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A photograph captured on a trail camera in the Minnesota woods has some people suggesting that Bigfoot has once again been filmed. In October, brothers Casey and Peter Kedrowski rigged a motion-activated camera to record wildlife near Chippewa National Forest. When the pair recently looked at the images, one showed a dark, featureless human-like figure that made them wonder if they had accidentally photographed the mysterious Bigfoot creature.

The figure looked a lot like a bow hunter might appear, though none of the local hunters the brothers spoke to admitted to being in the area on the night in question. Soon a pair of local Bigfoot enthusiasts arrived on the scene, and “authenticated” the mystery. Bigfoot buff Don Sherman analyzed the photo, comparing it to the most famous image of an alleged Bigfoot, seen in a 1967 film. According to Sherman, the proportions of the figure that the Kedrowskis captured are very similar to the figure in the 1967 Bigfoot film. “I am pretty convinced,” Sherman said.

Sherman may be convinced, but others aren’t—and this Bigfoot story doesn’t survive one of the most important scientific principles, Occam’s Razor. This idea (attributed to a William of Occam, who devised his version in the 1300s) is that if you have a phenomenon to be explained and several different theories are proposed as solutions, the simplest one (or the one with the fewest assumptions) is likely to be the correct answer.

For example, if a camera snaps a photo in the woods of a bipedal form on a trail that closely resembles a human in size and shape, is it more likely that the figure is actually a person, or that it’s Bigfoot—an animal that never proven to exist? Both are possible, but which is more likely?

The arms and legs of the figure in the trailcam image do not show the curvature of arm or leg muscles, a synthetic jacket seems to reflects a sheen, and the figure seems to be wearing gloves. It might indeed be Bigfoot—if Bigfoot has taken to wearing warm winter clothes as it hikes the trails.

Ironically, if Sherman is correct, his comparison actually undermines the whole case for Bigfoot, since the image is almost certainly a person in a dark jacket (whether hunter or hoax). That is, this Bigfoot expert is saying that a photo of a person in a dark woodsman’s outfit looks a lot like a famous Bigfoot photo that many suspect is really a guy in a dark ape outfit. If the new (bogus) Bigfoot image closely resembles an old one, then logically the old image is suspect.

Many monster-hunters have distanced themselves from the recent photo. Loren Coleman, founder of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine, said that he thought the Bigfoot looked “bogus” and may have been a prank. “All I can say is that this merely continues the media’s need to push weak Bigfoot stories on an unsuspecting public. This image seems to have no solid foundation of evidence,” Coleman said.

This case also highlights one of the pitfalls of researching mysterious subjects like Bigfoot, ghosts, and UFOs: anyone can declare himself or herself an expert on the topic. There are no governing bodies or accrediting institutions for investigators, and most casual readers can’t tell which investigators use credible scientific methods and which simply put up a Web site and deem themselves authorities. The Minnesota trailcam non-Bigfoot photo says nothing about whether Bigfoot exists, but it does reveal a great deal about how these stories begin and spread.

Source: livescience

There’s even a scientific-sounding name for it: cryptozoology, the study of hidden or unknown animals. Obsessive fans of legendary monsters travel the world over to hunt down their legendary quarry. The most famous U.S. cryptid is Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, and in Scotland it’s the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie.

Cryp fans know that besides these top two, there are many more whose lairs have become tourist draws. In the U.S. alone, you might have heard legends of the Mothman (West Virginia), Thunderbird (Lawndale, Illinois), Chessie (Lake Champlain) and the Jersey Devil (Pine Barrens of New Jersey), while roasting marshmallows around the campfire.

Obviously the U.S. hasn’t cornered the cryptid market. If you grew up in Scotland, you would’ve listened wide-eyed to tales of Nessie, who lurks in the deep dark waters of the famous Loch Ness.

Africa boasts a bunch—the walrus-like Dingonek, the Gambo, and the Adjule. In Java, you would have heard about the massive, flying Ahool, found in the deepest rainforests. England lays claim to the phantom wildcat, the Beast of Bodmin Moor, and the carnivorous Black Shuck, said to roam the craggy coastlines of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex.

Given such a wide variety of cryptids, it’s no wonder that at some point, monsters grew from an interest into an obsession, and finally, into a career for Loren Coleman, author of 30 books and an adviser to TV’s “In Search Of” series. He’s even opened a museum on the subject, the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. This by-appointment-only showplace features artifacts, toys and artists renderings from around the world.

Coleman has traveled far and wide looking for mysterious creatures, covering every state in the union and much of the world. His favorite spot so far: Not surprisingly, Loch Ness. “It reminded me of the first time I saw Fenway [Park]. It was so green and so beautiful,” he reminisces. “I got up every morning to go looking for the Loch Ness Monster.”

“They have the haar—the fog that goes across the loch; it was amazing,” Coleman continues. “Like a fairy tale.” Besides the atmosphere, Coleman also found it a relief to be immersed in a like-minded population. “Just to have people not laugh at you for being into monsters. . . .” he half laughs. “It certainly has changed the economy there. It changes the economy of a lot of places where the creatures are found.”

Not everyone is as obsessed. Scottish filmmaker John McFarlane remains skeptical about the Loch Ness monster, his country’s most famous resident. Though she was first reportedly spotted back in the sixth century A.D., he says that growing up, it certainly was a topic of conversation. “When I was a kid, my grandfather told me it is quite feasible that there is a creature that lives in the loch … that’s maybe from the dinosaur period,” he says. “There was speculation that there might be a link from the loch’s bottom out to the open sea.”

Fact or fiction? Go and see for yourself, but watch out for large, hairy (or scaly) animals.

Source: msnbc