, CNN's Lester Holt, lends the show an air of credibility, and seems to get the program access that may similar programs lack -- the Vatican, Area 51, and Montauk trips, for instance, as well as interviews with top scientists and government figures. They also have a good range of believers (including friend of the blog, Don Schmitt), skeptics, experts, and witnesses -- some of whom are more credible than others. Holt and his crew press officials hard, and go further than most programs of this type. Indeed, Holt has a history of such investigations, and seems to have a personal interest in digging out the truth. As usual in such shows, there are intriguing glimpses and tantalizing suggestions. But also, as usual, there is very little solid evidence presented in the end, and no groundbreaking revelations are brought to light. There are the witness stories, there is a cast of an "alien" jaw that may or may not be real, and there are certainly some secret installations and hidden information. But, sadly, there are no real conclusions drawn save things that are already commonly believed, such as: Area 51 tests secret aircraft and is probably an environmental disaster area (due to lack of EPA oversight because the place does not officially exist). At the start of the 2 hours, the program poses this series of questions: What are they hiding? Where are they hiding it? And why is it hidden? Sadly, few of those questions are answered by the end of the show.

The Truth Behind the Ark

2010-06-22T00:05:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: Unknown (6/5/10)

The show goes looking for the truth behind the Noah's Ark legend. Many believe the remains of Noah's Ark lie on Mt. Ararat or Dura Pinar in Turkey. Others say the boat-like Dura Pinar structure is merely natural geology -- science and faith remain divided. History shows that the ark story is common to many cultures, with many names for the heroic boat builder. The bible says the boat should be 450' long, and the commonly considered site is longer, though this is perhaps because of using Egyptian cubits rather than standard ones for measurements. (Believers have "good" reasons for all the many inconsistencies.) Supporters of the Dura Pinar site claim to have found petrified animal bones and rivets, but geologists remain sure that this evidence are merely a geological features. Astronaut Jim Irwin was a believer in the ark; he didn't find it. Believers claim that in extraordinary conditions, wood can be petrified in decades, rather than over centuries; scientists aren't buying it; the believers' petrified wood is merely plain old rock.

Believers claim that pre-flood trees grew to twice their current size, 5-600' long for a single-piece keel. There is no archeological evidence for this, and the largest prehistoric boat found in Europe from the same time is merely 100' x 15'. The outside surface of the Biblical ark would be 150,000 square feet of timber. Using period tools, researcher Goodburn takes 10 hours to make and join 2 small planks, and they're not very waterproof. Supporters say Noah had more advanced technology. (Again, there is no actual evidence of this -- and the Turkish government isn't allowing believers to dig in Dura Pinar.) But the believers' supposed iron brackets are merely volcanic iron rocks, and the Iron Age came more than 2000 years later. The show explains how iron, over time, infiltrates such a site; "It's a perfectly natural structure," a geologist says. Water tank tests with a Biblically sized ark quickly flood and capsize the model. Of course, believers have an explanation for this, too - claiming a set of standing stones nearby in Turkey acted as counter weights. But the stones they cite as anchors are local, not from Mesopotamia (where Noah came from).

Additionally, there is no archeological evidence for a worldwide flood 2400 years before Christ, nor for meteor strikes or sub-surface aquifers that could flood the surface. There is evidence, though, that the Black Sea was once a lake that was flooded by the sea 9400 years ago, during the thaw from the last ice age, which raised water levels planet wide. Ancient Mesopotamian flood accounts tell of the hero building a round ship, like those used to transport animals in Iraq even today. Most scholars believe that the ark story was always a myth, and science proves that a boat on that scale cold not have been built in ancient times. But for believers, belief is enough, because they want everything in the bible to be literally true, and will explain away evidence to the contrary.

The Truth Behind the Bermuda Triangle

2010-06-21T23:06:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: Unknown (6/6/10)

This show dives into the deep and unleashes science and logic to uncover the truth behind the Bermuda Triangle - or so the opening claims. They go over the usual Triangle mythology, and present the usual raft of believers racking up big numbers for mysterious triangle disappearances. Believers claim that no wreckage exists, and the disappearance may be caused by everything from UFOs to Atlantean death rays. Joe Nickel believes that though there are mysteries, they have rational explanations. The show examines the disappearance of Flight 19. One expert blames electrically charged fog, and Bruce Gernon claims to have encountered it and experienced strange phenomena. He believes that he saw the fabric of time itself. He and meteorologist David Pares examine the account, and believe the fog may be caused by solar wind ionizing air and generating a charged cloud, which interferes with airplane instruments. Pares thinks this same "fog" may have disrupted Flight 19, but skeptics point out there is no actual proof of the theory. Gernon's flight to check out the theory experiences an electronic malfunction, which he writes off as a mechanical problem.

Other people believe that the missing ships and planes are merely lying on the bottom of the ocean. They continue checking the many wrecks, looking for some of the famous ones. Others believe that escaping methane may cause ships to sink by decreasing water density. Model tests have shown that the Cyclops, a famous lost ship, could have been sunk by an event like this - and tests suggest perhaps methane could affect low-flying airplanes as well. But such events would be as likely as being hit by a meteor. The depths and currents in the area make it difficult to find any sunken vessel. One of the original search team believes that Flight 19 simply got lost, went down, and broke up. Many say that bad weather can explain many disappearances; others say rogue waves could be the cause. But even when wrecks are found, it's hard to pin down exactly what they are, and thus the mysteries will likely continue for a long time.

