All language subtitles for Historys+Greatest+Mysteries+S04E15+-+ENG

Tonight, the most elusive beast in North
America.

Bigfoot might be the most widely spotted
cryptid in history.

This is not something that's limited to
just one region or even just one

continent. This is something that is
reported all over the world.

Despite thousands of sightings, this
mysterious animal remains unidentified.

Top scientists are at a loss. They can't
find any match to any known species.

Now, we explore the top theories
surrounding this cryptic creature.

How did these two cowboys pull off the
greatest thing in creature feature

history? It is possible that some of
these could be wild humans.

There was a creature that was thought to
have gone extinct that did match this.

Description. Does Bigfoot exist? And if
so, what is it?

And where is it?

September 1958.

Humboldt County, California.

Lumber worker Jerry Crew is operating a
bulldozer when he spots something

strange in the woods.

Maybe 20 feet away from where he's
working, he sees these large human -like

footprints pressed deep into the mud,
and he mentions it to his supervisor, a

man named Wilbur Shorty Wallace.

Upon closer examination, the prints are
16 inches across, much too

big to be human.

It's unlike anything he's ever seen
before.

Could it be an animal print? Sure.

But if it is, it's strangely human, but
much larger.

Initially, Jerry suspects a co -worker
is playing a prank on him.

Let's be real. You're working in a
remote area with a bunch of guys. It's a

brotherhood. We play pranks on each
other. It's just what we do.

Shorty Wallace's brother, Ray Wallace,
is a complete prankster. So when Jerry

sees these prints, he's assuming that
the guys are pulling his leg.

But soon, other strange accounts
surfaced.

At a job site the year before, a 450
-pound fuel drum went

missing.

It was found nearby in a gully, but it
had these giant human -like footprints

nearby. This is not something that an
average -sized human being could move on

their own at all.

People also see a 700 -pound tire is
magically moved over to a ditch.

And what is around it?

Tracks.

Given the size of the footprints,

the loggers come up with a nickname for
the creature.

Bigfoot.

There are lots of logging operations in
the area and workers on other sites

catch wind of this Bigfoot. For many of
them, this strikes a chord.

A number of them who have been working
out in these woods have reported the

sensation of feeling like they've been
watched.

That there is some sort of intelligence
that is observing them as they work.

It's not long.

before these accounts attract local
media attention.

The story of Bigfoot makes its way to
the Humboldt Times newspaper in the form

of a letter that lands on the desk of
writer Andrew Gonzoli.

Like Jerry Krug, Gonzoli assumes at
first that the letter is from some

But on September 21st, 1958, he has a
column to finish.

So he mentions it towards the end, just
as a bit of a joke. Like, hey, guess

what? Humboldt County has its very own
abominable snowman.

They call it Bigfoot.

Once people see this story, it catches
on like wildfire. People are

intrigued by this. It ties in with their
own experiences. They've heard rumors

that fall right into line with what's
being reported.

It only makes sense at this point that
Gonzales is going to follow up. So he

sets out to follow up with crew to talk
to the other lumberjacks to find out

what's going on here.

What Gonzales ultimately found out when
he did some more research is that the

idea of Bigfoot itself, of a large
creature with large footprints, was not

It, in fact, was part of the folklore of
Native American tribes for some time.

There are reports of unusual footprints
and sightings here dating back

throughout the 1800s.

In 1850, a prospector was mining on the
side of Mount Shasta, and he had what

could be said as one of the first
interactions with Bigfoot when a large

hominid came out of the woods and
smashed his sluice and then went back in

woods, as if to say, get the hell off my
mountain.

Because of all of the stories coming in,
all of the engagement from readership,

the Humboldt Times ends up publishing an
entire series of stories about this

creature called Bigfoot. This causes a
huge stir. And this story goes national.

Within weeks, the name Bigfoot is known
across America.

With all this attention, there is a mad
rush to investigate. So the L .A. Times,

New York Times, they all show up because
they want to pee a Bigfoot.

The whole country is buzzing about this.
We see an immediate divide between

believers and nonbelievers and skeptics
and diehards.

Everyone has an opinion.

A popular TV show offers a $1 ,000 prize
to anyone who will come forward and

admit to perpetrating this hoax.

And no one steps up to claim the money.

In fact, new evidence emerges.

