Selects: Yeti: The Asian Bigfoot | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey there friends, it's me Josh and for. this week's SYSK Select, I've chosen our. 2019 episode on the Yeti. It's really. fun to talk about serious attempts. people make to find cryptids because. we're just like tourists looking in on a. world that's new to us and that turns. out to be pretty neat. And if the story. about Jimmy Stewart in here sounds. familiar, we also recently covered it in. our Tom Slick episode. So you're not. experiencing deja vu, which is another. episode that we did before. so you're.

not experiencing deja vu, which is. another episode we did before. Enjoy. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant and there's Jerry over. there somewhere over there. And this is. stuff you should know. The continuing.

cryptozoolology edition. Oh, this. finishes it, right? Oh, I don't know. about that. We've done Bigfoot, Loch. Ness Monster, Yeti. We haven't done like. um Moth Man. The Chupacabra. Chupacabra. That's a big one, too. Yeah. This. Slenderman man's more internet folklore. than anything. Uh did we do that one or. did we think about it and not do it? The. latter of those two. If I remember.

correctly, I said it stinks or. something. Yeah, if I remember correctly, it hurt. my feelings. Oh, man. I think it was I think we could do. Slender Man now. It was just so early on. that um it was very thin. Now I think it. would be more robust. It was slender. Yeah, that's right. Um well, today we're. talking about the Yeti, which is not. slender. Depending on which yeti you're. talking about, Chuck, it's either. enormous and like 8 feet tall, covered.

in gray or white or maybe sometimes. reddish hair. Sure. Weighing 400, 500 lb. easily. Yeah. Or actually, it is kind of. slender. It could be basically what. amounts to a um a wild hippie basically. a uh somebody who likes to grub roots. out of the ground and lets out a squeal. or a cry every once in a while just to I. guess know that they're alive. And um.

there's really two competing versions of. what those of us in the western world. would would think was the yeti, but the. one we're really talking about is the. first one, what we also think of as the. abominable snowman. How tall was Hippie. Rob? Uh he was average like five something I. guess like high fives probably. He was a. little shorter than me. Okay. Yeah. All. right. He was not he was not the uh he. was not the the yeti of legend as far as.

I know. He could be now though. Well, I. don't know. It just sounded an awful lot. like him. It kind of does, doesn't it? Yelping in the mountains grubbing for. roots. Yep. Covered in in dirt and with. wild crazy hair. So, I think we should. just tell like uh if you don't know what. we're talking about, this is the um the. legendary beast that lives in Asia. Yeah. Around the Himalayas typically. Yeah. So, it it's known as Asia's.

Bigfoot. Or maybe Bigfoot is known as. North America's Yeti. I don't know. Uh I. guess Yeti came first, right? Yeah. I. think Yeti's been around with the Sherpa. of Tibet for a very long time. Yeah. And. that's sort of the deal of this the. origin story of this thing is the Yeti. has been told um for many many years in. traditional stories in that area. Um. there's a there was someone named um.

Shiva Dal that collected a bunch of. these stories in a book called Folktales. of Sherpa and Yeti and all of them kind. of figured the same way which was uh. whether it's a story called the. annihilation of the Yeti. Mhm. Uh, in. which this is pretty good. It's about. Sherpas seeking revenge on a tormenting. group of. yetis. This sounds like something that. should be on like the Sci-Fi channel. I would be very surprised if it wasn't. Uh, but all of these stories basically.

have the same moral um message at the. end, which. is be. care like be careful out in the woods. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. I think it it. serves the exact same purpose, too. like. in the Grims fairy tales and I thought. the same thing. Um you know there's. witches that live in candy houses so. don't go wandering off into the woods. kids because you'll end up getting. eaten. For little kids in Tibet it was. don't wander off into the Tibetan. plateau or the yeti will get you and you.

will uh all sorts of terrible things. will happen to you. Which is funny. because there are all sorts of real. things that could kill you in the. Tibetan plateau. Well, that's I think. what they were saying was, you know, you. can't just be like, "Look out for the. bears." Kid will be like, "I don't know. I can see a brash kid being like, "No, bear. Everybody knows what a bear is. I'll wrestle a bear any day of the. week." Yeah, maybe. And then, you know, along the way, it gets into a drinking. contest with Marion from Indiana Jones.

