1919 Jackson, Michigan giant

reply to post by GoneGrey


They wouldn't be able to live that well in our time with our current atmospheric conditions and gravity, at least not at that height. Though it is said that the time before the great floods was much different and could sustain species of a much greater size then those of today's standard. Such as giant deer, sloth, and bears so it could very well be possible for a human species in that time era to be much taller and bigger then we are. There is also the possibility that they could be a different human species that died off. A lot of ancient texts as well as tribes throughout the world have stories of giants which eventually died off. Even the bible states that there were giants around before man in Genesis. Anything is possible, this world is full of odd and interesting things.

I tell you, seriously that...All of them Giant thingies have been nipped by P.T. Barnum and he has taken them for his ring in Hell.

Originally posted by GoneGrey
Then, I discover this disclaimer in a Ludington Daily News [Michigan] article that claims the find was a "dummy".

Doing a google search for this "Jimmie Leathers" fellow, I find this page...
New Castle News

Formatting is really awful on my computer, but you can just make out the OCR'ed story...

New Castle News (Newspaper) - October 1, 1919, New Castle, Pennsylvania
Big Mummy Giant Hoax Prehistoric In Michigan Quickly Loses Interest
TOWN POLICEMAN FOOLED
few days ago the country's scientists were agog over the discovery of the mummified body of a giant toric feet the backyard of a policeman ia this city
Just as Uie local hotels were ex- the arrival of trainloads of archaeological bugs from all parts the scientific world the giant was an awful smash by Old Man and the hotels have had to cancel some of their larger orders to Che butcher Uie baker and the candlestick maker
Here is Jimmie Leathers had a peculiar slant to his mind ...
...
Due to his peculiar slant Jimmie was almost fran interested one might say in the mysteries of the human body He loved to probe them and he use to reproduce the human form in more or less divine imitations with aid of cow bones canvas wood teeth and coarse black wool
Jimmie used to put in his spare time making dummies of the human form
Finally Jimmie made his piece de feet with eyes of Oriental circularity He did a good job pasting the hair on but the teeth were the masterpiece ...

etc...

Two feet under a garden is no place for a mummy to survive so well preserved here in Michigan this had to have been a hoax. Our weather here and the freezing/thawing of the soil to below that depth would have made short work if this giant.

I'm also going with fake. As well as it being in the ads section, it is the only piece which doesn't have the enlarged first letter of the article. it should have an oversized 'J' on the first word to remain consistent with the rest of the page.

reply to post by windword

You'll see that tall people do happen naturally.

Yet no human has exceeded 9 feet tall except the guy in your picture which he died at 8"11. It's not natural either look up the tallest man living today. They all suffer from a disease which their body never stops growing and they eventually die a painful death. There is nothing natural about being 8 feet tall.

Man was originally larger than he is now. Sumerian creation myths describe we came from Sasquatches. So for generations we would have remained very large.

Remember, we built all those huge stone buildings out of that stone because it was easy, it wasnt hard for giant men

Originally posted by hisshadow
Man was originally larger than he is now. Sumerian creation myths describe we came from Sasquatches. So for generations we would have remained very large.

Remember, we built all those huge stone buildings out of that stone because it was easy, it wasnt hard for giant men

Could you give links to the Sumerian texts, many of which are available online with translations, which indicate that man descended from Sasquatches?

reply to post by GoneGrey


This "story" is printed smack dab in the middle of the classifieds. I think that someone just paid a little money to pull a prank back in the day.

Yes, hoax. Photoshopped article, and yet another of those reworked "individual who doesn't exist found a strange object/giant person and the body mysteriously vanishes." The "Mysterious Vanishing Find" was a trope in the Old West magazines, which bought fiction about vanished treasures and so forth.

dble post

reply to post by bocaj417


There was coverage of this event in a number of other papers and it was not relegated to the 'ad' section in those. The story was distributed to other publications by way of Associated Press news service, so it was not isolated to the newspaper that I first spotted the article in.

I think it can be safely said that it was a hoax perpetrated on the patrolman, but I think at the time it was regarded as a genuine 'find' until it was proven otherwise.

I would think that the physicians who initially examined the corpse had a lot of egg on their faces for misidentifying it.

reply to post by Evanzsayz


A "disease", mutation or abnormality is still a "natural" condition. Meaning, that there is no need to jump to the conclusion that these ubber tall people have been genetically engineered by aliens (nephilim) or that they aren't from this planet, or some such theories.

It's easy to see how these people, and their mothers, could have been demonized and ostracised from their communities and how myths developed from their existence.

In humans, this condition is caused by over-production of growth hormone in childhood resulting in persons between 7 feet (84 inches) (2.13 m) and 9 feet........

In the past, while many of them were social outcasts because of their height, some (usually unintentionally) found employment in Friedrich Wilhelm I's famous Potsdam Giants regiment.

Gigantism

Remember also, human's are gaining in height. A few hundred years ago men and women were much shorter and smaller in stature than they are today. So an 8 foot man would appear to be a giant to a 4'8" soldier.

-Okay, heres what I have found out.

