Do You Believe in Bigfoot?
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on January 27th, 2016
Dr. Meldrum got started on Bigfoot research after discovering Sasquatch footprints.
If you grew up, traveled to or spent any time in the Northwest, chances are you have heard stories of a giant bipedal ape roaming the mountains, clandestinely living in the shadows off of whatever shrubs and plants it can find.
When it comes to Sasquatch, there are three types of people: those who believe in Sasquatch or Bigfoot without a doubt, those who do not believe due to insufficient evidence and those who are open minded to the idea but don’t have a preference one way or another.
Jeffrey Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and physical anthropology in the Department of Biological Sciences at ISU, has a slightly different way of admitting belief.
“I don’t like to use the word believe,” Meldrum said, “The ideological skeptics out there use ‘true believer’ as a derogatory label on people who are open-minded to this subject. For many people, in common usage, belief has a connotation of faith that is more or less the acceptance of something in the absence of evidence. I’m convinced that Sasquatch exists on the basis of the evidence.”
Meldrum’s studies didn’t begin with chasing evidence for this possible phenomenon and they don’t end there. His research focuses on locomotor adaptations, things that have shaped the primate body to get around through the environment and particularly human adaptations to walking on two legs.
Although growing up in the Northwest and being aware of the first Sasquatch sightings, it wasn’t until Meldrum was in the midst of his research that his own studies of Sasquatch began. His research first focused on human bipedalism, especially the shape of the foot due to natural selection for bipedal locomotion.
This interest led him to discover his first Sasquatch footprints in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Washington. He looked at them and saw skin ridge patterns and pressure ridges, like that of a living organism.
“I kind of pinched myself thinking, my gosh Sasquatch walked by here last night,” Meldrum said.
Although Meldrum is convinced this creature is not mythical, there are still skeptics in the world of science that believe the evidence is not adequate.
“Everyone has their own opinion of his work. It’s controversial,” said Mark Austin, chair and professor of the Department of Biological Sciences. “He seems to be successful in getting extra funding to do the work so it doesn’t really impact the department in terms of utilization of resources.”
3D printer skeleton_2
Meldrum was asked to participate in a History Channel documentary called “Bigfoot Captured.” Although the show didn’t turn out quite as he expected, it involved others at ISU than just him.
A production company asked Geran Call, an instructor in the College of Technology specializing in robotics and communication systems and engineering technology, to create a life-size Sasquatch skeleton by 3D print.
“They wanted to use it in the video to show what would Bigfoot look like if he was real, so it’s kind of a mock-up since nobody has found a skeleton,” Call said.
There have not been any discoveries of Sasquatch skeletons as of yet, so a mock skeleton had to be sketched. With help from Meldrum and the Idaho Museum of Natural History, a prototype to aid Call was made up with what evidence has been provided of the creature and previous bipedal hominoids.
Printing of the skeleton took 1,600 hours with the utilization of printers in northwest collegiate settings outside of ISU.
“[If] it’s safe and not going to harm anyone we’ll print what needs to be printed as long as it’s paid for,” Call said.
Stratasys, who makes the 3D printing machine, donated the material for the project. Call wasn’t paid for his time, but rather donated his time as a community service project.
ISU was not out any money from the project. Call estimates, to have something like this done, it would be around $12,000 including materials and printing time, but excluding hourly pay for those conducting the project.
Call is an open-minded scholar in regards to Sasquatch: if Sasquatch exists he does and if not, he doesn’t.
“There’s so many different things out there that people measure in science, can you really justify one thing or another?” Call said. “If you look at science in history, there are things people have found that never existed because they looked for it.”
In consideration to humanity, it is up to each person to decide on their own if they do or don’t think Sasquatch is real but perhaps a little research on the subject is worth looking into before making the ultimate decision.
“Clearly it’s controversial in the scientific community. There’s no question about that, but you know, freedom of speech and freedom to do one’s research has to be honored,” Austin said.
Watch the video of the Sasquatch skeleton printing here: Bigfoot Captured: 3D-Printing a Bigfoot Skeleton
See also:
Bigfoot Captured: Meldrum’s Thoughts
Bigfoot Captured: Something Eerie in the Woods
Bigfoot Captured: Abominable?
Printing Bigfoot
Bigfoot Captured: Full Episode
Bigfoot Captured
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.
wouldn’t say i believe… I’d say I’m open minded to it and want to believe… however the stuff thats been shown so far is suspect at best… and my belief is slowly drifting away…
Your belief is “slowly drifting away”? Because no one is delivering evidence to you? Think about that.
But my main comment is about Doc Meldrum, who can hold a footprint like that while saying, “North American Ape”.
THAT is really something to think about.
I like the way Meldrum stated it. It’s not about “belief,” but whether you are swayed by the evidence to date (and “evidence” brings up an entirely new debate, but I’m not going down that road).
I stand by him. I am convinced there is a, as yet unclassified, biped running around the forests and wild areas (and yes, there are plenty of vast wild areas still in the U.S.) of North America and beyond. Between the footprints, eye witness accounts, the P/G film and a few other images and vids, it is enough to convince me the BF phenomenon is more than just stories and myth.
Oh, and for my money, we’re dealing with a flesh and blood creature that is bound to our reality…
I would place myself as open-minded, primarily because I have not personally experienced anything that I could say was definitely Sasquatch.
I’ve been more of an armchair/academic researcher, my education is principally biology and chemistry.
