David Paulides

Last updated

David Paulides is a former police officer who is now an investigator and writer known primarily for his books dedicated to proving the reality of Bigfoot, and establishing the Missing 411 conspiracy theory. Missing 411 is a series of books and films, which document cases of people who have gone missing in national parks and elsewhere, and assert that these cases are unusual and mysterious, contrary to data analysis which suggests that they are not actually statistically mysterious or even unexpected. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and career

Paulides has Greek ancestry. [3] In his online biography page, Paulides states that he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of San Francisco, and in 1977 he began a 20-year career in law enforcement, transferring in 1980 to the San Jose Police Department, working in the patrol division on the SWAT Team, patrol, and Street Crimes Unit, and a variety of assignments in the detective division. [4] While working as a court liaison officer in December 1996, Paulides was charged with a misdemeanor count of falsely soliciting for a charity. [5]

Investigations

After leaving the police force, Paulides wrote books on the topic of Bigfoot, as well as on the disappearances of people in national parks and elsewhere which he attributes to unspecified, unknown causes.

Bigfoot or Sasquatch

In his pursuit of Bigfoot, Paulides has published two Bigfoot-related books and founded the group North America Bigfoot Search, [6] [7] for which he serves as director. [8]

Paulides has said North America Bigfoot Search was instrumental in the genesis of a paper published in 2013, which claimed that Bigfoot was real: "The world needs to understand that North America Bigfoot Search was the organizer of the study. We orchestrated the search that led to picking Melba S. Ketchum to conduct a study of bigfoot DNA." [9] The resulting paper documented the analysis of 111 samples of hypothesized Bigfoot DNA and was written by 11 different authors. [8] On November 24, 2012, DNA Diagnostics, a veterinary laboratory headed by Ketchum, issued a press release prior to peer review claiming that their DNA sequencing study confirmed the existence of a hominin hybrid cross between modern humans with an unknown primate. [8] Two months later, in the inaugural issue of DeNovo: Journal of Science, [8] the paper was analyzed by Sharon Hill of Doubtful News for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Hill's report concluded that the paper was of poor quality, stating that "The few experienced geneticists who viewed the paper reported a dismal opinion of it, noting it made little sense." [8]

The Scientist magazine also analyzed the paper, reporting that the analyses and data fail to support the claims of existence of a human-primate hybrid, but rather, "analyses either come back as 100 percent human, or fail in ways that suggest technical artifacts." [10] The website for the DeNovo Journal of Science was set up on February 4, and there is no indication that Ketchum's work, the only study it has published, was peer reviewed. [10]

Missing 411

Following his work on Bigfoot, Paulides' next project was Missing 411, a series of self-published books and two documentary films, documenting unsolved cases of people who have gone missing in national parks and elsewhere.

According to Paulides, his work on this subject began when he was doing research in a national park and an (unnamed) off-duty park ranger approached him and expressed concern about the questionable nature of some of the missing person cases which occurred in the parks. [11] [ page needed ] The ranger knew Paulides' background and asked him to research the issue. [12] [7] Paulides obliged, and asserts that he uncovered multiple lines of evidence suggesting negligence on the part of the park service in failing to locate the missing people. [13] He broadened his investigation to include missing people from across the world, and this led to his belief that he has uncovered a mysterious series of worldwide disappearances, which he said defied logical and conventional explanations. [14] [ page needed ] [15] [ unreliable source? ]

As of August 2021, Paulides has written at least ten books on this topic. According to A Sobering Coincidence, he does not yet have a theory on what is causing the disappearances, although he indicates that the "field of suspects is narrowing." Paulides advised his readers to go outside of their normal comfort zone to determine who (or what) is the culprit. [16] [17] [ failed verification ]

Paulides' books publicized the fact that the US National Park Service does not keep an independent list of people that go missing in their parks. [7] While there is a database for incident and criminal reports, it is not widely or consistently used and it doesn't interface with other criminal databases. [7] In response, a petition was created to make the department accountable. [18]

