Snowman. Bigfoot Riddles (Yeti)

Man has always been interested in various inexplicable events, mysteries of nature, strange cases. Almasty, Bigfoot, Yeti are no exception - the most famous as Bigfoot - mysterious, mystical creatures. Since ancient times, there have been many legends and myths associated with them. Does Bigfoot really exist or is it all fiction and fairy tales? It is not possible to give a definite answer to this question. Many scientists believe that Bigfoot does not exist and are trying to find a scientific explanation for this. Meetings with them take place all over the world, but end very quickly. According to eyewitnesses, tall hairy creatures literally disappear before our eyes. They also find unusual traces that they leave. In the depths of the forests, strange structures are often found out of uprooted trees, such a simple person cannot do.

Most often, these creatures live in places that are difficult for people to reach: high in the mountains or in the wilderness. Huge footprints were discovered in the Himalayas in 1936. In this region, the fact of the Yeti's existence is taken very seriously. Thus, in Tibet they believe that snow people guard the entrance to the mystical city of Shambhala. In some Tibetan temples, fragments of the remains of humanoid beings are kept. At the beginning of the 20th century in Mongolia there was a case of meeting with a cub of Almasty. Unfortunately, he died, but eyewitnesses say that they saw a small body covered with wool. In 1967, the Americans managed to capture unique footage on video: a tall, hairy figure was running along the bank of a stream. It is believed that it was a female yeti. At the beginning of the 19th century in Abkhazia, an unusual creature was caught by Prince Achba, who turned out to be a wild woman. The appearance of the savage was quite specific. She was about two meters tall, her muscular body was covered with thick dark brown hair, her eyes were red. The woman's face, broad with rough and large features, had a flat nose, the lower jaw with powerful teeth protruded forward. She had rather thick and long fingers on her hands. Due to her appearance, the captive received the name Zana.

Bigfoot Zana, yeti

Later, it was presented to Prince Ece Genaba. He kept the snow woman in a palisaded pit because of her extraordinary strength. The wild woman frightened those around her with her abilities, she was incredibly hardy. She also behaved quite aggressively, rushed at people. However, over time, she was gradually calmed down and tamed. A hut was built for her, into which she was later moved. The Almasty female learned to enter the premises only with the permission of the owner, she was able to perform simple tasks. Thanks to her strength and power, she easily coped with hard work. Zana did not know how to talk, but she understood human speech, she was not picky about food, she refused to wear clothes. Only towards the end of her life did she begin to put on a loincloth. But she constantly participated in the prince's festivities, during which she often drank alcohol and had connections with men. The most interesting thing is that she did not have external signs aging. Presumably, the female Bigfoot died at the end of the 19th century during childbirth.

Having given birth to her first child without outside help, the woman wanted to bathe him in the river, but the water in it was too cold, the baby caught a cold and died. The same thing happened with the second child. After these cases, people began to select and educate newborns from Zana. She had four children: two girls and two boys. All the children of the woman have grown absolutely normal people, albeit with their own characteristics. Almost nothing is known about the fate of two of them, but the boy Khvit and the girl Gamasa grew up in the same family. There was a rumor that Ece Genaba himself was their father. Zana's daughter died in the 1920s, Khvit lived to be almost 70 years old and died in 1954.

Direct descendants of Zana

Zana's children grew up with ordinary children and did not differ much from them. They all had their families, children, occupied a certain place in the community. Zana's son had dark skin big lips, like representatives of the Negroid race, straight coarse hair. Khvit was tall, like a mother possessed superhuman strength. Local old-timers said that he could lift a chair with a person sitting on it with his teeth and dance at the same time. He also had an explosive temper, often getting into fights, as a result of one of which he lost his arm. Even with one hand, the descendant of the snow woman was excellent at gardening and field work.

Khvit - son of Zana

Khvit was married twice and had three children. An incredible force was transferred to his son Shaliko, the man lifted the set table with his teeth. Khvit's son died in an accident in the mountains.

Son of Khvit

A tragedy also occurred with his daughter, she died from an electric shock. They say that during her lifetime, Raisa had a unique gift - a woman could see with her skin: she stood with her bare feet on a newspaper and read what was written word for word.

Khvit's daughter in her youth

Khvit's daughter

Gamasa also had a strong physique, like her brother, her skin was dark in color, her body was covered with hair. The woman died at the age of 60. Details about her life are unknown.

On the left is Khvit's skull, on the right - presumably Zana's

Igor Burtsev with the skull of Khvit, son of Zana

Scientists have been looking for an answer to this question for years. Through various studies, it was found that the skull of the son of a yeti in structure is significantly different from an ordinary human. It combines the structural features of the Neanderthal and modern man. The skull is unique and has no analogues in nature. The assumptions that Zana was an African slave were also erroneous, her DNA did not coincide with the genes of Africans, because the yeti and her descendants had straight hair, which is significant hallmark from representatives of the Negroid race. Igor Burtsev himself is absolutely sure that the wild woman belongs to the Neanderthals, and her son is a hybrid with modern man.

