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Showing posts with label Bernard Heuvelmans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bernard Heuvelmans. Show all posts

Sunday, April 27, 2025


Ivan T. Sanderson | Forgotten Father of Cryptozoology

While Ivan Sanderson was not the first man to chase after cryptids, he was the man who named the field that we all dabble in.

He and fellow zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans defined the actions of scattered peoples in the 1950s, gathering the idea into a name: Cryptozoology - the study of hidden animals. This concept encompasses both the "folklore creatures" such as sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster, and the animals considered extinct and perhaps also folklore.  The term 'cryptid' is said to have been coined by J. E. Wall in 1983, meaning a living thing having the quality of being hidden or unknown.

Sunday, February 20, 2022

De Loys Ape -- Mono Grande

Many have heard of the mono grande ("large monkey") or de Loys ape stories from South America. But there is much more to the history of large ape or monkey sightings there.

These large creatures have been referred to many other names, both locally and around the world.

In 1523, a Spanish explorer, Pedro Cieza de Leon recorded many sightings of large apes in the areas he explored. These were called marimondas.

Sir Walter Raleigh also came across reports of large monkey-like creatures in South America.

In 1769, Dr. Edmund Bancroft listed and described five foot tall apes from the stories the native tribesmen shared from the region of Guyana and Suriname. They called these creatures didi.

Friday, August 7, 2015


Yeti de Bourganeuf - More Details!

This photo of a dead Bigfoot has been around for a long time. It is often debated as to if it is real or not. I noticed today that the pictures of the figure, known as Yeti De Bourganeuf, is making the rounds again.

There is an amazing backstory that follows this display of a dead bigfoot around but sadly, it is all made up and totally untrue.

Of course, once you tell people that a bigfoot story or photo is untrue, many will just not believe it.
So I will present some evidence, hopefully proving to you that this is a fake.

The photos are known as the Yeti de Bourganeuf and the figure was created to honor Bernard Heuvelmans and his dealing with the Minnesota Iceman.

The sculpture was made by artist Emannuel Casteels Janssen and it was over 8 feet long and it used horse tail hair for the hair.

The July-August edition of the journal Cryptozoologia, the sculptor, Janssen, who created the supposed corpse, came forward admitting everything and explaining how he'd done it: You can view the website Here -  The website is in Russian (I think) - here is a screenshot, just in case it goes away.




Here is a Google translation of the text on the web page:


"In 1997, what might seem like a repeat of the Affai re the frozen man (the body of a hairy man exhibited at fairs fields in the US, as Bernard Heuvelmans was able to study at leisure in 1968) took place ... in France ! And even in the heart of our country, since it is during the fair in Bourganeuf, in the Creuse, has revealed this story: once again, it was apparently the body of a kind of hairy man kept in a freezer, and exhibited at fairs fields.

It was indeed a hoax, and fun thing, our Belgian friends of ABEPAR (which publishes the newspaper Cryptozoologia) are very unintentionally inspirers. Emmanuel Janssens Casteels, animal sculptor and collaborator of the Belgian magazine, says in the June-August 1998 issue of Cryptozoologia that two of his colleagues had advised those wishing to make a giant replica of the frozen man Bernard Heuvelmans :



"In fact, it was a soft foam sculpture on which horse tail hair were stuck. The eyes were simply purchased a specialized supplier of taxidermy."

Obviously, an incredible story accompanying the exhibition of Bourganeuf, whose creator had obviously read the book by Bernard Heuvelmans .

To know more:
DEVILLETTE, Anita Bourganeuf in 1997: a yeti in the city Limousin Magazine, No. 402. 66-68 (May).
HEUVELMANS Bernard 1974 The Neanderthal man is still alive. Paris, Plon.
JANSSENS CASTEELS Emmanuel 1998 Frozen man Bourganeuf: the solution to the puzzle Cryptozoologia, No. 25-26-27. 40-41 (June-July-August).
JEAN, Gerard
1997 The thing in the ice Limousin Magazine, No. 402. 69-70 (May).
1997 On the runway of the abominable snowman anomalies, 3:. 17-25 (2nd quarter)."




Here also is a screenshot of the translated page:

 


The title of the webpage translates as "Frozen Mannequin Bourganeuf".

I will admit that the created figure is top of the line and it is no wonder so many think it is a real creature. Here are a few more photos of the sculpture.

 
So, in the end the figure is very impressive but it is not real. It was created to honor Bernard Heuvelmans. If you do not know who Heuvelmans is, then you really need to check him out.

