I’m embarrassed to admit that we have mislead you. We promised answers to 13 questions, because 13 was such a spooky number, but our panelists were kind enough to answer 17, and they’re all just too good to drop. It is with heartfelt appreciation that I (and Mari and Aaron and Greg and Septimus and Jenn) present 17 wonderful answers from Matt Bowman, Alan Morrell, and Mike Van Wagenen on Mormon tricks, pranks, hoaxes, unexplained occurrences, and legends.
Matt Bowman’s Answers
Q 1: I figure the storytellers like Abe Mansfield set the stage for Bigfoot, but if you have something more substantial to say about it I would be interested. And why did Bigfoot take off more than, say, the Lemurians? Have any of you talked with Jeff Meldrum about his work?
A 1: About Bigfoot, in general, to set the stage for some other answers. In 1832 in Tennessee, the apostle David Patten claimed to have met with Cain, who was tall—according to him, about Patten’s height while Patten sat on a horse—dark, and hairy. I’ve found evidence that this story was fairly well circulated in nineteenth century Mormonism—Eliza Snow referred to it in a poem she read at one of Lorenzo’s birthday parties, and journals document that the Quorum of the Twelve talked about it formally. In the twentieth century, there’s evidence to suggest that both Spencer Kimball and Joseph F. Smith propagated the story. Particularly, Kimball recounts in in Miracle of Forgiveness (page 127, if you all want to pull your copy of the shelf). About twelve years after Miracle was published, there was a rash of Bigfoot sightings in Utah, following a national craze. I think that Cain gradually became Bigfoot for a variety of reasons—briefly, reflecting Mormonism’s assimilation into American culture, and the increasing marginalization of the negative association with Cain’s presumed dark skin with African Americans.
Q 2: If one did want to run into Big Foot or a Lemurian where would the best place to do it? What would be the best situation to do so?
A 2: Well, my paper provides evidence that Joseph Fielding Smith believed that Cain was sent on at least one occasion in an attempt to thwart a temple dedication. (The Laie, Hawaii, temple, to be specific.) It ties this in with a nineteenth century belief that Satan used physical means to attempt to stop the work of the Church. The dedicatory prayer of the Salt Lake temple stated explicitly that Satan was always more active when a temple was about to be dedicated. So maybe, Kristen, you should head to Draper.
Q 3: “We are pushing beyond the Three Nephites into new territory” Whoa. Hold on. What is there to push beyond from? I’ve heard folklorish stories and the like, but is there any historical bases for it? Do we have records of legitimate sightings or encounters? The Three Nephites might be old hat to you guys but we actually don’t have serious discussions about it often. What do you know about them?
A 3: I think Mike was referring here to the Three Nephites being an heavily studied folklore phenomenon. Mormon scholars like William Wilson and Austin Fife were publishing on them in nationally recognized academic journals forty years ago. They’ve been done—beaten to death. (Well, maybe not literally, but still.) There is a great deal of work on them, and they get assimilated into folk tales in interesting ways. The famous story about an old hitchhiker being picked up, uttering something apocalyptic about food storage, then vanishing, is clearly a Mormon version of the vanishing hitchhiker ghost story that everybody’s heard. Still, though, they remain a uniquely Mormon folk tale, which makes them interesting. As to legitimate encounters, well, that depends. I think there’s something about one of them in Wilford Woodruff’s journals, though I’m not certain where.
Q 4: You’ve already mentioned that Brigham Young believed in the Bear Lake Monster. To what extant in Mormonism do urban legends flow from the top down?
A 4: I think Kimball resurrected the Bigfoot myth in a big way with the Miracle citation, but that may be the most clear account of the top driving folklore. That said, Mormonism is a uniquely hierarchical culture, which impacts Mormon folklore in two ways—first, if some area authority Seventy speculates a bit, it’s going to be picked up in a way that it wouldn’t if it were your grandmother speculating. Secondly, tacking a General Authority’s name onto a folk tale is going to give it some staying power. This happens, even if not by name. A lot of Mormon folk tellers refer to a bishop or stake president, where non-Mormons might say ‘my cousin.’
Q 5: Why did Brigham Young believe in the Bear Lake Monster (I had never heard of this; I hope you have time to go more in-depth about this) and why did Spencer W. Kimball put a bigfoot story in the middle of The Miracle of Forgiveness? Is this why there is so much Mormon folklore, because our leaders buy into it too? What does this say about the prophetic abilities of these two men, that they believed in fairy tales like these?
