Are the CFZ relaxing their stance

In my previous post about the Kasai Rex, I mentioned that I contacted the CFZ to let them know the background to the Kasai Rex picture they featured.

Although the original post was from Richard Freeman, Alan Friswell has replied on their behalf, http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2010/03/alan-friswell-rhino-rex-revealed.html

And surprisingly your truly is given the credit for "discovering the truth". Wonders will never cease, although Alan couldn't resist a little humourous dig at my expense, (I suppose I deserve it), by mentiong that "Finbar" and "Yarriwarrior" were "apparently their real names", when of course we all know that they are their internet monikers.

The fact they mentioned me by name, must stick in the craw of certain people, but at least its a start. I applaud them.

Alan Friswell in the interests of experimentation decided to have a go at producing his own Kasai Rex photograph,



It is a brave effort, but I don't think Finbar has to worry about the competition.

The only question is, just how long will it be before Alan's photograph appears on some creationist site as proof of the existance of living dinosaurs.

I give it a month


Footnote, After posting the above article, I went back to Richard Freemans original post. And I was not surprised that the great fortean theory of synchronicity has reared it's head. A mention of Kasai Rex and the creationists are on it in a heartbeat. AND it didn't even take a month. I note that Phillip O'Donnel a young creationist well known for posting hoaxes on his website as an argument for creationism has posted a comment on the CFZ site. This well meaning home schooled guy has a habit of posting on forums his "evidence" but never replying to questions. A hit and run poster so to speak. Although in this instance he realises the Kasai Rex photo is a fake, his website is littered with similar images.

More Correspondance with Tabitca

As I promised, any correspondance I make or recieve will be posted in full. Everyone is entitled to their views and the decisions they make.

Tabitca said...
Thank you Norm. Probably not TG.They perhaps hope to avoid being sued for libel by remaining anonymous.
I shall the leave comments by highland Tiger for all to see. i will remind them that firstly people who made a complaint over Frank Searle's second book being defamatory should remember at least he had the courage to sign his name.
I dislike cowards but being anonymous does not stop you being sued for libel. I have already contacted a friend who is a judge and his advice says that the provider you post for can be made to give your names with a court order which is easily obtained under current libel laws. I have passed this information onto CFZ should they need it.
As for CFZ not answering your comments, Good for them for raising above it. You obviously want some sort of slanging match. Well trying calling me a few things and I will see you in court, instead of picking on someone with mental health problems.

28 March 2010 00:58

Tabitca said...
A PS you still haven't told us what your academic qualifications are that you can call others out about theirs. You say CFZ haven't replied to your accusations, well you haven't answered my question.

28 March 2010 01:45

Dear Tabitca,

I'd be interested to know which piece of my posts you consider libelous. I am quite an intelligent fellow and I will only post information that I can corroborate with proof.

As I have said on my post, I am not totally anonymous. There are several world famous cryptozoologists who know my identity, (where do you think I get my information from).

Now threats from yourself about suing me, are very strange. I have never said a bad word about you or any other member of your family. Why would I? As far as I can see, you are just some body who posts Crypto related stories online. You have no financial stake in the CFZ nor do you solicite donations to your site. Therefore you are of little interest to me.

And don't try to make Jon seem a poor downtrodden victim just because he suffers from Bi-polar. That is an insult to every other sufferer of Bi-polar who carry on their day to day lives without ever drawing notice to themselves.

I'm sure Jon can stand up for himself without your help.

Finally, you have this obsession with academic qualifications. Why?

Most of the directorate of the CFZ do not have any qualifications of note.

Seeing as NO-ONE has a Cryptozoological qualification, then questions about them are redundant in this topic, I only have only one interest in academic qualifications, and that is when someone indicates they have them, when they don't. (I am not talking about you, but a senior member of the CFZ).

Chill out Tabitca. I have no wish to upset you. But I stand by my claims and challenge the CFZ to deny any of them. Their silence in this is intriguing.

