Bigfoot - imaginary or cunning?

There is a huge amount of skepticism regarding Bigfoot which is understandable however the ridicule is sad and stymies any serious scientific effort to discover more about the creature. There are still a large number of Bigfoot sightings today yet skeptics will say if it existed a) a bodyu would've been discovered by now and b) nothing that large could live in North America without being detected. Now as a rational person it's hard not to be swayed by those points. However -- call it a 'gut instinct' if you will -- but I think there must be something to all these sightings that are reported. Many of which are close-up encounters and the common description of Bigfoot makes me think in most cases these are not hoaxes. They're described as being around 8ft tall with a large muscular frame who can move very fast. There's also the vocalisations they make such as the whooping noises and the tree knocking.

My question is, if Bigfoot does exist. How has it remained undetected all this time? Could it be secretly protected by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service/U.S Government?

My theory is that since it can move very fast, it can avoid human contact and seek out sparsely populated areas. Since they seem to like wooded areas, being fur covered the forests would provide plenty of camouflage for them. However, skeptics would say that they would've been spotted from the air by now and what about thermal imaging? These are valid points but I think people seriously underestimate the vastness of the wilderness in the U.S and North America as a whole. I'd recommend people listen to eyewitness testimony here and make up their own minds.

There are a few areas of the world we haven't really discovered yet. As unbeilievable as that sounds, there are forests that we have either not seen yet or taken much notice of. We're finding things from the past all the time, hidden away for centuries. Why couldn't one of the things be Big Foot?
I do believe there are other creatures out there, but something so big, probably smelly & that makes noise would be hard to miss.

I think also that the myth has actually overtaken the truth. It's become so big now that people are spending alot of money to hunt for it. No knowing if it actaully exists. Just going on here-say and hope.

Big Foot is an interesting story that probably once had merit and it probably DID exsist. But I don't think it does anymore. I'm always keeping an open mind that it does though.

a reply to: rhynouk

Thanks for contributing. There's a lot of sense in what you're saying in regards to the size of Bigfoot and the evidence it 'should' leave behind. Thing is, it does leave behind evidence (foot prints, tree structures and possible audio/video recordings) but it seems much of this is ignored or even ridiculed. I understand why, as sadly hoaxes are easy to perpetrate but due to the large number of reports with consistencies in them I think there's something to it.

If Bigfoot were to exist in North America today. How would you react? How do you feel it could've escaped detection?

I'd recommend reading the blog of Nathaniel Bronis who's documented his encounter on a blog in addition to sharing evidence.

a reply to: Retro~Burn

There is a story about our peripheral vision maybe we cannot see them when we look at them.

Dunno, but I was thinking about this the other day.
How many people in the U.S. go missing every year, and we never find their bodies?
Quite a few right?
Well I would imagine that if something like a bigfoot, even though it is large could stay hidden pretty well.
I don't totally buy it but I am not opposed to the concept.
Interestingly enough I bet if they found one tomorrow alive and kicking it would only be a news story for like a week though, LOL

a reply to: DiddyMcC0y

Thanks Diddy. That's a good point, it mentions that peripheral vision is good for spotting movement which is obviously a useful survival/evolutionary trait. Last night watching UFO documentaries (and scaring myself sh*tless!) I'd be very sensitive to my cats' movements. It can be unreliable of course but there are times when it works and you better detect movement. I have read of encounters where they've been skulking behind a tree and remain still. I think in a densely wooded area they're very well camouflaged because of their fur which helps them blend in with dense vegetation. Although I've also read of encounters where a Bigfoot will beging to rock/sway whilst it gazes at an individual. Is this posturing? Means of hypnotising a prey? Also, in instances where they like to prowl near a property, why don't they try to gain entry?

originally posted by: Punisher75
Dunno, but I was thinking about this the other day.
How many people in the U.S. go missing every year, and we never find their bodies?
Quite a few right?
Well I would imagine that if something like a bigfoot, even though it is large could stay hidden pretty well.
I don't totally buy it but I am not opposed to the concept.
Interestingly enough I bet if they found one tomorrow alive and kicking it would only be a news story for like a week though, LOL

Heh, yes the media likes to devour a news story like a predator feeds on a carcass. Just curious, have you read up on many eyewitness testimony? I'd seriously recommend taking a look at Sasquatch Chronicles, BFRO and the blog I linked. I know the evidence presently is circumstantial but it's there and if we were to dedicate more of an effort in research I think we'd discover the truth. It's incredible to think they could've been living alongside Americans/Canadians all these years without people realising.