A 5:I’d say that prophets can be as credulous as anybody else. In looking at Mormon conceptions of authority, I’m a big “the prophet’s only a prophet when acting as such” guy.
Q 6: I’d be interested in your thoughts about how you personally negotiate the line between believing certain spiritual phenomena (like experiences at temple dedications, etc.) and disbelieving certain superstitious phenomena. When is it easy and where does it get hard? I personally shy away from all things Ouija board and ghostie, but I seek to actively feel the Spirit in my life. So I have extremely negative associations with certain types of things, and extremely positive associations with others. I think perhaps this is what Septimus is getting at too-are those divergent associations simply socialized into me, and am I perhaps being close-minded and judgmental where I shouldn’t?
A 6: I’d say largely socialized. Both Mike Quinn and Richard Bushman have documented the extent to which the early church existed in a “visionary age,” one in which manifestly supernatural phenomena—seer stones, dowsing, astrology etc.—was neither rare nor suspect. Indeed, Eliza Snow, Joseph F. Smith, and any number of nineteenth century figures seemed to have no problem with Cain being big, hairy, and roaming the woods of Tennessee; the Times and Seasons published an astrology column, and the Book of Commandments lauded Oliver Cowdery’s dowsing skills. Indeed, one of Joseph Smith’s seer stones was still being used in sacred ritual as late as Wilford Woodruff’s time. So I think it’s largely a matter of association—for Joseph Smith, a seer stone was a tool that facilitated communication with God. For us, it arouses connotations of the occult. I don’t think you’re being judgmental, because the Church and American culture in general have altered the boundaries of respectability. It’s a matter of functioning in your own time. However, that means that we should not cringe when we see what earlier times accepted.
Q 7: Mike, Matt, Alan, I heard something a few years ago about a young lapsed Mormon silicon valley executive-I think his name was Joe Firmage-who was visited by an extraterrestrial, put together some writings, and spent a bunch of his fortune promoting it. Could you tell us about this more completely and accurately than I have, and discuss similarities and differences with Joseph Smith and Moroni?
A 7: I haven’t heard of Firmage, but I can refer you to this person.
www.thesealedportion.com He claims to have received a translation of the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon while working as a janitor in the Salt Lake temple. (And he’s giving a speech at the Salt Lake library in December! Utah people, take note!) This isn’t too different, I think, from James Strang, who translated the Book of the Law of the Lord from some plates he claimed an angel gave him. There’s really no reason, I think, other than spiritual experience, for us to claim that Joseph Smith was not a kook and these men are. You can compare the quality of revelation, I suppose, but that sort of thing is often highly subjective; there are plenty of religious and literary figures who have dismissed the Book of Mormon as poorly written tripe. (Harold Bloom—whatever else he might have to say about Joseph Smith—being one, Alexander Campbell being another.) Ultimately I think it comes down to personal testimony, one way or the other.
Q 8: Have you found anything about cow mutilation and UFO sighting in Utah, or highly populated Mormon areas?
A 8: Again, dude, all the answers you seek can be found at www.aliendave.com. Read and find enlightenment.
Alan Morrell’s answers
Q 9: What are the Bear Lake and Loch Ness Monsters?
A 9: I’ll speak to the Bear Lake Monster and let the reader decide who it might apply to the Loch Ness and other Lake/Sea monsters. As for the Bear Lake Monster, I believe it was a good promotion and a fun diversion for several isolated settlers in the Bear Lake area. The first person to write about the Bear Lake Monsters (there were adolescent monsters as well as adult ones) was Joseph C. Rich, son of Apostle Charles C. Rich, who was 27 years old when he first wrote about the monsters in 1868. Years later in 1894, he claimed responsibility for “that wonderful first class lie—The Bear Lake Monster.” Joseph Rich was known for his pranks. Soon after moving to Bear Lake, messages from beyond began to appear on eggs from Mrs. Clifton’s Plymouth rock hen that were sold at Rich’s store. The messages included pieces of philosophy, scripture, and personal advice for local residents. Saints at Bear Lake became so involved with the prophecies that Apostle Rich eventually had to declare that when the Lord wanted something revealed he would do it by way of proper authority, and not through the hind end of a chicken. Soon after his father’s declaration, Joseph put away his invisible ink. After the initial sighting of the Bear Lake Monster, any unexplained occurrence could be attributed to it. With regards to the second question. I’ve been to Bear Lake several times and never seen the monster. But once when water skiing at Willard Bay, a large carp swam into me (or at least I supposed it to be a carp).