Here is a short overview about Bernard Heuvelmans.

"Bernard Heuvelmans was a Belgian-French scientist, explorer, researcher, and a writer probably best known as "the father of cryptozoology". His 1958 book On the Track of Unknown Animals is often regarded as one of the best and most influential cryptozoological works." (wikipedia)


Have a great day!

Thanks
~Tom~


This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years of experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and a poet.


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Thursday, December 26, 2013

Almas
Almas -
Also Almasty and Albasty.
The Almas (Mongolian: Алмас/Almas, Bulgarian: Алмас, Chechen: Алмазы, Turkish: Albıs), Mongolian for "wild man", is a purported hominid cryptozoological species reputed to inhabit the Caucasus and Pamir Mountains of central Asia, and the Altai Mountains of southern Mongolia.

Other names by which these creatures are known, depending on the particular region, are 'Wind-Man', Abnuaaya, Bekk-Bok, Biabin-Guli, Gul-Biavan, Guli-Avan, Golub-Yavan, Kaptar, Kra-Dhan, Ksy-Giik or Ksy Gyik, Mirygdy, Mulen and Voita.

Almases are typically described as human-like bipedal animals, between five and six and a half feet tall, their bodies covered with reddish-brown hair, with anthropomorphic facial features including a pronounced browridge, flat nose, and a  receding chin. Many cryptozoologists believe there is a similarity between these descriptions and modern reconstructions of how Neanderthals might have appeared.

1420 - The first known printed reference on the Almas was made by a Bavarian named Hans Schiltberger. He traveled through the Tien Shan mountains as a captive to the Mongols. During his imprisonment he kept a journal in which he wrote:
"In the mountains themselves live a wild people, who have nothing in common with other human beings, a pelt covers the entire body of these creatures. Only the hands and face are free of hair. They run around in the hills like animals and eat foliage and grass and whatever else they can find. The Lord of the Territory made Egidi a present of a couple of forest people, a man and a woman, together with three untamed horses the sizes of asses and all sorts of other animals which are not found in German lands and which I cannot therefore put a name to."

1807-1867 - Sightings reported at Khalkha, the Galbin Gobi and Dzakh Soudjin Gobi as well as in Inner Mongolia; also at the Gourban Bogdin Gobi, Chardzyn Gobi and the Alachan desert.

In the mid 1800s  a wild woman who was named Zana is said to have lived in the isolated mountain village of T'khina fifty miles from Sukhumi in Abkhazia in the Caucasus; some have speculated she may have been an Almas. According to accounts, she was very physically powerful, able to perform feats of exceptional strength. Zana, at first was violent towards her captors but soon became domesticated and assisted with simple household chores. While in captivity, Zana was passed on through a succession of owners and mothered several hybrid children. According to the story, she had as many as 6 offspring, by different men, with a total of 4 surviving with the help of the local village women. According to reports the children were fairly normal, except for being dark and physically powerful. The 4 children were assimilated into normal society, married, and had families of their own  One of the male children, Khwit, remains namely the skull was examined by Dr. Grover Krantz in the early 1990s. He pronounced it to be entirely modern, with no Neanderthal features at all.  Zana, herself  died sometime in the 1890.

In the 2013 a documentary, Bigfoot Files, Professor Bryan Sykes of the University of Oxford showed that Zana's DNA was 100% Sub-Saharan African in origin and she could have been a slave brought to Abkhazia by the Ottoman Empire Prof. Sykes did however raise questions as to whether Zana could have been from a population of Africans who left the continent tens of thousands of years earlier as her son, Khwit's skull had some very unique and archaic characteristics.

There is much more to the tale of Zana and her offspring, I invite others to research and come to their own conclusions.

Myra Shackley and Bernard Heuvelmans have speculated that the Almases are a relict population of Neanderthals, while Loren Coleman suggests surviving specimens of Homo erectus. They have been connected to the Denisova hominin. Descriptions of Almases are similar to that of the Yeti of the Himalayas.

Name: Almas
Similar to: Bigfoot, Orang Pendek, Batutut,Yeti
Location: Central Asia
Movement: Bi-pedal
Size: 5-6 and half Feet tall
Photos/Videos: None

Most of this information comes from Wikipedia and there is very little I have added to the post. As for the photo used, I do not know who the original artist is or who to give credit to. There is much more tales of the Almas and sighting reports than I have included here.
Thanks
~Tom~
[sources: Wikipedia, crystalinks]



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