1 00:00:02,336 --> 00:00:04,670 William shatner: It hides in the shadows. 2 00:00:04,714 --> 00:00:09,049 A giant, hairy creature that walks on two feet 3 00:00:09,135 --> 00:00:13,137 and watches us with glowing eyes. 4 00:00:14,140 --> 00:00:17,016 Does bigfoot really exist? 5 00:00:17,059 --> 00:00:19,184 Part ape, part man? 6 00:00:19,270 --> 00:00:22,062 As crazy as it seems, 7 00:00:22,148 --> 00:00:24,857 there are many who believe that not only 8 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:29,069 is such a creature real but they've seen it, 9 00:00:29,155 --> 00:00:32,656 tracked it, even photographed it. 10 00:00:32,742 --> 00:00:38,537 But then, if bigfoot does exist, what is it? 11 00:00:38,581 --> 00:00:41,999 Where does it come from? How many are there? 12 00:00:42,084 --> 00:00:44,877 And perhaps more importantly... 13 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,671 (creature snarling) 14 00:00:49,925 --> 00:00:52,301 ...Should we be afraid of it? 15 00:00:52,386 --> 00:00:57,556 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 16 00:01:16,952 --> 00:01:19,578 Bigfoot researcher matt moneymaker and a colleague 17 00:01:19,622 --> 00:01:23,040 are investigating reported bigfoot sightings 18 00:01:23,125 --> 00:01:25,876 in a wooded area near the town of kent. 19 00:01:25,961 --> 00:01:29,213 After spending years pursuing bigfoot 20 00:01:29,298 --> 00:01:31,715 in hopes of seeing one himself, 21 00:01:31,801 --> 00:01:33,926 matt is eager to find out whether there really is 22 00:01:34,011 --> 00:01:36,678 a giant creature in these woods. 23 00:01:36,764 --> 00:01:38,931 Matt moneymaker: We were staked out 24 00:01:39,016 --> 00:01:42,101 along a road, the guy I was with was about 60 feet away. 25 00:01:43,771 --> 00:01:46,105 And at about 2:30 a.M., 26 00:01:46,190 --> 00:01:48,565 something comes walking down the road. 27 00:01:48,609 --> 00:01:50,442 I see something. 28 00:01:50,486 --> 00:01:52,444 He sees it first through night vision. 29 00:01:56,867 --> 00:01:59,743 Shatner: Matt rushes over to investigate, 30 00:01:59,787 --> 00:02:02,079 and is stopped dead in his tracks by the sound of... 31 00:02:02,123 --> 00:02:05,624 -(growling) -...Inhuman growling. 32 00:02:07,670 --> 00:02:08,961 Moneymaker: This thing steps out. 33 00:02:10,548 --> 00:02:14,049 A very big, tall, hair-covered thing... 34 00:02:15,678 --> 00:02:18,178 ...Standing out there growling at me. 35 00:02:18,264 --> 00:02:20,264 When you've got something that big 36 00:02:20,349 --> 00:02:22,599 that close to you, you could see it well enough to know 37 00:02:22,685 --> 00:02:24,184 that must be a bigfoot. 38 00:02:24,270 --> 00:02:26,478 So I just kind of backed up 39 00:02:26,564 --> 00:02:28,105 and walked away. 40 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,193 I was pretty happy at that point, 41 00:02:33,279 --> 00:02:36,113 because I'm thinking, "if this one's gonna do that, 42 00:02:36,198 --> 00:02:37,823 "reliably, then this is a place 43 00:02:37,867 --> 00:02:39,741 "that we're gonna get some video footage of them 44 00:02:39,827 --> 00:02:42,161 if we're coming here with the right kind of gear." 45 00:02:43,455 --> 00:02:44,788 shatner: But when matt returned 46 00:02:44,874 --> 00:02:46,957 with camera equipment to document the encounter, 47 00:02:47,042 --> 00:02:49,168 the creature had vanished. 48 00:02:49,253 --> 00:02:51,044 Although matt was not able to photograph 49 00:02:51,130 --> 00:02:53,172 the large, hairy beast that he witnessed, 50 00:02:53,215 --> 00:02:58,343 he remains convinced that what he saw was, in fact, bigfoot. 51 00:03:00,181 --> 00:03:03,348 It's one of those things that sounds so over-the-top, 52 00:03:03,392 --> 00:03:06,685 but after I had a face-to-face encounter, 53 00:03:06,729 --> 00:03:08,937 I knew it was exactly the same thing 54 00:03:09,023 --> 00:03:12,816 that all the witnesses around there had described. 55 00:03:12,902 --> 00:03:15,736 Shatner: The encounter inspired matt 56 00:03:15,821 --> 00:03:20,449 to found the bigfoot field researchers organization, 57 00:03:20,534 --> 00:03:22,409 or bfro. 58 00:03:22,494 --> 00:03:26,538 Moneymaker: The roots of it are people who were sharing information. 59 00:03:26,582 --> 00:03:28,665 We were sharing sighting reports, mainly, 60 00:03:28,751 --> 00:03:30,417 from different parts of the country. 61 00:03:30,502 --> 00:03:32,377 And I came up with the idea that, 62 00:03:32,421 --> 00:03:34,713 "why don't we put all these into a website?" 63 00:03:34,798 --> 00:03:37,549 you know, sort it by county and state 64 00:03:37,635 --> 00:03:40,093 so people can look up reports. 65 00:03:40,179 --> 00:03:42,262 And when we did that, it worked really well. 66 00:03:42,348 --> 00:03:44,806 Lots of people started submitting reports. 67 00:03:45,851 --> 00:03:47,559 Shatner: According to the bfro, 68 00:03:47,603 --> 00:03:50,896 there have been more than 3,500 credible bigfoot sightings 69 00:03:50,940 --> 00:03:54,107 since 1960. 70 00:03:54,193 --> 00:03:56,735 Although science has yet to prove the existence 71 00:03:56,820 --> 00:04:01,281 of the legendary man-beast, that hasn't stopped bigfoot 72 00:04:01,367 --> 00:04:04,701 from becoming a full-fledged phenomenon. 73 00:04:06,455 --> 00:04:08,622 Christopher bader: Bigfoot is literally everywhere. 74 00:04:08,707 --> 00:04:10,415 There are bigfoot stories in nevada. 75 00:04:10,501 --> 00:04:12,960 There are bigfoot stories in nebraska, 76 00:04:13,045 --> 00:04:15,545 florida, texas. 77 00:04:15,589 --> 00:04:17,798 Literally every part of the country 78 00:04:17,883 --> 00:04:21,593 has its own stories and legends of bigfoot. 79 00:04:21,637 --> 00:04:24,596 It's likely, wherever you live in this country, 80 00:04:24,682 --> 00:04:26,556 you are within a hundred miles of a place 81 00:04:26,642 --> 00:04:28,267 that purportedly has a bigfoot. 82 00:04:29,979 --> 00:04:33,063 Shatner: If these sightings are of a real creature, 83 00:04:33,107 --> 00:04:35,941 then what exactly is bigfoot? 84 00:04:36,026 --> 00:04:39,194 And how did this phenomenon begin? 85 00:04:40,781 --> 00:04:44,116 Tok thompson: Bigfoot is generally reported to be 86 00:04:44,201 --> 00:04:48,203 a very large, very furry, uh, hominid creature. 87 00:04:48,289 --> 00:04:52,207 Something like a person, uh, but not a person, 88 00:04:52,293 --> 00:04:55,585 seen very often remotely in the forest. 89 00:04:55,671 --> 00:04:58,922 And with various stories about sightings 90 00:04:59,008 --> 00:05:02,467 or about footprints that really are pretty widespread 91 00:05:02,511 --> 00:05:05,762 in many, many communities in the united states and in canada. 92 00:05:10,436 --> 00:05:13,478 Before 1958, people didn't use the word "bigfoot." 93 00:05:15,274 --> 00:05:17,482 but it was in 1958 in northern california, 94 00:05:17,568 --> 00:05:19,484 guys building a road 95 00:05:19,570 --> 00:05:21,862 found footprints around their gear 96 00:05:21,947 --> 00:05:23,697 when they would come back in the morning. 97 00:05:23,782 --> 00:05:26,950 And a guy named jerry crew made plaster footprints 98 00:05:27,036 --> 00:05:30,912 of these tracks and showed them to a reporter in eureka, 99 00:05:30,998 --> 00:05:33,999 and they dubbed it "bigfoot." 100 00:05:34,084 --> 00:05:36,168 that was where the name first originated 101 00:05:36,211 --> 00:05:38,837 and got into american vocabulary. 102 00:05:39,923 --> 00:05:41,631 Shatner: Photos of jerry crew's cast 103 00:05:41,717 --> 00:05:45,552 of giant footprints made headlines across the country. 