Page 73 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - February 2023 Edition

Simple Explanation for Bigfoot 73

Scientist Says Most

Bigfoot Sightings Boil

Down To This Simple

Explanation

For centuries the mystery surrounding
Bigfoot has captured the imaginations of
people across North America, but one
data analyst now says there might be
simple mathematical equation to explain
the sightings.

In a new preprint study published online
in bioRxiv, data analyst Floe Foxon
writes that many sightings of elusive
Sasquatch-looking figures could actually
be black bears walking on their hind legs.
reasonable explanation for Bigfoot To date, wildlife government agencies in
sightings, there’s another mythical Canada have not acknowledged the
The study, poetically titled “If it’s there,
monster folklore that he can’t quite existence of Sasquatch, and the mythical
could it be a bear?,” suggests that
explain. creature remains the stuff of campfire
supposed Bigfoot sightings in Canada
stories and conspiracy theorists.
and the U.S. tend to increase when
In a separate preprint paper, also
there’s a high population of black bears.
published online in bioRxiv, Foxon used BIGFOOT / SASQUATCH

math, once again, to demonstrate that the
“Sasquatch sightings were statistically
Loch Ness monster probably isn’t an eel, Sasquatch, also called Bigfoot, (from
significantly associated with bear
like many have hypothesized over the Salish se’sxac: “wild men”) a large, hairy,
populations such that, on the average,
years. humanlike creature believed by some
one ‘sighting’ is expected for every 900
people to exist in the northwestern United
bears. Based on statistical
He told the Telegraph that spotting a States and western Canada. It seems to
considerations, it is likely that many
three-foot eel in the loch would be a one- represent the North American counterpart
supposed Sasquatch are really
in-50,000 chance, so spotting an animal of the Himalayan region’s mythical
misidentified known forms,” Foxon
close enough to be even considered the monster, the Abominable Snowman, or
wrote.
size of Nessie would basically be zero. Yeti.

In coming to his conclusion, Foxon
Although the chance of finding either is The British explorer David Thompson is
looked at existing Sasquatch sightings
“vanishingly unlikely,” Foxon told the sometimes credited with the first
data across North America, running
Telegraph, it “would be arrogant to say discovery (1811) of a set of Sasquatch
statistical tests against bear populations
there is no chance.” footprints, and hundreds of alleged prints
in each province and state while
have been adduced since then. Visual
adjusting for land area and human
Foxon’s theory likely won’t stop people sightings and even alleged photographs
population.
from ongoing attempts to prove and filmings (notably by Roger Patterson
Bigfoot’s existence. For decades, at Bluff Creek, California, in 1967) have
A map created to back his findings shows
enthusiasts have been hunting for the also contributed to the legend, though
Bigfoot sightings overlapping with black
folklore beast in the hopes of capturing none of the purported evidence has been
bear populations, particularly on the
airtight photo or video footage. verified.
West Coast.

And while more and more North Sasquatch is variably described as a
However, Florida and Texas seem to
Americans have become interested in the primate ranging from 6 to 15 feet (2 to
report a lot of Sasquatch sightings
beast’s existence over the years, the 4.5 metres) tall, standing erect on two
despite low black bear populations, and
legend in Canada is rooted in Indigenous feet, often giving off a foul smell, and
Floxon explains that in those cases
history, and the First Nations consider either moving silently or emitting a high-
people are likely spotting other animals
the mythological creatures sacred. pitched cry. Footprints have measured up
or, perhaps, even other humans.
to 24 inches (60 cm) in length and 8
Each tribe has its own set of beliefs. For inches (20 cm) in width. A Soviet
“Usually when people say they’ve seen
the Sts’alies Nation on the West Coast, scientist, Boris Porshnev, suggested that
something like Bigfoot they aren’t lying
the Sasquatch is a protector of their land Sasquatch and his Siberian counterpart,
about what they think they saw,” he told
and an entity not to be meddled with, the Almas, could be a remnant of
The Telegraph newspaper. “But that
while the Haida people view it as a Neanderthals, but most scientists do not
doesn’t mean they aren’t mistaken.”
supernatural being to be respected. recognize the creature’s existence. []

And while Foxon has offered a