"Who knows what's going on with the government? Certainly that was highly unusual. It seems that the government hushes up the "highly unusuals" until such time that they can figure out what is going on. That seems pretty plausible to me. It's what happens after that that I don't understand. Maybe they just let the incident & the memory of it die away to keep people from stirring up things that just aren't worth the time & money it would take to deal with it... I don't know..."

This occurred to me today about forest fires & bigfoot...

Suppose a six-foot (plus or minus) bigfoot is caught in a forest fire & consumed by flame. I don't mean just ashes left, but that the corpse is found charred. No hair & crispy as an over-done hamburger on a grill that had an humongous flare up. What remains looks like a human. The body shape is right, the size is right. The peole who find it aren't just leaving it there! What do they do? How, and to what extent, do they go to to identify this "man"? DNA? What if it turns out to be hominid? If there are physical anomalies, would they be written off as caused by disease? Would the body be buried in a pauper's grave? Would the examiners even consider the possibilty of an unknown species?

I wonder about these things sometimes...

This story was circulating the internet way back in 2004, or maybe as far back as 1999. Back when everybody was on 56k dial-up modems and a "Facebook" was just a regular book with directory listing of names and headshots. This story was so disturbing and so shocking that nobody believed it at the time. It was the Robert Lindsay " Bear Hunter: Two Bigfoots Shot and DNA Samples Taken " story of the time. And like Robert's Bear Hunter story , this witness didn't have a name. The only thing known about the witness is that this person was a government employee, anonymous of course.The author of the story was a science teacher named Thom Powell who believe it really happened and that the whole story was an elaborate cover-up. Powell said the anonymous government employee alerted the BFRO about a 7.5 feet long/tall burn victim with "multiple burns on hands, feet, legs and body; some 2nd and 3rd degree burns". Sadly, there was no DNA samples taken from the creature that appeared to have "human like arms and legs, face not like man or ape but mixed between".After reading about the story, several people from a Bigfoot forum made these comments:Another comment:"I observed an animal wounded by fire moving on all fours not like a bear. More like ape. Fire fighters captured animal, contacted local vet and medical doctor. U.S. Department of Fish and Woldlife, Department of Interior, and Bureau of Land Management on the scene.Animal tranquilized and moved to unknown location. Those at scene told not to talk about what they saw.Animal approximately 7.5 feet long/tall, human like arms and legs, face not like man or ape but mixed between. Genitalia: male, uncircumcised and human-like. Hair covering most of body except chest, chest has hair but sparse, hands with sparse hair, palms bare, with five digits with human opposition of thumb and 5th digit.Speech - attempted to communicate with care-givers once it realized they were attempting to care for it. Multiple burns on hands, feet, legs and body; some 2nd and 3rd degree burns, using "rule of nines" approximately 45 per cent of body with burns.Doctor and Vet working together providing care and moved it to unknown location locally. This notice given in violation of orders given by BLM, DOI and DF&W. Witnesses numbered in the area of 30-25. Word is out in the government agencies, and among the firefighters, since an M.D. was called out. Many thought a firefighter was injured.Please note that I am a government employee of one of the listed agencies fighting bruse fire in wilderness area of Nevada (large scale fire approximately 70,000 acres burned) and under orders not to disclose information.I believe a cover up is in the making, people need ro know, the animal needs to be kept alive and studied and released in protected area".The BFRO didn't know what to believe and on top of that they had been unable to verify that there had been a fire in the Battle Mountain area. Thom Powell: "Late Monday (August 9) I was finally able to determine from Forest Service sources that there was most certainly a large range fire in this area of Nevada".The Battle Mountain Complex Fire had extended to 180,000 acres by Monday and had 610 personnel fighting it at that time.Nothing else was heard from their witness despite e-mail attempts to reach him. Then, some ten days after the initial report, the witness contacted their BFRO investigator by phone. Here is parts of the report that the investigator prepared after speaking with the witness:"Much to my surprise, tonight at about 9 PM the reporting party of the Battle Mountain incident callerd me. I talked with the gentleman for about 70 minutes. Although he is maintaining strict anonymity, I was able to put together a bit of a profile of the individual.This fellow, whom I will give the pseudonym 'Marty', is a male, full-time