Oh, yeah. Right. Exactly. That was one of the best. scenes in the history of film. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. And Tibetan kids tend. to agree with me too. But before we move. on, I want to say one thing. That. annihilation of the yeti, keep keep that. in in the back of your mind. The story. was that like there were a bunch of yeti. that um were hanging around and the. sherper were sick of them hanging. around. So the sherpa basically threw a. yeti party and got drunk and fought with. each other to kind of provide an example.

to the yeti. Hey, you should get drunk. and fight with each other too in the. hopes that the yeti would destroy each. other. It didn't work and the Yeti all. managed to escape except for one who was. supposedly killed by a um a llama, one. of the Buddhist monks in the uh area. Oh, that's part of the story. That's the. end. That's the annihilation of the. Yeti. Wow. Story. I didn't know a llama. figured in. And really, annihilation is. kind of a strong word if you think about.

it. Because if you just kill one out of. I think 240 Yeti, it's hardly. annihilation. That's a good point. I think so too. Uh. so throughout history, these legends. have uh been pervasive in the region. So. much so that uh supposedly uh the great. Alexander or Alexander the Great, I'm. not sure why I did that. I don't either. Uh when he came through town uh and. conquered the Indis Valley, he said.

uh I'd like to see one of your famous. yetis. I don't know if that's what Alexander. the Great sounded like. No. No. What did. ancient Roman sound like? If not Roman. Was he Roman? I think he was Greek. Oh, was he? Uhhuh. Jeez. How about uh I really screwed that up. Let's say uh let's see. I knew that. Do. a German accent. Oh, I'm just for him. I'm just going to leave. No, hang hang tight, Chuck. You can.

rebound. Yeah. Why? Why did I think he. was Roman and not Greek? I Well, because. the Romans like to pretend they were. Greek themselves. I'm not firing on all. cylinders. But regardless of my bad. accent, or maybe I should just edit back. in and say that was my Greek accent. There you go. Uh he said, "I want to see. a Yeti." And they the local locals, they. were like, "You know, we totally would. do that. However, um you can't get them. down this low and you'd have to hike. really high up in those mountains. And I.

know you're not down with that." So, sorry. Yeah, exactly. So, I guess. Alexander the Great was like, "I'm. bored. I can't believe we're still. talking about this. Give me some wine.". Yeah, pretty much. Got in a drinking. contest. And that was that. So, the Yeti. continued on in in Sherpa tradition in. in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. But, um, in. the West, it kind of disappeared from. view until the 20th century. And so. remember these are tall tales that the.

the Sherpa teach their kids. Although. there is supposedly. some I guess general belief as well, but. I can't I can't quite penetrate it. But. just imagine that it was just strictly. tall tales that Sherpa people told their. kids. Then Westerners came in and said, "What is this you're talking about? Tell. us about this." And just bought the. whole thing hook, line, and sinker. Yeah. And things really uh took form in. 1921. And there's a journalist named. Henry Newman. Mhm. He did an interview.

with some uh British explorers. And this. is a time of great exploration, especially from the British uh these. sort of. uh these I guess uh Indiana Jones like. mountaineers who would go all over the. world in search of these you know. jungles and mountains in search of crazy. beasts and and treasures and things like. that. Right. Sure. So, uh, he. interviewed some of these guys and they. said, "You know what? We found these. huge footprints up in the mountains and.

the locals there, I guess." Sherpa said, cuz what isn't Sherpa? The plural. sherpa. Didn't we determine that? I'm. pretty sure. Yeah. Um, that was a good. episode by the way. Everyone, it was. Go. back and listen to that one. What was. the title? Warm Friendly Living. Yeah, because that's I think what Tenzing Nor. said. So great. Yeah. Uh so they said. that their guides, our sherpa guides, um called them mito. kangmi, which the translation, the real.

translation is a little awkward. Man, bear snowman, right? But Newman confused all that. Uh. he got the snowman part right, but he. translated that first part to mean. mh to mean filthy or dirty. Uh, and then. he changed that on his own to the word. abominable, right? And that's the where. we get the abominable snowman. Yeah. He. was like, I don't like filthy snowman. I'm going to change the name that I've.

already gotten wrong, right? And turn it. into abominable snowman. Yeah. He really. great journalist, but it's fascinating. that you can trace it back to this one. dummy. Yeah. That's the whole the. abominable snowman. That's where it came. from was this one guy. And that. obviously just completely captured the. attention of the rest of the world when. he he he wrote this because like this. was not just like oh yeah they heard. about an abominable snowman. It was. these these explorers found tracks and. their sherpa guides told them the tracks.

belong to this abominable snowman. Therefore there are abominable snowmen. living in the Himalayas. And the. explorer who was who led that particular. expedition was Charles Howard Barry. um. Howard hyphen Barry, B- U R Y. And um. apparently he and Newman were really big. into promoting the idea of an abominable. snowman or men living in the Himalayas. and it that it just being like this. giant huge creature with shaggy hair and.

