In mobilizing the troops this evening a lament erupted. The lament is that our posts sometimes help the bigfoot carnival barkers strengthen their playbook. We see them mastering the art of pulling the victim card. We see them employing the intellectually dishonest approach of presenting bigfoot “evidence” on their bigfoot website or blog but sayin they are not sayin it is bigfoot and we will let the masses decide. The masses have drank the juice, we and they know how that little swerve works. We see them use the hype machine marketing approach when conference time rolls around, start with something to energize the base early to get that sector committed, then tease out some more, and then drop another hype bomb about two weeks before the big event. We’ve seen it, we’ve reported it, bigfoot carnival barkers have copied it. And sometimes, like today, we see all three get wrapped up in a neat little bigfootery package.
After a few weeks of hyping the event, a picture was published today. Those drunk on the bigfoot punch just sucked it up. We did some studying and think it is hooooo-eeey. And it is not the it’s too good line you sometimes hear. Our issue is it is just not right, it doesn’t pass the smell test.
Why? For starters the field of depth just does not look right for a trail camera, which was the reported device. It literally looks like a bigfoot wedged into a space about as wide as it is. The drama queen also purports to have multiple pictures, so this thing stumbled by a conventional flash trail cam multiple times. As we have said before, bigfoot are like the Amish, no pictures please. We have used them to run em off during OOPS with some success, actually it seems it PO’d em as they trashed the thing. We are calling multiple uses of the carnival barker bigfooter strategems on this one.
A little digging ensued during the meeting, people were dispatched to gather up more info on trail cams and depth of field. What we found:
- Most manufacturers will admit that the effective close range of a trail cam is 5′
- Most will also admit that inside 10′ one gets a fairly dramatic flash white out. There are new ones that are better, but this picture supposedly is four years old and thus a few evolutions of trail cam technology ago. FWIW a color trail cam was pretty darn expensive back then.
- Most trail cams have a fixed focal length of 42 mm. With digital sensors, this means the lense/sensor technology roughly matches that of a conventional 35 mm. This fixed focal length thing is important.
- When we put the numbers for the size of the object and the distance to the object, the focal length calculation is well outside the capability of a fixed 42 mm focal length camera.
We started this post days ago and just did not have the time to get back to it. Since that time a possible contender for the suit du jour has appeared, and some back pedaling on it being a trail camera has been issued. It’s now a 35 mm camera with a zoom lens. That story is almost as ridiculous as then you have someone outside, perched higher than the subject in the picture, at night, in relative proximity to a beast using a flash attachment. And there is a claim of multiple pictures.
We are calling bigfootery bull crap on this one. Best explanation is the craving to be adored by this particular DDQ (dysfunctional drama queen) and pre-conference season hype that is right out of our bigfoot carnival barker handbook. Now we have opened the table for the victim card, perhaps a mistake but someone needs to call BS when it is BS. And here’s the best part, they really do not care if it is real or legit because it is about what we mentioned earlier in the paragraph; hype, being a “brave and beloved bigfoot researcher”, gathering some notoriety and putting butts in seats, and telling those butts which seats are where they need to be.
Our predictions: Weeks of new developments, new experts, revealing interviews if she can keep people interested in it and not get blown out by issues with the picture. Perhaps with a guest appearance by the photographer at a paying event.
Either completely ignoring those that are saying BS, or a long, heart-felt essay on how tough it is being a real researcher.
Drama and bigfootery will continue to ensue. And we will lament that we give those too dense to figure it out with a bigfoot carnival barker playbook and tips.
This is what we have been saying for many years. Some get it, some go on the attack.
The funny thing is, she can’t prove the witness is okay with the copyright without outting the witness, so there ya go. Yes, it’s there just in time her conference appearances, and anyone with commonsense should be able to see that. The backpeddling will lead to stumbling and the resulting fall.
We Reply: One telling thing that was forwarded to us was a post on the James Randi forum. Gist of the post is that Caramel Biscotti was also the recipient of the picture way back when. For Caramel to take a pass really says a great deal about the legitimacy of it. Hovey surpasses Caramel on the huckster scale, now that is a bigfootery achievement.
We have also heard things are going slow with the conference she is published as a “speaker”. Obviously this is an attempt to drum up some business and put a butt or two in a seat. Seriously, what would be her topic? How to fight with people on the internet, advanced facebook flaming, the list of bad behaviors and bruhahs is long, but reportedly she is an expert at SMORES.
From Facebook:
Good Morning Everyone…
Melissa Hovey, one of our scheduled Speakers on May 6th and the Number One Female Bigfoot Researcher in the Country, will be bringing with and answering questions about her Copyrighted Picture of a Bigfoot… At th…is link is an issue Melissa has had to defend in her Copyrighted Picture with some others as well as how The American Bigfoot Society will treat future Copyrighted infringements
Inquirer hits another home run on the prediction tally. But wait, that cottage is using “her” picture for gain, where is the cease and desist? Thats right she is appearing and signing autographs for the low low rate of $2, not a bad investment to get the number one female bigfooter.
We Reply: Exactly as predicted. Once the picture started to lose traction, then the copywrite and blacklist releases followed to keep the hype going.
Additonal prediction – you folks are “haters” and jealous. And she had never thunk of the idea to use the picture until the “haters” brought it up, snide little “thank you” and “;)”.
One last comment that may cause some marital discord within the various sprawling BFE estates. From the comment,”Thats right she is appearing and signing autographs for the low low rate of $2, not a bad investment to get the number one female bigfooter.”
And our comment (drum-roll): At least one guy got her for less than $2 so it might not be that great of a deal. Can we get a Beckjord Muuha?