Enoch

[Incorrigible1]

The impersonator that posted upon our board was out to hoodwink as many naive readers as possible. Many here played precisely into the impersonator's hands. Many here expressed immense indignation anyone dared to question the impersonator's postings.

It should be a lesson in humility for many upon BFF.

[Guest Jodie]

I don't get any kind of vicarious thrill from hoaxing but I believe I could have made up a much better story. I could even label it fiction and I bet people on here would think I was just trying to cover up the truth.

[Guest]

Jodie: "I could even label it fiction and I bet people on here would think I was just trying to cover up the truth."

As to the poster who claims there is no difference between fiction and nonfiction, I must conclude that the merit of any such person's posts have to be read with a great deal of skepticism.

Edited March 25, 2012 by HRPuffnstuff

[Guest]

I-1 pretty well summed it up. I don't think I could come up with a better or more accurate post.

SwampBandit himself admitted he had hoaxed the entire thing on several occasions.

Yet some around here were overtly gullible and held him up on a pedestal while ignoring his admissions.

The entire Enoch saga left yet another huge black-eye on the BF community.

Shouldn't have been the case as there were blatantly obvious red-flags all along.

Not sure what to make of how this went down other than it isn't funny at all to someone like myself who takes the subject seriously.

Feel badly for those who feel they have experienced *habituation* scenarios and related to the story. I'm not sure what I think of *habituation* related to BF but I have tremendous personal faith in people/our members and that not all accounts are fictional.

But the entire *Enoch* story was a pure fake and purported by a known hoaxer. Not going to say anything more than that but rest assured that we were on top of this story all along and even had a *fall-out* plan in place if the truth ever got out.

Autumn, as much as I love and respect her as a friend, got suckered in. I think she now realizes this but she may be re-miss to admit it.

I hate seeing good and decent folks that I respect and admire get taken in by crap like this.

It was an entertaining fictional read, but there was no measure of truth to the story.

[Guest]

Not that I think that it is likely anything but fiction, cobbled together from various bits of BF lore/discussion and other books, but.... Puff, how do you know so surely that Autumn was suckered in? How do you know that SB was the real "Mike," and was the person doing the suckering? How do we know that the real "Mike," hoaxer or not, is not still out there? You seem to know these things quite surely, and I am curious as to how you are so sure, when the rest of us are in the dark - as the author herself has not come out to claim either that she was hoodwinked, or by whom she was fooled? Are you saying that you know exactly who "Mike" or "SB" is in the real world (versus our little forum/internet world), and that person is a known hoaxer?

edit to add: Changed name.Woops, my bad! Don't know how one became the other in my brain. Sorry, Puff (and Art)...

Edited March 25, 2012 by notgiganto

[bipedalist]

The poster you are referencing is NOT Art......... it's Puff, NG.

Trust me, if Puff says he knows, "he knows".

[Guest]

Changed it, my bad - I confuse their avatars for some silly reason... and thus the name... My questions are not meant to be offensive, but simply to ask, "How do ya know?" when the rest of us do not... I do trust that peeps on here "know things" but...

I will just let this one go. I don't wish to add any injury to the "black eye."

Nevermind, Puff, no need to address my questions. If you wish, PM me.

Edited March 25, 2012 by notgiganto

[Guest]

Nah, notgiganto you asked legitimate questions and as such I'll address as much as I can...

Puff, how do you know so surely that Autumn was suckered in?

Mainly because I know Autumn personally and do not feel there is any semblance of an deceiptful bone in her body.

Trust me, she knows how I feel about her penning the book without researching the area or meeting *Mike/Swamp Bandit* in person.

She took his word on blind faith, penned *Enoch*, and then the guy posts here admitting he fooled her. Just read back over the last few pages of the thread if there is any doubt.