very much akin to Bigfoot. But if you. look at the the the descriptions, the. traditional descriptions of the yeti, they're they're much smaller and not. nearly as huge as um the the westerners. kind of immediately made it out to be. Yeah. There was one description, one of. the earlier written descriptions from. 1942. There was a researcher named Meera. Shackley and uh I believe that. she uh got this information from uh two.

hikers that reported seeing the Yeti, right? Uh and this is what they said. The height was not much less than 8 ft. Uh so tall for sure, but it's not like. it was 10 feet tall, right? Uh the head. were were the heads because there were. two of them were described as squarish. and the ears must lie close to the skull. because there was no projection from the. silhouette against the snow. The. shoulders sloped slowly down to a. powerful chest covered by reddish brown. hair which formed a close body fur mixed.

with long straight hairs hanging. downward uh about the size and build of. a small man. The head covered with long. hair but the face and chest not very. hairy at all. Th this this all sounds. like they they always describe him as or. it as bipeedal, right? Uh means, you know, walking. upright, right? But if you if you go back and. look at that 1942 description and how. detailed it was. Yeah. Those hikers who.

gave the description said that they they. saw they saw all this from observing two. black specks moving across the snow. about a quarter mile below them. Yeah. And yet they could see that it had a. thick undercoat and like a very long. hairy overcoat and that it was reddish. and like that's just just basically. perfect abominable snowman sighting. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. But but it's one of. like many like after after that Howard.

Barry expedition came back and and. Newman broadcastes to the world, people. started going to the Himalayas in droves. and they weren't just necessarily. looking for the abominable snowman. Everest was there and everybody knew. Everest was there and a lot of people. wanted to be the first one to summit. Everest, the first westerner, I should. say, to summit Everest. So that while a. lot of them were in the area, they're. like, "Well, we'll look for the. abominable snowman while we're here, too." Yeah. And some pretty legendary. mountaineers. Um, and granted, these are. not uh like zoologologist or anything,

but they're respected men in their. field. Uh people like Reinhold Messner. and uh one Sir Edmund Hillary both. searched for evidence of the Yeti while. they were hiking. Uh and Messner even. wrote a book called My Quest for the. Yeti: Confronting the Himalayas's. Deepest Mystery, right? But I mean, well, we'll we'll we'll save the big. reveal till the end, right? Or the third. act of this show. Okay. Is there a third. act? Yeah, there's got to be. Okay.

We're in big trouble if there's not. Well, why don't we take a break and then. we'll come back and talk a little bit. about a couple of more of these reported. sightings. Let's do it. All right. Well, now when you're on the road driving in. your truck, why not learn a thing or two. from Josh and Chuck? It's stuff you. should know. You should know. All right.

Chuck Chuck. [Music]. Okay, Chuck. So, uh, we we've started to. get some sightings from expeditions that. are going to Everest and just hanging. around the Himalayas. Um, and then, uh, I think in. 1951, something really big happened. Uh, one of those explorers, Eric Shipton, took a photograph of a track that to. this day looks pretty remarkable,

actually. Yeah. I mean, this is, again, it's not like hard evidence, but this is. a very famous photo. I remember seeing. this when I was a kid. And like I guess. it was probably the Guinness or Ripley's. Believe It or Not or something. It was. Time Life books for me. Oh, was it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I remember. that it's a very famous picture of a. like a a pick like a, you know, pickaxe. Yeah. Used for scale. Yeah. Right next. to it. And I remember that very. distinctly when I saw this picture. I.

was like, "Oh, yeah." And then when you. look at it, you're like, "Wait, that. that doesn't look quite right. That's a. really weird track. It's It looks like. an elongated human foot, but rather than. a left. toe. Um, it's it's got it's kind of. bulbous and weird. It doesn't look like. the other toes, and it certainly doesn't. look like what a human toe should look. like. And it's also huge. I think it was. it measured about 13 in, which is a. pretty typical size for a um a Yeti Trek.

from what I understand over the ages. But the thing about it is it is a nice. crisp fresh track. And the other thing. about it, and this is what really. captured the attention of the world, Eric Shipton was not known to be a. particularly fraudulent person, right? He was a very respected explorer and. mountaineer. He knew the area well. And. as a guy who uh has tracked Yeti his. whole life, um I believe his name is.

