The Ketchum Report

[Guest Tontar]

But I am willing to go along with the notion that the government knows a bit more than we're allowed to, how could they not? We have the technology to read the date on a dime laying on a forest floor from a satellite in space, yes?

You know, when my mind starts imagining how great our technology is, and some of it really is pretty nifty, my mind usually does it's own reality check by reminding me of prostate exams and colonoscopies. When a doctor has to stick his finger you know where, it tends to make me think that they really can't find a house in the middle of a dessert even if they flew over it with a helicopter!

[Guest FuriousGeorge]

So the government knows about bigfoots but is keeping it under wraps because we can't handle the truth. Cool. Sounds like a cool plot line! But once the cat is out of the bag, whoa, everything is going to change. So why would there all of a sudden be all these new rules and laws needed to protect sasquatches and all the various varieties within, when nobody can even find them anyway? Aren't protected species protected from us because we pose a threat to them? How would we threaten them when we rarely come in contact with them?

Environmental impact. If these things exist but their numbers are low because we are screwing up their food sources, like we do for many animals, maybe we can seek a fix. You don't have to go anywhere near a Californian Condor to harm one. Trying to stop lead bullets so the fragments in a deer carcass don't kill them is at least a start for a solution. My guess is this approach will be taken. We will study as much as we can, and try to see if we are messing them up. That's how we roll. Mess things up and then try to fix them.

I'm not saying the government knows about them btw. I'm addressing the other parts of the post.

[Guest Darrell]

Having worked for the "Government" for the last 26 years I would say its ability to keep a secret of any improtance is about impossible. Our government cant find its own buttocks with both hands most of the time. But maybe I'm just a tool of the conspiricy .

[Guest BFSleuth]

Re: the JREF million dollar challenge. Bigfoot is not a paranormal claim and therefore does not fall under the purview of the challenge: "At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event."

I'm sure they have the bar set on rollers anyway.

[Guest]

Having worked for the "Government" for the last 26 years I would say its ability to keep a secret of any improtance is about impossible. Our government cant find its own buttocks with both hands most of the time. But maybe I'm just a tool of the conspiricy .

I really wish people would stop with this nonsense. Governments on all levels, corporations, private groups, etc keep secrets all the time. Many critical functions of government and business would be impossible if security of information was as loose as you would have us believe it to be.

[Branco]

So why would there all of a sudden be all these new rules and laws needed to protect sasquatches and all the various varieties within, when nobody can even find them anyway?

Nobody? You've got to be kidding, right?

Aren't protected species protected from us because we pose a threat to them?

None of the various type of unclassified primates in this country are "protected", except by themselves. (And doing a pretty good job of it at that. Except for the Skunk/Swamp Ape; they need our protection.)

How would we threaten them when we rarely come in contact with them?

There are a lot of "we" who would suggest your "we" should be an "I".

The facts are that all of the primates in the South/Southeast have been forced into the river bottoms and swamp lands or into the remote parts of of the mountains. In many areas there are more of the various types per land section than in any other part of the U.S.

[southernyahoo]

Having worked for the "Government" for the last 26 years I would say its ability to keep a secret of any improtance is about impossible. Our government cant find its own buttocks with both hands most of the time. But maybe I'm just a tool of the conspiricy .

This forum is a perfect example of the fact that it doesn't matter what people say. It's the evidence that rules. No evidence = no secret = just a story. People in goverment could say whatever they want, but they also know they would just wash out with no evidence.

[Guest RioBravo]

The facts are that all of the primates in the South/Southeast have been forced into the river bottoms and swamp lands or into the remote parts of of the mountains. In many areas there are more of the various types per land section than in any other part of the U.S.

Are these southeast primates, particularly the Skunk Ape, descendants of known species that have adapted to their environment, or are they closer to the popular conception of bigfoot - an unrecognized animal somewhere between ape and man?

One other question: who are the primary parties engaging in non-public bigfoot research? Wealthy private individuals? Non-profit conservation groups? Corporations? Government bodies?

Thanks again, for your answers. I'm not trying to be smart, this stuff really is fascinating.

[JDL]

Environmental impact. If these things exist but their numbers are low because we are screwing up their food sources, like we do for many animals, maybe we can seek a fix. You don't have to go anywhere near a Californian Condor to harm one. Trying to stop lead bullets so the fragments in a deer carcass don't kill them is at least a start for a solution. My guess is this approach will be taken. We will study as much as we can, and try to see if we are messing them up. That's how we roll. Mess things up and then try to fix them.

I'm not saying the government knows about them btw. I'm addressing the other parts of the post.

