Montgomery Herald: Searching for Bigfoot

A lot of rehash of what we have already read regarding the Animal Planet North Carolina Expedition.

There are a few choice quotes, the article introduces the four primary researchers of the TV show as actors.

At the Tuesday night meeting four actors were introduced. These guys are affiliated with the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. Matthew Moneymaker is the head of the group. Others included an educator, a logger and a scientist who was also the skeptic of the group and often asked specific questions related to the experience. After each story this group of four quizzed the individuals about their experience, drawing out more details.

Then finishes up with some, hopefully fruitful, evidence found.

The searchers, found a deer carcass, animal hair on a fence and a Bigfoot print in the ground.

The article is worth the read as it does give more depth to the whole event

Searching for Bigfoot
By Tammy Dunn
Montgomery County folks have been shaking their heads in disbelief the past week as believers and curiosity seekers have come together to hear about and hunt for Bigfoot. Television crews from Animal Planet were here to film a segment for the new series, “Looking for Bigfoot.” Previously the crews had been filming in Alaska and were headed to Georgia and Florida next for filming of the six part series.

About 200 people filled Troy Fire Department last Tuesday night as film crews came to tape individuals who had had a Bigfoot encounter. Approximately 6-7 people told their individual stories including Daniel Dunn. Dunn told of his winter morning encounter saying he had gone prospecting for gold off Tower Road and carried his gun in case he saw any deer. Dunn eventually shot a spike, but did not immediately go after the deer, since he still planned to look for gold. When he returned to where the deer was, it was gone. Dunn said he had watched the deer for an hour and it had not moved so he was sure it was dead. Dunn begin to search and found a trail where it was obvious something had been druagged. Following the trail Dunn soon saw something standing over the deer. Moving in for a better look, Dunn said he was shocked to see the creature hovering over the deer, stand up. Describing the creature as extremely tall, with huge footprints, Dunn said the creature appeared to be covering the deer with leaves before he dropped to all fours and ran off.

West Montgomery High School football coach John Pate, a Bigfoot Field Researcher, opened the meeting telling how hesitant he was to let people know what he did as a hobby for fear they would think he was crazy. Pate explained he had been doing this for many years and “the more I do it the more I love it.”

Mike Greene of Salisbury got the group going while waiting on the Animal Planet people, who were very late. Greene told of capturing his thermal imagery of Bigfoot in the Uwharries two years ago. Greene said he had left a Zagnut candy bar on a stump and during the night Bigfoot came and took the candy bar, allowing the camera to catch the image. A recreation of the image is posted on his Website Bushloper.net. Greene also shared some observations about Bigfoot including that they are usually sighted crossing the road and that the juveniles are more active, not as cautious as the adults. Greene also said the creatures were very smart and knew where to draw the line when interacting with people. Greene assured the people they would not be made fun of and their stories would be treated with respect.

At the Tuesday night meeting four actors were introduced. These guys are affiliated with the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. Matthew Moneymaker is the head of the group. Others included an educator, a logger and a scientist who was also the skeptic of the group and often asked specific questions related to the experience. After each story this group of four quizzed the individuals about their experience, drawing out more details.

A lady named Amanda shared her tale of four wheeling in the Uwharries one night with some other people when they stopped at the top on the mountain. Thinking they had jumped a deer, they sat and waited, listening to the noises. Amanda described seeing a creature that was furry and walking on all fours. Saying that it scared her she said she turned into her husband’s back and screamed for him to get out of there. Amanda said she looked back one more time as they were fleeing and saw the creature again. Amanda said it was not a bear and that she was terrified. The incident happened almost 12 years ago and there was a full moon that night. Amanda said they did make a report to the ranger, but all he did was ask them how much they had been drinking that night.

Others told of having rocks thrown at them while hiking and even at their campsites. A man from Gibsonville brought photos of paw prints he had photographed near his house. The investigators said it was probably Bigfoot judging by the size of the print and the spacing between prints meant he was probably running.

Others had tales of unexplained happenings. Cliff Atkins told of when he was a young boy living off Beaman Road, walking home one night around 11 p.m. Atkins said there were no other houses around then and he had walked that way many times before. That particular night though he heard something behind him, and when he stopped, whatever was behind him stopped. Atkins said this happened several times while he was on his way home and though he was not too scared (he was carrying a gun) he has carried that strange feeling with him all his life.

