One thing that Paulides does that leaves me with a hanging feeling is that he seems to know more than he is actually saying. He seems intent to leave the reader hanging to make their own conclusions. Obviously book sales are a priority and he wants a wide readership, so he keeps his ideas to himself in these books. But the big elephant in the room is that he also writes Bigfoot books. Anyone who looks into this author knows he holds a special place for Bigfoot. Did his interest in Bigfoot lead him to write these books? In many of these cases, by using simple deductive reasoning we can eliminate the most common answers. We can further eliminate many of the far fetched answers which leaves us with what? This is the big question.
Here's my feelings on Paulide's approach. I appreciated the fact that he didn't try to cram a theory down anyone's throat. I notice some people have a certain belief system and refuse to deviate from that when sharing information or coming to a conclusion (not necessarily about these cases, but about anything like this).
I think it's important that intelligent people look at this collection of cases objectively and come to their own unbiased conclusions. He has stated at least once or twice on the radio shows that the more he learns, the more complicated it gets. The less likely it seems that one blanket solution could provide the answer. And after reading all three books, I have to agree. There are some I could lump in as classic bigfoot abduction scenarios. Others seem more sinister, almost evil while others could be UFOs or an unknown group/organization (governmental or not, I am not prepared to make that limitation at this point) unethically recruiting, gathering data, etc.
My initial thought was that Paulides believes its bigfoot. But then I read the books and there are numerous cases that don't seem to fit that criteria. I recall the really bizarre story of a woman who came back alive who had the most outlandish experience that involved intelligent beings that could talk who dragged her through the brush and appeared above her with strange lights.
I think Paulides has ideas, but I think he intentionally keeps them to himself and I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing (or something intended to expand readership). The stories are too strange and the criteria is too complicated, and not in a smoke and mirrors sort of way. It's more like being able to see that lines are drawn connecting most if not all of these situations, yet the answers are hiding out on the fringes where our eyes can't see yet.
@ Grifynne
I heard on a few of the Paulides shows that another commonality among many cases that there was some kind of physical boundary involved....streams, rivers, boulder fields...But it was brief and he didn't go into context very much. Does he go into any detail in any of his books?
Yes, those terrain features factor in heavily. Again, Paulides pushes no conclusion. I really don't think he knows for certain. I am sure he has some idea, but I don't think he has anything concrete or even anything that can be neatly summed up. Some people think water is an energy source, which could be drawing something in from another dimension. The boulder field thing I found especially odd. I mean what's out there other than rocks? If we want to run with the energy conductor theory, then I wonder if any of those fields consist of a specific type of mineral that could have a similar effect as water? This was never stated by Paulides, it's just my thoughts (and some things that went through my mind as I read the books). It could be as simple as a species that finds rocks easier to hide in, so it frequents those areas.
The books are pretty straightforward in terms of format. He usually opens with some brief information on how the cases are clustered and how he notates various criteria within each case. The majority of it is the case details. These are usually presented with the basics (age, location, name, date, cluster, etc.), a description of the incident from start to finish (if the person was or was not found) and a conclusions area where Paulides comments on why the case was included, what factors made it strange and any other relevant details that help put things in perspective in the larger picture.
Cases are grouped by location with some sections focused on a specific demographic, such as sheep herders, berry pickers and coeds. The third book also had a few brief updates on cases that may have had new developments (I can't recall if those were in the first two, but I have the third in front of me as I type this.
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Just to clarify the one case I outlined earlier, I took four pics of the pages that the case appears on in my Missing 411 North American and Beyond (the 3rd book in the series). I will share those in a separate post to keep things organized.
I've been waiting for the books to show on Amazon, but I guess it won't happen. After listening to the Dark Matters interview, I feel compelled to buy a copy or two next pay cycle.
Mastastic - my understanding is they will never be available on Amazon. I just picked them up one at a time (since shelling out $75 all at once can be a bit much). You can really read them in any order, but I do suggest trying the east and west coast specific books first (the first two). If I recall correctly, the third one sometimes refers back to cases or items mentioned in those.
. My initial thought when I first heard about these cases on C2C was "well it's going to be very difficult to explain away rough terrain, wildlife, inclimate weather, accidents and the possibility of human predators like serial killers, etc." But most of these cases really do fall outside of what is rational or expected. I highly recommend checking out his books. I am sure I missed a few key elements and there are MANY more cases that will make you really think.
It makes sense in my mind. 