Comments on: Video Game Backs Guyana Monster Hunt

By: jon_downes

jon_downes — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:04:54 +0000

This is shaping up to be a very interesting expedition. We are getting new data in every day. If you are interested in following the progress of the guys (and girl) whilst in South America there is an Expedition Blog which will be updated daily assuming that the satphone actually works! They will be completely out of reach of conventional methods of communication, and the satphone will be our only link with them. At present we hope to be able to publish a bulletin at least daily, although unfortunately it will be text only, not pictures. There will be more material going up nearly ever day from now on so please keep looking We have released a statement to clarify our position vis a vis the didi and we hope that this makes the situation clearer. We were very heartened by Loren's response. Thanks mate, we appreciate that.

By: jon_downes

jon_downes — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:47:46 +0000

It is going to be an interesting trip - we are receiving new data every day. There is an expedition blog which (as long as the satphone works) will be updated every day. As far as it being a publicity stunt is concerned, I personally have no problems with the expedition being sponsored by a video games publisher. They want the publicity and we needed the money to pay for our most expensive expedition yet. As long as the sponsorship doesn't come from a morally dubious source, I don't think that it effects the bona fides of the expedition one iota. I have been approached in the past by companies wishing to advertise with us who sell telephone sex lines, or drug paraphanalia and I have always turned them down. But at worst a video game like MH2 is harmless entertainment, (and actually looks rather fun). As far as the confusion about the didi is concerned we have posted up a statement which hopefully clarifies the state of affairs and I was particularly heartened by Loren's response. We (the CFZ, cryptomundo etc) are the good guys, and we are fighting a long and complex battle against inertia, apathy, and prople who are in this field in order to bolster up their own weird theories about extra-terrestrials or the New World Order, or other peculiar and perverse reasons of their own. We are all on the same side here guys, and we have to pull together as a community. Watch this space...

By: jamesrav

jamesrav — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:08:16 +0000

best of luck, it’ll be fun to live vicariously thru this group … and not have to worry about insects, snakes, and other major nuisances. Obviously heading where nobody else has ventured gives it the chance of success, but Jeff Corwin felt that the chance of finding even a 20 foot green anaconda in the wild was getting pretty slim. Not sure if that was due to diminished habitat, poaching, or some other reason. The lore of the ’30 footer’ appears to be a distant memory.

By: Rappy

Rappy — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:04:58 +0000

I think I was a bit too hasty in my pessimism earlier. Indeed, I do wish the CFZ the best of luck, and hopefully no injuries from the unseen killers of the jungle.

By: red_pill_junkie

red_pill_junkie — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:12:27 +0000

Well, best of luck to’em!!

By: greatanarch

greatanarch — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:34:51 +0000

“Publicity stunt”. Does anyone think that I (or anyone else on this expedition) is likely to spend two weeks in difficult conditions just to provide publicity for a computer game? This is a serious cryptozoological expedition, just as the orang pendek trips in Sumatra (2003 and 2004) and the Deathworm expedition (2005) were. We chose the destination and methods; the only difference is that this time round we are not having to pay for it all ourselves. If a company is willing to put up a large sum of money they are entitled to a mention in the publicity material.

As for the wording: the CFZ likes its releases to be read by the press, and if a 40 ft anaconda is not “potentially lethal” then what is?

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:02:15 +0000

The CFZ is real, if that seems to be a question on someone’s mind.

I wish them great success in gathering more data, no matter whom they can get to sponsor them, if that’s not clear either. I’m all for full-funding of actual expeditions employing good techniques in obtaining new cryptid evidence.

By: Rappy

Rappy — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:08:10 +0000

Shumway: The ground sloths such as megatherium and mylodon were like Pleistocene light tanks. Imbedded bony spheres in the hide would be pretty good protection, and those claws were probably not just for getting leaves. Also, some say they were also partial carrion feeders.

On the “monster hunt”…I doubt much will come out of it. I haven’t heard of any Sucuriju Gigante stories in a while, the Water Tiger will be “solved ” as soon as they spot an otter, and I have the feeling a spider monkey will be tossed out for the Didi…

By: DavidFullam

DavidFullam — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:22:21 +0000

Didn’t something similar happen in Europe when they launched Crash Bandicoot? I thought I remembered something about a group that launched an investigation about supposed Bandicoot sightings in England, the same week the game came out, and of course the group being a made up orginazation.

By: Saint Vitus

Saint Vitus — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:57:11 +0000

As far as a 40-60 foot plus snake goes, I seriously doubt they’ll find one that big. The reason the giant snake stories persist to this day is that people are afraid of snakes, and what’s scarier than a big snake? An even bigger one! It’s easy to exaggerate the size of a huge snake, so a 20 foot plus anaconda could easily be mistaken for 40 feet or more. I doubt they’ll even find another 28-footer, most full grown female green anacondas are a little more than half that size.(The males are much smaller).