Jon-Erik Beckjord
Encyclopedia
Jon-Erik Beckjord 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 alien
s, he was considered a fringe theorist
, not only by skeptics, but also by the vast majority of his fellow cryptozoologists
.
in Colorado Springs, Colorado
for two years. He then moved on to Tulane University
, where he graduated with honors in sociology
in 1961. He studied law for one year at Boalt Hall at University of California, Berkeley
, and later received an MBA from U.C. Berkeley in 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 briefly owned three UFO/Bigfoot/Nessie museums in Los Angeles
, Malibu, and San Francisco.
, 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 cryptid
s 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 "wormhole
s", possibly to other dimension
s or parallel universe
s. He reported having 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 primate
s, carnivore
s 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 phenomenon purely resulting from wishful thinking or hoax
es, 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 had been maintaining the Crosses of Lafayette monument to casualties of the Iraq War before his death.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
-based paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
investigator and photographer known for his far-reaching ideas regarding such phenomena as UFOs
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
, crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, and his specialty, Bigfoot
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
, 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 alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
s, he was considered a fringe theorist
Fringe science
Fringe science is scientific inquiry in an established field of study that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream academic discipline....
, not only by skeptics, but also by the vast majority of his fellow cryptozoologists
Cryptozoology
Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...
.
Career
Beckjord attended the United States Air Force AcademyUnited States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
for two years. He then moved on to Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, where he graduated with honors in sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
in 1961. He studied law for one year at Boalt Hall at University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and later received an MBA from U.C. Berkeley in 1966. He has appeared on several nationwide radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows, such as Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
and Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, as well as Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
. He claims that he captured the Loch Ness Monster on film in 1983; this film aired on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in 1987. Beckjord briefly owned three UFO/Bigfoot/Nessie museums in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Malibu, and San Francisco.
Assertions and theories
Beckjord himself characterized his theories as being "no more bizarre than those of EinsteinAlbert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, Dr. Michio Kaku
Michio Kaku
is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science...
or Dr. Fred Alan Wolf
Fred Alan Wolf
Fred Alan Wolf is an American theoretical physicist specializing in quantum physics and the relationship between physics and consciousness. He is a former physics professor at San Diego State University, and more recently has helped to popularize science on the Discovery Channel...
," and considers many to be continuations or expansions upon Einstein's work.
Cryptid
In cryptozoology and sometimes in cryptobotany, a cryptid is a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but is unrecognized by scientific consensus and often regarded as highly unlikely. Famous examples include the Yeti in the Himalayas and the Loch Ness Monster in...
s may be "inter-dimensional" beings that can occasionally take physical form for brief periods of time, but that, like the famed Cheshire cat
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...
, can "fade out" and pass through "wormhole
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
s", possibly to other dimension
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
s or parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
s. He reported having had one of the creatures speak to him using telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
, 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
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
. "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
Interdimensional hypothesis
The interdimensional hypothesis , also called the extradimensional hypothesis , is an advanced theory by Jacques Vallée that says unidentified flying objects and related events involve visitations from other "realities" or "dimensions" that coexist separately alongside our own...
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 primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s, carnivore
Carnivore
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
s and beings not readily identified within known zoological
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
classifications
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
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
Eldorado National Forest
Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern Eldorado National Forest is a [[U.S. National Forest]] located in the central [[Sierra Nevada |Sierra Nevada]] [[mountain range]], in eastern Eldorado National Forest is a [[U.S...
.
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 phenomenon purely resulting from wishful thinking or hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
es, but also with those who believe Bigfoot to be an actual physical creature. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
correspondent Rusty Dornin wrote in 1997 "if it's far-fetched and unproved, Beckjord buys it."
Death
Beckjord died at the age of 69 from prostate cancer on June 22, 2008, near his home in Lafayette, CaliforniaLafayette, California
Lafayette is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 23,893. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military hero of the American Revolutionary War...
. He had been maintaining the Crosses of Lafayette monument to casualties of the Iraq War before his death.