And I think that can be said for a lot of pursuits–how about comic bookers, RPG ethusiasts, and so on? Mention anyone of those things and everyone has a mental idea in their head of what a supporter looks like and acts–whether it’s true or not.

I think the same just holds true of cryptozoology. Most people I know have no clue what cryptozoology is…unless I quantify it by mentioning BF, Nessie, Etc. (I’m interested in cryptozoology…huh, what? Cryptozoology…the studyand hunt for uknown animals…blank look…like Bigfoot or Nessie? Oh…uually followed by suspicious look or eye rolling).

I think people interested in cryptozoology have a certain curiosity and open mindedness that many people do not possess, and other people just don’t know how to relate to such things if they’re not into it.

And that’s how I see this equation. People call other people “crazy” or “off kilter” because they simply have no reference point or commonality with things like cryptozoology. AND, I think there’s a portion of the population that just does not want to entertain the idea of things like BF or NEssie out there in the real world–that falls under the realm of horror and scary.

However, I think there are personalities and individuals who get into a hobby of something like cryptoz. or RPG’s (sorry not picking on that crowd,just know it well:) and theytake it to an unhealthy level–because of something in their own make up, and they get obsessed and make poor decisions concerning the rest of their lives. I agree–it’s not indicative of liking those things, but it also draws in people who become absorbed by it.

Mourn the loss of the individual, but not the endeavor that went along with it.

Maybe instead of examining what went wrong with Jon, we should be examining this almost compulsive need I see by others to belittle and attack. It’s okay to be critical, but try not to veer off into the realm of personal attacks.

I can see some points made by the author of this article, and on the part of Loren. Young man becomes obsessed with finding Bigfoot and conspiracy theories, sets out on his own without proper planning, and winds up dead not far from a major highway. His obsession. He had a mindset about finding something he had never seen. On my part, it’s what I have seen that haunts me.

Our networking and contacts from the Navajo Reservation over the past decade, has us called out on everything from, Sasquatch, Skinwalker, to sheep and cattle mutilations, not excluding extraterrestrial potentials, in addition to other strange creature sightings. Given the opportunity, we have taken upon ourselves to look at everything.

Several years ago, I was in contact with Chris Murphy, and shared with him the news of my former partner having taken his own life. There were many different factors involved in his decision, I know, and am sure of, but one of the things that had to be burned in his brain, was a lengthy daylight sighting that had taking place a year earlier. Obsessed after the fact to prove the existence of these creatures, could well prove a mental weakness, and or illness on his part and mine?

There is indeed a “funk” associated with the study of the furry ones.

From Chris Murphy on hearing of my research partners demise.

That’s unfortunate. One of our best guys, JOHN FUHRMANN, whose files I inherited, as it were, did the same thing. He had spent 35 plus years studying the bigfoot issue. He never married, so did not have stress in this regard, if you know what I mean. It does appear that people do get very frustrated when they get into bigfoot stuff. Dahinden became very “agitated” in his latter years.Chris Murphy

The quest for the truth in these matters has cost me everything at one time or another over the years, to the point of being nearly homeless, loss of relationships, being ostracized and separated from peer groups, family, etc. To take it all back at this point and live a normal life, I would.

All I hope for now, is that what we (and others) have found, to become public shortly. Perhaps with Disclosure, I may indeed find some Closure?

JC Johnson

After reading this entry I had to wonder about the inevitability of the existence of mentally ill BF.

If you have a breeding population of sentient creatures, sooner or later one or two of them are bound to go bonkers. Whether they have breed with a too closely related mate, accidentally mix some jimson weed in with the moss, or just “snapped” at suddenly being surrounded by homo sapiens banging on trees with sticks.

I offer this as at least one explanation as to why every once and a while you read a story about a BF acting badly.

By now sane creatures are so good at staying hidden and just knowing when there are humans are about, when one wigs out and does something bizarre or violent that threatens their own safety you have to kind of scratch your head.

My suspicion is that there are quite likely crazy Sasquatch out there.

Loren is the psychologist, but I’d argue belief in a cryptozoological topic or creature no more makes one “crazy” than belief in anything else. You have sane and sober people, and I am one, who believe the seemingly impossible notion that that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. You have people in responsible jobs, living normal-seeming lives, who would be institutionalized if we knew the plans of mass murder currently building in their heads. So no, crytpozoological interest does not make one mentally ill. There are very far out notions – the bigfoot-UFO connection for example, that I personally reject as unsupportable and even irrational, but that does not make the believers “crazy.”

Take the more “mundane” question of simply being interested in sasquatch. There are certainly people in the sasquatch-hunting business one might think would benefit from medication, and some arch-skeptics might think it irrational to pay any attention when the evidence arguably has not gotten qualitatively better in decades. Still, if a slim but nonzero possibility exists that there’s a huge unclassified North American primate, there’s nothing crazy about keeping an open mind and keeping up on new developments.