The interest in the book series prompted the creation of a documentary film based on the Missing 411 books; this film was released in 2017.[ citation needed ] Images of maps made by Paulides regarding his theory have been frequently shared on social media. [19] The theory has also gone viral on TikTok. [20]

Kyle Polich, a data scientist and host of the Data Skeptic podcast, documented his analysis of Paulides' claims in the article "Missing411" [21] and presented his analysis to a SkeptiCamp held in 2017 by the Monterey County Skeptics. [22] [1] He concluded that the allegedly unusual disappearances represent nothing unusual at all, and are instead best explained by non-mysterious causes such as falling or sudden health crises leading to a lone person becoming immobilized off-trail, drowning, [23] bear (or other animal) attack, environmental exposure, or even deliberate disappearance. After analyzing the missing person data, Polich concluded that these cases are not "outside the frequency that one would expect, or that there is anything unexplainable that I was able to identify." [24] This presentation was discussed in a February 2017 article in Skeptical Inquirer , a publication of the CSI. In the article, Susan Gerbic reported "Paulides ... gave no reason for these disappearances but finds odd correlations for them. For example, two women missing in different years both had names starting with an 'A' with three-letters, Amy and Ann." [1] Polich concluded in his analysis: "I've exhausted my exploration for anything genuinely unusual. After careful review, to me, not a single case stands out nor do the frequencies involved seem outside of expectations." [2]

Books

Bigfoot

Missing 411 series

Documentaries

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bigfoot</span> Mythical creature

Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a large and hairy human-like mythical creature alleged by some to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Bigfoot is featured in both American and Canadian folklore, and since the mid-20th century has grown into a cultural icon, permeating popular culture and becoming the subject of its own distinct subculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bermuda Triangle</span> Urban legend based on region in North Atlantic

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The idea of the area as uniquely prone to disappearances arose in the mid-20th century, but most reputable sources dismiss the idea that there is any mystery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Committee for Skeptical Inquiry</span> Organization examining paranormal claims

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims." Paul Kurtz proposed the establishment of CSICOP in 1976 as an independent non-profit organization, to counter what he regarded as an uncritical acceptance of, and support for, paranormal claims by both the media and society in general. Its philosophical position is one of scientific skepticism. CSI's fellows have included notable scientists, Nobel laureates, philosophers, psychologists, educators, and authors. It is headquartered in Amherst, New York.

Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: The Magazine for Science and Reason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific skepticism</span> Questioning of claims lacking empirical evidence

Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism, sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refers to the examination of claims and theories that appear to be beyond mainstream science, rather than the routine discussions and challenges among scientists. Scientific skepticism differs from philosophical skepticism, which questions humans' ability to claim any knowledge about the nature of the world and how they perceive it, and the similar but distinct methodological skepticism, which is a systematic process of being skeptical about the truth of one's beliefs.

<i>Skeptic</i> (American magazine) American science education magazine

Skeptic, colloquially known as Skeptic magazine, is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs. First published in 1992, the magazine had a circulation of over 40,000 subscribers in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon-Erik Beckjord</span> American paranormal investigator (1939–2008)

Jon-Erik Beckjord was an American paranormal investigator, photographer, and cryptozoologist interested in UFOs, crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot. Throughout his life, he owned three separate, small-scale museums that featured displays, mostly photographs, of alleged UFO, Nessie, and Bigfoot sightings. He made guest appearances on national radio and television shows, but was criticized by skeptics and fellow cryptozoologists alike for not providing substantive evidence to back up his claims of the existence of paranormal beings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Amazing Meeting</span> Annual conference for skeptics, 2003–2015