I contacted the Ella Sharp Museum and Historical Society (waiting for a call back) and then contacted the Library reference center and spoke with a woman who worked there. The woman at the reference center actually said she had heard of this before and that it was, in fact a hoax (unsure who actually masterminded the hoax)-

Sooooo, Tomorrow or Wednesday I am going down there and was told that if I bring a USB I can take digital images from the microfilm from several places which may shed further light unto this- I am unsure what exactly will be there but I will know soon snough and I am pretty sure I can upload the information here without a problem.

-Also, once I speak to the Historian at Ella Sharpe , I am certain I will get a full rundown of what happened here.

-Anyhow, very cool stuff. Cannot wait to see what I can find out. But it does in fact appear that these were not "Photoshop" articles and that this event did in fact happen in some way.

-Will keep you posted.

reply to post by Byrd


If you read all of the pages in this thread, you will find that Oren Nierman and his family were residents in Jackson, Michigan at that time. You can even prove that for yourself if you take the time to do so.

I would hope that the suggestion that the article is Photoshopped is not directed at me. While this IS a conspiracy based site, healthy skepticism and healthy debate and discussion of what is presented (not necessarily claimed) becomes unhealthy when it is implied that another member is not sincere/honest in presenting a new topic for discussion. I sincerely hope that I am misunderstanding your comment.

I find it a far fetched notion (even with my conspiracy theory leanings) that all of the other archival coverages I found of this event were likewise "Photoshop" jobs done by me or anyone else in recent times. You can follow the links I provided to the original sources. I don't know how to hack Google News Archives let alone anything else.

I discovered the Border Cities Star article by pure chance while searching for an old obit. It caught my attention and I thought it worthy of bringing it to the attention of ATS. This story was covered in a number of other newspapers and was clearly a hoax from that time period -- NOT this one.

reply to post by DarKPenguiN


Thank you for your interest in this topic DarKPenguiN, even if it led down the road of "early 20th century hoax".

I have an interest in the local history of my own home town and the more I delve into it, the more I come to learn that communities, large and small alike, had colourful pasts that need to be rediscovered and resurrected from time to time.

Please share what ever else you learn about the Jackson Giant with the rest of us. I, for one, would like to know how this played out after the revelation that it was a hoax. Did any heads roll? Was Jimmie Leathers punished? Was Oren an accomplice in any way?

Originally posted by GoneGrey
reply to post by Byrd

 

If you read all of the pages in this thread, you will find that Oren Nierman and his family were residents in Jackson, Michigan at that time. You can even prove that for yourself if you take the time to do so.

I would hope that the suggestion that the article is Photoshopped is not directed at me. While this IS a conspiracy based site, healthy skepticism and healthy debate and discussion of what is presented (not necessarily claimed) becomes unhealthy when it is implied that another member is not sincere/honest in presenting a new topic for discussion. I sincerely hope that I am misunderstanding your comment.

I find it a far fetched notion (even with my conspiracy theory leanings) that all of the other archival coverages I found of this event were likewise "Photoshop" jobs done by me or anyone else in recent times. You can follow the links I provided to the original sources. I don't know how to hack Google News Archives let alone anything else.

I discovered the Border Cities Star article by pure chance while searching for an old obit. It caught my attention and I thought it worthy of bringing it to the attention of ATS. This story was covered in a number of other newspapers and was clearly a hoax from that time period -- NOT this one.

I was even leaning towards this being photoshopped (not from you, or anyone here) but after talking to the woman at the reference center- This certainly was a "real" event.
I am totally surprised I had never heard of this before- You are also correct that this was a patrolmen here in Jackson.

Anyhow, this is very interesting. Cannot wait to see what they have for me at the center when I get there (Our Library here is amazing)- Very cool find,...Very freaking cool.

Originally posted by GoneGrey
reply to post by DarKPenguiN

 

Thank you for your interest in this topic DarKPenguiN, even if it led down the road of "early 20th century hoax".

I have an interest in the local history of my own home town and the more I delve into it, the more I come to learn that communities, large and small alike, had colourful pasts that need to be rediscovered and resurrected from time to time.

Please share what ever else you learn about the Jackson Giant with the rest of us. I, for one, would like to know how this played out after the revelation that it was a hoax. Did any heads roll? Was Jimmie Leathers punished? Was Oren an accomplice in any way?

For sure-
I know if this happened today he would be covered by the "blue shield", lol... Yes, I will find out everything I can about how this all played out.
-Also, thanks for even bringing this to my attention- I cannot wait to really dig into to this and see what happened here. =)

I have permission to post the snapshots of the microfilm I will be getting (I just made sure) so anything I get will be posted here.

Science will not acknowledge that giants exist because that would add reliability to the ancient scripts. Science is trying to say that these texts are fantasy and what they tout is real because there is evidence to prove it. By denying or covering up this info, science makes sure that funding will remain in their ball field, money that may have gone to the church.

I have given motive for science's indifference to the giants. Seems that you do not have to officially deny things, you can steer them away from the truth.

reply to post by kdog1982

Kdog nailed this one!