In Search of Sasquatch

Sasquatch? Or something else?

When I was 10, I read Stranger Than Science by Frank Edwards, a book that detailed unexplained events from throughout history and around the world. That reading sparked a life-long interest in the bizarre, the strange, the weird. and the inexplicable, a passion my wife claims helps to explain my choice of friends.

So that's why it wasn't odd to find us in the auditorium of the National Geographic Museum at noon today for a showing of the documentary The Search for Bigfoot, another film in the ongoing  Mysteries of Science series.

Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, has supposedly been making appearances, mostly in the far western mountain parts  of the United States, since the first settlers appeared. Sightings and footprints are unclear. Is it a large ape or  some unknown giant species. Is it science? Is it science fiction? Or is it simply a hoax?

For the documentary, a large number of scientists used their differing skills to try and resolve the issue. They created and then scrutinized a new digital copy of the most known piece of Bigfoot evidence, a grainy 1967 film that purports to show Bigfoot sloughing through a forest creek bed. They retraced tracked ground. They studied footprints. They used the latest DNA research to examine hair and fur samples. They trained a 7-foot actor to walk like the captured image, then compared it to computer generated models. They even studied Hollywood makeup artists to see if a creature such as the one seen on the film could have been artistically engineered.

And the result of all that work? The evidence is still inconclusive. So it appears that until Bigfoot shows up for a nationally televised press conference, the controversy can continue.

Tales, Tidbits, and Traveling Tips
Obviously, the legend of Bigfoot was included in Edwards' writings. But it was the story of the strange disappearance of David Lang that really got me hooked. Lang, a native of Tennessee,  vanished forever in 1880 while walking in a field in full view of his family and an area judge. His voice, calling faintly for help until it faded away forever, was heard by his children 1 year from his disappearance. A great story, guaranteed to generate sleepless nights, or at least an aversion to walking in fields. There was only 1 problem. It wasn't true. A check of local records showed that no David Lang had lived in the area in the 1880s. But even though it was only a hoax, it still makes for a great campfire tale today. And, who knows? Maybe Bigfoot will stop by to listen.