Marble Mountain Bigfoot Video Background

The video was made by a good Christian friend, Jim Mills, who lived with his wife Anita and family about ¼ mile from my home on Bitney Springs Road in Grass Valley. During my first year (1980) in Grass Valley, I had met Jim while attending the large local First Baptist Church, where he was involved with the youth program and also working as a security guard at Nevada Union High School across the street. We both enjoyed wilderness camping and continued to stay in touch even after I had switched to another fellowship. Kids loved him and “Nita”, and along with holding very popular and stimulating weekly Bible studies at their home (in association with Christian youth organization Campus Life) they always took supervised groups of older youth on summer campouts to favorite spots in the Marble Mountains. Jim had a gentle and loving spirit and a kind sense of humor, but was serious minded and never known to use humor at someone else’s expense, pull practical jokes, or mount hoaxes.

He first mentioned the video to me about a month after it was taken, saying that Nita had given him the camera the Christmas before and this was his very first use of it. One of his sons had found the hut and had been crawling in and out of it. While taping the hut, the distant figure was spotted and he had to back up against a tree in order to help steady the unfamiliar hand-held camera. I asked if he’d mind showing me the video, so he rather reluctantly brought it over to my house where I saw it for the first time, and of course I asked if this was a stunt he’d devised. He was adamant that it was the real thing; and in a later talk with his wife she also assured me that nothing had been staged, and that no one in their group, including Jim, would have had time to construct such an elaborate hut between the time they arrived and set up camp and the time it was found. In fact, during our visits he had never mentioned the term “Bigfoot” and was uneasy when I introduced the idea. Though baffling, he initially believed it must have had some other explanation.

The written BFRO report was submitted by J. S., a friend from Gold Country Calvary Fellowship (where I was serving as a deacon and working in the men’s ministry), after hearing me tell about it at a July 26-28, 2001, “Big Boy’s” men’s church campout at McRae Meadows near Johnsville, CA. A couple of months before this campout, I had done a Google search on “Bigfoot”, had found the BFRO site (which seemed less sensational and wild-eyed than some of the others), and had suggested to Jim that he contact them. Again, he was reluctant to make anything of it, and was a bit fearful about being labeled a crackpot and damaging his credibility as a serious follower of Christ. He finally gave me permission to contact BFRO with the story and supply them with contact info. So I had already called BFRO and was awaiting their response when J.S. told me that he had also submitted my campfire version of Jim’s story. BFRO subsequently contacted me by phone once or twice before paying a visit to Jim and getting an interview and a copy of his video.

Thus, although also unsure of what was filmed, I can at least offer reasonable assurance that if found to be a hoax it would have been someone other than Jim Mills or his camping group involved in staging it.