Pick Johor Pix Panel
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 4th, 2006
Patience is a virtue. Patience and passion are two important components of cryptozoology research, as I have often mentioned, as per Bernard Heuvelmans.
Speculations on the Johor Hominid have reached new lows and highs, from muddled discussions of “reverse evolution” to the creation of a new Peter Loh sketch (above) based on all the information available to a new website.
But the time has come for a challenge to those saying they have more evidence. Based on a recent turn of events in the Johor Hominid or Malaysian Bigfoot situation, there are new reasons for people to feel frustrated and to want to “see the photographs” of the Malaysian hairy bipedal creatures.
Bigfooters Scott Herriott, Chris Kraska, and Craig Woolheater all used the phrase “Show me the monkey suit!” They were pressing Greg Long to produce the evidence behind his hoax claims that Roger Patterson had employed a gorilla costumed person for his 1967 film. We could very soon begin to hear a similar chant, “Show us the Johor pix!” – more and more – on webpages and in emails.
Vincent Chow reported a few months ago that he had been shown a group of three of twelve photographs taken by a former Cambodian guerilla. Chow somewhat described them to Peter Loh, me, and a few others. But he said they would not be shown publicly, and would not be shared further until published in a book in a year or more from now.
How Peter Loh first drew (above) the “Malaysian Mawas” based on his initial descriptions from Vincent Chow.
With the establishment of the Johor Hominid website, now an interesting tidbit has slipped out. Sean Ang said on a comment posted on Cryptomundo that he has been shown the photographs. On July 3rd, Sean Ang posted this comment:
I noticed there is alot of interpretation for the little information that we have.
At my personal level, I am still compiling a list of questions to be asked regarding the Johor Hominid.
There [sic] reason I am involved (currently using my own time and resources) is that I have seen some of the photographs. Unless someone can point to me a world class con-men who can produce a photo like that, which is crystal clear (I mean that of National Geographic standard), then we wish to put forward the photos as a tentative “evidence”, so that someone else can falsify them (remember Karl Popper).
I have compared with pictures from Planets of the Apes and winners of the 3D artists, none could come so close.
When something is SO new, we try to come out with as many possible explanations as possible, micro-evolution, mutation, genetic drift and of course reverse evolution. These are meant to provoke dicussions..[sic]
Sean Ang
co-Founder,
johorhominid.org
As Ang himself has clarified, he is not a paleoanthropologist, a museum researcher, but instead a IT (information technology) consultant or worker. He seems to be an important addition to Chow’s team, for the development of the website, although errors in basic factual content and getting online have been a problem, thusfar.
It has been a confusing journey with Chow and Ang. Cryptomundo readers are showing the strain. Jason James Pritchett, a frequent critic of Vincent Chow’s at Cryptomundo, has observed: “Sean Ang says that he has seen some of the now-infamous photos–and he does not appear to be talking about photos of footprints this time.
So it would seem.
Chow has now shown the photographs to a new associate, despite what he said about the owner of the photos leaving the country and the images not being shown until they would be published. What clearly does need to happen, now, is Chow has to diplomatically find a way to show the photographs to an international body of hominologists soon, in a stepped approach to their greater release. The following is my suggestion of a panel of individuals with whom Vincent Chow should share the photographs, with the agreement that they shall not publish them and will send him first, for his use, their honest opinion and analyses, for future publication.
