The 21st Show

Best Of: Illinois Bigfoot sightings and skepticism

Produced by Anna Casey and Erica Scalise
 
This Aug. 8, 2019, photo shows a plaster cast of footprints believed to be made by a Bigfoot on display at Expedition: Bigfoot! The Sasquatch Museum in Cherry Log, Ga. The owner of this intriguing piece of Americana at the southern edge of the Appalachians is David Bakara, a longtime member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization who served in the Navy, drove long-haul trucks and tended bar before opening the museum in early 2016 with his wife, Malinda.

This Aug. 8, 2019, photo shows a plaster cast of footprints believed to be made by a Bigfoot on display at Expedition: Bigfoot! The Sasquatch Museum in Cherry Log, Ga. The owner of this intriguing piece of Americana at the southern edge of the Appalachians is David Bakara, a longtime member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization who served in the Navy, drove long-haul trucks and tended bar before opening the museum in early 2016 with his wife, Malinda. AP Photo/John Bazemore

Editor's Note: This segment originally aired January 2022. 

An Illinois man driving from Cass to Tazewell County claims he spotted Bigfoot along Illinois 78 near Chandlerville. He describes the creature as having looked back at him on the shoulder of the road — an encounter that ultimately lasted seconds, but has gained traction in local news outlets and by cryptid interest groups. The modern concept of Bigfoot originated nearly 65 years ago when a small Northern California newspaper reported that a road construction crew had discovered humanlike, 16-inch footprints. As a cryptid, or creature not believed to exist under mainstream science, Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, and the legend behind it, continues to leave a lasting imprint.

We were joined by the president of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization and a primatologist to discuss the legend, what it might take to prove the existence of a creature like Bigfoot, and more.

GUESTS: 

Matt Moneymaker

President of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization and cast member of Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot”

Paul Garber

Primatologist, Professor Emeritus, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

 

Prepared for web by Owen Henderson

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