Tabitca said...
Actually if you read the CFZ website properly Mr Freeman does not claim to have a degree only studied at university , that is not the same thing at all, but you would know that if you had studied at university yourself. Many people leave before they finish their studies for many reasons and get awarded certificates or diplomas for the work they have completed. Mr Freeman , I can confirm, did attend university in Leeds.It seems to me you are the one obsessed with other people's qualifications, and you still refuse to divulge your own. If it is not important as you claim then why are you going on about CFZ's qualifications? I think you need to look at yourself carefully here and ask yourself if you need to see a counsellor. I can provide you with the names of some very good ones.

28 March 2010 03:27

The Highland Tiger said...
Dear Tabitca, unfortunately it is only recently that Richard Freeman's bio has been changed on the CFZ site. And only after I contacted Jon about it.

You have to ask just how long they would they have left this "untruth" on their site if I hadn't spotted it.

I will add to the post about our correspondance the proof of my claim, http://cryptozoologythetruth.blogspot.com/2010/03/more-correspondance-with-tabitca.html where you can decide for yourself. You may wish to alter your views of the CFZ then. I'd be interested to hear your views on this.

28 March 2010 05:36

So what is the evidence, well originally on the Weird Weekend 2009 pages, Richard Freeman's bio was as below, (Of course, like most good investigators, I ensured that I saved the offending web page)




And this is what the current bio says..........note the changes and the wording.




As I've said before, I don't make claims I can't back up.

Tabitca said...
I am sorry I couldn't reply to you before I have had computer problems and I hate using my mobile to post as I can't see the keys properly(old age setting in).
Actually FYI getting a degree is called "Congregation" Graduation , if you bother to look it up, means getting almost any qualification,hence you can graduation from school or college and get a diploma in hairdressing or something. you are still a graduate of that institution. My hairdresser has lots of such certificates saying graduate of this or that and is a very good hairdresser.
Should Mr Freeman chose to, he may have already, he can claim his certificates from the university , after the usual checks and payment of a fee.He is still entitled to them for each year he passed. But perhaps he feels he has nothing to prove and why should he? And I repeat at no point in the bios did he say he had a degree. That is your interpretation but not the interpretation of anyone who has any knowledge of a university education. I await with interest to see the "proof" of your other accusations as I have seen none so far.

29 March 2010 01:46

The Highland Tiger said...
Dear Tabitca,

I can certainly sympathise with your PC problems. I too have been having isp troubles, which have only been solved today by joining a new provider. Having to rely on mobile internet dongles is a nightmare.

But I digress. I think we will have to agree to disagree regarding the motives of Mr Freeman and his "qualifications".

You continue to state that anyone who has been to university would be able to ascertain what qualifications Mr Freeman has or doesn't have. That may well be true. BUT, the vast majority of the world have NOT had the pleasure of a university education, and as such would certainly be confused with the original wording. It is those people I am trying to get clarity for.

The fact that the CFZ have listened to my complaint and re written his bio on the CFZ site and wikipedia, means that any ambiguity and possible misleading of the public has been removed.

Therefore my original aim has succeeded, and transparancy has been achieved.

As I have said before, my only wish is to prevent the public from being misled, and that has been done in this case.

With regards to my other claims. These will be covered in future blog posts over the next few months. But I intend to cover plenty of other cryptozoological topics other than just the CFZ. Some of which may just interest you.

I have no interest in "flaming" an organisation just for the sake of it. Only when I feel that the public are being misled.

Even you cannot complain about that.

best wishes

THT

29 March 2010 18:29

Monster Quest Gable Film Documentary Parody - Monsterish Quest Gay Bull Film

Well it didn't take long for the parody guys to start making fun of the last episode of Monster Quest.

Sometimes I despair

It seems my blog is getting a little reaction from people out there in cyber space.

One such person is Tabitca, who has her own blog at www.cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com.

