'Expedition Bigfoot' Scours Oregon Woods for Signs of the Mythical and Elusive Beast

More than 10,000 reports describe forest sightings in the continental U.S. of an unknown apelike creature that is frequently referred to as "Bigfoot."
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

A man crouches on the Oregon forest floor late at night, peering between the trees for signs of nocturnal life. The scene is pitch-black but his face and hands are visible in infrared footage, and he scans the landscape with a thermal camera, looking for a heat signature that would indicate he isn't alone.

Suddenly, a red blob emerges in the distance.

"Do you see that?" he whispers. "It's something big."

But could it be Bigfoot, North America's fabled apelike creature? That's the question this man — author and explorer Russell Acord — and his colleagues are trying to answer, in the new Travel Channel documentary series "Expedition Bigfoot," premiering tonight (Dec. 8) at 10 p.m. ET/PT. 

Related: Real or Not? The Science Behind 12 Unusual Sightings

More than 10,000 eyewitness accounts have described Bigfoot encounters in the continental U.S. over the past 50 years. Bigfoot even has an FBI file that was released to the public on June 5; in 1977, the agency examined 15 unidentified fibers that were suspected of being Bigfoot hairs. But the hairs were eventually found to be "of deer family origin," FBI Assistant Director Jay Cochran, Jr. wrote in a letter. 

Now, Travel Channel searchers are hot on the trail of the bipedal beast, bringing the hunt to the Pacific Northwest, where about one-third of all "Bigfoot" encounters have taken place. 

In the series, a team of experts — including a primatologist — embarked on a three-week search for the elusive Bigfoot. Using state-of-the-art equipment and computer algorithms, the team analyzed footprints and possible nest sites, and recorded mysterious vocalizations at Bigfoot "hotspots" around 90,000 acres of land in central Oregon, Travel Channel representatives said in a statement. 

Primatologist Mireya Mayor has searched for rare and elusive animals in remote locations around the world.

Primatologist Mireya Mayor has searched for rare and elusive animals in remote locations around the world. (Image credit: Travel Channel)

Hairy and apelike

Purported Bigfoot sightings often describe a tall, hairy creature resembling a gigantic ape that walks on two legs. An enormous primate known as Gigantopithecus — standing 10 feet (3 meters) tall and weighing up to 595 lbs. (270 kilograms) — once lived in Southeast Asia, but it went extinct hundreds of thousands of years ago. And large, hairy animals such as woolly mammoths and rhinos roamed North America during the Ice Age. But to date, there is no fossil evidence showing that large primates other than humans ever inhabited North America, said primate researcher and "Expedition Bigfoot" team member Mireya Mayor, director of the Exploration and Science Communications Initiative in the College of Arts, Sciences and Education at Florida International University. 

However, the idea that a new type of undiscovered primate could be hiding in dense woodlands in North America "is totally within the realm of possibility" as long as the animals have food, shelter and a habitat that isolates them from humans, Mayor told Live Science. In fact, chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall said in a 2002 interview that she wouldn't dismiss the possibility that such creatures might be real.

"I'm a romantic, so I always wanted them to exist," she told NPR host Ira Flatow.

Big and small

In 2001, Mayor co-discovered a new species of tiny mouse lemur that is one of the world's smallest primates, weighing less than 2 ounces (57 grams). Small animals can be hard to spot in the wild, but even a very big primate such as the reported Bigfoot could conceal itself from humans quite effectively, Mayor added.

"We've seen that throughout history with other apes," she explained. "When I went in search of western lowland gorillas, because of the dense vegetation that they live in [and] the fact that they're not habituated and in fact avoid humans at all costs, there were times where we were no more than 3 feet [1 meter] away from a 450-lb. [204 kilograms] silverback, and didn't know that it was there for a good hour or two."

Related: In Photos: A Game-Changing Primate Discovery

As Mayor reviewed eyewitness accounts of possible Bigfoot sightings, one thing that stood out was the consistency of the descriptions: a large, bipedal creature with primate-like behavior. "And when we were in the field, we were able to capture something on video that fits this description: very big and moving in an apelike — if not bipedal — fashion," Mayor said. "That, to me, is probably the most compelling piece of evidence that I've seen so far." 

Mayor shared this footage with a fellow primatologist who has studied living primates around the world and is familiar with all known forms of primate locomotion. 

"When he saw the footage, he was completely blown away and agreed with me that something apelike was far from its home," Mayor said.

The burden of proof

Compelling though this new evidence may be, only a recovered body or genetic data from organic tissue, feces or hairs could definitively establish this fabled creature as a newfound species. Scientifically describing any new species means establishing a holotype — a single physical specimen representing the species, according to paleontologist David Hone, a senior lecturer in zoology with the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.

Describing the new species also requires a detailed outline of behavioral, anatomical, and genetic features that establish the animal's uniqueness and set it apart from its close relatives, he wrote for the Guardian.

To date, physical evidence supposedly representing Bigfoot has consisted primarily of hairs, and all of those samples that underwent genetic analysis have belonged to existing animals. In 2014, researchers examined 36 "Bigfoot" hair samples collected around the world, linking most of the hairs to raccoons, horses, deer, cows, coyotes, a Malaysian tapir and even humans. 

