Breaking News: Memorial Day Bigfoot Filmmaker Killed
Posted by: Loren Coleman on October 3rd, 2011
No other piece of Bigfoot film has become so tied to one specific holiday on the calendar as one taken in 1996. For those that say we only have the Patterson-Gimlin film to discuss, they often forget about the Memorial Day footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VksD8wnq54
Now tragic news has received me that Owen Pate, who was behind the camera when the footage was taken, has died. Owen Pate, who was the CEO of OLPATE (advertising and marketing) in Ravensdale, Washington State, died there, over the weekend, in an automobile crash. It was a one-car accident. He went off the road and was thrown from the car sometime Friday evening.
Owen Pate, on the extreme left, is shown with family members at a Seattle Seahawks game.
The Pate’s footage is a Hi-8mm video shows what may be a rapidly moving Bigfoot, going from left to right. It was videotaped on May 26, 1996, by Lori and Owen Pate while they were on a fishing trip with family and friends at Chopaka Lake, in Okanogan County, north central Washington. It was preceded by two sightings of an anthropoid, hair-covered seemingly bipedal hominoid, at lesser distances, by others on the trip.
The Memorial Day video shows a figure, matching the description of a Bigfoot, running across a hill. It disappears behind a less-inclined, sloped area, then reappears briefly, walking this time, before going into the trees at the extreme right of the frame.
Some have declared that it is the second-best piece of Bigfoot film/video footage, after the Patterson-Gimlin film.
It was the third clip analyzed in the program Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science (the so-called Exhibit 8). The History documentary produced and directed by Doug Haijcek (today mostly recalled for MonsterQuest), was released January 9, 2003. In the hour-long program, the location where the Memorial Day footage was taken is used to make forensic measurements to determine the film subject’s height, path, speed, and stride by measuring the subject against fixed objects in the background.
The news of Owen Pate’s death is a shocker. We send out our condolences to the Pate family. (Additional updates will be added here.)
The Seattle Times published the following:
Owen Curtis PATE Owen was born February 4th, 1955 in Bremerton Washington. He was the oldest of five brothers and his sister. His life here on Earth ended tragically at 11:45 on the evening of September 30th, 2011, as he left to go to work. Owen worked for the Boeing Company for 25 years. Left behind to remember Owen are children Haley Natalie and Calder and wife Lori. Owen’s mother Joyce, Father Max and step-mother Vicki. Owen will also be remembered by his brothers Evan, Jerry, Michael, and Ryan and his sister Nicole. Owen lived his life for his children and his family.He sought out new and exciting adventures that will give us all many wonderful memories. He will be missed.
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.
My condolences to his family and friends for this tragic loss. Descanse en Paz.
My family and I give our condolences to Owen’s family.
Sad news. My deepest sympathy to his family.
Small correction: Lori was behind the camera.
This is sad news. I’ll be sure to pray for his family tonight.
@Lu Ann, there is some dispute who was behind the camera, as some say that both Lori and Owen were operating the camera that day. As you mention, most histories credit just Lori. They certainly both shared the copyright for the footage, as it turned out.
Owen Pate and his wife had the courage to step forward and show the world what they had captured on video. They did this knowing they may be subjecting themselves to ignorant comments from all the “disbelievers” out there. I have watched the video many many times as well as the scientific investigations that followed. All we have to do is think for a moment with an open mind and consider the possibility that they actually filmed a Sasquatch running across the hillside. I am proud of them for having the courage to step up to the plate and show the world their film footage.
There are many many people out there who have seen things that they have never talked about to anyone, mainly do to the possible ridicule they might face.
My condolences go out to the Pate family. In my eyes, Owen was a brave man who had the guts to stand up for what he believed in. It is my opinion that the footage is authentic!
Sincerely, Mitchel A. Sorrell O’Fallon, Il