Classic Bigfoot Cases
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 21st, 2008
In these days of blobsquath and bad Bigfoot footage, it is often forgotten that some cases which are taken as landmark sightings use to just be “sightings in the Sasquatch file.”
Take a break from the claims of a Bigfoot body and the repeating eBay auctions for a “Bigfoot hunter,” to stop for a moment to view part of this old documentary, Bigfoot: Man or Beast (1972).
The film captures interviews with eyewitnesses familiar from your readings of Bigfoot material, e.g. Fred Beck and Albert Ostman. Also, you can see here early investigators Ron Olson and John Green.
I think one of the most intriguing selections is an interview with William Roe’s daughter, who discusses how she and her father worked together on her famed Sasquatch drawing, seen below.
The drawing was done in 1958, by Roe’s daughter from his description of what he said he saw in 1955, in British Columbia.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Great post Loren. Yes,I yearn for the days of old. When “researchers” were really researchers,not just a bunch of greedy people looking to make money or grab their 15 minutes of fame. These documentaries were the greatest. This is exactly the type of film that hooked me as a youngster. I miss these types of documentaries,the men who were featured and the days when you had people with a “real” interest and love for this field. I think,like most things today,cryptozoology is in a very sad state. I literally cringe when I see some of the so called “researchers” being interviewed or supposedly representing all of us. Ugh. Thankfully,we do have Loren,Jeff Meldrum and a few others to carry on the search and do it in a professional and respectful manner. Great little look back..for those young people who may not have seen these type of docs,they should have a great time with these little clips. Do you remember watching these films? Do you remember the excitement and mystery that just hooked you and reeled you in?? I sure do! Peace.
Oh man did that bring back memories – the opening music, the eagle, “A Rainbow adventure Film”, wow!
I saw that documentary as a 16 yr. old in a theater in Willimantic, CT back in ’72 when it came out. My father came along, he thought it was a big joke but I was hooked; have been ever since. Dad has come around since then a bit, even got him to read part of Jeff Meldrum’s book.
So good to watch this again. Reminds me of the nature films we were exposed to in the classroom way back in the early 60’s. Thanks
Despite the lack of all modern computer techniques people like using in most documentaries these days, this seems more interesting than most later stuff I’ve seen. For instance, they appear to spend more time describing actual reports and interviewing witnesses than getting their own gorilla suit and stuffing some actor in there to do the Bigfoot waltz, then telling you none of it proves anything anyway. When documentaries have nothing real to say, maybe they shouldn’t say it.
Imagine the DNA evidence that could have been on that street sign!
Great stuff! I think most of us here have all seen the articles, posts, or stories in book form on most of these sightings. But to see it in video, from the actual witnesses, is really a special treat! Thanks for supplying that.
The thing that struck me while viewing this, was the credibility of the witness accounts. It was matter of fact and not embellished, as so many witness accounts are today.
You could actually see the fear in the miner retelling his story of that account.
And who would doubt Albert Ostman’s memory of his encounter? As he was telling the story, you could actually see him mentally picturing and recalling the details as he describes it. No doubt he was there with a family of BFs.
Just awesome stuff! And maybe by listening to those accounts with a new ear, some information may be gained. I agree with the poster that stated, listening to these accounts is more interesting than some of the scientific explanations we hear today.
When the miner was telling his story, I heard something very interesting that he stated. He was describing the hair of the BF as a black that had been turned brown by the sun. Interesting! We always hear of BF as being described as: an apelike creature covered in dark hair or fur. It is always dark reddish brown to black. And sometimes you hear of gray hair coloring mixed in with the normal hair coloring. And most of the time, BF is described as a nocturnal creature. Which makes me wonder. Could the miner’s description be a clue? Is it possible that during certain times of the year or in different geographic locations, BF may not be as nocturnal a being as described by modern day researchers? If it is true that the dark hair was turned brown by the sun, as described so eloquently by the miner, that means they spend part of their 24 hour periods in daylight. If nocturnal, perhaps there are certain areas that BF lay out or bed down in sun or partial sun, thus bleaching their hair from black to brown. Some researchers think they make their homes in caves and only come out at night. But there are many reports of this color hair that the miner described. Maybe that description is accurate and they have a certain food source they desire that is only available during the day. Maybe they get their vitamin D by lying in the sun for partial periods and they must do that as a necessity of life or survival.
I am wondering, could there be different subscpecies of BF. Or could it be that in different times of the year in different geographic locations, that BF do lie or bed down openly in the sun. Or perhaps even more interesting, maybe they spend some hours in the sun and some hours out at night, depending on the food source they are searching for?
Perhaps the miners description has unearthed another clue–pardon the pun! Maybe some investigators should shift from night vision goggles to openly searching near dusk or dawn or even in sunlight for BF. Sure, the account where the BF knocked down the sign was not a daylight account but the others were. The PG footage shows an active BF female. Maybe there is something in the simple words of a simple miner. So even back then, BF could be found during daylight and at night. This makes me think that perhaps they are active twice a day and at least a good portion of that time may be spent in full to partial sunlight. Maybe modern day researchers who set up trail cams and go out beating on trees with night vision goggles are making things a lot more complicated and expensive than they need to be.
There was an eyewitness account of a BF sighting in Maryland years ago that was confirmed not to be a bear by a police officer and also a biologist. I think the police agency that made the report was the DNR, so that gives even more credence to the eyewitness account. That took place during daylight hours too I believe.
Maybe some old footage should be reviewed of eye witness accounts and see if any new theories can be gained from that old but new information. Afterall, the PG footage was shot during the day and the creature was active. A couple of these accounts were also daylight hour accounts because children were out playing and the color of the fur was described.
But it seems today, researchers only search at night. Why is that? Have the habits of the BF changed with human encroachment on their territory? Or are researchers not as savy as they think and are forgetting about these old eyewitness accounts. Come to think of it, there are many daylight accounts of BF on the move.
That old miner got me to thinking and perhaps will motivate others in their thinking and approach to finding the elusive BF. What do you all think about this? I am interesting in hearing the theories of my fellow Cryptomundo readers here! Thanks for your time!
Crytomundo Readers,
I have been through the Bigfoot tracker page and can’t help but think it is very well setup. Despite this I am doubtful they will ever produce one piece of evidence to prove their claim. I mean one of the guys was up a tree with a piece of rope (before he fell out), hoping to catch a bigfoot just wandering along underneath him. It really was ridiculous and probably an insult to people like Loren Coleman who actually approach this subject in a scientific manner. Although there is a small hope inside me that these bumbling rednecks might have just stumbled onto something amazing (even if they probably didn’t deserve to), Hopefully time will give us a definitive answer. I will have my eyes peeled to this website over the next month to find out.
Cheers
I too yearn for the ‘old days’ when the idea of sasquatch was a lot more plausible……..long before every Tom Dick and Harry were reporting them in just about every part of the U.S.
I had never heard of this film until now. It makes me wish to see all of it. Thanks for providing us the opportunity to see it.