It is said that a giant, strong, and free-willed primate walks among us . If it is civilized or not that is under debate. What is fact is that for hundreds of years the human race has recorded accounts of a creature that many describe as a hairy manlike beast. Yes one can doubt that bigfoot is real, but it's hard to deny the thousands of sightings, and piles of evidence that has been recovered.

The creature is known by many names throughout the world. In the North American region Indians called it "Sasquatch". Some of the other names are "Abominable Snowman" (Himalayas), "Yeti" (Asia),"Mapinguari" (the Amazon), "Yowie" (Australia). Today all of these are commonly referred to as bigfoot. This name was coined back in 1958 when a trail of large 17 inch footprints were found and they nicknamed the creature Bigfoot, due to its large tracks. Although those footprints have been revealed as a hoaxes the name has stuck around.

Where can you find this creature? It can be found throughout the world in deep woodlands, mountains, and vast forest regions. Although people have seen this Bigfoot in more populated areas it is more likely it is just passing through.

General Facts of Bigfoot

Height- Average height is 7 to 12 feet. Some sightings have placed it at larger heights but the average adult bigfoot is believed to be in that range.

Weight- Depending on the height, Bigfoot can weigh anywhere between 300 to a 1,000 pounds. This measurement were figured by the depth of tracks and visual estimations.

Hair- The hair of the bigfoot varies upon the location it lives in. The colors are known to range from brownish red to snow white.

Foot Prints- There have been thousands of tracks found across the world. The prints very in size but the most common size found seems to be around 17 in long. Many prints found are no more then pranks and hoaxes but with today’s technology the casts taken of the tracks can be analyzed for finger like prints. Humans and apes have differing patterns and experts can compare the prints to known species and rule out many fakes and false identifications.

Intelligence- We have no way in knowing how smart this creature is. Although many sightings have shown that it has the ability to conceal itself, and has little fear of humans but seems to know to normally stay away from us. Until we know for sure we should treat it with the same respect as we would another human. Perhaps when our two species come into more contact with one another we will understand this mystery better.

The photograph shown here was taken from a still frame of a 16 mm film camera. On October 20, 1967, two men on horseback, Roger Patterson, who shot the film and Bob Gimlin, a friend, took to the northern Californian woods of Bluff Creek in the hopes of photographing one of these elusive creatures. They were not disappointed. In the late afternoon, Patterson and Gimlin encountered the creature. Patterson's horse reared and knocked him to the ground. He quickly jumped up and ran toward the creature. It responded by simply walking away. Gimlin kept his friend covered with a rifle in case it attacked. It walked into the trees and vanished. The two men decided against following the creature thinking there maybe a confrontation with either it -or more of its kind that could be in the area. After it was filmed, many scientists dissected the footage. Some claim the film was indeed that of an unknown animal. Others claim it was merely a man in an obvious monkey suit.

Rumor has it that Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin hoaxed the whole incident. Another rumor is a special effects man named John Chambers, (he designed the makeup in the Planet of the Apes movies,) designed the suit. He has denied any involvement. Movie FX people claim the film is just a man in a suit. Some scientists still cling to their belief that the film is authentic. Roger Patterson died in 1972 of cancer. Did he go to his grave laughing? Or did he firmly believe at the time of his death that he had seen Bigfoot? In March of 1992, Bob Gimlin admitted that he might have been fooled. He gave thought to the possibility that Roger concocted the whole thing and Bob was an unknowing eyewitness to one of the most elaborate hoaxes in the world.