I went because of my interest in our buddy, Mr. Bigfoot. But there were plenty of others there who were more curious about UFOs, missing people...and whether those incidents connected with BF or not. (Some said it did...but I'm not so sure.) At any rate, here were ten things that surprised me:
*Most Bigfoot researchers -- at least, those represented at these meetings -- believe Bigfoot is a hominid, rather than a bipedal ape. In other words, according to the dictionary:
any member of the group consisting of all modern and extinct humans and great apes (including gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans) and all their immediate ancestors.
So he/she/it could be a human mix, a hybrid of some kind. (The word is based on the Latin 'homin,' the root meaning 'human' is based on.)
*Nearly all the speakers emphasized that BF was clever and intelligent...but they did NOT refer to it as a specific 'whatever.' Usually, the speakers would say 'thing,' 'phenomenon' or 'creature.' Even the words 'he' and 'she' were scarce, although they had no trouble using the words adult, juvenile or baby.
*They also believed that BF can mess with your mind -- literally. Telepathy? You bet. Wordless communication? No problem. Psychic warnings to go home, even if you were still miles away? You bet. (This one, I had trouble with. Listening to our instincts in these situations, our inner conscience or warning system...this could explain the warnings and odd thoughts to me.)
*Why are photos often blurry? Because Bigfoot can do that sort of thing. According to some, Mr. BF not only knows when cameras are around -- he/she/it can make them stop operating properly. Ditto for video cameras (although I saw some astonishingly clear video at one point), and definitely for game cams. The fact that, like other creatures out in the wild, they often move at dusk, dawn and nighttime, doesn't help matters any.
If you're thinking, 'Gee, aren't UFOS supposed to make electronics go awry, or stop altogether?' Yes, you're right. Leading to this supposition:
*Bigfoot and UFOS are linked together. Do the aliens drop Mr. BF off, to run amuck? Did they give him a permanent cloaking device, so he/she/it can disappear more easily? Or do they hang around, just for backup?
Sasquatch are known to move extremely quietly...and run like the wind. I've actually seen elk moving on the valley floor just below the ridge I was standing on, not 40 yards or so away...and I couldn't hear a thing. My guess is that Our Hairy Buddies don't need any help at this -- they're very good at being silent on their own.
*Bigfoot and orbs are linked together. More than one speaker thought this was some kind of religious connection...and when orbs (often connected with angels, ghosts, hauntings, that sort of thing) show up -- so does Sasquatch.
This was another statement high on the Weird-O-Meter for me. Do I believe orbs could exist? Of course. (The Brick, North Carolina-raised, had some contact with the Brown Mountain Lights.) But do the reports list on websites like BFRO (Bigfoot Researchers Organization) usually mention orbs, as well?
Naahhh.
*You can't MAKE Bigfoot show up. In fact, as one speaker pointed out, 'They're bigger than us. They're intelligent and careful. We may think we're 'habituating' this creature, but the truth is -- they're the ones in charge.'
I thought he had a point.
*Don't expect a lot of pictures -- you aren't going to get them. Unless it's of footprints, handprints (nearly all on car windows), stick structures or 'gifting' spots, that is. (More on these in a minute.) What made things worse: when actual sightings were described, the speaker often forgot to tell us what the creatures looked like!
*Do expect to see a lot of anomolous 'things'...but they won't be a certainty. At least they weren't, to me. Large trees, stuck up in other trees. Rocks and goodies moved around on a site that researchers put little 'gifts' down, hopefully so BF will move them around and make little, subtly-changed displays. (The speakers actually acted surprised when they came back, and gifts of food and snacks were gone. Go figure.) 'Nests' of piled branches and brush, or brush shelters of angled branches braced against a tree.
Well...maybe. But I'm not convinced there couldn't be other explanations for a lot of these 'proofs.' Now, footprints, handprints and large coarse tufts of hair -- those aren't so easily explained away.
*The results of a current DNA study makes things extra confusing. The Ketcham DNA Project tested literally hundreds of hair samples. The vast majority of these were categorized as raccoons, deer, dogs, cows, bears and so on, leading some sources to 'hoo hoo' and 'ha ha' the whole thing. Bigfoot must be fake...right?
But there's a problem with that.
At least three of the samples tested showed a female human (mitochondrial) DNA spliced with a male...unknown. A human/primate hybrid? Possibly.
Which has led, in turn, to suggestions that Bigfoot is actually a lab experiment who escaped. With sightings from hundreds of years ago, however, that would have had to be one heck of an advanced laboratory. Or... (drum roll please)... from aliens!
*The Bigfoot research communities -- and for that matter, the UFO and missing persons arenas, as well -- are dominated by guys. One female speaker, Sybilla Irwin, gave a brilliant talk on doing portraits based on witness reports. (Go here for her drawings. Harvey Pratt, a retired policeman, had some great ones, too. His creatures, however, often looked more 'human.' Go here for his.)
The audience had a high percentage of women represented. I know that women attend the expeditions -- in fact, Sybilla said that she had led some.
So where were the speakers?
*Are Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Skunk Apes, Yeti and 'Wild Men' out to get us? Over and over again, stories told emphasized that the creature standing there could have easily pounded his awestruck human observer...but chose not to. In fact, they went out of their way to avoid it. (Except for, presumably, the mind control business.)
Some recountings include chasings, fake charges, snarling and screams...but those seem to be intimidation tactics, to get the human to leave. (In other words, as one person pointed out, 'This is MY territory -- GO AWAY.') Or they had family members nearby, and were more concerned with protecting them. This makes perfect sense, wild-animal-wise, to me.
I was very intrigued by videos and still photos from The Erickson Project...the efforts over five years by a group of researchers following a lady in Kentucky who'd been feeding scraps to a family of Bigfoot for decades -- the same group that her mother had also fed. Unfortunately, the videos I could find on Youtube were much less clear than the ones I saw during the conference, like this one of a sleeping 'Matilda:'
I also found a linguistics professor, Scott Nelson's idea intriguing that Bigfoot's vocalizations were actually communicating, using the same repeating tones and 'phrases.' Like here:
According to him, Bigfoot were brilliant mimics, able to copy not only animal and bird sounds, but human speech. Like names! (He heard his name repeated from a woods -- after his friend had been thrown by a horse, and was calling 'Scott' over and over.)
He also spent more than 40 hours transcribing the 60-min. (approx.) 'Sierra Sounds' tape...and got 75 pages out of it.
Now, that seems possible! I'm looking forward to learning more about this intriguing theory in the future.
Many thanks to Jim Myers at the Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, along with others, who sponsored the Mile High Mystery Conference. It was well worth attending -- and they're already planning the next one.
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