Bigfoot is sometimes described as a large, hairy bipedal hominoid, and many believe that this animal, or its close relatives, may be found around the world under different regional names, such as the Yeti of Tibet and Nepal.
Bigfoot is one of the more famous examples of cryptozoology, a subject that tends to be dismissed as pseudoscience by mainstream researchers, because of unreliable eyewitness accounts and a lack of solid physical evidence. Most theorists consider the Bigfoot legend to be a combination of unsubstantiated folklore and hoaxes.
(cited from Wikipedia)
Description
According to most eyewitness accounts, Bigfoot is a large, powerfully built bipedal apelike creature between 7 and 9 feet tall, and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair. The head seems to sit directly on the shoulders, with no apparent neck. Witnesses have described large eyes, a pronounced brow ridge, and a large, low-set forehead; the top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, similar to the sagittal crest of the male gorilla.
(cited from Wikipedia)
Theory
There have been numerous names given the bigfoot over the years. “Bad Idians", “Mountain Devils”, "Omaha Bushman”, "Sasquatch", "Yeren" and "Yeti" just to name a few.
A more scientific name shared by some scientists is the Gigantopithecus Blacki, an extinct primate that lived in Asia some 3000,000 years ago and could have found its way to other parts of the world via the land bridge before Asia broke off the mainland.
Dr. Grover Krantz a well known and respected Cyptozoologist, feels the Sasquatch is indeed Gigantopithecus. He has studied all aspects of the creature for many years. He is convinced of its existence and is one of the scientists who has studied the Patterson film footage and is certain it is genuine. In his book, Bigfoot Prints, Krantz shows a jawbone of what he believes a whole skull would have looked like and using it, was able to construct a skull of what he believes a whole skull would look like. There have only been a handful or teeth and jawbones of Gigantopithecus found throughout the world. The first tooth was found by in 1932 by a Dutch paleoanthropologist, G.H.R. Von Koeingswa1d in a Hong Kong apothecary shop. Since that time only a few jawbones and thousands of teeth have been found.
Is it possible this species that walked Asia some 300,000 years ago, did not die out, but survived well into the 20th century? Perhaps. A species of fish, the coelacanth, thought to be extinct for 70,000,000 years turned up in South Africa in 1938. Another fish, completely unknown to the world, was discovered in 1976. It was called the megamouth shark. Other animals thought to be myth have turned up in this century. The okapi, mountain gorilla, and the giant panda. If Bigfoot is indeed Gigantopithecus Blacki, he may one day be rediscovered and the mystery will finally be solved.- adamwolf@theshadowlands.net
Bigfoot Sightings
* 1811: On January 7, 1811, David Thompson, a surveyor and trader for the North West Company, spotted large, well-defined footprints in the snow near Athabasca River, Jasper, Alberta, while attempting to cross the Rocky Mountains. The tracks measured 14 inches in length and 8 inches in width.
* 1840: Protestant missionary Reverend Elkanah Walker recorded myths of hairy giants that were persistent among Native Americans living in Spokane, Washington. The Indians reported that these giants steal salmon and have a strong smell.
Elkanah Walker Diary Entry
* 1870: An account by a California hunter who claimed seeing a sasquatch scattering his campfire remains was printed in the Titusville, Pennsylvania Morning Herald on November 10, 1870. The incident reportedly occurred a year before, in the mountains near Grayson, CA.
Titusville Morning Herald Article
* 1893: An account by Theodore Roosevelt was published in The Wilderness Hunter. Roosevelt related a story which was told to him by "a beaten old mountain hunter, named Bauman" living in Idaho. Some have suggested similarities to Bigfoot reports. Roosevelt's testimony.
* 1924: Albert Ostman claimed to have been kidnapped and held captive for several days by a family of sasquatch. The incident occurred during the summer in Toba Inlet, British Columbia. Albert Ostman's Story
* 1924: Fred Beck and four other miners claimed to have been attacked by several sasquatches in Ape Canyon in July, 1924. The creatures reportedly hurled large rocks at the miners’ cabin for several hours during the night. This case was publicized in newspaper reports printed in 1924. Fred Beck Article
* 1941: Jeannie Chapman and her children claimed to have escaped their home when a large sasquatch, allegedly 7˝ feet tall, approached their residence in Ruby Creek, British Columbia. Ruby Creek Incidence
* 1940s onward: People living in Fouke, Arkansas have reported that a Bigfoot-like creature, dubbed the “Fouke Monster”, inhabits the region. A high number of reports have occurred in the Boggy Creek area and are the basis for the 1973 film The Legend of Boggy Creek.
* 1955: William Roe claimed to have seen a close-up view of a female sasquatch from concealment near Mica Mountain, British Columbia.
