Moneymaker Speaks Out About Finding Bigfoot: “Caught on Tape”
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on June 14th, 2011
Matt Moneymaker responded earlier today regarding some of the big questions posed by Cryptomundians and other viewers of Finding Bigfoot.
What about the figure that was captured on thermal footage and Matt ran after?
Was it a Bigfoot?
Was the footage that aired the actual footage that was recorded during this encounter?
Here is what Matt had to say about that portion of the episode:
The thing I ran up the hill after was a human — someone who was sneaking around us in the woods trying to watch the production in progress. I said so repeatedly and vehemently at the time, for the cameras, but they edited out all of that in order to make it seem unclear what I was chasing after. They wanted to “preserve some mystery” … at my expense.
I was the only one who got a good look at it through a thermal imager. It was quite clear that it was person wearing clothes and struggling to flank the hillside. I showed the thermal screen to a camera guy and he immediately agreed .. “Yeah, that’s a person up there.”
The video they showed was substituted in (as they typically do), and wasn’t anything like what I saw.
When they showed a thermal clip with a circle around a thermal figure running up the hill … that figure is actually ME chasing after the thing … ironically.
It was pretty bizarre for me to watch that scene … because I was yelling “IT’S A HUMAN !!” during the conversation with Bobo and Ranae, and I said it so many times that I felt certain that the field producers would not be able to cut it out and thereby distort what really happened … but they did.
The production crew did not have my thermal imager plugged into the recorder when this happened. If I had recorded some footage myself they probably would not have used it, except for a brief flash, because it would have clearly shown a human, out-of-breath and clumsily struggling to flank the hillside. There was nothing spooky about it.
As a matter of fact, the person seemed so out of breath and struggling that I figured he would be easy to catch up to. That’s the main reason I ran up there.
When I got to the top of the hill I made a wrong turn and ran all the way down to a creek on one side of the hill, but the person apparently didn’t go that direction. I returned to the top of the hill and then went in a different direction but ran into a wall of brush … by that point the person had enough of a head start to be able to get away.Matt Moneymaker
Feel free to discuss this, your thoughts regarding the show, the research techniques, the evidence, whatever.
You can discuss how you think the cast acted.
What you can’t do is call the cast members names, what you think about them personally, etc.
The discussion is about the show Finding Bigfoot, period.
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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.
So it appears that this show repeatedly HOAXES events or bends and stretches the truth to get a little bit of press time. It appears this show and its lackadaisical approach to providing facts could permanently damage the reputation of all Bigfoot research. It is clear to me that production should cease immediately until editor rights are obtained by the BFRO. Matt if you are in this for the research as opposed to making a dime and gaining some face time for your loyal assistants… Shut this thing down!
Yay for Ranae being the voice of reason! I thought the thermal recreation of Greene’s video was spot on. Bobo looked EXACTLY like the thermal blob did, despite wearing clothing.
The footprints on the macadam were a non starter for me. Same shape for left and right? Same pressure marks regardless of which foot it was using? Same odd splotch of mud at the upper right of each print? No, those were not caused by a living, moving animal.
As for the running after the thermal, I’ll take his word that it was editing mischief and I really don’t care to get into a discussion regarding the nastiness afterwards, although I will side with Ranae that BASIC GUIDELINES need to be drafted and followed, if not to preserve evidence then at least to preserve the health and safety of the staff and crew. Anything less would be foolish.
I have a few questions. Why did you (Matt) take off running if he knew this was just a man? And why did he say after he lost it and radio Bobo that when he got back to them they will view the thermal if he knew it was a person and knew his thermal was not plug into the recorder? How would they be able to review it?
I understand that Animal Planet will edit things around and make it look like something that did not happen or was not there, but Matt said these things, were these also added in or scripted for the show?
