Eric Beckjord

[joep]

Folks, Bobby Short has link to Eric Beckjord's obit.
May he rest in Peace and Thanks for the Laugh, Eric.

[Tom Shirley]

Rest in Peace Mr Beckjord

May you find peace and no more pain http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums/images/smilies/flwr.gif

Tom S.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/25/BA2A11TAA8.DTL

[lagan]

Seems to be some doubt of his demise, maybe just still jerking us around even after he is out of body.
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/beckjord-hoax/

lagan

[Noodle]

His obituary is in the San Francisco Chronicle here:
SFC Obit (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/25/BA2A11TAA8.DTL)

And the day AFTER he died, Jeff posted that he is alive and improving:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/549306/

Why on earth would Jeff make this claim?

[Tom Shirley]

Wow Noodle, this is strange. We will have to contact Jeff & find out the truth here.

Tom S.

[Tom Shirley]

The truth here > http://www.network54.com/Forum/549306/

[Noodle]

My gosh, I misread that obituary -
Erik died over a MONTH ago, and Jeff was claiming on JULY 23rd that he was improving.

Very curious -

[Tom Shirley]

There was a reason that Jeff did this, he hated having to do this but he had a reason.

Tom S.

[Windspirit]

This man was the first ever bigfoot person I ever had contact with. When I refused to let him know where I lived he started to threaten me. He called me some names I had never heard of . Then the nasty emails started coming. Hoping he would tire of these things and when he didn't my oldest son and husband told him where they would find him, if he came around or continued to call and bother me. To me this man was aggresive, and abusive. I did't like him alive and I sure as heck don't like him since he died. I honestly believe the bigfoot world is going to be a better place with out this man. One the flip side I would like to hear just one good thing about the man!! Windspirit

[Noodle]

If you want to hear good things about EB, Windspirit, look on Jeff's board here (http://www.network54.com/Forum/549306/message/1217046228/Jon-+Erik+Beckjord+Dies+At+Age+69)

Of course, this is the ONLY place these claims are made; checking the regular places for obit's, like newspapers and such, you will find no mention of charity work, MENSA work, degrees claimed, etc.

So, Tom, what was the reason for lying and pretending that EB was getting better when he had been dead for over a month?

[Teagle]

Noodle,

It is common in some structures to respect the dead. I knew Jon-Erik was not with us for quite some time. I know it seems misleading BUT; it would have been "improper"(which is what I told Loren Coleman over the phone) to release a man's death without consent of the greater party. The greater party being HIS family. So! In a nutshell....there you have it. There's simply nothing mystical about it. I respected the wishes of his family. When the time came and things were in order; they told everyone. Then I re-affirmed it.

Noodle, does that answer your questions?

[Noodle]

If the family wanted his death kept quiet for over a month, why did they run the obituary in the newspaper the day after he died?
And even if someone ELSE ran it (which would be very unusual), why pretend he was still alive after the obituary ran in the paper?

This simply makes no sense at all.

[Noodle]

And why on earth would anyone want to keep the death of a loved one quiet? Surely the deceased friends should not be lied to and told he was improving when they should be grieving his loss -

I am not criticizing you, only whoever tried to keep this hushed up.

[Jan]

To whom it may concern, or not,
Very few of us knew EB other than the bigfoot community. Most of us formed the opinion the man was a start raving nut case. Most of us took him for a foe other than friend. Almost everyone I can think of right off the top of my head actually hated EB. He posed a threat to most, or a throne in the side that just kept digging in. We all saw the bad in the man, but for just one moment we never considered the good. Most didn't even give thought that there was a good side to EB.

So for a second let me enlighten you to the real Jon Erik Beckjord the man behind the controversies.

Jon Erik Beckjord(1939 – 22 June 2008) was a San Francisco-based paranormal investigator and photographer known for his far-reaching ideas regarding such phenomena as UFOs, crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, and, his "specialty," Bigfoot, which he believed to be an extradimensional ghost-like entity that lives in mountains, forests and even farmers' fields. Because of his speculation that creatures such as the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot may be interdimensional aliens, he was considered a fringe theorist, not only by skeptics, but also by the vast majority of his fellow cryptozoologists.