How do you know that SB was the real "Mike," and was the person doing the suckering? How do we know that the real "Mike," hoaxer or not, is not still out there? You seem to know these things quite surely, and I am curious as to how you are so sure, when the rest of us are in the dark - as the author herself has not come out to claim either that she was hoodwinked, or by whom she was fooled? Are you saying that you know exactly who "Mike" or "SB" is in the real world (versus our little forum/internet world), and that person is a known hoaxer?

Yep I know exactly who he is and he is a known hoaxer. Better yet, he knows that I know.

Look, I wasn't born yesterday, know virtually everyone in our community, and the first thing I did was to corroborate through Autumn that the person posting here as SwampBandit/Mike was indeed the subject she used in her book and not an imposter.

In fairness, there was someone posting as him on a couple of other boards at the time who was an imposter.

But, I received confirmation from Autumn that our SwampBandit/Mike was indeed the subject she used in her book.

Then, through some work with a couple of other forums where the imposter had posted, and sharing of info, I narrowed down the true identity of the person and sure enough it was someone with an distinct reputation, among various forums as an known hoaxer.

I won't release that name as it would serve no useful purpose.

Need proof? If so just read this post I made back in November of 2011...

http://bigfootforums...post__p__118153

I sent a PM to SB as well at the time that notified him that I knew who he was.

He never responded in the thread or to my PM and skedaddled out of here as soon as he knew his gig was up.

Look, the Enoch story suckered a lot of you guys in. I'd forgotten just how much so until today and reading back over the thread.

Don't be so gullible. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

But stick a fork in the entire *Enoch* debacle as it is an absolute hoax.

Appreciate the words of support bipedalist and *I know* that *you know* the true story as the former SC Chair.

It's an absolute shame that these hoaxes continually plague our community. Still, I lean towards belief as there are too many upstanding folks that I know personally that have had some pretty cool experiences that I believe.

Several of them posted in support of Mike/SB, or posted generically in this thread.

If I didn't know it to be fact that the *Enoch* tale was complete fiction, I would not state it as such. Too much respect for the subject and our outstanding members to do so.

[Guest]

Well, Puff, I -and other members I am sure- appreciate the full skinny on the Enoch backstory. I was not suckered in by SB, but gave "Enoch" the book a sporting chance, even though I doubted more than a few details. I still think it is a good story, with some good points, but with the confirmation of a backstory involvingyour connection with Autumn, and Mike actually being SB and a known hoaxer, I can fully see it as true fiction. Thanks, Puff. It is a shame, the whole debacle.

Edited March 25, 2012 by notgiganto

[Guest krakatoa]

The book has inspired an ambivalence for me that I find stimulating. The ambivalence that it inspires is the beauty of the thing, IMO.

I'm having a hard time linking "ambivalence" to "stimulating" or "thought-provoking". Ambivalence seems to be antithetical to the concept of an investigation of the truth. Are you sure this is the word you meant to use?

I have long been ambivalent to SB/Mike's tale (and Autumn's writing of it) because it was clear to me from the beginning it was a work of fiction, whether any would admit it or not. As such, I had no emotion attached to SB's posts, nor to the rigorous tousle between the believers or proponents, and those who were skeptical.

The only stimulation I've found has been in watching the social dynamics at play.

As troublesome as it can be to the prospects of legitimizing the search for bigfoot, a hoax like this is enlightening in many ways, not the least of which in how the various players are revealed.

It doesn't matter. Every work of fiction is a patchwork of of the author's experience. Inasmuch, every story is based on reality and every story, even nonfiction, is part imagination.

With a perspective like this, anything is possible, and any tale is plausible.

I prefer a more stringent approach to word-meanings than that. It keeps everyone playing with the same semantic rulebook, and lessens both the potential for misunderstandings, and the ability for one to say one thing and then credibly claim they meant another thing entirely.

So I respectfully disagree: It does matter, very much, that if a work of fiction is peddled as a work of fact, such a fraud be called out.

