Bigfoot musings

The twitterverse (or at least the very tiny sub-section of people that are interested in weird things) was all a buzz today over the news that Justin Smeja, the guy who claims to have killed a Bigfoot, had successfully passed a lie detector test. According to the person that administered the test, this meant that Justin Smeja was telling the truth. Or at the very least believed that what he was saying was true. For many in the Bigfoot/Cryptid community this brought up a whole host of issues. Guy Edwards, writing on both Bigfoot Lunch Club and Cryptomundo, asked a very pertinent question with his article entitled, “Bigfoot Killer Passes Lie Detector Test. What Does it Mean?”. Personally I'm not sure that it means a whole lot of anything. Allow me to elaborate just a little bit. It seems to me that all the polygraph indicated was that there was “No deception detected” in response to the questions asked of Smeja. This tells met that Smeja certainly believes he killed a Bigfoot. However this is not the same thing as actually killing one. As a background to this whole issue Smeja claims to have shot and killed not only an adult Bigfoot, but also what appeared to be a juvenile Bigfoot. For a more in-depth look at this event you can read Jeffery Pritchett's interview for Examiner.com with Smeja. 

I'm not here to pass judgment one way or the other on this issue. In fact, this news got me to thinking about Bigfoot and the fact that I've never really had a chance to sit down and organize my thoughts on the big hairy hominid. And so I would like to take a moment or two of your time tonight and try to put down in writing were my opinion on Bigfoot is at the moment. As with any of my opinions on fortean topics, this is subject to change anytime, assuming new evidence comes along that causes me to re-evaluate the issue. Without further delay let's get started!

Undiscovered primate or Inter-dimensional traveler?

One last note, my thoughts on Bigfoot actually encompass all hairy hominids from around the world. So, although I will only be referring to 'Bigfoot' or 'Sasquatch', please understand that I also mean any other similar creature you can think of. Including, but not limited to, the following; Almas, Amomongo, Bukit Timah Monkey Man, Yeti, Yowie, Abominable Snowman, and so on. Thank you!

It seems likely that the most basic question to deal with first is whether or not Bigfoot is an actual flesh-and-blood creature or some etheric denizen from some other place. From the many reports I've read (and some of which I will be including below), I'm currently of the opinion that at least some (if not the vast majority) of Bigfoot encounters can best be explained by a creature that is altogether more paranormal than physical. We certainly don't seem to have much in the way of physical evidence for this creatures existence and as I said some of the reports can be quite bizarre. Please understand I said we don't have much physical evidence, not that we don't have any evidence. I know there are cases of hair, scat, and other very physical samples being collected from something that would seem to be quite physical in nature. However, most of these have turned out to be inconclusive at best or mis- identifications at worst.

So for the time being I'm content with having the opinion that there is a paranormal aspect to Bigfoot that is not typically taken into consideration, especially when people make claims of shooting one. As an example, here are just a few of the more bizarre/supernatural Bigfoot encounters that I was able to locate. Both of the following were found from a Google Groups post. The first example is from a Val Power, an anthropology undergraduate from Vancouver who wrote of her alleged Sasquatch encounters.

Too much has been written on too little direct observation. The focus of this report is the phenomenal aspect of the Sasquatch based on my two encounters in British Columbia.

REPORT #1

As we entered the forest via a well worn path, we both noticed and remarked that we could feel a pressure on the top of our heads. It was not uncomfortable but quite noticeable. The trail we were on led to a gulley and I knew this area very well as I was raised only three blocks away from it. Miriam and I would come here often on walks.

Once in the forest we did not walk more than one and a half city blocks. We spent time looking at the variety of vegetation and sitting on a log talking. This is not an area of thick undergrowth.

As we got up to continue our walk along the path, I noticed a log by which appeared suddenly, a Sasquatch laying on the ground facing the log. Its knees were slightly bent. Its fur was black. Miriam didn't seem to notice it and continued down the path. I got on my hands and knees because I wanted to get a good look at this creature.

I was only about a foot away from it at most, and close enough to comfortably reach out and touch it. Between the Sasquatch and myself was a visible, clear barrier. The bottom edge was approximately three to four inches from the ground. I did not look to see the height of the barrier nor the length, nor did it occur to me to see if I could walk around to see its face.

