Wide Atlantic Weird

Poor public understanding of science is leading to an overall dumbing-down of decision-making around the world; environmental, political, and otherwise. So Cian leaves the cabin to visit ecologist Neil Philips in the woods to find out how sensationalist ‘journalism’ and fake news is affecting wildlife in the UK and abroad. Is hunting good for conservation? Are seagulls and foxes a menace to society? Why do we insist on demonising any and all non-domestic animals?

Cian and Neil investigate various recent wildlife-related media scandals including the work of Brian Ford, whose pseudoscience about dinosaurs has blown up yet again in the Twittersphere with the release of the 2ndedition of his book rehashing 19th-century ideas and presenting them as a brave new theory. We get angry, we get reighteous, and damn if it isn’t time for someone to call BS on this stuff before it’s too late! Neil is just the man to speak about these issues as he’s not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get into the trenches, using data and peer-reviewed research whenever possible to combat pseudoscience online.

It’s only a short leap between bad biology and the disasters of the 20th century folks, so get stuck in and listen to FAKE NEWS IN SCIENCE while it’s only in the headlines and not yet in your face …

Sources:

UK WIldlife Website

http://www.uk-wildlife.co.uk/talks/

Neil Philips on Twitter

https://twitter.com/UK_Wildlife

Cian thinks longingly of his days in the Pacific Northwest while sipping on a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale round the campfire at the Wide Atlantic Weird Cabin. Join him to learn of the wonder and mystery, the lies and intrigue, behind the 1958 Bluff Creek footprints – the case that kickstarted a legend. Is it true that prankster logging manager Ray Wallace really invented the Bigfoot myth using giant wooden feet? Did William Roe’s report of seeing a busty Bigfoot inspire cowboy Roger Patterson to fake his infamous 1967 ‘Patty’ film? And what’s the connection between the bizarre 1924 Ape Canyon Sasquatch attack and later cop-out belief in the kind of mystical, magical, non-evidence-leaving Bigfoot that drives Cian up the wall?

Find out the answers to all these questions and more, in part 2 of BIGFOOT BEFORE 1958.

Sources:

The Roe Affadavit, 1957

Why Americans Need To Believe In Monsters, 2019 William Giraldi

 William Roe Bigfoot Illustration, Cryptomundo

Abominable Science, Loxton & Prothero, 2015

Daniel Perez Article, Cryptomundo, 2013

Hunting Monsters, Darren Naish, 2016

Orgone Research Article

Bigfoot: The Life And Times Of A Legend, Joshue Bluh Buhs, 2009 

On The Track Of Bigfoot, Marian Place, 1974

 Wallace Hoax Behind Bigfoot?, BFRO

 Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, Jeff Meldrum, 2007

 Kevin McLeod, Scary Music

We all know what aliens look like – small grey guys with big heads, right? Over coffee with sometime co-host Mr Chris ‘Spooky’ Joyce, Cian plans an episode about the origin of the grey alien trope. It’s going to be called ‘The Coming Of The Grays’ – but wait, it seems that some time ago, in early 2017, Cian and Chris already recorded an episode for an older ‘cast on this topic!

On a windy day at the cabin, when recording is not possible, Cian enters the vault and dusts off the tapes. We are proud to present his findings to you: The Coming Of The Grays Part 1: One From The Vaults! It’s a free-wheeling discussion about the pre-history of the UFO phenomenon. We discuss Victorian phantom airships, 1930s Swedish Ghost Rockets, the Kenneth Arnold sighting, and most importantly for the history of those nefarious grey aliens, the Hill abduction case of 1961.

How did a sighting that initially seemed to be of human-looking aliens in Nazi uniforms, with ‘Jimmy Durante noses,’ come to birth the phenomenon of the grey aliens? Find out in THE COMING OF THE GREYS: ONE FROM THE VAULTS!

The Flat Earth Theory – so obviously wrong, and bonkers, that it isn’t even worth talking about, right? While Cian enjoys a morning coffee on the porch of the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin, all-round man of science, engineering and medicine James Lynch calls to offer his expertise on this surprisingly important issue.

