symondrake.com » Cryptozoology

The Mair Park Bigfoot pays off

Symon — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Many moons ago while surfing Amazon’s Listmanias I came across an author by the name of Jeremy Robinson. To cut a long story short, he was running a viral video contest to promote his new book, Pulse. I bribed my good buddy Lesmondj into spending a Saturday afternoon in the bush and what eventuated was two versions of the now infamous Bigfoot attack video (over 10,000 hits now on Metacafe and YouTube).

We won by a landslide, the closest (and only) opponent trailing by 9000ish hits (but who’s counting) and I was delighted to recieve the promised books last week.

A massive THANKYOU to Jeremy Robinson for the very generous prize (and for forking out mega moolah for the postage). Please check out his site here.

And for all those dying to know how the movie magic was created, here is some Bigfoot Attack Footage trivia…

1. No, the Bigfoot wasn’t real. There was more than one concerned person thinking the footage was authentic. Lesmondj and I must have the mean acting skills (and girls dig guys who have skills…).

2. The entire attack scene was done on the first take… with an imagined Bigfoot, yes imagined, not real.

3. Jon Dylan used his computer hacking skills to overlay the Bigfoot sound effects (purchased from Itunes for $1.79).

4. Apparently, the Bigfoot growls sound identical to a real Bigfoot, as one reader commented (as she deals with them on a daily basis – seriously).

5. The Mair Park Ghost legend is mostly true.

6. On the short version, Yes, the blood was real… from my nose. Don’t ask.

7. The rotting bone at the cave’s entrance (tedious version) was stolen from my dog.

8. Lesmondj spent the majority of the attack scene voluntarily lying in a puddle of water. The mark of a true friend.

9. There was no script.

View the short (and exhilirating) version below:

Footage of Bigfoot Attack? – Click here for more blooper videos

View the long (but informative) version below:

NZ’s very own giant man-eating bird

Symon — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:51:00 +0000

Those of us with a fascination for cryptozoology will be familiar with Americas ‘Thunderbird’ (giant man-eating) bird legend. Well, wouldn’t you know… I Came across an extremely interesting article in this week’s NZ Herald about New Zealand’s very own man-eating bird with a 3-meter wingspan and talons as big as tiger’s claws that terrorised the early Maori.

Now if that’s not worthy of a blog post, I don’t know what is.

The Maori Legend of the giant man-eating bird, Te Hokioi, is a legend no more. It is now believed by scientists to be the Haast’s Eagle that was discovered in swamp deposits by Sir Julius von Haast in the 1870s.

Haast’s eagle has until now, always been thought to be a scavenger because its bill was similar to a vulture’s, but a re-examination of skeletons using today’s technology shows it could easily deliver a killing blow as it dived at speeds of up to 80kph.

“They were certainly capable of swooping down and taking a child… and had the ability to not only strike with their talons but to close the talons and put them through quite solid objects such as a pelvis. It was designed as a killing machine.” says Paul Scofield, the curator of vertebrate zoology at the Canterbury Museum.

The eagle’s main prey would have been Moa, flightless birds which grew to as much as 250kg and 2.5 metres tall. Tragically, it is believed that once the Moa were exterminated by humans, the giant man-eater simply died out also.

Read the original article here.

What’s really lurking down the plughole

Symon — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:41:00 +0000

I had to unblock the bathroom sink the other evening… joy. With the help of a crochet hook borrowed from PaisleyJade (yes, they really are good for something), I was able to pull out what I can only describe as a greeny, slimy, smelly, hairy, stringy goop that had to be seen to be believed. What caused it? Who knows… who wants to know? Which got me thinking…

Does anyone really know what lurks in the pipes under our houses? One recent discovery has been aptly titled ‘The sewer monster’ (see clip below).

They are saying that the monster is nothing more than masses of Tubifex worms… but I say that is very debatable. If you watch the monster closely, you will notice that it has what looks like a membrane enveloping it, unlike worms, and it is above the water, unlike worms, and it retreats from light as one organism, unlike worms (see clip below).

To conclude, I wonder if what I pulled up out of the plughole was a decomposing ‘sewer monster’? My advice is don’t get too close to the plughole next time you brush your teeth.

(Why am I thinking about the facehugger from Alien right now?)

Authentic footage of Bigfoot attack?

Symon — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:43:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Lesmond and I entered a viral video contest promoting PULSE by Jeremy Robinson.

Although entertaining, the movie was far too long and I hate to say it… boring. Good news folks. I have re-edited it to a lean 1.15 minutes, and thanks to a blood-nose (don’t ask), it now has an alternate ending (like special edition DVDs ;-)

So PLEASE view the clip below and tell your friends about it as the more views it has, the better chance I have of winning. Thanks heaps!

