Last week, a woman in Idaho reported that she crashed her car into a deer because she was too busy looking in her side-view mirrors at a Sasquatch. As funny and unrealistic as that may sound, the story hit several big news outlets, including the Huffington Post and the New York Times.
Although many believe that there is no such thing as a Sasquatch or Bigfoot, I’m not afraid to say that I do believe.
Raised out in what we refer to as “the boondocks” of Pennsylvania, my father would scare my siblings and I with stories of a monstrous being, a six foot tall giant with hair all over its body. When we would camp out in the front yard, Dad would sneak outside in the middle of the night, make a bunch of horrific grunting and moaning sounds and walk around the tent swinging his arms wide and elongating his steps to look like the Bigfoot in the infamous Patterson-Gimlin video, effectively scaring us half to death.
I grew up with a father that didn’t shoot any myth down. He was the first to begin watching television shows that hunted down mythical beings, and would point us to any news story that had such a being mentioned in it. In our front yard, both year-round but especially at Christmas time, we have a collection of Bigfoot silhouettes that now count five strong.
You might be tempted to tell me that there is no “real” proof of a Bigfoot being, and I would have to agree with you; IF I didn’t believe that these beings were just as intelligent, if not more so, than us.
With sightings across the globe, Sasquatches have to be intelligent beings if they have been able to avoid human interaction for hundreds of years. In the Patterson-Gimlin film, the being has elongated arms and a stride far too long for that of a man, making it virtually impossible for us to be able to track down this massive beast.
With these sightings, it appears that most sightings happen in rural areas, making the chase even more cumbersome and unlikely, leaving us far behind the trained being that has roamed the earth for decades.
I must admit, however, that shows like “Mountain Monsters” and “Finding Bigfoot” fake most of its sounds and “sightings,” making it hard for a non-believer to understand that there might possibly be a beast out there with similarities to the ones described in the shows.
I will also admit that the lack of proof is a little daunting to try to explain my side of the story to others, as I cannot fully say that there is not a Bigfoot being out there. The same goes for stories of the Loch Ness Monster and the Chupacabra. There isn’t any proof that there’s not a being by these names, so why should I believe that they don’t exist?
So go ahead, laugh. From doing projects on Bigfoot in middle school to discussing the evidence at parties, I’m never going to believe that there isn’t a Bigfoot. Sure, I might have my dad to blame for getting laughed at when I stumble over the theories as others look at me with a bewildered face, but someday, there is going to be proof, and I’ll be the one saying “I told you so” to everyone who didn’t believe me.
With everyone and there dog having an iPhone or smartphone with HD quality video capability etc and not one clear picture or video ever. You might as well believe in the tooth fairy
The assertion, “There is no real evidence of Bigfoot’s existence.”, is put forward as fact, rampantly. Objectively speaking, the only fact that any individual can assert on this subject is “I am unaware of any ‘convincing’ evidence for Bigfoot’s existence, and many people on the internet and major media outlets agree with me.” I, personally, happen to have seen and heard and read the findings of many people who have applied multiple scientific processes of observation and analysis to pieces of evidence that have yielded credible results pointing to the existence of a strong breeding population of large bipedal primates in North America. This evidence has come in the form of prints, vocalizations, dental impressions, scat, habitation sites, tree structures, hair, DNA, and yes, eyewitnesses. There is a popular idea, that this evidence can be labelled as preposterous and casually rejected in toto without a type specimen body; this, in my opinion, is an irresponsibly lazy treatment of the evidence, but then, I recognize that it takes a certain level of dedication and work to engage this… quagmire… of “evidence” and actual evidence. I sadly but readily admit, the subject has become the domain of ridicule because of the actions of hoaxers and the mentally afflicted. In spite of my frustration, I’ve come to see the beauty in the equilibrium we’ve currently achieved: the government suppresses, the culture laughs, many wonder, a few seek. Its a system that eats ‘evidence’ alive and renders it innocuous through derision and misdirection. If someone does shoot one and puts it on a slab as ‘evidence’ AND the pictures and forensic analysis of said body actually go public, these creatures will NOT benefit from our attentions. For now, the systemic Kansas City shuffle we’re doing with Bigfoot is probably best for all parties involved.
“but someday, there is going to be proof, and I’ll be the one saying “I told you so” to everyone who didn’t believe me.”
Well, I’m a believer too Jenn, but this ‘proof’ seems a loooong time coming!
Loved the article and your father’s sense of humor about it is amazing. I think that is why you believe. I, too, believe that there are large bipedal primates known as ‘Bigfoot’. There are places throughout Ohio, even locally, where you can tell you are being watched by something.