Looks like Animal Planet and the rest of the folks at the Discovery Networks are serious about their new series Finding Bigfoot.
If you have been following our Finding Bigfoot Posts, you know the series is about The four-person team goes to locations of alleged Sasquatch sightings to investigate with reconstructions and the latest technology to determine whether they were real or not. The team is made up of a former roadie, the BFRO president, a skeptical scientist, and a science teacher.
The Team (left to right): James "Bobo" Fay (the Roadie), Matt Moneymaker (BFRO President), Ranae Holland (skeptical scientist), Cliff Barackman (a Science Teacher).
It's important to us at Bigfoot Lunch Club to air all voices regarding Bigfoot, even if we disagree with them. We love intelligent Bigfoot skeptics, we really do. The really smart ones showcase what we, as Bigfooters, have to overcome. If they are really good, they do half of our work for us by defining challenges we may have overlooked. The good ones are worth listening to; enter Dr. Eugenie Scott.
Dr. Eugenie Scott is a physical anthropologist who defends the teaching of evolution in public schools through the National Center of Science Education (NCSF). The NCSF's mission is described in more detail below:
We educate the press and public about the scientific, educational, and legal aspects of the creation and evolution controversy, and supply needed information and advice to defend good science education at local, state, and national levels.
Dr. Scott is also President of the Bay Area Skeptics. Founded in 1982, the Bay Area Skeptics encourages critical thinking and accuracy in the media and in our schools. They encourage rational thought and critical thinking through the use of scientific methods. They are particularly interested in such topics as claims of the paranormal, pseudoscience, and untested or poorly tested medical and psychotherapeutic practices.
In the video below Dr. Eugenie Scott represents the Bay Area Skeptics. She quickly identifies two camps of Bigfooters. In the first camp, as she describes them, are the paranormal, mystical Bigfooters that believe Bigfoot can shape shift, she quickly marginalizes them and says that is an argument for theologists. In the second camp are, as she defines them, cryptozoologist. She is critical of their lack of scientific process and ability to test their explanations. On this point we agree, we wish there was better evidence to test our explanations, its not for lack of trying. Dr. Scott does say Scientist like Dr. Jeff Meldrum are heading in the right direction.
The entire hour and half video is well worth watching, it gives us some insights into what our challenges our in seeking Bigfoot. The Table of Contents is below and you will have to click on the "Watch Full Program" in the embedded video to see the whole presentation.
Video Table of Contents: 01. Introduction: 00 min 56 sec 02. Bay Area Skeptics: 02 min 33 sec 03. Two Types of Wildmen of the Woods: 06 min 15 sec 04. Scientific Investigation of Bigfoot: 04 min 06 sec 05. Cryptozoology: 03 min 43 sec 06. Likelihood of Undiscovered Bigfoot Species: 04 min 18 sec 07. Where Bigfoot Lives: 03 min 04 sec 08. Remnants of Giant Asian Ape?: 04 min 36 sec 09. Bigfoot Prints: 08 min 49 sec 10. Existence of Orangutan: 05 min 02 sec 11. Habitat Encroachment: 00 min 35 sec 12. History of Bigfoot Sightings: 02 min 13 sec 13. Strength of Belief in Bigfoot: 00 min 36 sec 14. Bigfoot Books: 02 min 48 sec 15. Explanations for Sightings: 03 min 54 sec 16. Unreliability of Eyewitness Reports: 04 min 38 sec 17. Yeti Movie: 02 min 27 sec 18. Bluff Creek Sighting Video: 08 min 46 sec 19. Snow Walker Yeti: 06 min 32 sec 20. Camera Traps Fail to Spot Bigfoot: 03 min 34 sec 21. Analysis of Hair Samples: 05 min 21 sec
Don't forget to see the entire program click on ""Watch Full Program" in the bottom right of the embedded video.
We just have a small excerpt below from the full article at Australia's Daily Examiner. According to Yowie Researcher Paul Cropper, "In our book we recorded around 350 reports going back to the late 1700s, early 1800s, but I imagine there's a lot more than that which don't ever reach the media..."
After the excerpt you can check out Yowie and many other Bigfoot Variants at the official AKA Bigfoot World Map.
THE DAILY EXAMINER | MAY 19 MOTORIST CATCHES SIGHT OF YOWIE
...“I reached the top of the hill and I was coming around the sweeping corner to the right when I noticed something a lot larger than a kangaroo in the middle of the road – my headlights weren't on it yet but it was a bright night and I saw what looked like a large person stooped over, with a big overcoat on,” Dean said.
“At the time I thought ‘you silly old thing, what are you doing in the middle of the road at this time of the morning', but next thing I knew my headlights started to light it up and it took one giant step off the road, it went from standing up like a person to going down on all fours and then it disappeared into the scrub in about three bounds.”
Dean, who is used to night-driving and fatigue management, slowed down and was looking into the scrub for the creature and said he saw it silhouetted against the sky.
“It had an almost sort of a square, shaggy block head sitting straight on its shoulders – I'm a pretty big guy but it made me absolutely awe-struck how huge its body was – it had its arm up against a tree and it had about a foot of hair hanging from under its biceps.”
He estimated the creature to be at least two metres tall and covered in what looked like jet-black hair...
