Blog Closure Does NOT Mean the Red Paper: Felids Is Cancelled

No. The work on the report continues.

Contributions are still welcome and the contact email is still blacktowercg@hotmail.com

THANK you

And then comes the bitter blow

I have just come back from having a meeting and a very long chat about this blog.  There have been, since this blog was set up in 2012, some 294, 745 views.  Its popularity has increased ~August saw some 34,463 views alone.  Looking at other sites that take feeds and posts from this blog the total views hit 1 million.

However, for me the blog has been a resounding failure.

It was set up to get into contact with like minded individuals who were not attracted to the lies and sensationalism of other blogs.  To discuss reports and maybe find new sources of information. It was also designed to promote my books ~non sensationalist, fully referenced and factual. There were even photographs once thought lost that I found through actual research, yes, by going through dusty old archives and financially spending perhaps too much to get to the bottom of events/cases. Some took 30, 35 and even over 40 years before I could close the book on them.

Comments.....Zero

Sales.............One book






I was told today that the public do not want anything that is non~sensationalist.  They want everything they see on Trash TV  in a book and "If they are dumb enough they'll believe it all" I was then told honesty, integrity and accuracy "does not pay the bills".  I had to be told that?

The blog takes time.  Occasionally I can put a post together on the spot but you are still looking at a couple hours work.  Longer posts can take several hours of writing, editing and finding images to go with them.

The books were my sole (supposed) income.  I'm bankrupt.

Hey, you cannot drag a horse to water and you certainly cannot drag people to buy a book. Or give your post a Google Plus or even a comment like "enjoyed that".

Six years work here and that was time I could have spent doing what I like: investigation and research.

I give up.  I shrugged and said "Okay.  No one can be bothered.  I'm broke!" and just shake my head that out and out hoaxers are raking in the cash.

So rather than compromise and go over to the dark side I decided calling it a day was best.  I did have some book reviews planned but those have been archived.  Why promote books other people have written so they sell copies while I sit here counting pennies.

I enjoyed blogging.  But it doesn't pay the bills. Maybe I'll find a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow I can see.  The bitter blow was the line "People don't care. They jump in, read what they want then it's screw you and they are gone!"

Co~operation On Red Paper: Canids ~Clarification

My thanks to Ted for his email and information regarding UK "big cat" sightings.  He made a point that I had not thought about before but needs clarifying.

"What happens if no UK big cat investigators cooperate with you?"

Well, the answer is simple: I continue to produce my Red Paper: Felids based on my 40 years as a naturalist and police wildlife adviser. Pawprint photos, dropping/scat photos/plaster casts, testing results, photographs etc., I have.  I put over 40 years of work on canids into Red Paper: Canids so there is no problem with my working alone.  Everything is fully referenced.

The point of asking for Public and existing groups cooperation is to add extra information and allow those persons to be named as contributors to the final paper.  Basically, it is a chance to get some real cooperation going and base it on Scientific principles.

That simple.  Apologies for any confusion.

A Great Lack Of Credibility

I think that there is a great lack of credibility amongst certain researchers in the UK and to be quite honest a lot of dishonesty and incompetence.

My approach to any research is simple: there is no bias on my part and I look at every aspect of the material presented.  That is how you should do this.  It is the scientific way.

When I decided to update the Close Encounters of the Third Kind (CE3K)/Alien Entity records for the UK I was surprised greatly at the total amateur nature of research and investigation today.  "He says he was abducted" and that was it.  Acceptance because of what has come out since Budd Hopkins and, later,  Dr David Jacobs revealed via their "alien abduction research". It started out well and then dived straight into the pit of "Let's just jump in and make stuff up as it goes along".

As long time Ufologists and researchers have pointed out, but tend to get ignored because they do not blindly accept post Hopkins/Jacobs claims, is that "Greys" (go online to hear Americans screaming over the keyboard "WHY are they spelling it 'Greys' like the English ~it should be "Grays"!!") as accepted by today's commercial exploiters of the subject never existed.  I can cite hundreds of cases pre Hopkins/Jacobs and, yes, there are some small, large headed AE types described, however, they were not "Greys".

When you have, as previously discussed, UK UFO groups who seem to accept Trash TV shows as their training, accepting any light seen as hiding an abduction and claim to receive 100~200 new abduction cases each month you know something has gone wrong.

I offered to collate reports and make a free~for~all data base.  What happened?  Insults, no wish to cooperate and the claim that these were their reports and no one elses. So nothing has changed since 1977 in UK 'Ufology' and the amount of internet warring and nastiness (some quite evil claims made against some of their fellow researchers)  going on...seems to follow a pattern you find in the US but my main concern is the UK.

You move on to paranormal groups. I once confronted two of these groups over why they had refused to work with me and had "put the word around"?  Apparently, they were "a bit scared" of me!! Why? Because I had a reputation (I had no idea of this at the time) as someone who "critically tries to explain phenomena"...but that is part of Science.  Only when you can eliminate every and any other possibility do you have data that demands further study.  Science.

