In 1959, the United States Department of State (DOS), issued a memo regarding the Yeti, also known as the Abominable Snowman (which is a relative of the famous Bigfoot).
In the memo, the State Department offered a set of rules that anyone who wanted to look for the creature had to follow.
But who would want to do that?
A lot of people! Especially during the 1950s, when interest in the Yeti spiked and many climbers, especially those from Europe, the United States and Canada, reported finding Yeti footprints while climbing Mount Everest.
The influx of foreign climbers and explorers prompted the government of Nepal to issue rules and regulations for any would-be Yeti hunting expeditions.
Some of those included the requirement to purchase a permit from the Nepalese government (a permit could be had for 5,000 rupees, or roughly $1,100 in today’s dollars). It also issued strict rules once an expedition made “contact” with a Yeti. Explorers could photograph the Yeti and even capture it, but could not kill or otherwise injure it (an exception was made for self-defense).
What’s more, any Yeti photos or other information gleaned from a Yeti sighting had to be shared with the Nepalese government.
All very reasonable rules.
Below is the full text of the official document outlining the rules governing the search for the fabled Yeti.
Before you go onto reading that (which makes for an interesting read on its own), we wanted to share with you the results of our “Bigfoot poll,” where we found that 23% of those polled (all over the age of 18) believe that Bigfoot exist somewhere, presently, on planet Earth.
Official document starts below.
REGULATIONS GOVERNING MOUNTAIN CLIMBING EXPEDITIONS IN NEPAL – RELATING TO YETI
There are, at present, three regulations applicable only to expeditions searching for the Yeti in Nepal. These regulations are to be observed in addition to the 15 clauses as listed in Mountaineering and Scientific Expeditions in Nepal.
The three regulations are as follows:
- Royalty of Rs. 5000/- Indian Currency will have to be paid to His Majesty’s Government of Nepal for a permit to carry out an expedition in search of Yeti.
- In case Yeti is traced it can be photographed or caught alive but it must not be killed or shot at except in an emergency arising out of self-defense. All photographs taken of the animal, the creature itself if captured alive or dead, must be surrendered to the Government of Nepal at the earliest time.
- News and reports throwing light on the actual existence of the creature must be submitted to the Government of Nepal as soon as they are available and must not in any way be given out to the Press or Reporters for publicity without the permission of the Government of Nepal.
FOR THE AMBASSADOR,
ERNEST H. FISK
COUNSELOR OF EMBASSY