This show is interesting for its experiments and use of models to check out various Triangle theories, including the ones mentioned in this review.

The Truth Behind Crop Circles

2010-06-16T00:28:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Broadcast Date: Unknown

Nat Geo's supernatural shows are generally more skeptical than other similar shows, and this one is no exception. After a bit of background - including the Doug & Dave story -- Skeptics and believers line up on either side of the crop circle phenomenon, and present their arguments. The "Julia Set" circle supposedly appeared near Stonehenge in broad daylight. Professor Christopher French (at the University of London), who specializes in the psychology of the paranormal, believes that a desire to believe distorts the perceptions of believers. He points out that the stories about the discovery of the circle are inconsistent, and tests show that task fixation - inattentional blindness -- can make people miss seemingly obvious objects or events. They show an attention-testing video where people who are asked to concentrate on counting bouncing balls miss a pilot walking through the scene. Other believers claim that the complex crop patterns cannot be made by humans. (And clearly they've never seen a Wisconsin corn maze in the shape of the US, either.) To see if this is true, a mathematician draws a complex pattern and challenges human circle makers led by John Lundberg to duplicate it. The group does, and they do it on a night with only 4 hours of darkness. (Lundberg, an artist, sees the crop cricle "researchers" as publicity agents for his art.)

Believers cite appearances of supernatural balls of light, orbs, that accompany circles. The show recaps the 1996 John Wade orb circle creation hoax, which some still believe - and even claim it would be hard to replicate. But the show recreates the fake video with software comparable to what hoaxer Wade used in just a couple of hours. Next, the show tackles the claim that nitrate and radiation levels in crop circles are higher than in other places. Testing the man-made circle vs. a supposed real one, a scientist finds no difference in either area. He also mentions that trace radiation from natural and man-made sources is common, and fertilizers contain nitrates. He concludes that all crop circles are likely made by people. So, what about the "personal experiences" of the supernatural and sacred that people have in the circles? One man describes the circles as "temporary temples." An experiment with crystals that subjects are told may cause strange sensations, 80+% report the expected experiences -- though the "crystals" are merely cut glass. The power of suggestibility is strong, and people will often find what they are looking for. Certainly, with crop circles, this seems to be the case.

Paranatural - Chupacabra

2010-06-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

National Geographic - Original Air Date:

NatGeo's new series looks at whether the blood-sucking chupacabra is myth, a real animal, or supernatural. Texas ranchers and others are seeing a hairless doglike creature with a long snout and believe the thing is killing their small livestock. The creature has been caught on film, and there are even a few carcasses to examine -- though this is not the monkey-like creature first reported to be the Chupacabra in Puerto Rico. The show compares some good evidence, and even has a track comparison with the animal, dogs, and wolves. It also has witness interviews, some seemingly more reliable than others. Friend of Uncanny Radio Nick Redfern gives some background, and mentions a possible UFO connection - though he also posits it could be some form of large vampire bat, at least in the Puerto Rican cases. He also suggests that escaped monkeys could have started the original "monster" -- and, indeed, the monkeys might fit the classic description. Clearly the things in Texas are not monkeys, but Puerto Rico is also home to many wild dogs.

Forensic examination of a carcass rules out dogs and wolves, and a team sets out to catch a live specimen for examination. The hunters come up short, but another carcass turns up and a piece is sent for DNA analysis. The body is also taken for XRays. DNA suggests that the animal is a hybrid of coyote and wolf, but the scientist is not sure why it lacks hair. The scientist suggests that, in the case of this and other alleged monsters, people see what they want to see. In reality, this animal is just a hybrid.

American Paranormal - Haunted Prison

2010-06-05T10:06:00.001-07:00

National Geographic Channel - Original Air Date: 1/24/10

A group of researchers composed of scientists investigates Eastern State Penitentiary, one of the "most haunted" prisons in America. Along the way, the show explains that most ghost hunting expeditions don't have the equipment to actually detect ghosts -- as no one knows what ghosts are made of; they are far more likely (with EMF detectors) to detect their own equipment. The team also posits that ghosts, which are said to pass through walls, cannot be made of normal atoms, though they could be made of neutrinos, which can pass through normal matter. Unfortunately, ghost hunters cannot detect neutrinos. They then show, through experimentation, that people who believe in ghosts are more likely to report strange happenings in the prison; one group is told that the prison is haunted, the other that sightings seldom happen there. The believers report far more strange feelings and experiences than the skeptics.

