As I often do, I was over at our friend Shawn’s site (Bigfoot Evidence) and found that he had posted some DNA findings regarding the Ketchum project.

These findings originate with Robert Lindsay who may have a source within the Ketchum camp. This source, which could be Ketchum herself (speculation) had decided to throw him a bone on the Bigfoot DNA study. Apparently Lindsay had this information quite some time ago but it was only this week that he was told to go ahead with his report.

According to the report there were three distinct DNA sample subjects and all three seem to match in the “MC1R” gene test.

What is the MC1R gene and what does this all mean? Well, Lindsay is a bit confused but he did provide enough of an explanation for us to get an idea of where this is all going.

First, Shawn was nice enough to provide some preliminary information that explain what the Bigfoot DNA study is trying to prove as well as an explanation of a proposed ID for Sasquatch.

Now lets get into the report filed by Lindsay:

Nuclear DNA:

As I promised in an earlier post, we can now release preliminary data on Bigfoot nuclear DNA. Three samples were tested for nuclear DNA. A single gene, the MC1R gene, was tested. According to Wikipedia, MC1R is one of the key proteins involved in regulating mammalian skin and hair color. In fact, in this study it was considered the “hair color” gene for practical purposes. The default Bigfoot hair color, which was the same in all three copies, is “red.” That could mean “auburn.”

All humans have a distinctive marker on this gene. In Neandertals, one polymorphism is different. Caucasians can have 10 varying coding genes for MC1R and Blacks can have five different coding genes for MC1R, but they all share a single polymorphism that differentiates them as humans and from apes and even primitive hominids like Neandertal.

The results from the MC1R gene tests were very confusing, and I do not understand the results very well, but I will just throw them out to you and let you try to make sense out of them. Sources told me that the MC1R gene in the three Bigfoots was exactly the same in each one, a shocking finding. The results were “within the human range, but just barely.”

The results were not in GenBank, nor were there any human results even remotely close to be found in GenBank. It is barely possible that such a bizarre finding could show up in one random modern human. That it would show up by chance in three separate random humans is for all intents and purposes statistically impossible. That is, the odds are against it are so extreme that we can be reasonably sure that these were not three random humans.

The problem is the same as with the MtDNA. We are still stuck with human DNA, even though it is so bizarre it is nearly completely outside of the modern human range.

But here is where the problem comes in. Out of the ~1000 polymorphisms in this gene, all three Bigfoot samples were concordant for a single polymorphism. That polymorphism was “100% non-human,” as my source put it. In other words, it is like the Neandertal copy of this gene that also differs by a single a non-human polymorphism.

Now the question is, can humans have non-human genes, non-human markers on their genes, or non-human polymorphisms? I would say no. If you find a non-human area in something’s genetics, my position is that the genetic sample is simply non-human. Humans can’t have non-human genes or even parts of genes. But I’m not a geneticist.

I would assume that this single non-human polymorphism is what made the Ketchum Study conclude that we were dealing with something non-human in terms of the nuclear DNA.

We also have the 4-letter DNA alphabetic code for that polymorphism, but I am not going to print it as I do not want to upset Ketchum’s findings. For now, let us call it XXXX where each X is an alphabetic letter in the genetic code.

I believe that the DNA testing subsequently concluded that all three of these samples tested positive for Bigfoot on DNA.

I believe at least one of these samples referenced above was Larry Jenkins’ Bigfoot toenail.

Numerous questions arise from this finding.

First of all, how can the gene be “within the human range, but only barely,” and also have a 100% non-human polymorphism similar to Neandertal’s? This makes no sense to me.

If the default color gene in Bigfoots is “red,” then why do we find dark brown, brown, white and grey colored Bigfoots? I have no answer to that question.

The nuclear DNA findings above are extremely tentative and are based on conversations with sources over a period of months. I tried to check back with my sources today before I wrote the piece, but I could not get in touch with them. They are subject to revision in the future. I have had this nuclear DNA information for months now but have been unable to release it because it was given to me off the record. I just now got the go ahead to run it.

