The Erickson Project

by TCC Team Members Dorriane Fisher & Thomas Marcum

            The Erickson Project, an investigation project into the existence of the creature commonly known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch, was started in 2005 by Adrian Erickson. It was the first long-term project to attempt to prove the existence of these creatures once and for all. It serves to take into account thousands of sightings around North America, give credence to those who were brave enough to report them, to get the scientific community involved in the search, and bring awareness to the public. 

            Erickson had his first encounter with the creature at seven years of age near his home in British Columbia in 1959, and several subsequent sightings thereafter. He was finally motivated to found the project when a sasquatch crossed the road in front of him in the Canadian Rockies in 2001.

            The project has continued its quest for proof ever since, offering all kinds of evidence to the scientific community before realizing that only DNA evidence would be its ticket to mainstream science.

What’s Really Up With Dr. Ketchum’s DNA Project?

Hoax, Conspiracy, Or Nothing Unusual?

By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher

            Well, there’s been a considerable amount of excitement in the Bigfoot world in the last couple months, but none of it has been good or constructive.  Mostly conjecture, hoaxing, and a lot of the general ridiculousness we’re so used to seeing. So we’re still hoping for something concrete from the DNA project. But that’s another mystery.

            Dr. Ketchum’s office was recently discovered to be vacant. While she posted this vague message on her Facebook page over the weekend: “We are moving the lab to a larger town and are in the process of selling the service part of it. We will be doing forensics and research oriented projects only.”

            But that only leaves the field wide open for speculation. How does this affect the awaited results of the DNA project? Or, if we dare ask,  is there a DNA project at all? Have we all been duped? Why is this taking so long, and why is there so much secrecy surrounding it? I had to sit down and ask myself, “Why is this whole project playing out in such a suspicious way?”

            And why do we think it’s suspicious?

            Well it could be that the doctor has pulled up stakes, closed the company website and fired her right hand person right in the middle of a major DNA discovery. Perhaps one of the greatest discoveries of all time. So we have to ask the question why. What’s going on?

            First, to address the idea that the DNA project is a hoax; a sham; doesn’t even exist, was finally squelched for me (slightly) when a very reliable source ensured me the project is very real and is still in pier review.

            Two other possibles came to mind: Some kind of conspiracy or some kind of financial gain. Or both.

            Since we’re all painfully aware that the government may have real information about the existence extraterrestrial life and is keeping it a secret, why couldn’t it be the same with bigfoot?

            The second thought is that the government may be attempting to block any information of bigfoot’s existence for some reason. Maybe the DNA project’s results are being suppressed. And why? The only reason this might happen is if the results were shocking or controversial to the point that the government might believe it’s some kind of security risk. That would cause them to try to put a gag order on the results of such a project, wouldn’t it? Say, if the rumors are actually true and Bigfoot is more human than we think?

            I talked to an official recently with 32 years experience working for the government to kind of clear my head on the conspiracy idea. I, like a lot of people, can get really engrossed in a good conspiracy theory, something like being glued to a weekly soap opera. So I knew I needed to ground myself on this one. But he insisted that conspiracy is a difficult thing to implement.

            “It never moves fast or quietly,” he said when he talked of the government and their dealings with any issues of importance. “Not everything is tied to a government cover-up. They would need probable cause to silence the study,” he added. “Since this is not a national security risk.”

            “But couldn’t some very controversial results of the study constitute a possible security risk? Say if certain religious or environmental sects took the news badly?” I asked.

            “No, again, they’d need probable cause; national security risk, or environmental threat,” he insisted.

            “So no chance of a gag order happening, especially this quick?” I asked.

            “No, I don’t think so. Something that big would’ve made the news for sure.”

             So I called all pertinent government offices at the local, state, and federal level, and found no evidence of any gag order on the project. Here is the list of places I called:

*Shelby County Clerk's Office

*Shelby County Attorney's Office

*Texas State's Attorney's Office

*US Dept. Of Justice

*US Dept. of Interior-Fish And Wildlife Division

So apparently he’s right. It’s not that easy to implement a conspiracy such as this as he said. It would take way too much time and way too much red tape. “It’s not as easy as some big wig calling the Department of Justice,” he elaborated. So there are certain channels everything must go through. That’s not to say it couldn’t be done, but it is to say that it would likely take longer than the amount of time we’ve all been waiting for the results.

            And the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Bureau did share with me that this subject doesn’t even apply to their office if the creature is not yet proven to “quantifiably exist.” They only deal with known species and steps would have to be taken to prove its existence before any other action could be taken.

            Another possibility was whether the proven existence of the creature would affect the logging industry. Would that cause the government to attempt concealment of the creature’s existence?

            “It would have to start with the logging industry being told to stop, and then filing suit,” he explained.  Any action such as this could take months to put in place. Besides, if this were the case, environmental and wildlife groups would surely get wind of a new species of primate roaming the forests of the North American continent and bring it swiftly to public attention for their personal causes. It would be very hard to keep this quiet. The media would have a heyday.

            So even though I wasn’t completely convinced from this conversation that the government couldn’t do what they wanted when they wanted if they could convince themselves they had a good reason, the conspiracy idea was at least taken down a notch on my list of possible scenarios.

            So if we eliminate conspiracy, we’re left with one thing: money...and fame. Depending on the results of the study, this could potentially be a big money project for Dr. Ketchum. Book deals, public speaking engagements, and even possibly a consulting position to a larger DNA project could be in the works. There are many ways to make money from such a groundbreaking project. And when money and fame are involved, a person might be forced to decide with whom they would like to share all that. And that might explain Dr. Ketchum’s surprise break with Sally Ramey when the project was believed to be so close to fruition. And why has the doctor not had regular contact with the DNA submitters as was suggested by a couple of researchers I spoke to recently?

            But after all this speculating, should Dr. Ketchum be surprised that anyone would wonder so much and imagine so many different, sometimes crazy scenarios?  If she dislikes the rumors that are swirling right now, she may have only herself to blame. She’s had plenty of time to explain herself, but has chosen instead to keep her answers vague and keep us all wondering.

            I asked her this week if she’d like to make a statement and if the project was still on track, and she had only this to say. “Thanks, but I am not making any comments at this time other than to say that things are progressing.” 

            Give us a better explanation, Doctor, and the rumors can go away.

********DF