Researchers Disagree on Bigfoot Evidence

P O R T   A N G E L E S, Wash., July 6 -- Two researchers looking into reports of curious tracks on the Lower Hoh Indian Reservation have come to different conclusions about whether they might have been caused by Bigfoot.

Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, assistant professor of anatomy and biologyat Idaho State University, concluded there was not enough factualevidence to continue an investigation. The other, self-proclaimedBigfoot tracker Cliff Crook, believes the evidence is so great heis headed back to gather more data.

Crook, who was on the scene a day before Meldrum, said he foundmany clues leading him to believe the tracks were created by aBigfoot, or Sasquatch, a large, hairy creature that has beenreported around the world but is most closely identified with thePacific Northwest.

Enthusiast Checks Out Reports

“I went expecting to find bear tracks, but on June 30, myinitial investigation led me to believe this was not a bear or ahuman prankster. This was for sure a Bigfoot,” Crook told thePeninsula Daily News.

On June 30, he added one more track from the Lower HohReservation, along the Pacific Coast in extreme northwestWashington state.

“This year, we already have had 19 reports from the PacificNorthwest alone. Of those we have thoroughly investigated nine ofthem and learned a lot,” Crook said.

Crook estimates the animal on the Hoh Indian Reservation standsabout 8 feet, with feet 17 inches long and 7 inches wide. With theimprint that was left in the ground, he estimates its weight to beabout 600 pounds.

Crook, 59, is a co-editor of the journal Bigfoot Trails. He’s aBigfoot tracker, a Sasquatch detective, an assembler of some 400plaster footprints. He and his wife, Carol, teamed as technicaladvisers for the Bigfoot film, Harry and the Hendersons.

Seeking Hair or Footprints

Meldrum, who has studied the Bigfoot phenomenon for four years,sent a researcher out to investigate the area where Gene Sampsonand Steven Penn first reported seeing tracks . Meldrum’s crew did athorough search of the land, looking for any physical signs ofBigfoot such as hair and footprints.