Phantoms and Monsters

Its legend has long haunted the icy wastes of the Himalayas and Siberia.

Yet for all the mysterious sightings and strange footprints in the snow, the Yeti has proved remarkably elusive to those seeking solid evidence of its existence.

Now, however, the Abominable Snowman has an international team of scientists on its trail in a Russian region which one expert claims is home to around 30 of the creatures.

An expedition and conference – the largest of its kind since 1958 – will this week bring together scientists from Russia and the U.S. who have even agreed to share secret Cold War evidence in the effort to prove the humanoid beasts exist.

It follows a rise in apparent Yeti sightings in the Kemerovo region 3,000 miles – and four time zones – east of Moscow.

One of the most recent was reported by 82-year-old Raisa Sudochakova, who claims her dogs howled in fear and ran when they saw the Yeti.

She said: ‘It was still a tall creature, but not giant. It was covered with long brown-grey hair, like a bear. It wasn’t a bear – I have lived all my life in Siberia and wouldn’t make that mistake. This creature walked like a human, or almost like a human.’

Experts speculated she may have seen a young Yeti, as other sightings have suggested the creatures are about 7ft.

This week’s expedition will begin with experts from six nations gathering at the International Centre of Hominology in Tashtagol.

Igor Burtsev, the centre’s director, believes around 30 Yetis live in the Kuzbass coal mining area of Kemerovo, where villagers say they steal sheep and hens. He claims they are Neanderthals who have survived to this day.

The event comes after the most recent expedition to find the Yeti failed, despite the efforts of Russian heavyweight boxing champion Nikolai Valuyev, known as the ‘Beast from the East’.

‘Valuyev did not manage to meet the Yeti itself but on the way he discovered traces such as broken tree branches,’ said a local government spokesman.

‘By the time they reached the Azass cave, the expedition saw gigantic footprints.’

Not surprisingly, there has been a degree of scepticism over the latest hunt – not least from those who reckon it’s just an attempt to boost tourism in Kemerovo. - dailymail

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Scientists from several countries, including Russia and the U.S., will gather in the Kemerova region of Siberia to hunt down the Yeti, after alleged sightings of the legendary creatures increased threefold in the area over the past 20 years.

Scientists from Russia, the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Estonia, Mongolia and China were invited to evaluate evidence of the creatures -- the existence of which has never been proven -- at a conference later this week, according to Russian radio station the Voice of Russia.

Alleged sightings of Yetis in Kemerovo and the neighboring Altai region, about 1,988 miles (3,200 kilometers) east of Moscow, are up three times compared to 20 years ago, with scientists estimating that there is a current population of at least several dozen in the area.

Other evidence of the existence of the creatures -- such as basic twig huts, twisted branches and footprints of up to 35 centimeters (14 inches) -- also has been found in the area.

A group of scientists from the conference will be sent out to search the region's mountains to examine the evidence and try spot a Yeti.

It will be the first expedition of its kind since 1958, when scientists from the Soviet Academy of Sciences scoured Western Siberia trying to catch a Yeti.

Igor Burtsev, who heads the Moscow-based International Center of Hominology, said, "When Homo sapiens started populating the world, it viciously exterminated its closest relative in the hominid family, Homo neanderthalensis. Some of the Neanderthals, however, may have survived to this day in some mountainous wooded habitats that are more or less off limits to their arch foes." - foxnews

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From 5/16/2009

Siberian Locals Complain Yeti Eats Too Much

The local Shor people in Kemerovo Region, Siberia, are reporting that something is snatching up the wild leek crop that is a staple of their diet, Itar-Tass Siberia reports. The onion-lovers leave behind abundant large footprints with clearly defined toes, similar to the prints found in the area earlier this year, the news service continues.

Bigfoot sightings are common in this remote section of the taiga and they have received attention worldwide. An expedition headed by director of the International Center for Hominology Igor Burtsev visited the area at the end of March to study footprints found in Azasskaya Cave, but the effort resulted in little new information.

Now local Tashtagol District administrator Vladimir Makuta notes that he has received 14 new written reports of yeti sightings near the cave and the nearby Mrassu River. The witnesses say the creature – thought by some to be a relict hominoid – is 1.5-2 meters (5-6.5 feet) tall and covered in reddish black fur.

NOTE: Here are a few links to prior posts on this subject - Russian Expedition to Find the Siberian Yeti Underway - New Surge of Yeti Activity Reported in Siberia - Yeti Expedition to Start in the Shoria Mt. Region, Siberia - Russian Hunter Claims He Saved Bigfoot From Drowning - Photos: Russian Yeti - Sheregesh, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia...Lon

Yetis, Sasquatch & Hairy Giants (Unexplained Phenomena the Para) (See all Unexplained Mystery Books)

Field Guide To Bigfoot, Yeti, & Other Mystery Primates Worldwide (See all Controversial Knowledge in Religious Studies Books)

My Quest for the Yeti

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