"Hi Jon, this is Richard. We are in Moscow Airport at the minute - this is just a bit of an update. We have more hair, more dung, and what might be fingerbones.
We've spoken to, and interviewed, a lot more witnesses; we've staked out an amazing place that was a ruined restaurant that was built like a castle where one of these things is supposed to have scared off a bunch of policemen by screaming. There is loads of stuff on the cameratraps, that we're bringing back, though I'm pretty certain most of it will be bats. ok i'll try and phone again a bit later on"...
Richard sounded exhausted. At the moment we have no further news of when he will return to the CFZ...
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Friday, 11 July 2008
While we wait for news from Richard and Chris...
Assuming that everything goes according to plan, Richard and Chris will be back in the country this weekend. In the meantime, Nick Redfern has interviewed Adam Davies:
While Richard Freeman is still out there, Adam returned to England a couple of days before I interviewed him - and he had much to say about the beast, the expedition and more. And with that all said, here's the interview!
NR: Adam, what was it that got you involved in the Almasty expedition?
AD: In the first instance, I went down to the CFZ's Weird Weekend conference last year. Jon Downes invited me to do a talk on the Congo: I had been there looking for the Mokele-mbembe, as you know from my book. While I was there, I saw the talk by Grigoriy Panchenko on the Almasty; and I was really impressed by his depth of knowledge and research. So, I considered the idea of going.
AD: I then found out that Richard [Freeman] from the CFZ was also planning on going. So, Richard said: "Why don't we join forces and go?" It made sense, so that's what we did.
NR: And, for you, what were the big revelations and developments?
AD: As far as what we achieved, my view has always been that anything you find in field-research has to be independently, scientifically analyzed. That's the ultimate test for all of these things. Now, in terms of evidence, what we got first was eye-witness reports - some more credible than others. Some of it was anecdotes from old guys - such as an old guy telling us over his cognac how his dad saw an Almasty. But that's not much in the way of evidential value.
AD: But, we also spoke with a direct eye-witness, a guy called Tahir, who had seen an Almasty in 2005. His sheep were being disturbed, and he had seen this large Almasty watching him. So, we got a lot of good eye-witnesses of that sort. Interestingly, many of them described the Almasty as having this conical-shaped head, rather like the Yeti.
AD: We also found some evidence that can be analyzed properly: skull fragments and some strange bones found in caves. But what really excited me was in a place where there had been Almasty activity Dave Archer found a nest - what looked like a nest, and it didn't appear to have been made by any animal that I could recognize that was indigenous to the area. And we found around 20 hairs there which can be analyzed. And we can get the DNA extracted from them, too.
AD: But even if the evidence isn't conclusive, I've still learned a lot more about the Almasty, and about its numbers: there's probably between 100 and 300 of them in the area we were investigating. And if we went back again, we'd have a better opportunity. There's nothing wrong with armchair research, but my job is as a field researcher. That's what I'm into; and finding any evidence that can be analyzed scientifically. And I think the scientific community is starting to listen to us more now. There's a huge upswing in interest in cryptozoology.
AD: There was also a case we investigated of an Almasty seen at a barn in the area - which happened to be the scene of a triple-murder. You could hear the jackals howling, and it was well spooky! In 2005, a couple of shepherds had been sleeping in the barn. One had come outside, and there was an Almasty going for their food. It didn't attack the shepherd, but physically moved him from one place to another.
AD: On the first night when I was doing the stake-out with Dave, one of the Russians, Anatoly, claimed to have heard an Almasty calling; but I didn't hear that. But on the second night, me and Richard were doing a stake-out. On this occasion, both of us heard movement across the front of the barn, and we saw a large shape. You can imagine the adrenalin rush: we both rushed out, but the thing had gone. So, I can't say I saw an Almasty; and it's important to stress that. But there was a lot of interest and evidence around that barn - which was in the mountains.
NR: And based on the investigation, have you reached a personal conclusion as to what you think the Almasty is or isn't?
AD: I'd say I have a tentative conclusion; but that's partly going to be decided by what we get back from the analysis. I'd say there's certainly more of them than in, say, Mongolia. But it's a different sort of hominid. If there are pockets of something that were related to Homo Erectus, and that got pushed into remote areas and isolated geographically, then I don't see anything inconsistent with having pockets in different places that might mutate differently. For example, the Orang-Pendek is clearly a different creature from the Almasty.
AD: I really don't think it's Neanderthal in anyway though. I've never been a big fan of the Neanderthal theory for the Almasty. I think they are relic hominids; and I've always felt that. For example, I've never seen any evidence of them using tools or fire. And even if there was cultural recession, it wouldn't be to the extent where there would be no use of fire or tools at all, if these were Neanderthals. And if they were using fire, particularly at night, you'd see it in the mountains. But there's no evidence of that.
NR: Any final words on the expedition?
AD: It was definitely worth going. But, of course, it's always going to be difficult to prove anything in just 2 or 3 weeks. But the team as a whole, I think, would say we have learned a lot about the Almasty and its movements. And I would like to go back at some point.
While Richard Freeman is still out there, Adam returned to England a couple of days before I interviewed him - and he had much to say about the beast, the expedition and more. And with that all said, here's the interview!
NR: Adam, what was it that got you involved in the Almasty expedition?
AD: In the first instance, I went down to the CFZ's Weird Weekend conference last year. Jon Downes invited me to do a talk on the Congo: I had been there looking for the Mokele-mbembe, as you know from my book. While I was there, I saw the talk by Grigoriy Panchenko on the Almasty; and I was really impressed by his depth of knowledge and research. So, I considered the idea of going.
AD: I then found out that Richard [Freeman] from the CFZ was also planning on going. So, Richard said: "Why don't we join forces and go?" It made sense, so that's what we did.
NR: And, for you, what were the big revelations and developments?
AD: As far as what we achieved, my view has always been that anything you find in field-research has to be independently, scientifically analyzed. That's the ultimate test for all of these things. Now, in terms of evidence, what we got first was eye-witness reports - some more credible than others. Some of it was anecdotes from old guys - such as an old guy telling us over his cognac how his dad saw an Almasty. But that's not much in the way of evidential value.
AD: But, we also spoke with a direct eye-witness, a guy called Tahir, who had seen an Almasty in 2005. His sheep were being disturbed, and he had seen this large Almasty watching him. So, we got a lot of good eye-witnesses of that sort. Interestingly, many of them described the Almasty as having this conical-shaped head, rather like the Yeti.
AD: We also found some evidence that can be analyzed properly: skull fragments and some strange bones found in caves. But what really excited me was in a place where there had been Almasty activity Dave Archer found a nest - what looked like a nest, and it didn't appear to have been made by any animal that I could recognize that was indigenous to the area. And we found around 20 hairs there which can be analyzed. And we can get the DNA extracted from them, too.
AD: But even if the evidence isn't conclusive, I've still learned a lot more about the Almasty, and about its numbers: there's probably between 100 and 300 of them in the area we were investigating. And if we went back again, we'd have a better opportunity. There's nothing wrong with armchair research, but my job is as a field researcher. That's what I'm into; and finding any evidence that can be analyzed scientifically. And I think the scientific community is starting to listen to us more now. There's a huge upswing in interest in cryptozoology.