Another group of scientists posits that sound -- infrasound -- may contribute to people feeling that a place is haunted. A 3D scan of the prison reveals that it seems ideal for magnifying low-frequency sounds. Such sounds can contribute to eerie feelings people get. Once again, they experiment on two groups, one in an area with infrasound, one without. The people subjected to infrasound report far more uneasiness -- and even the scientist running the experiment reports feeling strange. Infrasound works by vibrating body parts, including the eye and inner ear (which controls balance) though it cannot be heard -- it can even cause flashes of light and distorted vision. The scientists are impressed with how strong the reactions are from both believers and skeptics in the infrasound area. They conclude that sound can lead to sightings, especially in a place, like the prison, that will amplify them. They note that though they now have some scientific theories about why ghosts are encountered, they have not disproved the existence of ghosts.

In the final part of the show, the team monitors the prison with a battery of scientific equipment, "a virtual ambush of cutting edge technology," including audio and video and heat sensors. The next day, they return to see what the equipment found. They find a strange sound at 3:15 am, and the thermal camera reveals a spectral blue glow on the ceiling: cold/moisture on a skylight -- rain on the roof, causing infrasound. The researchers suggest that the physical environment of the prison is conducive to people seeing and hearing things, and even picking things up on camera and recorders. Is this a "final" explanation for ghosts? Maybe not, but it does confirm that people, and equipment, can be fooled by natural phenomena.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Spirits of Easter Island & the Moa

2010-04-22T21:40:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 4/21/10

Are the giant heads of Easter Island haunted? Is a supposedly extinct giant bird lurking in the New Zealand hinterlands? (Moi and Moa, get it?) Josh and crew head into the Pacific to check out these rumors. Apparently, if you are not accepted by the Easter Island spirits, you can be in deep trouble; so Josh has to drink a potion concocted by a local shaman. He & Ryder go on a quest to find the plant to brew the tea (looking like a day trip to Shutter Island) and hope it will help them find the spirits. As usual, they'll be poking around at night and setting up the usual camp & perimeter cameras and stuff. They spot a "crazy glow" and race off into the rain and darkness to find it, but encounter only a fallen Moi. While there, a team member suddenly feels like he's being touched by a hand, and quickly strips off his clothes to reveal... nothing. Another team member imagines someone calling his name. Then, while looking for EVPs in a cave, they hear a strange, roaring "voice." More moans follow, and other team members think they see bare legs running through the landscape. Later, they review the mysterious evidence, but find no explanation for lights or moans (which seemed to set off their EMF meter, too). Guess that tea worked.

From giant stone heads to giant birds, the team heads to New Zealand's south island where, lately, people claim to have seen the Moa - which has been extinct for 400 years. Could a giant (12' tall) dino-bird be lurking in the deep forests and glacial fields? Josh looks at the bones of the bird in a museum, and the curator describes the birds as using their feet to attack and gouge people hunting them. They talk to a witness with a fuzzy photo and head into the fiordlands. Yeah. It looks like the Lord of the Rings. Poking around on the glaciers, Josh takes a bad slide downhill, but is fortunately saved by his companion and a lifeline. No Moa, though. Eventually, at lower altitudes, they do the usual camp and look around in the dark thing. Josh confesses he would be Aragorn if this were LOTR, and Ryder claims Legolas. Spotting something on the FLIR, Josh runs through the forest to try and catch it, which results in another scary tumble. They then hear strange bird sounds and find some small animal bones and feathers and large footprints. With all that, they head back to the US to analyze. The bird call is rare, but not from the Moa; nor are the feathers. The bones are from small mammals, and the footprints are unlikely Moa, though clearly from a large bird. Josh speculates that it's possible that some tiny population of smaller Moa (not the 12-foot kind) may survive in remote regions.

It's been another fun "season" (whatever that means on SyFy; about 8 episodes, I think), but despite the fun of the chase, few monsters to be had. As to Truth... Well, I guess not finding anything is truth, too, though maybe not the truth most viewers are hoping for. How long can they not find monsters before they run out of monster to not find? Tune in next season to find out.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghosts of Petra: The Lizard Man

2010-04-19T22:51:00.001-07:00

SyFy - Original Air Date: 4/14/10

Josh & team go into the Mideast and deep south in search of this week's subjects. First up, Petra (from Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade) - an ancient and amazing city in Jordan, rumored to be haunted by Djinn (which, in this show, seem more akin to ghosts than to genii). After hitting the city of Aman, they head into the desert to talk to the Bedouin about the Djinn, who tell them of the ghostly spirits. They poke around in the dark (Notice no spooks come out in the daylight?), set up the usual surveillance equipment, and start to hear strange sounds. In later analysis with the Ghost Hunters, the sounds remain mysterious, and one of the sounds seems clearly to be a voice answering "Yes" to the question "Is there anybody here?" (Though it might be the tail end of an echo.) Djinn or no, I am envious of this exploration; day or night, Petra looks amazing.