Daniel Taylor. Yeah. Um, Daniel Taylor. put it, if if Shipton's coming back with. a picture of a track, you just, you. know, it's a real track. It's not faked. It's not a hoax. So, the question was, what was it? And this is 1951. And it it. hit the world, that picture, that track. hit the world like the surgeons photo of. the Loch Ness monster hit the world back. in 1933. It it just became like proof to people. who believe in the Yeti around the world.

that the Yeti definitely exists. Yeah. I. mean, like you said, it was really. um what what made it different than. other photos that it was so sharp. It. was a really good picture. Um and that. that little um toe thing basically. looked like a thumb and it just, you. know, it looked odd. But this this. Daniel Taylor guy, he actually when I. started reading that article, I thought, "Oh boy, this crackpot." But he actually. turned out to be a pretty cool guy cuz.

he spent a lot of his life looking for. the Yeti. Went over there, even met with. the king of Nepal. And the king of Nepal. said, "Well, if you want to go like to. the wildest place in the most, you know, remote place in in our land, uh, go to. Bun." B A R U N. This Bun Valley, right? and he went there and he looked around. and he uh did not find a yeti. But what. he did do was ended up helping to work.

toward conservation of that area, which. was kind of a nice silver lining to his. story was he got there and he was like, "This is one of the most beautiful. places on earth, right?" and one of the. greatest wilderness wildernesses I've. ever been to. He realized it wasn't. protected and that like Chinese loggers. were infringing on one side and uh. farmers were infringing on the other. So. he kind of spun it into like good work. doing conservation work in that area. which was kind of cool. Yeah. He got it. turned into a a national park in Nepal.

So it's a protected area now which is. significant. Have you seen pictures of. the the valley? Oh yeah. It's. astounding. It's one of the most. beautiful places I've ever seen in my. life. And it was just being used because. the people living there like, "Well, we. need this land. Yeah, it's beautiful, but we can't afford to preserve it. because a lot of people around here live. on $15 a year, right?" Um, so they were. just making use of it however they. could. And he he came in with the. government said, "No, no, no more of. that. Get out of here. This is protected.

now." But it is gorgeous. And his his he. had actually been raised there. Daniel. Taylor, his grandparents were. missionaries in the Himalayas and his. parents kind of took over his. grandparents work. So he was raised in. the Himalayas. So he'd been looking for. the Yeti his whole life. But when he. went to the Baroon, um he feels like he. found the answer to that track that it. was a kind of tree bear, right? But. there's there's a big problem with that. The Bun Valley is a a subtropical. rainforest. So, a tree bear living in.

there wouldn't survive very very well in. the snow of the Tibet Tibetan plateau, you know, 10 10,000 or more feet higher. up the mountain. So, it doesn't really. solve the mystery much. No, but his. notion that it could have been a tree. bear makes a little more sense with. these tracks because a tree bear does. have a um I I don't know if you call it. a thumb, but some sort of opposable. digit to make climbing easier. And that.

would that would at least explain this. weird thumblike thing in these prints. It would. So he's got like half of the. thing explained. The other half is what. the heck was that tree bear the. subtropical rainforest tree bear doing. up in the mountains of the Himalayas. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like in. the snow above the snow line, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. But the other. thing about that um that Shipton photo. that became world famous for the Yeti um. was that like the track itself was very.

crisp. And there's a guy named Benjamin. Radford who's a a skeptic who has. written a lot about the Yeti. Um, and in. particular, how how difficult obtaining. Yeti tracks could be or actually more to. the point, how easy it would be to. confuse a normal animal's tracks for. something weird because of the fact that. the the snow is a terrible medium for. tracks. Because like a say a bear walks. through an area, leaves some tracks in.

the snow. The next morning as the sun. comes up and it hits the tracks and it. shoots all that heat onto the onto that. track, it starts to melt the sides, maybe elongate it, maybe make the toes. look spled, and it just doesn't resemble. a bear track anymore at all. It looks. like something weird and and and um not. previously known, like an entirely new. species. That's the thing about this. ship in photograph that caught captured. everyone's attention. It doesn't look.

like that at all. It looks sharp, new. It doesn't look melted at all. The edges. are clean and crisp. That's what I think. really kind of struck everybody. It. wasn't like a melted, mangled track. It. was like a new track by something that. was not immediately identifiable. Yeah, for sure. So, there have been other. photographs through the years uh as you. know, supposed evidence. In 1986, a. hiker named Anthony Waldridge. um said, "There's a Yeti over there.