AD: There was also a case we investigated of an Almasty seen at a barn in the area - which happened to be the scene of a triple-murder. You could hear the jackals howling, and it was well spooky! In 2005, a couple of shepherds had been sleeping in the barn. One had come outside, and there was an Almasty going for their food. It didn't attack the shepherd, but physically moved him from one place to another.
AD: On the first night when I was doing the stake-out with Dave, one of the Russians, Anatoly, claimed to have heard an Almasty calling; but I didn't hear that. But on the second night, me and Richard were doing a stake-out. On this occasion, both of us heard movement across the front of the barn, and we saw a large shape. You can imagine the adrenalin rush: we both rushed out, but the thing had gone. So, I can't say I saw an Almasty; and it's important to stress that. But there was a lot of interest and evidence around that barn - which was in the mountains.
NR: And based on the investigation, have you reached a personal conclusion as to what you think the Almasty is or isn't?
AD: I'd say I have a tentative conclusion; but that's partly going to be decided by what we get back from the analysis. I'd say there's certainly more of them than in, say, Mongolia. But it's a different sort of hominid. If there are pockets of something that were related to Homo Erectus, and that got pushed into remote areas and isolated geographically, then I don't see anything inconsistent with having pockets in different places that might mutate differently. For example, the Orang-Pendek is clearly a different creature from the Almasty.
AD: I really don't think it's Neanderthal in anyway though. I've never been a big fan of the Neanderthal theory for the Almasty. I think they are relic hominids; and I've always felt that. For example, I've never seen any evidence of them using tools or fire. And even if there was cultural recession, it wouldn't be to the extent where there would be no use of fire or tools at all, if these were Neanderthals. And if they were using fire, particularly at night, you'd see it in the mountains. But there's no evidence of that.
NR: Any final words on the expedition?
AD: It was definitely worth going. But, of course, it's always going to be difficult to prove anything in just 2 or 3 weeks. But the team as a whole, I think, would say we have learned a lot about the Almasty and its movements. And I would like to go back at some point.
Saturday, 5 July 2008
Day 14: Back Home
Adam, Keith and Dave are back home with the samples. Everyone is safe and well. There will be updates and pictures in the next few days..
DAY 14: Just a quicky
Richard telephoned at an ungodly hour this morning. He was only on the line for about 60 seconds, but they are heading up into the mountains to investigate some more caves.
Disappointingly, it looks like the tooth sample is no more than a fairy tale. The man who claimed to have it now claims that it was spirited away by the djinn, and promised a hair from `the mother of all the almasty` which turned out to be a vergetable fibre.
However, the bone, hair and scat samples are secure enough, and I believe that Adam is bringing them back to the UK as we speak.
More news when we get it....
Disappointingly, it looks like the tooth sample is no more than a fairy tale. The man who claimed to have it now claims that it was spirited away by the djinn, and promised a hair from `the mother of all the almasty` which turned out to be a vergetable fibre.
However, the bone, hair and scat samples are secure enough, and I believe that Adam is bringing them back to the UK as we speak.
More news when we get it....
Friday, 4 July 2008
Day 13: The murder scene, a shadow in the night, the team split in two
Adam just telephoned. Most of the last three days has involved staking out a derelict barn where the almasty has been seen on several occasions. It was - Adam tells me with a shiver in his voice - the site of a triple murder some years ago, and theexperience was more than a little creepy.
The camera traps have not yet revealed anything special, but one night, when Richard and Adam were in the barn they saw a huge shadow flit by the window. They rushed out onto the derelict balcony but it had gone.
Adam wants me to stress that they DIDN'T see the almasty. They merely saw a huge, man-shaped shadow in a place where the almasty has been seen on many occasions. But it is good supporting evidence.
Dave, Keith and Adam are on their way back to Britain, and will be arriving late on saturday night. This is because they have more convcentional jobs and family structures than Richard and Chris who will be staying for another week, during which they will be carrying out the DNA swab tests provided by Professor Bryan Sykes.
Adam stressed that he has a lot more to tell me, but that at £1.98 a minute via a mobile phone it will be easier to wait until sunday or monday when we will have a long chat with him and be posting the first pictures from the expedition.
It ain't over yet........
The camera traps have not yet revealed anything special, but one night, when Richard and Adam were in the barn they saw a huge shadow flit by the window. They rushed out onto the derelict balcony but it had gone.
Adam wants me to stress that they DIDN'T see the almasty. They merely saw a huge, man-shaped shadow in a place where the almasty has been seen on many occasions. But it is good supporting evidence.
Dave, Keith and Adam are on their way back to Britain, and will be arriving late on saturday night. This is because they have more convcentional jobs and family structures than Richard and Chris who will be staying for another week, during which they will be carrying out the DNA swab tests provided by Professor Bryan Sykes.
Adam stressed that he has a lot more to tell me, but that at £1.98 a minute via a mobile phone it will be easier to wait until sunday or monday when we will have a long chat with him and be posting the first pictures from the expedition.
It ain't over yet........
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Monday, 30 June 2008
Day Nine: Almasty teeth, giant snakes, and Indiana Freeman
It had been a couple of days since I had last spoken to Adam, and once again my incipient paranoia was beginning to kick into action. Just before lunch today, he phoned again, and although he told me first of all that I needn't worry, and that all five expedition members were alive and well, he told me that there had been a couple of close shaves, and passed me over to Richard.
"I nearly died... twice" said Richard, and although he was being characteristically bullish about the whole affair, I have known him a long time, and I could tell that the experiences had really shaken him. He told me had the first time, he was trying to cross the ice sheet, when he fell down a crevasse, and slid a hundred feet on his tummy, and just managed to grab onto a rock to save himself. He lost his digital camera and - bizarrely - his front door key, but otherwise, apart from being shaken he was OK. However, soon after he was walking along the edge of a cliff, when it collapsed, and once again he fell down a ravine. He grabbed hold of a tree, Indiana Jones style, and dangled above the ravine until his colleagues managed to pull him back to safety.
Dave also managed to fall down another crevasse, waist deep, and had to be pulled out.
All this happened on the way to the place, where - a few days ago - a witness called Sergei allegedly found found the fresh corpse of a female almasty only a few years ago. The boys had been under the impression that it was a relatively short half hour trot from the village, but whether this was because something had been lost in translation, or whether the five boys from England were just not as adept at dealing with the unfamiliar terrain, or whether even - as I have found on many occasions in the past - the local witnesses completely exaggerated the distance, just to try and make their new friends happy, I don't know, but the half hour stroll turned into four hours plus of gruelling trek across rocks, ice sheets and some of the most unforgiving terrain Richard, at least, has ever crossed.
Then, only a stonesthrow from the location of the unfortunate almasty's final resting place, Richard succumbed to altitude sickness. This is no joke. I suffered from it about ten years ago, high in the mountains above Mexico City. It is a most peculiar sensation. It is like the delirium that one gets with a high fever, mixed with a hangover, and it is one of the most unpleasant experiences that I have ever been through.
Sadly, although they excavated the place where the makeshift grave was supposed to have been situated, it was too no avail. The body was long gone. But in an area where bears, jackals and other scavengeing carrion eaters are common this is hardly surprising.
However the news is not all disappointing. Dave Archer apparently found what may be an almasty 'nest' in the woods, and they have at least 20 hairs for analysis. They have also been promised a putative almasty tooth for analysis.
