2020-May - Testing Field Equipment - Locations

    We finally have access to our vacation properties in the Cascades. This means access to comparative darkness we just don't have near the city. The last 1/4 mile of deep snow is now passable and this is the first evening we can get out to get to know some of our new field equipment.

    I am still working on design for infrasound detector and parabolic microphone. I did collect an EMF meter, but will likely build one I can record data from more effectively.

    I have been using a Zoom H6 for audio. I have picked up an Olympus DM-720 that I intend to leave out for up to several days at a time this summer.

    Always spend some time getting to know your various recording equipment before you need to use it in the dark...

    I have a couple Seek Thermal imagers that need cell phones to use and record. They are low-resolution, but calculations suggest that ideally they should be able to detect a man-sized heat source from around 1200ft - I'll believe that when I get a chance to test it. Winding twisty forest service roads make finding a place you can have clear sight of over 1000ft problematic. These are for situational awareness only.

    We have some gopro cameras (Hero 7 and 8 black) for quick shots and general recording, gopros are great idiots cameras but have limitations. This is for head/helmet mount, or chest or looking back mount.

    We got a Cleveland Paranormal full-spectrum camera. This is a low-end not-quite-really-4K camera with software modified to allow record ing color with low-light options activated.

    For the high-end we got a Sony PXW-Z90V. This should have good low-light capability and also has super-slow motion. I tried it out on rain drops - imagine rain in the Seattle area... This summer I look forward to capturing hummingbirds and dragonflies an 960/1000 fps. I will skip the murder hornets if at all possible, but if we see them I will film it before ending it.

    All cameras will be demonstration tested at night with photo-lamps and flashlights. Exotic flashlights include UV-502nm, IR-850nm and IR-940nm. The gopros will not do well in the dark or with non-visible light sources, but that is OK; they have their purpose in life.

    I also have materials to test for the eyeshine experiment. This will be a first-pass test with the model iris using glass cabochons backed with various reflective materials. I have backings using DOT-C2 reflective tape, aluminum foil, silver paint, and mirror-back paint. I also have resin suspensions of glass beads, titanium dioxide, and a flourescent dye.

    I have ordered a 22-inch parabolic dish from wildtronics, I found no solutions I liked out of the box for the price... I will experiment with 3D printing fixtures for it and start with a condensor microphone using the Zoom H6 to see how that works. I may want to design an amplifier or try different microphone arrangements.

    I have been giving some thought to infrasound detection. The best lead I like so far is based on a paper published by Sandia Labs using differential pressure transducers. I could record the spectrum data digitally, but I could frequency-shift the data into an audible range and record it on one of the H6 audio tracks.

    That made me realize I could run that data into a lamp that responds to normal audoble sound. I wonder what a Squatch would think if it chose to infra-sound us and a light came on in the camp that corresponded to its huffing and puffing...

    I recognize there are those who will say it does not matter how far your research areas are from where you live and visit regularly, once you seek contact they will follow you. I have no interest in bringing them to our recreational properties, and so I will to my research in areas distantly removed from them. If the subjects do show up in other places it is problematic, but it is further evidence.

    I have made contact with a respected researcher willing to share his research area because, frankly, it is so large it takes several people to manage. The rules are to share observations with the group. For the purposes of my records this will become Region 1, and the original area was divided into a grid pattern. This is an active region with 4 areas and probably 2 clans. The areas will be designated C, D, Y, and Z per the existing groups nomenclature. Region 1 is a 3-hour round-trip to reach.

    Region 2 will be a region surrounding the Natural Bridges area in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I am designating 2 areas B around the bridges structure area, C around a campground with reported activity, and U around the location of a lava-tube where possible activity has been reported. Region 2 is an 8-hour round-trip to reach.

