Speaking of the Face of Bigfoot
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on June 27th, 2006
Loren mentioned here on Cryptomundo yesterday that the Animal X show had been sold for viewing in Europe. Myself and the TBRC had participated in the filming of this episode in an around our 4th Annual Texas Bigfoot Conference in October of 2004. They interviewed myself, several of the TBRC members, some of our eyewitnesses, along with most of our speakers that year.
They also went out on an expedition with Chester Moore. The interviews and footage from our conference ended up on the cutting room floor because they wanted to focus on "The Face of Bigfoot."
Is this the face of Bigfoot? We think so…
This picture was captured on a recent expedition to a secret location in the US by the ANIMAL X – NATURAL MYSTERY UNIT accompanied by Bigfoot researcher Chester Moore.
The vision of Bigfoot’s face will appear in a new episode of Storyteller Media Group’s internationally acclaimed long running cult series Animal X – The Natural Mystery Unit.
The new series premieres in the US on Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet on Monday 21st March 2005.
The series, hosted by arguably Australia’s oldest working actor, Bill Kerr (Year of Living Dangerously, Gallipoli, Changi, Dam Busters, Hancock’s Half Hour etc) with investigators Natalie Schmitt (Zoologist and Animal Behaviourist) and Daniel Searle (Cinematographer and Naturalist), investigates some of nature’s most intriguing mysteries.
During the filming the crew was stalked by the creature, which also displayed defensive behavior. This behavior was in the form of vocalizing and tree and branch braking. It’s also thought the creature may have taken one of its high tech stealth cameras, left in the bush to capture the creature on video tape.
The episode titled "Texas Bigfoot" follows the crew’s journey into a forest at an undisclosed destination. During this time they had a number of encounters with a large unknown animal, believed to be an un-described North American Primate known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch.
The still attached is from a sequence of around 12 frames of video which captured the creature as the cameraman swung around to where investigator Natalie Schmitt was pointing. She had been speaking to camera with investigator and cinematographer Daniel Searle when she spotted the creature moving in the bush.
I think that it is nothing more than light and shadows, with some leaves and tree branches thrown in for good measure.
What do the readers of Cryptomundo see in the photo?
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
I also see Jerome the Giraffe, Waldo the Wolverine and Fuzzy Bear in the photo.
Classic blobsquatch.
That shouldn’t even count as a blobsquatch. It’s more like a Rorschach test made out of leaves and branches.
Either Bigfoot has the floating, bodiless head of a cartoon character or that’s just foliage and shadows. All the leaves and branches making up that illusion aren’t even in the same plane. The branch that creates the image of the mouth and jawline and the leaves that give it eyes and a brow are several yards in front of the brownish blob that is perceived as the head. If that branch weren’t in the foreground, there wouldn’t be the illusion of a face at all.
Elvis?
Anybody can see whatever they want to see in that photo. But back to the full photo, who’s reflection is there like a ‘ghost’ just to the right of center? I am assuming it is a reflection one one of the party somehow caught in the lens.
The term is Pareidolia. It is your mind trying to make sense of vague or jumble up stimulus. Your mind takes the chaos and converts it into something recognizable. The most common form of this is seeing shapes in clouds. That old game where you try to find recognizable shapes in clouds like Abe Lincoln or bunny rabbits. The Rorschach ink blot test uses pareidolia in trying to discern someones mental state althought there is no emperical confirmation of success. I’m afraid that is all we have here is pareidolia.
I am amazed there is so much criticism of this photo when nobody has seen the video it was taken from. It is difficult to tell if Animal X is a legit show or just entertainment. The context of the above photo is that one of “scientists” saw this figure moving to her left and directed to cameraman to sweep the area. If the show is legit, the movement on her left scared the crap out of her. As the camera panned from left to right, the image was recorded. When the camera reversed direction and came back, that image was no longer there, but the camera was at the same angle. There was a definite object that was there and a few seconds later was not. It was not branches or leaves as some have suggested. It could have been a reflection, but it sure didn’t look like it in the video clip.
leaves and shadow… (with a vine thrown in for good measure)
The brown leaf in the foreground on the bottom of the photo gives this blobsquatch away. The colors are identical to the colors of the “face”. There may have been one in the area but this wasn’t him/her.
~Sigh…….~
Well, I’d love to see that clip because all that is in this picture is leaves and branches.
Digger 44,
I did see the footage that shows this still image. Animal X provided me with a DVD copy of the show, as I participated in the production of it.
Watching the footage on the show, to me, it is apparent that this “face” was nothing but light, shadows, leaves and branches.
I am not discounting that Natalie may have seen movement of some kind, but I do not think that this “face” is any part of a creature that she may have seen.
Chester Moore told me personally that he did not endorse this “face” as what Animal X is/was purporting it to be. He also told me at the time that this press release was issued, that he was not going to promote it on his website because of the aforementioned reason.
It looks alot more like Donald Duck to me.
Craig Woolheater,
Thank you for your info. The reason I read this site is because of the logical common sense that this article illustrates. I won’t bash any other organization that I have previously followed, however thank you for the facts.
I certainly am not saying that it is a face. It just seemed to me that something was there going one direction and it wasn’t there coming back. As said before, light and reflections play tricks. It is at best a blob, but there is a chance that it is not just a light, leaf, and branch game. It was just kinda weird how nothing resembled that formation a few seconds later on the sweep back. If I remember correctly, they searched the area and found nothing. I just can’t discount the “face” theory 100%, because however small the chance may be, there is still a chance. Just another challenge to go and get authentic footage.
