Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 14, 2001 | Bigfoot Compels More Scientists

How we picture Sasquatch being welcomed by academia

Today in 2001, Theo Stein of the Denver Post wrote an article originally titled, "Not All Scientists Doubt Bigfoot Now." it was later retitled when it was archived as, "Legend of Bigfoot put to test,
Mounting evidence gives many reason to believe."

The headline may have changed due to the push back from Science Frontiers magazine. We will get to that a little bit later.

Overall the Denver Post article listed a few Colorado Bigfoot hotspots, but it mostly centered around the premise that respected scientist were gaining interest in studying the Bigfoot phenomena:

An eclectic assortment of scientists and academics is testing the proposition that Bigfoot isn't a myth but an ice age survivor that has managed to persist just outside the vision of Western science. Drawing on each other's disciplines, these researchers are sharing information and applying sophisticated forensic techniques as never before.

As the article continues, it focuses on an Idaho State University professor named Jeff Meldrum.

One of the few academic Bigfoot researchers is physical anthropologist Jeff Meldrum, an Idaho State University professor who has examined hundreds of claimed footprints from Bigfoot, also called Sasquatch in the Northwest. Many he has rejected as hoaxes, others as misidentifications. But more than 100, he said, represent the trace of an unknown animal with a big, flat foot and five toes.

Meldrum's lab in Pocatello is crammed with typical academic paraphernalia. Posters of evolutionary trees festoon the walls, rubber models of ape feet and hands sit in a cabinet. Bulging bookshelves, charts and cabinets sit full of papers relating to his main area of study of how our stiff, stub-toed running foot evolved from the flexible, grasping ape foot of our distant ancestors.

Rather than simply an enlarged human foot, Meldrum said, the Sasquatch foot displays a unique combination of recognizably different anatomic features to solve the problem of two-footed locomotion. The result is a proportionally wider, flatter appendage with long, flexible toes and a spring-loaded, ape-like hinge in place of our stiff arch.

"This animal's little toe is about the same length as my little finger," he said, holding his hand up against the side of one of his casts. "This toe probably has the same grasping ability as my finger, too."

The entire article reads differently depending on the headline, once the headline was softened it seems to be a balance of scientific Bigfoot advocates with a sprinkle of skepticism. Michael Shermer, publisher of the magazine Skeptic is quoted as saying, "If you believe in Bigfoot, you most likely believe in the Loch Ness monster, the lost continent of Atlantis, whatever."

Science Frontiers had a highly critical response to Theo Stein, based on the initial headline, "Not All Scientists Doubt Bigfoot Now." Besides chiding Mr. Stein's approach to listing Colorado hotspots, Science Frontiers also argues that science will never be compelled by the current evidence:

Surely, this is enough to convince everyone of Bigfoot's reality. Not so! To recognize Bigfoot officially scientists must have a living specimen, a corpse, or at least a good skeleton. They do not.

You can read the entire Denver Post article at Bigfoot Encounters. Even better, you can read Science Frontiers response there too.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 13 | Hopeful Skeptic Says Both Bigfoot Camps Need Help

Eugenie Scott a skeptic who would like Bigfoot to exist

"I would like [Bigfoot] to be real" -- Dr. Eugenie Scott

Today in 2009 Eugenie Scott spoke at the Ask a Scientist event in San Francisco. The topic that night was Bigfoot. As an anthropologist and a skeptic Eugenie seems to have more patience for bigfooters than she has for creationist. You can read about the event below.

Tuesday, January 13, 7:00 PM
Ask a Scientist: Bigfoot and Other Wild Men of the Forest

Bigfoot, Yeti, and hordes of other cryptoid missing links have been igniting human imagination for ages. Even the most skeptical of us must wonder if it’s possible there really could be large, undiscovered primates on earth, still unknown to us humans. Can we be so sure we’ve found them all? And if some enticing evidence presented itself, how would we test it scientifically? Tonight physical anthropologist Eugenie Scott will help us answer the question of whether or not we might one day be able to welcome some long lost relatives to the family tree. This event is presented in collaboration with the Bay Area Skeptics.

