"ARE WE CLOSING IN ON BIGFOOT?" > Page 1, 2, 3

Sasquatch Body Imprint
Sightings of Bigfoot or Sasquatch have been reported in the American Northwest for well over a century. Scores of footprint casts have been made, and several controversial photos and even motion picture film (the infamous Patterson film) have been taken.

Last September, however, brought some new, compelling evidence for the existence of the mysterious biped. Bigfoot researcher Jeff Meldrum, an anthropology professor at Idaho State University, has been examining a discovery made on September 22 near Mount Adams in the State of Washington. Some think it is a body imprint in the ground of Bigfoot, including its left forearm, hip, thigh and heel.

The imprint was discovered by LeRoy Fish, a retired wildlife ecologist from Triangles Lake, Oregon., Derek Randles, a landscape architect from Belfair, Washington and Richard Noll, a meteorologist from Edmonds, Washington - all part of a 13-person expedition sponsored by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. The team had gone into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southern Washington state looking for evidence. To lure one of the creatures, the team set out apples in a muddy spot, spread pheromones and played recordings thought to be the calls of other Bigfoots. They returned the next morning to find an impression that they believe was made as the creature sat down and reached over to pick up the bait.

Jeff Meldrum, with the help of a retired physical anthropologist and a wildlife biologist, examined the cast and concluded that it could not be attributed to any animal commonly known in the Northwest. They said it may represent an unknown great ape. Meldrum said the imprint seems to have been made by a large, hair-covered hominid more than 2.5 meters tall.

High-Tech Search
Despite the sporadic sightings and occasional footprints, Bigfoot has been very successful at evading humans and their cameras. It is theorized that the creature must be highly sensitive to the presence and approach of humans to so effectively keep hidden from them.

Bigfoot's mastery of hide-and-seek may meet its match, however, if the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) is successful in implementing its latest high-tech plan to capture the hairy one on film and video: motion-triggered cameras and even webcams. The benefit to these self-operating or remote-controlled devices is that humans do not need to be present to operate them. Bigfoot, they hope, won't know the cameras are there.

Thom Powell is head of BFRO's Wireless Wilderness Project that aims to place wireless webcams and microphones in areas where Bigfoot has previously been spotted. Triggered by movement, the webcams would turn on only when something moves in front of them. True, they are likely to catch a lot of deer, squirrels and other common wildlife as they move through the forest, but there's always the chance that Bigfoot will make an appearance. And that would lend tremendous credibility to the pursuit of the creature. "The impact that such evidence would have on cryptozoology would help sway certain scientific parties," said Powell. "[Bigfoot researchers] are tired of being the point men on the 'does it exist?' debate."  BFRO is currently seeking funding for the project.

Will we ever solve the mystery of Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape or Yeti? Perhaps we shouldn't lump them all together; they may each be very different creatures and represent quite different mysteries. But with expeditions and investigations on the increase and with the help of some high-tech tools, we may very well be close to discovering what some of these strange beasts are. 

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