In Bishopville, South Carolina, people are sighting a lizard man in reports dating back to 1988 near Scape Ore Swamp. Whatever the thing is, it's been seen recently by multiple people, and it seems to like to damage cars. Josh goes up in a small, experimental plane to canvas the swampland, which is remote and thickly forested. Josh calls a town meeting to talk to the locals, and gets lots of of descriptions and advice. In the swamp, the team sets up base with the usual cameras and detectors. They get a hit on the thermal, and something sets off their perimeter alarm, so they do some chasing through the woods. When they see a dark shape and attempt to follow it, they get a low growl (like a cougar or boar). Heading home, the whole set up in Bishopville seems a bit suspicious to Josh. The car damage is not made by any lizard like teeth, an expert says. The growl is believed to be a dog or coyote, and the footprints are declared fakes (they're identical - just stamped out). Josh believes the whole thing to be a hoax to attract tourists.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Haunted Mining Town & The Taniwha

2010-04-08T23:32:00.001-07:00

Syfy Channel - Original Air Date: 4/7/10

First, Josh and crew head to Chile, to check out two rumored ghost towns - La Noria and Humberstone. (Again, we have a guest helper, a new trend with the show - but not of interest to anyone but fans of the guests.) Locals believe the mining towns are haunted because of the rotten way they treated their workers. The towns are tough to find, but they do some aerial reconnaissance using para-gliders and locate them. They then set up camp with cameras and motion detectors, etc. They find the very grizzly local cemetery, stake it out, and start to see things. Yet, they speed off to investigate the other city, which is in better repair. They poke around, get scared by random sounds and shadows, take photos, and do some EVP sessions. But all they get is a shoulder through a window - that looks to me like it might be a reflection - and the usual fuzzy EVPs (which strangely seem to be in English, as usual).

From there, it's on to New Zealand to look for a fearsome Maori water serpent, the taniwha. After some whitewater searching, they head to a traditional Maori village to seek experts in the monster -- whom the Maori see as a guardian spirit. They follow a lead to a local lake with a sighting within the week. Naturally, they set up night-vision, IR, and underwater cameras. Almost immediately, they start seeing things in the water, including something very large on the thermal. They also go wading in a cave where the monster supposedly lives, and something unseen brushes past their legs. Finding nothing more, they return to the US and analyze the footage. The US expert thinks the sightings may be the long-fin eel, a local oddity. Josh concludes that the taniwha is most likely the local eels combined with legend and ancient spirituality.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Jersey Devil & Yeren

2010-04-08T22:00:00.001-07:00

SyFy Channel - Original Air Date 3/31/10

Josh & crew go to New Jersey to look for the legendary Jersey Devil. After goofing around in the woods, they set up the usual camp and surveillance equipment and look for the beast. They hear strange and frightening sounds (coyotes, it turns out), and spot something warm using the Flir during a helicopter trip -- but they can't pin it down. Their night vision cameras even spot something flying through the treetops -- but for all the detail, it could be a UFO as easily as a monster. In the end, they conclude that some "sightings" are certainly caused by local animals, like the coyote wails and the fleet-footed deer that dashes out in front of their car. But whether there's a real monster...? Again, this seems like an investigation where more time might yield more conclusive results.

Then they head out to China to look for the local bigfoot, the Yeren (spelled differently in other shows, I believe). The Chinese government has set aside some habitat for this crypto beast, and Josh and company want to see if there's anything behind it. One local expert believes he has actual yeren hair; sadly, they don't get to test the samples on their own. 'Nobody's better at almost finding monsters than us," observes one of the team as they head into the wilds. Granted permission to explore an area normally forbidden to foreigners, they set up their usual high-tech surveillance and camera traps, then go looking for yeren. They chase shadows in the woods and sounds in a cave, but find nothing. Later, they chase more shadows through the woods, get some footage, and find some scat, which they take for analysis. But the sample is too degraged to yield results, and their bit of Flir footage is too distant to yield any identification. As the crew member said, "Nobody's better at almost finding monsters than us."

MONSTERQUEST - American Werewolf 2

2010-03-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 3/24/10

Taking a break from bigfoot, MQ tackles the werewolf again. You remember that last time they looked at Bray Road and environs, talking to my friend (& radio co-host) Linda Godfrey. This time, they start by talking to Steve Kreuger about his Holy Hill encounter, and he tells his bear-wolf story (as in his Uncanny Radio interview). Peggy Calahan works with wolves and believes that strange creature sightings are misidentifications. The MQ team goes to Michigan to check out the dog-man story and look for evidence, setting the usual camera traps. Local hunters have seen large wolves in the area, but the investigators immediately start talking about supernatural possibilities - especially the Native American team member. Linda shows up to talk about werewolf history, including the Grenier killings. Then the show investigates Steve Cook and his 2006 dog-man video, allegedly bought in an estate sale -- the famous Gable Film. The film shows a shaggy creature charging the cameraman, and an expert at first lends it some credibility.

The show then talks to some more witnesses, including some who have heard howls, and others that have sighted strange wolfmen. One even has some casts of strange prints. Call blasting of wolf cries ensues, and -- for once -- they get some wolf-like howls back. Back at the video, Ms. Callahan says the beast does not look like wolf - but rather gorilla-like. The video expert suggests the famous "jaws" shot at the end of the film may have been spliced in; he wants to see the original. When Linda confronts Cook about the film, Cook admits it's a hoax. Mike Agrusa, local machinist, actually made the film by studying vintage film and using his collection of antique vehicles. He wanted to capitalize on Cook's song about the dog man, and wore a ghillie suit himself to make the "creature." He made the "sequel" film -- thereby pressing his luck -- using spray foam to simulate entrails and himself as the victim. Agrusa says there might still be some creature out there, but it's clear he's just a hoaxer. (Can I say, "I told you so!" now?) The camera traps turn up animals, but nothing unusual.

