Essay --

Over the past century and a half, the spur of Bigfoots existence has questioned many researchers and non-believers alike. Extensive research and findings have sparked many to seek out if there is another creature amongst our woods. Bigfoots existence is limited to substantial evidence such as sightings, footprints, and somatogenic traces. Ben Radford the author of â€Å"Bigfoot at 50 Evaluating a Half-Century of Bigfoot Evidence† explains effectively of the possible existence through extensive evidence and theories whether the beast actually resides among us. The theory of there being an ape like beast that walks through our wilderness all started with a 16mm film in Bluff Creek, California by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin in 1967. The video displayed a tall, hairy human like figure trolling along a timber clearing walking briskly away from Patterson and Gimlin. The film ignited a craze amongst scientist and viewers to go on a conquest to prove Bigfoots existence. The 1967 film was never proven to be a hoax or real evidence and still today is a toss up. Personal sightings or eyewitness accounts make up what seems to be the most numerous amounts of evidence that’s been brought to attention. Sightings are not justifiable to whether â€Å" Squatch† is real no matter how many sightings are reported. The Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society stores archives of Bigfoot reports across Pennsylvania for almost the past century. Locally, in Erie County, there has suspected to be several eyewitness accounts of Bigfoot encounters. People often confuse a Sasquatch with a bear or some other unknown animal that they may seem to not make out clearly. â€Å" Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable†(Radford 2002). Sure some people would not believe a person ... ... tested hairs and other parts for DNA and concluded that they fit into our family tree. â€Å" Those hair samples that could not be identified as known animal or human were subsequently screened using DNA testing, beginning with sequencing of mitochondrial DNA followed by sequencing nuclear DNA to determine where these individuals fit in the tree of life† (Ketchum 2013). The existence of Bigfoot isn’t quite certain to be real with the numerous accounts of acclaimed sighting and physical evidence that has been laid on the table for researchers to decipher. From my standpoint, Bigfoot is a cryptozoological creature that has yet to be explained that I’m not for certain about. Radford explained the facts whether the existence of Bigfoot is real or just a hoax. It’s just a matter of time when and where this mythological being will proven to be a new life form amongst us.