So on October 17, 1958, a gentleman
named George Smith is driving through

Humboldt County, and he has to slam on
his brakes as this large, hairy beast

crosses the road in front of him. He
described it as being at least eight

in height. It stood upright and walked,
and it appeared shaggy like it was

wearing a bearskin coat.

Could this be the same beast that's been
leaving behind all these footprints?

Or is Smith just making the story up to
get his 15 minutes of fame?

Despite the fact that we don't end up
with any proof either way, Bigfoot

ingrained in our nation's collective
psyche.

People are actually making trips, making
pilgrimages, what folklorists would

call legend trips, to Humboldt County to
look for Bigfoot themselves.

For years, unsubstantiated reports of
sightings continue pretty regularly.

More oversized Bigfoot tracks are found,
some trails stretching on for several

miles.

This is not something that's limited to
just one region or even just one

continent. This is something that is
reported in first -hand and second -hand

accounts all over the world.

But as time goes on, the mystery begins
to take on a slightly different tone.

Tales of Bigfoot encounters grow more
outlandish and increasingly suspicious.

People started to claim everything from
Bigfoot kidnapped them, to they've seen

Bigfoot reading a newspaper on a flying
saucer, they saw Bigfoot at 7 -Eleven.

The vast majority of these later Bigfoot
stories are clearly made up.

Bigfoot almost becomes a joke.

People do not take this seriously. This
is not treated as a scientific finding.

It's something that's largely considered
to be untrue.

It's a shame, really, because there are
people who really saw something and they

really want answers.

There are proven scientific methods that
could possibly find those answers.

Once everybody thinks Bigfoot is made
up, though, they stop taking the search

seriously. Still, it's worth pointing
out, as silly as things get, that

Humboldt time story from 1958 is never
officially debunked.

That is.

Until 2002.

In November of 2002, Jerry Crews' co
-worker, Ray Wallace, passed away.

Soon after his death, Wallace's children
come forward to reveal their father

orchestrated the whole thing back in the
1950s and kept quiet about it all these

years.

On his deathbed, Wallace has told his
children the whole story.

Ray Wallace comes up with the idea, and
he enlists the help of his brother

Shorty, obviously, and then they also
get their nephew, Mack McKinley, in on

as well.

He and his brother and his nephew would
strap essentially wooden flip -flops

onto their feet and walk around creating
these large footprints.

Wallace's kids even have a pair of the
shoes their dad used to make the famous

footprints. Wallace was a prankster, and
according to his children, his original

goal was simply to scare his friend
Jerry.

But when the story blows up, rather than
enjoying his gotcha moment, he decides

to double down and keep the ruse going
for decades.

Wallace's efforts aren't limited to fake
footprints.

On his property, Ray Wallace keeps a
number of bison, and he uses their fur

their droppings to custom craft hair and
stool samples that he leaves in the

woods for Bigfoot hunters to find.

Based on Wallace's hoax confirmation,
for a lot of people, that's it. It

be case closed. We figured it out. This
guy made something up.

But what about the other sightings?

It is impossible for Ray and Shorty and
Mac to be responsible for all

Bigfoot sightings, experiences,
interactions in the entire world.

And Wallace never dressed up as an 8
-foot tall creature and walked around at

night. What does that say for people who
actually spotted an animal and not just

footprints or hair?

And what about the many sightings that
take place before Wallace was ever born?

Has there been a century -long series of
hoaxers?

Or are people really seeing something
out there?

While Wallace clearly played an
important role in the gestation of the

myth, he is certainly not the cause of
it or the entire explanation for it.

There have been over 5 ,000 documented
sightings. There's no way one guy could

be responsible for all of that.

I believe Ray Wallace accidentally
shined a light onto a legend of a very

creature. The irony is that Ray
Wallace's fake footprints may ultimately

to the truth.

1967,

Bluff Creek, California.

Eleven years after news spreads
nationwide...

of a creature called Bigfoot.

Two outdoorsmen head off to hunt the
beast along the Klamath River.

In the summer of 1967, Roger Patterson,
who's become fascinated with the legend

of Bigfoot, is filming a sort of pseudo
-documentary on the subject when he

bumps into his old friend Bob Gimlin at
a gas station.

He tells Gimlin about his film and that
he's heading to check out some

unidentified footprints found in the
Northern California area. And Gimlin

to go with him.

So Patterson and Gimlin are about
halfway through their journey when

approaching a river and something spooks
Patterson's horse.