She has made myself the topic of one of her posts.

http://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2010/03/sometimes-i-despair.html

I'll post her comments in full here.

Friday, 26 March 2010
sometimes I despair
There has apparently been a new crypto blog set up. Great I thought and went to investigate. I love reading other people's stuff and seeing their ideas and how they see things. Instead I find a blog set up by someone calling them selves" highland tiger".( I am sorry but if that is meant to disguise who you are it failed miserable, most people know who you are) . The blog was set up with the sole intent of name calling and false accusations against other cryptozoologists, especially it seems the CFZ organisation. Firstly it is cowardly to try and disguise yourself and then throw insults and is really immature and purile. (But then I would have expected no less of this person so should not be surprised). It also smacks of sour grapes... what happened did CFZ refuse to publish your stuff or not acknowledge your contributions? Again immature behaviour of the spitting your dummy out variety. And then we get to the nub of things as far as I am concerned. I don't care particularly what you write Mr HT , I am not that interested with your petty squabbles but what I do object to is that it brings the whole cryptozoological community down and makes it look totally unprofessional for you to behave in this way. Having read your rants I would like to point out that I do have academic qualifications, as does my daughter and we have both contributed to CFZ blogs. What are your academic qualifications I wonder that you can cast aspirations at me? I have 7 lots of letters after my name and they don't spell B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T. I just despair that people like you turn the cryptozoological community into a bear pit and it is people like you that made me decide to keep a low profile all these years. Grow up and behave like an adult. admit who you are , be open about any accusations you have and show us the proof. Until then all you do is bring us all into disrepute and sicken off and scare away those who have a genuine interest . I am disgusted and appalled at someone who claims to be genuine seeker for the answers but only seeks to mar the reputation of others.
Posted by Tabitca at 02:43

Of course I had to reply to her,

Dear Tabitca, I'm glad you have read my blog, but I'm surprised that if you were so against me that you didn't leave a comment.

As for "knowing" who I am, I very much doubt it, although you are free to guess. Unlike the CFZ website I have no intention of censoring comments.

As to my claims about the CFZ, I have challenged them to deny any of them. They have yet to do so.

I know these people very well, and my "beef" with them has nothing to do with them not publishing ,my work. I have had research published all round the world in books, magazines and newspapers, and I have appeared on TV and Radio speaking on cryptozoological subejcts.

I will stand by all of my comments on my blog and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.

All comments are welcome.

Ps. don't despair, there is a light at the end of the tunnel

Somehow Tabitca seems to think that I have cast aspertions on her and her family, because they have contributed to the CFZ website. I think I'll ignore the "I'm better than you because I've got letters after my name" comment, which is just a little patronising especially as a the CFZ "zoological director" doesn't have any letters after his name either. But if she'd actually read my posts instead of following the instructions given to her from others, she'd have realised that I do give praise where praise is due to some CFZ members. Hence my comments about Max Blake.

My aim with this blog, is to praise where praise is due, but where things are just not right I'll be keeping the public informed. I don't know why any reasonable person would object to this stance.

Is this the first salvo from the CFZ, we'll just have to wait and see.

The Kasai Rex, and the laziness of CFZ researchers

Perusing the CFZ website today, I noticed an article from their "zoology director" Richard Freeman, asking for details about a Kasai Rex photo.

RICHARD FREEMAN: The Second Kasai Rex Photo!

Most cryptozoologists are aware of the highly dubious story of a living dinosaur that appeared in the Rhodesia Herald in 1932. Swedish plantation owner JC Johnson claimed to have encountered a 43-foot Tyrannosaurus rex devouring a rhino in the swamps of the Kasai valley in the Congo. The story was accompanied by an unconvincing photo of what looked like a lizard, badly super-imposed onto a dead rhino.





