Albert Ostman

Albert Ostman (circa 1893 – 1975)[1] was a Canadian prospector who reported that he was abducted by a Sasquatch and held captive for six days.[2] He stated that the event took place near Toba Inlet, British Columbia in 1924.

The story

In 1924, Albert Ostman, a lumberjack and woodsman, went to the area for a vacation. Ostman had heard stories about the "man beasts" who supposedly roamed these woods but refused to believe them.[3] As Ostman lay asleep one evening a Sasquatch purportedly picked him up and carried him off while he was in his sleeping bag.[4] Ostman was carried in his sleeping bag across country for 3 hours by the Sasquatch.[5] The Sasquatch dropped Ostman down on a plateau. Standing around him was a family of 4 of the creatures.[6] Albert was kept captive by the Sasquatch. The captors were 3 adults and a child which held Ostman captive for six days. One of the Bigfoots was reported as being 8 feet tall.[7] Ostman did not use his gun on them as they had done him no harm.[8] He stayed with the Bigfoot family for a week.[9] Ostman ate "sweet tasting grass" that they gave him.[10] According to Ostman the female Sasquatch washed and stacked leaves.[11] Albert escaped by making the large male Sasquatch groggy by feeding him some snuff.[12] He did not tell his story for more than 24 years after it happened for fear of being thought of as crazy.[13] As more Sasquatch stories appeared in the press Albert decided to tell his story to a local newspaper, The Province, in 1957.[14]

On August 20, 1957, police magistrate A.M. Naismith wrote an affidavit which states "...I found Mr. Ostman to be a man of sixty-four years of age; in full possession of his mental faculties. Of pleasant manner and with a good sense of humor. I questioned Mr. Ostman thoroughly in reference to the story given by Mr. Green. I cross-examined him and used every means to endeavor to find a flaw in either his personality or his story, but could find neither..."[15] Albert Ostman also signed a Solemn Declaration indicating that his account of the Sasquatch story was true under oath and by virtue of the Canadian Evidence Act.[16]

In 2007, the skeptic Joe Nickell characterized the story as "more likely the result of imagination than of recollection".[17] Critics of Ostman note that he did not make the event public until 1957, thirty three years after he said it took place.[18] Primatologist John Napier states that "Ostman's story fails to convince me primarily on the grounds of the limited food resources available."[19] Bigfoot researcher Peter Byrne cannot accept Ostman's story without more evidence.[20]

See also

References
  1. Guittilla, Peter (2003). The Bigfoot Files. Timeless Voyager Press. p. 29. ISBN 9781892264152.
  2. Laks Gorman, Jacqueline (2003), Bigfoot, Gareth Stevens Publishing, p. 4
  3. Juanita Rose Violini (October 1, 2009). Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored. Weiser Books. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-60925-090-4. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  4. Christopher Bader; Frederick Carson Mencken; Joseph Baker (January 1, 2010). Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture. NYU Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-8147-8642-0. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  5. "Mystery Man-Ape of the Cascades", Life Magazine, Time Inc., 64 (13): 17, March 29, 1968
  6. E. R. Stuart (October 1980). "Tracking Bigfoot". Boys' Life. The Boy Scouts of America. p. 34.
  7. Michael Burgan (July 1, 2004). Bigfoot. Capstone. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7368-2715-7. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  8. Lionel Fanthorpe & Patricia Fanthorpe (October 4, 2010). The Big Book of Mysteries. Dundurn. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-77070-456-5. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  9. Therese Shea (October 30, 2005). Bigfoot. Rosen Classroom. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-4042-5675-0. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  10. Marjorie Halpin; Ames, Michael (1980). Manlike monsters on trial: early records and modern evidence. University of British Columbia. p. 225. ISBN 1530340802.
  11. Philip Spencer (July 2008). The Wildman of Kentucky: The Mystery of Panther Rock. Reality Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-934588-38-3.
  12. Bil Gilbert (January 1, 2004). Natural Coincidence: The Trip from Kalamazoo. University of Michigan Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-472-02546-6. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  13. Walker, Kathryn (2008). Mysteries of Giant Humanlike Creatures. Crabtree Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7787-4143-5.
  14. Lory, Don (4 May 1957). "Kidnapped by a Sasquatch". The Province. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. A.M. Naismith (August 20, 1957), affidavit.
  16. A.M. Naismith (August 20, 1957), Solemn Declaration.
  17. Nickell, Joe (January–February 2007). "Mysterious entities of the Pacific Northwest, Part I". Skeptical Inquirer. 31 (1): 21.
  18. David J. Daegling (2004). Bigfoot Exposed: An Anthropologist Examines America's Enduring Legend. Rowman Altamira. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7591-0539-3.
  19. Debenat, Jean-Paul; L. Murphy, Christopher (2009), Sasquatch/Bigfoot and the Mystery of the Wild Man: Cryptozoology & Mythology, ISBN 0888396856.
  20. Rick Emmer (2010), Bigfoot: Fact Or Fiction?, InfoBase Publishing, ISBN 9780791097786.


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