Intriguingly, two samples did not belong to any known species. However, the DNA data showed that the mystery hairs didn't come from primates, and they likely belonged to unknown bear species, the scientists reported in their study, published in March 2014 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Mindy Weisberger
Live Science Contributor

Mindy Weisberger is an editor at Scholastic and a former Live Science channel editor and senior writer. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology, and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to Live Science she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post and How It Works Magazine.

  • mythusmage
    How is the sasquatch impossible?
    Reply
  • Clive H
    admin said:
    A team of experts embark on a search for the mythical Bigfoot in the forests of Oregon in a new Travel Channel documentary.

    'Expedition Bigfoot' Scours Oregon Woods for Signs of the Mythical and Elusive Beast : Read more

    I am surprised that Giant Sloths are never mentioned as a possible origin of the Sasquatch Mythology
    Reply
  • Sarge5706
    Number of problems with this show that indicates, to me at least, this is another one of those less that real expeditions.
    1. They are staying out for three weeks but have no visible means of preparing meals nor do they ever show anything concerning food, even when the guy stays out over night. Even though they talk about bears, they take no steps to hang food or otherwise prevent bear encounters.
    2. They find a "nest" but don't set a up a trail camera or look for where bigfoot tore the boughs off of trees.?
    3. They all look too damn clean for spending three weeks out in the field. The two guys beards grow very little if at all from day to day
    4. The girl has been out in the field for 17 plus days and her nails are still perfectly painted?
    Just my opinion on the whole show.
    Reply
  • Giganotosaurus
    Programs like that one detract attention away from serious encounters with "Big Foot," "Sasquatch," "The Fouke Monster," "The Skunk Ape," etc. You can find images of the real creature on-line through your favorite search engine.
    Reply
  • April
    The Yeti habitat is where they should be focused on. Same thing just different colors of fur and there is a whole ton of people who even today swear they encounter the beings regularly. No trees or sloppy trails for the most part. Plus up in the Himalayan mountains it so beautiful!

    Why can't Neanderthal and Bigfoot be the same thing? A bloodline that failed to join evolution maybe?

    This is completely random, but does anyone remember "Harry and the Henderson's" ...I have not thought of that movie in a while! Be honest, who else cried and got teased at the end?? Totally me for sure 😆
    Reply
  • NealBurgstahler
    The socalled experts on the show, are inexperienced persons with and without degrees in science. Since the internet forums in America, are controlled by closed minded and inexperienced enthusiasts that do not understand Bigfoot basics, then it suffices to say that every single expert on this show was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. On Jan. 23, 1981, President Jimmy Carter made a significant announcement to TV news media from Plaines Georgia that, "the Bigfoot are real, they are paranormal and they are supposed to be people. There are people (in government) who do not want you to know that". Paranormal in this context means that they have interdimensional capabilities that allows them to remain invisible for indefinite periods, allows them to shape shift, allows them to change either sub-dimensions of the 4th dimension, allows them to move through portals to other worlds, allows them to leave footprints while invisible and allows them to be highly telepathic and predict the future. Governor Kitzaber of Oregon also publicly stated that the Bigfoot are real. The DOD performed a Bigfoot captivity study in the very early 60's where hundreds of private sector scientists participated as observers and contributors, of two Bigfoot that were held separately at Lawrence Livermore National Labs. Both escaped by outwitting their captors by becoming invisible and simply walking out the door when they came into clean up, having believed that the Bigfoot had already escaped from the highly reinforced concrete Faraday cage that could confine energy as well as strong bipedal beings. Personally, I have well over a hundred field experiences because I was call blasting since 2004 with authentic Bigfoot calls, and made them curious enough to come in and investigate. I inadvertently also called in a lot of little paranormal forest people and a presumed paranormal dogman and a presumed paranormal reptilian. The Portland office of the FBI has an specialist who handles Bigfoot calls and he has stated to me that the FBI is well aware that the Bigfoot are paranormal. Since the experts on this show were either educated by classical 3 dimensional science colleges or have been highly exposed to American internet chat forums that do not have a clue as to what they are dealing with, the experts were anything but experts. Which is why the show essentially failed to produce definitive results and have an legitimate explanation for that failure.
    Reply
  • Catdaddy
    Sarge5706 said:
    Number of problems with this show that indicates, to me at least, this is another one of those less that real expeditions.
    1. They are staying out for three weeks but have no visible means of preparing meals nor do they ever show anything concerning food, even when the guy stays out over night. Even though they talk about bears, they take no steps to hang food or otherwise prevent bear encounters.
    2. They find a "nest" but don't set a up a trail camera or look for where bigfoot tore the boughs off of trees.?
    3. They all look too damn clean for spending three weeks out in the field. The two guys beards grow very little if at all from day to day
    4. The girl has been out in the field for 17 plus days and her nails are still perfectly painted?
    Just my opinion on the whole show.
    What I found funny is they were discussing concerns in that it was two hrs away to receive medical attention in the event of a bigfoot attack. I have a feeling that there would be a more likely chance of monkeys flying out of their butts......yep uh sorta not gonna happen but hey it sure beats wasting air time on real concerns occurring this day and time or things that make sense and are real.
    Reply