He's about 500 ft away." And uh he saw a. bunch of tracks in the snow that looked. like it it was going that way. And he. took some. photographs that were proven genuine, but I think by genuine that just means. they weren't faked. Yeah, that's what I. that's how I understand it. Cuz wasn't. this the photo that they said, "Actually, those are just rocks standing. up.". Yeah. Like a rock outcropping or. whatever. Yeah. This guy was also a. respected mountaineer and explorer and.

knew the area really well. And so when. he came back with this photo and they. said this photo wasn't faked, it's not. been doctorred. Right. People listen to. him, too. But it just turns out he was. wrong. This photo of rocks has not been. doctorred. Exactly. That's that's. ultimately what they were saying because. another expedition went back to the same. spot the next year and were like, "Oh, uh, yeah, that's it's those rocks over. there." And even even in his account, um, that guy, what was his name? Woodridge. Yeah. Uh, Woodridge says.

like, "Yeah, they just stood there. motionless. staring at me like rocks." Yeah. They. were they were still as boulders as. upright boulders. But the other thing is. he swore that there were tracks leading. up to it. So, he he seemed to think that. that they really were there, but from. what I understand, he was earnest in in. his report. It wasn't like a fraud or a. hoax or anything like that. And I think. he was a little a little redfaced. afterward, probably. Yeah, they even. made a movie about it called Ernest Goes.

Hiking, right? Ernest saves Christmas with the. abominable snowman. I'll bet Ernest did. save Christmas in one movie. I guarantee. there was a movie called Ernest Saves. Christmas. I think I think there was, right? No, the only one I'm 100% sure of. is Ernest Goes to Camp. I never saw any. of those. My family saw that movie in. the theater, paid top dollar. Top. dollar, which was $3. Yeah, I guess. I. hope so. At the time, which is.

surprising because my mom used to sneak. in bulk candy from like the the little. store across the the way from the movie. theater in Southwick Mall. Yeah, we know. that move in our family. It works works. really well. Uh so over the years there. have been not only things like oh look. footprints or hey look at that rock. across the valley. Uh there there have. been. uh I don't want to call it evidence but. um alleged evidence brought forward by.

legitimate scientists uh and people like. Sir Edmund Hillary like he brought back. a scalp and said he didn't say I scalped. the Yeti but he said hey I think this is. a Yeti scalp and he wasn't just trying. to fool anyone though was he? No no no. he was supposedly kind of a casual. believer in it. He'd been sent on a Yeti. expedition by New World Encyclopedia. years before. Yeah. And he came back. with a a Yeti skull cap that he' gotten. from a a monastery in Nepal. They had a.

Yeti skull cap and a hand, a Yeti hand, a mummified Yeti hand. And what's crazy. is that Yeti skull cap was supposedly. the the scalp of the one Yeti that had. been killed during the annihilation of. the Yeti story. I didn't know that. So. he he brings it back. I think it wasn't. that he was gullible. And I also am sure. it wasn't that it was he was a hostster. He was the kind of scientific person who. kept his mind open until the evidence.

was in. Man, can you imagine a time when. an encyclopedia company would send Sir. Edund Hillary out on assignment? Like how great is that? I know. That was. the mid 20th century. It was a great. great time to be alive in in the way of. wonder and curiosity. Uh so yeah, he comes back with his scalp. and it turns out they did a little. research and it was a uh it's an animal. called a serero. It's kind of like a. goat. Yeah, some poor so got scalped.

Yeah, but that happened a lot like um. there was this finger and this is a. pretty good story um that uh actor Jimmy. Stewart, believe it or not, was involved. in smuggling out a supposed Yeti finger. Yeah. From from again from a monastery. I believe it might have been the same. monastery. Yeah. And wasn't he just on. vacation there and just got sort of. mixed up in this plan? Yeah. We got to. mention Tom Slick, the oil man. Yeah,

cuz he figures into this story. Uh he he. was a rich guy who uh he was one of. these dudes, this sort of adventuring. rich guys that was like, "I'm a yeti. hunter for this year." Yeah. And and. when when you say hunter, like he was a. hunter. His entire point to finding the. yeti was to shoot and kill it. Yeah. And. to take it back and have it stuffed. And. um the government in Nepal had a real. problem with that and basically said, "Your expedition is is banned. nobody.

can come in here and kill the yeti. And. apparently the US State Department got. in touch with Nepal and said, "Hey, by. the way, we have the same feeling. We we. have a policy of not killing yeti. either." So apparently with that, um Tom. Slick's expedition was allowed back in. on the basis that they would never try. to kill the yeti except in self-defense. Oh, okay. And I guess later on when he became. interested in Bigfoot, he had a change. of heart and he stopped decid he he.

stopped hunting to kill and started. hunting just to find and maybe capture. on photograph and that was it. And that. his change of heart um changed the way. that Bigfoot is searched for to this day. and the Yeti. Now it's a much more Yeah, it's much more peaceful search. He was. like the last of the um big game hunters. involved in like trying to find. unidentified animals again to kill them. so they could be stuffed and kept at the. National Geographic Society or something.