Whilst pootling about on the internet the other day I came across this interesting website: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfmfuseaction=blog.view&friendId=214751458&blogId=438717522

Note from the Highland Tiger (this is actually a broken link)

It showed a second purported Kasai photograph and this one showed not a lizard but a Tyrannosaurus rex. I know nothing about where the picture came from or how old it is but my guess is a modern fake in the style of the petranodon ‘thunderbird’ photo hoax of a few years back. The Tyrannosaur looks like it’s from some stop motion film. It could be Willis O’Brien’s 1918 movie The Ghost of Slumber Mountain in which a Tyrannosaurus kills and eats a Triceratops, or his 1925 offering The Lost World, which has both Allosaurus and a sequence with a Tyrannosaurs killing a triceratops and a Pteranodon. For my money, though, the creature in the photo looks most like the Tyrannosaur in Irving Yeaworth’s 1960 film Dinosaurus! where a living T-rex terrorises a Caribbean island.





If anyone can identify where the monster in the photo comes from it will be me old mate Alan Frizwell, a true dino-movie freak. Over to you, Alan.

Well unfortunately I'm banned from posting on the CFZ site, otherwise I could have given the CFZ's esteemed zoological expert a little backround information on this photograph.

If the members of the CFZ peered over the ramparts of the little world they have created for themselves, and looked at the work of other cryptozoologists and other crypto sites, they would haver known that this photo was the work of an extremely good photo manipulator who goes under the name of Finbar. I wouldn't call this guy a hoaxer because he always admits to his work. This was created a few years back and he occasionaly appears on the www.cryptozoology.com forum site. Most of the regular members on what is the most popular crypto site in the world know of his work.

Perhaps if the CFZ had done a little research first, they may have found the answer to where the original pictures came from.

Finbar admitted that he lifted the image of the Kasai Rex, from a model created by a guy called Yarriwarrior based on a painting by Charles R Knight of an Allosaurus tearing the flesh from an Apatosaurus and then reversed the image.





I hope this answers Mr Freemans questions. I will post a link to this blog on the CFZ comments section, lets see if I get any credit for my efforts.


PS. This image by Finbar has been around since 2007, it's nice to see the CFZ keeping up with current topics

Monster Quest and the Werewolf

As I said in my previous I post, I'd try and find somewhere to watch this episode, and thanks to the wonders of the internet I've now done so.

Well well well, there are a lot of people out there with some egg on their faces. It turns out that the Gable Werewolf film is nothing more than a simple hoax. and a very well done one at that




I see some parallels with this film and the famous Patterson Gimli film of Bigfoot. In both cases people see what they want to see. Debating crytpo-posters on various forums all looked at the Gable film, and saw gorillas, bears, cats, porcupines, oh and even werewolves. They saw rippling muscles, the sun shining off the fur, movement that no human could replicate, etc. But in reality it was just some redneck in a ghillie suit running on all fours. It wasn't even a fur suit and yet people were still fooled.

If they guy hadn't come forward, people would still be convinced it was genuine. It just shows how easy people can be fooled, and how little evidence they need to prove to themselves something exists.

The same with Patti the bigfoot. I believe it is a man in a suit. The over analysis of the grainy film may convince others, but it's not evidence to me. In fact the only difference between the two films, is that only the Gable film hoaxer has come forward.


As for the rest of the episode, just a couple of points spring to mind. On a personal level I rate the existance of werewolves up there with the Mothman and the Jersey Devil, or even the UK's own Owlman, (yet another hoax perpetrated by a CFZ member and embellished for profit by it's director). But I don't rule out the existance of larger than average wolves. Although the "investigators" claimed they had proved that wolves were in the area, they in fact did no such thing. The print they found and the scat could quite have easily come from a dog or coyote. And although their trigger cameras filmed deer, bear and coyote, they didn't film any wolves. So I think the jury is out on that one at the moment.

And finally, is it just me, but did anyone else think that playing tapes of wolf howls in the middle of the night in some back wood in the middle of nowhere was not a very sensible thing to do. If there were wolves in the area, and they had heard those tapes, those wolves would have immediately thought that a rival pack was in the area, and would have investigated. Possibly creating a very dangerous situation.