My list is not based, please note, on me personally having a good or bad relationship with those here, but on their knowledge-base of Asian and non-PNW hairy hominoid reports and/or their photo analyses abilities. A gathering of 25 consultants should include the following people:
Johor Hominid Photographs Investigation Panel
Vincent Chow, SPI Johor
Sean Ang, johorhominid.org
Charles Goh, API Johor
Peter Loh, Artist analysis
Debbie Martyr, Indonesian fieldwork
Vern Weitzel, Vietnamese fieldwork
Tran Hong Viet, Vietnamese fieldwork
Anne Mallasseand, Pakistan fieldwork
John MacKinnon, Indonesian/Vietnamese fieldwork
Harold Stephens, Johor expeditions
Bobbie Short, Filipino fieldwork
Frank Poirier, Chinese fieldwork
Paul Cropper, Australian fieldwork
Tony Healy, Australian fieldwork
M. K. Davis, photo analysis
David Bittner, photo analysis
Craig Woolheater, photo analysis
Dmitri Bayanov, Euroasian analysis
Colin Groves, Southeast Asian analysis
Myra Shackley, global analysis
Eric Joye, global analysis
Jeff Meldrum, global analysis
Mark A. Hall, global analysis
Michel Raynal, global analysis
Loren Coleman, global analysis
In an ideal world, Vincent Chow democratically would feel the time has come to have some photographs published for all to ponder, for example, at a site like Cryptomundo or on his new website.
But has Sean Ang’s addition only hardened his position? Ang just commented to me that asking to see the photographs is “like asking for Angelina Jolie’s unpublished baby photos,” and that I now have to “be patient like the rest.”
Yes, patience is a virtue, as is trust in fellow cryptozoologists, hominologists, and Cryptomundo readers.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
I completely agree with this blog entry. I’ve been one of the more vocal proponents of releasing these photos in some manner since this story first broke. The Johor Hominid website is a step in the right direction, but unless something concrete and substantial is shown there, it’s just more of a tempest in a teapot.
Patience is one thing, but being constantly “teased” with promises of new information only makes the public more anxious and demanding.
if they do not come up with something substantial I think that pretty soon most of us interested with this kinda thing will just go somewhere else. I would hate to have to ignore this one simply because the researcher is being selfish with his evidence. Nice drawings and if that is truly what it looks like, it’s just an ape that walks upright.
I agree as well. Until a photo is produced, just talking about them smacks of a publicity stunt.
Of course we all know that there have never been any publicity stunts in the history of cryptozoology… (note the obvious sarcasm in my voice 🙂 )
On the Johor Hominid site there’s a cropped image of what I’m assuming is a Johor Hominid’s face… any idea if it’s from the series of photos, or is it more like an artistic representation (Photoshop, 3D art, etc)?
Curiouser and curiouser…
The face in the website banner is a reconstruction of Australopithecus afarensis made by John Gurche in 1995.
Hi gridbug,
🙂 That’s a funny one. No it is not. Got it from Becoming Human.
Thought the “stare” look is quite cool. I have updated our CVs in our website.
This should resolve the burning questions regarding our experiences. Transparency is our policy, and please have look at our Mission 2.
If I do not have this mission in mind, I would not want to be part of this blog.
I will see if I could draw a small part of the photos.
Sean Ang
co-Founder
Johor Hominid
Sean, I’m not an attorney, but I do not see how drawing a picture based on another picture that you’ve seen could place you in any legal difficulty.
On the other hand, as I said in my e-mail to you, I’m not sure what point would be served by yet another drawing based on the pictures. The public is interested moreso in the pictures themselves than a third-party interpretation of the pictures.
Have the Erectus ever been known to leave tracks suspiciously similar to a hippo?
Another comparison of events might be the Manitoba video, the Coy farm, the Sonoma video, etc.
To wolftrax, no regarding the tracks, but then, for those that thought those “Bigfoot” tracks of a rhino or an elephant (there are no hippos in Malaysia), probably need some lessons in critical thinking, anyway.
Johor Hominid tracks may have not yet been found, photographed, or casted during these most recent incidents – or, at least, not shown to any of us. There also could be other species involved in the mix. The tracks from the 1970s appear to most closely match the hominid and Homo erectus ideas lately expressed.
Wake me when they release something.
I think the owner/author of the the photographs is doing exactly what’s best for him, considering the one-time opportunity he has to generate interest in his (presumably) forthcoming tome.
Let all the opinions and analyses come later (as they assuredly will, right here and elsewhere!), perhaps on a follow-up Internet WebSite.
What would Darwin do?