Historian Porshnev also believes that Yetis are Neanderthals. Presumably, these predecessors of modern man have not disappeared, but continue to coexist with humans. This fact confirms the structure of the Bigfoot skeleton.

Some scientists speculate that Bigfoot does not actually exist. These are ordinary people with mental disabilities who have left their place of residence and hide in the forests away from society.

Although from the point of view of science there is no evidence of the existence of Almas, someone leaves traces of huge feet, tufts of dark long wool in different corners the globe. There is an assumption that yetis come to us from a parallel world, perhaps that is why they appear from nowhere and go nowhere. Also, structures made of trees found in the forests can serve as a portal for mysterious creatures. One thing is known that disputes around Bigfoot will continue for many years to come. However, some mysteries must remain unsolved.

Yeti is the well-known Bigfoot that lives in the mountains and forest areas. On the one hand, this mythological creature, whose secret is trying to unravel thousands of scientists around the world. On the other hand, this a real man who, because of his disgusting appearance hiding away from human eyes.

Today, a new theory has emerged that possibly proves that Bigfoot lives in the Himalayas (mountains of Asia). This is evidenced by strange footprints on the snow cover. Scientists suggest that the Yeti lives below the Himalayan snow line. To find irrefutable evidence, dozens of expeditions to the mountains of China, Nepal and Russia were assembled, but no one could prove the existence of the famous "monster".

Features

Yetis are easy to spot and recognize. If you suddenly travel around the East, then keep this memo for yourself.

"Bigfoot reaches almost 2 meters in height, and its weight varies from 90 to 200 kilograms. Presumably, it all depends on the habitat (respectively, and on nutrition). This is a muscular big man who has thick hair all over his body. Coat color can be both dark gray and brown.In fact, this is just a general portrait of the famous Yeti, because in different countries it is presented in different ways.

Bigfoot Story

Yeti is a character of ancient legends and folklore. The Himalayas greet their guests with old stories, where the formidable and dangerous Bigfoot is the key figure. As a rule, such legends are needed not to scare travelers, but to warn against wild animals that can easily harm and even kill. The legends about the famous creature are so old that even Alexander the Great, after conquering the Indus Valley, demanded from the locals proof of the existence of the Yeti, but they only said that Bigfoot lives at high altitude.

What evidence is there

Since late XIX For centuries, scientists have been collecting expeditions to find evidence of the existence of the Yeti. For example, in 1960, Sir Edmund Hillary visited Everest and there he discovered the scalp of an unknown animal. A few years later, research confirmed that it was not a scalp, but a warm helmet made from a Himalayan goat, which, after a long stay in the cold, could appear to be part of Bigfoot's head.

Other evidence:

Russian expedition

In 2011, a conference was held, where both biologists and researchers from all over Russia were present. This event was organized with the support of the government Russian Federation. During the conference, an expedition was assembled, which was supposed to study all the data on Bigfoot and collect irrefutable evidence of its existence.

A few months later, a group of scientists said they had found gray hair in a cave that belonged to a Yeti. However, the scientist Bindernagel proved that all the facts were compromised. This is evidenced by the work of Jeff Meldrum, professor of anatomy and anthropology in Idaho. The scientist said that the twisted tree branches, photographs and collected materials were handicrafts, and the Russian expedition was needed only to attract the attention of tourists from all over the world.

DNA samples

In 2013, geneticist Brian Sykes, who teaches at Oxford, announced to the whole world that he had materials for research, which were teeth, hair and skin. The study examined more than 57 samples, which were carefully compared with the genomes of all animals in the world. The results were not long in coming: most of The material belonged to already known living beings, such as a horse, a cow, a bear. Even teeth of a hybrid of white and brown bear who lived over 100,000 years ago.

In 2017, a series of studies were conducted, which proved that all the materials belonged to Himalayan and Tibetan bears, as well as a dog.

Theory adherents

Despite the fact that there is still no evidence of the existence of the Yeti, entire communities dedicated to Bigfoot are organized in the world. Their representatives believe that the mysterious creature is simply impossible to catch. This proves that the Yeti is a smart, cunning and educated creature that is carefully hidden from human eyes. The absence of irrefutable facts does not at all mean that such beings do not exist. According to the theory of adherents, Bigfoot prefers a reclusive lifestyle.

Neanderthal mystery

Researcher Myra Sheckley, in her book Bigfoot, described the experience of two hikers. In 1942, two travelers were in the Himalayas, where they saw black spots moving hundreds of meters from their camp. Due to the fact that tourists were located on the ridge, they could clearly distinguish the height, color and habits of unknown creatures.

"The height of the "black spots" reached almost two meters. Their heads were not oval, but square. It was difficult to determine the presence of ears from the silhouette, so perhaps they were not there, or they adjoined too close to the skull. Broad shoulders were covered with a reddish -brown hair that hung down.Despite the fact that the head was covered with hair, the face and chest were completely bare, which made it possible to see flesh color leather. The two creatures let out a loud cry that resounded throughout the mountain range."

