– I saw a footprint. Then I saw another, and another. It gave me goosebumps.
This is how it begins radio program “Yeti” on BBC Radio 4, a program hosted by author and meditation teacher Andrew Benfield, who has spent years searching for the mythical creature from the Himalayas.
The Hunt for the Yeti
He describes himself as obsessed with the yeti:
– It’s an obsession that can take over my life, he says in the programme.
Horror discovery: Shared housing for weeks
Together with his skeptical friend and political analyst Richard Horsey, Benfield has traveled through countries such as India, Burma, Nepal and Bhutan to try to find the “abominable snowman”.
YETI HUNTING: Andrew and Richard sit here in Sakteng Nature Park in Bhutan. Photo: Pema Sonam Show more
That’s what the scientific news website writes Live Science.
Although no evidence has ever been found that the yeti exists, many believe that there may be something to the many local tales.
– Could be real
In 2013, the world-renowned natural historian and presenter David Attenbourough revealed that he does not write off the theory completely:
– I think the abominable snowman might be real. I think there may be something in it, he said at the time, according to the report Radio Times.
Arousing attention: – Burn it
The fact that the giant ape Gigantopithecus used to live in the region makes Andrew Benfield convinced of the yeti’s existence.
He says so himself in an e-mail to Dagbladet.
In the radio show, we get to follow Benfield and Horsey in search of the yeti. Along the way, they hear about several footprint sightings, and they also get to see pictures of what locals believe to be yeti footprints.
Mysterious footsteps
One of these photos is the photo at the top of the story, taken by Sonam Penjore, a young Bhutanese resident. Bhutan is a geographically isolated country, located high in the Himalayas between India and China.
GOING VIRAL: This video has gone viral recently, and is causing great speculation. Video Nv TV/YouTube. view more
Penjore often rides off-road motorbikes with his friends. He says that they often drive at heights of 2,400-4,500 meters above sea level.
– On one of these adventures we drove away, there were three or four of us. It was getting dark, there was a little snow and we decided to park the bikes and look for a way away from there, he says.
– Saw a footprint
He says he was clearing his way through some stuff, when he discovered something:
– I saw a footprint. I just kept cleaning. Then I saw another, and another. It gave me goosebumps. My friends and I froze, it was very unusual, he says in the radio programme.
Afraid it will be my daughter’s last Christmas
Penjore describes the footprint as around 40 centimeters. He says it looked like a human foot, but with a very large toe.
– I saw that these footprints continued further up. My reaction was to just get away. We turned the bikes around and ran away. I was scared, I didn’t want to meet any creatures, he says.
Mysterious strand of hair
On their journey through the Himalayas, Benfield and Horsey bring with them two strands of hair, which are suspected to be from an “abominable snowman”.
When the series ended in June, they still had not clarified the origin of the one strand of hair, donated by an unnamed source.
The hair was about 15 centimeters long. Benfield cut it in two, and sent one part to Charlotte Lindqvist, who works as an evolutionary biologist at the University of Buffalo in New York.
STRANGE: The married couple Shannon Parker and Stetson Tyler from the USA cannot believe their eyes during a train ride through Colorado. Reporter: Emma Dalen. Video: private. view more
In 2017, Lindqvist took part in a study that analyzed nine alleged yeti samples. It turned out that eight of these came from bears, and one came from a dog. The study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The DNA answer is clear
Now the DNA answer has finally come back. In a bonus episode published on October 20 this year, the origin of the hair is finally revealed.
It turns out that it comes from an Altai horse, an Asian mountain horse.
– It doesn’t feel good, after three years of searching. That it comes from a horse is, so to speak, the most boring result we could get, says Benfield to Live Science.
Spleis takes off: – Now “Bamsegut” is going home
He believes that the disappointing DNA answer still does not disprove all the stories of those who live in the areas, or his own yeti hunt.
– You respect the local people’s knowledge when you are up there, because they are the ones who keep you alive. Should I doubt what these people say? They are out in the mountains every single day, he tells the website.
2023-11-17 09:52:16
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