All in all it was a typical Monster Quest production. A few re-enactments, a bit of grainy footage, and a group of researchers wandering the woods pointing at things but never finding any real proof. (I know,I've been there). A bit hooky but a great way to waste an hour or so.


I'm going to miss this show.

The Demise of Monster Quest

The latest big story to hit the world of cryptozoology is two fold. The History Channel's Monster Quest is coming to an end, and like most of it's episodes it's grand finale will leave us with more questions than answers. That finale will include the showing of the Gable film. A film that purports to show a werewolf of all things.

Unfortunately, The UK will not get to see the series for a while, so unless I can find somewhere online to watch it, (and I have my ways and means of doing so), I can't really comment on the footage shown. However I'll do my best to find a copy of it.

Monster Quest has had a lot of detractors over the years, but I've got a soft spot for the program. Probably due to my involvement on a couple of programs providing background research. I've always found their researchers very friendly and always willing to listen to suggestions.

Over on cryptomundo, there is a letter from Doug Hajicek, the Monster Quest producer

Dear MonsterQuest Fans,

Like many of you, I am a bit saddened by the official cancellation of MonsterQuest. However, we will continue to produce similar programming in the future as opportunities arise.

Cryptozoology will always be passion for me personally.

The official end of MonsterQuest did not happen because of any lack of topics or for lack of viewers. The Network has decided to go another direction to assure their future as a powerful force in television. We are extremely happy to have been part of the successful growth of the History Channel.

I am forever grateful to Loren Coleman and everyone at Cryptomundo. I also thank the hundreds of researchers, scientists and the courageous witnesses we had a chance to work with over the last four years.

It was an amazing run for the topic of Cryptozoology in prime time.

I am sincerely humbled by the opportunity to have created so much programming on this fascinating topic.

Sincerely,
Doug Hajicek
Producer/ Creator/ MonsterQuest
Whitewolf Entertainment Inc.

Hopefully it won't be too long before another film company (and I don't mean CFZ.TV) takes up the baton and produces more crypto-themed programs for us to enjoy.

A review of Animals and Men Issue 47

Thanks to an esteemed colleague, I've just recieved a copy of Animals and Men, the journal published at random intervals by the Centre of Fortean Zoology.

I must thank Mr Downes, for his many comments about yours truly, although I must admit, I seemed to be blamed for everything according him.

So in the interests of fairness I've decided to give a full review good or bad of this publication. And maybe correct some errors on the way.


First of all, I must make a comment about the status of the CFZ. They inform us that they are registered with the "British Government Stamp office" as a non-profit making organisation. Yet questions should be asked "where is the money they recieve, going to". After all,a lot of the CFZ directorate are believed to be on benefits and do not work, except what they do for the CFZ. And yet they run a publishing company. A company that I am unable to find registered at Company House. They solicite donations of goods and money, and yet I wonder just how much is actually declared to the Inland Revenue.

I'm sure Mr Downes will correct me, if I have made any errors, and I'll be happy to post any replies he makes on this subject.

So in the meantime, a word to the wise. The CFZ is NOT a registered charity, and should you donate anything to these people, it may be prudent to enquire just what they do with the money.

On the subject of money, in his editorial Mr Downes makes note of "various erstwhile associates of the CFZ who have betrayed our confidence in them, and we are now something like £15,000 worse off than we were 3 years ago. Apart from the fact that that is a lot of money for a group of people who don't hold "proper" jobs to have, Jon is remiss in not mentioning that trying to re-coup his lost "earnings" includes hounding a recently widowed woman for money.

Also in his editorial he makes mention that the CFZ has become "unpopular in some quarters" , and he puts this down to jealousy and "unlike some folk in the field - we don't spend a vast majority of our time on self-publicity". Laughably this comes from someone who everytime a story appears in the press or the CFZ goes on some "expedition" he pens a lengthy press release to all the major news agencies. And considering that he owns what is in essence a "vanity publishing company" you couldn't be more self publicising if you tried.

