There are many strange things that people claim to see, one of which is Bigfoot. Since the 1950’s, people in the U.S. have believed “Bigfoot” roamed the forests of the American Northwest. Bigfoot is described as a tall, hairy, and almost humanlike creature that hides in the shadows of trees. Over the years, many sightings and pictures have emerged. In 1976, the FBI opened a case file on Bigfoot and released it 43 years later. This was all because of an alleged tuft of deer hair.
In 1967, Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin released video footage supposedly depicting Bigfoot in Northern California. This evidence, however, did not start the Bigfoot craze, instead, it was a trail of oversized footprints discovered in the same region in 1958. This was the beginning of a never-ending story of Bigfoot.
In 1976, the FBI opened a case file on Bigfoot. That same year, director Peter Byrne of the Bigfoot Information Center and Exhibition sent the FBI “about 15 hairs attached to a tiny piece of skin.” Byrne wrote that his organization was not able to identify what animal these hairs belonged to. He wanted to know if the FBI was able to analyze them and if they had ever suspected Bigfoot hair previously. Byrne soon became one of the more prominent Bigfoot researchers.
Then Jay Cochran Jr., the assistant director of the FBI’s scientific and technical services division, wrote and responded to Byrne soon after. He replied that the FBI usually only examined physical evidence related to criminal investigations. However, it will sometimes make exceptions in the “interest of research and scientific inquiry.” Cochran told Byrne that he would make such an exception for him. Even though the FBI has Bigfoot on the file, it is not evidence that the FBI endorsed the existence of Bigfoot.
Many people believed that since the FBI has files, then Bigfoot must be real, otherwise, why would the FBI make it in the first place? Though the FBI agreed to run an analysis of the 15 hairs, Byrne doesn’t seem to remember receiving a response from the FBI that the “Bigfoot hair” was just deer hair. This declassified file was uploaded to the FBI’s online Freedom of Information Act reading room on June 5, 2019. This put an end to the 43-year-old government mystery. This doesn’t completely explain all of the sightings over the years. Bigfoot could be out there, and all we need is real, hard evidence to prove it.
Sources- https://www.history.com/articles/bigfoot-fbi-file-investigation-discovery
Image Source- https://www.visitredwoods.com/listing/bigfoot-found-in-the-redwoods/146/