Missing 411- Bigfoot 101 Class 1 with David Paulides
Video from Canam Missing Project
Bigfoot 101
The world of Bigfoot has been riddled with hoaxes and other fakery for decades in America and around the world.
In the same vein as UFOs/UAPs this creature has in reality been reported for a very long time in North America and on other continents. It is duplicated in cultures across the planet and has been documented for hundreds of years at least.
Sooo!!??
As with many strange/different/unusual things in our world we approach this subject with skepticism and objectivity.
And we should.
The facts around these creatures points toward a physical and non-physical reality. This has been reported over and over.
If you are not familiar with David Paulides then this will be your introduction. He is a retired police officer (bio below)
"David Paulides is an American cryptozoologist, author, and producer known for claiming the real-life existence of a cryptid named Bigfoot. He has also linked the disappearances of several people in National Parks and elsewhere to mysterious and unspecified causes. After finishing college, he joined the Fremont Police Department and a few years later, was transferred to San Jose Police Department as a member of their SWAT team. Later, he was made a detective and served as part of the Vice/Intelligence Unit, performing various assignments. After his voluntary retirement from the police, Paulides briefly worked as an executive in the technology sector and later was asked to determine the possibility of the existence of Bigfoot. He began his career as a cryptozoologist and subsequently authored two self-published books and set up the research group North America Bigfoot Search. He even a sponsored a research paper on the subject through the group but it was poorly received. For his next project, Paulides chose Missing 411, on which he released a few other self-published books and made a documentary. However, his findings on this matter was heavily criticized as well." from the article: David Paulides
Bigfoot 101 Class #2 David Paulides Presents Lessons from the Field
Video from Canam Missing Project
"There are currently seven more in this series. You can see them on the Youtube channel listed above. He discusses many things related to these creatures/entities and gives the titles of many books that could be referenced.
He Has His Detractors
I do not find the article below to have conclusions that very convincing and I also believe that the writer misses the point(s) that David Paulides was making.
I present this alternate view to show that EVERYONE that researches or reports on Bigfoot or "The Phenomenon" is subject to misunderstanding and criticism, just as in every other field.
I seems to me that objectively David Paulides has many years of experience in critical thinking investigations and tries to eliminate all possibilities.
Many of his critics have a bias, not unusual in this area of study.
Could David Paulides bias as well? Of course and could he be wrong? Yes!
However I will take someone's years of field experience any day as opposed to an educated guess.
But this is the thing we must consider. If we could find a way to work together in pursuit of data and observations instead of trying to one up each other we could make some inroads into this complex and bizarre part of reality!
An Investigation of the Missing411 Conspiracy
"People are going missing from America’s national parks under mysterious circumstances, and the National Park Service is obstructing attempts to investigate these events. At least that’s the claim made by author David Paulides in his “Missing411” series of books.
Paulides has classified over 1,440 missing persons cases under the Missing411 label. At its core, Missing411 is the vague claim that something unusual is occurring related to deaths and disappearances in national parks. The concept has been steeped in the milieu of conspiracy and the supernatural, as Paulides frequently appears on paranormal-oriented radio shows and podcasts to discuss it. A forthcoming documentary appears to be in the works as well. (I have been unable to ascertain the meaning of 411. I can only speculate that it’s a slang synonym for “information,” although “MissingInfo” isn’t much better of a moniker.)
Interestingly, Paulides has consistently avoided providing any explanation for the cause of these supposedly mysterious disappearances. He’s joined the ranks of those who are “just asking questions.” One might assume Paulides, founder of the “North American Bigfoot Search” and author of the book Tribal Bigfoot, would arrive at a cryptozoological explanation. While this hasn’t happened yet, it may, as Missing411 appears to be an evolving mythology.
When pressed for a causal explanation, Paulides has remained evasive. He sees his role as an investigator pointing to a problem, not a cause. Alien abduction, ghost involvement, faerie kidnappers, and transdimensional chupacabra can all be swapped in and out as possible explanations for this apparent mystery. The topic seems to be constructed with intentional ambiguity, promoting any nonscientific idea to fill in as a possible explanation.
Despite Paulidess appearances on Coast to Coast AM, talks at MUFON conferences, and interest in Bigfoot, proper skepticism requires us to entertain the Missing411 claims independently of his history and other beliefs. We should not dismiss this idea outright, in the same way we wouldn’t dismiss Linus Pauling’s legacy in chemistry because of his pseudoscientific beliefs about vitamin C.
Could it be that an underfunded and understaffed National Park Service and related police departments lack the tools and ingenuity to determine that an unidentified serial killer is at work in the parks? This is not outside the realm of possibility. Though Paulides has never put this particular claim forward, there is a nontrivial possibility he’s inadvertently produced a dataset from which this conclusion could emerge. Of course, it does seem that Paulides leans toward more supernatural conclusions.
I was fascinated by the intrigue of the Missing411. Its Blair Witch vibe would have me eagerly in line on opening night of a Hollywood thriller with this premise. My curiosity was also piqued by the vagueness of the claim and the remote possibility that Paulides could be onto something legitimate—but with a practical explanation.
I embarked on a skeptical investigation using some of the approaches I’ve learned here in the pages of Skeptical Inquirer and in similar books on the subject. I determined that following “Hyman’s Categorical Imperative”—do not try to explain something until you are sure there is something to be explained—was the best place to start.
Are the supposed Missing411 cases real cases or works of fiction? I used a random number generator to select several pages from Missing411: Western United States & Canada to conduct a detailed verification for the first case on each page. Every case I checked related to real events; Paulides is not making these disappearances up.
One case involved a hunter who never returned from his hunt. His car was found but his body was never recovered. A second case involved a hiker. Paulides mentions that “law enforcement officials have said they believe foul play was involved.” As with any unexpected loss of life, both cases are tragedies. Yet both cases are banal and devoid of any apparently unusual qualities.." from the article: An Investigation of the Missing411 Conspiracy
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