On Saturday approximately 200 people gathered at the Eldorado Outpost for a search in the Uwharrie National Forest. Walking through an open field a long line of searchers spread out as if they were doing a drive. A helicopter flew overhead, filming the scene. Camera crews on the ground filmed the searchers and whistles and bullhorns alerted the searchers when to stop. The searchers, found a deer carcass, animal hair on a fence and a Bigfoot print in the ground.

Back at the Outpost people gathered to laugh about the hoopla surrounding the Bigfoot and enterprising young entrepreneurs sold shirts and Girl Scout cookies, taking advantage of the large crowds.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Montgomery Herald Article

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Official "Letters from the Big Man" Trailer

Christopher Munch has released an official trailer for his Sasquatch movie, "Letters from the Big Man." It does the film true justice.

In the trailer you can really get a sense of what movie critic, James Greenberg of the Hollywood reporter means when he says:

"Sarah is unpredictable, prickly and given to frenetic exercising as if she were trying to exorcise her own demons. So when she chooses to deepen her communication with these magical creatures, it's not surprising since she is magical herself.

The exquisite natural light captured by cinematographer Rob Sweeney and a sweeping score by the chamber group Ensemble Galilei helps make the magic seem plausible. But it's Rabe who you really can't take your eyes off of."

Read the rest of the review below:

This is clearly not a creature feature made for everyone, but for a fortunate few, it will feel like a cleansing in nature.

PARK CITY -- The myth of the Sasquatch has intrigued filmmakers for years, but the creature has always been depicted as a kind of a wooly monster. Not surprisingly, iconoclastic director Christopher Munch has taken a different tack in Letters From the Big Man. His Sasquatch is a more evolved creature with mystical communication skills. Such an interpretation might seem airy-fairy were it not rendered with such earnestness and filmmaking skill. This is clearly not a film made for everyone, but for a fortunate few, it will feel like a cleansing in nature.

As his leading lady, Munch had the inspiration to cast the sprite-like Lily Rabe. As Sarah Smith, a Forest Service worker on the rebound from a broken relationship, she is in almost every scene and commands the film with her presence. Retreating to the wilderness of Southern Oregon to lick her wounds and survey post-fire damage, Sarah starts to have the feeling she's being followed. Although she doesn't see it at first, Munch isn't going for suspense here and promptly reveals a dignified hairy creature with soulful eyes (played by Isaac C. Singleton).

The big man, who seems to reside between a human and super-human realm, starts to infiltrate Sarah's dreams. She draws what she sees in her mind's eye and leaves scraps of food for her new friend. She hears the Sasquatch's voice as a call to nature. Gradually, she has several close encounters before he reveals himself. The matter-of-fact way Munch tells the story, without gimmicks or special effects, makes it all seem quite innocent.

However, this sweet dance between woman and big man is set against the backdrop of a Forest Service controversy that sometimes threatens to take over the simplicity of the film with a too-complicated plot. Out hiking in a remote area one day, she meets Sean (Jason Butler Harner), a wilderness advocate, with whom she has a budding romance. He has long been battling the Forest Service over the best way to deal with fire damage, and when he gets wind of the Sasquatch, he believes the government will hunt the creature down and turn him into a science experiment. It seems like an idea borrowed from E.T. and is ultimately beside the point. The focus is really about Sarah and the big man.

Sarah is unpredictable, prickly and given to frenetic exercising as if she were trying to exorcise her own demons. So when she chooses to deepen her communication with these magical creatures, it's not surprising since she is magical herself.

The exquisite natural light captured by cinematographer Rob Sweeney and a sweeping score by the chamber group Ensemble Galilei helps make the magic seem plausible. But it's Rabe who you really can't take your eyes off of.

Venue: Sundance Film Festival, Spotlight
Production company: Antarctic Pictures
Cast: Lily Rabe, Jason Butler Harner, Isaac C. Singleton, Jr., Jim Cody Williams, Fiona Dourif, Don McManus, Karen Black
Director-screenwriter-producer: Christopher Munch
Executive producer: Linda Brown
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Production designer: Ricardo Herrera
Music: Ensemble Galilei, Steven Gates
Costume designer: Kristen Anacker
Editor: Curtiss Clayton
No rating, 104 minutes

EXTERNAL LINKS
Letters From the Big Man Youtube Video
Hollywood Reporter

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Hundreds in North Carolina (still) hunt for Bigfoot

Yes the headline says hundreds. The message we are getting from our fans is they (the participants in the NC Expedition) are going to do a better job scaring Bigfoot away then actually getting any traction on discovering the big guy/gal.

