Paris, TX Bigfoot Expedition Organizer Speaks Out

Posted by: Craig Woolheater on April 16th, 2007

Jim Snell, the co-organizer with Tom Biscardi of the recent Paris, Texas Bigfoot Expedition, offered the following thoughts in response to the comments here on Cryptomundo regarding the event.

Hey Folks,
This is Jim, Director of GSP (Granite State Paranormal).

I should first explain to you all how I and GSP operate in our investigations, we are science based skeptics, we look for the definitive proof in investigating the unknown, meaning we look to experience reports of paranormal activity ourselves, then immediately we go to work trying to debunk it and look for natural causes for the reports. We record scientific measurements, as well as Audio and Video Data. Most of the time, we find natural causes for reported activity, this is how we work as Ghost Hunters. We are not cryptozooligist, We’re just plain ‘ol Ghost Hunters, but we were in contact with Tom Biscardi who is the most active Bigfoot Hunter in the Country, and over the past few months he has taught us a lot about the creature known as ‘Bigfoot’.

Like I said before, as reasonable as some of the stories sounded from Tom (including reports of sitings nation wide from various sources) I still take a skeptical approach to all of this.

Now, I just returned from this expedition yesterday, and I have to say, I’m quite impressed with Tom and his team, especially their passion for their work, when you read on about what went on in Texas, I think you will be as well.

When I first talked to Tom, we spoke at length about his 35 years of experience in this field, and as fantastic as some of it sounded, after looking at how much Tom and his team have invested in time, passion and money looking to solve this mystery, I surely didn’t feel like there was nothing going on out there, so it was time to find out for myself.

I suggested to Tom that we open the expedition to a limited number of non-affiliated participants, folks that were also interested, but had nothing to gain by running with either side of the story, if a total stranger has an experience, that to me is more credible to the public than one of our crew who obviously has an investment of time and money invested in this. So we opened it to the public, *BTW, there was absolutely ‘NO Profit’ made on this expedition, the ticket money paid for the holders included hotel room, field meals, and other expenses, this expedition cost Tom quite a chunk of change, and he was more than willing to spend what he had to in order to do it, so when I hear it’s all about the Money, I have to say “What Money?”, last time I checked, Hunting Bigfoot wan’t the most profitable way to make a buck, I don’t think that’s Tom’s motivation at all, it goes much deeper with him than something a common as money.

OK, that all being said, what happened out there you ask?

Many of you might know that this past week the area we were in was pummeled with tornado’s (yes, Tornado’s, I saw one in the sky myself!) heavy rain, and flash floods, but we went out in it all anyway, that’s the kind of passion these guys have for this. It surely doesn’t begin and end at the computer screen for these guys let me tell ya!

Our camp was ripped apart on Thursday night by the (I was told) 70+ mph winds, I’m not just talking about tents being blown over, they were shredded, poles shattered and our stuff was everywhere. While this was happening, most of the teams were stranded on an island across the 2 mile lake, the water was way to choppy, it looked like the ocean, there was no way to get them back safely, so the team leaders connected all the teams together, (which required, several miles of hiking through the elements to the rendezvous point where they were actually able to get a fire going in all of this and hunker down and keep everyone safe and comfortable until it was safe enough to bring them back to shore.

Being from NH, I had never seen a tornado first hand, as I was on patrol with Tom Jr. (who is the COOLEST Guy you’d ever meet and work with), We actually observed a tornado spinning away in the sky, it was quit something, sounded just like a jet roar, it didn’t touch down where we were, so it was actually fun to watch.

Since I’m on the subject of my patrol that night, here’s the interesting part of my experience which happened at that time.

It was myself, Tom Jr., and 2 Ticket Holders, we drove to an area where Tom’s Team had discovered prints the day before I arrived (Tue) they knew the prints had to be fresh, because Monday the rain was hard enough to wash any prints in that area. Texas has a lot of clay, and when it rains, it’s like walking on 3″ of grease, we had a heck of a time walking in this area, so it was very conducive to tracks, and they lifted some really nice casts.

We had staked out the area where the prints were found, we heard some movement in the woods, but there are a lot of animals out there that I’m not used to, wild pigs (which will attack), panther, armadillo (which sound like a bunch of elephants) and the usual white tail, rabbits, coons, etc..