like that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and that. was a big thing that um Daniel's guy. talks about just these legends in. history and how quote unquote science. back then was in the Victorian age were. were cuz you know all these tales of. Tarzan and these fantastic. beasts, people would just these rich. people would go into the jungle and. search for animals that no one had ever. seen before so they could shoot and kill. them and bring them back and say, "Look. at this weird thing." Right? And I mean. a lot of people.

like don't. really like you you point to the guys. who were out there like doing the. hunting and killing and the exploitation. and all of that, but they were very. frequently working at the behest of. museums. Sure. Who for a very long time. got a pass even though they were the. source of the the um those expeditions. and the funders of those expeditions. And the reason people were out there in. the first place was to go get specimens. for the museum's collections and. ostensibly to study or whatever, but it.

was to study them dead. And I think. probably because there wasn't really any. reliable way to ship a live specimen. back in a lot of ways. But also there. there was um so I think Tom Slick kind. of represented the the end of that and. then the beginning of the new this new. era of much more peaceful exploration. and expeditions. Yeah. And I don't want. to leave everyone hanging on Jimmy. Stewart. Uh he was on he was on. vacation, I think, in Kolkata, got mixed. up in this uh in this Yeti finger,

helped smuggle it back, and they finally. did DNA testing about uh seven or eight. years ago, and they said, "Oh, this is a. human finger.". Right. But I mean, for a while there, they weren't 100% sure. And I guess Tom. Slick was friends had a common friend uh. with Jimmy Stewart and Jimmy Stewart. happened to be in India. And so Tom. Slick's agents in Nepal managed to get. this finger to Jimmy Stewart who agreed.

to smuggle it out on the basis that. Jimmy Stewart's luggage is not going to. get searched. Andy Jimmy Stewart. smuggled a Yeti finger out of India and. to the UK for it to be studied. I'll go. go ahead and put the finger in my bag. I was so hoping you were going to do a. Jimmy Stewart Yeti impression. In my. head, I was like, uh, Jimmy Stewart, can. I pull that off? You did, man. You. nailed it. Uh, all right. Well, let's.

take another break and we'll come back. and talk more about DNA and how that has. figured in uh in the search in more. recent years right after this. Well, now. we're on the road driving in your truck. Why not learn a thing or two from Josh. and Chuck? It's stuff you should know. You should know. All right. [Music].

So, Chuck, you remember in the Loch Ness. episode, the Loch Ness Monster episode, we talked about how there's like a a new. search going on where they're sampling. the lock itself and examining it for. DNA. Um, apparently applying modern. genetics and genetic analysis to. cryptozoolology is like the next. chapter. And rather than saying like, "Oh, well that's it for us. Our our big. fraud is over with." Cryptozoolologists.

are like, "Awesome. Good. We finally. have the tools now to find out to get to. the bottom of this stuff and to actually. discover new new specimens or new um. species." Um, so they seem to be quite. happy about it and quite excited. Although that they're a lot of their. beliefs hang in the balance and could. just be have the legs cut out from under. them by science. That's true. So, science wins. In 2013, there's a. geneticist at Oxford named Brian Sykes.

who said, "All right, Yeti uh holders of. Yeti pieces, send them to me. If you. have any Yeti hair, Yeti teeth, Yeti. tissue, send it to Oxford University.". And he got it. He got 57 samples. Uh. they picked 36 of those to uh do some. DNA analysis on. Mhm. And uh most of. these turned out to be animals that we. all know like bears and cows and horses.

Um at the time though he found a couple. of samples. uh from Bhutan and India that he said uh. were 100% match for jawbones of a polar. bear from the pleaene era. Yeah. And. this kind of excited people because this. may have been I mean not the yeti but. this may have been sort of a combination. a hybrid of a polar bear and a brown. bear because this is when they were. diverging genetically and that in itself. would be a pretty cool find. Yeah. Oh.

yeah. It would be a a new type of bear. that was a direct descendant from bears. that went extinct about 40,000 years. ago. And it'd be a type of polar bear. There aren't polar bears in the. Himalayas. There's black bears, there's. brown bears, there's Himalayan bears, there's tree bears, but there's not. polar bears. So, and the fact that like. he accidentally found this by putting. out this call for for samples of Yeti or. Bigfoot or whoever um just made it all.

the all the sweeter that like he had. just accidentally discovered a new type. of polar bear living in the Himalayas. Yeah. But sadly, that was not even the. case. Um, some more scientists came along. later. They did reanalysis and I think. what they landed on was, you know, unfortunately these uh I think you're. getting a bad reading because of a. damaged sample. What these really. are just brown bears. They're brown. bears. Yeah. Some other people followed.