104 00:05:45,637 --> 00:05:49,222 Many americans came to believe that a tall, 105 00:05:49,308 --> 00:05:52,517 bipedal, apelike creature roamed the forests 106 00:05:52,561 --> 00:05:54,770 of the pacific northwest. 107 00:05:56,065 --> 00:05:58,648 I grew up in washington state, where it's hard 108 00:05:58,734 --> 00:06:00,776 to underestimate bigfoot's power. 109 00:06:02,571 --> 00:06:05,947 Bigfoot is the mascot of different companies. 110 00:06:06,950 --> 00:06:10,452 Bigfoot is all over billboards. 111 00:06:10,537 --> 00:06:12,537 As a young boy in washington state, 112 00:06:12,581 --> 00:06:15,374 I fully believed in bigfoot's existence. 113 00:06:17,252 --> 00:06:20,921 Shatner: In 1967, interest in bigfoot surged 114 00:06:21,006 --> 00:06:24,758 when an investigator named roger patterson 115 00:06:24,843 --> 00:06:28,178 captured incredible footage of a creature 116 00:06:28,263 --> 00:06:30,889 that matched the description of bigfoot 117 00:06:30,974 --> 00:06:34,351 near bluff creek in northern california. 118 00:06:36,105 --> 00:06:38,939 Patterson's film became an instant sensation, 119 00:06:39,024 --> 00:06:42,818 but skeptics claimed that it had to be a man 120 00:06:42,903 --> 00:06:44,903 in a monkey suit. 121 00:06:44,988 --> 00:06:47,406 One of the issues when it comes to people believing 122 00:06:47,491 --> 00:06:49,866 in bigfoot existing 123 00:06:49,952 --> 00:06:53,495 is, let's face it, mainstream sciences 124 00:06:53,580 --> 00:06:55,914 shun away from this topic. 125 00:06:55,999 --> 00:07:00,377 However, amateur researchers are trying to pick up the slack, 126 00:07:00,462 --> 00:07:01,920 bridge that gap 127 00:07:02,005 --> 00:07:05,215 between amateur and mainstream science. 128 00:07:05,300 --> 00:07:07,884 Shatner: Bigfoot researchers claim that the vast majority 129 00:07:07,970 --> 00:07:10,679 of bigfoot sightings are sincere, 130 00:07:10,764 --> 00:07:15,684 and that hoaxes represent only a small fraction of reports. 131 00:07:15,769 --> 00:07:18,770 They also point out that stories of bigfoot-like animals 132 00:07:18,814 --> 00:07:21,898 are not merely a recent fad. 133 00:07:21,984 --> 00:07:25,235 Believe it or not, more than 3,000 years ago, 134 00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:28,697 the ancient babylonians told stories of a creature 135 00:07:28,782 --> 00:07:31,366 that sounds an awful lot like bigfoot. 136 00:07:31,452 --> 00:07:33,952 Except they called it enkidu. 137 00:07:35,539 --> 00:07:37,956 Sara burdorff: Enkidu is a... 138 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:43,628 Hairy, wild man creature with super strength, 139 00:07:43,672 --> 00:07:47,090 and he's fearsome, he's ready and willing 140 00:07:47,176 --> 00:07:49,801 to defend this wild territory that he inhabits. 141 00:07:49,887 --> 00:07:53,930 The king, gilgamesh, becomes his soulmate, basically. 142 00:07:53,974 --> 00:07:55,140 Best friends. 143 00:07:55,225 --> 00:08:00,645 So, this king becomes this amazing hero 144 00:08:00,689 --> 00:08:05,150 through his relationship with this wild man 145 00:08:05,235 --> 00:08:08,111 that has shown him 146 00:08:08,197 --> 00:08:14,576 how to negotiate the boundaries between humanity and wildness. 147 00:08:14,661 --> 00:08:18,622 Shatner: Since that time, descriptions of so-called "wild men," 148 00:08:18,707 --> 00:08:20,290 half-human, half-ape beasts, 149 00:08:20,375 --> 00:08:24,085 have popped up throughout history, all over the world. 150 00:08:24,171 --> 00:08:25,670 Jonathan young: In the caucasus, 151 00:08:25,714 --> 00:08:27,088 there was something called the alma 152 00:08:27,174 --> 00:08:30,300 that was a big monster, a nature creature. 153 00:08:31,845 --> 00:08:34,930 In australia, there's the aboriginal version 154 00:08:35,015 --> 00:08:36,723 which is called a yowie. 155 00:08:36,808 --> 00:08:39,809 There is the yeti in the himalayas. 156 00:08:39,853 --> 00:08:41,811 So there are local variations, 157 00:08:41,897 --> 00:08:44,189 but the story is more or less the same. 158 00:08:44,233 --> 00:08:47,025 Very big, seemingly animallike, 159 00:08:47,069 --> 00:08:49,486 or is it human or is it some hybrid? 160 00:08:49,571 --> 00:08:50,695 There's the point. 161 00:08:50,781 --> 00:08:52,822 Shatner: In north america, 162 00:08:52,908 --> 00:08:56,201 there are native american legends that go back centuries, 163 00:08:56,245 --> 00:08:58,828 long before the discoveries made by jerry crew 164 00:08:58,914 --> 00:09:00,830 or roger patterson. 165 00:09:00,916 --> 00:09:03,083 Lynne mcneill: We know that sasquatch, 166 00:09:03,168 --> 00:09:06,211 the preeminent bigfoot creature that we have 167 00:09:06,255 --> 00:09:09,548 in the united states, located in the pacific northwest, 168 00:09:09,591 --> 00:09:14,386 that very word, "sasquatch," comes from a salish tribal word 169 00:09:14,471 --> 00:09:18,306 that means "wild man" or "hairy man." 170 00:09:19,893 --> 00:09:22,811 young: The natives of the northwest say that there are creatures 171 00:09:22,896 --> 00:09:26,231 that walk upright and only at night. 172 00:09:26,316 --> 00:09:29,568 And can speak in their language. 173 00:09:29,653 --> 00:09:33,154 Neiss: I found, in speaking with indigenous peoples, 174 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,242 that they don't describe them as an animal at all. 175 00:09:37,286 --> 00:09:41,580 They call them the first ones, or the old ones. 176 00:09:41,623 --> 00:09:46,042 "these were the tribe that was here before we got here." 177 00:09:49,590 --> 00:09:53,758 shatner: An ancient tribe that predates humanity? 178 00:09:53,844 --> 00:09:55,594 It's a fascinating notion, 179 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,389 one that bigfoot researchers are eager to investigate. 180 00:09:59,433 --> 00:10:02,892 And there are some who will risk going into the deepest 181 00:10:02,978 --> 00:10:08,607 and darkest forests to try and capture the huge creature, 182 00:10:08,650 --> 00:10:12,110 even though it may not want to be found. 183 00:10:12,154 --> 00:10:14,112 (low growl) 184 00:10:23,081 --> 00:10:25,498 shatner: Future u.S. President teddy roosevelt 185 00:10:25,584 --> 00:10:27,959 publishes the wilderness hunter, 186 00:10:28,003 --> 00:10:29,836 a book about his youthful adventures 187 00:10:29,921 --> 00:10:32,631 in the dakota territory. 188 00:10:32,674 --> 00:10:35,592 His memoir contains a story that was told to him 189 00:10:35,636 --> 00:10:39,304 by an old mountain man, who, years before, 190 00:10:39,348 --> 00:10:43,808 had encountered an apelike creature deep in the woods. 191 00:10:45,312 --> 00:10:48,855 There were some trappers and they kept having 192 00:10:48,940 --> 00:10:50,982 encounters kind of in the dark 193 00:10:51,026 --> 00:10:54,486 with what they thought were these huge creatures 194 00:10:54,571 --> 00:10:57,989 that were leaving huge manlike footprints. 195 00:10:59,701 --> 00:11:02,744 One of the guys decided to go off and check traps, 196 00:11:02,829 --> 00:11:05,330 and the other one would hide back at camp 197 00:11:05,374 --> 00:11:07,165 and see what was coming in every time 198 00:11:07,209 --> 00:11:10,126 that they would leave camp. 199 00:11:11,546 --> 00:11:14,089 When the guy came back from checking traps, 200 00:11:14,174 --> 00:11:15,715 he found his friend dead, 201 00:11:15,801 --> 00:11:19,177 his body broken over a log, 202 00:11:19,221 --> 00:11:21,971 and it looked like it had just been pummeled. 