Get The Vote Out – For Bigfoot!
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 4th, 2006
On Saturday, November 4, 2006, the CNN Poll was conducting a survey (probably due to the Meldrum publicity) that read: “Do you believe that Bigfoot exists?”
Update: The poll has been taken down. See end of this blog for more final thoughts.
You can respond “Yes” or “No.”
If you would like to “vote,” go to the CNN page (link here) and scroll down to the poll. It’s on the lower right side of the page. At 9:30 am Eastern, it’s still up and probably will be for several more hours.
As of when I am posting this, of 21,909 votes cast, the “Yes” results are 32% (7015 votes) versus “No” at 68% (14,894 votes).
Of course, they haven’t heard from most of us yet!
Despite my dislike for the use of the word “believe” in cryptozoology, for this one, I voted “Yes.”
I’ll check these popular culture results later to see if they change.
BTW, has anyone heard even one candidate in the USA mention “Bigfoot,” “cryptozoology,” or “cryptotourism”?
UPDATE: 11:30 AM Eastern – The poll has disappeared.
Only a few hours after this blog was posted, the poll ended. No, there is no conspiracy here, it just is that the news has moved on to worries about Iraq, the CIA, sex scandals, and the election.
The final results I was able to capture, at about 11 A.M., showed 29,384 votes recorded, with a breakdown of 32% (9406) for “Yes” and 68% (19,978) for “No.”
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.
Its all those damned negative ads that Nessie is running!
I don’t particularly like the word “believe” either. It’s too much like “Do you believe in ghosts” or “Do you believe in the after life”, a leap of faith type feel to it. But I didn’t know about this site, so i think I will go there and put in a “Yes”.
I voted for Bigfoot!
ME 2
The poll is gone now.
I wish Bigfoot would run for office, I’d vote form him/her/it over any politician I know.
Atleast Prof. Meldrum is keeping and open mind with his research and I would suggest the rest of the science community should do the same. On a lighter note if the hairy guy did run for office I would vote for him..lol
Biggie is at 59% on the AOL poll.
Actually, I’m as happy as heck about this poll. I remember years ago, a poll only had 18% believing in the existance in bigfoot. With almost 1/3 of the population thinking that b.f. will be discovered is quite a feat. Sure all of us who study b.f. would like a bigger increase. But at this time, I am satisfied. Sure better than if the numbers had gone down !
Well CNN is not really the place to be hosting a poll such as this. It just does’nt seem right. Today theres a story on the front page of AOL.com and they have a poll with the same question. Here are the results as of 11/4/06 4:30 PM EST
Do you think Bigfoot exists?
Yes 59%
No 41%
Total Votes: 122,859
Just voted on AOL, and saw something around 58% to 42%.
Very likely this poll only reflected those who are adamantly for or against the idea of Bigfoot. As such, it really does not reflect the common man’s thinking. Most people I have asked about this had heard of the name “Bigfoot” but little else and most were receptive to the idea that there must be something to the stories. Thus, it’s better to take polls like this with a grain of salt.
I wish that the poll would say “Do you believe there is a possibility that Bigfoot exists?” I could not answer Yes or No to the question “Do you believe that Bigfoot exists?”. But I’ll be darned if I’ll dismiss the possibility.