Perhaps he should be a little more honest, rather than looking to promote his version of events. He should remember there are two sides to every story...........!

However, back to the review.

The next section is the news file. A great section with short articles on new species found in the previous months. This is what the CFZ is really good at, and although I'd known of most of the discoveries, there were a few I'd not heard of. Praise where praise is due here.

Next was a couple of short obituaries, including one for Robert Rines of Loch Ness fame. He was one of the stalwarts of the original Nessie hunting brigade, and it's always sad when people like him leave us.

We follow this with a group of articles by Oll Lewis under the title of the "Aquatic Monsters log book". These are basically a group of cut and paste fish based stories from around the world. Interesting in themselves, but nothing you wouldn't find yourself scanning the worlds news websites.

Nick Redfern writes the next section "Letters from America", a short piece on the "goatman" and a review of a book that Mr Redfern contributed to. I always have reservations when people review their own work or have a vested interest in that work.

We then have the "Mystery Cats Diary", a group of re-hashed news stories of big cat sightings in the UK by in Mr Downes words "the UK's premier big cat researcher - Mr Neil Arnold". I have been informed that this section, until recently was written by a Mr Mark Fraser, but a difference of views on financial matters in relation to books written by him and published by the CFZ, led him to leave the CFZ and publish his own works and works by members of the Big Cats In Britain group himself. It was this leaving of the CFZ that caused a senior member of the CFZ to say that the books written by him and other big cat researchers were just "tedious lists of sightings anyway"

So after that Mr Arnold has now been elevated to the "heavyweight champion of the wooooooooooorld", sorry "the UK's premier big cat researcher". I've heard of Mr Arnold before and a quick research of his background confirmed my thoughts.

He spends most of his time on the Womens Institute circuit lecturing on big cats. Mr Arnold believes that there are hundreds of breeding big cats in the South East of England, and they are the offspring from cats brought over by the Romans nearly 2000 years ago supplemented by additional animals released in the UK in 1976 after the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals act. Although he is unable to show any proof of these claims, he has written several books on the subject consisting of "tedious lists of sightings". Surprise surprise the CFZ Press have published most of his work. He is also writes extensively about ghosts........enough said really.

Next we have an article from some real big cat researchers. In Australia Ruby Lang and Mike Williams have done sterling work on the big cat phenomena down under. They have a book coming out shortly, and I for one will certainly be buying it. You may have to look hard, but within the framework of the CFZ there are some good researchers, and this should not be forgotten.

Details of their work and book can be found at http://www.australianbigcats.com.au/

Corrinna Downes the CFZ's administrator pens a nice little piece for all you "twitchers" out there, with news stories of rare birds seen on the British shores.

We now come to the largest article in the journal. Written by Richard Freeman the CFZ's "zoological director". Yet another grand title fostered on someone who strangely doesn't have a zoology qualification, and it was my expose on this that led to changes in Mr Freemans bio's on both the CFZ site and Wikipedia. For an organisation not interested in self-publicity, they seemed to have found time to put themselves on wikipedia.

This article was about the expedition to Sumatra in search of the orang pendek. Inspite of the CFZ sending out press releases indicating this was their expedition, it was in fact organised by Adam Davies, but it did include members of the CFZ who paid for the trip out of their own money.

Now most followers of these sort of expeditions will know what happened. An orang pendek was spotted by a member of the expedition, but inspite of watching the creature, albeit partially obscured, for quite a time, no pictures were taken.

Other people have called expeditions that include the CFZ more like "boys adventure trips" rather than real scientific efforts, and things like this won't dispel these thoughts. In fact, NONE of the expeditions by the CFZ have turned up any evidence of the creatures they were looking for. Something people should remember when donating money to the CFZ.

