Why I'm a skeptic (Yet I still believe)
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Josh Brown, Anthropology Major (Physical) from Sacramento CA, and CEO of "Skye Highland Outfitters".Everyone has their approach to Bigfooting. It's a past-time, a life-style, a passing-interest, etc. What ever it is to you, it's a good chance that your first experience with the big guy is through either poor video, a REALLY funny commercial series, the PG film, or eye witness testimony. Some are lucky enough to have actual encounters, but for the most-It's one of the above mentioned. For myself, I have been interested in Bigfoot since I was about 5 years old. There was a show in the 70's called "6 Million Dollar Man" that featured a widely successful airing in which "Steve" faces of with Andre the Giant…er…I mean Bigfoot. It was crazy, entertaining, and imagination stirring. "Sasquatch" came out some time soon after, and I was hooked. Even more so after I saw the original "In search of" with Leonard Nimoy narrating. Any of you Gen X'ers remember these?????
So the love and belief has been there ever since, and like most, I kept a passive interest in the creature throughout my life. Cryptology probably helped in a small way directionalize my studies in Anthropology. I just wanted answers concerning life and origin and any mystery in-between. This base has given me the skill set to rationally think about the possibility of a North American primate and how it could very plausibly live and exist as a contemporaneous species alongside its more brutal, yet inquisitive cousin. Besides using base Anthropology to guide my reasoning and belief, I have an experience that I want to share with you. This experience has been my greatest ally as far as judging eyewitness testimony and keeps me grounded when presented with such. I want to tell this story so that you can all see just how unreliable eye-witness testimony is at its face. And in my case as an eyewitness, how completely wrong and dangerous it could be.
In the summer of 2001, I returned after a 6 year stint of living and working in Africa. A couple of days after returning, I walked to my bank in the City of Decatur, GA. to make sure all my savings and transfers had completed from my bank in Namibia. It was right at the opening, and I literally was the first guy up to the counter. I began chit-chatting with the teller, telling of my wild experiences in the Mother-Land. As she was working, I noticed her eyes turn into the size of golf balls. I stopped talking and looked to my left to see what she was looking at that made her eyes swell out like they were. Right next to me, was an older man mumbling to the teller next to me. I didn't even hear him walk up. For a brief second, I couldn't figure out why this would be so disturbing until I looked down at what he was holding. This guy had a sawed off shot gun and was threatening to blow the teller's head off if he didn't get the money. LEt me stop here and tell you all that the stories are true. Everything turned to slow motion, and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I became paralyzed with fear and startle. My life began to zoom through my thoughts.
After giving Indian Jones a run for his money as a 20-something traveling all over Sub-Saharan Africa, I thought that I could not be thrown by ANYTHING. I admit that I came back a little cocky, but all that came to a halt at this moment. I didn't dare move my body, or make any movement so as not to attract attention from this guy 5 feet away from me with a menacing shot gun that looked to be at least 16 gauge if not 12. I also didn't have the luxury of having a counter between me and this guy, so I felt like if he started blazing, I might be the first to catch the buck. So a stood motionless just looking at this guy. It seemed like forever. The teller filled his bag and he turned to go, running right by me. I watched him the whole time as he darted out the door. I'll spare you all the intense happenings that followed-You know-Police, GBI, interviews, etc. Fast forward to 2 days later.
I received a call by the detectives that they had caught the guy they thought had done it, and wanted me to come down and ID him. So I did. typical situation- 1 way mirror, 7 like persons standing in a line, each get called up, etc. But when they all came in, there he was. I saw him immediately. I fingered him and confirmed more than once. Even agreeing that I would testify in a court of law against this person. The suspects were then drawn out of the room to where ever they were being held, and the detectives begin wrapping up their paperwork and heading out. I was a little dumbfounded, and asked what was next. One of the detectives said that I had ID's the wrong man. In fact, they had caught the guy who robbed the bank, and he was 2 persons over from the man I ID'd. I was POSITIVE that was the guy who I had ID'd. I recognized him absolutely. Why shouldn't I have? My eyes were glued to him that whole time. But the truth remained-Even though I was right there, my testimony was faulty. And what makes it worse, is I could have sat on a stand and wrongly ID'd this guy and put him away for years. This made a HUGE impression on me. I was so close, I was so positive, yet I was wrong. DEAD wrong.
So my point is that when I hear stories of encounters, I have to take into account the possibility of someone being dead wrong, as I once was. THink about this story the next time you read about an eyewitness encounter and let it guide your own feelings. Skepticism is healthy, and I think that if we all employed a little more, we could actually focus on the small amount of evidence that really makes a mark instead of the TONS of evidence that gets labeled "BIGFOOT CAUGHT ON TAPE", or, "I SAW BIGFOOT".
