Bigfoot

Region: Pacific Northwest, Global

Lead Investigator: Agent 20

Last Updated: 1 March 2024

Sightings have been reported in almost every US state
Over 10,000 reported Bigfoot sightings in the continental United States, 1/3 of those are in the Pacific Northwest
Other names: Sasquatch, Yeti, Giant Hairy Ape
Believed to be a species, not a singular creature
Declared to be endangered species of Skamania County

Identification

Skin color: black, charcoal, dark brown, reddish-brown, or grey. Palms of hands and soles of feet are much lighter.
Average height: 7'10''
Weight: 1000-2000 lbs
Large footprints: 14''-22'', big toe aligned with other toes

Banging or "tree knocking" often heard
Mostly silent. Also known to howl, grunt, scream, and growl.
Broken branches high up in trees
Rocks neatly stacked
Structures of broken and twisted foliage seemingly placed in specific areas

Known to smash things over the head with rocks
Reported omnivores
May possess nocturnal tendencies

Top Locations:

Willow Creek, CA
Six Rivers National Forest, CA
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Brief History

1811: First report of a potential Bigfoot footprint by explorer David Thompson in modern day Jasper, Alberta. The print was 14 by 8 inches, including 4 toes with claws.
1818: Oldest known report of a large, hairy, upright walking creature in a North American newspaper (New York).
1850s: Oldest known West Coast record. In the vicinity of Mt. St. Helens, a Bigfoot beckoned to a person who responded by turning and running. Reported by the person's daughter.
1924: Ape Canyon Incident (see below)
1958: Gerald Crew discovered and cast large footprints at Bluff Creek in Del Norte county, CA. The Humboldt Times covered the story, coining the name "Bigfoot". In 2003, two sons of Ray L. Wallace admitted their father created the footprints Crew found.
1967: Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed the famous Bigfoot tape in Six Rivers National Forest. It is the only footage that has not been debunked.
2000: Skookum Cast taken in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Selected Reports

1884: The Daily Colonist (British Columbia) published a story about a strange creature, named Jacko, who had been captured. This may have been an early bigfoot encounter, but many believe it was a hoax due to lack of actual evidence.
1924: Albert Ostman claims he was kidnapped, carried for hours in his sleeping bag, and held hostage by a family of four Sasquatches near Vancouver Island. He waited over 30 years to tell his story because he thought nobody would believe him.
1928: Muchalat Harry claims he was picked up in his sleeping bag and carried several miles. He was taken to a large group of about 20 bigfoot, who watched him curiously for hours. Eventually they "lost interest" and left him alone long enough for him to escape. He canoed 45 miles back to Vancouver Island to tell his story and never left his village again.
1967: Glenn Thomas says he watched 3 bigfoot pull rocks out of the ground, digging large holes and eating rodents. Investigators later found large holes where rocks as much as 200lbs had been. They also found many chucks and marmots hibernating under rocks in the area.

Stories are from The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved (2001).

Ape Canyon Incident

"It begins in 1924, when a group of miners were working in the Mount St Helens range in Washington State, seventy-five miles north of Portland, Oregon. One day they saw a big ape-like creature peering out from behind a tree. One of the miners fired at it, and thought the bullet hit its head. The creature ran off into the forest. Then another miner, Fred Beck - who was to tell the story thirty-four years later - met another of the "apes" at the canyon tim, and shot it in the back three times. It toppled over into the canyon; but when the miners went to look there was no body. That night the miners found themselves under siege. From dusk until dawn the next day the creatures pounded on the doors, walls and the roof, and rocks were hurled. The miners braced the heavy door from inside, and fired shots through the walls and roof. But the creatures were obviously angry and determined, and the assault ceased only at sunrise. That day the miners decided to abandon the site."

Excerpt from The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved (2000)

For more information: Ape Canyon Incident of 1924

Patterson-Gimlin Footage

"In October 1967 two young men called Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin were in Bluff Creek in Del Norte country, northern California, when they were thrown from their horses as they rounded the bend in the Creek. About a hundred feet ahead, on the other side of the Creek bed, there was a huge, hairy creature that walked like a man. Roger Patterson grabbed his cine-camera, and started filming. The creature - which they had by now decided was a female - stopped dead, then looked around at them. 'She wasn't scared a bit. The fact is, I don't think she was scared of me, and the only thing I can think of is that the clicking of my camera was new to her'. As Patterson tried to follow her the creature suddenly began to run, and after three and a half miles they lost her tracks on pine needles."

Excerpt from The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved (2000)

(See footage and film analysis below)

Proposed Explanations

Misidentification of bears, escaped apes, humans (visual or audio)
Pareidolia
Hoaxes (See: 'Known Hoaxes' below)
Gigantopithecus
Extinct hominidae

Evidence For Existence of Bigfoot

Countless encounters and reports spanning centuries
Vast, uninhabited, and unexplored woodlands could "easily" hide existence of a species
Jeffery Meldrum (Anatomy and Anthropology, Idaho State) examined casted footprints that suggested running motion that "would be very hard to fake".
Dr. Wolf Henner Fahrenbach (Oregon Regional Primate Research Center) reported at least 15 hair samples that he has been unable to identify as any other animal.