And as for Mike Greene thermal that was so easily reproduced why would you still say it a Bigfoot? I would have to agree with Ranae logic on this that it is so close to Mike thermal that it would have to be label as a Human. Not saying it was Hoax by Mike but someone messing with Mike. He did say he had been going there a lot.
Also would like to know about the deer carcass and why you think it was a Bigfoot kill? Others and I on here agree that a deer killed by a bigfoot would leave very little of that deer intact. If a bigfoot was to eat it would gnaw on the bones leaving teeth marks. You said that there was none. Also I think it was flame that said they would more than likely break the bones to eat the marrow, and I would have to agree with that. So there would not be much of this deer carcass left. What I saw on the show was a almost fully intact deer.
Looking forward to your reply. 🙂
I went to the Animal Planet site and found out for myself this morning that the Georgia Bigfoot “Howl in the woods” thermal video was almost a match to the thermal video Caught on Tape “Chasing Bigfoot at night”.
The bad thing for Matt is how he looked in his exchange with his team members over something he now claims “It was quite clear that it was a person wearing clothes and struggling to flank the hillside”.
That’s the problem I have with Matt, on one hand he makes very brash claims on his experience and expertise as a Bigfoot researcher, then on the other hand he makes the same mistakes as a person who has never been out in the woods.
To snap at his female team member and include profanity for her stating her opinion is not professional.
To not be able to identify a thermal hit of a human within seconds, shows that there is still room for Matt to improve, even after 25 years. In both thermal videos my first thought was “looked human” as I have seen human thermal hits before but never a Bigfoot thermal hit.
I understand that Matt is faced with a shady production crew that has done questionable things on the show so far, but for Matt to come here and attack some of us for POINTING OUT those shady activities, is again, not professional.
As much as Matt will hate to admit it, the posters who challenged the evidence those producers put on screen were right in our criticism.
By that same token, Matt should walk away from this show, as this show and it’s producers will ruin “HIS” credibility. Let Tom Biscardi take over, the producers can’t ruin his cred…he has very little left to ruin.
It is great that he came forward and told the truth behind that thermal hit, but it seems has has to do this every show.
There’s an old saying, “If you don’t care where you are, then you ain’t lost”. If you keep doing the show Matt, then you ain’t unhappy.
The truly sad thing is- even if you take away all of the inherent problems everyone has pointed out-
-Matt Moneymaker being an egotistical person who repeatedly states endless FACTS about a creature we still have no solid proof even exists (really? They use power lines as roads? They like peanut butter? YOU CAN’T EVEN PROVE THEY EXIST! Give me actual proof, then feel free to tell me their diet and recreational habits).
-The entire cast having zero personalities
-Animal planet editing/ruining every episode so absolutely nothing is credible or believable anymore
-The entire cast, even Ranae (who is the only one who is AT ALL skeptical) believing everything is a legit sighting (growling and a large black “thing” counts as a legitimate sighting? Really? That’s all it takes?)
…even if you ignore all of that, it is still a horrible, horrible show that consists of 75% painfully boring stories from locals and 25% actual investigation.
And of that 75%, the show somehow manages to repeat the exact same thing 3 or 4 times. Example: Video of a woman telling a story about how she was on the back of an RV and was chased by a bigfoot, followed by cast members repeating her story, followed by her retelling the story where it happened, followed by cast members reenacting the story (I still don’t know why) followed by cast members repeating the story AGAIN and then saying it was a legitimate sighting.
AND, as they proved with this newest episode, their lame and boring reenactments don’t even matter! They all agreed that if a person had stolen the candy bar, it would have shown up completely differently on the thermal, and when it looked exactly the same, they still decided it was legit sighting. Huh?!?!?