Hairs and DNA samples were taken and as far as I know, none of the samples taken have come back as evidence for the orang pendek. Did they see the orang pendek, I don't know. I believe they saw something, but what it was, who can say. However at least they went out there looking. Adam Davies who is not a member of the CFZ has been to Sumatra several times, and no doubt he will return in the future. Hopefully next time he'll go with a more scientific group of people.

Now on releasing the story, a great number of people commented on the lack of a picture, just like myself. Unfortunately Mr Freeman took umbrage to this questioning. He makes note of this in the article. "upon reaching the UK, I was interviewed by Apex news about the trip. They released my interview and some of the pictures I had taken. Ultimately the UK tabloid paper The Sun ran a story on it. A number of online communities, including an American cryptozoological site, picked this up. The outporing of vitriol from this site was astounding. Members criticised every aspect of the expedition as well as throwing in personal insults.

Now I was part of those people criticising, but it is interesting that in his efforts to look like the victim here, Mr Freeman has left out some pertinant points.

Yes he was interviwed and a story did run in The Sun, but only after Jon Downes contacted them with one of his "non-publicising" press releases. In fact in their desperation to get the story out first under the CFZ banner, they failed to even mention the expedition leader Adam Davies. In fact after a conversation with Loren Coleman on Cryptomundo, Mr Davies admitted he knew nothing about the interview nor the release of pictures of foot prints. You would have thought that common courtesy would dictate that he was informed, or perhaps not, this is the CFZ we are talking about. A quick search of the cryptomundo site will confirm all this.


Onto the rest of the review. Next we have Mr Arnold again this time wearing a different hat talking about Flemish mystery animals. Yet another list of sightings, although seeing as I'd not heard of most of them, I didn't find them tedious.

Following this, we have one of the best articles in the journal, by Mr Downes young prodege Max Blake. Jon has high hopes for young Max, and if this article on the Aurochs is anything to go by, then the CFZ may be redeemed. Full praise here to a young writer.

An advert for the CFZ's Weird Weekend follows, along with a few letters. There then follows 5 book reviews, 3 of them published by the CFZ Press. Again, reviewing your own books is a bit much is it not?

Finally there is a short piece by an unknown individual called "the sycophant", obviously a humerous take on the Fortean Times article writer called the Hierophant. I find this amusing, as one of the reasons Jon refuses to allow me posting on his site is because I refuse to reveal my identity, and yet he is happy for something similar to write in his journal. Double standards perhaps.

So what did I think of the jounal?

Well, if you take out the self publicising look at me articles, then there are some great articles. It's a shame that the CFZ has such a problem with criticism.

But I won't let that stop me doing so.............

My First Post - So where do I start

My First Post - So where do I start

So here I am, starting on my first ever blog post.

The chances of anyone reading this is probably very remote, but at least it's out there in ether, waiting to be picked up and read by bored surfers.

So why have I decided to set up my own blog? Well it seems I have ruffled a few feathers at an organisation called the Centre For Fortean Zoology, and I have been banned from posting on their blogs and you tube accounts. Now rather than let them censor my comments, and thus allowing them to not answer my questions, I thought I'd let the world know this organisation is not quite what it seems.

Now the world of cryptozoology is a strange one. The study of unknown and out of place animals, throws up it's fair share of good people, bad people, weird people and those people who are just out to make a fast buck. This blog will act as a place where those difficult questions are asked of those people, and their answers will show us all, in which category they fall in.

I will keep an eye on many of these organisations, and when I see something that catches my eye, I will contact them and post all correspondance with them on here and you can all make your own minds up, by reading their answers (or lack of them.)

Many of you may wonder why I'm using a pseudonym for this blog. I'm doing so, in order to have free reign in watching all organisations, and not allow any affiliations cloud my thoughts. No-one will be immune, and I will cetainly shoot from the hip when I think it's needed.