This evening the party have split into two. Dave and Adam are going to set up trigger cameras in a derelict barn where there have been a string of sightings, including one by the guide Sergei (mentioned above), in 1986.
They spoke to the Vice President of the National Park who had a sighting of the almasty three years ago. It was dusk, and he originally thought that the creature was a sleeping cow. But it got to its feet and he realised that It was humaniform. He spoke to it in Balkar and in Russian, but there was no answer. He didn’t see its face, but noted its huge domed head.
Another guide, Anatoli, and his father, have both reported sightings of the giant snake. They describe it as being about 7m long and being the colour of the bark of a poplar tree.
The expedition, despite setbacks, is going well, and we look forward to the next installment.
"I nearly died... twice" said Richard, and although he was being characteristically bullish about the whole affair, I have known him a long time, and I could tell that the experiences had really shaken him. He told me had the first time, he was trying to cross the ice sheet, when he fell down a crevasse, and slid a hundred feet on his tummy, and just managed to grab onto a rock to save himself. He lost his digital camera and - bizarrely - his front door key, but otherwise, apart from being shaken he was OK. However, soon after he was walking along the edge of a cliff, when it collapsed, and once again he fell down a ravine. He grabbed hold of a tree, Indiana Jones style, and dangled above the ravine until his colleagues managed to pull him back to safety.
Dave also managed to fall down another crevasse, waist deep, and had to be pulled out.
All this happened on the way to the place, where - a few days ago - a witness called Sergei allegedly found found the fresh corpse of a female almasty only a few years ago. The boys had been under the impression that it was a relatively short half hour trot from the village, but whether this was because something had been lost in translation, or whether the five boys from England were just not as adept at dealing with the unfamiliar terrain, or whether even - as I have found on many occasions in the past - the local witnesses completely exaggerated the distance, just to try and make their new friends happy, I don't know, but the half hour stroll turned into four hours plus of gruelling trek across rocks, ice sheets and some of the most unforgiving terrain Richard, at least, has ever crossed.
Then, only a stonesthrow from the location of the unfortunate almasty's final resting place, Richard succumbed to altitude sickness. This is no joke. I suffered from it about ten years ago, high in the mountains above Mexico City. It is a most peculiar sensation. It is like the delirium that one gets with a high fever, mixed with a hangover, and it is one of the most unpleasant experiences that I have ever been through.
Sadly, although they excavated the place where the makeshift grave was supposed to have been situated, it was too no avail. The body was long gone. But in an area where bears, jackals and other scavengeing carrion eaters are common this is hardly surprising.
However the news is not all disappointing. Dave Archer apparently found what may be an almasty 'nest' in the woods, and they have at least 20 hairs for analysis. They have also been promised a putative almasty tooth for analysis.
This evening the party have split into two. Dave and Adam are going to set up trigger cameras in a derelict barn where there have been a string of sightings, including one by the guide Sergei (mentioned above), in 1986.
They spoke to the Vice President of the National Park who had a sighting of the almasty three years ago. It was dusk, and he originally thought that the creature was a sleeping cow. But it got to its feet and he realised that It was humaniform. He spoke to it in Balkar and in Russian, but there was no answer. He didn’t see its face, but noted its huge domed head.
Another guide, Anatoli, and his father, have both reported sightings of the giant snake. They describe it as being about 7m long and being the colour of the bark of a poplar tree.
The expedition, despite setbacks, is going well, and we look forward to the next installment.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
DAY FOUR: Skull fragments, a mysterious cadaver, and Adam's trouser related mishaps
In Woolsery the effects of global climate change are beginning to make themselves obvious. It’s midsummer and the garden should be a riot of colour basking in glorious sunshine, but it’s not. The sky is a steely grey, and though not exactly a gale, gusty winds are buffeting the tall trees around the CFZ grounds. Half past ten in the morning, and Graham, Corinna and I are desperately wondering how – in just three days – we can transform the garden into something slightly presentable in time for our Open Day on Saturday. At the moment, it looks like a Shakespearian blasted heath that has been tended by a family of alcoholic badgers hell-bent on building some kind of mustelid theme park.
The telephone rings. I answer it, mildly bad temperedly, and am greeted with a burst of exotic music and an excited female voice jabbering in an unfamiliar language. These days as we tend to become the target for various global telemarketing campaigns, this is not as unlikely an event as it might sound, but I recognise the word “Nalchik” and I realise – that for better or for worse – this telephone call is going to be important. It is less than 24 hours since – after a week of dithering – Channel 4 finally pulled out of the expedition, and I have to admit that my first paranoid thought is that this is a phone call from the Russian authorities telling me that my judgement had been completely wrong and that something horrible had happened to one or more of the CFZ expeditionary team. As Steve Ignorant once told me, just because they say you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that you’re not stored on their computers. However, my paranoia, was – thankfully – unjustified as I realised when the cheerful voice of Adam Davies calling me on a ridiculously primitive Russian payphone crackled into my ear.
The first thing that he assured me is that all members of the team are safe, healthy and well. The only injury so far has been Adam himself who, whilst climbing some treacherous rocks, slipped and fell 10 feet, tearing his trousers. Even Richard is unusually chipper as despite a day of gruelling climbing thousands of feet up mountainous rock faces to a cave where almasty have reportedly been seen, and – as far as I can gather – from whence Grigory Panchenko obtained both skull fragments and samples of scat, and in Adam’s words “Richard for once does not have the wooden spoon for being the least healthy member of the expedition – apparently on this occasion the booby prize goes to Keith who had most difficulty negotiating the unforgiving terrain”.
They explored the caves yesterday, which are at a place called White Rock, near Tyrnyauz and have set up camera traps in the caves. At the moment we have no information as to how recent the scat samples are, but presumably local people believe that the caves are inhabited by the almasty. Grigory has given the bone and scat samples to the boys and he believes that they are genuine, although he has asked Adam to stress to me that he is not prepared to accept them as firm evidence until they have been analysed.
Today, as far as I can gather, (and you have to remember that this report is gleaned from two very brief crackly telephone conversations, each lasting well under 3 minutes, so I don’t have all the answers), half the team have climbed back up to the caves to check the camera traps, whilst Adam, presumably having repaired his trousers, and Dave have been filming an interview with an eyewitness who claimed to have found an almasty body in 1996. There wasn’t time for me to get a full description, but Adam told me of his surprise at hearing that the female corpse reportedly had a ‘conical’ head like that of a yeti. The team will be staying in and about Tyrnyauz for a few more days before embarking into the mountainous regions near Mount Elbrus hopefully to exhume the cadaver.
Adam tells us that the countryside in Karbadino Balkaria is absolutely gorgeous. They are encountering a lot of the local wildlife. It was whilst chasing a wild cat that Adam sustained such serious damage to his nether garments. Each night they can hear the cries of the wild jackals, and each day they are privileged to see eagles soaring high above them in the clear blue sky.
Because of the problems that our erstwhile film crew had getting a visa and because of the worrying postings on the Foreign Office website, I had to ask Adam whether he and the team had seen any signs of the Nalchik area being a hotbed of terrorism and a potentially lethal war zone. Adam laughed. Yes, there are armed police roadblocks which is a bit concerting when you come from England, but you see those all over the world. “In my opinion, and you can quote me on this, I think we have more chance of seeing the almasty performing in a Las Vegas cabaret than we have of being seriously affected by any kind of terrorist activity here in Russian”.
