A "Bigfoot" book in 2006, and a "skeptical" CE3 catalogue in 2018, said that in 1932, in Scartwater, Queensland, Australia, prospector Bert Bagnall was hunting crocodiles, when he looked up and saw an ape-like thing on the opposite bank. It ran off into the bush.
It comes from an article of 1992 in People magazine. The alleged gold prospector is supposed to have seen these creatures, called "Bunyips", many times, and wants to shoot at them although he thinks they could be old miners who evaded the pressures of social life.
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[Ref. tl1:] TONY LAMBERT:
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A North Queensland Prospector who's had no ·less than six run-ins with the legendary Bunyip believes the creature may be old fossickers gone bush. "I think this one's a hermit who has given up mining as the gold run out and he has a fortune stashed away," says the 83-year-old Bert Bagnall, who is now living in Townsville. "He keeps showing up every so often when he needs water and supplies such as wild fruit." In this instance Bert is referring to a confrontation at Charters Towers near an early gold mining site on Towers hill. But he believes many Bunyips could be old men who have deliberately bowed out of the rat race. "I think that in all the .places I've seen Bunyips they could well have been old miners who were not interested in being a part of normal life," he says. Bert saw his first Bunyip in 1932. He'd just shot a big saltwater Crocodile in a lagoon on Scartwater Station when he looked up and saw the creature on the opposite bank. "It was about 175cm tall, with lots of hair on it," Bert recalls. "But it took off at great speed into the bush and I never even had time to fire at it." In the years since Bert's seen Bunyips in Paluma (where, in the past decade, two people have mysteriously disappeared without a trace in the dense rain forests), near the Flinders river, at Charters Towers and at Ravenswood historical Cemetery, about 120km from Townsville. Common to all the areas was an abundance of Kangaroo's and Wallabies, which Bert believes the Bunyips eat, and gold mines. Gold is the common thread to Bert's sightings and adds weight to his old miner theory. It also helps to explain why Bert - a gold prospector himself - has seen so many Bunyips whereas other bushmen see none. Bert has discovered a few promising nuggets at a spot between Townsville and Charters Towers and will shortly be returning there, with a friend to search for more gold. He also fully expects to find more Bunyips but says he's going there un-armed. "I just think the Bunyips just want to be left alone in peace and bloody Humans keep annoying them." |
[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:
1932.SCARTWATER (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA) While hunting crocodiles prospector Bert Bagnall looked up and saw an ape like thing on the opposite bank. It ran off into the bush. Healy and Cropper 2006 p219 case 56 citing Tony Lambert in People 28 July 1992 |
The credibility of the source may be questionable. Below, some covers of People magazine for 1992:
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Some "skeptical" researchers and authors, including Peter Rogerson, criticize - rightfully I think - "believers" for trying to include such tales, unrelated to UFOs, into the ufology litterature as "ancient" manifestations of the UFO phenomenon or alien visitors.
This case was introduced in the ufology literature only by a skeptical researcher, Peter Rogerson. The argumentation is that such cases show that human imagination and misperceptions have always existed.
This story come from a magazine without any credibility, ufologically speaking. The story sounds made up: why would a gold prospector shoot down people he thinks may be ancient miners who escaped society?
In any case, this has nothing to do with UFO reports or UFO occupants, except, maybe, as an example of hoax unrelated to UFOs.
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Probable invention, not UFO-related.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
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| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | August 18, 2018 | Creation, [tl1], [pr1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | August 18, 2018 | First published. |