Q 10: Please summarize everything you know about Bear Lake Monster
A 10: While Brigham Young believed in the Bear Lake Monster, or at least never ruled out the possibility, he never claimed to have seen it. He sent a rope up to Bear Lake to help catch one, but I believe that was simply a cheap investment that he hoped would return a large reward if one could be caught. The Deseret News recored that on a visit to Bear Lake, Young peered out across the lake in hopes of catching a glimpse of the celebrity. He reportedly brought up the Bear Lake Monster in some of his sermons, so he likely believed. But why not? One of his own apostles and several good people from Bear Lake confirmed the stories. Wonderful discoveries were being made throughout the world. Why couldn’t descendants of some of these large animals be found in remote areas, like Bear Lake? The world was in a state of incredible change at this time. Anything was possible. Some church leaders who claimed to have seen a Bear Lake Monster about 13 years after the initial sighting were John Taylor, George Q. Cannon, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, John H. Smith, and Joseph F. Smith. The relationship of Joseph C. Rich to his apostle father along with the belief of Brigham Young and sightings of other apostles certainly lent to the credibility and spread of the folklore. I believe that the tendency among many in the Latter-day Saint community to hold their prophets and apostles as omniscient helped in the spread of the folklore.
Q 11: Please share your thoughts about how you personally negotiate the line between believing…
A 11: I rely upon personal experience and tend to be skeptical while not ruling out most stories that I hear. Belief doesn’t mean much until it moves into the realm of action. The validity of many things don’t really matter to me. If my belief in a story is going to cost me something or change my behavior, then I take it a little more seriously. If I were to give up family, friends and fortune for a belief, I believe it would require a personal experience, not just faith in another’s words. At the same time I realize how little I know and appreciate that I can’t prove all things before moving. So it is a balancing act.
Mike Van Wagenen’s Answers
Preface: I must admit that I am disappointed that Miranda ended up being a guy named Dave and not the pretty young woman in the picture. Nonetheless, in the spirit of this paranormal day (Day of the Dead) I have tackled a few of your questions. Please keep in mind that I am still collecting UFO stories so please email me the stories you have heard on missions and in Sunday school classes: maximon999 at aol dot com.
Q 12: What about UFOs?
A 12: There have been several questions about unidentified flying objects and Mormons. Let me first qualify my answers by saying that I consider UFOs to be exactly that—unidentified. In an academic setting I do not see them as the traveling Lost Tribes of Israel, satanic plots or evidence of life on other planets. They are objects people see in the sky which they cannot explain. Such sightings can be traced back to the Roman Empire. That said it must also be understood that UFOs are interpreted differently by different peoples depending largely on their culture and the time period in which they live. I divide Mormon UFO encounters into two categories for just that reason.
Nineteenth-century Mormons interpreted UFOs much different than their twentieth-century counterparts. During the life of Joseph Smith, many Mormons saw and recorded sightings of unusual lights hovering in the skies. Almost to a person they interpreted these phenomena to be signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. They were often described in the church-owned newspapers and it is clear that Joseph Smith agreed with the millenarian interpretation until 1843. During his last year Smith distanced himself from this celestial sign seeking. This corresponded with the Millerite prediction of the Second Coming. The Millerites, like the Mormons, looked for signs in the heavens to support their claims of Christ’s imminent return. Smith sought to distance himself from the Millerites in 1843, and admonished the church to stop sign seeking. From that point on the Mormons largely ignored UFOs in the nineteenth century. At the end of the century the nation was gripped with a UFO frenzy and church leaders continued to discourage celestial sign seeking. Instead they focused on finding proof of the Book of Mormon’s legitimacy in the ancient ruins of Meso-America. I am still researching the twentieth century, but can offer some preliminary findings. When the “flying saucer” phenomena made headlines in 1947, Mormons took notice. While the Latter-day Saints were not the first ones to associate extraterrestrial life with unidentified flying objects, they created a unique Mormon folklore that exists in the Church to this day.
