Just What is a Bigfoot?
by Michael Willey
That's a really good question! And the answer, of course, depends on who you ask. Now there are five possible classifications for bigfoot: legend, hoax, hallucination, mis-identified bears, and lastly, a real honest to goodness living breathing creature. Let's look at those classifications in order.
Legend
Is bigfoot, as many people suggest, simply a legend or a myth? Now, Native American and First Nation peoples most certainly have stories about sasquatch that go back generations; stories that are shrouded in the mists of time. Some of those stories certainly ascribe supernatural attributes to the sasquatch and have taken on legendary status. BUT, as John Green said in his wonderful book, Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us, if bigfoot or sasquatch is simply a legend, it is odd that so many people see one. And Mr. Green is right. You generally cannot see a legend or myth. Yet, every year, hundreds of bigfoot sightings are reported. Often, sighting reports are submitted by law enforcement officers and other trained observers. So people are seeing something. Bigfoot is NOT simply a myth or legend.
Hoax
For the answer to the question of whether the bigfoot phenomena can be chalked up to a hoax, please see this article.
Hallucination
Now, I'm not using the word, hallucination, in its medical context. I'm using it in the ordinary, everyday context of an over-active imagination. For example, if I tell a friend, "Hey I saw a bigfoot while I was hiking." And my friend says to me, "You were just seeing things." Or "Your eyes was playing tricks on you." Or even better, "And what were you drinking at the time?" I'm using or maybe misusing the word hallucination in the context of a perfect natural and normal phenomenon that everyone has experienced -- pareidolia. That word comes from a Greek word meaning "resembling an image." If you have ever looked up at the clouds and see a bunny rabbit or some other familiar image, then you have experienced pareidolia.
Is it possible that some sasquatch sightings, especially fleeting ones, are the result of pareidolia? Certainly. Is is it possible that all sasquatch sightings are the result of pareidolia or over-active imaginations? Absolutely not. Pareidolia doesn't leave tracks or scat. Pareidolia doesn't steal fish from nets, pick up road kill, dig for clams, throw rocks, or shake travel trailers, just to name a few behaviors associated with bigfoot encounters. To attribute all sasquatch sightings to pareidolia or witnesses' eyes playing tricks on them, is to ignore the vast amount of other evidence in existence. People are seeing and reporting something -- an animal not classified or recognized by modern science.
Mis-Identified Bears
Bears, of course are the largest predator recognized and classified by modern science in North America. Bears in all likelihood share territory with sasquatches and may compete with them for food and other resources. Is it possible that some bigfoot sightings are the result of folks mis-identifying a bear? Maybe, depending on that person's age and experience at being out in the wild, along with other factors, such as lighting and weather conditions. BUT, it is absolutely impossible for all bigfoot sightings to be attributed to mis-identified bears. Doing so ignores the fact that many sighting reports are made by hunters, fishermen, loggers and other folks who are accustomed to being in the great outdoors and are unlikely to confuse a bear with a sasquatch. It also ignores the fact that reports have been made by law enforcement officers and other trained observers who again are unlikely to mis-identify a bear as a bigfoot.
There are striking differences between bears and sasquatches. Take a look at the images below. Bears are easily recognizable due to their long muzzle and ears on top of their head. Compare that with the flat face and ears hidden by long hair on the sasquatch. Bears are also habitually quadrupedal and only stand on their hind legs in a few instances, such as dominance and aggression displays, reaching for food, scratching their back on trees and such. When a bear does walk on its hind feet, it is clearly NOT the bear's preferred form of locomotion because bears are habitually quadrupedal. Further, a bear's two-legged stride is fairly short because of its short hind legs, and is very distinct from the long, smooth stride of the habitually bipedal sasquatch.
