Update Supposed Tofino Hominoid Video
Posted by: John Kirk on March 29th, 2007
One of the things you do when you are an investigator is to cover as many bases as possible in the pursuit of truth as far as it pertains to cryptid sighting reports. As you may know, I have taken an interest in the alleged footage of a sasquatch shot near Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Columbia as it is in my backyard.
My doubts about this footage having been growing by the minute since I sent the videographer an email several days ago. I have heard nothing back from him despite his pronouncements in the media that he was going to send the footage to an organization with a name very similar to mine for “expert advice”. I don’t know how anyone can be an expert about a creature that has never been physically examined, but I digress from the point I am trying to make.
The videographer mentions in a caption at the beginning of the footage that it was shot on Sunday, July 16, 2006. Well, I find that somewhat suspicious as what one of the two people involved in that footage is not gear you would be wearing in summer in British Columbia. The visible member of the two-person party who claim this sighting, is wearing a wet rain jacket and what is either a woolen cap or a toque as we call them in Canada. I found that odd considering this is supposed to be footage shot in summer.
So I went to the Environment Canada website to search for weather records for that date at Tofino and came up with some interesting findings. First and foremost the temperatures that day ranged from a low (all temperatures are in Celsius) of 8.5 degrees at five o’clock in the morning to a high of 19.5 degrees at one o’clock. The afternoon temperatures were around 18 degrees. The clothing worn by one individual seems out of place for temperatures that are that warm. Then the fellow who is seen is in the video says, “that’s it, that’s it, the camera’s getting wet” right at the very end of the video, but I cannot find any indication that there was any rain that fell that day.
In fact from July 14 to September 16 hardly any rain at all fell in Tofino and they had to go on water rationing and bring in water from outside. On the same day at the nearby beaches of Tofino the Quiksilver/Roxy Summer Surf Jam was taking place and if you look at their website you can see people very lightly dressed and the sun shining brilliantly. Look at the supposed hominoid footage and it appears positively overcast and wet.
From what I have seen of the video and contrasting it to the weather conditions on the day it was shot, I presently cannot accept the purported date on which it was allegedly shot.
From the outset my own personal view has been that even if it was a sasquatch in the footage, it is so indistinct as to not be of any use for evidentiary purposes. This is no Patterson/Gimlin film.
In view of the reluctance of the videographer to provide further details, I must consign this to the rubbish heap of footage that simply does not meet the test for evidence of sasquatch’s existence.
It’s a pity as Tofino has had a fair share of sasquatch sightings and vocalizations since the autumn of 2002 which were thoroughly investigated by members of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club. Although no footage was obtained, we found the witnesses to be credible. We will check out the Enchanted Forest the next time we visit Tofino to see if any possible sasquatch activity may have taken place there.
About John Kirk
One of the founders of the BCSCC, John Kirk has enjoyed a varied and exciting career path. Both a print and broadcast journalist, John Kirk has in recent years been at the forefront of much of the BCSCC’s expeditions, investigations and publishing. John has been particularly interested in the phenomenon of unknown aquatic cryptids around the world and is the author of In the Domain of the Lake Monsters (Key Porter Books, 1998).
In addition to his interest in freshwater cryptids, John has been keenly interested in investigating the possible existence of sasquatch and other bipedal hominids of the world, and in particular, the Yeren of China. John is also chairman of the Crypto Safari organization, which specializes in sending teams of investigators to remote parts of the world to search for animals as yet unidentified by science. John travelled with a Crypto Safari team to Cameroon and northern Republic of Congo to interview witnesses among the Baka pygmies and Bantu bushmen who have sighted a large unknown animal that bears more than a superficial resemblance to a dinosaur.
Since 1996, John Kirk has been editor and publisher of the BCSCC Quarterly which is the flagship publication of the BCSCC. In demand at conferences, seminars, lectures and on television and radio programs, John has spoken all over North America and has appeared in programs on NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, TLC, Discovery, CBC, CTV and the BBC.