After all, if such a basic ‘fact’ can be thrown into doubt, then so could just about any other scientific fact or theory! Our Flat Earth adventure becomes an exploration of fringe beliefs and alternative facts. Why DO people believe weird things? What kind of evidence would they accept to falsify their theory? How is science different from other belief systems? We discuss the recent documentary Behind The Curve, talk about the psychological underpinnings of Flat Earth belief, the secret (possible) religious motivations behind the movement, and James provides technical expertise on astronomical phenomena, plane flight paths, atmospheric refraction, and expert commentary on a host of the usual Flat Earth claims.

Phew! There’s a lot packed into this episode. So make yourself a cup of good coffee and prepare to join us on our adventures into the realm of FLAT EARTH!

In 1958, enormous footprints found near Bluff Creek, California made Bigfoot a worldwide phenomenon, elevating the mystery primate to cryptozoological superstardom. But believers have always maintained that ideas about Sasquatch predate this key year, both in the legends of Native Americans and in the reports of white settlers.

In this episode of Wide Atlantic Weird, Cian relocates to his cabin in the woods for summer and cracks open a bevy of Bigfoot reports that predate 1958 to find out just how this myth might have come about. He also cracks open a Mirror Pond Pale Ale.

Hear from the diary of Elkanah Walker, the missionary who wrote about hairy giants and hidden tribes in Washington State in the 1840s. Wonder at the stories of the Seeahtik, the mystery tribe who seemed both flesh-and-blood as well as supernatural, and could use hypnotism to hunt their animal prey.. Visit the cabin where a number of Bigfoot lay siege to five miners at Ape Canyon in 1924. And discover the works of JW Burns, the man who coined the term ‘Sasquatch,' and was indirectly responsible for the very first opportunistic Bigfoot festival.

After all, there must be something behind the Bigfoot mania that’s swept America and the world since 1958 – right?

Sources:

Oregonian Articles, 1924

Mrs Wakeman Vs The Antichrist, 2014, Robert Damon Schneck

Introducing B.C.'s Hairy Giants, 1929, JW Burns

Mysterious Entities of the Pacific Northwest Part 1, 2007, Joe Nickell

Music by Kevin MacLeod

Cian is joined by naturalist and wildlife photographer Neil Philips to discuss  what makes British monsters different (and sometimes similar) from their international cousins (American monsters in particular). From the leafy woods surrounding the Wide Atlantic Weird bunker, they discuss the history of Nessie sightings, the Owlman of Mawnan, the Canvey Island Monster, and the incredibly bizarre Alien Big Cats phenomenon. It seems that even when these creatures ARE literally real, as some mysterious big cats turn out to be, the phenomena still inevitably develops a shroud of mysticism, fakery and blurry pictures that imitate the lore surrounding Bigfoot and other cryptids, confusing the issue. And the guys return to the confounding subject of the British Bigfoot, again delving into the murky world of a supposedly British monster that appears to have been copied wholesale from his transatlantic origin.

Remember, we want to believe - but only if the evidence is good enough!

Sources:

Neil Philips’ UK Wildlife Page

Hunting Monsters, 2016, Darren Naish

Books On The Loch Ness Monster, 2019, Darren Naish

Bigfoot at Hanningfield Reservoir

Arthur C Clarke’s Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious, 1987, John Fairley & Simon Welfare

When it comes to the beasts that hide from man, nobody did backwoods Americana mystery creatures quite like Manly Wade Wellman. His character John the Balladeer was a guitar-slinging hobo who wandered the Appalachian mountains, encountering mythical creatures from North Carolina folklore. In this episode, Cian relaxes in the forest outside the Wide Atlantic Weird bunker and reads one of the best Silver John stories, The Desrick on Yandro. For anyone who enjoys monsters, folklore, and mid-20th century pulp stories, this is truly one to enjoy (while sipping your finest, cheapest rotgut bourbon, of course.) When Silver John discovers a legend about a mysterious cabin on top of a mountain called Yandro, he takes a step into a world haunted by one of the most imaginative collections of weird beasts in all of fiction. Enjoy.

