Operation Bigfoot

Westlake Center Survey Session

 

On Saturday 11 July 2009, Justin Gibbens and Eugene Parnell spent the afternoon in Westlake Park in downtown Seattle, looking to interview people who had actually seen Bigfoot. I was worried that we would seem somewhat freakish, but our alotted table, set up as part of an ongoing program of the Seattle Parks Department, was wedged between some break dancers and a group of Hare Krishnas, just down from the millenialist Christian fundamentalist preacher on the corner. As we were setting up, a group of about fifty naked bicyclists came through. We were right at home.

 

The most interesting people included a man who had frequently seen something like Bigfoot, but he insisted that they were “feral humans.” He claimed to have seen them not only in Washington, but in Louisiana and South America as well. “They seem to have their own culture,” he wrote. “They seem to find me wherever I go.”

The most interesting exchange was also the simplest. A Native American woman came by and said, quite matter of factly, “my dad saw one back in the seventies. At the mouth of the Quinault river. He was sick for two weeks.” Which to me, is fascinating and genuine. Many Native Americans view a Bigfoot sighting as a bad omen that causes illness. And the Quinault reservation on the Olympic peninsula is is the location of quite a number of documented sightings. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have You Seen Bigfoot?

 

Ten thousand first-hand sightings of Bigfoot have occurred since the 1950’s. The most convincing aspect of these sightings are the consistent visual descriptions of the creature. Is this due to the accuracy of the eyewitnesses’ memories, or is it due to the fact that so many media representations of the creature already exist? Do we remember what we have actually seen, or what we think we should have seen? 

 

If you have had an encounter with Bigfoot, we want to interview you.

 

 

Click here to report a sighting and take a survey.