More news when we get it.
The telephone rings. I answer it, mildly bad temperedly, and am greeted with a burst of exotic music and an excited female voice jabbering in an unfamiliar language. These days as we tend to become the target for various global telemarketing campaigns, this is not as unlikely an event as it might sound, but I recognise the word “Nalchik” and I realise – that for better or for worse – this telephone call is going to be important. It is less than 24 hours since – after a week of dithering – Channel 4 finally pulled out of the expedition, and I have to admit that my first paranoid thought is that this is a phone call from the Russian authorities telling me that my judgement had been completely wrong and that something horrible had happened to one or more of the CFZ expeditionary team. As Steve Ignorant once told me, just because they say you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that you’re not stored on their computers. However, my paranoia, was – thankfully – unjustified as I realised when the cheerful voice of Adam Davies calling me on a ridiculously primitive Russian payphone crackled into my ear.
The first thing that he assured me is that all members of the team are safe, healthy and well. The only injury so far has been Adam himself who, whilst climbing some treacherous rocks, slipped and fell 10 feet, tearing his trousers. Even Richard is unusually chipper as despite a day of gruelling climbing thousands of feet up mountainous rock faces to a cave where almasty have reportedly been seen, and – as far as I can gather – from whence Grigory Panchenko obtained both skull fragments and samples of scat, and in Adam’s words “Richard for once does not have the wooden spoon for being the least healthy member of the expedition – apparently on this occasion the booby prize goes to Keith who had most difficulty negotiating the unforgiving terrain”.
They explored the caves yesterday, which are at a place called White Rock, near Tyrnyauz and have set up camera traps in the caves. At the moment we have no information as to how recent the scat samples are, but presumably local people believe that the caves are inhabited by the almasty. Grigory has given the bone and scat samples to the boys and he believes that they are genuine, although he has asked Adam to stress to me that he is not prepared to accept them as firm evidence until they have been analysed.
Today, as far as I can gather, (and you have to remember that this report is gleaned from two very brief crackly telephone conversations, each lasting well under 3 minutes, so I don’t have all the answers), half the team have climbed back up to the caves to check the camera traps, whilst Adam, presumably having repaired his trousers, and Dave have been filming an interview with an eyewitness who claimed to have found an almasty body in 1996. There wasn’t time for me to get a full description, but Adam told me of his surprise at hearing that the female corpse reportedly had a ‘conical’ head like that of a yeti. The team will be staying in and about Tyrnyauz for a few more days before embarking into the mountainous regions near Mount Elbrus hopefully to exhume the cadaver.
Adam tells us that the countryside in Karbadino Balkaria is absolutely gorgeous. They are encountering a lot of the local wildlife. It was whilst chasing a wild cat that Adam sustained such serious damage to his nether garments. Each night they can hear the cries of the wild jackals, and each day they are privileged to see eagles soaring high above them in the clear blue sky.
Because of the problems that our erstwhile film crew had getting a visa and because of the worrying postings on the Foreign Office website, I had to ask Adam whether he and the team had seen any signs of the Nalchik area being a hotbed of terrorism and a potentially lethal war zone. Adam laughed. Yes, there are armed police roadblocks which is a bit concerting when you come from England, but you see those all over the world. “In my opinion, and you can quote me on this, I think we have more chance of seeing the almasty performing in a Las Vegas cabaret than we have of being seriously affected by any kind of terrorist activity here in Russian”.
More news when we get it.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Richard on Human evolution
Until we have some more firm news, here is a taster - Richard talking about Human evolution and its impact on the trip...
Alarums and Excursions
We have had no internet for the past 36 hours so I haven't been able to update at all. The main news is that Channel 4 have pulled out of the expedition. The Russian Government apparently refused to grant a visa to the film crew. The area of the expedition is perilously close to Chechnya and other trouble spots for their liking, and they are afraid of an anti-Russian documentary being made by the folks in what is euphemistically described as the free world.
So we are on our own.
So we are on our own.
Sunday, 22 June 2008
DAY ONE: Arrival, bone samples, terror alerts
Adam Davies telephoned us from Nalchik airport. All the team have arrived in Kabardino Balkaria safe and sound, with their baggage and equipment intact, and furthermore, they have liased as arranged with Grigoriy Panchenko and his colleagues who have been doing advance research in the region for the last two weeks.
Excitingly it appears that Panchenko and his compadres have already secured some faecal samples, as well as some bone fragments supposedly from a skull which may be of an almasty. Back here at Mission Control in North Devon I cannot comment further on these potentially exciting finds because I have no idea what their provenance is, and the telephone call with Adam didn't last long enough to find out.
They are leaving Nalchik now, and heading for Tyrnyauz in the mountains which will provide a base for operations for the next few days. All that we can do at this stage is to speculate, but the Foreign and Commenwealth Office [FCO] website has warned Britons against travelling to the area. Richard and the boys decided to ignore that warning, believing - after long talks with Grigoriy - that the risks were being over-stated. However, it makes sense for them to put as much distance between them and Nalchik, where a major terrorist attack took place in 2005.
According to the FCO, "In July 2007 fighters linked to the rebel cells in Chechnya and elsewhere in the North Caucasus issued generic statements warning tourists not to visit Kabardino-Balkaria, listing casinos, hotels and bars as legitimate targets for terrorist-style activity". In October 2007, 59 suspects were put on trial for the 2005 atrocities. The main revolutionary group in Kabardino Balkaria appears to be a militant Islamic organisation called Yarmuk Jamaat who were responsible for the assasination of Anatoly Kyarov, the head of the Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria republic's UBOP (Unit for Fighting Organized Crime). He was assassinated on January 12, 2008 in Nalchik.
Panchenko and his colleagues have been working out of Tyrnyauz for 14 years now and have their own network of supporters, so the team will be safe when they get there.
We will be happier when we hear that the team have arrived safely, although we believe, after having talked at length with Grigoriy Panchenko, that there is no real need to worry, and every likelihood that the CFZ expedition will be able to carry out their search for evidence for the almasty - the enigmatic wildman of the Caucasus mountains - unhindered.
Excitingly it appears that Panchenko and his compadres have already secured some faecal samples, as well as some bone fragments supposedly from a skull which may be of an almasty. Back here at Mission Control in North Devon I cannot comment further on these potentially exciting finds because I have no idea what their provenance is, and the telephone call with Adam didn't last long enough to find out.
They are leaving Nalchik now, and heading for Tyrnyauz in the mountains which will provide a base for operations for the next few days. All that we can do at this stage is to speculate, but the Foreign and Commenwealth Office [FCO] website has warned Britons against travelling to the area. Richard and the boys decided to ignore that warning, believing - after long talks with Grigoriy - that the risks were being over-stated. However, it makes sense for them to put as much distance between them and Nalchik, where a major terrorist attack took place in 2005.
According to the FCO, "In July 2007 fighters linked to the rebel cells in Chechnya and elsewhere in the North Caucasus issued generic statements warning tourists not to visit Kabardino-Balkaria, listing casinos, hotels and bars as legitimate targets for terrorist-style activity". In October 2007, 59 suspects were put on trial for the 2005 atrocities. The main revolutionary group in Kabardino Balkaria appears to be a militant Islamic organisation called Yarmuk Jamaat who were responsible for the assasination of Anatoly Kyarov, the head of the Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria republic's UBOP (Unit for Fighting Organized Crime). He was assassinated on January 12, 2008 in Nalchik.