worker for a federal agency. Currently he is involved in the joint fire fighting efforts in Nevada. He has extensive EMT training and experience.He says that until this incident he had "seen it all" in fire fighting, and these days he stays mostly in the truck manning the radio. He is friendly, but not effusive. He is intelligent, likable, and fairly observant, but he isn't outstandingly articulate. He is a matter-of-fact, low-key, seen-it-all kind of character.His regular duties may be in personnel, as he mentioned that tomorrow he would be seeing the M.D. involved in this incident about other matters regarding firefighting crews. It was abvious during our conversation that he was very tired. Our talk ended with 'Marty' saying he had to get to bed to get some rest.Approximately 20 people were in the immediate vicinity of the incident. All were debriefed and informed in no uncertain terms that this incident was not to be discussed. There has not been a word about the incident at the BLM fire HQ.He is very concerned about keeping his job, and says he would not look forward to taking a lie detector test. He created an e-mail address exclusively for reporting this incident.Although I had originally encouraged him to call me collect this lengthy call was on him so he could maintain absolute privacy. He is reporting the incident because he belives the information should get out. We agreed in any future communication to use the term "patient" to describe the sasquatch. I'll use it here.The incident happened in the early afternoon. About 20 fire fighters were directly involved. The injured patient appearantly wandered within sight of the fire crew, and was then surrounded.The patient "seemed to know that he was captured", because he soon gave up. Marty mentioned this several times - "he just gave up". The patient sat down on his buttocks, giving no evidence of a will to resist. "Like a dog gives up, and then you can do anything with it".The patient was laid out on the ground at first. His injuries were rather serious, including burns to the hands, feet, legs, and trunk, as well as much singed hair.It didn't take long for medical services to get to the scene. The attending medical team included the regular M.D. for the fire crews, a vet that Marty didn't recognize, and one or more paramedics.The vet was taken aback at working on a creature so human-like, and he is reported to have allowed the physician to do most of the work. At some point Demerol and morphine were administred.The patient was placed on a spine board, which was too small. He was then placed on a regular ambulance stretcher. The sides were left down because part of the body hung over too far. The feet hung off the end.A cut-down was performed to obtain an intravenous line, and fluids were administered. During the treatment of his wounds and the efforts at life support, the patient communicated with moans, groans and grumbling. Bowel sounds were heard by Marty, who was as close as three feet from the patient.No language-like vocalizations were heard. The patient responded to touch: specifically patting and stroking to calm him ("You're not going to find an ape or a monkey responding the same way").Two or three times Marty mentioned that the patient was especially responsive to a young Native American woman who started ministering to him right from the very beginning.The patient was removed from the scene in the back of a utility truck, not in an ambulance. Marty said an ambulance would have alerted townsfolk and possibly news reporters, thinking that a fire fighter had been injured. No one would follow a nondescript van. The total time from initial sighting to extraction was estimated at three hours.There was no urination, defecation, or vomit at the scene. The patient did not eat anything during that time. Serum and blood were leaking from the burned areas of the body.The area of the arm on which the cut-down was performed was shaved. The hair probably fell to the ground. There was significant blood from the cut-down site and from the subsequent insertion of a venous line, and some of that blood dripped to the ground.No one knows where the patient was taken. No video cameras were on the scene to film any aspect of the incident. The fire commander was present. He had a camera, and he did record what he saw.The patient is described as being about seven feet tall - "Give or take a few inches". Marty does not give a weight estimate.Most of the body is covered by brownish hair about two inches in length; no gray hairs are evident. There are no mats noted on the coat. There is an odor about the patient. It is not an especially obnoxious odor. Marty calls it a "natural" odor, but he had a hard time describing it. He said it is similar to a strong equine odor.The head is not "sloped", the forehead is "heavy boned", the lips large, but human-like, the ears human-like and tight to the head, with the ear lobe attached, not dangling.The patient is "strong jawed". He could not remember the color of the eyes, but thought they might be brown. The head is about two times the size of a human