Bigfoot: my theory

I have only seen a few mentions of anything slightly similar to this here, and my search here yielded little so I figured I'd post. I mentioned this on a thread about skinwalkers before but I thought I'd see if the theory could hold enough interest in it's own thread.

Three things about the Bigfoot phenomena caused me to come to the conclusion that he belongs in the 'paranormal' category, and not the 'cryptozoology' one.

1. No Bigfoot carcasses have ever been found.

2. The horrible stench that is reported to come off the big fellow.

3. Animals (horses, dogs) are said to flip out and react with primal fear in his vicinity.

These items could be explained by the concept that he's a mystical force of some kind, made up of the carcasses of dead forest creatures. Perhaps in the middle of it all is some crazy shaman, somehow holding a big mass of fur and rotting meat in the shape of a hulking figure around him.

Yeah I know it sounds kooky. I'm not saying I believe it, or that I even believe in "mystical forces" of any kind, I'm just sort of throwing it out there. Perhaps this is a common theory already? Does anyone with detailed knowledge about specific Bigfoot experiences want to consider them from this point of view? I.e., maybe several animal carcasses were found scattered through an area Bigfoot was known to have been sighted in? Something like that?

I know there's already a lot of people that think of him as having supernatural or even extraterrestrial origins; what do you folks think?

Well that's certainly out there.

Here's a theory on the 'US' bigfoot.

Back in the early days, pre-colonization, there may have been a small group of hominids, perhaps related to the G. Blackii resulting in the stories that the native Americans tell.

But they were the last of them and they died out, probably before the Europeans came over.

There are some scientists who believe that Gigantopithecus Blackii did exist concurrently with early Humans.

The remaining stories are tall tales taken from this time, and the sightings are mis-identifications of other animals, including Moose, Elk, and Bear, or hoaxers dressing up like an ape or wearing home-made shoes designed to duplicate what they believed a bigfoot's foot would look like.

I do believe the stories that some have told about actually seeing what they -thought- was a BF, but they are just mistaken.

It's probably quite easy to mis-identify a large hairy animal in the woods if you are not an experienced hunter or tracker and even then, a quick glimpse of a common animal in an uncommon pose (say a large elk looking back over it's shoulder, while standing on its hind legs) could be enough to cause someone's vision to trick them.

The main reason to doubt modern day 'sightings' is that for any animal to exist it requires a breeding population, and I think the smallest is a few thousand, or on the verge of extinction, maybe a few hundred. That would mean such a population in nearly every state in the union, since, according to maps I've seen, there have been sightings in almost every state. Thus, with 1,000 as the smallest breeding population, that would mean 50,000 BF in the US.

I doubt even the most ardent supporter of BF's existence would accept that there are that many and we still can't find one.

2 cents.

Originally posted by Teratoma

3. Animals (horses, dogs) are said to flip out and react with primal fear in his vicinity.

It's not just animals such as dogs and horses, humans flip out as well. I know I did. The night I was driving thru the forest and saw a Bigfoot I pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor and didn't slow down till I was in the next town. I kept looking in the rear view mirror to see if the thing was chasing me. It literally scared the heck out of me.

I know Bigfoot exists, I've seen one. I will never go out looking for one and hope to never cross paths with one as well. Once was enough for me.

As for your other theories, I have no idea. I missed the opportunity to investigate when I fled like a sissy from the huge ape like thing.

Bigfoot comes up in the shooting and hunting forums from time to time.

One answer to the lack of a Bigfoot body/skeleton is that the forest, animals and insects and just plain rotting away disposes of the carcass fairly fast.

They note, not many deer, bear of other commonly known animal carcasses are found.

Combine that with Bigfoots propensity to live in very isolated areas and it's understandable.

reply to post by mrwupy


Mr. W. is one of the people I find very credible (Autumn Williams is another).

Mr W. can you describe how much of the BF you saw? I've listened to your podcast, but I can't recall if you mentioned it. Standing full-frontal, kneeling, sitting? Any of the beast obscured by trees? How far away from it were you?

I know that's a lot, but if you want to just give a link to your story I'll be glad to re-read that.

If you don't mind, would you remind us of the general location of the woods where this happened?

Thanks for posting!

Originally posted by Desert Dawg
...not many deer, bear of other commonly known animal carcasses are found.

I tend to lean in this direction too, but keywords:

Commonly known animal carcasses: "not many"
Sasquatch corpses: ZERO

And like MrWupy's post; the primal fear factor. Is this just the natural reaction to something unknown, or maybe to something rumored to be myth, only now feel the warmth, as it fills your pants and slowly trickles down one leg as this big hairy mother stands right in front of you and you can't move.

A lot of bigfoot experiences I've read describe an otherworldly eeriness about the whole encounter, so it's these possible links I'd like to hear about...

You've been watching Jeepers Creepers, have you?

Here's my story. I live in Fayetteville Arkansas and at the time my ex-wife lived in Jonesboro. I had taken my kids home and was driving back to Fayetteville. It was late evening and I Already dark. I had the bright lights on since i was the only car on the road. I had passed thru Salem Arkansas and was back in the forest. There was a clearing of 15 to 20 feet from the edge of the road to where the forest started.