In regards what you said about missing persons. Obviously there are people who can stay off the grid but I think you're right. Sasquatch could account for some of these disappearances.

a reply to: Retro~Burn

I go back and forth on this one all the time, I have to admit.

There is compelling anecdotal evidence that this creature does exist, and in many cases the claims by skeptics that it "cant" exist are actually unfounded.

There are VAST open spaces of unexplored and untouched landscape in North America for a start. This notion that Americans have been everywhere and every square km of land has been traversed is, frankly, so much bs it needs to be thrown out without much consideration.

New species are being discovered somewhere in the world all the time. Just because we haven't seen something yet does not mean that it cannot exist.

This is supposedly a pretty intelligent animal (given the observed behavior consistently reported by numerous witnesses), living in small communities or as individuals in vast areas, I don't think it's at all implausible that they would rarely be seen by Humans.

There are plenty of animals in this world we rarely see, and none of them are deemed to be as intelligent as this one. The Giant Squid was only just captured on camera in 2013. The Tiger Quoll had vanished for a decade in Australia before being seen by one person in 2013. The Spotted Deer of the Phillipines has only been seen on camera once, in 2012, and was believed to be extinct. The Saber-Toothed Beaked Whale has been seen only once in 150 years. The Florida Panther has been photographed only once. The Vietnamese Soala was only discovered in 1992, vanished in 1998, and was captured on camera again only in 2013. The North Atlantic right whale has only been seen twice in more than 60 years.

At one time, knowledge of all of these animals existed through witness statement alone, there were no images, no videos, and none had been caught. It's entirely possible that a more intelligent animal could live in the vast expanse of North American wilderness without being captured and without there being any bones discovered.

And after all that, I have to say that empirical physical evidence is the only thing that will entirely satisfy me. It's all well and good having the opinion that in all likelihood its existence is possible, or even plausible, but that cannot be absolutely stated until we have the physical evidence for it.

So, I think it does exist, and I think we will eventually find evidence to support that too. I just hope that we manage to find it before it becomes extinct.

originally posted by: rhynouk
I do believe there are other creatures out there, but something so big, probably smelly & that makes noise would be hard to miss.

But you have to factor in various other things too.
For a start, how many Humans are there in these places? We know they are more remote and with a smaller Human population.

If you have a local population of 20,000, and only 100 hunt, and only 50 know the difference between a bear print and something else, and only 10 of those have encountered any evidence to make them pause, and only 5 of those are willing to ever say anything about it, it's no surprise to me that we have so little evidence for the existence of this animal.

The only real evidence that exists is eye witness testimony. The worst kind. But I seriously doubt everyone who sees something is a hoaxer. I really want to believe Bigfoot exists, but the facts just don't go that way. I have heard reports from northern Ohio. That isn't a vast wilderness, so whatever is being seen, should be able to be identified. I just think once it's identified, it will turn out to be something familiar, but acting oddly. Like a Bear on two leggs.

But, I still hold out hope for being proved wrong.

Until someone drags in a body there will be doubt.
I'm always torn on this subject. My head says bunk, but there sure are a lot of eye witnesses to dismiss.

nope...not imaginary or cunning......they are from behind the veil....if ya shoot one they disappear so just use spiritual battle ....but one ends up leaving the scene if out on an expedition.....around your own turf....that would be a little different.
sounds like I know the deal, huh!!! if ya want to.......like I always post....go to Washington just 30 minutes east of seattle....where I-90 meets state hwy 18.....park where the logging trucks go in just se of there.
they allow bikes and foot traffic...I used to hide my trail bike in there....
it's five miles in on the roads to the south,and next to an area that has no access at all....can't even walk in there unless you have huge hairy arms to grab the trees with because it's rain forest with constant ravines and cross thatch tree falls. oh yes...the tree falls are 9 feet deep,i fell once and my boot stopped me and my 30.06 from going all the way down but I ended up ...upside down below the forest floor dangling....still holding the rifle lol
that's where it happened....I was loaded to the max that day with twi guns that had bear ammo....you know dangerous game ammo for African game....and I hopped on my trail bike and hauled azz

originally posted by: Retro~Burn


My question is, if Bigfoot does exist. How has it remained undetected all this time?