203 00:11:22,057 --> 00:11:23,932 And they attributed it to 204 00:11:24,017 --> 00:11:26,351 an eight-foot-tall, 600-pound ape. 205 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,690 Shatner: The disturbing encounter recorded by roosevelt 206 00:11:31,775 --> 00:11:34,693 is one of the earliest accounts of american pioneers 207 00:11:34,778 --> 00:11:36,528 coming face-to-face 208 00:11:36,613 --> 00:11:39,197 with what many native americans called... 209 00:11:39,282 --> 00:11:41,574 Sasquatch. 210 00:11:41,660 --> 00:11:44,786 If the story is true, 211 00:11:44,871 --> 00:11:48,540 it seems like sasquatch wasn't very friendly 212 00:11:48,625 --> 00:11:51,459 towards humans who encroached on its territory. 213 00:11:51,545 --> 00:11:53,336 (low growling) 214 00:11:53,380 --> 00:11:55,880 there are vastly different ideas within the bigfoot subculture 215 00:11:55,966 --> 00:11:57,924 about bigfoot's disposition. 216 00:11:58,009 --> 00:12:02,679 Some believe that bigfoot is an angry, homicidal predator. 217 00:12:02,723 --> 00:12:05,181 And if you come into its domain, 218 00:12:05,225 --> 00:12:07,267 it will try to kill you if it can. 219 00:12:07,352 --> 00:12:10,687 Others believe that bigfoot is merely an animal. 220 00:12:10,772 --> 00:12:14,441 And just like a grizzly bear might become aggressive 221 00:12:14,526 --> 00:12:17,235 under the right circumstances, it could. 222 00:12:20,824 --> 00:12:22,407 Shatner: Over the past century, more 223 00:12:22,451 --> 00:12:24,325 of the american wilderness has been settled, 224 00:12:24,411 --> 00:12:27,412 with the construction of new housing, industry, 225 00:12:27,497 --> 00:12:29,748 and infrastructure. 226 00:12:29,833 --> 00:12:32,667 But if we have been encroaching on bigfoot's habitat 227 00:12:32,753 --> 00:12:36,421 for so long, then how come no one has ever 228 00:12:36,506 --> 00:12:39,132 recovered the body of one? 229 00:12:39,217 --> 00:12:42,719 It's been estimated perhaps 2,000 of these things exist 230 00:12:42,804 --> 00:12:44,262 throughout the pacific northwest. 231 00:12:44,347 --> 00:12:46,264 Sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. 232 00:12:48,018 --> 00:12:50,268 Considering two of the major ranges, 233 00:12:50,353 --> 00:12:54,105 the cascade range and the coast range, 234 00:12:54,149 --> 00:12:57,942 make up 68,000 square miles, mostly uninhabited. 235 00:12:58,028 --> 00:13:02,906 When you distribute 2,000 of anything 236 00:13:02,991 --> 00:13:06,534 in 68,000 square miles... 237 00:13:06,620 --> 00:13:09,788 You'd be lucky to run across one in your life. 238 00:13:11,625 --> 00:13:13,416 Bader: People who believe that bigfoot is 239 00:13:13,460 --> 00:13:15,126 a biological creature will simply 240 00:13:15,212 --> 00:13:16,628 talk about how stealthy it is, 241 00:13:16,713 --> 00:13:18,630 that it's very good at moving 242 00:13:18,715 --> 00:13:20,590 through the woods without making any noise 243 00:13:20,675 --> 00:13:23,593 and therefore can slip away at will. 244 00:13:23,637 --> 00:13:27,931 Shatner: Is bigfoot simply too elusive to be captured? 245 00:13:27,974 --> 00:13:30,850 Perhaps. 246 00:13:30,936 --> 00:13:34,020 But that hasn't stopped an army 247 00:13:34,105 --> 00:13:36,356 of so-called "bigfoot hunters" 248 00:13:36,441 --> 00:13:39,400 from trying to track it down. 249 00:13:39,486 --> 00:13:41,986 Jeff meldrum: The role of citizen scientists 250 00:13:42,072 --> 00:13:44,948 is potentially a very significant one. 251 00:13:45,033 --> 00:13:48,535 It may well be that major discoveries 252 00:13:48,620 --> 00:13:51,913 will be made not by scientists in this arena, 253 00:13:51,998 --> 00:13:54,499 but by citizen scientists. 254 00:13:54,543 --> 00:13:56,793 Bader: Modern bigfoot hunters 255 00:13:56,837 --> 00:13:59,420 use techniques such as wood knocking... 256 00:13:59,506 --> 00:14:01,005 (whoops) 257 00:14:01,049 --> 00:14:03,842 ...Playing purported bigfoot screams while in the woods. 258 00:14:03,927 --> 00:14:06,845 These are things that many modern bigfoot investigators 259 00:14:06,930 --> 00:14:10,056 believe will draw any nearby sasquatch to you. 260 00:14:11,393 --> 00:14:14,018 Moneymaker: I think the future of bigfoot research, 261 00:14:14,062 --> 00:14:17,856 in a lot of ways, rests with new optics with thermal imagers. 262 00:14:20,026 --> 00:14:22,527 And especially with drones, 263 00:14:22,571 --> 00:14:24,988 thermal imagers attached to drones. 264 00:14:25,031 --> 00:14:28,825 I really do see a future where the next 265 00:14:28,869 --> 00:14:30,869 big, profound piece of footage 266 00:14:30,954 --> 00:14:33,079 is gonna be gotten by a drone. 267 00:14:33,164 --> 00:14:35,874 Bader: Many bigfoot hunters 268 00:14:35,959 --> 00:14:38,209 are very much devoted to the idea 269 00:14:38,295 --> 00:14:40,044 that the creature that they're looking for 270 00:14:40,130 --> 00:14:41,796 is an undiscovered animal. 271 00:14:41,882 --> 00:14:44,382 They believe that if they try hard enough, 272 00:14:44,467 --> 00:14:46,676 they could capture sufficient evidence 273 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:48,303 to prove the issue once and for all. 274 00:14:48,388 --> 00:14:50,722 Shatner: Bigfoot hunters have set their sights 275 00:14:50,807 --> 00:14:53,266 on catching the beast itself. 276 00:14:53,351 --> 00:14:56,060 But the most compelling pieces of evidence 277 00:14:56,146 --> 00:14:59,063 that we have right now are the huge footprints 278 00:14:59,107 --> 00:15:01,566 that have been found for decades. 279 00:15:01,651 --> 00:15:05,028 And according to anthropologist dr. Jeff meldrum, 280 00:15:05,113 --> 00:15:07,488 these impressions in the ground 281 00:15:07,574 --> 00:15:10,116 prove that there really is 282 00:15:10,201 --> 00:15:12,785 an enormous primate roaming the forest. 283 00:15:12,871 --> 00:15:16,664 Meldrum: My research expertise centers around 284 00:15:16,750 --> 00:15:19,500 the adaptations of the human body 285 00:15:19,586 --> 00:15:23,212 for bipedalism-- the habit of walking on two legs. 286 00:15:24,466 --> 00:15:27,759 So that put me in a very apropos position 287 00:15:27,802 --> 00:15:30,553 to address what is probably 288 00:15:30,639 --> 00:15:32,805 the most prolific and, in my opinion, 289 00:15:32,891 --> 00:15:35,433 by far the most compelling body of evidence 290 00:15:35,477 --> 00:15:38,144 for the existence of sasquatch, 291 00:15:38,229 --> 00:15:40,396 namely the footprints. 292 00:15:41,816 --> 00:15:44,734 Shatner: Dr. Meldrum's interest in bigfoot footprints started 293 00:15:44,819 --> 00:15:48,321 in 1996 when he and a colleague came across 294 00:15:48,406 --> 00:15:51,115 a remarkable line of footprints 295 00:15:51,159 --> 00:15:54,577 in southeastern washington. 296 00:15:54,663 --> 00:15:58,206 As we walk out there, here's this unmistakable line 297 00:15:58,291 --> 00:16:00,750 of footprints in the mud, 298 00:16:00,835 --> 00:16:03,586 these 15-inch footprints, 299 00:16:03,672 --> 00:16:07,256 and the hair stood up on the back of my neck 300 00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:09,300 as I realized a sasquatch actually 301 00:16:09,344 --> 00:16:11,302 walked by here last night. 302 00:16:11,388 --> 00:16:13,846 The evidence was really unmistakable to my eye 303 00:16:13,932 --> 00:16:16,599 with my background and training. 304 00:16:17,894 --> 00:16:19,644 Shatner: Dr. Meldrum immediately made 305 00:16:19,688 --> 00:16:21,854 several casts of the intriguing footprints. 306 00:16:21,940 --> 00:16:23,815 The first of many such casts 307 00:16:23,900 --> 00:16:26,442 that he has made throughout his career. 