Review & Update of Alleged Yowie Photograph

A number of photographs of the Yowie – long-believed to be the mythical man-beast of Australian folklore – were recently released via a self-published book by Gympie identity Brett Green. This is news which could go a long way to legitimising the Yowie as an actual species yet to be documented by science. Furthermore, if Green’s alleged Yowie photographs could indeed be independently validated perhaps other self-proclaimed “Yowie-researchers” like Rex Gilroy, Dean Harrison and Neil Frost who have been actively searching for the Yowie for decades were actually right all along.

With the publication of Green’s Yowie book and photographs, the processes of confirmation would surely be just around the proverbial corner. However, after publishing his book Green claimed that a "raid" occurred on January 23-2012 "...duly demanded entrance to the author’s workplace and confiscated all research files, photographs, negatives, CD and DVD records..." [1]

The only image currently available for public scrutiny, then, is the one below as presented on the book’s cover:

After a short and sugary review of Green’s book, Mike Williams, of CFZAustralia, shows his experience as an investigator by launching into a critique of Green’s Yowie and government raid claims which calls into question their validity. Green refused to offer any further explanation: "Under legal advice, the author has been advised not to make any comment on any unreliable or approved Internet source to any person not duly authorised while a current situation is being investigated." [1]

The questions raised continue to remain unanswered.

Determining Authenticity the Yowie Image

The seemingly semi-human image on the cover of Brett Green’s book leaves little room for interpretation – it is either the first photograph ever taken of the Yowie or it is not. If it is a genuine undiscovered species (specifically, the Yowie) then the implications for zoology and our understanding of the world around us are staggering. If it is not then it simply becomes another example of Yowie fakery.

Media

The discovery of new species often attracts worldwide media attention. A Google News search of the term “new species” revealed over 600 entries for 2012 alone. Examples:

New Species Of Slow Loris Discovered In Borneo

New species of tarantula spider named after Megadeth's Dave Mustaine

New species of primate from foot bone find

Researchers Find New Species of Mini-Chameleon

A New Species in New York Was Croaking in Plain Sight

Suriname forest reveals 46 new species

New lizard species has rainbow skin

Africa: New Species of Ancient Crocodile Discovered

New species of frog found in Philippines

Surprisingly, other than internet sites devoted to cryptozoological speculation, Brett Green’s Yowie claims and photographs have attracted absolutely no local or international media coverage. In contrast, the Yowie and their self-appointed researchers have featured in the following media news items in 2012:

Tim the Yowie Man’s top hunting tips for summer

Animal Planet TV crew capture audio they believe proves existence of yowies

Panthers, yowie men and a headless roo, the real X-files of New South Wales

Yowie hot spot

Got a Yowie story?

I'm friends with a Yowie!

Artist renders Yowie Man deep in mystery

SMERF search for alien visitors

Yowie seeker, 68, has something to prove

Given the magnitude of the claims and the media’s love of sensational stories, if Green’s Yowie claims legitimate then it is somewhat surprising there has been no media interest as yet. Or is it?

Brett Green – Historian or Pseudo-Historian?

In Healy & Cropper’s seminal The Yowie: In Search of Australia’s Bigfoot (2006)[2], Green is referred to as a “historian” although he has no such qualifications. In the 1990’s, Green courted local controversy by self-publishing a series of books (the Tales of a Warrior series) reputed to be from the historical diary of Green’s great grandfather, John Green. Mysterious ruins and legends are recurring themes.

Dr Elaine Brown, a qualified historian working in Gympie at the time, wrote:

From the time the first book, The Legend of Gympie, was published, many readers suspected that something was wrong with Green’s claims. The content of the Green ‘diaries’ contradicted surviving records in three important areas: local history, the history of the Green family, and Aboriginal history. Nearly every page contained errors of historical fact, and the list of references at the end included many books that had nothing to do with the topics covered. The book was illustrated with unsourced photos of Aborigines from different parts of Australia, and with ‘enhanced reproductions’ (digitally altered photos) of ‘mystery stone sculptures’ of ‘Dhamuri’.