I think it's unlikely that we are impacting their food sources. From many accounts, it's just the opposite - they seem to poach a lot of food from us, and I'm one of those who believe that they occasionally prey on people. If there's a reason that gov't wants to keep bigfoot out of the public consciousness, this would be it.

[Guest]

For those who think "the government" is keeping bigfoots from us, please feel free to describe how they manage to keep those bigfoots from roaming onto private land where they can be discovered, or indeed, keeping them on the portions of our vast public lands that are accessible to the general public.

Seriously, if I hit a bigfoot on my way home from work tonight, I can post photos and videos of the aftermath to YouTube and Facebook within seconds (at least minutes) of the event. Just how would the government keep this under wraps?

It's not a matter of government officials' ability to keep secrets well or poorly: bigfoot is not a crashed spaceship that can be confiscated and squirreled away to control access from the populace. It's supposed to be a population of organisms with a continent-wide distribution and the ability to wander freely. Good luck trying to keep such a thing from being found.

[Guest OntarioSquatch]

For those who think "the government" is keeping bigfoots from us, please feel free to describe how they manage to keep those bigfoots from roaming onto private land where they can be discovered

I`m sure the Bigfoots would be able to avoid it themselves. I think the government can only hide things like information or bodies they might find.

[Guest Darrell]

I really wish people would stop with this nonsense. Governments on all levels, corporations, private groups, etc keep secrets all the time. Many critical functions of government and business would be impossible if security of information was as loose as you would have us believe it to be.

Wiki Leaks, Iran-Contra, Watergate, Fast & Furious. Just what do you really think the govt is hiding that they can keep secret when all this other crap isnt? Remember, artificial sweeteners are safe, WMD's are in Iraq, and Anna Nichole married for love......

[Guest OntarioSquatch]

I thought this might be interesting

Damian Bravo: On another note, do you feel that if the results come out and prove Sasquatch does exist that the community of scientists and biologists will come together and truly study this amazing possible Hominoid as Dr. Meldrum calls them?

Melba Ketchum:

As far as the scientific community, that remains to be seen although I do expect a shift away from private study to more universities getting involved. It has been very difficult to study them as it is. I don't look for that to be any easier in the future. I think legal regulation of study methods will also be implemented for them and at least I certainly hope so. The project will prove their existence and will provide some insight into them also. Believe me, I am as anxious as everyone else and it is driving me crazy not to be able to shout the results from the rooftops. However, I have to do this absolutely in a scientifically accepted fashion or it will all be for nothing. It is too important as a scientific discovery not to do this correctly. I hope people are starting to understand this and I think that they are. Each day though is one day closer to what I am sure is going to be the most exciting roller coaster ride ever.

Hope this helps

Melba

(click to enlarge)

Edited June 22, 2012 by OntarioSquatch

[Guest Tontar]

The condor and bald eagle problems were DDT in the environment making their eggs crack during incubation. get rid of the DDT, and they come back in droves. Direct human contact with them is not that big a deal, although for a while the environmentalists have tried to say so, and limit human activity in areas where they would nest. But as they nest in areas of existing human activity, it's been hard to make that one stick, so humans and eagles and condors frequent the same areas now that the egg problem has been resolved.

Now, with bigfoot, who knows, really, what the situation really is and what it would be like if they were found to be living amongst us. Who knows if our proximity with them is a problem or not. If they are frequenting completely established, populated areas like the nursing home neighborhood in south Seattle, or any of the other populated areas demonstrated in sighting reports, it may be that there is very little issue between us and them.

But the fact that we have so little contact with them that we can't even establish them as an existing species, pulling them out from the folklore label and into the real world classification, seems to me to suggest that there's not many, if any around, and if there are, then there's not much of a problem with our limited contact.

[Guest]

Wiki Leaks, Iran-Contra, Watergate, Fast & Furious. Just what do you really think the govt is hiding that they can keep secret when all this other crap isnt? Remember, artificial sweeteners are safe, WMD's are in Iraq, and Anna Nichole married for love......

Firstly, Anna Nichole has noting to do with the government, so I'm not even going to address that.

Quick, oh wise government worker...what are the codes to order a launch of our nuclear forces? What communications frequencies are the SF using in the Middle East? What exactly was said in the last meeting of the House Intelligence Oversight Committee? What do the documents subpoenaed from Eric Holder have to say about "Fast and Furious"?

Don't know, do you?

All examples of government employees doing their jobs and keeping their mouths shut about things they aren't supposed to talk about. Day in, day out. 24/7/365.

A few high profile outlier events do not an "open book" government make. For every Bradley Manning, there are 10s and 10s of 1000s of dedicated, honorable men and women who do their job and keep their mouths shut about it.