308 00:16:26,528 --> 00:16:29,278 Based off his research, 309 00:16:29,364 --> 00:16:32,949 he has concluded that by analyzing a variety of factors, 310 00:16:33,034 --> 00:16:36,744 such as how the foot imprints irregularities into the ground 311 00:16:36,830 --> 00:16:40,206 or the spacing of the toes in the dirt, 312 00:16:40,291 --> 00:16:43,376 it is possible to determine when footprints have been faked 313 00:16:43,461 --> 00:16:48,006 and when they were really made by a 15-inch foot. 314 00:16:50,427 --> 00:16:53,094 So here we are over 20 years later, and 315 00:16:53,179 --> 00:16:56,014 in addition to the seven footprint 316 00:16:56,099 --> 00:16:58,683 casts that I made on that afternoon, 317 00:16:58,768 --> 00:17:01,936 there are over 300 casts to keep them company here 318 00:17:02,022 --> 00:17:04,355 in the specimen drawers in my laboratory. 319 00:17:04,441 --> 00:17:06,315 It's just been an amazing road 320 00:17:06,401 --> 00:17:11,195 that has yielded, due to this extraordinary sample, 321 00:17:11,281 --> 00:17:13,906 the emergence of a model of a foot 322 00:17:13,992 --> 00:17:16,993 that is not simply an enlarged facsimile 323 00:17:17,078 --> 00:17:19,871 of a human footprint but rather shows 324 00:17:19,956 --> 00:17:23,082 all the distinctions of a foot adapted 325 00:17:23,168 --> 00:17:26,502 to transport a 800-to-1,200-pound 326 00:17:26,588 --> 00:17:28,129 bipedal primate 327 00:17:28,214 --> 00:17:31,841 through the rough, irregular, incline terrain 328 00:17:31,926 --> 00:17:33,634 of the mountainous forests 329 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,596 they are said to inhabit. 330 00:17:36,681 --> 00:17:39,432 Shatner: If bigfoot is making 331 00:17:39,517 --> 00:17:41,684 giant footprints in the forest, 332 00:17:41,770 --> 00:17:44,270 then is it a creature that can be explained 333 00:17:44,355 --> 00:17:46,064 by conventional science? 334 00:17:46,149 --> 00:17:49,650 Bigfoot researchers believe the answer is yes. 335 00:17:49,736 --> 00:17:53,738 And they claim that bigfoot is an animal... 336 00:17:53,782 --> 00:17:56,407 That has already been found. 337 00:18:07,629 --> 00:18:11,714 Shatner: Explorer robert von beringe is leading an expedition 338 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,092 up mount sabyinyo 339 00:18:14,177 --> 00:18:16,677 when he comes upon a troop of gorillas. 340 00:18:16,763 --> 00:18:19,138 Which is extraordinary, because according 341 00:18:19,224 --> 00:18:22,225 to mainstream scientists at the time, gorillas aren't 342 00:18:22,310 --> 00:18:24,268 supposed to live in the mountains. 343 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,271 Bader: For years, when reports came out 344 00:18:27,315 --> 00:18:29,232 about mountain gorillas, people said, 345 00:18:29,317 --> 00:18:31,067 "they're lying, they're hoaxers," 346 00:18:31,152 --> 00:18:33,861 until we finally had specimens. 347 00:18:33,947 --> 00:18:35,947 (gorilla hooting) 348 00:18:37,075 --> 00:18:39,075 and now the mountain gorilla are part 349 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,619 of the public and historical record. 350 00:18:41,663 --> 00:18:43,412 Meldrum: The discovery of the gorilla 351 00:18:43,498 --> 00:18:45,665 is actually a very good example 352 00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:48,292 of the manner in which 353 00:18:48,336 --> 00:18:51,587 the existence of an unknown primate species 354 00:18:51,631 --> 00:18:55,758 was eventually recognized by western science. 355 00:18:55,844 --> 00:18:59,345 And science requires a type specimen 356 00:18:59,430 --> 00:19:01,931 in order to justify 357 00:19:02,016 --> 00:19:04,600 the recognition of a novel species. 358 00:19:05,687 --> 00:19:07,645 Shatner: For bigfoot researchers, the discovery 359 00:19:07,730 --> 00:19:09,730 of the mountain gorilla is an example 360 00:19:09,816 --> 00:19:12,275 of how the assumptions of mainstream scientists 361 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:14,235 are not always correct. 362 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,655 And they argue that if the mountain gorilla survived 363 00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:21,367 in the african mountains, unrecognized by science 364 00:19:21,452 --> 00:19:26,330 until 1902, that it's possible that bigfoot 365 00:19:26,374 --> 00:19:30,001 is alive in the vast forests of north america. 366 00:19:30,044 --> 00:19:32,795 It just hasn't been verified yet. 367 00:19:32,839 --> 00:19:36,841 But is bigfoot really an unknown creature? 368 00:19:36,885 --> 00:19:39,135 Or is it simply another name for a creature 369 00:19:39,179 --> 00:19:42,138 we've known about for decades? 370 00:19:42,223 --> 00:19:45,933 There's various theories as to what this type of primate is. 371 00:19:46,019 --> 00:19:50,104 But it most likely is related to this line of apes 372 00:19:50,190 --> 00:19:53,107 out of southeast asia, the most famous of which was called 373 00:19:53,193 --> 00:19:57,069 gigantopithecus, the largest apes that ever lived. 374 00:19:57,155 --> 00:20:00,531 Meldrum: Gigantopithecus was a species that existed 375 00:20:00,575 --> 00:20:05,203 during the late pleistocene, perhaps until as recently as 376 00:20:05,288 --> 00:20:07,413 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, 377 00:20:07,498 --> 00:20:09,540 according to the fossil record. 378 00:20:09,584 --> 00:20:14,045 It was a giant primate of literally king kong proportions 379 00:20:14,130 --> 00:20:18,549 that could have stood ten feet tall and weighed in excess 380 00:20:18,635 --> 00:20:21,052 of a thousand, 1,200 pounds. 381 00:20:22,305 --> 00:20:24,722 Shatner: The theory that what we call "bigfoot" is actually 382 00:20:24,807 --> 00:20:28,226 gigantopithecus has profound implications. 383 00:20:28,269 --> 00:20:32,188 If true, it would mean that the existence of bigfoot 384 00:20:32,273 --> 00:20:35,024 has already been scientifically verified. 385 00:20:35,109 --> 00:20:37,026 There's just one problem. 386 00:20:37,111 --> 00:20:40,738 According to paleontologists, gigantopithecus became extinct 387 00:20:40,823 --> 00:20:44,075 a long time ago. 388 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,578 Meldrum: Gigantopithecus has often been characterized 389 00:20:47,622 --> 00:20:51,415 as a creature that fed exclusively on bamboo 390 00:20:51,501 --> 00:20:53,793 and, hence, went extinct when those bamboo forests 391 00:20:53,878 --> 00:20:55,711 also expired. 392 00:20:55,755 --> 00:20:59,924 But much more insightful analyses 393 00:20:59,968 --> 00:21:02,385 of the fossilized teeth of gigantopithecus 394 00:21:02,470 --> 00:21:06,264 suggests that it had a diet that was quite diverse. 395 00:21:06,349 --> 00:21:09,267 Which is quite interesting, to have an animal that size 396 00:21:09,352 --> 00:21:12,603 that still had a very diverse, omnivorous diet. 397 00:21:12,647 --> 00:21:15,273 Shatner: But even if gigantopithecus 398 00:21:15,358 --> 00:21:20,111 has somehow survived into the present, questions remain. 399 00:21:20,196 --> 00:21:23,489 Such as, how did such a large creature migrate 400 00:21:23,574 --> 00:21:25,658 from the bamboo forests of southeast asia 401 00:21:25,743 --> 00:21:29,453 all the way to north america? 