The National Geographic Channel’s airing a special on Bigfoot, and above is a clip from it featuring Dr. Jeff Meldrum.

The show next airs on Jan. 24th. Click the link above for more details.

“It’s aggravating that a person like [Biscardi] garners the press because of sensationalism,” says Jeff Meldrum, an Idaho anthropologist who is an expert in foot morphology and locomotion in monkeys, apes and hominids. “There are certainly activities that are laughable,” says Meldrum. “But there are also those that are attempting to legitimize a very serious inquiry into the possible existence of a relic population of great ape. This is my odyssey, this is my quest.”

Full article here.

ABC News has joined the parade of news bureaus with nothing to else to report, and picked up the Georgia bigfoot story. Not much new: Brief introduction to details, skeptical bigfoot researchers, history of bigfoot, etc.

But there’s a quote in there with some new info (at least to me) that reveals Tom Biscardi’s plan.

After describing how he sent samples to Curt Nelson at the University of Minnesota for DNA analysis (which, by the way, won’t likely be available at today’s press conference), the article states:

…Biscardi said he plans to keep the body at an undisclosed location while scientists, including two Russian hominid specialists, study the creature. Biscardi said the entire process will be filmed and then released as a documentary.

So rather than pursue scientific validation through normal channels, which even (bigfoot enthusiast) Curt Nelson is calling for, Biscardi is going to keep the “body” hidden away somewhere, to be studied by “Russian scientists” (likely to be about as trustworthy as Dr. Paul Van Buren), after which he’ll start selling DVDs. Basically we’ve got another “Alien Autopsy” situation on our hands.

I wonder if he can get Johnathan Frakes (or – even better – Yappi) to host it.

Legend of Bigfoot: Discovery? Try Hoax. – ABCNews.com

Photo: AP

Well-known bigfoot researcher, author (of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science) and scientist Jeff Meldrum was contacted by Scientific American and asked about the Bigfoot Hoaxers Trackers’ claims:

What do you think of this announcement of a bigfoot body being found in Georgia?

I’m extremely skeptical about this bigfoot claim. I haven’t been contacted by any of the principal [people] involved in this. I’ve had interactions with Tom Biscardi [the bigfoot hunter holding the press conference] in the past, and based on that history, I would say that anything he is involved in is suspect. The fact that the two Georgian men [who said they found the body] turned to him and not anyone with scientific credentials is very questionable.

Link to Full Article