Beckjord attended the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, CO for two years. He then moved on to Tulane University, where he graduated with honors in sociology,1961. He studied law for one year at Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley, and later received an MBA from UC Berkeley,1966. He has appeared on several nationwide radio and television shows, such as Coast to Coast AM and Good Morning America, as well as Late Night with David Letterman. He claims that he captured the Loch Ness Monster on film in 1983; this film aired on the BBC and on NBC in 1987. Beckjord has briefly owned three UFO/Bigfoot/Nessie museums in Los Angeles, Malibu and San Francisco.

Beckjord himself characterized his theories as being "no more bizarre than those of Einstein, Dr. Michio Kaku or Dr. Fred Alan Wolf," and considers many to be continuations or expansions upon Einstein's work.

Beckjord believed that Bigfoot and similar cryptids may be "inter-dimensional" beings that can occasionally take physical form for brief periods of time, but that, like the famed Cheshire cat, can "fade out" and pass through "wormholes", possibly to other dimensions or parallel universes. He reported to have had one of the creatures speak to him using telepathy, communicating the words "We're here, but we're not real, like what you think is real". Beckjord claimed that such entities may be able to actually disappear into thin air, or even shapeshift. "He disappeared right in front of me", he replied to one poster on his message board. He noted that other persons have had this also happen to them (see The Locals by Thom Powell, 2004).

Beckjord maintained that the interdimensional hypothesis may possibly, if proven, explain why there are thousands of alleged Bigfoot creature sightings each year, yet no dead zoological physical body is ever found. To evidence these ideas, Beckjord accumulated a large collection of enlarged photographs that he says show, among other things, "half-Bigfoots" and "invisible Bigfoots", or possible aliens. The forms are often found in situations where the camera picked up images not seen by the witnesses, often due to distance. According to Beckjord, the images show primates, carnivores and beings not readily identified within known zoological classifications that resemble descriptions of aliens submitted to investigators. He conducted much field work, such as camping out at "window sites" where, he said, Bigfoot activity is frequently seen. From 1978–1981, he collected his own photographic evidence of what he believes to be a "tribe" of either Bigfoots or aliens at El Dorado National Forest.

Beckjord's strong beliefs about Bigfoot and similar entities brought him into conflict not only with skeptics, who consider Bigfoot sightings to be a cultural phenomena purely resulting from wishful thinking or hoaxes, but also with those who believe Bigfoot to be an actual physical creature. CNN correspondent Rusty Dornin wrote in 1997 "if it's far-fetched and unproved, Beckjord buys it."

He actively promoted his claims on Internet message boards, arousing long, lively discussions that often turned into flame wars between Beckjord and his opponents. Indeed, many webmasters banned Beckjord from their sites, considering him to be too disruptive. He had, at times, asked his readers to "trash" or "attack" forums where he felt he was being treated unfairly. However, despite the extreme nature of his claims, his powerful and aggressive personality drew much attention from the paranormal research community.

Beckjord died from prostate cancer on 22nd June 2008, near his home in Lafayette, California.

Bet you didn't know this. Jon Erik was the still photographer for the 1995 Alien Implant Removal by Dr. Leir, in Ventura, CA.

Now with all this under his belt, and all the negative publicity he drew toward himself, I ask you; If you were his family and close friends would you openly announce his death to a community that loved to hate him? No I think not. EB deserved better that a three ring circus at his funeral, however he may have enjoyed the last laugh of having one.

Think what you will, it takes all kinds to make up this crazy world.
Yours,
Jan(yes)

[joep]

Thanks Janice for inputs about E.B. He was one of a guy that I hope never to get involved with. B U T out of no where after E. B. found where the Carter's farm was and it's address. I recieved a e mail from E.B. wanting to ask me if I know the area and to be his guide when he comes in the area.And he will pay me for my trouble.
I e-mailed him back stating that I do not meddles in other people's area of research and that I respect other who is trying to get more information about the Bigfoot. And told him N O will not do it.