402 00:21:29,539 --> 00:21:32,123 If bigfoots are descendants of gigantopithecus, 403 00:21:32,166 --> 00:21:33,666 or a line of apes like it, 404 00:21:33,751 --> 00:21:36,627 they probably came over the land bridge 405 00:21:36,713 --> 00:21:38,838 the same way that native americans did, 406 00:21:38,923 --> 00:21:41,799 back when siberia and alaska were connected 407 00:21:41,843 --> 00:21:44,385 and all sorts of animals were able to cross over 408 00:21:44,470 --> 00:21:45,803 the bering strait. 409 00:21:45,888 --> 00:21:48,723 Shatner: Bigfoot researchers are steadfast 410 00:21:48,808 --> 00:21:52,727 in their support of the gigantopithecus theory. 411 00:21:52,812 --> 00:21:57,023 But most experts reject the idea due to lack of evidence. 412 00:21:57,108 --> 00:22:00,568 But what if the evidence does exist, 413 00:22:00,653 --> 00:22:02,695 and scientists simply aren't looking for it 414 00:22:02,780 --> 00:22:04,989 in the right places? 415 00:22:10,580 --> 00:22:13,331 Naturalist john mionczynski is spending the summer 416 00:22:13,374 --> 00:22:15,499 working for the u.S. Forest service. 417 00:22:16,753 --> 00:22:19,545 I was employed by the u.S. Forest service 418 00:22:19,630 --> 00:22:21,881 and the wyoming game and fish department 419 00:22:21,966 --> 00:22:23,841 on a cooperative study. 420 00:22:23,885 --> 00:22:28,220 The project was set up so that I would live in the wild. 421 00:22:28,306 --> 00:22:31,182 -(owl hooting) -shatner: Late one night, 422 00:22:31,225 --> 00:22:34,226 john feels what he thinks is a large bear 423 00:22:34,312 --> 00:22:38,272 pressing against the outside of his tent. 424 00:22:38,358 --> 00:22:44,195 I was approached by something that cast a shadow. 425 00:22:44,238 --> 00:22:47,031 The moon was just coming up, it was almost a full moon. 426 00:22:48,493 --> 00:22:51,660 I clearly saw a hand with four fingers 427 00:22:51,746 --> 00:22:54,288 and an opposed thumb, like a human hand. 428 00:22:54,374 --> 00:22:56,290 And it was large. 429 00:22:56,376 --> 00:22:58,250 It was twice the size of my hand. 430 00:22:58,336 --> 00:23:01,337 It was getting aggressive with its movements 431 00:23:01,381 --> 00:23:03,547 on the side of the tent. 432 00:23:03,633 --> 00:23:05,216 I hit it with the back of my hand. 433 00:23:05,259 --> 00:23:07,510 (growling) 434 00:23:08,846 --> 00:23:11,222 whatever it was had backed off. 435 00:23:11,307 --> 00:23:14,558 It ran back behind some trees. 436 00:23:14,644 --> 00:23:16,769 So I was totally perplexed. 437 00:23:16,854 --> 00:23:19,230 I have to say that, the thought of sasquatch 438 00:23:19,273 --> 00:23:21,649 never occurred to me at that moment. 439 00:23:21,734 --> 00:23:25,277 Shatner: When john reported the encounter to the forest service, 440 00:23:25,363 --> 00:23:29,407 he learned that there had been a rash of similar reports. 441 00:23:29,492 --> 00:23:31,158 His boss, afraid the sightings 442 00:23:31,244 --> 00:23:32,952 might be the work of a prankster, 443 00:23:33,037 --> 00:23:36,205 asked him to investigate and interview the witnesses. 444 00:23:36,290 --> 00:23:38,165 Mionczynski: I eventually interviewed 445 00:23:38,251 --> 00:23:40,042 about 25 people. 446 00:23:40,128 --> 00:23:45,047 The most interesting one was a young man 447 00:23:45,133 --> 00:23:47,258 in a little cabin up against the mountains. 448 00:23:47,301 --> 00:23:48,300 (creature growls) 449 00:23:48,386 --> 00:23:49,844 he had reported 450 00:23:49,929 --> 00:23:52,972 seeing one of these behaving aggressively 451 00:23:53,057 --> 00:23:54,432 in front of his cabin. 452 00:23:56,436 --> 00:23:58,227 And he shot it. 453 00:24:01,190 --> 00:24:02,565 And he'd thought he'd killed it, 454 00:24:02,608 --> 00:24:05,317 but it got up immediately and ran off. 455 00:24:05,403 --> 00:24:08,612 Shatner: John visited the cabin and, incredibly, 456 00:24:08,656 --> 00:24:12,116 found that there were hair samples left near the house. 457 00:24:12,201 --> 00:24:15,286 He collected the hairs and brought them 458 00:24:15,329 --> 00:24:18,789 to walter birkby, a well-known forensic anthropologist 459 00:24:18,875 --> 00:24:22,626 and leading expert on hair analysis. 460 00:24:22,712 --> 00:24:26,380 The analysis came back a few days later 461 00:24:26,466 --> 00:24:30,217 and walter birkby said, and this is a quote, 462 00:24:30,303 --> 00:24:34,263 "this is my first stumper. These hairs are primate." 463 00:24:34,307 --> 00:24:37,266 and he was certain about that. 464 00:24:37,351 --> 00:24:41,812 The result was controversial because a hairy primate 465 00:24:41,856 --> 00:24:46,108 is not of an animal native to wyoming. 466 00:24:46,152 --> 00:24:49,904 That kind of suggested the idea of bigfoot. 467 00:24:49,989 --> 00:24:53,991 Shatner: Solid, physical evidence of a primate in wyoming? 468 00:24:54,076 --> 00:24:56,327 You might think that the scientific community 469 00:24:56,370 --> 00:24:58,871 would be thrilled by such a discovery. 470 00:24:58,956 --> 00:25:01,582 But john quickly realized the perils 471 00:25:01,667 --> 00:25:04,376 of making that assumption. 472 00:25:04,462 --> 00:25:06,378 Mionczynski: The head of the research division 473 00:25:06,464 --> 00:25:08,506 actually chewed us out. 474 00:25:08,591 --> 00:25:10,591 Pointing his finger at us and saying, 475 00:25:10,676 --> 00:25:12,343 "if your names are ever associated 476 00:25:12,428 --> 00:25:14,512 "with this word bigfoot again, 477 00:25:14,555 --> 00:25:17,515 I will personally see to it that you're fired." 478 00:25:17,558 --> 00:25:20,059 (low growl) 479 00:25:20,144 --> 00:25:23,020 if hard evidence of bigfoot really exists, 480 00:25:23,105 --> 00:25:26,649 then why are scientists so eager to dismiss it? 481 00:25:26,734 --> 00:25:29,401 Maybe it's safer to think 482 00:25:29,487 --> 00:25:35,115 that it's all just a delusion or a hoax. 483 00:25:36,619 --> 00:25:39,954 Or perhaps bigfoot doesn't fit into their preconceived notions 484 00:25:40,039 --> 00:25:42,248 of the world. 485 00:25:42,333 --> 00:25:45,209 In any case, some evidence is difficult, 486 00:25:45,294 --> 00:25:49,755 if not downright impossible, to ignore, 487 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:51,840 as you shall see. 488 00:26:00,518 --> 00:26:02,851 Shatner: Researcher robert collier 489 00:26:02,937 --> 00:26:04,979 is leading a bigfoot expedition 490 00:26:05,064 --> 00:26:08,107 in a remote part of the wilderness. 491 00:26:08,192 --> 00:26:11,735 Collier: It was about dusk, getting a little bit darker. 492 00:26:11,821 --> 00:26:15,739 And all of a sudden we hear these horrendous footsteps. 493 00:26:15,783 --> 00:26:22,246 As we looked in front of us, what we saw had two legs. 494 00:26:24,375 --> 00:26:27,585 And it looked like the conical shaped head, 495 00:26:27,670 --> 00:26:30,129 the broad shoulders. 496 00:26:30,214 --> 00:26:31,922 And it's sitting right there. I'm looking at it. 497 00:26:33,634 --> 00:26:35,593 Shatner: Robert and his companions were astonished 498 00:26:35,636 --> 00:26:38,971 by the two-legged creature moving near them. 499 00:26:39,056 --> 00:26:40,889 But what happened next was even more extraordinary. 500 00:26:40,975 --> 00:26:43,726 Collier: Soon as that happened, 501 00:26:43,811 --> 00:26:46,895 it was like somebody had parked their car down there 502 00:26:46,981 --> 00:26:49,231 and turned on headlights. 503 00:26:49,275 --> 00:26:50,983 Lit up the whole area. 504 00:26:51,068 --> 00:26:53,319 And I remember looking at that 505 00:26:53,404 --> 00:26:57,823 and the lights stayed on, one, two, 506 00:26:57,908 --> 00:26:59,992 three, off. 507 00:27:00,077 --> 00:27:02,244 Then it just went silent. 508 00:27:02,330 --> 00:27:04,622 But we were in such shock and pure amazement 509 00:27:04,707 --> 00:27:06,457 from that, from that sighting. 