Whitton & Dyer Con men NOT Pranksters

Well, last night Steve Kulls was ubiquitous-- he was all over the place: first on his own blogtalk radio special show, then on Monsterquest. On the internet radio broadcast he indicated his feeling that Biscardi was indeed duped again, and explained that most of the Searching for Bigfoot Team (including himself) were operating in the dark, with only Biscardi's claims via phone conversations that he had really SEEN, INSPECTED and TOUCHED the body. Apparently Biscardi "went for" the hoax hook, line and sinker. He was blinded by his need to be THE ONE who "finds" bigfoot; he apparently made claims that were untrue (even to his own staff) to keep the ball rolling. 

But the two hoaxers were guilty of more than just a "prank." They commited fraud, and managed to pull way too many people into this largely because of Matt Whitton's position on the Clayton County Police force. Many folks found it impossible to believe a deputy sheriff and former "correctional officer" could take a "prank" all the way over the top! 

Now they are trying to weasel out of this by dissing the entire bigfoot community, making out that it's OK to lie about Bigfoot, "'cause everybody knew it was a lie." I really find this offensive especially coming from a former (he got fired) police officer. I guess Rick and Matt were not aware that many members of the police community in different parts of the country have come out with their close encounters of the bigfoot kind. The aforementioned Monsterquest episode included reenactments of deputies encountering what they could only describe as a bigfoot in upstate New York! One of the newest books on the subject of bigfoot "The Hoopa Project" was written by a retired San Jose policeman, who got involved in bigfoot research four years ago after he was convinced by two other policemen (from the Hoopa area in Northern California) that bigfoot IS REAL. I guess Matt and Rick didn't realize that the public at large like their policemen to be honest, and not commit childish hoaxes in front of the entire world via the internet.

To excuse the hoaxers because "bigfoot isn't real" would make a mockery of exploratory science. Many people in this country are involved in bigfoot research with an expectation that one day the truth will be revealed, either through careful scientific exploration or by a random act like a bigfoot roadkill. They engage in this study because they have either "done their homework" on this subject or they've actually seen one with their own eyes. The people who took Whitton on his word were grieviously damaged by this incident... skeptics will have a field day with this and ignorant news anchors (they don't do any research) will start to act out with all the bigfoot jokes, pushing the genuine study of this mystery further into a bad light. The two men committed fraud on an international level when they told their lies in front of a Press Conference, and showed every intention of indulging in other fraudulent endeavors on their web site (expeditions-$499; plus they printed up a product line of hats and shirts to sell) based on their claims of being the world's best bigfoot trackers. They are con men and bunko artists and need to be punished for this egregious act. Plus they actually bilked Biscardi and his  investors out of hard cash.

Bigfoot Hoaxers will Reappear

Last night online Steve Kulls (the man who introduced Biscardi to the Georgia men) read a statement and answered questions about the "bigfoot body." He gave a timeline breakdown on how the hoax went down, Fox News was given the exclusive scoop because Biscardi has worked with them in the past. Kulls waited until 10:10 EST to make the statement due to the promise to Fox, The jist of it is this, referring above to the three choices I offered yesterday to explain Tom's actions, it turns out to be both (1) he lied, and never really saw the thawed body and (3) contrary to his claim of the opposite, he is quite obviously the WORST bigfoot hunter in the country.

He was indeed duped again, but didn't know it until very early Sunday (17th) morning. He then called the two "good old boys" and they admitted the hoax and agreed to meet Biscardi at 8 AM to sign a document admitting guilt and promising to return the money they had been advanced. Biscardi got to their Palo Alto hotel room only to find out they had skipped town. The statement by Kulls is available online, but I don't think this drama has played out yet. The two men will either have to disappear and go into hiding or reappear soon with a mitigating explanation that absolves them of the fraud. I for one plan to "stay tuned" as the biggest circus may be yet to come, and the true "ringmaster" yet to be revealed.



--Michael Rugg

I wrote the above on August 19...

just a moment ago I heard that the "good old boys" are at it again. I figured they had something "up their sleeve" when they went all the way to the press conference. Maybe they figured Tom Biscardi would join in on the hoax and were disappointed when he refused to do so; maybe they had a "sting" explanation planned from the start. Steve Kulls is probably the only person who might know the truth (other than Biscardi) and he will be talking tonight, I expect, on his Squatchdetective radio show. When I heard that the thawed ice revealed the hoax, and that the two hoaxers had skipped town, I figured they would most likely claim it was all just a ruse to prove that all bigfooters are gullible fools, and that Biscardi is a hoaxer. It was the only scenario that made sense, given their previous antics; with Biscardi's reputation, and Whitton's position on the police force in Georgia, Tom makes a perfect fallguy. I said from the beginning this looks like the Dukes of Hazzard meet Smokey and the Bandits over the top!