After all the hours of analysis on the web and elsewhere spent on the Gable film, it turns out all you need to fool some "experts" is a collection of old vehicles, an ancient camera, and a bit of army surplus. Professional magicians and con men know that the easiest people to fool are those who want to believe in something. My advice? Before you believe an "amazing" film you see on the internet, ask yourself: "If I wanted to create this effect, how would I do it?" Unlike many MQ episodes, this one presents a solid object lesson as well as supernatural mythology.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghosts of the Great Wall & Israeli Mermaid

2010-03-24T22:27:00.001-07:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 3/24/10

The Great Wall of China has a grim history, and recent deaths of workers & tourists have some thinking the wall may be haunted. So, naturally Josh & the DT crew have to go check it out. After goofing around in Beijing, they head to the "Wild Wall" to start investigating. They rappel down one section of the wall (Ryder almost falls), and hike to a remote part of the wall to set up operations. They hear noises and get an odd Flir hit, but Josh theorizes that the "footsteps" being reported are actually rustling birds, too small for the thermal camera to pick up. Then, Josh feels someone grab his backpack, but there's no one around. Later, he feels it again, and his backpack recorder -- with a mechanical switch -- is mysteriously turned off. Other people also have experiences, and one of the team nearly falls off the wall. As usual with ghost-hunting debriefing, they talk to Jason & Grant from Ghosthunters -- and turn up an EVP (mysteriously in English). And for once, Josh is a little freaked out by his encounters.

Next, they head to Israel to find a Mediterranean mermaid (with a million-dollar bounty on her head). Locals claim to have seen and even been touched by the creature. They kayak around some caves looking for it, with no luck, and then head to Cesarea, location of some sightings to go diving. Despite a hit on their sonar, and brief glimpse of a large shadow, they find nothing and move on to the main sighting area. Come night, they patrol and catch something that looks like the silhouette of a head and shoulders on one of their cameras. A further thermal hits prompts some diving by Josh, but all he finds are ancient ruins and trash. Analyzing the films, the expert suggests a monk seal, perhaps, though -- as the show notes -- the ocean still holds many secrets.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghosts of Masada & the Leprechaun

2010-03-24T21:26:00.001-07:00

History Channel - Original Air Date 3/17/10

This review will be short, as a change in DVRs left my recorder unprepared to catch this new show in the series. However, I did manage to catch most of it on a late-night re-run (while admittedly half asleep). So, Josh & the crew go to Israel to look for ghosts, and Ireland to look for the little people. They have the usual spooky encounters and just-before-the-break cliffhangers Because they're amusing people, I'm amused. On Masada, a forbidding hilltop fortress, they catch a mysterious, shadowlike figure on film where no people should be -- i.e. atop a long-deserted ruin when they're the only people around. In Ireland, they catch some thermal hits and a few odd lights, but no solid proof of the little people. As usual, the show gets by on the charm and (mis)adventures of Josh & the crew. If you liked them last time, you'll probably like them now - especially in their swimsuits (in the Dead Sea). Mostly, it seemed a pretty standard show. If I have a chance to catch the full episode, and there's something more of note, I'll do a longer review or add to this one.

MONSTERQUEST - Sierra Sasquatch

2010-03-17T20:38:00.001-07:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 3/17/10

You'll never guess what's on MonsterQuest for this Saint Patrick's day? Yep, another Bigfoot show. I guess this shouldn't be surprising, my Bigfoot blank book is one of my best sellers. So if MQ has gone to this well damn often, maybe we can't blame them. Bigfoot is, well, big.

We start with Butch Young, a military trainee who had an encounter with 2 bigfoots (bigfeet?) during a nighttime wargame patrol. He and his patrol didn't get a good look, but they know the humanoids they saw in the hills that night weren't other people in their maneuvers. They have another military eyewitness -- this time in the day -- later in the show. John Mionszynski is skeptical; he thinks most "bigfoot" tracks are known animals misidentified. Naturally, MQ has to send out teams - including regular Jeff Meldrum - to look around, and examine, er, footage. They take up a plane that can glide silently to do some recon, but turn nothing up. They then look at a vacation film, from an anonymous family, that shows a mystery creature - which the science team will analyze. The photo experts set up cameras and do some pretty accurate measuring, trying to determine how big the shape actually was. The show is also working with a tracker this time, and the MQ team sets up a test to see if he's any good; the tracker does amazingly well. But, they don't find new, conclusive prints, just one similar to ones found by a local witness. A juvenile, maybe, they speculate. Then they compare some human prints with some they believe are bigfoot. Some of the prints they've taken might be juvenile bigfoot, though they certainly look human to me. Of course, no one knows what a juvenile sasquatch print would look like. The tracker says there isn't enough evidence to know. Unfortunately, passage of time and weathering have made it difficult for the film experts to calculate the creature's height - 6-8' is the closest they can get. But it still looks like a bear or a guy in a bulky costume to me. So, once again, nothing conclusive. Maybe when Destination Truth starts up again, we'll get some actual monsters.

