By Rick Hinton
The BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization) monitors Bigfoot/Sasquatch sightings across the country. The undisputed facts centering around these sightings and encounters are:
“It’s a fact that for more than 400 years, people have reported seeing large, hair-covered, man-like animals in the wilderness areas of North America. It’s a fact that sightings of these animals continue today. It’s a fact that, for over 70 years, people have been finding, photographing and casting sets of very large human-shaped tracks. Most are discovered by chance in remote areas. These tracks continue to be found to this day!”
Apparently, Indiana is not immune.
BFRO is one of several internet databases logging in sightings and encounters throughout the state. Obviously … if one does not make a report, then there is no record for that particular area. BFRO’s latest sightings in the Hoosier state were for 2012 and 2015? Did they all just go away?
No. I don’t believe there was a lag in sightings, only ones in reporting. Predominately, the majority of sightings in Indiana involve the heavily wooded areas of southern Indiana. Spring and fall are a hot time for reports. Brown County and Monroe County had the most reported sightings among all of the counties in the state. However, there are exceptions with sparse sightings in the donut counties surrounding Marion County. (Avon, in Hendricks County, laid claim to a sighting as did something lurking in the woods of Camby in Marion County) Yet, these were years ago. …
“It’s a fact that the cultural histories of many Native American and First Nation peoples include stories and beliefs about non-human ‘peoples’ of the wild. These descriptions bear a striking resemblance to the hairy man-like creatures reported today.”
“These are some of the facts. There is, however, much disagreement as to what these facts mean. …”
Past sightings in Indiana are numerous, including: Clay County’s Brazil in 2001; Parke County with stories dating back to the 1940s; “something” in the trees around Crosley State Fish & Wildlife Area since the mid-2000s; a Nineveh sighting in 2002; Yellowwood Lake in the Yellowwood State Forest, 2015; continual Putnam County sightings; Bloomington, 2016.
Yet, in March of 2019, three friends camping near Turkey Run State Park, located in Parke County, witnessed an at least 8 foot, hairy, large framed creature hitting a tree with a piece of wood. They watched from the safety of their camper 80 to 100 feet away. They claimed his eyes shone like a light. The creature finally stopped the thumping, raised its arms into the air, grunted and walked away. The trio quickly exited the campground, spending the rest of the night in a parking lot several miles away. This was not reported to BFRO.
“To many, these facts, taken together, suggest the presence of an animal, probably a primate, that exists today in very low population densities. If true, this species, having likely evolved alongside humans, became astonishingly adept at avoiding human contact,” BFRO concludes. And adds – “To others, these same facts point to a cultural phenomenon kept alive today through a combination of the misidentification of known animals, wishful thinking, and the deliberate fabrication of evidence.”
It’s a big strange world out there!
Next week in the conclusion: my favorite for the creepy factor, Morgan Monroe State Forest and TV fame; conspiracy theories; the FBI declassifies a minor Bigfoot file.
