The question has been asked, to me. To start with.....I'm interested in the phenomenon. I first and foremost want to prove this creature exists, to myself....as seeing is believing. I'm almost totally convinced now, but I need to see it for myself. This must come first, before I would ever consider trying to prove it to anyone else. I don't consider this selfish...it's just the way it is, with me. So far, I've experienced enough strange unexplained things happening out there, to more than keep me interested. Were all these incidents sasquatch related ? I'm not completely sure on that, but suspect that they very well could be. Whatever unknown source caused them... I would very much like to find out, more about. This blog contains many of those experiences, and I'm hoping there are more to come. I would like to be able to explain them...first, to myself. These incidents have only been a tease, and I feel the need to go out and (at least try to) get more solid answers. Forums are helpful for gathering information, and I've met a lot of good people in my internet travels ... and also some not so nice ones, of whom I try to avoid, and not argue with...about things that none of us are really sure of. Anyway, the answers are not there on the internet... they are out there in the forest....... somewhere.
The other things that have convinced me.... is my wife's eyewitness encounter (as a young girl, in the Philippines), and hearing from indigenous tribesman (that had no qualms about telling us... that hairy, stinky "wildmen" do exist out there, in the mountainous regions of remote forest, on Luzon) ..... half a world away. Also, the sheer amount of witness reports, and the similarities of the reports across N. America and elsewhere... although I can accept that a certain percentage of these reports, are BS. What percent are actually real ?, I really haven't a clue...and neither does anyone else.
I tend to give the person telling the encounter story.... the benefit of the doubt, first. I can't see how someone reading a forum, can "red flag" a witness report, when they have nothing other than the report itself, to compare it too...and know nothing about the witness, personally. Just because certain folks are top dog posters on a forum, and have "heard it all", it doesn't make them capable of determining a true story, or a made up story....by just reading a report, or someone's post about a field incident.
At the same time, I am puzzled how the investigator taking the report can deem a witness "credible", by only a phone conversation. On a face to face interview...I can understand coming to a conclusion about a witness and account story. Witnesses are the best thing we have, in exploring this phenomenon, and should Always be treated with respect....whether one chooses to believe their incident story, or not. Respect is disappearing from our society in general, and bigfootery is just another example of that overall trend. Respect is contagious (just like ridicule and disrespect, are)... so it is my guarantee that everyone I deal with in this field of interest...will get that respect, from me...to start with.
I can understand some people involved with this research.... wanting to remain anonymous , to protect their professions and families, from some of the elements out there, that could do them damage. For me, I am beyond the point of caring what others think of me, in regards to my interest in the subject, within my family, friends, or at work. I will laugh out loud, the day someone tells me at work....to "come down off that ladder", or out from under that dirty crawl space or work station....and renounce any beliefs in sasquatch....or take my tools and get out.
My family does not worry about it. My wife worries more about my safety, and me not coming home from an expedition, or camping trip. She has seen a version of this thing, and already knows it exists. I give my little daughter, and my older son.... the straight answers (what little I really know) about my interests.
My long time friend and camping partner, no longer smiles at me...when I speak of the strangeness of the investigations. He has taken on a different attitude, since experiencing an incident while we were camping together (in an area with a previous witness report), last year. My other friends, don't really care at all. If anyone (outside of my family) wants to walk away from me for wanting to continue doing this, to try and get some answers....no big loss, on my part. As far as believing my stories, about my incidents....you either do, or you don't.....no big deal, or hard feelings here. I've never been a good liar, or comfortable telling a fib, or tall tale. I have no need to impress..... anyone.
I don't want to get deeply involved in the seemingly endless politics of bigfootery, that is mainly conflicts between people that don't like each other, or just have different opinions.... and has little or nothing to do with the actual field research...which is what I am interested in. This field of interest is not my profession (is it for most folks?) , but a pastime. I've vowed to keep my free time activities....fun, and not filled with unpleasantness, or bickering....like at work. This means, avoiding the people that will make it, not fun. This does not mean I am not serious about the field of interest. You can be serious and still have fun.
I see this as a "can't lose" situation for myself. If all of my future efforts in the field, are unsuccessful, than I still got out into the field, camped, hiked, recorded, was introduced to some awesome new field locations, and met some other like minded folks, that I can call friends.
Bigfootery is just a made up word, for a field of interest that involves field investigations, conferences, gatherings, radio shows, and whole lot of internet chit chat.
I'll stay the course, until I feel that I'm completely wasting my money and time. I can't see that happening, until my body won't carry me out there in the forest, any longer. Let the journey continue.
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Here, here. Those folks who think we're wasting our time looking for something that doesn't exist, just don't get it. First, they're not looking hard enough to see the wealth of evidence that we've picked up on, and second, they don't realize how much fun there is in the chase. Damn the torpedoes and keep having fun.
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