head. There is hair on the face, but not on the palms or soles of the feet.There is great bulk to the patient, but there is no fat. He said hos observations of the form of the body did not match with "that film with the one running into the woods", and he called that film a probable hoax.The hands are about 1.5 times a human hand; five fingers with opposable thumb. The fingernails are thicker and heavier, and one was chipped. The feet are large; five ties on each foot; no evidence of fractures, injuries, arthritis, or deformation.The sexual features are those of an uncircumcised male, matching the human anatomy. Marty made the comment several times that these are not monkey or ape features. He felt he was in the presence of a very human creature.I have asked him to return to the scene and search for the hair from the shaved arm, or even the blood that dripped on the ground. He said he has access to the area, but probably won't be able to return until after the fires are controlled".In response to Doug's plea that someone return to the site and search for blood and hair evidence, Marty reported back to him on 26 September: "Dozer has torn up the area. Nothing left. Word is there is still life. Location unknown. Believe within couple hundred miles. Later, Marty".Thom Powell: "Doug concluded that the dozer work seemed a bit too convenient and was likely a cover story concocted by Marty to explain away his inability to recover any physical evidence. Doug strongly suspected that the whole matter was a hoax on this basis and that is where the situation pretty much ended".But Thom Powell couldn't leave the case that easily and further on continues: "It is my feeling that this person (Marty) was not lying, and this set of described events really happened. There is simply too much precise detail and a complete absence of error or contradiction".The report was dismissed as a probable hoax and never posted for public inspection at the BFRO website, where it might have been seen by someone else who was present at the time and who might have contacted BFRO to confirm or deny the account.Three years after the event, Thom Powell dug up the old files on the Battle Mountain matter and decided to try and send Marty an e-mail message and see what happened. Less than twenty four hours later, he was surprised to receive this reply:"Thom, I had almost forgotten about the event until now. Have not spoken due to the classification that was put on it. The patient was taken to a university or some hospital that was not disclosed. As for verification, well other than my contact with you, I know of no one other than those there on the scene. An affidavit was signed under Department of Interior, and US Forest Service as:1. Confidential under penalty of felony arrest and jail time.2. Immediate loss of Government Service rank, loss of retirement, and benefits.Several meetings were held in reference to "him". I do respect his rights of life and will always be a believer of their existence beyond any shadow of a doubt as seen with my own eyes, smelled with my own nose and heard with my own ears.His image is still visible as it was then. No monster, no animal but a linage of native man. His trust in us to take care of him and recognize him that harm was not meant when contact was made, knowing that care would be given to him... I am sure that Department of Interior knows where he may have been released.What more can I say? Specifics, features, anatomy? Well, stand in front of the mirror and think of man's evolution".Thom Powell: "I am left with two inescapable conclusions: First, bigfoots do exist and second, the government does mot want us to know it. The big question that remains in my mind is: Why? I can think of six possible reasons ehy secrecy might be imposed".Is it that the American Government believes that the people of North America are so unstable that they could not deal with knowledge that Sasquatch really exists ?It is felt by decision makers in government agencies that the public is somehow not ready to accept the stunning fact that bigfoot-style creatures exist and at least one species of primates is comfortably ensconced in the forests of North America.Perhaps the justification for this arrogant position is derived from the Christian paradigm that humans are the sole heirs to the planet. The acknowledgement of another species so close to our own, even superior in terms of some sensory capabilities would destabilize the Christian paradigm that currently dominates western religious thought.Perhaps the government entities that we trust as protectors are really just as baffled by this matter as anyone. As with the UFO phenomenon the knee-jerk reaction to government, when confronted with a genuone and profund mystery, is to classify the entire matter as a secret.This avoids the uncomfortable alternative of having to stand up and acknowledge that the people we pay to understand threats and protect us from them have no real idea what is going on in this particular realm.There is an axiom that may exist within government that boils down to: If we don't understand