We were armed with a thermal imager which will pick up heat signatures of anything live out there and give you it’s shape and size and show it’s real time movement.. It was pitch black out there, we didn’t use flashlights if it wasn’t necessary.

After about an hour (this is when I saw the tornado), we headed back up to the road, we no sooner go there, when we heard what the crypto’s call a ‘Tree Knock’, it’s suspected that this is how the creatures communicate with each other. As we walked down the road, I could hear something was walking in the woods along with us, when we would stop, it would as well, it seemed like deliberate, sentry type behavior, the woods were thick and dark so I couldn’t see much even with the thermal. As we got closer to the shoreline, the trees thinned out considerably to where we could see the light of the night sky through them as the lake rolled into a cove on the other side about a thousand meters from the road. As we reached this point, we all saw a huge shadow moving from tree to tree, and crouching down, we were able to see it as it crouched on the thermal, it was a bit creepy because it was human shaped, we figured it was about 500 meters away. Tom Jr. went instinctively towards it, and for a minute there I thought he as going to give chase, I stayed on the road with the ticket holders, both were women and I didn’t want to leave them alone up there, at that point Tom Jr. had the same thought, since he was the only one of us armed, he turned back and rejoined the group, he later told me he was concerned that if there were multiple creatures out there, we might have been at risk unarmed.

Having had this experience has left many questions, like I said, I require definitive proof, having not had the benefit of any resolution or definition of what I saw, which was a really big silhouette or shadow, I can’t honestly say it was a Bigfoot, I can however say that watching these guys work, and now knowing them personally, I’d be able to say honestly that I think there is Something out there whatever it is, and it was a very exciting expedition, an experience like I’ve never had.

We were joined by Fox News and ABC while out there, both were great producers and camera men to work with.

The ticket holders had a real survival experience, I have said before, this stuff isn’t for the squeamish, it’s a real hardcore survival adventure, the danger is real, and what you come away with is a real sense of accomplishment in taking on these adversities and working to get the job done which is sometimes basic survival, everybody did great, and Tom’s guy’s were top notch PROFESSIONALS!

The equipment we brought, designed and operated by Dr. Ron Milione, worked great (you might know Ron from TAPS and the hit Sc-Fi TV show ‘Ghost Hunters’).
Even with the awful weather conditions which greatly affected the thermal stuff because the rain was cool and came in sheets, and cut down our reciever distance, the equipment was a lot of fun to try and work with.

Over-all I have to say I’m extremely impressed with these guy’s, and damn proud to have worked and become Friends with them.

I also suggest to you all, instead of reading about them, if you are truly interested in this field of study, go out there, see for yourself, that’s the only thing that convinces me, experience, and they have it!

So that’s my report for now, I’m always happy to answer questions just email me at granite_state_paranormal@hotmail.com

Thanks again for all your interest!Jim, Director- GSP

About Craig Woolheater
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005. I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films: OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.


18 Responses to “Paris, TX Bigfoot Expedition Organizer Speaks Out”

  1. graybear responds:

    By ‘Jim’s’ own narrative they saw, on a certified dark and stormy night, a ‘huge shadow’ slipping from tree to tree at a distance of better than a third of a mile. That’s remarkable, as most people can’t see anything like individual trees by the light of the night sky at a distance of better than a third of a mile. For that matter, most people would have a heck of a hard time even seeing a human shape at night at better than a third of a mile, even if there were artificial light involved.

    Does ‘Jim’ also do infomercials?

  2. bill green responds:

    hey craig good afternoon, wow this is a very informative… new update article about tom biscardi paris texas sasquatch resent expedition more updates as they accure, very interesting.. thanks bill

  3. Darkwing2006 responds:

    Once again, Ron Milione did not design the equipment. It is kits from amazing1.com, and if you don’t believe me, go look at the site, everything he showed off for the news people are the exact same thing from this place. I feel like banging my head into a wall.

  4. fuzzy responds:

    Sooo???

  5. Darkwing2006 responds:

    Fuzzy,
    Milione is supposed to be a part of TAPS, who claims credibility is their top priority, yet he claims credit for designing things for the expedition here, except for he purchased kits and put them together. Credibility is the issue. If he would have simply said, I put these together, no problem, but he actually said on the news report i seen saying he designed and invented all the equipment he was showing off.