When reports of the so-called 'Abominable Snowman' first filtered from the peaks of the Himalayas to Western Europe during the golden age of mountaineering, English writer of classic ghost stories E. F. Benson took the trendy new idea of the mysterious hairy mountain-dwelling apemen and wondered what might happen if they existed not only in remotest Asia, but in the Alps too. 'The Horror-Horn,' written in 1922, tells the tale of daring, winter sport-loving Englishmen who inadvertently come into contact with the European version of the Yeti.

From deep within the library of the Wide Atlantic Bunker, your host Cian explores what these initial Yeti reports were like, what Benson might have known about the Abominable Snowman at this time, and why even a 'fate worse than death' at the hands of a female Alps Yeti might not have been the scariest thing about this oddly Lovecraftian tale. So grab yourself a beverage, snuggle into a comfy armchair while the wind whips outside your window, and enjoy this reading of Cryptids in Classic Fiction.

Sources:

AnomalyInfo.com: Colonel Howard-Bury's Yeti Sighting

The Horror-Horn by E. F. Benson, etext

Somehow the Wide Atlantic Weird Bunker has gotten itself blasted into Earth orbit, and from there, host Cian samples a fine session IPA and speaks with Apollo buff James Lynch about the technical details behind one of the original Big Three conspiracy theories: the Apollo Moon Landing Hoax. They dissect why people believe conspiracy theories in general, why the Apollo landing was ripe for a campaign of distrust, and what this meant for the time in which it happened. They discuss Bill Kaysing, the guy who first invented this idea, the 2001 Fox documentary and the rebirth of the theory in the 2000s. Learn why NASA didn't photograph stars and why the Apollo lander looked so damn rickety. It's a fundamental conspiracy theory and deserves a deep-dive, so get ready to take one giant leap for podcast listeners and blast off for the great unknown (or at least a studio in Nevada)!

Sources:

Buzz Aldrin Punches Bart Sibrel

Nardwuar, Bill Kaysing Interview

National Post Article on Moon Hoax

Capricorn One

Alternative 3

Sputnik Sound Effect

Saturn Radio Sound Effect

NOTE: the style and format of the show was very different back in these days! But we think you'll still enjoy it.

Cian is fascinated by the origins of cyptids and mysterious animals. How do these beliefs get started? Often we’re sold the idea that a creature has been reported for centuries, or has its origins in local folklore. And sometimes it’s clear that a creature has actually been invented (or rebranded) relatively recently, and its supposed history is just a fiction. From the woods outside the Wide Atlantic Weird bunker, he *enjoys* a can of Fosters and gets stuck into this hairy topic.

THE YOWIE: This hairy wildman is, bluntly described, Australia's answer to Bigfoot. It became incredibly popular during the 1970s as the result of one man's journalism. Suddenly, it seemed that Yowies were everywhere! But do the roots of the Yowie myth go back any further? Is it fair to make a connection between this modern cryptid and 19th-century sightings of 'wildmen' and 'Australian gorillas?' Listen on to find out, mate!

THE MINNESOTA RUNESTONE: When an Irish journalist visits a remote town in the cold north of the US, she finds a community that is united in its belief that Vikings visited the area in medieval times, unrecorded by conventional history. As it becomes clear that this belief has some very strange undertones, things get weird. Based on a true story (ish!).

References:

Graham Joyner, The Hairy Man Of South Eastern Australia

Graham Joyner, The Australian Gorilla: An Insoluble Problem 

 Does The Yowie Exist? 

Joe Nickell, Skeptical Enquirer Searching For The Yowie

Tony Healy & Paul Cropper, The Yowie: In Search of Australia’s Bigfoot

Darren Naish, Hunting Monsters, Arcturus, 2016