Getting to the Bottom of Bigfoot

Now, Religion in the News…. This week’s item is from New Scientist, December 2000, with the headline, “The Bottom of Bigfoot? —The imprint of a hairy backside in the mud of Washington state is the strongest hint yet that Bigfoot is roaming the North American far West, according to researchers who made the discovery. Many people doubt whether the giant primate commonly known as Bigfoot actually exists. Hundreds of its supposed footprints have been photographed and cast, but this is one of the few body impressions of the hypothetical creature.

“‘If we can just get other scientists to look at this with an objective view, I think they’ll say there must be something out there,’ says LeRoy Fish, a zoologist and retired wildlife ecologist, who took part in the expedition that discovered the imprint. Most stories of the bipedal apelike creature are dismissed as misidentifications or hoaxes. But Fish and others think Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, as it is known in Canada, may be living hidden away in remote wilderness areas.

“The Bigfoot Field Researchers’ Organization, or BFRO, which includes some trained scientists, sponsored a thirteen-person expedition in September to look for evidence in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southern Washington State. To attract one of the creatures, the team set out food, spread pheromones, and played recordings thought to be the calls of other Bigfoots. After placing apples in a muddy spot one evening, the investigators returned the next morning to find an impression, which they say shows the left forearm, hip, thigh, and heel of a large primate. They believe the impression was made as the creature sat down and reached over to pick up the bait.

“Anthropologist Jeff Meldrum, of Idaho State University, said the imprint seems to have been made by a large, hair-covered hominid more than 2.5 meters tall. Meldrum says he found markings that looked like human fingerprints on the heelprint. ‘All we’re trying to say at this stage is that there’s evidence that justifies objective consideration,’ Meldrum says.

“The BFRO is inviting outside scientists to examine the casts, but have so far had no offers. ‘It’s been a challenge,’ says Meldrum, ‘for most people you just mention Bigfoot, and you get a snicker.’ Benjamin Radford of the Skeptical Inquirer Magazine agrees that mainstream scientists are wary of the subject because of a history of hoaxes. He says, ‘After awhile, they just get tired of wasting their time on hoaxes.’”

Tom: Dave, this Benjamin Radford of The Skeptical Inquirer, his last statement is, “After awhile, they just get tired of wasting their time on hoaxes.” Now, the look you’re giving me, does that mean, “Why are we wasting our time on something like this?” Dave, there’s a point here. Now, let’s see if I can find it, all right?

We get letters from time to time, people asking about things like Sasquatch and the abominable snowman—these so-called manifestations, or “hominids,” as they point out. On the one hand, people are concerned that maybe these are demon apparitions to reinforce things like evolution and so on. But it goes beyond that. We have not only…this leads to UFO manifestations, and so on. In other words, there are phenomena that go on out there, whether it be the Loch Ness Monster—some of these may, in fact, be real, true! But on the other hand, some of them are really farfetched, and if you buy into this, there’s usually some baggage that goes with it. What about this giant primate? Is this the missing link that we’ve been looking for?

Dave: Well, I haven’t been looking for any missing link because there aren’t any missing links, of course. Tom, I guess people like delusions more than they like the truth, and some new theory, some bizarre idea, always attracts people. But if this critter existed, you would have had more evidence than this. If this is the best evidence that we have today—the guy sat down in the mud to eat an apple that somebody put out in a clearing, why weren’t they hiding? Why didn’t they have some secret cameras set up? They could do it, with the high tech we have today. It just doesn’t make sense on the face of it. Wouldn’t there be more footprints?

Tom: Wouldn’t there be families of these things? This doesn’t just happen in the Northwest or in Canada. We have these near Nepal and the Himalayas and so on.

Dave: Right. Yeah. Tom, I guess it shows the gullibility of mankind. It shows the desire of human beings to believe in fairytales, some supernatural thing that is other than God and the truth of God. What would be the point anyway, if this creature existed? Seems to be getting along fine without us. Is this some great research that is going to be made? I don’t see the point of it, because after all of these years, if these creatures were living around us, we surely would have found them by now.

But there are stubborn people, who, on very flimsy evidence, will hang onto something. Now, we Christians have been accused of that. If we only had evidence for the gospel and for the existence of Christ and His resurrection and so forth, such as they have for Bigfoot, forget it! Throw it out!

And I think this is an example of people hanging onto something very flimsy, whereas we have solid evidence, solid proof—I’m going to say it again: one of these days, we need to do some programs about that.

Tom: Dave, one last thing about this, there are some interesting accusations on both sides. We would look at this…you started off by saying, “Hey, missing link—could never have happened.” Well, the evolutionists, on the other hand, say, “Oh, these Christians—they believe that man and dinosaurs lived at the same time, you know! So, who’s the fool here?
 

Dave: Well, we have evidence for that.

Tom: We do.