Panchenko and his colleagues have been working out of Tyrnyauz for 14 years now and have their own network of supporters, so the team will be safe when they get there.
We will be happier when we hear that the team have arrived safely, although we believe, after having talked at length with Grigoriy Panchenko, that there is no real need to worry, and every likelihood that the CFZ expedition will be able to carry out their search for evidence for the almasty - the enigmatic wildman of the Caucasus mountains - unhindered.
By the way...
Those of you expecting Redfer's witticisms and commentary will still be sorely disappointed as it appears their power is still out...
Thunderbirds are go!
I received a telephone call at just after 3.00am. The boys have arrived in Russia and have succesfully been passed through Immigration. There was some question whether this would actually happen, and we were all worried that they would be turnbed back at Moscow. They leave for Kabardino Balkaria in about fifteen minutes (1.00pm GMT) and will be landing later today.
More news when we get it.
More news when we get it.
Richard's final statement before the expedition left...
So, it’s the eve of another CFZ expedition, this time behind the iron curtain. I’m never at rest before an expedition. I can only feel easy when we are actually in the field. I’m often asked what worries me most about these endeavours in far-flung places. The answer is all the burocracy and hold ups getting there. Late flights and red tape worry me more than diseases or beast attacks.
We are playing with the big boys this time. We have funding from Channel 4 (after years of struggling for support it’s great to be financed at last) and the support of Professor Bryan Sykes, the world’s leading geneticist.
We have looked for mystery primates before but the Almasty seems to be a form of man, however bestial it may appear. More man-like than the yeti or Sasquatch, this may be our closest living relative, a creature of the genus Homo rather than a pongid. If the Almasty is a primitive man, perhaps a surviving form of Homo erectus then it begets a whole set of biological and ethical problems. Where does it fit on the tree of life? Will it be afforded the same rights as Homo sapiens? Would a creature with no fire or culture and only basic tool use be looked on in the same was as the ‘lost tribes’ who have had no contact with ‘civilized’ man? Would the almasty’s discovery be its death knell at the hands of it’s younger evolutionary brother?
Professor Sykes has asked us to take DNA samples of the local populace. All over the world there are stories of hominids interbreeding with modern man. Last year in Guyana we heard a story of a di-di siering a hybrid child with a human woman. Identical stories are told in North America and Nepal. If any modern humans have hominid gene in their ansestory it should stick out like a sore thumb in their DNA?
Kabardino Balkaria is almost unknown in the west. I’d never heard of it until I stumbled across an article on Grigory Panchenko’s research a couple of years ago. All the other places the CFZ expeditions have taken me I have known something about. This time I know next to nothing and have no pre-conceptions.
We are playing with the big boys this time. We have funding from Channel 4 (after years of struggling for support it’s great to be financed at last) and the support of Professor Bryan Sykes, the world’s leading geneticist.
We have looked for mystery primates before but the Almasty seems to be a form of man, however bestial it may appear. More man-like than the yeti or Sasquatch, this may be our closest living relative, a creature of the genus Homo rather than a pongid. If the Almasty is a primitive man, perhaps a surviving form of Homo erectus then it begets a whole set of biological and ethical problems. Where does it fit on the tree of life? Will it be afforded the same rights as Homo sapiens? Would a creature with no fire or culture and only basic tool use be looked on in the same was as the ‘lost tribes’ who have had no contact with ‘civilized’ man? Would the almasty’s discovery be its death knell at the hands of it’s younger evolutionary brother?
Professor Sykes has asked us to take DNA samples of the local populace. All over the world there are stories of hominids interbreeding with modern man. Last year in Guyana we heard a story of a di-di siering a hybrid child with a human woman. Identical stories are told in North America and Nepal. If any modern humans have hominid gene in their ansestory it should stick out like a sore thumb in their DNA?
Kabardino Balkaria is almost unknown in the west. I’d never heard of it until I stumbled across an article on Grigory Panchenko’s research a couple of years ago. All the other places the CFZ expeditions have taken me I have known something about. This time I know next to nothing and have no pre-conceptions.
Adam's biography
A Civil Servant in his day job, Adam spends all his spare time and money tracking down supposedly legendary creatures. Indeed, he has travelled all over the world in his quests-everywhere from the Congo to China...
Adam is a field researcher who has gained some notable scientific backing for his findings on the expeditions he has led. A number of credible scientists ( e.g. DRs David Chivers and Jeff Meldrum), confirmed the casts he found were of an unknown primate. Whilst the hair samples he took led Dr. Hans Brunner to agree with that conclusion. Adam was also part of a team which had great success at Lake Seljord. The
evidence the team found there was again analysed by leading experts, and again found to be from an unknown species. Adam doesn't find scientific proof of the existence of unknown species on every trip he goes on though, and when he doesn't he says so! (e.g. Loch Ness).
Adam loves mixing it with the locals whilst on expeditions, and enjoys indulging in other peoples cultures (although he never ever wants to eat monkey again!).
When not away, Adam can with stunning regularity and dedication, be found down his local pub.
Adam is the author of the recently published `Extreme-Expeditions: Travel Adventures stalking the world's mysterious animals` which has received great reviews.
Adam is a field researcher who has gained some notable scientific backing for his findings on the expeditions he has led. A number of credible scientists ( e.g. DRs David Chivers and Jeff Meldrum), confirmed the casts he found were of an unknown primate. Whilst the hair samples he took led Dr. Hans Brunner to agree with that conclusion. Adam was also part of a team which had great success at Lake Seljord. The
evidence the team found there was again analysed by leading experts, and again found to be from an unknown species. Adam doesn't find scientific proof of the existence of unknown species on every trip he goes on though, and when he doesn't he says so! (e.g. Loch Ness).
Adam loves mixing it with the locals whilst on expeditions, and enjoys indulging in other peoples cultures (although he never ever wants to eat monkey again!).
When not away, Adam can with stunning regularity and dedication, be found down his local pub.
Adam is the author of the recently published `Extreme-Expeditions: Travel Adventures stalking the world's mysterious animals` which has received great reviews.
Keith's Biography
Keith Townley. Aged 33, lives in Macclesfield Cheshire.
I work in Wilmslow in Cheshire as a Debt Solution Advisor for a company Called TCF Debt Solutions Ltd. I provide proffessional solutions to clients that need advice in regards to their debt problems.
After taking a few years off searching for the weird and wonderful, I'm looking forward to getting back on the trail of another mystery. Im very much looking forward to working with the new team and Adam Davies and I will be keen to bring some of our good luck that has brought success in the past in Indonesia and Norway.
I work in Wilmslow in Cheshire as a Debt Solution Advisor for a company Called TCF Debt Solutions Ltd. I provide proffessional solutions to clients that need advice in regards to their debt problems.
After taking a few years off searching for the weird and wonderful, I'm looking forward to getting back on the trail of another mystery. Im very much looking forward to working with the new team and Adam Davies and I will be keen to bring some of our good luck that has brought success in the past in Indonesia and Norway.
Saturday, 21 June 2008
Emotional rollercoaster
One day I will be at liberty to write down and share with you all the behind-the-scenes details of this peculiarly stressful week. The words `Emotional Rollercoaster` which I pinched from Roger Waters c. 1988 come to mind. The latest news concerns our planned pre-expediyion commentary from both sides of the Atlanyic, is that, at least as far as the boy Redfern is concerned, there IS no news. He is in the middle of a power outage, but will be back online tomorrow.
