Dr. Jeff Meldrum: Sasquatch Most Closely Resembles a Form of Ape

Renowned bigfoot researcher Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University spoke to Wofford students studying urban legends during the January Interim. Here, Wofford senior Dominque Cox gets a book signed. (GERRY PATE/gerry.pate@shj.com)

In our previous post, "Dr. Jeff Meldrum Speaks at Wofford College," we alerted our fans to Meldrum's speaking engagement to Wofford students studying "urban legends" during the January Interim.

The Spartanburg Herald-Journal is a daily newspaper, and the primary newspaper for Spartanburg, South Carolina.The Journal covers what happened at the event in the article below.

Bigfoot researcher talks at Wofford about urban legends

By LEE HEALY

lee.healy@shj.com

Published: Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 3:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 11:36 p.m.

When a class of curious Wofford College students began debating the fact, fiction and in-between of popular urban legends, they recently turned to a widely known expert to find out more about one of the world's age-old phenomenon — Bigfoot.

Jeff Meldrum, a professor of anthropology at Idaho State University, spoke Friday to students in accounting and finance professors Ryan and Jenny Johnson's Interim course, Urban Legends: (Mostly) True Stories Verified by a Friend of a Friend.

Interim opportunities are available to all Wofford students during the month of January each year. The classes aren't usually the traditional academic courses students are used to, but a time for exploration and experiential learning.

So for another week, the 32 students in the Johnsons' Urban Legends course are exploring the truth — or lack thereof — behind popular stories, such as whether trick-or-treaters should inspect Halloween candy for dangers or if catfish the size of Volkswagen Beetles swim near the base of a Colorado River dam.

“It's an interesting topic. The focus of our class is not always if it's truth or fiction, but that people choose to tell the story,” Ryan Johnson explained.

“We're not trying to debunk anything,” Jenny Johnson said.

On Friday, Meldrum signed books next to plaster casts of could-be Sasquatch footprints — examples of the evidence he's personally discovered during years of research on the elusive “wild man.” A known expert on primate locomotion, Meldrum has appeared in a number of documentaries for the Discovery Channel and has written several books on the topic.

“Oftentimes, behind the stories there's a kernel of truth,” Meldrum said. “Do the roots of the stories about wild men point back to a real creature or creatures? Could any persist into the present?”

Meldrum said he enjoys speaking to college-age students because they're usually open to novel ideas and weigh points on their own merits.

Meldrum told students that he personally operates under the hypothesis that the creature known as Sasquatch most closely resembles a form of ape. He said that tales of similar creatures have been passed through the generations in many of the world's cultures.

Taking a scientific approach to the subject, Meldrum discussed the evolution of ape-like mammals that could have, over time, traveled to and settled in various places around the world.

“The prospect that some of them might have existed into the present isn't so far-fetched,” he said, pointing to casts of footprints he first personally encountered in 1996 near Walla Walla, Wash. The tracks closely resemble a human's but are significantly larger and show a pressure ride in the center rather than an arch. The flex at the mid-foot, Meldrum explained, is more similar to a chimp's.

Meldrum told students that one of the themes of the Urban Legends course — and stories like that of Bigfoot — is that there is no history without myth and said he's gained an appreciation for folklore and tradition through his scientific study.

Wofford senior Dominique Cox said Meldrum's presentation made her think. She called the Urban Legends Interim the favorite of her college career.

“The stories are so outrageous sometimes, but there's always a grain of truth to it, so it could be true,” Cox said.

SRC:  Spartanburg Herald-Journal