Bigfoot – Cryptid Eyewitness

July 12, 2011July 12, 2011

Bigfoot Sightings in Oregon

I just encountered a site devoted to sightings of the Bigfoot in Oregon. One eyewitness report is herein summarized, although this is apparently just one of many.

Late in 1995, in Baker County, the eyewitness encountered the apparent Bigfoot. The following are quotations of the second-hand person who has been a close friend (20+ years) of the eyewitness.

I have never know him to tell tall tales. He is very respected in [his] community.

He said that he had been cutting a load of firewood and was coming down a dirt road that goes from the bottom of the canyon on the Snake River and goes up into the timber. He said that it was hunting season and from one place on this road he could look down the mountain and he thought he could see a bear by a salt box. . . . He said his intention was to shoot this bear so he hurried down the road in his pickup. There are many switch backs coming down this road and so at times he couldn’t see this thing. When he finally could see it again he was about 400 yards from it. He said that it stood up on its hind legs and quickly walked about 40 to 50 yards where it went down into a steep creek bottom. He said that if it was a person that the person would have been dressed in dark brown or black clothing from head to foot all in one color. He said that it was over 6 foot tall. He also said that there were no other vehicles in this area and no other roads into this area. He said that he didn’t stop and go look for foot prints and that he just kept on driving past the spot . . .

Oregon pyschologist observes a creature resembling Bigfoot

The sighting was in Josephine County, Oregon, in July of 2000 (words of the eyewitness).

Rochelle and I took our kids to the Oregon Caves National Park in southern Oregon. We ate lunch at a picnic table and then took a tour of the caves. . . . Upon our exit of the cave, everyone usually turns to the right to go back down to the gift store and lodge. . . . We decided to go left and hike up to see the Big Tree . . . We hiked for about 2 miles into the forest up the mountain. As we were hiking up the trail, we smelled a very strong pungent smell. It was as strong as a skunk but it wasn’t a skunk (i.e., we know what a skunk smells like and it wasn’t a skunk even though it was as strong smelling as a skunk).

We continued to hike up the trail and the trail started to switch back to the right as we climbed the mountain. There were plenty of tall trees and brush. I heard a faint sound (i.e., “Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!). . . . We all stopped and I asked, “Do you guys here that sound?” Rochelle, Levi, Hannah, and Micah looked at me and nodded their heads in affirmation.

. . . I was scanning the woods down the mountain on the other side of the trail my family was standing on. That’s when I saw it. I saw it come out from behind one tree to the left and walk to another tree to the right. Then it looked back and was watching my family while they were standing on the trail.

. . . I know what a grizzly bear looks like . . . [and] a black bear. . . . What I saw was not a grizzly bear or a black bear. What I saw walked upright on two legs like a human and it was much taller than a grizzly bear or a black bear. What I saw was Bigfoot (otherwise known as Sasquatch).

Eyewitness: Dr. Matthew A. Johnson

July 8, 2011July 12, 2011

“It Would Have Been Seen” if Bigfoot Existed

It never ceases to amaze me that some educated Americans continue to fail to think clearly when they reply to sightings of cryptids with “. . . it would have been seen.” Looking straight at their reasoning reveals the problem: “People who say they saw X could not have really seen X because if X existed then somebody would have seen X.”

I just started to watch a documentary on Bigfoot sightings in an area with a long history of that cryptid. I turned off the television when a ranger said “it would have been seen.” Of course faulty reasoning is not limited to critics who concentrate their fire on the Bigfoot.

I thought to get maybe a few thousand results by searching Google with the following:

Bigfoot “it would have been seen”

I got “736,000” for Google’s number of results. Granted, some of the first entries were unrelated to circular reasoning regarding Bigfoot sightings . . . but some did relate to cryptids, with that same old circular reasoning.

Lake Ontario Monster Sighting

A drove of cattle went to drink, whereupon the huge monster raised his head above the water and approached the shore . . . The occurrence drew to the beach several persons residing not far distant and caused a sensation . . . [reported in 1867]

One comment in response included:

. . . if something that big came to eat a cattle back then, it would have been seen . . .