something, keep it a secret. That way no one will ever ask us to explain it.People feel mire important when they have secrets that must be kept. Government agency personnel need to feel their job is important and having important secrets that must be kept serves to validate their work.Every branch of government seems to have some kind of secret that must be protected and it is no surprise to me that the land management agencies want a secret also.Maybe some day they will even be called to Washington to brief the President or members of Congress on the big, important secret that the public is not prepared to know. What fun.If bigfoots were officially acknowledged, it wouldn't be long before an injunction was issued and most timber removal from federal land was halted. It is held that environmentalists will immediatly seize upon the idea, spotted owl-style.They will then find a sympathetic federal judge who would issue an injunction that stops all logging and mining on national forests and rangelands which qualify as sasquatch habitat.While it is probably true that preservationists would try to get the sasquatch declared as the ultimate endangered species, there is one big, but not so obvious problem with this whole line of thinking: sasquatches are in no way endangered.They may be rare, but they are not endangered. On their own, they keep their numbers down, though I also suspect that most estimates of their numbers are too low.It is possible that recent increase in deer populations have also precipitated an increase in bigfoot populations. They do eat deer and that is a good thing because there are not enough other natural predators to keep deer herds in check. Deer populations have exploded lately and we should hope that there are sasquatches in this world or we are soon to be absolutely overrun with deer.Bigfoots do not seem to require virgin, old growth forests. All they seem to require is a food source and a place where they can be left alone.Short of clearing all of the forests away at once, I for one would strenuously argue that bigfoots are in no way endagered by forest policy and there is virtually nothing we could do to reduce their numbers, even if we set about to do so.The Wilderness Act of 1964 and subsequent amendments to it have insured the fact that sasquatches will always have safe haven.As previously stated, we will only be able to understand why the public is being denied available information about sasquatches when we know more about the creatures and their capabilities. Since that information will not come from government sources, we are going to have to find out ourselves.We already have a good deal of information to suggest that all of the senses of these creatures are more acute than our own. Not only is their sight, hearing, and smell more acute than our own, but they quite likely possess other sensory capabilities that we absolutely lack. They can project a rancid smell much like a skunk and the smell is so overpowering as to nearly incapacitete a person.This capability alone suggests a tactical military value in better understanding the sasquatch. I'm told that the military is already researching tactical use of overpowering but non-toxic smells.Other possibilities relating to national defense and tactical military value may not be as far-fetched as they first seem. Infrasound has already been discussed as a concept with tactical military value.The fact that sasquatches possess infrasound capabilities seems likely. When it comes to mental vapabilities that we humans do not have, it probably does not end there.Every researcher I know of who has been succesful in putting themselves near a sasquatch has mentioned a sixth sense that the creature seem to possess. I have tried to quantify this matter to the best of my ability, but, to attempt to quantify such a speculative matter is futile at present.The final possibility centers on the fact that sasquatches may be human ancestors of such a close lineage that their genetic makeup offers the most intriguing possibilities for genetic research and cross breeding that have ever been considered.Sasquatches may be the enduring descendents of the Homo erectus lineage that is generally considered to be extinct. Neanderthal man, Homo neandertalensis by way of Homo heidelbergensis, is another distinct possility.If either or both of these human ancestors endures today in the manifestayion we call bigfoot, then the possibilities for interbreeding and other genetic experiments with humans become either intrguing or alarming, depending on which side of the ethical question one stands.Thom Powells final words are this bleak conclusion: "How tragic, yet how predictable it is that the government denies the public access to knowledge of a living human relative, an anthropological bombshell, and one of the planet's most remarkable beings".FOOTNOTE: Do YOU know anything about The Mountain Complex Fire of August 6, 1999, in Nevada, USA and the capture of the bigfoot creature mentioned in this feature? Please email Jan Sundberg at GUST and we will forward your information to Thom Powell.