Speaker: Eugenie Scott; Physical Anthropologist and Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education

Although we don't know exactly what happened at the Ask a Scientist event, we can get a pretty good idea watching the video below. 


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.  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. 


Eugenie Scott: Bigfoot and Other Wild Men of the Forest from Ask a Scientist on FORA.tv

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

Finding Bigfoot to use Dogs to Find Bigfoot in East Texas.

Universal K9 training Caesar the dog to find a  Sasquatch

“If Bigfoot really exists, I can guarantee you our dogs will find him,” --Brad Croft, Universal K9

Faith Harper, a Tyler Morning Telegraph reporter, writes about the Finding Bigfoot crew using dogs in East Texas to search for Bigfoot. Providing the dogs is Universal K-9, a national trainer and supplier of drug, protection and weapons dogs. We were able to find videos of two dogs they are training for the task. Looks like these dogs have been training at least since mid-December.

Orbee the gorilla scat sniffing dog

Fans, you'll remember we suggested a safe way to use dogs to find Bigfoot when we introduced you to Orbee, the Gorilla scat-sniffing dog. Orbee is trained to sniff scat and find endangered species in a non-evasive way. They already used Orbee, a border collie, to track down the world's rarest Gorilla! Orbee's resume does not stop there, she has also found wolverines, grizzly bears and endangered kit foxes.  wont be as cute that's for sure! Will Universal K-9 be able to provide a dog as effective as Orbee? Probably not as cute, that's for sure.

Read the Tyler Paper article below followed by the Sasquatch training videos uploaded by K9 Universal.

Animal Planet's "Finding Bigfoot" seeks Bigfoot in East Texas woods
BY FAITH HARPER
fharper@tylerpaper.com

Bigfoot could be alive and well in East Texas and some enthusiasts are going to try to find him.

A crew from Animal Planet’s hit show, “Finding Bigfoot,” is slated to be in the Tyler area this weekend searching for the creature.

The show’s team and producers will join a group from Universal K-9, a national trainer and supplier of drug, protection and weapons dogs, to search for the creature. 

“If Bigfoot really exists, I can guarantee you our dogs will find him,” Brad Croft of Universal K-9 said, according to a news release. 

One of the places they could be searching is the Mineola Nature Preserve. The preserve is on the Sabine River and has 2,911 acres of city-owned land.

More than a dozen man-made ponds are speckled on the property as well as walking trails and pavilions. 

Mineola Mayor Bo Whitus said hunting is not allowed on the property, with the exception of periodic youth deer hunts. This was attractive to the “Finding Bigfoot” crews, he said.

Whitus said the locals tell stories of bear and cougar sightings in the preserve, but they never have been validated. 

He had never heard the subject of Bigfoot come up until seven or eight months ago when a maintenance worker spotted a strange vehicle far into nature.

The maintenance worker “was at the river and coming back up close to a slough,” Whitus said. “There was an old car sitting there, and it concerned our guy, so he called the police department. They ran the tag, and it was from the Dallas area.”

As officers got close, they noticed fruit on top of the car and found a young man lying in the grass near the area.

“We don’t know how he got his car that far down into the preserve, but he did …” Whitus said. “He heard a radio announcer say there was a sighting in East Texas, and the guy took out a map and mathematically deduced this was the place for him to be.”

The man was not ticketed but was given a talking to and sent on his way, Whitus said.

Since the sighting, a newly constructed bridge near what is called the people’s pavilion was named for the alleged visitor.

“It was a coincidence that we had just finished one of the bridges, (so) one of them is called Bigfoot Bridge,” Whitus said. “We were trying to reinforce the story to try to create a little interest in what is going on in East Texas.” 

The name must have worked because Whitus said the city received a letter from “Finding Bigfoot” before Christmas on its interests of filming a show on the property.

Staff writer Emily Guevara contributed to this report.

SRC: Tyler Morning Telegraph 

Universal K-9's Tira Learning to Find a Squatch!

Universal K-9's Ceasar [sic] Learning to Find A Squatch!