One Week Left to Sign Up for Free Story for Haiti!

2010-03-11T19:18:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder that the free story for Haiti is going out in a week! Sign Up now. You need to be on the list by 3/17/2010 to get the story link. (And, as my pal Stan Lee might say, I don't want anyone left out if there's a last-minute rush!)

http://stephendsullivan.com/wordpress/?page_id=570

Oh, and of course I promise never to give or sell the mailing list to anyone.

-- Steve

MONSTERQUEST - Lizard Monster

2010-03-10T20:22:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 3/10/09

The show scours Appalachia looking for the "Flatwoods Monster" a lizard-man seen in isolated parts of West Virginia. Oddly, the creature seems to drive a hovercraft-like vehicle (or outfit) and emit noxious gas. The story begins with a group of boys spotting a fireball in 1968, in Flatwoods, WV. They followed where it fell and saw the monster; one was sickened by billowing fog/gas. Joe Nickell, skeptic, believes the original reports (and memories of the thing) were distorted by strong emotions --in this case, fear. Perhaps it was something fairly normal, misinterpreted. MQ sends a team to investigate, including Frank Freschino, John Bainbridge, and renowned UFO researcher Dr. Stanton Friedman. They dig around a rotting tree where the creature was spotted, hoping to turn up evidence of toxins, but they find nothing unusual. Freschino notes that many of the original witnesses were stricken with throat or lung cancer. (I note that WV, with it's history of mining, has environmental and lifestyle issues that might produce pathologies like that without lizard men.) The show then traces sightings back to the early 1500s and native American reports -- though there are sightings elsewhere in the world, too. Next, the show relates the story of a Texan girl who discovered a strange skeleton in a cave: the so-called "starchild," which the show posits is a human-monster hybrid. The owner of the skull makes a number of remarkable claims about the bones, and the MQ team's Dr. Susan Myster decides to perform some new tests. A forensic artist will also try to recreate the skull's owner from existing data.

Meanwhile, the WV team sends up a balloon with a night-vision camera to see if venting coal gasses, which could cause hallucinations, may be in the area. In 1952, a couple in a car encountered the Flatwoods Monster, which circled them -- emmiting sulfurous gas -- after their car stalled. It touched the hood of the car, burning through the paint. (Where that car is now, the show doesn't mention; nor does it show any photos.) More recently,in 2004, a hunter spotted 3 whitish humanoid creatures, which Freschino believes are the same Flatwood monsters; he also believe the creatures wear armor (sometimes). Nickell, though, believes that mass hysteria is a more likely explanation -- with rumors of monster spreading from one person to another. He believes the Flatwood Monster started as a Cold War scare and has taken on a life of its own. Dr. Myster concludes that the starchild is actually the skull of a human child, modified by a cultural practice (like "cradleboarding"), though it is unlike any modified skull she has seen before. The skull was somewhat more dense than a "usual" human's, but still within standard variation. So, no validation of the owner's fantastic claims. The forensic reconstruction of the child's face does not look entirely human (though it's not terribly inhuman, either); it reminded me of an Egyptian pharaoh. Soil samples tested from WV turn up nothing unusual - and even the previously "odd" samples turn up normal as well. The team also fails to discover gas leaks. The human stories remain compelling, but are they real? Stanton Friedman notes that we should look forward, realizing that some of what we may have believed in the past is unjustified. (Well said, Stanton.) I think Joe Nickell might agree with him.

This seems to be another MQ episodes tying together formerly unrelated monster and Fortean sightings -- in this case Flatwoods & starchild -- into one big "uber monster" conspiracy theory. Because the connections the show draws are so tenuous, it will probably annoy researchers looking into the disparate sightings/phenomena. It certainly annoys me. But, I guess you gotta do what you can to fill up an hour of monster hunting -- especially after years of not finding any actual monsters.

MONSTERQUEST - Piranha Invasion

2010-03-10T19:03:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 3/3/2010

This episode of MQ posits that swarms of vicious piranha may be infesting freshwater rivers and lakes in the US. Naturally, there are plenty of stories of fishermen catching piranha in the US. But can a warm-water fish breed here, or are the sightings just pets set free? Naturally MQ frogman Dale Pearson and company go to Tennessee to check it out. But piranha don't seem to like the raw chicken being used as bait, and electrical wire dumped in the lake prove more dangerous to the diver than razor-toothed fish. Of course, the show does feature scary fish stories as well as snatches of history and science. The scariest stories come from South America, the piranha's native habitat. There, piranha can pose an actual danger to people, and naturally nets strung to catch them turn a few of the ornery little bastards. So do fishing lures; the piranha seem attracted by movement through their territory. A scientist testing piranhas' reactions to cold temperature discovers that they get more sluggish the lower the temperature goes. Though the fish can survive with temps in the upper fifties, when the water drops below fifty degrees, they're toast. There are some warm inlets to the lake investigated, but -- despite the show's melodramatic warnings -- it seems unlikely to me that piranha pose any threat in the US. At least, the show gives no solid evidence of any such threat.