He ends up falling off the horse.

But when he sees what it was that his
horse saw...

He pulls out his camera and begins
filming.

The filmed encounter lasts 59 and a half
seconds.

To Patterson and Gimlin, it feels like
an hour.

Something emerges from the brush, an
enormous animal Patterson and Gimlin

never seen before.

They think it might be Bigfoot.

Once they surprise the creature, it
starts walking quickly away from them,

they manage to follow it for quite some
time before they lost sight of it in the

woods. Patterson and Gimlin then hurry
back to their campsite to grab some

plaster. They know they're going to need
as much proof as possible, so they take

casts of the prince left behind by the
beast.

That night, the 16mm film is developed.

What the film shows us is a massive
bipedal creature, maybe

six and a half, seven feet tall.

It's covered head to toe in this sort of
silvery brown.

fur that reflects the sunlight, and it's
walking with this loping sort of gait

through the landscape.

Compared to previous descriptions, it's
slightly smaller with wider hips and a

rounder silhouette.

It also appears to have mammary glands.

Gimlin Patterson theorized that they're
looking at a female Bigfoot.

They nicknamed her Patty after Roger
Patterson.

Though the pair are convinced by what
they saw, many dismiss the film as a

The Patterson -Gimlin footage has been
scrutinized since it came out.

Everyone's had a chance to look at it,
try to break it down, try to explain why

it would be fake or not. And to this
day, you have people on both sides, real

fake, but nobody can disprove it.

Nobody.

1967 is the same year that the movie
Planet of the Apes is released.

This is the height of big -budget
Hollywood special effects back then. If

anything, the Patterson -Gimlin footage
looks more realistic than the ape suits

we see in that movie.

You're talking about, you know, two guys
in the backwoods of Humboldt. They

didn't have deep pockets to build
something like this. So how did these

cowboys pull off the greatest thing in
creature feature history?

And the thing is, is they didn't. There
are no visible seams, no zippers, no

buttons. It's not baggy. You can
actually see the creature's musculature

under its skin.

Even special effects experts can't
explain that.

But if this film of Bigfoot is real...

What type of creature might it be?

There have been several attempts to
classify the animal seen in Patterson

Gimlin's film.

It's analyzed by Stanford scientists
Jessica Rose and James Gamble in 1994.

They're experts in physiology and
movement.

They analyzed the creature's gait and
can't find any match to known species.

They concluded that this is not...

a gait or a movement that could be
replicated by a person in a costume. The

relationship of bones to musculature to
skin and hair is a unique thing for

different animals, and it really
wouldn't be possible for a human being

this type of difference in gait and
movement.

In 1999, a pair of professors from the
University of Florida's Anthropology

Department also analyzed the film. And
in 2009, the film was broken down frame

by frame by an anthropologist from the
New York Museum of Natural History.

As for what type of animal this is, they
have no idea.

These top scientists are at a loss.

It's possible that Patterson and Gimlin
have discovered an entirely new species.

There are many examples of creatures
that at first seemed mythical or their

description seemed hard to believe, such
as the Komodo dragon, a giant lizard

that would eat sheep whole.

The narwhal, a whale with a horn on its
head like a unicorn.

The pelican, an incredibly common bird
in contemporary life, was at one time

thought to be a mythological creature
back in the Middle Ages.

How about this? The giant squid.

For millennia, since at least the days
of Aristotle in the 4th century BC,

sailors would swear up and down that
they saw these massive 20 -foot -long

squid while at sea.

There are thousands of depictions and
stories of people who claim to have seen

the giant squid, and yet still it was
considered a mythological creature.

It's another in a long line of fanciful
tales of make -believe sea monsters like

the kraken.

Squids just don't get that big.

There's no evidence.

Until one day, there is.

Throughout the 19th century, small
pieces and remains of giant squid would

periodically wash up on the world's
beaches.

These would convince some scientists of
the giant squid's existence, but others

kept on denying it. They'd say that
until we find a living one, it's simply

proven. It wasn't until a fishing
trawler caught one in 2004 that we

that squids of this size actually exist.

They catch a nearly 30 -foot -long giant
squid that's later named Archie.

It's been preserved by London's Natural
History Museum and can still be viewed

today. Proof positive of a giant squid.

So, hopefully one day Bigfoot can join
the giant squid as a proven animal.

But it could be tough.

A lot of people like to believe that all
life has been discovered when...