He e- mailed me back trying to sugar coat me. I e- mailed back telling him what part of "NO" do you have problem with. and That was the last e mail I got from him and he has my respect for that in some way.
So folks, He is G O N E now. So let it go and get on with Bigfooting.

[Teagle]

Noodle,

You will never get your answer. Try to get on with your research.

[Noodle]

My research is going on quite well, thank you.
That does not obfuscate every other area of my life, however, so I do not swallow obviously flawed explanations for puzzling things simply because I am a researcher.
The only people that are assured of not getting answers are people who do not ask.

Jan, that explanation makes a lot of sense, and I can certainly see how it could be the reason the family hid the fact that he died.
It does not explain who ran the obituary in the local paper, though. They do not accept information from just anyone, so it almost had to be a family member that supplied it.
And it does not explain why they continued to claim he was alive after that obituary was ran.
And it does not explain why they would continue the subterfuge LONG after the funeral was over.

From my dealings with Erik Bekjord (John-Erik Bekhord, Erik Von-Bekjord, etc.) I suspect something much darker than this desire to avoid problems at the funeral. Perhaps an attempt to keep creditors away from the disposition of his estate? Perhaps an attempt to continue his organization for some reason, claiming he was still running it? IF no one had picked up on the obituary and started spreading it on the internet, would we now be seeing posts from EB on his group, instead of a notice that his group is defunct?

SOMEONE knows what is going on, and the truth will come out sooner or later.
EB was WAY too well known a figure for this to be kept a secret for very long.

[Jan]

Hello Noodle,
I am sorry I can not answer those questions for you. I simply do not know the answers. The only thing that makes logical sense to me is what I said above. For sure we don't need people saying they see EB walking or posting on forums, and least of all calling in on radio shows. My way of thinking is this. Elvis is dead! EB is dead! Those of us standing around in the building need to leave, as they are not coming back. They left the building folks. Show is over.
Yours,
Jan

[Noodle]

Oddly, EVERY hint I have come up with claiming EB was still alive leads to Jeff's site. There does not appear to be any other source for this claim.
This does not make it sound like a family request, as they could simply have posted a report to that effect on EB's board instead of removing it from the internet.

[Noodle]

What do you think, Tom?

[Tom Shirley]

Hi Noodle,

Now that we are all assured that Mr. Beckjord has passed, I believe that we should let him go and move on with our Research. He will be remembered by those that he helped and by those that he made enemies, but it will do us no good to keep hashing about things.

We all have a greater need to accomplish and we all should try and work together as a strong community and get the job done.

Tom S.

[Noodle]

The issue here is not whether or not EB is dead;That became a concrete reality back in June when his obituary ran in the paper.

If we have someone spreading lies in the bigfoot research community, it behooves us to identify that person, so that we may be prepared to NOT blindly accept what they tell us in the future. Just ignoring them and 'move(ing) on with our research' only assures that we will continue to work with someone that cannot be trusted to tell the truth.

Working together gains nothing if we are being led in wrong directions by someone in whom we have misplaced our trust in the name of getting along.

[lbattson]

One good thing about Eric.....Many years ago I was doing some programs with John Green in Ohio. As John explained without the PG film the programs were nothing. So I purchased a copy from Mrs. Patterson. We would show the film during the programs. Well Rene Dahinden got wind of it and wow....he was going to suit us for tens of thousands of dollars, for lectures to groups of people of maybe 50 sometimes. Rene harrassed me for weeks until I received a call from Eric and he told me that the Patterson film was public domain and he had the paperwork to prove it! (John Green had already expressed that)It is like we turned off a faucet of jeers when that paperwork was presented to Mr. D...Eric helped me out. By the way I gave Mrs. Patterson a good amount for the copy, because she was the one that deserved it.