Tennessee Loves Finding Bigfoot

Some people are afraid to admit that they might believe in bigfoot, or that they enjoy watching television shows like Finding Bigfoot. They're afraid of what others think, or what they might say about them. But when it comes to Tennessee and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, there's no shame in their game when it comes to sasquatch!

The late actor Leonard Nimoy made his mark on popular culture in his time on Earth, mostly through his signature portrayal of a man from another planet. On the "Star Trek" TV show, and in related movies, he played Mr. Spock, an alien whose people relied on purely logical thought, instead of emotion, to get them through life.

Nimoy's public persona as a serious thinker later landed him a curious job as narrator for a documentary TV series called "In Search Of." It was a precursor to a lot of today's "reality-based" shows about so-called "unexplained phenomena."

One "In Search Of" topic that fascinated me as a kid was the legend of Bigfoot. I recall feeling frustrated at the time because the show never presented any kind of conclusion to its report.

"It just drifted off," agrees Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, who also enjoyed the show as a youth. We discovered this mutual memory while chatting about one of its TV descendants, "Finding Bigfoot." This current Animal Planet network offering features a research team that travels the world investigating sightings of Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, or just Squatch.

The "Finding Bigfoot" team considers East Tennessee to be a properly "Squatchy" region, thanks in part to help from Mayor Burchett. His childhood fascination led him to tune in to the show.

"It always interested me, unusual animal stories and sightings and things like that," he says. "When the show came on, I thought that was pretty neat. I'd always watch it, and get frustrated when they didn't find a Bigfoot."

The episode chronicling their second visit to Tennessee aired this past Sunday, and the mayor is featured prominently in scenes at a "town-hall meeting" they held at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. He first connected with the show's producers a few years ago through local Bigfoot enthusiasts.

"When they came to town to visit, I talked to them about what was going on around here, and the local club," says Burchett. "They fell in love with it, and came here to film the first show. I was told that it was the best-ranked show overseas that they'd had. So, they decided to come back."

"Finding Bigfoot" cast and crew returned last September and filmed at various area locations, including ASME, Frozen Head State Park, and some scenic rural farm lands. The show's images of the attractions and scenery of East Tennessee are actually of keener interest to Burchett than whether or not they locate a Bigfoot.

"What's going to be the harm of international cameras showing our natural beauty and introducing some of the local folks?" he asks. "Our best asset is our people. Then you walk out and see the mountains and the streams and the lakes. I think it's all positive. You know what you call a bunch of Bigfoot hunters out in the woods? Campers."

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