Is Bigfoot Dead?
~ Written By Pattyhap1863 ~
Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, the ape-like creature said to inhabit North America is certainly one of the most famous and elusive cryptids to date. People have been producing videos, audio clips and photographs of Bigfoot for a long time now. Has there been a remarkable discovery proving its existence? Hardly. What we are left with is a great number of hoaxes and frauds that very recently have been exposed with alarming frequency and are threatening its very existence.
Let’s take a look at the facts, shall we?
In March, 2004, there was an article on the World Net Daily where Bob Heironimus said to have worn a gorilla costume in the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film of Bigfoot. The gorilla suit was said to have been purchased from a Mr. Philip Morris for $435. This hoax was staged in Northern California according to Heironimus. However, Gimlin’s lawyer, Tom Malone, declared that this was all false and there was never a gorilla costume or a hoax. (Source: World Net Daily http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37507 )
Then, in July-August, 2008 the biggest hoax of them all was the one perpetrated by Georgia residents Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer who told national TV that they had a dead Bigfoot body in a freezer. Of course, when the ice melted, everyone saw that the ‘body’ was really a gorilla suit. We all know what happened and the heated discussions this piece of news produced, so I won’t get into these details here and now.
Very recently, another piece of news published on December 5 on allnewsweb caught my eye. Philip Morris had been on TV claiming that he had sold a Bigfoot costume to Roger Patterson. He had kept quiet all this time, but after the death of Patterson felt it was time to come forward and tell the truth. (Source: http://www.allnewsweb.com/page999888.php )
Of course all this was to be expected. After all, a costume frozen in ice had been declared to be the body of Bigfoot and the hoaxers had done their job well. Scientists now laughed even harder at the possibility of any real evidence of the existence of this cryptid whilst some believers and paranormal researchers turned away from Bigfoot and concentrated their efforts on UFOs or ghosts instead. Indeed, after all this came to pass, I realized that there was more and more on aliens and UFOs out in the media (as well as ghosts and haunted places) and much less on Bigfoot and other cryptids. Could this mean that Bigfoot was dying?
In recent years there has been a great upheaval in the world, though some people seem not to notice this. Firstly, technology has been progressing at an alarming rate. If you think this isn’t important, take a look at the world today. Fifteen years ago, you would have needed a plane ticket to travel across the ocean and visit a friend living in England to see and talk to this person. Today, you only need the Internet and a webcam. What is more, with digital cams, digital audio recorders and more sophisticated equipment, you no longer rely on eye-witness claims of strange creatures or the unexplained. Let’s say Bigfoot (or whatever he is called in other regions) is elusive, shy and hides in the dense forests, jungles or mountain ranges all over the world. So if people say there is a Bigfoot, or a Yeti, or a Yowie in inaccessible places around the globe, how can we tell that what they are saying is true or false? We would have to be there and experience what they experience in order to be able to rule out the mundane or discern the truth. So what do we see in the ‘evidence’ provided? Pictures of Bigfoot that could easily be a man dressed in a gorilla costume. Footprints that could have been hoaxed. Video footages of a ‘hominid’ walking among so many trees or foliage, that it is impossible to actually see the shape distinctly. The list is endless.
And while we are on endless lists, let’s go through proposed theories of why Bigfoot hasn’t been captured yet, or no conclusive DNA samples been obtained. Some people say it’s because the places they actually live in are truly inaccessible. This is where they die, and where the samples are. Others say that they exist, but in a different dimension. When we see these creatures, we are actually experiencing an overlap in dimensions that allow us to catch a glimpse of them. This is could also apply to alleged unexplained footprints that have not been debunked, but are left to ponder on what made these footprints in the first place. Even though the idea of an overlap in dimensions does seem preposterous to many, it could offer an explanation as to why there seems to be one or two footprints here and there and then nothing, as if the creature vanished along the way. Upon writing this, I’m reminded of a similar dimensional theory pertaining to ghosts. It hasn’t been proven either, but we must remember that different times or dimensions are really not so far-fetched at all, and science is continuously studying them and may soon make a breakthrough in this area.
