(Infamous) The Danny Sweeten Case

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Bigfootencounters.com wrote:
San Jacinto County, near Polk County Texas

..."the subject in the Sweeten video does not display the known characteristics of a bigfoot.
The human individual runs through the woods with elbows hiked up, locking its knees.
This is a man in a monkey suit." ...Grover Krantz 1999 Lyris Bigfoot List

...the sasquatch is not known to "run" in short strides with locked knees
as seen in this video and seen again in the hoaxed Memorial Day videotape
-both films were conceived by someone's imagination, -- outright fabrications.)

October 5, 1997 1:30 PM
San Houston National Forest, Texas
Report provided courtesy of Scott McNabb and widely discussed on Henry Franzoni's old IVBC and among researchers and organizations of that era. The end of this report is a comment by Dr. Grover S. Krantz who noted the locked-knee locomotion of the alleged creature, which is a human characteristic.

Danny Sweeten was inspecting some property that he was contemplating purchasing, carrying a VHS camera and an unloaded gun in a box. The gun was for a customer and Danny had just rebuilt/modified it, and was going to shoot it to check it out before leaving the property.

Danny walked by this creature and was almost beyond it, when he turned around to take a second look and saw this creature laying on the ground, propped up on it's left elbow, its right hand was laying relaxed across it's leg in front of the knee area, and it was running it's thumb across the ends of its other fingertips in a motion going back and forth. He locked eyes with this creature and stared at it for a little bit, and he said he knew he was going to have to break this off.

As he tried to figure out how, it went through Danny's mind that he was about to be killed by this wild creature, so with the gun being unloaded, and in a box, he just raised the camera to at least film the thing that was about to kill him. As he started to raise the camera, the creature stood up and came towards him, and rose up to full height, which was around 7 ½ feet tall, showing a dominant stance. Then the creature raised its right arm over his head and with the left arm it came up with its forearm striking Sweeten across the chest. Sweeten thought he might have been struck by the elbow too. When the creature struck Danny, he was knocked down, and two teeth were knocked loose.

After striking Sweeten, the creature quickly retreated, and while it ran away, Danny was able to obtain video footage of the creature. The camera he was using did not have the rubber eyepiece to it, because the owner of the camera had a dog that had chewed it up. Sweeten never raised the eyepiece, he just looked down the side in a fashion that hunters call "Barrel Shooting" and got the footage.

If he had been more experienced he would have been able to use the zoom. Sweeten stated that, as the creature briskly walked in a bouncy fashion, it was hunched over in a stance that was not much taller than he himself was which is 6'1". He described the creature as having a crest at the back of the head that angled to a sloping forehead, and he said it appeared as if the face had been lowered down. It had two ridges of hair running towards the back of the head, from around the eye, the shape of face was heart like, with a blunt chin. The eyes were gray and had a human shape, but sat wider apart than human eyes do.

The nose was not flat like a gorilla, but a mix between a Caucasian nose and an African American nose. The mouth was basically a human shaped mouth with a little fuller lips, but not lips in human fashion, a little wider and a little different, and he was able to see to front teeth which were big squared off and yellowish and black in color. Hair covered the face except the eyes, nose, and mouth, and was in a fashion like a man with a full facial beard, but the hair came up under the eyes on the cheeks and a little across the top of the nose (the nose part is best he could remember on that). Skin color on face was a grayish/whitish looking color, the palms of hands and the bottom of the feet were more flesh tone colored, like pigskin. Danny stated the ears were human shaped, and it seemed that they were possibly pointed to some extent, but wasn't real sure on this one.

Danny said the hands were long, probably about 14" from the wrist to the end of the fingertips. Its fingers appeared to be skinny and very long. Its arms appeared to be a little longer proportionately than a human. The buttocks were small; the hair on the buttocks was matted and dirty. The feet of the creature were approximately 15-17 inches long with a flat appearance. If there was an arch it was very little, and human shaped as far as appearance.

The creature's body was large and bulky with a V-Shaped torso, and a protruding gut area. Even on the gut you could see the stomach muscles and other muscles on the body of the creature. The hair was brown/black, the body was a brownish color, and the tops of the hands were black, as well as the insides of the legs from the crotch down to the inside of the knees. The hair appeared to be very coarse hair, like a wild hog's hair, very stiff. There was no appearance of a neck. The creature was about 3 ½ feet wide across the shoulders. Danny stated that the creature was definitely a male, with an average size penis for a creature 7 ½ feet tall. The creature had a wild animal odor. It appeared to make deep breathing and grunting sounds; like it was upset it had been disturbed.

The area had many pine trees, possibly called Loblolly Pines, and some hardwood trees and different varieties of Oak, there are also some low land areas in this part of Texas with lots of Palmettos and other swampy plants. The main river for this area is the San Jacinto River, which is short distance from the sighting location. Another river in close proximity is the Trinity River, which is approximately 15 miles from the sighting location.

The video footage was featured on STRANGE UNIVERSE (A kind of Hard Copy type paranormal show) In November, and the witness was interviewed on the Art Bell show (A syndicated radio show).