However I'm not totally anonymous. There are a handful of world famous senior reseachers in this field who do know my identity, and occasionally they will give me a few nuggets of information of things behind the scenes. I will never divulge their identities, but through me they will be able to ensure the public are kept informed, without having their own websites and blogs maliciously spammed by the seriously deranged fringe parts of the cryptozoological scene.

Like my namesake, The Highland Tiger (or scottish wildcat), I'm a tenacious hunter, and I'll always get my prey. Those who wish to fool the public, or not quite tell the full story have been warned.

Unlike some blogs I will NOT censor any comments. All views are welcome, even if I disagree with them. The only exceptions will be those comments of a racist or sexual nature.



So what is the latest spat with the CFZ about? What did I say that upset them enough to remove my posts on their latest Expedition blog? You may be surprised.

Over the last two weeks Jon and Corrinna Downes, the Director and Administrator respectively of the Centre of Fortean Zoology, (Don't you just love those grand titles people give themselves),have been visiting Texas in search of what the press have dubbed the Chupacabra, but which the CFZ have in my opnion, correctly dubbed the "Texas Blue Dog" . This strange hairless canid is a very intriguing animal, and certainly worthy of investigation.

Their expedition blog, http://texasbluedogs.blogspot.com is full of banal articles, with Jon Downes mentioning illness, music and drugs, for about the millionth time on his site. For those unaware of Mr Downes, he has had a colorful past, which to his credit has never hidden. He also has an illness known as Bi-polar, which with medication is totally treatable, and suffers lead a totally normal life to a certain extent. However on occasions he has his "bad days" where depression and paranoia becomes the norm. It's not an illness wished on anybody, but it does explain some of his actions against those who don't follow the CFZ "company line.

But I digress, back to the blog. Amongst the stories of packing clothes, drinking, and visiting friends, there are some great articles. Some posted by Jon, others by Richie and Naomi West, who Jon stayed with in Texas.

One such article showed some images of a a stuffed "blue dog" owned by Dr Canion. It was on this article that I asked a few questions.

So what questions did I ask .

1. Was the animal completely hairless and was there any evidence of hair follicles.
2. Could he post a copy of the biopsy done on the dog.

Both very sensible questions, and neither of them could be construed as anything but a sensible query.

In fact, before Mr Downes threw a tantrum after spotting my post, Richie West kindly answered my first question, and in reply I posted a link to an online video showing an animal with similar characteristics. Richie West then replied to this post agreeing with me.

So, so far, everything was very pleasent and cordial, questions were kindly answered and that was it.

Until Mr Downes realised I'd snuck onto his precious blog site, whereby he promptly removed all my posts in spite, and posted the following comments.

"I have been asked for a written biopsy by one person with a history of online attacks upon the CFZ, Forgive my paranoia, but the inference here is that I and my team have either made this up or are somehow intrepreting the facts for our own ends"


Well there are a couple of points here to address.

1. I actually agree with most of his findings regarding this animal, and my correspondance with Richie West shows this to be so.

2.Whilst Jon Downes describes them as attacks, they were actually questions regarding his website misrepresenting the qualifications of a senior member of his organisation. Qualifications or lack of them, that have since been reworded on both the CFZ website and Wikipedia, and his omitting to mention the actions of another member of the CFZ during a strange sighting at an Irish lake. In fact he even claimed that this person, (a known hoaxer) was NOT a member of the CFZ, even though on the CFZ website this person is shown as not only being a "consultant" but also the CFZ Eire representative.

There are a couple of other instances, where the CFZ claimed credit where credit was not due in a national newspaper, but I'll leave that for another time

It appears that the CFZ are not an organisation that likes to answer difficult questions, and they appear to think the world is out to get them. There was a recent incident when they had problem on their blog site from a "spamming bot", which although their website provider found the techinical problem, and sorted it, they claimed it was caused maliciously by persons unknown. I'm sorry, but I'm not a computer whiz and I'm typing this with one finger.

Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean the world is out to get you.

Watch this space...............................................