Richard has just phoned me from Heathrow. The team (apart from Dave Archer who is expected imminently) have arrived. The next news will be sometime tomorrow morning. They arrive in Moscow sometime after 7.00am (GMT) and will phone us to confirm when they have passed through Immigration and have been accepted into Mother Russia.
Some lines from G. H. Macdermott (aka "the Great Macdermott") come to mind, but I won't quote them here. In the meantime here is a silly (and possibly actionable) trailer for what's to come...
Richard has just phoned me from Heathrow. The team (apart from Dave Archer who is expected imminently) have arrived. The next news will be sometime tomorrow morning. They arrive in Moscow sometime after 7.00am (GMT) and will phone us to confirm when they have passed through Immigration and have been accepted into Mother Russia.
Some lines from G. H. Macdermott (aka "the Great Macdermott") come to mind, but I won't quote them here. In the meantime here is a silly (and possibly actionable) trailer for what's to come...
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Notes from the frontline
God, I wish that I could tell you all the stuff that's been going on behind the scenes here, but I can't. Sufficient to say that it has been an emotional rollercoaster, but despite setbacks it is all still going ahead.
With less than 48hrs left to go, the atmosphere here is more than tense, and I don't think any of us will be happy until I get the phone call sometime on Sunday morning telling us that they have safely arrived in Russia....
With less than 48hrs left to go, the atmosphere here is more than tense, and I don't think any of us will be happy until I get the phone call sometime on Sunday morning telling us that they have safely arrived in Russia....
The last Press Release before the fun begins
For immediate release
2008-06-19
QUEST FOR A CAVEMAN
Man beasts and cave men in the 21st Century? Surely not. But a group of British explorers and scientists, backed by a renowned Geneticist from Oxford University, embark on an intrepid expedition into a war zone on Saturday, and they hope to come back with compelling evidence for the existence of such things.
The yeti is one of the most iconic mystery animals in the world. Even in the 21st Century when mankind likes to think that it has conquered all the wild places of the planet, this hulking, hairy man beast still rears its ancient head and intrigues zoologists and explorers alike.
Only this week, there has been news of a new yeti sighting in the remote West Garo hills of north-eastern India. Park ranger Dipu Marak described seeing "a black and grey ape-like animal which stands about 3m (nearly 10ft) tall". Recently Derbyshire based artist and conservationist Pollyanna Pickering hit the headlines when she released details of what appears, on the face of it, to be a specimen of a yeti scalp found in a remote monastery in Bhutan. The yeti appears to be an unknown species of ape, but sightings of such creatures, and perhaps more intriguingly, sightings of alleged primitive human-like creatures, which appear similar to the iconic Hollywood images of cave-men, still come in on a regular basis from around the world.
The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] in North Devon (the world's largest organisation which searches for unknown animal species) is launching a major new expedition this week. The five explorers, led by zoologist Richard Freeman (38) - the Zoological Director of the Bideford-based centre - will be ignoring Foreign Office suggestions and flying to the tiny Russian state of Kabardino-Balkaria for a three week expedition. In Russia they will be liaising with Ukranian biologist Grigoriy Panchenko who has been studying the creatures for fourteen years and who has had four sightings of the wildmen, which are known locally as almasty. The expedition is being backed by renowned academic Prof. Bryan Sykes of Oxford University, who hit the headlines a few years ago with his remarkable book The Seven Daughters of Eve which conclusively proved, through analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of a large sampling of people across the continent, that nearly everyone living in Europe today is descended from one of just seven women who lived between 10,000 and 45,000 years ago.
The Foreign Office website warns against travel to several Russian republics including Kabardino-Balkaria "as terrorism and kidnapping in these regions remain a serious problem", but in a statement released today Freeman explains why the expedition will still be going ahead.
"We haven't really got an option", he says. "If we pull out now, a lot of money and even more work will have been wasted. Grigoriy has told us that kidnapping and terrorism have not been an issue in the parts of the country where we are going, and anyway, the path of science MUST continue unhindered, if we are to push back the boundaries of human knowledge. There will be eight or ten of us in the party, if you include Grigoriy's guides, and any band of potential kidnappers would find that they had a fight on their hands".
The expedition will be tracking the almasty and using sophisticated infra-red trigger cameras and ex-military nightsight equipment, but will also be carrying out a campaign of DNA testing amongst the inhabitants of the remote mountainous forests. "According to local folklore the almasty can interbreed with humans" says Jonathan Downes (48), the Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology. "Professor Sykes has done some remarkable work with mitochondrial DNA, and if any of the people whom we are testing have any trace of DNA from anything other than a modern human, it will tell us that somewhere in the maternal line, one of his or her ancestors was not a member of the same species as the rest of us."
Although the expedition will not be returning to the UK until mid-July, you needn't wait until then for news from the expedition. Through the wonders of satellite technology the expedition website will be running updates every few days. On the 17th August the team will be presenting their findings to the world as part of the three-day annual convention of the CFZ. Pollyanna Pickering will also be there and, following the interest that her revelations about a putative yeti scalp in Bhutan caused recently, will be taking questions from cryptozoological researchers from around the world.
CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is available for interview. Images are also available. Please telephone Jon or Corinna on +44 (0)1237 431413 for details.
Notes for Editors:
* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (48) and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra, will be published in the next few weeks.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and Exotic Pets, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv (www.cfztv.org). One of their films Lair of the Red Worm which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 40,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (51). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Corinna and Jonathan Downes are shareholders in Tropiquaria – a small zoo in North Somerset (www.tropiquaria.co.uk).
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Each year the CFZ presents an annual conference. This year’s event will be held in August, and will feature the first public appearance by the Russian Expedition team.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.
2008-06-19
QUEST FOR A CAVEMAN
Man beasts and cave men in the 21st Century? Surely not. But a group of British explorers and scientists, backed by a renowned Geneticist from Oxford University, embark on an intrepid expedition into a war zone on Saturday, and they hope to come back with compelling evidence for the existence of such things.
The yeti is one of the most iconic mystery animals in the world. Even in the 21st Century when mankind likes to think that it has conquered all the wild places of the planet, this hulking, hairy man beast still rears its ancient head and intrigues zoologists and explorers alike.
Only this week, there has been news of a new yeti sighting in the remote West Garo hills of north-eastern India. Park ranger Dipu Marak described seeing "a black and grey ape-like animal which stands about 3m (nearly 10ft) tall". Recently Derbyshire based artist and conservationist Pollyanna Pickering hit the headlines when she released details of what appears, on the face of it, to be a specimen of a yeti scalp found in a remote monastery in Bhutan. The yeti appears to be an unknown species of ape, but sightings of such creatures, and perhaps more intriguingly, sightings of alleged primitive human-like creatures, which appear similar to the iconic Hollywood images of cave-men, still come in on a regular basis from around the world.