I noticed a tree that was beside the road up ahead, at least I thought it was a tree. It was out of place because it was right beside the road. Then the tree turned around and walked back into the forest. It was passing into the woods just as it went out of my high beams. I stomped the gas to the floor and didn't slow down till i was in the next town. I kept looking to see if it was chasing me. I was in an old hoopy that wouldn't go over 80, which was a good thing. If I had been able to go faster I would have and probably would have wrapped myself and the car around a tree.

What I saw beside the road that night was tall and human like and walked on two feet. It was covered with hair that was matted and nasty, but it had rained that day so maybe it was just wet. It covered the distance between the road and the forest in just a few steps, thats how tall it was.

I live in Arkansas. I've seen deer, I've seen bear and bygolly I've also seen a Bigfoot. I filed reports with BFRO and the Texas Bigfoot research people (they also cover Arkansas.)

Why I saw it, I don't know. I was alone and can't prove a word of what I've just written. All i know is it's true. Whether anyone believes me or not isn't important.

Maybe Bigfoot is a ghost. We hear ghost stories all the time about human spirits. Maybe Bigfoot is the ghost of a long gone species. Like I said, I don't know.

It was real that night though.

I'll answer any questions you might have.

wupy

Originally posted by CloudlessKnight
You've been watching Jeepers Creepers, have you?

I think I did see that, though I had to look it up on IMDB to recall what you were talking about. Can't say whether it influenced my idea or not - I like to think that I come up with something original every once in a while but I'll be the first to admit: trash culture is a huge influence. Ha ha!

Mr. Wupy,

I gathered that you were going by pretty quickly when you saw the BF, so I'm sure you didn't see too many details, but could you describe the hair a little more, if you can?

Was it long, short, straight, curly, wavy? Color? Were there any visible areas that were not covered with hair, or at least thinned out in any spots? Was the hair shorter or longer in areas like the arms, or head?

Also, did you see its face at all? Could you guess how tall it was? Can you recall any general body proportions, such as having a torso longer than its legs, or legs longer than it's torso? Or how low its arms hung down in relation to where its fingertips would reach on its legs?

Sorry if that's too much, just hoping for more description.

reply to post by Teratoma


Ah, well... It's not that good of a movie anyways. Its basically about a monster that goes around taking body parts from animals and people to make up its own body. i.e., if you gouge its eyes out, it goes and takes the eyes of another person for its own. (Thus the name of the movie, "Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers?") Heheh.

I didn't see any bald spots. The hair was long but matted and nasty looking. It had rained that day so that could explain that part. The hair was dark colored but the exact shade, I'm not sure. I didn't really see the face because once it had turned back towards the woods it never looked back in my direction. I've heard other stories of Bigfoot sightings where the person claiming to have sighted one say's the same thing, once it starts walking away it never looks back. Then again we have the Patterson film where it does. In my case, it didn't. The body was thick, bulky looking but I didn't stop to get any measurements of the thing, I was too busy trying to get away.

My windows were up so I didn't smell anything.

Like I said, it was going back into the woods as it passed out of my bright lights so at that point it was about 20 feet away. I saw it well enough to know it was a Bigfoot. It walked upright like a man but wasn't a man.

Hope that helps.

So, what I'd like to know about your encounter is, and this may be an abstract concept, but did you find that your reaction felt "natural" ...Not having an objective point of reference, I realize it's a difficult thing to gage, but do you think your reaction was instinctual, gut wrenching primal fear because bigfoot is an unknown species, or because he's an unknown entity? The difference being, "I sense that big hairy apelike thing might harm me" or "I sense something my mind can't comprehend so I'm OUTTA HERE" ...You mention checking your rear view to see if he had somehow chased you at 80 MPH... Would that not suggest that you feared something that no earthly creature could accomplish? A paranormal edge?

Not to plant ideas. A completely mind-numbing breakdown of terror and shock might be a normal reaction to a sight like that even if BF were completely terrestrial in origin.

[edit on 11/26/2007 by Teratoma for spelling]

[edit on 11/26/2007 by Teratoma]

I've often described it as a primal fear. Not like the fear of getting a traffic ticket or losing a job, the fear of being torn from limb to limb by something that can obviously do that.

To this day I remember the fear. I'll never go looking for a Bigfoot and consider the idea insane.

I did comprehend what it was, I just never expected such a thing. The fear was about getting away.

Thanks for the great posts MrW.

Would you be able to find that spot if you went back to the general vicinity? If so would you consider going there with some friends and maybe trying to get some relative measurements?

Since your story is extremely rare, in that it's first-person, and your reputation is solid, any additional data you might collect would be top notch and quite valuable.

For instance you could drive by at a similar rate of speed while your passenger holds a stop watch, giving you a chance to time the sighting very closely. You could also measure the distance from the road to the forest edge and make that more accurate.

Likewise, if you still have a mental image you could have someone stand in the location holding, say, a 10 foot pole with markings every two feet and you could then judge the size even better. Combine that with the distance to the woods and an approximation of the time and the number of steps, you could really get a good idea of the height.

