Bigfoot sighting in Manitoba

By STEVE LAMBERT

Despite mounting excitement over a reported sighting of Bigfoot in northern Manitoba, a zoologist is warning people not to believe the hype. "I would say I'm very skeptical, because indeed most of these purported sightings prove to be hoaxes in the end," James Hare, a professor at the University of Manitoba, said in an interview Friday. "There is absolutely no credible scientific evidence of the existence of Bigfoot or Sasquatch or whatever you want to call it." Many residents in the remote community of Norway House are thrilled about a two-minute, 49-second piece of videotape shot by ferry operator Bobby Clarke last weekend. Hundreds of residents have visited Clarke's home to see the tape. Some say it shows a large, hairy creature walking upright in the Nelson River. Clarke has stopped showing the videotape and is hoping a media outlet will pay a lot of money for it, said a relative who did not want to be identified. Clarke travelled to Winnipeg earlier this week to look for a company that could enhance the video image, but was back in Norway House on Friday and not returning calls. The reported sighting has also caught the attention of Vancouver author and amateur Bigfoot researcher Chris Murphy. "It could be a highly credible sighting," Murphy said. "Manitoba has had 35 sightings that we have recorded." Murphy points to dozens of oversized footprints that have been recorded across North America over the years as proof of Bigfoot's existence. In some cases, hair-like samples have been found that have not been traced to any known animal, he said. But in the end, Bigfoot believers have not been able to produce solid proof such as a skeleton of the creature. Murphy said that's because the hairy critter's remains, like anything that lives and dies in the wild, would be quickly scattered and gobbled up by other animals and insects. Hare acknowledged he cannot completely rule out the existence of Bigfoot-type creatures because new species of animals are discovered every so often. But he believes bones or other remains would have been found at some point. "If in fact they were being sighted that often, one would expect that some evidence would actually accumulate." Bigfoot sightings, or at least sightings of large, hairy beings, have been captured on film before. A 1958 film in California turned out to be a hoax carried out by a man named Ray Wallace walking around in a costume. Bigfoot believers point to a 1967 film shot by Roger Patterson in California, which shows a dark, hairy mammal walking into a forest. But some anthropologists have said the mammal's size and stride were suspiciously close to those of a human.