up because um it's not like it was any. kind of hoax or anything like that. W um. it's W, right? His last name is W. Sykes. Sykes. Sykes is like a a a. leading expert on um analyzing. mitochondrial DNA. Wrote the book The. Seven Daughters of Eve, which kind of. introduced the world to genetic analysis. through M MTDNA. But um he just made a. mistake or leapt to a conclusion I think. is the the the thing that everyone's.

being too polite to to maybe say but he. he shared all of his data on Genbank. which is this huge database and other. people came and analyzed it and said no. it's just regular bears and then other. people analyzed it and said yeah it's. totally just regular regular brown bears. that we already know about. Yeah, but. that it science at least was getting. involved and scientists kind of roundly. were like, you know what, this is great. because we're using real science finally. and regardless of what uh result we get,

like we're doing it the right way. And. that's really kind of the thing that. counts. Like don't don't be disappointed. that we're not finding the Yeti because. um and if it's not clear to everyone. listening, it seems like the Yeti are. are almost always just bears. Yes, that not just the the um the the. like tissue samples or the fecal samples. or the hair samples, but also the. tracks, the sightings, all of it are. probably just Himalayan bears, brown.

bears and black bears. And that's. actually the opinion of Reinhold Messner. who actually is such a mountaineer. around the area. He has a um a museum in. the mountains and his one of his yeti. samples were one of the ones that Sykes. analyzed. His turned out to be the tooth. of a dog. But he says that doesn't. surprise me because I think they're all. bears. I think all of his bears, including his own sighting, he became uh. infatuated with searching for the yeti.

because he spotted something in the. Himalayas that he couldn't explain. And. then through his own methodical. research, he wrote a book about it. Um. he talked to other people about it. He. he did his own studies and he kept his. mind open and his mind became converted. to it's all bears. Yeah, pretty much. Um. the Russians got involved. You would. think, oh, in what, like the 1960s? No, they got involved about eight years ago. and went searching for uh the Yeti in.

Siberia. Uh and what they came back with were. things like, "Oh, look at this. These. twisted tree branches were made into. beds uh or sleeping pods by the Yeti and. they twisted these branches and look at. this. Uh it's evidence, but it turns out. that they were clearly man-made. They. were toolmade cuts and uh they were. located on a not in a remote area at. all." And just like right off a trail, I. think, right? Yeah. And what people. think is, oh, they just cook this stuff. up to try and bring tourism to a a not.

very tourist friendly area, right? Siberia, like they and apparently. there's a long-standing tradition among. um Russians and former Soviets of. basically drumming up tourism by playing. on people's beliefs in the Yeti and the. Abominable Snowman. Um, and I think there was a a period of. time, one of the people interviewed in. this great BBC article about the Yeti, um, the the the this Russian scientist.

says there's a period of time where it. was like very fashionable for the. intelligencia of Russia and the Soviet. Union to basically go on trips in the. summer looking for the abominable. snowman. And they would show up in these. towns and every town had a designated. Yeti witness. And the Yeti witness's job. was to basically regail them with tall. tales that were supposedly true, take. them on these tours into the forest um.

and then make a bunch of money off of. them and say, "Thanks a lot, Chump. Sorry we didn't see anything this time.". But that they apparently in 2011 the. Russian government orchestrated another. one of those um through this conference. and from the conference they announced. to the world they had found indisputable. proof that Yeti exists from this bed and. these broken branches and supposedly a. few hairs attached to a clump of moss. But some other people who were attending. anthrop anthropologists and biologists.

were like no it's totally made up. This. is all just a big tourist PR stunt. Yeah, which is hilarious. Way to go, Russia. And Putin supposedly tried to do. it again in 2016. He announced that he. saw three Yeti from a helicopter tour of. Siberia. Oh, that's funny. Yeah, I think so, too. Uh, so I mean I don't have much else. yet. Your bears, right? Yeah. But we.

couldn't we couldn't talk about. cryptozoolology though without. mentioning that celacanth argument. And. and the thing about the yeti is that. there there was actually a species of. ape called. gigantopithecus that was like a 9- foot. tall ape, the biggest ape that ever. lived. Um that lived in that very area. and went extinct about 100,000 years. ago. So the people who really believe in. this are like you know we thought the.

celacanth went extinct like 60 million. years before we just think this guy went. extinct a 100,000 years before who's to. say so that seems to be the thing that's. carrying on this belief that and the. fact that as somebody put in one of. these um articles uh all it would take. is one yeti to prove that Yeti exists. but no matter how much there's no such. thing as evidence they can prove it. doesn't exist so people are always going. to believe But just like Nessie. Exactly. And Bigfoot.

