Bindernagel on Finding Bigfoot
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on April 9th, 2017
Excerpt from the March 2017 Bigfoot Times, a very in depth interview, no questions off limits, with the widely respected Canadian Bigfooter and wildlife biologist Dr. John Bindernagel.
Editor and publisher Daniel Perez: Television shows like Finding Bigfoot? Harmless entertainment to you or is there some good education to be gleaned from it?
Dr. John Bindernagel: “With due respect to my good friends and serious investigators James “Bobo” Fay and Cliff Barackman, I despair at the way they have been manipulated to become actors. However, I must qualify this comment as I am very aware of the tendency to misrepresent a situation when pressured by film directors. I also have allowed my integrity to lapse in such circumstances. My concern is that this reality television show has become the face of Sasquatch research for many North Americans. As such, it misrepresents what Sasquatch research really is: the methodical plodding through historical accounts in university libraries, the careful preparation of abstracts for presentation at professional and scientific conferences, and the drawn-out process of getting shy eyewitnesses to share their reports.
There are also the hours replying to e-mails and listening to Sasquatch reports on the telephone in the hope that this may be the report worth following up and help us approach the tipping point. Also, there are the long days of driving to follow-up a promising report, only to find that the anticipated “evidence” is that of someone well-meaning but wanting to believe that the shadows filmed are Sasquatches and not just shadows, or, at best, videos unacceptable to show one’s skeptical scientific colleagues who already dismiss the P-G film.
In short, actual Sasquatch research can be pretty boring and generally uninteresting to television audiences. But portraying it the way it has been portrayed seems to have convinced my already-dismissive scientific colleagues that we investigators are indeed delusional and misled. It has further repelled scientifically-minded viewers looking for serious treatment and informed scientific comment.
But the mass media and the participating actors may be less at fault for exploiting the Sasquatch as a subject of entertainment than are my scientific colleagues for their unwillingness to provide an alternative scientific treatment of the subject.”
The Bigfoot Times. It is where you go when you need to know. Find out more! Please visit www.bigfoottimes.net
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.
Dr. Bindernagel is the KING of the classy burn. He always manages to point out the flaws and the ugly truths of a situation with grace and impartiality, focusing on the truth and the meat of the matter rather than dragging anyone or anything through the mud. I wish the entire community would follow his example.
I get a little annoyed at the way Finding Bigfoot goes out and harasses them. It is not scientific nor is it effective. They do get a response once in awhile and then Sasquatch shuts down when they realize they are just stupid humans. Dr. Bindernagel is an earnest scientist and I admire him. I’ve sent him my census with no reply, but that isn’t my worry. My research has turned into a spiritual quest. So proving them to be real is not on my list anymore. I’ll leave that up to the professors.