Paper by Sean Dow

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Sasquatch: The Great Controversy

by Sean Dow

Many people believe that Sasquatch doesn’t exist. However, just as many people believe

that it does. Sasquatch must exist because of extensive evidence given in support of his

existence. This evidence includes ancient myths and legends, eyewitness accounts of sightings,

and actual physical evidence gathered such as photos, videos, and footprints.

All over the world, different myths and legends are told about a strange hairy man-like

creature that lives in the surrounding wilderness. In Oriental Regions, this creature is known as

the “Chinese Wildman”; in Western North America, it is known as “Sasquatch” or “Bigfoot”; in

the South-eastern United States it is called “Skunk Ape”, due to its horrible odor. All these

legends and myths had to come from somewhere, so who or what started them? Wouldn’t it be

logical to assume that all the legends and myths about this creature originate from actual

sightings and encounters with this creature? If this is the case, then all the legends and myths

about Sasquatch are actual accounts of this creature. This would be then considered evidence for

proving Sasquatch’s existence, and would add thousands of reports of the creature to the already

extensive list of eyewitness encounters.

Thousands of eyewitness reports of Sasquatch or one of its cousins are submitted to the

scientific community each year. These reports come from all over the world. Some of these

reports can be discounted due to hoaxes, misidentification of animals, and misidentification of

other objects. But, after filtering these out, hundreds of verifiable sighting reports still exist.

Many of the sightings are similar, yet they were given by different people who have never come

in contact before. This suggests that this is not a random thing or a planned hoax, but a real

phenomenon that needs to be further investigated by the scientific community. Many creatures

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have evaded the scientific community for centuries throughout history. Every year, new species

and subspecies of animals are discovered all over the world. Why wouldn’t it be possible that

there is at least one more creature that still hasn’t been officially discovered? There have even

been reports of people getting attacked by or saved by Sasquatch. A famous story of this would

be a group of friends shot and injured a Sasquatch. The Sasquatch ran away, later that night at

their cabin, they were awakened by loud banging sounds on their walls. They claimed that is

was a group of Sasquatch hurling gigantic boulders at their cabin. The next morning, their cabin

was lined with humongous boulders that would be impossible for normal humans to lift, let alone

throw. This story has been published and retold hundreds of times, yet the scientific community

still cannot come up with a logical explanation for it besides the very real answer of Sasquatch

existing. There have also reports made by people who claimed that they were saved by a

Sasquatch and then brought to a Sasquatch “village”, where they recuperated and later came

forth with their amazing story. This would imply that Sasquatch is an intelligent and sentient

being capable of advancing in technology, making them very similar to humans. In Peter

Byrne’s book, The Search for Bigfoot: Monster, Myth or Man?, he tells about hundreds of

various sightings and encounters with Sasquatch. All of these witnesses who are separated by

both space and time, actually all described the exact same creature. For descriptions to be this

accurate, the creature has to actually exist. Many reports of Sasquatch are false, or hoaxes, but

there have been a few that couldn’t be debunked by the scientific community. These few are

what keep people believing in the existence of Sasquatch until a live specimen is finally

captured.

Many types of physical evidence have been submitted to the scientific community. This

physical evidence includes photographs, home videos, and footprint casts. This category is

where most hoaxes are created, which makes proper examination of the evidence very difficult.

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According to an article named “We hear that…”, three British explorers and a Cryptozoologist,

someone who studies creatures that have not yet been officially recognized by the scientific

community, have found hairs in Sumatra that they believe came from that regions version of the

Sasquatch, the Orang-Pendek. According to labs in Australia, the hairs do not match any

currently know creature. Many hair samples have been found all over the world that may be

from Sasquatch. Many footprints have also been found, but footprints are easily faked, so this

type of evidence must be more carefully examined. However, many unexplainable footprints

have been found. Barbara Tandory included in one of her articles that, “The first recorded

mention of Bigfoot came in 1811, when explorer David Thompson stumbled upon a set of 14-

inch-long footprints near what is now Jasper” (Tandory). Also, a very famous video known as

the Roger-Patterson video was taken of a supposed female Sasquatch in North America. This

video shows a Sasquatch walking through a field. However, scientists still cannot agree on its

authenticity.

However, even with the evidence presented, the mystery of Sasquatch's existence is still a

controversial subject within the scientific community. With all the evidence in support of

Sasquatch's existence, the only missing thing is a live specimen. Until then, we can only keep

searching, speculating, and theorizing over its existence. But, it is only a matter of time until we

finally capture a living, breathing Sasquatch. It has to exist, otherwise, why would we have all

this evidence? In an article by Kristin Baird Rattini, an anatomy professor is quoted as

having said about Sasquatch, “Who could have made these traits so consistently if it's all a

hoax?".

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Works Cited

Byrne, Peter. The Search for Bigfoot: Monster, Myth, or Man?. New York: Pocket Books, 1976

Rattini, Kristin Baird. “Does Bigfoot Exist?”. National Geographic Kids. Issue 349.

(2005): 24- 25

Tandory, Barbara. “The Original Apes of the Galaxy”. Alberta Report/Newsmagazine.

Volume 20, Issue 8 (1993): 25

“We hear that…”. New Scientist. Volume 175, Issue 2360 (2002): 17.