I responded to a note in a "ghost" group about a haunted house survey going on. I said:

 It might be interesting to find out how many of these events involved small globes of lights or single lights that appeared then suddenly vanished.

To which I got the response:

Both of which are more likely optical effects than paranormal events.

Really? Without asking for an exact definition or example of the type of event I was referring to (I have several on file, two involving more than one witness and no "optical effect" was involved) this person has decided they are all  "optical effects"?  Perhaps this person needs to  also remember the definition of "paranormal"?

Definition of paranormal:  not scientifically explainable :  supernaturalparanormal
paranormality
paranormally

play\ˌper-ə-ˈnȯr-mə-lē, ˌpa-rə-; ˈper-ə-ˌnȯr-, ˈpa-rə-\ adverbplay\ˌper-ə-ˌnȯr-ˈma-lə-tē, ˌpa-rə-\ noun noun

Perhaps "What type of phenomenon are you defining by 'globes of light'?" would have been a better response.  Without even looking at the data this person jumped in with "optical effect".  That is not just unscientific but it shows a closed mind from someone I cannot find any published research from.

In fact, I get a lot of requests fro skeptics to join their "skeptical approach groups" and refuse. You class yourself as "skeptic" then you are admitting that you are not adopting a Scientific approach. Leave the room and come back when you have something to offer.

Again, the (I could scream) "Ghostologists"/"Spookologists"/"paranormalists" are faking, lying, warring with one another and countering each others claims. Not Scientific.  All behaviour seeming adopted from their training watching Trash TV shows on the subject.

Then we have the "British Bigfooters"/"Bigfootologists".

From 1975 onward I heard every type of  account from poachers, game keepers, estate owners, foresters and many others who had an intimate knowledge of woodland, forests and the countryside. All in the strictest confidence I heard of "big cats", ghosts, UFOs, strange lights in buildings or woodland.  I heard of local legends and myths. In 40 plus years I had heard it all but never ever any stories of a Bigfoot or wild~man type creature. Yes, there is a plentiful supply of food for any omnivore and it is basic practice to look at all of this in any area.

But, according to the Cryptozoologists and Bigfootologists we have mystery hominids here.  Right here in the UK. However, I decided to assess the data.  I contacted the main UK Bigfoot group and explained that I would be interested in analyzing and reports and evidence such as foot prints and casts and draw up a report to present to them before publishing generally.  The response from these people who felt science was ignoring and ridiculing them when a naturalist offers to look at what they have?  A rather long, very insulting message accusing me of negativity and more (I kept the message for posterity)...by being open to the subject?  I then got an half arsed apology which, unlike the initial response which was on a public group, was private.  Harm done.

Branches and sticks on the ground, leaning over or criss~crossed...in a woodland or forest.  These people have obviously never gotten out much.  Lean to type structures ~a lot of people are living rough in forests now and to mess about with their "spots" is unwelcome and stones thrown at night or being followed is not Bigfoot.  Amateur video analysis and even claims that "something can be seen in the trees" (it cannot be seen) and, oh dear, the "much respected" Bigfootologist who felt he had won because, after explaining about sticks in woodland to him, I would not continue to argue against his claim that he had found a Bigfoot tree knocking stick...a stick found in the woods is...a stick.

Accounts of 7~9 feet (2.13~2.74m) in woods and going through suburban area are greeted with acceptance.  Blind acceptance by British Bigfootologists.  If you look at their report data bases it includes ghost stories (often listed twice but an inaccurate location given in the second account) and much more.  Even try to suggest a case does not seem likely and you will be screeched at over the internet.

Again, Trash TV shows from the US seem to have sparked off this craze.

UK "big cats"...all the same type of thing.  Yes, we have scat (faeces) analysis, hair analysis, DNA results, we have plaster casts of paw prints, we have the kills and much, much more.  However, the material needs to be compiled by a central body ~it is why I set up the Exotic Animals Register in the 1970s.  Again, animals that should be accepted as being here are not because there is no one with real credibility giving an over view.  Ridiculous.

When I announced that I would look at any evidence groups or investigators, or the public, had last week....I got immediate attacks.  "Who does he think he is just jumping into this research?" and similar.

ahem.

I began looking into these reports as a skeptic but keeping my mind open, in 1976 and from 1977 until I semi retired in 2012 I was a wildlife consultant to UK police forces on the subject. So, unlike many, I never "jumped" onto the subject 10, 6, 5 or a couple years ago but four decades ago.

I don't want to make this post overlong but, if these people really want to be taken seriously then they have to grow up and be scientific.  Many Bigfoot investigators in the United States realized this and are adopting scientific methodology while avoiding the internet hate war.

If you want to be taken seriously then be serious.

