Disclaimer: What you think about Bigfoot, paranormal stuff, people who search for Bigfoot/paranormal stuff, etc. should probably go to fratching. If you think it goes there, then you're probably right.
Background: Hubs is part of a state group that does paranormal investigations. They're actually a sister group to TAPS, which you may recognize from the show "Ghost Hunters". This group is planning a 4-day expedition to hunt for Bigfoot next month. Sorry..."investigate the possibility of the existence of Bigfoot"...they said it's not a "hunt" and they don't want to kill one if they find one, but for the sake of simplicity I'm going to borrow the term.
(Fun fact: In Skamania County, WA, it is actually illegal to kill a Bigfoot. That's not where they're doing the investigation, but I thought I'd throw that out there. You just learned something new today.)
If that all sounds a bit crazy, don't worry. It probably is.
Anywho, this group reserved a room at a branch of their favorite library system to go over some training. This meeting was intended for expedition members only. They were going over technical survival skills, what sorts of evidences to look for, exactly how the investigation was going to be carried out, some administrative stuff, etc etc.
Enter Bigfoot Crazy (BC). About an hour into the meeting, BC wandered in. Apparently, the schedule for the conference room was posted outside, and something along the lines of "Bigfoot Meeting" was posted in their space. This guy wandered in, and Hubs said he seemed nice, if a bit off.
BC started talking about how back in the day he was with the Army Corp of Engineers and was tasked with logging Bigfoot sightings. He started sharing stories, which was all well and interesting, except that (1) it was preventing the meeting from actually progressing (and they had a lot to cover that day) and (2) some of the information in the meeting they didn't want being shared with the public (such as the exact location of the investigation -- they don't want outside people to "tag along" and disturb the environment/otherwise ruin the investigation).
The person running the meeting finally told him that his stories were interesting, would he like to speak at their public forum the next day? BC said that would be fine. They then told BC to piss off (though, I'm sure in more polite terms). BC left without protest, and seemed happy to come in the next day to the regular monthly public meeting. The group can continue their meeting, and BC will be able to share his stories the next day. Everyone's happy, right?
Well, apparently one of the library staff came by and pulled the meeting administrator out for a bit. It turned out, BC went and started yelling at the staff about how they kicked him out and wouldn't let him speak his piece and yadda yadda yadda. The library staff basically said it was their meeting and they could run it as they pleased.
The group decided they didn't want to be the source of trouble, though, to leave and meet up at one of the member's homes. They have a good relationship with the library system there and didn't want to risk it, even though the library staff was on their side. (Being a financially-strapped nonprofit, they pretty much rely on the library system to host their meetings.)
BC didn't show up at the meeting (at least, not yet). Guess he didn't want to share his story that bad after all...
While we're here...crazy police lady, and parachondriacs
Hubs also shared these with me.
This group has an online forum. You need permissions to post, but pretty much anyone can lurk. Apparently, they had one woman copying some threads and sending them to the police because.....? The group is very adamant about respecting private property rights and such during investigations, and they aren't doing anything illegal so...I don't know what that lady was trying to prove?
Also, the group regularly deals with people they've labelled "parachondriacs". Like a hypochondriac sees something in the news about an illness and think they have it, a "parachondriac", as they've coined the term, watches a show like "Ghost Hunters" and then thinks they have paranormal things happening to them. They're the SC's of the paranormal investigations world: they insist you find a paranormal explanation for whatever "evidence" they have, even if it's something completely benign and normal.
Background: Hubs is part of a state group that does paranormal investigations. They're actually a sister group to TAPS, which you may recognize from the show "Ghost Hunters". This group is planning a 4-day expedition to hunt for Bigfoot next month. Sorry..."investigate the possibility of the existence of Bigfoot"...they said it's not a "hunt" and they don't want to kill one if they find one, but for the sake of simplicity I'm going to borrow the term.
(Fun fact: In Skamania County, WA, it is actually illegal to kill a Bigfoot. That's not where they're doing the investigation, but I thought I'd throw that out there. You just learned something new today.)
If that all sounds a bit crazy, don't worry. It probably is.
Anywho, this group reserved a room at a branch of their favorite library system to go over some training. This meeting was intended for expedition members only. They were going over technical survival skills, what sorts of evidences to look for, exactly how the investigation was going to be carried out, some administrative stuff, etc etc.
Enter Bigfoot Crazy (BC). About an hour into the meeting, BC wandered in. Apparently, the schedule for the conference room was posted outside, and something along the lines of "Bigfoot Meeting" was posted in their space. This guy wandered in, and Hubs said he seemed nice, if a bit off.
BC started talking about how back in the day he was with the Army Corp of Engineers and was tasked with logging Bigfoot sightings. He started sharing stories, which was all well and interesting, except that (1) it was preventing the meeting from actually progressing (and they had a lot to cover that day) and (2) some of the information in the meeting they didn't want being shared with the public (such as the exact location of the investigation -- they don't want outside people to "tag along" and disturb the environment/otherwise ruin the investigation).
The person running the meeting finally told him that his stories were interesting, would he like to speak at their public forum the next day? BC said that would be fine. They then told BC to piss off (though, I'm sure in more polite terms). BC left without protest, and seemed happy to come in the next day to the regular monthly public meeting. The group can continue their meeting, and BC will be able to share his stories the next day. Everyone's happy, right?
Well, apparently one of the library staff came by and pulled the meeting administrator out for a bit. It turned out, BC went and started yelling at the staff about how they kicked him out and wouldn't let him speak his piece and yadda yadda yadda. The library staff basically said it was their meeting and they could run it as they pleased.
The group decided they didn't want to be the source of trouble, though, to leave and meet up at one of the member's homes. They have a good relationship with the library system there and didn't want to risk it, even though the library staff was on their side. (Being a financially-strapped nonprofit, they pretty much rely on the library system to host their meetings.)
BC didn't show up at the meeting (at least, not yet). Guess he didn't want to share his story that bad after all...
While we're here...crazy police lady, and parachondriacs
Hubs also shared these with me.
This group has an online forum. You need permissions to post, but pretty much anyone can lurk. Apparently, they had one woman copying some threads and sending them to the police because.....? The group is very adamant about respecting private property rights and such during investigations, and they aren't doing anything illegal so...I don't know what that lady was trying to prove?
Also, the group regularly deals with people they've labelled "parachondriacs". Like a hypochondriac sees something in the news about an illness and think they have it, a "parachondriac", as they've coined the term, watches a show like "Ghost Hunters" and then thinks they have paranormal things happening to them. They're the SC's of the paranormal investigations world: they insist you find a paranormal explanation for whatever "evidence" they have, even if it's something completely benign and normal.
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