The Basics
Sasquatch, Grassman, Almas, Yeren, Yowie, Yeti; the list goes on. Sasquatch known by many names. The most common name being Bigfoot. “What are they, though?” Sasquatch appear to be some form of a relic hominid, that apparently can grow to heights of 10 feet or more. Estimated weights of over 800 pounds have also been reported, by some eyewitnesses. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing black ones, brown ones, blonde ones and white ones. It’s believed that they live in groups, but they’re most commonly seen alone. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing Sasquatch on every continent, except Antartica.
Are They Dangerous?
Most encounters seem to end with the eyewitness or eyewitnesses leaving the scene of the encounter shaken from the experience of seeing a large creature that isn’t supposed to exist, but unharmed.
Proving Their Existence
For the longest time, Sasquatch enthusiasts have wondered what it will take for the scientific community to finally accept the fact that they exist. When you consider the fact we have so many pieces of compelling evidence, proving they exist, it would appear that the only thing that would make the scientific community finally accept their existence would be to have a specimen laying on a table, they could study. Every other form of evidence has been presented to them, but that wasn’t enough.
Early Events
Native Americans, all across North America have their own lore about these creatures, due to experiences they’ve had with them, stretching back thousands of years. Of course, different tribes had different names for them, but they all described the same kind of creature. For example, to the Salishan, they were known as Saskets. The Chinook called them Skookum. They were known to the Hoopa as Oh Mah.
On August 27th, 1958, a bulldozer operator named Jerry Crew found the notorious set of Bigfoot prints that kicked off the Bigfoot craze in North America. Long before that happened, though, people in North America knew about these creatures. Reported sightings of Sasquatch stretch all the way back to 1001 AD, when Leif Erikson, the first European to visit North America, reported seeing them. That was 500 years before Christopher Columbus visited the continent!
Evidence
For most Sasquatch enthusiasts, the Patterson-Gimlin film, which was recorded on October 20th, 1967, is the most compelling evidence, proving their existence. This short piece of footage shows a large, bipedal creature walking from left to right, across a dry creek bed, in Bluff Creek, California. The film has been analyzed to exhaustion but has yet to be effectively debunked. The technology to effectively hoax a creature like that, ambulating across that dry creek bed simply did not exist, at that time. Experts, like Bill Munns, who has over 35 years experience in movie makeup and creature effects, has stated this, multiple times.
Misconceptions
A lot of people believe Sasquatch in the U.S. can only be found in the Pacific Northwest, but that’s not true. Encounters have been reported in 49 of the 50 states. Hawaii is the only state where a Sasquatch encounter hasn’t been reported.
Another false belief people have about Sasquatch is that you have to go way out, into the middle of nowhere to find them. That too is untrue. Most eyewitnesses report seeing the Sasquatch they encountered fairly close to developed areas. Some sightings apparently actually happened IN developed areas, believe it or not.