Scientists are still arguing whether these sightings were real or are an invention of inexperienced tourists. Climber Reinhold Messner came to the conclusion that big bears and their footprints were often mistaken for Yetis. He wrote about this in his book My Search for the Yeti: Confronting the Deepest Mystery of the Himalayas.

Does Bigfoot really exist?

In 1986, tourist Anthony Woodridge visited the Himalayas, where he also discovered the Yeti. According to him, the creature was only 150 meters from the traveler, while Bigfoot did not make any sounds and did not move. Anthony Woodridge for a long time tracked down unnaturally huge footprints, which later led him to the creature. Finally, the tourist took two photographs, which he presented to the researchers upon his return. Scientists have long and carefully studied the pictures, and then came to the conclusion that they are genuine and not a fake.

John Napira - anatomist, anthropologist, director of the Smithsonian Institution, primate biologist. He also studied the pictures of Woodridge and said that the tourist is too experienced to confuse the image of the Yeti with a large Tibetan bear. However, more recently, the images were re-examined, and then a team of researchers came to the conclusion that Anthony Woodridge took a photograph of the darkened side of the rock, which stood upright. Despite the indignation of true believers, the pictures were recognized, although real, but did not prove the existence of Bigfoot.

Many people believe in the existence of the Yeti. The question has been raised more than once by scientists, but no direct evidence of the life of such creatures on the planet has been provided by witnesses. The most common opinion is that Bigfoot is a mythical humanoid creature that lives in snowy forests and mountains. But the Yeti myth or reality - no one knows for sure.

Description of Bigfoot

The prehistoric bipedal hominid was named Homo troglodytes by Carl Linnaeus, which means "caveman". Creatures belong to the order of primates. Depending on the habitat, they received different names. So bigfoot or sasquatch is a bigfoot that lives in America, in Asia Homo troglodytes is called a yeti, in India - a barung.

Outwardly, they are something between a huge ape and a man. The creatures look intimidating. Their weight is about 200 kg. They have a large physique with large muscle mass, long arms- to the knees, massive jaws and a small frontal part. The creature has stocky, muscular legs with short thighs.

The whole body of Bigfoot is covered with a long (palm-sized) and dense hairline, the color of which is white, red, black, brown. The face of the Bigfoot in the lower part protrudes forward and also has hair starting from the eyebrows. The head is conical. The feet are wide, with long movable toes. The growth of the giant is 2-3 m. Yeti footprints are similar to human ones. Usually, eyewitnesses talk about the unpleasant smell that accompanies the Sasquatch.

Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl proposed a classification of bigfoot:

• dwarf yeti, which are found in India, Nepal, Tibet, up to 1 m tall;
• true bigfoot has a height of up to 2 m, thick hairline, long hair on the head;
• giant yeti - 2.5-3 m tall, the traces of a savage are very similar to human ones.

Yeti food

Cryptozoologists involved in the study of species not discovered by science suggest that Bigfoot belongs to primates, therefore it has similarities with monkeys. large sizes diet. Yeti eats:

• fresh fruits, vegetables, berries, honey;
• edible herbs, nuts, roots, mushrooms;
• insects, snakes;
• small animals, birds, fish;
• frogs, other amphibians.

It is safe to assume that this creature will not disappear in any habitat and will find something to eat.

Bigfoot Habitat

Everyone can try to catch Bigfoot. To do this, you just need to know what Bigfoot looks like and where it lives. Yeti reports come mainly from mountainous areas or forests. In grottoes and caves, among rocks or in impenetrable thickets, he feels most secure. Travelers claim to have seen Sasquatch or their footprints in certain places.

1. Himalayas. This is Bigfoot's home. Here, for the first time in 1951, a huge footprint, similar to a human, was recorded on camera.
2. The slopes of the Tien Shan mountains. Climbers and rangers of this area do not cease to assert the existence of bigfoot here.
3. Altai mountains. Witnesses recorded Bigfoot approaching human settlements in search of food.
4. Karelian isthmus. The military testified that they saw a yeti with white hair in the mountains. Their information was confirmed locals and an expedition organized by the authorities.
5. Northeastern Siberia. Bigfoot traces were found in the course of ongoing research.
6. Texas. According to eyewitnesses, the Yeti lives in the local Sam Houston nature reserve. Those wishing to catch it come here regularly, but so far not a single hunt has been successful.
7. California. Ray Wallace, a resident of San Diego, made a film in 1958 in which he showed a female Sasquatch that lives in the mountains in this area. Later, information surfaced about the falsification of filming, the role of the yeti was played by Wallace's wife, dressed in a fur suit.
8. Tajikistan. In the summer of 1979, a photo of a footprint 34 cm long, discovered in the Hissar mountains, appeared.
9. India. A three-meter tall monster covered with black hair is often encountered here. The locals call him barunga. They managed to get a sample of the animal's fur. It bears a resemblance to a yeti hair obtained by the British climber E. Hillary on the slope of Mount Everest.
10. Also evidence of the existence of Bigfoot in real life found in Abkhazia, Vancouver, Yamal and in the US state of Oregon.