William Roe's Sworn Affidavit
* 1958: Two construction workers, Leslie Breazale and Ray Kerr, reported seeing a sasquatch about 45 miles northeast of Eureka, California. Sixteen-inch tracks had previously been spotted in the Northern California woods.
San Francisco Chronicle Article
* 1967: On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin captured a purported sasquatch on film in Bluff Creek, California in what would come to be known as the Patterson-Gimlin film.
* 1995: On August 28, 1995, a TV film crew from Waterland Productions pulled off the road into Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and filmed what they claimed to be a sasquatch in their RV's Headlights.
The Redwoods Video and Article
* 2006: On December 14, 2006, Shaylane Beatty, a woman from the Dechambault Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada, was driving to Prince Albert when, she claimed, saw the creature near the side of the highway at Torch River. Several men from the village drove down to the area and found footprints, which they tracked through the snow. They found a tuft of brown hair and took photographs of the tracks.
Leader-Post Article
* 2007: On February 10, 2007 a mysterious and unidentifiable ape like foot was found in a land fill in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Images of Foot
(cited from Wikipedia)
Bigfoot Movies
(all movie descriptions cited from Netflix.com)
The Legend of Boggy Creek
(1975)This is a true story in which the southwest corner of Arkansas is the scene of animal killings, frightening human experience, strange sightings and noises. As the interviews with area residents progress horror and suspense mount. Could this be real or a conspiracy of a backwoods community hungering for recognition? A documentary-style thriller about a hairy creature that inhabits a swamp in Fouke, Arkansas.
Creature from Black Lake
(1976)Sasquatch lives -- down on the bayou -- as a pair of anthropology students discovers in this campy romp with a twist. To get the scoop on recent Bigfoot incidents, Pahoo (Dennis Fimple) and Rives (John David Carson) journey from Chicago to Louisiana to interview hard-drinking backwoodsman Joe Canton (Jack Elam). But the two collegians get more than they bargained for when they encounter the hairy beast in the flesh (so to speak).
Boggy Creek 2: And the Legend Continues
(1985)Deep in the swamps of Texarkana, the mysterious creature of Boggy Creek resumes its brutal attacks on townsfolk who dare trespass into its territory in this sequel to The Legend of Boggy Creek. Anthropologist Brian Lockhart (Charles B. Pierce) and his team of young researchers head into the Arkansas bog to investigate the reports, unaware that they'll come face to face with not one but two primeval horrors. Cindy Butler and Chuck Pierce co-star.
Harry and the Hendersons
(1987)Returning home from vacation, the Hendersons -- George (John Lithgow), Nancy (Melinda Dillon), daughter Sarah (Margaret Langrick) and son Ernie (Joshua Rudoy) -- accidentally run over a strange Bigfoot-type animal (Kevin Peter Hall). They decide to take the friendly "Harry" home and adopt him as a pet. But soon, they're scrambling to hide their new friend from authorities and Bigfoot hunters. This charming family film won a Best Makeup Oscar.
Bigfoot: The Unforgettable Encounter
(1994)A nature photographer (Matt McCoy) is convinced he glimpsed Bigfoot in the woods, sparking mass hysteria and launching a competition between two opposing forces to find the fabled being. In one corner is a rich and misguided entrepreneur who's put a bounty on Bigfoot's head; in the other is a team of anthropologists who think research is a noble reason to hunt down Bigfoot. Only a little boy who befriends the creature has pure intentions.
Little Bigfoot
(1997)When Payton Shoemaker and his sister Maggie happen upon a pint-size version of Sasquatch -- Little Bigfoot -- a summer vacation in the woods becomes an adventure of mythical proportions. They befriend the tiny creature and name him Bilbo, only to realize (too late?) that the Largo Logging Co. is out to hunt him down. Ross Malinger, P.J. Soles and Kenneth Tigar co-star in this family-friendly yarn directed by Art Camacho.
Ancient Mysteries: Bigfoot
(2005)Leonard Nimoy narrates this entertaining and comprehensive search for the truth regarding the mythological creature known as Bigfoot. The program journeys into the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest to separate fact from fiction, uncover the fraudulent stories and tall tales and examine reports going back thousands of years about the enormous apelike creature known to American Indians as Sasquatch.
Bigfoot Terror
(2006)Four Sasquatch-centric epics are featured in this horror collection. A group of college kids find trouble when they search for the yeti in Shriek of the Multilated; Animal hunter Ivan Marx sets his sights on Bigfoot in the documentary Legend of Bigfoot; dog sledders capture the beast in an ill-advised ploy to publicize their ski resort in The Capture of Bigfoot; and a college professor hunts a girl-abducting monster in Search for the Beast.