It's quite the opposite. Over 80 % of
life on this planet is undiscovered. So

absolutely, a Bigfoot species could be
out there.

Ever since large mysterious footprints
were first reported in Oregon in the

1950s, there has been no shortage of
Bigfoot sightings.

Institutions like the Bigfoot Field
Researchers Organization have been

cataloging accounts since the 1990s.

Even today, they're reporting sightings
at a rate of four or more per month

across the U .S. and Canada.

But in 2007, one in particular makes
headlines.

In the Allegheny National Forest in
Pennsylvania, there is a new piece of

information that comes out that's very
intriguing.

We get what could be the most compelling
set of Bigfoot images we've seen in 40

years.

One evening at about 10 .02 p .m., a
motion -activated trail camera captured

several bear cubs foraging for food.

After that, you have another picture
that really, like, catch your attention.

Something else comes into frame and is
actually standing, I like to call it

downward -facing dog position, and the
way that it is smelling the ground is

exactly how primates do it.

And this comes to be known as the
Jacob's Bigfoot, after the camera's

set it up in the woods to help him track
deer.

It seems that this situation provides a
pretty stark contrast between what are

clearly bears and what is clearly not.

It's fairly obvious when you compare the
first photo of the Jacob's Bigfoot with

the one of the bear cubs taken in the
same spot. They're in the same pose, but

their anatomy is completely different.

The following week, the state of
Pennsylvania's Game Commission offers an

explanation.

Sorry for all the Bigfooters out there,
believers, but the Game Commission come

out to check out the area, and their
response is that it is simply a bear

me.

Scientists love to cite Occam's razor,
the concept that the simplest solution

a problem is often the best and most
likely. If you're in Texas and you hear

hoofbeats, you should probably think
horses and not zebras, because horses

the more common animal. Well, bears are
super common.

Let's consider Ursus americanus, the
American black bear.

What we know about this bear lines up
really well with the reported

characteristics of Bigfoot. Its size,
its shape, its coloring, it

seems like a very likely explanation for
the Bigfoot legend.

When they stand on their hind legs,
black bears can reach up to six or seven

feet in height.

which is similar in height to many
reported Bigfoot sightings. Seen from

away, from the right angle, at the right
moment, when it's standing up, when

it's moving bipedally, it would be easy
to mistake a black bear

for a Bigfoot.

The vast range of black bears could also
support this.

Black bears live in the Pacific
Northwest, the northern Midwest, and the

Mountain region.

Alaska and the northeast from Maine all
the way down to Georgia, all of these

places have had Bigfoot sightings.

If we add in other species of bears
besides Ursus americana, we

have the potential for Bigfoot or bear
sightings all over the United States.

In 2014, Oxford University genetics
professor Brian Sykes further tests

this theory.

What Dr. Sykes did, which was unique,
was instead of simply looking at

reports or photos or tapes of Bigfoot
vocalizations, Sykes actually, as a

genetics professor, wanted to look at
DNA samples. And he requested Bigfoot

investigators from all across the world
to send him their best examples of

Bigfoot DNA.

Sykes collects 30 samples of purported
Bigfoot hair sent in from a wide variety

of sources.

From hardcore cryptozoologists to
amateur Bigfoot hunters to roadside

museums. And what he finds is really
telling.

Almost all of them come from known
animals. They come from bears. They come

horses. Some of them even come from
humans.

But there's one sample that isn't
accounted for.

Remember the theory that Bigfoot is an
unknown species?

Well, incredibly, Sykes' DNA analysis of
one sample actually does reveal the

existence of a previously unknown
species.

But it's not an unknown ape. It's an
unknown bear.

What we see is a hybrid between a brown
bear and a distant cousin

of the polar bear that was thought to
have gone extinct a long time ago.

While Sykes believes this bear species
may have given rise to the Bigfoot

legend, Some other scientists aren't
convinced.

Remember, Sykes' sample pool is just 30
specimens.

Are all the Bigfoots out there just
ordinary run -of -the -mill creatures?

We've still got a long way to go to
figure that out.

Despite many long years of searching for
proof it exists, the legendary creature

known as Bigfoot remains more myth than
fact.

Then, a chance encounter in 1974...

convinces one man that he's finally
solved the mystery.

