Interview with Nick Redfern, author of The Monster Files.
1. What is the main theme of Monster Files and why did you write this book?
ANSWER: The book mainly explores how and why, government agencies are interested in reports of strange creatures. These include: Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, Sea Snakes, Werewolves, Vile Snowman, and many, many more. I have received many official documents regarding an official, secret interest in all of the above.
2. What is the essence of the stories concerning US President Theodore Roosevelt and Bigfoot?
ANSWER: The President spoke with a hunter named Bauman, who had a strange experience in the 1800s in the Rocky Mountains. It involves a friend of Bauman, who was killed - "stabbed" may be the best term - by someone big and wild, walking on two legs. It was a creepy story, and it made it intriguing and remarkable, which is why it reached the President of the United States.
Promotional video:
3. What is true in talking about the Soviet Union's attempts to cross a monkey and a human?
Answer: These conversations revolve around a man named Ilya Ivanov, who tried, in the 1920s and 1930s, to cross a monkey and a human - both in the former Soviet Union and in Africa. As far as we know, all experiments ended in failure. However, it is rumored that incredibly - and against all odds - one or two hybrids may have come into being.
4. Can you tell us about the WWII werewolf conspiracy?
ANSWER: I am very interested in werewolves, and I included in the book stories about a man covered in wool who was shot on British soil during World War II. Great secrecy has shrouded this story due to the fact that this man was a member of a wealthy and powerful family in the English county of Devonshire.
The person may have suffered from a disease called hypertrichosis. Because of it, a huge amount of hair appears on the human body and face. But, this led to rumors that a real werewolf had been shot. Who knows, maybe it was!
5. Why did the US military spread false information about the monsters roaming free in the Philippines in the 1950s?
ANSWER: It was an ingenious operation orchestrated by an expert in psychological military operations, Major Edward Lansdale. He invented stories of vampires in the forests of the Philippines to help squash squash suppress insurgents known as "hooks." They were very afraid of vampire stories.
6. Was the famous "Flatwoods" of 1952 a secret creation of American intelligence?
ANSWER: In 1952, a strange 12-foot creature was seen in Flatwood, West Virginia. He gave off strange sparks and flashes and frightened a handful of people who saw him. After doing my research, I stumbled upon the officially documented story of how the British army - during the Second World War - intimidated the inhabitants of the Italian countryside by doing a clever trick, like the one described in Flatfood. I put forward in the book the version that the "flatwood monster" may have been the American equivalent of the original by the British.
7. Does the US government have the body of one or more frozen Bigfoots and why did the US Air Force take an interest in the Yeti back in the 1970s?
Answer: There are several chapters in the book that talk about how one or more of Bigfoot's corpses were probably secretly dissected - one corpse in the early 1960s, and perhaps even several in 1980. These stories are very controversial, since one of them is even linked to UFOs. This is definitely one of the most controversial parts of the book.
8. Will you tell us about Frankenstein, the CIA project to create a creature that is half cat, half machine?
ANSWER: It was a project called "Acoustic Cat". The plan was to insert radio antennas into cats and train them to walk around the Soviet embassy in Washington, D. C. in the 1960s to see if they could record the conversations and relay the information back to headquarters. This is one of those strange ideas that surpass the most sophisticated tomfoolery, but which ended in imminent disaster!
9. Is there a conspiracy link between the passing of Diana, Princess of Wales, and reports of big wild cats roaming the British countryside?
ANSWER: Although she did not know about it, in the 1980s Diana was under regular secret surveillance by British military intelligence. This was due to fears that she might be kidnapped or killed by terrorists such as the IRA.
Late one night, as the agents spied on Diana using night vision goggles, they saw a huge leopard-like black creature roaming around the old house where Diana was. The UK has a long history of reports of so-called "Big Cats" or sightings of "alien big cats" going back centuries.
10. Has the US Navy secret reports of monitoring giant sea monsters lurking in the depths of the oceans?
ANSWER: This is a very strange point of view related to the possible tracking by military institutions of giant sea monsters, possibly real sea snakes, massive squids, or something like Lovecraft's Cthulhu! The oceans of our world are very deep, and their depths are not so well studied, so it is possible that there may be huge creatures at the bottom.
Taken from the author's site.