Nice article Kiltmaker. There might be a bit of difference however with BF witnesses, in that face recognition for an ID is not typical, rather distinguishing the differnce with say a Bigfoot and bear is the level of inquiry. Often the other personc in a line up are chosen b/c they have similar physique. They didn't include women did they? And you would not have made that mistake, unless it is a costume..lol and so for Bigfoot...
ReplyDeleteYes there are giant ape men that look like the article pic, they are very common, in every state and country, we are all just too stupid and clueless to find them. To believe in Bigfoot is to lower the expectations for human intelligence, and to insult us all! What a joke!
DeleteSays a troll doing the exact same thing, sadly real and not a joke!
Deleteyes that anon is a troll for pointing out the obvious-there is no credible evidence for BF. Nono
DeleteI get your point, but all that was really measured in your scenerio was your ability to handle fear. Just because your mind broke down under the strain does not mean the same would happen to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAnswer this. Did the teller that had the gun poited at her pick the guy? Anyone else?
I am a rather laid back person, my focus and ability to work under fire goes up under strain and fear. Some people run from a fire, others run in! I still ran from a BIGTIME scream, but I remember every detail.
Besides, i think you were probably flirting with the tellar, thinking about your trip. you were already spun up on a topic of interest and got the flow interupted. Not the same thing as sitting in a treestand being completely at peace and then seeing something step out.
These situations are NOT comparable.
Leon! Where have you been? Good to see you!
DeleteVery logical and intelligent post. Of course, this makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteLogical to consider with any report, but the number of crimes solved WITH eyewitnesses vastly outways WRONG witnesses.
DeleteIt's a false analogy. It is the same as thinking ---- Because I'm educated, I'm smart.
When in reality, what being educated means is--------------- You are educated. It has no baring on weather you are SMART.
What was really measured was one small aspect of the brains ability to record and replay an event while under pressure.
Hell, the same subject may have had a different outcome on a different day.
Anyone know how many degrees Thomas Edison had? I really don't know, just currious to proove the point.
And if I speell annythingg wrung, kis my as!!!!!
Good point about Thomas Edison! ;)
Deleteleon your the man. love that part at the end. everyone can make a mistake even the pin-head skeptic. i got your back brother!
DeleteJosh-You make good posts bro', and they're fun to read. I even admit that you've influenced me a bit but this post doesn't explain away people who are professional witnesses. Cops are trained to lose duress as part of their job and many have claimed sightings. What about that?
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, or does the photoshopped picture with the Bigfoot look like he just got caught with his hand up Josh's kilt?
ReplyDeletelooks like he's ready to get mid-evil up in his ass. i would of done that pic a little diffrent.
DeleteTrue story: I once flicked ash into my ashtray that i had put down just moments ago, but turned out to be my cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I am sure many of us agree that some folks will misidentify, but what i find interesting are the folks who see something in the clearing, walking, etc and know the difference between a bear and a bi-pedal animal.
I am a definite skeptic, but i would love for BF to be true.
Can ALL the eye witness testimonies/videos/pics throughout history been misidentification/hoaxed? Every single one of them?
Hey Guys and Gals-
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying ALL eyewitness testimony is bunk, I'm just saying a healthy understanding that even the most obvious encounters may be misconstrued. I recently spoke with an eyewitness who had stopped by a river to clean up his child who had vomited in the car and on herself. At the river, he looked across and saw at least a 9-10 foot BF watching him 50-70 feet away. He watched this BF for 5-10 minutes as it watched him back (He finally left). Guess what this guy did for a living. Court room sketch artist. I believe that he either had a true encounter, or he's lying. If the encounter was true, then he did not hallucinate the creature, or misidentify it. I think the sketches of BF that have recently cropped up on the net are his. ANYWAY-I think that barring a lengthy sighting, it is most possible that up to 95% of eyewitness sightings are not actual BF. Thats my opinion. Being a skeptic lets you weed through the implausable to get to the probable. Thats what we all want.
I would put that number closer to 99% Josh. And if you exclude PGF and maybe one or two others the rate would be almost 100% for film videos and photos. Great Post. J.D.
DeleteI'll bet if the guy with the shotgun was 8 feet tall, 800 lbs, and covered in hair, with a human looking face you would have been able to I D him in the line up. Unless the others in the line up were his cousins.
ReplyDeleteChuck
LOL Chuck, good one. No offense Josh but it's like comparing apples and oranges to me.
DeleteThanks for sharing, I agree that are minds don't always tell us the truth in a time of crises. When that ol nasty chemical called adrenaline starts to race through our blood stream, it is "gut check time". In fact, the police themselves will tell you that eye witness testimony is very unreliably and has been known to vary. For how ever many eye witnesses there are, that is how many different accounts of the crime there will be. So lets say that 75% (I don't think the number is that high) of the reported sightings are wrongly identified, and or just plain out hoax. Well, even I can do that math, 25% of something real is better than 100% of something that is not.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well written article.