It is undeniable that the real heart of
Bigfoot sightings have been in the

Pacific Northwest of the United States.
So that's California, Oregon,

Washington. That's where the highest
percentage of sightings have been

But there have been alleged sightings of
a creature like Bigfoot in other

places. Most notably...

Southern Florida.

In 1974, Dave Sheely is 10 years old,
and him and his brother are walking

the Everglades, and they have an
encounter.

Dave is too short to see over the grass,
so his brother picks him up, lifts him

over his head, and there he sees it, 100
yards away.

And what he ends up seeing is a creature
that he describes as large, hulking,

walking on two legs, and hairy.

Exactly.

how we see Bigfoot being described in
other regions.

But Sheely knows it by a different name.

This is something that he's heard
stories about his entire life. He knows

what he's seeing in front of him is the
Florida skunk ape.

We already know that Bigfoot has been
given multiple names in multiple places.

Sasquatch is probably its second most
famous moniker. Some call it a yeti.

In regions prone to winter weather, it's
been called the abominable snowman.

But fewer people have heard of the skunk
ape, which is particular to this one

unique swampy area.

The skunk ape is described in a way very
similar to your common Bigfoot

sighting. It's supposed to be about
seven to eight feet tall, although it's

common for the skunk ape to be slightly
smaller.

Perhaps it might be a subspecies of
Bigfoot. The coloring of the hair is

different. Some of the behavioral
characteristics are different.

But there is one key difference that
gives the creature its name.

The skunk ape has a distinct unpleasant
odor. It's been compared to a wide array

of foul smells.

Wet dog, hot garbage, boiled cabbage,
rotten eggs. Hence the name skunk ape.

Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's the
muggy wet conditions. Or maybe nobody

anywhere else has gotten close enough to
Bigfoot to actually smell it. Maybe

they all smell this way.

Stories of a human -like beast.

with an unmistakable stench, have long
been part of local lore.

The native peoples of Florida, the
Seminole, the Miccosukee people, have

of a creature described very similar to
what is now called the skunk ape.

These legends of the skunk ape go back
to the times of Spanish colonization.

know, we're talking 16th century.

Then, throughout the early 20th century,
we get isolated reports from hunters

and hikers about strange...

hairy, two -legged creatures spotted in
the Everglades.

Surprisingly, not much research is done
at that time.

And the story really takes off in the
1970s in Florida, and we start to see

more encounters.

More intriguing.

These alleged sightings increasingly
come from larger groups sharing the same

story. In fact, in 1997...

An entire tour bus of 40 people all see
the strange creature simultaneously on

the side of the road in broad daylight.

Before long, we start hearing reports of
encounters in the highly populated

Broward County. Things like skunk apes
breaking into people's homes or even

stalking pedestrians on the streets.

Accounts become so frequent, the state
government takes action.

In 1977, the Florida legislature
introduces a bill to try and protect the

ape and the public.

The bill includes specific language,
making it illegal to take, possess,

harm, or molest any sort of humanoid or
anthropoid creature.

The bill doesn't pass, but it does add a
certain legitimacy to the idea that

skunk apes are real.

One man who doesn't need convincing.

Dave Shealy.

In 1994, Shealy opens the Skunk Ape
Research Headquarters in Echopee,

The Skunk Ape Research Headquarters
might at first appear like a tourist

attraction. It has a gift shop. But in
fact, Shealy claims that those sales

subsidize serious research into the
creature.

Primarily, it's a hub for legitimate
paranormal investigators to share

information and gather resources.

And it's helped spawn some major
breakthroughs, including by Shealy

After a lengthy stakeout in 2000, Shealy
manages to capture video of what he

claims is a skunk ape in the wild.

We can see the creature moving through
tall grass, walking in what seems to be

maybe ankle -deep water until it notices
that it's being filmed and suddenly

takes off.

The thing with David's video is you take
the still frame shot of it, people

think, yeah, you're looking at maybe a
teenager.

Bigfoot, or what we call in Florida a
skunk ape. But then you watch the actual

live video, and for some of us, it kind
of looked like you could have thrown

someone in a suit and just had them run
through the grass.

In 2014, a Smithsonian Magazine
journalist named Joseph Strongberg

get to the bottom of this.

Sheely told the journalist that he
believed skunk apes are drawn to the

particular area that they were
investigating because of the calls of

primates. He had been following two
skunk ape tracks, and they led him

to this barbed wire fence in the middle
of nowhere that he described as being

some sort of secretive or mysterious
primate breeding ground right there in

the middle of Florida.

