'Bigfoot' comes to East Texas
Conference in downtown Tyler unites enthusiasts
By Casey Claiborne - Reporter
Saturday, October 30, 2010 - 10:29pm
TYLER - After Daryl Colyer and his wife left a southeast Texas baseball game one night in 2004, Colyer says they actually saw what many call "Bigfoot."
"I saw this figure, about 40 yards in front me jump across the trail. It was upright, the size of a man, covered with reddish brown hair from top to bottom - jumped across the trail, took a little skip-hop into the woods," Colyer said.
But Daryl Colyer isn't your average Bigfoot enthusiast.
He's a Bigfoot investigator and vice-chairman of a non-profit organization called the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy.
On Saturday, the 10th Annual Bigfoot Conference was held in Tyler.
Apparently East Texas is a hotspot for Bigfoot sightings.
"East Texas is the part of Texas where most of the reported sightings come from. In fact, I would say as many as 90% of the reported sightings that we deem to be possibly legitimate reports are from East Texas," Colyer said.
Jack Wheeler and his friends attended Saturday's conference - they all believe "Bigfoot" exists - they just aren't sure what one might really look like.
"I think there's definitely something out there, I don't know if it's like a big huge hairy thing that attacks people, but there's probably something out there," Wheeler said.
"Out there" according to Daryl Colyer is 65 million acres of timberland in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. That's roughly the size of the state of Oregon. Plenty of places for the nocturnal primates to hide, Colyer says.
"It's a big world, and you know we're pretty much stuck in the cities and the interstate highways. There's a lot of timber out there," Colyer said.
And to Colyer, skepticism about Bigfoot is not only expected, it's a good thing.
"Have that skepticism, but have an open mind. Question it, look into it for yourself," Colyer said.
*** UPDATE ***
KLTV also covered the event. We added their coverage below.
Does Bigfoot live in East Texas?
Posted: Oct 30, 2010 3:46 PM PDT
Updated: Oct 30, 2010 10:09 PM PDT
By Layron Livingston - bio | email
TYLER, TEXAS (KLTV) - Tyler's Caldwell Auditorium played host to the 10th Annual Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy Conference, Saturday.
Bigfoot aficionados came from across the country to sort through latest findings and to separate what was fact and fiction surrounding the legend. A 44 inch lock of hair was also on display, reportedly found hanging in a tree in the Sabine National Forest.
"We certainly think that it lives [in East Texas]," said Alton Higgins, a wildlife biologist. Higgins is also board chairman of the TBRC. He said there have been a number of very credible sightings in the East Texas area, and the habitat is sufficient.
Daryl Colyer detailed his encounter with Sasquatch before an audience of conference goers. Colyer is now an investigator with the TBRC. "It's good to be skeptical about something like this," he said. "We expect people to have difficulty with this, after all, what we're talking about is extremely unusual."
Proceeds from the conference go to help the non-profit continue investigating future sightings.
Copyright 2010 KLTV. All rights reserved.
EXTERNAL LINKS
SRC: KETK's Website
SRC: KLTV's Website
Texas Bigfoot Researche Conservancy
