saw a creature lurking nearby before or after the sighting, and they found unusual footprints in the vicinity. Sometimes the object landed, and hairy bipeds descended a platform into the forest.
But some ufologists and paranormal researchers are keener to believe “window areas” throughout the world exist to connect our reality to parallel dimensions. This has led many to speculate whether UFOs and Bigfoot are interdimensional travelers.
By shifting up and down through the electromagnetic spectrum, researchers believe Bigfoot can materialize and dematerialize as they please. The Mach effect, a principle in physics, is thought to create momentary tears in the electromagnetic membrane separating our universe from a parallel one. If true, it might allow for Bigfoot to step from one world into another.
Discussion surrounding the supernatural abilities of Bigfoot continues as more and more sightings take place without consequential proof of Bigfoot’s existence.
The Sasquatch People
A select group of people believe Sasquatch are highly evolved nature people who are also interdimensional ultraterrestrials. As the spiritual keepers of Mother Earth, Sasquatch live in the bodies of hairy giants. Researchers in this area of study believe the Sasquatch people were brought to Earth millions of years ago by their friends, the “Star People.” Earth belongs to the Star People, and this is one way they care for the planet.
These humanlike beings have a profound psychic ability well beyond anything humanity can comprehend. Appearing as translucent apparitions, the Sasquatch people have mastered astral traveling and the ability to speak telepathically to the chosen “light workers”—honest, compassionate, and trustworthy people chosen to communicate their message to the outside world.
The Sasquatch avoid humans because of their weapons and methods of deception. Kinder to their fellow creatures and the environment, these nature people are the ultimate environmentalists, and their message is to communicate how modern humanity is destroying the planet.
Light workers say the Sasquatch are a complex group, a secret society with a counselor of elders who make the decisions. One message given to the light workers by an elder reads: “My people was created as part of a cosmic plan to allow ancient souls of star beings to incarnate on this young planet and help it evolve into an intergalactic outpost of consciousness, while discovering many resources and life forms” (Kamooh, Sasquatch Elder Brother).
The Forest Demon
While different field research organizations continue to endorse a biological description of Bigfoot, others believe the absence of a body might indicate a spiritual being, a forest demon. People are seeing something. Is it possible a demon would embody Bigfoot to terrorize people, play mind games, or entice men and women to compromise values and morality in a quest for something outside their reach?
Is pursuing Bigfoot a faithful quest or one riddled with selfish desires, threatening to steal a bit of humankind’s soul? Each person speaks for him- or herself and the motivations that drive him or her in the quest to discover the unknown, but as we’ll see in later chapters, money, fame, and fortune have driven much of the Bigfoot-seeking culture. Discovering Big-foot can become an all-consuming quest to find or prove the truth. What if the truth is something entirely different? Are people being led down a dark path of deception away from truth? In his book Operation Trojan Horse, John Keel wrote, “Demonology is not just another crackpot-ology. It is the ancient and scholarly study of the monster and demons who have seemingly coexisted with man throughout history. Thousands of books have been written on the subject.… The manifestations and occurrences described in this imposing literature are similar, if not entirely identical, to the UFO phenomenon itself.… The devil and his demons can, according to literature, manifest themselves in almost any form and can physically imitate anything from angels to horrifying monsters with glowing eyes.”
BIGFOOT AS A MONSTER
Monsters are scary. Fascinating. Fun. Millions of people enter haunted houses and watch horror movies to encounter these creatures. Why? What makes a person want to see (from a safe zone) a monster terrorizing innocent people? Is there something wrong with humans, or is it natural to crave this excitement? As we explore our reasons for inventing monsters, we’ll examine how Bigfoot fits into the monster world and if that’s where he belongs.
Various definitions for monster have these descriptors in common: frightening, destructive, strange, disgusting, crafty, killer, cruel, repulsive, and man-made. They’re also described as operating outside morality, violating the laws of nature, and—interestingly enough—having a literary and cultural heritage.
The common denominator in each of these descriptors, except the last, is fear. Fear is the unpleasant emotion caused by … those things listed in the previous paragraph. But why? Why do we fear these things? Our perspective and level of fear are rooted in our personal experiences and how those experiences have affected our mind, body, and soul.
As we look at these three areas and think about Bigfoot, we’ll examine whether this creature is a monster and whether firsthand encounters could be the psyche’s manipulation of a frightening situation.
The Body—Physical Reactions to Fear
The film The Legend of Boggy Creek came out in 1972 and is categorized as a drama, horror, and mystery. With mild violence and gore, it has severely intense and frightening scenes. The low-budget film was a success (read more in chapter 4: “Bigfoot Culture”). Scary, ferocious Bigfoot films exist in abundance. At the writing of this book, there are twelve pages of Bigfoot horror films on Amazon. Why do so many people love horror in movies and literature and during Halloween?
In movies and literature, writers strive to give the viewer or reader a visceral experience. It’s what keeps you watching or reading. The way they tell the story through a point-of-view character allows you to experience the unfolding events alongside the protagonist. You get to be victorious over the monster, or you get to be the monster. What is it about the human condition that desires this entertainment?
The physical reasons we entertain the company of a monster are straightforward. It’s fun, and the adrenaline rush leaves us feeling good after the event is over. It’s biochemical. We get to laugh ourselves silly in a haunted house or sit in a theater hanging between the desire to watch a gruesome scene unfold or bolt for the exit. Fight or flight.
How about the real people who encountered the Fouke Monster in The Legend of Boggy Creek? They weren’t laughing. When the gruesome, hairy creature chased them into the house and threatened their lives, the fear was real. It’s not likely that the individuals who experience such horrific events enjoy horror films. Our experiences shape our fears.
If you were a five-year-old scared out of your wits while watching Halloween during a storm with a strange babysitter who threatened to call Michael Myers if you didn’t sleep, then you might attach a stronger feeling of fear to horror films. This could carry over into adulthood.
Conversely, if you tour a haunted house with a group of friends and have the time of your life despite the terrorizing efforts of monsters, you are likely to associate haunted houses with fond memories. Dr. Glen Sparks of the Brian Lam School of Communication at Purdue University explains this as the “excitation transfer process.” Adrenaline intensifies the emotions we attach to specific events. For some, “negative emotions are resistant to being extinguished,” and high levels of fright should be avoided.
Perceiving Bigfoot as a monster may depend on how a person has learned to experience frightening situations.
The Mind—Emotional and Mental Reactions