The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] in North Devon (the world's largest organisation which searches for unknown animal species) is launching a major new expedition this week. The five explorers, led by zoologist Richard Freeman (38) - the Zoological Director of the Bideford-based centre - will be ignoring Foreign Office suggestions and flying to the tiny Russian state of Kabardino-Balkaria for a three week expedition. In Russia they will be liaising with Ukranian biologist Grigoriy Panchenko who has been studying the creatures for fourteen years and who has had four sightings of the wildmen, which are known locally as almasty. The expedition is being backed by renowned academic Prof. Bryan Sykes of Oxford University, who hit the headlines a few years ago with his remarkable book The Seven Daughters of Eve which conclusively proved, through analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of a large sampling of people across the continent, that nearly everyone living in Europe today is descended from one of just seven women who lived between 10,000 and 45,000 years ago.
The Foreign Office website warns against travel to several Russian republics including Kabardino-Balkaria "as terrorism and kidnapping in these regions remain a serious problem", but in a statement released today Freeman explains why the expedition will still be going ahead.
"We haven't really got an option", he says. "If we pull out now, a lot of money and even more work will have been wasted. Grigoriy has told us that kidnapping and terrorism have not been an issue in the parts of the country where we are going, and anyway, the path of science MUST continue unhindered, if we are to push back the boundaries of human knowledge. There will be eight or ten of us in the party, if you include Grigoriy's guides, and any band of potential kidnappers would find that they had a fight on their hands".
The expedition will be tracking the almasty and using sophisticated infra-red trigger cameras and ex-military nightsight equipment, but will also be carrying out a campaign of DNA testing amongst the inhabitants of the remote mountainous forests. "According to local folklore the almasty can interbreed with humans" says Jonathan Downes (48), the Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology. "Professor Sykes has done some remarkable work with mitochondrial DNA, and if any of the people whom we are testing have any trace of DNA from anything other than a modern human, it will tell us that somewhere in the maternal line, one of his or her ancestors was not a member of the same species as the rest of us."
Although the expedition will not be returning to the UK until mid-July, you needn't wait until then for news from the expedition. Through the wonders of satellite technology the expedition website will be running updates every few days. On the 17th August the team will be presenting their findings to the world as part of the three-day annual convention of the CFZ. Pollyanna Pickering will also be there and, following the interest that her revelations about a putative yeti scalp in Bhutan caused recently, will be taking questions from cryptozoological researchers from around the world.
CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is available for interview. Images are also available. Please telephone Jon or Corinna on +44 (0)1237 431413 for details.
Notes for Editors:
* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (48) and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra, will be published in the next few weeks.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and Exotic Pets, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv (www.cfztv.org). One of their films Lair of the Red Worm which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 40,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (51). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Corinna and Jonathan Downes are shareholders in Tropiquaria – a small zoo in North Somerset (www.tropiquaria.co.uk).
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Each year the CFZ presents an annual conference. This year’s event will be held in August, and will feature the first public appearance by the Russian Expedition team.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Dave Archer writes:
As a schoolboy I read an article in a wildlife magazine on Russian Wildman which started a fascination with the Yeti, Bigfoot, Almas and Wildman.
In later years I read Odette Tchernines's book The Yeti. It has since then been my dream to go in search of these creatures especially in such apparently rich area's like Kabardino Balkaria and the Caucasus and feel lucky to have found like minded and experienced friends to go with.
On this expedition I would hope to find evidence of almasty bones, hair samples or any material containing DNA so as to try and identify the genetic line of this species.
My dream from this expedition would be to come into contact with the almasty and to encounter this species in its own environment. To be able to take photographs and share my findings with the rest of the world would be an honour.
I am also very interested in the mysterious reptiles that have been reported in the area as I am very interested in herpetology. All in all I can’t wait to get to Russia and begin what in my mind is a huge adventure, and hope this trip is the first of many to this exciting area.
I am also very interested in the mysterious reptiles that have been reported in the area as I am very interested in herpetology. All in all I can’t wait to get to Russia and begin what in my mind is a huge adventure, and hope this trip is the first of many to this exciting area.
Dr Chris Clark writes:
We have asked all the expedition members to write a short piece on theirmotivation for joining the trip:
"Of all the possible subjects of cryptozoological inquiry, I believe that the search for hominids is the most important. The orang-pendek of Sumatra that the CFZ searched for in 2003 and 2004 may represent an ape that has taken one of the fundamental steps in human evolution, the ability to walk upright; the almas could be a snapshot of human evolution itself. Palaeo-anthropology at present is only barely an experimental science. The gulf that separates us from the earliest australopithecines is spanned only by a few bones and simple tools, widely scattered in space and time. Many of the questions that we have about human evolution can never be answered on the basis of fossils alone. This is why it is of the highest importance to look for any possible pre-human survivors.
You might naively expect that scientists would be clamouring to investigate any reports that suggest surviving hominids. Certainly there are plenty of them: there is not a mountain range in Asia that does not have local stories about large bipedal creatures. Unfortunately, too many scientists prefer to take the safe route, as though it is more important to dispute the precise interpretation of a cranial measurement on a fossil skull than to find the creature itself. Any researcher who suggested actual field work to loook for pre-human survivors would risk losing their research grant, which is all too often awarded by a committee of elderly academics who have no wish to see their life work rendered irrelevant by a dramatically new approach. Curiously, the physical sciences never seem to suffer from this: physicists get a billion dollars to search for the Higgs boson, or astronomers for black holes, without anybody deriding them on the basis that these things exist only in the realms of mathematical speculation. More often than not, their courage is rewarded. In cryptozoology we have one of the few ways in which the amateur can still make worthwhile scientific discoveries; in the field of human evolution it may even be the only way".
Chris has accompanied Richard Freeman on every on of his CFZ expeditions since 2003.
"Of all the possible subjects of cryptozoological inquiry, I believe that the search for hominids is the most important. The orang-pendek of Sumatra that the CFZ searched for in 2003 and 2004 may represent an ape that has taken one of the fundamental steps in human evolution, the ability to walk upright; the almas could be a snapshot of human evolution itself. Palaeo-anthropology at present is only barely an experimental science. The gulf that separates us from the earliest australopithecines is spanned only by a few bones and simple tools, widely scattered in space and time. Many of the questions that we have about human evolution can never be answered on the basis of fossils alone. This is why it is of the highest importance to look for any possible pre-human survivors.
You might naively expect that scientists would be clamouring to investigate any reports that suggest surviving hominids. Certainly there are plenty of them: there is not a mountain range in Asia that does not have local stories about large bipedal creatures. Unfortunately, too many scientists prefer to take the safe route, as though it is more important to dispute the precise interpretation of a cranial measurement on a fossil skull than to find the creature itself. Any researcher who suggested actual field work to loook for pre-human survivors would risk losing their research grant, which is all too often awarded by a committee of elderly academics who have no wish to see their life work rendered irrelevant by a dramatically new approach. Curiously, the physical sciences never seem to suffer from this: physicists get a billion dollars to search for the Higgs boson, or astronomers for black holes, without anybody deriding them on the basis that these things exist only in the realms of mathematical speculation. More often than not, their courage is rewarded. In cryptozoology we have one of the few ways in which the amateur can still make worthwhile scientific discoveries; in the field of human evolution it may even be the only way".
Chris has accompanied Richard Freeman on every on of his CFZ expeditions since 2003.
The kindness of strangers..
L-R me, Bryan, Richard,in the garden at the CFZ
I had, of course, heard of Bryan Sykes, the eminent Oxford Professor of Genetics but I had never met him. Then, a few weeks ago, I appeared on Radio 4's Today programme, plugging a lecture that Richard and I were doing that night at the Grant Museum of Natural History in London. Both on the Today show and at the lecture we announced our forthcoming expedition to Russia.
