There really are big, hairy ape men hiding in American forests. At least that’s what a group of scientists in Texas would like you to believe after they spent five years and $500,000 dollars to obtain what they consider undeniable evdence that Bigfoot exists.
According to an ABC news report, “a group of Sasquatch researchers who have been collecting over 100 pieces of evidence over the past five years, screened “never-before-seen HD video” of the alleged creature at a news conference in Dallas on Tuesday.”
Three of the clips shown to reporters claim to depict a juvenile Bigfoot walking in the woods, another “older” Bigfoot’s face, and a third, very short video clip from 2005, reportedly showing a sleeping Bigfoot.
The footage, which came from a similar effort called The Erickson Project, led by Adrian Erickson, included what the group said was a Sasquatch moving through wooded areas in Kentucky.
Dr. Melba Ketchum, who has led the group of researchers called the Sasquatch Genome Project, has been working on analyzing DNA samples from an unknown hominin species. Ketchum calls the project “a serious study” that concludes the legendary Sasquatch exists in North America and is a human relative that arose approximately 13,000 years ago,” according to the ABC report.
The samples were reportedly submitted from 34 different hominin research sites in 14 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.
Dennis Pfoul, the group’s project manager, also showed footage of footprints of what he believes belongs to a Sasquatch in the snow in Colorado.
Mainstream media has reported both skeptical and derisive responses to the Sasquatch Genome Project’s announcement.
Todd R. Disotell, a professor at the Department of Anthropology at New York University, told ABCNews.com that Ketchum’s research is nonsense.
“It’s just a joke,” he said. “She is a laughing stock of people that are of a community that are already kind of wacko.”
“This was not reported in any scientific way whatsoever. It’s complete junk science, and then she misinterprets it. She hasn’t published in peer-reviewed papers on this stuff. I don’t know how this got put together,” he added.
While some of the Sasquatch Genome Project’s footage is blurry and it is difficult to discern what is really in the photo, there are a couple of high definition shots .
However, the brevity of the clips allows for doubt to overshadow their claims. In the days of the ubiquitous high-definition cell phone and surveillance cameras, who can blame those who remain skeptical of the grainy footage that is often touted as evidence of a Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster or alien space craft?
Check out some of the footage for yourself and tell us if it convinces that Bigfoot exists.
