Bigfoot - at Home in Pennsylvania

Bigfoot, or Sasquatch as he is also known, is allegedly a huge, hairy, humanlike creature with long arms, reputed to live in the wooded or mountainous regions of North America and Canada. Sightings of Bigfoot were first reported in parts of the United States and Canada, and as early as the early 1600s by Native Americans. Many believed Bigfoot was a spirit and could change into other animal shapes at will. Since then, there have been hundreds of reports of a large, fur covered hominid or ape-like creature with distinguishing characteristics of big feet (normally a 16"-20" footprint) and accompanied by a foul odor.

Others have tried to cash in on the legend or myth of Bigfoot by staging scenes where they claim to have found Bigfoot, with a recent event happening in 2008. Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer of Georgia held a press conference where they claimed they had found a body of a dead Bigfoot. It was soon proven to be nothing more than a hoax (and a fake gorilla suit). When another man, Ray Wallace of Centralia, Washington died in 2002, his family claimed that he started the resurgence of Bigfoot sightings when he created footprints carved out of wood. That claim has never been conclusively proven. However, a piece of film shot by Roger Patterson in 1967 still generates a great deal of controversy by Bigfoot skeptics, but is considered by many believers of Bigfoot to be one of the few pieces of "real evidence" that the creature does exist.

Even so, it is extremely interesting to note that similar stories from around the world include sightings of ape-like creatures that walk upright just as humans do. One of the most well known creatures is the Yeti, also known as the Abominable Snowman, which has supposedly been seen in the higher reaches of the Himalaya Mountains of Asia. Other creatures of the same size and description include the Yeren or Xuren, also called the Wildman of China (and is believed to eat people), along with the Yowie of Australia. The types of people reporting sightings have included ordinary citizens who came across as very credible eyewitnesses and from every occupation consisting of homemakers to construction workers to biologists.

Although these alleged claims of seeing Bigfoot have occurred in at least 48 states of the US, Pennsylvania is known as one of the top states for Bigfoot with sightings reported in all but a few counties. In fact, rated at number 4, preceded only by California, Washington, and Oregon - over 900 sightings have been noted since 1830. Yet not a single Bigfoot body, Bigfoot bones, or any type of Bigfoot remains has been found. More importantly, the sightings have continued to be reported as recently as this year of 2009.

One of the most recent sightings occurred in September 2009 when a woman from Fayette County believes she saw Bigfoot, stating, "it was big and human-looking, human like ape-looking. . . "Bigfoot investigator Eric Altman, a self-professed "open-minded skeptic", said that from July 10 (with a Bigfoot sighting near Uniontown, PA) to the end of September 2009, seven reports had been investigated from the same area.

Altman hosts a Bigfoot convention in Jeanette, PA almost every year with the next convention scheduled for October 2011. He is also the director of a not for profit, non-kill organization called the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, which investigates submitted reports of Bigfoot sightings and provides expeditions, outings, and both old and new reports to its members. If you are not willing to wait for the PBS convention, another convention is scheduled for May 15, 2010 in Ohio. More information on this convention may be found at the 22nd Annual Bigfoot Conference / EXPO website.

If you decide to take a Bigfoot vacation, Pennsylvania is a great place to start your own search for Bigfoot - but do remember to take the right tools to document your findings. You should consider a camera and/or video equipment, plaster of Paris in order to preserve footprints, evidence bags to store hair or spoor, and keep an up to date journal. New species are being discovered every day including primates.

Nor would the discovery of Bigfoot be surprising since many animals have been found alive in this century that were previously considered myths or classified as extinct. After all, remember the coelacanth, a fish that was believed to be extinct for over 65 million years - until it was caught off the coast of South Africa in 1938. Or, the discovery of the near mythical animal described as a cross between a giraffe and a zebra, known to us today as the Okapi.

With several sightings reported in our backyard of Westmoreland Co, PA, I am going Bigfoot hunting at our farm. If anything is found, I will be back to report on the subject - extensively and at length. Then again, I am still waiting on the Dodo bird to return.

Sources:
Pennsylvania Bigfoot Sightings
Pennsylvania one of top states for Bigfoot sightings
Westmoreland County, PA Sightings
Motorist Has Near Collision With Bigfoot In Pennsylvania
2 Local Men Working To Track Down Bigfoot