An Interview with Ron Schaffner

by Brent Raynes

Editor’s Note: It is a distinct honor and pleasure to introduce this month’s interview subject. Ron Schaffner and I met through the Ohio UFO Investigators League of Fairfield, Ohio, many, many moons ago. In May 1976, we and some others ventured off to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, to look into the “Mothman” stories so popularized by John Keel’s book, The Mothman Prophecies. Ron went on to edit the noted cryptozoological publication Creature Chronicles.

Editor: When, where and how was it that you became interested and involved in cryptozoological mysteries, and other strange things that go “bump in the night”?

Ron Schaffner: That’s a long story, Brent. I’ll try to condense it down. Like many of the baby boomers of my generation, we grew up watching the early science fiction and horror movies at our local theaters and ‘drive-ins’. Many of these ‘flicks’ were based on alien invasions and cryptozoological themes.

Later, while a sophomore in high school, I had a history teacher who was a big sci-fi buff. He hooked me up with the school librarian who had an interest in UFOs and other anomalous events. I began reading books by Frank Edwards, Major Donald Keyhoe and other early players in the field. The old magazines, such as True, Saga, and Argosy somehow made it to our mail box and I remember my brother and me reading about flying saucers, ghosts and stories of a strange “man-like” beast roaming the Pacific Northwest, similar to the Abominable Snowman.

I abandoned these readings during my junior year in high school and became interested in the political climate of the later ‘60s and early 70s. It was important to me to take up issues of the civil rights and the anti-war movement, along with the excellent music of the time. I entered the field of communications and became involved with public radio, as a disc jockey and reading the news.

In 1975, a friend of mine gave me a copy of John Keel’s Strange Creatures from Time and Space, and it sparked my interest again. My radio mentor assigned a group of us to produce a news show and another student and I decided to take up the issue of UFOs and strange creatures. I had viewed a few TV documentaries on investigating unusual phenomena and thought, “I can do this.” I began reading every book I could on the subjects.

A year later, I came across a public service document in the news room. It was an informational flyer on an organization called the Ohio UFO Investigators League. I joined this group and began reviewing the 1973 UFO flap. With the help of the director, Charles Wilhelm, I began making contacts with various individuals and other organizations.

We re-opened the 1972 “Loveland Frogman” case and interviewed the two police officers who witnessed the event. That summer, a few of us decided to re-open the Mothman case of 10 years ago. That’s when I met you.

That’s how my addiction to the subject began and has followed me until the present.

Editor: What have some of your own personal case studies been that were for you perhaps the most illuminating and/or rewarding?

Ron Schaffner: In 1977, I investigated reports of Bigfoot-type creatures in Ohio and Indiana. By way of newspaper clipping services and correspondence, I began to take notice of the large scale “strange creature” reports occurring throughout the continental United States. There had to be something phenomenal about so many people reporting “hairy monsters” and such. They all couldn’t be liars. It was at this point, that I began to study the sociological effects, such as the many instances of armed hunters and posses searching the hillsides for phantom monsters. I like to call it the “Vigilante Factor.” 1977 would be labeled, “The Year of the Creature,” and it still holds that title today.

In 1978, I investigated a series of multi-witness accounts of Bigfoot in Stark County, up in northeast Ohio. Several family members reported seeing large Bigfoot-type creatures in an abandoned strip mine east of their residence. In the next couple of weeks, these creatures were observed at various times. We interviewed all members as a group and individually and found their accounts credible.

In 1980, another flap occurred in Ohio and Kentucky, which led me on the road again to interview witnesses and gather police reports and other soft evidence.

On the flip side of this issue, we found that some reports and media attention were nothing more than elaborate hoaxes, misinterpretations and media induced misinformation. It was about this time that hoaxes became an interest of study to me.

It was earlier in 1980 that I began publishing a newsletter, called Creature Chronicles. This way I could exchange newsletters with other groups and independent investigators to keep abreast of what was occurring elsewhere. You can view my website with the same name for more information: http://home.cinci.rr.com/kd8afh

Editor: What lessons and insights have your studies brought you?

Ron Schaffner: Honest people make honest mistakes in observations. I have come to the conclusion that many reports are misinterpretations of known objects. One also has to consider the possibility of hoaxes. People hoax for a variety of reasons. It’s not always for financial gain. Every investigator should keep this in the back of their mind. I have learned the hard way that just because a witness sounds sincere, it doesn’t mean they are not fabricating an incident.

