Monday, July 22, 2013

The "Yeti Hand" Mystery For Monday...!

Today's mystery is a little different than those we normally have on Monday, but I think it will fit right in.

One of the good things about today's mystery is that it has a supporting cast that you might recognize. Always fun to have some well known names involved, don't you think?

Pangboche Hand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



The Pangboche Hand is an artifact from a Buddhist monastery in Pangboche, Nepal. Supporters contend that the hand is from a Yeti, a scientifically unrecognized animal purported to live in the Himalayan mountains. Critics argue the artifact is a fraud.

Oil businessman and adventurer Tom Slick first heard accounts of the possible existence of a "Yeti hand" held as a ritual artifact in the monastery at Pangboche during one of his first "Abominable Snowman" treks in 1957. The Slick expeditions were the first to bring photographs of the hand back to the West.

During later Tom Slick-sponsored expeditions in and around the Himalayas, his associates gathered more information on the "Pangboche hand," and an effort to further examine it was planned. In 1959 Peter Byrne, a member of Slick's expedition that year, reportedly stole pieces of the artifact after the monks who owned it refused to allow its removal for study. Byrne claimed to have replaced the stolen bone fragments with human bones, rewrapping the hand to disguise his theft.

Byrne smuggled the bones from Nepal into India, after which actor James Stewart allegedly smuggled the hand out of the country in his luggage. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman rediscovered this story while writing Tom Slick's biography in the 1980s. Coleman confirmed details of the incidents with written materials in the Slick archives, interviews with Byrne, and correspondence with Stewart. Byrne later confirmed the Pangboche hand story via a letter from Stewart that Byrne published in a general book on Nepalese wildlife.

During the highly-publicized 1960 World Book expedition, which had many goals including gathering intelligence on Chinese rocket launchings, Sir Edmund Hillary and Marlin Perkins took a sidetrip in Nepal to investigate the hand. Hillary was unaware of the possibility that he was looking at a combination of the original material and the human bones placed there by Byrne. Hillary determined the artifact was a hoax.

Kind of a neat story, isn't it? Imagine how exciting this would be if it became common knowledge as to what it really was! Quite a find!

Coffee inside again. Early rains fooled me yesterday and I don't want a repeat today!

8 comments:

Momlady said...

Why is it that some people can't just leave things alone? Interesting story. Rained here.....again.....yesterday. Luckily I'd already cleared the overflow pipe. Probably have to do it again today. Damn lily pads!

Chickenmom said...

I bet if they find the missing bones, they could do some modern testing on it! All that wonderful rain over the weekend missed us AGAIN....

linda m said...

It is kinda like all the Bigfoot stories. They find something;test it; and it turns out to be nothing. This story is very interesting in that famous people are involved. I believe there is "something" out there that we just haven't been able to find yet, because the creature doesn't want to be found. When it is ready we will discover it. Rained last night - today is hot and humid.

JO said...

So what happened to the bones brought back? I guess they are long gone if they ever were.

Coffee in the kitchen is fine with me. Need to turn heater on to take the damp chill out of the place.

Sixbears said...

Good tale there Hermit!

Dizzy-Dick said...

I want to hear more about that scalp that is beside the hand. Sure looks Yeti to me.

Anonymous said...

Too bad they had to steal the bones and where are they now? I guess we'll never know.
I guess that if ther's something like a Yeti and/or Bigfoot they'll keep away from us and I guess that's the right thing to do. We humans have a tendency to erase species we find interresting.

Have a great day!
Christer.

HermitJim said...

Hey Momlady...
Some folks just have to study things to death!

Sounds like you have your hands full with those lily pads!

Thanks for coming over today!



Hey Phyllis...
The bones that were smuggled into the states were checked by DNA testing. Results...near human!

Sorry the rain missed you again!

Thanks for the visit today!



Hey Linda...
I think you are right about that!

Hot and humid is becoming commonplace around here, I'm afraid!

Thanks for coming by this morning!



Hey Jo...
The bones that were brought back were tested and then stolen!

Probably sold on the black market like the article said!

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!



Hey Sixbears...
Glad you liked it, my friend!

Thanks for dropping by!



Hey Dizzy...
It is pretty interesting to look at, isn't it? Not like anything I've seen before!

Thanks, buddy, for coming over today!



Hey Crister...
We do seem to study things to the point of extinction, don't we?

Thanks for coming over today!