The Amazing Meeting (TAM), stylized as The Amaz!ng Meeting, was an annual conference that focused on science, skepticism, and critical thinking; it was held for twelve years. The conference started in 2003 and was sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Perennial speakers included Penn & Teller, Phil Plait, Michael Shermer and James "The Amazing" Randi. Speakers at the four-day conference were selected from a variety of disciplines including scientific educators, magicians, and community activists. Outside the plenary sessions the conference included workshops, additional panel discussions, music and magic performances and live taping of podcasts including The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. The final Amazing Meeting was held in July 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Radford</span> American writer, investigator, and skeptic (born 1970)

Benjamin Radford is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic. He has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns on a wide variety of topics including urban legends, unexplained mysteries, the paranormal, critical thinking, mass hysteria, and media literacy. His book, Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment, was published in the summer of 2014 and is a scientific investigation of famous legends and folklore in the state of New Mexico. In 2016 Radford published Bad Clowns, a 2017 IPPY bronze award winner, and he is regarded as an expert on the bad clowns phenomenon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZ Skeptics</span> Organization to promote critical thinking

NZ Skeptics is a New Zealand incorporated society created in 1986, with the aim of promoting critical thinking. The main areas of interest to the NZ Skeptics are claims of psychic abilities, alternative medicine, creationism and other pseudoscientific claims. At its founding in 1986, it was known as the New Zealand Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (NZCSICOP). In 2007 the name was formally changed to NZ Skeptics Incorporated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Loxton</span> Canadian writer (born 1975)

Daniel Loxton is a Canadian writer, illustrator, and skeptic. He wrote or co-wrote several books including Tales of Prehistoric Life, a children's science trilogy, and Abominable Science!, a scientific look at cryptozoology. As editor of Junior Skeptic, Loxton writes and illustrates most issues of Junior Skeptic, a children's science section in the Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10:23 Campaign</span> International awareness campaign against homoeopathy

The 10:23 Campaign (stylized as 1023) is an awareness and protest campaign against homoeopathy organised by the Merseyside Skeptics Society, a non-profit organisation, to oppose the sale of homoeopathic products in the United Kingdom. The campaign has staged public "overdoses" of homoeopathic preparations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desiree Schell</span>

Desiree Schell is the host of the live Canadian call-in radio talk show and podcast, "Science for the People". An advocate for scientific skepticism, Schell is a strong advocate of critical thinking and is strongly interested in the promotion of skepticism publicly. In her work as a labour organizer Schell creates curricula and teaches courses on effective activism, drawing on the experience of other social movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Stollznow</span> Australian-American skeptic (born 1976)

Karen Stollznow is an Australian-American author, linguist, public speaker, and podcaster. Her books include Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility, On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present, The Language of Discrimination, God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States, Haunting America, Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic, Hits and Mrs, and Would You Believe It?: Mysterious Tales From People You'd Least Expect. Stollznow also writes short fiction, including the title Fisher's Ghost and Other Stories, and she is a host on the podcast Monster Talk with Blake Smith. She has written for many popular publications, including The Conversation and Psychology Today. Stollznow has also appeared as an expert on many TV shows, including A Current Affair and the History Channel's History's Greatest Mysteries.

<i>MonsterTalk</i> Skeptical podcast

MonsterTalk is an audio podcast originally presented by the Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine but broke ties in 2019. Since 2019 it has been an independent podcast under the "Monster House, LLC" banner. The show critically examines the science behind cryptozoological creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and werewolves. It is hosted by Blake Smith and Karen Stollznow, and produced by Blake Smith. In 2012, MonsterTalk was awarded the Parsec Award for the "Best Fact Behind the Fiction Podcast".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SkeptiCamp</span> British organization (founded 2007)

SkeptiCamp was founded by Reed Esau in 2007 and is small grassroots conference where scientific skeptics come together and participate and present. Skepticamps are held in varying formats worldwide and are operated in the style of an unconference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Farley</span> Software engineer & skeptic (born 1962)

Timothy Patrick Farley is a computer software engineer, writer and instructor who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an expert in computer security and reverse engineering as well as a skeptic. He was a research fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation. Tim Farley is the creator of the website What's The Harm?, a resource where stories are documented and categorized about the damage done when people fail to use critical thinking skills. Farley was also instrumental in the apprehension of spammer "David Mabus."

