Jon-Erik Beckjord

Jon-Erik Beckjord (April 26, 1939 – June 22, 2008) was an American paranormal investigator, photographer, and cryptozoologist interested in UFOs, crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot.

Throughout his life, he owned three separate, small-scale museums that featured displays, mostly photographs, of alleged UFO, Nessie, and Bigfoot sightings.

He made guest appearances on national radio and television shows, but was criticized by skeptics and fellow cryptozoologists alike for not providing substantive evidence to back up his claims of the existence of paranormal beings.

Born Cedric Jon Beckjord in Duluth, Minnesota, he was the son of Col. Philip Beckjord, a World War II army physician, and Margaret (née McGilvry) Beckjord.

He had three siblings: Ross, Peter, and Pam.

His family came from Oslo, Norway.

Beckjord attended the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado for two years.

He studied sociology at Tulane University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1961.

He studied law for one year at Boalt Hall at University of California, Berkeley.

He later graduated with an MBA from U.C. Berkeley in 1966.

After graduation, Beckjord became a city planner in the Bay area, but wearied of a traditional job and decided to hunt for Bigfoot instead.

"I don't do what most MBAs do," he said, "Most people in my class are bored to death or dead. The object in life is not simply to make money."

Rather, he believed his most important task was to "find out why we're here (on Earth)"

Beckjord collected photographs, castings, and other memorabilia that, to him, represented evidence of the existence of UFOs and alien life, the Loch Ness Monster, as well as Bigfoot.

He appeared on several nationwide radio and television shows, including Coast to Coast AM, The Tonight Show, and Late Night with David Letterman.

In reference to his explorations, Beckjord compared himself to Galileo, Louis Pasteur, and the Wright brothers.

In 1983, Beckjord, then director of the Crypto Zoological Society, spent a week in Scotland videotaping what he believed were three monsters in Loch Ness.

In February, 1989, Beckjord opened the Crypto-Zoology Museum, housed in the corner of Trancas Restaurant in Malibu, CA. The museum had its start on October 31, 1986, when he opened his home to visitors to see his collection.

The display primarily consisted of photographs from Beckjord's research into the phenomena of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, and the Mokele M'Bembe of Africa.

According to Beckjord, the museum focused on "creatures of fact or fancy" that "to the best of our knowledge appear to be verified, or haven't at least been debunked."

When Trancas Restaurant went out of business, Beckjord put the museum's contents in storage.

Most of it was lost to fire in 1993.

On October 31, 1996, Halloween, Beckjord opened the Bigfoot, UFO and Loch Ness Monster Museum in San Francisco, California, which featured crop circles.

He charged a nominal entrance fee ($3 for adults; $2 for children), but the museum's closing, reportedly, was "due to lack of any substantial evidence."

After this museum closed, Beckjord repaired electrical appliances for a company called Captain Neon.

In 1997, Beckjord opened a third museum in North Beach, CA, which he called the Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster Museum.

It was billed as the city's "strangest museum" and consisted of photographs, drawings, and articles devoted to such topics as the Roswell Declaration, Bigfoot, and a sea serpent named "Sassie" which, allegedly, lived in the San Francisco Bay.

Beckjord defined cryptozoology as "the search for mysterious creatures."

His searches included hidden "animals"—those that could, theoretically, exist in nature—and hidden "critters" or those that looked like animals, but resisted capture: the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, and Quixacotal Big Bird.

Beckjord became intrigued with the idea of Bigfoot after seeing an article in the newspaper about alleged sightings of the creature.

On an expedition to find evidence, he claimed he saw a Bigfoot cross the road in front of him from about 200 feet away.

Beckjord was convinced of its existence, even as he failed to photogaph Bigfoot.

He also purportedly saw Bigfoot standing 6 feet tall and walking in a "loose, limbo-dance style", and, at another time, eating apricots in an orchard around Vacaville, CA. He frequented a camp with other researchers, an alleged "window site" in the Bear River Reservoir area of Eldorado National Forest where he asserted that "evidence of Bigfoot is almost routinely seen."

While he insisted that the exact location not be revealed to the public, Beckjord did agree to take skeptic Robert Sheaffer on a five-day expedition there in 1999.

It was only after Sheaffer left the site, having seen nothing unusual, that Beckjord reported manifestations of Bigfoot.

Beckjord said he heard Bigfoot's voice telling him "We're not what you think we are, we're here, but we're not real, like what you think is real."

Along with the photographs of leaves and shadows Beckjord believed showed images of Bigfoot, he also reported having seen Bigfoot footprints that turned into deer tracks, confirming for him that the creature had the ability to shift its shape.

He theorized that Bigfoot creatures share a "space-time origin and connection with UFOs and come from an alternative universe by a wormhole."

Beckjord explained away the need for physical evidence, such as hair, blood and bones, to prove the existence of Bigfoot by arguing that the creature is an "inter-dimensional shape-shifter that can warp in and out of physical reality."

He theorized that they may be "the product of tulpas or thought forms created by people or other entities."