There are some other very important distinctions between a bear standing on its hind legs and a sasquatch. Compare the narrow sloping shoulders and short front legs of the bear with the broad shoulders and long arms of the sasquatch. Finally, the short hind legs and the low crotch of the bear are a dead giveaway, when compared to the long legs and high crotch of the bigfoot. More than once, a bigfoot report has included the statement that the bigfoot stepped over a fence without breaking stride. It is simply impossible to imagine a bear doing that while walking on its hind legs, and just as impossible for a bear to do.
Despite the numerous distinctions between a bear and a sasquatch, I will reluctantly state that, under the right conditions, it is within the realm of possibility that a person could mistakenly identify a bear as a bigfoot. But, again, it would depend upon the witness' experience in viewing wildlife and the lighting and weather conditions.
Is it possible to write off all bigfoot sightings as mis-identified bears? Absolutely not. To do so ignores the fact that many bigfoot sighting reports are submitted by experienced outdoorsmen and trained observers, who are highly unlikely to confuse a bear with another creature. To claim that all sasquatch sightings are really mis-identified bears also ignores the fact that bears don't leave huge five-toed, humanlike tracks. Bears don't clack rocks together and don't throw rocks and other projectiles, or shake travel trailers; all behaviors that have been associated with bigfoot encounters.
Most folks know what a bear looks like, even if it is just from seeing one on TV. People who report the sighting of a large, hairy, bipedal creature are seeing something, and it's not a bear.
Yes, Virginia, There Is A Bigfoot!
Having eliminated all the other classifications as the explanation for all sasquatch sighting reports, we are left with one conclusion. Bigfoot is a real animal, albeit unrecognized and unclassified by modern science. Bigfoot researchers have developed a composite description of what the animal looks like, based upon thousands of sighting reports. It is important to note that such a composite description is possible only because of the remarkable consistency of the descriptions of bigfoot for over sixty years.
A huge hair covered creature that that walks upright, utilizing a smooth, striding gait that indicates habitual bipedalism. It is not a knuckle walker like chimps and gorillas, nor does it go on all fours like a bear. Reported hair colors include brown, reddish brown, black, and gray. Bigfoot is described as being very broad across the shoulders and very thickly built, with little to no neck and long arms that reach to the knees. It has a cone shaped head that is higher in the back, with an ape-like face. The hands and feet resemble large versions of human hands and feet. Height estimates range from 6 to 11 feet with weight estimates ranging from 300 to 1200 pounds. Footprint measurements range from 13 to 22 inches long.
What Kind of Critter is Bigfoot?
There is a difference of opinion among bigfoot researchers on this question. Some have suggested that sasquatch is the so-called missing link in the alleged evolutionary chain between apes and humans. Some have given bigfoot full human status by suggesting that bigfoot are, in fact, relict Neanderthals. Archeologists tell us that Neanderthals were a separate species of human beings. Others have offered other-worldly explanations for this animal; suggesting that bigfoot is an E.T. or an inter-dimensional creature.
While we won't know for certain until a bigfoot is killed or captured, there are conclusions that can be drawn from descriptions of bigfoot behavior that has been included in sighting reports. And based upon that evidence, I believe that bigfoot is an ape. The behaviors attributed to bigfoot have all been documented by scientists observing the known great apes. Vocalizations like howls, screams, shrieks, and whoops? Check. Bluff charges (i.e., crashing through the woods loudly in an attempt to frighten off an intruder)? Check. Throwing rocks and other projectiles? Check. Disturbing the "nests" (i.e., campsites, camper trailers and vehicles) of intruders? Check. Foul, musky odor? Check. The twisting and breaking of saplings and tree branches? Check.
Based upon the behavior described in sighting reports, the majority view is that bigfoot is an ape. Whether you agree with that conclusion or not, the important takeaway from this discussion is that bigfoot is a real honest to goodness living breathing creature, not a legend, not a hoax or hallucination, and not a mis-identified bear. And if you have had a bigfoot encounter, please SUBMIT A REPORT, no matter how long ago the incident took place and even if you have submitted a report to another sasquatch research organization.
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