These questionable characteristics continued in the books that followed, and it became clear that, whoever wrote the Green ‘diaries’, they were not authentic and the Tales of a Warrior series was pure fiction. [3]

Like the latest controversy, Green alternatively claimed that the original diaries and documents were not available for independent examination because they were either destroyed in a fire in the family home (records show there was such a fire on 19 October 1984, but the Fire Brigade arrived promptly and that only the lounge room was affected) [3], stolen in 1996 [4], or lost in transit to the Oxley library [5].

Similarly, Green is implicated in fabricating evidence to support his outlandish theories on a terraced hill known locally as the “Gympie Pyramid”. [3]

Green’s long and well-documented history of fabricating evidence to support his sensational claims does not auger well for the potential authenticity of Green’s photograph of Yowie.

Investigation

In May, 2012, Green’s associate, Qld police officer SC, stated that an Australian Yowie Research (AYR) investigation of the alleged Yowie photographs and site was ongoing and that image analysis specialists, Analysis Bureau Imagery (ABI) (http://www.kerrial.com/), were working on authenticating the photographs. [6]

AYR is one of the leading sources of Yowie claims. However, its founder Dean Harrison, has also been caught out faking evidence to support his sensational claims [7].

Although a part of that ill-fated “expedition” and having willingly supported Harrison’s claim to have been “attacked by a Yowie”, SC has since been removed from all positions within AYR. There is no evidence of any AYR investigation taking place on site or otherwise.

There is no suggestion of any impropriety by ABI. In fact, there is no evidence ABI have been involved in any process relating to Green’s photographs at all.

Considering the complete lack of media or academic interest in Green’s incredible Yowie claims, the huge incongruities in Green’s story along with his well-documented history of fakery clearly suggests the alleged photograph of a Yowie will also prove to be more of the same.

Possible Development

On December 8, 2012, the website of Mike Williams and Rebecca Lang, Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZAustralia) posted YouTube footage of a Bigfoot-like figurine next to the cover image of on Green’s book.

The similarities are striking and I reposted the images and links on my website and sent the links to popular cryptozoological website, Cryptomundo, 3 days later with the heading “Update: Source of Brett Green's Yowie Hoax Revealed!”

On December 13, Rebecca Lang posted a clarification:

Hey guys, if you’d asked we could have set you straight – a local artist created the model based on the cover of the book, primarily to get a better feel for what the purported ‘yowie’ might look like. We were lucky enough to get hold of it and filmed the sequence referred to in the post. Just email and ask next time. [8]

I acknowledge that I may have prematurely jumped the gun in declaring the source of Green’s Yowie hoax to have been revealed. However, this does not change the fact the figurine does hold a high degree of similarity (almost an exact replica) to Green’s image of an alleged Yowie.

Although the particular angles of the images from CFZAustralia do not quite correspond with that of Green’s and some of the superficial paintwork (particularly the eyes) is different [9] the shape of the head and the positioning of the eyes, brow ridge, ear, nose, mouth, and even teeth all correspond almost exactly with those of Green’s Yowie photograph. A better comparison is surely required.

The figurine seems to be made of moulded plastic or rubber. If so, then a mould exists to make the figurine. Could the same (or similar) mould be used to create the image in Green’s yowie photograph? Further information is required so I sent an email to Williams and Lang of CFZAustralia requesting the name and contact details of the “local artist” that supposedly crafted the figurine but have yet to receive a reply.

On Cryptomundo Lang warned of folly of taking someone else’s words at face value as ‘the truth’. [8] Indeed, this is good advice but it also applies equally to her word. If the figurine does not bear any relation whatsoever to Green’s alleged Yowie photograph then it should be a simple process to resolve. However, if figure or mould which made it is related then it represents the tip of the iceberg of the subculture of Yowie fakery in Australia.

Unfortunately, nothing is simple when it comes to the Yowie.

To be continued…