The FBI vs. Bigfoot: The Government's Secret Investigation into Sasquatch

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Strange History Podcast, where we dive

0:03 Speaker 1: into the bizarre, the unexplained, and the forgotten corners of history.

0:07 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Amy, and today we're cracking open an

0:10 Speaker 1: unusual case, one where the FBI was called in to

0:13 Speaker 1: investigate none other than Bigfoot. You heard that right. The

0:16 Speaker 1: federal government actually took the time to analyze possible Bigfoot evidence.

0:22 Speaker 1: What led them to do this and what did they find?

0:26 Speaker 1: Let's get into it. Before we talk about the FBI's involvement,

0:31 Speaker 1: Let's step back and talk about Bigfoot itself. Bigfoot, also

0:35 Speaker 1: called Sasquatch, is a legendary creature said to roam the

0:39 Speaker 1: forests of North America. The legend originates from indigenous tribes,

0:44 Speaker 1: with stories of large, hairy beings appearing in various cultures.

0:48 Speaker 1: The name Sasquatch comes from the Halcamelum language spoken by

0:51 Speaker 1: Coast Salish peoples. The modern bigfoot craze kicked off in

0:56 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight when a journalist in California printed a

0:59 Speaker 1: letter about mysterious large footprints found at a logging site.

1:03 Speaker 1: It was later revealed as a hoax, but the story

1:06 Speaker 1: spread like wildfire, inspiring amateur cryptozoologists and thrill seekers to

1:12 Speaker 1: hunt for the elusive creature. Fast forward to nineteen seventy six,

1:18 Speaker 1: enter Peter Brn, a well known bigfoot researcher with the

1:22 Speaker 1: Bigfoot Information Center in Oregon. Burne had obtained a sample

1:26 Speaker 1: of mysterious hair and tissue and wanted to confirm if

1:30 Speaker 1: it belonged to an unknown primate. Desperate for an official answer,

1:35 Speaker 1: Burne did something unexpected. He sent the sample to the FBI.

1:40 Speaker 1: In response, the FBI's Scientific and Technical Services Division, led

1:44 Speaker 1: by J. Cochran Junior, agreed to examine the evidence. It

1:48 Speaker 1: was a surprising move since the FBI rarely investigates cryptids.

1:53 Speaker 1: But why did they take the request seriously? According to

1:56 Speaker 1: documents later declassified in twenty nineteen, Cochran wrote that the

2:01 Speaker 1: FBI had previously analyzed alleged sasquatch hair in nineteen seventy

2:07 Speaker 1: six as part of a broader interest in scientific inquiries.

2:11 Speaker 1: They treated it as they would any unidentified biological specimen.

2:16 Speaker 1: So what did the FBI discover? After extensive microscopic and

2:21 Speaker 1: forensic testing, the conclusion was anticlimactic. The mysterious hair sample

2:27 Speaker 1: was identified as belonging to a member of the deer family.

2:31 Speaker 1: That's right, no unknown primate, no groundbreaking discovery, just a

2:36 Speaker 1: case of mistaken identity. But even though the FBI debunked

2:40 Speaker 1: this particular piece of evidence, it didn't stop believers from

2:44 Speaker 1: continuing their search. The FBI's investigation might not have proved

2:48 Speaker 1: Bigfoot's existence, but reports of sightings continue. Let's step into

2:53 Speaker 1: the shoes of those who claim to have encountered the creature.

2:57 Speaker 1: Imagine it's nineteen sixty seven. You and a friend are

3:01 Speaker 1: riding horseback through the dense forests of Bluff Creek, California.

3:05 Speaker 1: The air is thick with the scent of pine and

3:08 Speaker 1: damp earth. Suddenly, movement catches your eye. A massive, upright

3:13 Speaker 1: creature covered in dark, shaggy fur, strides across a clearing ahead.

