R.W. Ridley's Blog, page 23
December 7, 2012
December 6, 2012
There is no Bigfoot…
UPDATE 4:00 – 12/06/20: Dr. Ketchum responded on Facebook to the “rumors.” I’ve placed her response at the end of this post.
…Paper that is. Or at least one that will be published anytime soon. Warning: Bitter pills to follow.
News reports are trickling in that Dr. Melba Ketchum’s paper on Sasquatch (hybrid-humans/h-humans) DNA has been rejected. I gave her the benefit of the doubt last week that she only made an announcement because the journal gave her permission. It now appears – reading between the lines of the original source that leaked the story – that this may have been a ploy to raise the profile of the paper in order to force the journal’s hand. If we are to believe previous stories on this topic, the paper has been rejected and rewritten on numerous occasions.
This news will, of course, lead to an uprising of conspiracy theories about the bias of mainstream science. While I have no doubt that a majority of the scientific community thinks the subject of Bigfoot is silly, no reasonable scientist is biased against solid research based on sound scientific principles. At this point, we must all assume that the paper is not worthy of publication.
This should also put to rest all the ridiculous claims that there is a body. There is no body. How do I know? Because Dr. K would have released photos/video of said body in order to bolster her claims. And if she’s not in possession of a body, but someone else is, they would certainly have taken the opportunity by now to release evidence that they have a body on a block of ice given the media attention her announcement was given.
Dr. Ketchum also issued a statement that she is in possession of HD quality video of these h-humans that she will release when the paper is published. Everyone is assuming that this is the famous (or infamous) Erickson footage. Logic dictates that these images are not game changing images, otherwise, at the very least, a clip or two would have appeared to add credibility to her press release. Few people have seen the Erickson footage and even fewer still have been impressed by the footage.
It is time for the researchers that submitted samples to the study to step forward and break their non-disclosure agreements. Thanks to the publicity this stunt generated the paper is most likely DOA, and will never see publication in a reputable journal. Disclosure cannot damage the paper anymore than it is already damaged. If you are a contributor to the study, and you contact me, I don’t do the anonymous sources crap. You contact me, you go on the record. This community is rife with secrecy that serves no real purpose other than to give cowards cover. I won’t be a part of it.
Sane people have been witness to something in the woods of North America. I’m not willing to completely dismiss their accounts. Statistically speaking it’s much more reasonable to believe something large and unknown is out there than it is to believe they are all simply lying or misidentifying known animals. However, as of now, there is no proof of Bigfoot, and making claims to the contrary is nonsense.
Dr. Ketchum’s response – “The paper is still under review and the rumormongering is counterproductive. The science will speak for itself once the manuscript publishes.”
To elaborate on her response, the news of the rejection came from Igor Bustrev, a Russian researcher who types in broken English. I believe the Ketchum camp is claiming he meant ‘revision’ instead of ‘rejection.’
That being said, Dr. Ketchum is not off the hook. She would be better served if she released some of the footage that is allegedly high quality HD footage. I can think of no logical reason to withhold something that would only support the claims she made in her press release.
December 3, 2012
The Last Creyshaw: Book Six of the Oz chronicles – Word Count (Dec. 3)
November 30, 2012
Everything’s coming up Bigfoot DNA
In answer to those who’ve asked, “Have you heard about the Bigfoot DNA story?” Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes! My take on it is there’s really nothing new to report other than it’s the first time Dr. Ketchum has publicly stated the findings of her teams study.
Her claim is basically this. Bigfoot is a species of hominid that came about as a result of hybrid speciation. What does that mean? It means some unknown hominid (unknown to the current DNA database) and modern humans got it on about 15,000 years ago in Eastern Europe. Her team not only reportedly sequenced the mitochondrial DNA of various samples. They sequenced the nuclear DNA of three samples contributed by three different researchers. The latter is what is most intriguing to those in the scientific community. Nuclear DNA testing is far more complicated and harder to dispute.
She is calling her findings novel and unexpected. The mainstream scientific community is calling her findings unconventional and unlikely. Now, mind you all this talk stems from a press release by Dr. Ketchum about the findings. None of it addresses the actual paper because the paper is as yet unpublished. Dr. Ketchum has stated that it will be published in a matter of weeks. Again, this is the first time she’s given even a vague timeline, so you have to think she’s gotten confirmation from the journal that it will be released and they’ve lifted any kind of embargo so she could finally address rumors.
Some points to ponder
Dr. Ketchum has vehemently denied she ever used the term “angel DNA” to describe the unknown hominid found in the full sequencing of the Nuclear DNA. Even if she did, I’m not particularly bothered by it because the scientific community uses theological terms to describe scientific findings and studies all the time. Just ask physicists if they really believe they expect to find traces of God in the “God Particle.”
Mainstream scientists aren’t hoping Dr. Ketchum is wrong. They would love nothing more than for her to be right. In fact, I’m betting many of them are secretly excited about the possibility of Bigfoot being real. That they are expressing doubt and skepticism shouldn’t be viewed as them dismissing her findings. They are all anxious to get their hands on the paper.
Dr. Ketchum used a dozen or so independent labs to verify her findings. The chances that they all got the same results are highly improbable unless they all got the only results that could be found. In other words, they didn’t all find the same “novel” DNA unless there actually was “novel” DNA. I think that Dr. Ketchum’s five year study used contaminated samples is unlikely. She’s described the precautions her team took to ensure that no contamination took place. They took DNA samples from every member of the team and field researchers and tested for contamination. However, only time will tell if indeed the samples were actually contaminated.
