How The Honey Island Swamp Monster Was Hoaxed
Editor’s Note: This is a post by Bigfoot Evidence contributor Vicki W.
Several weeks ago we posted a story about the Honey Island Swamp Monster. Part of the dvd set "Bigfoot is Real" includes a segment investigating the legend. M.K. Davis and Jay Michael took a trip to the Honey Island Swamp in Louisiana in 2003 in order to get stock footage for the documentary detailing the legend of Harlan Ford's sighting and film of a Bigfoot like monster said to be inhabiting the area. Many track castings of a strange clawed print were also lifted in the 1970's.
But the men came back with a very different story after chatting with the locals of the region. Bigfoot naysayers will enjoy a little satisfaction with what they found regarding the legend. Traipsing through the heavily mosquito infested swamp area in the middle of the West Nile outbreak, a few locals surprised them with the declaration that the whole affair had been hoaxed. Relatives of Harlan Ford confirmed that a shoe was found with a clawed molding attached to its sole allowing a human foot to impress the strange prints into the muddy ground.
Davis and Michael were stunned to hear this and set out to find out more. After speaking to a woman who says she took the shoe to a show and tell presentation as a young child, they eventually locate a man who has it in his possession. The video shows footage and photos of the shoe and explains the clever crafting process that actually fooled anthropologists who had examined the castings. I recall a line from a past National Geographic special entitled "Is It Real?" wherein a skeptic makes the statement, (paraphrasing) "I think people often underestimate the cleverness and resourcefulness of hoaxers." So I suppose the only thing to say in this case is the old saying...if the shoe fits, well, I guess the shoe fits.
Watch the video to see the shoe and a description of just how it was crafted. The men compare it to the castings and explain how they confirmed a match between them. Although the conclusion doesn't necessarily mean there is no such creature living in the mucky remote regions of the swamp, it does reinforce the integrity of Michael and Davis. They 'fessed up to what they found, afterall, or as they state in the credits, 'they slayed the dragon'.
The last 15 minutes show you the grainy footage of their originally planned documentary and the discovery of the phony shoe as it happened.
Yep just like all Bigfoot tracks. Fake.
ReplyDeleteWere the hoaxed prints made after the film was shot ? If so this story may be like many encounters in the bigfoot community. A witness has a legitimate sighting may even film it. Then for years they try to get additional evidence of it's existance but are without success. That's when they start producing their own evidence to support their original sighting ?
ReplyDeleteThe religion of footery shows it's face again. Someone says it's a hoax, shows you how it as hoaxed and you still try and make up excuses about how it couldn't be a hoax..... this is silly ,illogical behavior
DeleteI grew up 30 minutes from Honey Island Swamp. There are too many sightings of a skunk ape down there to call everything about it a hoax. I watched some documentaries on this also. What they said about the shoe is that a group of people down there that protects this species made the shoes to throw off scientists from going to the right part of the swamp where this family of animals resides. That culture of people are very tight knit group and clanish in nature. If you watch the documentary done by the original witnesses grand daughter and the one done by paranormal hunters, there is a scream/vocalization recorded that is EXACTLY the same. Now this could be just good TV, but it is unlikely. Also, there were sightings in South Mississippi in the 50's and 60's bordering the Swamp. My dad told me a story of when something with "big hairy arms" tried to pull him out of his window when he was about 10 or so (1959). He was raised in an EXTREMELY rural area 25 or so Nautical miles west of the Honry Island Swamp.
ReplyDeleteI like MK Davis, he comes across as a straight shooter. SWP
ReplyDeleteOf course it was a hoax. Not surprising. Let the conspiracy theories of locals trying to protect the Swamp Monster run wild.......lmao!
ReplyDeleteThis was a well put together and thorough explanation of this particular sighting.
ReplyDeleteAll the evidence certainly shows this to be a hoax. Great job guys!
Id like to say thanks to MK and Jay Michael for a great investigation and documentary ...Great work guys
ReplyDeleteThe film footage from Harland is nothing more than a man in a ghillie suit.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a very important reminder that Anthropologists CAN BE VERY WRONG.
ReplyDeleteI mistook one for a bear and fired at it. It turned around and looked at me, almost like I had insulted it. Had the face of a man.
ReplyDeleteHave they checked the shoes're old enough to've made the prints ie are they from that same period or earlier (as opposed to a later fashion period) and've they done any kind of trace tests on the dirt clinging to them to confirm they were indeed used back then?
ReplyDeleteHope this finds you and yours well.
ReplyDeleteDavis and Michael took this trip to the Honey Island Swamp in Louisiana in 2003 in order to get stock footage for their documentary detailing the legend of Harlan Ford's sighting...
2003?
This is 2012.
Although roughly nine years have passed since this fascinating discovery, this is the first time that I have heard of the existence of this crucial and damning evidence. What attempts have been made between 2003 and 2012 to publicly reveal this evidence to researchers everywhere? How has the cryptozoological community reacted to this "new" information?
Kudos to M.K. Davis and Jay Michael.
I don't know if people realize this but the Ford family had the honey island swamp monster and also the legend of boggy creek in Arkansas they were also a Ford family.I have been in honey island swamp from one end to the other and in other various places where bigfoot is supposed to be. I have yet to see anything but bears,and other animals.I have slept in tents and on the ground still no encounters. Oh well maybe one I will find one.....
ReplyDeleteI don't know if people realize this but the Ford family had the honey island swamp monster and also the legend of boggy creek in Arkansas they were also a Ford family.I have been in honey island swamp from one end to the other and in other various places where bigfoot is supposed to be. I have yet to see anything but bears,and other animals.I have slept in tents and on the ground still no encounters. Oh well maybe one I will find one.....
ReplyDeleteHere for Michelle, the Honey Island Honey :D
ReplyDelete