In fact I'd think that this sighting and the recreation would make a great Discovery Channel video, much like the one they did with the guy running across a meadow with the motion capture suit on.

I realize that going back there is probably the last thing you want to do, but I wonder if there were enough people with you to help you ease your fears you might consider such a thing.

Anyway, thanks for the post!

I think that there is some legitimacy to the sighting's and the all the report's that have surfaced since 1811, which I think was the first documented literary connection to something being out there that many others before the first recorded sighting ever existed. There was even a report, though rare footage baack from 1962 or something like that, that a man was held as a unwilling participant in a Sasquatch colony. Whether the story is true or not, that will be left to the listener.... But it is quite fascinating none the less.
If you are a History Channel buff, there has been a show on called "Monster Quest" that has made some astonishing find's for the existance of "Bigfoot" and the show was really intriguing.

Well, how could a television program “prove” the existence of a cryptid, anyway?
Unlike some, I am not surprised that the History Channel and the producers of Monster Quest’s “Sasquatch Attack” did not leak the fact that Sasquatch DNA may have been collected. I do not feel upset with Jeff Meldrum because he didn’t rush in front of a microphone soon after the documentary filming to announce the rock-throwing and that a Sasquatch had stepped on a “nail trap.” Ouch!

Source:

www.cryptomundo.com...

The show was really good. Got to watch it last evening. Very convencing for the "Deep thinker" point of view.

One thing that I like to do when analyzing reports of strange phenomena is to set aside any belief in the paranormal and ask 'if the person's account is taken at face value, is there any other possible explanation that is non-paranormal?'

Looking at MrW's account, there are only a few possibilities that I can think of.

I'll list these (in no particular order), but bear in mind that it's only an exercise and my instinct is to believe his story almost in toto.

1. An actual Bigfoot;
2. An escaped exotic animal, perhaps from a circus or a zoo;
3. A very tall hunter in a ghillie suit;
4. Transient hallucination due to road hypnosis;
5. A common animal, making an uncommon movement;
6. A hoaxer wearing a suit.

Bearing in mind that this occurred in Arkansas, what I would try to do next is rule in or out each of these.

The first thing I'd do is get an aerial survey or topological map of the area and determine:

1. The size and nature of the wooded area to see if there was sufficient cover to allow a large animal to survive but still stay hidden;
2. The location of any hunting areas, preserves, hunter's cabins or groups;
3. A list of the common fauna, including all large animals that are indigent to that area;
4. A list of the animal preserves and zoos in the area;
5. Interview any zookeepers to ascertain if there were any escaped animals during that time period;
6. Interview hunters and see if there were any additional sightings;
7. Measurements at the site and perform a re-enactment using surveyor's tools;
8. If agreeable, have the experiencer consider undergoing hypnosis to see if there is more information that is available;
9. Interview the subject and see if they were under any undue stress or if they were sleep deprived at the time;
10. Have a company do a complete CGI representation of the incident and check with the experiencer to assure that this was an accurate representation. (much like they did with lasers and range finders in the recent Illinois UFO sighting on Discovery Channel);
11. I'd also look at the list of reported sightings and see if there were any concentrated in this area;

...and maybe a few other things.

This re-enactment would help to rule out alternate possibilities and also give us a good handle on the sighting, since everyone could see, virtually, what he saw. In addition it would help the experiencer sort out little details, such as the type of movement, speed, smoothness, animal-like vs human, which he could help to fine tune using the CGI as a reference

Going with this type of analysis, is there anything else that anyone can think of?

Again, I'm not trying to debunk Mr W's sighting. I'm just trying to use an exhaustive and experimental type of methodology as applied to this excellent case.

[edit on 27-11-2007 by Badge01]

mrwupy,

I have heard your story a few times and I have always wondered why you were in such a state of fear? When did this happen? Had you been familiar with BF at the time because almost never do you hear of BF doing anything other than rock throwing to warn people off. For the most part they are docile and fearful. You must have been in quite a state to think you had to drive 80mph to outrun an animal that would likely not run any faster than a human albeit cover twice the distance per stride. I guess I can understand the fear but it was going away from you. Oh well, I would probably have peed my pants so don't put too much stock in what I say.

As for the Monsterquest show on BF, it was a disappointing joke at best. I posted my thoughts in the monsterquest thread so I'm not going to repeat them here.

This is what I'm trying to get at too - if you had been driving down the road and seen what you had enough time to identify as a large gorilla, would you have done the same thing? He could tear you limb from limb about as easily, would you have sped away the same way?

What I'm getting at is hard to articulate - I'm trying to establish if there could be something about the experience besides the oddness of the experience itself that heightens the fear in the one having the encounter. This could be from anything as mundane as pheromones or instinctual reactions to something paranormal. Or maybe both?

reply to post by Teratoma


I suspect that it's more the unknown than anything else, though given the fact that little, to nothing, is known about Sasquatch, anything is possible.

Experiancing the unknown, to you anyway , can be downright terrifying.

My own theory concerning Sasquatch is that he is a offshoot of an ancestor of man. A breed of Gigantopithicus Bosei, only smarter, in it's own way a match for us. Nothing else explains the ability to remain hidden and relatively unknown.