Bigfoot: a search in Utah... Options

[tugboatwa]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053125...ch-in-Utah.html

Bigfoot: a search in Utah

By Lynn Arave - Deseret News

John R. Salmond plans to head to a remote corner of northeastern Utah this weekend in search of a legend.

John Salmond (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)

Salmond, 44, is a new member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, which plans to explore the Ashley National Forest near the Utah-Wyoming border this Thursday through Monday looking for elusive Bigfoot evidence. Founded in 1995, BFRO claims to be the only scientific organization dedicated to finding Bigfoot.

Some 26 years ago when he was 18, Salmond, of Clearfield, said he discovered three sets of footprints of varying size while on a Boy Scout trip in southwestern Wyoming. In his mind only one type of creature could have made those tracks: Bigfoot.

Since then, Salmond said he's recorded knocks and whistle sounds that fit the evolving profile of a Bigfoot or sasquatch. He has viewed strange night-time thermal images of something he can't quite describe. And he says he has even had rocks thrown at him in the darkness of the high Uintas by what he believes was one of the large, hairy nonhuman primates that, according to folklore, roam North America.

"I've had some experiences," he said. "I can't deny what I saw."

Purported sightings in the Utah are not uncommon. Less than two weeks ago, Ryan Burns said he spotted a strange, hairy creature in the forest south of his home.

"I saw a reddish figure," he said. "At first, I thought it was a person in a fur coat."

Burns, who runs a bed and breakfast in Duchesne, said he had a weird feeling about what he was seeing. He said the figure looked at him and "disappeared into the brush." He raced after it on horseback, but it eluded him. He doesn't believe a human could move away that quickly, and he said few people ever frequent the rugged area he was in.

A member of the BFRO's 2007 expedition to Utah, Burns believes from the recent sighting and other experiences that Bigfoot is real.

Experiences like those Burns and Salmond describe are the reason Bigfoot researchers are returning to Utah.

"Our target area (in Utah) has everything we look for," said Caroline Curtis, secretary/investigator with Florida-based www.bfro.net, which besides the Utah trip has 16 other expeditions in the U.S. and Canada planned this year. "The location is kept secret, not just to keep it unspoiled, but also for safety and scientific purposes."

The group participating in this year's hunt will be relatively small, about 25, including investigators and first-time participants. The team will set up a base camp from which it will venture out in search of clues during the day. At night they'll use night vision cameras and sit around the campfire swapping Bigfoot stories.

Reported Bigfoot sightings vary, but according to folks like Curtis, 80 percent happen at night and are usually in the mountains, the foothills or near open spaces. Most involve a creature who is reserved, though a little curious. Bigfoot may watch a camp in the mountains from a distance, but is rarely aggressive. Some people reported their trucks or campers being rocked by a Bigfoot, but Utah Bigfoot expert Ryan Layton says that is rare. A foul odor usually permeates a Bigfoot encounter, he said.

While few scientists give Bigfoot's existence any credence, one who does is Jeffrey Meldrum, an associate professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University who has two zoology degrees from BYU. He is the author of the book "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science," a companion to the Discovery Channel documentary of the same name. Dubbed by some as America's "Bigfoot professor," he's been a believer ever since he came across 15-inch footprints a decade ago in the woods near Walla Walla, Wash.

"I'm not trying to proselytize that Bigfoot exists," Meldrum told the Associated Press. "I place legend under scrutiny and my conclusion is, absolutely, Bigfoot exists."

Most people scoff at Bigfoot reports — Meldrum's colleagues at ISU signed a petition when he hosted a Bigfoot symposium on campus and some of his fellow science professors want his tenure revoked. Detractors point out that to date scientists have not found fossil evidence to support the existence of a nomadic apeman.

Layton, an independent Utah Bigfoot researcher who lives in Layton, believes Utah Bigfoot sightings go largely under reported because the possibility of ridicule prevents many people from coming forward.

Layton has interviewed numerous people who claim Bigfoot sightings since 1980, and said he believes the majority told the truth — they saw something they can't explain. He helps maintain the Web site utahsquatchinggroup.com.

