ORANG PENDEK ENCOUNTERS: The Night-Time Intruder

Eyewitness: Mr. Rahman Kitab and his wife.
Date: 2004
Location: Rawa Bento Swamp Forest

Approximately halfway between the towering Kerinci volcano and the mysterious mountain lake Gunung Tujuh lies an extensive tract of marshland and jungle-clad hills known as the Rawa Bento Swamp Forest. This area has an interesting history of Orang Pendek sighting and some of the first tracks ever described by a foreigner were found here in 1915 by the Dutch naturalist Dr. Edward Jacobson.

The marsh forest itself was virtually uninhabited until the early 1960s when small  farming communities began cropping up,eventually leading to large sections of the wetlands being converted into agricultural land,primarily rice paddy fields. Mr.Kitab moved into one of these villages in 1976, and built himself a small house about one kilometer from the center where the paddy fields merge with the marsh and forested hills.A skilled woodsman with vast experience in tracking and hunting game he would have to wait almost 30 years before it would be his time to encounter the region's most infamous resident,Tirraw.

One clear evening with a half moon in full view the family dog started to bark feverishly.Surprised by the ruckus Mr.Kitab grabbed a high-powered flashlight and went to investigate.As he flung open the door his dog darted inside,he then quickly stepped out and shone a light into the yard.To his amazement and only about 10m away where the edge of his yard blends in with the rice fields was a man-like creature with the face of a monkey.

Only about one meter tall with very broad shoulders and a bulging abdomen, it was walking bipedally in a somewhat awkward side to side manner.Its arms slightly outstretched to the sides and from time to time it would reach out and grab at branches for support and balance.The limbs were of human proportions and its powerfully built body was covered in short brownish-red hair similar to that of a wild boar.The eyes did not reflect light when the flashlight was directed at them,indicating that it was most likely some form of primate and not just a misidentified known animal.

During the encounter,which lasted almost ten minutes, no audible sound was made by the creature as it slowly made its way along the field and then disappeared into darkness of the jungle.Due to the muddy terrain no discernible tracks could be made out, however,several years later he found what he believed were Orang Pendek footprints in the neighboring forest.

The entire event was also witnessed by his wife, making it one of the rare occasions where an Orang Pendek was observed by two individuals.

An interesting footnote is that Sumatran tigers were commonly encountered in the area until about twenty years ago.However, Mr. Kitab believes a black panther took some chickens from his yard about two years ago.This is a rather interesting statement as phantom panthers and melanistic big cats have been mentioned by villagers in several regions during my travels in central Sumatra,despite the fact that leopards (Panthera pardus) have never been officially recorded on the island.







  

ORANG PENDEK EXPEDITION 2015:The Hantu Photo

Orang Pendek is the generic Bahasa Indonesia name for the pigmy apeman said to inhabit the forested mountains  and valleys of central Sumatra. However,in the Kerinci region this unknown hominid is more commonly known as Tirraw. Sometimes the word hantu is added to the name to create Hantu Tirraw. This now means ghost or spirit Tirraw.

On January 27th my guide and I set up a trail cam on a remote plantation just below some steep jungle clad hills. The following morning when I examined the pictures through the view finder I was surprised that only one photo had been triggered,the rest being taken using the pre-set field scan mode. On closer inspection I found find that a strange and shadowy image had been captured at 7:01pm.To make things even more puzzling a 5-foot long stick that had been baited with fruit and stuck into the ground was missing from the photo.Only to reappear in the morning field scan shots leaning against a tree.

In the photo below the yellow elongated triangle represents the initial position of the stick when we left it at 5 pm.The red line is its approximate position in the morning.The blue circle indicates the area where something very black and without eyeshine appears to be lying on the ground,possibly falling on

top of the stick after trying to climb or pounce on it.

Since the object is lacking any distinguishable physical  features and its outline is barely discernible I can only speculate as to what it could be. My initial reaction was that it was a siamang or possibly a langur as there seems to be something elongated like a tail coming off the the main body.Other possible candidates would be a binturong or a local species of jungle feline,but once again the lack of detail makes it impossible to know for sure. As a result I will simply name it the "Hantu Photo".

ORANG PENDEK EXPEDITION 2015: Interview on Paranormal Central

Just a few days ago I participated in my first ever internet radio talk show.I was interviewed by the folks on Paranormal Central which is broadcast on Livestream and Art Bell's Dark Matter Radio Network. The subject matter was my recent expedition to Sumatra and you can see the show here(part 1) http://new.livestream.com/ParanormalCentral1/events/3827303

and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkKtxbb2SuE

It was a great experience and I'd love to do another show in the near future.

YEREN: The Wild Man of Shennongjia

Much has been written in the annals of cryptozoology about the wild man of central China but very few foreigners have actually conducted field research in the region.Below are a series of photos taken from my Febuary 2010 Yeren investigation deep into Hubei province.I had just finished a 6-month stint as an ESL teacher in  the city of Nanning and my reward was a weeklong cryptozoological excursion into the infamous  Shennongjia National Park.An incredibly diverse region with  habitats ranging from sub-tropical to alpine and Yeren reports since time immemorial.

                                           

 

  



After a several days of exploring the forests in southern part of the park I headed up north to the restricted area around the town of Songbai.It was here that I wanted to trek and visit the

Shennongjia Museum of Natural History where Yeren casts and a model are supposedly on display.After successfully getting through two checkpoints I walked around the town in search of accommodation.After passing a large police station several times I found a small hotel where I checked in without any difficulties.For the next few hours I wandered around the outskirts of town looking for trailheads as well as the museum.



After finding several interesting paths into the forest I headed back to town and just along the main road I came across a billboard for the Museum of Natural History.It shows a Yeren that significantly differs from what  is usually presented in the western media.Often a very shaggy looking beast with a large lion-like mane is depicted.Yet here the Yeren  is very hominin in nature and could easily be interpreted as form of Pieking Man(Homo erectus).To my understanding the tracks are very similar to a Sasquatch/Bigfoot but much smaller which would indicate a man-sized creature and  most reports ,albeit rare ,would corroborate this.

About 15 minutes after photographing the billboard I was approached by a policeman and told to leave the area immediately or face arrest.Luckily,just across the street a mini van was heading back to Shennongjia town and I hopped in without much hesitation.

 

I have no immediate plans on going back however,if do end up returning to China for professional reasons I will definitely conduct a more extensive investigation and expedition.

I have also posted additional photos on YouTube which you can view below.