In his personal life John spends much time studying the histories of Scottish Clans and is himself the president of the Clan Kirk Society. John is also an avid soccer enthusiast and player.
Don’t be so down about this footage. Bigfoot has grown into such a cultural phenomenon that it is now part of pop culture. Whether folks really believe in it or not they still love Bigfoot.
I consider myself in this category. For me whether Bigfoot exists or now is irrelevant. I’m still a fan. I love mystery and I love a well done hoax. I hope that it does exists but I am content not knowing. That is part of the allure of it all. If I was to visit the Pacific Northwest to be sure I would stop at all the Bigfoot tourist traps.
I think that people with a serious interest should come to expect this sort of thing. I think the healthy attitude in our current cultural environment is to assume to any supposed Bigfoot video should automatically be viewed as hoax. With that mindset, than one can evaluate any such evidence on it’s own merits.
How warm is 19.5 degress is that like in the 80’s or what?
Told you, two kids playing with their parents camera.
BugMO:
I’m shocked! did you not learn this in the 5th grade?!
Tf = ((9/5) x Tc) + 32
maybe you didn’t learn how to do basic algebra either, I should just tell you the answer, it’s… nahhh figure it out yourself.
thanks for the new update about this filmfootage. bill 🙂
John, I like the way you investigated the weather conditions of the area. Too bad no video though. Keep up the good work.
Kudos to John for having kept an open mind. I’d have consigned it to the rubbish heap upon a first viewing. I can’t imagine what rationale said hoaxer would have for assigning an arbitrary date, but there you have it.
This is exactly what I would have expected upon further examining of the conditions surrounding the video. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to lie about the date. Why not just say it was shot on the day that it really was filmed? What is there to gain from lying about when it was made? Anyway, John’s findings from his investigation are pretty much keeping in line with what I would expect. I do not think the videographer is going to come forward, nor give any illumination to this clip even if he did. I was very skeptical of this clip to begin with and this just reinforces that. This video is simply unusable as evidence.
Great work…It was probably old man Thompson, the lighthouse keeper….and he would have gotten away with it if it we’re for those meddling kids. Now back to the mystery machine.
No, skeptic I didn’t learn that in the 5th grade or in any of my other math classes. That’s why I was asking. I’m no good at math any way. I’m surpresed that I passed my College Algebra class with a high C.
No, skeptic I didn’t learn that in the 5th grade or in any of my other math classes. That’s why I was asking. I’m no good at math any way. I’m surprised that I passed my College Algebra class with a high C. Sorry, I forgot to use spell check.
John,
I’ve lived on the island for over 25 years and for one thing it has been known to have every kind of weather within hours. Even if the weather man etc, states it to be clear all day long. Bad example of using to state the footage to be fake to which it might be. If none of you have figured out why these creatures keep to hide, look at the problem solving used to deal with land lost creatures that come out of the trees(whats left of them) to search for food; shot and hang it up or stuff it as a prize. The sasquatch are living on this island and appear more intelligent then your average pink monkey (man). If you can’t believe in the word of the many that have witnessed these fine creatures, having the body of one still will not alter the disbeliever.
That’s just my opinion as seeing it for real opens your mind to how close minded many are.
In the footage, the image was very vague, but from what I could see, it seemed to drop down on all fours as it left, clearly indicating a bear. Obviously, this is open to debate.
I don’t know if this film is genuine or not, but I would like to clear up several things. First, I live in lower BC and Tofino is on Vancouver Island, very close to us. It is cold and wet in March, which is when this video takes place which is early spring. It gets to be 1 to 8 degrees Celsius on average. It is an island that is cold and wet in winter and spring. We are in a northern rainforest, heavy on the rain, so the clothes the people were wearing were appropriate. Yes please research everything and always be skeptical, but please get your research right.
Roxiegin,
The date of the supposed video is clearly stated at the beginning of the video as Sunday, July 16, 2006, not March 2007, so I have done my research correctly. I live in Richmond, B.C. so I know what the weather is like here.
If you have other information that indicates that it was shot in March, 2007 please forward it to me.
John Kirk