What is it that makes us so fascinated with the subject of Bigfoot? Why has this lasted for hundreds of years? Is the human brain just pre-programed to naturally do this? Are the stories that people have shared real or just imagined?
I can only answer for myself and what made me fascinated with the bipedal primate that many call Bigfoot. To me it is a simple answer. I am fascinated with Bigfoot because of the history and how we have dealt with this mystery. It is the classic picture of how our society reacts to mystery and turning it into a sensation. This reaction helped keep an unknown primate living free and unfettered.
For hundreds of years here in North America the people who lived here have talked about a wild man or another tribe of forest people who dwell in the forest. Down through the ages the natives of the land taught each generation on how to deal with and interact with the wild man. There was never a doubt that the wild man was alive and living in the forest. Then the settlers came. They wrote in their journals and told stories of finding large barefoot tracks they could not identify. They also told of unexplained sounds and things that would happen that they know was not from some known animal. They also talked about the wild man from the natives. Then you have generational stories from families who had some interactions with a large ape-like thing that was shared among themselves and eventually told outside the family.
Then in the mid-century of the last century, national stories were being reported from the northwestern part of the country. Of course there have been reports from other parts of the country but those were more localized. Then you have the famous Grimlin-Patterson film from Bluff Creek area of northern California. Which I believe is real. After that, it seemed only the sensational reports that were hoaxes were being reported by the media. So the fascination for this unknown was turning more to disbelief than questioning. It seemed like it was game on for perpetrators of hoaxing. Quietly there were men who were trying to gather evidence. Our society as a whole ignored them and concentrated on the sensational.
Along comes a TV show that was about 4 people searching for Bigfoot. This show held our society in fascination. It also rekindled my interest in this mystery. This propelled me into searching on the Internet for more information. I was amazed and relentless in gathering as much information as possible. What I enjoyed reading the most were the sightings from people. I was surprised at what people reported. There were many who had detailed observations of they had seen. Another surprise was the number of sightings from rangers, biologists, police, fire and other science-oriented people. It was those reports that made me re-think my perception of sightings.
It is those reports from science-oriented persons and people in positions of trust that made me realize of the possibility of an unknown primate. Once I realized that there was something in the forest, I wanted first hand knowledge for myself. I wanted to collect the evidence that would back up the reported sightings. My realization turned into no doubt because I knew where, when and how the evidence was collected.
I have been fairly successful in finding evidence of the bipedal primate. There is no doubt about their existence. My quest is still to continue to collect the evidence. I also want to learn as much as possible about this amazing primate. Their elusiveness, intelligence and unexplained aspects of them have made this a daunting task. There are many unanswered questions that seem to be never-ending but I feel patience, perseverance and respect will help in the endeavor.
So in my round-about way the reason why this is still a mystery is because of how intelligent this primate is and our human nature. Unless we figure out a realistic way to learn about this primate than the mystery will continue.