Some of the modern-Mormon explanations of UFOs include the belief that these are merely visitors from God’s other worlds or the Lost Tribes of Israel preparing to return to earth. Both of these arguments can be supported through the teachings of church leaders both in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The New Era even ran an article about UFOs which claimed them to be evidence of God’s “other” people. The Tribes of Israel story seems to come from an early Mormon belief that pieces of the earth (including people) had been broken off to start other planets. Some Mormons speculated that the Lost Tribes of Israel disappeared from the earth in one of these separations. This was solidified in Mormon culture when LDS television producer Glen Larson, created the popular “Battle Star Galatica” series in the 1970s. Larson fused Mormon folklore with popular science fiction to create a thinly veiled story of twelve colonies of humans trying to find their way back to the mother planet of “Kobol.” I believe this program (very popular with the LDS) solidified the Tribes of Israel in space theory in Mormon culture. With these two ideas floating around the Mormon psyche, it is perhaps no small coincidence that many significant UFO sightings and abductions have occurred within the greater Mormon cultural sphere of the intermountain West.
Q 13: What about Lemurians?
A 13: I spent a few years of my childhood living in the shadow of Mount Shasta. It was the 1970s and the paranormal was starting a revival in American culture. I heard stories of Lemurians throughout my years there. This is a summary of what I recall hearing. First the Lemurians were the descendants of the people of Atlantis. When their land sunk into the ocean they were sucked
into the center of the earth. They found a conduit to the earth’s surface via the lava flue in Mount Shasta. They are more technologically advanced than the surface dwellers of the planet and travel in flying saucers. They can also ride gold and crystal elevators to the top of Mount Shasta if they would rather walk than fly. It seems to me that the topic was brought up among both the LDS and
non-LDS people. My parents even owned a book entitled “The Lost Continent of Lemuria,” although my father thought all the UFO hype of the time was bunk. I can think of no specific connection between Lemurians and Mormon folklore, but it really isn’t my area.
Q 14: What about Joe Firmage?
A 14: Joe Firmage is a fascinating character who I have followed via his website for a few years. Yes, he definitely was and perhaps still is LDS. He is brilliant, wealthy, and clearly a colorful character. For the sake of space and time I will refer you to a few websites about Brother Firmage: www.firmage.org and www.disinfo.com
Q 15: What about Drugs?
A 15: I’ve not heard of early Mormon experimentation with drugs before. The church in its early, pre-Republican days was a rebellious group. Could some of these out-of-the-mainstream thinkers tried drugs? It wouldn’t surprise me, although I know of no evidence.
Q 16: What about Ouija Boards?
A 16: The ouija board is a modern version of the old spirit or witch’s board. While a number of early Mormons turned to occult practices such as stone scrying and diving rods, I have never heard of early Mormons using spirit boards. D. Michael Quinn has demonstrated how Mormon folk magic fit within the larger magic worldview of the time. Perhaps the use of ouija boards fits this model. Once Parker Brothers commercially introduced ouija boards to the American public, they became a part of America’s culture. While I am a bit out of touch with the modern church policy, I suspect that the brethren in Salt Lake discourage the use of ouija boards. Do I know of modern Mormons playing with these? Absolutely. But I also know plenty of Evangelical Christians, Catholics, and Jews who have experimented with them. I believe that Mormons are no more predisposed to playing around with ouija boards than any other religious group. Spirit boards are a part of twentieth-century pop culture and are therefore shared across the cultural spectrum in the United States.
Q 17: What about Folklore in General?
A 17: Wherever groups come together in ethnicity or purpose you will find folklore. Bus drivers, Catholics, Tejanos, Amway salesmen, and countless others all have their own specific folklore which both defines themselves and interprets the world around them. Mormons are a part of that tradition. Our folklore is as colorful as any other group, and is unique to our own community. The purpose that it serves however is universal. There are the didactic tales which warn and teach the young. Remember the countless temple garment stories? There are the stories that validate us in our mission. If the founding fathers appeared in the temple then we must be right. Then there are all the stories of premonitions and visions that prove the power that each of us has to control an uncontrollable world. While I know many LDS who are embarrassed by various aspects of Mormon folklore, I’m all for embracing it as part of our heritage and legacy.
