Meldrum Seeks Yeren For 'MonsterQuest'

Dr. Jeff Meldrum presented his findings from a recent trip to China researching the Yeren, one Asian creature similar to Sasquatch, Bigfoot and the Yeti.

Meldrum said he spoke with witnesses to the Yeren in a rugged, mountainous and wet (as much as 870 inches rainfall annually) interior region of the country. He accompanied the director of an amateur research group and was able to examine two superb plaster casts of tracks. The tracks, he said, showed the effects of a stride by a creature with a foot physiology different from that of a human. This type of stride can be seen in the Patterson-Gimlin film, further substantiating claims that the creature cannot simply be a human actor in a suit.

Meldrum also announced that his published scientific name for tracks and footprints attributed to Sasquatch-like creatures -- Anthropoidipes ameriborealis -- has not been contested in the scientific community.

Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society Director Eric Altman briefed the audience on both ancient and recent reported sightings. He said that Lenni Lanape and Susquehannock tribes both had names for the creatures they observed, including "masked being" "living solid face" and "game keeper."

The first recorded sighting of Bigfoot in Pennsylvania was in August 1838. Research began in earnest during the late 1960s. In 1998 the PBS was formed. Altman, who had an interest in Bigfoot stretching back to his youth, became the director in 2000.

A particularly intriguing case dated from July 2006. A family heard screaming from nearby woods. The following day members found a deer with its right front leg wedged tightly in the "V" of a tree. The hind quarters were missing and the head bloodied. Tracks 17 inches in length were found nearby as well as uprooted trees.

One theory was that a large cat could have killed the deer. However, Altman said, state wildlife officials said there were no such predators in the area.

Altman was also involved in researching an image of a creature captured by a stationary camera in October 2007. The image was distributed nationally, and shows what some say is a mangy bear and what others claim to be a juvenile Bigfoot.

Scheduled speaker Igor Bourtsev was unable to attend from Russia. Due to political unrest there he was forbidden from leaving the country. However, he e-mailed his presentation and Davis gave an abbreviated presentation.

Bourtsev has been involved for many years with research in Asia into the Almas, the region's Bigfoot-like "cryptid" or unknown animal. He has had a role in research into the story of Zana, reportedly a female Alma who mated with a human male and bore two children.

Bourtsev also joined an expedition to Tennessee to the Carter Farm, sight of numerous sightings. Hairs were collected there and analyzed, and reportedly the DNA contained within them is very close to that of humans.

Native Ohioans Bob Gray and Liza Foster were also on hand promoting the motion picture "Bigfoot." Gray wrote, directed and acted in the film shot on location in the marshes of northeastern Ohio.

Unlike some characterizations of Bigfoot as gentle giants ("Harry and the Hendersons" for example), the creature in Gray's film is a murderous monster that kills, among others, Gray character.

Foster plays a wildlife officer and Gray a sheriff. Distribution plans are in the works for the award-winning film.

Jeff Meldrum Yeren MonsterQuest
Jeff Meldrum Yeren MonsterQuest