my theory is that the pacific northwest forest is vast and dense.
imo it would be very easy to hide and seems totally possible that humans would never find one alive or dead.

we are talking a LOT of area man.

same goes for the yeti...the himalayas are huge man

same goes for mkele mbembe(sp). the congo is crazy big man

image from space....lots of green

en.wikipedia.org...#/media/FileacNW_satellite_cropped.JPG

a reply to: Retro~Burn

I have read some stories but you never can tell. I have no doubt that there are folks seeing something.
For the longest time everyone laughed at people talking about the Florida skunk ape, told them they were making it up yadda yadda, wheres the bodies and all that jazz... then they found the escaped orangutans from years back. LOL

So this whole "wheres the dead bodies" thing don't fly with me cause the shear amount of dense woodlands is waaaay bigger than the areas in Florida where that the "skunk ape" was hiding in.

a reply to: Retro~Burn

There are plenty of dense forests for something that size to hide in. Where I live, something could be in the woods ten feet from you and you wouldn't see it. There are also cave systems that are still undiscovered. That could explain the lack of bodies. They could live and die there and could also have a way of disposing of corpses.
I haven't seen one. I always wanted to though. My sister in law's co worker saw one. It crossed in front of her car and proceeded to step over a five foot high fence without breaking stride.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
Until someone drags in a body there will be doubt.
I'm always torn on this subject. My head says bunk, but there sure are a lot of eye witnesses to dismiss.

Hi blunt one, I agree, wheres the forensics?

A femur, skull? A hunters trophy? Poeple can go for walks in the woods oblivious to the bear, mountain lion or coyote they just walked past. To wild animals we are noisy, smelly, doofuses stomping through the woods, they can hear and smell us coming forever.

People have sat up on ridge tops seeing wildlife afar through binocs, camera lens and rifle scope for a hundred years and more… these animals can't see or hear they are being spotted in the distance as readily as up close.

Seems to me somebody by now would have regularly captured footage of Mr. and Mrs. Bigfoot and the young-uns bathing, grazing, burying their dead, whatever…

Oh look, theres the local herd of Deer, a Bear over there and further up, the Bigfoot clan gathering berries in their favorite patch of meadow…

originally posted by: Rocker2013
a reply to: Retro~Burn

I go back and forth on this one all the time, I have to admit.

There is compelling anecdotal evidence that this creature does exist, and in many cases the claims by skeptics that it "cant" exist are actually unfounded.

There are VAST open spaces of unexplored and untouched landscape in North America for a start. This notion that Americans have been everywhere and every square km of land has been traversed is, frankly, so much bs it needs to be thrown out without much consideration.

New species are being discovered somewhere in the world all the time. Just because we haven't seen something yet does not mean that it cannot exist.

This is supposedly a pretty intelligent animal (given the observed behavior consistently reported by numerous witnesses), living in small communities or as individuals in vast areas, I don't think it's at all implausible that they would rarely be seen by Humans.

There are plenty of animals in this world we rarely see, and none of them are deemed to be as intelligent as this one. The Giant Squid was only just captured on camera in 2013. The Tiger Quoll had vanished for a decade in Australia before being seen by one person in 2013. The Spotted Deer of the Phillipines has only been seen on camera once, in 2012, and was believed to be extinct. The Saber-Toothed Beaked Whale has been seen only once in 150 years. The Florida Panther has been photographed only once. The Vietnamese Soala was only discovered in 1992, vanished in 1998, and was captured on camera again only in 2013. The North Atlantic right whale has only been seen twice in more than 60 years.

At one time, knowledge of all of these animals existed through witness statement alone, there were no images, no videos, and none had been caught. It's entirely possible that a more intelligent animal could live in the vast expanse of North American wilderness without being captured and without there being any bones discovered.