Stromberg was skeptical about this
story, but in fact confirmed that such a

company did exist.

There is in fact a company called
Primate Products Incorporated located in

Immokalee, Florida, where primates are
bred.

This leads Stromberg to speculate that
perhaps some of these animals got loose.

When Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in
1992, there was extensive damage to

products. And they believe over 6 ,000
primates may have escaped into the wild.

In addition, Stromberg turns up other
reports of people acquiring exotic pets

and then releasing them into the wild
once they are too strong or too powerful

to be cute anymore. So chimpanzees as
pets are a common animal that gets

released in this way.

and adds to that population of very
unexpected primates living in Florida.

A report from the Sarasota Sheriff's
Department may offer further proof.

In 2000, a person who had claimed that
there were disturbances around their

property by an unknown critter
eventually get a picture of it, and they

letter as to what happened, and they
send it to law enforcement.

Two experts examine the photo and make a
surprising discovery.

They determine that based on the
creature's appearance, the scale of its

features, the distance between different
parts of its body, that it is, in fact,

an orangutan.

Not a creature that we would expect to
see in a Florida backyard, but not a

skunk ape.

Cromberg concluded that people who
report the skunk ape are sincere, but

be seeing what Shealy claims they are.
Certainly, some people who see Bigfoot

are, in fact, misidentifying a monkey
that someone has released.

Since the 1950s, most Bigfoot
eyewitnesses describe the creature as a

between an ape...

and a human.

There's a debate in the Bigfoot
community about what Bigfoot actually

Some believe that Bigfoot is more of a
straight animal.

I think the ideal answer would be that
there's probably an unknown primate

there. But scientists are very skeptical
about the possibility that the United

States could support an undiscovered
species of ape. But it is possible that

some of these could be wild humans.

There have been reports throughout
history of wild men, human beings,

but who are living in a feral state, not
in cities, not in any sort of

civilized way, living like an animal.

So in South Central Texas in the 1830s,
we have the story of the wild man of

Navidad. People were seeing what they
were describing as something that was

Bigfoot life.

covered in fur, made to toe, acting like
an animal but with human qualities, and

that sparked everyone's interest.

The descriptions line up perfectly with
later sightings of Bigfoot.

In some ways, this is almost the first
Bigfoot legend, but just going by a

different name.

The wild man of Navidad was stealing
piglets and chickens, was leaving

footprints all over the area, was
breaking into homes but only stealing

never valuables.

For over a decade, the wild man of the
Navidad remains at large.

At one point, people looking for the
wild man even found a shelter in the

and conducted a stakeout. But if that
was where the creature lived, it never

returned.

It was something nobody could get near,
and it had people interested and also

worried. So, in 1850, they ended up
getting a posse together to try and

this wild man.

And upon investigating, they found out
that it wasn't a creature.

It was, in fact, a person.

This particular wild man was an African
slave brought over that escaped

immediately and ran into the woods and
was able, on his wit and abilities

to survive for like 15 years before
being captured.

Could such wild humans account for more
supposed Bigfoot encounters?

One story about a purported feral human
came out of Arkansas in 1892 when there

were stories of what appeared to be a
boy running with a pack of wolves.

I mean, this is Mowgli from the Jungle
Book, taken in by wolves and then raised

and survived long enough in the wild as
a wolf cub before finally being captured

by humans and brought back to be
rehabilitated.

Stories of feral humans have a lot of
similarities to stories of Bigfoot. The

creatures are usually reported as hairy,
living in the woods, leaving

footprints, stealing items.

The main difference is that in these
cases, the culprit, the wild person, is

discovered.

Is it possible that modern Bigfoot
sightings could also be of humans rather

of animals?

In the 1970s and 1980s, There's a
dramatic rise in homelessness in the

Northwest, especially among veterans.

And around this time, there's also a
noticeable uptick of possible Bigfoot

sightings around Washington state. And a
theory begins to emerge.

We have returning veterans from the
Vietnam War, many of whom were

with PTSD and other societal issues,
choosing to isolate themselves or being

forced into homelessness.

living on the edges of society and
perhaps appearing as these wild men.

To me, the story that epitomizes humans
mistaken for Bigfoot happens in western

North Carolina in 2017.

A self -identified shaman is conducting
some rituals in the woods while wearing

his ceremonial garb, which is made of
fur, covering his entire body from head

toe, including his face.

