Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Big Gray Man In Print

Over the last few months, the Devon-based Center for Fortean Zoology has been republishing all of its old (and until now), long out-of-print Yearbooks. Well, the good news is that, finally, they are all back in print - professionally bound at very reasonable prices (see this link).

The particularly good (and highly relevant) news is that you can now get your hands on the 1997 Yearbook, which includes an excellent paper from Dr. Karl Shuker on the Big Gray Man of Ben Macdhui (a mountain in Scotland's Cairngorms range).

The Big Gray Man is a strange character indeed. For some (albeit, granted, not many) it's a real, flesh and blood Scottish equivalent of Bigfoot. For most, however, it's a critter that's far more paranormal than it is "real."

Nevertheless, the stories of large footprints, shambling and swaggering figures on the mountain, and the distinct sounds of heavy, crunching footsteps have led to a suggestion that there may be a tie-in with the larger Bigfoot mystery.

And, I'm pleased to say, in his article, Karl does a truly excellent job in relating the history, the sightings, the witness testimony, and the many and varied theories that may explain the puzzle of Ben Macdhui's Big Gray Man.

The whole book is a treat in itself; but for devotees of the British Bigfoot, Karl's chapter alone makes the CFZ 1997 Yearbook well worth buying.

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