FREE STORY FOR HAITI

2010-02-28T20:03:00.001-08:00

FREE STORY FOR HAITI

The world has come together to help Haiti back to its feet after the devastating earthquake. I thought it would be a good idea to give everyone a "thank you" gift for everything they've done so far — and to encourage those who have not donated to do their part.

Everybody who has donated to Haitian relief is eligible to download my Blue Kingdoms story "The Gift of the Dragons" for free. There are three steps to claiming your free story.

1) Make a donation to Haiti. If you haven't made a donation already, click here to go to the Red Cross site and donate. As I write this, the radio button for Haiti is the last one on the page (scroll down).

2) Publicize your donation. Make a post on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, or some other social networking site telling what Haitian relief charity you've donated to. Your post should also include the message:

Free story for Haiti @ stephendsullivan.com.

Which leaves you 95 or so characters on Twitter (more on other sites) to tell people where you donated and encourage them to do the same. If you want, you can even reference this contest page directly: http://stephendsullivan.com/wordpress/?page_id=570.

3) Sign up for my newsletter. The story link will be going out to my mailing list, either in the March Newsletter or a special edition shortly thereafter. (I promise not to sell your address/info or send things other than the newsletter & related announcements.) You can use the form elsewhere on the site, or the one right below.

The deadline for getting signed up for your free story is March 17, 2010. (Shouldn't St. Patricks Day be your lucky day?) The story will be in the form of a downloadable file suitable for use with a Kindle, computer, or other electronic reading device. The last day for downloading the story for free will be March 31, 2010.

So, what are you waiting for? Send in a donation and get signed up to get your free story today!

MONSTERQUEST - Mothman

2010-02-11T20:49:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 2/10/10

Full disclosure: I have a bit of skin in the game this time, as you'll notice in the following paragraphs. (Not much, but a bit.)

MQ looks into the legendary Mothman, and though the legend comes from West Virginia, they start in La Crosse, WI (confusing Mothman with Manbat -- but then, MQ often plays a bit fast and loose with their "facts"). They have the usual eyewitness stories, from Wisconsin to West Virginia to Sacramento, and Joe Nichols and others to do a bit of skeptical investigation. Joe thinks people have misidentified known animals, like the barred owl, which he says is a good match, except for its size. Plus, the owl has red eye shine (a Mothman trademark). Friend of Uncanny Radio Nick Redfern (author of Three Men Seeking Monsters and contributor to Uncanny Encounters: Roswell) is among the researchers looking for the beast in Wisconsin. They canoe into the wilds and hike ancient bluffs, searching for evidence, and also investigating animal eye shine. They use owl calls to try to lure a barred owl in, for comparison to the stories, but all they find is shiny-eyed deer. The examine some deer carcass photos, but the expert believes them to have been killed by poachers.

The show also looks into the traditional West Virginia story, talking to witnesses and recreating events. They speculate about Mothman as a portent of doom - including recent disasters and even 9/11. David Weaver is a sketch artist MQ brings in to draw what the witnesses have seen. He believes the sketches all portray similar creatures. The scientific team believes the witnesses saw a smaller animal, and fear enlarged it. They create cutouts at various sizes (with reflector eyes) and then test subjects on size recognition. The size estimates vary widely, depending on the witness; some people doubled the size of the targets, calling into question what people are seeing and reporting. Dr. Chad Marsolek talks about how human memory is effected by emotion; people viewing a disturbing image believe their memories to be accurate, when usually they are not. He also says that a "weapon focus effect" could cause people to focus on the eyes and forget other details.

As with the better, MQ shows, this episode features a combination of legends and scientific investigation. There's plenty of info for believer, investigator, and skeptic. Linda Godfrey and I did part of a show on Manbat in Uncanny Radio. I hope to get that segment back up on the internet one day. In the meantime, if you're looking for a fun gift for Mothman lovers, you can send them Everything the Government Wants You to Know about Mothman -- a blank book (suitable for filling with your own conspiracies) from Walkabout Publishing.

MONSTERQUEST - Giant Killer Bees

2010-02-07T12:29:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 2/3/10

Another giant animal version of MQ? (Can the show do anything besides big animals and bigfoot?) The killer bees are coming! (And, no John Belushi is not with them.) But we get the usual scary stories, the usual monster hunters, and the usual recreations & CGI. The show cleverly blurs the distinction between "giant" bees and "giant swarms of bees" in a little bit of bait-and-switch. The hunters give some pretty scary live demonstrations of hive swarm attacks - and even their bee-proof suits cannot stop all the stings. The super aggressive bees pursue the team more than 1/2 mile from the hive, giving one researcher 40 stings through his suit. So, this can be a real problem, and sadly it is a man-made problem, resulting when African bees were deliberately bred with American honeybees. Rather than creating a super honey maker, the experiment created a super predator swarm. The bees have been heading north from South America ever since, eventually reaching the US southwest. The fear now is that cross-breeding will allow the bees to live even in northern, wintry climes. There's not a lot of good news in this show (and nary an actual giant bee in sight), and certainly the bees are currently dangerous in the US Southwest. But whether killer bees will become a reality in Chicago, New York, or Seattle remains to . . . bee seen.