510 00:27:06,542 --> 00:27:12,296 Shatner: A sudden, brilliant illumination deep in the forest? 511 00:27:12,381 --> 00:27:15,341 Just before the mysterious creature robert saw 512 00:27:15,426 --> 00:27:17,343 seemingly disappeared? 513 00:27:17,428 --> 00:27:22,973 While it may sound like a fantastical story, 514 00:27:23,017 --> 00:27:26,727 this wasn't the last time robert observed 515 00:27:26,812 --> 00:27:30,064 such a strange occurrence. 516 00:27:30,149 --> 00:27:31,649 Collier: This last expedition, 517 00:27:31,734 --> 00:27:33,651 I experienced more lights. 518 00:27:33,736 --> 00:27:37,154 We had some activity one night and I remember, 519 00:27:37,198 --> 00:27:39,365 at one point, bigfoot turned its body 520 00:27:39,450 --> 00:27:40,574 and it looked back at me. 521 00:27:40,660 --> 00:27:42,368 And then this blue light-- 522 00:27:42,453 --> 00:27:44,328 it was a blue streak through the forest-- 523 00:27:44,413 --> 00:27:46,121 and it shot off to the right. 524 00:27:46,207 --> 00:27:47,998 I still can't wrap my head around it. 525 00:27:48,084 --> 00:27:50,459 But still other people experience that 526 00:27:50,503 --> 00:27:52,670 and they're seeing the same things. 527 00:27:52,713 --> 00:27:55,172 People are starting to see these white orbs. 528 00:27:55,257 --> 00:27:58,425 The blue lights, the streaks. 529 00:27:58,511 --> 00:28:00,511 So, there's the common denominator in there. 530 00:28:00,596 --> 00:28:04,473 Shatner: Robert and others who have seen these inexplicable lights 531 00:28:04,517 --> 00:28:06,308 may not have all the answers. 532 00:28:06,394 --> 00:28:08,811 However, the phenomenon 533 00:28:08,854 --> 00:28:13,607 suggests an intriguing possibility. 534 00:28:13,693 --> 00:28:17,653 You see, most researchers speculate that bigfoot could be 535 00:28:17,697 --> 00:28:20,197 some form of ape and man 536 00:28:20,241 --> 00:28:22,199 or a mix of both. 537 00:28:22,284 --> 00:28:24,368 But what if those theories are missing the target? 538 00:28:24,412 --> 00:28:27,204 If bigfoot is real, 539 00:28:27,289 --> 00:28:29,415 could it be totally different 540 00:28:29,500 --> 00:28:32,084 from any kind of creature that we're familiar with? 541 00:28:32,169 --> 00:28:34,920 Perhaps the answer can be found by examining 542 00:28:35,005 --> 00:28:39,216 one of the most notorious bigfoot encounters in history. 543 00:28:45,599 --> 00:28:49,768 Gold prospector fred beck and some miners are working 544 00:28:49,854 --> 00:28:53,105 on a claim not far from mount st. Helens, 545 00:28:53,190 --> 00:28:56,817 when they hear a bizarre noise. 546 00:28:56,902 --> 00:28:58,026 Bader: Fred and one of his friends 547 00:28:58,070 --> 00:28:59,778 heard strange whistling sounds 548 00:28:59,864 --> 00:29:02,072 and all of a sudden saw a hairy creature 549 00:29:02,116 --> 00:29:04,116 peek its head out from behind a tree. 550 00:29:04,201 --> 00:29:05,743 The men instantly pulled out their guns 551 00:29:05,786 --> 00:29:07,202 and started shooting at the creature... 552 00:29:10,416 --> 00:29:13,292 ...Which howled and screamed as it ran away. 553 00:29:13,377 --> 00:29:17,421 And this attack on the creature seemed to provoke it, 554 00:29:17,506 --> 00:29:18,964 because that evening 555 00:29:19,049 --> 00:29:22,426 fred and his friends in their cabin were assaulted 556 00:29:22,470 --> 00:29:25,763 by what seemed to be a group of sasquatch, or bigfeet. 557 00:29:25,848 --> 00:29:28,724 They heard pounding on the roof. 558 00:29:31,145 --> 00:29:35,564 Fred described the creatures as tall and hairy, 559 00:29:35,649 --> 00:29:38,776 having apelike faces and being entirely hair-covered, 560 00:29:38,819 --> 00:29:40,778 and between six to eight feet tall, 561 00:29:40,821 --> 00:29:42,321 running around on two legs. 562 00:29:42,406 --> 00:29:44,615 Shatner: The men soon realized that the cabin 563 00:29:44,658 --> 00:29:48,076 would not necessarily protect them from their attackers, 564 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,621 because the creatures bombarded the cabin 565 00:29:50,706 --> 00:29:52,998 with huge rocks from the cliffs above 566 00:29:53,083 --> 00:29:56,460 and then tried to get inside. 567 00:29:56,545 --> 00:29:59,463 Bader: In one especially terrifying part of the story, 568 00:29:59,507 --> 00:30:00,839 a creature reached its hand through the cabin 569 00:30:00,925 --> 00:30:03,926 and tried to grab an ax, but fred grabbed 570 00:30:03,969 --> 00:30:06,470 the head of the ax and turned it 571 00:30:06,514 --> 00:30:08,472 so the creature couldn't pull it through. 572 00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:13,352 The next morning, as it neared daylight, 573 00:30:13,437 --> 00:30:15,312 the attacks finally stopped. 574 00:30:15,397 --> 00:30:18,941 And fred and his friends decided to make their escape. 575 00:30:19,026 --> 00:30:22,444 And this story made its way into the papers. 576 00:30:22,530 --> 00:30:26,657 And ever since then, this area has been known as ape canyon. 577 00:30:29,745 --> 00:30:32,246 Shatner: For some, the so-called ape canyon incident 578 00:30:32,331 --> 00:30:34,706 proves that bigfoot possesses intelligence 579 00:30:34,792 --> 00:30:39,753 that exceeds that of any known animal and rivals our own. 580 00:30:39,839 --> 00:30:44,466 But to others, the incident suggests something 581 00:30:44,510 --> 00:30:46,510 much more incredible. 582 00:30:47,972 --> 00:30:49,346 Bader: If you actually look back 583 00:30:49,431 --> 00:30:52,641 to fred beck's own works, he did not think these creatures 584 00:30:52,726 --> 00:30:55,185 were actually undiscovered animals. 585 00:30:55,271 --> 00:30:57,229 He thought they were spiritual entities 586 00:30:57,314 --> 00:30:58,814 from another plane of existence. 587 00:30:58,899 --> 00:31:01,817 He claimed they would find a footprint track 588 00:31:01,902 --> 00:31:03,944 that would suddenly end in the middle of a sandbar, 589 00:31:04,029 --> 00:31:05,863 suggesting that a creature had just simply disappeared 590 00:31:05,906 --> 00:31:08,156 as it was walking. 591 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,743 So, from his perspective, this was not an undiscovered ape. 592 00:31:11,829 --> 00:31:14,538 It was a mystical creature from another dimension. 593 00:31:14,582 --> 00:31:18,625 Shatner: A mystical creature from another dimension? 594 00:31:18,711 --> 00:31:22,045 But how is such a thing possible? 595 00:31:22,131 --> 00:31:25,048 And doesn't that theory contradict 596 00:31:25,092 --> 00:31:28,594 mainstream bigfoot research? 597 00:31:28,679 --> 00:31:31,555 Bader: The idea that bigfoot might be able to disappear 598 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,141 into another dimension, that is very threatening 599 00:31:34,226 --> 00:31:37,394 to that view that it's simply an undiscovered animal. 600 00:31:37,438 --> 00:31:40,230 And, in fact, people oftentimes make fun of bigfoot hunters 601 00:31:40,316 --> 00:31:42,024 and say, "you're just like ghost hunters, 602 00:31:42,109 --> 00:31:43,734 you're just like people who see fairies and demons." 603 00:31:43,819 --> 00:31:48,030 and when you add paranormal elements to a bigfoot story, 604 00:31:48,115 --> 00:31:49,823 you open them up for that very criticism 605 00:31:49,909 --> 00:31:51,241 that bothers them so much. 606 00:31:51,327 --> 00:31:53,577 Thompson: Most of the contemporary traditions 607 00:31:53,621 --> 00:31:55,287 assign bigfoot or sasquatch 608 00:31:55,372 --> 00:31:56,747 to the natural world. 