Matt Moneymaker is clearly upset by the findings and has been speed-tweeting his dismay. One must remember that Dr. Ketchum lured Moneymaker’s sugar daddy away from his organization in order to fund the DNA project. Therefore, we have to take Moneymaker’s claims with a grain of salt. I’m not saying he’s a dishonest guy. I simply saying his judgment may be impaired.
Hybrid speciation in the animal kingdom does take place in nature a lot. Polar bears and grizzly bears have produced offspring in the wild. It’s widely known that different species of primates have and do create offspring frequently. Some claim that chimps and gorillas have crossbred in Africa which results in a creature called the Koolakamba. And those who think it’s too farfetched to believe modern humans bred with “sub-human” hominids are clearly not familiar with the concept of bestiality. Humans are freaks!
There apparently is substantial physical evidence that was used in this study. More than a few sources are saying that included in Dr. Ketchum’s study is a sample taken from a 2.5 lbs piece of flesh collected in the Sierra Mountains in 2010. Two and half pounds of flesh is a hell of a lot of flesh, and I’ve been told samples of it are included in Dr. Syke’s Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project, as well. In addition, samples from the flesh were submitted to labs outside of both of these studies. And for what it’s worth, those independent labs have been baffled by their findings. Beyond that I don’t know what their findings were.
In the end, none of this is more than speculation until Dr. Ketchum’s team’s study is released, and other scientists have had an opportunity to do their own tests to either verify or eviscerate her findings. I will say this. If Dr. Ketchum is proven to be wrong, either because she’s incompetent or deceitful, her career is over.
Good Friday to you!
“I’m back! The fog has lifted!” – Kid Rock
I haven’t updated in a long, long time. Sometimes you just need to decompress otherwise you’ll decompose. Just because I haven’t been blogging doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. I have. After all, that’s what I get paid to do. A lot of the work has been back stage stuff, but rest assured, with the exception of Thanksgiving and the days surrounding it (family time), the Book Six file has been open, and I’ve contributed pages to it. It has gone to a place I didn’t quite expect, which is a good thing. I’ll start posting word updates starting Monday, and Lou’s Diary will be back a week from today!
BTW – I’ve gotten a few emails about the Bigfoot DNA story. I’m aware of it. I’ve done a little digging, and I’ll comment on it in the next post. Let’s just say, the details are as elusive as the big guy himself.
November 9, 2012
November 5, 2012
The Last Creyshaw: Book Six of the Oz Chronicles – daily word count (Nov. 5)
I’ve been splitting my time with a few other projects, so the word count pace has slowed. When I hit 20k, I’ll stop and read what I have and map out the rest of the book at that point. Once I have a rough outline, the writing should go faster.
Lou’s Diary – Entry 20 (text version)
I have the boy! I can’t tell you how excited I am. I have the filthy little boy who’s been sneaking into the woods and stealing body parts from the Gore! The evil little thief.
I woke up early and walked to the woods just at day break. I had to make my way through a heavy snow with big fluffy flakes that swirled in the chaotic wind, but I did it. I did it because the Gore need me. They wanted me to catch the boy. And I did. I caught the boy!
He stepped out of the tiny lodge just as I reached the edge of the clearing. He didn’t see me. He stretched and yawned and wiped his eyes. And marched across the fresh snow cover toward the tree line without a care in the world. The little thief didn’t even care that he was killing poor innocent Gores. He’s evil little boy.Little is the key word. He was so small he barely left footprints in the snow.
I skirted behind the trees and followed him until he was on the other side of the clearing and entered the woods. The little creep had a smile on his face. What an awful little boy.
He cut through a path that led him to what I thought was another clearing. When I got closer, I realized it was a frozen pond. He skidded across the surface with his hands out to help him keep his balance. I hid behind a trashcan near a picnic bench and watched as he stopped in the middle of the pond. He turned back in my direction. When he was satisfied no one was following him, he knelt down on the ice. An awful idiot boy.
He pulled out a large hunting knife and started chipping away at the ice. He stabbed at the frozen pond over and over again until his hand hurt. After resting a few seconds, he continued to try to break through the ice.
Several minutes passed, when he finally made a hole he was happy with. He put the knife down and stared into the hole. I moved around to the other side of the picnic bench to get a better view. He just continued to stare. I couldn’t figure out what he was looking at.
Suddenly he thrust his hand into the hole and pulled out something that was wriggling. I couldn’t see what it was. I crawled to a tree that was on the bank of the pond. The boy struggled with whatever he pulled out of the water. In a flash, he tossed the object to the ground, quickly grabbed his knife and stabbed it. The entire pond let out a screech of pain.
I couldn’t stand it any longer. I stood and leaned closer to the lake and the boy. Whatever he stabbed was trying to free itself from the knife. I stepped around the tree and the boy saw me. He stood, took a step and slipped on the ice. The force of the fall knocked him out cold.
I carefully made my way to the middle of the pond. My eyes on the boy the whole way. When I was sure he wasn’t going to come to anytime soon, I shifted my gaze to what he had stabbed. It was a hand, still moving, still trying free itself from the knife. Under the ice, I could see shadows of objects floating in the chilly water. Dozens of them. Hands, mostly. A few human heads.
I carried the boy, the knife and the hand back to the fire tower. When the boy wakes, I’ll ask him about the pond and then I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him to keep Jersey safe.
November 2, 2012
The Last Creyshaw: Book Six of the Oz Chronicles – daily word count (Nov. 2)
Getting close to a third of the way to the end. Thinking seriously about changing the title.