"I respect their viewpoint," new BFRO member Salmond said of nonbelievers. "I'm not here to convince them. … There's a lot of mysteries in the world still to discover."

Some purported Utah Bigfoot sightings

 December 2008 — A man driving along state Route 44 three miles west of Flaming Gorge reported seeing an upright figure with eyes that reflected his headlights. It had long black and gray hair and was not afraid of his noisy pickup truck, but it soon disappeared into the trees.

 Jan. 8, 2008 — A semi driver on I-15 near Scipio said he had to swerve to avoid hitting what he thought could have been a Bigfoot running across the freeway during foggy conditions. It was hairy and the creature's leg alone was the size of a man's body. The man said it was like looking into the face of a gorilla when he made eye contact.

 September 2006 — A woman camping in the Monte Cristo area of Cache County reported seeing a tall, dark figure in the moonlight, about 25 yards away. It was unlike any other animal she had ever seen. Her usually calm dog whined and whimpered a lot that night.

 2002 — A Layton man scouring the mountainside with a scope spotted a strange creature roaming in the foothills above the state Route 193/U.S. 89 junction. He used his camcorder to film the creature for about five minutes from about 500 yards away. A few hours later, despite snow on the ground, he could not find footprints in the area.

 Early 1980s — A man from Lapoint, Uintah County, flying a small airplane from Ogden to his home one winter, reported seeing a large, hairy manlike creature walking through the deep snow of the high Uintas.

 Early 1980s — One summer, Lee Fielding of Hooper, Weber County, who works for Utah Wildlife Resources, was camping in the Elizabeth Mountain area of the Uintas. He reported that something stormed through his camp and scared all the horses away. The next morning, his horse would not go in a particular direction, and he met a group of hunters in a nearby camp who told him they were spooked by seeing what they described as a Bigfoot.
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 May 1980 — An Ogden couple picking asparagus along the Weber River near 12th Street and I-15 reported an 8-foot-tall black figure with glowing red eyes about 40 yards away. Several strange footprints also were discovered in a residential area of North Ogden.

 1979 — Larry Darley of Clearfield was elk hunting with his wife in the fall near Monte Cristo east of Ogden. They later reported a loud noise and an "awful" odor at twilight. Mrs. Darley said she spotted a "hairy thing, with fangs" at a water hole 50 yards away through the rifle scope. They watched it for several minutes before rushing to their truck after the animal seemed to look at them.

Sources: BFRO, Deseret News archives, Ryan Layton, Ryan Burns, Darrell Smith and personal interviews.

— Compiled by Lynn Arave

Alleged Bigfoot sightings by county:

Beaver — 2

Box Elder — 1

Cache — 4

Carbon — 1

Daggett — 3

Davis — 4

Duchesne — 2

Emery — 2

Garfield — 2

Millard — 2

Morgan — 2

Piute — 1

Rich — 1

Sanpete — 1

Summit — 9

Uintah — 3

Utah — 7

Wasatch — 1

Weber — 10

Source: Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com

[dmor79]

Interesting to me since I have been in the area my whole life and I am getting ready to go on a week to month long stay in the Uintas. Been there enough times to know that I have been "watched" just don't know by what or who.

[DavSquatch]

good article, I wish them luck. and I am not poking fun, not my style, but I did
find this one line funny.

"Reported Bigfoot sightings vary, but according to folks like Curtis, 80 percent happen at night and are usually in the mountains, the foothills or near open spaces"

Doesn't this narrow it down to basically anywhere/everywhere ?

dav

[bipedalist]

Interesting to me since I have been in the area my whole life and I am getting ready to go on a week to month long stay in the Uintas. Been there enough times to know that I have been "watched" just don't know by what or who.

They are there. I was on the first Utah BFRO trip in July 2007, though they now claim the first one was in 2008......go figure. Anyway, there was claimed activity, I saw suspicious sign, but missed the "claimed" activity. Curtis scouted up the first one too. I also wish them luck, there was some prime squatchy territory about for those willing to get there. I would recommend horseback to get to prime locations though.

This post has been edited by bipedalist: Jun 24 2009, 06:15 PM

[billgreen2005big...]

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[billgreen2005big...]

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