Confessions of a Bigfoot Junkie

Hello there in Bigfoot Land. This is my first test post. Since I spend pretty much 100% of my time researching and otherwise thinking about this subject I guess its time to get on a soapbox--so to speak--and get my spin in the mix. I'm not much of an HTML user, so bear with me as this blog progresses. I've lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains as long as the term "Bigfoot" has been in use by the media to describe unidentified hairy bipeds. I thought the last bigfoot sighting in this area took place almost thirty years ago. Not so!

Since the Bigfoot Discovery Museum opened in July of 2004 we've had dozens of sightings and encounters that have been reported from over 100 years ago right up to just a few weeks ago! Skeptics would probably attribute all the incoming anecdotes to some sort of mass hysteria caused by the opening of a Bigfoot Museum. No sooner does a local paper print a story on the new museum and BINGO... people suddenly see bigfoot behind every tree? That's what some skeptical, opportunistic anthropologist authors might suggest, but I think not.

When folks come in to report their encounters of the hairy biped kind, they're relieved to get it off their chests! (No, I don't mean the hair... I'm talking about THE STORY.) They're THANKFUL to us for "being there" to listen to their reports without treating them like a liar or a fool. If you give people an opportunity to come forward, without fear of ridicule, and share their "unusual" experience, they're anxious to do so. And we've heard 'em all. Bigfoot, ghosts, ETs and then some.

When somebody tells you the study of Bigfoot does not really belong under the rubric of "Paranormal" (usually because they fear the stigma attached to that term), I ask this question: Where do they put the Bigfoot titles in the bookstores? Under "Science" or "Nature"? No... they're listed under "Occult, New Age or Paranormal!" "Nuff said?