I know what I’M gonna do ~ I’m goin’ Bigfootin’ this weekend, to see if I can get some decent Sasquatch photographs, and beat Johor to the punch!
OK. Let us get into the jungle and take some photos of the creature ourselves LOL
i don’t know why there’s a rush to know, it looks more and more like this will end badly. The recent articles about ‘reverse evolution’, the incorrect identification of an animal on their website, the much more likely orang explanation – this will be a colossal shock if it’s really the “greatest discovery” or whatever they’ve been saying recently.
Wasn’t the fairly recent embarassment about the 49’6″ (down to the inch!) reticulated python (which turned out to be more like 21 feet) out of this part of the world? Objective accuracy doesn’t appear to be up to the standards we are accustomed to.
Now the book’s a year or more away?
Sheesh. I realize they want to do it their way and achieve specific objectives that they have, but I hope they are aware there are concerns with them taking that long if they have legitimate photographic evidence:
(1) We could be talking about a critically endangered animal here, one that is a priceless treasure to all of mankind. The animal’s situation might be so precarious that immediate preservation and protection measures might be necessary. Delaying publication for a year or more could harm the animal’s chances of long-term survival.
(2) If the time frame is that long there is a real possibility that someone could “scoop” them – get pictures or video and go immediately to publication. I realize that this isn’t a game of “I got the first good picture”, but if there are economic concerns here there is a significant risk that someone could beat them to publication.
Yes! I hope the team the Johor Government will send into the jungle will beat these people into publishing photo evidence of the creature..
If they do have conclusive proof, the only reason I can figure that they are witholding it is because they’re trying to secure funding from someone or somewhere. When you have the monopoly on the info, you’re the most likely to get the funding. However, funding doesn’t come easy as I learned while trying to secure donors for a fine arts museum in Spring, TX. It’s possible that once they release the photos, everyone and their dog would be able to make a beeline for the location and do their own research.
That’s the only reason I can see (aside from fraud) that they’d be witholding the pictures.
yeah… to keep viewers interested in new movies before they come out, they release “teasers”.
They also have screenings for critics and writers (prominent cryptozoologists in this case) so those folks can tell us whether we might be interested in seeing it or not.
From a purely economic point of view, if Chow wants to sell any books, he’d do well to remember this.
We also have to remember, though, that it has only been a few months since Peter Loh gave us those first drawings. I respect Chow wanting to get his “ducks in a row” before proceeding, but at this point, I fully agree that a select group of experts should be allowed to see the photos, provided they sign a standard non-disclosure agreement.
Who are these supposed experts and what are their credentials? Are they PHD’s in anthropology, biology, zoology are some such field, or are they Bigfoot researchers. I think the panel should include real scientists with good reputations.
In case the comments here get read before the comments on the Johor website, I’ll reproduce a suggestion I’ve just made there:
I think you (at Johorhominid.org) should label the image in your header – to keep it clear that this is not a Johor hominid. Alternatively, substitute it with one of the published illustrations of the Johor hominid.
The more I read about this, the more I wonder about all the background details of what’s going on. Maybe I’m missing an important piece of information, but from what I can tell, Chow has never actually seen the creatures. The photographs were taken by someone else. There’s so many scenarios playing in my mind. Perhaps the photo owner is demanding a large fee to use the photos and therefore Chow is trying to raise the money to pay for their publication. Perhaps the photo owner is conservation-minded and has only agreed to release the photos if the government will guarantee protection of this new species. Perhaps the photos are hoaxed and someone is taking Chow for the proverbial ride. I just wish I knew.
Anyway, I think my best guess is that Chow is still looking for funding and the reason he’s now calling it Johor Hominid and making all these speculations about its evolution, etc. is that it sounds much more credible and scientific to people than calling it Bigfoot. However, all these claims are nothing but total speculation until one is actually studied and DNA tested.
I’m really hoping that the Malaysian translation of the word “Biscardi” isn’t “Chow.”
Well you all know what I have said in the past about wanting the pic’s. And as I said once is their only 1 person their that has a camera?? This is not looking very good.