  6. Mike Smith responds:

    Well I’m glad he had a good time. I myself being an ex Army Ranger would not put people in that much danger. They were damn lucky someone didn’t get hurt or god forbid killed in weather like that. Hey Tom, next time watch the weather channel first.

  7. Double Naught Spy responds:

    Dear Lord! It’s worse than we thought.

  8. Buzzardeater responds:

    Mike Smith is right, too dangerous to sell tickets to! Not just the weather, either! I have seen a video of juvenile monkeys scampering up behind elephants and giving their tails a tug. The monkeys can run off up a tree before the elephants can wheel around. Great play and damn funny until you meet up with an ornery elephant. The ornery elephant will shake the tree until a monkey falls out, then will make an example out of the unfortunate. Biscardi and his bunch are really in the narrow margins if they are getting display behavior out of a Biggie! The rule around here is “a seen bear is an attacking bear.” If they let you see them it is because they have intentions. It is probably a safe rule to observe with the Bigfoot as well. These creatures have demonstrated considerable stealth. If you see one, he is not flashing his big hairy butt for a college prank! You seeing him is a threatening admonition. A tip to young Biscardi, you are making a compound decision when you chase off after a Biggie because you are involving the rest of your group. If your display creature is, for example, a new Daddy whose wife is in recovery, nursing a new-born, you were lucky you didn’t get close.

  9. joppa responds:

    “Real Professionals” would have called the whole thing off in that kind of weather.

    Nevertheless, I admire the passion they have for the hunt, I just question the credibility. If Tom brings in a live one, yeehaw, I just wouldn’t put my self in their care.

  10. Jeremy_Wells responds:

    He encourages you all to go out there (and spend money on Biscardi’s expeditions)

  11. enjoyment responds:

    Professional? You mean crazed? Sending untrained individuals to walk through the wilderness during a storm and a possible tornado just isn’t smart. Though it is a hell of an equipment test. I, Like Graybear, think part of his story is a little bit stretched to say the least. 500 m is a huge distance even for IR i would assume. At least the tour guide didn’t just leave his tour group like he was thinking of doing.

    I don’t know about all of this. it just seems sensational to begin with. I would like to see the prints, plus the supposed IR image (just please don’t tell me that you forgot to hook up the IR to the DVR.) If Biscardi and him are professional and believe in the scientific process they need to release there findings to the public. But I have a feeling those prints and/or IR images won’t see the light of day.

  12. rifleman responds:

    This whole episode has changed my thinking of Mr Biscardi.

    Previously, I thought he was just an out of work clown looking for a circus to join.

    Now I read that he has created his own circus.

    How can a rational thinking man encourage people to roam the woods in weather as described above?

    As leader of this “expedition” his primary concern should have been the well being of the people under his supervision.

  13. fuzzy responds:

    Ah. Thanx, Darkwing.

  14. mystery_man responds:

    I agree with those who have posted the comments about the dangers of going out in weather like this. It is certainly not a very smart or professional way to proceed with an expedition, especially when there are innocent paying customers tagging along. I guess they just didn’t want to give out any refunds. Any field expedition that I have ever been a part of would have been cancelled in such weather.

  15. larrykat responds:

    It was so dark they could not see anything but he had fun watching a tornado “spinning away in the sky”??

  16. Mike Smith responds:

    Thats right larrykat, he did say he saw a tornado on a dark night. That storm must have been lighting up the sky really good, lets see if it was that bad what the hell are you doing in it.

  17. Rillo777 responds:

    I wonder how many other people were from those areas where tornados aren’t a more or less common occurrence? What in the heck was anyone doing out in something like that? Irresponsible, dangerous beyond belief and downright stupid. If some one had died what would that have done to any credibility that real cryptozoologists have tried to build? It seems Biscardi might actually be more dangerous to the field than we imagined.

  18. Mnynames responds:

    I’m not sure what to make of TAPS involvement. I was an avid watcher of that show, and have nothing but respect for the founders and their modus operandi. I know they have taken a good deal of flak from many other ghost-hunters and paranormal investigators, and have been called charlatans and hoaxers as well, but I’ve never seen any evidence of this at all. To me, it just seemed like something that comes from being in the spotlight, as they are with their show. Perhaps this Ron Milione is letting it go to his head?

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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