It is quite difficult to understand whether the existence of Bigfoot is a myth or reality. The chronicles of Tibetan monks contain records of humanoid animals covered with wool seen by temple attendants. Footprints of Bigfoot were first discovered in this region. Sasquatch stories appeared in printed editions for the first time in the 50s of the last century. They were told by climbers who conquered Everest. Immediately there were new adventurers who wanted to see the giant wild people.

Bigfoot family and offspring

The existence of tribes of snow people and children found by hunters, completely covered with wool, is evidenced by the stories of the inhabitants of Tajikistan. A family of wild people - a man, a woman and a child - was seen near Lake Paryen. The locals called them "odes of the ob", i.e. water people. The yeti family approached the water and more than once scared the Tajiks away from their homes. Numerous traces of bigfoot presence were also present here. But due to the dusty sandy soil and the insufficient clarity of the contour, it turned out to be impossible to make a plaster cast. There is no real material evidence of these stories.

The analysis of the DNA of a real female Bigfoot was written by The Times in 2015. It was about the legendary wild woman Zana, who lived in the 19th century in Abkhazia. The story goes that Prince Achba caught and kept her in his cage. It was tall woman with dark gray skin. Hair covered her entire massive body and face. The cone-shaped head was distinguished by a protruding jaw, a flat nose with raised nostrils. The eyes had a reddish tint. The legs were strong with thin shins, wide feet ended in long flexible fingers.

The legend says that over time the woman's temper subsided and she lived freely in a hole dug with her own hands. Walked around the village, expressed emotions with cries and gestures, human language until the end of her life she did not learn, but she responded to her name. She did not use household items and clothes. She is credited with extraordinary strength, speed and agility. Her body retained young features until old age: her hair did not turn gray, her teeth did not fall out, her skin remained elastic and smooth.

Zana had five children from local men. She drowned her firstborn, so the rest of the descendants were taken from the woman immediately after birth. One of Zana's sons remained in the village of Tkhin. He had a daughter, who was interviewed by researchers in search of information. The descendants of Zana did not have signs of a hominid, they only had features of the Negroid race. DNA research has shown that the woman has West African roots. Her children did not have body hair, so there was speculation that the villagers may have embellished the story to attract attention.

Bigfoot by Frank Hansen

At the end of 1968 in Minnesota, in one of the wandering booths, the body of a Bigfoot frozen in ice block. Yeti was shown to the audience for the purpose of profit. The owner of an unusual creature resembling a monkey was the famous showman Frank Hansen. A strange exhibit attracted the attention of police and scientists. Zoologists Bernard Euvelmans and Ivan Sanders urgently flew to the city of Rollingstone.

The researchers took photos and sketches of the Yeti for several days. Bigfoot was huge, had large legs and arms, a flattened nose, and brown fur. Thumb the legs were adjacent to the rest, as in humans. The head and arm were pierced by a bullet wound. The owner reacted calmly to the scientists' remarks and claimed that the body had been smuggled out of Kamchatka. The story began to gain more and more popularity among journalists and the public.

The researchers began to insist on defrosting and further study of the corpse. Hansen was offered a huge sum for the right to examine Bigfoot, and then he admitted that the body was an elaborate dummy made at the monster factory in Hollywood.

Later, when the hype subsided, in his memoirs, Hansen again stated the reality of Bigfoot and told how he personally shot him while hunting deer in Wisconsin. Zoologists Bernard Euvelmans and Ivan Sanders continued to insist on the plausibility of the yeti, stating that they smelled decomposition when they examined the creature, so there can be no doubt that it is real.

Photo and video evidence of the existence of Bigfoot

To this day, no material evidence of the existence of bigfoot has been found. Samples of wool, hair, bones, provided by eyewitnesses and owners of private collections, have long been studied.

Their DNA matched DNA known to science animals: brown, polar and Himalayan bears, raccoons, cows, horses, deer and other forest dwellers. One of the samples belonged to an ordinary dog.

Skeletons, skins, bones or other remains of Bigfoot have not been found. In one of the Nepalese monasteries, a skull is kept, allegedly belonging to Bigfoot. Laboratory analysis hair on the skull pointed to morphological features Himalayan ibex DNA.

Witnesses provided numerous videos and photos of evidence of the existence of the Sasquatch, but the quality of the images leaves much to be desired each time. Eyewitnesses attribute the lack of clarity in the images to an inexplicable phenomenon.

The equipment stops working when approaching the Bigfoot. The look of Bigfoot has a hypnotic effect, introducing those present into an unconscious state when it is impossible to control their actions. Yeti also cannot be fixed clearly due to its high speed movement and overall dimensions. Often fear and poor health prevent people from making a normal video or photo.

Yeti tales debunked

Zoologists are inclined to believe that stories about the existence of Bigfoot are unrealistic. There are no unexplored places and territories left on Earth. The last time scientists discovered a new large animal was over a century ago.

Even the discovery of an unknown species of fungus is now considered a huge event, although there are about 100 thousand of them. Opponents of the version of the existence of the yeti point to a well-known biological fact: for a population to survive, more than a hundred individuals are needed, and such a number cannot be overlooked.

