The Hairy Legend That Refuses to Die
Somewhere deep in the wild northern forests of North America, a branch cracks under the hairy foot of some mythical beast. Bigfoot. Sasquatch. This mysterious eight-foot ape-man has supposedly been dodging cameras since before cameras could even focus properly. Every few months, a new photo surfaces and they all have the same thing in common: they’re grainy and unhelpful. Every few years, someone steps forward with “unshakeable” proof, and the internet collectively squints, zooms, and argues. The idea that something huge and human-like still hides out there is irresistible. Here are ten reasons Bigfoot might actually be lurking out there, and ten reasons he’s just a figment of people’s imaginations.
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin on Wikimedia
1. The Footprints
It always starts with a footprint that’s two feet long and vaguely human. Only, it’s too wide, too heavy. People have found them from California to Nepal. Scientists say it’s a hoax, whereas believers insist it’s a sign that something’s out there. And who hasn’t looked down at a footprint in some unlikely spot and wondered what—or who—left it there?
2. The Patterson–Gimlin Film (1967)
The holy grail of Bigfoot evidence is a shaky, 16mm footage of a furry figure striding across a creek bed in Northern California. The creature walks upright, its arm swinging at its side, and at the last moment turns its head towards the camera. The shot is grainy, yes, but it’s difficult to dismiss completely.
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin on Wikimedia
3. Eyewitness Accounts
People from all walks of life have spotted this creature—from loggers, hikers, hunters, even police officers. They can’t all be lying, can they? Each tells the same kind of story, and their consistency is persuasive. This is especially the case when the eyewitnesses are reluctant to discuss what they’ve seen.
4. Indigenous Legends and Folklore
Long before tabloids and YouTube, Native American tribes told stories of giant, hairy men who lived in the forests. Names varied—Sasq’ets, Ts’emekwes—but the idea was constant across cultures. The legend didn’t start with hoaxers, but within a cultural memory far older than any living witnesses.
5. The Pacific Northwest Is Huge
It’s easy to underestimate how vast and wild some parts of North America still are. There are stretches of forest in Washington and British Columbia where you could disappear for weeks without crossing a road. It’s not impossible that a species could live there unseen by pesky human eyes.
6. Hair Samples That “Don’t Match Anything Known”
Every so often, a tuft of coarse hair turns up, snagged on a piece of bark. Tests come back inconclusive as an unknown primate or unidentified species. Occasionally, it’s later revealed as a bear or dog. But not always. It’s these exceptions that keep the legend alive.
FETHI BOUHAOUCHINE on Unsplash
7. Strange Sounds at Night
Recordings exist, and boy are they eerie. It begins with a howl that shifts pitch mid-note and echoes across the forest. Hunters swear it’s not a coyote or an elk. The sound is unnatural in the way only natural things can be. It sends shivers down your spine.
8. Ancient “Gigantopithecus” Fossils
Scientists know for a fact that a species of massive ape once existed in ancient Asia that was twelve feet tall and 1,200 pounds. The leap from Gigantopithecus to Bigfoot isn’t that big, at least in imagination. Maybe it didn’t die out, maybe it just got shy.
9. Photos and Videos
For decades, believers have produced footage, and while none of it is definitive, all of it is intriguing. Some show a shape moving through trees. Some show glowing eyes. They’re terrible quality, sure, but maybe that’s part of the charm.
10. The Human Desire to Believe
Bigfoot has seized humanity’s imagination. It serves as a reminder that nature might still have a few cards up its sleeve. In a world of GPS and Google Earth, the idea of an undiscovered giant walking among us feels almost comforting.
And here’s ten reason from the naysayer’s camp—the skeptics and scientists.
1. Zero Bodies, Ever
For a creature that large, you’d expect that someone would have found at least one skeleton. If not a full skeleton, at least a skull or a femur—something. And yet, nothing. Bears, elk, and even mountain lions leave remains eventually.
2. So Many Hoaxes
Over the years there have been so many fake footprints and staged videos with guys in gorilla suits that it’s difficult to take new “sightings” seriously. There’s literally an entire cottage industry devoted to fakery. In 2008, two men in Georgia claimed they’d frozen a Bigfoot corpse. Turned out to be a rubber costume stuffed with roadkill.
3. DNA Tests That Always Come Back “Bear”
Every promising hair or tissue sample ends the same way: Ursus americanus. Translation: black bear. Scientists roll their eyes, while believers insist the labs are biased or actively engaged in a kind of cover-up.
4. The Physics Don’t Add Up
If Bigfoot exists, he’d need thousands of square miles to sustain a breeding population. There’d need to be enough individuals and enough food to survive winter. The reality is that no one’s ever found the trails, dens, or droppings you’d expect from a large mammal species.
5. The Blurriness Problem
It’s 2025. We can photograph Mars in high definition, but Bigfoot still shows up looking like a dark smudge on the horizon. People film concerts from balconies and zoom in on eyelashes, yet somehow, the forest always manages to throw off the camera’s focus. It simply doesn’t add up.
6. Psychology
When we’re deep in the woods, our senses sharpen. Every shadow looks like a darting animal; every rustle becomes a possible threat. Once you add a little adrenaline, your brain begins to imagine things lurking in the undergrowth. It’s simply our ancient survival instinct, misfiring in the dark.
7. The Money Machine
Let’s be honest: Bigfoot sells. There are festivals, TV shows, coffee mugs, and jerky brands all devoted to riding this elusive creature’s coattails. Towns like Willow Creek and Forks practically run on Sasquatch tourism. Once something becomes an industry, objectivity no longer matters. Dollars do.
8. Scientists Have Looked
Serious field biologists, trackers, and primatologists have gone searching on year-long expeditions with the most expensive technology money can buy. Nothing credible has emerged. If Bigfoot were real, one of them would’ve stumbled over him by now.
National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
9. Bears Walking Upright
When a bear stands up at a distance, it looks remarkably human. It has broad shoulders, long arms, and an awkward ambling shuffle. If caught sight of a standing bear in twilight, it would be easy to see how someone would panic and swear they just saw Bigfoot.
10. We Kind of Need Him to Be Fake
If Bigfoot’s real, it means we missed something monumental right under our noses. But if he’s fake, then he remains a harmless bit of folklore without wider implications for our species. If there are other intelligent apes on this planet, humanity has to completely reevaluate its position in the hierarchy of Earth’s creatures.
