To Theorize Incessantly

While recently visiting a website, SasquatchTracker.com, after they said they had updated their database of Alaskan reports, I realized that I could easily enter these reports as pins on Google Earth. After entering all the reports from 1991 – present, a clear pattern began to form. There were a few areas that stood out with groupings of reports. The Ketchikan area, 22 reports from 1998 – 2011 and Klawock/Klawock Lake area, 7 reports from 1995 – 2001. The Klawock Lake area in particular had very specific locations noted along the road that along the lake itself. If anyone interested in bigfoot research happens to be in the area, you should check those locations out. Outside of the Prince of Wales area, I noticed that most other reports happened along river valleys, and coastal areas (beaches and coastlines). This was particularly interesting, since some foresaw that bigfoot lived in the higher mountain areas. Now, of course, you cannot conclude that bigfoot must only live in the river valleys because that is where most of the reports are gathered. This could just be because the river valleys are where the larger concentration of people live, work, and hunt.

Another surprise was how there seemed to be no reports from the North Slope area, where the drilling companies are. One would expect at least one or two. There would be no lack of food, with large caribou herds, seals, and other fuzzies running around.

Other areas of note would be the Tok area, 15 in all, mostly around the river near the highway, including a recent grouping near Border City, 7 in all, of tracks between 2003 – 2013. Hydaburg had 5 reports between 1994 – 2004. The river area around Bethel had 7 reports from 1999 – 2012. Denali Park entrance area had 5 from 1992 – 2010. Another surprise was that there were no current reports from my neck of the woods in Alaska. One would think with the concentration of people would result in a number of reports with the higher percentange chance of interaction.

The points of reports posed an interesting question because one would think that there would be more reports in the outlying areas of the larger cities: Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks, Juneau, and there weren’t. However, the other reports weren’t isolated and in the middle of the woods, either. The reports were your typical “crossing the road,” “saw at the beach,” “saw on a trail” type reports in areas where there were towns and cabins. Hopefully, as word gets out, more people will report sightings, and with a great site just for Alaskans, like sasquatchtracker.com, more data can be gained.

When researchers discuss Bigfoot sightings, they almost exclusively talk about the northwestern United States, Washington and Oregon area. I wondered why there was not more talk about Alaska, a place with over 650,000 square miles and vast wilderness doesn’t have more Bigfoot sightings? Perhaps it is because of the uniqueness of way of life in Alaska that offsets the ability to have Bigfoot sightings. You see, in Alaska, people are used to living in areas with large animals. Alaska is home to the largest bear population in the United States, and is home to the largest of the deer family, the moose. Wildlife, as is common knowledge, is plentiful here. As such, Alaskans are especially careful when going out into the wilderness. In bear country, we make sure to make plenty of noise by singing, talking loudly, and clapping. This bear safety basic is to help alert any bears in the area, “Hey bear, here comes a human, get out-of-the-way.” Bears are often shy creatures and will move when hearing people come. With Bigfoot an even shyier creature and more stealthy, they would have no problem avoiding an encounter.

Imagine if an Alaskan did see a Bigfoot. Unless they were in feet of it, they would probably just dismiss it as a bear. Many Alaskans believe that Bigfoot sightings in Washington and Oregon are just misidentified bears. Since we see bears so often, we might find it hard to believe something we see was anything but a bear.

Coyotes and wolves are also very plentiful in Alaska. Coyote cries are often heard even near towns. When I watch the Finding Bigfoot show, I believe they are misidentified coyotes cries, which can sound like someone screaming or wailing, and not the typical howl. Of course, if an Alaskan hears a cry or howl in the woods, we would be more apt to believe it was a bear, wolf, or coyote before thinking it was a Bigfoot.

Perspective plays a large part in Bigfoot research. If you live in an area in which you don’t believe there is a lot of wildlife out there, you might be more apt to believe something strange was Bigfoot. However, if you live in an area where you frequently see wildlife, then you might be more apt to believe something strange you saw was a normal animal and not a Bigfoot. An Alaskan camping in the woods and hearing something rustle around their tent, or seeing a big shadow hover over their tent will probably think it is a bear. But what if it was really a Bigfoot. Alaskans often know that bear tracks often over lap. But what if a track wasn’t an overlapped bear print. My point is that I believe more research teams need to come to Alaska. Hike out to the wilderness, off the beaten path, and research the dense wilderness here. If researchers talk to local hunters more, and ask them to record and photograph anything odd they find, more Alaskans might realize that what they are hearing, and seeing, just might not be the usual animals. In theory, what if Alaskans have misidentified Bigfoot?

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