609 00:31:56,832 --> 00:31:59,207 In other words, it's not a supernatural character. 610 00:31:59,251 --> 00:32:00,792 Most of the native traditions 611 00:32:00,878 --> 00:32:02,419 would be more of the spiritual world 612 00:32:02,504 --> 00:32:04,463 or more of the supernatural world. 613 00:32:04,548 --> 00:32:06,590 That this figure is more than simply 614 00:32:06,675 --> 00:32:08,383 a large hominid living out there. 615 00:32:08,427 --> 00:32:12,512 They've ascribed, uh, some powers to them, 616 00:32:12,598 --> 00:32:14,097 spiritual powers. 617 00:32:14,183 --> 00:32:17,768 They can change into different things at times, 618 00:32:17,853 --> 00:32:22,439 which aids in their ability to seem to vanish on location. 619 00:32:22,524 --> 00:32:24,316 Uh, shapeshifters, if you will. 620 00:32:24,401 --> 00:32:26,401 And so they have 621 00:32:26,487 --> 00:32:29,613 a whole different respect for them, spiritually. 622 00:32:32,034 --> 00:32:35,744 Does bigfoot really have mystical powers? 623 00:32:35,829 --> 00:32:39,164 And could this fantastical notion 624 00:32:39,249 --> 00:32:41,416 help to explain things about bigfoot 625 00:32:41,502 --> 00:32:46,588 that have, up till now, stumped researchers? 626 00:32:46,674 --> 00:32:49,424 There are those who believe that the answer is yes-- 627 00:32:49,510 --> 00:32:51,134 and that one big reason 628 00:32:51,220 --> 00:32:53,595 why bigfoot has otherworldly abilities 629 00:32:53,681 --> 00:32:57,641 is because he really is from another world. 630 00:33:07,403 --> 00:33:12,155 Shatner: Bigfoot researcher joe fex visits a rural appalachian farm 631 00:33:12,199 --> 00:33:14,116 owned by a woman who claims 632 00:33:14,159 --> 00:33:15,659 that she has encountered bigfoot 633 00:33:15,744 --> 00:33:18,620 not once, not twice, but many times 634 00:33:18,706 --> 00:33:20,664 over a period of years. 635 00:33:20,749 --> 00:33:24,334 Fex: Janice carter coy claimed 636 00:33:24,378 --> 00:33:26,336 bigfoot would come down the mountain, 637 00:33:26,422 --> 00:33:29,089 visit this barn that was about two miles away, 638 00:33:29,174 --> 00:33:32,843 and that they would come visit her grandfather's farm. 639 00:33:32,886 --> 00:33:35,345 Shatner: Eager to find out 640 00:33:35,389 --> 00:33:37,639 whether janice's incredible story could be true, 641 00:33:37,725 --> 00:33:42,519 joe decided to do a nighttime stakeout on her farm. 642 00:33:44,064 --> 00:33:47,691 That night, joe and janice were sitting around a firepit 643 00:33:47,735 --> 00:33:52,738 when joe noticed something... Strange. 644 00:33:52,823 --> 00:33:54,531 Fex: As we're talking, 645 00:33:54,575 --> 00:33:58,201 I see between these barn structures 646 00:33:58,287 --> 00:34:03,331 two very bright, very vivid lime green lights. 647 00:34:03,375 --> 00:34:06,668 And they're floating across this open area 648 00:34:06,754 --> 00:34:08,045 between these structures. 649 00:34:08,130 --> 00:34:09,629 I thought, 650 00:34:09,715 --> 00:34:11,590 "wow, tennessee has got some pretty extremely large 651 00:34:11,675 --> 00:34:13,258 lightning bugs out here." 652 00:34:13,343 --> 00:34:15,052 shatner: But the green lights 653 00:34:15,137 --> 00:34:16,553 started to come closer to him 654 00:34:16,597 --> 00:34:19,890 and joe realized that what he thought were fireflies... 655 00:34:19,975 --> 00:34:23,060 Were actually glowing eyes. 656 00:34:23,103 --> 00:34:24,186 Fex: I could see 657 00:34:24,229 --> 00:34:28,065 the structure of a very large, 658 00:34:28,150 --> 00:34:30,692 long-haired, shaggy-- 659 00:34:30,778 --> 00:34:32,736 what looked like a very muscular ape. 660 00:34:32,821 --> 00:34:34,988 And I looked over at janice 661 00:34:35,074 --> 00:34:37,115 and she's just looking at me with this grin. 662 00:34:37,201 --> 00:34:38,617 And she says, 663 00:34:38,702 --> 00:34:41,703 "he wants to know if you're going to go back to colorado 664 00:34:41,789 --> 00:34:44,039 and tell people you saw fireflies." 665 00:34:44,124 --> 00:34:45,874 how janice would even know that 666 00:34:45,918 --> 00:34:47,834 that thought even entered my head, 667 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,045 brief as that thought was, 668 00:34:50,089 --> 00:34:51,588 I really have no idea. 669 00:34:51,673 --> 00:34:53,757 Shatner joe was astonished to see 670 00:34:53,842 --> 00:34:55,425 that janice seemed to be able 671 00:34:55,469 --> 00:34:56,593 to mentally communicate with the creature... 672 00:34:56,678 --> 00:34:59,221 Which was somehow reading his mind, too. 673 00:35:00,557 --> 00:35:03,350 Janice said, "he wants you to come back to the ditch line. 674 00:35:03,435 --> 00:35:05,894 He wants to see you. He wants you to see him." 675 00:35:05,979 --> 00:35:07,979 and I thought, "oh, this is insane." 676 00:35:08,065 --> 00:35:10,857 but she gives me this big flashlight. 677 00:35:10,943 --> 00:35:12,818 So I started walking over there 678 00:35:12,903 --> 00:35:15,278 and back out behind the house, 679 00:35:15,322 --> 00:35:17,948 and I pointed the light forward. 680 00:35:18,033 --> 00:35:20,242 And here, in this open area, 681 00:35:20,285 --> 00:35:21,952 stood this guy that had to be 682 00:35:22,037 --> 00:35:23,662 about eight or nine feet tall. 683 00:35:23,747 --> 00:35:25,789 I've never heard or seen anything like it 684 00:35:25,833 --> 00:35:27,124 in my entire life. 685 00:35:28,627 --> 00:35:30,961 Shatner: You'd think that after standing toe to toe with bigfoot, 686 00:35:31,004 --> 00:35:35,173 joe would remember everything about such an encounter. 687 00:35:35,259 --> 00:35:39,261 But as it turns out, joe's memory is a little fuzzy. 688 00:35:41,014 --> 00:35:43,473 I don't know what happened at the tail end of that. 689 00:35:43,559 --> 00:35:45,475 I just remember standing 690 00:35:45,561 --> 00:35:47,602 back at the camp, talking with janice. 691 00:35:47,646 --> 00:35:48,979 I don't remember walking away. 692 00:35:49,064 --> 00:35:51,773 I don't remember... How did that end? 693 00:35:51,859 --> 00:35:54,985 Which is, to me-- even now, all these years later-- 694 00:35:55,070 --> 00:35:56,987 is really bizarre. 695 00:35:57,072 --> 00:35:59,322 Shatner: To many observers, 696 00:35:59,408 --> 00:36:02,659 joe's description of bigfoot sounds less like a primate 697 00:36:02,744 --> 00:36:05,996 and more like something... Paranormal. 698 00:36:07,457 --> 00:36:08,999 Bader: Joe fex's story actually 699 00:36:09,042 --> 00:36:12,210 sounds a lot like a ufo abduction account to me. 700 00:36:12,296 --> 00:36:15,005 When you claim that there's some period of time 701 00:36:15,090 --> 00:36:17,007 that you simply cannot account for... 702 00:36:17,050 --> 00:36:19,843 In alien abduction lore, this is called "missing time," 703 00:36:19,928 --> 00:36:22,512 and it's believed that the aliens will erase your memory 704 00:36:22,598 --> 00:36:24,514 for a certain period of the encounter. 705 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,267 There are other stories within the bigfoot realm 706 00:36:27,352 --> 00:36:29,561 where people claim to have had encounters with ufos 707 00:36:29,646 --> 00:36:31,396 or even had an abduction. 708 00:36:32,566 --> 00:36:36,693 Shatner: Could bigfoot actually be an extraterrestrial? 709 00:36:37,905 --> 00:36:41,031 Some bigfoot researchers would argue the answer is yes, 710 00:36:41,074 --> 00:36:43,366 and that the strongest evidence lies not in what happened 711 00:36:43,452 --> 00:36:46,244 during joe's bigfoot encounter 712 00:36:46,330 --> 00:36:48,330 but what happened after. 