In numerous ways, conspiracies have an impact on human perception and thinking. Even though there are many conspiracies involving various topics all over the world, the Bigfoot idea has fascinated a lot of people. Bigfoot is described in numerous ways by different people. The majority of people who claim to have encountered it, however, describe it as a muscular, hairy, bipedal ape-like creature coated in dark reddish, black, or dark brown hair. In some accounts, particulars like the low-set forehead have been mentioned. Since many scientists doubt its reality, Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, has been portrayed as a simian-like creature that lives in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. (Townsend). This paper explores the Bigfoot conspiracy theory while determining whether it addresses a valid concern.
The primary mannerism of achieving the objectives of this paper is to evaluate the evidence pointing towards the existence of the Bigfoot. Numerous scientists have indulged in the exploration of the different pieces of evidence that point out towards the existence of Bigfoot with the sole aim of establishing other factors surrounding the life of this creature. The evidence of the existence of Bigfoot can be characterized into eyewitness accounts, footprints, somatic samples, Bigfoot voices, and most importantly, recording.
The Bigfoot theory, like many other conspiracies, must have some claims of eyewitness accounts (Townsend). However, in this particular case, anecdotes and eyewitness accounts constitutes of the greatest bulk of the Bigfoot evidence. However, most legal experts have referred to this sort of evidence as the weakest due to its unreliability. Eyewitness evidence could also be compromised as it depends on the comprehension and visual abilities of the individual who witnesses an event or occurrence. Investigators dealing with the issue of Bigfoot have in the past disregarded eyewitness evidence in favor of expert testimony. Consequently, the scientists who have witnessed the creatures have failed to provide their observations in a logical and scientific manner thereby making the Bigfoot a conspiracy theory.
Scientists have recovered some somatic samples consisting of the blood and hair samples that are believed to be Bigfoot’s (Sykes et al. 2). However, the validity of this type of evidence cannot be determined due to several inconsistencies (Sykes et al. 3). The determination of DNA from these samples has also been made difficult as the root must be available. Another form of evidence that might have helped Bigfoot investigators are the sound recordings of vocalizations. Sierra Sounds, a renowned company currently markets CDs called “The Bigfoot Recordings: The Edge of Discovery.” The sounds are a series of howls, growls, and guttural grants. Sound recordings might be the closest piece of evidence pointing out to Bigfoot’s existence.
The tracks or footprints of Bigfoot are considered as some of the most notable evidence of existence. Consequently, the name of this creature originated from this type of evidence that it left behind (Dennett 2). Unlike other pieces of evidence, the footprints act as a physical exhibit of the existence of a given animal. While many Bigfoot investigators highly recognize footprints as a key lead, skeptics have come out to declare that the tracks are inconsistent thereby disregarding this form of evidence. Some of the footprints indicate that toes are properly aligned while others indicate splayed toes. Also, the footprints that have been found would be of other creatures rather than the Bigfoot (Dennett 4). Therefore, this evidence is valid making the Bigfoot conspiracy theory of great concern.
The Bigfoot Investigation received a boost following a 16-mm film that was taken by Bob Gimlin and Robert Patterson in the mid-20th century. This film showed Bigfoot walking across a clearing and is crucial since the casts ensured that the Bigfoot tracks were made close to a gold standard (Buhs 136). However, a group of critics have claimed that the filmed creature might be a hoax. The film, on the contrary, was of the highest quality as per the standards of that time demonstrating that it could not have been faked. Grover Krantz placed an argument that there existed several similarities between the feature in the film and humans as the size lied within the human limits. However, the chest of Bigfoot is impossibly large (Buhs 206). The film has also been suspected for numerous reasons. The individual taking the film, Patterson, informed people that he was going to capture Bigfoot on camera (Buhs 142). Many other individuals had tried the same but walked out empty handed. Many critics believe that Patterson’s primary interest was to acquire profits and fame. Basing on the information that can be gathered from the recordings, Bigfoots existence is questionable. Patterson’s main drive of making the film would be financial and other forms of interests thereby jeopardizing the authenticity of the piece of evidence, but the film cannot be proved as corrupted. Therefore, Bigfoot conspiracy addresses a valid concern that is of a great magnitude.
In conclusion, Bigfoot conspiracy theories have had numerous evidence, but only a few are not legit. Bigfoot investigators have strived to gather these pieces of evidence and determine their authenticity with most of them having loopholes. Therefore, it is conclusive to state that the Bigfoot conspiracy theory addresses a valid concern. There exist numerous facts indicating that Bigfoot is real. This paper only addresses four crucial pieces of evidence.
Works Cited
Buhs, Joshua Blu. Bigfoot: the life and times of a legend. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2009.
Dennett, Michael. "Science And Footprints". Skeptical Inquirer, vol 32, no. 6, 2008, pp. 1-6.
Sykes, Bryan C., Rhettman A. Mullis, Christophe Hagenmuller, Terry W. Melton, and Michel Sartori. "Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and." 2014.
Townsend, Mitchel. "Is Bigfoot Real? Emerging Scientific Evidence". Ancient Origins, 2016, http://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/bigfoot-real-emerging-scientific-evidence-005737?nopaging=1.