I wanted to reach out and touch its fur but didn't because I was unsure if the barrier would have an affect on my hand or my physical being.

As I knelt on the ground I heard a 'metallic' like 'click-click' and my eyes became as a microscope. Looking through this new heightened lens I could examine with clarity a single hair and how it fit into the light, creamy colored skin. Without touch, I could move aside a hair to examine it and know the thickness of its fur. There was no sound.

As I knelt on the ground, I was given a message or a knowing, "When the barrier touches the earth, the worlds will blend, and chaos will result".

As suddenly as it appeared it disappeared. I stood up and saw Miriam walking towards me. I asked her what she had been doing to which she replied, "Looking at a house in the trees". The house was small, on a branch approximately ten to twelve feet up in a tree. I didn't see the house and she didn't see the Sasquatch.

Later on in the article, Val analyzes what she believes happened to her and her friend during the events. It's a fascinating read and I suggest you check out the link to give it a glance yourself. The same Google Group post also has an excerpt from the book The Psychic Sasquatch by Jack “Kewaunee” Lapseritis.

[p. 27] This story was related to me over a six-year period through a series of letters, numerous telephone calls, and personal interviews. The account took place west of the Rocky Mountains; the names and places are changed to protect the family involved. These events occurred in the latter part of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Mr. Jeffrey and family are well established members of their community.

[p. 29] On the first night, they [the Jeffrey family] decided to walk along the lake after dark thinking they might see a Bigfoot further away from their trailer. After a while, they heard a banging of sticks on a hollow tree. Then loud thumping noises at a distance, as if something with huge feet was carelessly stomping the ground as it ran.

The banging on trees seemed to be coming from different directions, evidently by two separate individuals. The noise was heard repeatedly, which greatly perplexed them.

The Jeffrey family decided to hide in the brush in an effort to catch a glimpse of a Bigfoot. Before long, they were astounded by an ungodly cry [p. 30] unlike anything they had ever heard before.

What they observed in the moments that followed was beyond their wildest imaginations. They reported that the Sasquatch stepped out of the forest holding a flashlight device, and directed the beam up in the air while howling upwardly.

During this time, other unseen creatures hit their sticks against hollow logs making a loud drum-like thud. There were three bangs, then a pause; three bangs, then a pause – always three.

Within minutes, a round, saucer-shaped glowing object appeared on the horizon and hovered over the trees directly above the Sasquatch. The frightened family huddled in the bushes, observing the peculiar ritual.

There is a little bit more to the excerpt to be found on the Google Groups post, but of course to get the full story you'll have to check out the book. This particular account doesn't necessarily rule out a physical creature, but it certainly doesn't sound like an unclassified species of hominid. At least not in the classical sense of some kind of animal. This creature seems to have a pretty healthy grasp of technological understanding. Again, doesn't mean that the beings aren't from around here but that they are certainly stranger than we may know.

Just like any other fortean topic, my mind isn't entirely made up on what Bigfoot is. I do tend towards the explanation that there is some paranormal/supernatural aspect to Bigfoot that makes it far more than just another member of the hominid family. Cases such as the ones sighted above have definitely led me to this tentative conclusion. But like any good Fortean, I haven't completely settled into one camp or the other.

This makes my opinion on this whole Smeja/Bigfoot killing issue a little hard to pin down. Assuming that he isn't lying, as indicated by the polygraph test, then what does that mean exactly? It makes me wonder what he actually shot and killed. If the creature related in the above accounts is indicative of a Bigfoot, then how in the world did Smeja shoot them? Maybe he shot one of the biological Bigfoots (Bigfeet)?

These are just some of my random thoughts on Bigfoot. I realized that this post was getting a bit long so I'll be wrapping it up for now, but rest assured I will be returning to the Bigfoot issue from time to time in the future. As usual be sure to follow the links below for all of the additional information. Also let me know what you think in the comment section below. Do you think Bigfoot is some kind of inter-dimensional traveler or a surviving member of some long thought to be extinct member of the hominid family tree?

Additional Info:

Bigfoot Killer Passes Lie Detector Test. What Does it Mean?

'To Kill Or Not To Kill' Interview with Bigfoot killer Justin Smeja 

Supernatural Bigfoot UFO Connection - Google Groups 

The Psychic Sasquatch