Christopher Noël: Confident There is a Body

7) Admittedly, this one follows quite a roundabout path of logic. See if it makes as much sense to you as it does to me.

Leading up to the world premiere of “Shooting Bigfoot,” Dyer robustly sold the idea that the powerful proof contained in the film would remove all doubt as to the legitimacy of his claims. On dozens of occasions, he promised his audience that we could expect “two to three minutes of crystal clear HD footage. Hell, you’ll be able to see the boogers in his nose!” On the strength of this assertion, many of us drove long distances in order to witness the historic sight; the guys from FB/FB, for example, traveled thirty-seven hours round trip in an RV.

As we now know all too well, the film contains less than two SECONDS of the Sasquatch in question. Whether he was given bad advance information by Morgan Matthews or was deliberately baiting his listeners, Dyer led us all out on a limb…and let us drop. Then, when we rightfully complained, he compounded the insult by jeering, “I’m sorry the Bigfoot didn’t come out and do a song and dance for you”–as though we ourselves had somehow allowed our hopes to inflate out of all proportion in the absence of Dyer’s very own hot air.

Now, those who find this man’s story to be utterly lacking any credibility in the first place will naturally point to this spectacularly failed promise and cynical, mean-spirited follow-up remarks as yet further evidence of the moral and epistemological bankruptcy of the case at hand. While sharing their disgust, however, I approach this affair from a different angle.

Dyer’s broken word and his new request, now, that we simply go ahead and resume the waiting game for another fifteen long weeks–until a promised August 15th body unveiling at a Las Vegas casino–has evidently cratered morale among his followers. Childish infighting has resulted in ousters and defections among his formerly tight Team Tracker circle and an ever-decreasing Internet radio audience. Dyer’s much-publicized mid-May Ohio expedition, featuring Dallas and Wayne, has been canceled due to lack of interest.

But where most see a sinking ship I look for a smoking gun. It is at just such a moment of plummeting confidence and organizational implosion that any scam conspiracy would be expected to fall apart, and quickly, once-loyal insiders “turning state’s witness” in order to salvage a last vestige of personal credibility. Where are they?