The Inquisitr

The Inquisitr

Was the Bigfoot discovery a hoax?

Anyone visiting the site for the first time looking for Bigfoot pics, please see this post for the pic and details, or our introduction here

Perhaps not surprisingly, accusations are now surfacing that the North Georgia Bigfoot story is a hoax.

The evidence comes in on two fronts. The first accusation is that the alleged Bigfoot in the picture is actually a Halloween costume available from TheHorrorDrome.com. There are clear similarities, particularly with the nose, a comparison shot to the right.

The second part of the evidence comes with an admitted fraud from the so-called Bigfoot hunters who claimed to have found the body. Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer made a video showing a “Dr Paul van Buren” confirming the Bigfoot finding was legitimate, but it turns out the doctor was a fake and Whitton’s brother. They are still claiming that the corpse is real though:

Then there’s the involvement of Tom Biscardi, an active (but never once selected) candidate in the Democratic Party. According to bfro.net, Biscardi is a conman who has peddled a Bigfoot hoax before, and the press release scheduled Friday is a ploy to promote himself and nothing more.

Any so-called finding of Bigfoot, without scientific backup or proof, always sounds dubious, but I guess many of us wanted to believe, at least a little bit. The press conference is scheduled around 12 hours after this post is being written, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but certainly the signs aren’t good for it being real.

更新日期:2008/08/15 04:09

〔編譯陳成良／綜合報導〕傳說中高大多毛的北美洲「大腳怪」（Big Foot）是否存在呢？目前科學家也無法確切回答。不過，兩名美國獵人十三日宣稱，他們約兩週前於美國東南部喬治亞州北邊的森林中，發現一具大腳野人的屍體，並已加以冷凍保存，預定十五日召開記者會，提出ＤＮＡ及影像「證據」，讓世人共同見證這種傳奇生物確實存在。

美獵人宣稱在喬治亞州森林發現屍體

兼 差經營探索大腳怪生意的惠頓與戴爾表示，他們找到的大腳怪外觀「半人半猿」，雄性，高兩公尺，重二三○公斤，有一頭紅髮及一雙灰黑色的眼睛，平板足，腳掌 長度達四十一公分，每個腳掌各有五個腳趾，也擁有與人類相似的牙齒。美國科技新聞網站「Inquisitr」搶先公布大腳野人廬山真面目（見圖，取自網 路），照片中可見到一個像巨猿般的大型動物蜷縮在冷凍櫃中。

惠頓目前在喬治亞州擔任警察，戴爾是卸任的獄警，兩人信誓旦旦表示，這項發現千真萬確，絕非惡作劇。兩人因擔心大腳怪的同類遭人類打擾，堅持不透露發現大腳怪的確切地點。

從事相關研究長達三十五年的加拿大知名「大腳怪獵人」比斯卡迪，在實地看過大腳怪遺骸後，也對這項發現深信不疑，並將與惠頓及戴爾連袂出席十五日在加州舉行的記者會。不過，許多人仍抱持懷疑態度，特別是據Livescience.com網站報導，比斯卡迪三年前也曾宣稱找到大腳怪，後來證實是烏龍一場。

發現大腳怪的消息傳開後，似乎也影響到惠頓的職場升遷。他任職的克雷頓郡警局局長透納說，對於惠頓兼差經營追蹤大腳怪的生意，只要不影響到正職，他沒意見。「但他聲稱發現大腳怪，就另當別論，這已經超越警察的分際。」