All that I have previously stated doesn’t mean that Bigfoot doesn’t exist. It means that in the first place, he sure does know where to die, so that his body isn’t found, and in the second place, he sure knows how to weave in and out of trees so that his hair can’t be sent off to be analyzed. Forgive me if I sound sarcastic, but I think that people have really had it with all the hoaxes and it’s time for a bit of reality and common sense. A part of me strongly wishes for real evidence, the irrefutable kind. People are tired of all the hoaxes, the lying and the false evidence put up on different paranormal sites as well as the many fake videos uploaded on U Tube. This is probably because the gorilla suit has now been immortalized and the first thing a person has on his mind while looking at a video is ‘a man in a gorilla suit’. What is worse, the classic Patterson-Gimlin film apparently is also a man wearing a gorilla suit. Enough said.
Is Bigfoot dead? I don’t want him to be. Wanting and discerning the truth are very different things, however. The quest for the truth has never been so difficult. For now, we have to fight against all the hoaxers, the photoshopping, the frauds. We have to make a stand and demand quality and seriousness to advance in the field. We have to question and continue searching. Who knows? Bigfoot may not be dead after all…
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I wouldn’t say Bigfoot is dead, though I do believe its habitat has shrunk considerably over the last half century. Yes, it sould be nice if we could find a body, or a bone, or that he would show up on the Jay Leno show, but the lack of evidence is not evidence that nothing exists. Remember, the gorilla wasn’t discovered by Westerners until 1907, and if this creature is as smart as people believe, I’m not surprised the definitive proof hasn’t been found yet. The problem seems to be that we look at this creature as an animal–a big, dumb animal–and then wonder why we incredibly intelligent humans can’t catch it. You see, it’s much easier to assume there is no such thing as an uncategorized primate living in North America than it is to imagine we’re too stupid to find it.
And as far as Bob Heironimus being the guy in the Patterson film, I believe that too was a hoax. First, Heironimus is not the first guy to claim that “he was the guy” in the ape suit. Several others have laid claim to that honor over the years. Second, if Heironimous was in that suit, he was the stupidest man alive as Bob Gimlin–who to date no one has accused of being complicate in the hoax–was holding a 30.06 on the “critter” all the time Patterson was filming. Had he paniced and opened fire, Mr. Heironimous would have been of more than the $1,000 dollars he was promised. Third, Heironimous has never produced any evidence that he was, in fact, the guy in the suit, leaving us with nothing more than his word that he was. Fourth, no one can replicate the suit precisely, even using modern special effects. Certainly, it’s hard to imagine how Patterson and Heironimus, working with a shoestring budget, could have pulled it off with the materials available to them in 1967.
The point is that belief in Bigfoot, like ghosts or UFOs or anything else, must be maintained partially by faith. However, so is the belief that none of these things are real. It doesn’t matter how many people come forward to admit to being the “guy in the bigfoot suit” or how many inane hoaxers there are out that, none if it demonstrates anything other than that people are going to believe whatever they want to believe, be it pro or con, and will always find the “evidence” to “prove” it.
Bigfoot dead? Not yet, but he may be on life support.
I agree that while you can’t rule something out simply because you don’t understand it (e.g. Bigfoot, ghosts, UFO’s, etc.) that the body of evidence on the Bigfoot question lies clearly on the side of doubt. Sure, the Patterson film did convince some experts that they were viewing a living creature and not a man in a suit. However, the lack of hard evidence, such the remains of a confirmed Bigfoot specimen, complicate the proof of its existence.
The Locard Exchange Principle states that every contact leaves traces behind which becomes evidence. Even sophisticated creatures, like humans, leave MANY traces behind. Scraps, discarded tools, trails through the woods, hair, and evidence of habitation (i.e. shelters, fire pits, etc.). Even those wonderful Navy SEALS leave heat signatures when viewed with an infrared camera.
Assuming that the Bigfoot is not a metaphysical creature, it must conduct daily activities to ensure its own survival. Unfortunately, there is little indication of this besides some video clips and a few scattered “footprints.” The notion that the Bigfoot is an expert at remaining hidden and covers its tracks is problematic as it would require much more maintenance to survive while remaining hidden. Furthermore, what would be the motivation for such a large, powerful creature to remain hidden? Clearly, it is at the top of its food chain. Please consider the practical aspects here. Does Bigfoot exist solely to elude humans?