Misinformed Media Muddies Monster Misconception

Squatchocalypse - The Prime Ape Objective

Editor's Note: This is a guest post by Bigfoot Evidence reader, Squatchocalypse.

Our entire culture has become a purely entertainment-based attempt at escapism through TV and movies, and now through our news outlets too. The format of "Reality TV" is an accurate representation of what society seeks and desires for entertainment, and unfortunately it has become the accepted format for documentary and news-based programming as well.

This shows just how disconnected most people are from a real-world view and it demonstrates how and why people are so disconnected from fact and truth -(The two things that are required for an assessment of reality). The more people respond to dumb things, the more dumb things will be coming down the pike. For example, there could soon be a "Reality TV" show called, "Vampire Bigfoot Chefs of Alaska", and people would love it. The bar for entertainment and news has been lowered to the ground and any dumb idea can step right over it and into your living room. No one's worried about looking stupid anymore, they're just worried about looking poor.

Why miss out on real life by filming or watching a fake one? This complete dumbing-down of our culture affects every aspect of our society and yes, it has affected all true scientific pursuits and how new discoveries are interpreted by the public, and in many cases, how new discoveries are rejected by public opinion. The search to prove the existence of the Sasquatch has been hindered by negative public opinion which includes the opinions of authorities in the worlds of science, government and media. Our society's ratings-driven media that is eager to present sensationalism rather than report facts is the outlet through which all information is disseminated. Therefore, the public is largely misinformed.

Here's an example of how our media-driven mindset affects our behavior which in turn effects history: The 2008 "Georgia Bigfoot Hoax" was at first swallowed hook, line and sinker by the media. CNN eagerly granted a live worldwide press conference without vetting the known past of Biscardi's false claims and without a single hair to substantiate the story before broadcast. Within hours the whole story and the press conference itself were seen as lies. Folks, that's not a hoax, that's a failed hoax which qualifies as a prank at best. A hoax has to fool people. If for example the Patterson/Gimlin Film is of a man in a costume, then it's a successful hoax. If it is proven to be a man in a costume tomorrow, then it was a successful hoax for 47 years. Nobody was fooled in 2008 because no evidence was presented. Once the rubber costume thawed the media looked foolish for having entertained the claim at all. The media immediately called the whole event a "hoax" in an attempt to prevent themselves from looking foolish and the story died without any consequences to anyone involved. At that time there had been no significant bigfoot claims in the media in decades and the 2008 prank tilted public opinion toward the negative, "calling B.S." on all things bigfoot.

Now consider: Two years later in 2010 a man named Justin Smeja posted some vague questions and statements on a taxidermy website forum. He made his comments in a reluctant manner without elaboration and the online discussion of the topic was treated jokingly and soon dissipated. If it were not for the coincidence of one forum member having an interest in the bigfoot phenomenon and subsequently having Derek Randles contact Justin, it's doubtful that anyone would have heard of Justin's story, at least not for quite a while later.

The details of Justin's story had to be pulled out of him by the man on the forum and then by Derek Randles. Justin never actively sought to promote his story but once aware of it, Randles pleaded with Justin to cooperate with retrieving physical evidence from the kill site. According to Smeja, 2 to 3 feet of snowfall covered the area soon after the event. Justin did not have unlimited time and money to pursue immediate return to the site and without snowmobiles, further gear and further help he and his co-witness could not return to the site immediately following Randle's conversation with Smeja. Justin returned to the site 35 days after his alleged encounter with deep snow still covering the kill site and the evidence he recovered has not yet yielded any qualifying corroboration of his story.

Now imagine that the 2008 prank had not happened and that the general public opinion about bigfoot was still on the fence and largely undiscussed in 2010. It's reasonable to assume that Smeja's reluctant posts to serious outdoorsmen on an online taxidermy forum might have been met with more considerate inquiry, even if only from a "Put up or shut up" point of view. Even if Smeja was lying about his encounter its likely he might have received enough interest -if only through criticism of his claim- to aid him in returning to the site to back up his story. If Smeja's claim is true, then returning to the kill site sooner than 35 days later would have increased the likelihood of recovering evidence of the creature(s). Evidence that if truly from an extant hominid would have changed science, history and public opinion.

The excited, hurried desire to promote sensationalism and opinion before fact and truth will forever alter our perception of reality from within the "Dumb Bubble". And while people ride their couches into an oblivion of B.S., announcements of scientific discoveries like the Bili Ape of the Congo go mostly unnoticed. So don't think that the success of TV shows like "Finding Bigfoot" and "Mountain Monsters" has helped to better educate the public about the existence of an extant hominid because those same viewers will also be glued to "Vampire Bigfoot Chefs of Alaska".