The point is simple: The report is about persons who HAD seen something. Therefore, it seems that this comment is by a person who has a problem with circular reasoning.

Loch Ness Creature

On another forum, someone commented on the possibility of the natural physical existence of Nessie.

I don’t believe in Loch Ness legend. As it is so huge, it would have been seen, as it is not seen, I don’t think it is in this world.

Where did that person get the idea that the creature is huge? Where else than from a reported sighting? What is a sighting? When somebody sees something. That person has the same problem: circular reasoning, not clear thinking.

Live Pterosaurs in America (second edition)

In the second edition of this book, I tackled that opponent of clear thinking: circular reasoning. In the appendix I wrote:

In logic and mathematics, “circular reasoning” can sometimes be a useful tool, but it usually refers to a fallacy involving arguments or reasoning in common communications. That improper reasoning is called “viciously circular reasoning,” and it has ensnared even highly-educated critics of the living-pterosaur investigations.

One critic (“Unexplained-Mysteries” online forum, Mar 31, 2009) said, “Simply put, if pterosaurs . . . [were] still around, they would be extremely obvious.” That sounds logical, except that it was a reply to a posting that included links to many web pages on eyewitness sightings: obvious pterosaurs.

. . . Why is this reasoning fallacious? It is not that the circular nature of the reasoning, also known as “begging the question,” causes statements to be false, but that the apparent reasoning is not reasoning at all. Worse than worthless, it misleads in giving a false impression of logic.

Could this critic mean that modern pterosaurs, by their size and strange appearance, would be noticed by many persons? I see another kind of reasoning problem, for I’ve also seen no mountain lion in the mountains of Southern California, notwithstanding I’ve walked where mountain lions may have stalked; most Californians have never seen a wild one. If the critic’s reasoning is not circular it is crooked: “Elusive” does not mean “nonexistent,” and “rare” does not mean “extinct.”

I have recently noticed a similarity between the Bigfoot and the living pterosaurs (no, I have not recently lost all sense of reason): Both cryptids seem to be mostly nocturnal. I suspect that Bigfoots and live pterosaurs are also uncommon, mobile, and reclusive, making them difficult for cryptozoologists to find.

But beware of careless reasoning (circular or not). Some cryptozoologists who have searched for living pterosaurs have indeed seen what very well could have been just that. One of those searchers was Craig Norman. Apparently he did see a large living pterosaur.

May 26, 2010June 27, 2011

Bigfoot near Maryland-Pennsylvania border

From cryptozoology.com, a sighting of footprints and scat suggest a Bigfoot (reported May 18, 2010):

This was about three or four years ago . . . a stream called Big Pipe Creek, which was adjacent from a soybean field in rural Carroll County, MD, close to the Carroll/Adams county border. This was around mid October. . . . descending toward the stream I found tracks going towards the stream, one in particular was in mud were there was no grass around. This track was about 14 inches long and about four inches wide and was sunk in about 2 to 3 inches in the ground. I weighed about 225 lbs at the time and did not sink in at all. Fallowing these footsteps I happened upon a huge pile of scat. Not sure how to describe it except it was black in color with a yellowish tint in large clumps making a large pile. It looked to be composed mainly of vegetable matter. . . . I contacted the bfro [Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization] and they explained there have been quite a few sightings in that area. I have also notice strange things (mainly vocalizations) in the area throughout the years.

Pterosaur Observed in Pennsylvania

In the summer of 2006, at about 8:00 p.m., . . . in southwest Greensburg, Pennsylvaniva, a karate teacher and two of his students were talking outside. Above some small trees . . . they saw something that at first could have been mistaken for a large bird. . . . [The karate teacher said:] it caught my eye. Being that far up the “birds” body still appeared to be much larger than my 100 pound dog . . . The wingspan appeared to be at least six feet and although it was a bit away from us you could clearly make out a long “horn” or “cone” type protrusion coming out of the back of its skull . . . [The head] was at the end of an elongated neck.

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