Exactly. So there you. go. Uh if you want to know more about. the Yeti, go to the Himalayas and look. for it yourself. And since I said that, it's time for listener mail. Or we should mention uh if you're in. Disney World, there's a roller coaster. ride called Expedition Everest. colon because you know every good roller. coaster has a colon in the name, right? Uh colon Legend of the Forbidden.

Mountain. There are there is a track on. display there uh that the reason it's. not in a scientific museum and it's at. Disney World is because it's a Yeti. track, but you can go look at one from a. TV show. Yeah. this guy named uh Gates. who is not a zoologologist at all, but. he's an actor and an animal track or I. don't even think he's an animal tracker, is he? No, no, he's he's an actor and a. TV presenter and a producer. Yeah. So, they they presented one on his TV show.

and now that's in Disney World. Yeah. So, um and if you're in Disneyland, there's a Yeti on the Matterhorn ride. Oh, really? Mhm. Like a real Yeti? Yeah. They have one chained by the neck inside. the matter horn. It's really scrawny. They clearly aren't taking very good. care of it. Amazing. Um, well, I already. said it's time for listener mail, Charles. Yeah, I got distracted. Sorry. So, uh, I'm going to call this, uh, follow up on the chili finger that Jimmy. Stewart planted at Wendy's.

Nice. Uh, and and quick shout out, this. is a local listener from Georgia Tech, but uh, I just wanted to say hello to a. couple of people I met last weekend at. the High Museum when I went to the. Infinity Mirrors exhibit. Oh, isn't that. amazing? Yeah. Yo, Kusama. Um, yeah, I. thought it. was Here's what I think. I think it was. really cool. Uhhuh. And it would have. been a lot cooler if it's just like, yeah, you just walk through all these. things and you don't wait 30 minutes to.

spend 20 seconds in the room. Yep. That. took away from it a bit. You Yumi and I. went at the end of the day and people. thinned out and we could just keep going. in and staying as long as we wanted in. them. So, it I I totally get what you. were saying. It was cool, though. And I. also think like I went with my brother. and uh his family and Scott was kind of. like I I could build one of these in my. backyard by next weekend. I want to see. Scott's infinity mirror. I thought the. same thing. It'd be awesome to build one.

of those and just like hang out in it. for sure. I don't want to take anything. away from her though. She's a great. artist and it and it was really neat. I. love the uh I think the one that was. sort of like the Christmas lights uh was. my favorite one. What about the one. that's like a kind of like an octagonal. box that you look in? That was awesome. Yeah, it's just like you see your future. in the 80s or something like that. Yeah, I took I got a couple of cool photos and. but I largely kept the phone in my. pocket and just tried to be in it, man. Yeah, man. I'm with you. So, anyway, I.

met a couple of listeners that were just. happened to be there and they both came. up and like, are you Chuck? And so, my. brother got a kick out of that as well. Oh, that's awesome. Um, but this was not. one of those people. Okay. It just. reminded me because it's a Georgia Tech. student. Uh, hey guys. Relatively new. listener. Have probably listened to. about a hundred episodes so far. Intend. to hop around. As you can tell, I'm a. Georgia Tech student and really hope to. run into you guys at some point in. Atlanta. Did I mention I go to Georgia. Tech? Uh, anyway, I finally sort of had.

something to write in about. I was. listening to the Wendy's Chili podcast. Suddenly heard the name of a place that. sounded very familiar. Cooh's Custard. Uh remember we mentioned that at the end. as a as a place where there was a. finger. Oh yeah. Uh he said it was one. of the places where a finger had been. found and it shocked me as it is just a. tiny little custard shop that is not a. chain on quite expensive beach property. in North Carolina. I've been as a as a. Georgia Tech student. I was shocked. Uh I've been to the place probably five.

or 10 times as a frequent Missouri. Writesville Beach and had never heard of. anyone mention this incident. just think. it's very impressive that a small little. store managed to stay afloat after such. an incident occurred. Hearing about the. finger incident will not deter me from. going again though. And that is from. Ethan Lions. And Ethan, maybe that is. exactly why it endured. It's because. people just want that custard so bad. It. must be pretty good custard though if. you think about it. Yeah. And it didn't. make like big national news probably.

because it's not a chain. I see. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure that's part of it. Plus, they also did a better job. spinning the PR than Wendy's did. Sure, I'm betting. Well, thanks a lot, Ethan, for letting us know just kind of. bringing that home. Hadn't really. envisioned the place where that finger. was found in the custard until now. So, thanks for that. If you uh want to get. in touch with us and kind of paint a. more illustrative picture than we did. about something we talked about, we love. that. You can join us on um. stuffyounow.com. Check out all of our.

links there or you can send us an email. to. [Music]. stuffodcast@ousstuffworks.com. Stuff you. should know is a production of iHeart. Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].