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Yeti persisted.
A man from Oregon wishing to prove the existence of the mythical creatures known as Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the abominable Snowman and Yeti in 1976, managed to have the FBI analyze hair and tissue samples that he thought he could help his case, according to new information.
"The FBI analyzed the hair as part of Sasquatch's search, aka" Bigfoot, "an internal FBI memo said in February 1977.
93-year-old Peter Byrne told CNBC on Wednesday that he still had not given up hope of proving that Bigfoot was a real creature – though extremely rare -.
"It's a big challenge," Byrne said, inviting him to explain his interest for nine decades in searching for creatures widely regarded as products of the imagination or inventions of crooks.
Byrne's web page says that he "has always had an interest in the unknown and the mysterious" since his father told him stories at bedtime on the Yeti of the Himalayas.
The page says that his "first opportunity to search the Yeti was produced in 1946 while he was still in the British Royal Air Force in Mumbai, India".
A photo on this page shows it "with the famous Yeti scalp" in a Nepalese temple in Nepal in 1958.
Another picture shows a very large footprint of a possible Bigfoot.
His desire to see a Yeti himself led him to launch three major expeditions in search of the Yeti in Nepal in the late 1950s.
Byrne stated that "in the last 50 years, he had found two or three sets of footprints Yeti possible, with five toes on each foot, left in traces in the Himalayas, to an altitude of 15,000 feet.
But he acknowledged Wednesday that these footprints could have been left by Hindu holy men, or sadhus, whom he saw walking barefoot in the snow at such a height.
After moving to the United States in the 1960s, Byrne then directed "Bigfoot Information Center and Exhibitions" in Oregon.
With the support of what he said were wealthy men, he tried to find conclusive evidence of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch in the North American Pacific,
"I worked there full time, seven days a week," Byrne said of his previous Bigfoot hunt, funded in the 1990s.
"At the moment, I'm still active," Byrne said.
"We have motion-sensitive cameras in the mountains" of Oregon, he said.
But, he added, "it's a hobby for me now."
When Byrne became aware of the FBI documents showing his correspondence with the agency in the 1970s, asking him to test hair samples,
But he also said, "I do not remember that."
"It's out of my memory," he added, recalling that he had questioned the FBI in the 1970s about an incident at a campground in Washington State, where a Bigfoot reportedly been suspected.
However, the FBI's records disclosed by the agency on its public records page show that in 1976, Byrne had written to the FBI several times asking him to do the tests on the two hairs his group had obtained and on 'other possession of the agency.
"We do not often encounter hair that we are unable to identify and the hair we have now, about 15 hair attached to a tiny piece of skin, is the first we've got in six years and that we estimate to be important, "Byrne wrote in a letter dated November 24, 1976 to FBI deputy director Jay Cochran Jr.
In a previous letter, in August of the same year, Byrne had asked if the hair, "supposedly from a Bigfoot", that he would have, according to him, sent to the FBI by others had been examined.
"Do you want to clear things up, once and for all, inform us if the FBI has examined the hair that might be those of a Bigfoot, when that happened, and if that took instead, what were the results of the analysis, "he wrote.
"Please, understand that our research here is serious," wrote Byrne.
"It's a serious question to be answered."
In an answer finally sent to Byrne on December 15, 1976, Cochran, of the Office's Scientific and Technical Services Division, noted that the FBI's laboratory was normally conducting "physical evidence" examinations for law enforcement agencies in the United States. the framework of criminal investigations ".
But Cochran added, "we sometimes make exceptions, on a case-by-case basis, in the interest of research and scientific investigation, with exceptions to general policy".
"We will look at the hair and the fabrics mentioned in your letter," Cochran wrote to Byrne.
According to the report, the FBI apparently would have tested for the first time a hair sample to determine if it was a Bigfoot. These images contain photocopied images of the hair.
The FBI reacted rather quickly after Cochran informed Byrne that the tests would be done.
In February 1977, Cochran wrote to Howard Curtis, executive vice president of the Academy of Applied Science in Boston, who had connections with Byrne's Bigfoot group. The academy had been the main sponsor of a search for the Loch Ness monster in Scotland.
Cochran's letter indicated that the results were sent to Curtis at his request because "Mr. Byrne will be out of the country for several months.
Byrne, according to Curtis, was in Nepal at the time.
Cochran said that the examination of the hair "included a study of morphological characteristics such as root structure, medullary structure and thickness of the cuticle, in addition to the melting of dander".
"In addition, the hair was compared directly with hair of known origin under a comparison microscope," he added.
At the end of it all: "As a result of these tests, it was concluded that the hair was from the deer family," wrote Cochran.
"The hair sample you submitted is returned as an attachment in this letter."
Even though he does not remember this test, nor the FBI's conclusion, more than 40 years later, Byrne still dreams of finding a Bigfoot.
"No, no," Byrne replied sadly, when asked if he had ever seen a Yeti or a Bigfoot. "I'd love to see one."
"There were observations," he said.
He said he found once in the Pacific Northwest a "huge footprint" of what would have been a vertical mammal with five fingers on each foot and a "46-inch stride".
And, "We had an observation 10 days ago [of a Bigfoot] a very good and very good friend of mine, "said Byrne.
Last year, he said, seven loggers witnessed the presence of a suspect Sasquatch, surprised to see a huge creature making its way.
Byrne pointed out that when it was a question of believing in Bigfoot, these men were "totally skeptical until then".
Byrne pleaded guilty in August 2013 to having cheated more than $ 78,000 by the Social Security Administration, Oregon's Department of Social Services and Medicaid, concealing his out-of-town trips from the United States from 1992 to 2012.
Byrne, who was sentenced to three years' probation and full restitution, was receiving additional social security income and was required to report to the Social Security some travel outside the United States at times when he was receiving the benefit on the basis of social security. needs.
"Between 1992 and 2012, Byrne traveled outside the United States for more than 30 days, at least 15 times, sometimes outside the United States for more than four months," he said. the prosecutor at the time.
He also had more than $ 85,000 in bank accounts at a time when he was receiving SSI coupons and food stamps, the authorities said.
According to federal prosecutors in 2013, investigators found a copy of a letter that Byrne had sent to his publisher, Safari Press, "ordering any future royalty on his published books to be sent to his girlfriend."
"Investigators had already asked Byrne when he was receiving royalties for the books he had written on topics such as his search for Bigfoot and game hunting in Nepal," said the prosecutor's office. American of Oregon in a press release of the time. "
"Byrne denied receiving royalties."
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