Scott C (aka sbizkit38)
Good points by all ,lets remember no one beleived the storys of the mountain gorilla it was not till someone shot one dragged it back to the smithsonian that the fiction became fact.The same with the giant squid.Science needs that body if we have to shoot one to prove its out there so be it, then we can protect them.
ReplyDeleteOh lovely, the old "gorilla" story as evidence for Bigfoot fallacy. They heard of gorillas, people didn't believe it was true, they went looking for them. They found them a soon as they went up into the highlands. Not too difficult at all. People go looking for Bigfoot every day, yet there is no body......
Deletequit trying to use gorillas to back up your case, it makes no sense at all.
Eyewitness testimony is very credible. I am assuming the the line-up consisted of men with similar builds, similar hair color, height, color of skins, etc. Law enforcement is required to do this to ensure that the person being accused is not "framed." Ex: A black man robs a bank and during the line up you have seven white guys and the black guy. Or a 7 foot tall white guy robs a bank and everyone in the lineup is a midget other than the seven foot guy.
ReplyDeleteI must say, it is odd that you could not pick out the suspect in the lineup since you were standing so close to the person. You may have focused more on the weapon rather that specific facial features, etc. This is very common in eyewitnesses who have witnessed a very traumatic experience. They tend to look more at the potential cause of death rather than the person holding it.
One thing is obvious, you atleast knew that the bank robber was a human being, you obviously knew their skin color and approximate height/weight. You did not mistake the man for a woman or bear/gorilla, whatever. I believe this is what makes an eyewitness credible in a sasquatch/bigfoot sighting. Although they may not remember specific features such as facial profile, etc. they can without a doubt state that they saw a bigfoot.
We used eyewitness testimony as evidence during criminal cases, but we always used other evidence to cooberate the case. (Statement of confession, fingerprints, video, etc.) Usually how a person is "hardwired" to react to stressful situations leads to how they interpret an event. Three eyewitnesses to a crime might see three different things. But, when you link the three witness statements together you usually end up with a solid case. A prime example of this would be three people seeing a bank robber. One may remember the clothing worn but have no idea of facial features. The other may pay attention to facial features and build but have no idea of clothing. The third might not be able to tell us anything about the suspect other than what weapon they brandished.
At first glance, people might discount the eyewitnesses as not being credible, but with a little work, all three statements can be used to convict the person. By utilizing each persons testimony it is easy to develop and identify the suspect.
I truly believe that sasquatch encounters happend much in the same way. One thing is for sure, I do not believe that a sane, rational person would mistake a bear or elk for a sasquatch. To the contrary, I would assume that most people would automatically be programmed to assume a sasquatch were a bear, elk, man in coveralls etc.
Archer1
Archer1
When I said that a sane person would not mistake a bear/elk for a sasquatch; I should clarify on this. If a reliable eyewitness has a daylight encounter (or night time with artificial lighting) and the encounter lasts long enough to allow the person to examine what they are looking at and not just a fleeting glimpse then the probability of misidentificition starts to diminish. Now, take into consideration the distance between the eyewitness and the subject in question, etc. and the probability of misidentifying a bear, human, elk, etc. becomes less and less likely.
ReplyDeleteI had a night time encounter during a full moon. The sasquatch was approximately 60 yards from me. I convinced myself it was a bear. Only until it stood, walked, and made such a "God aweful" screams at me did I start to realize I wasn't looking at a large bear.
I had convinced myself that what I was seeing was a bear standing on it's hind legs. Even as it began to walk away I allowed my mind to "rationalize" the event. When the Sasquatch stopped and started roar/howling at me only then did I realize what I was looking at. Another starting answering back to it from approx. 70 yards to my right. Honestly, I was in denial about what was happening at the time. I sincerely thought that I was having some sort of nightmare because of the sheer fear. I realize now that my mind was rationalizing in an attempt to cope with the stress.
Archer1
Excellent reply, Archer1!
DeleteWhy is Bigfoot jerking him off in the picture?
ReplyDeleteHumans are stupid, we used to think people where Witches and would burn them, We hear a noise and we think it's Bigfoot, we see a light in the sky at night and think It's from outer space.
ReplyDeleteAnd trolls think they're clever.
DeleteHumans are stupid, we used to think people where Witches and would burn them
ReplyDeleteThe best method was to drown them and if they survived..well you know :)
get a duck and some scales and you're set.
Bigfoot here - I love a man in a dress. Put a little eye shadow and lipstick on and I'm all over him.
ReplyDelete