3:18 Speaker 1: It turns just for a moment, its deep set eyes

3:22 Speaker 1: meeting yours, before it disappears into the wilderness. Roger Patterson

3:27 Speaker 1: and Bob Gimlin managed to capture the brief encounter on film,

3:30 Speaker 1: and to this day, the Patterson Gimlin film remains one

3:34 Speaker 1: of the most debated pieces of alleged Bigfoot evidence ever recorded. Now,

3:39 Speaker 1: let's travel back further to nineteen twenty four, near Mount

3:43 Speaker 1: Saint Helen's, a group of miners, hardened from years of labor,

3:48 Speaker 1: sit around their small wooden cabin, telling stories by lantern light.

3:53 Speaker 1: The piece is shattered by a sudden thunderous crash against

3:56 Speaker 1: the cabin wall. Then another rocks begin helting the roof,

4:01 Speaker 1: sending splinters flying. The men grab their rifles, stepping cautiously outside,

4:06 Speaker 1: only to see hulking, shadowy figures looming at the edge

4:09 Speaker 1: of the firelight, tall apelike creatures with glowing eyes. Terrified,

4:14 Speaker 1: they fire their weapons, but by morning the creatures are gone.

4:19 Speaker 1: This became known as the Ape Canyon Incident, one of

4:23 Speaker 1: the most chilling bigfoot encounters on record. Fast forward to

4:27 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, Nevada. A wildfire rages near Battle Mountain

4:32 Speaker 1: and smoke fills the sky. Firefighters, exhausted and covered in soot,

4:37 Speaker 1: pause when they see something unexpected, A figure not human,

4:42 Speaker 1: not quite animal, lying injured among the burning underbrush. It's

4:47 Speaker 1: covered in dark fur, its limbs eerily human like. Witnesses

4:52 Speaker 1: claimed it was treated like any other victim, receiving medical

4:56 Speaker 1: attention before government officials arrived, swiftly transper awarding the creature

5:00 Speaker 1: away In an unmarked vehicle. No official reports were ever released,

5:05 Speaker 1: leaving some to wonder was this a rare bigfoot sighting

5:09 Speaker 1: covered up by authorities? And then there's Ohio twenty twelve.

5:14 Speaker 1: A group of hikers in Salt Fork State Park pause

5:17 Speaker 1: on the trail, their laughter fading as they hear something

5:20 Speaker 1: moving in the underbrush. A deep guttural growl echoes through

5:25 Speaker 1: the trees. Suddenly, an eight foot tall figure emerges, its

5:30 Speaker 1: massive frame covered in thick, matted fur. It doesn't charge,

5:34 Speaker 1: it just stands there watching. The hikers are frozen in place,

5:38 Speaker 1: staring into its dark, intelligent eyes. Then, as suddenly as

5:43 Speaker 1: it appeared, it turns and vanishes into the dense forest. Shaken,

5:48 Speaker 1: the hikers report the encounter, and soon new sightings flood in.

5:53 Speaker 1: The legend of Ohio's Grassmen is revived once more, making

5:56 Speaker 1: the state a hotspot for Bigfoot believers. The dclassification of

6:00 Speaker 1: the FBI's Bigfoot file in twenty nineteen reignited public fascination.

6:06 Speaker 1: It also left some wondering has the government ever taken

6:09 Speaker 1: bigfoot more seriously than they admit. While the FBI's official

6:13 Speaker 1: stance is that they don't investigate cryptids, some researchers believe otherwise.

6:19 Speaker 1: Even today, enthusiasts use modern technology such as thermal imaging

6:24 Speaker 1: and drone surveillance to hunt for Bigfoot. Sightings continue, and

6:28 Speaker 1: whether real or imagined, Bigfoot remains a cultural phenomenon. So

6:33 Speaker 1: what do you think. Was the FBI's investigation just a

6:36 Speaker 1: minor detour into the strange or is there more to

6:39 Speaker 1: the story? And more importantly, if the FBI was willing

6:43 Speaker 1: to look into Bigfoot once, could they do it again?

6:46 Speaker 1: Let me know your thoughts by reaching out on social

6:48 Speaker 1: media or emailing the show. And if you enjoyed this episode,

6:52 Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe and leave a review Until next time,

6:57 Speaker 1: Keep questioning the unexplained.