Interesting...Forgot I Had This: The Spring Jack

Franklin's Miscellany of 27th January, 1838, grabbed a hold of the readers with a story straight out of the newspapers.

Just as "The Wild Man" play later in the 19th century would create a craze (see Some More Things Strange & Sinister for the story as well as a look at many other forgotten wild men tales) with people, particularly when drunk. calling themselves by that name, Spring Heeled Jack caught the public imagination.

Who was "The Springald", "Leaping Jack" (or "Jumping Jack"/"Jumping Jack Flash"  if you prefer), "The Spring Jack" (which shows the origin of the name) or "Spring Heeled Jack"?

You probably might be disappointed if you read ~ahem~ Peter Piper's "The Spring Jack" as he was probably another wronged aristocrat robbed of his inheritance/birth right.  Peter Piper is obviously a pseudonym since a lot of these chapter stories were written by people who needed the money but didn't necessarily want anyone to know they had written this "rubbish"....shades of later comic book creators.

I found this not while going through newspaper archives looking for SHJ references but for unusual animal reports.  Turned the page and there it was and, yes, I did burst out laughing.

Found the scanned page on a flash drive while, again, looking for something else.  But it shows what can turn up scouring through old publications.

Oh...I wrote about Spring Heeled Jack you know...?

The Bizarre Legends, Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack

 

  

Terry Hooper-ScharfPaperback, 53 Pages  Dimensions (centimetres) 20.98 wide x 29.69 tall  (A4)fully illustrated and referenced£10.00http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-truth-about-spring-heeled-jack/paperback/product-21259526.html

The terror and mystery created by “Jack The Ripper” has been the subject of countless books, magazine articles as well as movies and TV documentaries. Ask anyone if they have ever heard of Jack The Ripper and it is doubtful anyone would respond with a “no idea.”  

By that same token, ask people who “Spring-heeled Jack” was and you would be lucky to find anyone who had ever heard of him.  

Spring-heeled Jack was the subject (loosely) of a film The Curse of the Wraydons (1946) and Dominic Keating also appeared as Spring Heeled Jack in the 2010 film Sherlock Holmes by The Asylum film company. The character has also featured in both American and British comic books and a number of books, for both children and adults.  

But the fact that the Springald held the country –not just London– in a grip of terror much longer that the Ripper did is all but forgotten except for some half-truths and fanciful theories.  

Now be prepared to read the full story of Spring Heeled Jack

Re. Book Review: Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Last Neanderthal: A Geneticist's Search

I was asked whether Bryan Sykes' "other book" The Nature of the Beast was any good?

It is the same book. "The Nature..." is the hardback edition.

British Big Cats

I know that not all cats that are non native and in the UK are members of the Big cat family. To make it clear I will repost this piece from the last post.

The Red Paper: Felids will be Science based document to be submitted  to DEFRA, Home Office as well as other groups with an interest.

Between 1977~2012 I worked as an exotic fauna consultant to UK police forces and was also consulted by both German and Dutch police forces regarding large, non native cat sightings (as coordinator of the Exotic Animals Register). I also worked with farmers, game keepers, estates as well as other official bodies to assess sightings, activity and tracks, kills and scat.

Neither the EAR nor I are involved in hunting and it is necessary to emphasize this as some individuals have been unwilling to give information without a guarantee that no hunting is involved).  Under existing laws trapping of any animal cannot take place without the guarantee of secure transport to a licensed wildlife park or zoological garden.

It is not anything to do with any government body.  It is a private study by a naturalist of 50 years: me.

I am not interested in accounts of shape shifting cats or cats with "paranormal powers".

Only real evidence would be accepted.

1) Please, if you can make recasts of prints in your possession that you wish to submit, do so.  Vagaries of the postal system means items can get lost or be broken so do not send all your casts and the ones you do suitably protect.

2) If you only have clear photos of paw~prints suspected of having been made by a large cat then please forward these as jpegs only and head any message as Big Cats Photograph.

3) If you have photographs of animals allegedly killed by a non native cat please forward these under the heading above but subject head  "Big Cats Photograph. Kill"

4) If you suspect that you have scat/droppings from a non native cat or other samples "Big Cats Photograph. Samples"

5) Please do not send any samples until they can be assessed and analysis guaranteed.

6) Always include dates, times, locations where any evidence/photographs was taken.

7) Always include your contact details

8) Anyone can contribute to the study and please be aware that submissions from the public are submitted under the guarantee of confidentiality. No identifying information will be included in the final report though to authenticate evidence as genuine I would require this (from 1977~2012 no witness has ever been identified without explicit permission ~this is a guarantee).

9) All communication will be via letter or email unless specific extra details are required so if you can, please include a phone number.

That is it. Nothing too scary and no groups are excluded whether farmers groups or UK Big Cat groups or naturalists: any genuine evidence is accepted.

Note that anonymous submissions will not be included in the study and will probably be binned.

Initial contact via email to:

blacktowercg@hotmail.com

Thank You