Some aspects of this video remain uncertain. The witness, Danny Sweeten, stated that shortly after the filming of the video, someone began stalking him; eventually Danny turned this video over to Strange Universe, to keep the stalker from harassing him.

At the time of the incident, Sweeten was allegedly surveying property for a possible land purchase. He and a friend were going to purchase the land as partners to open a shooting range. Sweeten's friend, a law enforcement officer was going to check the property with Danny but he was called in to work early so he dropped the camera off by Sweeten's home, telling him to film the area, so he could see how much timber needed to be cleared off.

Scott McNabb's research comments:
"To be honest and upfront, I consider the original footage hoaxed, and anything produced by Mr. Sweeten to be highly suspect."

Last fall, a television show called Strange Universe began seeking Bigfoot researchers so that they may show them a "startling" new video of a Bigfoot, apparently attacking a person, who just happened to be able to catch this Bigfoot on tape. The video aired, and the response was for the most part, subdued. Various Bigfoot researchers appeared on the segment speaking on the video. Peter Byrne was unimpressed to say the least, saying "Its obviously a man in a fur suit." Peter Guttilla wasn't completely convinced either way apparently and Loren Coleman expressed excitement over the find, while keeping a level head about him, saying, "There is the whole part about the witnesses credibility." Credibility…in lieu of the fact that at that time, I was unable to obtain a copy of the entire footage for enhancements, and even if I did, they wouldn't prove or disprove anything due to the footage's quality….Scott McNabb went on to investigate the witnesses credibility.

On December the 29th, McNabb phoned the witness, Danny Sweeten, and spoke to him for 3 hours about this and that. He's a slow talker. Listening to his voice, he sounds believable.

Prior to phoning Sweeten, McNabb obtained notes from several sources who had interviewed Danny. One of those sources was aksed to question Danny about his teeth. Danny stated on Strange Universe and Art Bell that the Bigfoot had hit him, knocking two teeth loose. McNabb instructed his source to ask Danny if he'd had work done on those loose teeth, and if he had a dental receipt to get a copy, as supporting evidence. Danny was asked a week before the Christmas Holidays if he (Danny Sweeten) had gone to a dentist or what happened to his two loose teeth. He was asked "Did it knock them out or loose?", and Danny replied that his teeth "were knocked loose." He was then asked. "Did you go to a dentist?" Danny replied, "No, I pulled them myself!" Danny stated that he didn't have any money to get his teeth fixed, so he had to pull them himself.

During McNabb's conversation with Sweeten on December the 29th, he asked him about his teeth. Danny told McNabb that he'd lived with his teeth being loose for two years, until he sold his video to Strange Universe, he used that money to go to the dentist and have his teeth pulled...and yes, he had a bill from the dentist somewhere.

McNabb, making sure Sweeten understood, asked him again "a dentist pulled your teeth?", he said, "Yeah, I went and had them both pulled when Strange Universe paid me." He stated the dentist asked him if he'd been in a fight; Danny replied "yes" to the dentist. Danny said he had the bill from the dentist, and he would copy and mail it to McNabb (Inaccurate Statement #1) Scott McNabb never received a copy of that receipt.

Following up, McNabb spoke again to Sweeten on January 18th, 1998. Danny again unsubstantiated his story - saying this time he had each tooth pulled at separate times. One before Strange Universe paid him, and one after they paid him. (Inaccurate Statement #1a) Another point: previously another researcher had in his notes that Danny had not been able to use the eye piece on the VHS camera because a dog had chewed the rubber eyepiece off, that's why Danny had to "barrel" shoot the video. *Note* [Barrel shooting is a term used to describe the method of looking down the barrel of the gun, and not looking through the sights, in this context, the person video taping the footage would be looking down the body of the camera]

McNabb queried Sweeten, asking him about the eyepiece, this time giving him that info point blank. He stated that a dog hadn't chewed off the eyepiece, and he didn't know where anybody got that idea. He said that the swivel arm on the eyepiece was loose and the rubber was intact when he went out to the woods that day. He said after he was hit by the Bigfoot, he raised the camera, moved the eyepiece to look through it, and it swiveled down where he could not see through it, that's why he barrel shot the video. He went on the say that the eyepiece was gone when he left the woods; he thinks the Bigfoot knocked it off. (Inaccurate Statement #2)

Again, during Scott McNabb's interview with Sweeten on 1-18-98, he asked about the eyepiece. This time Sweeten said that he thinks the eyepiece was on the camera when he went to the woods, but the viewfinder was loose, because a dog had chewed on it. (Inaccurate Statement #2a)
During the Strange Universe segment, the narrator states, "Danny went into the woods with a loaded pistol and a camera." Danny has stated since that the gun was unloaded, and that Strange Universe misquoted him, which could be true, but given other uncovered inaccuracies it was possible Sweeten got his own story wrong again.

Make of this what you will, in an eyewitness matter; if the eyewitness is proven to not be credible, the evidence he presents then looses credibility.