My understanding of the final results of the nuclear DNA is that it is quite a bit aways from human. How far away is uncertain. From three different sources, we heard “1/3 of the way from a human to a chimp.”

However, another source said it is closer. Two different sources referred to Neandertal and Denisova. “Whether it is closer to Neandertal or Denisova, I am not sure,” one said. Another referenced late Erectus trending into archaic Sapiens. An example would be “Heidelberg Man.” If the nuclear side is 1/3 of the way from a human to a chimp, the split between Bigfoot and man took place 2.2 million YBP (years before present). If it is instead closer to Neandertal – Denisova – Heidelberg Man, we are looking at a Bigfoot – human split of 750,000 YBP.

At the moment, we don’t know how far away the nuclear side is from humans. All we have is conjecture.

Ketchum’s peer reviewed study:

The study has been out for peer review for about 9 months now – February 2011 to November 2011. Blogs are quoting me as saying that Ketchum is unwilling to make the changes that the peer reviewers want. That’s a misquote. My sources are simply speculating that, based on her “bullheaded” personality, Ketchum may be unwilling to make the changes the peer reviewers request.

Truth is we have no knowledge whatsoever of how the peer review is going, but it does seem to be taking awhile. This implies a long and drawn out process.

We are also not certain of Ketchum saying a May 2012 publication date. That date is simply being thrown about because Ketchum will be appearing at a Bigfoot conference in the Pacific Northwest on Homo sapiens hirsutti on that date.

Speaking of the Ketchum Project, Here’s an update regarding one of her alleged sample suppliers, Justin Smeja:

Justin Smeja’s original post on Taxidermy.net:

We already discussed this finding in our previous post. The original post from that website is almost impossible to get. Only a few people have it, and they won’t let anyone else see it. Nevertheless, our team* got ahold of a copy.

In the post, Smeja admits to shooting the Bigfoot in the back as it was running away. In addition, Smeja repeatedly refers to the creatures as “bears,” though he says over and over that they are the strangest bears he had ever seen. Nevertheless, he titled the post, “If You Saw Bigfoot, Would You Shoot It?”

Keep in mind that the post was only 1 month after the Sierra Kills. Smeja did not believe in Bigfoots at all at the time of the shooting. Even after talking to several people who told him he just shot two Bigfoots, part of Smeja still cannot wrap his mind around that fact, so he keeps trying to rationalize that somehow he shot two of the weirdest bears on the face of the Earth. He theorizes that the Bigfoot he shot may have had two of its legs shot off and then learned to walk upright on only two legs.

The concept of Bigfoot is still so weird to him that his mind refuses to believe it and he is backing up into bizarre bear explanations to make sense of the insensible. He also refers to grizzly bears a few times when talking about the Bigfoot he shot, possibly due to the huge size.

*One or more persons, which may or may not include me.

Smeja’s Bigfoot steak is for sale:

First of all, we do not believe that Smeja has a single small Bigfoot steak. By his own admission, we calculated that he has 7.5 pounds of steak. He gave Ketchum 1/4 of that, which was ~2 pound slice. So he still retains ~6 pounds of steak. We recently received word from sources that Smeja has been trying to sell some or all of that steak. Asking price was reportedly ~$10,000. We believe that there were no takers.

Source: Bigfoot Evidence

It would seem that we are getting closer to either proving the existence of “Homo sapiens hirsutii” or this is all just a big pantload.

Frankly, I can’t see how it would benefit Melba Ketchum’s business to perpetrate such a hoax. I’m not saying I trust Lindsay and I’ve made no secret of the fact that he’s not one of my favorite people but this all seems to be going beyond the point of no return.

If this DNA info was released to keep us happy for awhile, I would think that it is likely the right thing to do at the right time. However, lets hope that future results are not going to trickle out via a third source.

And what of Justin Smeja? It would seem that he’s falling further and further down the Rodney Dangerfield scale of respect.

Shooting anything in the back would be a despicable act. We could chalk it up to fantasy if it were not an actual quote from Smeja himself.

Does this further solidify his tale? Was it merely a bear? Smeja’s story seems to change with the wind.

21 comments