And then the 25% of the footage where they actually get something (I think from what I’ve read, even with producers messing with it, they still heard unexplainable noises), they just end it there. 1 night, 5 minutes of footage, show over. How about they spend several nights and entire episodes investigating areas where there have been lots of sightings? All 3 episodes so far have gone the same- they investigate an area, they get something or at least something happens that garners their (and our) interest, and it cuts to a map and they say “We found tons of evidence here, so we decided to drive 150 miles away to somewhere else. Huh?!?!” Nobody cares about hearing some local hick’s story 3 or 4 times- we want to see them FOR ONCE using their brains and using their technology to actually try to find something. Stay in a highly active area UNTIL YOU GET SOMETHING. THEN LEAVE. “Eye witness accounts” have been and always will be a gamble- you NEVER know if these people are telling the truth or not.
It’s a pathetic show, and it breaks my heart that for the first time, a group of people passionate about bigfoot are given money and a national audience to try to find something as legendary as a live bigfoot, and the best they can come up with is interviews, reenactments, and 1 night in the woods with “results” that so far, seem to be 95% edited in. Sad.
I am done with this show.
@ pigdestroyer
“”All 3 episodes so far have gone the same- they investigate an area, they get something or at least something happens that garners their (and our) interest, and it cuts to a map and they say “We found tons of evidence here, so we decided to drive 150 miles away to somewhere else. Huh?!?!”””
This I do not understand either. If I was getting knocks, vocals and other activities I would not leave that area. Is there some kind of you get 1 shot at it and then have to move on?? Also who decides what spot you will try and how long you will stay there??? BFRO??? or AP?????
For me, the show is a huge disappointment, and I think it does harm to the field of cryptozoology, which constantly battles to be taken seriously.
I think most understand that such a show will seek to entertain, and thus, may edit material to heighten suspense, or even to take full advantage of a situation which is ambiguous. But to present unambiguous situations- where those involved clearly KNOW that Bigfoot is not the ‘culprit’ – as possibly Bigfoot-related is flatly deceptive and dishonest. It is a credibility killer. It makes the viewer question whether anything that is presented can be believed. And to the extent that they learn about it, open-minded or skeptical viewers are going to have their worst, most cynical assumptions about Bigfoot research confirmed and validated.
Very, very disappointing.
Of course when doing these kind of documentaries you almost certainly won’t find any (good) evidence of the sasquatch. It’s just way too unlikely given the short time investigating each particular area. Not only that, there’s also too many people and gear. When trying to find bigfoot it’s all about optimizing your chances. I’d say the best way to do this is to scatter groups of preferably no more than only two people over multiple regions in North America each group equipped with both a thermographic camera and a normal hd camera (can you have both features in one camera?). These people should all be geared up as lightly as necessarily possible. Both day and night expeditions should be organized. The most important factor is time. These expeditions should be brought out in the course of weeks instead of just a couple of days. Also the bigfooters should venture deep into the heart of the wilderness, far away from civilization. It’s quite demanding, but I figure it would be the best way to gather bigfoot evidence and perhaps get footage that surpasses that of the Patterson film. Anyway, just felt like sharing that in this post.
If they just want to do a show supposedly “searching” for Bigfoot for strictly entertainment purposes why not just get Shelby Stang from Axe Men and Troy from Swamp People and let them search for the Skunk Ape? Now that would be entertaining! If they really want to do a more professional Bigfoot searching show than they need to replace Moneymaker with Jeff Meldrum and use him along with Bobo and Ranae. That would be a much better team IMO.
I had real hope to get some of the answer to these questions. Wish we could get someone from Animal Planet to come on and inform us on how and why they do things .. We promise to be nice. 🙂
If Matt knew the entire time that it was a human and suggests AP set it up to make it appear otherwise, then why does his voice over suggest otherwise? Clearly the voice over would have been recorded at a later date, and close to the end he summarizes their ‘evidence’ including the possible Bigfoot on thermal. I think he’s backpedaling because he appears rather foolish on the final product.
While Moneymaker is not an endearing figure, it is becoming fairly obvious that the editors and producers of Finding Bigfoot are out to make him the fool. I am not defending Moneymaker, but what we watch is only what the people who make the show want us to see.