For those of you that feel this way, the article below, written by David Freeze for the Salisbury Post, may confirm your fears.

By David Freeze

For the Salisbury Post

Michael Greene of Salisbury has attracted a lot of attention in his hunt for Bigfoot.

More than 300 people joined Greene and about 10 staff members of the Animal Planet cable-TV channel at the Eldorado Outpost on N.C. 109 near Troy and began a search for signs of the mysterious, perhaps mythical, creature on Saturday.

Green was glad to see the crowd.

“Five years ago, I joined the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO). I was just tired of doing this myself, a little discouraged, and had no one to talk to and share my hobby,” Greene said.

Greene’s interest in Bigfoot began when was working toward a master’s in behavioral psychology. He wrote a thesis on group hysteria, and one of the subjects he studied was Bigfoot.

He came to believe that Bigfoot was possibly a real entity, so the reading and investigation began.

Greene, a lifelong public servant who worked in several government agencies, convinced the Animal Planet crew to stop in the Troy area on their way to filming a series on Bigfoot sightings. The film crew will continue on to Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Washington state.

A six-show series is planned to air on Animal Planet this fall.

Greene, now 69 and retired, moved with his wife to Salisbury two years ago. They wanted to be near family and to investigate Bigfoot sightings in the area. North Carolina is a hotbed for sightings, according to BFRO investigators who attended Saturday.

John Pate, Tommy Poland and Olaf Seamen all told of the excitement of the hunt. Seamen drove six hours to join the search in the Uwharries, and he usually spends 10 weekends a year on the hunt.

“The more you look at something, the more the book opens up,” Pate said.

While some see the hunt as pure entertainment, the BFRO researchers say the subject is no longer the stuff of fantasy. BFRO now boasts scientists and university researchers.

David Pardue says he has pictures of his own sighting of a family of four Bigfoots. He claims to also possess evidence of territory marking by the creature. Pardue says that Bigfoot often twists a small tree, first one way and then another, laying it down to signify its territory. He says that Bigfoot can change his eyes to red, and makes an audible sound known to the investigators.

Since Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, is nocturnal, most of the serious hunting is done at night.

“I have had very little sleep for a week. The Animal Planet crew stayed out all week till nearly 5 a.m.,” Greene said.

Greene usually doesn’t allow anyone to accompany him on the hunt, and he said that after recuperating for a week or so he’ll return to solitary searches.

On Saturday, Bigfoot enthusiasts began to arrive about midday. Most came by car or truck, but there were horses and four-wheelers, too. Even a helicopter, arranged by the Animal Planet crew, flew over the activities.

Matt Moneymaker, head of the BFRO, organized a grid search that started in a large hay field and moved into the woods. Television cameras and microphones surrounded the searchers as they looked for elusive clues.

Moneymaker instructed searchers to spread out and stay at arm’s length from each other as they formed a long line headed into the woods. He used a bullhorn to instruct everyone to look for hair on trees or barbed wire, nests of stick structures, trails cleared of twigs and limbs, and “tall boy trails.” Tall boy trails have been cleared of tree limbs and branches up to 8 feet high.

Hair samples were found, and the Animal Planet crew saved them for analysis.

Greene said the crowd was about what he expected on Saturday. He only had time for a short interview while guiding the TV crew and searchers.

“Let’s hope somebody gets lucky today,” Greene said just before the search for evidence of Bigfoot began.

While the show is in production, Greene and his fellow Bigfoot believers will stay on the hunt.

Popular baits to attract giant bi-peds are apples, peanut butter and candy bars.

The most popular of the candy bars is the hard to find Zagnut. The Eldorado Outpost of course had them displayed at the register and the cashier said, “We keep Bigfoot bait year round.”

More on Michael Greene and his quest can be found at www.bushloper.net.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Salisbury Post:Hundreds hunt for Bigfoot

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Our North Carolina coverage page