Numerous eyewitness accounts in the mountains and forests can be caused by the following facts:

• oxygen starvation of the brain in high altitude conditions;
• poor visibility in foggy areas, twilight, observer errors;
• intentionally lying to get attention;
• fear, which gives rise to a game of imagination;
• retellings of professional and folk legends and belief in them;
• yeti footprints found may be left by other animals, for example, Snow Leopard puts his paws in one line and his print looks like a trace of a huge bare foot.

Despite the fact that there was no material evidence of the reality of the Yeti, confirmed by genetic examinations, rumors about mythical creatures do not subside. There are all new evidence, photos, audio and video data that are of dubious quality and may be fake.

DNA testing is ongoing on the provided bone, saliva and hair samples, which always match DNA from other animals. Bigfoot, according to eyewitnesses, is approaching human settlements, expanding the boundaries of its range.

Bigfoot (Yeti) - a half-monkey, half-man, living most often in high mountainous regions and forests. Unlike humans, this creature has a denser physique, relatively short hips, elongated arms, a short neck, a strongly developed lower jaw and slightly pointed.

The entire body of a Bigfoot is covered with red, gray or black hair. This humanoid creature has a sharp unpleasant odor. Bigfoot Yeti climbs trees perfectly, which once again emphasizes his resemblance to a monkey. Forest populations of snow people build nests on tree branches, mountain populations live in caves.

The humanoid primate (Chinese savage) very often caught the eye of curious Chinese peasants. He had a height of about 2 m, was able to weave baskets and make simple tools. Hundreds of cases of peasants meeting with this creature were left without attention. In the late eighties of the last century, six countries, including America and Great Britain, sent a research expedition to the sparsely populated forest areas of China to study evidence of the Bigfoot yeti. .

The participants of the expedition were prominent professors of anthropology Richard Greenwell and Jean Poirier. They had no idea what an outstanding discovery awaits them! The two-year collaboration between the American and English professors has brought remarkable results. The expedition included an independent television crew led by Geraldine Easter.

What evidence was found

Confirmation of the presence of a "snow creature" is his hair, which were picked by Chinese farmers. English and American scientists, as well as their Chinese colleagues, came to the conclusion that the hairs found have nothing to do with humans or monkeys, which indicates the existence of Bigfoot (Chinese savage). In India, Vietnam and China, several thousand teeth and jaws of this ancient man. The Chinese wild man is a little-studied creature. Somehow miraculously, he managed to avoid extinction in individual areas. He is a contemporary famous bears pandas, and we all know that pandas also miraculously survived.

September 1952 was remembered by the locals for the fact that in the state of Virginia, several eyewitnesses observed a height of about 9 feet, exuding a very unpleasant odor. In 1956, a huge creature was seen in the state of North Carolina, whose offhand weight was about 320 kg. Year 1958 - the yeti appears near the state of Texas, in 1962 - near the state of California, in 1971 in the Oklahoma region, in 1972 the creature was seen near the state of Missouri.

There is evidence of a meeting with Bigfoot from a relatively recent period of time. In the early 90s of the last century, while climbing to an eight thousandth height, climber R. Meisner saw Bigfoot twice. The first meeting was unexpected, yeti Bigfoot quickly disappeared, and it was not possible to photograph him. The second meeting happened at night - the creature was seen near the place of spending the night.

Attempts to catch a man, nicknamed the snowman, were made repeatedly. In its issue dated August 19, 1988, the Pravda newspaper wrote that traces of a “snow creature” were found in the Kekirimtau mountains, and a farm worker K. Juraev encountered him personally.

The expedition sent to capture Bigfoot returned with nothing. But what is surprising, being at the lair of this strange creature, all members of the expedition experienced terrible psychological discomfort, a decline in mood and performance, lack of appetite, rapid pulse and high blood pressure. And this is despite the fact that the group included trained people who had acclimatized in high mountain conditions.

Who has seen Bigfoot?

In 1967, two shepherds R. Patterson and his partner B. Gimlin filmed Bigfoot. It was a warm autumn day at 3.30 pm. The horses of the men, frightened of something, abruptly reared up. Losing his balance, Patterson's horse collapsed, but the shepherd did not lose his head. With peripheral vision, he saw a large creature squatting on his haunches on the bank of the stream, which, noticing people, immediately got up and walked away. Roger grabbed his camera, turned it on and ran towards the stream. He managed to make out that it was Yeti Bigfoot. Hearing the chirping of the camera, the creature, continuing to move, turned around, and then, without slowing down, continued on its way. The size of the body and the unusual style of walking allowed him to rapidly move away. Soon the creature was out of sight. The tape ended and the stunned men stopped.

An in-depth study of the film, conducted by members of the Darwin Museum workshop, and its frame-by-frame playback showed that the head of the creature filmed on film is identical to the head of Pithecanthropus. The clearly visible muscles of the arms, legs and back exclude the possibility of using a special suit.