As a result of this, the Greenville
Police Department started getting...

Report after report of people saying
that they saw a creature covered head to

toe in fur moving about in the woods.
The police had to take this seriously.

One concern that law enforcement has had
across the country is if people are out

hunting for Bigfoot, it is possible they
will mistake a human for a Bigfoot and

take a shot.

This brings us back to that idea of
Occam's razor.

What is the simplest explanation for all
of these sightings? We do have an

incredibly common bipedal hominid
walking around all over the place, and

us, people.

Bigfoot has been compared with many
modern animals over the years, most

various species of primates.

It looks very much like an orangutan or
something of that nature.

Some of the things these people are
seeing in the woods are legitimately a

silverback gorilla or a chimpanzee. And
on top of that, you have wealthy people

that buy these pets and they just kind
of lackadaisically keep them and they

escape. But many experts believe this
doesn't fully explain Bigfoot.

Escape monkeys typically don't grow as
large as Bigfoot is purported to be.

There is no modern day species.

that really matches with the description
of Bigfoot. But scientists are quick

to point out that in the not -so
-distant past, there was a creature

be extinct that did match this
description.

Remains have been discovered of a
creature that most resembles Bigfoot,

is the species called Gigantopithecus.

Gigantopithecus is a primate from the
Pleistocene era. It was believed to have

gone extinct about 300 ,000 years ago.

An ancestor of modern -day orangutans,
Gigantopithecus is thought to be the

largest primate to ever live on Earth.

Gigantopithecus was enormous.

Its teeth were...

of such proportion that we estimate its
body mass to be on the order of 800 to 1

,200 pounds.

We're talking about a 10 -foot animal,
and when people describe seeing Bigfoot,

the sheer mass and size of it leads some
people to believe that Giganopithecus,

or a relic version of it, is Bigfoot.
Maybe it's evolved to be a little bit

smaller, a little bit more nimble, or
we're just not seeing the big boys, and

all we're seeing are the females.

In the early 1980s, American
anthropologist Grover Krantz becomes one

biggest proponents of the theory that
Gigantopithecus could perhaps be a

candidate for Bigfoot.

Considering this theory, two problems
stand out immediately.

One is that Gigantopithecus was thought
to be almost entirely exclusive to Asia.

And the second problem, of course, is
that it's extinct.

As far as where Gigantopithecus lived,
Krantz believes that a land bridge

across the Bering Strait.

that allowed Gigantopithecus to cross
over the North American continent during

the Ice Age in search of better food and
warmer climates. As for their

extinction, he believes it never
happened.

Scientists believe that given the
vastness of the ocean and the

there are numerous other seemingly
extinct species that we may find in fact

still exist.

Let's take the pygmy tarsier and the
cashmere musk deer. These are two

that were supposedly extinct that we
have found are not.

What's amazing is that there was a giant
fish, a coelacanth, that existed

60 million years ago and was thought to
be long extinct until we caught one

in 1938 off the coast of South Africa.

And there's not just one of them. A
whole community of them was found to

exist. So clearly, our best
understandings of just how extinct an

creature might be can be wrong.

Gigantopithecus may not be the only
extinct primate that could fit the bill.

Bigfoot researcher John Napier actually
believed that Bigfoot might be a

different form of seemingly extinct ape
called Paranthropus.

They're large, really big heads, big
frames, and really fit the look of when

people describe their experiences with
Bigfoot, what Bigfoot looks like.

The Wajiganopithecus, it was so massive,
we really can't be sure that it even

walked on two legs. But Paranthropus did
strut its stuff.

This theory, the idea that a species
assumed to be extinct is not in fact

extinct. is now the favorite explanation
of the Bigfoot Field Researchers

Organization. It is possible, perhaps,
that at some point, one or more of these

species came over the land bridge to
North America where their descendants

remained undetected but occasionally
sighted.

Bigfoot might be the most widely spotted
cryptid in history.

Hopefully, someday, we'll finally get
close enough to identify it. And when we

do, the scientific community may be in
for quite a shock.

Currently, there are more than 20
Bigfoot research associations in the U

alone and dozens more worldwide.

Perhaps one day, we'll finally be able
to identify this elusive creature.

Until then, many Bigfoot hunters are
only too willing to search.

I'm Lawrence Fishburne. Thank you for
watching History's Greatest Mysteries.