Television

“Mutant Canines” on MonsterQuest

On Wednesday, December 05, 2007, at 10:00 PM Eastern, with repeats overnight and in coming days and weeks, the broadcast of the “Mutant Canines” episode of MonsterQuest will occur on the History Channel. Check your local listings for time and channel. The official description of the program hints that one of the core stories is about the Turner, Maine, “beast,” with interviews of eyewitnesses, as well as reporter Mark LaFlamme and cryptozoologist Loren Coleman. MonsterQuest: Man’s best friend is many times our last line of defense. But something strange is killing Fido. In 2006, a rash of pets were killed [...]

Yeti on Fox + New Gates Video

Fox News, December 4, 2007: The Yeti exchange unfolded routinely, as per what has come to be expected for such two-minute-moments on news programs. When Patrick Huyghe (correctly pronounced “Weeg” with a soft “g”) is off-interview, the “Fox news hosts” then tried delivering their debunking humor points, as usual. I congratulate Fox News for running a full credit to artist Harry Trumbore for his drawings of various types of Yeti taken from our cryptozoological field guide. Parts of the Joshua Gates news conference footage has turned up on two YouTube videos:

Exclusive from Josh Gates on Yeti Tracks

Joshua Gates (R) displaying alleged footprint of Yeti. Updated with new video. See at bottom. On this way back from Nepal, Josh has deplaned in Zanzibar and written a quick report for us here. Meanwhile, my coauthor Patrick appeared on Fox National News to talk about our field guide’s sense of these new Yeti reports in the broader sense of the Abominable Snowmen accounts from the area. (I had to decline the appearance due to emergency dental surgery that had been prescheduled. Time for a nap for me, but I wanted to post these important breaking developments.) Here’s word from [...]

MonsterQuest: Mutant Canines

In the summer of 2006, during the investigation of the “dead animal on the Turner road,” which was blamed for the killings and injuries to dogs and livestock in central Maine for the last decade, an interesting piece of evidence turned up missing. It was the mystery creature’s skull (above). Having the skull would have clearly told us the animal was a dog, without going through all the DNA testing. Now the skull has surfaced again for television. The carcass that Mark LaFlamme and I examined (below) only a few days after its discovery was headless. But we knew the [...]

Photo Truth: Is That A Yeti Cast?

The above photograph was published and broadcast worldwide on December 1, 2007. It allegedly shows “Destination: Truth” TV host Josh Gates displaying a sample cast of what was said to be a footprint found in Nepal’s Khumbu region. Gates talked to Asian reporters in Katmandu on Friday, November 30, 2007, about his find and the above photo was published with the story. The cast was labeled, therefore, by the media as that of a “probable Yeti.” I want to go on the record to say this looks like and may be a stock photograph of the alleged footprint cast that [...]

Men in Cryptozoology: Doug Hajicek

Face Time: Doug Hajicek of MonsterQuest Doug Hajicek is creator of the History Channel’s MonsterQuest, a 13-part weekly series that “reveals the truth of legendary monster sightings around the world.” It’s his quest to explain the unexplained. Hajicek is known for his productions of “The Man Who Walks with Bears” for Animal Planet, Discovery Channel’s “Legend Meets Science” and the History Channel’s “Giganto: The Real King Kong.” This Wednesday, Hajicek’s MonsterQuest comes to central Maine. The show will examine the mystery of mutant canines, with a special focus on the Turner Beast found in August 2006. Producers also examine a [...]

Josh Gates Finds Yeti Prints Near Everest

TV host Josh Gates displays a sample showing what appears to be a footprint found in Nepal’s Khumbu region, where Mount Everest is located. The tracks will be analyzed as part of an investigation into tales about the legendary mountain Yeti, Gates told reporters in Katmandu on Friday. [This is the caption from Gopal Chitrakar/Reuters, but personally, I have questions about the source of this cast. See my critical blog about this image.] Everest footprints stir up Yeti legend TV producers hope to tie tracks to tales of ‘abominable snowman’ KATMANDU, Nepal – Members of a TV production team investigating [...]