Arguments supporting the authenticity of Patterson's film:

• Increased flexibility of the ankle joint of the creature depicted on the film, which is impossible for a person.
• The creature's gait is not typical of a human and cannot be reproduced by him.
• A clear image of the muscles of the body and limbs, excluding the possibility of using a special suit.
• Strongly protruding back heel, which corresponds to the structure of the Neanderthals
• Comparison of the frequency of hand vibrations and the speed of the film on which the film was shot, they speak of the creature's height of 220 cm and weight of over 200 kg.

Based on these and many other facts, the film was recognized as authentic, as reported in scientific publications in the USA and the USSR. Entire volumes are devoted to Bigfoot observations and their careful analysis. scientific literature. Many unanswered questions remain. Why do we meet only single individuals of the yeti? Can small populations of these amazing creatures? When can we fish out the snow creature? There are no answers to these questions yet, but there is confidence that in the near future they will definitely appear.

Yeti mysterious creatures

Bigfoot and his relatives

It looked like either a woman or a monkey. He had a broad, wrinkled, grimacing and laughing face. Something indescribable - two bags of some kind, obviously breasts, dangled in front; long matted hair, reddened by the sun, framed her face and flowed behind her back. Turgenev felt a wild fear, a chilling fear of the supernatural.

Guy de Maupassant, "Fear"

Fictional creatures inhabit the folklore of all world cultures- be it steppe nomads, reindeer herders or South American cannibals. People living on different continents independently invented dragons, werewolves, ghosts, water monsters, dwarfs and giants. But only a few fairy-tale creatures have managed to become part of modern folklore. If you say that you met a fire-breathing dragon in the forest, you will receive an exemption from physical education and free pills for schizophrenia. But if you claim you got into a fight with a giant hairy hominid in a garbage dump - get a real chance to get on the front pages of the morning papers.

In March 2006 (MF #26) we told you about "cryptids" - animals whose existence is denied modern science(at least until one of them gets caught - like, for example, pygmy giraffe okapi or lobe-finned coelacanth fish). Today we will talk about the "kings" of cryptozoology - archaic giants, now known as "snow people".

wild and unsympathetic

The ancient peoples, without saying a word, believed that long before them, giants lived on Earth. The latter were unbridled and ferocious, which is why the gods either completely destroyed them (Judaism), or expelled them from the world (ancient Greek myths). The giants left behind only huge ruins, called "cyclopean" in honor of the cyclops who erected the walls of Mycenae.

Not surprisingly, human encounters with prehistoric giants were extremely rare. Most of the giants of late European folklore had purely human features and were not considered representatives of any ancient race. Medieval "snow people" in their current sense can be called goblin, but they were a kind of spirits. The Scandinavians had jotuns and trolls, the southern Slavs had drekavaks, but the images of these forest dwellers too vague to be able to talk about systematic contacts ordinary people with "snow".

Bigfoot, like UFOs, is a phenomenon exclusively of the 20th century. You can talk as much as you like about the growth of anthropogenic zones and the lack of powerful means in the 18-19 centuries mass media, capable of inflating any trifle to a sensation, but the fact remains: until recently there was no bigfoot as a mass phenomenon, but now it is. Why, then, did the creatures that evolved along with humans over millions of years remain so little known that in a general cultural sense they can only claim the title of a race of giants, and an extinct one at that?

Judging by the oldest literary sources, contacts with Bigfoot were extremely rare. The first description of such a case can be considered the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells about the events of 57 centuries ago. According to the first table of the epic, the goddess Aruru created Enkidu, a hairy hero living in complete savagery. King Gilgamesh invented original way to catch him: on the bank of the river where Enkidu grazed, they brought the harlot Shamhat. The poor thing was undressed, and the giant "knew her for seven days." After such a marathon, the savage weakened, and his relatives - animals - began to avoid him. Thus, Enkidu was forced to become part of human society.

Scattered evidence of encounters with some "wild people" can be found in almost every major historian. For example, Plutarch talked about how Sulla's soldiers once caught a satyr (it should be noted that initially satyrs were not associated exclusively with horns and hooves - various animal features were attributed to them, symbolizing savagery). The Roman dictator gathered all the available translators and interrogated the captive, but he only emitted vile bleating and neighing, “which is why Sulla felt great disgust and ordered him to be immediately removed from sight as an ugly phenomenon” (Plutarch, Comparative Biography, Sulla, 27) .

Medieval researchers mentioned wild people a lot and often, but most often they described ordinary monkeys or uncivilized natives. There were no white spots left on the map of the Old World, so meetings with such creatures were only spoken of in the past tense. Once upon a time there were lions in Europe. Now they haven't even survived here. wild bulls and tarpans, and snowmen have passed into the category of curiosities. For example, Heinrich von Gesler in the 14th century wrote of a wild Alpine woman "whose breasts are so long that she throws them over her shoulders."

Enthusiasts often recall that Carl Linnaeus included Bigfoot in his famous classification of living beings ("The System of Nature"). Indeed, the Swedish naturalist wrote about the “wild man” (about some hairy “sons of darkness” living in caves and stealing food from people at night), as well as about the “troglodyte man” (probably a Neanderthal). However, it should not be forgotten that in the first edition of the System of Nature, Linnaeus called whales fish ...