There are no convincing arguments as to why it could not exist, at least in my research and opinion.
To those of us who’ve had an encounter, the way is clear: go and seek the truth and all else will reveal itself in due time; it exists, therefore it is.
yes goodfoot… slowly drifting away… like the sands of time… the “evidence” is suspect on the best day. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.
All one has to do is spend a morning par-oozing through this site and one would be swayed against believing it’s real.
Raiderpithicusblaci – tell us about your encounter and why you think this real.
dconstrukt: There is not much here that should sway you one way or another. Get out in the wilderness. I can’t promise you anything, but you will have a much clearer perspective of the issue in the wild.
But I continue to be appalled by Meldrum’s use of the word, “ape”. He, above all people, should be cognizant that there is ZERO fossil record of New World apes. NONE. NOT ANY.
Anyway, how can an anthropologist look at that footprint and hypothesize that it was made by an “ape”?
Greetings My Friends, Long Time No Read! @dconstrkt: Since I’ve Gone Over My Brief Encounter Before (Ad Nausem) , I Will State The Meat And Potatoes Of It: 1977, Northern California. Me And A Cousin, A Migrant Field Workers Encampment, A Sense Of Fear Among The Families There (It Appeared They Were All Too Familiar With Our Nocturnal Visitor). Gathering Up The Children And Pets, The Closing Of A Ramshackle Gate; Being From The Watts-Huntington Park Los Angeles Area, I Did Not Speak Spanish Too Well At All; But From What I Could Gather They Dreaded The “Gorilla” That Would Frequent The Camp At Night. At About 1:00 Am, I Heard The Most Terrifying, Horrific Roars I Have Ever Heard; They Seemed To Go Right Through Me. They Vibrated My Body, My Eyes, My Very Organs; In Fact I Was Quite Paralyzed. The Next Mourning, The Stench; The Footprints (22 Inches Long); The Huge Dents It Left In The Hood Of An Old Chevy Pick Up (Big Enough To Set A Watermelon in). But Worst Of All, The Seed Of My Obsession That Would Gnaw At Me Till The Present Day, Bludgeoned Into My Being By It’s Dismal, Roaring Screams; I Was Terrified, But I Had To Know More. I Read Everything I Could Find On It, Yet It Wasn’t Enough; I Eventually Began Investigating, Interviewing Witnesses, Logging Reports; And Yet Still I Long For That One Last Road Trip, That, Alas, Eludes Me. I’m Not As Young As I Used To Be. But I Tell You This: It Is Not Enough To Believe; You Must Seek The Truth Yourself.
In my humble opinion there is zero chance of Bigfoot existing. I consider the PG Film to undoubtedly be a hoax. No evidence whatsoever that is accepted by the wider scientific community. thousands of armed hunters traversing the forests for 150 years plus and not one body. Amazed at how seriously some people take this and how we are continually told that proof is just around the corner. Fed up with the hoaxed videos etc there are far more worthy cryptozoological and paranormal subjects of interest. This website is too obsessed with bigfoot and has moved away from its once general cryptid blogs.
I believe that Sasquatch exists. My belief does not equate proof. I look at all evidence skeptically. Tend to believe eyewitness accounts as to what they experienced, but I also know how the memory works and distorts the original experience. I personally heard a “shriek” that lasted for about five seconds in Harrison Springs BC in Oct 1992. The friend with me thought it sounded like a Cougar killing a Coyote. It didn’t. There was no echo and whatever made that sound must have had enormous lungs. No smell, footprints or movement was noticed. Throughout the years I’ve heard Bigfoot recordings and some were familiar. My original memories have been morphed and I cannot remember exactly what it sounded like. One thing I know for sure is if I hear it again I would know for certain.
For me there is too much credible evidence to say sasquatch doesn’t exist. Until a body is found and documented it’s existence remains a strong belief to me. Evidence does not equate absolute proof.
@goodfoot – true… you gotta get out there and judging by “we’re never finding bigfoot” tv show I wouldn’t find anything, but I’ll just assume everything is a bigfoot 🙂
but would someone need to be out on the football field to get a clearer perspective on football?
or would watching it on tv, reading books about it, etc. suffice?
I think not. But I get your point.
crusader2 – I dunno…. i mean you have to really prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Pro’s say that can’t be a human… but then the facts around the video are a bit sketchy…
then you have to ask yourself, why the F would a bigfoot just walk out there without trying to remain hidden? it’s not like PG were silent… they were riding horses for god’s sakes…. so the bigfoot 10,000% had to know they were there… by sound and by smell.
just seems odd.
but that ‘thing’ on the video… i mean…. wtf is that??
That said, I’m looking at the overall body of evidence… and lets say IMO 99% of it is junk.
My take is 80-90% of the “sightings” aren’t malicious intent… it’s just people assuming one thing vs another without knowing for sure…. the mind takes over and we’re left with people almost making stuff up to fit what they think their brain/eyes just saw.
I think.
But overall there’s a lot of evidence out there. Is it ALL BS?
I mean, even if you remove 99% of it, you’re left with that 1% thats legit and thats all it takes.
Raiderpithicusblaci – pretty cool. crazy shit, eh? But then it begs the question… if these things are trying to remain hidden, why the F would it go into an area where there’s a lot of people living? AND on multiple occasions? that doesn’t seem like the behavior of something that is trying to remain hidden and away from people.
it’s like the never ending question…. do you think we’ll ever find out?