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In Search Of Bigfoot: A Televised Expedition May Prove The Elusive Beast Is Real

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I grew up in the Sierra Nevada mountains and spent endless weekends exploring the dense pine tree forests bordering Lake Tahoe, California. The vast area is comprised of 297 lakes, and 11 large reservoirs and is filled with more mystery than most locations in the world.

Among the greatest mysteries in the area is the legend of Bigfoot, where there have been more than 1,709 sightings throughout California. Through the years, my family and friends became accustomed to finding enormous bizarre footprints usually in open areas, odd animal odors, and patches of strange thick fur caught in branches through our extensive hikes. We never truly became comfortable with camping in the woods, and we would often make a hasty retreat to our boat moored on the water after seeing a very tall imposing figure quietly standing and watching us in the darkness. We had heard the rumors that Bigfoot sightings were prolific in the area, and that added to our paranoia. My interest in the subject continues to date.

The public fascination of Bigfoot increased in 1967 when Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed a few seconds of a large hairy creature walking on two legs in Bluff Creek, which ultimately became the most famous and controversial footage of Bigfoot. Critics complained the animal was a man wearing a costume, while believers argued that the creature’s movements and body proportions could not have been human.

Every year hundreds of eyewitnesses log their alleged encounters with the legendary creature Bigfoot. According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, they have published 670 out of the 2,078 reports they have received from Washington state. There is a concentration of reports (mostly unpublished) from the Quinault Indian Reservation.

Likewise, there are 444 published sightings out of 1,709 received from California. There’s a concentration in and around El Dorado National Forest. As with Quinault, El Dorado is not the only concentration of reports, but it is one area from where they continue to receive reports to this day.

Now a new television series for Travel Channel “Expedition Bigfoot” will highlight modern-day technology and a team of searchers using an advanced data algorithm, groundbreaking science, and tools to analyze five decades of Bigfoot sightings and to pinpoint when and where to encounter the beast. The eight-part series premieres Sunday, December 8, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel.

The expedition team includes; Primatologist Dr. Mireya Mayor, Russell Acord (Ex-Military/Survivalist), Ronny LeBlanc (Bigfoot Researcher), Bryce Johnson (Operations), and Ryan “RPG” Golembeske (Bigfoot Investigator). Throughout their three-week journey to an undisclosed, remote location in a 90,000-acre area of land in central Oregon, they use the latest advanced technologies to narrow their search within the target zone.

According to Travel Channel, “As the investigation intensifies, evidence that Bigfoot is in the area begins to pile up. Possible nesting sites, footprints, and vocalizations lead the team to a hot spot where inexplicable events occur, and one of the greatest pieces of video evidence in Bigfoot history is recorded.”

I had the chance to speak with Dr. Mayor (currently Director of Exploration and Science Communications with Florida International University), and Ronny LeBlanc about their expedition and their dramatic discoveries.

Were you surprised by the discoveries you made?

DR. MIREYA MAYOR: “I was not interested in anything but definitive proof and concrete evidence. I walked away from this expedition thinking very differently than when I went in, and I saw things that I wouldn't have believed otherwise had I not seen it with my own eyes. It all comes down to the evidence. And what I can say with 100 percent certainty is that many of the pieces of evidence that we found definitively did not belong to anything that we know of in that area.

You know that the descriptions coming from Indonesia, the legend describing that human-like creature that was a lot smaller with a voracious appetite that would kidnap children and eat human babies. I mean, this is all stuff of legend. And then you fast forward to 2003 as an excavation team uncovers the fossil of an unidentified hominid creature that we didn't know existed before. So in my modern-day practices as an explorer and as a primatologist, I rely very heavily on accounts from the locals about what they believe is out there. I'm usually in search of animals that are rarely seen and are thought to either be extinct or too few to study, and those filter accounts are incredibly important. Whether or not all 10,000 of those accounts about Bigfoot are true or not unique, you just need one to make you go out there and explore it.”

What did you discover that helped convince you that Bigfoot exists?

MAYOR: “We actually captured on video a piece of evidence that I feel is an equally strong attack. I shared it with a couple of colleagues, one of which is a world renowned primatologist who has seen every living primate in the wild and is very familiar with primates, and does not believe in Bigfoot. When they saw this piece of evidence, they were blown away and confirmed to me what my suspicion was, is that something apelike was far from its home. ”

How do you think audiences will react to this expedition?

RONNY LEBLANC: “I went into the project with the perspective as a believer, and that was only strengthened through this whole expedition. I'm just excited for everyone else to experience this journey, because I think it's going to open up eyes, the eyes of skeptics, and it's going to get believers excited and for people to start sharing their encounters and stories. And to not be afraid.

What we've captured is equivalent if not better than some of the evidence that's out there. It was something that really took my breath away and and it was just amazing to be a part of that team.”

MAYOR: “I hope what happens as a result of this show is that more people will be willing to come forward. Witnesses that were interviewed for this show had a lot more to lose than to gain by telling their story. Some had never even shared their story because of the fear that it could affect them personally and professionally. If this show helps remove that stigma and gets the scientific community also more involved, I think that that would be a really great outcome as well.”

I also spoke at length with Matt Moneymaker, the founder of Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, about the history of Bigfoot sightings and how sightings are increasing every year. “From 1967-1995 widespread popular interest in Bigfoot research began with the Patterson footage (October 20, 1967). Before then, these types of creatures were little-known and referred to as "American Abominable Snowmen" because the original Abominable Snowman (of the Himalayas) had been a fixture of popular culture since the 1920s.

The Patterson Footage led to the cinema documentaries and TV shows in the 1970s, which kicked off and sustained the mania of interest in the Bigfoot subject for several more years. Bigfoot research during the rest of this era was mainly "armchair" research. Books and newsletters were written, but very few people went into the woods for organized field efforts. Only a handful of field efforts happened, and only in the Pacific Northwest.”

He continued, “From 1995-2010, the Internet was a game-changer. For the first time sighting reports are being gathered from across the continent with the help of the Web and email. The new trove of information and witness contacts and researcher networking allowed for targeted field efforts. The BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization) leads the way with its web site. Members eventually begin organizing expeditions across the country modeled on the legendary Skookum Expedition of 2000. Meanwhile, fake debunkings related to the Bluff Creek tracks and the Patterson footage manage to create doubts among many who had been interested in the mystery previously.”

“In 2010, the TV series "Finding Bigfoot" featured members of the BFRO and utilized the contacts and encounter stories collected by the BFRO since 1995. For the first time Bigfoot field research was brought into homes via TV serial, not just occasional TV documentaries. The Internet had already revealed the pervasiveness of sighting reports to amateur researchers but the TV series revealed it to the masses like never before. People from coast to coast start talking about the Bigfoot subject again.”

“With the proliferation of smartphone cams, trail cams, home security cams and dash cams .. everyone is waiting to see some new, clear images of Bigfoots. Clear images and videos (or physical remains) will eventually come forward and breathe life back into popular interest in the subject. However, for every year that passes without new footage or stills ... the doubts will return to the masses, even if many credible witnesses are still reporting sightings.”

According to the organization, “The BFRO continues to organize expeditions across the country which yield fleeting encounters at night but no clear images due to the lack of necessary equipment. The necessary equipment is thermal cameras attached to aerial drones. The same type of technology that allowed the American military to attain strategic superiority in foreign wars. Bigfoot researchers across the country agree that this combination of technology applied to Bigfoot research could yield amazing video footage in several areas.”

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