2020-Apr - Outlining Second Science Project

    Do the eyes of Sasquatch glow? I have observed eyeshine from certain animals. I have not seen eye glow, but people whose opinion I have confidence in do say they are convinced. That makes me consider it. Though all those years camping in a hammock, I would think I might have seen it if they were as close as I have come to believe they were.

    Outside of Science Fiction, looking to the natural world, there is no precedent for an animal that has eyes which emit light internally. It would be a significant disadvantage for a nocturnal creature. If you don't understand why, then be an eyeball: Put on a motorcycle helmet at night, don't go riding about, just be outside with the helmet on. Turn on a flashlight and shine it up into the helmet. You will experience what all the actors with lighted helmets complain about - you can't see anything but your own face.

    There are creatures with a tapetum lucidum, a highly reflective membrane behind the retina. Light not absorbed by the retina is reflected back into the retina by this membrane, effectively amplifying the light in the eye. These animals have a distinctively bright eyeshine when you see them at night with a source of light that can reflect in their eye back to you. There are no primates with this occular capability.

    If the Sasquatch can make their eyes glow, we need to understand that. What is glowing, how, and why? However there is no experiment necessary to determine if something glowing in the dark will be noticeable. This experiment is specifically to determine if eyeshine is bright enough to explain the observations where eye-glow is attributed.

    Looking to explanations with precedent in the natural world, I would test a model of the eye with highly reflective materials with people who believe the eye-glow proposition. If the right circumstances produce enough of a reflection to match their experiences, there is a potential explanation that needs to be explored in case analysis. This does not mean there is nothing glowing out there, but it does mean some cases do not require the eyes to be glowing.

    I have been developing a model to use, and will be testing it when I can get to a dark forest - there is no darkness near where I live adequate for this

2020-Mar - Outlining First Science Project

    In August I started reviewing the Ketchum paper.  I will detail my findings in a white-paper and while there are problems with the published information - it warrants more work.

    It seems the most abundant potential source of information may be in a study of hair.  Correspondence with Jeff Meldrum indicates a study - reviewed or not - of their hair is something lacking in this area.  Exploring hair from an any specimen, known or not, DNA is the final arbiter.

    This Summer I will be looking for opportunities to collect hair samples in the wild and apply the things I have learned to studying the morphology.

    The question of DNA would be easy if their hair was more like ours.  However I have confirmed an observation between several sources that their hair shaft consistently does not yield viable DNA.  Dr Ketchum confirmed to me the only DNA recovered from hair was from attached external tissue - what we commonly refer to as the root, but root is not quite accurate.  This is consistent with Dr Meldrum's comments on the subject - but Meldrum observed no medulla while Ketchum did.

    The hair morphology has some apparent differences I seek to confirm, and I want to develop a path to confirm samples using DNA analysis - but labs are skittish on this subject.

    As it turns out, some of the chemistry is not all that daunting - it may be possible to do some of the most expensive manual processes in local labs with time-for-rent terms.

2020-Feb - Review of Instruments and Tools

I didn't realize how much of this would be a study in human psychology.

There are many flawed ideas and perceptions - many are used to sell books and create an entertaining backstory - but that does not make them correct or factual.

Models and metaphors have been presented as evidence and fact for entertainment.

I have outlines now for several brief video or audio reference materials.

The running list sits atop the media link list.

2020-Jan - Review of the State of Sasquatch Research

    For just over a year now I have been catching up with what seems to be known about Sasquatch, and from an entertainment standpoint it is awsome.  From a scientific standpoint, I will stay with disappointed.  Carl Sagan wrote The Demon Haunted World, and more people could benefit from the basic application of his guidelines for the evaluation of ideas.

    In the last couple months I have started looking at local groups, and there I find glimmers of hope.  People who understand nobody learns from secrecy.

    Sadly, however, many people are strongly attached to ideas which are not rooted in fact; they resist explorations which would potentially refute cherished beliefs.

    Surprizingly, though, I find that some of the stranger observations of orbs and lights may potentially be related to these beings.