Gable Film - Crryptid or just another hoax?

**Skeptical** · Last edited by **Skeptical** on Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:03 pm; edited 1 time in total

Here is a link to a video clip of what looks like a large ape. The film was allegedly shot back in the 60s in Michigan. As usual the provenance is sketchy and it just smells of hoax but it's worth a look. i imagine we'll be hearing about it in the coming weeks:

http://www.michigan-dogman.com/gablefilm.html

S
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Ataraxik · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:15 pm Post subject:

I couldn't get the video to play.

If you click on your link, then click on that page's HOME link, you'll find the explanation that it began in the modern era as a radio station's April Fool's prank taking advantage of old tales from the area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_dogman
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**Skeptical** · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject:

There must be a playbook out their for paranormal video hoaxes because they all seem to follow the same basic premise. Allegedly the original 8mm movie was found at a yard sale. Blah blah blah - just enough details to make it marginally believable but nothing that can be researched and confirmed. I know the whole freedom of speech thing wouldn't allow it, but oftentimes I think we need to associate some penalties with people who knowingly perpetrate hoaxes like this. They are not harmless and God knows, they stopped being funny a long time ago.

S
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -- Thomas Jefferson

Ataraxik · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:53 pm Post subject:

I located the answer with one click of a link on the page you linked. Don't you think we each bear at least some responsibility for critically examining claims before leaping to a belief or hope that becomes painful upon revelation?
It's a practicality thing. It is impractical to expect hoaxers to stop hoaxing. It is eminently practical to approach claims critically.
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I am not young enough to know everything. - Oscar Wilde

**Skeptical** · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 8:13 am Post subject:

I agree with you Atar that the individual, as a consumer of information, must beware. My take on this was that it started off as a hoax but now people are following behind with the intent of convincing people that the hoax is based in fact. It is surely their decision as to how they spend their time but I think you will agree with me that there are any number of people who, for one reason or other, will not do the additional research, will not be discriminating in what they choose to believe. As a result, we end up with a sizeable percentage of the population who believes things that are patently untrue.

How can we continue to function as a nation if the populus is chronically misinformed? Here we are pushing kids to pass competency tests when perhaps we should be focusing on teaching them how to evaluate and filter information based on some solid tenets of reasoned thinking.

I posted this quote over on X-Project back in the day. I think it bears repeating:

“Thinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed with the ability to think clearly and logically — without learning how, or without practicing. People with untrained minds should no more expect to think clearly and logically than people who have never learned and never practiced can expect to find themselves good carpenters, golfers, bridge players, or pianists.” -- Alfred Mander

S
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -- Thomas Jefferson

Ataraxik · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject:

"I know the whole freedom of speech thing wouldn't allow it, but oftentimes I think we need to associate some penalties with people who knowingly perpetrate hoaxes like this."

"I think you will agree with me that there are any number of people who, for one reason or other, will not do the additional research..."

Physician, heal thyself?
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I am not young enough to know everything. - Oscar Wilde

**TheScamDetective** · Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 1337 Location: California

Skep
".....I think you will agree with me that there are any number of people who, for one reason or other, will not do the additional research, will not be discriminating in what they choose to believe. As a result, we end up with a sizeable percentage of the population who believes things that are patently untrue."
~
Exactly..and that is why we have so many people that still believe in god!
Your statement could apply to many different areas.
There is also the problem of too many people who try to fit a square peg in a round hole.
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"It's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Dumbledore
to Harry Potter

**Skeptical** · Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 6:59 pm Post subject:

Ataraxik · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:51 pm Post subject:

The hoaxer would tell you that fooling oneself can be just as bad as fooling others and all benefit if it could be demonstrated how some folks jump the gun on believing something. Depends on the subject matter. It's hard to see where a belief in say, Nessie, could hurt the believer or anyone else, but the same uncritical thinking process that allows belief in Nessie allows other people to believe in other things that can be highly dangerous, such as alternative medicines, woo woo therapies, miracle cancer cures, and the like. UFO whackjob Steven Greer is/was an emergency room doctor. I'm not sure I'd want to be taken unconscious to his ER.
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I am not young enough to know everything. - Oscar Wilde

stareater · Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 26

Don't you think we each bear at least some responsibility for critically examining claims before leaping to a belief or hope that becomes painful upon revelation?
It's a practicality thing. It is impractical to expect hoaxers to stop hoaxing. It is eminently practical to approach claims critically.

That's exactly why hoaxers will continue the hoaxes. Somebody out there will immediately take the video/photo/story at face value, and that's what hoaxers are looking to accomplish. I would like to believe every incident is true, but my common sense tells me to approach any grainy, blurry, inconclusive photo, video, or incredulous story that has some suspect background(negative went missing, waited years to release footage, etc.) with serious skepticism. It's easy to see what you want to see in the evidence if you don't take an objective approach to what you're reading, listening to, or viewing.

I saw the Gable film and thought it was a gorilla at first. Then, when the animal turns, you really can see it's a dog. I've owned a chow, and that's exactly what it appears to be, with the large head and curly tail. The word is they filmed their family dog, which was a chow, and pulled all the tricks to obscure it's identity: shaky camera, grainy video, poor focus, etc. As far as hoaxers paying a penalty somehow? I can't agree with that. They're pulling our leg about creatures or things that haven't been proven to exist yet, so I don't see the harm. It's our job to not get taken in by the frauds. There usually is something in their evidence or story that makes us stop and say, "This is most likely BS." We just have to keep the BS meter on at all times when dealing with such evidence.