I spy something green, brown, long, and oh yeah! trees, and I see another tree, some leaves, and wow, even some vines!
The reflected image I am speaking of – obviously human – is between the vines in the center and the rightmost tree.
I can see a ‘face’ but what tells me it is an illusion is Where is the rest of the body? I see no hint of massive shoulders or even a torso.
The thing that bothers me most about the article/video is the use of a “secret location.” Just about every article in the Weekly World News cites “leading scientists” and “secret locations.” Of course, there’s a disclaimer inside the cover of every issue that the stories are entirely fiction. This show’s lack of details and lame claim that the tree branches make a face leads me to believe that this show is purely of the tabloid fiction genre. Obviously, I wasn’t there for the filming, but I’m wondering if some of the participants were coached to react whether anything was there or not. I’ve been on a couple of TLC’s “reality” shows, and everything from a character’s emotional confession to an audience response is scripted or coached by the producer.
While I’m happy that the show may spark new interest in cryptozoology, I think it hurts instead of helps the credibility of the science.
Well, the show is not tabloid fiction. Natalie seems like a very level-headed person not prone to become exited over little or nothing. At the meeting she explained to a few of us what happened at the time and was disturbed over it. I don’t think she was faking or coached, but was honestly shaken. Now I don’t know if that relates to what showed up in the video (looks like a random image made by plants to me) but who knows? She pointed and they filmed, and that’s what was in it. And she was scared. Yarri
All I can say is this: I think that if that image were an actual animal, you’d see a whole lot more than a ghostly visage. It’s just too close to the camera to show up that poorly, never mind to match the surrounding foliage that well.
And as to Natalie being shaken: I was hiking in Pelican Valley in Yellowstone years ago. It’s a grizzly bear hangout, and there had been a couple of recent nasty encounters between hikers and griz. I was alone, and on edge; it was like walking through a bad neighborhood. A raven suddenly lifted off out of the grass, dozens of yards to my left. I jumped a foot in the air.
Not saying she didn’t see something, but saying for sure that when you kind of expect to, the things you do see can have the damndest effect on you.
We at WLGhostChatters call that “Stucco Ceiling Syndrome”.
There are parts of the same brownish colour down below, however depth and colour pattern tells me this is either an amazingly coloured bigfoot, or, as mike2k1 says, pareidolia caused by the particular patterning of foliage, trunks and sunlight/shadow.
I would also like to hold out hope that I am completely wrong and this is a shot of the real deal.
Clearly light and shadows. No question.
More undeniable proof of bigfoot. 😉
12 frames of video as the camera swung around. Translation: 1/2 second of blurry video.
Is is just me or does that face look way to big for a 6-8 ft creature?
I think it is a true blobsquatch. Probabaly just shadows and leaves and a tree limb. But the fact she thought something was there and pointed to that area, ahh heck, who knows. I do not think BF here but he is out there somewhere.
I agree with the Pareidolia theory. I read somewhere (probably a paper) that almost a quarter of your brain is dedicated to facial recognition. Hence forth when you see something not recognisable, your brain trys to make a face out of it. Its also how we are able to tell each other apart. Interesting side note, there are people out there without this functionality of the brain who don’t have the ability to tell one person from another person.
Great Scott!! It’s a
Bisjord-Beckardi Beast!!
It’s right THERE ~
can’t you see it??
There’s one behind every tree, rock or bush in wild America!!
I’d like to see the video.
For those that would like to see the video, Storyteller Media Group, the production company that filmed the series for Animal Planet, has that episode, along with all of the other episodes from that season of Animal X, for sale on their website.
And for the low, low price of only $24.95, it can be yours. Postage and handling charges may apply. Contents may settle during transit.
i think it is light and branches. it seems too 2 d even for TV. she may very well have seen something in the brush and they believe they had a Bigfoot encounter. they may have but i dont think this face is part of it.
i like all the game cam pic’s this site is generating and all the interest this site and recent TV shows generate. they all bring in more reports and info. if for nothing else than the info they generate they are worth their production costs.
a face in the trees? no more interest in Bigfoot because of it. YES!
of course it could be, but I’m not sure if I could have made that out without anyone telling me what I was suppose to look for. For all I know it could just be a mound of dirt.
Science demands evidence.
I agree with #7 (Digger44) in a way. To paraphrase: It is difficult to tell if Cryptomundo is legit research or just entertainment.
Mr. Goerman,
What’s so hard to understand? Cryptomundo is a cryptozoology news and commentary site.
It has never claimed to be a research site.
And as has been noted on another comment thread, Mr. Goerman, your calling this site “Crypto-Tattler” is not good form, nor is dismissing the many good people that wish to share their insights and comments here.
I am actually surprised by your continued tone, considering you have written on researchers being polite to each other.
Fuzzy that was the best damn comment on this. Two thumbs up!and a bigtoe to boot.
The thing that bothers me most about the article/video is the use of a “secret location.”
Reseachers keep these locations secret so they aren’t overrun with media or pranksters while they are conducting research. Also, a lot of these locations are on private property.
Where are the other frames?
That portion of the painting has the resolution of a painting by monet.
I think it’s the crypto-wrestler, Elvis “The Alien” Bigfoot.
In other words, it’s clearly the play of light and shadows, and color contrasts.
I was wondering where my Chewbacca costume went…