Wyoming’s Bigfoot
Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, and Grass Man are a few names we call this furry humanoid creature. There have been sightings all over the world. Videos have made their way onto Youtube and the internet.
Most of the sightings in the states have come out of the Pacific Northwest. What many people don’t know is that Wyoming is third in sightings. Washington State being number one, and California is number two.
As a person fascinated by cryptids, I can believe the statistics where Washington and California is concerned. I have a more challenging time believing the stats for Wyoming. It’s known by bigfoot researchers that the hairy beast loves to hide in remote forested areas.
One doesn’t associate forests when thinking of Wyoming. Remote fits, but not forested.
Another interesting fact is that scientists from Wyoming are split pretty much in the middle. Half believe there is bigfoot and half don’t.
In 2015, Youtube user Mary Greeley uploaded a video that captured a lot of attention. Of course, it was blurry, but you could see four furry bipedal seemingly stalking a herd of Buffalo.
One’s first response would be excitement; four bigfoots captured on camera. Then you have your naysayers. A viewer pointed out that this video is like the majority of bigfoot videos. The picture is blurry, and you can’t see their features.
In 2014, a research group received hair samples from ‘true believers’ on which Bryan Sykes conducted tests. The Oxford scientist learned the hair samples were from bears and other known mammals. The news was a bit disappointing to bigfoot enthusiasts but didn’t dampen their belief.
National Geographic enlisted the experience of a zoologist to review Greeley’s video. Michel Sartori calls the video a fake – his reasoning? At the beginning of the video, you see four hairy beasts, but then three disappears. Only one emerged from behind a fir tree and walking mechanically.
Sartori states that the best way to approach bigfoot studies is scientifically. Analyze the evidence without forming any preconceived ideas.
The issue Sartori says is people want to believe there is a bigfoot. Except, there is no scientific proof to support that belief. Videos that make their way to the public are blurry or fuzzy, not seen clearly by the viewer.
In 1972, in Atlantic, Wyoming, while camping alone in the Wind River Mountains, a young biologist swears he ran into bigfoot. Over the following decades, John Mionczynski searched for evidence to prove it. Of course, the scientific world thought he was crazy.
However, many believe that Mionczynski isn’t as crazy as everyone thinks. Those who know him state he is a self-taught naturalist and knows more about the Northern Red Desert than most.
Mionczynski says he woke up with a large hand pressing on his tent. Bears are known to roam the area, but he states it wasn’t a bear. Even scarier, the night visitor crashed through the tent and fell across his legs. In the process of straightening himself, the critter recovered first and ran into the nearby trees. For the next three hours, the creature threw pinecones at him.
He reported the incident to the Fish & Game Department. Although there had been other sightings in Wind River that summer, nobody believed him. The authorities thought it was a human running around in a gorilla suit. Tourists queried the Fish & Game, asking for potential sites to find the elusive monster.
His supervisors weren’t happy with him and threatened to fire him. They didn’t want his name associated with bigfoot. That didn’t stop Mionczynski from continuing his research over the next few decades.
In the late 1990s, Mionczynski teamed up with Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum. Meldrum is a primatologist at Idaho university who specializes in bipedalism. They traveled around the United States, researching bigfoot sightings and interviewing witnesses. Mionczynski and Meldrum only investigated reports they deemed credible. Even so, the sightings added up to the hundreds.
Their research captured the attention of National Geographic in 2010. They did a television special on bigfoot and interviewed Mionczynski.
No matter what the Fish & Game thought about the validity of bigfoot sightings, witnesses still reported seeing the elusive furry guy in Jackson and Atlantic Wyoming. Even more incredible, Wyoming reports sightings from Park Country, which includes Yellowstone.
Lincoln County, Carbon County, Teton Country, and Unita are other Wyoming counties with bigfoot lurking about. That’s quite a few places to house bigfoot when he supposedly doesn’t exist.
As difficult as it seems to believe bigfoot hides out in remote Wyoming, there have been too many reports to think otherwise. So, if you are ever in Wyoming, you might want to keep an eye out for the smelly guy.
Even better? See if you can film a clear video of it for a change.