Professor Sykes was one of the listeners, and being unable to come along to our lecture in person, he sent along his charming personal assistant Ulla to make contact with us. A few weeks later (last wednesday, in fact) he and Ulla came to lunch at the CFZ and we thrashed out a plan whereby the CFZ will be able to help him with his research by carrying out a programme of DNA sample testing in the rural area of Karbadino Balkaria where we will be working. If, indeed, the almasty have interbred with people in the past, the results of this genetic screening could yeild invaluable results.
We would have become involved with this project anyway, because it is not only worthwhile, but will provide valuable supporting evidence for our quest, whatever the results. However Bryan, through his company Oxford Ancestors has also made a very generous donation towards expedition funds, so we can now free other funds to finish the museum.
At this stage of the game everything in the garden is more than rosy.
The lecture that started it all
And so it begins
For Immediate Release:
2008-06-04
BRITISH SCIENTISTS HUNT LIVING CAVEMEN IN RUSSIAN MOUNTAINS
A group of scientists from the UK based Centre for Fortean Zoology, the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation, are to travel to the Caucasus Mountains of the Southwest Russian republic of Karbadino Balkaria in search of what may be mankind’s closest living relative; a hominid known as the almasty. The three week expedition is being filmed by October Films for UK Channel 4 television, and by the team themselves for a feature length documentary to be broadcast, for free, on the CFZtv multimedia website, the only dedicated cryptozoological web based TV station in the world.
Ukrainian biologist Grigory Panchenko, who has been on the track of the ape-like man for over 14 years, will join the five-man team. Panchenko has seen the creature on four occasions including a hair rising encounter on a remote farm, when he got to within ten feet of the creature.
Zoological director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, Richard Freeman (38) believes the creatures to be large, primitive descendants of our own ancestor Homo erectus:
“Homo erectus was the ancestor of not only modern man but the Neanderthal and the tiny, recently discovered Homo floresiensis. There is no reason why it should not have had other descendants. The almasty is described as large, hairy and powerful. It is smaller and more human in appearance than the better-known yeti of the Himalayas. It has no fire and only rudimentary, ape-like tool use. Grigory Panchenko believes that it is on the increase in the Karbadino Balkeria area of the Caucasus. There are many more reports here than in other areas and also reports of family groups.”
The team are also working with Professor Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wolfson College. Sykes is best known outside the community of geneticists for his bestselling books The Seven Daughters of Eve, and Blood of the Isles: Exploring the Genetic Roots of Our Tribal History which describe the investigation of human history and prehistory through studies of mitochondrial DNA. Because all the stories of the almasty insist that these creatures can, and do, interbreed with humans, the team will be taking DNA samples from a wide range of people in Karbadino Balkaria, and Professor Sykes hopes that through mitochondrial DNA analysis the true identity of the almasty will be discovered.
The three week expedition leaves the UK on June the 21st and will be employing camera traps in the hope of photographing one of these creatures as well as interviewing witnesses and exploring the areas were the almasty has been sighted. They will also be investigating reports of a huge species of snake, some thirty feet long, said to inhabit the mountains. The size of a large python, it is far bigger than any species known to inhabit the area.
The Centre for Fortean Zoology is the only full time organisation dedicated to investigating reports of unknown animals. They have searched for anomalous creatures all around the world, as well as publishing many books on the subject. More information can be found on their dedicated websites www.cfz.org.uk and http://almasty.blogspot.com
Richard Freeman, and CFZ Director Jonathan Downes are available for interview. Images are also available. Please telephone Jon or Corinna on +44 (0)1237 431413 for details.
Notes for Editors:
* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (48) and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra, will be published in the next few weeks.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and Exotic Pets, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv (www.cfztv.org). One of their films Lair of the Red Worm which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 40,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (51). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Corinna and Jonathan Downes are shareholders in Tropiquaria – a small zoo in North Somerset (www.tropiquaria.co.uk).
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Each year the CFZ presents an annual conference www.weirdweekend.org . This year’s event will be held in August, and will feature the first public appearance by the Russian Expedition team.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.
2008-06-04
BRITISH SCIENTISTS HUNT LIVING CAVEMEN IN RUSSIAN MOUNTAINS
A group of scientists from the UK based Centre for Fortean Zoology, the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation, are to travel to the Caucasus Mountains of the Southwest Russian republic of Karbadino Balkaria in search of what may be mankind’s closest living relative; a hominid known as the almasty. The three week expedition is being filmed by October Films for UK Channel 4 television, and by the team themselves for a feature length documentary to be broadcast, for free, on the CFZtv multimedia website, the only dedicated cryptozoological web based TV station in the world.
Ukrainian biologist Grigory Panchenko, who has been on the track of the ape-like man for over 14 years, will join the five-man team. Panchenko has seen the creature on four occasions including a hair rising encounter on a remote farm, when he got to within ten feet of the creature.
Zoological director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, Richard Freeman (38) believes the creatures to be large, primitive descendants of our own ancestor Homo erectus:
“Homo erectus was the ancestor of not only modern man but the Neanderthal and the tiny, recently discovered Homo floresiensis. There is no reason why it should not have had other descendants. The almasty is described as large, hairy and powerful. It is smaller and more human in appearance than the better-known yeti of the Himalayas. It has no fire and only rudimentary, ape-like tool use. Grigory Panchenko believes that it is on the increase in the Karbadino Balkeria area of the Caucasus. There are many more reports here than in other areas and also reports of family groups.”
The team are also working with Professor Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wolfson College. Sykes is best known outside the community of geneticists for his bestselling books The Seven Daughters of Eve, and Blood of the Isles: Exploring the Genetic Roots of Our Tribal History which describe the investigation of human history and prehistory through studies of mitochondrial DNA. Because all the stories of the almasty insist that these creatures can, and do, interbreed with humans, the team will be taking DNA samples from a wide range of people in Karbadino Balkaria, and Professor Sykes hopes that through mitochondrial DNA analysis the true identity of the almasty will be discovered.
The three week expedition leaves the UK on June the 21st and will be employing camera traps in the hope of photographing one of these creatures as well as interviewing witnesses and exploring the areas were the almasty has been sighted. They will also be investigating reports of a huge species of snake, some thirty feet long, said to inhabit the mountains. The size of a large python, it is far bigger than any species known to inhabit the area.
The Centre for Fortean Zoology is the only full time organisation dedicated to investigating reports of unknown animals. They have searched for anomalous creatures all around the world, as well as publishing many books on the subject. More information can be found on their dedicated websites www.cfz.org.uk and http://almasty.blogspot.com
Richard Freeman, and CFZ Director Jonathan Downes are available for interview. Images are also available. Please telephone Jon or Corinna on +44 (0)1237 431413 for details.
Notes for Editors:
* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (48) and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra, will be published in the next few weeks.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and Exotic Pets, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv (www.cfztv.org). One of their films Lair of the Red Worm which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 40,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (51). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Corinna and Jonathan Downes are shareholders in Tropiquaria – a small zoo in North Somerset (www.tropiquaria.co.uk).
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Each year the CFZ presents an annual conference www.weirdweekend.org . This year’s event will be held in August, and will feature the first public appearance by the Russian Expedition team.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.
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