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Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forests of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims of sightings as well as alleged video and audio recordings, photographs, and casts of large footprints.[2] Some of which are known or admitted hoaxes.[3]
Tales of wild, hairy humanoids exist throughout the world,[4] and such creatures appear in the folklore of North America,[5] including the mythologies of indigenous people.[6][7] Bigfoot is an icon within the fringe subculture of cryptozoology,[8] and an enduring element of popular culture.[9]
The majority of mainstream scientists have historically discounted the existence of Bigfoot, considering it to be the result of a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than a living animal.[10][11]Folklorists trace the phenomenon of Bigfoot to a combination of factors and sources including indigenous cultures, the European wild man figure, and folk tales.[12] Wishful thinking, a cultural increase in environmental concerns, and overall societal awareness of the subject have been cited as additional factors.[13]
Other creatures of relatively similar descriptions are alleged to inhabit various regions throughout the world, such as the Skunk ape of the southeastern United States; the Almas, Yeren, and Yeti in Asia; and the Australian Yowie; all of which are also engrained in the cultures of their regions.[14]
Bigfoot is most often described as a large, muscular, and bipedal ape-like creature covered in black, dark brown, or dark reddish hair.[16][17] Anecdotal descriptions estimate a height of roughly 1.8–2.7 metres (6–9 ft), with some descriptions having the creatures standing as tall as 3.0–4.6 metres (10–15 ft).[18] Some alleged observations describe Bigfoot as more "man-like",[19] with reports of a human-like face.[20][21] In 1971, multiple people in The Dalles, Oregon, filed a police report describing an "overgrown ape", and one of the men claimed to have sighted the creature in the scope of his rifle, but could not bring himself to shoot it because, "It looked more human than animal".[22]
Common descriptions also include broad shoulders, no visible neck, and long arms, which skeptics describe as likely misidentification of a bear standing upright.[23] Some alleged nighttime sightings have stated the creature's eyes "glowed" yellow or red.[24] However, eyeshine is not present in humans or any other known apes and so proposed explanations for observable eyeshine off of the ground in the forest include owls, raccoons, or opossums perched in foliage.[25]
Michael Rugg, owner of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Northern California, claims to have smelled Bigfoot, stating, "Imagine a skunk that had rolled around in dead animals and had hung around the garbage pits".[26]
The enormous footprints for which the creature is named are claimed to be as large as 610 millimetres (24 in) long and 200 millimetres (8 in) wide.[17] Some footprint casts have also contained claw marks, making it likely that they came from known animals such as bears, which have five toes and claws.[27][28]
In 1958, Jerry Crew, a logging company bulldozer operator in Humboldt County, California, discovered a set of large, 410 millimetres (16 in) human-like footprints sunk deep within the mud in the Six Rivers National Forest.[47] Upon informing his coworkers, many claimed to have seen similar tracks on previous job sites as well as telling of odd incidents such as an oil drum weighing 450 pounds (200 kg) having been moved without explanation. The logging company men soon began utilizing the term "Bigfoot" to describe the mysterious culprit.[48] Crew, who initially believed someone was playing a prank on them, once again observed more of these numerous, massive footprints and contacted reporter Andrew Genzoli of the Humboldt Timesnewspaper. Genzoli interviewed lumber workers and wrote articles about the mysterious footprints, introducing the name "Bigfoot" in relation to the tracks and the local tales of large, hairy wild men.[49] A plaster cast was made of the footprints and Crew appeared, holding one of the casts, on the front page of the newspaper on October 6, 1958. The story spread rapidly as Genzoli began to receive correspondence from major media outlets including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.[50] As a result, the term "Bigfoot" became widespread as a reference to an apparently large, unknown creature leaving massive footprints in Northern California.[51]
In 2002, the family of Crew's deceased coworker Ray Wallace stated that their father had been secretly making the large footprints with carved, wooden feet and that he was responsible for the tracks.[52] Despite the Wallace family's statement, Willow Creek and Humboldt County are considered by some to be the "Bigfoot Capital of the World".[53]
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