MONSTERQUEST - Giant Pythons in America

2010-02-07T11:36:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 1/27/10

Another hunting for big animals episode where the fear factor is ramped up. Are giant hybrid pythons 915-20 feet long and 400 pounds) a menace in America? Expecting the usual scary witness stories (mixed with a little tragedy)? Yep. Got that. Cool pictures of scary snakes? Got that. Notes about how the creatures are encroaching on human spaces? Yep. "Experts" describing both the danger and saying people are overreacting? Got that, too. And, of course, a fairly familiar band of monster hunters. Check and double check. And, just for fun, add in a hint of crossbreeding (even discounting a theoretical venomous python). Yow, that's scary!

Which is to say that this is a pretty typical MQ known creature episode. We've got some hunting going on, some scary stories, a bit of science. At least in these sorts of episodes, we get to see the "monster" - though they never turn out as huge as advertised. They do find a 10' specimen and some babies in the Florida wilds; so the snakes are out there, breeding where they shouldn't. And there could be non-native venomous typs, too. So, not a bad show, but nothing special. (I still like the ideas of Pythons in Washington, DC, most.)

MONSTERQUEST - Hillbilly Beast

2010-02-01T19:06:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 1/20/10

Another bigfoot show on MQ? You betcha. Did you think they were running out of new names for Sasquatch? Apparently not. The show features the usual scare stories and eyewitness reports. Tim Farmer, a Kentucky ranger, thinks people are most likely misidentifying black bears, seldom seen until recently in Kentucky. He thinks any unknown beast would liekly be seen by the thousands of trail cams set by hunters out in the woods. And one such mysterious photo does exist (though it looks like the back of a bear to me). Naturally, MQ sends out a team to hunt for the beast. They set camera traps and send up a mini helicopter to scout for signs, and try to recreate the mysterious photo. An acoustics expert theorizes the creatures may use infrasound (below normal human hearing) to communicate or stun prey. The team uses "call blasting" to try to lure the beast (but has this ever been proven to work?). The ranger notes that many animals make strange and unlikely sounds in the woods; he himself was scared almost witless by what turned out to be a fox cry.

This time, they do get return calls - including some they can't identify, which will be analyzed later. Investigating, one man thinks something threw a rock in the river near him. Then they think they hear scared coyotes reacting to an unknown cry. A tooth specimen proves inconclusive, partly because only photos are sent for examining. They mysterious photo turns out to be an image of a bird, with false perspective making it appear larger. (Kudos to MQ for this analysis.) So, no monsters again, and only mysterious sounds for hints to things remaining unseen. As usual with MQ, it's hard to tell where self promotion leaves off, and real mystery begins.

MONSTERQUEST - Monster Sharks

2010-01-23T00:22:00.001-08:00

History Channel - Original Air Date: 1/13/10

MQ looks at "the largest and most terrifying predator on earth." Yes, they've apparently forgotten about the Sperm Whale or the Giant Squid, they're talking about sharks, specifically, Great Whites. They claim beasts up to 25' long have been spotted (official estimates are less). There are the usual frightening shark attack stories, and the usual histories and interesting scientific bits. They also compare sharks to human muggers and serial killers, in terms of their tactics. Are sharks coming closer to shore, or are people becoming more aware of them? MQ sends a team to California to put a camera on a shark, to find out more about them. They also hook up with a Massachusetts doctor trying to satellite tag a great white -- he succeeds, running into an unexpected congregation of the creatures. The California team gets their camera on the shark, but it doesn't stay attached for more than a few minutes. The camera looks too bulky to go unnoticed, to me, and the team reaches the same conclusion. While another interesting investigation and information show in the MQ series, they never come near the purported 25-foot sharks of the title.

My Main Site Updated

2010-01-01T13:50:00.001-08:00

For the New Year, I've reworked the look of my main site -- www.stephendsullivan.com. Check it out and tell me what you think.

DESTINATION TRUTH - Bhutan Yeti

2009-12-05T20:56:00.001-08:00

SyFy - Original Air Date:

After finding a yeti print in a previous expedition to Nepal, Josh Gates and company head out to look for the monster again, this time in Bhutan -- which has an actual nature reserve dedicated to help the possibly mythical creature survive. They talk to the locals, nearly run into a rare fire ceremony with their car, and see some reputed yeti bones. Then they head into the wilds to find the creature. They chase sounds across several rickety bridges and get a brief thermal image. They then move deeper into the countryside to continue their search. There, they climb across rugged rocks and poke into narrow caves. They see something on the thermal camera and chase it up a hill and across a chasm on an ancient tram... in the dark. But they're stopped by a deadly chasm river, and have to head back home.

The vertebrae seem to have come from an Asian black bear. The hair sample turns out to be from some large primate, with a previously unknown DNA sequence. Despite this exciting evidence, I have to conclude that the thermal hits were either nothing unusual, or too blurry to make out what they were -- as they are not mentioned in the show's wrap-up. A good "mid-season" finale for DT, which remains the strongest of the monster- and ghost-hunting shows.