[ShadowBorn]

Fine lets say it's that this is a hoax or story, but what if the creatures really do betray themselves like this.What if SB/Mike actually comes out with the true character of these creatures.Not saying everything he says is true but there is substance to this tale. Subtance I mean by the way these creature carry themselves around us humans.I have always read books after i have had my encounters and alot of things fit.But for science to work it has to be done over and over. So if the character in this book did actually try this then they should work again in theory. If people say they are having encounters and getting results then science should at least try it.In my opionion I see alot of truth in this book and maybe it is hoax but maybe it's not.It's a book to read and thats all it is.

[Guest]

Krak - I have never really viewed Enoch as an exploration of truth as much as an exploration of the relationship between Mike and Enoch, and as an exploration by Autumn of her changing views on BF discovery. The ambivalence I was referring to has, for me, to do with various conundrums within BF research that I think were included in the book - things that I have yet to make up my mind on. Mainly the question of discovery and its effects on the creatures themselves, i.e., who really benefits, and does the "I told you so" of discovery and the protection it may offer weigh up well against the likely negative effects of recognition. Does that make my appraisal make more sense? Sometimes I have a terrible time putting these things into clear, concise words...In reading the book, and following Autumn's changing views (denouncing being a "researcher"), I discovered ambivalence of my own. Make sense? It inspired, for me, a good kind of self questioning.

....I had hoped for some truth in the Mike/Enoch relationship side of things, but....

I will certainly admit that I clung to a small hope that SB was not Mike, and that there was some shred of truth from a mysterious witness named Mike who was still out there. After Puff's explanation of his inside knowledge and relationship with the author, I am forced in many ways to change how I view the book.

[Guest cowgirl]

We were driving through Florida on our way to Disney World and stopped at a roadside fruit stand just north of Orlando.

While looking around I found a book about the Florida Skunk Ape written by a man named John Ashley.

I opened it and read a little and it is the same as the Enoch book almost word for word but there has been some changes,

Autumn Williams is nowhere in this book, this book is all about Enoch and Mike and there is a lot more stories in this one.

It has pictures of his camp, the swamp, the big log they sit on, the creek and river and much more.

It is a wonderful book a must read for anyone who was left wanting more from Enoch like I was.

The only picture of Enoch is one of his hand with Mikes on top of it to show how big it is, and it is clear and close up.

It is a hard cover book and really well done the cost is $27.00 and well worth it imo.

I thought I would share this great find with you and hope you will be able to find a copy for yourself.

Oh yes I almost forgot, the book is called LIVING WITH THE BIG MAN

I do not know who the author is or if Mike had anything to do with it, but I feel that he did from the way it reads.

[Guest BFSleuth]

cowgirl, interesting update. I tried googling for the title of this book, but didn't find anything. It isn't on Amazon, and a broad search for the title on Google reveals nothing. You say it is almost word for word? I wonder if this is a self published copy with slight changes, hoping to cash in on the success of Enoch with possible copyright infringement?

[southernyahoo]

We were driving through Florida on our way to Disney World and stopped at a roadside fruit stand just north of Orlando.

While looking around I found a book about the Florida Skunk Ape written by a man named John Ashley.

I opened it and read a little and it is the same as the Enoch book almost word for word but there has been some changes,

Autumn Williams is nowhere in this book, this book is all about Enoch and Mike and there is a lot more stories in this one.

It has pictures of his camp, the swamp, the big log they sit on, the creek and river and much more.

It is a wonderful book a must read for anyone who was left wanting more from Enoch like I was.

The only picture of Enoch is one of his hand with Mikes on top of it to show how big it is, and it is clear and close up.

It is a hard cover book and really well done the cost is $27.00 and well worth it imo.

I thought I would share this great find with you and hope you will be able to find a copy for yourself.

Oh yes I almost forgot, the book is called LIVING WITH THE BIG MAN

I do not know who the author is or if Mike had anything to do with it, but I feel that he did from the way it reads.

Sure wish I could see the photos, maybe SB will show up to confirm it.