713 00:36:50,459 --> 00:36:54,044 Fex: Two weeks later, at maybe 10:30, 11:00 in the morning. 714 00:36:54,087 --> 00:36:55,212 I go into the shower 715 00:36:55,297 --> 00:36:57,005 and I come back out of the shower, 716 00:36:57,090 --> 00:36:58,548 uh, dry off real quick, 717 00:36:58,634 --> 00:37:00,467 relax for a minute. 718 00:37:00,552 --> 00:37:02,344 I have a cup of coffee. 719 00:37:02,387 --> 00:37:04,554 I unconsciously reached back here 720 00:37:04,598 --> 00:37:06,932 and I could feel something. 721 00:37:07,017 --> 00:37:10,393 I realized there was a relatively deep hole 722 00:37:10,437 --> 00:37:12,229 that I could fit my pinky into. 723 00:37:12,314 --> 00:37:14,773 It didn't feel like a wound. 724 00:37:14,858 --> 00:37:16,233 It felt perfectly fine. 725 00:37:16,318 --> 00:37:18,735 It didn't hurt at all. There was no sensation. 726 00:37:19,780 --> 00:37:22,447 Shatner: An inexplicable hole in your head 727 00:37:22,532 --> 00:37:25,784 isn't something that's easy to understand. 728 00:37:25,869 --> 00:37:29,663 But after considering every possibility, 729 00:37:29,748 --> 00:37:34,084 joe recognized that what happened to him was bizarre 730 00:37:34,127 --> 00:37:36,670 but not exactly unheard of. 731 00:37:36,755 --> 00:37:39,589 All of these things are extremely familiar 732 00:37:39,633 --> 00:37:41,091 in the field of ufos 733 00:37:41,176 --> 00:37:44,636 and the subfield of ufo abductions. 734 00:37:44,721 --> 00:37:48,306 They have similarities in their patterns of behavior, 735 00:37:48,392 --> 00:37:51,726 similarities in the environment and the circumstances, 736 00:37:51,812 --> 00:37:54,479 similarities in the side effects. 737 00:37:54,564 --> 00:37:56,982 I don't know if these things are related, 738 00:37:57,067 --> 00:37:58,817 but there is a correlation. 739 00:37:59,987 --> 00:38:03,571 Shatner: Joe fex may not have any definitive answers 740 00:38:03,615 --> 00:38:06,658 about bigfoot or about his experience. 741 00:38:06,743 --> 00:38:08,785 But what he does have 742 00:38:08,870 --> 00:38:11,121 are some intriguing possibilities to consider, 743 00:38:11,164 --> 00:38:14,499 thanks to the information that he has exchanged 744 00:38:14,584 --> 00:38:17,210 with other bigfoot researchers. 745 00:38:17,296 --> 00:38:20,964 And there are some who believe that this kind of cooperation 746 00:38:21,049 --> 00:38:25,427 will finally prove that bigfoot is real. 747 00:38:31,351 --> 00:38:33,059 Shatner: The oregon coast mountain range. 748 00:38:33,145 --> 00:38:37,272 Here, not far from the shore of the pacific ocean, 749 00:38:37,357 --> 00:38:41,276 lies a densely wooded area that, once a year, 750 00:38:41,361 --> 00:38:44,154 is the site of an invitation-only conference 751 00:38:44,197 --> 00:38:47,991 attended by international experts in their field. 752 00:38:48,076 --> 00:38:50,785 It's called... 753 00:38:50,871 --> 00:38:53,496 Beachfoot. 754 00:38:53,540 --> 00:38:55,582 Neiss: It was in 2003 755 00:38:55,667 --> 00:38:57,625 that I had this thought, 756 00:38:57,711 --> 00:38:59,794 "you know, what would happen if you could get 757 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:02,255 "all of these well-known researchers 758 00:39:02,341 --> 00:39:05,759 locked in the same room at the same time?" 759 00:39:05,844 --> 00:39:09,429 the amount of brain trust there would be amazing. 760 00:39:09,514 --> 00:39:12,640 Mionczynski: The beachfoot gatherings, 761 00:39:12,726 --> 00:39:15,393 where scientists get to discuss openly 762 00:39:15,479 --> 00:39:17,771 their research and findings 763 00:39:17,856 --> 00:39:19,022 concerning bigfoot... 764 00:39:19,107 --> 00:39:22,150 I think it's a very important step 765 00:39:22,194 --> 00:39:25,695 which will open up the subject 766 00:39:25,739 --> 00:39:28,365 to other scientists who are interested 767 00:39:28,450 --> 00:39:29,991 in studying this kind of phenomenon. 768 00:39:31,286 --> 00:39:33,119 Meldrum: One of my most enjoyable activities 769 00:39:33,205 --> 00:39:34,662 at such an event is, sometimes 770 00:39:34,748 --> 00:39:38,166 I teach a workshop on "tracking 101." 771 00:39:38,251 --> 00:39:42,462 those are opportunities where non-academics, 772 00:39:42,547 --> 00:39:46,925 non-phds, can strive to emulate the scientific method 773 00:39:47,010 --> 00:39:49,219 in their own search 774 00:39:49,262 --> 00:39:52,222 for the evidence they presume to find. 775 00:39:52,307 --> 00:39:54,974 Shatner: Gatherings like beachfoot 776 00:39:55,060 --> 00:39:58,311 prove that the legend of bigfoot is alive and well. 777 00:39:58,397 --> 00:40:00,688 But how is that possible 778 00:40:00,774 --> 00:40:04,234 when no conclusive evidence of bigfoot has ever been found? 779 00:40:05,779 --> 00:40:10,532 What drives our interest in this enduring mystery? 780 00:40:10,617 --> 00:40:12,409 The reason I believe 781 00:40:12,452 --> 00:40:14,869 that the sasquatch subject has such staying power 782 00:40:14,955 --> 00:40:18,331 is that there's so many witnesses out there. 783 00:40:18,417 --> 00:40:21,209 There's many parts of the country where, if you go 784 00:40:21,294 --> 00:40:23,044 and ask people if they've ever seen one, 785 00:40:23,088 --> 00:40:25,046 so often you'll hear, 786 00:40:25,132 --> 00:40:27,674 "no, I haven't, but I know somebody who has." 787 00:40:27,759 --> 00:40:29,676 so, there's many people out there 788 00:40:29,761 --> 00:40:32,387 who at least know someone they trust 789 00:40:32,472 --> 00:40:34,848 who has told them that they've seen these things. 790 00:40:34,933 --> 00:40:36,766 And that has had the effect of changing 791 00:40:36,852 --> 00:40:38,893 people's opinion about the subject 792 00:40:38,979 --> 00:40:42,355 of what would otherwise be just total skepticism everywhere. 793 00:40:44,234 --> 00:40:46,860 Burdorff: Bigfoot matters because 794 00:40:46,945 --> 00:40:50,780 it would be tangible proof of a solved mystery. 795 00:40:50,824 --> 00:40:53,158 Finding a real bigfoot, 796 00:40:53,243 --> 00:40:54,576 a real creature, 797 00:40:54,661 --> 00:40:58,580 would be like discovering 798 00:40:58,665 --> 00:41:01,040 another piece of the world. 799 00:41:01,126 --> 00:41:05,253 And it's... It's us reaching for another piece 800 00:41:05,338 --> 00:41:07,380 of that unknown 801 00:41:07,466 --> 00:41:09,632 that's always just beyond our reach. 802 00:41:11,344 --> 00:41:14,846 So, now, what do you think? Huh? 803 00:41:14,931 --> 00:41:16,431 Is bigfoot real, 804 00:41:16,516 --> 00:41:20,226 or is it all just part of an elaborate hoax? 805 00:41:20,312 --> 00:41:23,062 I guess that depends on what kind of a person you are. 806 00:41:23,148 --> 00:41:25,815 If you're the open-minded type 807 00:41:25,901 --> 00:41:28,526 who believes that the world is filled with wonder, 808 00:41:28,612 --> 00:41:30,862 then you probably believe it's real. 809 00:41:30,947 --> 00:41:34,532 If you are the hard-nosed, cynical type, 810 00:41:34,618 --> 00:41:38,244 then you're convinced it's all nonsense. 811 00:41:39,498 --> 00:41:42,332 But then there is a third type. 812 00:41:42,375 --> 00:41:45,835 The type who has actually seen bigfoot 813 00:41:45,879 --> 00:41:47,837 in the fur-covered flesh. 814 00:41:47,881 --> 00:41:50,632 For you, bigfoot is real, 815 00:41:50,717 --> 00:41:53,343 and your experience has convinced you 816 00:41:53,386 --> 00:41:55,428 that there is much about this mysterious creature 817 00:41:55,514 --> 00:41:59,766 that, for now, remains unexplained. 818 00:41:59,851 --> 00:42:04,272 Captioning provided by a+e networks