Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is an alleged ape-like creature purportedly inhabiting forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large ape-like creature, ranging between 6–10 feet (1.8–3.0 m) tall, weighing in excess of 500 pounds (230 kg), and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell by those who have claimed to have encountered it. Many believers in its existence contend that the same or similar creatures are found around the world under different regional names, most prominently the Yeti of the Himalayas.

The scientific community considers Bigfoot to be a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoaxes, rather than a real creature. In general, mainstream scientific consensus deems that Bigfoot cannot exist, because of the improbably large numbers necessary to maintain a breeding population and because climate and food supply issues would make such purported creatures’ survival in reported habitats unlikely.

The most notable sightings of Bigfoot:

• 1924: Fred Beck claimed in a 1967 book that he and four other miners were attacked one night in July 1924, by several “apemen” throwing rocks at their cabin in an area later called Ape Canyon. The men went outside and shot at what Beck described as “mountain gorillas”. The next morning, large footprints were claimed to be found around the cabin. Some people think that the “apemen” were actually hikers from a nearby camp that threw rocks into the canyon. There are also local rumors that pranksters harassed the men and planted faked footprints.
• 1941: Jeannie Chapman and her children claimed to have escaped their home when a large Sasquatch, allegedly 7½ feet tall, approached their residence in Ruby Creek, British Columbia.
• 1958: Bulldozer operator Jerry Crew took to a newspaper office a cast of one of the enormous footprints he and other workers had been seeing at an isolated work site at Bluff Creek, California. The crew was overseen by Wilbur L. Wallace, brother of Raymond L. Wallace. After Ray Wallace’s death, his children came forward with a pair of 16-inch (41 cm) wooden feet, which they claimed their father had used to fake the Bigfoot tracks in 1958.
• 1967: Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin reported that on October 20 they had captured a purported Sasquatch on film at Bluff Creek, California. This came to be known as the Patterson-Gimlin film, which is purported to be the best evidence of Bigfoot by many advocates. Many years later, Bob Heironimus, an acquaintance of Patterson’s, claimed that he had worn an ape costume for the making of the film.

We’ll probably never find out whether Bigfoot really exists or it’s another hoax arising from ancient myths and misidentification. Some people launch expedition in order to find Bigfoot, other just make fun of it. In any case, it’s an interesting subject for discussion and broadcasting.