20th Century Sightings
As Westerners became more adventurous and started to scale the world's mountains during the 1900s, reported signtings of the Yeti increased. These sightings included both strange tracks and odd creatures. Some of the accounts are provided below:
In 1925, N. A. Tombazi, a Greek photographer and member of the British Royal Geographical Society, reported that he observed a creature near Zemu Glacier. He reproted that he watched the creature from a distance of about 200-300 yards (180-270 m) at an altitude of about 15,000 ft (4,600 m).
Tombazi also stated, "Unquestionably, the figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright and stopping occasionally to uproot or pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes. It showed up dark against the snow and as far as I could make out, wore no clothes." He also described the footprints as, "similar in shape to those of a man, but only six to seven inches long by four inches wide.... The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped."
Interest in the Yeti peaked in the 1950s as more and more people attempted to scale Mt. Everest. British Himalayan mountaineer Eric Shipton took pictures of numerous large prints in the snow at altitude of around 20,000 ft (6,000 m). Much controversy exists regarding these photographs. Supports argue that these photos are compelling evidence of the existance the the Yeti. Others say the prints were made by an ordiary animal and then distorted by wind and melting snow.
On March 19, 1954, British tabloid newspaper Daily Mail published an artile describing hair specimens obtained by expedition teams. The hair was allegedly from a Yeti scalp from the Pangboche monastery. At first glance the hair was black and dark brown, but when exposed to sunlight, the hair appeared red. Professor Fredrick Jones, who was an expert in human and comparative anatomy, analyzed the hair. Jones was unable to conclude what animal the hair was from, but he was convinced that it did not come from a bear or ape. Jones suggested that the speciman was from a coarse-haired hoofed animal.
In 1957 a wealthy American oilman names Tom Slick, funded several expeditions to the Himalayas to investigate the existance of the Yeti. One expedition in 1959 recovered a feces speciman from the supposed Yeti. Analysis showed an unknown parasite. Zoologist bernard Heuvelmans what that, "Since each animal has its own parasites, this indicated that the host animal is equally an unknown animal." This provided Yeti believers more hope that the elusive animal exists.
In 1960, New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary led an with the purpose of collecting physical evidence to support the existance of the Yeti. Hillary was able to send the Khumjung monastery Yeti scalp away for testing. The analysis showed that the scalp was actually from a serow, which is a Himalayan antelope that resembles a goat. British anthropologist Myra Shackley disagreed with the results, stating that the "hairs from the scalp look distinctly monkey-like, and that it contains parasitic mites of a species different from that recovered from the serow."
In 1970, British mountaineer Don Whillans was climbing Annapurna and claimed to have seen an unfamiliar creature while he wasw searching for a campsite. He heard odd cries, which his guide claimed were a Yeti's call. During the night, Whillans observed a dark shape moving near the campsite. The next morning, he saw human-like footprints in the snow. Later that evening, Whillans watched an ape-like creature through binoculars for about twenty minutes as it foraged for food near the group's campsite.
