2012 is proving to be another slow year once again for the Yowie with no sightings independently reported in the Australian media yet there is BIG news from the backchannels. While it was thought that no photographs of the Yowie were in existence it turns out that there are two (and possibly more) dating back to 1998 in the latest book by Gympie-based “researcher” Brett  Green. One can be seen on the cover (right).

Is this tangible evidence for one of the greatest zoological discoveries of all time? Why isn’t the world media beating a path to Brett Green’s door?

Well, there are a couple of reasons:

1) Despite having been commended for stellar work with the local scouting movement, Brett Green also has a long and well-documented history of fantasy and fakery. The Tales of a Warrior series are claimed to be transcribed from the diaries and notes of John and James Green 1840 to 1938 have been shown to be works of fiction written by Brett Green himself (Green’s family ancestors never even visited Queensland). Green also faked artefacts and was instrumental in the infamous Gympie Pyramid hoax.

2) In Yowie Tales 1 Green claims that on January 23, 2012, unnamed “government departmental staff… duly demanded entrance to the author’s workplace and confiscated all research files, photographs, negatives, CD and DVD records”. Yeah… right. Green also claimed criticisms of his Tales of a Warrior series were politically motivated.

Fortean investigator, Mike Williams, posed some excellent questions to Brett Breen on his website [note - no longer available]:

 

1. In the book sales post on AYR you stated the photos were "verified"

All I am going to say is that the cover image was taken from a genuine photograph from 1998; verified; and has been kept under "wraps"since then along with 3 others.

Source.

Which person/group examined and "verified" the photo? And how did they verify the photo?

 

2. On the [forum] we were told there were four photos in total.

In the book we are told "...sadly when the photographs were developed, six were clear, five were blurred." How many clear, unedited photos were there. Four or six?

 

3. Where are the five blurred photos?

 

4. Is their (sic) anyone who sighted the original negatives that we are able contact?

 

5. The photos and negatives are very important secondary evidence of unknown creatures.

Were the original photos/negatives ever shown to scientists/anthropologists etc that can be contacted?

 

6. The "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..."

Did you have in your possession, at your workplace, the complete roll of negatives of the yowies before the raid?

 

7. Did the "government departmental staff" remove the complete roll of negatives of the yowies?

 

8. Regarding the first photo described in the book, the two males, there is this description:

Then out of nowhere, two creatures appeared on top of the rocky waterfall ledges near a fig tree in a fighting mode as they stood with their backs towards me and facing(or gesturing to other invisible entities in the far tree line ahead ( I was around 100 feet up the hill from them with the road in between, I snapped some hurried snapshots without thinking then they disappeared.

This photo (not released yet, but discussed in the book) was shown to me. This interesting photo shows two creatures level with the photographer. The current description of any elevation above the creatures is impossible. Can the author please explain this?

 

9. Over the last 14 years since the incident, has the author had time to re-create the original photos at the location?

 

10. On page 113 "some of the 'illustrations' officialdom did not want anyone to see".

Why would a government department not want the photos to be seen, but allow you to use the photos, so that people can see them?

 

12. The original interview ... is below.

[Source]

The original story was five witnesses and no photos.

"It was at this location where Brett and 4 friends had witnessed first hand the power of the Yowie in a freak incident while bush walking 3 years ago... Brett went through the story stage by stage, pointing out the exact places and what was viewed... It was a most incredible and amazing story with the names of all the people involved as back up of the encounter."

The next version of the story in 'Yowie Tales' is one witness and photos. Can the author please explain this?

 

13. The author has been a Justice of the Peace for over 40+ years. With your legal background, are you claiming that you handed over your entire life's work and forgot to ask the two government staff for a copy of the search warrant, forgot to ask them where the police were to serve the warrant, forgot to ring the police and demand these people leave your property, forgot to ask the two government staff for identification for you to record, forgot to ask them for receipts for items seized, and forgot to write down their car registration?

 

14. If you have handed over your life's work to two frauds, who were not government employees, how could they have possibly known that you knew absolutely nothing about the law (even less than Joe Citizen) and would merely hand over your life's work? They essentially were risking jail time by impersonating government officials while carrying out an illegal raid with fraudulent documentation.

Can the author please explain this?

 

Green’s only response to these questions was:

"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."

 

Williams makes no mention of Green’s history of fakery but it goes to show he is more than capable of asking critical questions when it suits him (see Centre for Fortean Zoology to Investigate Yowie Attack?). Williams is correct in stating that the “two images purportedly of yowies, if proven to be real one day, could be some of the most important secondary evidence of unusual creatures ever recorded!” but fails to grasp that if the images are shown to be fake that it represents the tip of the iceberg of the subculture of Yowie fakery in Australia.

Can Green’s Yowie images be reasonably demonstrated to be of a real unidentified species or are they fakes? Without access to the originals, negatives, and documentation both outcomes will be difficult. Green thought ahead on this with his claims of government raid confiscating his material but history (real history, not Green’s fictitious version of it) clearly suggests they are fakes.