Scott McNabb made contact with Rhyser Entertainment, who owns the right to the original Texas Bigfoot footage, to attempt to obtain a first generation copy of the footage for enhancements. McNabb was told that the footage was currently under litigation and he would have to wait.

Danny Sweeten was, at the time, allegedly suing to obtain the rights to the footage again. Danny sold the rights to the tape when he sold the tape itself, and now that it has earned him so much attention, he wants the tape, and the rights there in, back. When and if McNabb obtains the footage, a detailed report of the findings will be released. However, McNabb heard from Rhyser on Friday, March 27th, 1998 and they informed him that they cannot currently release a copy of the video footage for examination, but will make contact in the future when they are ready to have the video examined.

Interestingly, Danny Sweeten seems to have hit the jackpot again. Scott McNabb went on to state, "I have received a copy of more footage that Danny has procured, as well as audio he recorded. While the original footage is somewhat hard to dismiss without the witness credibility problems, the new video footage is very easy to dismiss."

Further he stated, "The audio footage has already been identified as a deer call possibly played in a bucket or through a tube for a depth sound. I am convinced it's a deer call, I'm just not sure how he gave it that hollow quality. I made an audiotape of the sound and went to Wal-Mart, where a local artisan, a wildlife call maker (He designs and builds animal calls, such as deer and turkey.) was giving a demonstration. I played the audio for him, not telling him what I thought it was or what it was supposed to be, he said it was a wooden deer call, one that was probably about 3 inches long, and purchased at a hunting store, a mass manufactured item, and it sounded like it was blown in a small room."

The video footage shows a very suspect appearing Bigfoot in the distance. The camera is initially panning back and forth several times, showing nothing…then the camera pans to the right, then back left shortly and back right quickly…just then a "Bigfoot" steps from the woods and proceeds into full camera view. McNabb sent the videotape to a well respected video analyst, Dave Bittner. McNabb stated, "I'll quote his thoughts, which mirror my own, in full below:"

"It is very difficult to form any solid conclusions based on the video footage provided, for a variety of reasons, but there are several aspects which lead me to question its authenticity. When the video starts, the shooter spends several seconds panning back and forth around the area where the alleged Bigfoot appears. On more than one occasion, the shooter seems to hesitate around the area where the subject later appears. This could merely be a coincidence, or it could be that the shooter was expecting the subjects appearance."

"The video is shot very wide, which hides any details of the subject. At one point, the shooter zooms in slightly, then stops. Why didn't the shooter zoom in more? There simply isn't enough detail in the video to make any firm conclusions, but these factors make me lean toward skepticism."

Credit was given with thanks to Dave Bittner, in Maryland for helping in this investigation with his analysis of the new footage.

"I'm sure Danny's "luck" hasn't ran out yet, and I doubt we've heard the last from him, but, from now on, perhaps he'll be able to keep his own story straight. Danny said it best himself during my interview with him, "If you tell the truth, there's only one way to tell a story, if you lie, it'll never be the same story twice." -Given the inaccuracies and the fallacies that accompany both pieces of footage, and the poor quality of the footage itself, I consider the entire affair to be hoaxed, and possibly an attempt by Mr. Sweeten to gain attention. Scott McNabb, primary investigator
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Note: At the time this investigation was made in October of 1997, Scott McNabb was a highly respected curator and investigator for the BFRO. Since that time, he and Matt Moneymaker have gone their separate ways and McNabb has retired from the Bigfoot arena. The report with an out-of-focus photo is still uploaded on the BFRO, formally the BFRR website, however, Scott McNabb's name has been stripped of any due credit or recognition whatsoever for the work he did uncovering the facts on the Sweeten Case. The date 1995, listed on the BFRO website is also in error, the BFRO website did not exist in 1995, in late 1996 the BFRR website went up.

Subsequently it became the BFRO. http://www.bfro.net/GDB/CNTS/TX/SJ/tx_sj001.htm <--The BFRO killed the link, sorry folks, that's the way they operate, then later rethought what they had done and uploaded the link again. As of October, 2004 the link was operational but no credit given Mc Nabb who was the primary investigator.

Report © Former BFRO Investigator Scott McNabb, Tennessee exclusively for Bigfoot Encounters
W/permission, from the files of Bobbie Short, 1998
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Secondary issues with this hoax: In viewing the Sweeten videotape, I noted that the creature walked with locked knees. In an email from Dr. Grover Krantz, he assured me his studies of the Patterson Film creature demonstrated that sasquatches walk with bent knees. A locked knee walk is a HUMAN trait. Whatever Sweeten filmed, it was human by Krantz's standards. The other notation was that Sweeten was looking to buy property in the Sam Houston National Forest. Whether the State of Texas allows forestry property leasing or purchasing is another issue.

Purely from the standpoint of watching the film over and over, I also believe the alleged bigfoot is a tall skinny man in a costume, -without the biomechanics, skeletal structure or muscle tone of a sasquatch.

As an aside, Sweeten failed a polygraph, the videotape was hoaxed. ...Bobbie Short