Footage of Bigfoot Attack?

Mair Park Ghost Footage

Symon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:52:00 +0000

About this time last year, I wrote of the time when my parents had a close encounter with the urban legend known as ‘The Mair Park Ghost. The original post created quite a stir, and you can read the subsequent shenanigans here:

The Mair Park Ghost

Haunted houses, ghosts and demons

Ghost mystery solved… or is it?

Symon Drake… Ghostbuster (heh)

Revenge of the Mair Park Ghost

On Saturday, my good buddy Lesmond and I decided to make a small video diary/doco about the ghost legend. What ensued was far from expected, or rehearsed. Disturbing footage follows.

Titanaboa update

Symon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:54:00 +0000

Don’t ask me why I’m writing multiple posts about giant snakes. I really don’t have a clue, other than the concept is an entertaining one.

Anyway, I came across this diagram depicting the size of Titanoboa in comparison to a bus and human… goodtimes.

For those wondering if Titanoboa is just a fable, click here to read all about it.

Great Snakes: the slither continues…

Symon — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:29:00 +0000

And just when you thought my giant-snake obsession was over!

While having some brief down-time and browsing some crypto blogs I came upon the above photo (click on image to enlarge). The caption translated follows (the original photograph has it written on the back):

“This is a ‘jiboia’ snake of which only part appears. It has approximately 48 meters and was found on the ‘Jari’ Lake, Pará state, where some people say there are no Big Snakes. On 11/10/1949″.

The photo is authentic but there is no way to accurately judge the size of the snake. 48 meters sounds impossibly huge… but even if it was half that size, it would be an absolute monster!

www.strangeark.com states the photo was originally published in April 28, 1949, in Brazilian newspaper… “The snake was alleged 45 meters, and was found on the Rio Abuna.”

A photographer has commented that the snake could be very close to the camera and its apparent size could very well be be just a perspective trick.

It’s nice to imagine it’s real anyway… in the relative safety of my house in ‘snakeless’ New Zealand.

Croc-swallowing monster exists!

Symon — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:12:00 +0000

At last, tangible proof has surfaced that giant snakes do exist (at least they did, once). A snake so huge it could swallow a crocodile in one gulp.

Remains from no less than eight giant snakes have been unearthed in a coal mine in Colombia. Aptly named ‘Titanoboa‘, researchers estimate (from the size of its vertebrae) that it was 15 metres long, a metre wide and weighed well over a tonne.

To put the size of this monster in perspective… The giant snake from the cheesy B-grade horror flick ‘Anaconda’ was 40-foot long. Titanoboa is 5 foot longer!

Are Titanoboas slithering around South Africa today? Researchers estimate the snakes lived over 60-million years ago. Meh. I have more faith that Elvis is alive (and is presently finishing a Sudoku puzzle on Mars) than in inconclusive dating methods. But I digress. Truth of the matter is that in recent history there have been , and still are, numerous eyewitness accounts of gargantuan snakes.

For me, I like to believe they are still around… at least from a distance.

Click here to read another post on giant snakes which you’ll find extremely interesting (if not unsettling).

Freaky Cloverfield squid discovered

Symon — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:37:00 +0000

I’ve always been fascinated by the giant squid. Click here to read the account of when my father’s friend witnessed a giant squid attacking a whale.

Imagine my excitement when I discovered the following?

On November 11, 2007, an unknown species of giant squid (6 meters long) was filmed off a drilling site in the Gulf of Mexico. A portion of the footage is shown below. Imagine doing some night scuba diving and seeing that emerge from the murky distance. *shudder*

What to do if attacked by a giant snake

Symon — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:29:00 +0000

As a follow up to my Great Snakes post, here is an excerpt (in italics) from the US Government Peace Corps Manual for volunteers working in the Amazon Jungle. It details what to do if an anaconda attacks you. Please keep in mind that a mature anaconda can easily swallow an adult human whole…

1. If you are attacked by an anaconda, do not run. The snake is faster than you are.
2. Lie flat on the ground. Put your arms tight against your sides, your legs tight against one another.
3. Tuck your chin in.
4. The snake will begin to nudge and climb over your body.
5. Do not panic.
6. After the snake has examined you, it will begin to swallow you from the feet end – always from the feet end. Permit the snake to swallow your feet and ankles. Do not panic!
7. The snake will now begin to suck your legs into its body. You must lie perfectly still. This will take a long time.
8. When the snake has reached your knees slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife and very gently slide it into the side of the snake’s mouth between the edge of its mouth and your leg, then suddenly rip upwards, killing the snake.
9. Be sure you have your knife.
10. Be sure your knife is sharp.