Bigfoot Research - So What Is Next ?

Now that the Ketchum DNA Study has been released what is the future for this crazy arena called “Bigfoot Research”? Last year I and several of my contemporaries shifted our focus from gathering evidence to the study of the Bigfoot. Knowing the results of the DNA study we shifted our focus. It was no longer necessary to maintain trail cameras, hair traps, video surveillance, and the likes. We switched over into the next phase of Bigfoot research. We now are focusing on Bigfoot behavior, culture, and interaction.

 

The only way to truly study the Bigfoot is in its environment.  In order to do this TIME is required. Like Jane Goodall we need passionate and dedicated researchers willing to spend months or even years in the woods with the Bigfoot. Living there 24/7 building trust with a Bigfoot clan. This is the only way I see that we can ethically move forward. This is the logical next step. The problem is we are all amateurs and have no outside financial support for our research. Spending this kind of time will be impossible. This will slow down the research to a painfully slow crawl. Interaction will be built one weekend at a time instead of one day at a time.

 I do find it interesting that Jane Goodall  took a novel approach in  her research.  Per a PBS special Goodall admitted that she had no “collegiate training directing her research”. She “observed things that strict scientific doctrines may have overlooked”. I find this extremely interesting and true of many Bigfoot researchers today. We are not trained in this field of research that is ignored and scoffed at by 99.9% of mainstream science. We do however, like Goodall, bring a common sense approach that is not shackled by “scientific doctrines”. When dealing with Bigfoot research you must think out of the box and be willing to be completely unconventional, that is the only way.

This focus on the study of Bigfoot is going to frustrate those still wanting “proof” or close up HD footage of the Bigfoot. The only way I see HD footage of a Bigfoot being taken (without killing one) is through what is commonly called “habitation”. The researcher is going to have to select a location that is in the Bigfoot’s home range and then spend as much time as possible in this area. The video cameras must be turned off, trail cameras taken down, hair traps removed, and the senseless wood knocking and screaming has to cease. 

The “real” work now begins! The day to day field work of going into the home area and making yourself available. We must learn to be unconventional! We are attempting to make contact and have interaction with a race of people whose very survival depends on their ability to avoid us and remain hidden.  Trust must be built. We must study what little information we have about them from the Native Americans and those with long term habituation. We must be aware these are people and we are studying another culture not some wild animal. They do and will have customs that we must learn and respect if we are to interact and learn about them. We must realize the truth about them, not all of them are the “benevolent keepers of the forest”. Like any culture they have a criminal or rogue element and we must be aware of and prepared for this. 

We must find a way to communicate with them. Scott Nelson is doing ground breaking work but we must do more than just transcribe what they uttering and translate it. We need a primmer and we need it fast! We may find that there are dialects and different languages spoken across the geographic regions of the country.  I am fortunate that my area of research is near the infamous “Carter Farm”. Thanks to Mary Green’s work with Janice Carter we have a dictionary via her book “Fifty Years with Bigfoot”. The DNA study has vindicated Mary and her work. The dictionary of Bigfoot words and phrases contained in her book will be a valuable tool. 

I am already receiving some disgruntled comments from those who think I should cover the exterior of my house with video surveillance gear. First off I tried that, does not work. Second when I was recording constantly I found there is no way to watch that much footage! If I recorded at night that is 12 hours a day! Even on fast speed it takes at least 2 hours per day to watch and to be honest with multiple cameras I just do not have that kind of time! Plus I think this is counterproductive. My goal is no longer to “prove” Bigfoot exist but to study and interact. So if my house is bristling with dozens of electronic recording devices that does not send a friendly “come and visit” message. I hope one day to make contact sitting out back at night. That will not be done with video cameras running.

Those who follow Bigfoot research will need to be patient because the progress will be slow. Advancements will be made in inches not feet. Building a rapport with a local group of Bigfoot will take time, effort, and patience from us all. 

The next phase of Bigfoot research is going to be exciting but I see many of the “fair weather” Bigfoot fans and researchers moving on to the next “big thing”.  That usually happens when the “real work” begins.