20. In 2018, Finding Bigfoot ended, without, ahem, finding Bigfoot
Though Bryan Sykes’s study pointed the way for Bigfoot Hunters to prove the creature’s existence by collecting DNA samples, a louder death-knell rang for Bigfoot with the end of Finding Bigfoot. Produced by Animal Planet, the long-running reality show followed the Bigfoot Field Research Organisation (BFRO) – self-described as ‘the only scientific research organisation exploring the Bigfoot/Sasquatch mystery’ – investigating encounters with the creature and field evidence. Armed with a plethora of fancy scientific equipment, the BFRO tried to make light of such phenomena as broken trees, vandalised property, and piles of vegetation. They blamed Bigfoot for all of the above.
Unfortunately, though, Finding Bigfoot never found Bigfoot in its 9-season, 90-episode run, earning itself the nickname, Not Finding Bigfoot. The BFRO researchers defended the show by highlighting their explanations for strange things found in the great outdoors and some unusual sounds they recorded. Critics have also pointed out that, from a critical thinking perspective, explaining things by reference to something that may not exist, and about which nothing concrete is known, is an absolute mess. Suspicions about the show being a semi-fictional piece of drama staged for TV weren’t helped by the BFRO’s founder being called Matt Moneymaker. Seriously.
So where does this leave us? For many, Bigfoot never existed anyway, so nothing has changed. For Bigfoot Hunters, many of whom believe they have seen Bigfoot themselves, the failure of one research group will not convince them otherwise. And despite not capturing Bigfoot, even on film, the BFRO remain convinced. ‘I personally think it’s a very compelling subject, that’s 100 percent real’, reflected Cliff Barackman, one of the Finding Bigfoot hosts. Few could argue with the first part of that sentence, and as long as there remain forests in North America, one thing’s for certain: Bigfoot isn’t going anywhere.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Bord, Janet, and Colin Bord. Alien Animals: A Worldwide Investigation. London: Elek, 1981.
Bord, Janet, and Colin Bord. The Bigfoot Casebook. London: Granada, 1982.
Green, John. Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us. Surrey, BC: Hancock House Publishers, 2019.
Krulos, Tea. Monster Hunters: On the Trail with Ghost Hunters, Bigfooters, Ufologists, and Other Paranormal Investigators. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2015.
Kunz, Keneva, trans. The Vinland Sagas: The Icelandic Sagas about the First Documented Voyages across the North Atlantic. London: Penguin, 2008.
Meldrum, Jeff. Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. New York: Forge, 2006.
Sykes, Bryan C., et al. “Genetic Analysis of Hair Samples Attributed to Yeti, Bigfoot and Other Anomalous Primates.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B 281, no. 1789 (August, 2014): 1-3.
