Jason Wishert Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti & Skunk Ape By Jason Wishert
Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti & Skunk Ape by Jason Wishert
Going back centuries among native peoples around the world , tales of encounters with large hairy bi-pedal hominids in wilderness environments have captivated people of all socioeconomic classes transculturally. There are different names for such creatures throughout the world. A few of the many names include the American “Bigfoot and Sasquatch” in Florida the “Skunk Ape”while the Australians call the creature “Yowie”. In Tibet the elusive creature has been known as “The Abominable Snowman” wandering high up snow covered slopes of the Himalayan mountain range. The mere sightings of the colossally gigantic footprints send Sherpas running away shaking with fear, turning around heading back to the safety and sanctuary of their walled monasteries.
Many eyewitness accounts cite encountering a wretchedly-putrefying stench so vile, some claim it could knock a dog off a gut wagon at 20 yards that is associated with the creature. In addition to the bad smell, witnesses hear primal yelling type screams, some having even been recorded on several occasions by amateur researchers. Both the smell and spine-chillingly howl is a telltale sign recounted by people who experienced close encounters with the alleged creature.
Today there exists a definitive void of tangible physical proof of such creatures such as a live or dead body, full or partial skeletons despite hundreds of sightings across the world going back centuries. Applying simple logic and common sense, if this creature does or did indeed exist, someone at some point would have come forth with irrefutable proof of this creatures existence
Paleontologists of the scientific community acknowledge the creatures once existed known as Gigantopithecus blacki that lived in the Pleistocene Epoch roughly 2.7 million years ago to about 11,700 years ago from teeth and 4 jaws of this creature found in caves in Southern China ancient forest regions. Due to progressively cooler temperatures the creatures forested habitat that it depended on for food dwindled then died out causing the creatures to become extinct
However it has been speculated the creatures migrated to North America via the bering straight land bridge before its Asian habitat became unsustainable for food. The problem with this theory is the absolute void of a single piece of bone or teeth fragment found in North America that would give credence to such a theory. Due to the remoteness and vast wilderness areas without roads in Alaskan, Yukon, Northwest Territories and British Columbia, it would be reasonable to conclude such tangible evidence of these creatures may be near statically impossible to come across.
The gold standard of physical evidence of Bigfoot’s existence comes from a short film from the Bluff creek area of Northern California in October of 1967 by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. The late Roger Patterson went to this remote region on horseback with the specific intention of filming a Bigfoot creature. He was using a rented 16mm camera with the highest quality Kodak film obtainable at the time and captured a female Bigfoot creature walking along the banks of Bluff creek. Patterson was thrown off his horse but managed to grab his camera and ran towards the creature as he was filming, causing the footage to be bouncy and unsteady. The creature briefly looked back towards Patterson before making its way out of the area into the forest. Bob Gimlin had his rifle at the ready in case the creature charged Patterson or another creature appeared from the brush and threatened Patterson in any way.
Patterson and Gimlin then took plaster casts of the footprints showing dermal ridges characteristic of finger and footprints proving difficult to fake. The footage to this day remains unknown not conclusively disproved or proved by scientists around the world. If this was a hoax, it was pulled off very well to the point Disney animation stated it could not duplicate the footage using 1967 technology and industry costume, make up and special effects. If it was a costume, it would have been cutting edge and had never appeared since, not even when Patterson was dying of cancer and needed money for treatment in 1971 and 1972, not even for a $50,000 Super Bowl half time appearance.
For the Bigfoot creature to exist it would need a population large enough to keep procreating Bigfoot babies. Many supporters of the existence of Bigfoot bring up how big the forest wilderness is making it plausible a population of unknown large primates living in deep remote canyons, nocturnal and skittish of humans can exist without detection. Bigfoot will remain folklore and mythological in the minds of the masses until a live or recently deceased specimen can be shown to the skeptical scientific community and the millions of nay-sayers to study, document and analyze. Even with this, many will remain unconvinced due to the numerous Bigfoot hoaxes of the last 70 years and the proliferation of artificial intelligence and 3D printers. Does Bigfoot exist? We may never know and have to possibly maintain a perpetual holding pattern of doubt and uncertainty indefinitely.