Origin of Species

retell modern stories about a meeting with a snowman does not make sense - most of them look like hunter tales. They are either of the same type or improbable, and in any case unverifiable. Of some interest are only general information about the known "varieties" of Bigfoot.

In the mountains of Altai, the Caucasus and the Pamirs lives almas("almast", from the Mongolian - "wild man"). He is described as a humanoid with red hair, human features, powerful superciliary ridges, a flat nose and chin (which completely coincides with the reconstructed appearance of a Neanderthal).

Legends about almas cannot boast of antiquity - they are only a few hundred years old. It may seem that there are almost more almas in the mountains than people. In 1871, Nikolai Przhevalsky saw them, and in 1941, Red Army soldiers allegedly caught some hairy citizen in the Caucasus, interrogated him (to no avail) and shot him as a German spy.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, these creatures are known as bartender, however, the most popular in the West is another, Tibetan name - yeti("man-bear" or "stone bear"). The number of meetings with him increased in proportion to the increase in the number of Europeans who explored the Himalayas. In 1832, the British noticed a certain red-haired creature in the mountains - probably an orangutan, in 1889 - something like a bear.

Yetis live here. Yeti, representing the highland subspecies of the troll family, have never heard of the fact that cannibalism is hopelessly out of fashion. Their opinion on this issue like this: eat what moves. If it doesn't move, wait until it does. And then eat.

Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

The monasteries of Khumjung and Pangboche have long kept yeti scalps, which were credited with magical powers. In the middle of the last century, their study was carried out. The results are disappointing: they are just skins from the neck of a Himalayan mountain goat. The monks of Pangboche also owned another relic - a mummified yeti clawed paw, but in 1991 it was stolen (probably settling in someone's private collection).

In Scotland, on Mount Ben Macdui lives Am Fir Liat Mor("Big Gray Man"). No one really saw him, but many climbers heard strange footsteps on the slopes. Their stories are not much different from each other - they were walking along the mountain in the fog (usually in the evening), when suddenly measured steps began to be heard somewhere behind. The pursuer stepped rarely, but did not lag behind - that is, he was several times bigger than a man. People began to panic, fled, and only caught a glimpse of some huge gray silhouette in the fog.

This phenomenon was so massive that it simply needed to find explanations. Theories have been put forward about energy breaks and "frightening" infrasound, but it is most likely that the specific conditions of Ben McDuy (frequent fogs) create a phantom effect well known to climbers. If a low-lying sun shines on a person's back, and fog floats in front of him, then an eerie reflection of a figure surrounded by a bright halo of light appears in it.

Filipino forest creature named Capri slightly reminiscent of a bigfoot with its habits (lives in trees, makes noise, shows interest in women), but at the same time it has a purely human appearance, wears traditional Bahag clothes and smokes a pipe (they say that crickets in the forests are coals that have fallen out of it).

Even overpopulated Japan has its own Bigfoot. He is called Hibagon(or Hinagon) because he lives in the forested Mount Hiba in Hiroshima Prefecture. The meeting with him took place 35 years ago. According to eyewitnesses, Hibagon was short, hairy, with a flat nose and burning eyes. All signs point to the fact that this is not Bigfoot, but something like a gorilla.

Among all the varieties of this creature, the fate of the American "bigfoot" is most interesting. bigfoot or sasquatch(The term was coined in 1920 by school teacher Burns, who noticed that many Indian tribes use words with the same root "sas" to refer to wild people).

Until the middle of the 20th century, Bigfoot was not found in the United States, and stories about Sasquatch were popular only on Indian reservations. In August 1958 construction company Ray Wallace was laying a road in a deserted area of ​​​​California. Bulldozer Jerry Crew found traces of "big feet". The feet were 40 cm long, the stride length was over a meter. The local newspaper dubbed the find "bigfoot", and Wallace began to actively promote the "bigfoot" among fans of the unknown.

But the real “birthday” of the American Bigfoot can be considered October 20, 1967, when rodeo participants Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin managed to capture him on film. They went to national park Six Rivers with a rented 16mm camera, intending to make a Blair Witch-style documentary about Bigfoot. The men agreed that, if possible, they would try to shoot the “big-legged” - his body could be sold profitably, moreover, it would be irrefutable evidence.

However, when they saw him, they completely forgot about the weapon. Bigfoot began to quickly move away from the researchers. Patterson dismounted from his horse and followed him with a working camera, Gimlin with a gun covering him from behind. As a result, the first half of the film came out defective - the image shook and jumped in all directions, but when Patterson approached the bigfoot by several tens of meters and stood motionless, the quality of the shooting improved markedly. The creature looked back at the pursuers several times and disappeared into the forest.

The US finally has its own national monster. For several decades, the word "bigfoot" has become a popular brand. From all over the country there were reports of similar meetings. People found traces, wool, excrement of the "big-footed". Numerous clubs of "big footologists" appeared, and a new industry arose in tourism. Scientists who studied the Patterson-Gimlin film were divided into two approximately equal camps: some said that this was an obvious staging (an actor in a woolen suit was running in front of the lens), others noted the creature’s unusual gait and stated that it could not be human.