Never ask leading questions. Allow the witness to tell the story their way and do not interrupt until they are finished. This is proper investigations 101. Physical evidence is a matter of interpretation. Even the best forensic evidence can have an alternative explanation and with no actual body remains, there is no way for a comparative analysis.

The Internet has brought us to a point where we can instantaneously correspond with other researchers, but I also see the media as a temptation for the hoaxers and other individuals who would sacrifice the integrity of the subject for financial gain and notoriety. In a few keystrokes on a computer, somebody could submit a fake report that sounds good even to the most experienced investigator. One doesn’t even have to type a letter and physically put it in an envelope with a stamp anymore like the early years.

I have noticed a trend with the advent of the World Wide Web, email lists, instant messages and message boards. One sees more and more fake photos and phenomena within phenomena, such as “blob squatches,” sound blasting and banging trees with baseball bats. You even have individuals screaming in the woods trying to imitate Bigfoot. This borders on the lunatic fringe and hinders any possibility of making cryptozoology a credible scientific study. There are more people involved with the subject than ever before who claimed to be around for many years. One needs a score card to keep up with all the players.

I have long since abandoned any reasoning that Bigfoot, UFOs, etc. are connected. I started off my research in this mode like many others. Over the years, I found no real evidence to support it. It is of my opinion that this is a result of media sensationalism, leading questions and bad interviewing techniques—reminiscent of tabloid-like investigative procedures.

I have become a lot more skeptical over the years, but still involve myself with the sociological aspects of the phenomena. Even if Bigfoot pans out not to exist, I believe the field is still worthy of serious investigations. I keep up with all serious study whether it is pro or con. I have been known to publicly speak my mind on suspicious reports and bad investigative practices. If we don’t clean our own house of the junk reports, then future generations or researchers will continue to hold these reports as reliable.

Editor: What sort of project or projects are you currently engaged in, and what motivates you to keep your nose to the grindstone, to keep pursuing these mysteries?

Ron Schaffner: It is difficult now days to keep motivated with the questionable competition one sees. I am slowly working on a book which will cover unusual phenomena from one investigator’s point of view. I’m working on a Mothman project that will come from another direction, unlike the authors of the past who covered the subject.

Instead of reading some of the recent books on the subject, I tend to dwell more on forensic journals, investigation procedures, psychological and technical papers—my reasoning that one should treat a report and physical evidence as a crime scene. It is paramount that we eliminate all the possibilities before claiming an unknown creature.

I also have a hobby of radio communications and have attempted to employ that in my research.

I am just trying to find the truth, whichever that direction may lead me in.

Editor: If someone comes to you, a newcomer, and they want to begin investigating and researching Bigfoot and/or UFOs and/or paranormal phenomena of various kinds, what sort of advice and guidance would you give them?

Ron Schaffner: Do not believe everything that you read or hear. When in doubt, do your own investigation. It doesn’t even matter if it’s a cold case—go ahead and re-open it. As I previously stated, do not ask leading questions. Try to make as many contacts as possible, including law enforcement and wildlife agencies. One has to be careful, however. The best way on this is to come up with a sensible business card and a folder with your credentials and contacts. Try to avoid using terms like Bigfoot, monster or flying saucers, as this will distance yourself from agencies that could be your ally.

You will still need media contacts, but you risk the chance of being misquoted. Do not allow them to refer to you as an expert. Do not break the cardinal rule of divulging information to the press without finishing your investigation first. If pressed on this just give them the standard police response—“The case is still under investigation.” If you’re caught in a hoax or misinterpretation at a later date, your credibility is dealt a severe blow.

You will make mistakes. We all have. It’s just part of the experience process.

Editor: What do you see happening, or hope to see happening, in the future evolution of these fields of exploration into the unknown?

Ron Schaffner: Well, I don’t think it’s all gloom and doom. There are plenty of serious researchers out there willing to do the hard work and who are not afraid to come up with alternative answers to some of the older cases. More of the scientific community have come out of the closet and have helped take the “pseudo” out of the subject. Modern forensic techniques bring us closer to finding the truth, whether it proves misinterpretation, hoax, or something extraordinary.

The major problem that still remains is the garbage that still remains on databases. If just one report on a database is faulty, it taints the entire database. We need to eliminate these junk reports.

The late Rene Dahinden told me once, “If we weed out all the crap, then the good cases will stand out.”

I still agree with that quote.

Remember that we deal with reports and it’s not as important to prove Bigfoot and UFOs as it is to study why people see them and report them. Therefore, I suggest that we pay more attention to what witnesses are telling us, rather than incorporate the investigator’s own belief system into the scenario.