And after all that, I have to say that empirical physical evidence is the only thing that will entirely satisfy me. It's all well and good having the opinion that in all likelihood its existence is possible, or even plausible, but that cannot be absolutely stated until we have the physical evidence for it.

So, I think it does exist, and I think we will eventually find evidence to support that too. I just hope that we manage to find it before it becomes extinct.

Some greats points there, particularly about how large America is. I come from the U.K so we only have a tiny island but with the diverse ecology and climates you have I don't see it as a surprise why something like Bigfoot couldn't thrive in such an environment.

About the evidence, you could argue that we've already collected some evidence. As far as I know, we don't have DNA/hair samples. However, a number of foot casts have been made and there are (admittedly) low quality photos and video but they're there nonetheless. I think it's clear we're dealing with a creature that has a fair bit of intelligence and this explains partly why they've not been 'discovered' before. Judging by their behaviour we know they tend to avoid human populations where possible. Although there are cases where they've been on a person's property. This could be due to hunger or curiousity. It's worth noting these properties tend to be rural and isolated, if it's a cabin then for most of the year they'd be vacant.

originally posted by: network dude
The only real evidence that exists is eye witness testimony. The worst kind. But I seriously doubt everyone who sees something is a hoaxer. I really want to believe Bigfoot exists, but the facts just don't go that way. I have heard reports from northern Ohio. That isn't a vast wilderness, so whatever is being seen, should be able to be identified. I just think once it's identified, it will turn out to be something familiar, but acting oddly. Like a Bear on two leggs.

But, I still hold out hope for being proved wrong.

Thing is the reported behaviour and description from some encounters (if accurate of course) doesn't support the assertion it's a bear or other such creature. Some have hear some sort of guttural speech so they have language. They have an upright frame well over 8ft and move bipedally.

I wonder, with night vision/thermal cameras. Do they give off a bright glare like "cat's eyes" in pitch blackness? If so, it's possible that Bigfoot would avoid them as they could mistake them for a predator/dangerous animal or recognise it as a sign of a human presence.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: Retro~Burn

There are plenty of dense forests for something that size to hide in. Where I live, something could be in the woods ten feet from you and you wouldn't see it. There are also cave systems that are still undiscovered. That could explain the lack of bodies. They could live and die there and could also have a way of disposing of corpses.
I haven't seen one. I always wanted to though. My sister in law's co worker saw one. It crossed in front of her car and proceeded to step over a five foot high fence without breaking stride.

Thanks for sharing and it sounds incredible but not surprising. I've read the largest ones measure between 8ft-10ft tall so striding over a 5ft high fence would be simple for them. Since they're tall and muscular, they take longer strides and can cover ground much quicker than humans. I think this explains why it's difficult to record good quality photographic/video evidence.

Although I wonder why there's so many sightings in which Bigfoot likes to walk across a road in front of vehicles. Do they perhaps lack peripheral vision?

They are cunning, very cunning and know to avoid humans at all costs. But when we do see them, they seem rather nonchalant about the whole thing, they just give you a look, WHAT! and wander off.

I've lived in the PNW my entire life, Mountain Rainier is in my backyard.. and I don't know the square mileage, but man do we ever have VAST areas of dense woods in this state.

I have never seen one, but I "felt" one once, yeah I know big deal, I've spent a lot of time in the woods and something was following us, I get goose bumps thinking about it, we could hear the brush snapping occasionally following us along. So nothing spectacular to report from me

I do have a life long trusted friend who did seen a Sasquatch and he was sure shaken up by it. I'd love to see one from afar.

Like maybe from my truck and it's way off to the side of the road or down on a river bed.

I'm really interested in the Hairy Man of Alaska, lots of good stories from Alaska, even though I'm in a hot bed of excitement in the PNW. We have never actively sought them out, oh crikey, I take that back, we have been known to pick up a good sturdy stick in the woods and do some wood knocking. I haven't started doing Sasquatch calls (yet).

a reply to: Hidinout

Can you describe your friend's encounter? Was he a skeptic beforehand?