November 26, 2002 Ray Wallace, the discoverer and popularizer of bigfoot, died. His family soon admitted that Ray, along with his brother, faked tracks around the bulldozer by putting large wooden feet on their feet. Why they needed it is not exactly known. They probably wanted to have some fun, but the bigfoot they invented soon turned into a national American hero, began to bring in considerable income and gained worldwide fame. Such a trifle as a fake of the first discovered traces does not bother enthusiasts at all.

Missing link

There are many theories about the origin of the Bigfoot, but if we dismiss all unhealthy fantasies (an alien from outer space, from another dimension, the energy projection of ordinary people, the souls of our ancestors, secret government experiments, super-developed primates hiding from people with the help of telepathy), the remaining versions can be count on the fingers of one hand.

The first, the most famous, relies on the mythical roots of wild giants, who allegedly lived on the planet long before man. Given the specific geography of encounters with Bigfoot, most of which are in Asia, North America and Eastern Europe, we can assume that we are dealing with Gigantopithecus(Gigantopithecus blacki).

The remains of this extinct humanoid ape were found precisely in Asia (China). Unfortunately, there are too few of them to recreate the appearance of the animal. At the disposal of scientists there are only a few lower jaws and about 1000 teeth, the largest of which are 6 times larger than in humans. It is assumed that the growth of Gigantopithecus, standing on its hind legs, reached 3 meters. These giants most likely resembled gorillas or orangutans.

Against the “snow humanization” of the Gigantopithecus, the fact that they became extinct almost 100,000 years ago and could hardly have settled on several continents - especially with their supposed diet (most of the bones were found in the habitat of the ancestors of modern pandas that ate bamboo) speaks against the “snow humanization” of the Gigantopithecus.

Other Bigfoot Candidates - Neanderthals- also do not inspire optimism. Even if they lived into the 21st century, they would be too smart to lead wild image life (Neanderthals knew how to build shelters, used fire and used a variety of tools - from stone cutters to wooden spears). They were squat and stocky (height - up to 165 cm), which also does not correspond to the expected appearance of Bigfoot.

Finally, it is absolutely certain that Neanderthals died out about 24,000 years ago. Their last habitats are Croatia, Iberia (Spain) and Crimea. How could they survive as single individuals around the world - a question from the series "Who did the Loch Ness monster mate in a small lake to survive to this day?". Today, when the entire planet has already been photographed by satellites and put on public display in Google Earth, when the Amazonian Indians dress in Chinese Adidas, and the Tibetans ride tourists through the mountains in Japanese jeeps, there is simply nowhere for the relic hominid to hide.

There are opinions that Bigfoot appear "pointwise" in different places planets just because they are something like Mowgli or Tarzan. History knows about 100 cases of discovery feral children. They are found to this day, often in a tragicomic situation - for example, two years ago a young man Sunjit Kumar was discovered in Fiji, who grew up among chickens and imitated their behavior.

In ancient times, lost or abandoned children, as well as persons with some mental disabilities, could easily go wild, spend their entire (certainly short) life in nature, and only occasionally catch the eye of superstitious townsfolk. Thousands of years ago, they would have been called trolls and satyrs, and in the 20th century, Bigfoot. It was precisely such a case that Turgenev described when visiting Gustave Flaubert (the epigraph of the article) - and in the end it turned out that she was a madwoman, fed by shepherds and living in the forest for more than 30 years.

The most reasonable explanation for the Bigfoot phenomenon is the saying "Fear has big eyes." Many secrets of the universe are hidden in erroneous perception. Giant sea snakes turned out to be tangled algae, flying saucers were weather balloons, and Bigfoot were gorillas or bears.

The bear is such an original animal that anyone recognizes it at first sight. He does not eat his own kind, does not wander around the village at night in the hope of grabbing and dragging a child. From time to time, he climbs a tree to the very top, and from there he surveys the surroundings. He especially dislikes being teased or disturbed.

Alfred Bram, Animal Life

Bram was wrong, says Japanese climber Makoto Nebuga. Not everyone recognizes a bear, especially if the person is frightened, and the clubfoot stands on its hind legs. Nebuga spent 12 years looking for the legendary yeti in the mountains of Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan and came to the conclusion that he had long been kept in many zoos around the world. The legend about him arose because Himalayan bear- "meti" - was confused with "yeti" (not surprising, because the locals consider the bear a supernatural being). Reality is rarely as mysterious as our perceptions of it.

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After weighing all the pros and cons, it can be argued with a 99% probability that Bigfoot is a fiction. However, as primatologist John Napier rightly pointed out, there is a certain limit to the number of evidence of a meeting with a bigfoot, after which they can no longer be explained by errors and hoaxes alone. One or two stories about the "hairy monkey with glowing eyes" can be ignored. One hundred thousand stories about this - a reason to think. We can only wait and analyze. Time will judge.