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gerbic, Susan (February 3, 2017). "Local Skeptical Outreach & Activism: Monterey County SkeptiCamp". CSICOP . Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Polich, Kyle (August 2017). "An Investigation of the Missing411 Conspiracy". Skeptical Inquirer. 41 (4). Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021– via 54-58.
  3. ↑ David Paulides (December 30, 2022). David Paulides Presents Bigfoot 101 Class 11, DNA. Canam Missing Project. Event occurs at 41:21–41:40 – via YouTube. When they looked for the nuclear DNA – let's say I left a tissue sample or blood – [] they would easily be able to identify that [] I have Greek descent, Greek heritage; they'd be able to find it.
  4. ↑ "David Paulides Bio". AboveTopSecret.com. September 24, 2013. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  5. ↑ Sandra Gonzales (December 21, 1996). "S.J. Officer Accused of False Solicitation Autographs: A Force Veteran Allegedly Used City Stationery To Ask for Memorabilia". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  6. ↑ Johnston, Scott D. (November 16, 2016). "'Sasquatch Summit' brings Bigfoot believers to the beach". The Daily World. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Emerson, Sarah (October 29, 2017). "How America's National Parks Became Hotbeds of Paranormal Activity". www.vice.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Hill, Sharon (September 12, 2013). "The Ketchum Project: What to Believe about Bigfoot DNA 'Science' (Spring 2013)". CSICOP . Center for Inquiry. Archived from the original on November 25, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  9. ↑ Paulides, David. "Blog #188". NAbigfootsearch.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  10. 1 2 Cossins, Dan (February 15, 2013). "Bigfoot DNA is Bunk". The Scientist . Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  11. ↑ Paulides, David (2011). Missing 411. Western United States & Canada : unexplained disappearances of North Americans that have never been solved. North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace. ISBN   978-1-4662-1629-7. OCLC   793231911.
  12. ↑ Brown, Diana (September 26, 2017). "Hundreds Have Vanished from National Parks. Is Bigfoot to Blame?". HowStuffWorks. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  13. ↑ Peterson, Judy (March 12, 2012). "Los Gatos author explores 'Missing 411' from national parks". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  14. ↑ Paulides, David (2011). Missing 411 Western United States and Canada. North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace. pp. ix–x. ISBN   978-1466216297.
  15. ↑ Marsh, Roger (September 26, 2013). "Missing Person Cases: Never Be Last in Line". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  16. ↑ Paulides, David (2014). Missing 411 The Devil's in the Detail. North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace. p. xiii. ISBN   978-1495246425.
  17. ↑ "I-Team: Strange Circumstances Surround Park Disappearances". Las Vegas 8 News NOW. May 4, 2012. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  18. ↑ Roberts, Michael (February 6, 2015). "Dale Stehling's Disappearance and the Need to Track People Who Vanish on Federal Land". Westword. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Does Map of Missing Persons in US Match Up with Cave Systems?". Snopes.com. February 24, 2020. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  20. ↑ Brandabur, Michelle (June 4, 2021). "'I am not afraid of the park. I am terrified': TikTokers are freaking out over just how many people are disappearing in national forests". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  21. ↑ Polich, Kyle (2017). "Missing411". Dataskeptic.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  22. ↑ Taylor, Dennis (January 3, 2015). "Skeptics take on God, psychics, even science". Monterey Herald. Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  23. ↑ Killelea, Eric (March 1, 2017). "The 10 Most Deadly National Parks". Outside Online . Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  24. ↑ "MCS SkeptiCamp 2017 – Kyle Polich – Frontiers in Woo". Monterey County Skeptics. January 8, 2017. Archived from the original on February 13, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017– via YouTube.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.