I am enjoying the show, though I do have the same concerns that most have voiced here.
This is my first exposure to Matt Moneymaker and it’s pretty unfortunate that the guy comes off (esp in the NC expedition) as so bratty and self-important. The other investigators are far more likeable. I expect that in the next episode, he’ll not only claim to be the first to widely discuss Sasquatches using wood-knocking as a communication device, but he also suggested the idea to them…
@ william
OMG! I would literally pay money to see Troy, Liz, Willie and Jr go out to hunt a swamp ape. Even if they find nothing the entertainment factor would be through the roof. Can you imagine Troy and Jr trying to out-do each other?
Besides, being they live and work in the swamp and hunt for a living they would have a better idea than most when it comes to what makes ‘this’ noise and what made ‘this’ track. Let the people who know do the searching, or at least bring them along and let them lead the way while someone with lab or forensic experience gathers up the evidence.
Again, let’s try to remember that ALL of this nonsense is part of the Quest to FIND BIGFOOT; even our critiques, even these few words, are all data, and, in the end, must be considered if one is evaluating phenomena research techniques… warts and all.
Trekking thru the woods or squatting (squatch squatting?) in a likely spot, in the dark, in the cold of night, waiting for a beast that can apparently see in that dark to make an appearance so one can capture NV, HD, thermal, visual or audio evidence acceptable to the Bigfoot “Community” (not to mention Science’s more demanding parameters) is difficult, particularly when one factors in the personal, physical, psychological, emotional, financial, logistical and other aspects…
Everybody involved in this issue has an agenda, and sometimes those working plans and goals conflict… it’s just human nature.
I think that Finding Bigfoot had a complete meltdown on the last episode. The meltdown combined with the half-truths and questionable actions of the team on other episodes has destroyed an outstanding opportunity to get a funded search with the possibility of gathering some real evidence. Concerning the last episode, Matt ruined a good opportunity to gather some footage by just taking off and running through the woods directly at it. After that happened we all know about the argument. During the heated discussion Bobo stated that he did not think a human could disappear that quickly. Moneymaker was saying he wanted to get video and he knew what he was doing. I do not think the producers edited out anything Matt said about it being a human because everything he said afterward indicated he thought it was a “squatch”. If it were a human why did he not catch up to it or at least film with the thermal imager. That human/bigfoot would be visible a long way with its heat signature. However, like others here I immediately recognized the similarity of video from a previous episode. It looked almost identical although I erased that episode and was unable to compare side by side. One other point that many on the forum have already pointed out, why drive hundreds of miles for evidence when the area you are in produced a lot of audible and some thermal evidence. I would be there everynight planning how to intercept the creature or find out the best areas to set up equipment. One night and gone is a complete waste of time unless they are getting paid by the mile. I do not know what is going on with this production but you can hear grunts and growls at various times on the show with no one commenting on the sounds. I can only assume these are sounds that are edited in to heighten the “drama”. Another investigation should be carried out by an organization and production crew that has some humility and integrity. The GIANT EGO is a turn off. I think Moneymaker just blew the investigation and the entire series as far as I am concerned. I cannot trust the evidence and I can’t stand someone stating every piece of evidence is genuine sasquatch evidence. Get some real investigators. We do not necessarily need the most “experienced and knowledgeable” investigator in the United States.
I reaily had hope Matt would reply to some of the questions. Seems he does not want to debate or explain what happened.
As far as the show goes, reality TV. They’ll find nothing. I agree with Thebeardedman. A bunch of people tromping around in the woods with lights, equipment etc. aren’t going to find anything. I’ve always thought it would be a good idea if hot spots were selected and trail cams were put in place for as long as possible (no people around). If nothing is found, move them somewhere else. I’ll admit I don’t know how long those things can last on a battery, but it seems a better idea than 30 people crashing around. But THAT wouldn’t make for good TV.